Wonderfully talented and friendly Laura Stanfill is my guest blogger today. She is the editor of the soon-to-be-released Brave on the Page: Oregon Writers on Craft and the Creative Life.
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Writing takes a certain amount of bravery.
Even if nobody knows you write, even if you never leave your house proclaiming “Behold, I am a writer!” to your friends and neighbors, the very act takes courage.
As writers, we must ignore other priorities in order to spend time trying to fill the blank page with our own imaginings, observations and how certain words can rub against each other in interesting ways.
Note I said “try.” Some writing sessions are slow, bogged-down, heavy-hearted slogs that, by the end, make you wish you had tackled the laundry instead of your novel. That’s where the bravery comes in again. It takes a lot of effort to get back to the page after a session like that.
There’s also another kind of bravery associated with fiction: being able to live vicariously through your characters. We may not come up with the perfect zinger when someone is rude, but we can create people who have the last word, who say what we wish we said. Our characters can challenge the status quo. Rise above their circumstances. Make choices we would be too afraid to make in real life.
Author Kristen Forbes discusses this topic in her essay, “Brave on the Page.” Her piece lent my collection of author interviews and essays its title, Brave on the Page: Oregon Writers on Craft and the Creative Life.
Brave on the Page
The book will be released on October 8, and as of yesterday, has become available through your local Espresso Book Machine or online.
Espresso Book Machine
As the editor, I waffled over titles for a while until I realized I should ask my critique group for help. They, unanimously, chose Brave on the Page from my list of possibilities.
It amazed me, after choosing the title, to discover that the word “brave” appeared nine times in the book, including in the foreword I had already written. “Fear” appears four times; “afraid,” fourteen times. “Shame,” seven times, all in Yuvi Zalkow’s interview about A Brilliant Novel in the Works, which features a writer-protagonist named Yuvi who’s afraid of writing a novel.
Because writing takes a certain amount of bravery.
• • • • • • •
Laura Stanfill—novelist, freelance editor, award-winning journalist and Vassar grad—loves to promote other writers.
Laura Stanfill, editor of Brave on the Page
She is the founder of Forest Avenue Press, an independent publishing company based in Portland, Oregon, and the editor of the new writing book Brave on the Page: Oregon Writers on Craft and the Creative Life.
UPDATE : Check out Laura’s book release announcement for prizes and fun!
Love the title. Hope I can get the book here in the UK.
Hi Dorothy,
The book is available online, so I would assume you can get it in the UK. I’m sure Laura will have more information for you. Thanks for commenting.
Hi, Dorothy! Thanks for commenting. Yes, the book is available in London at Newsstand UK in Canterbury or you can order online through the link above. If you live in or near the Newsstand location, I recommend going to see a book get printed. It’s so fun to watch!
Also, I’m announcing this on my blog on Monday, but anyone who sends me a picture of Brave on the Page at their local Espresso machine will win a several-page critique from me!
This is great for me because I constantly beat myself up for being such a cowardy custard. Yes, we are brave, aren’t we? Great post.
Hey loony,
I agree; the book sounds like a great source of encouragement. I think all writers go through bouts of fear, so it’s nice to have a compilation of essays that we can turn to for support. Thanks for swinging by.
Yes the book sounds wonderful. I think that writers do go through bouts of fear because the writing is so important to us.
So many of us do, loony! Especially writers, it seems like. The title essay is all about Kristen’s fears and how writing allows her to be somebody else.
Sounds wonderful – like you say, something which writers seem to suffer a lot from.
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Great post Laura! Really enjoyed it. Your book sounds great, do you have a link that we could tweet to promote it?
Beth
Oh that’d be awesome, limebirdbeth! Thank you. I’m now–at the start of this publishing venture–wishing I had joined Twitter and Facebook before. I just don’t have the time to figure them out right now.
How about a shortlink to the Brave on the Page page on my blog? That’s: http://wp.me/P1bhaB-OV
There’s also my Forest Avenue Press site, http://forestavenuepress.wordpress.com/, which has news about the press, but the Brave on the Page one is short and sweet–what the book is and where to buy it.
You’re welcome Laura! Tweet is now up on our page!
Good luck with your book! Beth
Great idea, Beth. I’ll do some tweeting, too.
Thanks so much to both of you!
Wow, I just saw your reply to Dorothy there Laura – I had no idea that Newsstand UK place in Canterbury even existed, and it turns out I work about 5 minutes away from it! I must go and visit it, what fun!
Oh fun! It looked huge from the website. Watching a book get printed is so much fun. There are 7 or 8 million books in their catalogue so you can find hard-to-get books, out-of-print books and the like in addition to titles that small presses and self-publishers are loading onto the machine.
Neat. You’ll have to tell us what you think about it, Vanessa.
It is tough to get back to the page after a bad writing session. But persistence and, as you point out, bravery, are essential for successful writers. That’s what I keep telling myself, anyway. ; )
Me too, Anne! I personally have changed my definition of “successful writer” to someone who studies the craft seriously and takes their own writing seriously enough to set time aside for it.
Exactly, Anne. And I think that when we are short on one (persistence or bravery), that the other one does double-duty for a while.
That bravery kicks in from the first word we write and never dissipates, including after the project is completed or published.
So true, Carrie! You said it beautifully.
Yes, Carrie. And I wonder if that bravery needs to kick up a couple of notches when the project is out of our hands and somewhere else.
Yes, I think it definitely does.
Laura said it perfectly. Writing is what I love to do…but it has also cast me into a sea of fear. Will anyone LIKE what I write? Will I ever get it perfect? (I don’t think so–not if I keep rereading it). Love your post…and your title is awesome. When I write, I pick up my sword and go to battle.
Hi Char,
I think the quickest way to doubting our books is when we keep rereading them. That’s probably why it’s always good to have another project up and going separate from that one, so we’re not fixating on it so much.
Yes, me too. Sword, battle, charge!
It is good to have several projects going on, like you said…to keep us from going crazy and doubting ourselves on one story.
I love the sword image, Char! I am one of those one-project writers, usually, but this book has been a really fulfilling way to step aside from the novel for a while.
That’s great. Is it out right now, or coming out soon?
The official release is Monday but it’s really available right now! I uploaded Brave on the Page to the system a few days early to avoid any last-minute glitches. Here’s the link to buy it online but check the map to see if an Espresso machine is near you. It’s great fun to watch a book get printed!
http://net.ondemandbooks.com/odb/selfespress/9780988265707
Even if we’re the shy, retiring type or introvert, you’re absolutely right—writing takes bravery, whether we keep our words to ourselves or take that bold step of seeking an audience.
And heck—living vicariously through some of our fictional characters can be loads of fun.
Hey JM, I love living vicariously through my characters, which is fun and problematic. They’re the reasons I dread returning to reality sometimes.
Bravery does take its shape in all forms, no matter what our ultimate goal is. I think we have to be brave for ourselves just as much as we have to be brave for the public eye.
I love the extension of the bravery conversation to include whether or not to seek an audience, jm. I wonder if writing brave characters helps the writer see the world in a new way.
It’s so true that fear of failure can really stagnate writing. Sometimes I’d give up for a while because of that or because I’d think no one’s going to want to read it. Then I’d try to convince myself that the failure isn’t in writing and getting rejected, the failure is in not writing at all. That helped with the bravery part since I’m not really a very brave person.
Hi Sheila,
I really love your perspective – that failure is in not writing at all. Well said. (I’m not a brave person, either.)
I agree with Kate, Sheila! Your thoughts on failure meaning not writing are spot-on. I’ve thought a lot about this lately, especially putting together this book, because I invited big-name writers and the unpublished all to participate in this collection. I think a writer is legitimately a writer if he or she spends time seriously with their work on an ongoing basis. Whether or not it gets seen by anyone.
Brave on the Page–I really love that title. It is inspiring and makes me feel motivated about writing. Thanks!
Hi Coleen-yes! Laura came up with an awesome title. It really gets my heart pumping for some writing time.
The title was totally inspired by Kristen Forbes’ essay on her personal fears and how writing about a character transports her out of them.
What a wonderful post! I love the Behold part, I’m going to use that at home.
Yes, you really do need to be brave when writing, after all, you’re opening your brain to the world. My mantra is dare to write, before it’s too late. The collection of interviews and essays sounds intriguing and different. 
I love the image of you proclaiming “Behold!” around your house, Justin. That makes me smile. I love your dare to write mantra too. If not now, when? I’ve met so many people who talk about writing their novels “someday,” and I always tell them to go ahead and start, put something down on paper and see where it goes. It takes bravery and commitment to write, but those things can be earned along the way, with each session with the blank page. And a bad writing day can be replaced, soon enough, with a good writing day. Which is where some of my bravery comes from–optimism about the next session, or the next revision, or the next critique group meeting.
This sounds fantastic. I love the concept and am looking forward to reading the book
This is fabulous – “We may not come up with the perfect zinger when someone is rude, but we can create people who have the last word, who say what we wish we said.”
Brilliant
Oh thanks, Dianne! So often I put an unresolved or uncomfortable moment on the page–never the way it happened, but fictionalized, and having the last word is a fun way to capitalize on our authorial selves!
This is a great post, and Brave ont he Page (perfect title!) sounds like a brave piece of writing that will inspire writers to tap into their own courage when it comes to putting pen to paper. I look forward to reading it.
Sometimes writing from a character’s point of view can be like standing in the town square with all your clothes in the arms of a rapidly departing thief! The ability to speak on behalf of someone in a way you may never do yourself does take a certain amount of bravery. Especially for an introverted writer.
I love this, Richard! Both the thief image and having the guts to put words in someone’s mouth–or even give them jobs, clothes, wishes and heartbreaks.
Well said! How many times have I wanted to go clean toilets rather than slog through another draft of my WIP?
Haha, unfortunately, yes–I have had those same feelings. There are days when anything sounds better than dealing with the WIP. The very fact we go back despite those feelings is definitely courageous.
And then there are the times when writing is going well and my bathrooms get ignored!
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Agreed. Writing is an act of bravery, and Laura’s points are very well stated…but sometimes, if I’m at it too long, it puts me to sleep. So, I guess it’s not a brave enough action (for me) to generate the adrenaline I need to keep me awake. Maybe I need to keep a dagger at my side while at the keyboard…
Or maybe a really sharp pen?
I find some of my best sentences come when I get in that dreamy, half-alert state. That’s one of the reasons I like writing early in the morning!
The scariest thing I ever did was asking people to read my work. And it got even worse when I sent in and then received no feedback. Horrible when you are first starting out. Things are a bit better now for that, thank goodness
I’m glad things are better now, Jennifer! It’s so terrifying to send work to someone. And even worse is when they don’t acknowledge it. I have had that happen, too. But that’s why we all need supportive fellow writers on our side to act as cheerleaders and to be beta readers!
Yeah… I will NEVER ask family or friends to read again.
Terrific post, Laura. Sounds like a great book. And thanks for reminding me how brave it is to be a writer.
Thanks, Kourtney! I’m so inspired and delighted by what these 42 writers say about the craft and how they approach it.
If you end up getting a copy and taking a picture of yourself with it, you’ll automatically win a three-page critique from me! And I’m giving away two novels over on my blog, and you can enter by commenting by Friday.
Great title! I so agree that the very proclamation, “I am a writer” takes a whole lot of bravery…indeed, so many of the arts require a certain unique courage that is vastly under estimated. Good luck with the book…sounds like a wonderful read!
Thank you! So true about the arts in general. I even sneaked a visual artist into the book because of how fearlessly he approaches the blank canvas and how he uses painting as narrative storytelling.
It really takes bravery to get a book written and published. Thumbs up to you! Greatness is acquired in the process of achieving results. A book is a great product; good evidence of result!
Thank you, teeceecounsel!
Great post, Laura,
There are times when writing is like walking through treacle. Confidence is the biggie, I think. In my office there’s a phrase on A3 written in Red marker pen – ‘Write with confidence and authority and tell the story.”
Easy to say and so very hard to do.
I love that saying, CC. Often when I fall in love with a book it’s because of the authority that begins on page 1. The trick, perhaps, is sustaining that confidence in one’s writing so the authority continues all the way through!
What a lovely article and a great connection to the writing scene in Oregon! Now more than a passing interest! Looks as though the State has a very strong writers and authors presence. Regards to all, Paul
Thanks, Paul! I do believe there are great writing communities everywhere, but we’re particularly lucky here in Oregon. My list of Oregon authors who I’d like to meet and/or interview just keeps growing longer!
Today is our last day in Payson, AZ., before moving to a new home just outside Merlin, near Grants Pass, OR. So at some point would love to know what writing groups there might be in the GP area. I can be emailed via my Blog Learning from Dogs, learningfromdogs (at) gmail (dot) com if you have any advice. Thanks. Paul
Good luck on the move, Paul! I’m afraid Grants Pass is quite far away from my usual stomping grounds, and I don’t know any writers there. You can probably check the local library, bookstore or coffee shop(s) for flyers about when writing groups meet. I organized my own group at the local bookstore in my neighborhood when I first moved to Oregon, and that allowed me to meet all kinds of writers.
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