Nov 18

Writing: Promises or Priorities?

They say timing is everything.  I agree.

So is letting go.  That’s why I say to whomever “they” are that I’m extending my 10-hour book publishing challenge to December 18.

Why?  First of all, it’s my blog challenge and I set the rules.  (And my blog editors said it was okay.)

Second, I felt overwhelmed by things crashing into each other.  Fundraising to dance in THON clashed with my seeking financial support for my Indiegogo campaign.  The extra shifts for my part-time job slammed into prep work time for my Zentangle classes.

The last and most important time-suck of the month was me.  I watched my Major Crimes DVDs over and over, obsessing because the new season starts next week.  I wandered aimlessly through the playgrounds of Instagram.  I tell myself that writing haiku through Ku and Notegraphy phone apps was a productive use of my time, but, really, that was another distraction.

I sound just like that person I wrote about last month.

Now, I did catch a cold.  I was not so sick that wiggling my toes hurt, but I sniffled enough where leaning over my keyboard caused my nose to drip and drool on the keyboard. Any precious time I could snort the mucus back, I spent that time on my memoir.

Outside of that, I chose to be careless with my time, and now I’m here apologizing and making excuses.  Why did I not value my time and talent?

I thought about it.  I figured I’d have more success collecting donations for THON when I wasn’t asking people to buy my book.  Rather than compete with holiday parties and family events, it made more sense to me to plan a marketing strategy for my Zentangle classes in the New Year when I wasn’t marketing my memoir and my Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign.  At some point, the money from working extra hours at my job was not worth the time that could have been spent writing my memoir.

Are you seeing the theme here?  Believe it or not, I didn’t at first.  When you think about your responsibilities–I mean, really think about them–listing your life out like chapter outlines will identify the events that really matter to you. Here I’ve moved on to the next step, the follow-through that freezes many would-be writers: I’m letting go of extraneous tasks and planning.  Not everyone does that.  They usually give up.

I didn’t give up; I refocused. That’s not an excuse, although we may see it as such. If we do, then we fail, fizzle and flop.  I didn’t think I needed to prioritize, but I couldn’t identify what really mattered until then. Of all the items on my list, my memoir was most important to me.  Knowing that, I could push everything else aside.

All of this brings us back to the postponed eBook challenge. Yes, some readers who were expecting Part Two this month may be disappointed, but remember, I’m rescheduling it, not giving up.  Think of it as…increased anticipation.

How has this shift in priorities helped my memoir time? With the extra time, I was open to rearrange and commit to the Chapter order.  After doing that, the process flowed better. Both self-editing and finding an editor takes longer than I thought.  Re-launching the Indiegogo campaign was frustrating and disappointing, but the descriptions and perks are now more enticing.  I’ve explored marketing ideas and am planning specific actions of specific dates.  For other ideas, I’m letting those all percolate.

Did you make a writing promise to yourself and were unsuccessful?  No one can change what happened yesterday.  It’s been done, but that doesn’t mean you’re a failure.  How do we start fresh without feeling guilty?

First, forgive yourself.  We’re all human, but we can do simple, little things.  What should you consider when planning your writing time, or anything else, really?  I can offer some advice.

1. Don’t rely on To-Do lists.  From my experience, they appear organized but are often overwhelming, and thus counterproductive.

2. Don’t say yes to things just because that time isn’t blocked off on your calendar.

3. Break up your lunch hour by standing up and physically moving away from your desk.  If that’s the time you squeeze in exercise, give yourself permission to write during one or two of those times.  Take your laptop into an empty conference room or even your car to write away from distractions.  No laptop? Use paper and a pen, as we dinosaurs did in the pre-digital age.

4. Family and relationship time is important so look for ways to balance the two. I can write in the living room on the couch next to my husband as we watch episodes of The Big Bang Theory.

No matter what you do, the key is making the time.

Did I say any of this would be easy?  If it was, we’d be doing it all and there would be no need for me to write this post.  We’d all be published authors with worldwide readership.

We know self publishing is possible. I can’t promise readers will love your stories, but if you don’t publish, how will people be able to read them?  If you have already completed the 10-Hour Challenge and published a book, leave the link information below in the comments.  If not, then you have another 30 days.  Timing is everything.

Ready? Set. Go!

Nov 16

It Couldn’t Be More Personal

During my childhood, my grandmother taught me little lessons. I learned how to fold and crease a sheet of paper over and over until it resembled the expanding membrane of an accordion but wasn’t constrained by the edges of a musical instrument. My creation could be waved in the air to blow away summer heat. Gramma also showed me a more advanced origami technique, although she never called it that, of creating a miniature upright piano. I’ve long forgotten those more complicated steps; however, I can still make a pretty good fan.

These memories came to me while editing an article for Deadwood Writers Voices. All I needed was to know whether to italicize or put quotation marks around a TV program’s title. Hoping to confirm my suspicion on the correct usage, I looked in The Chicago Manual of Style and was distracted by something else I came across first. The reference guide said, “The name of a living person should, wherever possible, correspond to that person’s own usage.” (CMOS, section 8.3)

How silly was that statement? It reminded me of those caution labels that are printed on coffee cups: “Careful! Contents may be hot!” When buying a cup of coffee, I certainly expect it to be, and hope it will be, hot. Regarding my own name, as a living person, shouldn’t I know better than anyone else what it is and how to spell it? Of course!

So why would CMOS bother to point out the obvious? I think the book’s editors and advisory board meant to impress upon writers the importance of spelling names correctly. But it’s not as cut and dry as it appears. For example, my grandmother ended her surname in an “i.” Her brother ended his in an “o.” Gramma’s sisters threw an extra “e” in the middle somewhere. I grew up never knowing how to correctly spell my ancestors’ last name. I’m sure they each had a convincing reason for why they did things the way they did, but I can only speculate. Maybe the ending depended upon gender: an “i” for females and “o” for males?

I’ve even thought that the difference in spellings could have had something to do with a mistake in documentation. Perhaps an official incorrectly recorded my great-grandfather’s name when Grandpa immigrated to the US from Italy. That mishap could have resulted in multiple versions of the family name surviving and competing with one another. I wish I could ask one of my living relatives but none know why there was confusion in the first place.

A lesson comes to mind for us conscientious writers: we should be watching for the unique or unconventional preferences of our subjects. For instance, friends of mine are named “Lesley” and “Sheri.” Not Leslie and not Sherry. To them, anything other than the way they spell their own names is just not correct. I’d feel the same if they addressed letters to me with “Kelli” or “Kellie.” It doesn’t look right, and to me, it doesn’t feel right.

During verbal conversations, accidents happen for sure, like when my husband calls me Kathy, his sister’s name, or when I yell to one of my sons and out stumbles his brother’s name instead. There’s also forgetting someone’s name altogether. Faulty utterances like these are common and easily forgivable. In fact, it’s rare for anyone I know to point out spoken errors at all. They seem to understand and just let them go.

There’s a higher expectation placed upon writers, however. When we commit thoughts to paper, we are responsible to verify the facts being presented, to pay attention to details. Very often, the records being created are permanent, and they’re always subject to public scrutiny. A simple mistake could jeopardize credibility with an audience. Misspellings, particularly of names, make it appear that we don’t know, care about, or respect our subjects well enough. At the very least, a person’s name, like Grandpa’s, should be documented precisely as he wishes (“to correspond to that person’s own usage”). It’s important to at least that one person.

Nov 10

Writer’s Block: 8 Strategies to Bust Out

In my last blog, A Picture is worth a Thousand Words, I talked about free writing. The pictures I used sparked my imagination, but pictures aren’t the only way to get out of a creative rut, they were just one example.

Writers know that a slide into the white abyss of a blank page will eventually happen; the dreaded writers block. We also know how to influence our writing style for the best results, what exercises we can use to push our thoughts into a colorful explosion of images created by our words. Even if we’re trying to start a new project, develop a new character, or find a crazy and different meet-cute that will attract readers, we all have certain exercises we like to use. Or we find the ones that help our creative process unfold.

Here are some of my favorite ways to break down walls that are stalling my creativity, or what I use to come up with something fresh.

Tarot Cards

A few years ago, one of my favorite mystery writers was having issues with character development. Her main protagonist in her series is a psychic. The first idea that came to mind was to suggest the author pull a tarot card and use it to develop character traits.

Zach Wong, Revelations Tarot

Zach Wong, Revelations Tarot

I randomly pulled one of my own tarot cards while writing this and drew The Hermit card. In Zach Wong’s depiction of The Hermit from Revelations Tarot–based on Arthur Edward Waite’s and Pamela Colman Smith’s tarot deck–the image represents “a teacher, someone wise, or an old soul who can point you in the right direction.”[1] The card, “recommends wisdom and forethought before making a decision.” [2] If I draw the card in reverse (upside-down), “the card reflects the need to run away from situations and to hide from problems.”[3] The interpretation of the card is completely up to the author. My take on the card is the character could be on an internal journey that will lead to answers that he/she has been searching for, finding happiness. In reverse, it could mean the character mired in his or her mind, morphs into an unreality that threatens them or others. Hero or villain, draw your own conclusions.

Word Association

Another exercise I like to use when I’m stuck is word association. Even though in your own work you’ve developed everything down to the single gray hair that your character can’t seem to get rid of, he or she might not be moving in a direction you foresaw. So what do you do? Try listing words in a column, by hand—a change of medium might help too—that relate to an inner turmoil or flaw your character has that is keeping him from getting to the end of his journey. In an adjacent column, write down where you want your character to end up, what place you might want him to go physically, or something he might need to find, a person he needs to see, things that make him feel good, or bad, etc. It’s all up to you. Nothing may come from the exercise, but you might also light a fire that you don’t want to extinguish.

A book that shows a slightly different take on word association is Plot & Structure: Techniques and exercises for crafting a plot that grips readers from start to finish by James Scott Bell. Bell talks about the use of mind maps.[4] He breaks it down into three steps: ready, fire, and aim.

  • Ready, invites you to pick a concept you want to develop. Pick a word the story should revolve around. Bell gives baseball as his example.
  • Fire, inspires a scrawl of words with connections and associations to the one word concept.
  • Aim, allows the writer to sift through words they have written down. Bell’s exercise inspires the writer to find direction to their thoughts and gives a good sense of the journey the writer might want to take as the story unfolds.

Books

A great place to find writing help are the old trusty books about writing. We all have them. A few I’ve found very helpful are Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark, Make a Scene by Jordan Rosenfeld, which I spoke of in an earlier post, Clarity, and Write Starts by Hal Zina Bennett.

In Writing Tools, Clark gives clear editing tools allowing us to improve on what we’ve written, which once done helps engage the reader more. With the use of chapters like, Tool 6, Take it easy on the –ings, or Tool 28, Put odd and interesting things together, he helps us in the editing process. For the latter, Clark gives an example from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. The author uses ironic juxtaposition to enhance a scene and make Madame Bovary oblivious to Rodolphe Boulanger’s true intentions.[5] What if you did this with your own work? Take one of your scenes and change it up. How can the background give you focus to the mood or motives of your character, while leaving the other character in the scene in the dark? It might allow you to richen your dialogue or give a dull scene a glow that never would have come about if you hadn’t taken the time to look into tools that work for you.

The examples above might not be perfect for you, but they could give you a jumping off point to do your own search on the internet. Below are a few places you might want to start your search.

  • Fiction University by Janice Hardy takes you through several areas of the writing process and answers many questions that might motivate you to write again.
  • One Minute Writer – This blog is a place where writing from a prompt can help you get words on the page; any words.
  • 13 Famous Writers – Read about famous authors own solutions for writers block.
  • A Map to Get Out of Writer’s Block – A great diagram of questions you need to ask yourself to help clear your thoughts and get writing again.

[1]Zach Wong, Revelations Tarot Companion, Llewellyn Publications, 2005, 29.

[2]Zach Wong, Revelations Tarot Companion, Llewellyn Publications, 2005, 29.

[3] Zach Wong, Revelations Tarot Companion, Llewellyn Publications, 2005, 30.

[4] James Scott Bell, Plot & Structure: Techniques and exercises for crafting a plot that grips readers from start to finish, Writer’s Digest Books 2004, 45-46.

[5] Roy Peter Clark, Writing Tools, Little, Brown and Company, 2006, 137.

Nov 06

More Than Black and White

“If you see the world in black and white, you’re missing important grey matter.” –Jack Fyock

The most compelling stories involve characters who are flawed morally, physically, socially, or even mentally. For example in the novel, Deserves to Die by Lisa Jackson, a twice divorced, single pregnant detective must solve the murder of a woman whose ring finger was severed.

In Kimberly White’s Acquisitions, a pharmaceutical rep files a sexual harassment suit against her boss but falls in love and has sex with the company attorney investigating her claim.

Susan Kay’s Phantom is a powerful retelling of the story of the well-known main character Erik, in Phantom of the Opera, who was born horribly disfigured to a vain, spoiled Catholic widow. This gripping novel begins with her point of view then continues with the point of view of each significant person in the phantom’s life. When finally Erik’s point of view is told, the reader feels sympathy for the man who survived a life of physical, emotional, and verbal abuse.

With Every Drop of Blood, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier, is a novel of the civil war. When Johnny, a white southern teenager, is talked into delivering supplies to Rebel troops, he agrees in order to support his widowed mother and siblings. Johnny is captured by Cush, a Yankee runaway slave about Johnny’s age. Each has been taught to hate the enemy, but the interaction between the two young men is compelling.

In Karen Slaughter’s Fallen, police officer Faith Mitchell arrives at her mother’s house to find the door open, a dead man on the floor, another man she kills, her young daughter hidden away, and her mother missing. To prove her innocence in the killing, Mitchell must slip away to find her mother and solve this bizarre case.

To Have and to Kill is part of Mary Jane Clark’s wedding cake series. Piper Donovan, recovering from a broken engagement, returns home to help with her mom’s wedding cake business. Her mom’s macular degeneration, a friend’s murder, and a new love interest all impact Piper.

Lisa Genova’s Still Alice tells the story of Alice, a professor who develops Alzheimer’s. The story became the movie, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

Now, look at your stories. Are all your characters in perfect physical shape? They’re boring unless they have a limp, a stutter, a facial scar, or some other imperfection. Are they polite at all times without a show of temperament? Are your antagonists all bad, or do they stop to open a door for the handicapped? Do they drop coins in the hat of the beggar on the street? Does your antagonist kill indiscriminately or does she only select victims who deserve to die? Do your characters have names that reveal a little about their personality or are you using the easy Dick and Jane names? Are your characters always living a life of luxury or is the middle class or the poor a part of some of your stories.

Mix it up! Add some flavor to your stories by including good and bad in protagonists, antagonists, and some of your minor characters. Your stories will be more compelling and interesting.

 

 

 

Nov 03

Pieces and Pages – First 2 Find a Gem

Geocaching is a fun, year round activity. You take coordinates from the geocaching website, enter them into a GPS device such as an app on your phone, and go on a treasure hunt. It’s amazing the gems you can find. In geocaching there is a concept: First to Find (F2F). When a cache is set up, the first person to find it has bragging rights of F2F. Such is the case for this blog edition. I was looking for a place in Livonia to grab a quick dinner before joining fellow Deadwood Writers for an evening of…writing. As I was turning into a mini-strip mall in Livonia, my mental radar locked on a store sign that said “Books.” By sheer luck, I’d found an independent bookstore in a place that I’ve driven by many times. Usually, Yelp guides my travels to identify such gems, but I’d never expected to find some place in an area I’m very familiar with. As it turned out it was only six months old, which makes it new. It is my F2F that I hope that you will find on your travels.

Pieces & Pages: First to Find – a Gem by John McCarthy (Twitter)

2014-08-27 17.58.36

My first impression on entering the store: spare and clean. The bookshelves in the middle of the room are spaced evenly and precisely apart. Additional bookshelves line three walls. Tables are set in the window front, which reminds me of the game stores that sell and encourage play of the many fantasy card games like Magic: the Gathering and Yu-gi-ou. My second impression was the welcoming atmosphere created by the storeowner, Jill, who greeted me on stepping inside and inquires if she can assist me.

2014-08-27 17.59.20

Many genres are represented, offering recent and older classics that will tempt you. I’m always looking for some of the hard to find books, such as Piers Anthony’s Battle Circle series. I have the compilation already, and I found one of the stand-alone books in very good condition in the Science Fiction section.

2014-08-27 18.12.28

 

The comic book section is small, containing current titles. Collectors can order and hold a series that may interest patrons. Tables are available to those who want to read before deciding on a purchase and for playing games that are kept in an Events schedule.

2014-08-27 18.08.27

As independent stores go, this one is part of an emerging trend to combine the traditional bookstore with comics and gaming. I’ve visited several places that did this, but few that gave equal treatment to attract all audiences. Only the future will tell how successful this approach becomes. Store culture is an important key which is steered by the owner. In this case, Pieces & Pages has taken strides to meet the needs of its diverse audience.

Stop in and decide for yourself.

Pieces & Pages

BOOKS \ GAMES \ COMICS

31155 Plymouth Road, Livonia, Michigan 48150

Contact and Store Hours