Lightning Flash Writing

I feel like I’m constantly pulled in different directions as a writer. (Add in “real” life and… well, let’s not go there.) That said, I know I’m lucky to make a living as a writer, even if that means I’m cobbling together about a dozen different ventures.

I ghostwrite fiction and memoirs, create marketing plans and email campaigns, draft articles and blog posts, and review books. I’m also trying to bring more flash into my life. Sometimes it makes me feel completely scattered, but when I pull back and look at it all… it’s all For the Love of Writing. Hence this series.

I want to share what I know and love about ghostwriting, book marketing, fiction writing, and the craft of flash. I want to recommend books I love. I want to include writing prompts (mostly to push myself to do them, too). All with a splash of my personal life because, twenty years later, damn if I don’t still miss LiveJournal!

To start, I wanted to talk about favorite books. Everyone has one. You might know it off the top of your head. It might change depending on the day. You might have a list of five or ten and have to narrow it down when someone insists they want to know your ultimate favorite book.

What’s your answer?

Mine is a mix of them all. I have a top five, no wait, a top ten, and the one I pull out as the ultimate will change depending on the day. (Like favorite songs, so much depends on my mood.) The truth is countless books have impacted me. Some with stories I’ll never forget, some with beautiful writing, some that made me think, “I want to do this!”

If we pull back and talk about favorite authors, it gets easier. You don’t have to narrow it down to one title, but can more generally refer to an entire scope of work. That makes me think of Sara Lewis. I haven’t met another person “in the wild” who has read any of her books, but back in 2007, I couldn’t get enough of them. The stories were realistic yet fascinating, the characters were people I knew—or wanted to know. And the writing was gorgeous yet accessible. I couldn’t believe that she didn’t get the attention she deserved.

Over the years, I found myself randomly thinking of one book in particular: The Answer Is Yes. Sometimes I would think, “What is that book where… Ah, yes.” Sometimes I would try to remember the ending. Sometimes I would imagine where the characters were now. Clearly, it stuck with me.

I re-read it recently and was still just as delighted by it. There was humor, emotion, drama, and a quirkiness that I feel I haven’t seen in a lot of books lately. It all made me think, “Wow, I want to write a novel.” (Let’s not address the elephant in the room of my neglected National Novel Writing Month drafts.) The book feels good to read. It’s satisfying in so many ways. And then I wonder…

Do I feel that way because I first read it in that sweet spot when I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and didn’t know what was possible because everything felt possible?

I remember working hourly jobs, reading books at the front office desk or behind the counter of a dry cleaner. I was young and felt on the verge of something big. I knew I wouldn’t stay at those jobs long; I thought I would be writing novels in a few years. So maybe those books contained more than the words I read, capturing a sense of hope and possibility. Do I still get a sense of that when I re-read them now, as someone who has yet to publish those novels, though she’s arguably about halfway through her life (knock on wood)?

I think I do, and that’s part of the reason why books from that time remain on my list of favorites. It’s the words, the story, the writing, but also the feeling the book gave me and the place I was in as I read them for the first time.

Can you remember where you were when you first read your favorite book? Tell me about it – the title, the memory, the feeling it gave you.

I suppose I already basically recommended you read The Answer Is Yes by Sara Lewis, so I’m going to tack on an additional recommendation in the same vein.

Welcome to My Planet: Where English Is Sometimes Spoken by Shannon Olson was another book I read back in those hourly job years. It made me laugh so hard that I’d have to try to calm down before answering the business phone when it rang. It makes me feel good to read and re-read. It might be more of a novel-length slice of life than a traditionally defined novel, but it’s an enjoyable read, which is why I recommend it.

Have you read The Answer Is Yes or Welcome to My Planet? Let’s talk about them!

It’s Valentine’s Day, which is all good if you don’t have a cold, black heart, but my favorite thing about this “holiday” is the day after. With that in mind, our writing prompt is:

You’re craving candy so much you can’t think straight, so you go to the corner store after midnight on Valentine’s Day. When you walk in, the clerk is a cryptid. Who is it? How do they act? How do you act?