Charlotte Rains Dixon

Writing=Creativity=Play (A Post That Might Make You Nervous)

At the fall orientation for the Loft, author Debra Moffitt (Awake in the World) did the keynote speech, which was really a workshop, and a presentation the following day.

She began with a meditation designed to take us into our "secret garden," the place of sanctuary for our spirit and creativity.  And after we had visited, she passed out boxes of crayons and had us draw one aspect of our garden and share it with another person.

I liked the whole secret garden thing.  Mine was actually in a glorious cathedral with beautiful stained glass windows and just as we finished up the meditation, a man swathed in a royal robe with an amazing velvet hat of many colors glided up to me.  Alas, I didn't get to hear what he had to say, as the meditation was over.

Debra also talked about the value of using dreams, and gave us a few clues on how to remember them:

• Keep a pad of paper and pen by your bed
• Write about the dream as soon as you wake up
• Write in the present
• Give the dream a title
• You can ask a question and put it under your pillow to induce an answer

The whole idea of accessing my dream life fascinates me, and I'm terrible at it.  I rarely write down my dreams and, no big surprise, also rarely remember them.  Do you?

And now for the part that will make you nervous: Debra talked a lot about the value of play.  It can activate our right brains and heighten our creativity.  Hence, the crayons.  And yet play makes us nervous.  So nervous it has become nearly a radical activity in our society.   We're obsessed with work.  And control.  And getting things done.  And sticking to a schedule.  Who has time for play?

I have to admit, I have a hard time with it.  I'll do "playful" activities but they generally have a purpose: knitting, which makes useful things, hiking, which is exercise, gardening, which makes a pretty yard.  I like to paint, and yet I rarely do it.  Too close to play, I suppose. 

It was interesting to watch the reactions of some of the workshop participants.  They were uncomfortable with the idea and in some cases, outright resistant to it.  I get it.  I felt somewhat the same way.  And yet there's value in the idea of play. 

What about you?  Does working with your dreams or engaging in play appeal to you?  And here's a deeper question: would you do it just for sake of it, without knowing it would help your creativity?

*Don't forget to capture your dream of writing a book by signing up for my free Ebook, Jump Start Your Book With a Vision Board.  You'll also receive a subscription to my biweekly newsletter, The Abundant Writer.  The form is to the right of this post.

Image of dreamcatcher by aschaeffer.http://www.everystockphoto.com/photographer.php?photographer_id=46425

Whatever Works

So, we teaching and coaching types love to give advice (except that the true essence of coaching is not so much giving advice as pulling what you yourself already know to be so out of yourself).

I, for instance, love to tell people to do Morning Pages.  (If you don't know what Morning Pages are, they are three pages of glumping on the page all your crap and good stuff as well, first thing in the morning.)

And I love to tell people to use prompts.

I also tell people to do what is most important to you first thing in the morning.  I presume that writing is most important to you.  So I further presume that it is what you will aim to do first thing.

I could go on with my list of helpful things I tell people.  Like, working with your inner critic, not checking email first thing in the morning, knowing your market, the power of prayer and meditation, and on and on.  And, some might say, on.

But here's the deal:

If what I say works, then use it.

If it doesn't, then don't.

But find something that does.  The point is, not everything works for everyone.  But my offerings are based on working with dozens of clients and students over the years.  And how will you know if they work for you until you try them?

Truly, I don't care if your favorite technique to get the words flowing is to stand on your head and rub your belly button.  If it works, do it.  I'm all about getting the words onto the page and I know full well that even though we like to haughtily say that writer's block doesn't exist, it really does.  Because I've experienced it, and so have you. 

But just because it exists doesn't mean it can't be dealt with.  It can.  Keep trying things until you get over it.

Okay, that's my rant for the summer.  I promise.  Now tell me what kinds of techniques work for you to get the writing flowing?  Alcohol?  A nap?  A brisk run?  Chaining yourself to the computer?  I'm all ears.

***Guess what?  I'm offering the book proposal teleclass again this September.  And right now, there are crazy fast action bonuses: an early-bird price AND a free coaching call.  But hurry, because the fast action bonus is time sensitive.  Check it out here.

My Muse, The Alien, With Bonus Writing Exercise

Before we begin this brilliant post about my (ahem, sideways) alien (does anybody know why my Iphone turns photos sideways when it sends them to my computer?), I would like to point out that I'm once again offering free coaching sessions.   You heard me.

Free.

All you have to do is head to this link, where you can click on a time that works for you and we will chat.  About your writing, your life, whatever is not working for you.  Can't wait to talk to you!

And now, to the real meat of this story, my sideways alien.  Who is actually right-side up in my office where he hangs, watching over me as I write.  I bought my alien at a Rose Festival parade umpteen years ago now.  And he has been my muse ever since.

What brought him to mind was a Saturday night stint working as a Rose Festival Star Light Parade marshal.  Those of you who subscribe to my newsletter already heard me talking about this.  (If you don't subscribe, just fill in your name and address in the form on the right.  Plus you get a cool Ebook.)  Briefly, being a marshal involves crowd control and radio-ing into the mothership on issues of parade pacing.

One of the crowd control issues, besides herding drunks, was to move along a vendor who had parked her cart laden with blow-up dolls of various sorts amongst the crowd, thus blocking many people's views and pushing them out into the street onto the parade routes.  In my efforts to get her to go on her merry way, I had the opportunity to inspect her wares.

Her cart was bedecked with some flags and banners of no import and the afore-mentioned blow-up dolls.  Sponge Bob and a variety of lame animals seemed to be the order of the night.  No cool weapons and no aliens.  Not that I was looking to replace him or anything, because if I did I'm not sure I'd be able to write.  My alien has been with me so long, and he's worked so hard to inspire me. Plus, he is purple.  Need I say more?

My alien is also the inspiration for a writing exercise that I might have shared before, but if so, it doesn't matter, because a few clients have lately told me how helpful it was to them.  And so it is worth mentioning again.

Here it is:

Practice writing description as if you were describing to an alien.

The great beauty of this is that it forces you to go deep.  It forces you to really think about the essence of what you're describing.  It forces you to push beyond the first words that come to mind.  So, for instance, I have a red file folder on my desk beside this computer.

But, what's a file folder?  A folded over piece of paper used to organize papers.  But, what's paper?  Something we write on.  What's writing? What is red?  A color?  Great, thanks, but what is a color?

I know, you can drive yourself nuts doing this.  I may have just driven you nuts in that last paragraph.  And most likely it is not description that you'll actually end up using.  But what will happen is that it will get you thinking about the world you're describing (or creating).  It will allow you to get not only more understanding of that world, but more creative about bringing it to life on the page.

And that is a worthy goal for all of us.

What's your favorite writing exercise?

And don't forget those free coaching sessions.

 

Aliens Among Us

Here's a little writing exercise for you.

Its very simple.  Write about something as if you are describing it to an alien who just landed on this planet.

So, for example:

The book is heavy and has a red cover, with glossy pages and lots of photos in it.

Descriptive, if a bit bland.

But, wait a minute.

Does an alien know what a book is?  Maybe not.  You can't be certain, can you?  So describe it a bit more.  What does it look like? Use all your senses to describe it.  Then move on.  Red?  What's red?  A cover?  What might that be? Glossy pages?  What's glossy?  What's a page?

Beware that you can go crazy doing this.  Its a documented fact.  For instance, say you describe the book as a rectangle.  Well, what's a rectangle?  A geometric figure?  What's that? And so on.

I rest my case.

On the other hand, have you ever read a book, often a creative non-fiction work, where the description of the most basic of things is what draws you in?  I have, and I admire these writers tremendously.  I think the trick to their ability is that they don't assume you know anything.  They respect your intelligence, but presume nothing.

Which is what this exercise does for you.

Here are some things to describe:

a mug

a lamp

a candlestick

a china cabinet

a bracelet

a rug

a painting

Remember, you're telling this to an alien new to this planet. Put the results in the comment section if you so desire. 

By the way, besides pugs and cats, my favorite things are aliens.  Which is why my office mascot (in photo above) is a purple one.  I like purple too, in case you hadn't guessed.

7 Ways to Use Writing Prompts With Your Current Project

Writing prompts...love 'em or hate 'em.

Some people swear by them, while others shudder at the thought of using a writing prompt in their work. Because, too often, using random writing prompts can lead you astray.  And let's face it, most prompts are a bit on the random side, aren't they?  Those books of prompts are great, but they have about as much as common with your novel in progress as flying to the moon does to a wedding dress.

Say you're stuck on your writing project, so you open one of your books of writing prompts, choose one and begin writing.  All well and good.  Except that you're just writing, not really writing about anything of much interest or use to you.

Now, I'm a great one for writing something, anything, on a regular basis.  And I often exhort people to do just that--particularly when they are stuck.  But writing mindlessly for any great length of time can be as frustrating as not writing.   Writing aimlessly is bad for your creative morale, because your heart and soul won't be in it.

The trick is to find a way to make your writing prompts relevant to your current project, so that they are enhancing your writing, not taking away from it.  When used in this manner, writing prompts can be wonderfully helpful in a couple of ways:

• To generate actual writing
• To get a flow of ideas going
• To get yourself unstuck

And, remember, the best way to use prompts is as freely and loosely as possible.  Take your prompt, write it at the top of a sheet of paper, and set a timer for 15 to 20 minutes.  Then write.  And write and write and write, without stopping, until the timer goes off.

If you want to use writing prompts with your current project, here are some suggestions:

1. Take the last line of the previous scene or chapter and use it as a prompt.  Or take the first line.  Using a sentence from your work is a great way to drive deeper into the writing.  Because you are writing freely and loosely, your inner critic is silenced and you may be surprised what you come up with.

2. Put a location from your book into a sentence and use it as a prompt.  You can do this for the city or area your book is set in, or do it on a smaller scale, using a building such as your character's workplace or his home to write about.  This technique can help to uncover details you'll later use in description, or even ideas your character might have about her surroundings.

3. Put your character in a sentence.  Of course, this is sort of the whole point of writing a novel, but do this in a random way, having your character do either something unexpected or completely mundane and then write about it for 20 minutes.  You'll be amazed what you'll learn.

4. Use a line of dialogue from your project. 

5. Use keywords as prompts.   Quick, tell me three words that describe your writing project.  Now use those words as prompts--either one at a time or putting them into a sentence.

6. Use theme as a prompt.  Maybe you don't know what the theme of your book is--don't laugh, it takes many a draft to figure it out sometimes--or maybe you have a vague idea of it.  Make a sentence out of what your don't know or that vague idea and use it for a prompt.

7. Riff on the title.  Most works-in-progress have a title, even if its only a working title.  Use that for a prompt and see what comes up.

Those are some ways I've used prompts with my work-in-progress.  Any more suggestions?

Warming Up, or The Art of Recycling Manuscripts

In writing, nothing is ever wasted.  I'm forever saying this to clients, and, well, just about everybody I meet, and it is true.  Your words are never wasted because if they need to be cut from one project, they might become useful in another.  Doesn't matter if you have a bad experience, because, at least you can write about it.  (As a matter of fact, I've coaxed myself into many an event I don't want to attend with that thought--at least I can write about it.)

But I've recently rediscovered a way to literally and physically not waste words by recycling manuscripts.  And I don't mean throwing them in the recycling bin.  Here's the deal:  I've been organizing my office for the last, oh, six months, and at the rate I'm going I'll be working on it for the next six months. Part of why this is taking so long is that I'm going through everything--old stories, old notes, everything. 

In my most recent pile, I found a sheaf of slender pieces of paper, rubberbanded together.  Curious (of course I have to look at everything), I pulled the rubber band off and found that what I had were sentences.  Some were hand-written, and some were cut from a printed manuscript page. 

I realized immediately what I had found--story starters.  Oh, okay, call them prompts, though for some reason I don't like that word.  Clearly, at some point in the past, I had meticulously written down sentences that captured my attention, and spent time cutting apart manuscripts.

So I decided to experiment with these sentences.  Earlier this week, I used one as a starter for a writing session, though I kept it specifically focused on the new novel.  And it was great.  To me, that is one of the best use of prompts--write from them with a specific focus, hopefully whatever it is you are working on. 

Digging further through this file, I found three pages of an old manuscript.  I mean, this was old--it had been printed on a dot-matrix printed.  Remember those?  I used to love the ritual of tearing the edges off the paper.  Anyway, the writing on the page was as old as the printer and, how shall I say this so as not to hurt my own feelings--it needed some work.  It is not a project I'm going to return to as I have no interest in it. 

But then I thought--aha!  I have a use for this old manuscript!  I shall cut it up, sentence by sentence, and use it for a story starter.  I put all the thin pieces of paper containing the sentences into a box with my old hand-written ones,and draw one when I'm ready to write.  Here's several to get you started, and note that some of these may be copied from books.  But it doesn't matter, take them and make them into your own wonderful work:

• Grandma sat in the armchair in the dim light, knitting.
• They tell me I should never let anyone know what happened.
• "It's not much further now," he called, beads of sweat popping out on his forehead.
• I know it's dangerous to pick up hitch-hikers, but I stopped anyway.
• Although there was nothing wrong with his leg, he walked with a cane anyway.

To me, writing to prompts story starters is an excellent way to warm up.  Musicians practice scales, athletes stretch, and we writers need to warm up, too if only to get the blood in our fingers going.  Writing freely  for 10 to 15 minutes can be an excellent way to get the brain moving in the correct direction as well.

Now the problem is that I have an excuse to keep all those old manuscripts.  Good thing I've thrown most of them out already.

How about you?  What's your favorite way to warm for writing?

The Final Top Takeaways From the Writer's Loft

I've been writing a series of posts on what I learned at the Writer's Loft last weekend.  You can find the links for Part One and Part Two at the end of this post, or just click on the highlighted words.

Today's post is about the lecture that one of our favorite mentors, David Pierce, gave, which he called "Tools for Stories."  I have to give David a huge thank-you, as he stepped in at the very last minute to give this lecture after one of our mentors was not able to attend due to a family illness.

David offered the following six tools:  

• Trouble
• Cause and Effect
• Reversal and Revelation
• Expectations
• Dramatic Irony (when the audience knows more than the character)
• More Trouble

The important concept here is that these are tools that you can use as you write stories or novels.  Stuck?  Give your character more trouble.  Don't know what to have happen next?  Figure out what a logical chain of cause and effect might be.  The plot just won't budge?  Throw in a reversal or a revelation.  You get the idea. 

I love these tools and can see how truly helpful they are to have in your bag of tricks.  These are real, specific, craft responses to writer's block in fiction--and they probably work pretty well for creative non-fiction as well.

By the way, David is the author of "Don't Let Me Go," a wonderful memoir about climbing mountains and running marathons with his daughter.

As my father would say, thus endeth this series on Top Takeaways from the Writer's Loft.  Here are the links for the first and second parts:

You can read Part One, about social media and Kory Wells, here.

And Part Two, about Richard Goodman, here.

Creating Characters: Mai, Oui, Marcel Proust, I Could Use Some Help

Having some difficulty creating full, true-to-life fictional characters?  Why not let Marcel help you?

Yes, that Marcel, the most famous one of all--Marcel Proust, author of Remembrance of Things Past, the only part of which I remember is when he waxed poetic about Madeleines, the shell-shaped, mini-cakes that melt in your mouth.

Thanks to the wonderful Kate Lord Brown, fellow denizen of Alltop, I found this fabulous questionnaire that purports to be the Proust Questionnaire.  You can answer the same questions that our Marcel did at age 13, and at age 20.  Supposedly. 

In truth, I don't really care if Proust did answer these questions or not.  What struck me in looking them over is how useful they could be for character development.  The questions go way beyond Barbara Walter's famous, "If you were a tree, what tree would you be?" query to delve deeply into such things as:

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

Your favorite virtue?

What in your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?

And more, so much more, all written in that language from another time.  So put yourself in your character's state of mind and take the questionnaire.

Also, head on over to Kate's blog and read the post about the questionnaire.  Its quite clever.

And, one more thing--stay tuned to learn details of the awesome contest that is coming up.  I'll give you a hint.  It has something to do with this site.

You Asked For It, You Got It

Actually, you didn't ask for it, I forced it on you.  Well, you did seem to be enthusiastic.  So here they are, drumroll please, the first two pages of writing exercises:

Techniques for Generating Ideas and Getting Started

The Da Vinci Device

I know you are all rushing over to find out what the hell The DaVinci Device is, so go on over there and complete the exercise.