Are You Listening?

Howdy gang! Trust you've all survived the life sledgehammer we call Monday? I'm still counting toes, but I think I made it through mostly intact. 

I'm smiling at the title of this post, because it was my long-dead deaf grandmother's catchphrase. She lost her hearing early in life, and I never knew her any other way. So I was an unusually patient kid when it came to people explaining things. 

Why? Because a conversation with grandma would take twice as long as any normal conversation. I'd often have to write things down (learned a lot about reading and writing in that way) for her to understand what I was trying to say. Or I'd have to find what I was talking about to show her. As I got older, I learned to speak slowly so she could read my lips, which she was aces at. 

As for the catchphrase, you'd be surprised at how adept we are at making conversation without actually looking at who we're talking and listening to. The reason is simple: We can hear. 

It's why telephones work. We can say, 'mmm hmmm' and 'uh huh' and 'sure' and the person on the other end of the conversation knows we're listening.

Granny didn't have that luxury. So if she were telling you something important, she'd often qualify it with, "Are ye listening?" That was your cue to turnaround and give her your face-front full attention. 

I'm a pretty good listener. I owe part of that to my counseling background, but I owe a lot to granny too. I learned good listening skills long before I knew what they were: Eye contact. Use lots of non-verbal affirmations (nod, more pronounced facial expressions, etc.). Frequently check for understanding, and so on.

But enough of the memory lane. Let's play a game! 

Here's how it works: I'm going to ask you a question. Then, because I'm a lonely writer who doesn't ask questions to people who can actually hear and talk to him, I'm going to answer for you as well.

Wait, that doesn't sound like a fun game? (Asks the bossy five year old me.) Well we're going to play it anyway! (Says the bossy five year old me.) Here goes:

Me Question: Do you listen to podcasts?

You Answer: I should.

Wasn't that fantastic fun? I won by the way...

I know, you're busy. You've got 8 kids, 14 dogs, a lion cub, a flooding basement, 6 jobs, a 9th child you call your spouse and dinner won't fix itself. Who has the time to listen to podcasts, especially when it cuts into your LMFAO time? (You know you sing along when it comes on the radio. It's OK, this is a judgment free zone when it comes to music ... well, except for the Bieber.) 

That's exactly why you need to listen to podcasts. You can put them on in the background while cleaning, driving and cooking. The best part is there are some truly awesome writing related ones out there. And unlike reading a book on craft, you can listen to them while you're pulling your child out of the trash compactor. 

As I mentioned, there are lots of them out there, and they cover every imaginable writing subject. Some focus on genre, some talk about the industry, some give tips on publishing independently, some talk marketing and some are craft related.

Most are run by authors, but there are plenty done by editors and other book people. The two I'm going to pass on to you are some of the best I've found. They're short and exceedingly useful to your writing endeavors. 

The first is the Writing Excuses podcast. It's run by four authors whose backgrounds range from science fiction and fantasy to young adult horror. Each episode is (to quote their tagline), "15 minutes long, because you're in a hurry, we're not that smart." They cram a ton of useful information into each cast, have lots of great guests and cover everything from plotting to movie formulas. THEIR WEBSITE.  

The second is the Grammar Girl podcast. This is seriously like listening to a style guide, and a must for those who struggle with the finer details of writing and language (read - me). Even if you don't struggle, there's still plenty to learn. Grammar Girl covers things like how/when to use a dash, colon or comma and if using sentence fragments is an OK tactic in fiction. The best part is that she rarely strays over six or seven minutes for each topic--her tagline is, "Quick and Dirty Tips"--and you'll know tons more by the end. HER WEBSITE. 

HOW TO LISTEN

There are lots of ways to listen to podcasts. If you own a smart phone, there are numerous apps you can download that will manage your podcasts, allow you to add new ones, etc. If you're an iTune user, just go to the iTunes store and click on the "Podcasts" drop down list. You can search by whatever subject, download and listen. I think most if not all of them are free. 

You can also go to the specific website. If you click the links above, each podcast episode has a link to listen right there on the page.

I'm going to do a followup post this week with a couple of tips for listening via your iTunes, iPhone, etc.

Do you listen to any writing related podcasts?

~EJW~

Saving Your Best Writing for Lean Times

Autumn is a great time of year for animal watching. Those first few cold mornings seem to set off Nature's alarm clock, sending the furry and feathered of the world into work mode. They gather and munch on the best and last of the year's harvest, knowing without being told that the abundance they've been enjoying is wicking away. They instinctually understand that soon there won't be enough of the good stuff to go around.

I'm wondering if writers should have a similar instinct.

A writer friend of mine posed an interesting question the other day: Do you ever hold back really good lines, metaphors, etc. from your blog posts or social correspondence so you can use them in your stories?

My initial reaction was, "Of course not, I write in the moment! If the words make the long commute from my brain to fingertips, I'm shooting them off like celebratory creative fireworks! My readers deserve only my best, after all." Actually, I wish that had been my response ... 

I really said something like, "I don't think I'd remember it later, so I just use whatever comes to me and hope I think of something equally good the next time." 

Like most writers, I always (ALWAYS) secretly fear there won't be a next time. 

If you've dabbled at the word game long enough you realize that creative juice can have an incredibly short shelf-life. What flows tasty and free tonight can go sour by morning, often with very little provocation or warning. That isn't to say I believe in writer's block. No, I don't think there's some kind of mental barrier that springs up like a wart in our minds, preventing us from writing until it somehow dissolves.

I do think we sometimes don't feel like pushing our brains into that fringe creative area, or maybe even forget how to do it for a time. That's probably what separates hobby writers from daily writers. The hobby writer wanders off until their brain gets hungry enough to come back around; the daily writer puts out some bait and lures the sucker into a trap--forcing it to work. Figuring out what bait to use is often the trick.

Understanding that inspiration can be fickle, is there some merit to holding onto the really good stuff? Saving your best for your most important moments, as it were. It certainly seems so. 

There are probably only so many great similes and metaphors to be had, and it's just a matter of time until someone else comes up with it. Unfortunately, constantly tucking the good stuff away might lead to some really bland blogs. I've been considering some options and they are:

• Keep a journal or blank Word document handy to scribble down the good stuff when it comes. Lots of writers journal, but most use them for story ideas, not great sentences or thoughts. If you're ever stuck in your writing, break it out and get inspired by your own genius. (You can do this with the good stuff you actually use as well.)

• Many cell phones have voice recording options, so you can use that as an auditory record. If you don't have a recorder, just call your own voice mail box and leave yourself a message. (WARNING: This may make you appear VERY crazy and/or unstable to friends and loved ones.) 

• When inspiration hits, we're often so caught up in moving to the next bit that we don't fully utilize or explore what's there. Consider jotting down that great phrase, etc. and then forcing yourself to write two or three more along the same lines. Use one and keep the others for future use. It'll add some time to whatever you're working on, but it might pay off later.

• When I'm writing blog posts I often write two or three paragraphs that don't get used simply because the idea for the post changes as I go. Instead of tossing them out I plan on saving them (if they're good) for fodder for future posts and the like.

Do you save your best? If so, how do you do it? (Journal, etc.) Is it something you'd consider doing?

~EJW~

Do You Hear What I Hear?

No, I haven't been frozen in carbonite and suddenly reanimated thinking it's still December.  Nor have I been in a coma; although with the amount of NyQuil I've ingested the last few days that might not be too far from the truth.

I've spent the last few days in the company of two of my favorite women ... I should clarify.  (My wife reads this blog!)  My brother and sister-in-law were in need of a child sitter so I made the modest trip to Fort Worth to preside court over two lovely red haired angels of destruction and fun.  AKA - My nieces.  I spent the rest of my time--like the rest of the planet, it seems--battling the flu.

I'm not 100%, but I'm back and it seems I've missed the busiest week in this meager blog's existence!   It seems my last post (regarding book reviews on blogs) was well received.  So much so that we made the venerable YA Highway's weekly Field Trip Friday Big News Feature!  (You can read it here.)  For those of you who aren't familiar with YAH, it's a fantastic (and very popular) collaborative blog for all things YA lit related.  I've followed and admired the blog for a while now, so it's really cool to get a little love from the fine folks that run it.

You may have noticed that I said "we".  I did so because it's truly the comments that make any blog post worth doing/reading.  If it weren't for all of the thoughtful discussion that post would have been just another example of a crazy guy shouting at a  cyber-wall.  So for that I'll say that I truly appreciate everyone who took the time to share their thoughts (even to those who disagreed), and that I'll try to make it around to each of your blogs in the next couple of days to pay the ultimate blog respect by commenting on and reading your blogs.

But enough of that!  We can't stand around basking in our success.  We're writers (I think), we should SIT and bask in our success.  :)

The real purpose of this post is to share a couple of writing resources with you.  I don't typically listen to podcasts, but I'm usually on the smelly end of most trends so that doesn't mean much.  However, when a friend of mine recommended that I give a couple of writing-related podcasts a go I decided 'why the heck not.'  (The fact that I had 8 hours of car travel ahead of me this week may have had something to do with it.)  In short, they were awesome and I won't miss an episode from now on.

For the uninitiated, a podcast is simply a live and/or recorded broadcast that is distributed digitally over the internet.  You can find them all over the web and they cover absolutely every subject imaginable.  Most podcasts live on various websites that you can visit and stream the audio over your computer.  You can also 'subscribe' to many podcasts via iTunes, which will automatically download a recorded cast to your computer when a new one is available.  Once downloaded, you can place it on your digital audio player of choice to listen to during a workout, car ride, etc. or simply listen to it right there on your computer.

The podcasts I'm recommending to you are both writing related and absolutely worth your time.  I'll give a brief description of each along with links to where you can find them on the web.   Here goes:

Litopia After Dark - This podcast is put on by the folks who run the popular Litopia Writer's Colony website.  It is a fun and ultra-informative weekly examination of the publishing industry by various publishing pros with agents, writers, editors, etc. participating each week.  They even have a live forum running during the broadcast so you can chime in with questions and such.

It has a very English flavor that makes it a blast to listen to.  Most importantly, you'll get a very uncensored look at the industry.  The episodes tend to run over an hour, so you'll need some time to get them all in, but they're more than worth it.  Here's the link for more information.

Writing Excuses - The second cast I'm recommending is very different than the first in that it focuses on the craft of writing.  Its run by a group of authors, and each episode includes writing prompts, samples, and discussion.  This one is meant to be bite-sized as their tagline suggests: "Fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart."  While some episodes stretch slightly longer, this tends to be a very focused discussion on various writing skills.   


Listen to 3 episodes, and I'd almost guarantee your writing will be stronger for it.  Here's the link for more information. 


That's all I've got for now.  Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!


~EJW~