The Joys of Having a Writer Group

How much can one extoll the virtues of having a good group of writer-buddies? I've heard some writers say that they prefer to pursue their art alone-- and as in anything else to do with writing, each writer has their own style preferences.

Our group is an eclectic mix as to what we write; and our various ages and life styles. I'm grateful that there are at least four other Speculative Fictions writers, like myself--you know, the ones who don't roll their eyes when you get into ardent discussions about protagonists who are descended from Egyptian gods, or are evolved from Dragonkind.

I love that everyone in our group has a great sense of humour-- another useful survival tool in a writer's kit. In fact, our email string comments are frequently of the LOL variety.

Our "core group" is about 70% female and 30% male so we have at least some Yang amidst our Yin

Sooo....

How is the Tao like a Writing Group?

...because we have a mix of energies whose interplay manifest the world...or at least..a world

How is Star Trek like Writing:

Imagination

The boundless frontier

These are the flights of Fantasy, our mission is to create alternate worlds and unique characters

To boldly go, where no one has yet imagined.

:)

Gender roles

Our female protagonist - gender roles?
How do we view our female character/ are we gender specific?

My family rolemodels were of the more “vintage” type as well–traditional stay at home Mom, trying to instill in me the qualities of a “lady”; strong and steady Dad, who always took the time to really listen. I adored him. These memories have found there way into my YA Epic Fantasy novel as well; however my teenage protagonist, though conditioned to fulfill her role as a “lady” is forced by events to physically fight a fierce enemy. Because she is defending those she loves, she draws on her experiences in mindlink with predators of the forest…she is then able to move past the fear and find the courage to do what she must.

As J.R,R. Tolkien illustrated so well in the LOR, courage is the going on when hope seems gone. So perhaps I see my women characters as frequently possessing this kind of strength; it may be concealed or dormant, depending on the cultural milieu we've created, until called upon in time of need.
Posted by Sandy H at 10:08 AM

A Hard Cover Indulgence

I am a fan of Anne Rice's writing, and recently purchased the first book ( soft cover) in her new Songs of the Seraphim series, Angel Time. Devoured that in a couple of days...being on holidays... and while still giddy with the joys of reading at the beach and basking in sunlight, far from B.C.'s wintery clime, I splurged and bought the next book of the series, Of Love and Evil.

Hard Cover

$ 24.95

...for a scant 171 page read, the first two chapters of which reiterate wordage from the previous book.

Anne, no offense, I have been and always will be, a fan (channeling my inner Spock here)

but these prices are driving us right into the digital arms of e-readers.

Ju-Ju and Fetishes for Writers

Ok. I just tweeted that my Jean Luc Picard action figure, complete with his taped on “thought bubble” commanding, “Write!” fell off my computer as I frantically wafted papers around. “It’s an omen!” was my posted exclamation. Duh. Are writers superstitious? Do we have little rituals we do, compulsively must do, in order to get ready to create?

You’ll be imagining that I sit here draped in Ju-Ju fetishes and it’s really not so. Really.

The Dance of Pitching

Just returned form the SiWC, and am totally jazzed and inspired and imbued with this fluttering sense of expectation…it’s going to happen!

However, first we have to dance Salome’s dance for the Agents, Publishers, whomever; before they will even look at our manuscript--our writing—we must Pitch…waft the veil of the synopsis, before their eyes; weave it through the musk of incense and idiom until, entranced, they beg to see the flesh (err…the actual writing).

CHARACTEROLOGY

I picked up this ancient book on Characterology and have found it completely fascinating:

“Characterologists believe that the intimate connection of spirit, mind, and body not only affects the expressions but also etches its story and patterns in a person’s appearance
--Carl E. Wagner, Jr.

For just a couple of examples:

• How many of our heroines have “large eyes” which characterolgy tells us indicates an outgoing nature--talkative and expressive.

• “Deep-set eyes” may indicate a person slow to speech and sparing of words. Yep, that’d be our laconic cowboy hero all right.

• And where would we be without our villains--why are they always such fun to describe? Foxy-eyes, slanting downward to the nose may indicate deceit; or straight-across eyelids an indication of cruelty. “Wolf’s Eyes”, showing the white on both sides and on top of the iris “is frequently found in people of a violent nature” (C. Wagner, Jr.)

The descriptions are endless, and fascinating…of course; we are the total sum of our parts—no one feature can be taken alone as the sum of our personality