Have you ever been typing away on your WIP and come across a need for a tidbit of information that seems illusive? Author Jennifer Slattery provides a few tips to keep you from panicking. -- Sandy
Jennifer: I think writers would be awesome trivia pursuit contestants.
Well, if the questions were completely random and less on pop culture or
musical history and more on all those strange things that have never crossed
most people’s mind. Chances are, those topics never crossed our minds, either,
until necessitated by our story world.
Of course, the biggest questions just happen to come when
we’re midway through our story, the most inopportune time for sure. And every
once in awhile—often, actually—we hit a question whose answer evades us, no
matter where or for how many hours we search. Then panic arises as
uncomfortable questions flood our brain, like: What if I never find the answers
to this? Will I have to start my story over completely? Or worse, abandon this
plot thread all together?
We’ve all been there, most likely numerous times! Here are
some things I’ve discovered:
1. God’s always got the answer, and yes, sometimes that does
involve gutting an entire novel. But revisions are simply part of the process,
and things always get done. So, when a complete rewrite is in order, I simply
need to remind myself that everything is fixable and I’ve done it before, so I
can do it again. Besides that, God’s still sovereign over my career. That plot hole
didn’t surprise Him. It didn’t throw His plan for me for a loop. To the
contrary, if He allowed the struggle in, He’s using it for a good, hope-filled
purpose.
So, I take a deep breath, pause to turn to Him in prayer,
then get to work. Because fretting, about it is a waste of time and
energy.
2. There are numerous people out there willing and able to
help me. I just need to locate them. I’ve talked to insurance agents, medical
personnel—including an organ procurement coordinator and hospital chaplain,
mental health professionals, soccer players, El Salvadoran translators, prison
guards, restaurant owners, and many, many more, and I’ve found there’s nothing
like chatting with a real-live person to get the creative juices flowing. Plus,
as I share my ideas, they can let me know which ones won’t work, something I
may not discover on the Internet.
3. I must keep a detailed notebook, because chances are you
won’t get a contract on the book you’re researching now until a few years
later, long enough (and with enough other stories in between) that you’ve
forgotten many of the facts and details you spent hours upon hours tracking
down. You know what that means, right? Yep. You’ll have to start over, only on
a deadline this time, or, if you had a deadline during draft one, on a much
tighter deadline.
What about you? What are some ways you find information on things you’re unfamiliar with? Or do you try to avoid the unknown and write only what you know instead? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, because we can all learn from each other.
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Jennifer Slattery writes soul-stirring fiction
for New Hope Publishers, a publishing house passionate about bringing God’s
healing grace and truth to the hopeless. She also writes for Crosswalk.com,
Internet Café Devotions, and the group blog, Faith-filled Friends. When not
writing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee
dates with her hilariously fun husband.
Visit with Jennifer online at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.com
and connect with her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/JenSlatte
Abandoned
by her husband for another woman, Tammy Kuhn, an organ procurement coordinator
often finds herself in tense and bitter moments. After an altercation with a
doctor, she is fighting to keep her job and her sanity when one late night she
encounters her old flame Nick. She walks right into his moment of facing an
unthinkable tragedy. Because they both have learned to find eternal purposes in
every event and encounter, it doesn’t take long to discover that their lives
are intertwined but the ICU is no place for romance….or is it? Could this be
where life begins again?
Intertwined,
part of New Hope Publisher’s contemporary fiction line, is a great reminder of
how God can turn our greatest tragedies and failures into beautiful acts of
love and grace. Readers will fall in love with the realistic characters and
enjoy the combination of depth, heart-felt emotion and humor that makes
Jennifer’s novels so appealing. Readers will be inspired to find God in every
moment and encounter in their own lives!
Buy it:
