100 Words About: Story Ghosts

I’ve been looking through some of my old files. I’m a pack rat. I have tons of story fragments and things, although most of them are in dead tree at this point. (Really must scan those now that I have a scanner.) I have some on my hard drives, though, going back 6 or 7 years. A few are older, doc files so old that Windows doesn’t know how to open them anymore. (Must task The Husband with finding a solution to that…)

Looking through the old files is like being haunted by the ghosts of unborn stories. Most of these are fragments, where I wrote down just enough to get the story idea to be quiet before going back to work on Scent and Shadow. A few are just notes. But some are pretty good, if I do say so myself. The character voices jump out at me, echoing in the chaos that is the back of my brain, asking why I never finished them.

Because I don’t know what happens next, I usually reply.

Um, hello, they snap back. You’re the author. That’s your job.

Stories are all about me, me, me. They don’t like to share, and they hate being upstaged. But they are stubborn ghosts. Hell, I have one character that’s been waiting for a story for fifteen years at this point.

Someday…

Tuesday Tip: Write It Down

I've had several good ideas for blog posts lately: this wasn't one of them.

When you get a good idea, write it down.

I always used to think that I'd remember my great idea, but I never did. I started writing them down – when I was near something to write on. (Email works best for me. I tend to throw out bits of paper.) Those of you with smart phones will have less of a problem than I do, as you always have a note-taking device handy. I don't have a smart phone, and I haven't quite developed the habit of making notes on my cell phone.

The other time where I don't write stuff down is when I'm lying in bed. See, I used to have terrible insomnia as a kid, so I would tell myself stories. That way, if I had to be awake at least I was entertained. Somehow, this morphed as I started writing seriously. They tell you not to think about things when you're trying to get to sleep, but my brain has a hard time shutting off. However, if I start trying to work on my current project (usually outlining or world-building) then BOOM, brain turns off.

For the most part that's great, but unfortunately sometimes I have a breakthrough right before I fall asleep, and for whatever reason I still don't keep a notepad by the bed.

Take heed, my fellow writers. Find ways to get those ideas down where they'll be safe. Because if your brain works anything like mine, that fabulous idea is only going to be around until the next one—and that one almost certainly won't be as good as the one that got away.

Image: luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

100 Words About: Ideas

Ideas are cheap. No young writer likes to hear this, but it's true. No one is going to steal your idea, because most of us have so many ideas already floating around in our heads that we just don't have time for yours, thank you.

Of course, even if we did, the story we'd write would be totally different from the story you'd write anyway. But even so, what's far more likely is that your idea would give us an idea, which would probably go off in a completely new direction and might eventually become quite unrecognizable, as far as your original idea went.

Still, it's hard not to get protective of your ideas and want to keep them to yourself. I'm not sure if that's because we're really truly worried about "theft," or if it's more that we're afraid the idea won't sound as good outside our heads as it does inside. Because of course the idea in your head is full of nuances and images and backstory, far more than you can hope to convey with a short description that probably sounds kinda lame. And who wants to work on a lame story? I think what we're really worried about is stealing our own thunder.

Image: Bright Idea by Zaldy icaonapo

Tuesday Tip: Ideas and Writing for Specific Markets

Welcome to this week's Tuesday Tip.

When my friend asked me a few weeks ago whether there were any tricks to getting published, the first one I thought of was writing for a specific market.

In my case I had been working on a novel for the last eleven years. (Yes. That long.) It was a great tool for learning how to write, because I made soooo many mistakes and then had to correct them. But one thing that it showed me was that I quite enjoy writing sex scenes, and I'm pretty good at it, if I do say so myself.

When I decided to really buckle down and try to tackle writing as a profession, I did a lot of research. I toyed with the idea of being a paid blogger, or writing internet articles, but eventually I decided that I wanted to get some short stories out there and hopefully build a following. Non-fiction is great, but fiction is what I really love. I can always start another novel, but working on a novel doesn't get me any fans or get my name out in the industry.

Having decided on short stories, I did more research. While I love writing fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, it turns out that those are some pretty tough markets to break into. Erotica, however, has LOTS of open calls. The pay isn't great with some of them, but I could consider those as practice and as marketing. And I already knew I could write erotica, good erotica with characters and plot and an intelligent vocabulary.

So now we come to the meat of this particular post: getting ideas for specific markets.

One of the first things I did when I decided to make a go of erotica writing was to make a spreadsheet listing all of the anthology markets I had found, their deadlines, webpages, word counts, dos and don'ts, and compensation. I also listed open markets. I decided what markets I particularly wanted to target first, and when I got started the first call that was going to close was Torquere's "Bite Me" anthology. MMF with biting, and the call had a definite paranormal slant. Perfect.

Now I just needed a story.

I had been doing a lot of research (I've mentioned before, I love research) on ancient Greek and Roman magic, and two things stuck out in my mind - curse tablets, and a goddess (or demigoddess, or daimon, depending on the time period) called Empusa. Many ancient curse tablets called upon daimones for aid, and I could imagine a scenario where a suppliant received an answer to his or her spell that they did not expect. Once I had that kernel of an idea, the rest of the story fell into place. Plus there were upcoming anthologies in my list for vampires, love spells, and demons, which meant that if Torquere passed on the story I would have other markets to submit it to right away.

One that was harder was Ravenous Romance's Threesomes anthology. They were mostly looking for MMF or MFM, but said they wanted at least one MMM and FFF. Go for the safer route, or assume that most people will be doing that and there will be less competition for the FFF or MMM? I decided to take the gamble and do FFF. But what about? My mind was blank. I picked a word at random - palace. Mm. I wanted to do contemporary. Caesar's Palace? Three women in Vegas? And there were more lesbian calls on my list, particularly Cleis's Girl Crush anthology. Spark. "When in Rome" was born.

Not all of my stories have been accepted by the first market I sent them to, but that's why I tend to have more than one market in mind when I brainstorm. This is why the spreadsheet is so useful - when a story gets rejected, I just open the spreadsheet, find an appropriate market, and send it out again. Plus it gives me more pieces to build a story from. I find I need at least three pieces to get a story idea. Vampires? That could be anything. Lesbian vampires? Still too vague. Lesbian vampires in the French Revolution? Now we're talking.

Keep your idea pump primed while you read, regardless of subject. Figure out what you want to write. Research the markets. Figure out what they are looking for. Combine a couple of calls together (ideally the calls should have deadlines at least two months apart) to help you get ideas and ensure your piece has a wide appeal. Then write it!

The strange paths of inspiration

So, Monday again and I am getting through the weekly chores. Dishes are done and laundry is going, next is the checkbook and then hopefully I'll get a little writing in today as well. I have three short stories minimum that I want to have done by the end of the month, and next week is probably going to be an unproductive writing week as it's our tenth wedding anniversary and my husband has half the week off. Plus I had a job interview last week and hopefully (fingers crossed) I'll have some good news next week along those lines.

I was discussing writing with a friend over drinks last night, and she made a comment to the effect of "see, that's why I couldn't be a writer. I don't have all those ideas and stories in my head."

Inspiration comes from odd places. My mind gets bored easily, so I make up stories. All the time. Most of them are not all that interesting to anyone but me - things like conversations I could have if I ran into a particular person, or how I would explain something to someone who didn't know anything about it. But sometimes that "practice" of "if-then" pays off, and I get an idea that's interesting enough that I might be able to do something with it.

I think part of the trick is being able to open yourself up to the story ideas that are all around you. Ask yourself "what if?" and then just run with it. Or see an interesting location and start making up a history for it. (Or just make a mental note of it and use it later in a story that needs more atmosphere.)

For example, I was driving home late one night from out of state, and I had been following the same person for something like an hour and a half. I found this other car's presence kind of comforting on the lonely dark road, and after awhile was feeling a wholly illusory sense of connection with it, like the other driver was a buddy of mine. And I could see where, if something happened to that car, I might go the extra mile, as it were, for that person because of that illusory feeling. So what if they hit a deer? (Very common in Wisconsin.) And once I started in on the what-ifs, I had the beginnings of a neat story in no time. All from my mind wandering on the highway.

(I don't recommend driving distracted, but I can't seem to help it. Something about being in a moving vehicle gets my story gears going.)

Enough rambling, I have a checkbook to balance. But all you would-be writers out there, just keep your inner ears open. And carry a pencil or pen and paper with you to write ideas down. Just not while driving.