Listen Up

Listening is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself as a writer. When you listen, you open yourself up to ideas and direction that you wouldn't get otherwise, especially if you have your hard plans set and will still change them.

And I'm speaking of an outline here.

I think it's important to listen up.



Photo by tami.vroma, courtesty of Flickr

You may call it your gut feeling or you may call it inspiration, but whatever you call it, be prepared for some direction as you write, and don't be afraid to take a different path if you feel so led.

When I was writing Conquering Your Goliaths: A Parable of the Five Stones, I decided to name the main character Virginia, and I wasn't sure why that was important, just that it felt right. I later discovered, after some research, that Virginia meant 'pure one', and it suddenly made sense to me since part of Virginia is 'virgin.'

There were other a-ha moments when writing that book, but books don't have to be of a spiritual nature to get insights about what should happen next, and that's why I like to also share the story of Susan in Scrambled.

Photo by: vavva_92, couresty of Flickr

Susan leaves her husband during the first part of the story hoping for a better life, and all during the writing of the book I knew that she'd return to him. I felt as if he'd change for the better, and that she'd change for the better and that together they'd make a happy couple. Some good things happen in the story, and I'm not going to tell you what Susan decides, just keep in mind that her heart felt feelings aren't en-graven in stone and I give her two choices up until the very end.

In writing A River of Stones some 10 years ago now, I discovered early on that Samantha, the main character was a bit like me, and a bit not like me. I discovered that she spoke up far more often than I dared to as a kid but that she was like me when it came to her vivid imagination--something I haven't lost since. It was important for Samantha to carry the speaking up and vivid imagination portions of her personality throughout the story, but I also had to listen up for areas in which she wanted to change and grow. I couldn't keep her surrounded by the same pain, at least not completely, and I needed to allow her the freedom of choice--I couldn't force my beliefs on her, for example, but had to allow her to discover these on her own.

Listening up is as important as writing to me because when I have listened I have created an authentic world. I have created a character or a set of characters that live in a real world with real world problems that can be overcome.

Cutting corners in my books, as in life, rarely works.

Blog Radio Interview Today!

The news today will be short.

Learn more about my new book!

I am SO EXCITED! Please check out my first blog radio interview (TODAY ONLY) at TheChristianAuthorsShow.com. Find out what makes me tick, how the book, "Conquering Your Goliaths: A Parable of the Five Stones," came to be written and what's up for next year!

I would love to get some feedback, so please drop me a line here or at: kathy@ariverofstones.com.

Kathryn

(Yes, that's me in the middle!)

Trust

Trust is stone two in the book, "Conquering Your Goliaths: A Parable of the Five Stones." And there's a reason why it's stone two.

After listening to feedback, whether from yourself, from others, or from God, you need to weigh the source, and decide whether or not you should trust in it--even on a case by case basis.

If someone tells you your character doesn't appear real, or your dialogue is stilted, or you bring in too much description and not enough setting, listen and then weigh the comment. You may want to get opinions from other readers before settling for the first one, you may even want to set your manuscript aside for a few days before going back to it and re-reading it with your reader's eyes.

Whatever you decide to do, remember there will be times in your life when you give yourself feedback that is not true, or receive feedback from others that is more harmful than helpful. But the feedback you receive from God is neither untrue or harmful. And if we trust in it, we find that our writing improves and opportunities to share our work increases.

Photo by: Jurvetson, courtesy of Flickr

I am continually amazed at the feedback I receive. And sometimes (dare I say it) I have wanted to quit. But then I remember what I know as truth and I can't help but trust in that.

Today, take a look at the feedback you've received. Weigh it, decide if some upgrades to your writing can be made or if you should slough the comment off like water from a duck.

Trust.