Wrong angle?

With my first book, After the Dream, I started with the angle of tragedy and pain.  I started with my spiritual healing and insights and built a story around it.  I wasn't so much trying to tack a story on an agenda.  That kind of story is thin and preachy.  I was trying to show my own pain through metaphors, through the safe veneer of fiction.  The morals and meanings did not have to be tacked on.  They were at the core of the story.

Now, with my second novel, Pigs Fly, I have some spiritual content mixed in with a good story.  But I started with the characters and then the story, not the meaning.  Now, I'm going the reverse route and trying to weave meaning into a complete story.  The thing is I don't want the meaning to feel tacked on.  I want it to feel like an intrinsic piece of the story.

Now, there are thin stories that are merely a vessel, an excuse to preach.  That's what "The Last Mimsy," "Golden Compass," and "Pinocchio" appear to be to me.  The stories fall flat because they're more about the moral than they are about the story.  That, for me, is a problem.  However, there are so many stories that are all about story with little meaning or significance past the story.

I would like to hit a balance between the two, where I employ meaning in my story or employ story in my meanings.  I just fear that because I started with the story in this case and almost entirely left out the meaning until I have a first draft, any meaning I add will feel tacked on.  The whole reason I'm writing right now is to share meaning along with story, not just one or the other.  I guess I'll keep that in mind as I proceed with revision.  

Back to Editing

I'm almost done with my rough draft for my second book, Pigs Fly.  I know there are parts that need to be beefed up, particularly the spiritual parts, a few characters that more or less disappear, subplots I planned to write but haven't, and especially spiritual parts.  However, mostly, I need to let the editor side of my brain back in the door.

Mostly, I just write my first draft.  I let the words flow naturally.  If something needs to be edited or substantially altered, I just note that without going there and move on.  I have written most of my important scenes, sewn them together, and smoothed out the plotline.  Now, I can open the door and let my internal editor tackle it.  While she's in the room, I also need to let her take a serious crack at that first manuscript.  I just dread this part.  The fun part is letting my imagination go nuts.  It's play for me.  Now, I feel like I'm having to go back to work.  When I wrote my first book, After the Dream, I took about six months to get to this point.  Once again, it's been six months.  I just pray it doesn't take me the same twelve months to get the work part out of the way, so I can get back to playing.

Cultural Writing

I think adding a character's cultural heritage to a book can enhance it.  You want to develop your characters as deeply and uniquely as you can, so it's good to know about their families and their heritage.  In so many books, characters are just American with no significant cultural background.  In After the Dream, one of my main characters is Latin American.  I used my knowledge of the Latin mindset based on living and working with them on an LDS mission for two years and insights from Latin friends to create what, I hope, is a reasonably convincing third-generation Latino.  In Pigs Fly, one of my main characters is a second-generation Finn.  My husband's mother was a Swedish Finn, so I lean on his cultural knowledge to write that character.  But I know second-hand cultural knowledge is not enough.  I've also been researching Finnish culture from a Finnish perspective.

When one presents cultural heritage, it should not be based simply on stereotypes and hearsay.  And why have the culture at all if I can't present what it feels like, looks like, smells like to be in the culture?  So I have scenes where the characters are immersed in the experiences and meaning of Finnish life.  I've read very little written from a Latin American perspective but nothing at all from a Finnish-American perspective.  Through writing this way, I get to go on a cultural voyage and take others with me.  

Entering a Contest

It's been a long time since I've entered a contest.  The last time I entered a contest, it was statewide.  The feedback I got was biased, personal, and not at all helpful.  So I decided to avoid wasting money and time on contests.  I've come full circle again.  It's time to try again for the sake of my resume and to help my longer writing get published.  Last time I entered Writer's Digest's competition, many moons ago, I did get an honorable mention.  I have heard winning, or even placing in, that contest gives authors positive attention that helps get writing published.  I'm also considering entering Writer's of the Future, a contest for authors of genre fiction.  I've been focusing on longer fiction, but I imagine I could polish some old writing and turn it into something really worth reading.

As I prepared to enter the contest, I pulled out a piece of mine that won first prize in a competition 15 years ago.  I've been honing my writing abilities in the last few years, so when I looked back at that story I was so proud of, I saw a lot of trimming and refinement waiting to be done.  "He Loves Me" became "Short Leash," and the story was born anew.  I don't know for sure if it will even win an honorable mention, but it feels good to be moving in a forwardly direction.  I highly recommend it.

First Rejection

I sent out my first manuscript, the novel After the Dream, back in December.  I've just received my first publisher rejection.  But I shot back an email and got back some useful global feedback, a general direction in which to head.

I will not let one rejection stop me.  It is a setback but not a defeat.  I will take the manuscript, refine it further, get more feedback, and at least as importantly, get an editor's feedback.  I still believe in my characters and my story.  I won't even necessarily go back to the same publisher, but we shall see.  Perhaps eventually, I will end up having to look into independent publishing because the market is not very broad in my chosen genre.  I will continue to work forward on the sequel/spinoff while refining the first one.

On the bright side, there's no longer any rush to get that second book ready before the publisher asks for it.  However, I do have a fan base among my friends.  They are eager to read it.  And it's for my readers I'm writing, anyway.  This is part of my calling, my mission on this earth, and I won't let one rejection stand between me and achieving it.