Making Resolutions That Stick

Probably one of the most frequent questions I'm asked is how can a writer sustain the momentum required to finish writing projects.

    According to surveys, writing a book at some point is the secret desire of 90% of the population - as though writing a book somehow validates us as humans - and perhaps makes us a little more immortal. But only around 1% of people will ever rise to the challenge - and even they will falter more times than not. Of these would be writers, less than 1% will ever FINISH their books - and just to be even more depressing now, only a handful of that one percent will ever get to be published.

    Faced with this punishing reality, how do we find the strength to carry on writing?

    Let me answer by first telling you a story.

    Once, a very long time ago, I asked a professional motivational guru how I could become rich. I say it was a long time ago because in those days I was very cynical and I asked the question as more of a challenge than a query. The guru gave me a quick answer:

    "Want to be rich."

    I gave a dismissive grunt at this and asked, "Yeah, so what if that doesn't work?"

    She smiled when she said, "Then you didn't want it enough."

    At the time I took this to be a cop out. I congratulated myself, smugly, that I had exposed her phoniness.

    Now, of course, I know better.

    Because this is precisely how life works. In order to make anything happen, to get things done, achieve results, you have to want them enough.

    But, but, but...

    Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Knowing this isn't getting you any closer to the 'how'.

    How do you get yourself to want something that much? I mean writing success is one thing - but all that work! Isn't there an easier way?

    Well, yeah there is actually - and all it requires is a little shift in your perspective - and a whole lotta dreamin'...

    Now, I could list a bunch of 'things to do' to help you create a little writing success but that can wait for another day. Today, I want to tell you about the single most important aspect of success.
    
Today's the Day

Success is not a place or a time or a circumstance.

    It's a state of mind.

    And it's happening to you right now - all you have to do is to reach out and grasp it.

    Take a few moments - actually the rest of the day - and imagine that you are rich, fulfilled and able to do anything you want, whenever you like.

    Pretty cool, huh?

    Now ask yourself: How would you feel? What would you do?

    This is the shift in perspective I was talking about. You're never going to help your subconscious deal with writing success unless it believes it's already happening. Because it's only when success is actually happening to you that you will begin to make the right decisions for your writing career and enable yourself to perpetuate the writing life you want.

    Writing for a living requires commitment. Some things will work out, some things will not. That's the reality. You can't wait for the good times and then expect everything to be fine from then on. It doesn't work like that.

Achieve Your Writing Goals This Year

You need to decide, right now, that you are a writer - and will continue to be a writer from this moment on. And while you're about it, tell yourself you're already a successful writer - dwell on it, dream on it, and make it real.

    Because it's believing that you are already a good and talented writer that will get you to finish writing projects.

    I know this is true because, I've seen it over and over, no matter the actual talent of the writer, it's the one's that believe in themselves and dream about the writer's life that make it. Every time.

    I also know because a long time before we had houses and cars and money, Robyn (my wife) and I behaved in this way. Though we may have been naive and perhaps not that good to begin with, we never stopped believing we were meant to be successful writers.

    And believing made it so.

    Believing made us write more, made us read more, made us study writing, made us take courses and keep on learning as much as we could.

    We still do it today because writing success is not a destination but a lifelong education. You don't just wake up one day and say "Ah, now I get it, now I know enough."

    Writing is a way of life and it's when you immerse yourself in it totally that you gain the necessary resolve to finish things - and to then get them out there and published!

    To Your Success.

Keep writing!

Rob Parnell's Writing Academy

Is it Still Worth Chasing a Publishing Deal?

In the spirit of recycling, I decided to use an old newsletter from 2007. How different is life now? You’d think it would be very. But really, not much has changed!

    Getting published is every writer's dream. It's apparently what we want, it's what provides the motivation and gives us the spark to keep going, and keep writing and submitting until we finally crack the big one: a publishing deal, a proper one, with a real trade publisher who will promote our books for free - and pay us royalties every six months for the rest of our lives!

    That's the dream, right?

    But how close is this to the reality of being a modern working writer?

    Certainly having an offline bestseller can change your life. Desk bound introverts can become movie moguls (Dan Brown). Single-parent mothers can become very rich media celebrities (J.K. Rowling). And advertising executives can become household names (James Patterson).

    But I would argue that having an offline bestseller is not the only definition of success. Just because the average person in the street hasn't heard of a writer doesn't mean that they aren't rich and successful.

    I get this all the time. I’m judged by the fame of my work. If you say you're a writer and the stranger you're talking to doesn't recognize any of the titles you throw at them, they seem to think you're not really an author!

    It's a trap that we, as writers, must not let ourselves fall into.

    There are literally hundreds of thousands of professional writers out there who make a living, many are even very rich and successful, but whose names wouldn't raise an eyebrow. Not everyone can be in the media spotlight. All those TV and movie writers out there who get paid by the script or cable TV creation get very wealthy doing it - but you don't see their names plastered all over the tabloids. Ever.

    Look at the average author list of ANY publishing house - and you'll see at least 100 names you don't recognize to every one that rings a bell. Do you think these 'unknown' writers are unsuccessful?

    Why do we associate success with fame? And fame with success - when clearly some people are famous just for being famous - and not particularly talented? I think we need to get over this idea. Because it's the only way to see our own success in perspective.

    If someone could wave a magic wand, what would you ask for?

    Financial independence brought about by writing? Most writers I know would give their mother, grandmother, and firstborn for JUST this, never mind fame or a spot on a chat show!

    Which brings us back to getting a publishing deal. Sometimes writers are very disappointed by the reality of having a deal with a trade publisher. Rather than being the endpoint at which a writer can relax, kick back and enjoy a steady flow of money inwards, most new author's experience is very different. Getting published is not an endpoint - or even a starting point most times - it's a signpost on the journey of a writer's life. It's just one of the many signposts that indicate your ongoing success.

    Other signposts might include winning a writing prize or self-publishing e-books - or giving a talk about yourself or meeting with a movie producer. There's no particular order of things that you MUST follow in order to achieve writing success. It doesn't work like that.

    You are the best judge of your success. YOU decide whether you're getting somewhere or you're not.
  
     Many writers I know start writing and releasing ebooks AFTER their publishing deals - for two main reasons.
    
    1. Fame and riches do not necessarily follow from having a publishing deal.
    
    2. They look at internet writers of Kindle books and notice that, far from being 'lower' on the pecking order, they're better off and more respected nowadays.
    
    No longer is there a stigma attached to writing for the net - nor with self-publishing. In fact, technology has revealed the secret that publishing companies have been holding on to for centuries - that THERE IS NO SECRET.   

    An independent author has just as much chance of creating a bestseller than does a publishing company, most of whom grub around in the dark wondering what will sell - rejecting authors out of hand for no good reason - simply because they don't really know what they're doing!
    
    Most publishing companies loath their writers because we think we know what we're doing - and we don't listen to them. They give us the brush off because they have hundreds of other projects that don't make money - and don't have time for another that might. (Ours!)
    
    The writing industry is entirely geared to say 'no' first, last and everywhere in between. Sometimes I feel that the hacks who are supposedly there to help writers lack the passion and commitment that are the prerequisites of a working artist. They just don't get it.
    
    I guess the point is to encourage you not to think of agents and trade publishers as the be and end all of your life. There are a hundred, maybe even a thousand, other fine ways of becoming a successful writer.
    
    And, you should perhaps be targeting those too!

Keep Writing

Rob Parnell’s Writing Academy

Archetypes and Fiction Writing

  

I’m thinking of creating a new course on using Jungian archetypes to help with fiction writing. Would this be useful to you? That’s usually my main criteria for making a new course: will this area of study help my subscribers become better writers?

I touch on the use of archetypes in my hero’s journey course, but mainly in the context of the Tarot deck, which I find fascinating. The Tarot is like a story-telling manual that encapsulates history and all of the possible interactions of humans.

I should explain to those who don’t know that Dr Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist working at the beginning of the 20th century, a contemporary of Sigmund Freud. Jung developed the idea that archetypal characters like the hero, the mother, the trickster and various others continually reveal themselves in fiction because, on some level, we all recognize these generalizations as based on reality. A fascinating idea.

Using Freudian psychobabble to help justify and explain some character motivations has been common over the last one hundred years, especially for screenwriters. Could Jungian archetypes take us to any better places? As an intellectual exercise, yes, these issues are probably helpful to writers but, as for to supplying believable motivations, I’m not so sure.

Curiously Jung believed there was absolutely nothing wrong with having sex with his patients, indeed he seemed to think it might help them. In our more enlightened age this is troubling behavior. Today we would call that abuse. The risk of cancellation aside, these were different times. Despite his questionable transgressions, Jung’s philosophies are still interesting.

His groundbreaking idea that there is something like a shared collective consciousness that holds us all together is a good theory, a quantum argument for the ages. Synchronicity is a fascinating idea too. But archetypes require the kind of understanding that seems less appropriate with each passing year. Women are either maidens, mothers or crones - which is horribly insulting. Heroes are always masculine and, if they’re not, they are women dominated by their masculinity. I mean, come on. Who was he working for? The Catholic Church?

Archetypes are an interesting intellectual exercise but for storytelling I think they are limiting, even destructive to good fiction. We need to move away from stereotypes and think more laterally. I mean really, is presenting cliche ideas about personality and suggesting you use them in your work wise? What if you are striving for originality? How can it be original to use character “types” that allegedly present universal traits, especially when we live in a world that is certainly not totally black and white.

Besides, archetypes are often only identifiable AFTER the fact, and usually by their behaviors and their functions. Not always because they represented the intention of the author. I’ve never believed in making assessments about writing based on finished products. This is not the way authors create. We invent first and rationalize later.

In my view Jungian archetypes are simplistic and assumptive. Jung blithely assumes that the archetypes are part of a subconscious intelligence that may be simply a romantic imposition onto reality because they may not represent reality beyond what a well educated person may connect. This is reductionist and in this PC world, not helpful. Indeed modern psychologists think that seeing people as archetypes might be a sign of madness.

You need to free yourself of preconceptions and templates when you create. Inspiration should be free flowing and instinctive.

Sure, learn, study, take on board all the information you might need.

Absorb it, make it part of who you are. BUT when you’re inventing stories, plotting, building characters, let your instincts take over. Clear your mind and simply invent, imagine and dream.

Archetypes will limit your imagination. And make plotting harder. Trying to force square pegs into round holes will simply frustrate and irritate you. Best to come at a new project clean. Start with a “what if” question and set your spirit free.

Ask yourself questions and go for the first answer you get and then ask again. Often the third or fourth idea will be the most original but that doesn’t matter. Stick with the idea that feels right to you, even if you can’t explain that decision.

Try not to be formulaic but do make sure you are not stretching credulity.
There’s nothing wrong with “off the wall” ideas as long as they make complete sense to you and you know you can “sell” the ideas in your storytelling. But don’t go the painless route just because it’s easier. Think through the consequences of making a decision and see where logic takes you. There’s a fine line between logic and fancy. They have to work together to create a satisfying whole.

So. I would still like to know what you think.

Would you like to see a course devoted to character creation using Jungian archetypes as a starting point?

I’m quite happy to create one, even if only as an intellectual exercise.

Personally, when I’m inventing characters, I prefer to see them as real people with real motivations. I see them in my mind’s eye. I find it difficult to take seriously the visualization of archetypes. They’re a bit too nebulous for me.

But writing about them?

I can do that!

Keep Writing.

Rob Parnell’s Writing Academy

Random Writing Thoughts

Again, no time to do much creative work this week. Quite possible this newsletter may have to wait until next week. The weather is so hot here, they say record temperatures, that by the time I’ve made my TikTok video and watered the garden, it’s already lunch time. There goes the hour or so of my prime writing time.
 
As for editing my manuscript - which I mentioned last week - I’m still at a loss, though I have thought of another way forward.

To get me back on track with my novel, I’ve created an Excel spreadsheet that tracks which chapters I’ve finished. I’ve found that if I do a little - just a few minutes here and there - then I can progress slowly. At least something is getting done.

We’ve got the band coming over tomorrow and we’ve had to move the music studio into the house. Two months of relentless forty degree heat has meant the music room is just way too hot for five people. Better we play inside, with the air conditioning on full.

Honestly it’s no wonder so many early Australian immigrants abandoned outback living. It’s not just the heat, and the flies, it’s the fact there’s no water, not even damp drizzly days to break up the monotony.

On a different note, there’s a writer I know whose having problems. She keeps sending me cryptic messages about life and writing, the kind that people send when they’re on the edge of suicide.

I’m worried about her. But I wish she was more specific. I might be able to help her if I knew what the real problem was. As it is, she talks in generalities about abandonment (I assume her partner’s just left her) and about losing her way and having to relearn meaning and inspiration. She talks about being blocked but really I think she’s probably horribly sad and depressed.

She talks about a general lack of direction when to me she needs to drill down at her problems. Stop glamorizing her depression and start dealing with it.

But I know that trying to fix things is the classic male response - and apparently not always what is required. Females say they prefer to be heard, listened, sympathized with, and don’t necessarily want their problems fixed. It can be frustrating for both parties because, however well-intentioned either may feel, neither is receiving what they need.

This is the same writer who believes that her fictional characters need lots of back-story to work.

I don’t agree. I believe fictional characters, heroes especially,  shouldn’t be over analyzed. You don’t need to know everything about a person to find them compelling. In fact, just like in real life, it might be better not to know everything because a little mystery keeps you coming back. To know and understand everything about your hero (or your partner for that matter) makes them predicable and dull. Better to be surprised every now and then by their behavior. We need to be surprised sometimes. The world and the people residing here should not always act true to form. Your assumptions needs to be shaken, at least when it comes to writing.

Because, without sudden conflict there can be no drama.

There’s a lot of nonsense spoken by so-called writing gurus about these issues. To me, the process of writing needs to be simplified, not complicated. I feel strongly that if you’re going to help people write then you should make the process seem as easy as possible, not to fill potential author’s heads with a bunch of unnecessary obstacles.

Like the idea of creating a secret “wound” for your antagonist. The very idea is enough to give you a block just trying to get your head around it. And why would you need this wound? Surely the idea is simply playing into some Freudian trope that psychopaths need motivation? In reality that’s not the case.

Some people are just wired wrong. I’ve met enough sociopaths to know that there is often no “initiating event”. These people were born horrible. That’s what makes psychopaths evil - they have no conscience, no reason to be awful.

Besides, the motivation of the bad guy is usually an irrelevance. The only thing you need is an antagonist whose agenda is at odds with the hero. Whatever the hero wants or needs is thwarted by the antagonist. They have opposite agendas. Simple, clean, neat - and totally believable to a reader.

Why make life complicated? What’s the point of giving yourself headaches before you start. Stop thinking and just write, get it all down. If a wound occurs to you, and it fits, great, but if it doesn’t, don’t go there. It’s not necessary!

We should never get sucked in by imaginary blocks. As Douglas Adams once said, Writers' Block was invented by Californians who can’t write.

If you’re tempted to believe you have blocks, you need to get over yourself and stop imagining that there are gremlins out there bent on persecuting you. It’s not true.

The rest of us just need to get on with it.

      There's no such thing as Writer's Block. Don't buy into the myth! You've never heard of surgeon's block, have you? Or astronaut's block? Of course not.

      That would be just dumb.

Keep Writing

Rob Parnell’s Writing Academy