by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
My blog schedule has been a little erratic lately. Of course, my life has been a little erratic, too – especially since returning from WPA on September 7 (and my brain is still whirling from the experience, it was that epic).
But shortly after returning, I got an email from SinC National about a SinC-up event for bloggers. It’s pretty simple. They offered a list of questions and I had a choice what to answer and how much detail. Choices included:
- What authors inspire you? (Too many to name, but special shout out to Hank Phillippi Ryan, who is always kind, and my sib Annette Dashofy who is having wild success with her Zoe Chambers Mysteries series from Henery Press and I couldn’t be happier for her).
- “Nothing against women writers, but my favorite crime fiction authors happen to be men” – too bad, because you’re missing some fantastic female writers, including Hank, Annette, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Deborah Crombie, Hallie Ephron, Louise Penny, and oh gosh, so many more.
- Do you listen to music while writing? Sometimes. I write at work frequently, and it gets loud, so music helps dull the roar. Exactly what I listen to depends on my mood or what I’m writing. If I need inspiration for a fight scene, the soundtrack to Pirates of the Caribbean is a hands-down favorite. If I need energy, click on some classic rock. Want to mellow? Country. And if I just need a background, classical is good.
- Advice for new writers? Hold your nose and write.
But the one I wanted to delve into is “What’s your favorite part of the writing process and what’s the most challenging?” And my answer is going to seem to be a cop-out, but bear with me.
All of it.
Most writers have a definite favorite – they love first draft or they love revision. A few will admit to loving both, and I’m in that camp. Why? Well, let me ‘splain.
There’s a euphoria about a first draft. I can write anything, It doesn’t have to be perfect or pretty, it just has to be written. And there are days when the ideas are coming so fast that my fingers can barely keep up with my thoughts. Deep down I know there are issues, but I’m so caught up in the rush of words and ideas that I don’t think about the cliches or the clunky phrases. On those days, man, I’m the next JK Rowling (at least in my own mind) and this writing thing ROCKS.
Of course, the challenge is not getting TOO caught up. I mean, the first draft, while it doesn’t have to be perfect (it just has to be written) does need to make some kind of sense. And there’s a challenge in being too verbose, or too bare-bones. Again, I’ve got revision, but what comes out of first draft should be exciting enough, and coherent enough, to make me want to move on to the next stage.
Ah, revision. Rounds and rounds. Again, some writers tear their hair out on this. I admit to some hair-pulling (because this is where logic comes in – no, hospital staff cannot violate HIPAA regulations just to further my plot), but there’s a joy in bringing the story to fruition. Michaelangelo, when asked how he sculpted an elephant, said he took a block of marble and cut away anything that isn’t an elephant.
I feel kind of the same way. After the first draft, I have this giant, rough slab of marble. Somewhere in there is my story. I need to patiently chip away the edges so that story emerges. And sometimes, just like someone mining for gems, I find something totally unexpected, a hidden gleam that makes the story shine. And those, well, those are magic moments, moments where I sit back and say, “Ah! I had no idea that was going to happen.”
Because those are magic moments, too.
So there you have it. Writing is a maddening, heartbreaking way to make a living. But I can’t NOT write. If I got too many days without putting pixels to screen, I get cranky. I miss my imaginary friends. And yes, there are spots in every stage where it’s magical and spots where I wonder why I bother.
But all in all, I wouldn’t do anything else for the world.
The last part – I’m suppose to link to another writer. And I’m going to link to my friend Annette. Honestly, if you like “not quite cozy” and great mysteries with fantastic characters and setting so real you have to check a map to see if it exists, pick up Circle of Influence and Lost Legacy. I promise you won’t be disappointed.