Month: August 2018

My semester begins this week, which means lots of meetings plus the usual chaos of getting students settled into the right classes and ready to go. I’m extra busy, though, because on Sunday I’ll be leaving for a week in Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH), where I have a conference to present at.

Although I’ve been to the neighboring country of Croatia many times, and even lived there twice for short periods, I’ve been to BiH only once before, when I was able to spend 4 days in Sarajevo and Mostar. It’s a beautiful, fascinating country with a rich (and sometimes tragic) history. Mostar was the inspiration for Zidar, the fictional town in my novella “The Pillar.”

(Actually, I was in BiH one other time, while traveling by car from Dubrovnik to Split. Both of those cities are on the Croatian coast, but a little blip of BiH divides them, meaning you spend about 10 minutes in BiH as you pass through. They do check your passport and everything, though.)

I don’t think I’ll make it to Mostar this time, although I’m hoping for a day trip to some places in eastern Bosnia and western Serbia. Most of my week, though, will be in Sarajevo. That city is sometimes called “Jerusalem of Europe” or “Little Istanbul.” I’ve stood there inside an old Sephardic Jewish synagogue and looked out at a mosque, an Eastern Orthodox church, and a Catholic church. I doubt there are many places in the world where that’s possible.

What’s especially cool is that Sarajevo serves as one of the primary models for Starograd, the capital of Vasnitsya–which is the setting for my upcoming novel, The Spy’s Love Song. Vasnitsya is entirely fictional, of course. And while it’s run by a totalitarian dictator, BiH is most definitely not; BiH is a democratically-run republic (with a somewhat unusual governmental structure due to recent political conflicts). In addition, my imaginary city of Starograd was also influenced by other places I’ve visited in Central and Eastern Europe, including Warsaw, Budapest, Zagreb, and Prague. But when it comes to descriptions of what Starograd looks like, of the parts of the city built during the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, as well as the parts built during communist times, Sarajevo is the biggest contributor.

I will, of course, post photos. So if you’re not already following me on social media, now would be a good time to add me. My photos from BiH might make reading The Spy’s Love Song more fun.

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I don’t claim to be the world’s foremost expert on writing. But I’ve done a goodly amount of it (currently working on my 25th novel) with some degree of success. And lately a few aspiring authors have asked me for advice. So here’s my wisdom.

One thing to remember is that there is no One Right Way to be an author, no True Path to literary achievement. I know a lot of writers, and each one of them does things their own distinctive way. Some plot; some pants. Some write linearly; some skip around. Some keep to a strict daily schedule and word count; some write in fits and spurts. Some use fancy software. Some scribble in pencil in notebooks. I’d recommend new writers to experiment freely and see what fits them best. Plus, whatever works today, for this story, might not be the best fit tomorrow, for the next one.

Now, while there is no One Right Way to to write, there are many wrong ways. But you know what? If you find yourself lost on one of those rubble-strewn roads to nowhere that’s okay. The lovely thing about writing fiction is that no matter how badly you screw up–with some very few, highly implausible exceptions–nobody is going to die. The world won’t end. All you have to do is retrace your steps, maybe salvaging a few good words along the way, and head in a different direction.

Not only that, but every author strays down those wrong routes occasionally. I am positive that Shakespeare crossed stuff out now and then–or sometimes even threw his quill across the room and stomped on down to the pub.  At least once, Jane Austen must have stared morosely at a blank page, convinced everything she wrote was awful and nobody would ever want to read it.

There are two lessons I hope you can draw from this. First, don’t try to write perfectly. You won’t. You can’t. What you do is write something–best if it’s something you love to write, something that feels good in your bones–and then edit it. Take that lump of linguistic clay you’ve created and twist and reshape it until it’s something beautiful. Some lumps need more of this than others. That’s okay. Get someone, or better yet several someones, to help you with this process. People you trust to treat your clay with frank honesty.

The second lesson is the more important one. I said there is no One Right Way to be an author, yet there is one thing you absolutely must do: Write. You can’t be a writer if you don’t write. Type into your word processor. Scrawl in ink in cute notebooks. Tap it into your phone with your thumbs. Calligraphate on parchment using the blood of thine enemies as ink. Whatever.

I estimate that I’ve written about 4 million words of fiction thus far. That’s… a lot. If someone pointed her finger at me and said, “You must go write 4 million words!” I would cry. I’d take a nap. I’d binge watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’d sit down at my laptop and end up playing Solitaire or commenting on Facebook instead, because 4 million words is impossible. Yet I’ve written ’em–one damn word at a time. (While, I might add, working a full-time job, parenting two kids, and traveling often.) You can write 4 million words too.

I can give you other little nuggets of advice too. Such as cultivate friendships with other writers and read a lot in many genres and buy some good guides to writing. Maybe take some workshops. Maybe create little encouraging rituals or indulge in rewarding snacks. If you write genre fiction, consider attending cons. Find a writing buddy and make dates to sit at a coffeehouse and write; instruct your buddy to glare at you if you get distracted. Back up everything, often. Keep notebooks or files to jot down ideas that come to you while you’re standing in line at Target or sitting in a meeting. Keep the cat off your keyboard.

But those are optional nuggets. In the end, I have one word of rock-solid guidance for aspiring writers. WRITE.