Yesterday a friend called me, all excited because she had gotten a new cell phone, and her granddaughter had taught her how to text, and how to use some of the symbols and abbreviated words to "communicate." I asked her why she was excited about this, and she said, "Because now I can talk to my grandkids just like their friends do!" And this made her happy. I'm afraid my response was somewhat less than enthusiastic.
Do you realize that of all man's creations, those of words are the greatest? Without words, we would have no conversation, no books, no schools, no education. Words...or put another way, language...are man's greatest accomplishment and the absolute core of any society. Without language, there is nothing.
However, what are we doing to our children and the future of our society today? How many letters do you or your kids actually hand write? Uh huh. Now, compare that to the number of text messages you AND your kids send to each other, friends, other family members, even...business associates. Astronomical difference? I bet.
Some would say, But texting IS language, just with a whole new set of words. OK, wht doz tht mn? Do u no wht ech prsn is tkng abt? To me, it's not only a "whole new set of words" it is a whole different language. And one I don't care to learn.
Words express emotion, interest, love, peace, anger, caring, friendship, hate, jealousy, knowledge, wisdom, opinion, desire, and a whole world of medical, technical and electronic terminology, without which our modern world would be in chaos.
What are we teaching our children about the beauty of words and the intricies of language when we allow them to communicate almost totally by texting on their cell phones? Aren't we teaching them that words aren't important, and that the kind of communication that language allows us isn't necessary?
Oh, I know. Some of you are going to say "Well, when we were kids we had our ways of talking to each other, too." Yes, we did, but it was a kids' phase, and we all grew out of it. Today's youth is not growing out of this abbreviated way of speaking...especially when grandparents start using the same method and think its great; when business men and women take their iPhones everywhere with them and do business in this same type of "communication;" when parents give 6 and 7 year olds cell phones to they can keep track of them.
Words don't mean much in today's society. Given a choice between reading a book and playing a video game, most children will opt for the game. They don't want to sit quietly long enough to read because they are no longer encouraged to learn new words, to test the waters with verbalizations that use sentences and phrases they've not used before. What does that say about parents as educators? After all, parents start teaching their children words and language long before teachers get involved in school.
And speaking of school...okay, we weren't but we are now...how much pure writing and learning vocabulary is done in schools today? When I was in school...hmm, well, that was so long ago it doesn't have any relevance to today...when my children were in school, they used to have long essays to write, book reports, summaries of history or Civics lessons. They were always given extra credit for using new words that they had not learned in class...either words looked up in a dictionary, or similar words that they found by using a Thesaurus. These kinds of writings, and the use of words, started in the 3rd grade, and continued through high school. I remember quite vividly one of a friend's grandchildren, who was in the 6th grade, asking me what a Thesaurus was...and her younger brother, in the 3rd grade, indignantly informing her that it was a kind of dinosaur, of course!
From this kind of verbal interaction, which happened during this past summer, I think one can safely assume that such things as dictionaries and thesauruses are not considered necessary accouterments in today's educational system.
I think it is sad to know that kids today, regardless of age, know little or nothing about the beauty of words, and the wondrous ideas that can be shaped and formed from using a myriad of different words. What about similies, metaphors and allegories? Do kids today really understand those concepts and how to use them? How can you put a metaphor into a text message? I don't think I would want to see the result !
What words do you think are the most beautiful in the English language? Here are some of my favorites:
Serendipity........something that happens by chance, something that is unexpected but fortuitus.
Ephemeral....something that is fleeting, transient
Quintessential......the ultimate, the essence of the essence
And then there is Mellifluous, something that is sweet sounding or rich in tone. Don't the words above meet that particular definition? How many of our kids do you suppose know those words..or, for that matter, have ever even heard them?
Words...they make up human communication. They make up the essential core of our society. They are what we, as writers, love to use, to see, to speak, to learn, to hear, and to try to captivate with in our writing. We must not let words be lost in the in the technological/electronic revolution we're living in today.
What are your thoughts? Let me know.
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Finding Your Voice
Today, I'm talking about voice. Not mine, yours. Actually, the voice you portray in your writing. Perhaps we should discuss what 'voice' is all about, so let's look as some examples.
Voice 1: Oh wow! I'm going to the ballet, how cool is that? It's all about a swan who dances near a lake, or something like that. But it's rad, and I can really pour it on when I tell my friends about it.
Voice 2: I'm going to the ballet tonight. It's the famous Swan Lake, which Tchaikovsky composed in the late 1800s. I'm really excited to see such a famous ballet, and I'm sure all my friends are going to be jealous.
Voice 3: Tonight I am going to attend the Ballet de Swan Lake, which of course was composed by the extraordinary Tchaikovsky. Swan Lake is one of the most famous of all ballets and is known for its demanding technical skills in dance. It will be most informative to discuss this outstanding musical form with my friends.
Would you say these examples were all written by the same person? I don't think so. The first example was written by a teenager, the second by a woman who likes to attend ballets and operas mostly to impress her friends, and the third by a professor of music who also writes for literary journals.
So where does voice come from? Well, from several places, actually. Each of your characters should have their own voice. Yet we know that often our characters, or at least, our Main Characters, are in some ways a reflection of ourselves. Therefore, we could also say that "voice' comes from us as authors.
But when we're writing, we need to be very careful about the use of voice in each of our characters. Each one is different, with distinct likes, dislikes, attitudes, emotions, and so on, therefore it is absolutely necessary that each character also have a distinct voice. In order to do that...to "find" the voice of each character, you need to know that character inside and out. You need to know her so well that you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, how she is going to phrase her sentences, if she is going to use slang, whether her vocabulary is going to be average for her age or obviously above or below her age level.
Let's take another example:
First: The four of us were waiting to be called into the principal's office. We were sitting silently on wood chairs surrounding a small round table.
Second: Jeremy, Tyler, Amber and I were stuck in these crummy hard chairs waiting for the principal. His secretary made us sit around this stupid little round table like we were first graders. We were told not to talk, and it's a good thing, because if Jeremy had opened his mouth one more time, I'd have popped him.
We still know that four kids were sitting on hard chairs waiting for the principal. But now we know their names, we have some idea of why they had to see the principal, and we know that our MC was mad at Jeremy and insulted that she and the others were being treated as small children.
It isn't that one example is better than the other, but rather, that two different voices were used, giving us two different images. If Jeremy or Amber had described this brief scene, the description and language were have been different for each of them, because each would have his or her individual voice.
One of the elements to conside when deciding upon your character's voice is the choice of words you use. In my first novel, one of my characters speaks very formally, even though she is a teen. Because she lived in Europe for several years, she learned to speak formal Italian, and it has carried over into her English. Consequently, she never uses a contraction...no don'ts, can'ts, I'm's and so forth. It is always do not, can not, I am, etc. That is her specific voice.
Also, if you use word choices that an adult uses, such as 'communicate,' 'objective,' 'proficient,' and other "big" words that kids don't normally use, you are not giving an authentic voice to your character. Having said that, I will immediately retract it. Lisa Yee, in her book Millicent Min, Girl Genius, does use many of those "big" words, but her MC, Millicent, is indeed a genius and that kind of vocabulary is just her. It IS her voice. But not many of us write about geniuses, so its much better to link the vocabulary to the age and personality of the character.
What about slang used to demonstrate voice? Umm...NO. A definite NO! I've talked about using slang before. In almost all cases, by the time a book is published, the slang used will be out of date, and kids might not even recognize what it used to be. Besides, isn't that kind of a cheesy way to do things? Unless you've got a character who is on the streets or who lives in a ghetto, keep all slang to a minimum for all your characters. If you are writing about ghetto life, do some research about the hip hop language, and insert some of those words and phrases in the character's talk, but don't over do it. Otherwise, use only fairly "standard" slang words, like "cool" or "crap" ( not a particularly nice word, but kids have been using it for years) and maybe one or two others that you can ask a teen about, and then let it go at that.
Remember that each of your characters has his/her own way of interpreting events and actions, of expressing emotions. Let those ways be expressed in their voice...how they say things, not what they say. Also remember, always, that your MC is generally the one telling the story from his or her POV. Therefore, that POV should be the most easily discernable voice throughout the entire story.
Voice may not be the easiest thing to develop in writing, but it surely is one of the most important, if not the most important. If you have some tricks of your own to make sure your voice is heard in your writing, let me know.
Voice 1: Oh wow! I'm going to the ballet, how cool is that? It's all about a swan who dances near a lake, or something like that. But it's rad, and I can really pour it on when I tell my friends about it.
Voice 2: I'm going to the ballet tonight. It's the famous Swan Lake, which Tchaikovsky composed in the late 1800s. I'm really excited to see such a famous ballet, and I'm sure all my friends are going to be jealous.
Voice 3: Tonight I am going to attend the Ballet de Swan Lake, which of course was composed by the extraordinary Tchaikovsky. Swan Lake is one of the most famous of all ballets and is known for its demanding technical skills in dance. It will be most informative to discuss this outstanding musical form with my friends.
Would you say these examples were all written by the same person? I don't think so. The first example was written by a teenager, the second by a woman who likes to attend ballets and operas mostly to impress her friends, and the third by a professor of music who also writes for literary journals.
So where does voice come from? Well, from several places, actually. Each of your characters should have their own voice. Yet we know that often our characters, or at least, our Main Characters, are in some ways a reflection of ourselves. Therefore, we could also say that "voice' comes from us as authors.
But when we're writing, we need to be very careful about the use of voice in each of our characters. Each one is different, with distinct likes, dislikes, attitudes, emotions, and so on, therefore it is absolutely necessary that each character also have a distinct voice. In order to do that...to "find" the voice of each character, you need to know that character inside and out. You need to know her so well that you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, how she is going to phrase her sentences, if she is going to use slang, whether her vocabulary is going to be average for her age or obviously above or below her age level.
Let's take another example:
First: The four of us were waiting to be called into the principal's office. We were sitting silently on wood chairs surrounding a small round table.
Second: Jeremy, Tyler, Amber and I were stuck in these crummy hard chairs waiting for the principal. His secretary made us sit around this stupid little round table like we were first graders. We were told not to talk, and it's a good thing, because if Jeremy had opened his mouth one more time, I'd have popped him.
We still know that four kids were sitting on hard chairs waiting for the principal. But now we know their names, we have some idea of why they had to see the principal, and we know that our MC was mad at Jeremy and insulted that she and the others were being treated as small children.
It isn't that one example is better than the other, but rather, that two different voices were used, giving us two different images. If Jeremy or Amber had described this brief scene, the description and language were have been different for each of them, because each would have his or her individual voice.
One of the elements to conside when deciding upon your character's voice is the choice of words you use. In my first novel, one of my characters speaks very formally, even though she is a teen. Because she lived in Europe for several years, she learned to speak formal Italian, and it has carried over into her English. Consequently, she never uses a contraction...no don'ts, can'ts, I'm's and so forth. It is always do not, can not, I am, etc. That is her specific voice.
Also, if you use word choices that an adult uses, such as 'communicate,' 'objective,' 'proficient,' and other "big" words that kids don't normally use, you are not giving an authentic voice to your character. Having said that, I will immediately retract it. Lisa Yee, in her book Millicent Min, Girl Genius, does use many of those "big" words, but her MC, Millicent, is indeed a genius and that kind of vocabulary is just her. It IS her voice. But not many of us write about geniuses, so its much better to link the vocabulary to the age and personality of the character.
What about slang used to demonstrate voice? Umm...NO. A definite NO! I've talked about using slang before. In almost all cases, by the time a book is published, the slang used will be out of date, and kids might not even recognize what it used to be. Besides, isn't that kind of a cheesy way to do things? Unless you've got a character who is on the streets or who lives in a ghetto, keep all slang to a minimum for all your characters. If you are writing about ghetto life, do some research about the hip hop language, and insert some of those words and phrases in the character's talk, but don't over do it. Otherwise, use only fairly "standard" slang words, like "cool" or "crap" ( not a particularly nice word, but kids have been using it for years) and maybe one or two others that you can ask a teen about, and then let it go at that.
Remember that each of your characters has his/her own way of interpreting events and actions, of expressing emotions. Let those ways be expressed in their voice...how they say things, not what they say. Also remember, always, that your MC is generally the one telling the story from his or her POV. Therefore, that POV should be the most easily discernable voice throughout the entire story.
Voice may not be the easiest thing to develop in writing, but it surely is one of the most important, if not the most important. If you have some tricks of your own to make sure your voice is heard in your writing, let me know.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Old Friends and Memories
Today I was playing around on Facebook, and came across some old friends, including my former son-in-law. What a surprise! He looks pretty much the same, a little older, but then, aren't we all. Now he sports a tatoo which he didn't have years ago, and that's kind of interesting.
I also found a friend of my daughter's, who I used to call my "Chinese daughter"....because first, she's Chinese, and second, she was ALWAYS at our house. I even took her and my 'real' daughter on a 2 week vacation to Canada. Then I found one of her sisters, and heard about several friends of my son's, whom he had not heard of or from in years.
Strange how something so simple as this can trigger memories you haven't had in many years. The trip to Canada, for example. We really had some funny...and fun...experiences there. One was in a hotel in Seattle. Our room was supposed to be for three people...right. Well, it did have 3 beds, but in order to get to the 3rd one, you had to climb over the first two. Guess who got that one.
There was a closet, but to get into it, you had to push one of the beds out of the way. Only...there was no room for the bed to go. So, okay, we didn't use the closet. The only window opened out to a...yeah, you got it. An alley, but first, if you stuck your head out to get a breath of fresh air, you would bump your nose on the brickwall of the building next to the hotel...and fresh air? Umm...that's a matter of opinion...it was only fresh if you didn't mind the smell of over-cooked Chinese food and burnt cooking oil. We kept the window closed.
Then there was the bathroom. I walked in to take a shower and began laughing hysterically. The reason? The floor sank in the middle of the room by about 6 inches. I thought sure I was going to end up in the lobby. When the girls finally got me calmed down enough to actually get me in the shower, I started in again. It seems the shower "curtain" was one of these folding screen things that folded up in the middle when you pulled it to one end of the shower ( in tub shower) or the other. In other words, it only sheltered the shower at one end or the other, and then for only about 4 inches. The floor was soaking wet by the time I got out, and of course, I stepped into a 6 inch deep puddle of water.
Then there was the bell boy. Boy? Well, maybe in the 19th century he was a boy. The girls named him Iago. He was really creepy, and it seemed like every time we opened the door to our room, he was standing just outside. By the time we went to bed, the girls and I had pushed the one and only dresser up against the door...just in case. We didn't stay in that hotel after breakfast the next morning!
Canada was wonderful, beautiful, and full of REALLY fresh air! The first night, the girls wanted Mexican food. Really? Mexican food in Canada? Well, okay. We found a Mexican restaurant. Bright colors, good smells, soft music playing, lots of people. We breathed in the smells, smiled at each other, and blithely order chicken tacos, rice, beans and tortillas. Now...we're from California where Mexican food is practically a staple. Plus, I've lived in Mexico, so I know whereof I speak when it comes to tacos or enchiladas or even...tortillas.
Our dinner was served. Oh boy. The rice looked and tasted like coucous, which all 3 of us do not like. The beans were some kind of red bean which didn't stay all smooshed up together like refried beans normally do, and there was no cheese on them. We just kind of looked at each other, and I said, "Well, I'm sure the tacos will be okay." Oh boy. What an over statement. I don't think the chicken was less that 40 years old...if it even was chicken, but I hated to mention my doubts to teen age girls...you know what hysteria does to a crowded room. There was a bit of lettuce, but the rest was...corn! and I'm sure, canned corn at that. My daughter took one bite and I thought she was going to spit corn and...whatever...all over the table. My Chinese daughter took a bite, tried to swallow and promptly choked. I thought sure we were going to have to use the Heimlick ( spelling?)manoever on her, but she took a quick swig of soda and was okay. They looked at me in a questioning kind of horror, so I quickly said, "Okay, we'll go and find a hamburger somewhere." Before leaving the table, I peeked under the red checked napkin that covered the...tortillas. I was glad neither of them had looked.
And that was just our first day in Canada.
I also found a friend of my daughter's, who I used to call my "Chinese daughter"....because first, she's Chinese, and second, she was ALWAYS at our house. I even took her and my 'real' daughter on a 2 week vacation to Canada. Then I found one of her sisters, and heard about several friends of my son's, whom he had not heard of or from in years.
Strange how something so simple as this can trigger memories you haven't had in many years. The trip to Canada, for example. We really had some funny...and fun...experiences there. One was in a hotel in Seattle. Our room was supposed to be for three people...right. Well, it did have 3 beds, but in order to get to the 3rd one, you had to climb over the first two. Guess who got that one.
There was a closet, but to get into it, you had to push one of the beds out of the way. Only...there was no room for the bed to go. So, okay, we didn't use the closet. The only window opened out to a...yeah, you got it. An alley, but first, if you stuck your head out to get a breath of fresh air, you would bump your nose on the brickwall of the building next to the hotel...and fresh air? Umm...that's a matter of opinion...it was only fresh if you didn't mind the smell of over-cooked Chinese food and burnt cooking oil. We kept the window closed.
Then there was the bathroom. I walked in to take a shower and began laughing hysterically. The reason? The floor sank in the middle of the room by about 6 inches. I thought sure I was going to end up in the lobby. When the girls finally got me calmed down enough to actually get me in the shower, I started in again. It seems the shower "curtain" was one of these folding screen things that folded up in the middle when you pulled it to one end of the shower ( in tub shower) or the other. In other words, it only sheltered the shower at one end or the other, and then for only about 4 inches. The floor was soaking wet by the time I got out, and of course, I stepped into a 6 inch deep puddle of water.
Then there was the bell boy. Boy? Well, maybe in the 19th century he was a boy. The girls named him Iago. He was really creepy, and it seemed like every time we opened the door to our room, he was standing just outside. By the time we went to bed, the girls and I had pushed the one and only dresser up against the door...just in case. We didn't stay in that hotel after breakfast the next morning!
Canada was wonderful, beautiful, and full of REALLY fresh air! The first night, the girls wanted Mexican food. Really? Mexican food in Canada? Well, okay. We found a Mexican restaurant. Bright colors, good smells, soft music playing, lots of people. We breathed in the smells, smiled at each other, and blithely order chicken tacos, rice, beans and tortillas. Now...we're from California where Mexican food is practically a staple. Plus, I've lived in Mexico, so I know whereof I speak when it comes to tacos or enchiladas or even...tortillas.
Our dinner was served. Oh boy. The rice looked and tasted like coucous, which all 3 of us do not like. The beans were some kind of red bean which didn't stay all smooshed up together like refried beans normally do, and there was no cheese on them. We just kind of looked at each other, and I said, "Well, I'm sure the tacos will be okay." Oh boy. What an over statement. I don't think the chicken was less that 40 years old...if it even was chicken, but I hated to mention my doubts to teen age girls...you know what hysteria does to a crowded room. There was a bit of lettuce, but the rest was...corn! and I'm sure, canned corn at that. My daughter took one bite and I thought she was going to spit corn and...whatever...all over the table. My Chinese daughter took a bite, tried to swallow and promptly choked. I thought sure we were going to have to use the Heimlick ( spelling?)manoever on her, but she took a quick swig of soda and was okay. They looked at me in a questioning kind of horror, so I quickly said, "Okay, we'll go and find a hamburger somewhere." Before leaving the table, I peeked under the red checked napkin that covered the...tortillas. I was glad neither of them had looked.
And that was just our first day in Canada.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Fighting Writers Block
Today let's talk about writer's block. First, what is writer's block? We hear about it all the time, but everyone seems to have a different definition. One writer friend says she becomes paralyzed with fear that her writing is so awful she shouldn't even be trying to write, and when that happens, she can't. Others say that when they come up with an idea that they think could be turned into a story, once they sit down to start wrting, nothing comes. Still others can get halfway through a project, and suddenly they've run out of ideas, inspiration or whatever you want to call it. They are dead in the water.
I think we all can agree that nothing is more frustrating than having that idea in your head, sitting down to put it in paper or, more likely, into the computer, and then, WHAMO! nothing comes! Your mind is a pristine white, perfectly blank piece of paper.
Well, don't feel bad, it happens to all of us. So what can we do about it? Have you heard that old saying, "Put you butt into the chair and write?" And have you replied, at least in your head, "That's what I'm trying to do"? But how are you trying to do it?
If you have a schedule for writing, and you keep faithfully to that schedule, you can write. Oh, maybe not get down that perfect idea you woke up with , but write something. A character sketch. A query letter. A poem. Try a bit of haiku, the Japanese poetry with three lines of five syllables, seven syllables, and five syllables. Anything you write is going to keep your mind active, and the more you write, the more you CAN write. Umm, yeah, a bit of a cliche' but I've heard it so often it must be true.
So, okay, you've got your schedule...and it doesn't matter if it's 15 minutes a day or 3 hours a day, as long as it is a set time that you stick to...you sit down and the ideas don't flow. You sit and stare at the computer. You check your email. You go to your literary boards and see what's happening there. You get a snack. The computer screen is still blank. What's wrong?
Maybe your ideas are not flowing because you've not done the planning and/or the research you need to do. You've got the idea, maybe even the plot, but what else? Do you know who your characters are? Do you know them so well you know how they think, what they are going to say, and how they are going to carry this story to the end? Do you even know how the story is going to end? Do you know what subplots you should have, and how these will interrelate with the main plot? Is the time frame the correct one for the story? You don't want to have teens texting each other on cell phones if your story takes place in the 1960s. What about dress, vocabulary, colloquialisms and so on? Are they all appropriate for the time and setting?
If' you say 'no' to any of these questions, then your problem is probably not 'writers block', but instead, not having done the research and planning ahead of time so the story flows smoothly in your mind, and therefore out your fingers.
Check it out, and make sure you've done all the necessary "scut" work before you sit down to actually write it.
Another thing to try is to not let the page in front of you remain blank. Even if it is a computer page. I remember one of the exercises I had in my first ICL course. There was a list of words and I was supposed to use at least 3 of those words in my next assignment. I was also supposed to take the words I chose and extend them out to add more words that each single word brought to mind. Example: take the word "whisper." what words does that bring to mind? For me, it was: breeze, girl talk, rumors, leaves on a tree, mystery. Can you write a story around those words? I tried, and did. Keep that in mind when you face a blank page. Write a word, any word, even a nonsensical one. Then write all the words that one brings to mind. Then write a short story, or even just a couple of paragraphs using those words. That's a good way to get the mind back in gear, and the writing juices flowing.
Take a break. Seriously. Take a deep breath, and step away from whatever you're blocking on. Go for a walk, take a nap, do some gardening, play with the dog, or bake some cookies. Go to the gym or start taking a daily walk. Anything to get completely away from the project. Sometimes it helps to work on another project, either something you've already started, or maybe something totally new, that has nothing to do with the story you've blocked on. I did that once...started a non-fiction article that had a deadline for the query, and just before I finished the article, I had a break through and suddenly knew exactly what I should be doing with the plot that I had blocked on. Incidentally, I never did get that query out in time.
Sometimes reading can help bring our creativity back into working order. Read some of the classics, a good mystery or some of the children's books "just for fun." Don't try to analyze them, or figure out what the writer meant by that last phrase. Just read. Lose yourself in the story. Let yourself get carried away into another imaginary world that you had no part of creating. By the time you've finished that book, I would bet that you're just itching to get to the computer and get all those fresh ideas down!
The main thing is, don't give up. Don't let depression set in, or that mean ole' inner editor say, "See, I told you you couldn't write." Of course you can write!
Not everyone can, but YOU CAN. Sometimes it's necessary to let our muse go on vacation. After all, even she can get tired. But there are all kinds of ways to entice her out of hiding. Stay healthy, keep to a schedule, keep mentally and emotionally strong, do some of the things you love that have nothing to do with writing, read some good books, listen to some beautiful music, and before you know it, that muse is going to be begging you to come back.
Try it. It works. I know from experience. Let me know how you do.
I think we all can agree that nothing is more frustrating than having that idea in your head, sitting down to put it in paper or, more likely, into the computer, and then, WHAMO! nothing comes! Your mind is a pristine white, perfectly blank piece of paper.
Well, don't feel bad, it happens to all of us. So what can we do about it? Have you heard that old saying, "Put you butt into the chair and write?" And have you replied, at least in your head, "That's what I'm trying to do"? But how are you trying to do it?
If you have a schedule for writing, and you keep faithfully to that schedule, you can write. Oh, maybe not get down that perfect idea you woke up with , but write something. A character sketch. A query letter. A poem. Try a bit of haiku, the Japanese poetry with three lines of five syllables, seven syllables, and five syllables. Anything you write is going to keep your mind active, and the more you write, the more you CAN write. Umm, yeah, a bit of a cliche' but I've heard it so often it must be true.
So, okay, you've got your schedule...and it doesn't matter if it's 15 minutes a day or 3 hours a day, as long as it is a set time that you stick to...you sit down and the ideas don't flow. You sit and stare at the computer. You check your email. You go to your literary boards and see what's happening there. You get a snack. The computer screen is still blank. What's wrong?
Maybe your ideas are not flowing because you've not done the planning and/or the research you need to do. You've got the idea, maybe even the plot, but what else? Do you know who your characters are? Do you know them so well you know how they think, what they are going to say, and how they are going to carry this story to the end? Do you even know how the story is going to end? Do you know what subplots you should have, and how these will interrelate with the main plot? Is the time frame the correct one for the story? You don't want to have teens texting each other on cell phones if your story takes place in the 1960s. What about dress, vocabulary, colloquialisms and so on? Are they all appropriate for the time and setting?
If' you say 'no' to any of these questions, then your problem is probably not 'writers block', but instead, not having done the research and planning ahead of time so the story flows smoothly in your mind, and therefore out your fingers.
Check it out, and make sure you've done all the necessary "scut" work before you sit down to actually write it.
Another thing to try is to not let the page in front of you remain blank. Even if it is a computer page. I remember one of the exercises I had in my first ICL course. There was a list of words and I was supposed to use at least 3 of those words in my next assignment. I was also supposed to take the words I chose and extend them out to add more words that each single word brought to mind. Example: take the word "whisper." what words does that bring to mind? For me, it was: breeze, girl talk, rumors, leaves on a tree, mystery. Can you write a story around those words? I tried, and did. Keep that in mind when you face a blank page. Write a word, any word, even a nonsensical one. Then write all the words that one brings to mind. Then write a short story, or even just a couple of paragraphs using those words. That's a good way to get the mind back in gear, and the writing juices flowing.
Take a break. Seriously. Take a deep breath, and step away from whatever you're blocking on. Go for a walk, take a nap, do some gardening, play with the dog, or bake some cookies. Go to the gym or start taking a daily walk. Anything to get completely away from the project. Sometimes it helps to work on another project, either something you've already started, or maybe something totally new, that has nothing to do with the story you've blocked on. I did that once...started a non-fiction article that had a deadline for the query, and just before I finished the article, I had a break through and suddenly knew exactly what I should be doing with the plot that I had blocked on. Incidentally, I never did get that query out in time.
Sometimes reading can help bring our creativity back into working order. Read some of the classics, a good mystery or some of the children's books "just for fun." Don't try to analyze them, or figure out what the writer meant by that last phrase. Just read. Lose yourself in the story. Let yourself get carried away into another imaginary world that you had no part of creating. By the time you've finished that book, I would bet that you're just itching to get to the computer and get all those fresh ideas down!
The main thing is, don't give up. Don't let depression set in, or that mean ole' inner editor say, "See, I told you you couldn't write." Of course you can write!
Not everyone can, but YOU CAN. Sometimes it's necessary to let our muse go on vacation. After all, even she can get tired. But there are all kinds of ways to entice her out of hiding. Stay healthy, keep to a schedule, keep mentally and emotionally strong, do some of the things you love that have nothing to do with writing, read some good books, listen to some beautiful music, and before you know it, that muse is going to be begging you to come back.
Try it. It works. I know from experience. Let me know how you do.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
A New Contest
Contests! We all love them, right? Hmm, well, a lot of writers do. I must admit I've never entered very many. There is one I enter every year at the writers' conference I go to in October, but the most I've done there is to get an Honorable Mention. I get excited about contests, then get wrapped up in my writing or ICL assignments, or life in general, and forget about them until the due day is past.
But there is a new contest that I am absolutely going to enter. I don't care what comes up, I AM going to enter. It's on http://www.kidlit.com/ which is a really neat blog by Mary Kole, associate agent at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
Anyway, this contest doesn't have money as a prize or a promised contract with an editor or agent. What it does have is exposure to an agent and to a professional critique of your work. How cool is that? It is a contest for MG and YA novels, and they HAVE TO BE FINISHED!
I"m not going to tell you all the rules or what the prizes are, you have to go to the site to find that out. Again, the site is www.kidlit.com/kidlit-contest. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
About writing contests: how many of you do actually enter them? What do you think of them...are they helpful, do they make you think, do you gain anything from entering even if you don't win? Since I haven't entered but just a few, I'm seriously wondering about them. Oh, I know the main objective is to win, or at least place. After all, that looks good on your bio when you send off a query. But what else does entering a contest do?
If you don't win...or even place or get an Honorable Mention...do you come away feeling like you are a loser, that you'll never be published, that you should just stop writing now...or...do you come away feeling renewed, more determined than ever to continuing writing, to get that story down in such a way that the editor who reads it will wonder why it took you so long to get it into their hands? The latter is the optimum feeling, but is it the most prevalent one? I don't know, so this is not a rhetorical question...I really want to know how you feel.
Regardless...I AM going to enter the kidlit contest. I may come away with bruised feelings, but at least I will be able to say I tried.
I have a friend who enters every writing contest she can find. It doesn't matter if it is for a novel, a story, Non-fiction, crafts, puzzles, poetry or what. It is a contest, she enters it. Sometimes she wins, sometimes she places or gets an Honorable Mention, and sometimes it proves to be a waste of time. But she is consistent in her trying.
I wish I could be like that. How about you?
But there is a new contest that I am absolutely going to enter. I don't care what comes up, I AM going to enter. It's on http://www.kidlit.com/ which is a really neat blog by Mary Kole, associate agent at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
Anyway, this contest doesn't have money as a prize or a promised contract with an editor or agent. What it does have is exposure to an agent and to a professional critique of your work. How cool is that? It is a contest for MG and YA novels, and they HAVE TO BE FINISHED!
I"m not going to tell you all the rules or what the prizes are, you have to go to the site to find that out. Again, the site is www.kidlit.com/kidlit-contest. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
About writing contests: how many of you do actually enter them? What do you think of them...are they helpful, do they make you think, do you gain anything from entering even if you don't win? Since I haven't entered but just a few, I'm seriously wondering about them. Oh, I know the main objective is to win, or at least place. After all, that looks good on your bio when you send off a query. But what else does entering a contest do?
If you don't win...or even place or get an Honorable Mention...do you come away feeling like you are a loser, that you'll never be published, that you should just stop writing now...or...do you come away feeling renewed, more determined than ever to continuing writing, to get that story down in such a way that the editor who reads it will wonder why it took you so long to get it into their hands? The latter is the optimum feeling, but is it the most prevalent one? I don't know, so this is not a rhetorical question...I really want to know how you feel.
Regardless...I AM going to enter the kidlit contest. I may come away with bruised feelings, but at least I will be able to say I tried.
I have a friend who enters every writing contest she can find. It doesn't matter if it is for a novel, a story, Non-fiction, crafts, puzzles, poetry or what. It is a contest, she enters it. Sometimes she wins, sometimes she places or gets an Honorable Mention, and sometimes it proves to be a waste of time. But she is consistent in her trying.
I wish I could be like that. How about you?
Truth in Imagination
It's been a week since I last posted. With my husband still in a wheel chair, and another 3-4 weeks to go, I haven't had much time to even think about writing, much less do it.
Today, however, I started thinking about something one of my friends asked me. She asked me if having been a teacher was what gave me the impetus to write. I had to think about that for awhile. I know a lot of writers who are or have been teachers. So is there something about teaching that leads so many of us to write?
I'm not sure. With the exception of a year and a half where I taught physically and sexually abused children, all my teaching experience has been with adults. Hmm...well, chonologically adults, any way. University students, juniors, seniors and graduate students. I can see where teaching children from elementary to high school would be good experience, and offer good "fodder" for writing...but college kids? I don't know about that.
When I started writing, I wanted to create a world of imagination for kids, but one in which they could each find some small measure of truth, something that would ring true just for them. Truth in Imagination. Okay, so that's a difficult concept to explain, probably because that's just my concept, or at least, what I call my feelings about writing. I want to write a story that sparks the imagination of a child, and yet one in which that child can find a truth. A truth about friendships or relationships, about nature and the environment, about most anything that is real. Even a truth about her/himself. Does that make sense to you?
Okay, let's try it a different way. Do you remember when you were reading as a kid, and you got lost in the story? Your imagination took off, and for a short, wondrous while, you were not you, but the heroine or hero in the story. Think about it...did any of those stories you read make you realize something that was true in real life? If so, isn't that kinda like "truth in imagination?"
One of the stories I had published was about a young boy who went to live with his father on a ranch. The boy hated horses because he was afraid of them. One night in a storm, his father had to leave to find a vet for a newborn foal, and he told the boy that he was relying on him to go out to the pasture and keep the foal alive until the vet could get there. To the child reading this story, wouldn't he put himself into the story and imagine what he would do? Would he refuse to go out in the storm with an upset mare and a newborn foal? If he did, how would or could he help keep the foal alive? If he didn't, how would he feel about betraying the trust his father had put in him? As he reads on, he finds out what the boy did, and he can ask himself "Is this what I would have done?"
The story sparks the imagination but leaves a measure of truth for the reader to figure out for himself. Is the reader learning something about himself, or about what can happen in real life by this story? I think so. I hope so. Not because I intended to "teach" anything, but because I hope I put a grain of truth into an imaginative story.
Truth in Imagination: think about it. Isn't that something that all teachers try to do in the class room? I did. At the university, I taught mostly Statistics and Research Methodolgy. I know, I know...UGH! Most of my students thought the same way. So I tried to make a very dry subject interesting and relevant to daily life. Statistics don't lie...a very tired cliche' but its the truth, no matter what. So where did 'imagination' come in? I brought real life into the class, by asking the students to use their imaginations to come up with real life situations that could be resolved by using statistics. The point was...you need logic to learn statistics, therefore you can apply the laws of statistics by using logic in real life situations even if they are imaginary ones.
When I started writing 'for real,' I tried to keep the concept of truth in imagination alive and well in my writing. Hopefully, I have been able to do that. The stories I've published, I think, have exemplified that concept. I believe that I was able to do that in my last novel, as well. We'll see about this next one...it's an historical novel, so I think it's going to be a little more difficult to use that concept.
Think about it: whether you've ever been a teacher or not, don't you try to put truth into the imaginative stories that you write? I don't mean "truth' as in facts. We'll leave those for non-fiction writers. But unless you write only Science Fiction or Fantasy, I'll bet you've used the concept of Truth in Imagination again and again...but you've just never thought of it in those terms.
Think about it...Let me know...
Today, however, I started thinking about something one of my friends asked me. She asked me if having been a teacher was what gave me the impetus to write. I had to think about that for awhile. I know a lot of writers who are or have been teachers. So is there something about teaching that leads so many of us to write?
I'm not sure. With the exception of a year and a half where I taught physically and sexually abused children, all my teaching experience has been with adults. Hmm...well, chonologically adults, any way. University students, juniors, seniors and graduate students. I can see where teaching children from elementary to high school would be good experience, and offer good "fodder" for writing...but college kids? I don't know about that.
When I started writing, I wanted to create a world of imagination for kids, but one in which they could each find some small measure of truth, something that would ring true just for them. Truth in Imagination. Okay, so that's a difficult concept to explain, probably because that's just my concept, or at least, what I call my feelings about writing. I want to write a story that sparks the imagination of a child, and yet one in which that child can find a truth. A truth about friendships or relationships, about nature and the environment, about most anything that is real. Even a truth about her/himself. Does that make sense to you?
Okay, let's try it a different way. Do you remember when you were reading as a kid, and you got lost in the story? Your imagination took off, and for a short, wondrous while, you were not you, but the heroine or hero in the story. Think about it...did any of those stories you read make you realize something that was true in real life? If so, isn't that kinda like "truth in imagination?"
One of the stories I had published was about a young boy who went to live with his father on a ranch. The boy hated horses because he was afraid of them. One night in a storm, his father had to leave to find a vet for a newborn foal, and he told the boy that he was relying on him to go out to the pasture and keep the foal alive until the vet could get there. To the child reading this story, wouldn't he put himself into the story and imagine what he would do? Would he refuse to go out in the storm with an upset mare and a newborn foal? If he did, how would or could he help keep the foal alive? If he didn't, how would he feel about betraying the trust his father had put in him? As he reads on, he finds out what the boy did, and he can ask himself "Is this what I would have done?"
The story sparks the imagination but leaves a measure of truth for the reader to figure out for himself. Is the reader learning something about himself, or about what can happen in real life by this story? I think so. I hope so. Not because I intended to "teach" anything, but because I hope I put a grain of truth into an imaginative story.
Truth in Imagination: think about it. Isn't that something that all teachers try to do in the class room? I did. At the university, I taught mostly Statistics and Research Methodolgy. I know, I know...UGH! Most of my students thought the same way. So I tried to make a very dry subject interesting and relevant to daily life. Statistics don't lie...a very tired cliche' but its the truth, no matter what. So where did 'imagination' come in? I brought real life into the class, by asking the students to use their imaginations to come up with real life situations that could be resolved by using statistics. The point was...you need logic to learn statistics, therefore you can apply the laws of statistics by using logic in real life situations even if they are imaginary ones.
When I started writing 'for real,' I tried to keep the concept of truth in imagination alive and well in my writing. Hopefully, I have been able to do that. The stories I've published, I think, have exemplified that concept. I believe that I was able to do that in my last novel, as well. We'll see about this next one...it's an historical novel, so I think it's going to be a little more difficult to use that concept.
Think about it: whether you've ever been a teacher or not, don't you try to put truth into the imaginative stories that you write? I don't mean "truth' as in facts. We'll leave those for non-fiction writers. But unless you write only Science Fiction or Fantasy, I'll bet you've used the concept of Truth in Imagination again and again...but you've just never thought of it in those terms.
Think about it...Let me know...
Monday, January 4, 2010
Musings
Today has been a day for thoughts and musings about what has come to pass and what may come to be. Why today? I have no idea. It was a busy day, errands to run, helping my husband who is in a wheel chair for an indefinite period of time...just a usual day. But I've done a lot of thinking along the way.
My journey into the writing world has taken another turn. Not unexpectedly, but still not one I thought much about until recently. I have decided to enroll for yet another novel course with the Institute of Children's Literature, and in fact, just sent off the first assignment today.
If my last instructor knew of this, he would probably throw up his hands in disgust. In his last letter to me, he told me that I not only had written a very marketable book, but also that I had all the tools I needed to continue writing, without his or anyone else's help. So, why do I need another course?
Well, I'm not sure. I have begun an historical novel about the Civil War; I have done almost two years' worth of literary research; and I have visited Civil War campgrounds, forts, battle sites, and Underground Railroad "stations." Nevertheless, I feel that I need the expertise of someone who has already published historical novels to get me on the right path. On the other hand, my last instructor would say, "But you are on the right path...it can't get any more 'right' than what you have done to prepare." Still, I have enrolled in a second novel course.
Do you know what a comma is? Of course, you know what a comma is! But...have you ever thought that sometimes your life is made up of commas that come where they are not supposed to? I know, I know, now you are thinking... what exactly does this have to do with what you just wrote?
Well, think about commas for a moment. We use them to interpret the style, the voice and the flow of what we are writing. We are not supposed to overuse them, or use them incorrectly, such as separating a subject or an object from its verb. If we use commas correctly, we are helping to establish a kind of rhythm to our work. But if we use them incorrectly, our work can become disjointed, stiff and hard to follow.
Now, think about your life this past year. Your life, not your writing. Has it flowed smoothly all year? Have you set a rhythm for what you wanted to do, and has that rhythm remained constant? Or...have there been times when life has become disjointed, stiff, and hard to follow, or worse yet, to understand? Have there been commas which have interrupted your style of living, jolted the life voice that you try to maintain all the time?
What does a comma do when it's used incorrectly? It disrupts but it doesn't end what we are writing. IF we're good self-editors ( as we all try to be), when we go back and review, we see that the comma has been put in the wrong place or that it doesn't even need to be there at all.
It's the same with our daily lives, isn't it? When you go back over 2009 and see where the disruptions have come in, no matter what form they have taken, aren't they really the same as commas? For a while, brief or otherwise, our lives have taken a turn or a twist we didn't expect. A COMMA has come into our lives and disrupted it, but we've gone on, right? Maybe it was something that we could change or modify when it happened, or maybe it was just something we had to live with. But we got through it. We re-established the rhythm and flow of our lives, just as we re-establish the rhythm and flow of our writing when we modify or remove the wrongly placed comma.
The next time something comes along to disrupt the smoothness of your life, try to consider it a comma...something that is misplaced, or totally unnecessary, but something that we can modify, replace, or even live with until we can once more concentrate on the rhythm of our lives. Oh...I didn't say it would be easy. But what do you do when your story is just stuck...not going any place, much less where you want it to? Don't you put it away for a few days, and then when you come back to it, you suddenly have a brilliant flash of inspiration and realize exactly what you have to do to get past that point? Even if a misplaced comma is not to blame?
True...you can't walk away from life, and say, "Okay, I'll be gone a few days, and when I get back, you'd better be the way I want you to be." But maybe...just maybe...if you think of that twist or turn or disruption as a comma, something that is extraneous to the normal flow of your life but something that is not going to be a permanent fixture, it will make living with it a little easier.
Think about it. Try it. See what happens. And then let me know.
My journey into the writing world has taken another turn. Not unexpectedly, but still not one I thought much about until recently. I have decided to enroll for yet another novel course with the Institute of Children's Literature, and in fact, just sent off the first assignment today.
If my last instructor knew of this, he would probably throw up his hands in disgust. In his last letter to me, he told me that I not only had written a very marketable book, but also that I had all the tools I needed to continue writing, without his or anyone else's help. So, why do I need another course?
Well, I'm not sure. I have begun an historical novel about the Civil War; I have done almost two years' worth of literary research; and I have visited Civil War campgrounds, forts, battle sites, and Underground Railroad "stations." Nevertheless, I feel that I need the expertise of someone who has already published historical novels to get me on the right path. On the other hand, my last instructor would say, "But you are on the right path...it can't get any more 'right' than what you have done to prepare." Still, I have enrolled in a second novel course.
Do you know what a comma is? Of course, you know what a comma is! But...have you ever thought that sometimes your life is made up of commas that come where they are not supposed to? I know, I know, now you are thinking... what exactly does this have to do with what you just wrote?
Well, think about commas for a moment. We use them to interpret the style, the voice and the flow of what we are writing. We are not supposed to overuse them, or use them incorrectly, such as separating a subject or an object from its verb. If we use commas correctly, we are helping to establish a kind of rhythm to our work. But if we use them incorrectly, our work can become disjointed, stiff and hard to follow.
Now, think about your life this past year. Your life, not your writing. Has it flowed smoothly all year? Have you set a rhythm for what you wanted to do, and has that rhythm remained constant? Or...have there been times when life has become disjointed, stiff, and hard to follow, or worse yet, to understand? Have there been commas which have interrupted your style of living, jolted the life voice that you try to maintain all the time?
What does a comma do when it's used incorrectly? It disrupts but it doesn't end what we are writing. IF we're good self-editors ( as we all try to be), when we go back and review, we see that the comma has been put in the wrong place or that it doesn't even need to be there at all.
It's the same with our daily lives, isn't it? When you go back over 2009 and see where the disruptions have come in, no matter what form they have taken, aren't they really the same as commas? For a while, brief or otherwise, our lives have taken a turn or a twist we didn't expect. A COMMA has come into our lives and disrupted it, but we've gone on, right? Maybe it was something that we could change or modify when it happened, or maybe it was just something we had to live with. But we got through it. We re-established the rhythm and flow of our lives, just as we re-establish the rhythm and flow of our writing when we modify or remove the wrongly placed comma.
The next time something comes along to disrupt the smoothness of your life, try to consider it a comma...something that is misplaced, or totally unnecessary, but something that we can modify, replace, or even live with until we can once more concentrate on the rhythm of our lives. Oh...I didn't say it would be easy. But what do you do when your story is just stuck...not going any place, much less where you want it to? Don't you put it away for a few days, and then when you come back to it, you suddenly have a brilliant flash of inspiration and realize exactly what you have to do to get past that point? Even if a misplaced comma is not to blame?
True...you can't walk away from life, and say, "Okay, I'll be gone a few days, and when I get back, you'd better be the way I want you to be." But maybe...just maybe...if you think of that twist or turn or disruption as a comma, something that is extraneous to the normal flow of your life but something that is not going to be a permanent fixture, it will make living with it a little easier.
Think about it. Try it. See what happens. And then let me know.
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