Month: August 2011

Welcome to a blast from my past.

Fractured Fairy Tales was a feature on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, a cartoon that ran in the early 1960’s (and is now available on Hulu).

Aside from being stupid-funny and guaranteeing that your children will regard you as ancient if you go all nostalgic as soon as you hear the theme song, they offer a wonderful structural device for writers.

Ready… If character comes easy to you, but devising plot is a problem, look to the classics of storytelling for a little help. One of the reasons that classics endure is because they resonate so deeply with readers they survive the tests of age. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the structure of a known tale as you are trying to figure out your own plot. Adapt the elements to the needs of the character, instead of stealing and reproducing the story. It will be much more satisfying to put your own spin on the story.

Set… “Write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you are writing, and aren’t writing particularly well.” Agatha Christie

Today’s prompt: Choose a fairy tale from this list. (Reread the tale quickly if you don’t remember the story clearly.)

Now fracture the fairy tale. Insert a new main character; you, a character from your work in progress, a new character you just dreamed up, or a friend, neighbor, child or dog you know. Rewrite the tale quickly, but make the reactions of the main character true to who he is instead of making him simply be a puppet to voice the original text. Allow your story to drive off the map and head for destinations unknown. Have fun with this!!

Scribble… Scribble… Scribble…

August is half-over! MORE than half-over. When I came out of swim practice tonight, the sun was nearly set.

Screw your courage to the sticking point, friends! Dig deep and find the fortitude that will keep you writing until August fades away!

It’s late and I’m beat and you’re impatient, so let’s hop to it, shall we?

Ready… Have you missed a couple of writing days this month? Are you joining us late? Do not waste ONE SECOND scolding yourself! You can’t change the past. Focus on today. Plan for tomorrow. If you’ve been having a hard time squeezing out fifteen minutes a day for your writing, then set your alarm clock fifteen minutes early for tomorrow. I promise that the temporary discomfort of getting out of bed a wee bit early will be more than offset by the pride and joy in having written something.

Set… “God gives every bird his worm, but He does not throw it into the nest.” P.D. James

Today’s prompt: Remember that list of settings you composed yesterday? I sure hope you held on to it.

Pick the three settings that are the most interesting or terrifying to you. Write a few lines to describe a scene with your main character in this setting. Who would she come across there? How would they interact?

OR

Write down what place scares you the most. What chills your blood? Describe it in terrifying, chilling detail. Then explain why it freaks you out so much.

Scribble… Scribble… Scribble…

I would do anything for this woman.

Image credit David Sandison

This is P. D. James, one of the finest mystery writers, no, one of the finest writers alive. She just turned 91 and is still writing. (She didn’t publish her first novel until she was 42.) She is my hero.

From an article in The Guardian newspaper ten years ago: “Curiously, James identifies indolence as one of her chief short comings. She is very bad in the afternoons, she says and tasks that bore her, like letter-writing and paperwork, are only grudgingly and belatedly attended to. For the past 10 years she has been helped in these labours by her assistant, Joyce. But for 25 years she not only worked full-time, attended night school to qualify as a medical record-keeper and cared – albeit with the aid of her parents-in-law – for two daughters and an incapacitated husband, but also rose every morning at 6am and wrote for two hours before work, all of which she puts down to necessity. “My most valuable trait is tenacity,” she says, “but what got me where I am now is courage.””

Even better than her life story is her writing. I read her novels over and over again, enjoying her mastery of craft as well as her world-class storytelling gifts. She is particularly good at setting. Interestingly enough, that’s usually where her novels start.

“My own detective novels, with rare exceptions, have been inspired by the place rather than by a method of murder or a character,” she writes in her non-fiction gem, Talking About Detective Fiction.

Ready… Reserve one of P.D. James books at your library or buy one at an independent bookstore. One of her novels will teach more about writing than a million blog posts.

Set… “We can experience nothing but the present moment, live in no other second of time, and to understand this is as close as we can get to eternal life.” P. D. James

Today’s prompt: It’s rare to think about setting first. Too often, we go for what is safe and predictable. If we have a teen protagonist, then we set the story in a high school. If it’s a middle grade novel, there might be scenes at the mall, the skatepark, and a babysitter’s house.

Make a list of 10 different settings where you would NOT expect to find your main character. Be as detailed as possible; instead of saying bus station, say “the Greyhound station in Albany slumped in the shadows under the highway overpass; fifty shades of gray paint flaking slowly to the dirt.”

The goal is to stretch. Put your character on the moon if you want. Just describe it well. If the description does not come easy, think in terms of small detail. We’ll talk about this more tomorrow!

Scribble… Scribble… Scribble…

(Start your day out right by debunking a few grammar myths!)

I have a theory about creativity. It has everything to do with growing.

We go through many, many adolescences in our lives. The first one (from roughly age 12 – 19) is the most dramatic. Once you survive that, you might never want to endure another one. But if you continue to mature as you age, you will go through minor “adolescences of the spirit” at least every decade.

The Hero’s Journey (aka Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth) gives us a terrific frame of reference that can help us understand these comings-of-age.

The Call – you feel that your current life is not enough. You feel restless, dissatisfied. A crisis or series of crises may crop up, forcing you to reexamine your priorities and life path.

The Threshold (guardians, helpers, mentor) – You reach the jumping-off point, but you come across guardians, who seek to block your path. You must overcome these threshold guardians. You will often find helpers and a mentor to help you do this. These new friends are kindred spirits for your journey.

The Challenges – You stumble on your new path. You get lost as you try to rewrite your life or adjust to your new circumstances. Your challenges often reflect your greatest weakness. They cause you to thinking about scurrying back to the old you.

The Abyss – Welcome to the lion’s den. Get ready to slay your demons. This is the icky part. You doubt yourself. You hate yourself. You are convinced you’re a fraud, useless, stupid [insert your favorite pejorative word here]. You self-sabotage. You belittle your dream. You make really bad decisions in an effort of avoid facing the things you must face in order to grow.

The Transformation – You conquer the fears that tried to kill your spirit in the Abyss. You have revelations about who you are and what you want out of life. You make peace with who you were when you were younger and less enlightened. You shed your old skin and emerge from your tests as a stronger, wiser, more fulfilled version of you with a renewed sense of purpose.

The Return – You return back to the patterns of daily life with your new knowledge and desires. You’ll likely face some resistance from the people around you – they have to adjust to the new you, and your relationships will look different because of your expanded self-knowledge. You seek a way to integrate your refined sense of self with all aspects of your life.

ARE YOU READY??… Find a photo of yourself as a teenager. If you don’t have one, spend a few minutes on Awkward Family Photos looking for a gawky, uncomfortable teenage that reminds you of yourself. Feel the pain!

Set…

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

Today’s prompt: Write down the six-step version of the Hero’s Journey as I outlined it above. Then fill it in with your story – your personal story. Write out your own heroic journey, with special attention to your desire to write.

Scribble… Scribble… Scribble…