Month: January 2015

The Not Writing of Writing

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Focus-wise, this week has not been my week. My mind’s felt slow and clumsy, and I cannot seem to get my thoughts where they need to be. Some weeks are just like that. It’s not as though you don’t get anything done, you do. But is it everything you wanted to do?

Not even close.

I’ve been working on a manuscript, or, to be more accurate, very much not working on a manuscript. I am stuck, and not in the way that any of the wiggling tricks are going to unstick. No, this one I have to untangle, there’s no other way through it, and my brain just hasn’t found the loose thread.

But because I feel as though a portion of my brain has been left on its own, trying to work out the solution, it’s deserted me in other arenas. Doesn’t it know I need it?

Perhaps it doesn’t care. That’s probably the more accurate scenario.

Being in a static place while writing a novel is a very real aspect of writing. Some people claim there is no such thing as writer’s block, that it is an excuse, but the truth is that now and then, getting to the right place with your story takes time. It takes having the that thing spark you, so you say, “Oh, yes, now I see it.” It takes something you just don’t have at your disposal at the moment.

I will continue to let my brain chug away at the answer, and I know that I will get there in the end.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

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Learn to Write from Reality TV

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Yes. I’m writing about reality TV. No, I’m not doing it ironically. I admit it, there is some “reality” television I honestly enjoy, and most of it involves “housewives” who are hurling things at one another, whether insults or beverages.

There is probably not one person left on the planet who thinks everything that happens on reality television is real. Well, maybe one, but Great Aunt Tillimeade is getting on in years and why deprive her of her one joy in life? (Disclaimer: Great Aunt Tillimeade, like many of the “storylines” on reality shows, is entirely fictional, poor dear). Like everything in media, reality television has its writers.

Real reality is boring. Imagine a reality show about my life. There would be endless footage of me staring at the cursor on the screen, giving up, turning on the television, and going back to the cursor. Riveting stuff.

That’s why those shows don’t do that. Instead they take what is most compelling, most interesting, most shocking, and put it together in a way that feels like a story. And it’s an excellent tip when you’re writing.

It’s easy when you are creating a world out of nothing to think that everything about that world and what happens in it is fascinating. Much in the way that the stars of reality TV feel that they are fascinating enough to justify their camera-toting escorts.

The reason the shows engage viewers is that they edit out the sameness of life, the day-to-day bits. Everything that isn’t relevant to tell the story.

See where I’m going with this?

When you write, no one wants to see the grocery shopping, unless the store is being robbed and your character is held hostage. If it’s really only to get the milk, and nothing relating to the larger story happens — even at a character level — aside from getting the milk, it won’t be all that interesting.

Show what you need to show to tell the story. That’s what keeps reality viewers coming back for more, and will always hook a reader.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

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The Dull Companionship of Boredom

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I remember, as a child, long empty afternoons and the feeling of having nothing to do. That sense of boredom settling down around me. More often than not, it would be relieved by the frequent application of books.

Even as an adult, it returns, but it’s not brought on by having nothing to do. I think these days, it’s more about not feeling like doing what it is we have to do. There is so much routine to adulthood, so many “have-tos,” in the regular rhythm of life. The tasks themselves aren’t enough to engage attention, let alone hold it. We want to rush through to be done with it, but when we are, there is the monotony of another task.

It would be nice to always be present and engaged, but I know my brain, at least, doesn’t work that way. Nope. It always has ideas of greener pastures, just there, over the next item on the to-do list, when I’ll luxuriate in the time made by the doing.

And when I get there, what do I see? Hmm. More to-dos, hazy on the horizon, but there, nonetheless. Of course avoiding them leads to a boredom of its own, a procrastination-type of boredom that is garnished with a hint of panic when you realize what you haven’t yet done.

I’d like to say that the cure for boredom is doing, but it is possible for the boredom to ride shotgun as you take on the list, reminding you of the tedium as you wade straight through it. Like most things, though, it passes, and then you hardly can remember the feeling at all.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

Sign up for my spamless newsletter. And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

There’s Nothing Quite Like Quiet

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For months and months I’ve been bombarded with noise. There was construction outside; there’s someone in the building I am convinced has a stack of 2x4s and a hobby of pounding row of after row of pointless nails.

But not today.

Today it is quiet. There’s barely a hum of traffic, there haven’t been any sirens at all, and the sky is a a heavy gray blanket suggesting sleep more than anything else.

After getting used to a racket that would subside only long enough to remind me how annoying it was when it started again, the silence has a different feel, a whole new texture to it. It’s almost distracting itself, that emptiness of air.

I will try to take in that silence. To bask in it. To make use of it. Soon enough, it will be noisy again, noisy enough to crowd out thoughts, to crowd out focus.

But for now, this moment is quiet and still. And I’ll take it.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

Sign up for my spamless newsletter. And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Weathering the Idea Monsoon

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We’ve all been to the writing desert, haven’t we? That vast, empty place where there isn’t an idea for miles in any direction, where it feels as though inspiration will never come again. That place isn’t fun.

But what about when the idea monsoon season starts? It sounds like an embarrassment of riches, right? From nothing to a flood of ideas rushing through your head.

Except that can be tricky. I’ve written about how you can’t rely on inspiration as a writer, but it does strike, and when it does, you should grab your surfboard and ride the wave. Only sometimes, the wave breaks off into a hundred different directions.

Yes, I realize I’ve taken that metaphor as far it will take me. Much like the wave of inspiration.

Often when we feel that spark, it’s not just a single spark. Your brain is in creativity mode, and it is firing on all cylinders. The hard part is picking one thing on which to focus while there are shiny new twinklies all around you.

Write them down. The idea will wait for you if you put it down on paper or note it on your computer. Give yourself as much detail as you have, and make sure it’s there for you when you can move on to it.

If I gave in every time a new project beckoned, I’d never finish any. In fact, it’s almost as though it’s a defense mechanism, a distraction when I’m getting close to the end.

Once in a while, I let the siren song call me away, especially when it’s already feeling solid to me, whole. When it crosses the boundary of simple inspiration to something more concrete. But otherwise I try to put that energy into what needs finishing, and I save my flood waters for an utterly unrainy day.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

Sign up for my spamless newsletter. And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

 

The Nitty Gritty of Show Don’t Tell

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It’s a phrase every writer has heard enough times to fill a telephone book. Remember telephone books? No? Well, they were big with a lot of words.

Show, don’t tell.

Great. But what does it mean, exactly? Because the reality is that you can’t show literally everything. If you did show absolutely everything, then we’re back to the telephone book again.

You need to decide what is essential to your story, and that is what you show. The maxim applies to character, to plot, to environment, to really every aspect of your work. For example, describing the contents of a room is telling; having a character fiddle with an important object is showing.

Word choice also comes into play. There are words in the English language that are very economical, and say exactly what they mean. That is good. But when it comes to something a character is doing, for example, that is not as good. It puts the reader on the tightly closed outside of the moment instead of on the inside. Saying “Jane fidgeted,” is fine. “Jane shifted in her seat, her fingertips drumming together,” paints a more detailed picture. “Jane twirled her hair around her finger,” paints a different one.

Show, don’t tell isn’t simply a convention. It’s not something designed to make the work of writing harder, though sometimes, if we’re all being honest, it does. In truth, it’s a deceptively simple road map for creating a world and people who will feel real to readers and draw them inside.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

Sign up for my spamless newsletter. And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Don’t Ever Doubt the Power of Words

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As writers, words are our tools, words are our materials, words are our product. Words can feel impermanent, nebulous. But don’t be fooled, not for a moment.

Words can change the world.

Words have changed the world. Words can be strung together in ways that ring throughout time, throughout history, until the words themselves become the history. Words can breathe life into a possible future far from the present in which they were spoken.

Words can tell us of a dream.

Today we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose beautifully shaped words changed people’s idea of what was possible. Thanks to this man and his words, my life is  a wonderfully colorful place where I can connect with other people without a thought to skin color or religion or any of the other categories that are used to divide us.

Through a speech that lives on and on, he painted a picture of this future, which formed my current reality. Now is very different from then. That is what words can do.

5 Tips for Zingy Characters

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You can’t have a fictional world without characters. Well, you could, but it would be an awfully empty one. Characters are the centers of our imaginary universes; they drive our plots, connect to our readers, and add fun, fear, intrigue or perhaps all of the above.

Sounds great, right? Sign me up. I like characters. But how do you make characters in a two-dimensional medium feel completely real? Here are 5 quick tips to keep in mind while populating your stories.

1. What do they say? How do you get to know someone when you meet him or her in real life? Through conversation, right? Unless you’re a creepy stalker, in which case characters aren’t your biggest issue. You find out about people through what they say, and, sometimes more importantly, what they don’t say. If someone doesn’t mention a significant other in a first meeting, there could be a wealth of reasons. They don’t have one. They just lost one. They’re in pursuit of one. They’re trying to get rid of one. They’re interested in the other person. Each possibility creates a different dimension for the character, and says something about the person talking or withholding information.

2. How do they say it? Does your main character only look at his shoes when he talks to other people? Does she dart around from task to task, the conversation having to follow her? How do other people react to what they say? Do they listen? Do they ignore it? Do they feel slighted they’re not getting full attention? What is happening while people are talking can make a big difference in terms of the feel of the characters and their world.

3. What is their motivation? This one should be first, really, on any list. It’s vital not only to character, but to driving the plot as well. What do the characters want, and why do they want it? Every single fictional person in your story must have a motivation to do whatever they do, or they won’t ring true. That doesn’t mean that you spell it out, as in “The janitor was anxious to finish his work to get home to watch the game so he pushed the broom quickly.” Rather, describing the janitor as he hurries through his tasks, perhaps missing something vital in the process, can push the story without condescending to the reader. The reader doesn’t have to know why the janitor hurried, but the fact that the janitor was in a rush gives him an added dimension, (mediocre attention to detail), the story an added tension (missed task) and plot point (consequences for the missed task).

4. What are their limits? People are often defined by what they might be willing to do to reach their goals, but what about what they are not willing to do? Where do they draw the line? If there is no line, then that says a lot about the character. If they would lie but not steal, that says something. If they would cheat but not divorce, that says something as well. What does your character think is OK? What does she or he think is justifiable though maybe questionable? What will he rationalize? What won’t she?

5. Who or what do they care about? If your character doesn’t care about anyone, she or he might be a misanthrope. Or a psychopath. If your character doesn’t care about anyone or anything, he might be depressed. If your character cares about everything and everyone too much, that shows a whole other side of personality. Does she like animals or hate animals? Does he get along with his brother or detest him? Is she going to get on student council at any cost?

You don’t create convincing characters by describing them to your readers. Not only is that the worst of telling rather than showing, it’s not that interesting to read. Instead, let your readers get to know them the way you get to know people, and they’ll spring to life.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

Sign up for my spamless newsletter. And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

 

 

Feeling Uninspired? Me Too!

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Inspiration is a beautiful, glorious thing. It hits you like a static shock: unexpected and something you just can’t miss. When it has you cradled in its creative arms, words flow effortlessly as if from the great beyond.

But it’s fickle.

You can’t always count on inspiration. In fact if you want to be a writer, a real writer and not a dabbler, you can’t count on it at all. You can hope for it, of course, and welcome it when it does arrive, hoarding all of its beautiful suggestions for drier, emptier days. But you will get nowhere if you sit waiting for inspiration to strike.

Inspiration has other things to do. Inspiration has a packed calendar and reminders on its phone that beep every three minutes. Inspiration is really, really busy.

The work of writing comes when you’re standing in the middle of the idea desert, not even a mirage of a thought for miles in every direction, the sun beating down you as though you were under interrogation. The work comes when you are in a tundra of white even sameness all around, with not even a hint of warmth to spark an idea.

The work comes when you stare at that blinking cursor long enough and just start typing.

I’ve talked before about how we like to romanticize the idea of writing, that it seems like it should be all quills and garrets and smooth, unbroken stretches of silence. It’s nothing like that.

Nope, writing — real writing — is knowing when you’re not inspired. And it’s sitting down to do the work anyway.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

Sign up for my spamless newsletter. And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

 

Storytelling Insight from Victorian England

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I was watching a British period drama — I haven’t met one yet that I’d pass up —  when it struck me that in Victorian times, according to literature written in that time and about that time, people used to die of anything. Even, simply, the loss of desire to keep living.

It is really quite remarkable. They decided they were too upset to go on, and then they didn’t.

It’s a convention found in the work of many, many authors of the era. There was no real need for a cause for death, for  a catalyst; the desire not to live was enough.

It’s one thing you can count on in Victorian novels. If a character doesn’t want to keep living, he or she won’t.

Is that an aspect of Victorian storytelling itself, or was it a sign of the times? In the time-frame of the show, somewhere in the late 1860s, a great deal of medicine was a mystery. In fact, it was only around that time that Louis Pasteur was drawing the connection between germs and disease. Without the science, a lot of life and death could look like mind over matter.

On the other hand, it does make for a convenient plot device, especially since it relies on the audience’s familiarity with the idea to do part of the work. Once someone seems to give up on life, any reader knew the clock was ticking.

It’s probably easier to see these kinds of shortcuts from a distance, especially when they are based on common assumptions that are later proven wrong. But it makes for a good question for any writer to ask him or herself while writing:

Is this here because it’s real? Or is it here because it’s easy?

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

Sign up for my spamless newsletter. And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!