Hey all! I truly hope all of you are well and enjoying what's left of May. No more school soon for many of us, at least for a couple of months. Parents, are you ready? I know the teachers and students are! :-)
I've been busy working on my writing projects and life the past few weeks, and really just taking a break from blogging. I'm just about ready to jump back in with both feet, and I hope to have some fun stuff to talk about. But first ...
Can you really ever know enough about someone? I don't think so. For instance, did you know that I love coffee more than air? Hmm? Did you? Now you'll know, because I was invited to an interview by my Writing Crusade blog-friend, Akoss. You can jump over here to read more titillating details about me, and more importantly check out Akoss' awesome blog.
In an honor of my rampant egotism, I offer you this snappy musical number:
I'll be back to my regular blogging shortly, and until then I wish you well and happy writing.
EJ
A-Z Writer's Toolbox: Yoga & Zen
GOING ON BLOGCATION:
A-Z is finished! Thank you all so much for sticking with me this month (and thanks to all of the new followers as well)! This was truly a challenge, and I really feel a sense of accomplishment having pulled it off. I'll confess that when I started I never thought I would be able to keep up with posting daily for an entire month. I guess you never know what you can do until you try? I hope I've provided you with at least a few helpful bits of information, inspiration or entertainment in the process.
Taking part in the challenge has put me way behind in keeping up with all of the wonderful blogs I follow (you all), responding to all of the people who've taken the time to follow and comment on my A-Z posts, and various other blog community tasks. I greatly apologize for that. Consequently, I'm going to be taking a blog vacation for the next few weeks in an attempt to read all of the great stuff I've undoubtedly missed. I'm also going to work on finishing a couple of writing projects that have taken a backseat. I'll apologize in advance for the silence, but I hope to come back energized with loads of great stuff to talk about. Until then, take care and keep writing.
~EJW~
Y and Z are for yoga and zen
Let me put this out there right from the start: I'm not suggesting writers need to take up yoga. Undoubtedly, we'd all be a little more healthy for it, but I'm not sure it's in the cards for everyone. Personally, I'm about as flexible as petrified tree dowsed in cement, and spandex and I have never been the best of friends. I digress ...
As a discipline there is a ton that writers can learn from yoga. There's a saying that yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory, and I think that applies to writing as well. Although some may have a natural ability, most of the folks who truly excel at writing had to learn how. They learned how through repetition.
In yoga, concentration is king. To hold an excruciating pose you must block out your discomfort, you must block out distractions, and you must above all focus on the act itself.
Writing is no different. It's often intensely uncomfortable and infinitely difficult to sustain. Much like yoga, writing takes an incredible amount of discipline and patience. Very little in writing can be learned quickly, and mastery can take a lifetime--if it comes at all. It is a daily grind that requires strength and endurance.
Like yoga, progress in writing is often hard to measure, and almost solely gauged on an individual basis. Forget comparing yourself to others in yoga, it's an internal and subjective act. You're only going to best yourself. I think the same SHOULD apply to writing. Forget comparisons, just try to be better than you were the day before.
Yoga and the Zen philosophy go hand in hand, as do writing and Zen. Zen is all about attaining wisdom and enlightenment through study and self-reflection. Yoga teaches Zen by forcing you to explore your limits (both physical and mental). If you attempt to write your flaws and limits will flash like a neon sign from day one. Zen emphasizes slowing down mentally, as does yoga. Writing a novel forces you to slow down and examine the parts of a whole.
There are so many other commonalities we could discuss, but I think I'll leave you with a few Zen quotes and sayings to let you ponder how it might apply to your writing life.
Lao Tzu ~
"The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."
Do not speak - unless it improves on silence.
The path of the enlightened one leaves no track- it is like the path of birds in the sky.
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.
We cannot see our reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.
Student says " I am very discouraged. What should I do?" Master says, "encourage others."
To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.
A jug fills drop by drop.
A-Z is finished! Thank you all so much for sticking with me this month (and thanks to all of the new followers as well)! This was truly a challenge, and I really feel a sense of accomplishment having pulled it off. I'll confess that when I started I never thought I would be able to keep up with posting daily for an entire month. I guess you never know what you can do until you try? I hope I've provided you with at least a few helpful bits of information, inspiration or entertainment in the process.
Taking part in the challenge has put me way behind in keeping up with all of the wonderful blogs I follow (you all), responding to all of the people who've taken the time to follow and comment on my A-Z posts, and various other blog community tasks. I greatly apologize for that. Consequently, I'm going to be taking a blog vacation for the next few weeks in an attempt to read all of the great stuff I've undoubtedly missed. I'm also going to work on finishing a couple of writing projects that have taken a backseat. I'll apologize in advance for the silence, but I hope to come back energized with loads of great stuff to talk about. Until then, take care and keep writing.
~EJW~
Y and Z are for yoga and zen
Let me put this out there right from the start: I'm not suggesting writers need to take up yoga. Undoubtedly, we'd all be a little more healthy for it, but I'm not sure it's in the cards for everyone. Personally, I'm about as flexible as petrified tree dowsed in cement, and spandex and I have never been the best of friends. I digress ...
As a discipline there is a ton that writers can learn from yoga. There's a saying that yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory, and I think that applies to writing as well. Although some may have a natural ability, most of the folks who truly excel at writing had to learn how. They learned how through repetition.
In yoga, concentration is king. To hold an excruciating pose you must block out your discomfort, you must block out distractions, and you must above all focus on the act itself.
Writing is no different. It's often intensely uncomfortable and infinitely difficult to sustain. Much like yoga, writing takes an incredible amount of discipline and patience. Very little in writing can be learned quickly, and mastery can take a lifetime--if it comes at all. It is a daily grind that requires strength and endurance.
Like yoga, progress in writing is often hard to measure, and almost solely gauged on an individual basis. Forget comparing yourself to others in yoga, it's an internal and subjective act. You're only going to best yourself. I think the same SHOULD apply to writing. Forget comparisons, just try to be better than you were the day before.
Yoga and the Zen philosophy go hand in hand, as do writing and Zen. Zen is all about attaining wisdom and enlightenment through study and self-reflection. Yoga teaches Zen by forcing you to explore your limits (both physical and mental). If you attempt to write your flaws and limits will flash like a neon sign from day one. Zen emphasizes slowing down mentally, as does yoga. Writing a novel forces you to slow down and examine the parts of a whole.
There are so many other commonalities we could discuss, but I think I'll leave you with a few Zen quotes and sayings to let you ponder how it might apply to your writing life.
Lao Tzu ~
"The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."
Do not speak - unless it improves on silence.
The path of the enlightened one leaves no track- it is like the path of birds in the sky.
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.
We cannot see our reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.
Student says " I am very discouraged. What should I do?" Master says, "encourage others."
To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.
A jug fills drop by drop.
A-Z Writer's Toolbox: X-Ray Vision
Like all craftspeople, writers need to keep a bag of tricks handy. A set of tools for the job (writing), if you will. Some of these traits or tools are obvious--like the need to have a hide as thick as a brick, for instance. Some are not. This month, I've been challenged to do a post every day of the week (excluding Sunday) that begins with a letter of the alphabet. I'm going to use this challenge to examine some of those necessary writing tools, both conventional and not. Hold on to your #2 pencil, here we go!
NOTE: I've added a page dedicated to my A to Z Writer's Toolbox posts. I figured I'd soon have a bunch of these things and it'll make it easier for you to browse any of the letters you might have missed. You can find a link to the page under the, "MORE STUFF" heading at the top of the right-hand column of this page.
X is for x-ray vision
Creative writing isn't about re-telling life as it happens on the surface. That's the stuff that anyone can see. Creative writing is about digging deeper, and examining the internal conflicts and circumstances that truly define humanity.
We don't tell the reader 'this is the bad guy', but rather show them why that's the bad guy. We let their intent speak through their actions. To do that we have to understand what is going on beneath the surface. What life circumstances drove the person to the brink of destroying the world? What's his biggest fear? His grandest hope? We have to know all of those things in order to write convincing and compelling stories, and we have to know them for every character.
The best way to learn to convey those layers of complexity in writing is to learn to see them in the everyday life around you. We need to develop an acute form of x-ray vision that allows us to see the story within a story, so to speak.
For example: You overhear a couple arguing at the store. From their words, it appears to be a simple argument over the husband picking out the wrong kind of cheese. Now put on your writerly x-ray glasses. Maybe the wife views this as yet another sign of the husband's disinterest in the day-to-day life of the family, or perhaps the husband purposefully defied her because he found out she has been cheating and doesn't have the courage to confront her with words yet. Either way, there's clearly much more going on than a debate over cheese.
That's the kind of examination we need to use in our writing. The ability to see beyond the surface will take an ordinary story and change it into something compelling.
~EJW~
NOTE: I've added a page dedicated to my A to Z Writer's Toolbox posts. I figured I'd soon have a bunch of these things and it'll make it easier for you to browse any of the letters you might have missed. You can find a link to the page under the, "MORE STUFF" heading at the top of the right-hand column of this page.
X is for x-ray vision
Creative writing isn't about re-telling life as it happens on the surface. That's the stuff that anyone can see. Creative writing is about digging deeper, and examining the internal conflicts and circumstances that truly define humanity.
We don't tell the reader 'this is the bad guy', but rather show them why that's the bad guy. We let their intent speak through their actions. To do that we have to understand what is going on beneath the surface. What life circumstances drove the person to the brink of destroying the world? What's his biggest fear? His grandest hope? We have to know all of those things in order to write convincing and compelling stories, and we have to know them for every character.
The best way to learn to convey those layers of complexity in writing is to learn to see them in the everyday life around you. We need to develop an acute form of x-ray vision that allows us to see the story within a story, so to speak.
For example: You overhear a couple arguing at the store. From their words, it appears to be a simple argument over the husband picking out the wrong kind of cheese. Now put on your writerly x-ray glasses. Maybe the wife views this as yet another sign of the husband's disinterest in the day-to-day life of the family, or perhaps the husband purposefully defied her because he found out she has been cheating and doesn't have the courage to confront her with words yet. Either way, there's clearly much more going on than a debate over cheese.
That's the kind of examination we need to use in our writing. The ability to see beyond the surface will take an ordinary story and change it into something compelling.
~EJW~
A-Z Writer's Toolbox: Verve & Wile
A to Z Disclaimer:
Like all craftspeople, writers need to keep a bag of tricks handy. A set of tools for the job (writing), if you will. Some of these traits or tools are obvious--like the need to have a hide as thick as a brick, for instance. Some are not. This month, I've been challenged to do a post every day of the week (excluding Sunday) that begins with a letter of the alphabet. I'm going to use this challenge to examine some of those necessary writing tools, both conventional and not. Hold on to your #2 pencil, here we go!
NOTE: I've added a page dedicated to my A to Z Writer's Toolbox posts. I figured I'd soon have a bunch of these things and it'll make it easier for you to browse any of the letters you might have missed. You can find a link to the page under the, "MORE STUFF" heading at the top of the right-hand column of this page.
V is for verve
Do your characters share the very air you breathe? When they whisper, does it tickle your ear? Are readers thrust into the air with every upswing in your story, or crushed beneath the weight of the mighty circumstances you've set forth?
What I'm really asking is does your writing have verve--a life or spirit that makes it more than words on paper or screen?
We've all read a story that so completely comes alive in our minds that we can scarcely distinguish between reality and fiction when we are trapped inside its pages. In our minds the hero becomes our friend, the villain our worst enemy and the quest our own soul-churning journey. We cry with the losses and cheer the victories as if we were watching it all unfold live in some gigantic sports arena.
Anyone who has ever attempted to write a fictitious paragraph, much less a novel, can tell you that the 'verve factor' is nothing short of magic. Some writers seem to be born with the ability to infuse their prose with a sort of crackling energy that leaps from the pages and grabs hold of anyone who strays to close. Their words are like the literary equivalent of potato chips or chocolate; you'll devour them even when you're too full to sensibly want more. It seems the rest of us can only marvel at the show and hope that some of the magic rubs off on our own writing.
However, after considering some of my favorite crack reads (the ones I can't give up or put down), I think that maybe we can (to an extent) manufacture verve. I believe that there are some common traits shared among the most lively story tellers that we can put in our toolboxes. Here are four ways to bring spirit to your story:
1) Real Characters: Great characters suck me into a story quicker than anything, but it isn't the "greatness" of a character that really makes the story come alive. More often than not it's the normal aspects of a character, or the parts I can directly identify with, that keep me turning the pages. Moreover, it's when those characters act in ways that I could see myself acting that things really get interesting. Whether it's a hero who gets frustrated with his best friend and says something awful, or a villain who loves his mother yet plans to destroy the world with a zombie virus--keep it real. (Not that I plan on destroying the world with a zombie virus, but I do love my mom!)
2) A+ Dialogue: Nothing puts my mind into a scene like a great conversation between characters. Humans are highly social creatures, and unique for our ability to communicate with words. Lively stories have vivacious characters, and those characters have meaningful and engaging conversations.
3) Exceptional Settings: We're all familiar with the concept of making a setting so detailed and full of life that it becomes a character in our stories. While I'm not certain that the setting needs to be a star, I've found that the most gripping stories have fantastic settings and description. For a story to truly come to life, the setting needs to have an impact on the characters and the reader. If the damp night air of an enchanted forest sends a shiver down the spine of our hero, it'll most likely do the same to our readers.
4) Conflict: When things get messy our minds tend to shift into overdrive. If there's a problem, we immediately jump to possible solutions. It's human nature, and it's something we can use in our writing. Every scene should have a conflict. Every. Scene. That doesn't mean we have to have a gun fight on every page, but it does mean we should be actively engaging our readers by having our characters face frequent mental and/or physical obstacles.
W is for wile
Are you a trickster in your writing? Like the Coyote in the cartoon above, do you set traps for the reader, hoping that this is the time you snare them? Here's why you should ...
I read for the unexpected, not the expected. I WANT to be baited and switched. In fact, I get a little upset when an author gets predictable. How entertaining would it be if your friend told you a story about their trip to the grocery store and all that happened was a trip to the grocery store? Not very. Throw in a purse snatching and a car chase, however, and now you've got a story!
My point is that readers are smart, and they're always on to our schemes. We have to be tireless in our efforts to pull the rug out from under them. To do that we have to utilize all of our wile and wit. Every character should have layers of complexity, and every plot a potential twist.
~EJW~
A-Z Writer's Toolbox: Theme & Ubiquity
A to Z Disclaimer:
Like all craftspeople, writers need to keep a bag of tricks handy. A set of tools for the job (writing), if you will. Some of these traits or tools are obvious--like the need to have a hide as thick as a brick, for instance. Some are not. This month, I've been challenged to do a post every day of the week (excluding Sunday) that begins with a letter of the alphabet. I'm going to use this challenge to examine some of those necessary writing tools, both conventional and not. Hold on to your #2 pencil, here we go!
NOTE: I've added a page dedicated to my A to Z Writer's Toolbox posts. I figured I'd soon have a bunch of these things and it'll make it easier for you to browse any of the letters you might have missed. You can find a link to the page under the, "MORE STUFF" heading at the top of the right-hand column of this page.
T is for theme
Do you ever finish a great novel and wonder what made it so great? Most of the time I can quickly identify the source of my love for a particular book. Maybe it's the story. Like when an improbable hero wins the day against impossible odds (i.e. Frodo/Lord of the Rings). Or when the unyielding love of two people manages to endure inconceivable threats, only to end in tragedy (Romeo and Juliet). Other times it's a cast of extraordinarily diverse characters (The Great Gatsby), or a plot with such unexpected twists that you can scarcely catch a full breath in between paragraphs (Ender's Game).
Still, I occasionally finish a book that I've thoroughly enjoyed and struggle to understand what exactly it was that had me flying through the pages. After some consideration, I usually find my answer hidden in the themes of the book.
Themes are those underlying--often unspoken--elements to a story that resonate across the varied experiences and backgrounds of the readers. Like Good Vs Evil, love and loss, or death and life. Theme is an emotion or experience that is so simplistic that anyone can relate to it, yet so complex that it can only be defined in the abstract.
Theme is a persistent story element, like a river flowing throughout the chapters. Occasionally a theme is a loud and churning force in a story that forces the reader or characters to heed and cross it. More often, the theme is only a subtle bubbling spring under the surface, quietly pushing the story and reader along a path of self-examination.
I tend to look at theme as a sort of story 'natural resource', or something that can be used and manipulated, but not artificially created. I think that's the way it ought to be, because a theme risks becoming a moral--or something preached and forced--if it is built into a story as opposed to something that grows out of the story in an organic fashion.
One thing is certain: themes are an essential aspect of great story telling. Are you aware of themes as you write and read? Do you try to accentuate them in your writing, or do you let them surface on their own in hopes that the reader will pick up on them?
U is for ubiquity
The idea of being ubiquitous, or everywhere and all-things at once, is a pretty unappealing concept for most writers. Most of us only want to be left alone with our thoughts and keyboard, and the less we are asked to partake in the various distractions of the world, the better. However, in the strata of modern publishing it seems authors are constantly being asked to be more than writers.
How are your PR skills? Do you know how to promote yourself and your writing? What about editing? I'm not talking about the grammar, either. Can you arrange a story? Do you have a good understanding of what readers want? Are you coldblooded enough to cut out your favorite parts for the sake of making a story better?
With the writing world quickly turning over to ePublishing, authors are being asked to become small business professionals as well. In the Indie model, you're your own accountant, publisher, distributor and press secretary. Did I mention you still have to write as well?
Truthfully, I'm not wild about all of that either, but I do think all of those things can be learned. We don't have to master PR, but we need to be proficient. I look at Twitter and Facebook like math in school; I was never fond of the subject, but I learned enough to get a few diplomas. My point is that authors need to know more than writing, and even if we don't enjoy that other stuff, we can learn enough to get by.
~EJW~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
FEED ME
Posts
All Comments