From the Fiction Desk

Many of the people who know me personally call me “the busiest person they know.” Statements like this began an inner quest to understand my drives behind what I do and why I write. I reexamined my priorities and my life long goals. Over the last three months I have not posted anything new on my blogs. Despite my desire to share my writing with others the simple fact is that my number 1 priority is to be a consistently published novelist and a consistently published poet.

When I examined the time I have to actually write per week, I was dismayed to see how little time I have—despite sleeping only 4 to 6 hours a day. Then I looked at my writing production over the last year, including blogs and saw just how over blogged I am. My goal, as I stated above, is to be a consistently published novelist and poet. Yet, most of my writing time was being spent writing blogs and articles for the internet. I was blogging nine different topics a week. That is at least nine hours a week. This may not sound like much to many of my readers. However, with everything I have to juggle in my life, nine hours is often the only amount of time I have in a week to write. Meanwhile I am working on 8 novels and 4 poetry collections. Something had to give.

As such, I am changing my schedule of blogging all together. I will keep my Coffee with David blog, going on a consistent weekly basis. My others will be as I have time or a pressing matter to share.

Thank you for reading and checking this blog from time to time. Please continue to follow me on Coffee With David as I share the “behind the scenes life” of this writer who is determined to reach his goals in life: That goal is to publish 300 novels and 80 poetry collections over the next forty years. I know how insane that may sound, but that is my goal should God let me live that long.

Writing is hard and anyone who is trying to make a living at it needs to be smart, determined and maybe even slightly insane. Some would be writers dream of writing someday, but they do not realize that writing is an art and to be a writer you need to write. While this sounds like common sense, many writers either take a break to focus on other things in their lives (marriage, kids, the bill paying job) or think that they can write a novel when they retire or have some spare time.

Writing is an art that grows through habit. By writing every day the art form and the flow of words continues to improve. Only the celebrities can publish a book without having tried to write one and their secret is that the books are ghost written by the starving artist who will never get credit.

Why write? If the odds are against you and the pay is lousy, why put yourself forward as a writer? Is it for fame and glory? Some may do it for that reason, but there are easier ways to obtain that fame and glory is not always what it is cracked up to be. In most writers there is a need to write that is as basic to us as the need to breathe. We will spend our time hurting our eyes as we stare at computer screens and editing for hours on end. We may lose relationships with those who cannot understand the drive of the art that pushes us forward. Writers who try to make a living at it are obsessed gamblers. We do not have to play at a poker table or the slot machine. We gamble every time we put ink on paper and submit our article, poem, story, or book to a would be publisher and hope to be paid.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for more articles, blogs, poetry, and stories that I write.

There is a diagram that was used in a marketing class that fits how characters perceive the other characters as well as the world around them. The diagram had the person staring through a veil of perception at the wall of reality. Like real people, our characters will see themselves in various lights either to their benefit or determent, depending on their level of self-esteem and guilt. While they may perceive themselves in these lights, the question that should be raised is how do other characters perceive them and their actions?

Every character, no matter how small, is a protagonist in their own story. They go about doing things because they are trying to achieve their own story goals. If a writer takes this approach to creating their characters, they could create an army of real characters missing only the element of how they are perceived by each other. Why does John love Jane, but Jane wants nothing to do with John. Maybe Jane sees John as a player or as a loser. Maybe Jane would like to be with John, but because of peer pressure from her friend Jill, she will not. Why? Because Jill thinks he is creepy. As the writer begins to build the relationships they also should begin to build the perceptions that every character has in regards to the others they are interacting and have a reason or a “perception veil” for it. As an example, maybe Jill sees John as creepy because he reminds her of someone she knew who scared her.

In television, movies, and plays, the viewer is often not informed of the character’s perception of another unless that character says something about it or there is a narrator. In short stories and novels, the author does not have to worry about this handicap—they are the narrator and can either fill in or leave open the blanks as necessary to tell their tale. The decision to do this depends on the story. However, regardless if the author ever reveals the reason, the author should know it as the perception and the reason behind it will dictate how the two characters will interact.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for articles, blogs, poetry, and stories I write.

The business of writing involves long hours and a lot of perspiration. The role of inspiration must not be taken lightly. Inspiration is the flash across the writers mind which wraps itself into the fictional story, poem, or article that is being written. From the seed of inspiration the piece grows organically and must be constantly feed to keep the writer going. How can a writer stay inspired to write?

Inspiration can come from countless sources of everyday events to the unique and exotic. One way for the writer to stay inspired is to stay connected to the world. Writers will want to isolate themselves to write and often miss out on the events that surround them. Step outside of the everyday close off the door world and step into the real world to find inspiration. See what people are doing, watch the crowds and ask to yourself what their stories in life maybe. A single conversation can reap countless story, poem, or article ideas.

Doing something new and stepping out of the comfort zone is another way to find inspiration. Human beings can be caught up in their regularly scheduled life. Thos rut of life can drain away inspiration and lead to writing, and living, the same monotony day in and out. Years ago, at a writers conference, an editor asked the audience “what makes your story different from the hundreds of other ones in the market?” This question should also be applied to the writers life and their approach to the art of writing. If your writing looks stale and uninspired, do not ask what is wrong with you writing. Ask what is wrong with your source of inspiration. What have you done today to be different from yesterday that may generate a unique view of your stories?

Do you have a second art? Do you paint, draw, play an instrument? A. Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes would often be found scratching at an instrument while trying to untangle a puzzle. It was this focus on the second art that allowed the mind to freshly tear at the puzzle. Artist have used the same method trough out time. By changing the stimuli, and still being creative, the creative juices can be refocused and pooled elsewhere.

Should all else fail to bring the writer inspiration, there is another thing you can do—especially if you feel the weight of writers block crushing you. Do something mindlessly monotonous. Some writers will clean and others may go to the gym or for a walk. The mindless monotony will help squeeze out the creative juices, for creativity wants to be doing something that is not mind numbing.

While writing is filled with the arduous task of getting the words on paper and rewriting, editing, and rewriting again, inspiration must be tended to. It must be nurtured for it to produce the fruit of our work—take time to push yourself away from what you know and try something new to break out of the mold in which a writer can create for themselves.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for the articles, blogs, poems and stories that I write.

To plot or to free write? This is a question that has been asked by writers for generations and the answer is as personal to the author as identity and fingerprints can be to anyone. Before a writer decides to plot or to free write a story, there are many things to consider.

1. What genre are you writing in?
Some genres, such as mysteries, require a tightly woven story. To do this, the author usually needs a plot. How in depth the plot is depends on the author and what he or she wishes to say in their story. Other genres lend themselves to less detailed of a plot.

2. What are you, the author most comfortable with?
Some authors find it more comfortable to have a well written plot and others prefer to write in a loose universe where their characters can define the story more. When you try to write out of your comfort zone, in regards to plotting or free writing, this can feel as awkward as trying to walk in too tight of shoes or move in pants that you fear will split if you step incorrectly.

3. Some stories demand to be plotted and others free written.
Works of fiction have a life of their own. They develop as a living organism may develop, defining who they are. They become the author’s child in many ways and, like a living child, often demonstrate how strict the parent needs to be. Some stories need rules and tight supervision. Others need to be free to become what they are intended to be. Learn which your story is wanting to be as you work on it.

4. Is the plot getting in the way of the character?
Another way to ask this question is to ask yourself if your character is a living three dimensional character or if they are simply moving like an automaton. If the character is moving like an automaton, then the character is nothing more than a plot device and can become unbelievable to the reader. Even if it doesn’t, this can be a sign to the author that they should not plot as tightly as they have and let the character explore their world.

There is no easy answer to which is better for an author to follow, for the answer is one of discovery. Like a painter, a sculptor, or other artist, the writer discovers what technique works best for them –and a lot about themselves as they write.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for articles, blogs, poems, and stories that I write.