Day 5 on the blog tour… Stop by and see what Paula has to say about Enza at The Phantom Paragrapher.
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Eight more days left and so far I couldn’t be more pleased. There have been moments when I’ve felt like I was sweating bullets waiting to see what the reviewers would have to say, but the responses have been terrific.
Even if they had turned out to be dismal, though, it wouldn’t have mattered. Well it kind of would…but not as much as you might think.
Writing Enza was a labor of love for me. Dumb as it may sound, I’m not even sure I had a choice in writing it. It almost feels like it chose me. Yeah, that’s weird. It’s also true because I’ve never had another story grab me like this one did. And it wouldn’t let go.
Kind of like Rose tells Jack in Titanic…
In looking through videos, I found this alternate ending.
I hadn’t known another ending had been filmed. And this is one I think most of us would have preferred. But I guess the writers decided that, realistically, a guy who had been in water that cold…for that long…probably wouldn’t have survived. The final scenes wouldn’t have had as much impact either.
That was actually a conundrum I faced while writing the final chapters of Enza. Did I want to continue the story as realistically as possible? Or did I want to bring it to an end readers would enjoy more?
Marcy Kennedy addressed this exact thing in her blog on Wednesday, when she reviewed Jeff Goins soon-to-be- released book; You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One). In a nutshell, we need to be true to ourselves and write the stories we want to write. We can’t write to please other people because then we’re conforming. We’re not letting our voices be heard. Instead we’re trying to be an imitation of ourselves…and originals are always better.
And that’s exactly what I did. What I always do with my books. It’s definitely the right choice for me.
I think being true to ourselves is always essential. If we’ve written the ending we know if right, we can rest confident in our books. If we don’t, we’ll always be hesitating when someone asks us about them, and I think even the reader will feel that hesitation when they read it.
I think you’re right, Marcy. I’ve never really been one to cave in to what others want (well, my kids being the exception to that sometimes), so that’s been pretty easy for me to maintain with my writing. There were a couple of moments with Enza where I actually considered changing one key scene…after a beta reader who had loved the book until then changed their mind and now hates it.
But after some soul-searching, I knew I couldn’t so, right or wrong, there it is.
I just posted Saturday’s link for the tour and this is the quote that came up: “If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it. Tennessee Williams”
Very appropriate for today’s subject. 🙂
I hear Louise on that. My life gets in the way soo much. I have the hardest time. Ugh! But yes, be true to yourself. Charles made me chuckle. And that didn’t sound silly at all. My stories choose me and I just go along for the ride.
Oops…I meant to mention this in my reply to Louise but YES. Life does have a way of spoiling fun. Same thing with bills. I could spend more money on other things that would bring me more pleasure…if I didn’t like having a roof over my head…and all of the other essentials. 🙂
That’s kind of how I feel, Debra. Sometimes I really want to write about a subject that sounds interesting…but it’s missing something. Then other times…it just works.
I’m just getting into the story and had trouble putting it down to go to bed last night. My life interferes with my fun. darn and double darn.
I think we have to be true to ourselves as writers. It’s the only way I can sleep at night.
I’m glad to hear that, Louise. So far most of the feedback has been great, but there are a couple of people who didn’t like it. And I’m okay with that. 🙂
And I’m with you and Debra…which is a good thing. I proved in drama class that I’m no actress, so I might as well just be me-in every area of my life. It’s what I’m best at. 🙂
Be true to your school! Er, self. Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Hi, Charles. Too funny…but yes, that is the ticket. 🙂