What You Don't Know

"If you hold a cat by the tail, you learn things you cannot learn any other way."

--Mark Twain

I was going to go for some sophisticated, wise quote but I read that one and started laughing so I thought I'd stick with that one instead. ;)

I have a favorite phrase that I often repeat to myself: "You don't know what you don't know until you know it." A bit circular, yes, but that's me. However, it's pretty darn true. Sometimes, you just don't know something until you do.

For instance, I few things I've learned on my journey toward publication:

• You can murder your darlings and survive.

In fact, you can more than survive--you can learn to love it. Revision was a hard thing for me to understand for a long time. I'm ashamed to admit that I wasn't always the most...responsive to critiques when I started out because I just loved my words. (I still do but that's another can-o-worms.) Changing them, rearranging them, *gasp* deleting them--it was more than I could bear.

Until...I knew that I could bear it. One day, it was just easier. I can't pinpoint the moment but it arrived and it was like an explosion in my head. I could flip my story on its head, cut and delete whole sections, start in a whole new place than I imagined and guess what? It was still the same story. Most times, it was a better story. Now, I frickin' adore suggestions and critiques because it's like a hundred pathways stretching out before me. Good stuff, that.

• Repetition is a good thing

I'm not talking writing/prose/structure. I'm referring more to absorption. When I first started going to conferences, I wondered why I often heard the same presentations over and over. Sure, the presenters were different and even their methods were different but it still came back to the same ol' stuff, right?

Turns out, even God repeats Himself. We humans have brains like colanders instead of goatskin bags. (After being buried in the desert for for six months, those suckers have been known to last for ten generations--waterproof for two or three hundred years! This fact was brought to you from copious amounts of research. And the number 5.)

Point being, retention of facts (goat bags aside) isn't always easy. But once you've heard it a bunch of times, you absorb it and start acting on it. It's a beautiful thing when you look back and see how far you've come just by learning to listen.

• If you treat your writing professionally, you can become a professional writer

Wax on, wax off. It sounds pretty obvious but it took me a lot longer to learn this than you'd think. *Disclaimer: I'm still learning. I'm definitely not a guru on the mountain top.* My friend ali is a great example of this. (In fact, you should probably go read her blog, instead. Just ignore my claws wrapped around your pant leg when you go.) I've watched her for a while now and she treats her writing very seriously. She has set hours. She's dedicated. And she's going places, I guarantee it.

A lot of people have some great advice on this topic: Show up and your muse will show up, too; Persistence pays; Climb every mountain, Ford every stream, Follow every rainbow...er, I mean...well, you get the point. When you treat your craft with the respect it deserves, it pays big dividends.

Those are only a few of the things that I didn't know until I knew them. Sadly, no one could teach them to me until I was ready.  But when I got there, the strength of learning--of discovering those truths for myself--struck me and changed me for the better. It took time. Sometimes, I wonder if that's why we're encouraged to hang in there, because like a goat-skin bag, we're not properly tanned until we've put in our dues. (Thought you'd escaped that, huh?)

What do you know that you didn't know before?

Until next time,

L.T.

p.s. Can you tell I wrote this post while I was *"toiling upward in the night?" Right now, it's frickin' hilarious to me but I'm sure by morning, I'll be mortified.

*The heights by great men reached and kept

were not attained by sudden flight

but they, while their companions slept,

were toiling upward in the night.

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

You Nailed It

"Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning."
--Maya Angelou

As writers, we hear a lot about Voice. When I first heard this term, I admit I stumbled. What was voice? It seems to be a bit of an indefinable thing. I once heard an editor say that she didn't know how to describe it, but she knew it when she saw it. After some reading, some writing, and some experience, I thought I had it all figured out. Recently, I learned for myself just how distinct voice is.

We could talk about all kinds of voices--character voices, genre voices, etc--but I'm going to focus on "style" voice. (For examples of varying voice, check out this post by Carolyn V.) I read a book recently that emulated another author's work. It was very well done and I have no complaints. However, I often found myself noticing subtle differences. A character could speak or act exactly as they always spoke or acted and yet it was just slightly...off. This was a powerful epiphany for me.

No matter how well done--no one can say it like you can.

You can use the same character--the name, the mannerisms, the setting--but without your voice, it isn't the same at all. Some authors can get pretty darn close, but a reader who's invested in your story, in your character, will always be able to spot the differences.

I don't highlight this to insult or demean the efforts of any person or work--far from it. I chose to write about this because of how powerful the idea was behind it. So many writers (myself included) have a tendency to compare themselves to others. We see another person's ability to weave words, to create authentic characters, to entrench us in setting, and we believe ourselves lesser. We might even think that if we handed our manuscript over, they'd make it sparkle and shine when we couldn't manage to scrub off a layer of dust.

This just isn't true. There will always be those more or less talented than we are, those who are further along the path or those trying to catch up. Those "stops" on the road aren't indications of skill, they're markers of amassed knowledge. We all have to learn. For some of us, learning takes longer than others. (I feel like it will take forever!)

Let's just say that learning is like going to a hardware store. Some people have more tools in their baskets and some people (like me) linger in the aisles before they can get to the check-out. Voice is what you do with the tools once you've bought them. Someone might build their story with a regular hammer and nails. Other's might have a nifty nail-gun. And then you might end up like me and grope for the end of a heavy screwdriver to batter that puppy into place. :)

The point is, at the end of the day, all three methods get the job done. Someone else could write your story for you--but they won't use the tools you will. Only you will know if a particular character needs a the driving force of a power tool or the more gentle tap of a rubber mallet. Your story was born in your head, your heart, and you know it better than you think you do. Trust that. Be willing to believe in it.

Because no matter how well someone else could build your story, no one can say it like you can.

Until next time,

L.T.