Charlotte Rains Dixon

Writing Regularly: It's All in the Preparation

I know, a post on preparation sounds about as exciting as a lecture on, well, whatever is boring to you. (I say that because what is boring to you may not be boring to me.  And any example I thought of could be interesting to someone else.  And this topic actually, it occurs to me, deserves a whole post of its own.)

But here's the deal:  preparation isn't boring, it is crucial.  It gets your brain going in the direction you want, stirs the subconscious, makes you eager to get to the page.

I've had first-hand experience with what happens without preparation today.  Yesterday I wrote a post about Morning Routines and how Michael Masterson has written a whole library of leather-bound books that he keeps in his beach-front mansion by devoting the first hour of the day to his most important goal.

I'm a big believer in this process, because I wrote a novel that way.  And this morning I was ready to launch in again, to rise early and devote first an hour to my novel and then an hour to another project dear to my heart.

Yesterday, however, I spent hours at my desk, working on my latest assignment, which is a ghost-writing project I was trying wrap my brain around.  And therein lay the problem--I succeeded so well in wrapping my brain around the ghost, my poor old mind was full up of thoughts and ideas about that.

I woke up this morning and rebelled.  I checked email and read news stories and went over to Twitter and decided I really, absolutely had to follow Steve Jobs (who hasn't been on Twitter in months, but oh well) and Paulo Coelho and Dave Lakhani.  And then of course I had to update my own Twitter.   Then I started getting excited about the internet and how cool it  is to be in contact with so many people all over the world and by then any impetus to work on the novel was gone.

My mistake was that I did not prepare.  I went to bed last night with my brain full of the ghost book and so of course when I woke up there was no way I was going to be ready to work on anything else.  What I should have done was open the file I've been working on, read it, even if only very quickly, think about what I wanted to work on and maybe even make some notes. 

Then my mind would have had a chance to percolate on the novel as I slept. 

This experience also speaks to the power of intention.  Clearly, if I had really intended to work on my novel this morning I would have at least thought about it before I went to bed.  But, no.  I was so busy being pleased with myself for all I had gotten done on the ghost that I drifted happily off to sleep with nary a thought for writing fiction.

Ah well.  There's always tomorrow.

PS.  Two of three prizes have been claimed for the Pay it Forward Birthday Celebration.  One last prize!  Going fast!  All you have to do to claim it is post a comment on that post, and either a coaching session or a manuscript critique is yours.

Morning Routine

One of the best ways I've found to consistently produce pages and have time to work on my fiction is to do it first thing in the morning.  I've even gone through periods when I set the alarm for 5 or 5:30 and spend the first two hours of the day doing nothing but writing.  (Hmmm, maybe it is time to consider setting the alarm again.  There is something so nice about being able to get up when I wake up.  And since I generally wake up before 6:30, I haven't been pushing myself.)

This morning I read about the morning routine of Michael Masterson, copywriter extraordinaire and millionaire and author.  I like him; for some reason he doesn't annoy me as so many of the rah-rah business guys do.  Every Sunday he sends out a newsletter called Early to Rise, and today's had a great article called "A Life-Changing Early-Morning Routine," about how he organizes his time to put his most important goals first.  He'll spend the first hour of the day doing a task that pushes forward his most important goal.  The results are nothing short of incredible:

"I’ve used this amazing technique to write six books, produce a record, and script and direct a feature-length film. I used it again last year to write 350 poems - one a day, after I began on January 15. And I am using it this year to get that book of poems published and to write six other books (five business books under the Michael Masterson pen name, and a novel with my personal byline)."

It's worth it to go read the article because he goes into detail about how he does it. 

The one thing that he doesn't mention in the article, probably because for him it goes without saying, is discipline.  Once you get in the hang of doing this, it becomes self-affirming.  You're getting so much done and feeling so good about it that you pop out of bed when the alarm rings, get going on the work, and your day is set.  The one thing that you do not do is check email.  You do not do this under any circumstances.  You also do not decide that you need to check your blog stats, real quick, or do a quick scan of the morning news.

One thing that also helps is accountability.  When I wrote the first draft of my novel, Emma Jean's Bad Behavior, I was rising with the dawn.  Thousands of miles south of me, in warm and lovely Pasadena, my wonderful friend Suzanne was also rising early to work on her photography.  We had an iron-clad pact that we would email each other first thing to say that we were awake and if one of us didn't get an email, we would call the other.  As you can imagine, this worked rather well, since neither or us wanted to be the slacker who didn't get up.

It is especially useful when you have pressing deadlines for other work that you know will fill the rest of your day, because you have the satisfaction of knowing that you've taken time for your most important goal.  That glow of satisfaction will spill over into your other work.  It helps to take away the "I'm wasting my life working for the Man" mental whine that we all get into to.  Somehow, it is way easier to work for the Man, be he a full-time job or a temporary free-lance master, when you've devoted time to your own work first.

Okay, so I've convinced myself.  I'm setting the alarm tomorrow.  Anybody want to join me?

Pay It Forward: Birthday Celebration

In the wonderful way that synchronicity often happens, today is my blog's first birthday and I won a contest.  What do the two have to do with each other?  Well, the contest involves paying it forward.  Because I won something, it is now my duty (and pleasure) to pass on a prize as well.  And since it is my blog's birthday, it seemed fitting to combine the two.

But first, let me tell you about what I won and where I won it from.  One day I discovered Too Cute Pugs and spent quite a bit of time there because it is the diary of pugs Pearl and Daisy and full of wonderful pug photos and pug banners and all things pug.  Since I am of the firm opinion that the world would be a better place if pugs ran it, or at least if everyone on the planet owned a pug, I was entranced.

Pugmama (Okay, her name is Sue) at Too Cute Pugs was running a Pay it Forward contest and all you had to do to win this adorable tote bag that she had painted was to leave a comment.  Since I was planning to leave a comment for her anyway, this was a wonderful thing.  And guess what?  I won!

And now it is my charge to continue to pay it forward and offer prizes on my blog.  Since I have absolutely no talent for anything besides writing (well, knitting, but I never finish anything so I'm not going to offer a half-finished scarf) all of my prizes are word related. So, are you ready?  Here we go:

The first three people to leave comments on this post will receive:

1.  A one-half hour coaching session to kick-start you in your writing.   We can talk about frustrations, fears, lack of time, goals,  how to establish a regular writing practice, whatever your little heart desires. I love coaching and helping to get people back on track with their writing.

OR

2.  A manuscript critique of up to 20 pages of writing.   I also love reading and critiquing.  Fair warning: I'm not offering line editing here, but more big-picture type stuff, with thoughts on story and character and so forth.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to a pressing deadline, I will not be fulfilling these prizes until after April 15th.  But then I'm all yours, baby.

So leave those comments for me and I'll post the winners whenever I feel like it all the prizes have been claimed.

Photo from FreeFoto.com.

Any Craft Writers Out There?

I got this email from a Leisure Arts editor this morning and thought some of you might be interested.    Here's what Debra said: 

"This is an excellent opportunity for novice writers to get their first publication credit, and to work with an editor who remembers how intimidating the whole process can seem in the beginning."

So what are you waiting for?  Submit something.

(And by the way, check out Debra's blog while you're at it, I enjoyed it.)

Call for Submissions

Send submissions to: debra_moore@leisurearts.com

Leisure Arts, one of the world’s largest publishers and distributors of lifestyle and instructional materials, is accepting submissions for the Second Edition of our newest annual holiday publication, Christmas Traditions.

Christmas Traditions was created because we at Leisure Arts know that the personal customs of Christmas are what bring the holiday—and our loved ones—nearer to us each year. Bearing this in mind, we took extra care to ensure that every page of the first edition of this beautiful book featured meaningful ways to enrich the holiday experience. 

We would like to include your uniquely personal story in the second edition.  Describe for us how you create gifts destined to become treasured keepsakes or make decorations to evoke tender memories. Share with us the recipe your family looks forward to every year and tell us the story behind it.  Describe the holiday traditions your family observes every year—whether the traditions are new or have been passed down from generation to generation.  Tell us the story of your favorite family tradition.

Submissions should be 120-200 words, written in first person, be original and true. We happily accept multiple submissions.  If your submission is chosen for inclusion in the book, you will be contacted; however, Leisure Arts cannot acknowledge receipt of individual submissions or report upon each submission's status. 

Submissions accepted via email only.

If we use your submission, you'll receive publication credit and one free copy of the book. No monetary compensation will be made.

By submitting, you certify that you are the creator of the material and that it does not infringe upon any third party's trademark or copyright.  You retain ownership and copyright of your contribution, but your submission grants Leisure Arts unencumbered, non-exclusive, perpetual license to reuse the work, in whole or in part, in any of its publications, Web sites, or archives.

Leisure Arts reserves the right to make grammatical and editorial corrections, or to edit the work for length or stylistic requirements according to the judgment of the editorial staff.

Odds and Ends: Friday Wrap-up

Since I seem to be failing miserably at soliciting guest bloggers for Friday (anybody interested, leave me a comment) I will use today's post as an excuse to write about some bits and pieces, mostly gleaned from Poets and Writers magazine.

I generally have mixed feelings about writing magazines.  They seem to range from the sometime-helpful but usually a bit too general Writer's Digest, to the tres literary and often pedantic Writer's Chronicle.  The one that generally falls somewhere in the middle (though it clearly leans toward the Writer's Chronicle end of the spectrum) and the only one I read even remotely regularly is Poets and Writers. 

So all this by way of saying that I was reading the December issue (I know, just the wee-est bit behind the times) and ran into some good tidbits.  To wit:

• In an article titled "Literary Laryngitis" Katherine Dykstra talks about losing her voice (the metaphorical one, not the vocal one) after doing too much free-lancing.   She realizes that the secret of free-lancing is to mimic the voice of whatever publication you are writing for, and in doing all this aping she lost her own unique voice.  The takeaway quote for me was this one from novelist Jami Attenberg:  "You still resent [the freelance work], everyone resents it because the most fun is always writing the fiction..."  Yes, indeed.
• There's a whole special section on MFAs, and Joshua Henkin has an interesting article titled, "In Defense of MFA Programs."  He points out that criticism of MFA programs is loud and vociferous, even though these programs have proliferated.  As the proud holder of a MFA myself, I was especially pleased to read this from Henkin:  "Part of the suspicion of MFA programs has less to do with the programs themselves than with broader cultural doubts about the value of the study of writing.  Numerous times, I've been introduced to people who, upon learning I teach writing, ask, 'Can writing really be taught?'  No one wonders whether medicine can be taught.  That's because there's a body of knowledge to be imparted, and if the practitioner doesn't have it, we are suspicious.  We don't close a novel when we learn that the author never studied writing formally, but we are likely to leave a doctor's office if we learn that she didn't attend medical school.  And no amount of argument about how gifted she may be, what a talent she has for medicine, what a natural she is at healing--the kind of arguments that get made about writers--is likely to change our minds."
• Finally, I loved an essay by Jenna Blum about chasing tornadoes, despite her terror, for the sake of researching her novel.

When I was in New York for AWP, (which is the standard nickname for the annual drinkfest writing conference put on by the organization)  I actually went to a party put on by Poets and Writers.  That is one of the fun things about AWP, all the magazines and little journals have parties at various venues, ranging from catered affairs to casual get-together in a corner of a bar.  My wonderful friend Diana had an invite to the Poets and Writers party and she took me along.  We walked from the hotel on 53rd down to the Times Building somewhere near 42nd street, in Times Square and had a blast, even though Diana was embarrassed at what a tourist I was being, taking photos of everything.  (Said photos which could be displayed here if only I knew how to resize them so that Typepad will accept them.) 

And really, there's no point to that story except maybe to remind myself that I am thinking kindly about Poets and Writers these days and that I really should read it regularly again.

My other Friday tidbit is that I got the ghostwriting job that I went to LA for a couple weeks ago.  Its a good one, and I am happy.  The next few weeks are going to be an exercise in balance, the question being, can I get the ghost book done on time, continue to work on fiction, rebuild the writing program at MTSU and also post regularly?  Time will tell.

Excellence Award

The wonderful Jen at Semi-charmed wife passed on the Excellence Award to me.  Thanks, Jen!  Now I get to pass it on to others.  I'd choose Jen because she has a great blog but I can't because she's already gotten in.  So here are my choices (and let me just say these are a combination of old favorites and newly discovered friends):

1.  Suzanne at Thetahealingblog.

2.  Derek at Pieces of Zen.

3.  Horatiosalt at Wundurful Wurld

4.  David at Virginia Breeze.

5.  Don at My 2 cents 4 the day.

I know there are more that I'm going to kick myself for not including and since I can do up to ten, I reserve the right to award more as the spirit moves me!

Mindfulness and Writing

So, mindfulness and being present are a hot topic these days, what with Oprah crashing web servers as she presents teleseminars with the flat-liner Eckhardt Tolle.

For those of you who aren't familiar with him he has written The Power of Now, and A New Earth, both of which were doing quite well in sales.  Then Oprah came along and catapulted him out into the stratosphere.

To be honest, I've never been able to get through either book.  They are a bit on the dull dry side.  I am fully willing to admit that I am probably missing something, but it seems to me as if he has a simple message that really could be told in about a page.

The message?  Be here now. 

Sound familiar?  It should.  It has been the mantra of many a self-help guru and Zen master for years.  And I get it, I really do.  The world takes on a somewhat magical and wondrous sheen when one is able to be fully present in the moment, even if you are washing the dishes or scrubbing the toilet. 

I'm a big fan of the whole be here now thing, except for one small quibble.  (My Zen friend Derek is now going to disown me and refuse to ever email me again. and that will be an awful tragedy but I will press on in the interest of all writers everywhere.)

You see, I get my best ideas for writing when I am being unmindful.  When I go out for a walk at the end of the day, I know I should be looking at all the cherry trees in bloom and the daffodils that are so perky and yellow in all the gardens.  But looking at them reminds me of the color of the dress my heroine wore in a scene earlier and then I get the perfect idea for how to end the chapter.  Or while I'm fixing salmon for dinner suddenly the perfect line of dialogue pops into my head. Or while I'm doing the crossword puzzle, I am suddenly aware of how many parallels there are between puzzling and writing.

So that is my problem.  Being mindful is not always so good for creativity and that leads me to like being mindful far less than I should. 

If anybody has a solution for this, I'd love to hear it.

Meanwhile, its time for me to go eat that salmon.

What Crossword Puzzles Teach About Writing

A couple of weeks ago on American Idol, contestant David Cook did a video sharing his love of doing crossword puzzles.  Simon, @#$%hole that he is, told David he didn't think he'd done himself any favors with the video, implying that doing crossword puzzles was a somewhat wimpy activity at odds with David Cook's hard-rocking image.

But I disagree.  I thought the fact that Cook loves to do crossword puzzles only added to his charm, no doubt because I am an inveterate  crossword puzzler myself.

And the other morning, when I was indulging my daily habit, I realized that crossword puzzles are not only good for David Cook and keeping Alzheimer's at bay, they are also excellent practice for writing.  Yes, writing.  And why might that be?

For several reasons:

1.  You'll do best at crosswords if you don't second guess yourself or try to be perfect.  If you think you know the answer, right it in.  You might end up erasing it, but writing the word helps you see if it fits or not and may lead to other correct answers.  The same is also true in writing.  The key to writing regularly is to write something, anything down on paper and don't worry about perfection.  You'll probably end up deleting it or changing it, but at least it gives you something to work against.

2.  A word can have more than 2 meanings.  Well, duh.  Many of them do.  But in doing crossword puzzles you have to expand your mind to encompass all the possible meanings of a word.  I often sometimes  get one specific meaning of the word in the clue in my mind and that's all I can think of.  I ponder and ponder and ponder and finally get the answer from filling in the surrounding words--only to see that it was a secondary meaning that provided the answer.  In this way, doing crosswords forces you to expand your mind.   So often in writing, I get stuck looking at a scene in a certain way.  I ponder and ponder and ponder and then when I finally figure out why I was stuck, its because I should have been seeking the different meaning in the scene.

3.  There's always a way in, you just have to find it.  The common impulse in solving crosswords is the start in the upper left-hand corner, with the clues numbered one.  But if none of those clues seem solvable, cast your net further.  Try the opposite corner, or the upper right-hand one.  I read this bit of advice in a book on crosswords once and couldn't believe how obvious it was.  I'd always done this.  But then it occurred to me that many people, perfectionists that they tend to be, give up if they don't immediately see that they can be successful at solving the puzzle.  So, too, in writing.  Once we can't figure something out, we tend to give up.  But remember there is always a way in with writing, too.  Try moving the scene or putting in a different character's viewpoint.  Experiment with starting with descriptive imagery instead of dialogue, or vice-versa.  There's always a way in--you just have to find it.

4.  Crossword puzzlers learn all kinds of random words.  Like Ani, which is a black cuckoo.  Or adit, which is an entrance to a mine.  Or how about ort, which is a scrap of food?   Anil is a kind of indigo dye, and erat is part of Q.E.D. which, my son the math brain tells me, is something you write at the end of proofs (but don't quote me on that).  The point is that doing crossword puzzles means you are working with words, gaining an ease with them, learning how they can be manipulated and changed and fit together and pulled apart.  And a facility with words is what writing is all about, no?

So there are my 4 reasons why crosswords and writing are sort of the same. And why David Cook is way cooler than Simon, because clearly David knows way more about creativity and writing and how crosswords can really teach you just about everything you need to know.

If you want to learn more about writing, consider joining the one-on-one mentoring program at the Loft, or if you need help getting to it, email me about writing coaching.

The Great Search for Writing Ideas

Where do writers get ideas?

Ideas are like men or money--they always come when you already have plenty.  The more you tend them, the more they multiple.  Ideas beget ideas.  The more ideas you have, the more you'll get.

Okay, I've repeated myself enough, you get the picture.  In order to start the idea train rolling, I encourage every writer to begin an idea book, a place to corral all the things you think about and forget because you didn't write them down. 

If you write in a journal or write morning pages, you can use that for ideas, if you like.  However, I like the idea of a separate book, because I'm convinced that when I close the cover of my idea book the ideas jump off the page, yell "Party!" and then, just as at all those wild parties of your youth, crazy things happen.  Things like procreation.  And then a whole bunch of little idea babies are hatched.  And besides, it is an act of kindness to let your ideas have their fun.

I recently learned of a variation on the idea book theme from my coach, Tess Daniel.  She told me about a question book, and it is the coolest thing ever.  Choose a journal or spiral, preferably one small enough to carry around with you.  On the left-hand side of the journal, you write a question.  On the right-hand side, you write the answer. 

This sounds ridiculously simple but there is something almost magical about asking the universe a question because, by God, you get an answer.  You can use this technique for writing questions (What happens next in my novel?) or self-inquiry (How can I best contribute to the world?) or any variation that occurs to you (What is the meaning of life?)

Try it and see.  I'm convinced it is a technique that can benefit every writer.

Writing Advice Through the Years

"Every magazine has its own policy and makes a definite appeal to a certain clientele.   Study these and take them into consideration when  offering your wares for any market."

Sounds like sound advice for the free-lance writer, no?  You've probably read something similar recently.  But that advice was written in 1921 by Emma Gary Wallace in a little rag called Successful Writing.  All these years later, Successful Writing has morphed into the venerable Writer's Digest, but isn't it amazing how consistent the advice has been through the years?  Technology has changed, but the route to success remains the same--study your market and slant your offerings accordingly.

An AP article on the magazine looks at the advice it has given through the decades and how it has changed with social and world events.  During World War II, for instance, writers were told that if a man wasn't in uniform, they needed to explain why.   However, by the end of 1945, writers were advised to get men back into civilian attire. 

It's an interesting article that pretty much proves the point that the more things change the more they stay the same.  The takeaway quote is from Lawrence Block, who is a prolific mystery writer and former columnist for Writer's Digest:  "It's like asking if we're any closer to the great mystery of how one paints a portrait or composes a symphony?.....Most of the arts are extremely difficult, and there are always more people that want to do it than can do it."

I don't entirely agree with him on that last point.  Every single person on this planet is creative in one way or another, and all of us have the ability to manifest that creativity through the arts. Whether we are all "talented" enough to have success in the arts is another matter, but it shouldn't really matter.  Yes, we all want to be published and get recognition for our work, but the writers who will ultimately have the most success are those who do it because writing is its own reward.

What Will It Take?

What will it take you to commit to writing?

In my travels as a writer, teacher, and coach, I've listened to students and clients and people on the street tell me their stories about writing, or more to the point, Not Writing. 

What I hear is that many of these people have always had a dream to write. Perhaps they wrote poetry as a child, and always thought they'd get back to it one day.  Or maybe they had a couple short stories published long ago and now dream of writing a novel.  One friend had great early success with articles and then TV scripts, and now struggles to write a novel.

What happened? Life happened.

Along the way, life happened to these would-be writers.  The necessity to raise children, to earn a living, to care for elderly parents, and often to do all of these things at once, takes a toll on one's creativity.  But then, something big happens.  Something that makes them want to re-commit to writing.  Something such as:

• A landmark birthday (30, 40, 50, 60)
• A major illness (my own personal kick in the pants)
• An empty nest
• Retirement
• A parent dying
• Getting laid off, or worse, fired
• A child starting preschool
• Divorce
• Death of a parent

All of these things are life events that give one pause.   Finally, you may have time to do something for yourself.  Or perhaps you feel your own mortality pulling at you.  Maybe you've achieved great success in your career but still feel unfulfilled--because you know in your heart your own personal definition of success includes writing.

Are you facing, or in the middle of, one of these landmark events?  On the other hand, maybe your life is business as usual and all is going well, except for those nights when your eyes pop open at 3 AM and you lie in bed, dreaming of the screenplays you want to write. 

Whatever your situation, ask yourself a couple of questions:

• What will it take?
• If not now, when?
• When and how can I get started?

Don't wait until a major life crisis sets you on the path to your creativity.  Start now.  Right now.  Really.  Take ten minutes and write something.  You can do it, really you can. 

If you find you need help putting words on the page, email me at wordstrumpet@gmail.com.  If you need writing instruction, see my page on the writing program I direct, The Writing Loft. 

Happy writing!

Rethinking the Antagonist

So, I've been playing around with the plot of my next novel.  I actually had started writing it but I got stuck and realized I needed to go back to the beginning and figure some things out, such as what the story was about.  Yeah, that minor little detail.

While part of the joy of writing fiction for me is allowing the story to unfold and letting my characters surprise me, I have also learned (the hard way) that I need to have some sort of outline to follow or I will go off on tangents.  Long, bad, tangents.  Victoria Schmidt points out in Book In a Month that you can indeed write a book without an outline, but if you do, be prepared to do a lot of rewriting.

For me, all story and plot begins with character and so today, I worked on re-defining the protagonist and the antagonist.  While doing so, I had a bit of a brainstorm about the role of the antagonist.  The protagonist is easy--she is Josephine, the character, who popped into my mind on an airplane a year or so ago and has been the driving force of the novel ever since. 

As a matter of fact, that's sort of a good definition of protagonist--the person who is most often in the driver's seat.   But most people don't have trouble defining the hero or heroine of their story.  It is the antagonist that is the problem.

If you're writing a mystery, the antagonist is easy--it is the killer, of course.  In a romance, it is the person keeping the couple apart or threatening their love.  But what if you are writing a mainstream or literary novel where the antagonist is not so clearly defined?  You don't want or need the dark villain that the word antagonist most often draws to mind.

The answer is simple.  The antagonist is the character who stands in the way of the protagonist's goals.  Who is the character who most often or most seriously thwarts your character's goals?  Answer that question and you'll have defined your antagonist.

Of course, to do this you must back up a step and define something else that is terribly important, which is, c'mon class, what your characters want.  Ah, yes.  That old question.  It is entirely possible to write an entire novel without knowing the answer to that, so difficult is it to pin down at times.  But work on it.  Answer the question whether you want to or not, because from it, all plot flows.  If you know what your character wants, you can then put another character with designs of his own in the way, et voila, you suddenly have conflict and from conflict you can build a plot.

Easy.   

The Power of Symbols

I decided to take a break from my incessant harping on why you should be writing (don't worry, I'll be back at it tomorrow).  Thought you might like a post on an aspect of craft for a wee change, and so today's topic is symbolism. 

Yawn.

I know, it sounds tres literary and very deep and important and therefore boring but if you use symbols correctly they are actually anything but.  I was reminded of this via one of my students, Kwasi, who wrote a pretty brilliant essay on the use of color symbolism in Richard Wright's Native Son.  He pointed out that Wright repeatedly and pointedly uses the word black with a negative connotation, white with a pure and good connotation, and he even gets in the color red--using it to describe the communist party which was common, if controversial, in that day.

It has been years since I read Native Son, so I was fascinated with the discussion of how Wright brought such depth and meaning to these three colors.  And it reminded me of how powerful symbols can be.

What, exactly, is a symbol? Here's the dictionary definition: "something used for or regarded as something else; a material object representing something, often something immaterial; emblem, token, or sign."

The key words in that definition are "material object."  Read: every day object.  Something common in your character's life.  In my novel, Emma Jean's Bad Behavior, one symbolic object is a pen.  Well, she is a writer, so that is a no-brainer.  But the pen has special significance because it represents success to her: she has made enough money from her books that she can afford to order a special fountain pen by the dozen.  Not only that, but the pen figures in the way that she meets the man she is destined to fall in love with, Riley.

I'm not in any way comparing myself to Richard Wright here, but ponder how he took the color of his protaganist's skin, black, and made it into a symbol of menace (and it is Wright's brilliance that he makes this a societal symbol.  The color black symbolizes all that white society sees as a menace and a threat.)

Color is an excellent way to use symbol and it can be used in cheerier ways than Wright's.  Ellen Gilchrist used the color yellow as a way to carry through a thread in one of her linked-story collections (I'm not remembering the name of it at the moment, but just go ahead and read anything of hers, she is amazing.) 

So, every day objects and colors and the material objects that we surround ourselves with are the starting points of symbolism in the novel, short-story, or screenplay.  Symbols are often thought of as lofty and arcane, but you can avoid this fate with your work if you base your symbols in the day to day life of your characters.  By making those objects carry thematic weight, you'll bring home what you want to say to your readers in a simple and elegant way.

Writing Bog #2

Recently, I’ve been posting about the writing bogs.  Since I coach writers in how to, well, write, this is a topic of particular interest to me.  It’s not because I’ve ever struggled with the issue of getting myself to write.   I always never have problems with writing. 

But in case you do, help is at hand.  In the earlier posts, I wrote first about Where Do You Get Bogged Down? and then, in The Writing Bogs, a little about specific writing bogs you might find yourself in, the first one being a lack of time to actually get to it, and finally in the Writing Bog Addendum.

So, Bog #2 is Getting Sidetracked Before You Get Writing.  It is so important every word must be capitalized.  You may think that this is the same as Bog #1, which is not having time to write, but it is not, it is different.  Bog #1 is being so crazy busy with your long commute and your awful job and having to care for your elderly mother and her 21 Chihuahuas that you simply don’t have time to write, and we’ve already discussed that.  Bog #2 is when you make a commitment to write but don’t uphold it.  You have carved out time from your busy schedule—perhaps paying a Goth-type high schooler to walk the Chihuahuas—and have decided that you will write for an hour instead of watching American Idol.

But the allotted hour comes and goes and you’ve not written.  Worse, you’ve not even sat down at your writing desk.  You had to give the Goth boy explicit instructions and that took longer than you thought.  Then you noticed that the banister was covered in dust as you climbed the stairs to your office.  And after you got that dusted, you remembered how long it had been since you had oiled the wood.  And then you had to go wash your hands and when you looked in the mirror you were shocked—shocked!—at how gray and wrinkled your face looked.  So you absolutely had to give yourself a facial, right then at that very moment.  After all, if you are going to be a best-selling writer, you will be required to look your best, right?  And when you go on Oprah, the cameras are going to be unforgiving. And, oh God, the camera adds ten pounds.  (Personally, I’m pretty sure it’s twenty, but either way, it’s no good.)  So you better research diets post haste.

And now your hour is long gone and you’ve not even gotten near your computer.  Has this, or a variation on this theme, ever happened to you?

It has never, ever happened to me, but one of my friends told me about it.  Yeah, right.  Every writer on the planet has faced the issue of procrastination at some point in their career and don’t let them tell you otherwise.  How to deal with it?  Here are some strategies:

• Tell it like it is.   You’re procrastinating, okay?  You’re not cleaning the house or having a spa day.  You are procrastinating because what you set out to do—write—is at odds with what you ended up doing—just about anything.  Telling the truth at least starts to illuminate the path out of the bogs.  Denial just leads to a river in Egypt.
• Observe without judgment.  Watch how you avoid writing with the detached air of an anthropologist observing a…whatever it is they observe.  Hmmmm, you might notice that in between dusting and oiling the wood there was a moment when you thought of the perfect opening line for your chapter and you stopped to jot it down but then went to find the Murphy’s oil, because how could you stop to write when the banister needs oiling, for God’s sake?  If you noticed that moment without judgment perhaps the next time it happens you could actually stay with the writing instead of rushing off.
• Face your fears.  What are you avoiding?  Are you afraid to write because you fear you are bad at it?  Because you fear that you’re good at it?  Because you fear you’ll get so absorbed in it you’ll forget the Goth boy is out walking Pippi the Chihuahua and then your mother will only have 20 of them when Goth Boy makes off with Pippi?   Make a list of your fears.  Yes, this requires writing, but you can do it in the kitchen and pretend you are writing a grocery list.  Which leads us to….
• The beloved free writing.  It is beloved because it works.  Your list of fears has now been magically transformed into a list of prompts, starting points for your writing.  Set a timer for 10 to 20 minutes, choose a prompt and write without stopping or judging.  See what comes out.  This little self-therapy session may well turn into a “real” writing session.  But even if it doesn’t, you may be able to see what has been stopping you.
• Get support.  Find a writing buddy or yes, a coach, who will hold you accountable.  If you are the type, like me, who works well under deadline pressure, you will be amazed at how well this works.  Knowing that someone is waiting for your email, waiting for you to report how many words you wrote, works wonders.
• Start an idea book.  Even if you don’t write in a journal, every writer should have some sort of notebook in which to corral ideas.  The thing about putting ideas together in a notebook is that they breed like rabbits.  Ideas begat more ideas.  And more ideas begat the overwhelming urge to turn some of them into stories.  Make lists in your idea book.  Write down dialogue you hear.  Make a note of something you saw that you’d like to write a description of.  Oops, watch out.  Could it be...you are writing?
• Remember that the only way out is through.  Writers write.  Hate to tell you that, but it is true.  If you are writing, you are a writer.  If you are Not Writing, you are not a writer.  It doesn’t matter what you are writing—though grocery lists don’t count and neither do office memos.   Truly and all the only way out of a writing block is to bust through it—by writing.  Write anything.  But write. 
• Ask yourself if you really want to be a writer.  I’ve been harping on this lately, but that is because, again, it is true.  If you want to write, you will.  Maybe you like having written better than actually writing.  Maybe you like tossing ideas around better than actually writing.  Maybe you like playing tennis or going fishing better than actually writing.  You know what?  That is okay.  Really.  Admit it and move on. 
• And on that note, since we have gone around in a circle and come back to where we started, with telling it like it is, I will end.  Tomorrow I’ll talk about what to do if you make it to the computer but the words don’t come.

Oh, and by the way, if you need coaching on setting the words free, email me at wordstrumpet@gmail.com and we’ll discuss it. 

Here is the complete list of related posts:

Where Do You Get Bogged Down?

The Writing Bogs

Writing Bogs Addendum

Location, Location, Location

I recently wrote about how I had been stuck at the funeral of one of my characters for months, until it finally hit me that the character had not actually died and that is why I was having such a hard time with her funeral.  Sigh.  Sometimes writing fiction is just hard. I've had another similar, though not so dramatic, experience this week.

After the funeral revelation, I dithered about for a few weeks more until it finally occurred to me that I had yet another problem: the book was set in the wrong location. 

I desperately wanted it to be set in Gatlinburg, which I adore for its mix of down-home tacky, ancient nature, and lots of good old-fashioned fudge.  Alas, I was trying to make this location work, when it really didn't at all. 

So away we have flown from Tennessee and back to the west coast.  I have an iron-clad rule that I don't talk specifics about any work of fiction while I'm working on it, because I think that dissipates the energy of it.  Suffice it to say, however, that it is a charming location somewhere in the state of Oregon.

There's a funny thing about me and locations--I have to fall in love with a place before I can write about it.  The good news is that it doesn't take much for me to fall in love with a place.  The only place I can think of that I've visited and not fallen in love with is Boston.  Well, and Albany, New York.  Sorry to all of you who live in those cities, don't take it personally, really.  I'm just odd when it comes to places. 

I want to take this opportunity to do a preview of coming attractions.  (what opportunity, you ask?  The fact that you are reading me!) Stayed tuned for more on goal setting, and several posts on specific ways to pull yourself out of the writing bogs. I'm also planning to talk about structure.

And while I am at I would also like to wish my Mom a happy birthday.  She is 91, and she calls the internet Ebay, as in "Oh gee, you can book a flight on Ebay?  That is just amazing," so she's not going to be reading this post, but send her good thoughts anyway. 

Why Do You Write?

Why do you write? 

Has anybody ever asked you that before?  It is not likely to be the topic of conversation at the next cocktail party you attend, but it is the sort of question that writing instruction books like to ask. 

I'm reading a good one at the moment, which is why this question is on my mind.  It is called Book In A Month, by Victoria Lynn Schmidt, and it guides you to, yes, write a book in a month, with focused exercises and routines.  I love it, but in the chapter on goal setting I felt myself balking.

Who me? Set goals?  Why?

But the way that Victoria Lynn Schmidt presented the goal-setting exercises I could handle them.   The questions she asks are set off in boxes and the room for answering is mercifully short.  This is one of the things I like about the book--it is designed as a workbook, and you are encouraged to write in it, but there's not room to go off on tangents for any of the exercises.  (It is also a brilliant marketing ploy--she urges you to buy a new copy of the book for every new project.)

Some of Schmidt's questions included queries of the why do you write variety, and so I was forced to stop and think about what my motivation is.

I realized that I write to entertain, to inspire, and to educate a little.  But there's an even more important reason, and after a good writing session this morning, it hit me:

I write because it makes me happy. 

Period, end of story.  Nothing makes me happier than writing.  The world looks brighter and more cheerful and I love everyone and everything in it after I've written.  This is how I always want to feel, so it follows that I would write all the time to achieve this state, correct? 

Well, not exactly.  It appears I need to be reminded of how happy writing makes me over and over again.  I need to allow myself to fall in love over and over again. 

The Writing Bog Addendum

So far this week I've written two posts about where, as a writer or creative person, you get bogged down (ie, don't write):  Where Do You Get Bogged Down? and The Writing Bogs.

In reading some of the comments that the posts have gotten, and in pondering the issue further, I've come up with some things to add to my list of methods for pulling yourself out of the bog.

Lori wrote and told me that she vacuums when she gets blocked, and that was a great reminder that any sort of repetitive action is a great block-buster.  Not sure why this is, but it is.  So you can vacuum, or pull weeds, or sew or knit or mow the lawn.  Even walking will often do it. 

When my kids were little, I remember reading about a school of thought that held that children who didn't crawl before they walked might later have cognitive or developmental problems, because the crawling motion was so important to the way our brain grew.  I'm sure this theory has been refuted a million times over since then, but I kinda like it, just because I know from first-hand experience how this repetitive motion thing has so often broken open my creative thoughts.  (And for those of you who are pressed for time, like Jen and Roy, it has the added benefit of allowing you to get something besides writing done, while still contributing to your writing.)

As for finding time for psychic space, I failed to mention one of the best thinking spots: the shower.  Water is very conductive, and so it is no surprise that  people often get some of their best ideas while showering.  It is also very good, of course, for washing the chi and odd energy of the day off of you--and that gives your brain more room for creative thoughts.  So start to train yourself to think about your novel or screenplay while in the shower.  Take advantage of any time you can!

Finally, here is a question for you to ponder:  do you really want it?  Do you really want to write?   Answer honestly.   I've met many people through the years who were far more attracted to the idea of writing and the supposed glory that would accrue once they published their book, but didn't have the passion and love for writing you need to sit down and do it every damn day (or at least regularly).  I once had a student who wanted me to guarantee him that he would be published and if I couldn't, then he wasn't going to bother.  Now, that, my friends, is not a person who really wants to write.  He wants to have written.

If you really want to write, you'll find the time for it.  If not, you won't.  It is that simple.  Sorry.   And maybe the current moment isn't the time for you, but six months hence will be.  Or maybe your interest in writing is a stepping stone to something else.  That's okay.  Really.   I'm sort of like that with knitting.  I love it and I generally have about five or six projects going at a time.  But do I finish them?  Rarely.  Can I go months without knitting?  Yes, easily.  Sometimes I think I like reading about knitting more than actually knitting.  Sometimes I think I like thinking about what I will knit when I have time more than actually knitting.  But do I beat myself up about this?  Nah.  I just go on knitting binges every few months or so and then put the needles down again.  And this might be you and writing.  Which is okay.  Just enjoy it when you can.

And finally, finally, on a totally unrelated subject, have you seen the video of the creepy gnome in Argentina?  I so desperately want to believe that this is a real gnome.  You have to watch the video until the very end and even then it is very grainy but it is totally worth it to see the odd little creature do his gnome walk.  Watch the video here.

The Writing Bogs

A couple of days ago, I wrote a post titled, Where Do You Get Bogged Down? I wrote about how there are several potential landmines on the way to getting words onto the page.  Bursting with excitement for writing, you schedule a session, but somehow it never gets done.  Because one of several things might happen:

• You get sidetracked before you get to the computer.  Suddenly it is imperative to clean out that closet.  Or you simply must watch the Netflix movie you've had for months.
• You get yourself in front of the computer, but the words won't come.  Frustrated, you give up before you have even begun.
• You start writing, and all is well, except something doesn't feel right.    You're not writing the way you think you should be.  It just isn't working.

I'll write individual posts about each one of these stages in the Not-writing process, also fondly known as the Writing Bogs. 

But first I want to address another issue.  After I wrote that post I got a couple of very thoughtful comments, both of which had a similar theme: the commenters never even had the luxury of getting to one of the above writing bogs because they simply didn't have time to write.  Period.

I wrote a long comment in response, but it felt glib and facile to me and I knew I'd end up writing more about that specific issue.  So here goes my attempt to help you find time to write when there simply isn't any.

First of all, disabuse yourself of the notion that you need a long, uninterrupted stretch of time to get any significant writing done.  Yes, it would be ideal if that were the case.  But, honestly, most of us simply don't have that luxury.  For many of today's novelists and screenplay writers, the work gets done in short stretches of time--the 15 minutes you have while in the car waiting for you daughter to be done with soccer practice, or the 10 minutes you wait at the dentist's office. 

I sometimes think that having only short bursts of time actually forces me to get the writing done.  I've had the experience of finally being able to set a whole day aside for writing, only to end up wasting half of it.  When you have more time, it is easier to waste it.   It is human nature to revel in all the time you have to write and end up reveling so much you don't get any words on the page.

In order to take advantage of these short spans of time, get in the habit of carrying a journal or notebook with you at all times.  And keep plenty of pens in your purse, or in your back pocket, or in your car.  (For some reason I am forever running out of pens, no matter how many of them I buy.  And buying pens is one of my favorite addictions.)

The other issue that goes hand in hand with needing time to write is needing time to think.  Writing requires a clear mind (if you don't believe me, just try writing when you are hungover some time).  When you are working on a longer project (and even a short story can seem long when you are writing it in short spurts) you need to be able to hold thoughts about it at least somewhere in your brain.  You need to be able to mull over character motivation, and ponder story arcs.  Having the psychic space to think about writing is nearly as important as the writing itself.  And one of the best side effects about writing every day is that you keep the thoughts about the work front and center.

Fortunately for you, your brain is always with you.  Nobody can take away your thoughts.  And you can build in time to think even more easily than you can carve out time to write.  It is a matter of making it a habit to think about your writing project in odd moments.  Ponder it on your morning commute, for instance, or while you are exercising.  Think about plot while you are vacuuming or doing the dishes.  Instead of designing the absolute best way to kill your boss, put that energy into something positive and figure out how to off the villain of your novel.  When a brilliant thought strikes you, note it in your journal.  Or carry a little digital voice recorder with you and talk into it.  They are inexpensive and easy to use.

A great way to facilitate thinking is to get in the habit of reading over your pages or even your notes.  Glance at what you wrote today before you get into bed.  Your subconscious will work on your plot problem for you while you sleep.  (For more on this process, see my post titled, amazingly enough, Writing While You Sleep).  Read a few pages of your chapter before your morning commute (I know, I know, you don't have time--but honestly, glancing over it ought to be enough to imprint it in your brain) and then put on your Ipod and think away while you are on the train--or scribble notes.

Now I'm going to risk sounding tres judgmental, which is not my intention at all.  However, it is my duty to remind you that the way we use our time is a choice.  If you decide to watch American Idol instead of taking that time to write or go to sleep so you can get up early to write, that is a choice.  If you decide to take lunch and eat it at your desk so you can edit your most recent chapter, that is a choice.  If you decide to release the words and stories within so that the world can share them, that is a choice, just as turning away from your talent is a choice, also.

So I hope you will choose to write, even if it gets done five minutes at a time.  I want to hear what you have to say.  The world wants to hear what you have to say.

This is Your Brain When it is Creative

The results of a fascinating study of jazz musicians are giving scientists a clearer picture of where creativity comes from in your brain.

How, precisely did they do this?  Dr. Charles Limb decided it would be good to compare the brain of a jazz musician when he (or she) was alternately playing by memory and going off on an improvised riff.  The only problem was, how, exactly, to accomplish it.  The usual procedure is to put a person inside a MRI machine and measure changes in oxygen that signify various different parts of the brain being utilized.

However, it is just the wee-est bit difficult to fit a jazz musician and his instrument inside a MRI machine.

So what they did was have a special metal-less keyboard designed and then had jazz pianists play both memorized tunes and riffs while inside the MRI.

The results?  Creativity in the form of jazz improv utilized the same parts of the brain as dreaming.  First of all inhibition switched off and then self expression switched on.  The musicians also showed heightened sensory awareness, with areas associated with touch, hearing and sight lighting up.

How cool is that?  That there are actually places in the brain where our creativity comes from just fascinates me.

Dr. Limb cautions that the brain of an artist or writer might well function differently from a musician and he hopes to test artists and writers next.  Um, Dr. Limb?  I'll volunteer.  Anything to make the process of sitting down to write a little easier.

Apparently what this research will be most useful for is research into brain damage and diseases such as Parkinson's (which a very close friend of mine just got diagnosed with). 

But the lesson seems clear enough to me: all we have to do to be creative is let go of our inhibitions and let self expression fly.  I've been in that flow before.  Its the best thing ever, so much so that most of my life is spent in an effort to return to that state.

I got so carried away I almost forgot the link.  You can read the story here.

Where Do You Get Bogged Down?

The space between wanting to write and actually writing can feel like a yawning chasm, or a huge abyss. 
We all carry stories within us and for some it becomes an urgent need to get those stories out.  Gregg Levoy, the author of the book, Callings, told a story at a conference years ago that I've never forgotten.  He said that a very large woman came up to him and said, "Do you know why I am so fat?"

Levoy, taken aback and not sure how to answer tactfully, said simply, "No."  (Good call.)

"It's because I have so many stories in me that won't come out."

Now, in this era of faked memoirs I hasten to say that I made up that dialogue from memory so don't quote me!  However, I love that story and it speaks to what we writers all struggle with at one time or another--how do we get the stories out onto the page?

In thinking about this, and I have been, a lot, because I'm working on a manual for coaching writers, one of my thoughts has been to ask, where do you get stuck in the writing process? 

Have you ever stopped to think about this?  Say you want to write a screenplay, and for the sake of the argument, you know how to write a screenplay, because you've done it before, but this time it just isn't working.  You can't get yourself to work on it.

So, you do what any good human would do.  You beat yourself up.  You tell yourself that you are lazy and unproductive and aren't much of a writer anyway.    But next time you fail at writing and before you start to beat yourself up, stop yourself and do something else instead.

Think about where in the process you get bogged down.  Is it between the intention to write and the actual sitting down and writing?  Do you allow yourself to get sidetracked?   Weed the garden or vacuum or solve the morning sudoku instead of working on that screenplay?

Maybe you have a different problem.  You firmly ignore the sink full of dirty dishes and sit down at the computer, full of enthusiasm for the project, only to panic at the glaring brightness of the computer monitor.

Or do you sit down at the computer, bursting with enthusiasm, only to begin writing and have everything sound, well, dumb, on the page.  Nothing works.  No matter how you put them together, the words just don't come together.

The thing that most creativity programs don't tell you is that each of us gets bogged down in different places.  And each of these bogs require a different approach to circumvent.

But, since it is Sunday night and we've had that  #$%^ time change which always screws me up sleep-wise, I won't be writing about how to circumvent those bogs tonight.  Stayed tuned, though, as I'll talk more about them later on this week.

I do want to mention that in looking up Gregg Levoy's website I ran across this beautiful article written by his wife. R. Sierra.  Its about creativity, and writing, and not giving up when it gets hard, and a gorgeous and determined white dog named Snowy.