Creative Writing - Robyn Bradley

Sorry, Third Person. I’m Just Not That Into You.

I try not to listen when people talk about no-no’s in writing, mainly because there aren’t any no-no’s, at least when something is written well.

Tell me a “no-no,” and I’ll find an example of a book that broke the rule well, at least according to this reader and critic.

But I’m human. So I can get swept up in the “you shouldn’t write in first person” hogwash I hear on forums where writers hang out. According to these forums, I’m the biggest sinner since I’ve written both novels in first person (multiple first persons) AND present tense.

Oh, the horror!

With Forgotten April, I’d started out in third person pseudo-omniscient — I say “pseudo” because I didn’t know what I was doing and was trying to please my wonderful mentor who warned me about writing in first person.

Oh, but the story sucked in third person. BIG TIME. I tried. I tried for 80,000 words. But it was awful and I was depressed and, on a whim, I opened a new page and was like, “I just want to see what it feels like if I write it in first person. It’ll be my little secret. No one has to know.” So I gave it a go and immediately knew it was better — a whole lot better. I brought two scenes — one in third and one in first person — to my writers’ group and they confirmed it. The first person had LIFE.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’ve written in third person. In fact, I think my short story “Crush,” which is written in third person, is one of my best literary efforts to date from a craft perspective. So I know there’s a place for it, I like reading it (if it works), and I can write in it.

Anyhow, back to the reason behind my title. I’m working on my third novel, and due to recent comments in a writers’ forum about the problems with first person and present tense, I thought I’d approach this novel in third person and past tense. The past tense is working — it feels completely right.

As for third person? Not so much. I tried. I’d write and stop myself when I’d slip into first person and rewrite the section in third. At first, since I was still in those dreamy early stages of drafting, I wasn’t too bothered by it. But then, I figured the story out — you know, one of those breakthroughs where you stop riffing with that one melody you’ve discovered, and, instead, you start composing the full song and weave the melody in. Yeah, that sort of thing. So I was jazzed and excited and was writing a scene that worked really well when, holy crap! I realized I’d written the whole thing in first person.

Guess what? I need to honor that. The story is telling me it needs to be written in first person, and so are the characters. It’s still unclear whether I’ll be using multiple viewpoints, but, for now, this baby is staying in first person, past tense.

Sorry, third person. I’m just not that into you — this time, anyway. I’m sure I’ll be back. You behave while I’m gone.

Do you have a favorite tense you like to read?

The Rhythm Method

Guess what?

I’m working on my third novel, back to putting in a minimum of 1000 words a day.

I’ve found a new rhythm that’s working quite well: I get up at 6:00 a.m. and go for a walk, about a mile. Come back, make coffee, sit down, and continue with my work-in-progress. I do all this BEFORE looking at email and BEFORE checking reviews, Amazon ranking, etc. This is key. It’s easy to get lost in some of that stuff.

I can crank out 1000 fairly polished words in two hours max — and this includes room for coffee refills and staring off into space and thinking, which qualifies as work, since the brain is still firing, and the images from the story still moving in my head.

What’s great about this method, for me, is that I can start the rest of my day around 9:00 along with the rest of world and not feel any resentment since I’ve gotten my pages in. I’m heading towards phasing out my copywriting business by the end of the year (if not before), but I still maintain a few clients right now during this transitional time, clients who deserve my full attention since they’re paying me good money to give it my all.

Luckily, because my client list is smaller now, I have room for the marketing of my creative writing “business” (selling books is a business) and, often, extra time to put in another healthy dose of words to the WIP.

Or not.

That’s key, too. Anything extra that goes above and beyond the 1000 words a day is great, but not required since I believe a big part of life has to be left for living: reading, exploring, going to movies and museums, having lunch with friends, spending time with family, sitting quietly on my balcony with a cup of coffee or tea or cocktail and listening to the wind, to the old man in my building who walks his little dog named Maggie in the parking lot below my veranda, to the birds and other critters in the woods across the way.

I love this time, when the work is so new and surprising, when the characters come alive before my eyes at the behest of my fingertips on the keyboard. I’m not sure if this will be the “it” novel; I started two different works in between Forgotten April and What Happened in Granite Creek, but I’m thinking it is. I don’t do a formal outline, but I guess I have a mental one. I have to sit with an idea for a bit, a skeleton plot forming, since I’m one of those writers who needs a destination to write towards, even if it changes along the way. But this “marinating” time makes for easy writing when I finally sit down to draft, the words and story tumbling forth.

Every day, I give several prayers of thanks, so grateful that I get to do this for a living.

Tell me, do you have a rhythm method for the work you do?

Creative Writing, Grammar & Punctuation

A Tale of Two Typos

Once upon a time, in a land too close to home, there was a girl — a writer — penning the product description for her debut novel.

After writing and rewriting, she sends it to some smart writer friends to review, including a copywriter who responds and points out that she likely does not mean that the husband and son of her main character died in a “grizzly” car accident, unless, of course, said accident involved a bear mauling said people.

Duh, she thinks while cursing homonyms — those words like “their” and “they’re” that sound the same but are spelled differently (and, of course, mean very different things). “Thank you, thank you,” the girl says to her eagle-eyed (and very kind) friend for pointing it out before any damage has been done, and she goes on, purging the word “grizzly” from every piece of copy. All except one: the product page for her paperback on Amazon.

She doesn’t realize this, of course, until after the page goes live and someone she doesn’t know points it out to her (gulp). She’s grateful to the person who catches it, but the Internet is one of those things that doesn’t let you forget your mistakes, ever.

Even after she corrects the mistake, the typo lingers in places where the product description has already been “pulled,” like on the girl’s Facebook page and other people’s Facebook pages, including the girl’s high school friend, Tom, who wanted to share the announcement about the girl’s book with all of his friends, which, of course, includes everyone from said high school. And there it is, the “grizzly” (or is it “grisly”?) typo for all of the class of 1991 (and more) to see, and suddenly the girl is in high school again, in gym class, and she’s fat and doesn’t want to change in front of all the pretty girls and her face heats up from embarrassment and everyone stares.

The girl senses her brain turning on her, because she’s unable to stop thinking about the typo, feeling like it’s Out There for everyone to see and laugh at and that it’s worse than if she had a big red zit on the tip of her nose forever.

The girl tries to rationalize that typos happen and that they’re proof we’re all human, and they even happen (gasp) in traditionally published books and The New York Times, but, of course, the girl knows that doesn’t make them any more acceptable.

As for the words “grizzly” and “grisly,” after this incident, the girl knows she will never ever write those two words again. She reckons she could be kidnapped by aliens and forced to watch an endless loop of Grizzly Adams while said aliens feed her the grisly remains of cows or crocodiles or maybe even something a little more human, like clowns or telemarketers, and the only communication she’s allowed to have is via email, but even then, in said communication via email, she would refuse to write the letters g-r-i-z-z-l-y or g-r-i-s-l-y to describe her situation.

“Grizzly and grisly,” the girl says, “You are dead to me.” And she spends the remainder of her days hitting the F5 key, refreshing her product page on Amazon just to be sure.

The End.

Editor’s note #1: Yes, “the girl” is me.

Editor’s note #2: Yes, I realize I’m talking about only ONE typo here and the title is, in essence, inaccurate. Leave me alone.

Editor’s note #3: My version of heaven is a place that’s typo-free and everything you write and think and say comes out just the way you meant it to, with every detail, nuance, and word correct, and George Clooney would be my cabana boy.

Book trailers, Creative Writing, Marketing books, Self publishing

Gratitude & Shout-Outs: Take 2

A couple of months ago, I posted my first round of shout-outs. Methinks I’m due for a second round of gratitude-filled thanks to the awesome folks who’ve been helping me out. Here we go, in no particular order:

Cheryl Perez from You’re Published did the interior design/layout and back cover and spine for the paperback version of Forgotten April. She does great work and is reasonably priced. She’s launching a new website soon, but for now, you can reach her here.

Steve Tannuzzo of Tannuzzo Copywriting has a connection with a printing company and was able to print up all the copies of Novel #2 for my beta readers. He’s also a fabulous writer/copywriter/proofreader, in case any of you are in need of one of those.

My beta readers rock my world! They include the Nobscot Niblets (writers group) and some family members and friends who are like family. If any of you are reading this, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Someone on Twitter asked me the name of the song I use in my book trailer for Forgotten April. The great thing about Animoto, the software I use, is that it offers a vast music library and all the licensing is taken care of. I mentioned in this post how I stumbled on some music by an artist I’d met many years ago (and I ended up using his composition for my short story “Crush“) and how he’s now writing musical scores for movies in Hollywood, which is way cool.

Anyway, when I looked up the group that sang “Happy,” which is the song in the Forgotten April trailer, I decided to Google the group to see what I could find. The name of the group is Secrets in Stereo. Here’s their Facebook page. And below is the group singing the full version of “Happy.”

Enjoy!

Creative Writing

I’m Not a Novel Virgin

Forgotten April, my debut novel, isn’t my first novel. Like so many writers, I have a bottom drawer dweller, or, in this case, a novel that lingers on my hard drive in a folder called “Bad First Novels.” The novel is called Lily’s Legs. Don’t ask me who Lily is — she’s not a character; she’s simply a thinly-veiled version of my twenty-something self. And the other characters are people from my life back then: the morning show host from the radio station I worked at in the 90s, family members, lovers. I took the whole “write what you know” adage literally and forgot an important thing called imagination.

But that’s okay. It had to go like that. I think it was Stephen King who said in his memoir On Writing that you have to write a million words before you can call yourself a true writer, since a million words is what it takes to smooth out the rough edges, to rid yourself of the frogs in your throat and the endless ahs and ums that occur when you’re trying to explain something you don’t understand yet. That was me, anyway, when I was penning those 73,000+ words. (I was still using double spaces after periods, too. Sheesh!)

I spent some time today re-reading portions of it. I wrote a lot of it in Provincetown (pictured), one of my favorite places in the world, and I remember sitting on my hotel balcony that was a stone’s throw from the ocean and writing on my laptop. I was one of the only people I knew with a laptop then, and it made me feel all official-like, as if I were a “real” writer. (We’re talking circa 1995.)

Anyhow, today as I was re-reading it, I noted that 99.9 percent of it was crap, but I also remembered a scene I had written and quickly found it and discovered why I remembered it now…because there was a spark of “something” there, something I’d learn how to manage better over the next fifteen years and turn into “story.”

We all have to begin somewhere. And while I’d NEVER want this book to see the light of day, I’m still proud of it in the same way I imagine mothers are proud of the kindergarten artwork they hold onto from their now grown-up kids. The work shows faith and diligence and a little bit of chutzpah, which are all things “real” writers need even after they’re all grown up.

What’s in your “Bad Writing” files?

Creative Writing

I Write Even Though / I Write Because

I write even though…

…there are no guarantees.

…some people hate my writing.

…sometimes all I can think in is cliches and mixed metaphors.

…brilliant books humble me as much as they inspire.

…I’ve racked up rejections and I don’t have an agent.

…self-publishing is still the bastard step child of the publishing industry.

…character voices fill my head and I talk to myself — a lot.

…others who are more talented than I am quit or slow down.

…every publishing statistic suggests the odds are against me.

…sometimes I’m the only one who believes.

But let’s turn it around.

I write because…

…it’s when I’m happiest. Even on tough days, I’m still happy.

…I love telling stories.

…I love sharing stories…and hearing back from readers who are moved by them.

…I love learning new things.

…there’s a sense of soulful satisfaction that occurs when I get a story “right.”

…there’s nothing I’ve ever done before in my life that feels as right as this, like I’m home and where I’m meant to be.

…stories reveal truths that too many of us have a hard time articulating until we see ’em in print.

…stories connect me to people and to the larger world.

…stories connect me to my Higher Self and that place where soul resides.

…it’s simply what I must do.

Why do you write?

Creative Writing

Just because you throw me a bone doesn’t mean I have to catch it

Been lost in the weeds the last few weeks, first recovering from an existential crisis that came about after reading this blog post, specifically the last line and all that it implies. So I started watching videos with Christopher Hitchens and then reading about near-death experiences and now I’m here, still unsure of what I think, but leaning towards the belief there’s an afterlife, probably because I desperately want it to be true.

I got the proof of Forgotten April in the mail, and honestly, you’d think it would be a good moment to hold my book and all, but the self-doubt creeps in and the whole self-publishing stigma is still a stigma and whatever. And then I found 26 formatting errors (not typos, but formatting) and sent it back to my person to fix, which will delay releasing the paperback another three weeks most likely, which irks me, but I know as a self-pubbed author I have an even greater responsibility to put out error-free work because the buck stops here and there’s no one else to blame if there are mistakes and also because if I get brave enough, I want to send my book to this woman to review, even though she scares the living crap out of me because she stops reading once she counts fifteen mistakes and then she blogs about which page she stopped reading on.

I stupidly started a debate with someone about self-publishing who doesn’t know what the eff he’s talking about, and he reminded me of Donald Trump in terms of his arrogance, so I just stopped responding to his messages and feel better in a passive aggressive sort of way, especially since I’m writing about it here.

I’m finishing the draft of novel #2, which goes to my writers group and other beta readers next week. People will be getting me their feedback before July 4, and I’m taking the month of July to revise before handing it off to my copy editor. Then it’s lobbed back to me. And then I lob it to my proofreader. And then she sends it back to me and I read it one more time and will likely catch more stuff and have a nervous breakdown and then send it to the ebook converter dudes post Labor Day, with the hope that the whole kit and kaboodle will be live by mid October.

It’s also monsoon season in the Northeast, apparently.

How’s your May been?

Creative Writing

My Favorite Type of Writing…

My favorite type of writing subverts my expectations. It takes a twist that’s completely unexpected, yet so TRUE.

Here’s an example that shows what I mean:

Leave Me from Ryan Dunlap on Vimeo.

You can follow this very talented writer on Twitter.

So now you tell me: what’s your favorite type of writing? Share in the comments.

Creative Writing, eBooks, Self publishing

Introducing My Debut Novel

I’m excited to announce the launch of my debut novel, Forgotten April.

It’s available on Nook and Kindle. Use Kindle and Nook apps for iPads. And if you have another e-reader, like Sony, you can buy the ePub here and side load it to your device.

I started this novel back in 2001. It’s seen many, many, MANY revisions since then, including four top-to-bottom, basically-starting-from-scratch rewrites. I buried it TWICE, and somehow it clawed its way back from the dead both times.

At its heart, it’s a sister story, a family story, and a story about secrets — and how those secrets can change people’s lives. The book trailer is below.

What else can I say? Oh, it’s 99 cents right now on Kindle and Nook (a dollar on Lulu and iPad) and will be through May, at least. The print version will be available for order from Amazon soon. I’ll do an update once that’s all set.

If you do read it, I’d love to know what you think of it. You can email me, write on my Facebook wall, connect through Twitter, and/or leave a review on the site you bought it from or on Goodreads.

Thanks in advance for all of your support. Happy reading!

Creative Writing

Crutch Words & Phrases

In no particular order, here are some of my crutch words and phrases:

Just

Actually

And with that

Really

Studied/Peered (my crutches for “look”)

Snort (less so now, but it was a bugger in some earlier work)

Starting sentences with “and” (nothing wrong with that, but I do it a lot)

Motherf*cker (okay, this is a joke and in reference to my post on swearing in novels)

I allow myself to use these crutch words and phrases when I draft since I know I’ll fix/address them when I revise, but I find simply being aware of them means I use them less anyway. (And yes, this awareness sometimes slows me down as I draft since I’ll often pause when I start writing a crutch word, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.)

I showed you mine. Now show me yours. 🙂 What are some crutch words you use if you’re a writer, or what are some crutch phrases you hate seeing as a reader? Share in the comments.