Are We There Yet?

I had to take a break from reading A Dance With Dragons and pick up something else. In this case, it was Terry Pratchett's Pyramids. Yes, I'm still reading Pratchett since I recently discovered him. I'm now working my way through from the beginning, no matter how much I want to skip down the list and get to Going Postal. I've seen the movie, and it was good, but I want to read the book, too, which brings me back to George R. R. Martin.

I wasn't halfway through A Dance With Dragons when I began to notice I was leaning forward as though trying to make a slowing vehicle keep moving, preferably faster. It didn't work. I had to stop and pick up something else.

It isn't that I don't enjoy the different birds' eye views of what is happening in Westeros and across the Narrow Sea, but that the story should be further along. I also just want to slap Danaerys Targaryen (do Dothraki have last names?) because she has turned into a whiny, indecisive, and utterly boring character afraid of her own shadow and second guessing everything and everyone. She has become weak where before she was a force to be reckoned with. Now she is just puling.(Spoiler alert!)

Puling. Now that is an interesting word. It's another word for whining and whimpering. Okay, so one of the dragons has eaten a child so you lock the others up and keep them chained in the deepest dungeons. Is that fair? They didn't flame and eat a child. They stuck to sheep. There is no reason to believe that Drogon did it on purpose. Well, he had to do it on purpose since he ate the child, but not with malicious intent. For all you know, she was dressed in sheepskin and looked like a tasty sheep. Dragons have to eat, don't they? That's no reason to chain the others in the dungeon and stop visiting them. Dragons are intelligent. Train them and they will obey. You are the dragon mother after all. But I digress.

The whole point is that A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons could have been combined in a much smaller book and the story advanced. The fourth book should have been the end of the story -- or at least getting closer to it than it is now. It's time to bring things to a head and close it down. If George wanted to write more, he could do anthologies of stories from Westeros with the characters he has introduced and even create some more, but this series should be done by now.

I'm a writer and I certainly don't like people telling me how to write or what to write (except for my editor, and I reserve the right to disagree on issues of plot and story lines, and the occasional comma, but never about grammar). The problem here is that a series should end at some point, but not like Peter Danielson did in his Child of the Lion series where he screwed with history and time just to keep the same players and their offspring playing in the same field instead of the hundreds of years that passed in real time. That's why I gave up the series. As much as I liked Shobai and his brother Hadad's children, and the whole children of Cain series, I couldn't get past the time thing. Danielson wrote 19 books in his Child of the Lion series; is George Martin aiming for the same number of books? If so, he's going to have to move the story forward faster. At least in Danielson's books, the story moved quickly and something happened in every book to advance the series. With Martin, not so much. It feels like treading water in a drying mud pit.

That is not to say that I don't enjoy all the points of view or the story (what there is of it) but that I want the story and characters to actually move forward. The White Walkers haven't been mentioned in ages and haven't made an assault on the Wall. It is as if the White Walkers have stopped being a threat, what with all the resettling of the wildlings and such. George seems to have lost the thread and is wandering around trying to tell too many stories without advancing the plot, which brings up the question of when is a book done? 

I've asked that question with every book and story I've written -- or began to write. When does it end? When is the story done?

The answer in one case was never since I had no middle, only a beginning and an end. I had fleshed out the characters and got caught up in the relationship of the characters without having any idea what the middle of the story that took me to the end (girl gets boy) really was. I shelved the book, and rightly so. I didn't have a clue what the story was about, just an idea and something I wanted to say. I knew I'd lost the thread after about the 5th or 6th chapter and decided it was enough. Time to shelve the book. I had some great scenes and wonderful characterizations going, but no story. It was time to shut it down.

It feels like Martin has the same problem. He's become mesmerized with telling so many points of view that he has lost the thread of the story and the initial impetus to get going. That doesn't mean he doesn't tell a great story -- or at least he usually does -- but that he needs to get back on track, focus, and get moving on the main event, which is the coming of winter and the White Walkers and bringing Dany to Westeros with her dragons ready to fight and take back the iron throne from the Lannisters -- or rather from Cersei Lannister, if she gets to live now that she is in peril of her life from her actions. (I haven't finished Dragons yet, so I don't know whether she will call on ser Gregor Clegane from the pit or if Jaime will at last be able to fight with his left hand and win the day for his sister, lover, whatever.)

It is so easy to get caught up in telling so many different stories in a series that you lose focus and the point of the main story, which is to make good on the promise of the first book, the very first words. If a writer cannot maintain that focus and keep moving forward, it is far too easy to get lost. Don't want to kill all those wonderful darlings, and yet the writer must if he is to keep his audience and not coast on his laurels.

With series books, and even with trilogies, there is at least a year wait between books and, while this seems not to be a big deal, for those who began reading when the series began, to have to wait for so many years is asking a bit much, especially when there is an 8-year gap between the first 3 books and the 4th. I don't think I want to wait around another 8 years for the next book, and I doubt the 4th book would be out if HBO had not decided to make Game of Thrones. George wants to see the whole story told on the screen, and so do the fans, but what if the series doesn't pan out? What if it becomes too costly to continue making the series? Will HBO cancel it before we get to the part where the dragons reach Westeros and battle with the White Walkers and winter is joined? Will George ever finish the series?

Too many questions with no answers as yet. So far, we have season 2 of Game of Thrones and season 3 has been promised, and is likely now getting ready to film, but that's no guarantee of season 4 or the finish of the story.

A word to the wise. When a story begins to pall and you're treading drying mud, it's time to reassess what you have. If it's a story where the middle can be found and put in (not possible with my aviatrix and her lost aviator love in enemy hands) or the main thread can be found and followed to its inevitable conclusion (whatever that will be), then get busy and get on with it. If not, it's time to consign the story to the shelf. It's time may come, or it may not, but at least there are more stories to tell.

So, if I had any advice to give George (and who does not?), I'd say get back on track and save all these little stories for an anthology of stories from Westeros -- it would sell millions -- but get back on track and finish the story you began in A Game of Thrones. It's time to kill those darlings (or save them for an anthology) and move along or a lot more people are going to be puling, "Are we there yet?" And that's no good for anyone.

Heed the Urge

Free advice, it's the one thing that most people rarely fear to give and balk at accepting for free, the idea that something you've done is wrong or inappropriate, or worse, that you need help, especially with writing. That's what I'm offering this morning, a little free advice.

I've been writing most of my life and have been published for more than a few years. I've learned a thing or two, although it seems they are mostly bad habits. Writing is a lot like dieting or, in my case, ignoring the body's needs. In this case, it's the mind's needs, although the body works into the mix anyway.

When I was younger, I thought I could lose weight by starving myself. I didn't count on the bred in the genes part that thought I was starving. Well, I was starving, but there was plenty of food around. I chose not to eat it because I wanted to lose that extra 10 or 15 pounds. What I didn't count on was how my body would rebel against my rebelling against food. My body clamored for food and I ignored the signs, the empty stomach, the cramps, the desire to chew on anything, even cardboard, if it would fill me up. All I thought about was the way I'd look when I lost the extra pounds. I was ignorant. I didn't realize that while I was virtuously denying myself food, eating only 2 ounces of cheese and drinking lots of water (which did nothing to curb my cravings), I was damaging myself.

The starvation gene had kicked in after the first week and was storing up every calorie it could find, lying in wait for an influx of food to store more against future famines. I lost 10 pounds and celebrated with a normal sized portion of dinner. Breakfast followed the next morning and I followed that with lunch and dinner, eating small portions, but eating at last. The taste was so good I wanted to lick the plate or bowl or glass clean. I held myself back in deference to the way I was brought up, but the urge was strong . . . and the scales crept up to replace the 10 pounds I'd lost and pack on a few more, so I starved again, eating after I lost the weight, and gaining even more weight every time I went back to eating normally. I finally cut out breakfast and tried every diet fad coming down the pike, but the results were the same: brief weight loss followed by increased weight gain.

It took me years to figure out what I was doing to myself, years and a lot of reading. Losing weight is even harder because of the damage I did to myself all those years, and I refuse to consider weight loss surgery to correct the issue, so I plod along, eat as healthy as possible and give my body what it needs. I learned too late.

Writing is similar to losing weight in some ways. Ignoring the urge to write for a day or a week or even a year does have an effect. Writing becomes more difficult. It is harder to sit in the chair every day, or on the couch or in the bath with a table across the sides, or wherever you feel most comfortable writing, when you ignore the urge to write. Unlike dieting, you don't end up with more words than when you started, but a habit of quitting early, taking notes and doing endless research and balking when it comes to sitting down and beginning a story or book. You've replaced the urge to write with an urge to write when you get around to it. You can always write after you do the laundry or the dishes, after this show is over, or when you get back from vacation, never realizing that you are hurting yourself and your dreams of publication. Without the words and the filled pages, there will be no books, no stories, and no publication, unless you hurry up and throw words onto a page without worrying about plot, characterization, or even whether the words are spelled correctly and the sentences aren't a mishmash of whatever came to mind.

Having words down on the page is not enough. It might be all right for a blog or a quick article, but what you put on the page is as important as what you put in your body when you eat. It does matter if the grammar is barely there and the details right. It matters.

I should know. I have a good case of putting it off until the last moment because I have a job that sucks the energy and creativity out of me every day. I muddle through, make notes, write down snatches of dialogue, description, and background, but it's not like writing every day. I've lost the fire to write, the fire that kept me writing all night long, going to work tired and empty of words and energy. I've come to the point where I have great books brewing in my head and ignore the urges to put it on paper. Not scribbling it down, but actually forming sentences, paragraphs, and pages full of well crafted words. I mean to do it, but I just can't get myself to the computer and get it done. I've fiddled with my time, filling it with nonsense and work that could wait, and made excuses.

I remember a time when I would wander off during a family gathering, pull a notebook or journal from my purse, and write, rushing to the computer the moment I got home or the guests left, so I could write. I wrote every day, and sometimes all day, finishing a 100,000+ word book in a week, revising it and fleshing it out until it was done. I've had my share of books that failed in the middle and had nowhere else to go, but I learned and kept writing. I never stopped writing -- until recently. I kept telling myself I'd get to it. I don't even blog every day the way I used to do, but I'm not a complete dilettante. I do journal nearly every day, even when I'm ill. The urge to get up and fill the pages so I can open a new journal and begin again is too strong. At least there I haven't failed. I can't completely ignore the urge to write because it has been such a part of me for decades.

In a way, this is not only free advice, but a declaration for myself, a promise that I will write, mostly because I am writing now. The need to write is not yet sated and I don't think it will be any time soon. Oh, I prefer to be comfortable when I write, but most of the time I don't notice my surroundings when I'm writing. I'm in the zone where hours pass without comment and day turns to night and turns back to day while I pound out another story, a book, a blog post because I do love the words and the way they come together. I'll miss a few grammar points, but that is what my editor is for; she keeps me honest and puts me back on track.

I have one piece of advice for every writer. Do it every day without fail. Don't ignore the urge or you will one day stop feeling it. I have to remind myself to eat regularly, especially when I'm writing, because of all the years I ignored my body's demands and urges. It is much harder for me to hear them now. The urge to write is still strong and it clamors for my attention nearly every hour, invading my dreams when I ignore it when I'm awake. The urge hounds and nags and makes itself known in every way possible. I'm glad for that because without it, I'd be fat and an automaton going through the motions of living, doing the laundry and dishes, running the errands, working my scheduled hours, and devoid of any sign of life, caroming from one chore to the next, piling up money to spend without having anything I really want to buy. That's no life for a writer.

Okay, I have 2 pieces of advice besides "write every day without fail" and that is read voraciously. A writer should read and read widely. Venture into new territory and it will show up in the writing, not only in better construction but more mature and well rounded stories.

Writing is a process, a discipline, a calling, and a gift. Don't ignore it. Heed the urges and put your backside in the chair and write. Even if you don't think you have anything to say, just the act of writing is enough to stimulate the little grey cells and words will come. You can throw them out later, but write them down. Every day, write them down. Carve out some time. Make writing a habit. Words will come and with them will come paragraphs and pages and stories and books. Heed the urge.