Author Jeanne Adams: Good And Bad Writing Advice

I’m pleased to welcome romantic suspense author Jeanne Adams here today to talk about the advice, good and bad, she’s received in her writing career.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jeanne recently when she made a stop at Sia McKye’s Thoughts…OVER COFFEE. Jeanne’s newest release is DEADLY LITTLE LIES. Here’s a brief synopsis of it: Secrets and passion drive billionaire Davros Gianakopulos to succeed.  After several attempts on his life, he's realized he needs more than business, he needs family.  He's already decided that the lovely Carrie McCray, whom he's respected and admired for years, will fit the bill. The ultimate business strategist, Dav has a plan mapped out to win her heart.  That plan gets blown to kingdom come - literally - when an unknown enemy blasts into the restaurant where they're meeting, and kidnaps the couple - throwing them into a "winner take all" fight for their lives.

Taken to an unknown location, Dav is forced to face his worst fears, deeply rooted in an abusive childhood. Clearly, whoever is behind his abduction knows him well.  As his best friend and former security chief, Gates Bromley race to find them before time runs out, Dav and Carrie grow ever closer in the struggle to stay alive.  Will they survive to find joy in the love they realize resides in their hearts or will they be lost forever in the labyrinth of their jungle prison? 

Jeanne, tell us about your writing advice.

Hello Mason! Hello to everyone following Thoughts in Progress!

It’s been so fun to see your guests for the last few days, Mason. So many interesting writers and so many interesting stories. It was fascinating to read about Kyle Garret’s process as he wrote his first non-fiction book (I PRAY HARDEST WHEN I’M BEING SHOT AT). It was also incredibly useful to read through Stephen Brayton’s descriptions of not only his own training in martial arts, but how he uses his knowledge in his writing (BETA: A Mallory Petersen Mystery).

Each of them had wonderful advice for writers, and as a writer, I took away something interesting and useful from each of their posts. Pretty cool.  

Mason, you asked me about what advice I’d gotten that was helpful, and what advice wasn’t. As I thought about that, I found it was hard sometimes to decide which advice actually worked - Or at least, which advice worked for me.

Actually, there was a GREAT piece of advice I got from one of the fabulous thriller writer’s Lisa Gardiner’s workshops at a regional writing conference. She said, essentially, to never be afraid to try something another writer does to spark creativity. If a writer says, “Hey, this works for me when I get stuck!” Try it. It may work for you.  

But the other key thing she said – and this was actually MORE important to me in terms of advice – was to try it, but if it didn’t work, don’t try to MAKE it work. That advice right there has served me better than any course, or workshop or…well, just about anything.    

Because of that, I try stuff. I try whatever I think will work to make my writing work better, be more effective, be more gripping, or realistic or powerful, or poignant. So, try stuff.

And if it works, and your writing and your process get better/easier/more powerful, by all means keep it. Then pass that advice on. If it doesn’t work, let it go and try something else. Oh, and here’s my confessional part of the post. I’ve also taken advice from really, really “big-name” writers and because it was Fabulous Writer Person, I thought I HAD to do what they advised people to do.

Well it worked for them, right? And they were a Big Success, right? So if I did what they did, I would be Big Success too. Right? Hahahahahah! Sorry, I know you’re laughing too, I can hear it from here. Which leads to the other question Mason asked me to consider for this post. She asked what I considered the worst piece of advice I ever got about writing.  

Advice I shouldn’t have taken? Plot every step of every book, right down to the chapter and scenes. Don’t get me wrong, this really worked well for the writer who gave that advice and she couldn’t imagine anyone writing a book – a good book – without doing that.  

I am NOT a plotter. If I do plot, it kills any joy I have in writing the book. That said, that author was a little bit right…It’s okay to be a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer if you’re not under contract. You’ve got time to wander through the story and if you run into a wall, you’ve got all the time in the world to figure out a “pantzer” way through the morass you’ve created on the page.

If you’re under contract, you’ll give yourself an ulcer, and or become a terminal insomniac! Ha!

So I took another good piece of advice from my fellow Romance Bandit, Donna MacMeans. I Plotz. (And no, I’m not talking about dogs native to North Carolina.)  Plottzing is flying by the seat of my pants with a road map. I can take detours from the route, meander if I want, but in a general sense, I kinda know where I’m going.

That really helps when you’ve got a couple of months to finish a book and you get stuck. Then you can look at your road map and see where you detoured and how to get back on track. Doesn’t mean you have to go back and re-trace your steps, which is pretty cool.

So, that’s MY advice. Grins. If you need some help, try stuff others have tried and see if it works for you. If it doesn’t, drop it and try something else. And when in doubt make a roadmap and go from point A in the general direction of point B, and see what happens. Oh, and have fun.

Readers and writers, what do you do to get yourselves unstuck? Techniques? Tricks? What are the best workshops you’ve taken on jump-starting your creativity? And, out of curiosity, what’s the most fun ice-breaker game you’ve ever played?

Jeanne, thanks so much for guest blogging today. I especially like the part about trying something but if it doesn’t work for you, don’t try to make it work. That could apply to many areas of our lives.

When I asked Jeanne for a brief bio, here’s what she had to say. 
It’s wonderful for a writer to live in Washington, DC as I do. The research resources are fabulous, the scenery is great – complete with monuments, gorgeous public buildings, and the most amazing, weird, convoluted, political people. I live here with my wonderful husband, my two growing-too-fast sons, and my silly dogs.
 
As former marketing executive, as you can well guess, I'm an extrovert. So to make sure I don't go crazy talking to the people in my head all the time, I also teach. It's one of the most enjoyable things I get to do as a consultant and writer. If you want to see my class offerings - including the one on Body Disposal - check out my website. 
 
Being part of the Ad(d)ams Family, as you can imagine, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love to work in the garden, run my dogs, hang out with my family, and write. Other than that, as another, more famous author says, the rest is subject to change without notice. 

For more on Jeanne, check out her website (including the classes she teaches) at www.JeanneAdams.com and she blogs at Romance Bandits. DEADLY LITTLE LIES is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Books A Million.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Remember Jeanne’s questions for you - Readers and writers, what do you do to get yourselves unstuck? Techniques? Tricks? What are the best workshops you’ve taken on jump-starting your creativity? And, out of curiosity, what’s the most fun ice-breaker game you’ve ever played?