Just what I didn't know I needed

I'm at Operation Awesome today talking about the things only a writer's spouse/best friend can understand, the hidden meanings behind the words we say about our writing. It's definitely a special relationship when you find someone who understands and supports your writing.

In fact, it was probably one of those deal-breakers for me, even though I didn't know it when I first met my husband. I wasn't actively writing at all. He read some of my journals, something we shared when we were getting to know each other. He said I had a unique way to write (voice), and he felt like he was reading a story. After that, he encouraged me to write, told me he believed I could get published. Sometimes I wonder if he regrets that encouragement just a little bit now. ;) But he still offers encouraging words, six years later, when I feel like I want to give up on my writing goals.

Like I said, I didn't know at the time how important it was for me to marry someone who supported my desire to write. The magic is that Bill encouraged it even when it wasn't something I was actively pursuing, wasn't something I wore on my sleeve. He reached into my soul, saw a writer there, and coaxed her out.

When our kids get to dating age, my advice to them will be this: find people who care enough to see your talents even when you're not showing them off. And find people who encourage you to go all-in, follow your dreams, and do what makes you happy.

Being married to any kind of artist has to be a challenge, but I'm grateful to my husband for taking a chance on me and investing so much of his love (and patience) to help me grow into a better version of myself. I hope I can reciprocate that at every turn, help him live out his dreams, too. Even if we never get our loftiest dreams, I know the journey has already been well worth it.

Happy Writing, everyone!

My Husband the Alpha (Reader)

So technically, I'm not done with my WIP. (Thank you, Captain Obvious, since it's a work-in-progress which implies it isn't quite finished.)

That makes my husband an alpha reader rather than the more widely renowned beta reader. As alpha readers go, my husband has historically been less than helpful. A common remark from him is, "It's... good."

This vagueness comes from a good place. Because he loves me. And he wants to encourage me no matter how bad my writing may or may not be. But also because in the past, he didn't have a ton of other reading to compare with mine. So what kind of advice could he really give?

That's changed. (Not his loving me; that's undying, of course.)

Bill will tell you he's always liked reading, but the truth is he hadn't read any fiction in quite a while when we met. While dating (to avoid excessive make-outs), we read all the Harry Potter books together. Then he got busy with school and work and didn't feel as inclined to read fiction (plus we were married and could make out whenever we wanted). I introduced him to Twilight, then Percy Jackson. The latter made him fall in love with boyish middle grade. Since then, he's picked out a few books on his own: Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.

Now he's reading my book plus The Maze Runner by James Dashner. For a guy finishing up his master's in a technical management field, he's developed quite the eye for great fiction, specifically the younger voices, which is what I tend to write.

So when he finished a good portion of my book yesterday and said, "I think it would be better in first person," I picked my jaw up off the floor and took another look at my manuscript.

He was right.

There were some really telling phrases in there (hundreds) that would be all but annihilated if I told the story from my MC's point of view. I feel an odd combination of grateful and proud this morning as I set out to abolish the needless telling in my novel by following my awesome husband's advice.

I just want to use this forum to say a public THANK YOU to Bill for supporting me the way he does, and for wanting as badly as I do for my work to be published someday.

You're the reason I started believing in my writing again, sweetheart.

and...

Who inspires you?

Would you keep going?

If you were the only writer in the world, and there were no blogging buddies, critique partners, or beta readers... would you keep going?

I don't think I could.

I picture what it must have been like for early writers who scribbled away on parchment or in notebooks without the technology that allows me to move an entire paragraph or just one word with Ctrl X, Ctrl V. I imagine my friends thinking I'm crazy because I'd rather write than go to a ball or a party. Can you just taste the disappointment mixed with utter loneliness that some of our favorite writers must have experienced?

Two of my heroes are J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Individually, they're epic and respected writers. Together, in their little Inklings group of writers, they are pure awesome. What would one of them have been like without the other?

Answer: Like me, minus Amparo, Lindsay, Kelly, Angie, Kristal, and Michelle (my Operation Awesome critique partners and blog buddies). Sad. Discouraged. Alone.

I can't even tell you how many times one of them has cheered me up or kicked my butt into gear. And I couldn't possibly count or even recall every time one of your blog posts (yes, you, reading this blog) has taught me something about writing, or reading, or being human.

Without you guys, I wouldn't know how to start a story or how to finish one. I wouldn't understand story structure or characterization half as well as I do now. And I'm still learning from you.

We're not alone. And that makes writing 100% fun and 0% lonely.

For a glimpse at how much I've learned from my blogging friends, check out Pot Holes and Aha Moments in Your Writing Career by me over at Operation Awesome.