Exactly the same, but different

photo credit: fiatlux's Flickr photostream

By Julie

Have you ever begun to write something, absolutely convinced you have a totally unique premise nobody else has managed to put out there?  It's the story you're sure will be the one that plunges you to fame. But then, you go into a tailspin when you see an announcement on Publisher's Lunch or simply hear it in the course of conversation ... ACK! Someone else is writing something exactly like your brilliant idea.

Yeah, me too.

But there's a saying that goes around the writer-sphere, reserved for just such an occasion:

"There are no new stories, only new ways of telling them."

It's good for us to remember this. Yes, it's smart to try to come up with a unique story hook, but sometimes we just have to go with our gut. If we have a story to tell, and it sounds a bit like someone else's, maybe that's because it's a universal story that appeals to the ...

The HUMAN in us. 

Even well-published authors get "scooped" on story ideas. And though we get our noses out of joint and sometimes even let that little evil voice inside tell us our idea was "stolen" because we maybe talked about it too much or let it out of the bag too soon, I'm going to guess that very rarely ever happens. It turns out we are just a lot alike as people, despite all our differences, and we are interested in many of the same things.

I dare you to keep writing that story even if it doesn't feel quite as unique as you thought it did at first. I dare you, however, to be sure that you are telling it like nobody else can. Write the heck out of it.

As Donald Maass inscribed in his latest book, Writing 21st Century Fiction, when I attended a workshop at the DFW Writers' Conference recently:

"Many journeys, but only one is yours. Write it."

(And as for that quote near the top, does anyone know who said this first? No? I didn't think so. I rest my point.)

Have you read two stories by different authors that have similar premises? Tell us about them here, and tell us how you reacted. Did they touch you on different levels? Were you glad you'd read both? Were you glad both authors wrote them? (Be kind.)

Alternately, look at the photo at the top of this post and tell us how that mirror image could tell two completely different stories!

A Perk of Social Media

By Kim

Yes, Facebook can be a tremendous time-suck and I still find Twitter to be like standing in a crowded room where everyone shouts “Look at me!” all at the same time.  Both are necessary evils for many writers, an expected marketing platform.  For me, an as-yet-unpublished writer with nothing out there to sell, social media is about networking, connecting with writers from all over the world, people I would not otherwise get the chance to know. 

I confess that the vast majority of my social life takes place on-line.

Without Facebook I would never have connected with Therese Walsh, the Blog Mama over at Writer Unboxed. I would not have been invited to join the Mod Squad, a cluster of volunteers who keep Writer Unboxed’s Facebook group a refreshingly self-promotional free zone. The Mod Squad is a tight bunch; we connect daily through a private group on Facebook, sharing not only information on the posts we have zapped, but also our personal and professional hurdles, our rants, and our greatest fears. We listen, we comfort, and we tell each other to just write the damn book already. 

It’s safe to say this group has become a part of my closest circle of friends, though I had met none of them in real life until this past week.

Kim, Vaughn and Heather in Dallas

This photograph, taken here in Dallas, would not exist without social media. I would not know the epic fantasy writer from Michigan (Vaughn Roycroft) or his wife, Maureen (who took the photo). This would be a shame as they are arguably the nicest couple on the planet. Though I live only twenty miles or so from Young Adult fiction writer Heather Reid, DFW is a crowded place and chances are we would never have met. Now she and fellow Mod Squad member Valerie Chandler will sit beside me on a flight to Boston in November.  We will share a hotel room in Salem’s Hawthorne Hotel where we will attend the Writer Unboxed Un-Conference, which is sure to be a highlight of our year. 

Would I be more productive without Facebook? Probably. Would my life be as rich? No way.

Have any of your virtual friendships become real ones? We’d love to hear your stories!

Grandpa Richmond

by Joan

We called him Grandpa Richmond. Though we saw my maternal grandfather only once a year, our anxiety over the visit began weeks earlier. We’d plead futilely with our mother to please, pretty please, skip this year. Even though he’d given her up in divorce when she was five, even though he kept her brother in Richmond, my mother never gave up on him.

My mother and grandfather

On a Sunday, my younger sister and I would pass the long two hours on Route 95 I-spying blue cars and giving the universal horn-tugging signal to truck drivers. No trip was complete without a stop for stacked, syrupy goodness at Aunt Sarah’s Pancake House. We dawdled over our plates as long as possible, before our sulky return to the car.  

In Richmond, we would park in front of the row house on Floyd Street and creep up wide porch stairs. My grandfather’s second wife, a wafery blonde with sallow skin, a sourpuss smile and missing finger, would open the screen door and motion us inside.

At the end of a long dark hallway, Grandpa Richmond waited in his wheelchair, one leg dangling in front of him, one trouser leg tied up to his knee. We were told to kiss his white-whiskered cheek as he closed his toothless mouth and raised his face toward us. After a hello Zisela from his rusty voice, we were dismissed to the front room where we scooched far into the sofa. Hello Papa, my mother would say.

Now I scold my eleven-year-old self for not embracing him on the last day I’d ever see him. For not asking him questions about the old country, about Richmond, about  his part in the Great War, his grocery store, bootlegging whiskey. He sacrificed a country, a leg, a daughter to scratch out a better life while I cowered in the corner.

For those of you who asked questions, who have journals and hand-me-down memories, I envy you. I don’t know his story, or hers, for that matter. But I will make it up.

Happy Mother's Day!

From all of us at What Women Write! We are writers, yes, but we are mothers daughters and wives and sisters and friends (and one grandmother!), and this is a weekend to celebrate! We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Put Down the Phone Before You Crash

by Elizabeth

I was headed to yoga a few weeks ago when a woman in the next lane nearly veered into my car. Only my reflexes saved us from what would have been at the very least a very ugly alteration to both our vehicles

Being me, I took a gander at the offender when we were alongside each other a minute later. Sure enough, she was texting. Still texting. While driving in a 40 mph zone, a spot where three lanes slim to two, mere seconds after almost sideswiping me. I thought about honking to get her attention, maybe waving my own phone at her so she'd know why, but I didn't. For one thing, I would have had to dig my phone out of my purse, which would make me nearly as inattentive as her. For another, it wouldn't make a difference. She's going to keep on texting behind the wheel until her car actually goes thunk. And maybe after that.

Since I was using the time in the car to think about my WIP instead of inviting a friend to lunch, and since I'm getting ready to send that baby off to beta readers, my mind turned to what they would say and what I would do when they did. Meaning, if they tell me to cut out this scene or storyline or even character because it's just not serving the story, will I? I have to admit, the first time I queried, I got the same comments from pretty much everyone who read the manuscript, but did I do it? Not until I'd queried just about every agent on my list, only to get full requests turned into no thanks, it just isn't working for me comments.

A couple of months ago, my son tested for his second level of black belt at Tae Kwon Do. He's been taking classes for something like five years now, and he would be the first to admit that for the first few years, he sort of went to class, but didn't really apply himself. Sometime in junior high, that changed, and he started really working, and it showed. He achieved his black belt, and when I went and watched him test that day, I was blown away by his ability. The day for his second level test, he was asked to break a stack of boards with a kick. The first one missed, and his Master leaned in (okay, up, do you see how tall that kid is?) and said something in his ear. The next kick, the boards broke neatly in two, and the grin on his face (mostly) made up for sitting on that tiny uncomfortable chair for two hours.

Here's what these three scenarios have in common: she isn't going to change until the reality that what she's doing wrong literally slams into her. I didn't take some very good advice, and I didn't get published. My son listened, and succeeded.

This time, I'm going to listen.

It's hard. I know there's a good chance readers will tell me that something I love needs to go. Will they be right? Maybe not--but if three or four people tell me the same thing, it's probably right. I've already done a lot of pulling out stuff that I realized was good writing, fun to read, but ultimately words that don't serve the manuscript.

This has been said here before, and likely it's been said on every writing blog out there, in nearly every writer's guide, and shouted at many a critique group, but it bears repeating: listen to what your beta readers say. If you've chosen them with care and trust them, trust them. They want the best for you, for your manuscript, and if that great character you love shouldn't be in the story, well, the character needs to go. Put down the phone. Listen to those who would help you. And revel in the success you might find.

Bookgifting

By Pamela

Bookgifting--finding the perfect book for someone special.

It might not be an actual thing, but for me, it is. And since Mother's Day is six days away and kids are graduating left and right, I thought I'd throw some ideas out there for gifts.

I've been on a bit of a Kelly Corrigan bender ever since watching her TED talk on literacy. Fortunately for me, I found TWO of her titles already on my shelf--gifts from my sister that I hadn't yet read. In a text two weeks ago, same sister announced Kelly's latest book was on its way to me. (No, you can't have my sister--she's mine!) So, in a week's time I read: Glitter and Glue, The Middle Place and LIFT, all by Kelly Corrigan.

I'd recommend them all as Mother's Day gifts but, because not everyone's tastes are the same, let me say: Glitter and Glue is great for a younger mom or any woman who appreciates a grown-up's view on how she was mothered. The Middle Place is the perfect title for someone who's gone through a struggle with cancer--her own or with someone she loves. In Kelly's case, she was battling breast cancer during her father's recurrence of bladder cancer--while they lived on opposite coasts. LIFT is a very short book (I read it one morning before church) and is a heartfelt letter to her two daughters--great for a mom who's not a big reader OR even if she is and would love a book to make her laugh and cry. I've already given LIFT to two dear friends who both lost teenagers. That's all I'm saying about it here.

If your mom (or a mom you love) lives by the credo: I brake for yard sales, then this book by Lara Spencer is a must. I first wondered what she could possibly teach me that I didn't already know (having visited my share of tag sales, estate sales and thrift stores), but I learned a lot of insider secrets from reading this book. (I loaned mine out, too, and can't remember who has my copy, so I probably need a new one--it's that good!)

For an older mom--perhaps your own--I'd recommend Home by Julie Andrews. I'm reading this now for the book club I run at a retirement home and had purchased the audio version for my mother last year. (It's read by Julie Andrews.) The book begins at Ms. Andrews' childhood and ends right as she gets her first break in the role of Mary Poppins. It's readily available in large print, too, so that makes it a good gift for an older mom or grandmother. Plus it's a wonderful story about an international treasure.

A few books make the grade as both good for moms as well as grads, in my opinion. Last year I purchased several Listography books as graduation gifts and later wished I'd snagged one for myself. They come in a variety of subjects. If you're in doubt as to which would be most fitting, I'd recommend My Future Listography: All I hope to do in lists for graduates.Think of it as a bucket list in overdrive. There are also Listography titles for parents, music fans, travelers and readers, too, which could be great for Mom. I love them all.

For the male graduate, I can't recommend Tony Dungy's Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance enough. I read the first few chapters of this book, but my younger son is reading it and has been known to bring up parts of it in conversation with me--proof it's making an impact. What struck me as I read the beginning of it was: Wow! I wish my husband would read this. In fact, I wish every man would read this. Tony Dungy is a former Super Bowl-winning coach whose life now is about sharing "what it means to be a man of significance in a culture that is offering young men few positive role models."

Finally, if you need a book for anyone on your gift list--young or old, male or female--a friend recently gave me Jesus Calling, a daily devotional I now keep by my bedside. It's a handsome leather-bound small book that can easily be tucked into a handbag or portfolio, one that can bring the reader great comfort in good times and bad.

Enjoy Bookgifting with me, won't you? And while you're at it, please support your local bookseller and let them know a good book you've read recently, so they can pass that information along to their customers.

Today’s Post is Brought to You By…

Today’s non-post post is brought to you by the letter K (Kim), the number two (kids), and the words ‘allergies’ (my entire house), and ‘ouch’ (oldest child’s knee and, as of two hours ago, my big toe.)

At least my daughter injured herself while doing something she loves. Me, no, I just dropped a pound of frozen hamburger on my foot. Tonight’s lasagna had better be good.

Between the throbbing and the sneezing, any profound words I might have shared have been shoved aside and replaced by a rainbow of profanity. I thought our readers might prefer a less colorful list.

In my last post I shared a selection of titles on my to-be-read list. This time I thought I’d share some books that I have read and re-read, stories that have continued to resonate with me long after I have finished them. Some are classics from childhood, some are obscure to American audiences, and some are current favorites. All are titles I remember off the top of my head because, as you see from the photo, I’m not getting around so well at the moment.

Here they are, in no particular order:

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

Resistance by Anita Shreve

The Underpainter by Jane Urquhart

Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Little Bee by Chris Cleve

The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan

The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Claude and Camille by Stephanie Cowell

The Diviners by Margaret Laurence

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

Room by Emma Donoghue

I Always Loved You by Robin Oliveira

Outlander (series) by Diana Gabaldon

Trinity by Leon Uris

Defiant Spirits by Ross King

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

Ferney by James Long

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

The Moon Sisters by Therese Walsh

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene

The Hunger Games (series) by Suzanne Collins

There you have it, in case anyone needed any more summer reading suggestions. Have you read any of these? What did you think? Feel free to chime in with some titles of your own.