Riding the Big Air Rail--No Matter What

Last night, I curled up on the couch with my three boys and watched a brand new skateboarding event in the X Games. The event, called the Big Air Rail Jam, was the brain-child of skateboarding veteran Danny Way who was the oldest skater in the competition at 35 (Which by the way, sassy ESPN commentators, is not that old). The goal of the event was to start at the top of a ridiculously high ramp (see pic) and then launch into the air, do some sort of trick on top of a long rail, and land on the opposite ramp while still in one piece.

The kicker? The skaters couldn't see the rail until they were already flying off the first ramp. The event required faith in their skills and some serious courage.

Danny Way won the gold medal in the event, a feat made even more amazing by the fact that he was competing while on crutches.

Crutches.

He'd torn something in his knee and then seriously rolled his ankle on the same leg during a warm up trick yet he stood, balanced on his skateboard at the top of that long drop, confident and determined. He rode down the ramp innumerable times, missing the rail, landing in a heap, struggling to stand on one good leg only to hop to the side and rush toward the elevator that would carry him up to the top to try it all over again.

It didn't occur to him to quit. To bow out. To say, after four unsuccessful tries, that he just couldn't do it. Instead, he got back on his board, faced that long drop to the unknown, and went for it.

He landed one trick. One. But it was a thing of incredible beauty. That one trick gained a score high enough to give him the gold.

When interviewed afterwards and asked how he could compete when he couldn't even walk, Danny said, "It was my dream. Some people look at things and say 'It can't be done.' I look at things and say 'What if?'"

What if?

What if you balanced on the edge of your dream, unable to see the rail, but went for it anyway? What if you failed the first four (hundred) times you tried but you still ran back to the start and tried again? What if you ignored every excuse, every reason to quit, and refused to back down?

What if?

10 Things New Writers Need To Know

1. Finish a book.

Really. Stop starting every shiny new idea that flashes into your brain and find the discipline and perseverance to type one idea all the way through to The End. It won't be perfect. It probably won't ever be published. But what you'll learn about yourself and the process will be invaluable and every subsequent lesson on craft will make a lot more sense.

2. Don't be so eager to share your work with others.

Not yet, at least. It's important to protect the creative process and the shape of the story itself and staying away from too much outside input until you're sure of the story and the characters is a good idea. I write and write and write ... until I know exactly where I'm going and how I'm going to get there and THEN I invite critiques from my CPs. And if you're posting chapters of your work willy-nilly on your blog/site/facebook page, stop. Editors are leery about selling a book when much of it has already been offered for free.

3. Less talk, more typing.

There are many ways to network with other writers and I agree that for most of us, that's an important resource. However, many newer writers spend more time talking about writing than actually writing. Most of my author friends have time limits for how much we can spend answering email, blogging, typing on Twitter etc. And all of us have word count/page goals etc. that come FIRST. Write more. Talk about it less.

4. Read.

You'd think this would be a given, but I often talk to newer writers who rarely read. This is foolishness. For one, reading within your genre gives you a firm grasp of the genre and what's already been done to death. Reading outside your genre gives you inspiration for new ideas you could bring to your genre. For another, it's wise to read the books you're secretly afraid you'll never be good enough to write because that's where you absorb craft and, if you let yourself, become inspired. And finally, publishing is a small world. You'll feel like an idiot if you meet a prominent author in your genre at a conference and have no idea what they've written.

5. Linger.

Set the scene. Explore the emotions. Record the sensory detail. Don't be in such a hurry to get from point A to point B that you neglect to deliver the entire scope of the scene to your reader. If you don't know how to linger without filling your pages with exposition--fill your pages with exposition. Get it out there. You can trim it down later when you've figured out exactly what needs to be said.

6. Understand that writing is largely about revising.

And revising is often harder than writing the first draft. Your novel won't be perfect the first time around. It will have clumsy phrasing, awkward pacing, missing words, lack of setting, characters whose motivation is as clear as mud, exposition where there should be action, and plot arcs that manage to get run over by a bus halfway through the book. It doesn't matter. What you didn't learn about craft by finishing your first draft, you'll learn by revising.

7. No book is ever perfect.

There's always something you can change. Another layer to add. A scene to flesh out. A question to answer or one to raise. There are no perfect books but there are excellent books and the trick is knowing when you've hit that level and can let it rest.

8. Some books won't ever be published but you should write them anyway.

I know you think the book you're writing NOW is the one. You may be right. Then again, you may be wrong. It doesn't matter. What matters is pushing yourself to write the very best book you can and then surprising yourself with how much better you can make it through revising. No finished draft is ever a wasted endeavor. You might type The End and think you've reached the pinnacle of what you're capable of accomplishing but you'll look back in two years (IF you continue writing) and wonder at how far you've come.

9. Self-doubt comes with the territory.

I've come far enough along in my career to be privileged to call many published authors friend. All of us share one thing in common--we worry that we won't measure up. We worry that we will. We worry that no agent/editor/reader will snatch up our book and when they do, we worry they won't like it. When they do, we worry our next one will bomb instead. You can't get rid of every shred of doubt and you don't need to. The trick is to answer the doubt with action. Keep your head down and write. Take praise and criticism with as much humility and wisdom as you can and then write some more.


10. Interest and inspiration start books. Determination, perseverance, and stubbornness finish them.

If you're waiting for your "Muse" to return before you discipline yourself to write, you won't finish your book. If you want life to slow down, your schedule to clear, or the people around you to suddenly come to their senses and support your passion before you make the commitment to finish your book, you won't finish. It takes guts to push past the sparkling beginning and dive into the meat of the story. Finishing a book takes giving up sleep, turning down invitations, and refusing to watch tv so you can write instead. Finishing a book means writing a scene that refuses to go smoothly even though you'd rather do just about anything else. If you want to turn your writing from hobby to career, find the determination, perseverance and stubbornness to finish a book.

Query Workshop Registration Open

Registration for my next online Query Workshop is now open! Go here for details.

Autism Speaks!

There's a really cool concert coming up a week from Saturday here in Nashville. I say "really cool" because there's a fantastic line-up of artists, the tickets are only $30, and all of that money goes directly toward helping an organization called Autism Speaks research and find treatment for autistic kids.

Go here for more info. Also, go there because my friend April blogs about life raising a beautiful autistic boy and it's a blog worth reading.

It's A Chucktastrophe!

1. I've used the same three pair of black pants for my work uniform for four and a half years.

2. Three months ago, one of the pair came apart in the crotch.

3. Yes, I stopped wearing them.

4. Last month, another pair came apart in the crotch.

5. I stopped wearing them too.

6. Last night at work, I realized my last pair--yes, the pair I was currently wearing--were one shaky seam away from a spectacular public exposure arrest.

7. So, today I'll be buying a new pair of pants.

8. I have enough wardrobe malfunctions on my own without deliberately tempting fate.

9. Daredevil's 10th birthday was Tuesday. On Monday, I took him with me to spend some of his birthday money. We stopped for lunch at Olive Garden where he proudly told everyone he met that he was finally in double digits.

10. The older couple seated at the table next to us engaged Daredevil in conversation about his birthday and their own great-grandkids.

11. Several minute into the conversation, Daredevil looked at them and said, "You know what? I like talking to old people!"

12. Luckily, he's cute.

13. On Tuesday, we honored Daredevil's birthday dinner request and entered the insanity that is Chuck E. Cheese.

14. At one point, Chuck E. himself came out to dance and sing the birthday song to a group of birthday kids.

15. For reasons that probably have a lot to do with Chuck E.'s rate of pay attracting only teenagers to the whole "get paid to masquerade as a giant mouse" gig, Chuck E. decided table dancing would be an excellent idea.

16. Chuck E. further compounded this grievous error in judgement by choosing as his platform a table that rocked ominously the moment he tried to mount its surface.

17. Chuck E.'s moment of glory was cut short by a combination of an unsteady surface, a fellow employee, and gravity.

18. We were at a side table, watching the action, and saying such enlightened things as "Chuck Down!" and "It's a Chucktastrophe!"

19. Thankfully, Chuck E. toppled backwards and therefore didn't flatten the group of toddlers in front of him.

20. The management is lucky every child in the building didn't see Chuck E.'s antics and decide that they, too, should dance on the table tops.

Eyes Like Stars - Part IV

In the last installment of our peek into Lisa Mantchev's EYES LIKE STARS, we find the fairies rallied around their creator, in various stages of ... well, see for yourself.



Mustardseed: Why, I want to know, are we wearing tea strainers on our heads?

Lisa: You are going into battle. (sounds of duct tape attaching silverware-armor to the fairies' limbs.)

Moth: (peering at his gauntlets, made of pocket watch bits) Against whom?

Lisa: The demons from Prophecy of the Sisters. You're going to fight them. To the death.

Peaseblossom: I... don't think I like the sound of that.

Lisa: (more duct tape sounds) Sure you do! You can jab at them with toothpick swords, and the winners will get spectacular prizes.

Cobweb: What kind of prizes?

Lisa: All sorts of fabulous shiny things, but you'll mostly like the candy. Pop Rocks and Airheads... Peaseblossom will like all the glittery makeup--

Mustardseed: Makeup schmakeup... what if we PERISH?

Lisa: Then you go to some sort of fairy Valhalla, no doubt, and gorge eternally on cake.

(Silence a moment, then four-part harmony)

Fairies: BRING ON THE BATTLE!

To help the fairies win their battle (and to win the totally rocking, shiny prize package for yourself!) go to the contest site and get the details. Also, hie thyself to thy nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of Eyes Like Stars (which already went into its second print run during it's debut week!).

I'm Just Saying

Just took Starshine to see Ice Age 3. (An imminently forgettable movie) During the previews, an announcer intoned gravely (in the midst of various animated what-have-you's on screen) that THIS movie (Yes, this upcoming animated what-have-you movie) is the summer's most highly anticipated movie event.

Um.

I think you have a much better chance of saying that without incurring ridicule if you choose, say, a non-Harry Potter summer.

I'm just saying.