Things I thought I knew about writing...

Writing is for some, an organic process.  You sit down, inspiration flows through you and pours out through your finger tips, echoing through the room in the tapping of keys.  That works for some people.  In the writing world, those people are called pantsters.  Meaning, they write in a fly by the seat of their pants kind of way where the assumption is that the story will all come together on its own in the end.  Other people are called plotters.  They have grids and spreadsheets and index cards and outlines and timelines and character profiles... and etc. ect. 

Not everyone falls neatly into those two categories.  As usual, I walk the middle of the road with pleasant indifference.  I tend to start writing in the pantster fashion.  I'll do about fifty or sixty pages of good solid writing, something that lets me know who my characters are and how they interact with one another.  Then I become a plotter... bwha ha ha ha.  Not really, but whatever.  I do like to take those established characters at that point and see what I can do with them.  Where do I want them to wind up, what obstacles will they encounter along the way, what sort of internal and external conflict will they face, what is ultimately keeping them apart and how can it be defeated?  There are a dozen other such questions, hundreds honestly. 

The thing is, whether you are a pantster or a plotter, you can't be published until you start writing.  So, write.  Plan, plot.  Do whatever it takes, short of illegal methods, to be inspired.  If you do use illegal methods, don't get caught.  I imagine prison could greatly hamper the creative process, unless you are Sir Walter Raliegh.  It worked for him. 

Check him out.  What a guy!!!
http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/tohisson.htm

RWA Conference

So I went to the Romance Writers of America Conference, held in NYC this year.  I know, it was a really expensive excuse to get to Chinatown for the shopping.  Kidding.  I've wanted to attend this event for years.  I can remember buying the Romantic Times when I was younger, before I'd written a book or even seriously believed that I could, and being fascinated by the pictures and articles that came from the conference.  Everyone looked so happy and like they were having such a FABULOUS time.  Now, I know its because they really were. 

There is something to be said for being surrounded by thousands of people who are as passionate about something as you are, and also, who understand exactly where you are at in your "career" because they have been there, are still there, or are hoping to be there by next year's conference.  Whether you are published, unpublished, or whether your manuscript is even finished, there is a sense of community at the event that makes you feel welcomed.  You walk in and think, "Ah, my people...".  And they are my people. 

I met some of the most amazing women and amazing writers there.  On the second night of the conference I wound up going out to dinner with three other ladies from the conference.  We had a district manager for Barnes and Noble from Phoenix, an Engineer for Boeing from Seattle, a Graphic Designer from Fargo, and myself, a Social Worker and Counseling grad student from Kentucky all at one table.  We had just met, and we talked for hours.  As different as night and day, we had a common interest, romance novels, both the reading and writing of.  And if the collective intelligence and achievements of that group doesn't show the world that romance novelists are some of the smartest people around, then the world can just go read its literary fiction until it falls into a deep, boredom induced sleep.