Shirley Jump Discusses the Dangers of Lumping Lions in with Whales

Apparently, I don't know it all.

(Don't tell my husband that; you'll ruin my domination over this small corner of the world).

I used to think I did. Particularly when I was younger. Since then, I've grown to think of wrinkles as indications that I have learned a hard lesson. Like I really concentrated and boom! there's a crow's foot for my efforts.

I'd rather have a Mercedes.

Anyway, when I first started writing fiction, I approached it as I had all of my non-fiction articles: with an outline and a plan, all very dry, very linear. Hey, I was a smart cookie, or so I thought. Why couldn't a 60,000-word book fall into place as easily as a 1000-word article?

Uh, because they're totally different animals. I was lumping the whole zoo into one cage and the lions were eating the whales. Needless to say, I wasn't successful with those first few horrific manuscripts.

It took me a while (all that blond hair=slow learner) but eventually I realized non-fiction was written entirely from the head. You are given a story to cover, an angle to research. You find three sources who can comment on that angle, then write the piece much like a term paper: theory, supporting evidence, conclusion. Whammo, you're done. Pass Go, collect your check and move onto the next one.

Fiction, however, is written entirely from the gut. You have to get quiet with yourself so that you can truly listen to your characters. You have to trust your instincts, honed from years of reading and writing, to know whether to turn left or right at this point in the book. And then you have to have a strong faith that somehow, the ending will come to you just before your deadline.

Yes, I do find myself praying-a lot-when I'm at the end and have no idea how these two people will work it out. At that point, I'm willing to sacrifice small animals over the hibachi pit. In the end, the neighborhood rodents are saved and I somehow come up with an ending.

As I evolved as a writer, something cool began to happen. The more fiction I wrote, the more colorful my non-fiction became. I learned that a specific word choice-rhododendron instead of shrubs-could make all the difference in the world. That being tight and succinct could make a sentence sing. That having a little bit of a plan in mind can help the entire process go more smoothly. That often, the element that hangs up my middle is a lack of supporting evidence. Not bullet points, but clear indications of my character's growth, conflict and motivations.

You would have thought I'd struck gold when all that finally gelled in my head. In a way, I did. It gave me a fresh way to tackle both types of writing, and a common trampoline from which I could spring. Both genres became stronger, more indicative of what I call the Shirley Jump voice (a voice that is apparently unhearable by anyone under the age of 18; just ask my kids).

I still don't know it all, but that's part of the fun. The best part of my job, hands down, is the discovery of new information, different avenues to take. It's a lot like being at the helm of the Santa Maria with Christopher Columbus, only I get to stay cozy in my sweats and fuzzy slippers!

Considering that's about as close to a Mercedes as I'm going to get, I'll take it. The wrinkles, though, I can do without.

When you read, what similarities and differences do you see between, say, your daily newspaper and your daily fiction fix? Is there anything in common between the lions and the whales, besides the address of the zoo?


Mystery Blogger: Shirley Jump (shirleyjump.com), author of THE BACHELOR PREFERRED PASTRY