I have a bit of a dilemma. I write things that don’t align with the ideals of my religion.  I’m a Christian, wholeheartedly, but my characters usually aren’t, and therein lies the problem.

I’ve read books by Christians about Christians, and they always end up feeling somehow plastic.  The characters all have problems that have stark right or wrong choices according to the faith.  The hero is always perfectly virtuous, the villain perfectly evil.  The villain suffers for his bad choices, and the hero always rejoices in the triumph of good in his life.  Yes, it’s how I might wish life to be, but I can never get past the disconnect from reality.  Maybe it’s my own evil self, but I find most of these books annoying and trite, insipid.

Some of my fictional characters question God’s existence, they rail against Him in times of disappointment, they (gasp) cuss and cry and (double gasp) sin without feeling extreme guilt. 

And that leads to my quandary.  You see, my church and other Christians would feel obligated to question my faith and commitment in light of my writing – so I don’t tell them.  I live with this dirty little secret to maintain peace in my life.  I don’t think they would understand that my characters are not me, that I don’t condone their behavior merely because I write their stories, or that I don’t feel like my readers need a sermonette with every story they read.  So I write under a pen name.

Call me lame.  Call me a big fat chicken.  Just don’t call me by my real name when I sign your book.

My sister tries to “guilt” me by saying I shouldn’t write anything I’m ashamed to put my name on.  But I’m not sure I’m ashamed.  I just don’t want the hassle, the judgmental flak that comes from well-meaning critics.

One morning when I was a young mother with a newborn in a bassinet and a sink full of dirty dishes, my mother called me to read a journal entry written by a missionary she admired.  The writer was rhapsodising over the magnificence of God as revealed in the nature around him and the sunrise he was witnessing.  It was beautiful, inspiring, and the utter opposite of my current situation of overwhelming exhaustion and endless work.  “I feel bad,” I said to my mom, “because I don’t stand around thinking things like that when the sun comes up.”  My dear, romantic souled mother who had raised five children chuckled and replied, “Oh honey, if we all did that, no one would ever get anything done.” 

I think most people are more like me.  They might appreciate the righteous choices of one character, but to have every character act like Pollyanna would be too much to bear.  Who can relate? 

So there you have it – my true confessions as a writer. 

Have a great week, and keep on writing!

–Mary

It happened to me once again this week – the non-writer asking where I get my ideas.  The question amazes me almost as much as, “So, if you quit your job, what will you do?”  Really?  Do you really wonder?  The answers are endless.

Cheryl is in Hawaii this week, and I can guarantee that she’ll come home with eight million ideas for plots, characters, and details.  And no, not all of the ideas will wear flip flops and pin flowers in their hair.  In fact, most of them won’t be related to island paradises at all.  But her exposure to a new place and new people who are too relaxed to care what they say and do will provide her with a wealth of situations, odd phrases, and imaginative plots.  In fact, she won’t remember half of the ideas she has while she is there; most of them will fade before she has a chance to write them down.  That’s the downside of taking a vacation – you can’t stop your family in mid-hike to write down the fantastic idea that just flitted across your brain. 

Ideas for writing come from every place, every person, and every experience a writer has.  Most writers will tell you that they can never stop working.  Parties might be fun for the rest of the world and even for a writer, but his mind can’t help but observe the play of life that’s happening before his very eyes.  It’s impossible turn off the mental secretary that wants to record the whole thing for future use.

Stuck for ideas?  Listen to music.  Try resting on your living room floor and listening to Chopin, then Beethoven, then Mozart.  Then assault your senses with some Motley Crew, then Queen, and then some Barry White.  If you haven’t thought of a million things to write about by then, you’ve got some serious loosening up to do.  Try country.  I got the concept for an entire novel from one phrase of a country song.

Walk.  Or jog – if you must.  But get your body outside in the weather and smog and hear the world around you.  Watch the kids playing in their driveway, and ask yourself why their mother sent them out to play.  Was it really for their own good?  Is she on the phone?  Is she talking to her mother or a lover she swore she’d never see again?  Think of the possibilities.  Think of the probable and the absurd.

Maybe you aren’t a writer.  Maybe you’re a business manager, a marketing exec, a banker, a teacher.  You still need ideas.  Ideas are the fuel of life.  How can you make the business run smoother?  What will bring in more customers?  What hits the average car buyer’s hot button?  How can you get twenty two busy little minds to stop and pay attention?  You need ideas, and they need to be fresh ideas or no one will pay any attention to them.  What might work, what won’t work, and what would be completely over the top?  Think of it all.  Write down each thought.  And think some more.

My favorite and most hated idea-catcher is the voice recorder.  I hate the sound of my voice.  I hate listening to it on a recorder even more.  Nothing makes me feel nerdier than speaking into a voice recorder.  Maybe if I were some sort of secret agent or a neuro-scientist, I would feel less ridiculous recording my thoughts.  But somehow saying, “a woman, completely overwhelmed by her tired three year old and naughty six year old is trying to find a bra that fits at Target,” does not seem worth recording.  But it could be just the detail I need for a story, and by the time I get home from Target, make dinner for my family, help with homework, and watch Grey’s Anatomy, the detail of the woman in Target’s dressing room will be far erased from my mind.

So, you see, the problem isn’t finding ideas, it’s capturing them and keeping track of them.

Tell me where your ideas come from.  When do they strike?  How do you capture them and keep track of them?

In the mean time, keep writing.                                                                                                                                                                All the best,                                                                                                                                                                                                  Mary

I attended our monthly writers’ group meeting today.  As always, I returned home in total awe of our members.  They are a fantastic group and never take no as an answer.

It’s easy to forget between meetings, when you’re sitting in the basement staring at a blank screen, that there are others just like you.  As Emily, our newest member said, “Writing a book is hard.”  Yes, it is, but we keep plugging away, writing, critiquing, editing, submitting and hoping for publication.

But boys and girls, the road to publication is no longer a small trail with a select group of tollgate keepers deciding who gets to progress forward.  The publishing industry is in the midst of turmoil.  Those cart tracks have expanded to four-lane super highways.  Anyone who wants to be published nowadays can be.

Is that a problem?  Will junk and dreck clog the choices we have?  Probably.  But think about that for a moment.  How many people actually write a book?  As Emily noted, it’s hard.  Damn hard.  Your competition will remain the same.  If xxxx people finished a manuscript in 2006 b.k. (before Kindle), a similar amount will write a book in 2011.  The only difference is that more of them will become available to readers.

How many of your fellow authors are really, really good, on the cusp of being accepted for publication but have never quite got the nod from New York?  I can tell you, their chances lessen more and more.  Publishers can’t scramble fast enough to keep up with the minute-to-minute changes in the industry.  They hang on to their best selling authors, squeeze the mid-list and don’t take chances on newcomers.

How are you going to get a break if you don’t make your own?

Yes, there’s something to be said for traditional publishing.  I’ll always love the feel of a book in my hand.  I miss being able to thumb through the pages to the part I want to re-read (2/3 through the book on the left hand side.)  But, I can carry dozens of books in my purse on an e-reader.  (which will be super handy during my upcoming eight hour flight).  I can have what I want to read available within seconds instead of ordering it through the mail or hunting through library lists.

Ebooks have their drawbacks, but, at Amazon, they’ve already surpassed sales of paperbacks.  The Kindle (I’m using it as the standard of all ereaders) is not even four years old. Wait until the price drops below $99.  Do you not think there will be using ereaders?

Traditional publishing might not go away, but do you want to miss out on the greatest opportunity that has ever happened to the industry?  The industry you’re so desperate to break into?

Think about alternative ways to offer your book to your readers.  That’s all I ask.  Think about it.

I know I am.