Belletrinsic

I sometimes have to tell myself that, and frequently. Why? Because I get easily distracted.

Ooh! Shiny object!

So what were we talking about? Oh, yeah. Focus, as in, I need to focus my energies and not go beating about trying to do everything at once.

My problem? I have so many interests and so many ideas buzzing around my head. By the time one gets planted in there, I have another even shinier idea that comes along, supplanting the first.

Lately, though, I’ve been learning a little about focusing my energies. That’s been an essential topic for me these past few weeks. I have three great projects I’m in the middle of right now, but I had to chose the one I find most pertinent to complete. I’ll finish this one, and then move onto another. Simple? Not always, but it works for me.

I’ve also learned the importance of setting goals to help in accomplishing that task so I don’t burn out too quickly before the task is completed. My latest goal? Completing Fractured by the time my next writer’s conference happens in late August. (And if you’re in the Utah area, you can find the deets here.)

So tell me, how do you focus your writing?

I got tired of staring at endless piles of manuscripts at home, trying to find which notebook I wrote what story in. So this weekend I went on an organizing spree and bought several items to make my writing life easier. And who can say no to purple?

Please step away from the keyboard!

I understand, ma’am, that you’ve got a book you think it ready to start querying agents with.

Yes, yes. Just take it slow now. Move your finger off of that mouse and we can talk. Nice and easy.

How long ago did you finish writing it? Hmm. Yes, three months to write a book is excellent. And two months of editing? Good job, you.

Hold it! Don’t move a finger toward that send button!

So, five months since you first started working on the book, is that correct? That makes me ask the question: did you set the book aside at all? A week in between edits to “clear your head”?

Put the query down and no one gets hurt.

And during that week, did you think about the book at all? All the time? Really? So did the week actually “clear your head” or just make you irritated you couldn’t start querying already?

I said, let it be. You’re only hurting yourself by doing this.

And all those agents who blog. You didn’t think they were talking to you when they gave their advice? Are you too good for their help? It’s not like that? Really. So you’re just the exception. You don’t need to set your book aside for a few months and come back to it fresh. You, as a new writer, can just edit away. You know exactly what you’re doing. Is that how it is?

Don’t ruin your chance. You’ve only got one shot with this agent. Are you sure you’re ready?

I don’t think you are the exception. Sure you’ve been to writers conferences and you’ve done your homework. And you graduated from college as an English/journalism major? That’s great. But has it taught you how to write an entire book and then edit it? I didn’t think so. You’ve had to learn that on your own, haven’t you. You’ve taught yourself most of what you know about writing. But you haven’t taught yourself how to be patient, have you? You want to be the first-time author who hits it big without putting in the hours of work and tears first. I’m sorry to tell you this, but it’s probably not going to happen like that for you.

Aw, don’t cry. Just put the laptop down and we can help you. It’s not too late.

We want you to succeed, and so listening to all that advice about leaving the book alone for three, four months is good advice. Really. Why don’t we go get you a bag of chocolate and put this little manuscript in the freezer for a few months. Then, when you’ve nearly forgotten about it, you can come back and make it even better. I promise.

This dramatization is brought to you as part of a public service to first-time writers. Anything you write in a query letter can and will be used against you while looking for an agent. Make sure you get it right the first time.

In my last blog post, I discussed weaknesses in characters and how important it is to have them. Well, I have them too, and it’s not as fun having them as writing them for another character. My weakness? Impatience.

I want everything now and don’t want to put in the requisite time and effort to accomplish those tasks. I want things to come easily.

The reason I bring this up is because a good friend taught me this lesson this morning. She didn’t realize she was doing it, but I appreciate her teaching it to me all the same.

I’ve written two books now. The first one I had queried and gotten some positive feedback, but people weren’t loving the book enough. A friend just read the whole thing and gave me her comments. The important thing is that she did it in a loving, caring way.

Now I’m going back through the book with her comments in mind, and I see exactly what she means. And I’m also realizing that my impatience has hindered me, yet again.

Agents and editors love to give the advice to let a book sit for a few months, and then go back to it before even thinking of querying agents with it. Well, I was impatient and didn’t do that. I haven’t completely shot myself in the foot because of this, but it’s come pretty close.

I wanted to be the exception, the person who could write a book in a few weeks, edit in a few more, and then get an agent very quickly soon after. To be honest, I’m not at that point yet. I’m still learning, and that’s okay.

So the plan right now is to go back and fix book one (Surviving Eden) while putting book two (Jessamine) in the freezer for a bit.

I know Surviving Eden isn’t the book that’s going to get me an agent, but I need to learn the process of revising and editing my own work if I’m to do an even better job of it the second time around.

I’m stubborn, and so some lessons have to come the hard way. The most important ones, really. Take it from me, learn the easy way. It’s much better for the sanity.

Being sick with the swine flu this week has given me extra time for movie watching, something I haven’t taken the time to do in awhile with work and writing.

While I enjoy movies for the sake of watching, my analytical brain was on overdrive for some reason and I started noticing trends and patterns in some of the most popular movies and stories. Then I wondered why that was.

Just this afternoon, Superman was saving the world again. Superman is . . . well, he’s not human, he’s nearly perfect physically, and yet . . . yet he’s not perfect. He’s flawed. Not as a character, mind you, but as an individual. For a character, he’s exactly what one wants and needs. Someone strong, good looking, a good person trying to right the world’s wrongs. But he is flawed.

Around Lois, he’s a complete dork, at least in the persona of Clark Kent. He acts utterly human and makes the same mistakes that people have made for centuries when dealing with members of the opposite sex. And then there’s that whole kryptonite thing. A little stone can debilitate a super-human power and kill a superman.

I’m coming to see that it is the flaws and not necessarily the strengths that make a character, well, strong in a story. Take, for instance, Luke Skywalker. (As you’re probably noting, I was really having a movie marathon week.) He is a headstrong kid who wants to save the world. And yet for all his youthful idealism, he has the same weakness as his father—hate. It is what nearly undoes him, and yet that tension, that internal conflict is what makes the story interesting and relatable.

People want to see weakness in their favorite characters because it makes them human and makes them like us. It’s an unconscious liking, but it has an effect on the way we tell stories.

Name for me a character from a truly popular movie who doesn’t have flaws. Okay, go. Really, start naming them. Do you have one yet? No?

There have been stories with characters who are practically perfect in every way, but it’s hard to name one from a popular book or movie. It’s because those characters aren’t like the rest of humanity—frail and flawed. People don’t want to relate to someone who is too perfect. First, it’s unrealistic, but second, it’s just boring. Even Achilles had his heel.

As readers and viewers, we want to see someone who is flawed overcome their weakness because that means that we, as flawed individuals can overcome our weaknesses too.

It’s making me wonder if my characters are weak enough to be strong. How about yours? Are you making them too perfect and therefore unrelatable?