Ann McCauley
I have a sign above my desk, ‘Today we do what we must… Then someday we can do what we want!’ After reading that sign, my grandchildren have given me strange looks. In their place, I probably would too. I’m well past retirement age with white hair and plenty of wrinkles. But I am active and busy; people often describe me as robust. I wonder why I can’t be like my friends – play golf, watch soaps, just read other writer’s books and stop worrying about the deadlines of the writing life? In other words: just relax.
There are times I feel discouraged with the writing life, it can be isolating and lonely. There’ve been days when rejection letters are added to the mix and I’ve thought maybe I should just go back to work as an RN. (I still keep my license active in two states.) I never rule that out completely but then I remember: this is my time to write.
BUT the truth is I write because I must write, and that’s something only writers understand. For many years I worked full time and raised a family, my writing mostly consisted of letters to friends and family. People told me they always looked forward to reading my letters because they were full of surprises. And of course, I always had journals and short stories on the side. I had one story that would’ve been accepted by a national magazine thirty-five years ago if I’d agreed to make a few changes. However, back then I was totally naïve about the publishing business. I refused to change anything and wouldn’t even submit it to that magazine again because they wanted to change some of my perfect words! If only I’d realized that could’ve been the first step towards establishing myself as a writer.
While reading the newspaper, I find myself concentrating on the missing parts and new plot ideas pop up all the time. It’s a worthwhile task to organize new ideas as I get them; saving for those days when the ‘idea well’ seems to be dry.
I have a unique perspective on life that enables me to give my characters a voice that is theirs alone. Before I start a story, I know the overall plot, who, what, why, where, and when but as I write the characters take on a life of their own. That’s when writing becomes exciting, when someone knocks on my character’s door and I don’t know who’s there until it open, okay, that may sound a little out of left field unless you’re a writer, then it makes perfect sense.
I do not outline; I’ve tried but it just doesn’t work well for my creative process. On those rare occasions when I find myself with nothing to write, I walk away from the computer and do a few chores, exercise, research a point for the story or call a friend. Then I head back and I write even if it’s really stupid, I push myself through the block.
I divide chapters according to action scenes or themes, not by length. Some chapters are more than thirty pages long while others are only three pages. I don’t know if that’s correct but it works for my stories.
In writing fiction, we create other worlds and sometimes those worlds seem more real than the one we’re living in. One day my sister called and asked, “How’s the family?”
I asked, “Which ones, the ones in my story or the real ones?”
She was not amused, “The real ones!”
As a mother of adult children, I’ve had to let go; accept and enjoy the fine people they are. Notice I said fine, not perfect. The only ones I have any control over are my fictional characters and sometimes even they challenge me!
I have three published novels, Runaway Grandma, (2007), Pressure Cooker Christmas, Willow Lane Book 1, (2017), and Mother Love, Willow Lane, Book 2, (2018). I also assisted my husband with his memoir, The Man From Baghdad by Widad Bazzoui, (2019). I’m currently working on my fourth novel.
For more info, please visit: www.annmccauley.com
