True to my word to Pete Ross, if a little belated, I've been trawling through all of the LNC triva I've collected over the years and stored on CD for early articles on LNC.
Haven't found what I was looking for yet <g>, but along the way I rediscovered this article a fellow FoLC sent me years ago and thought it might be fun to read - especially for new authors.
REAL WRITERS
by Lisa E. Arlt
Real Writers don't write rough drafts. Every word comes out publishable.
Real Writers sell their first book/story/article.
Real Writers never get tired, discouraged, blocked, depressed or sick.
In other words, Real Writers are Perfect.
When I started writing seriously in November, 1993, I didn't consider myself a Real Writer. Real Writers were published and I wasn't. Instead
I said, "I'd like to write a book one day," never admitting I was actively writing.
But the time I had written three manuscripts without managing to publish a single one, I knew I wasn't a Real Writer. But I was determined to
become one so I asked everyone's opinion.
Real Writers Outline.
I couldn't even color inside the lines, but if Real Writers outlined, then that was what I would do.
I outlined. It was my fourth book and my first historical romance novel begun when I was convinced I had no talent writing contemporaries and should switch genres. I spent a week outlining and when I was done I knew everything about these people and what was going to happen to them.
Barely into chapter two I was bored. I didn't care what was going to happen to these people. I already knew what was going to happen to these
people.
But Real Writers outlined, so I dutifully plodded along wondering how I was ever going to get the energy to finish this manuscript.
And then Catherine popped into my head. Passionate, impulsive and desperate. Her sole one-night-stand had turned out to be the man of her
dreams. But she'd lied to him and now he hated her. What was she going to do?
I was intrigued. But I had this historical to write and Real Writers finish every project they start, so I pushed her out of my head and kept
going on that historical.
Catherine kept coming back. Let me tell you about Joshua, she'd taunt.
Joshua? Who was Joshua?
Forget Joshua, and finish this historical!
Teeth gritted, I returned to the 1800's and refused to think about Catherine and Joshua.
And then I met Joshua. Angry, smitten with the woman who'd betrayed him and gorgeous.
I was hooked.
Right there in the middle of my historical romance I started writing Joshua's Revenge.
It was a clandestine affair. I'd work dutifully on my historical, churning out daily pages like Real Writers did, and then I'd sneak off
and visit with Catherine and Joshua, exploring their relationship and my imagination.
Soon, I was typing anything -- shopping lists, daily journals, anything -- just so I could complete my pages on the historical and race off to visit Joshua and Catherine.
This wouldn't work. If I couldn't stick with one project I'd never become a real writer. But, I couldn't give up Joshua and Catherine,
either.
I gave myself four weeks to get Joshua and Catherine out of my system, and then I promised to return and finish my historical.
I wrote quickly. I had to. I only had four weeks to find out what happened to Joshua and Catherine. I wrote all the time. I didn't care
about grammar, spelling or typos. I just had to find out if these two people were going to fall in love and live happily ever after.
Four weeks later I had my answer. And a 60,000 word romance.
It wasn't a perfect romance -- it couldn't be. It was a first draft.
But, it had potential. And most importantly, I loved the story.
I trashed the historical and worked on revising Joshua's Revenge instead. And I never wrote another outline again.
I'd love to tell you the publishers held a bidding war for Joshua's Revenge and labeled me the next Nora Roberts, but the manuscript was
rejected. While I was waiting to hear about it, I wrote another manuscript, and another, and that manuscript, my sixth, sold.
I'm working on my eighth manuscript now, and if I've learned one thing since 1993 it's that Real Writers write in many different ways. Some
Real Writers outline, some don't. Some know everything about their characters including their astrological forecast when they begin writing, some aren't even sure what the character's name is going to be.
Some Real Writers write when the mood strikes them, others have set schedules. Some write best when there are shouting children, ringing
telephones and World War III playing on the tv. Others lock themselves in a room where even the clock is silent.
It doesn't matter how you write, only that you do write.
I'm glad I outlined that historical romance. It was only by trying everything that I figured out what works for me.
Bottom line is Real Writers write. Which means I was a Real Writer all along.
