Charlotte Rains Dixon

How Words Get on the Page

It's Sunday afternoon, and it's hot here in Portland.  My nephew is visiting on his way from an internship in Washington D.C., back to law school in California.  And he, my husband, and my son, are all at my daughter's learning how to make beer on this glorious afternoon.

And where am I?

Writing this at my computer, obviously.

But the bigger question would be why I'm working on this beautiful afternoon.  Um, that would be because I procrastinated just the wee-est bit on a ghostwriting project and found myself up against a deadline.  I really needed to get my client a chapter by Tuesday at the latest, and I had no other time but today to do it.

Here's the truth: I procrastinated because I didn't know exactly how to do the chapter.  It had to present the themes of the book in the context of the "author's" biography and I was clueless as to how to proceed.

So I procrastinated.

Until I was up against it.

And then came the time when there was no other choice but to start in.  Guess what happened?  Yeah, you're right.  As soon as I actually began engaging with the chapter, the words came.  And I got the chapter (at least a rough draft of it) done and sent off to the client with time to write this blog post, too.  (I'm heading over to my daughter's for wine and a barbecue once as I'm done writing this).

This experience was a good reminder to me that the magic happens when we engage with the words.  That writing gets done when we write.  I know, duh.  But I forget this far too often as I wring my hands and obsess about my WIP.  And I'm certain that it happens to you, too.

So next time, you're stuck, try writing instead of staring out the window.  Trust me, it actually does work.

What do you do when you are blocked or procrastinating?  Do you have anything that helps you get through these states?  We'd all love to hear about it.

Greater Thoughts About Writing

I've been thinking a lot about the novel I'm writing lately.  Thinking, not writing, because with the demands of the Emma Jean book release and attendant promotion, there's not been a lot of time to write.  I knew this going in and decided to give myself a free pass on working on the novel this month. 

The thinking is going well, thank you.  Just yesterday I uncovered a major issue with the novel and starting figuring out ways to fix it.   This is all going on in my head.  Well, there's a little bit of process writing around it, but no official work on the actual novel.

Along with thinking about my novel, I've been thinking about thinking.  For a couple of reasons.

First, I'm taking a class at my church and one of the things I've learned is this: a greater thought always trumps (pretty sure that's not how they put it exactly) a lesser thought.  In other words, if you truly allow a greater thought in to your packed brain, it will ultimately dissolve the lesser thought.

To me, a greater thought is one that speaks to our higher nature and knowledge.  The one that knows you truly are an unlimited being.  The one that connects you to your concept of the divine. So, you can replace I'll never be a published novelist with something like I am happily published now.   Like that.

I know, I know, this is basic stuff, Affirmations 101.  But the twist for me is that you don't have to spend a lifetime uncovering and eradicating all the bad thoughts and limiting beliefs we harbor.  This, for me, is huge, seeing as how there are huge industries built around getting rid of those beliefs.  And a lot of us hold onto a limiting belief that its our limiting beliefs that are holding us back.

But the good news is that you really can change your mind.  You can replace a lesser thought with a greater thought.  And that brings us to Reason #2 that I'm thinking about thinking: I'm reading Deepak Chopra's new book, Super Brain.  In it he and his co-author, Rudy Tanzi, talk about how to maximize the brain's functions, utilizing the huge leaps in our understanding of brain science.   They talk about reshaping the brain, saying, "It means being more mindful of your own thoughts and feelings and becoming more proactive in taking charge of your brain."

Pa dum.

Being mindful of your own thoughts and more proactive about it is exactly what I'm talking about here.  And honestly?  Taking the attitude that I would find and fix the problems with my novel if I just stayed open, rather than grumbling that something was wrong and I probably would never figure it out is exactly why all my brilliant thoughts have occurred.

I'm still working my way through Super Brain, but I really like it so far.  My buddy Deepak (don't know him from Adam, but I follow him on Twitter, so, you know, that means we're friends) is good at equating the science with the spiritual point of view, which, of course, I love. And the overwhelming message of the book is so positive--that we can retrain our brains for maximum performance at any age.

All of my thinking about thinking is still a work in progress, so I'd love your thoughts.  How do you maximize the old noodle?

**And if you would like to buy my published novel, click here.  And thank you so much in advance.

Image by Wyglif.

Process Writing

I mentioned process writing recently in another post but I want to look at it more in depth today.  Why?  I'll tell you why.  Because I've realized that nearly all of my product writing has its origins in process writing.  As in, blog posts, articles, and notes for scenes flowing from my pen.  As in, I start out in process writing and suddenly I'm in product writing.

But first, a refresher.  I'm borrowing these terms from Roseanne Bane, who discusses them in detail in her book, Around the Writer's Block.  Reading her book has solidified the efficacy of these same habits in my own life and so I share them with you.  Bane says that the path to subverting writer's block on a regular basis takes three forks: process writing, product writing, and self care.  Process writing is the kind of writing you do that supports product writing, which is your writing writing.  That novel or memoir or article you want to finish.  Process writing is journaling, morning pages, free writing, not sitting down with intention to work on your current project.  Self care is just that--getting enough sleep and exercise and eating right as well.

It's easy to discount process writing.  Easy to think you have limited time to spend on your writing anyway, so why waste it on navel-gazing or rant-filled journaling? Easy to believe that free writing just results in a bunch of meaningless words on the page.  But I've learned that none of that is true.  Process writing, if done in a deep, attentive manner can be the springboard not only for your product writing but for creative ideas and visions as well.

My process writing occurs first thing in the morning because that's when I like to do it.  I feel better all day long if I've written right after I get up. I used to call this habit writing morning pages, but I don't any longer because I like to think I'm going deeper than that.  There's nothing wrong with morning pages, mind you, it's just that mine too often devolved into a to-do list or on-the-page worrying about what I needed to get done that day.  Yeah, left to my own devices I can get numbingly boring to myself.

These days, I've been practicing a different kind of technique called soul writing, popularized by Janet Conner.  I'm not an expert in this kind of writing by any stretch of the imagination and I'm sure that the way I practice it is probably different in some ways than that which Janet propounds.  She recommends getting yourself into a theta state by activating the five senses.  You've got touch and sight going already with the writing, but you might also want to put on some soothing music and light a scented candle.  As for the taste, well, I always have a cup of coffee and a glass of water nearby anyway.

But here's what really makes it work for me: instead of just talking to yourself on the page, you find a higher power to chat with.  This can be anything that works for you and may likely come to you as you write.  Janet calls hers The Voice.  I call mine God, and when I say God I mean the God within each of us and everything on the planet, not the mythical guy up in the sky that wreaks havoc when he feels like it.  The other key aspect of soul writing is to ask a lot of questions.  What you're doing is opening yourself up the channels for your creativity to come through, and asking questions facilitates this.

What happens to me is I'll ask a question or remember that I wanted to write a blog post that day and suddenly I'm doing it.  I'll think of an idea for my WIP and whoosh I'm writing a scene.  There's something about this kind of writing, this willingness to be open, that makes the creative juices flow.  This post, for instance, was written by hand in my journal a few mornings ago. 

So that's my rant on process writing.  If you're stuck or feeling blah about your writing, I recommend you try it.  And please check back and let us know how it's going.  Do you do any kind of process writing on a regular basis?  Leave a comment and let's discuss.

***My favorite kind of product writing is novel writing and my debut happens next week.  Join me for the Emma Jean Virtual Release Party!  There will be prizes.  More information here.

Image by brokenarts.

Advent for Writers

For as long as I can remember, December has been a creative time for me.  This used to puzzle me.  Why would the darkest time of the year be a rich, fertile period?  For so many, the gloomy short days are depressing and anything but creative.  Wouldn't it make more sense for my wildly creative time to be in, say, mid-summer, when the days are long and gardens (and life) is fully abloom?

But then I remembered the season of Advent.  For many in the Christian tradition, the month of December signifies a period of waiting.  A time of preparation.  A run-up to the big event--the birth of Jesus on Christmas day.  (Never mind that even the Pope himself says we got the actual date wrong.)

This realization helped to explain things.  No matter what faith you practice, or whether you are religious, or spiritual, or agnostic, this time of year is imbued with the energy of preparation.  And preparation can be crazy creative.

Coincidentally, however, it's also a crazy busy time of year.  There are trees to decorate, presents to buy and wrap, family dinners to arrange.  So how best to balance a need for creative preparation with the demands of the holiday?  Here are a few suggestions.

1.  Take time to make time.   One of Mahatma Gandhi's forms of meditation was spinning (yarn, not partaking in aerobic activity).  One day when he had an especially busy schedule he told his aides, "It's a busy day. I better take extra time to spin today." (This is a paraphrase.  I have searched and searched for the exact quote.  If anyone knows it, I'd love to get it from you.)  It can be counter-intuitive, but taking time to meditate or journal might well be the best way to fly through your duties.  Such activities center and calm you and enable you to release your worry and angst over getting things done, thus giving you extra time to work on creative projects.

2. Simplify.  I'm crazy about Christmas traditions.  Probably a bit too crazy.  I love the holidays and put a lot of pressure on myself to do them up right.  But the last few years I've realized that what I love most about the holidays is spending time with friends and family.  And so I've allowed myself to keep some of the holiday decorations in their boxes.  And I buy far fewer gifts for people.  I enjoy the holidays a lot more and as an added benefit, I actually have time to write during this season.

3.  Dive in.  Or, make every minute count.  Whatever you're doing, do it well.  Do if fully.  Do it with a whole heart and a whole mind.  (Except for those times you're standing in line at the post office or the grocery store.  Then, do this.)  Chunk your creative work down into easily doable sessions.  You can get a ton done in a few minutes if you are focused!

4.  Remember who you are.  Who are you?  What's most important to you?  2013 is my year to be a novelist, the job description I've wanted all my life.  But as I get wrapped up in my teaching and blogging and other duties, a day or two can go by without me participating in activities related to writing novels.  At this time of year especially, I can forget who I am.  Remind yourself of who you are often and that will lead you back to your center.

5. Bring love to it.  You've got two choices in how you can respond to a given situation--with love or with fear.  Though it's not always easy, responding with love is far and away the better option!  It is that difficult and that simple.

What are your strategies for remaining creative during this time?  How do you enjoy the gifts of the Advent season?

**If you're having difficulty finding time to write this holiday season (or any time of the year) why not consider the gift of coaching for yourself?  There's no faster way to make progress on your writing than to work one-on-one with a coach.  Learn more about my coaching here.

Photo by benedeki.

Lower Your Standards

As I've mentioned before on this blog, I am currently doing Nanowrimo in a cheating sort of way.

Cheating because the rules of Nanowrimo say that you can't have written any of your novel before November 1st, and I'd written, oh, 60 pages.  But I wanted to use the energy of the event to galvanize my writing and get back to a regular writing schedule.

So I set a goal for myself to write 2,000 words every day and I met that goal every day in November until Sunday.

When my writing screeched to a halt.

I knew exactly why the flow stopped.  It was because I only had a couple day's worth of work until I didn't know where I was going in the book.  Up until this time, I could let the words roll because I knew what scene happened next.

Now, after a few more sessions, I'd be stuck.

And I let the fear of that moment stop me.

But I really didn't want to lose my momentum.  So I did what any self-respecting writer would do.  I lowered my standards.

First, I told myself that I only had to write 1,000 words a day.  Then I reminded myself that I could write as badly as I wanted.  Not only could, but should, write what Anne Lamott calls a Shitty First Draft. 

Lowering my standards did the trick.  Writing 1,000 bad words a day is at least making progress, and that was the point of participating in Nanowrimo in the first place.

Today my assignment is to figure out what comes next.  I have ideas, they just aren't in any logical order.  And even if I lower my standards to only spending 15 minutes on this project, I'll have met my expectations.

I'm telling you, lowering your standards is amazing.  It will help you get the writing done.  If there's one thing I know for sure, to borrow a phrase from Oprah, it's that we're all way too hard on ourselves anyway.  Lowering your standards is one way to subvert this.

Have you ever successfully lowered your standards around writing?

**By the way, sometimes even lowering your standards doesn't help.  If you're well and truly stuck in your writing, I can help.  Check out my services page for more information.

Writing Every Morning

I'm participating in Nanowrimo this year.  Sort of.

I doing it, but not really doing it.  The Nanowrimo rules state you can do as much prep work as possible up to November 1st, but you can't actually start writing until the first day of the month.  And I'd already written about 60 pages of my next novel, so I can't actually compete.

But I can use the energy of a gazillion people writing novels to boost my own creativity. 

And that is exactly what I'm doing.   I've been clipping along, writing by hand every morning, but my muse warned me I was coming up on the time when I didn't know exactly what happened next in my story.  And I realized that this was a danger zone, a time when my every-morning writing habit might fall apart under the weight of uncertainty.

So I resolved to use Nanowrimo to take me to a new level of seriousness and commitment to this novel.

I committed to writing 2,000 words a day, as I had when I wrote Emma Jean, and  carved out a bit of time on Halloween to get organized for the next push, as in, please God and handsome Muse, (my muse is a hot young male who favors tight jeans and T-shirts that show off his muscles), please help me to figure out where I'm going next.

What became evident immediately as I pawed through the hand-written pages of my notebooks was this:

I didn't know where I was in the story.

And if I didn't know where I was, how could I figure out where I was going?

So my first order of business was to get my hand-written pages onto the computer, 2,000 words at a time.  I had to abandon my hand-writing habit if I was ever going to wrap my brain around the entirety of this novel.

This morning I finished feeding the words in and got to the part where I'm writing new stuff.  I was a bit nervous, because I'd also asked my muse if we could please compose on the computer again.  I'm so, so grateful for the month I sat on a chair in the living room and wrote by hand every morning because it got me going on the novel again.  But it is hard to keep track of story and characters doing it by hand.

Today, the words flowed.  I organized the next few chapters in my mind, and whipped along, typing away.  It actually took me less time to write 2,000 words of original material than it did to feed those hand-written words in.

Phew.

So here are my two take-aways from this experience that might be helpful to you:

1.  Writing every morning is glorious.  It is the best thing ever.  Period.  After I've written my 2,000 words every day, I feel great.  I'm in love with the world, because I've done the most important thing to me first.  And that makes everything flow better.

2.  It's helpful to stay flexible throughout the process.  I'm learning that the process for every novel is different.  You might write the first one in strict chronological order and then find out that doesn't work for the next one.  Like me, you might start our writing on the computer, switch to writing by hand, and then return to the computer.  The point is, it doesn't matter.  Do what gets the words on the page.  Do what works for you in the moment!

 What about you?  What's your writing process?

 Photo from Everystockphoto.

By the way, if you're truly stalled on your writing and can't make any progress, my favorite thing to do besides writing novels and blog posts is coach writers.  Check out my services page for more information.

On Writing By Hand

Every morning I wake and lie in bed for a moment, my mind scanning the day ahead.  And then it clicks: I'm writing! More specifically, I'm working on a novel and the writing is going well.

This thought fills me with excitement and I jump out of bed.  (Delicately, so as not to shake the house.)

I drink a large glass of water, (12 ounces to be exact), then grab a cup of coffee and head to my current writing spot: a comfy chair in the corner of the living room.

And then I write the novel. 

By hand.

The old-fashioned way.

I work in various colors of ink, depending on which pen I grab.  All my words go into the same spiral-bound notebook, though I'm nearly finished with the first and will need to start a new one soon.

Some days I write three pages, others I write a paragraph.  Some days I read over scenes and add to them, others I think deep thoughts and then write. 

The point is, I'm making steady progress.

Sometimes I start out working on one scene and get an inspiration for a different one.  So I work on that.  My spiral is filled with notes and directions to myself, such as: "1A Scene in Car," or "3B Goes After Scene in Restaurant."  I'm doing my best to stay organized as I write, but this is one of the disadvantages of writing by hand.  And it's also one of the things I love--the sheer crazy rawness of the actual pages, with addendums and arrows and additions and crossed out words.

I laugh whenever I think about or working on my novel in this way.  I laugh when I discuss it with other people (as I have been doing with clients and in my Get Your Novel Written Now class).  I don't know why my novel is coming out this way.  I only know that it is and that when I sat at the computer to write it, the words didn't flow, period. 

And now they are flowing, so who am I to argue with my muse?

I'm experiencing the pure joy of writing.  I feel freer writing this draft in this manner than I have in ages, and I'm allowing myself to go directions I wouldn't otherwise go.  (As for the quality, who knows?  I'm not worrying about that at the moment.)

By the way, during my writing sessions my husband wanders the house, getting ready for work.  My asthmatic dog, who is over a hundred in people years, coughs and hacks.  My cats meow.  The radio is on.  My friend texts.  All this is happening as I write and still I keep going.  I could easily move to the chair in my quiet office buy my muse demands I sit in the living room.

And so I do, and marvel at how different this process is from the last time I wrote a novel. 

Every book is different.  Everyone's writing process varies.  I can give you tips on what works for me and others most often, but to be successful you've got to find your own way.

Find yours and get started.

How about it?  What's your process?  Does it stay the same or vary?

Beyond Free Writing

I'm a huge fan of free writing ( writing to prompts, when you set a timer and write, not stare off into space, not think deep thoughts, write, just letting your hand move across the page), and I recommend it as a practice all the time.

I even have a page on my blog devoted to prompts.

And yet....

Sometimes free writing does not serve writers well.

Sometimes free writing can take you away from the subject at hand.  Sometimes free writing is hard to reconcile with your work in progress.  Sometimes it can feel silly.  And when writing time is so precious, who wants to take time to write on some random topic?

Or what if you're a new writer, free writing away, and suddenly you feel the desire to shape one of your free writes into a story?  What then?  How do you move beyond free writing?

Here are some suggestions:

--Use a sentence, line of dialogue or description from your current WIP (work in progress) as the prompt.  This can open up all kinds of avenues for your story.

--Use a random prompt, but hold the idea of your WIP in your head as you write.  I find that when I'm engrossed in a WIP, I automatically default to writing about it when free writing.

--After a free write, go through and highlight all the sentences you like.  Then use these as prompts. (Alternatively, you can cross out everything you dislike and use what's left.)

--Try transferring your free writes to the computer.   I always find this step pushes me to rewrite, revise and shape.  Before you know it, a story might emerge.

--Challenge yourself to write flash fiction during your free writes.  By letting the words flow freely and attempting to create a full story, you'll train yourself to think in story.

--Do a free write in the voice of your character.  Pretend it is her writing to a prompt instead of you.

--Free write a description of something in the room you're sitting in.  This marries free flowing words and directed writing.

That's all I've got for now.   But I bet my wise and wonderful readers have some good ideas.  How do you move beyond free writing to crafting your words?

My students and clients use free writing and all kinds of other exercises to get words on the page.  And it works!  I've got people ripping through books and stories at the moment, writing like crazy.  Wouldn't you like to be one of them?  Email me and let's talk.

Photo by svilen001.

Priming the Writing Pump

Priming the pump--an old cliche, right? Yet sometimes cliches have things to teach us. I've been thinking about priming the writing pump lately because I've had a successful experience of it.

My idea of priming the pump is doing a bit of pre-work to get a flow going.  But I decided to look up the exact meaning.  Here it is:

Encourage the growth or action of something, as in Marjorie tried to prime the pump by offering some new issues for discussion. In the late 1800s this expression originally was used for pouring liquid into a pump to expel the air and make it work. In the 1930s it was applied to government efforts to stimulate the economy and thereafter was applied to other undertakings.

(Definition from Yourdictionary.com, a cool site I just discovered.)

And here's how it works for writing.  You're stuck.  You're blocked.  You don't know where to go next.  Your first inclination is to stare off into space, wondering how you'll ever write again.  But then, being the wise writer that you are, you decide to do things a bit differently. So you make some notes about the scene you're working on.  Or you write something else.  You do some research.  You prime the pump.

I had an enlightening example of this in my own writing life last week.  Since finishing the Emma Jean edits and my trip to Nashville, I've been trying to get back to working on the new novel, trying being the operative word.  Progress was minimal because I was stuck on a scene, as in I didn't know where to go with it next.

I made some notes on it.  Jotted down what few ideas I had.  Nothing loosened the grip of my block on this scene. Finally--I'm a bit slow sometimes--I gave myself permission to write out of chronology.  (I did this earlier in the writing of this book but went back to my old stuffy ways.)  I was actually excited about writing a scene coming up in a few more chapters. 

And a funny thing happened as soon as I began writing that scene.  Ideas and images about the scene I'd been stuck on flooded in.  So back I went, roaring through the original scene.  Plus I had good stuff going for the new scene as well.

That, my friends is the power of priming the pump.  So this is my current motto:

Writing something, anything, is better than writing nothing. 

And now excuse me, I have a novel to get back to writing.  (Actually, I have an editing job to finish.  And a newsletter to write.  And a manuscript to read.  But I'm going to find time in there somewhere to work on my novel because I'm excited about it.)

What about you?  How do you prime the pump? Have you had any similar experiences?

Speaking of newsletters, and we were, a paragraph ago, you might want to sign up for mine.  You also get a free copy of my Ebook, Jump Start Your Book With a Vision Board.  The form is to the right of this column.  And thank you.

 

 

The very cool photo is from iboy_daniel.

Merging

I was driving on the freeway yesterday, when a car approaching on an on ramp didn't know how to merge correctly.  You know the kind--they don't anticipate where you are already on the road and adjust their speed accordingly.  This driver just plowed along ahead, oblivious.

I honked the horn and yelled slammed on my brakes to let her in ahead of me. And I thought of the days when I first started driving, probably because I spent an hour at the DMV on Friday renewing my driver's license.  (Now I can breathe when I pass a cop on the road, I've been illegal for over a month.)

Back then, when I was learning to drive, I was terrified of merging onto the freeway.  Terr-i-fied.  I thought it was the most hare-brained idea anybody had ever had, this merging thing.

But now, it doesn't bother me in the least bit.  (That's what a gazillion years of driving does for you.) And yesterday, after I thought about all this, I started thinking about all the ways we merge when we write.  To wit:

We merge with our characters.  We see the world through their eyes, become them, totally blend with them so we can write in their viewpoint.  Sometimes when I write, I close my eyes, take a deep breath and will myself, ever so gently to be my character.  Then I ask, what does Emma Jean see?  What is Jemima experiencing in this moment?

We merge with the setting.  This is uppermost on my mind at the moment, because tomorrow night's novel writing class is on this topic. I think its a bit more subtle, but the place we set our fiction (and non-fiction) has a huge impact on the story.  Think about it: you're probably so merged with the place you live, you don't even think about it. 

We merge with our creativity.  This is the biggie. When we're totally merged with our creativity, we are in flow and it is magic.  Magic.  It's the state when time passes and you don't even realize it, when you're one with the words that are spewing onto the page.  It is the state, I'd venture to guess, that we all aspire to in our work. 

And that's as far as I got with my little merging metaphor, because I reached my destination.  So, what think you?  How do you merge with your writing or your creativity?  Is it a worthy goal?

Just wanted to let you know that the next session of my Get Your Novel Written Now class begins October 9th.  You'll learne everything you need to do to prep to write a novel, just in time for Nanowrimo on November 1st!

Photo by SplaTT.

Fanning The Flames of Your Writing

It's the state we all desire—that white-hot obsessiveness when we're madly throwing words on the page, totally at one with the moment, completely absorbed in our creativity. But sometimes it is not so easy to get to this state. Is it even possible to access on a regular basis? My answer is yes—but you may not want to. Read on to learn some ways to coddle and encourage your white-hot writing, as well as when to aim for it and when not.

1. Know That Creativity is a Cycle

Sometimes you're writing in that white-hot heat I described above and others you're in a more sedate mode. The quieter moments are no less valuable, they are just different. While it would be wonderful to write in a white-hot heat every time you sat down at the page, you'd also burn yourself out very quickly. So aim for the intense sessions part of the time, perhaps during rough draft writing.

2. Appreciate Where You Are

Each stage holds its own gifts. Rough draft work, where you're most apt to be transported away, encompasses the thrill of discovery. But other stages such as editing and rewriting allow you the joy of reshaping and honing your work. Each writing process offers its own rewards.

3. Stay Connected.

Utilize the concept of momentum to power your writing and you'll experience more white-hot states. Keep your Work-in-Progress uppermost in your mind. Work on it as often as possible. Re-read it often. Take notes about it and brainstorm in your journal writing. Keep your project file open on the computer and sneak over and write a few lines during the day.

4. Train Like An Athlete

Sleep, rest, meditate, exercise, eat well. Your brain and your body are your instruments when you're a writer, so take good care of them. It does you no good to stay up late in a white-hot writing session because you'll just crash and burn the next day. Aim for balance. (I know, I know. It can be a goal, a work in progress.)

5. Refill the Well

Yes, I know your creativity fills you up and energizes you. But when you're working on a long project, it also drains you. That inner creative well needs constant replenishing, just the way your body needs more water (and lots of it) every day. Refresh and renew your creative spirit by doing things you love, like taking a hike with your dog, or visiting an art gallery.

You're looking to make a creative life for the long run here, not just blazing progess on one project and then a huge collapse. These tips ought to help with that goal.

How do you refill your well?  How do you fan the flames of your WIP?  I'm all ears.

Photo by John-p.

An Approach to Writing Scenes

During one of the free sessions I did last month, I talked with a writer about foreshadowing and how sometimes getting it in is really clunky.  Like, you might as well scream it from the rooftops, "I'm foreshadowing something important here," clunky.

And since I went right from that session to working on a chapter for a novel, I thought about how sometimes writing a scene is like that, too.  Sometimes everything is just too obvious: your dialogue is informational, and the point of the scene might as well be written in neon.

But sometimes if not always, you've got to let obvious rule the day, knowing that you can come back later and smooth it out, tamp it down, and make it less obvious.

As I was writing and pondering all this, a sort of seat-of-the-pants framework for writing scenes occurred to me.  Actually that makes it sound like it was a new idea, and it wasn't.  Rather, it was a discovery of my process, which occurred to me might be helpful to you.

So here it is (and this applies to all kinds of scenes, fictional and non-fiction, as in a memoir):

1.  Note the elements of the scene.  You can do this on a notepad or in your head, but I'm so visual I like to write it down.  This is just a list of the things that you know have to happen in the scene, plain and simple.

2.  Trust yourself and begin writing.  Plunge in, the water's fine.  Actually the water is probably a bit cold and scary at first, but shortly you'll get used to it and wonder why it took you so long to jump.  And here is one of the most important things I can impress upon you (and remember myself): more nuances of the scene will come to you as you write.

3. Use the concept of the placeholder.  Sometimes you know you need to get something in but there's no clear way not to make it clunky.  Just put it in, as noted above, knowing that you can come back to it and make it work later. 

4.  Write the scene all the way through.  The writing can be bad, the dialogue stilted, the descriptions laughable, but you'll have a finished scene.  And now you've got, on paper, all the elements of it (and you've probably discovered more as you followed #2).

5.  Rewrite and move on.  I'm a big believer in writing the discovery draft from beginning to end and then starting on a second draft, but I also like to do a rough rewrite of chapters as I'm writing the discovery draft.  This feels like part of the shaping of the story to me--so much comes out in this process that it's good to hone it a bit.

So that is my process for writing scenes, what's yours?  Do you tear your hair out over getting all the elements in or is an easy thing for you?  Please comment!

And don't forget the upcoming Authenticity + Creativity class that is coming up next Tuesday.  Woo-hoo!  Square-Peg Karen and I are going to be rocking and rolling this topic.  Just click the snazzy button to the right for more info.

 

The Writing Contract

Writing, writing, writing.

It's really all we writers want to spend our time doing.  Unless we don't.  Our can't.  Or won't for some reason.  And then what we do is worry about the fact that we're not writing.

I've been doing free sessions (there's one slot left if you're interested) and mostly what people want to talk about is how to find time to write, or some variation on that theme, like how to focus when they actually find the time.

Not gonna lie here, I struggle with this, too.  I struggle to balance all the aspects of my writing: blogging, teaching, ghostwriting, coaching and novel writing.  Most often what goes by the wayside is my novel writing.

Which is stupid, because it novel writing is what defines me.  It is what makes me me, what I feel I'm here to do--communicate through story telling.  So it's an act of self-destruction not to do it.

A couple weeks ago, I had a good run of working on it.  The clouds parted and I found myself with several free hours to write.  Pure bliss.  And then it ended.  And I didn't open the file for a week.

I thought about the novel.  Worried about the novel.  Some might even say obsessed about the novel.  But obsession didn't turn into writing.  Because, you know, I was so, so busy doing other important things.

Yesterday at lunch I read an article in the latest O magazine, in which author Aimee Bender wrote about a writing contract she drew up with a friend.  The contract was written in official language, maybe even notarized.  They made a big deal out of it, but basically the conditions of it were simple: the friend would write an hour a day, and after doing so would send Aimee a one-word email saying "done."  In return, Aimee would write, "check." 

And it worked like a charm.

Which reminded me of a time a few years ago when I was working on Emma Jean's Bad Behavior. My friend Suzanne and I would each get up early (at, yikes, 5 AM, I believe) to work and email each other when we were up.  If one of us didn't hear from the other, we'd call.

That simple. 

And yes, it was very effective.  I wrote a rough draft of my novel that way.

So yesterday, reading the article and remembering this, I lectured myself sternly.  Self, I said, it is not so much that you don't have the time, you don't have the mental time.  You're allowing yourself to be distracted and unfocused when if you really, truly wanted to, you could carve out an hour to work on your novel.  That thing that defines you, that makes you who you are.

And so, I did. And in the process, I started my own version of a writing contract, which is a small spiral notebook in which I note my goal (one hour of writing on my novel a day) and then keep daily track of how I accomplish it.  (I only had time for 30 minutes this morning, so I owe myself another 30 later on.)

And I feel good.

I'll keep you posted.

So, do you have a writing contract with yourself or someone else?  How do you keep yourself going?  Please share any good ideas you might have.

**And don't forget the Authenticity + Creativity class I'm offering with Karen Caterson.  Click the snazzy button to the right or click here to read our page.

Photo by draganski.

Knowing What You're Going to Write Before You Write

How many words do you put on the page in a typical writing session?

500?  1,000?

When I wrote my novel, Emma Jean's Bad Behavior, my deal with myself was to write 2,000 words a day.  Didn't matter when I wrote them, but if I hadn't written them before bedtime, I had to stay up until they were done.

I was delighted to produce 2,000 words a day, let me tell you.  But how about routinely writing 10,000 words in a writing session?

Apparently, it can be done.

Somebody (I forget who, forgive me) tweeted this article about author Rachel Aaron, who wrote about how she went from an output of 2,000 to 10,000 words.  Every day.  (If you're in the mood to challenge yourself to write this much in even one day, head on over to Milli's Fear of Writing blog and sign up for one of her regular 10K day challenges.)

Rachel says that she attributes her word count success to three things:

Knowledge--Knowing what you're going to write

Time--Tracking and evaluating productivity

Enthusiasm--Excitement about what you're writing

I'm not so keen on the tracking and evaluating part (which is probably why I ought to pay attention to it), and generally for me enthusiasm is a given.  What can hang me up is not knowing what I'm going to write.

Over and over again I've found that following this simple rule leads to writing success:

Have a place to go.

It'll save you from hours spent internet surfing as you try to figure out what's next in your writing.  It will allow  you writing sessions where you write 10K words.  Your house will be lusciously dirty because you won't be spending time cleaning it instead of writing.

But how do you create yourself a place to go?

When you're in the flow, several chapters in, it is usually pretty easy.  You just write the next chapter on the scene list.  (This is one reason I advocate for outlines.  Nothing fancy, just a structure that gives you someplace to go next. Or, if you get excited about a scene that's out of order, go write that.)

But what if you're just starting out?  Or what if you're just a few chapters in and you don't really know your characters yet?  It can be way too easy to end up staring off into space because you don't know where to go.  (I admit, I've found myself in this place a few times recently.)

This is when the value of prepping to write a novel (or any kind of book) becomes evident.  When you know things about your character, place, and the structure of your novel, it will be much easier to get in stellar word count writing sessions.  I've actually taken the time to go back and really get to know my characters recently and it has made an enormous difference in my writing, and my engagement with the work. While this kind of novel prep can seem like busy work, I highly recommend it for the insights it will give you.  And for the fact that it will give you a place to go.

By the way, I'm going to be presenting a class on prepping for the novel this summer, so if you're interested and you're not on my list, sign up with the form to the right.

Do you have any pet ways that you prep for writing sessions that improve your word count?

Photo by OmirOnia.

Got Writing Velocity?

I've been mulling the concept of momentum in writing lately, because I think I'm finally getting some in my new novel.  As I pondered, I hit on the idea of writing velocity.

What is writing velocity?

Here's the dictionary definition of velocity:  "the distance an object travels in a specified direction during a unit of time."

And we all know the definition of writing.  It means putting words on the page.

So, here are some ideas about what writing velocity means:

-- Writing velocity is writing fast

-- Writing velocity is writing fearless

-- Writing velocity is getting lots of words on the page

-- Writing velocity is satisfying

-- Writing velocity advances you toward your goals

Wait, you may say. Writing fast is scary and at times unwieldy.  Or even ungainly.  Or unholy.  Add whatever "un" word you like.  All of the above can be true.  And they can also be worked through. 

Because, here are some reasons why you want writing velocity:

-- Writing velocity bypasses the conscious mind

-- Writing velocity focuses on process, not product

-- Writing velocity is fun

-- Writing velocity goes deep.

Before I got into how to actually attain writing velocity, let's talk about when it is not appropriate to be writing crazy fast.  That would be when you are pondering big-picture rewrites or doing detailed editing work.

And now, how to get writing velocity into your life:

1.  Read.  All the time.  Read what you want to write.  Read self-help books.  Read spiritual tomes.  Read anything.  Words in, words out.

2.  Pre-write.  Take notes about what you're going to write about ahead of time.  This helps you to get a starting point, and having a way in is always useful.

3.  Connect with your work.  Read what you've last written (or your notes) before bed.  Or before you take a walk.  Find a time to get your work into your brain so your subconscious will work on ideas about it.

4.  Write every day.  There really is no better option than to just do it.

5.  Take a break.  On the other hand, some modes of healing such as Chinese medicine advocate rest for healing.  We can heed these as writers, too.  Sometimes going full out with the writing can burn us out, especially when working on a long project.  So build in intentional rest times (intentional being the operative word).

Please comment.  Do you write fast?  Does it help your writing process? What have I missed about attaining writing velocity? I'd love to hear more from you.

 Photo by fresh-m.

Beginner's Mind

Sometimes, as a professional writer, I worry too much about product and don't focus enough on process.

Yes, I need to worry about outcomes--my income depends on it.  So it would seem to be a no-brainer to focus on it.

Over the years of practicing writing every day, you get better at the game.  The words flow a bit more easily and not quite so much rewriting and polishing is necessary. 

It is easy to begin focusing on product, not process, because that product appears so much faster.

There are two prime keys to creativity in writing:

1.  Process, not product

2.  Do the work, don't judge it.

I learned both of these at a creativity camp I took with Julia Cameron, she of the Artist's Way.  And back then, when I was a beginning writer, I practiced them constantly.  And then I got better.  And then I started writing professionally.

And then I forgot these lessons.

I forgot the prime keys to creativity.

And writing got less amusing, less free, less wild.  It got more constrained, more anxious, more blocked.

I figured this out in my novel writing, where suddenly I was second guessing every word I put on the page and going back over everything I'd written a million times rather than just sailing through a rough draft.

I figured it out when the novel writing got un-fun.

And now I've gone back to beginner's mind.  I've gone back to focusing on process and doing the work without judging it.

And life is good.

Create a successful, inspired writing life: Assess where you are in your writing. Do you need to rethink your process?

I'd love to hear your take on this.  Are  you utilizing the two prime keys in your writing?  Or have you gotten anxious and constrained?

 

A 5 Step Process for Dealing With Rejection

So, I'm looking for an agent.  I have an offer to publish my book and in the old days this would be a slam dunk.  I remember sitting in sessions at writing conferences hearing stories of people who got a contract with a publisher and were told it was a sure-fire way to get an agent.  Now, not so much.

Mostly they just ignore you.

And it turns out that indifference is just as bad as rejection.  So I'm thinking a lot about rejection.  (And, for the record, I sent out my novel to a gazillion places before I got this acceptance.) 

It is important to remember that rejection is not just a mental and emotional response, but a visceral, physical one, too.  Here's how it goes for me:

It starts as a shimmery feeling all through me, then a surge of adrenalin and a punch in the gut, sometimes so hard it makes me want to double over.  This is no doubt a fight or flight response, and it is damned uncomfortable.

Then the head stuff begins:

• I'm a failure
• This is the one thing I love doing, and nobody will let me do it (note victim mentality)
• All is lost
• Now everything is ruined, even my Work in Progress (WIP)
• No use working on my WIP because I'm such a failure

Sound familiar? 

After quite awhile of wallowing in this stage, comes the false bravado:

• I will do it!
• They can't stop me
• Who are they to judge me?
• I'll make it happen if it kills me

This is a semi-helpful stage because it indicates you're moving out of the wallowing, but be aware that false bravado is predicated on the empty space inside you that remains when your ego collapses.  And this is not the empty space the gurus speak of, it is the empty space that is hurting and scared.  Not a good foundation to build upon.

So what's a writer to do?  How in the hell does one deal with rejection?  Like this:

Feel your pain.  Our automatic response to an uncomfortable feeling is to run from it, or try to change it.  Don't.  Sit with it.  Feel it fully and deeply.  Ask yourself, what am I feeling right now and identify it.  One of the keys to dealing with hurt and rejection is allowing yourself to process it fully, which we don't do.  Because it is scary.  But then number two comes in:

Let go.  Oh lordie, it is easier to let go when you've processed something fully.  You can feel it.  But whatever feeling you are feeling is going to hang around until you've felt it, so don't think you can skip number one to get to the good part.  Huh-uh.  A handy visual for letting go: imagine your thoughts and worries as balloons and watch yourself release them into the air.  Feels good, doesn't it?

Affirmations.  They really do work to change your mindset, but not when you're busy trying to cover up stuff that is still clogging you up.  So do not skip to this step whatever you do.  But when you've processed and released, get you some positive statements to say to yourself.  It's like laying sod on a new field or planting new seeds.  Okay, I'll stop with the cheesy metaphors.

Begin the process again.  Get back to work on your WIP, or start a new one.  Here's your job: set your intention (sell my novel, get an agent, etc.), put it out into the universe, trust that the universe will act on it for you, and get writing.  Rinse and repeat as necessary.

Enjoy success.  Don't forget to celebrate even the smallest of victories along the way.  It is what makes living worthwhile.

 

Create a successful, inspired writing life:  Next time you get a rejection, remind yourself it is all part of the writing process.  And then activate the process above to help you through it.

I'd love to hear how you deal with rejection?  Do you scream and cry?  Throw things?  Or maybe you've developed some more useful reactions.  Please share them with everyone.  Fairly often the best part of my blog posts are in the comments, cuz my readers rock.

The photo is public domain from the Library of Congress. 

Writing the Discovery Draft

On Monday, I wrote a post about writing as discovery.  And after I finished it, I intended for that to be my last word on the subject.  But then I started thinking (I do that once in awhile) about how writing as discovery impacts our works in progress.

Because it does.  And if you're not letting it, you should.

I've written a ton about the writing process over the years, and always, always, always, I emphasize that the first step is to write a rough draft.  Also known as a Shitty First Draft, courtesy of Anne Lamott, or a Discovery Draft, thanks to my friend Darnell Arnoult.

What is a Discovery Draft?

It is the first draft that you write to uncover the story.  Sure, you've done your prep work and you've written a loose outline or synopsis, so you're pretty sure where you're going.  But nine times out of ten, a character will walk on and demand a role, or suddenly your existing characters go off on a tangent you hadn't expected.  And then everything looks different, doesn't it?  You've got to allow these magical things to happen and you've got to write to figure these out how to fit these magical things into your story.  So, think of the Discovery Draft as you figuring out the story.  In successive drafts, you figure out how best to dramatically present the story to your readers.

How do you write a Discovery Draft?

After you've done your prep work, you have at it.  You start at the beginning and write to the end.  If you have ideas for changes, you make note of them, saving them to deal with in the next draft.  Let me reiterate: you start at the beginning and write to the end. You just keep going, through all changes and new ideas.   You write as if you've made the changes and keep going. 

Why?  Because once you get to the end of the draft, you're going to understand more about your story.  You'll know more about your characters.  You're going to know more about theme.  In short, you'll know a ton more about every aspect of your novel or memoir.  You'll understand things about it that never even occurred to you when you started out.

And then you get to start over again, this time with a clear concept of what your story is and how you want to present it.  So what are you waiting for?  Go to it!

I'd love to hear how you go about writing a Discovery Draft.  Please comment and share your experiences with us.

Create a successful, inspired writing life: Just do it.  Go write your draft, start to finish.

How are you doing with your flow of ideas?  I've just posted a new class that covers every aspect of ideas.  Check it out!

Photo by pll.

Writing as an Act of Discovery

Here's something I forget:

 We write to figure things out. 

We write to discover what we know. 

We write to uncover what we don't know.

And yet.

We sit down to the page and think we have to be experts.

We sit down to write and think it has to come out perfect.

We sit down at the computer and agonize over every word.

When, really, the best thing to do is sit down and have at it, without concern or care toward what comes out.  Because writing is rewriting.  And the real work of shaping a story comes in the second, third, or ever fifth or tenth draft.  Which gives you a glorious excuse to throw caution to the wind and have a wonderful time writing what comes out of your head and through your fingers.

Don't expect yourself to know everything because you don't.  But you can figure out a whole heckuva lot by writing.  It's why we journal--to figure out stuff about ourselves.  It's why we write memoirs--to figure out stuff about our lives.  It's why we write fiction--to figure out stuff about the world.

I was interviewed on a radio show this past weekend (link is at the lower right, it's the Blog Talk Radio banner) and we talked about how when you are laboring over every word, you're clinched up, like you've made two fists and your entire body is tense.  When you're writing freely and easily, the exact opposite is true--your body is relaxed and so are you.  Isn't that a better way to go? 

What is your writing process?  Do you allow yourself to write freely or do you tense up and make certain every word is perfect before moving on?  Does your current process work for you?

Create a successful, inspired writing life: Choose a topic, any topic.  It might be something to do with your current project.  For instance, this morning I worked on backstory for my main character.  Now take pen and paper and write until you've exhausted everything you know on that topic.  And believe me, more will come to you as you write.

 

 

Photo by Gerbrak.

Tips on Writing: Prepping For the Novel, Part Two--The Idea and the Process

 

On Monday, I began this series on prepping to write a novel.  In the first post, I talked about the tools you'll need to get going, and if you head on over to that post you can get caught up.  In today's post, I'm going to talk about the idea and the process--what to expect and how to schedule it.

It is important, when writing a novel, to consider that you're going to be with this baby for quite a long while.  Not quite as long as it takes to read a human child from birth to maturity, though it may seem like that.  But still, you're going to be working with this material for a long time  So make sure you like it.  I wrote a whole long post on this very topic last week, and its probably a good idea if you take a minute and go read it.

 

 

 

So now that you've committed to an idea that you love (or even just like), what next?  Well, that's the topic of this series, what you do to get ready to write a novel (or a book).  But before we get to character, setting, plot and writing the rough draft, I want to talk briefly about process and scheduling.

 

The Writing Process

It's really very simple.  Your first draft is for you to figure out the story, okay?  It is not for you to make things perfect.  It is for you to get a rough semblance of the plot and characters down on paper.  Don't worry yet about how best to present it to the reader, or how to dramatize it  How can you do that when you're still figuring out the story?

Whether or not you want to write up an outline is your choice.  I recommend it because it keeps you on track.  Doesn't have to be a fancy outline, even a rough list will do.  This way you save room for serendipity and the stray walk-on character.  You may also want to write a synopsis, which is like a fleshed-out, grown-up outline.  I don't.  But some people do.  Once you've got your outline written and done all the prep work it takes to get going on a novel, that's exactly what you do.  Get going on it.

I've written about the writing process here before, and even recently.  Here's some of those posts:

The Writing Process According to Novelist Gabrielle Kraft

The Writing Process: Letting Go

The Writing Process

The Writing Process Redux

The Writing Process Again

The Writing Process: The Three P's of Glumping

That ought to keep you going for awhile.  And so now we turn to scheduling. Or, what to expect when you're trying to write a novel and life gets it the way.

Scheduling/What to Expect

My best advice for scheduling a long writing project is to be as regular as you can, and stay flexible.  In a perfect world, which none of us live in, it is best to write every day.  If you can't, at least glance at your work, read it, or take some notes on it.  If you can't do that, think about it.  Direct your mind to it while you're walking or cleaning the house.  (Or in a boring meeting, but don't blame it on me if you get caught.)  You will be interuppted just when you're getting to the apex of a scene.  This will happen more times than you can count.  You will have to skip a writing session when your child or spouse gets sick.  This will also happen more times than you can count. 

Here's what else you can expect:

Joy

Frustration

Anger

Despair

Hope

Obsession

And probably a few more I've not thought of.  Notice, however, I did not mention the word boredom.  Because when you're writing a novel, you'll never be bored.  I think that's true of being a writer, period, as well.

You can also expect to be damn proud of yourself when you're finished with this project.  And to have a healthy respect for even the crappiest of books you might see in the bookstore or library.  Because now you know what it takes to write a book.

But that moment is still far in the future.  We've still got some prepping to do.  And I shall move onto that in the next post.

Please comment on all this.  What do you do to prepare? What have you learned from writing a novel or book-length process?

Create a successful, inspired writing life: Make certain you've got an idea that intrigues and delights you and write a loose outline.  Okay, okay you can do a synopsis, too. 

I'm putting together either a one-on-one coaching package or a group program around this novel prep, so stay tuned!

Photos by Mai05 and Creactions, both from Everystockphoto.

PS.  Sorry for the weird type font changes.  No matter what I do, I can't get them back to normal.  Typepad is a bit wonky these days.