Writing 101: Books and Race

I've avoided writing about this subject in all possible ways, and believe me I could have kept my head buried in sand much longer. But the question cropped up recently during a standard interview, and I've been thinking about it ever since. So today we writers have to ask ourselves a question: where does race belong in books?

This Land is Your Land

Some literary characters are very clearly defined when it comes to race. James Patterson has never made it a secret that Alex Cross, his main protagonist, is a black man. Tony Hillerman writes about Native American heroes. But did any of the Harry Potter books implicitly state that he's a white boy?

Race is often implied in books, more than stated, and that's my personal approach. Through descriptions, it's possible to convey race without stating it outright. A pasty or pale-skinned character can be a presumed Caucasian. The phrase "coffee-colored" appears a lot with African-American characters. Someone whose ethnicity is stated, a Peruvian for example, clearly has a skin tone to match their origins.

But usually, race goes unstated. This allows the reader to envision whatever they want, to think about the characters in a way that's comfortable for them. But it also doesn't do anything to bridge cross-racial relations, or show people of different races that they aren't so dissimilar from each other. By the same token, a book featuring a character whose race is clearly stated may alienate some readers. Unfortunately, we still live in a world where some readers may avoid a book written about an African-American hero.

When it comes to race, there's always a very fine line between acceptance and prejudice -- and that's what makes it so difficult to write. Every author has to find their own way to address race, but remember this: if you can't do it without stereotyping, discriminating or judging, don't address it at all. If you think you can't write objectively about the topic, don't. 

Race is a dicey subject, but it's the writer's job to figure out a way through all those difficult situations. Sometimes, complete avoidance may be the most successful writing technique. But if you feel you're ready to address race in a non-offensive and potentially eye-opening way, go for it. Making people think is part of a writer's job, too.

Writing 101: Insecurity

Every time you sit down at your keyboard to write a book, and actually do it, you've won a battle. Writing a book isn't just about finding a pretty way to put the words down on the page. It's not just about entertaining, or educating, or agenda-pushing. It's about defeating that little voice inside yourself that tells you you're crazy for thniking you can write a book. 

Every writer faces insecurity. And when you keep writing anyway, you're winning the battle...but you're not ever going to win the war. 

Fooling the World

It takes a certain amount of bravery to put a book out there for someone else to read, whether you're self-publishing and inviting the world at large to judge your words or you're asking your closet friend to take a look at some chapters. It's frightening to put yourself in another person's hands like that. 

Insecurity stops lots of would-be writers from pursuing their dreams, and it trips up even the most established of authors at the worst possible times. Everyone gets insecure about their writing. I can't count how many times I've thought that maybe I'm a hack, but I don't let it get to me. Because here's the thing: even the most famous authors have felt that way. 

It's not your fault you're insecure about your writing. The industry has helped make us this way. Rejection is common, bad reviews are a matter of fact, and explanations are rarely forthcoming. When you don't know what you're doing wrong, it's easy to start second-guessing everything you've done and everything you ever will do, writing-wise. It's easy to start feeling a little like a hack. It's easy to be afraid.

So go ahead and feel afraid, and insecure, and unsure of yourself...but don't let it keep you from writing. If you write and you put something out there for the public to read or for an agent to read, you will experience negativity. That happens to all writers who let anyone read their work at any time. But you will have positive experiences as well, and you'll learn from them all. You'll keep writing, you'll get better, you'll establish a fan base and you'll move on to bigger and more exciting projects. And you'll probably always feel a little like a hack.

Being insecure about your writing is a good thing. That shows a desire to keep improving, to produce something that's great. Fear keeps you motivated and detail-oriented. Use it, work with it, and keeping trying to improve your work so it doesn't meet "hack" status. The day you stop being insecure about your work is the day you ought to worry. Until then, keep on writing.

Writing 101: Professionalism

In the world of the theater, a term developed to describe the invisible but very real barrier in front of the stage. A classic stage is made up of three sides -- a back, and two wings. The front of the stage is open, but that doesn't mean it's passable. This part of the stage is protected by the invisible barrier that puts the audience on one side, and the performer on the other. 

This is what's known as the Fourth Wall. And when you're in indie author mode, you're on one side of it. Everyone else in the world is on the other. In other words, you have to learn how to maintain your professionalism -- and that means holding some of yourself back from the world...maybe even most of yourself.

I'm Rubber, and You're Glue

Now, the phrase Fourth Wall is generally used to refer to movies and television. The Fourth Wall separates us, the viewers, from those who are entertaining us on the screen. They're acting something out for us to see, and usually those magical people onscreen interact only with each other.

But sometimes, quite rarely, actors on the screen will directly address us, the viewer. You'll see a good example of it in the movie Mary Poppins, actually, near the beginning when Dick van Dyke looks into the camera and talks right to you. This practice is known as breaking the Fourth Wall. It's very rarely done. When it is, one of two results is pretty much inevitable: it's either spectacular and clever, or it's just plain creepy.

The wall of professionalism is similar to the Fourth Wall, and for the sake of this post it's an able metaphor. The point is, you've got to erect a barrier (albeit invisible) between you...and everybody else. This is how you maintain professionalism.

What is professionalism? It's much more than using the formal tone of address when you're writing an email letter. It's a lot more than proofreading your Tweets and status updates to make sure they're well-written. It's more than giving yourself a schedule, and sticking to it. And it even goes beyond the amount of time you spend polishing your writing. Professionalism is an attitude that you've got to inject into your every interaction while you're in your indie author persona.

What does that mean, exactly? It means not getting too personal, for starters. Tell people a little about yourself, because you're a real person. If you're mad for ice cream and water polo, feel free to say so on your Facebook page. But all your followers don't want read about your recent breakup, and you shouldn't be bumming people out when your beloved cat dies (sorry if your cat has died). There's personable, and then there's personal. Guess which one you're supposed to be.

Being a professional also means being able to take criticism, no matter how unkind, and suffer it with a smile. As an indie author and a public figure (so to speak), you're going to take some shit. It'll come at you from unexpected places. A random tweet, a scathing review, a few choice comments on your author blog -- heck, you might even get an email in your inbox titled "hey shit head." And you should suffer all of it with a smile. For the most part, you just ignore it (an act which truly requires greatness and personal strength). But when it's appropriate and necessary, laugh it off. When someone points out a spelling or grammar error in one of my tweets, for example, I'll congratulate them for passing a secret test -- all in a tongue-in-cheek manner, of course. Ignore it when you can, laugh when you can't and don't take it personally. It feels personal, maybe it even is personal, but you don't get personal.

After all, you're a professional now. Wear it well, and you'll find it much easier to take the slings and arrows that are bound to come your way.

Writing 101: Sell, Sell, Sell...On Your Blog

Indie authors should always have their own space on the web, and a blog is the easiest option. But if you aren't using it to sell books, you're wasting your own time.

Always Selling

Authors are salesmen (or women). Yes, all of them -- that includes you. It's your job to think about selling books, or finding ways to give them away for free, at all times. You're not doing this to make money, because you're probably not going to make a lot of money so don't waste time on that ambition. You're doing it so that you get read, and that's the ultimate goal of any author. You want people to read. 

To facilitate that, you've got to get them to buy. So use your blog, because it's yours. You've got to pay money for Facebook ads, and you've got to spend a lot of time with Twitter to get big results from that. You put a ton of work into being an indie author because you write your books, and edit them and put them together beautifully. But adding some stuff to your blog to sell more books? That's the easy part. There are lots of ways to do it; use any or all of them. 

• Links: It's the easiest thing in the world to add links to your blog. Create widgets to place them permanently on the page. Make them attractive and colorful. Include pictures of your book covers and other interesting elements. 
• Quotes: If you've got some good reviews, add a few quotes to your blog. After all, if Reader Stacy enjoyed the book, why won't Blogcrawler Molly?
• Shopping cart: Get fancy, and add a shopping cart to your blog so readers may buy the book directly from you. PayPal, Google and many other websites allow you to do this for free.
• Widgets: Many sites, including book-centric Goodreads, have widgets that make it easy for you to add your books to your blog. Amazon and many online bookstores have widgets you can use as well. Explore the options to create a layout that pleases you.

Your blog isn't just or selling your books. It's also for selling yourself. Remember that as an author you are a brand. If you are likable and readable on your blog, readers are much more likely to take a look at your books. All you really have to do is make it easy for them to do so.

Writing 101: Write Forward, Not Backward

When you need to move a story forward, it's tempting to start looking backward. But this is a slippery slope, and it might keep you from finishing that book. 

Don't Look Down

You know that moment in the movies when Character B is walking across some narrow piece of something-or-other over a dangerous chasm of doom -- and they're just one freefall away from being at the bottom of it? Character C, like an idiot, always hollers out "don't look down!" Inevitably, Character B looks down. More than half the time, it makes them fall or otherwise screw up what they're attempting to do. 

So the last thing I want to do is tell you not to look back when you're writing a book...but don't. You have to keep writing forward. Remember that it's just a first draft, and doesn't have to be perfect. It's not going to be perfect in the first draft anyway, no matter how long you take to write it. In the first draft, you may not have all the logistics worked out. Certain plot points may not be cohesive yet. Certain scenes might be too short, or too long. But that's okay, because when it comes to the first draft your only job is to write. 

You can always work out the details later. Always be moving forward in the first draft. If you get stuck, you may want to go back and read that last few chapters just to get yourself fired up again. But don't start correcting errors, or you'll ever stop. It's okay to read the first draft before it's finished -- but don't start editing. Write, write, write until the first draft is done. You've got all the time you need to perfect that writing, but you've got to get the writing done first.

Writing 101: Sacrifice

Hobbies are fun. They're what you choose to do when you don't have anything you have to do. But when you make the leap to indie author, writing is no longer your hobby. It's not your job (in most cases, it's only one of the jobs you have). And to be good at it, you have to learn how to sacrifice.

Your Books, Yourself

When you work all day at a job, and I'm going to go ahead and assume that you don't get to write novels all day at your job, you're going to be tired when it's finally over. You might be frustrated, grumpy, all sorts of stuff. You might be looking forward to some relaxation time, maybe doing a little unwinding with some video games or a movie. 

Forget it. If you're an indie author, your second work day just begins when the regular work day ends. You can't play games or watch a movie, because you have plots to imagine and pages to type and paragraphs to edit -- so get to it.

And when the weekend rolls around? Well, you worked all week at your job-job and you worked on your book in your spare time. So clearly Saturday is a great time to sleep in, maybe enjoy a round of golf with the guys or a day of shopping with the girls (or vice versa, because there are no sexists here). Nope. The weekends give you the chance to really get some work done on your books, uninterrupted time that you don't have to snatch here and there. So close the windows, shut the door and start typing. 

Just when you think you might be able to snag some time off, that's about the time you're going to have to answer your author emails, maybe write some tweets. You need to post on your blog, get active on Facebook and catch up to the forums you've been neglecting. In other words, there goes your Sunday, too. You'll need that whole day just to catch up to your responsibilities, and it's very likely you'll fall into some sort of sleep coma for a few hours. 

If you work full-time and keep up any sort of grooming routine, and eat and sleep on top of it, there's no way around it: you have to make sacrifices to be an indie author. You have to be promoting daily to sell books and you've got to work on new projects constantly to keep readers engaged. It's a lot of work, and that means you have to pass up on fun events, free time and stuff in general that you want to do.

But you can't pass all the time, no matter how full your plate may be. If you don't spend some time relaxing and take a few moments to yourself, you won't be able to write at your best. Sacrifice, but don't completely deprive yourself. Work, but don't over-burden yourself daily. Be disciplined, but not unreasonable. It's hard to find the right balance, but it's easier when you know what it takes to be an indie author.

Books on Film: Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Too many people have no idea that Fast Times at Ridgemont High was a book before it was a movie. Those who have read it largely agree that it's even better than the famous film, yet the book is currently out print. If you haven't been exposed to it, you've truly missed out on one of the most authentic high school stories ever told.

The Book

Cameron Crowe is a talented writer who got an early start (the film Almost Famous is loosely based on his life). While working for Rolling Stone, Crowe went undercover at a high school while in his early twenties in order to research Fast Times at Ridgemont High. He attended for an entire school year, and a very memorable book and movie were the result.

The book itself very closely resembles the movie, but the story has much more depth. Linda and other characters become less shallow on the page, and there's much more dialogue and interaction. Since it's out of print, you'll have a hard time finding a copy (it's not available digitally). But you can watch the film to get a sense of the story.

The Film

Fast Times tracks a key group of high school students through one year. At the center of the story is Stacy Hamilton, a sophomore who has spent the summer working at a hip burger joint in the mall. She's friendly with Linda, who is a senior. Brad Hamilton, Stacy's older brother, is also a senior and he's pretty much got it made. He's got a great job, a cool car and a steady girl. He's the opposite of Rat, the shy movie usher who works across the mall from Stacy's summer gig. He has a huge crush on her, and under the coaching of his too-cool-for-school friend Damone, asks her out on a date.

Stacy is being coached through High School dating by Linda, who is purportedly very knowledgeable about sex. With her encouragement, Stacy makes a date with a much older guy. She lies to him about her age, sneaks out of the house, and the two have sex on their date. He sends her flowers the next day, which she asks her brother Brad to get rid of. He does so by giving them to Lisa, whom he's planning to dump so he can date other girls. 

Stacy uses her newfound sexual confidence to put the moves on Rat during their date, but it freaks him out. She ends up putting the moves on Damone instead, and he's happy to comply. But when he doesn't help Stacy deal with the resulting pregnancy, Linda steps up to get revenge. Rat confronts him, too, and we see that Damone isn't the totally cool guy he pretends to be.

Brad isn't the totally cool guy he thinks he is, either. He loses his job after blowing up at a customer and decides to hang onto his girl, but she doesn't want to hang onto him. He eventually gets a job at a convenience store and, with help from school stoner Jeff Spicoli he becomes a hero.

Jeff is the best character in the film. Played by Sean Penn, Spicoli is that perpetually-stoned slacker who exists in every high school. But he meets his match in the form of Mr. Hand, the school's toughest and sternest teacher.

Stacy learns that Linda isn't really so experienced, and things immediately get better when she stops taking her advice.

What Got Adapted?

The film is more streamlined than the novel, the stories around each character more neatly arranged. On film, distinct main characters emerge, while the book is a bit more scattered and unfocused. And some things did get lost or changed in translation. In the book, Stacy is much more aggressive with her older date. They go on more than one date, and finally she puts the moves on him to get him to make love to her. It happens in one date on film, and he is the aggressor. In the book, he continues to ask her for dates until she reveals her true age to him. 

Spicoli isn't nearly so likable in the book, though some of this is no doubt due to Sean Penn. He makes Spicoli one of the bright spots of the film, but on the page he's more of a buffoon. Many of Penn's memorable film lines aren't even in the original book. Forest Whitaker's character is much more developed on the page; he appears only very briefly in the movie. One fairly prominent character from book, Steve, was deleted from the film entirely.

Search for a copy of the book if you will, but you'll have much better luck finding the now-iconic film. If you've seen it, see it again with new appreciation. If you haven't seen it, what are you doing? Go watch it right now.

Writing 101: A Little Weirdness Inspires Greatness

If you've got strange writing habits, don't worry. Many great authors did lots of weird things while they were writing. Maybe one day, your weird habits will become the stuff of literary legend. 

Getting Weird to Write

Do you have any of the strange habits of brilliant authors who have come before you? If you write lying down, you've got something in common with Truman Capote. The Breakfast at Tiffany's author said he had to write horizontally. He wrote in longhand, and began every morning sipping coffee as he wrote. By the time evening rolled around, he'd moved to martinis. 

T.S. Eliot wanted to be called "Captain Eliot" while he wrote in a room above a publishing house in the 1920s. He had another writing hideaway in the city where he was known as "The Captain." According to legend, he wore green powder on his face to look "cadaverous" while he wrote.

Dan Brown, who penned the Da Vinci Code, wakes daily at 4 am. He writes for 60 minutes at a time before getting up to exercise. Victor Hugo did something even stranger to write Les Miserables. To keep himself from procrastinating, he ordered his valet to take away all his clothes. This left him stuck in the house, with nothing to do but sit around and write naked.

Some authors need weird rituals and odd habits to keep those creative juices flowing. Ernest Hemingway, Virgina Woolf and several other authors famously wrote their works standing up. Hunter S. Thompson could only write after midnight, and a very full evening of substance sampling. Maya Angelou checks into a hotel room where she tells the staff to remove stimulating colors and artwork. Then, she writes a certain amount each day and edits the pages later. 

So anything you're doing while you write can't be that weird. Maybe it takes a little weirdness to find one's writing greatness. Next time you get stuck, try laying down or standing up. Maybe it'll help you create something you never expected.