Fear Can Bite You In The Book

Sometimes I fight with myself at being a perfectionist. Not in all areas, mind you—I’m selective. My house is not spotless—dust isn’t a bad thing I tell myself, after all, the world is full of it and some of it is bound to get in so why waste all my time fighting it. My car seems to be a magnet for dust, leaves and bird droppings. My office is messy—but organized—I know which pile holds what. Tradeoffs. I rationalize that creativity is messy.

But when it comes to my novel, I am never satisfied that it is good enough. Partially because I am timid of what people will think of it and partially because I know it could be better (anybody’s writing could be better). It boils down to fear. My novel is not perfect. Logically I know it will never be perfect—after all the times I have rewritten it and perfected it ad nauseum, I always find something else to improve. At some point I’ve had to say, enough! It’s as good as I can make it and it’s time to get it out there.

           

I am now onto the next stage—building a platform (one of the new key words for writers along with brand, blog and Twitter) and I’m on the lower end of the learning curve. Now we get to the 1^st lesson question (from Kristen Lamb's blog http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/  -see my previous blog for details) that helps define me as a writer:

What kind of author am I? After careful analysis I define myself (at this present moment—because my perfectionist self is telling me I could be clearer, better, smarter, etc.) as follows:

            (Attempting to be) An engaging story teller. I bring the unexpected, the twist, or a surprise at the edge of reality. I define what I write as paranormal; “not in accordance with scientific laws or denoting events or phenomena beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding.” I don’t define paranormal narrowly, as some do, as werewolf and vampire stories (although there’s nothing wrong with those—I just finished reading a fascinating werewolf story myself). My goal as a writer is to intrigue you; weave a tale you can’t put down and get you thinking about possibilities.

           

Some of my favorite fiction writers this year are:

Dan Brown (he pulls you through a story at breakneck speed)

Mystery writers Lee Child & Robert Crais (engaging, sexy protagonists with a bit of humor)

Suzanna Kearsley (historical past life/time shift with romantic elements)

Erin Morgenstern (mystical, magical world).

-All have the ability to grab or engage your attention and keep you reading. The latter two would fit my definition of paranormal.

           

I would love to know what authors grab your attention and keep you reading. Have you read paranormal stories? Do you like them?

* The werewolf series I just finished was by Nicky Charles and are free downloads to your e-readers. The first in the series was not as well written but very engaging. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/10394

           

#coraramos #writer #fiction #paranormal #blog