Just Do It! – Guest blog by Patti Berg

Introductory note: Last month I (Stephanie) took a workshop (No Plotters Allowed) led by bestselling authors Patti Berg and Allison Brennan that offered strategies for writers who develop and discover the story they want to tell by writing it. I felt like I’d met long-lost soul-mates! Today you get to meet Patti. I hope her insights encourage you as much as they do me.

         A long, long time ago, when I was much younger and much more naïve about the ins-and-outs of the writing world, my first book, ENCHANTED, was published. Ten years and thirteen books later, Chris Baty’s “No Plot? No Problem!” hit bookstores. Not surprisingly, we share some similar philosophies about writing, in particular: “You don’t need a plot before you write a novel…” That sentiment is shared by a lot of novelists.

         There are, however, a lot of writers who disagree with Chris’s statement. Many writers think that people who write by the seat of their pants, people who “Just Do It” are out of their ever-lovin’ minds. They will tell you again and again that the only way to write is to have a detailed outline and a rock solid plot before you sit down to write word one.

Personally, I don’t believe in rules and you’ll rarely hear me tell another writer how to do anything, but I do want to tell you this: The only right way to write is your way, whatever way that works best for you–as long as you write.

         Once upon a time, Ernest Hemingway, one of the most respected writers of all time, said, “There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly; sometimes it’s like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.” The way I see it, if Ernest Hemingway says there is no rule on how to write–then there are no rules on how to write! His word is the gospel.

         Of course, it’s quite easy to let other writers influence you in all the wrong ways, and believe you me, I’ve listened to them far too often.

         I’ve tried to write every way imaginable. I’ve agonized over detailed outlines that have taken me weeks to write. I’ve created extremely detailed character sketches, mapped out the “journey” for my hero and heroine, come up with goals, motivations and conflicts, and studied every book on writing that I could possibly get my hands on, only to have all of the so-called rules cramp my style. They’ve tied my stomach and my brain and my muse up in knots and made it physically impossible for me to write. After following all these exercises in futility, I’ve ended up grasping my aching head and asking how on earth I ever managed to sell a book because according to all the people dishing out rules on how to write, I’m a hack.

         But you know what? I sold my first book–ENCHANTED–on my own, without an agent, not too long after joining RWA in 1992–before getting stifled by all the rules. I wrote ENCHANTED because it came from my heart. I was told it would never sell–but I sold it to the second editor that read it (after it was recommended to her by the first editor to read it!). I wrote that book while caught up in my passion for writing.

         I’ve had thirteen other books published since then and six of those books have each spent numerous weeks on the USA Today bestseller list. So maybe the fact that I write by the seat of my pants isn’t such a bad way to write after all.

         Every writer (and that includes you!) must write your own way. Plot. Don’t Plot. It’s really nobody’s business but your own. The only thing that truly matters is that you write!

         Although I’ve never taken part in NaNoWriMo, and haven’t read all of “No Plot? No Problem!”, I love Baty’s philosophy of writing toward a deadline, having a goal of writing 50,000 words in one month. Baty doesn’t expect you to write the Great American Novel in that one month. He knows that you’re probably going to write crap. NaNoWriMo is about quantity, not quality. The NaNoWriMo website says that this “kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.”

         Taking risks is so important if you want to sell. Lowering your expectations–especially in the draft stage–is vitally important, too. If you’re too critical as you write, you’ll never get anything written. You could spend an hour searching the thesaurus for just the right word, tweaking and editing every sentence, every paragraph. In the end, you’re not making progress. In fact, you could be writing grand and glorious prose that you may end up axing when you get to the end of your book, because those words no longer work in your story. Think of all the time you’ll have wasted.

         I admit that I agonize over words and sentences and paragraphs, but when I get close to deadline, my fingers fly. I let my brain loose, let it do its own thing. It’s amazing what I can create when I stop worrying too much and just let go.

         That’s what you’re aiming for in NaNoWriMo! Let yourself go and see where you end up.

         Louis L’Amour, one of the most prolific writers of all time, was one of those writers who (like Chris Baty and me) believed you didn’t have to have a plot before writing a novel. L’Amour said, “If you’re going to be a writer, the first essential is just to write. Do not wait for an idea. Start writing something and the ideas will come. You have to turn the faucet on before the water starts to flow.”

         Amen!

         Now go forth and write–the NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 words in one month is a fabulous goal to shoot for. Just make sure you don’t stop there. Once you’ve completed that first draft, go back to the beginning and polish it, expand it, and put emotion and passion on each page, because one of the true joys of writing is sharing your stories with others, making them laugh, cry, and sigh as they read your words. And you’ll have to polish that draft before you can sell it.

         Good luck!

A romantic at heart, USA Today Bestselling Author Patti Berg began penning passion-filled stories while in high school, when she fell in love with Paul McCartney. Thirty years later she sold her first novel to Berkley, a light paranormal titled ENCHANTED. Since then she’s had twelve other novels published, seven of which have been USA Today bestsellers. Patti is the immediate past president of PASIC, the Published Authors’ Special Interest Chapter of Romance Writers of America. She lives in the farthest reaches of northern California with her husband of thirty-two years and Barkley, their huggable Bernese Mountain Dog.

You can read more about Patti on her website at www.pattiberg.com