Plot Monkeys

There is an inestimable amount of talent among the writers known as the Blaze Babes. It’s easy enough to guess who those writers are, yes? I’m always blown away by the talent of the women who write for Harlequin’s hottest category line. A few weeks ago, I picked up SEX AS A SECOND LANGUAGE by Jamie Sobrato and was once again amazed at the sheer fun of Jamie’s work–this book was like eating the best gelato in all of Rome (the book’s set in Rome, hence the simile!) and I just adored the characters, the plot, the style–but mostly, the writer’s voice.

So I asked Jamie to guest blog with us and she agreed! Thanks, Jamie! She has a book out now called THE SEX BOMB (see the cover below…it’s one of the hottest EVER!) so be sure and check it out! My copy should be arriving soon via Amazon–and if you click on the pictures, yours could, too! She’s brought us some very good advice this Saturday…and clearly, Jamie knows what she’s talking about…

The Art and Craft of Knowing Nothing

One of the most profound realizations I’ve had recently is that, um–excuse me while I finish this Snickers bar–the candy accumulated for and by trick or treating causes me to eat way too much chocolate. Oh, and also that when I’m writing, nubile young servant men will never come scrub my floors unless I pay them, and where does one find hot male maids for hire, anyway? I mean, legally.

But no, neither of those are the profound realization I’m thinking of. Our dear Plotmonkeys have invited me here to discuss a writing craft related topic, and this whole concept always makes me laugh. Me? Have something useful to say about the writing craft? You must be kidding.

I guess I probably do, but trying to extract it from my brain is no easy process. I’m an intuitive learner, I space out when I try to read writing craft books, and I hate structure so much that I write all my books in messy, out-of-order pseudo-scenes that would make my editor scream and cower in a dark corner of her office if she ever saw them in first draft form.

But over the years, I’ve boiled my writing craft philosophy down to something I can sort of articulate to the world outside my brain. I call it The Art and Craft of Knowing Nothing, and it goes kind of like this. You work hard and write tons of stuff and do what you can to learn whatever your overworked brain can absorb, but mostly you just trust your storyteller’s intuition. This is a skill it can take years to master, but it’s probably the most important one to have aside from being able to type in English and find your writer’s voice and all that jazz. And the thing you have to do to master it, is the thing you love to do most–keep telling stories.

When you let too many other people’s opinions and ideas and how-tos and must-dos get in your head, you blow the magic that is your own incredibly unique way of doing this business we call writing novels. So you tell all the nagging voices to shut up, because it’s just your job to write. And then write some more. And some more.

I could have boiled it down even further to these two simple words, if I weren’t so wordy: trust yourself. But that would have made an exceedingly short blog post. And now I’ve made a too-long one, which is much more my style.

Thank you, you lovely Plotmonkeys and fans of Plotmonkeys for having me here today! It’s been my pleasure. And now that you hereby have my permission to toss aside all the craft tools and rigid rules, which one are you going to hurl most gleefully off the nearest tall building?