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| Lorena McCourtney |
Author Lorena
McCourtney is here with us today, sharing wisdom she’s gained while on her
own writing journey.
~ Dawn
A
Patchwork Quilt of Thoughts
by
Lorena McCourtney
I’m no good at crafts, but I do have a patchwork quilt of
thoughts about writing and publishing that I’ve learned over the years. You may
find some of the scraps and pieces in it useful.
1. Don’t wait for the
muse of inspiration to hit you to write. The muse tends to be about as
cooperative as a wet cat. Write anyway.
2.
Don’t let the need for perfection – the perfect word, the perfect sentence – block
your writing. Try for the best you can do on any given day,
but if perfection is out of reach, settle for something less. On days when
everything you write reads like junk, settle for junk on that day. Keep
writing. On a better day, you can edit, and you can’t edit a blank page.
3. If
you don’t already have a system or technique for your writing, try out what
others say to do. Some people outline briefly, some extensively.
Some “seat of the pants” people don’t outline at all. They see where a story
takes them. Some people write straight through, no editing. Others edit as they
go. Just don’t believe that someone else’s system is the only acceptable one.
Try it – if it works for you, great! Use it. If it doesn’t work, try something
else.
4.
Don’t think that grammar, punctuation and spelling are unimportant, that a
copyeditor or proofreader will fix everything. You
don’t need to fuss about these details on a red hot writing day, but you do
need to fuss about them before sending them off to an editor or agent. If
either sees numerous grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes, your work
probably won’t ever get to that copyeditor or proofreader to fix the mistakes.
5.
Research. At least two ways to do it. Immerse yourself in the
subject. Read everything you can about it. This is valuable if you’re writing
about a particular historical era. You can get new ideas for your story from
it. But you can also research on an as-you-need-to-know basis. Your heroine
needs a gun. Look up enough to give her an appropriate weapon. You don’t need
to immerse yourself in guns to do it. Leave a blank hole in your story, come
back later and fill it with the proper information.
6. Play nice. Things go wrong.
Editors and copyeditors do strange things to your story. The publicity
department seems to ignore your book. If you have a legitimate gripe, you might
mention it, but don’t be so rude and cutting that you burn bridges. People in
the publishing world move around and you’re apt to run into this same person at
another publisher. Along with this, learn to live with those nasty reviews
everyone gets sooner or later. Starting a flame war with the reviewer will only
make people more curious about what the review said and more people will see
it. Ignore it and move on.
I’ve also heard about a few writers who have encouraged
friends to write nasty reviews about a competitor’s book. No, no, no – never!
I repeat: Play nice!
Tweetables:
Author Lorena McCourtney shares a patchwork quilt of
thoughts about writing. Click to tweet.
Author Lorena McCourtney shares 6 tips on writing and
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Never write nasty reviews about a competitor’s book. Play
nice! Click to tweet.
When
Cate Kinkaid receives a frantic call about a triple homicide, she drives to the
scene against her better judgment--aren't triple homicides more up the police
department's alley?--only to find that the victims are not quite who she
expects. Now she has a new rule to add to those she's learned in her short
stint as an assistant private investigator: always find out if the victims
actually have human DNA. Because these three do not.
But who
would shoot this nice lady's dolls? What possible reason could the shooter
have? And then there's the startling discovery of another victim, who
definitely does have human DNA . . .
About Lorena
McCourtney . . .
I came to writing faith-based mystery/romances in a
roundabout way. I started writing in the fifth grade, always stories about
horses. This love of horses carried me through a degree in agriculture from
Washington State University, and a job with a big midwestern meat-packing
business. (Where I quickly learned writing about raising hogs and making
sausage was not my life calling.) Marriage and motherhood intervened, and by the
time I got back to writing, I knew fiction was what I wanted to do. I wrote
many short stories for children and teenagers, eventually turned to book-length
romances, and now to the faith-based mystery/romances that I feel are my real
home. My husband and I live in southern Oregon, where our only livestock now is
one eccentric cat.
To learn more, please visit:
Website: http://www.lorenamccourtney.com
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