Plot Monkeys

The Plotmonkeys are very excited to bring today’s guest blogger to you…Jane Porter! Jane is a writer who can span just about all emotions from hiliarity to poignancy. Her books are absolutely fabulous and we’re all so thrilled to have her here. Welcome, Jane!
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Playing Nice with Your Dragon

Introduction to the Writer’s Life

Being a writer makes us special. There are lots of books that will tell you how special you are, how special your creative muse is. They’ll try to celebrate your creativity and help you embrace it, but most of those people writing those books aren’t writers like us.

I don’t know about the how wonderful, how special, how lovely it is to be creative part hoopla. For those of us who write, its not always lovely and special. Its closer to addictive, maddening, agonizing.

This isn’t a workshop where I’m going to encourage you to embrace your creative muse, to spend lots of quality time getting to know yourself, or suggesting that you take your muse on dates. That’s not me. I don’t have that kind of relationship with my muse. My muse isn’t the kind you take on dates. You see, my muse is a dragon. A really big scaly green dragon with a mammoth tail, long nose, and sharp, lethal teeth. My dragon breathes smoke and fire and if its really upset, it can kill.

In my world—a potentially scary little world—I have to learn how to write, and live, while keeping a man-eating dragon happy. I’ve learned the hard way what the dragon will and won’t tolerate. The list is a little lengthy, so here’s the short version. My dragon objects to the following:
-criticism
-negativity
-pressure
-insults
-derogatory people, rudeness, impatience, insensitivity…and so on.

You see, the dragon lives inside me—and has lived inside me for virtually my whole life. I didn’t know or understand the dragon until more recently, and much of my teens and twenties was spent calling this ‘thing’ a demon, or demons plural. I felt possessed by it—driven, manipulated, controlled. In short, I felt like a crazy lady. It wasn’t until early in my thirties that I met a very educated someone that had lots of experience with crazy people and she sorted out the differences between those that hear voices in their heads and Jane that hears voices in her head.

Yes, I do hear voices, but that’s because I’ve written novels since I was little. My voices are the voices of characters, people, waiting to have their stories told. I’m not unstable, unsound, unhealthy, and my drive to make…to create…is as much a part of me as breathing. And for us, sitting here, we know intellectually that there is no shame in being a writer, and yet if you’ve spent years trying to ‘fit in’, and be part of the world, you know its tricky. It’s painful. The fact is, we’re not like everybody else. We’re home to a huge, gorgeous, mythical creature—the writer—and sooner or later we’ve got to come to grips with the realities of living with such a beast.

It took me years to understand what the writing lifestyle—what being a writer—encompasses. And there are periods when I wish to God I didn’t write, when the responsibility of living with, and sustaining such a mythical creature, feel overwhelming. It’s easy being a writer when the dragon is happy, and when I’m relaxed and warm and content, the dragon snoozes along, happy, too. But when I stress, panic, or hate the writing, the dragon gets mad and its war. The dragon will go for my jugular every time.

So how to keep a dragon happy?

1) The dragon wants pretty much primary importance in your life.
2) Your dragon wants to be told he or she’s beautiful.
3) Dragons like regular cycles of activity and rest (i.e. your dragon has to be allowed to sleep—a lot. In fact, a sleeping dragon is a sign of a healthy life.)

I also know my dragon is happier when:
a) I feed him.
b) I let him play.
c) I give him space
d) And when he needs to fight, I don’t make him act like sissy cousin Puff.

What I’m trying to say about creativity and the dragon symbolism is that for us, that choose to be commercial writers, and yet remain devoted to craft, and respecting the art of fiction, we can’t afford to let our muse run the show unchecked, showing up at will, deserting at will, generally creating havoc. A dragon run amuck is not a good thing. A dragon out of control eats villagers, creates terror, spits fire—this dragon is not helping anybody and would generally be hunted down by the hardier castle knights and warriors and put to death. Not a good end to a beautiful, mythical beast.

Not what we want for our own dragon.

And that’s the fine line we walk—allowing the dragon healthy independence without letting the dragon control the future.

How Do We Succeed as Writers?

A. Define Your Expectations

First, you’re going to need to do two things to answer the question. Only you can answer the following, and I want you to take a moment now, and answer on your handout, scribble something, but later, come back to this, and really think about it. I would spend the next year of two thinking about this as well. It’s not something that’s a snap decision; you have to be able to live with your goals—and yourself—to be truly content.

1) How do you define success?
2) How do you define success for yourself?
3) What are your goals for yourself, short term, and long term?

You won’t be content until you know what it is you’re striving for. If you’re like many writers, you will always feel a vague restlessness, a craving to create. But you need to learn how to separate the creative instinct from personal happiness. Put another way, the dragon will always be there, and you can be happy—fulfilled—if you put the dragon on your team, make the dragon part of your family and your world and stop trying to make the dragon fit into everyone else’s world. The dragon is essentially good and shy and lovely—don’t make the dragon suffer needlessly. Don’t you suffer needlessly. Stop comparing careers, lives, goals. Have your own goals, have your own definitions of happiness and success and focus on that.

B. Be Prepared for Pit-falls

Problems We Face as (Commercial) Fiction Writers:

1. Fear of rejection.
2. Fear of criticism
3. Fear of failure (Or just as bad, fear of publicly failing.)
4. Burning Out
5. Getting “Blocked”

C. Problem Solving

Understand Risk

Understand the nature of creativity—

Understand the nature of being human—we’re going to fail, and we’re going to make mistakes. It’s impossible not to make mistakes, especially when trying something new, or pushing ourselves to the next level.

Anticipate Problems

Everyone has fears, and everyone will struggle. We won’t however, struggle over the same issues. We don’t all have the same issues.

Silence the Critics

It’s inevitable that someone, somewhere is going to throw a dart at you, or your work. That, unfortunately, is human nature. You can’t change people, and you’re not going to change human nature, so the best thing to do is be prepared. Be on the offensive.

Just as you should anticipate problems, prepare in advance for your critics objections. Anticipate potential criticisms, or skepticism, and if possible, have an answer for each possibility.

Understand the Process

How do you plot?
How do you deal with the void/vacuum? How do you cycle out of it?

Eliminate Distractions

But what happens if we lose focus? What happens if you do look out to the world for validation, look to an external reward system—advances, bestseller lists, contracts—and you feel…lacking? What happens if you lose your calm?

In 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women, Gail McMeekin, describes what she calls as “Serenity Stealers”, those things that operate as negative life choices,
What kind of trouble? Well, here are some potential pitfalls—

From Hapless Victim to Warrior Woman

We need to develop a Psychology of Power. Most of us weren’t raised to think of ourselves as warriors. Most of us were raised—like most women in our society—to try and please others.

Because we were raised to please, we’re vulnerable to the judgments of others. We tend to put others perceptions and judgments above our own. We literally give away our power, deferring to others, and yet deep down, we’re frustrated and angry that we’ve told ourselves what amounts to a lie. No one has a right, or better answer. No one knows that much more than you do. No one knows better than you what’s right for you. No one can define creativity or art for you, either.

Safety in Numbers

Kate White, author of Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls Do, says that good girls have a problem going with their gut, or trusting their instinct, “because it often means going against what other people think.” White adds, “What a good girl wants is consensus. When she gets consensus, it not only means that she’s managed to please everybody—a high priority—but that she’s guaranteed herself safety in numbers.

And yet trusting your gut is essential for anyone in business, and particularly vital for those of us that write. People who are overwhelmed by constant analysis, lots of rules, and negative vibes, will never pursue the boldest, most creative rule-bending way of doing something.

To develop a psychology of power, to begin to think like a warrior, you must:

Trust Yourself

You can’t give away your power. You must trust yourself to write. And to write well, you must stop thinking—stop over analyzing—stop forcing plot, stop playing little dictator as if you’re immersed in a do-or-die game of Twister—you have to let go of the writing. One of my favorite authors is Ray Bradbury and one of the best books I’ve ever read about writing is his Zen in the Art of Writing. This book is brilliant and lovely and warm. Bradbury is so incredibly compassionate and I wish everyone had this book at home to read and reflect on, but for ten years Bradbury had a sign taped over his typewriter, and it said: Don’t Think!

Fight Only for What you Believe
Therefore, if you trust yourself to write, then you’re only going to write what you truly believe in, write only what you’re passionate about.

The Emperor’s New Clothes (Reviewers & Power)

Sometimes in our industry, we spend huge amounts of time and energy fearing or fretting about reviews. I know I have, especially the reviews in RT or up at Amazon, and yet those reviews haven’t killed my career, and I’ve no intention of them controlling me, either.

Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Dog (Dragon)

Quite frankly, your dragon is sick of being told that he or she is inferior as well. Think about it, as pet owners, you love your dog or cat. You don’t look at your dog and think, wow, I wish he were like my neighbor’s dog. My neighbor’s dog is soooo much smarter. My neighbor’s dog can shake hands and roll over and run a twenty yard dash. My neighbor’s dog has even been invited to appear on David Letterman’s Stupid Pet Tricks. No, we think, how great that neighbor’s dog is, but you still love your own dog—and you love your own dog more because you feed that dog and pet that dog and that darn dog loves you. That dog would follow you anywhere and wouldn’t know what to do without you. And it’s the same thing for your dragon. Your dragon loves you and needs you and doesn’t care about the neighbor’s dragon, doesn’t want to hear how great the neighbor’s dragon is. Your dragon just wants your attention, and that’s the only dragon you should be thinking about, too.

Playing Nice With Your Dragon Exercises

Exercise #1: Defining You

4) How do you define success?
5) How do you define success for yourself?
6) What are your goals for yourself:

Short term?

1.
2.
3.

Long term?

1.
2.
3.

Exercise #2: Problem Solving

Know Yourself. Be Prepared. Be able to answer these questions:

How do you plot?
How do you deal with hitting a wall/getting writer’s block?
How do you cycle out of it?
When you’re struggling, what makes you feel better?

Making Your Dragon a Part of Your Life
(Five Tips for Surviving the Creative Life)

1) Your dragon doesn’t get to decide if you’re going to write or not.
2) Perfectionism is a leading cause of writer’s block. Stop demanding yourself to be perfect. Allow yourself to be mediocre…even bad…and words will return.
3) Burn out means you need rest. If you’re writing from one deadline to the next without time to breathe and play, your dragon will turn on you.
4) Your dragon wants to be your dragon, not someone else’s. Write what makes you happy. Create the fantasy you believe in.
5) Dragons need passion the way you need oxygen. To quote Ray Bradbury, write with zest, write with gusto, write about what you love, write about what you hate, find a character that is like you and write about the characters love and hate. This is gusto. This is what frees the dragon, allows you and your inner world to become larger than life–mythical.

Exercise #3: Serenity Stealers

(Exercise taken from 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women)

Walk around your home or office practicing making things disappear—the garden that’s overgrown, the junk in your closet, the bill-paying routine that doesn’t work, or the messages on your answering machine from people that you really don’t want to call back. Wave your imaginary wand at the incompetent secretary whom you don’t have the courage to fire, or the filing project you dread tackling. Imagine how you would feel if all of these negative stressors were out of your life. Be candid. It’s your interaction with these challenges that creates the dilemmas.

To Do: Write your list-and keep going until you find your top ten Serenity Stealers.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Once you have your list, note down next to each what that Stealer “costs” you—inner peace, self-respect, time, energy, money?

Now rank these Stealers from one through ten, with one being the most upsetting Stealer of all. Then identify the one that feels hardest to eliminate as well as the one that feel easiest to get rid of.

Imagine your life without these negative choices and focus on invoking the Power of Subtraction: learn to eliminate that which stresses you.

Lesson: Creative solutions emerge once you have the courage to tell the truth about what distresses you. 

Jane has been gracious enough to offer a signed copy of FLIRTING WITH FORTY to one of our posters/commenters today! Check back Sunday for the winner!

Reading List

The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear
Ralph Keyes
ISBN 0-8050-3189-8

Zen in the Art of Writing
Ray Bradbury
ISBN 10-553-29634-5

Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead But Gutsy Girls Do
Kate White
ISBN 0-446-67215-7

12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women
Gail McMeekin
ISBN 1-57324-141-5

The Woman’s Book of Creativity
C Diane Ealy, Ph. D.
ISBN 1-885223-06-4

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Mihaly Csikszentmihalui
ISBN 0-06-092043-2

Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
Mihaly Csikszentmihalui
ISBN 0-06-092820-4