Writing for Fun (Penny Rader)

Having one of those days or weeks where you just can't focus on your novel or novella? Consider taking a play break - choose a topic or two from Write Source and see where it goes.

A few examples:

• I know a lot about...
• Sometimes I wish...
• Something I don't understand
• What makes me special
• I'll never eat another...
• Grandma's attic
• If I could be someone else, I would be...
• We got caught!
• The toys I'll never give up.
• If I were a superhero, I'd be...

~~~

I saw this on Twitter and it really spoke to me. Maybe it'll speak to you, too.

Today — do not be angry.

Today — do not worry.

Today — be kind to yourself and others.

Today — be honest to yourself and others.

Today — work diligently.

– Usui Sensei, 1865-1926

You can find the complete article by Nora Dunn here.

~~~

Anything you care to share?

"What's On Your Mind?" (Frances Louis)

There are a host of things that prevent me from actually engaging in the craft of writing. Laundry, kids, my bevy of exchange student placements and LIFE in general, all compete for the precious 2.5 hours of solitude I carve out every weekday afternoon. But the crutch I struggle with the most, the largest demon that continues to seduce me with its promise of easy entertainment, is by far and large, social media, especially Facebook.

It has become a routine, a daily ingrained habit that I must adhere to, lest I be left out of someone's gossip or another's vacation pictures. Of their own accord, my fingers automatically type out the website address and I find myself scanning the status updates of people I haven't seen since my days in high school, which, without divulging my age, was a long time ago.

I don't need to know silly things like what people ate for lunch, or what grade their kids made on the latest spelling test, especially from people I haven't seen in 10+ years, but I can't help myself. I am hopelessly lulled to the website and to the senseless and easy entertainment it provides in my otherwise quiet and rather lonely day.

I'd like to blame Mark Zuckerburg for inventing one of the biggest time suckers known to man, but it isn't Mark that sits at my laptop, chatting with my friends, or updating my status on Facebook. It's me, myself, and I that wile away precious writing time knowing full well the consequences of such behavior.

I can conjure a slew of excuses as to why I NEED to participate and engage myself in the world of social media. But the real reason I immerse myself into other's business and why I blab about my day for the entire world to see, is because, simply put, I'm lonely.

Writing is a solitary and sedentary career. I am the only one that can write my story. I am the only one that can sit at the laptop for hours at a time creating the world that I see in my head. While I find myself a rather social and amiable sort, being alone for hours at a time gets dull, boring, and rather lonesome. The idea that someone, even a virtual someone, is only a status update away, is more than alluring. It's downright comforting.

Which is why I suppose, I will always have to fight the demons and focus on not what everyone else is doing, but what I am (or am not) creating.

(Not) In the Mood

This month we've been blogging about the writing problems we struggle with and how we solve them.  Some problems are solved permanently, some are solved temporarily, and some are never solved.  The reasons can be anything from a change in our lives that happens because of outside circumstances or it can be from something inside ourselves.  Sometimes we have control, and sometimes we don't.  The trick is discovering whether we fool ourselves into blaming things out of our control, when we really can do something about then, if we make a change, either in ourselves or the world and people around us.

Every one of us has been through those not-in-the-mood-to-write times, whether it's  a good time or a bad time.  I've been going through that since early this year, and I've found that I have had to sit down and make myself write.  That means literally sitting myself in my chair at my desk, putting my hands on the keyboard, and bringing up the Word file I need to work with.  And even then I have to trick myself into doing what needs to be done.  I'll be honest.  Even that doesn't always work.

Sometimes even trying to trick myself doesn't work. I just don't feel like writing.  Today is one of those days.  I know I should.  In additional to this blog post, I'm working on some old manuscripts, trying to decide if any are worth reworking and revising or if they should be put back under the proverbial bed and forgotten.  I'm not making much progress.  I'm just not in the mood.

Not wanting to write can be linked to not feeling our writing is worthwhile.  Do we feel guilty for taking time away from family to do something for ourselves?  Has someone said or done something that tells us they think writing is a waste of our time?  Have we recently received a rejection or entered a contest where a judge's comments have made us doubt ourselves?  There are thousands of things that can open the door to doubt, but the only one who can close that door is ourselves.

If, like me, you're struggling with not being in the mood to write, take a look at what's going on in your life.  If you find whatever it might be that is causing the non-writing mood isn't something that can be changed, then wait as patiently as possible, without beating yourself up, until an opportunity, no matter how small, presents itself.  And if that non-writing mood is caused by something within, it's time to take a close look, be honest, and do whatever is necessary to change it.

Good luck!  (I know I need it!)

IMAGINATION      INSPIRATION      ENCOURAGEMENT      MOTIVATION

"If Music Be the Food of Love, Play On." - William Shakespeare (Melissa Robbins)

This month, we have been discussing problems writers face. I'm going to discuss inspiration. If we want to write, we find the time and push away those fear demons.

What inspires me to sit at a computer for hours on end (besides my characters wanting to get out and me going crazy until they do)? Music. I have a playlist on my computer that plays along while I write. My husband mocks my “soundtrack” for my stories, but listening to certain songs when I'm writing helps with the emotions that go into a scene.

So here is my playlist made up of songs from movie soundtracks and swing music since my story takes place in 1940.

Page 47 – National Treasure 2, Book of Secrets - This song has that epic quality to it. I picture fighter planes flying over my heroine's head or Wren standing on that beautiful spot on the cliffs overlooking the Channel.

Sing, Sing, Sing – Benny Goodman - I can't have a playlist for a story set in 1940 without including this classic. Sure makes it easy to write a dance scene in a village hall filled with fun and forgotten cares. It starts as soon as my heroine and her friends walk through the door.

Jumpin' Jack – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy – This is my hero, Jack's swing theme song. The boy loves to dance. My kids love this song and request it when we are driving in the car.

First Class – X-men: First Class – There are some amazing songs on this soundtrack. Similar tunes run through all the songs, but to me they convey so much emotion and it is sure fun to picture Jack sauntering sexily to this song.

503 – Angels and Demons – A sorrowful song; there is a war going on.

(I Would Do) Anything for You – Benny Goodman – as a former clarinet player, I'm a big fan of Benny (not that my band director let us clarinet players play any of his stuff). This song is Wren and Jack's fast theme swing song. I always found the title appropriate.

Goodnight, My Love – Benny Goodman – Wren and Jack's slow theme swing song; Jack sings it to her. My kids love this song, too. They all sing it in the car. I caught Becca (my three year old) belting the song out in the living room one day without the music playing. She could only remember two lines, but it was cute.

Kingdom Dance – Tangled – I LOVE this movie. It is my favorite Disney one. How does this song figure into my story? It has an Irish dance flair to it and I have a scene where one of my character's dad is playing his fiddle during an air raid.

Sky Battle – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 – What can I say? I have Royal Air Force pilots in my story. There are one or two 'sky battles'.

X-Training – X-men: First Class – I wrote this romantic scene that Fran loves. When she asked me how I did it, I told her this song inspired me. Fran doesn't believe me. She thinks this song is more action than romantic, but to me it is one sexy song. My favorite on the list.

Rage and Serenity – X-men: First Class – Did I mention how much I like this soundtrack? This song is short, but I LOVE how it starts off quiet and gets louder and more powerful. Perfect for a kissing scene when it is so not the time for my characters to be kissing.

Forest Battle and I Claim Your Sun – Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen – I love the Transformers soundtracks. When I hear these songs, (they are pretty similar) I picture a scene from my story where my characters are first riding on motorcycles through bombed out London and then they have to run when the debris gets too bad. I haven't written that scene yet, but it's in my head.

Arrival to Earth – Transformers - Did I mention I like these soundtracks? This song is perfect for the final air raid at the end of my story. Planes, bombs, explosions, etc.

Optimus vs. Megatron – Transformers – This is beyond sad. Since I associate this song with a scene from my first story, when I see the part in the Transformers movie where this song is, I start crying.

Now We Are Free – Gladiator – This song makes me happy and sad.

Mutant and Proud – X-men: First Class – This is a kissing song. What? The title doesn't sound like it, but to me it is. This is the longer version of Rage and Serenity, when my characters have more time to kiss.

Obliviate – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1– When I hear this song, I picture several of my characters reacting individually after the previous scene. Since my story is first person, most of these scenes aren't actually in the story, but it helps me with their feelings for later. I can just feel the coldness of that train window through my skin.

I See the Light – Tangled – Such a romantic song and this is Jack's singing voice. Sigh. Wren won't be singing with him. She couldn't sing to save her life.

Something That I Want – Tangled – Just a fun song. Flynn is my favorite Disney hero and he just happens to share his name with Jack's middle name.

Silver Wings March - There is one song that hasn't made it on my actual playlist yet because my dad is still trying to figure out how to get the music onto a CD. I asked my dad to compose an Army Air Corps song reminiscence of Bell Bottom Trousers (the sweet, nice version) and he did. I have the lyrics, Shiny Silver Wings. They made it into the stories. Dad promises to sing it too.

There you have it. My Wren and Company Playlist. Maybe one of these songs will inspire you. Does music inspire you to write? Do you have songs that you like to listen to when you write? Perhaps we should say instead, "If writing be the food of love, write on!"

Writing Amid Chaos (Penny Rader)

This month we’ve been talking about what gets in the way of our writing. Fear? Check. Procrastination? Check. Time Management? Check. Distractions? Check. Myself? Ch—no one wrote that post, but I’m the one who gets in my own way.

In addition to the fear that the words just won’t come and frittering away my time by procrastinating and indulging myself in all sorts of distractions, my other obstacle is writing when all around me is chaos. Or rather, not writing.

There've been several health issues in my family this year. Nearly lost my mom in May. My dh has another surgery scheduled this week. A separate, highly emotional issue is also pulling us in all directions and might go on for another month, maybe indefinitely.

During times like these my brain freezes. I’ll jot down things the doctors, etc. say so I won’t forget…but creative writing? Doesn’t happen. My brain is just mush. I can read (to momentarily escape), but I’m unable to create, unable to lose myself within my own writing. I remember hearing a story as a kid about tigers chasing each other around a tree. Around and around they went. Faster and faster and faster until they turned into butter. That’s my brain. Butter. A messy blur.

I’ve read that many, if not most, writers write through emotional chaos. That writing helps them through trying times. Are you one of those people? How do you do it? Or are you like me and unable to write when your life is a stressful mess, especially emotional stress?

Distractions - The little things that draw my attention

Look up distraction in the dictionary and you get three examples of noun definitions:
1. The act of distracting or the condition of being distracted.
2. Something, especially an amusement, that distracts.
3. Extreme mental or emotional disturbance, obsession; obsession: loved the puppy to distraction.

Yes, I know...what could a picture of a huge wine bottle possibly have to do with my article? Well, nothing. Your point?

Okay I am ruled by distractions and being weak when I come face to face with them.

In relation to my writing, I am a master at creating complicated schedules of What needs to be done, Why it needs to be done (contract), and When it must be done. I color code my Outlook calendar by publisher, my writing business, promotional stuff, release dates, and personal stuff, too. It looks so good, so pretty. And when I get finished updating it all, I am so impressed with myself. I am determined to start working through it all.

BUT along comes a post on one of the groups I follow online about using Kindlegraph for autographing Kindle books…and I have to check it out. Then someone else tells me what great PR they’re getting by doing giveaways on Goodreads. Yep, I’ve got to check into it and set up my own giveaway. Oh, and someone mentioned Wikispaces in the latest RWR magazine and what a useful tool a writer can have there. I barely finished reading the article before I was out there creating my own massive database in Wikispaces.

What happens by getting so easily distracted? I have to shift my pretty colors around on my calendar. Everything that was so nicely spaced out and gave me plenty of time to finish whatever it was is now squished together. I suddenly need 48 hour days instead of 24 hour. (heavy, heavy sigh here)

My daughter and I started a travel writing website for our adventures, which, of course, keeps getting put on the “Do tomorrow” list. Anyway, I love the caption she put on it: We believe a map is merely a suggestion…until something “shiny” catches our attention.

Apparently all of my life is that way, filled with mere suggestions about the “when”s and too easily distracted by “shiny” things. I’m obsessed with loving all of those spur-of-the-moment distractions.

Wake UP and Smell the.....

Writers are strange creatures. They make stuff up in their heads. Then they write it down. Then, if everyone is really lucky, they share their creations with others. How can anything go so sadly awry with that?

Becaaaassse. We're all different. We mix methods and proceedures together differently from each other and there is no way to know in advance of actually writing and completing a body of work to know how our individual mind will function in the creative process of writing.

For example let us take those pansters and plotters. Pansters are supposed to fly by the seat of their pants which is supposed to mean that each day brings new material to their heads and therefor their fingers. Yeah right. In reality, their minds have been very busy thinking this way and that. They have tacked the big problems, and some of the minor, by allowing their subconscious brain to figure out the plot and characters for them. I have yet to hear of a panster who did not have any idea whether their characters and story were going to be an adventure or a contemporary story before they began writing it. There is a little bit of structure in mind before the fingers hit the keys. A panster might not know how a story will unfold, but they usually begin with at least one character, a place or situation for that character to be in, and an idea of where the character will end up whether physically or mentally.

Those of us who are plotters are amazing creatures of planning. Plotters decide in advance who does what in who's alley, when, and why. They string together pearls of moments for their characters to complete. One new writer that I sometimes talk to discovered last week that writing 3x5 cards with plot points on them and then playing with them to create order has suddenly let her writing ability soar. She's written over a hundred pages in four days. More than she's ever completed before. The only thing slowing her down is having to work for a living. This breakthrough is after more than ten years of writing. She carries the cards to organize her life and the transfer of her ideas of her story into a pile of cards added to what she keeps on her was an epiphany.

How long does it take a writer to complete a project? Some writers can complete a novel-sized project in a few weeks. Other writers complete one only after decades of work on it. Some writers take course after course attempting to memorize enough grammar and structure from various instructors to be able to express themselves fluidly. The frustration of attempting to take an amorphous idea, notion, or emotion and explain it in the words of the author's language, which is regularly too imprecise for satisfaction, often causes author hair loss and vague growling sounds to be uttered.

How, then, do we figure out how our individual writing processes work if the art of writing is not consistent? Because it is consistent. If you interview enough writers a body of commonality forms in a smorgasbord of writer traits. The most important trick of all as a beginning writer is to stay true to your own story. Do not let others who are confident in their opinions to overly sway your work. Trust your writer's gut. It is a sensitive organ and will let you know if a piece of advice or methodology rings true for you. Do not scoff at other writer's notions or paths. Their own individual expression in the story world cannot ever be yours. It may be similar. It may be very dissimilar. Writing is much like learning to run. First you have to figure out how to crawl, toddle, walk, and then run. Yes, we fall down and cause ourselves to bruise, but not to move at all means a large part of a potential writer's world is missing.

I once read that a story must have so much dialogue. I put dialogue in. I then had to go back and pull it all out as it was wrong for the characters and the story. I should have stayed true to myself and expressed what happened in my own way. Then the story would have flowed and all would have been right in my world. However, without the attempt, how would I have ever figured it out? There is no one who can teach a writer to write expressing his own talent. It cannot be done as a writing talent is too individualized in its expression.

What do we do? We wake up and smell the morning beverage. That's what we do. We plug along with baby steps, asking for advice, trying out different methods, write our stories, and as we gain experience and understanding we can begin to fly.

Are you awake? Then join WARA so that you have all the help you can ask for on the writer's path.