“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The first amendment is a writers friend.

“Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech…”

Notice there are no qualifications in there. It does not say as long as you only speak accepted facts, that would be just plain silly. Where would fiction writers be? Politicians would never be allowed to open their mouths again! It would also be silly if we had to document every statement we ever made anywhere.

It doesn’t say as long as we all agree, or that everyone else approves. It says freedom of speech. Period.

We are still responsible for what we say, and always will be, but those are different laws entirely.

Every writer should know the libel (written) and slander (spoken) laws by heart, as well as invasion of privacy. You can’t defame a person alive or dead, if it is possibly defamatory you must have solid proof to back it up. Remember when in doubt truth is an absolute defense.

If you confirm that it is true to the best of your ability, and have proof to back it up, then your defense is absolute. In other words research everything and back it up! Make sure opinions stay opinions and facts stay facts, don't mix the two up.

There is an excellent article at Freelancing & Fiction on this subject. Know your laws, and don't break them.

That doesn’t mean that everyone is going to agree with, or approve of what we write. That is what I really wanted to talk about today.

Some of the best novels of all time were controversial. I grew up reading Judy Blume, correction, Judy Blume helped many of us grow up. Yes many of her books were banned. The Harry Potter series opened books up for a whole new generation of children, yet many Christians wanted to see those books pulled from the shelves.

Maya Angelou, Judy Blume, Ray Bradbury, Lewis Carrol, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Anne Frank, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, Madaleine L’Engle, George Orwell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Rice, J.R.R. Tolkien, Kurt Vonnegut… the list goes on.

All banned because somebody didn’t like what they had to say, but they didn’t stop saying it. They gave us some of the greatest writing of all time because they weren’t afraid of what people would think. They had something to say, and they said it.

The worst censor most of us have to face is ourselves. We edit parts out because we are afraid of what our mother will think, we are afraid that other people might not agree, we don’t want to paint ourselves in an unflattering light. We might think certain thoughts, but we stop ourselves from putting those thoughts on paper.

Go back to the first amendment, the fathers of our country thought it was important enough to include along with freedom of religion, the right to assemble, and the right to petition the government. They felt it was a basic human right, and so do I.

I might not agree with what another person says, but I would die to defend that freedom. Yet at the same time I did not exercise that freedom for a long time. I hid behind pseudonyms, afraid of what people would think if they read some of the darker or more bizarre things I have written.

What would my nemesis think? What would my friends think? What would my FAMILY think?

What good is a freedom if it is not exercised? Some people might not agree with you, some might even outright attack you, someday you could even end up on the banned book list, but at least you would be in good company.

Whatever is in your head, write it. If you print it make sure you have observed existing laws, but otherwise just write and see what comes out without worrying about what other people might think.

The real question you should ask yourself as a writer is what do you think?

Print out a copy of the first amendment and tape it over your writing desk, and anytime you find yourself beginning to censor your writing, go back and read it. Some of the best writers out there exercised their freedom of speech, so what is stopping you?

I try to place a different focus on my writing lessons than other sites do. I wrote my first story when I was five, and writing on the internet under pen names since 1999. I wrote a lot of really bad poetry in high school, you know the rhymey, repetitive, all about my angst drivel, that beginners often produce in mass quantity. Some of it was even published, so I can’t even deny that I wrote it.

Sharing my writing is still something I’m not totally comfortable with, even now. After 30 years of being a writer in some form, I’m rarely sure I know what I am doing. I am however a very confident reader. I’ve been reading since I was four.

This love of a good story didn’t end with just books, I love a good storyline in a movie or a video game as well. I’m always looking for something original, that hasn’t been done so many times we could plot it out without ever seeing it. I want something to feed my mind, not dull it.

As I immerse myself into a story, be it paper, computer, or television, I am always looking for a pleasant surprise. I want to see characters that come to life, plots that are believable even if they are fantasy. I need something fast paced enough to feel like I am getting somewhere, but slow paced enough that I don’t feel like I’ve missed something.

These are all things that I want. These are the stories I strive to tell, the stories I devote my time to reading, the movies I watch, and the places where I spend most of my free time. These are the things that make up my unique view on the world around me.

As I share these things with you, I want you to know that I understand you are not me, you are probably nothing like me at all. I have shaped my view of the world from my own experiences, and you have shaped your view of the world from yours.

So today’s lesson is not a lesson at all, but rather a question you need to ask yourself. What elements do you look for in a good story, what constitutes valuable reading material to you? What stories do you enjoy? Most importantly, what are you looking to get out of this? What books have you read that thoroughly delighted you? What movies have you watched that shocked you? What is it that you want to bring into the world of storytelling?

So today, no writing exercise, instead I want you to give yourself some time to think. It doesn’t matter if you write novels, short stories, poetry, or screenplays. The last thing any of us should want is to be an imitation of anyone else.

When we share our stories, we share ourselves. Nobody else can tell the stories I can tell, or tell them the way I can tell them. Nobody else can tell your stories the way you can tell them. In that sense they belong to us, the story teller.

Once we take them out into the world though, those stories no longer belong to us. They belong to the audience. The audience will find things you reveal about yourself without meaning to. They will find themes, and patterns you didn’t even know existed.

It’s okay to write just for yourself, I have done it for the last 30 years. If you are happy with it, then I am happy for you. If you want to take it to a wider audience, that’s where I stop being the writer and become a part of a shared experience. This is where the reader and the writer must come together.

So don’t listen to me because I am a writer, you don’t even have to listen to me because I am a reader. You don’t have to listen to me at all! Listen to yourself and the audience within. You know, or you should know, exactly what you look for in a story. Find it, and go with it. All I am trying to do is share some thoughts that get you there.

The countdown to NanoWriMo has begun. Even though I am in the middle of writing a novel, I am setting it aside to work on another story just for Nano. In these last few days time is short, so having the right tools is essential.

We all have our own preferences, but if you are looking for some time savers I can recommend a few useful tools.

Rough Draft - I could never make it without this program. It is a free program set up specifically for serious writers. I use it for everything, including this entry. I am also poor, so the price is right.

It has tabs for your files at the top of your writing screen, if you have multiple files open at the same time you can flip through them easily. If you need to change your characters name partway through, it has a find and replace that you can apply to one file, or all.

A nifty search function finds all instances in a word, again in one or all files and lines them up for you in a side window so you can click through them at will.

The dictionary is far better than traditional word processors as well, but my favorite feature by far is the notes area. On the right side of your screen is a area you can use for taking notes, saving information, whatever you wish. It is a separate file from your actual work in progress but they are linked. So when you open you file, your notes automatically come with it. (Think outline sitting right next to your novel)

No doubt you will find some features more useful than others but this is a must have. Download it free here.

Mind Mapping - I am a non linear thinker. So traditional outlines will not work for me. No matter how many times I tried, I just couldn’t get my mind to function in a neat and tidy format. So I now use a form of outlining that doesn’t work in a line either.

Mind mapping doesn’t start at the top of the page, rather it doesn’t have to. You can start it anywhere you want. I usually like to begin in the center and work my way out. I use a lot of them initially. One for each character, one for each scene, whatever I need. Starting in the center (or…) I write my main theme of the mind map. For this years Nano, it’s Drea’s name, my main character. Then I circle it. As I see the story unfold, I draw short lines from this circle to the next thought bubble. Adam is Drea’s best friend, so he gets his own circle right next to Drea. It is his story as much as hers.

These two are about to set out on an adventure to recover some missing items. There are 12 of them, one for each year of Drea’s life. (These will probably go in a margin later) as my ideas flow I keep making new circles and attaching them to each other in a circular chain.

You can learn more about mind mapping at many different sites across the internet. To get you started, the ever popular wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map

I’ll discuss more tips and tools throughout this week, but for now these two should get you started. Good luck NanoWriMo participants. Remember, no matter what keep writing!