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Elizabeth Dudak on saying the words, “I am a Writer”

Today, I welcome Elizabeth Dudak, who is the author of What the Heck, Dec?!, a novel released by Orange Hat Publishing last March. Elizabeth shares on that moment of awareness and admission known to every closet wordsmith: the moment we finally say, out loud, “I am a writer.”

Thank you Christi, for this opportunity to be a guest blogger. I am humbled and honored.

It is still odd for me to talk about writing so openly, but it is getting easier. When I first started telling people what I am, what I do, the word writer came out of me like a foreign language. I coughed up the word, sometimes choked on it. For a long time, I felt using the word writer to describe me was pretentious. It was like I was trying to call myself a supermodel. Ernest Hemingway and Jane Austen were writers. Stephen King and Nora Roberts are writers. Me? I was Elizabeth Dudak – a wife, a mother, an employee and a writer hobbyist. Sure, I acknowledged writing columns for local newspapers. And I wasn’t shy to mention a published magazine article here and a widely circulated poem there. I took continuing education and online classes to learn about dialogue, character development, description and plots…something writers do. But a writer? Or, gulp, an author? Those were my dream descriptions of me and for some reason; I couldn’t apply them to my waking world.

As I neared the age fifty, I grew tired of just dreaming about being a writer. Sure, it was fun to imagine, but at some point I needed to wake up and make my reality. I had fewer years ahead of me than I did in back of me, thus I needed to quit thinking and start doing. It would be difficult to put myself and my words out there, yet living in regret would be torture.

In July of 2011, I had a lunch date with a friend of mine. She is one of those friends I don’t see too often, but when I do, we jump right into deep and fulfilling subjects of life. Who the current real housewife is of whatever godforsaken city never seems to enter our discussions. We are concerned more about life’s purpose and meaning. Sure, it can be exhausted but afterwards, I always feel like the world is a doable place.

During the course of our conversation on this particular July day, I discussed with my friend of the writing passion that burned inside me. I told her about the hours I spent bringing to life characters, settings, plots and dialogue. My words exploded out of me as I talked about my waking hours being invaded by my writing world and my need – my strong, overwhelming need – to release them into my laptop. I explained all the stories that already crowded my computer’s memory. And I admitted to my discomfort of being called a writer as I regurgitated wisdom a professor once dispersed to me – a wisdom that was finally sinking in….three years later. This professor told me, “If you write, you are a writer.” Finally, I looked at my friend and said… only it was more like a desperate question…. “Perhaps I am a writer?”

A comfortable silence fell between us as it often happens when we talk. We were both taking in what I had just finished spewing. After a few more minutes of quiet contemplation, my friend looked at me and said “Well, you have a choice. Your words can stay in your laptop, or they can go out into the universe for others to enjoy.” This was my writer’s eureka moment. I repeated the words slowly to myself not caring how I looked in a crowded restaurant. She was right. I could stay a laptop writer, or I could become a real, authentic writer. I could take the risk of letting everyone see my words, which I believe is the definition of an author – – a writer who, driven by her passion, takes a leap of faith and present her words to the universe.

Flash ahead ten months, and many, many, MANY rejection letters later, and I am at a book signing….my own book signing…with my publisher… my own publisher, Orange Hat. The words in my novel, the story of Marti Karnawski and Declan Reed, are out of my laptop and onto pages sandwiched between a vibrant yellow back and a front cover. The title, What the Heck, Dec?!, is in green and purple on the cover. And there, in blue lettering, above the titles, is the name of the author…the writer….Elizabeth Dudak. It is my name. Now, I can finally admit…without a cough or hiccup…I am a writer.

Elizabeth Dudak lives in a tiny suburb outside of Chicago, with her husband, Peter; children, Leah and Matthew; mutt, Jordan; and mini-zoo of critters. She was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago where she learned the love of writing and reading from her English-teacher father and bookworm mother. She has written opinion-oriented columns for local newspapers for over four years, and in her blog, Write Where I Belong, she writes on the ramblings of her active mind. What the Heck, Dec?! is Elizabeth’s first novel, and it is proof that she subscribes to the first rule of writing, which is to write what you know.

About the book:
Marti Karnawski is waiting in the front office of Noteah Middle School trying to land first her teaching position, not a man. Yet one casual glance at Declan Reed – the school’s droolicious social worker with bad boy looks and cocky attitude – and she can’t help but fall head over in heels in crush. The fact he returns her interest, despite the other woman on his arm, poses a problem. Marti spent a lifetime trying to forgive a philandering father and understanding a mother in constant denial. She will not be the other woman – not even for one Declan Reed. Now all she has to do is convince her heart.

What the Heck, Dec?! is available for purchase through Barnes and Noble, and through Amazon.

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Bringing an old manuscript back to life, and to print.

Please welcome guest blogger, Pete Abela, author of WINGS, as he talks about unfinished drafts, the gift of time, and the importance of quality feedback.

The publication of Wings has been an exciting and proud event for me. I’d nearly go so far as to say it rates in the top handful of achievements in my life so far.  However, Wings almost didn’t get published. It spent close to a year in my drawer as a half-written manuscript: unloved, ignored and forgotten. Today I’ll talk about how it got to that point and the sequence of events that enabled me to turn an incomplete and fault-ridden document into a published novel.

Although Wings is a work of fiction, it is heavily based on the story of two men I admire: my grandfather who was a WWII fighter pilot and my brother who is now a commercial pilot. I thought they had both led amazing lives and so I started writing Wings using the bones of their stories as the basis for the plot. I did not plan the entire book. Wings is the first novel I have attempted so I did not know how to go about it. I simply sat down and started writing.

I continued this process for many months, writing almost every day. I enjoyed the process of writing and seeing the story come to life. I enjoyed it, that is, until I came to a grinding halt. I woke up one day fed up and discouraged. I resented the process of writing and the time it consumed, particularly given I was unsure whether what I had written was any good. I wondered if I was wasting my time. Worst of all, I had no idea of the ending and did not know what to write next.

I decided to take a short break from writing. During my break, I read a book about stock market investing using the Value Investment approach. It got me hooked and I began spending significant amounts of time researching stocks and tracking my shares. Whatever time had been spent writing was taken up with my new interest. Wings faded from my consciousness and was soon forgotten.

It was almost a year later that I chanced upon Wings as I hunted for an elusive file on my PC. Out of curiosity,  I opened it and began reading. I was surprised at the quality of the writing and read the entire manuscript in a day. Wings was much better than I remembered and I was immediately struck by its potential. Even better, an ending popped straight into my mind.

I was seized by a new burst of enthusiasm and finished the first draft of Wings within a month. I spent another month polishing it, then sent it to a publisher and prepared to wait.

I didn’t have to wait long.

“We like it,” replied the publisher within a week. “But it’s not of publishable standard yet. You can pitch it to other publishers if you like, but our recommendation would be to obtain a reader’s report.”

I took their advice and requested a reader’s report, which is a manuscript assessment by an accomplished editor. While I waited, I began writing a second novel. After six weeks, the report came back. It contained general comments about areas of weakness, as well as a specific example of where the weakness could be found in my manuscript. It was up to me to understand the comment and example and work out how to apply the feedback to the remainder of the manuscript.

The two major weaknesses were a lack of revelation of the character’s emotional response to major events and a scarcity of description about setting. They did observe that my natural writing style was lean and uncluttered, so they cautioned me against going too far with my descriptions and emotional responses. There were also some mechanical issues such as an over-reliance on “ly” adverbs and a passive writing style through the use of words such as “had”, “was” and “am”.

The reader’s report was an excellent initiative and assisted me to make the leap from “gifted amateur” to “polished professional.” The suggestions rang true and the fact that they used examples of my own writing to point out the areas for improvement helped me to grasp their suggestion and apply it to the rest of the novel. The fact that a publisher expressed interest in my work provided more than enough incentive for me to continue the process of refinement.

It took me a couple of months to rework the manuscript in accordance with the feedback. Within ten days of submitting Wings to Really Blue Books, I had an offer to publish. I’ve been floating ever since, although working very hard on further edits, establishing a social media platform and planning publicity.

On May 21st, the big day finally arrived. Wings became a published novel and I can now call myself an author.

It’s a great feeling.

Wings can be purchased as an eBook from the publisher,
Really Blue Books
or
on Amazon.

~

Pete is an author from the city of Wollongong, just south of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. For most of his adult life, Pete has been a left-brained computer scientist whose love of reading eventually led him to take up writing. Having surprised himself and those around him by getting Wings published, he’s now having fun dreaming up marketing strategies and publicity stunts – tasks he never could have envisaged doing ten years ago. He continues to stretch the boundaries of his right hemisphere and is now working to complete a second novel.
His left brain hasn’t been totally neglected through this process. Pete works as an IT Manager in order to help keep his wife and four kids fed and clothed. When he’s not working, reading, writing or enjoying the company of his family, Pete likes to sneak away for a bit of exercise – either tennis, soccer or a laborious run.
You can find more about Pete at his website and blog (http://peteabela.com). The blog contains a number of really bad jokes. You have been warned.
Like Pete on Facebook; follow him on Twitter.
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Becky Levine on Research & Finding your Story in the Details

I’ve mentioned before how much I love Becky Levine’s book, The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide. If you just joined a group, if you’re thinking of starting your own group, or if you’re wondering why the writing group you’re in works (or doesn’t), you should read this book.
Becky Levine’s expertise stretches well beyond writing groups. She’s an editor and freelance writer who also writes picture books and young adult fiction. When she speaks, I pay attention. Not long ago, she posted on Facebook about one of her current projects, a historical fiction, and I asked if she’d be willing to stop by and talk about research for such a project. I’m thrilled and honored she said yes.
Welcome, Becky!
~

When Christi asked me if I’d write a guest post about research in historical fiction, my first reaction was pretty much: “But I SO haven’t figured that out yet.” Then I remembered that a lot of my favorite posts are ones where I sort of think things through, so I checked with Christi if that would work. Luckily (?!), she said, “Yes.”

The first thing you should know is that I am a fan of historical fiction that does not cover the page with heavy layers of historical detail. I much prefer books that use as few words as possible and still manage to give me a strong sense of time and place. (For some examples, see Sherrie L. Smith’s Flygirl, Joyce Moyer Hostetter’s Healing Water, and Kathryn Fitzmaurice’s A Diamond in the Desert.) Basically, I want more story than history.

The second thing you should know is that writing a historical-fiction novel that stays light on details does not, as far as I can tell, cut down the amount of research you have to do. Obviously, you can’t know which details are the perfect ones until you’ve found them. Which, on some days, makes me sigh.

Because, honestly, I have a love-hate relationship with research.

I love falling in love with my world. My current WIP is set in 1910ish Chicago, with threads of Hull-House, a possible cameo from Jane Addams, and questions about carving out a life in America as the daughter of immigrants, especially an immigrant mother who lives in constant fear of that world out there. Let me tell you, Chicago at the turn of the last century was an amazing place. If something was happening in America, it was happening in Chicago. And, probably, it was happening at Hull-House. Change was thick in the air, and, yet, when I stand at a distance and look at 1912 and 2012, it seems to me that too little has changed.

Which Way?What’s the hate part? Okay, hate is probably too strong a word. Confusion? Lost-in-the-maze-itis? A strong feeling of Not-in-Kansas, anymore? Research can be a matter of looking for one specific fact that you’re sure you need to know. (Should I tell you how many pages I read trying to figure out whether, if you went to Hull-House, you knocked on the door or just walked in?) It can be a process of reading an entire book about one narrow subject. (Hey, I’ve got a great read for you on how electricity came to Chicago!) It can be trips to the library, browsing through their catalog, tapping your neighbor’s shoulder, and asking them if they can think up another keyword for your search on hospitals in 1910. (Forget cellphones: how did you get hold of an ambulance before there was at least a payphone on every corner?) There are days, truly, that the research is overwhelming.

So why do it? Because you never know what you’re going to find. (That’s the love and the hate part!) I’ve read several books on Hull-House and Jane Addams, and the details I can choose from are plenty. Hopefully I’ll use the right ones. They’re not, however, the most important thing I’ve learned from all that reading. What is? The feeling of the settlement house, the sense of women who really cared; who pushed their own limits to find a job where they could be useful; who made sacrifices so they could surround themselves with like-minded, intelligent, creative thinkers. The sense of a place where, if you did knock on that door, someone was going to open it, draw you inside, put you to work, and give you a home. A better one than the one you’d left behind.

So you turn pages, you browse the Internet, you read letters and diaries, you talk to people at museums. Gradually, piece-by-piece, you come to an understanding of the world you’re writing about. An understanding that I think, I hope, will seep into the pages of your story and create that feeling of a distinct, unique world. Without burying your reader in detail after detail after detail.

Yes, it’s important for me to know the facts about what happens at the Hull-House door. It’s even more important for me, and my reader, to feel the energy and excitement that was going on behind it. And research—whether you love it, hate it, or (most likely) both—is the path to it all.

Becky Levine is a writer living in California’s Santa Cruz mountains. She’s currently working on a young-adult historical novel, as well as her first picture book. Becky is the author of The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide (Writer’s Digest, 2010) and works part-time as a grant writer for a local art and history museum.

*Blog photo credits: Dru Bloomfield on flickr.com and Cohdra on morgueFile.com