Nicholas Bruner
Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Young Adult Author
To Be Creative, Don’t Hoard Ideas
Sometimes I meet or hear about a writer who thinks ideas are a rare, precious resource. These writers hoard ideas like a squirrel hoards nuts, locking them away no one can ever see them. They’re frightened to share their ideas with others lest they should be stolen. They spend useless time studying copyright law to keep others from copying them. They work for months or years on a story way past the point where more polishing is necessary, because they think they’re only going to get one shot at a good idea.
This is all nonsense. Talking about your ideas with others begets more ideas. I say, if someone else steals your idea, good for them! If they’re a good writer, what they do with it won’t look anything like your story anyway. And if they’re not a good writer, why do you care what they do with your idea? And forget copyright–leave all that up to your agent and publisher, although my guess is the hoarders rarely get to the point of having an agent or publisher.
I’m something of a perfectionist, but once you’ve gotten your story to a point where more work on your story doesn’t change the story’s quality, move on to something else. There’s usually a natural point where if you’re paying attention, you realize you’ve pretty much reached the limit with the story you’re working on. If you spend longer than that on it, you’re just gumming up the creative part of your mind that needs new things to work on.
You should have so many ideas that if one doesn’t work out, you have a hundred more to pick from. The thing to do about ideas is not to protect them, it’s to stoke the furnace in your mind that produces them. And just as you don’t gain strength by resting your muscles all the time, but by using them vigorously and often, so it is with your creativity. Write lots of stories, poems, letters! (Blog posts!) Keep a notebook with you to write down story ideas whenever they occur to you. If you have a funny or frightening dream, consider how you might adapt it to written form. (Lots of my best ideas come from dreams.) And join a writers’ group, where you can discuss all sorts of ideas with other writers!
Cross-posted at The Writers of Chantilly Blog
What I’m Reading: God Emperor of Dune
Over the past couple years, I’ve been re-reading what at one time were my favorite books ever, Frank Herbert’s Dune series. In a previous post, I decided that my estimation of the series had fallen a few notches since high school, due largely to the stilted dialogue and a somewhat overwrought writing style. Nevertheless, the world-building and cool concepts still left me with an overall positive impression. This time out, I’m reviewing the fourth book in the series, God Emperor of Dune.
The Importance of Writing Groups Redux
I’ve written in the past about the importance for a writer of being in a writers group. In those posts, I mentioned four reasons to join a writers group:
1) Reading out loud in front of a group makes you try harder when you’re polishing your work.
2) The support of other writers boosts you and supercharges your desire to write.
3) The critique provided by the other writers is an important tool in improving your work.
4) A regular meeting helps you get back on track when you’ve lost your way.
I’d like to mention a fifth that’s occurred to me lately. At the last few meetings, some of the other writers have read some really great pieces. A couple writers in particular read chapters from their books that impressed me–and maybe made me a little envious. Hey, I can write as well as that!
So why haven’t I?
Obviously, I’ve really got to up my game if I’m going to keep up with these guys. And so we come to the fifth reason: competition. When other writers are hot, when they bring in something that makes you say “Damn!” When they’re providing the group with a master class in how it’s done, you know it’s time to get to work on your own story or manuscript.
What I’m Reading: How to Write a Damn Good Novel
Like most of these how-to books, James N. Frey’s How to Write a Damn Good Novel has some good advice and some truly god-awful advice. The thing is, I bet a lot of writers who read this book say the same thing, only we’re talking about different parts of the book. Writing, and especially writing at novel-length, is all so individualized that what’s fertilizer for one writer may be manure to another.
What I’m Reading: A Journey to Self-Publishing
A Journey to Self-Publishing is another one by a member of the Writers of Chantilly. The author here is Kalyani Kurup, who gives us a brief (five chapters) but charming memoir of her experiences as a writer and her misadventures in the publishing world in India and the United States.
I can definitely recommend this book to other authors, especially those considering the alternative world of self-publishing. Writers will find a lot of useful lessons on dealing with publishers and free-lance employers, as well as the occasional pointer on improving one’s writing style. Some non-writers may find it to be a lot of shoptalk, but I think others will appreciate how well she laces her story with self-deprecating humor and careful observations of the people she meets. I especially love her story of a lengthy search for a certain address in Bangalore, accompanied by the world’s worst-oriented auto-rickshaw driver.
I might also add that despite her frequent protestations in the text to the contrary, Ms. Kurup’s English is impeccable! Her prose style is elegant and tasteful, a little like one of those Bangalore gardens she must have seen that day–perhaps more flowers and ornamentation than are strictly necessary, but all directed towards the end of creating a beautiful, well-tended place for relaxation and edification.
My 2014 Writing Resolutions
Okay, obviously I’m a little bit behind. Well, I did actually write these on 1 January, I just haven’t gotten around to posting them until now.
1) Maintain blog. Hmm, I seem to have fallen a little bit behind on this. This post is a good start, though!
2A) Finish reading current novel at the bi-weekly Writers of Chantilly meetings. I’m on my way, I read a chapter per session and I have four left, I think. So about two months.
2B) Find a beta reader for current novel. Not sure if I really need to do this or not, but I do have someone in mind.
2C) Finish all edits on current novel. This will come a little later in the process
2D) Send to agents, possibly by April 2014. That’s an ambitious target, we’ll see.
3) Finish short story for Writers of Chantilly “Unfinished Business” anthology. COMPLETE!
4) Read (and blog on, and comment on Amazon) a recent book by all other Writers of Chantilly members who have recently published. I’m reading one now, Red Flag Warning, by Melanie Florence. Of course I’ll review it here when I’m done. Not sure if I actually can get to everybody this year, but I intend to hit as many as I can.
5) Decide on next long project. A sequel to my current novel, or something else?
New anthology available: Etched in Memory
Readers of this blog are surely aware that I’m a member of a very active writing group, the Writers of Chantilly. What they may not know is that this year I edited the group’s annual anthology, which just in the past week became available on Amazon and Kindle.
I am quite proud of my work on this, and I learned a lot from my first time as editor, about both the editing process and about writing. Unfortunately, I do not have any stories appearing in this anthology, though I tried writing two. The first took a twist (into erotica, oddly–never had that happen before) that I felt made it inappropriate for the book, and the second I was unable to finish.
For fans of my writing (all two of you!) I promise that next year’s anthology will definitely have one or more of my stories. In the meantime, I can heartily recommend this book as being crammed full of fascinating short stories and essays. Here’s the book’s description from its back cover:
In this latest anthology from the renowned Writers of Chantilly, you will discover a variety of unforgettable stories describing incidents that have left an indelible mark on their participants. Some are from the past, some from the imagination, all are Etched in Memory.
Thank God Almighty, I’m Done at Last
Tonight I finished the first draft of my latest novel. It came in just short of 45,000 words (and after edits will probably land at closer to 46,000), which I think is about right for an upper-middle grade novel. In a macro sense, I think finishing it now really shows how much better I’m getting as a writer.
First novel: Took 24 months, had some good scenes but frankly, was terrible overall.
Second novel: Took 18 months, both I and my writing group, the Writers of Chantilly, judged it to be pretty good, I think, but no interest from agents.
Third novel (this one): 14 months, at least for the first draft. It may take another 4-6 weeks for revisions, but honestly, I don’t think it needs that much more work. For one thing, I’ve already read the first two-thirds or so to the group, and I always do my best to get each chapter in good shape before I read it to them. So, I need to give the final one-third a hard revision, make a few adjustments to the early chapters to account for unforeseen developments later in the book, and give it all a final go-over with 400-grit sandpaper. Final time elapsed will probably be 16 months.
So, I’m getting faster, more confident, and hopefully better. I have a good feeling about this book’s prospects for interest from agents, publishers, etc. I think the hook for this one is clear, the characters well-drawn, the pace is quick. I just hope the professional publishing world agrees!
