“Don’t be a writer. Be writing.” William Faulkner
Tag: writing
#NaNoWriMo2015-Get to the Heart of Your Story (writing tip #22)
If you started writing your novel on November 1st, you are fast approaching your final week! Kudos for those of you who pushed the edge of the envelope (and filled the pages) this month. If fear kept you from beginning, continuing, completing your first draft, acknowledge your fear and sit with the feelings. Take a few minutes to free write to see if you can focus in on the nature of your fears: Are you afraid of failure? Afraid of writing total crap? Afraid of actually finishing? Afraid of success? Afraid of attention? Afraid of being seen? Afraid of not …
#NaNoWriMo2015–Get to the Heart of Your Story (writing tip #18)
Seven inspiring quotes from the masters: #1) “Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” Mark Twain#2) “The first draft of anything is shit.” Earnest Hemingway#3) “Literature–creative literature–unconcerned with sex, is inconceivable.” Gertrude Stein#4) “James Joyce was a synthesizer, trying to bring in as much as he could. I am an analyzer, trying to leave out as much as I can.” Samuel Beckett#5) “Do you realize that all great literature is all about what a bummer it is to be a human being? Isn’t it such a relief to have somebody say that?” Kurt …
The View from Here: One Writer’s Thoughts on Viewpoint Any in-depth discussion of viewpoint or point of view (POV) is a complex undertaking because viewpoint is perhaps the most intricate element of fiction. Because in this blog, I aim for simplicity, I will cover a few basics, and, with the examples interspersed, encourage you to register and reflect upon your impressions. For the moment lets consider point of view as the person and perspective used to narrate the story. More simply yet profoundly put by author and teacher Janet Burroway, viewpoint is the vantage point from which a story is …
The Loose Novelist
This advice from Alan Watt’s wise how-two, THE 90-DAY NOVEL: “I didn’t try to figure out the ending, but rather, imagined a sense of my hero at the end of the story. How was he relating differently to his father? What had he come to understand as a result of his journey? How was the dilemma resolved? What was the visual metaphor, the image that captured the essence of my story at the end? As I pondered these questions, ideas came to me, and I realized that they were a goldmine of images for what preceded the ending. Imagining our …
Life of Fiction
From Kenneth Atchity’s A WRITER’S TIME: Fiction isn’t identical with reality. Instead, dramatic fiction gives the impression of reality. Aristotle described it as an “imitation” of action. In many ways we prefer the imitation to reality. Fiction has a definable shape, a satisfying closure. When you read a good book or see a good play, you walk away with a feeling of having experienced something definite, something conclusive. Unfortunately, life itself doesn’t often provide such a well-rounded feeling. We go to the theater or the bookstore to find fictions that are philosophically, morally, or dramatically more meaningful than those we …
Dreaming Awake
“Creative writers make believe. They train themselves sharply to observe the world around them, to notice the unnoticed. They reach back into their past lives for rich characters, vivid settings, and meaningful events. But at some point, the search for raw material veers toward another source–it turns inward to what isn’t, wasn’t, and could never be, yet somehow seems right, real, and true.” From: THE CREATIVE PROCESS by Carol Burke and Molly Best Tinsley
Shunning the Muse
I’m writing on a deadline these days and, consequently, I’m short on time to blog. However, I do have time to share some of my favorite quotes from incredible writers, editors, and teachers. This one from A Writer’s Time by Kenneth Atchity: “I haven’t mentioned the Muse, the mythic word for “inspiration.” She is the last person you want to depend on. Professional writers generally speak of her with a mixture of affection and tolerance: Discipline, not the Muse, results in productivity. If you write only when she beckons, your writing is not yours at all. If you write according …
New Year’s Eve…final musings for 2009
Some final thoughts on writing for this year: 20) Get plenty of exercise. Drink lots of water. Don’t get lost on social networking sites. 22) Understand that as a creative person, you will experience some anxiety, its part of the creative process. 23) Learn the difference between some anxiety and crippling anxiety; seek help for the latter. 24) When anxiety shivers through you, open to your curiosity and let it guide you forward. 25) Creative people are curious people; follow your curiosity the way a dog follows its nose. 26) If you have never written a book, know that its …
December’s Writing Child…and more
More musings as the Solstice draws near… 9) Know that Creatives need company, we need our creative community, those who will support us on our journey. 10) Understand that books are written in drafts, often three. 11) Embrace the mess of your first draft. This is special, this is the mud and mess of first creation. 12) Invite your constructive critic to join the writing/revising process only after you have completed your messy first draft. 13) Understand that your book may take one year or more to complete. 14) Build a strong foundation to support you so you can write …