Key to Failure in Writing

Proud As A Peacock

I loved the Dixie Chicks. Their sound crossed the line between old-time country and the contemporary. The use of the fiddle, the guitar work, the entire package worked for these classically trained musicians. Perhaps success came too easy for them and handed them their key to failure.

They should have understood their genre. Country fans love the USA and conservative values (mixed too frequently with whiskey and guns...but I digress). Repeatedly, the group bashed the United States.

No public feud breeds good publicity. The Chicks constantly bashed their colleague Toby Keith.

They'd be caught in a transgression, chastised, then apologize and repeat their errors. They thought they were too good to fail. But it wasn't true.

Perhaps the same could have been said about  Lindsay Lohan, Oscar Pistorius, Lance Armstrong, Rehoboam, Absalom and Saul--to name a few.

Hans Holbein d. J. - The Arrogance of Rehoboam - WGA11598 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What they suffer from, destroys our chances of a successful writing career.  

How? So glad you asked. It could probably be summed up in the battle cry:

 "What do they know?"

Have you given place to any of the following?

• several critique partners say something doesn't work. You reply, "What do they know?"
• too much is marked up in your sample critique, so you discard the whole thing.
• an editor wants you to change something--maybe a scene a bit too graphic for your audience. If you refuse, you are asking, "What do you know? You, of course, have a better handle on it.
• you're so good, you have no need to spend good money on courses--and what do the free ones, like those offered at ACFW have to offer? You know the material as well as the teacher.
• which brings me to the next point--you tell the instructor what he/she is doing wrong--how much more successful your way is.
• since God gave you the story, any changes will ruin the message--maybe even bring down His wrath on the one who refuses to accept it.
• you refuse to enter contests and see what seasoned authors and editors have to say because one judge, one time, was harsher than necessary.

I hate to say this, but I'm a good one for publicizing my foibles, I've been guilty of much of this. Do you know of any I've missed? (Of course, not about me--but useful for the general writing population.)

Bassoon/Writing: What's the Difference?

Bassoon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Playing the bassoon and writing equals the same thing. Note: I used the verb 'equals', not the weaker verb 'are'...totally different meaning.

Technicalities aside, how you ask? Glad to answer.

1. Lonely time. You spend hours alone, creating, honing, perfecting. And you know you are GOOD. (Until you hit rehearsal or receive the correct copy from your crit partner).
2. Never perfect. Your rehearsal/crit demonstrate your weakness, so you spend the next week perfecting.
3. Hit the wall. Your embouchure or your muse walks out on you. You threaten to walk out on the whole lifestyle.
4. Rehearsal (AKA Conference). You get to  celebrate with like-minded geeks who love nothing more than to spend hours practicing and sharing their craft.
5. Performance. When you're ready to quit, then the performance comes. You get to dress up, put on make-up (hopefully only if you're female). The house is packed. For writers, you get your contract.

Is any life better than writing or music?

Mark Twain: Writing Tips

All Things Literary

(sorry NPR--If the paraphrase works--use it)

Want to be a great writer? Follow these tips. Mark Twain is back by popular demand.

• Don't say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.

• Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't.

• Ideally a book would have no order to it, and the reader would have to discover his own.

• It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.

• Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very"; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.

Image via Wikipedia
• The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.

• What a good thing Adam had. When he said a good thing he knew nobody had said it before.

Books Written Out of Fire

Books written out of fire give me a great deal of pleasure. You get the sense that the world for these writers could not have continued if the book hadn't been written. When you come across a book like that it is a privilege. -Hisham Matar, author (b. 1970)
My friend Shelley sent me this quote, and it is my prayer for Dark Chocolate. America doesn’t know how it still enforces slavery. The issue hides from us because we don’t see the children in India with their little fingers in the mechanical looms. We don’t know how much of our made in the USA aluminum is fueled by enslaved charcoal makers in the center of Brazil.

I love it when I read a book such as the one Matar described. Grapes of Wrath is the first that comes to mind. I read that book when I was in my early twenties. For months after, I couldn’t pick up another book because none would ever measure up. Then Steinbeck’s social ideals compelled me to read most of his other works.

So, as the plot of Dark Chocolate stalls, the theme compels me to write. I need to change the world—and I cannot be satisfied if only one life changes. There is too much need.

What books have you read or written out of fire? Share with us.