As I pursue my writing career, I thought I’d share my guiding principles with you. Do you have guiding principles? If so, please share!
Downward Facing Dog
I have a lot of writing to do today, and the pressure is on to get it done. Earlier this week, my mind was so preoccupied with deadlines that I went through a drive-thru, paid for my food, and then drove off before I got it. I definitely need to get my focus back!
To reduce stress, I decided to start the day with yoga. I love yoga. It makes me feel so refreshed and aligned.Yoga is beneficial to your bones, muscles, and joints as well as your cardiovascular system. For me, however, one of the biggest benefits is that it helps me relax, concentrate, and even sleep better. I definitely didn’t sleep well last night. I moved from bed to couch shared with dog, to different couch without the dog in an attempt to catch some sleep.
So, to avoid any more drive-thru drive-offs and prepare myself for a day of hard mental work, I glided through my warrior pose, the crescent moon, and the mountain pose. I wasn’t far into my downward facing dog pose when it took on new meaning. With my rear extended into the air and my head hanging between my arms, I was suddenly enveloped with about 100 wet, slobbery dog kisses. It ruined my concentration of course, but left me laying on the floor laughing with one of my favorite pals. I should have known. My dog is rarely far from my side.
Who could possibly resist this adorable face? So now, I’ve started my writing day with my dog at my feet, my cat sitting majestically next to my keyboard, and my birds chattering across the room cheering me on. I love my fan base. Some days they are what keeps me going.
Making the Case in Your Crime Fiction
I love crime fiction – detectives, forensics, sociopaths, and of course, dead bodies. Now don’t get creeped out. I don’t like REAL dead bodies. I just like creating criminals, victims, and those protagonists that come in to save the day. I love the tension. I love shocking the reader with the gruesomeness. I love to make it impossible to sleep all night and still not put the book down the next day.
To write a good crime fiction, however, you have to understand how to criminal justice system works. We have all read stories about detectives who miraculously know all the answers and get their guy (or gal) using only a single thread. It wasn’t until I took a research class in graduate school that I fully understood exactly what the detectives were doing. The detectives are researchers, and they are conducting a case study. Once it hit me, I’ll never write the same again.
The purpose of a case study is to seek understanding. It tries to answer the questions who, what, when, why, and how. Case studies are descriptive accounts of complex situations. A case study is usually focused on a single person or phenomenon. In crime fiction and real law enforcement, it is usually a crime or unexplained event. The detective must find answers.
Researchers gather data for case studies from multiple sources using a variety of instruments. Some of the most common are interviews and observations. The researchers take field notes, pictures, and collect other artifacts and records that help them understand what has occurred.
Detectives do the same thing. They interview suspects and witnesses. They stake out scenes and suspects to observe what happens. They collect all sorts of artifacts to assist them in the form of evidence like bank records, phone records, photographs, prints, DNA, etc. Their job is now to put everything together to form a “big picture”.
Researchers conducting a case study take a variety of roles to achieve understanding. Some are distant and remote, allowing others to collect data for them. Others interact with the participants and form a personal relationship. Still others try to blend in with their participant’s natural environment to gain trust and observe quietly. These researchers often participate and act like the participant.
Detectives do the same thing. Some are office staff. They have others who collect the evidence for them. They are the organizers and the analyzers of the team. Others are out knocking on doors and interrogating suspects. Still others go in undercover to gather evidence without the participant’s knowledge.
Researchers must also keep an open mind. It is easy, especially if they get involved, to let their preconceptions and assumptions about people influence their research. Their goal is to understand what happened and how it happened. Researchers performing case studies do not start out stating a hypothesis that they want to prove. They start out with questions they want answered.
Both researchers and detectives will also come across a lot of data (evidence) that does not make sense. It does not fit with the rest of the data. Researchers sometimes must decide if the new data is really significant or just a fluke. Neither should accept or reject this new data based on their gut feeling or opinion. They must test the result for validity, reliability, and accuracy. Detectives must test evidence also. They bring in experts and witnesses. Is their witness reliable? Are they telling the truth? Is there other evidence to back up what they say?
Detectives should also keep an open mind. They have to be careful not to allow their personal opinions and feelings about a case influence how they interact with witnesses, suspects, and evidence. They cannot begin a case by suggesting a suspect and collecting evidence that proves they are correct. Their job is to seek understanding and allow the answers to emerge. Once the answers emerge, the detective passes the information off to the prosecutor’s office. It is the prosecutor’s job to convince a jury that a suspect is guilty. The detective’s job is to collect and interpret data, and create a narrative with the answers they find. The detective should not be data collector, prosecutor, and jury all rolled into one.
Of course, researchers and detectives are both human. They have character flaws, and sometimes it is these flaws that drive the story. Just remember when you are writing, a detective’s job is research. They should turn over every stone. Let them investigate. You might be surprised. Someone else might have a motive that you didn’t even think about when you began.
End of one Experience, Beginning of Another
I completed my last project today on a contract that I’ve been working on for the Federal Government. It was my first job as a full time writer. I worked as an instructional designer and wrote online curriculum, instructor guides, participant guides, process manuals, and other job aids. The experience has been extremely valuable, although it has taken me away from my first love — fiction.
Now that the contract is over, I hope to take the skills that I have learned and apply them to my new venture. I am now much better at project management. I never thought that I could handle ten large writing projects at once. I sometimes wrote more than 200 pages in 24 hours. I also have a MUCH greater appreciation for editors and subject matter experts. The checks and balances built in to the system meant my work went through the hands of at least six different hands for review before it went out the door. I learned to “let go.” I learned other valuable things as well, such as how to teleconference, telecommute, and graphic design.
The experience also made me more determined to be a full time writer permanently. I loved writing, and I REALLY loved working from home. I have missed my fiction writing though, so as I move forward with my new ventures, I am incorporating a block of time during my day dedicated to fiction and poetry writing. My new ventures involve the development of instructional products, technical writing, editing, workshop creation, and marketing.
This week’s challenge: Embrace
In continuing my challenge to push myself creatively, I pulled another word out of my word box. The word seemed simple enough. It was embrace. I have discovered though, that I had a lot more difficulty with this than anticipated. There are, as it turns out, a lot of things that I don’t embrace very well, and this writing challenge turned into a bit of writing therapy.
As much as I don’t want to admit it, I’m a Type A personality. I am pushed by this need to feel valued, to be affirmed, to be needed. I have always felt the need to be the person that everyone came to because they needed help or advice. I have always wanted people to think that I’m smart, creative, and on top of my game.
Then, of course, it happened. Over the years, those affirmations that I needed came almost entirely from the work environment. I became a workaholic. I isolated myself from those who were negative towards me and threw myself more and more into my work. Then, I got a new boss who didn’t care for me. I went from beloved and sought after to outcast. Same skill set. Different perspective. It was a huge blow to my sense of self worth.
After that, I was laid off in a rude manner from a job where I had given 200%. They loved me one minute, then escorted out the door the next. I was given 15 minutes to pack my things and could not even say goodbye. I know that layoffs don’t reflect on my ability to do my job, but I was bitter. A year later, I’m still bitter. I drove past the place for the first time in a year yesterday. I have never driven by the employer prior to that since the day I said my fond farewell. Once again, I’m about to be laid off from another job that I once thought was going my dream job. I can’t begin to describe what has been going through my heart and mind. It was my first full time writing job. It paid well. It seemed guaranteed. Once they announced the loss of the contract, everyone seemed to change. People became secretive and competitive. As the new person on the block, I knew that I didn’t have a chance to retain one of the positions on a new contract and I was right. I decided just to keep my head low and do my job until the end.
This, of course, has led to high stress and has led to health problems. I’ve gained weight. I have terrible heartburn. I can’t sleep at night. I’m on heart medication for the first time in my life, and I’m not liking it one bit. Worst of all, I can’t think straight. I can’t concentrate. My creativity has flown out the window. I realize that I need to make some major changes in my life and give up some of my Type A vices. I cannot control what is going to happen.
This brings me back to the word, “embrace”. I have a hard time letting go of things I have no control over. I need to free myself, so that I can become a better writer. I need to join a Fiction Writers Anonymous group and start off by saying, “Hello, my name is Rachel, and I am a Type A.” so, in an effort to stick with my 12-Steps Back to Creativity Program, I am declaring the following vices:
1. I connect my value to other people’s opinions of me. New thoughts – I am valuable no matter what other people think of me. I have value as a person. I have value as an employee. I have value as a family member and friend. My value is not in what my boss thinks or my family thinks or my friend thinks. My value is there regardless. I will consider what they have to say, but I will not connect my worth to it. Someone someplace believes in me. I believe in me. That is all that matters.
2. I am a workaholic. New thoughts – I will lead a more balanced life that gives me time to renew physically, spiritually, and emotionally. If I am a more rounded person, my creativity will return, and I will be a better writer for it. Sorry, boss, but my days of working 13 hours days are over.
3. I will embrace my personality while developing new beneficial traits. New thoughts – I’m primarily a Type A with a big dose of Type C on the side. Type A has always helped me meet those tough deadlines (like writing 81 pages in two days) and turn multitasking into a fine art. Type C has helped me be a detailed planner and evaluator. Both like to be in control. That’s not good in the writing world. As I have learned working with endless editors and clients – writers do not have much control over their end product. To be successful, I need an injection of Type D at least once a month. So…when I finish a writing project, I’m going to have a little “bon voyage” party. When my contract ends, I’m going to take a vacation. When I get stressed, I’m going to take a physical and mental break for the night.
It is time for a new me. It won’t be easy carving out a new path for myself, but I am full of anticipation about what my new journey will bring. See you next week!
Your challenge: What do you need to embrace or let go of? Feel free to comment below.
