So I know it's a week after Easter and the fluffy bunny, sugary sweet metaphors are officially "un-seasonal" but I just had two of my brain cells knock together and come up with something interesting so bear with me while I indulge in some retrospective Easter motifs.
Life, especially for the creative minded, is like an Easter egg hunt. As a writer and an English Major turned nursing student turned completely confused floundering maniac, I have often felt that the answers to my creative cunudrums are somehow like those obnoxiously fluorescent goodies my parent's used to hide in bushes (thanks for the poison ivy, mom) or under flowers (and the bee stings) and that they were in some mythical magical "out there" and just waiting for the right inspiration to strike and voila everything would be solved. The words would runneth trippily from the tip of my feathery quill and I would be Shakespeare and people would quote me to sound smart and in a hundred years they'd suspect I was a cluster of many anonymous writers, and gay, and that perhaps I never existed at all but boy whoever wrote my stuff was awesome.
The more I attack the creative problems that assail both my manuscript and my life goals the more I realize that the playful Easter egg hunt is not so much external to myself. It's not OUT THERE. I'm the obnoxiously fluorescent egg (hopefully a blue one, I love blue) and inside me is the sweet seeds for a novel that will probably not be anything like Shakespeare, and maybe in a hundred years no one will read it. But for the time that I am here I should be giving a piece of myself, and not some inspiration from somewhere else. Furthermore that I have the power to solve my own problems, and that the control to form and embrace my future isn't as out of my control as I thought a little while ago.
This my friends, I think is what we call a turning point...and it's about time!
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Stolen Moments
Just a quick post before I head to work tonight.
Had a flicker of insight about writing and sharing ideas with people. I know it's tempting. I know if writers are like me they want to share what they're working on because they are proud of their progress and their characters and their story and usually the end result is to have OTHERS read your stuff. But hold off if you can from giving people drafts of your work. Here are some reasons why:
1.) The Draft WILL Change- you wouldn't wear a half finished pair of pants to work, nor would you get into a half finished car. If you're still working on ideas, if you're still hammering out kinks and plugging up plot holes you wouldn't want to offer someone a half finished idea. First of all it can hurt how much they like the whole story because what they read now may not be how it ends up. Things may improve information excised or expanded and you can confuse your reader.
2.) You may scrap the idea altogether- if you're working on something and share it all around and then scrap it, it's not really a good look for you as a writer. You want to be taken seriously as a craftsman of the written word and not a wordflake (i.e. a person who starts writing projects and doesn't finish them). If you keep your work to yourself until it's more formed and finished then you'll already know the idea has promise and is truly a work in progress, not some scribbles that don't have the strength to make into a whole book.
3.) Idea thieves -someone with less scruples and more time to write could steal your idea. Protect your plots and your characters. They're your creative property so limiting the amount of eyes on your work is a good way to keep people from siphoning off your creative juices.
4.) The Reveal- you are a word magician. You want your work to be fresh, new and exciting to as many people as possible. Don't give away the secrets of you creative process by over exposing your work. Let it be a bit of a mystery.
There you have it, four good reasons why you shouldn't show off your novel! And now I'm off to work, and an overtime paycheck next week!
Toodle-loo!
Had a flicker of insight about writing and sharing ideas with people. I know it's tempting. I know if writers are like me they want to share what they're working on because they are proud of their progress and their characters and their story and usually the end result is to have OTHERS read your stuff. But hold off if you can from giving people drafts of your work. Here are some reasons why:
1.) The Draft WILL Change- you wouldn't wear a half finished pair of pants to work, nor would you get into a half finished car. If you're still working on ideas, if you're still hammering out kinks and plugging up plot holes you wouldn't want to offer someone a half finished idea. First of all it can hurt how much they like the whole story because what they read now may not be how it ends up. Things may improve information excised or expanded and you can confuse your reader.
2.) You may scrap the idea altogether- if you're working on something and share it all around and then scrap it, it's not really a good look for you as a writer. You want to be taken seriously as a craftsman of the written word and not a wordflake (i.e. a person who starts writing projects and doesn't finish them). If you keep your work to yourself until it's more formed and finished then you'll already know the idea has promise and is truly a work in progress, not some scribbles that don't have the strength to make into a whole book.
3.) Idea thieves -someone with less scruples and more time to write could steal your idea. Protect your plots and your characters. They're your creative property so limiting the amount of eyes on your work is a good way to keep people from siphoning off your creative juices.
4.) The Reveal- you are a word magician. You want your work to be fresh, new and exciting to as many people as possible. Don't give away the secrets of you creative process by over exposing your work. Let it be a bit of a mystery.
There you have it, four good reasons why you shouldn't show off your novel! And now I'm off to work, and an overtime paycheck next week!
Toodle-loo!
Monday, February 11, 2013
My Eyes Are Bigger Than...
It's been pretty hectic. I've moved out of my house to my first apartment where I am taking care of my grandmother who has dementia. I now work full time, and go to classes at night. On nights like tonight I just want to breathe but there is just so much going on that it's hard for me to find time to inhale. It's amazing how the responsibilities keep piling up....
On a happy note my manuscript draft took off!. About two weeks ago I made some really great progress. Now I'm back to brainstorming the next chunk of it. Also trying to fight new ideas for new novels and keep them at bay long enough to get this one finished. I know the moment I sit down to write any bit of my new ones I'll get distracted from the half project in front of me. I'm a classic "eyes are bigger than my stomach" kinda girl. I just keep piling it on and before I know it it's just mutated into this evil doubt that makes me question how much I feel I can do. But in writing, it's important to not get distracted by new shiny ideas. As long as you can still see the greatness in your original idea you should see it through to the end. Maybe jot basic ideas but don't focus on developing new ones right away. If you think about it the more you work on simultaneously the easier it is to get bogged down and overwhelmed with it all and just walk away from it.
I keep thinking I can handle more and more and more and in the end I'm lucky if I get to steal a few minutes to get a bit of a break before I force myself to sleep in an unfamiliar place with my angry cat who has taken to sitting on my face the moment I shut my eyes. I think it's revenge for the cat carrier and the car ride to my new place, or she's just had it with me and is trying to off me altogether. I'm thinking pacification and asking for terms is the safest route to go on this one.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Revisiting Ghosts
It seems that life has that cyclic nature where things tend to circle back to their original starting point. For a while my life has been unrelenting. Btwn nursing school and work I'm lucky to be able to sleep and eat let alone sit down organize a good post. It seems that fate and the New Jersey courts system have different ideas. I'm sitting in a Grand Jury room counting ceiling tiles when I remembered what smart phones are for. So here I am.
I'm giving this another concerted effort side much of my life lately seems spent on things that inch me closer to any goals do painfully slowly I feel like if I don't do something with measurable results soon I'm going to scream. The mounting frustration has been at the heart of my discontent with the snails pace of progress lately. It seems that life gets more complicated and solutions get less plentiful.
So I write, it seems a vehicle for relieving the feelings of ennui and entrapment. I read once that its not what you write, or how but why you choose to write it that's the most important. If I write to escape maybe others will escape with me. We all want to go somewhere other than where we are. Even if it's not a physical place we all have goals or desires like so many quavering flames.
So here I am.
I'm giving this another concerted effort side much of my life lately seems spent on things that inch me closer to any goals do painfully slowly I feel like if I don't do something with measurable results soon I'm going to scream. The mounting frustration has been at the heart of my discontent with the snails pace of progress lately. It seems that life gets more complicated and solutions get less plentiful.
So I write, it seems a vehicle for relieving the feelings of ennui and entrapment. I read once that its not what you write, or how but why you choose to write it that's the most important. If I write to escape maybe others will escape with me. We all want to go somewhere other than where we are. Even if it's not a physical place we all have goals or desires like so many quavering flames.
So here I am.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Brain Drizzling
I for one am all about creative debate. It gets juices flowing and encourages the creative revisions. Like Sherlock Holmes, he needs a Watson to make comments, in order to have the "aaa-HA!" moment that helps him solve the case.
So who do you pick to be your watson? there are a few watson's you should avoid:
1.) The Yes-man: this person loves your stuff no matter what, everything you write is a work of literature and destined for greatness. While sharing your manuscript with this Watson is a great confidence booster, their feedback does little to improve your story. Think about having them read your completed manuscript first (if the person is dying to read it). You want a person who loves your work, or your concept, your direction but is still able to critique it.
2.) The Grumpy Gus: Unlike the Yes-Man, the Grumpy Gus is either jealous of your work, or is incredibly hard to please, or is looking to put your stuff down. They criticize everything sometimes even making their critique personal about YOUR inefficiencies and YOUR short comings to the point where you feel miserable and like your story is dirt and a waste of your time. You never want someone who calls your work names, or stupid, or pointless, or who uses negative terms to describe your characters (unless they deserve them). A good Watson will criticize the weaknesses in your story but who will also provide some positive feedback, or at the very least respect you as a person and as a writer by not making their criticisms a personal attack on you.
3.) The Rock: Getting this Watson to open up is like pulling teeth, they read it, it's OKAY but getting them to communicate the finer points of their criticism is next to impossible. They don't want to engage in a debate, may take your banter back and forth personally as if you're arguing with them. (Note: don't argue with your Watsons, use a point, counter-point approach, don't get defensive about your work, seek to explain not to defend the reasons why you wrote whatever they have a problem with, but be respectful and non-antagonistic with them you WANT people to LIKE you enough to read your stuff).
4.) Mr./Miss Indifferent (aka The Flake)- this person will initially seem really excited about your work, they may at first sound like a Yes-Man but once you finally get them your work they'll sit on it forever, and any attempts to talk about it will gain an indifferent "yea sure I'll get to it" but very little progress. Once they FINALLY get to your work they're just like "well it's FINE...there are some issues blah blah blah" but nothing they say is constructive. Or maybe it sounds like they haven't even read your work and are just making stuff up! Save yourself the aggravation and avoid someone who seems bored with your writing, or who takes forever to get back to you about it. Don't depend on their opinion, seek out other people to bounce your ideas off of. This one's a dead end.
Like I mentioned earlier Sherlocks, respect your Watson's. Make sure that you thank them, make sure you tell them how much you appreciate their feedback. Remember however that their opinion is just that don't allow it to completely dominate your work. It is YOUR book after all, YOU'RE the author. Respect yourself too, if you feel strongly about something in your work that you feel shouldn't be changed DON'T change it just because they say so. If it's really a bother to them and you don't want to change it then let it sit there a while continue on with your wiritng and come back to it. Maybe when you go back to it you'll see what they're saying about it. And if not then maybe they will see where you were going with it and change their minds completely. Above all always find someone who treats you with respect, you're a writer, you're an artist, don't let people treat you or your work like dirt. You work awfully hard on your stuff, don't be discouraged even when you're criticized, take it in stride and be happy, it's a sign that you can continue to progress!!
Have fun! I myself am Watson searching right now!!
So who do you pick to be your watson? there are a few watson's you should avoid:
1.) The Yes-man: this person loves your stuff no matter what, everything you write is a work of literature and destined for greatness. While sharing your manuscript with this Watson is a great confidence booster, their feedback does little to improve your story. Think about having them read your completed manuscript first (if the person is dying to read it). You want a person who loves your work, or your concept, your direction but is still able to critique it.
2.) The Grumpy Gus: Unlike the Yes-Man, the Grumpy Gus is either jealous of your work, or is incredibly hard to please, or is looking to put your stuff down. They criticize everything sometimes even making their critique personal about YOUR inefficiencies and YOUR short comings to the point where you feel miserable and like your story is dirt and a waste of your time. You never want someone who calls your work names, or stupid, or pointless, or who uses negative terms to describe your characters (unless they deserve them). A good Watson will criticize the weaknesses in your story but who will also provide some positive feedback, or at the very least respect you as a person and as a writer by not making their criticisms a personal attack on you.
3.) The Rock: Getting this Watson to open up is like pulling teeth, they read it, it's OKAY but getting them to communicate the finer points of their criticism is next to impossible. They don't want to engage in a debate, may take your banter back and forth personally as if you're arguing with them. (Note: don't argue with your Watsons, use a point, counter-point approach, don't get defensive about your work, seek to explain not to defend the reasons why you wrote whatever they have a problem with, but be respectful and non-antagonistic with them you WANT people to LIKE you enough to read your stuff).
4.) Mr./Miss Indifferent (aka The Flake)- this person will initially seem really excited about your work, they may at first sound like a Yes-Man but once you finally get them your work they'll sit on it forever, and any attempts to talk about it will gain an indifferent "yea sure I'll get to it" but very little progress. Once they FINALLY get to your work they're just like "well it's FINE...there are some issues blah blah blah" but nothing they say is constructive. Or maybe it sounds like they haven't even read your work and are just making stuff up! Save yourself the aggravation and avoid someone who seems bored with your writing, or who takes forever to get back to you about it. Don't depend on their opinion, seek out other people to bounce your ideas off of. This one's a dead end.
Like I mentioned earlier Sherlocks, respect your Watson's. Make sure that you thank them, make sure you tell them how much you appreciate their feedback. Remember however that their opinion is just that don't allow it to completely dominate your work. It is YOUR book after all, YOU'RE the author. Respect yourself too, if you feel strongly about something in your work that you feel shouldn't be changed DON'T change it just because they say so. If it's really a bother to them and you don't want to change it then let it sit there a while continue on with your wiritng and come back to it. Maybe when you go back to it you'll see what they're saying about it. And if not then maybe they will see where you were going with it and change their minds completely. Above all always find someone who treats you with respect, you're a writer, you're an artist, don't let people treat you or your work like dirt. You work awfully hard on your stuff, don't be discouraged even when you're criticized, take it in stride and be happy, it's a sign that you can continue to progress!!
Have fun! I myself am Watson searching right now!!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Today is a Monday-Tuesday
Meaning I am a day behind in everything! However, everyone at work was strangely AHEAD a day...I had at least four patients coming in for their appointments tomorrow and were surprised to learn that it was, in fact, only Tuesday.
It made me think about time pacing in my manuscript. As a writer, I'm constantly trying to figure out how quickly (or slowly) I need certain things to progress. That also goes hand in hand with complexity. If things are too complex and you rush through them the reader may miss some important stuff. Too simple and too slow you may bore them to death.
I'm in the process of outlining my manuscript and deciding which parts go where. I definitely want my beginning to move along at a fairly brisk pace. I also want my readers to connect and care about my characters, but not get bogged down in filler and frills b/c the meat of the story is pretty rich and I want them to focus more on how everything gets started.
My ending already I know will be very quick and then abruptly end (if the sequel lurking in the back of my mind eventually manifests some real possibilities plotwise. Otherwise I'll just stick to a slower ending so the reader can savor it.).
SO much to think about lately. Working on adjusting my outline as I type. Mind's always working haha.
In other news it is ridiculously hot outside so if any of this appear redundant I apologize, I feel like you could fry two eggs on my face...*slumps over with fan*.
It made me think about time pacing in my manuscript. As a writer, I'm constantly trying to figure out how quickly (or slowly) I need certain things to progress. That also goes hand in hand with complexity. If things are too complex and you rush through them the reader may miss some important stuff. Too simple and too slow you may bore them to death.
I'm in the process of outlining my manuscript and deciding which parts go where. I definitely want my beginning to move along at a fairly brisk pace. I also want my readers to connect and care about my characters, but not get bogged down in filler and frills b/c the meat of the story is pretty rich and I want them to focus more on how everything gets started.
My ending already I know will be very quick and then abruptly end (if the sequel lurking in the back of my mind eventually manifests some real possibilities plotwise. Otherwise I'll just stick to a slower ending so the reader can savor it.).
SO much to think about lately. Working on adjusting my outline as I type. Mind's always working haha.
In other news it is ridiculously hot outside so if any of this appear redundant I apologize, I feel like you could fry two eggs on my face...*slumps over with fan*.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Writing With a Quill Is Hard
The purpose of this post is two-fold. Firstly, I celebrated my December graduation from college yesterday with many friends and family and got a number of lovely gifts. Even though I've already got one degree I'm not satisfied with that so I'm also getting a second (I'm in nursing school)...and probably a third (once I'm out of nursing school). So you can definitely say that I am academically inclined. But first and foremost I am a writer and have always been a writer so my love for the written word outpaces my love for sutures and bandages (even though I love all that stuff too). But I digress, when I got to my boyfriend's present and opened it, it was a journal with an owl (my favorite bird), a green quill pen, and a bottle of ink. I LOVED them. But he pulled me aside a little later on and whispered "I know you're working really hard on your nursing degree and I'm so proud of all your accomplishments but don't ever stop writing, that's really what my gift was all about.You're so amazing with words."...and that's why I will marry that man. In short, I've gotten a greater boost of confidence to continue to hone my literary craft and a new quill to practice my calligraphy haha...which is proving to not be one of my strong points (my messy handwriting is the stuff of legend).
Secondly, I was on my way somewhere (the destination is irrelevant) a few days ago when a thought occurred to me. I'm at a stage in my manuscript where I'm thinking about the end. I've kind of gotten hung up on the middle bits and I'm trying desperately to do a Charlie Chaplin (or a Tarantino) and figure out the end and then work backwards to the bit where I'm stuck. This is a new thing for me since I find it kind of difficult to think that way but I have such a problem with middles. Generally I know how I want the story to begin; I have great endings but the middles are just....black holes that seem impossible to fill appropriately. It's probably a mental imagery issue. I'm trying to correct it but it just seems so expansive. Middles are hard. There's just so much you can put in there, you could have spaceships land in the middle of your medieval fantasy and kidnap the main character for probing if you wanted, it may turn the story to absolute crap but it's possible! And what's maddening is that I have a few clips in my mind for middles that work really well as episodes, but they are far apart in the story's chronology so linking them together is still more of that damnable middle witchcraft that seems to swell my story. No one wants a middle that's filled with flash-points every few chapters followed by some sluggish filler. NO! You (and your readers) want a middle that'll grab them by their hair and keep their noses pushed as far into the book binding as they can possibly be. That's what's throwing me off, I guess. The broadness of the middle is a huge chasm with the beginning on one side and the end on the other.
Think about it. Beginnings need to be told properly, you need to hook your reader, introduce themes, characters, the world dynamic and a bunch of other things, but since you're the writer you already (if' you've done the proper legwork before hand) have some idea of these things already. Endings...well you END the story. It has to be a good ending and tie up all the loose ends (or introduce a plot further if you're going to leave your readers frothing for your sequel). But there's a point at which the end is...well the END it stops. Even the beginning has a point where it ENDS and that dreaded infinite middle area just lurks there.
Secondly, I was on my way somewhere (the destination is irrelevant) a few days ago when a thought occurred to me. I'm at a stage in my manuscript where I'm thinking about the end. I've kind of gotten hung up on the middle bits and I'm trying desperately to do a Charlie Chaplin (or a Tarantino) and figure out the end and then work backwards to the bit where I'm stuck. This is a new thing for me since I find it kind of difficult to think that way but I have such a problem with middles. Generally I know how I want the story to begin; I have great endings but the middles are just....black holes that seem impossible to fill appropriately. It's probably a mental imagery issue. I'm trying to correct it but it just seems so expansive. Middles are hard. There's just so much you can put in there, you could have spaceships land in the middle of your medieval fantasy and kidnap the main character for probing if you wanted, it may turn the story to absolute crap but it's possible! And what's maddening is that I have a few clips in my mind for middles that work really well as episodes, but they are far apart in the story's chronology so linking them together is still more of that damnable middle witchcraft that seems to swell my story. No one wants a middle that's filled with flash-points every few chapters followed by some sluggish filler. NO! You (and your readers) want a middle that'll grab them by their hair and keep their noses pushed as far into the book binding as they can possibly be. That's what's throwing me off, I guess. The broadness of the middle is a huge chasm with the beginning on one side and the end on the other.
Think about it. Beginnings need to be told properly, you need to hook your reader, introduce themes, characters, the world dynamic and a bunch of other things, but since you're the writer you already (if' you've done the proper legwork before hand) have some idea of these things already. Endings...well you END the story. It has to be a good ending and tie up all the loose ends (or introduce a plot further if you're going to leave your readers frothing for your sequel). But there's a point at which the end is...well the END it stops. Even the beginning has a point where it ENDS and that dreaded infinite middle area just lurks there.
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