Working with Internal Monologue--When Narrators Think, Remember, or Talk with Themselves on the Page

Internal monologue can be one of those complicated craft decisions for fiction and memoir writers. When to use it well, when it's not needed, what style it uses to properly show itself on the page.

Not hard to recognize: most stories have brief moments when the narrator--yourself in memoir, the point-of-view character in fiction--pauses to reflect.

They think, remember, or talk with themselves on the page, but it's all happening inside their heads, not aloud. So it doesn't fall under the regular craft guidelines that dialogue relies on.

In fact, it's a tricky beast with constantly changing rules to use it properly.

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What's Your Comfort Zone about Promoting Your Book? Thoughts on the Tricky Line We Authors Walk

When I began publishing, back in the 1980s, there wasn't much required from authors to make their books successful--other than the writing itself.

Sounds dreamy these days, doesn't it.

On my first books, the publisher assigned a publicist who set up gigs and I just showed up (talks, panels, interviews). Any paid advertising happened behind the scenes and brought sales. One of my early books even won an award, and I only found out after the fact.

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Getting Your Work Out--How to Choose Your Best Avenue for the Time, Money, and Effort

A former student wrote me with a very good question about publication, a question so many new and even established writers wrestle. Is it better to try to get an agent, to go the traditional route? What are the advantages and disadvantages? If you decide to self-publish, what do you need to do it well? And what about the relatively new option of hybrid publishers--what are they about?

My first response to these questions is to send the writer to Jane Friedman's website and her book, The Business of Being a Writer. I admire Jane's smarts about the often-confusing publishing industry today. If you browse her site, check out her Publishing Paths diagram, which is updated each year to outline the differences between traditional and DIY publishing and everything in between. She's a goldmine of reliable information, in my opinion.

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Tricks to Keep Your Writing Hot Even When, Baby, It's COLD Outside

I live in northern New England of the U.S., and winter is a fact of life. My neighbors are in their late seventies and they have lived here for seven generations and they love winter. Why live anywhere else, they ask, even as they shovel out their cars after another ice storm. The woman of the couple is an artist and she loves winter because she can hunker down in her studio. Winter is her best excuse for creating without any guilt or interruption.

I love winter too, for the same reason. The garden is frozen under its snow blanket, the pups sleep by the fireplace, and I can circle around my laptop and get lost for hours.

This week I want to share three tricks I've practiced these past winters that motivate me to keep my writing practice hot when it's cold outside. Maybe they'll inspire you too.

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Writing Goals--Clearing Your Path for Creativity in the New Year

Some writers set goals religiously. Some haven't the interest or time. I'm one of the first group, but my goal setting is done in a slightly different way than the traditional. I like to use both the linear and random approach to goal setting.

I do this because I want to make room for changes and growth along the way, because what I aim for now might be limited to what I currently see as possible. I've learned the hard way that the universe surprises, constantly. Goals can be derailed by unexpected life changes.

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Two Amazing Resources for Writing Inspiration This Month

Two writing friends sent along links I have enjoyed so much, I wanted to share them as this week's post.

One is from the often-amazing Lit Hub. It's written by Rebecca Solnit and it's called "In Praise of the Meander," about a different way to shape your creative nonfiction. The link is here. If the link doesn't work, go to lithub.com and search for Rebecca's name. Highly recommended read! (Thank you, Colleen!)

The other resource came from a playwright friend who, like me, loves the writing of two British authors: Helen Macdonald and Jeanette Winterson. If you're also a fan, just imagine those two literary heavy-hitters in conversation!

Well, here you have it, in this podcast sponsored by The Guardian. The link is here. If it doesn't work, go to theguardian.com and search for either of their names. (Thank you, Barbara!)

Great input for your creative self this week--enjoy.

Can Self- or Hybrid Publishing Land You on the Bestseller List?

My indie-released songwriter friends never understood why writers are so hung up about self-publishing. Or the more recent hybrid version, where a publishing house helps you create the book and you fund it. Musicians have long separated from the labels and ventured out on their own, releasing their own CDs and working with indie distributors.

Even today, writers are told that unless we get an agent and go the traditional route, we'll never be taken seriously. We'll never make it as a writer, whatever that means.

I've played both sides of the court. For years, I went the traditional route--agent, large publisher, small press, radio and TV marketing paid for by my publicity budget with the publisher, even book tours back in the day. I also have self-published twice, creating a professional book with hired help (typesetter, cover designer) and promotion.

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Alchemy of Place: How to Create Tension through Your Story's Setting and Atmosphere

Morning: writing at my sunny desk. Task: revise a stubborn scene. Advice from recent feedback: bring more tension and emotion into it.

Sunshine in our New England autumn today is no help. In my fictional scene, it's chilly rain in the northern mountains of New York state. While I sit comfortably in my chair, laptop in front of me, spicy tea and good music and sweet air at hand, my poor beleaguered character has just crashed her small plane--on purpose. She's bleeding, shaken, and starving. Around her is a circle of dark, forbidding mountains, misted by the rain.

Our settings couldn't be more disparate. Yet I'm trying to conjure emotion in hers and capture the desperation of this person who only exists in my imagination.

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The Delight and Danger of Using Dreams, Journal Entries, Texts, Letters, and Other Passive Devices in Your Book

Ever been with a friend who wants to tell you a dream? It starts with a circus, then they're fishing off the coast of Mexico, then someone is in a diner listening to bad C&W music. On and on the telling goes, one weird scene after another. If you're like me, you begin to feel like you're watching bad home movies.

Dreams are super important in my personal life: I've recorded my dreams since I was in college and still do it faithfully. I know my dreams are often quite meaningful to me. But I don't impose them on anyone else. Hard to make sense of if you weren't there.

Have you also noticed that dreams aren't used a lot in published writing? Maybe because they are part of the backstory of a character's life, but a wobbly, illogical part of that backstory, which readers rarely can make sense of.

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Don't Really Like Your Characters? Tips on Working with Unsavory--or Outright Bad--People in Your Stories

A reader once sent me an excellent question. You know those characters in your story--memoir or fiction, especially--who turn out to be less than appealing? People we'd normally avoid in real life (and perhaps have), but who somehow made it onto the pages.

"I have many stories in which the characters are not easily appreciated," this writer told me. "I am sure many of my stories will be filled with hints of resentment, bitterness and disdain. Many players acted badly, and hurt the lives of many people. I guess forgiveness is due, but the facts are the facts. How do I deal with that?"

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