Maybe Not Just Flaws

Over on her blog, Jenny writes today about how character flaws create complications in P.G. Wodehouse's books. And that made me want to stop work and start in on letting my characters' flaws complicate things.

Since I couldn't really stop working, I let the idea percolate. I tried to think of other stories where character flaws complicated the story. I came up with quite a few. But something else dawned on me. All character traits can create complications, not just the flaws.

Spoiler warning if you watch Being Human and haven't seen Saturday night's episode.  

Sometimes the positive traits cause just as much havoc. Being Human (the BBC version) is gearing up for the season finale. The penultimate episode this season piled one complication on another. A lot of this stems from Annie deciding to help a police woman figure out who massacred a train car full of people. She likes the woman and wants her to succeed. She wants the families to have what little comfort they can get from knowing the murderer is behind bars. She wants to feel useful. The problem is that the murderer is someone close to her. His flaws created the initial problem. But it's Annie's good side that really complicates things for everyone in their group.

End of Spoiler Warning

Either way, it's a wonderful insight into how complications happen. And just another reason why Jenny's blog rocks. And Jenny, for that matter.

**Stay tuned for another thing I learned about writing from Top Chef.

Jenny Wins!

Nathan Bransford, super rock star agent, just announced the winner in his Secret Year journal contest. And it's Jenny! Nathan picked the top 5 finalists from over 650 entries. Huge accomplishment to be part of that select group. But then the blog readers voted, and they picked our Jenny.

How freakin' cool is that? I mean, we all knew she was good. Now it's been verified by a huge number of people.

Check out the rules, the winning entry and the also-rans at http://blog.nathanbransford.com/

Yay, Jenny! Update your bio, hon.

The Group Strikes Again!

Last night was the official First Monday gathering of The Group. It occurs to me this morning that it may have been our one year anniversary. I'll have to look up whether we met for the first time in June or July of last year.

I arrived a little early to go over new novel ideas. I'd narrowed it down to four and was seeing if I could write a quick sketch outlining the main storyline for each one. If not, then the idea isn't ripe enough to pick. Jenny and Shane arrived while I was pondering and asked what I was doing.

"Looking at story ideas to see which one I'm using for my next project."

Jenny, "Let's hear 'em."

I read one. They nodded politely, asked a couple questions. Mary arrived and the conversation changed. A writer's nightmare happened to her a few weeks ago--complete computer meltdown. Latest revisions, gone.

Fleur and D.B. showed up and the discussion shifted again. Just when I thought it was safe, Jenny said, "So what are your other ideas?" After a brief explanation to bring Mary, D.B. and Fleur up to speed, I read my other three ideas. One in particular sparked everyone's interest. Then Jenny said, "You should put that together with the first one." Brilliance!

The fitting of the two, seemly unrelated, ideas is just what I needed to get excited about starting a new project. And I have to admit, I don't think I would have put them together on my own. Yet, there it was, just waiting for someone to discover the fit.

I love and respect each and every person in this group. We are not a critique group per se, although we do read and comment on each other's work. It's more like a support group--one that encourages a bad habit. Some months we have more people show up than others. Bret and Fran attend sporadically. Nicole is usually a regular, but had to be out of town. Ali shows up as often as she can. Everyone has a unique take on this crazy business of writing and we represent a broad range of genres.

It just works. And I'm so glad it does.

The First

The pressure is on. A first post on the new blog. Should I be sincere? Funny? Informative?

"The First" is always special and unforgettable, right? Not always. Sometimes The First is painful, embarrassing or messy.

Maybe I should just get the damn thing over with and quit obsessing. Sounds good.

MMG, as it's known to The Group, is my first mainstream women's fiction novel. I completed the first revision last week and came to a stunning conclusion: it sucks. How tough is it to sweat for longer than I care to record here just to get to the suck? Pretty tough.

Here's where having a great support group of fellow writers is key. They rallied round and talked me off the ledge.

"Step away from the manuscript."

I heard that several times over the course of two days. And I took their advice. Most of them had the first 141 pages. Jenny stepped up and asked for the whole thing--bless her. She's looking it over and will let me know if there's any life left in it or if it should be put of its, and my, misery.

In the meantime, I've caught up on a few tasks that have been let slide during the revision process. Next is to pick out which idea should be the next novel and start.

And resist the urge to bug Jenny. "So, how do you like it so far?"