If You Write It, They Will Come

One question I am often asked is “Where do you get your book ideas from?”

The answer is simple enough, but it may have a few authors shaking their heads. I write books that I can see myself starring in. Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Historical, and all of the other genres have their place but I could never see myself falling in love with someone whose main diet is O-Positive or living on a planet in a galaxy far, far away.

I met the man of my dreams in what many people would call a love at first sight scene straight out of a fairytale. From the moment our eyes met, we knew we would be together forever. We’ve had our ups and downs, stressed about things normal people stress over, and more than our share of arguments over stupid things. That’s the sort of story I like to write because reading is not always an escape from reality. Sometimes you have to read about the same sort of people as yourself and find out on the last page that everything will work out in the end.

Once you decide on the genre and the type of story you want to write – stick to your guns. As a newbie writer, I took the advice of editors, friends, even social media friends that I had never met. By the time my first book was published, I hardly recognized the story I had written. Now, I’m not saying that the advice of all these people is a bad thing. I am saying that every single suggestion does not need to be fretted over and your entire story rewritten. Take a few minutes to consider how each edit will change the tone and the voice of the story. If you make an edit, will it still sound like you wrote the book, will the flow of the story be changed from how you saw it in your head? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, think long and hard about making the change.

Case in point was the story that had lived in my heart from many years. The character seemed so alive that I felt I could meet her on the street at any time. By the time I edited and rewrote and changed the story line to suit what I thought was helpful advice, I hardly recognized the character and the story was written by someone else. It broke my heart. Older and wiser now, I have republished the book using my original manuscript. It will never make me a millionaire, but I am more proud of the book now than when it was first published.

So, as Toni Morrison says, if there is a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, the you must write it.

Valentine's Day Creed

Comfort each other. Provide a refuge and sanctuary for each other from the chill winds of the world. Your marriage is a hearth, from whence comes the peace, harmony, and warmth of soul and spirit.

Caress as you would be caressed. Warm your loved one's body with your healing touch. Remember that as babies can die with lack of touching, so can marriages wither from lack of closeness.

Be a friend and partner. Friendship can be a peaceful island, separate and apart, in a world of turmoil and strife. Reflect upon the tranquility of the many future years you can share with a true friend, and beware of becoming battling enemies under the same roof.

Be open with each other. Bind not yourselves in the secretness that causes suspicion and doubt. Trust and reveal yourselves to each other, even as the budding rose opens to reveal its fragrance and beauty.

Listen to each other. Hear not only words, but also the non-language of tone, mood, and expression. Learn to listen to understand rather than listening to argue.

Respect each other's rights. Remember that each is a person of flesh and blood, entitled to his or her own choices and mistakes. Each owns himself, and has the right to equality.

Allow the other to be an individual Seek not to create for each other a new mold that can only fit with much discomfort and pain. Accept the other as they are, as you would have yourself accepted.

Give each other approval. Remember criticism divides, while compliments encourage confidence in the other. Hasten not to point out the other's mistakes, for each will soon discover his own.

Cherish your union. Let no one come between your togetherness, not child, not friend, nor possessions. Yet maintain enough separateness to allow each other his or her own uniqueness.

Love one another. Love is your river of life, your eternal source of recreating yourselves. Above all else, love one another.

Happy New Year 2012

As the holiday bells ring out the old year, and sweethearts kiss, and cold hands touch and warm each other against the year ahead, may I wish you not the biggest and best of life but the small pleasures that make living worthwhile.

Sometime during the New Year, to keep your heart in practice, may you do someone a secret good deed and not get caught at it. May you find a little island of time to read that book and write that letter, and to visit that friend.

May your next do-it-yourself project not look like you did it yourself. May the poor relatives you helped support remember you when they win the lottery. May your best card tricks win admiring gasps and your worst puns win admiring groans. May all those who told you so, refrain from saying “I told you so.”

May all the predictions you’ve made for your future come true. May just half of those optimistic predictions that your high school yearbook made for you come true. In a time of sink or swim, may you find you can walk to shore before you call the lifeguard. May you keep at least one ideal that you can pass along to your kids.

For a change, some rainy day when you’re late, may the train be waiting for you. May you accidentally overhear someone saying something nice about you. If you run into an old school friend, may you both remember each other’s names. If you are on a diet, may someone say “You’ve lost some weight” without knowing you’re on a diet.

May that long and lonely night be brightened by a telephone call. When you trip and fall, may there be no one watching to laugh at you or feel sorry for you. Sometime soon may you be waved at by a friend, smiled at by a stranger, wagged at by a puppy, run to by a child, and counted on by someone you love.

More than this, no one can wish you.

Happy New Year!

Resolute Resolutions

With only a few weeks left in the year, some people (and you know who you are) are still striving to complete the list of resolutions that were made back in January.

In my wild and crazy youth, my resolutions were lofty goals – volunteer in causes that would change the world, contribute to worthwhile charities, etc. Hey, what can I say, I grew up in the generation that lived to protest anything and everything. As I grew older, the resolutions became more personal – work toward a promotion, find the man of my dreams, go back to school, write an epic novel. Still lofty, but definitely more realistic.

Looking back on all those promises to myself that I meant to keep, I find that a surprising number of them were completed. Not always in the same year that I made them, but kept still the same.
Perhaps that is how it should be. Goals and dreams cannot always be fulfilled with the confines of a year. Twelve months is far too short a time for the important things in life. It is the perfect time, however, for the small goals – saving for and then taking a grand vacation, buying that something special you’ve wanted for years. When scaled down, resolutions can actually be kept and then proudly checked off the list at the end of the year.

As for me, I still have one more item on my 2011 list of resolutions, but I am not worried. I still have time to accomplish it, and then I can look forward to sitting back on New Year’s morning with one last glass of champagne in hand and writing down my resolutions for the coming year.

How about you? How many things are still on you 2011 list?