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WFMAD Day 10 – Mindfulness Part 1

I love reading about neuroscience.

I know. It’s not the thing that you admit often in public. But the truth is that I read more non-fiction than fiction, and one of my favorite things to read about are books that explore the human brain.

This is all connected to writing, of course.

I am fascinated by how Brain contains memory and imagination and emotion and the ability to walk and chew gum at the same time. I doubt that our science is even close to understanding the Great Gray Matter yet and I am looking forward to the next fifty years of bunkings and debunkings of new theories.

What does this have to do with WFMAD? Not a lot, except that the Eagles are playing the Jaguars on Friday night. This means it’s time for us to get our cable hooked up again.

We have cable TV for two reasons: NFL football and college basketball. We turn off the cable from the end of March Madness to the beginning of NFL pre-season in mid-August. Why? We find it gives time for the things that we really care about; reading, family time, running, camping, and working in the garden. We have many avenues to get news information. If there is a show or documentary that we are interested in, we can always watch it on Hulu or some other such thing. What we avoid is that time suck that happens when you turn on the TV ( you know, just to see what’s on) and two hours later you find yourself drooling in the corner of the couch, surrounded by potato chip crumbs, your thumb compulsively clicking channels.

We have one television in our house and it is down in the basement, so that when TV season is upon us, it takes effort and mindfulness to go all the way down there and turn the darn thing on. This also removes the mind-numbing habit that many people have of leaving the television on for background noise. During football and basketball season we make a habit of watching the games we are excited about. We also try to remain mindful about not fall into the trap of turning it on just because it is there.

Should you kick your TV to the curb? I don’t know… should you? People are often shocked when they find out that I’ve written eight novels, three picture books, a young readers series and spent way more than a thousand days traveling in the past twelve years. I think a lot of that was accomplished because I don’t spend much time watching TV. On the other hand, I know some people work well with a TV muttering in the corner. I guess the trick is to be clear about which of your habits support your artistic dream and which ones interfere with it.

 

Ready…

“Making, unmaking, remaking, and transforming herself; that is the job of a writer.” Joyce Carol Oates.

Set… turn off the TV, phone, and the other devices that get in the way of your creativity.

Today’s prompt: you get a choice today.

1) If you have a Work In Progress, interview one of the secondary characters about the main character. Be open to allowing the secondary character to go off on a rant and tell you things you didn’t know before.

2) If you don’t have a WIP, write a scene about a kid trying to learn how to ride a bicycle. Alone. You can choose to write from the perspective of the kid, or an adult who is watching the scene.

Scribble…Scribble…Scribble!!!

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WFMAD Day 9 – gunpowder and sunscreen

I spent the weekend in a haze of gunpowder and sunscreen, visiting the largest American Revolution reenactment in New England at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

 

I visited this reenactment a couple of years ago when I was scouting out scenes for FORGE. In some ways, writing historical fiction might be easier than writing contemporary fiction. OK, not easier, exactly. Definitely more time consuming. And more maddening.

But you can make no assumptions when writing historical fiction; no assumptions about, say, how people pulled on their socks, or when they ate their breakfast, or how they greeted old friends.

In an early draft I’ll sketch a scene like “Curzon is seen by Trumbull. Tries to run. Is caught. Confrontation. Officer intervenes. Enlistment scene.” At first I picture this in a modern context. Once I have the actions and motivations of my characters, I do the primary source research that will enable me to write the scene in a manner that is as historically accurate as possible.

Visiting reenactments helps, but is not the key to all my problems. Because I can’t assume that the reenactors are getting it right. (If you allow other people to do your research, I can guarantee you’ll get burned.) But watching the reenactors has helped spark my imagination and set me on the path to some great scenes.

Ready…

Here is a poem for you, written by Emily Dickinson. Read it out loud a couple of times.

"Luck is not chance --
It's Toil --
Fortune's expensive smile
Is earned --
The Father of the Mine
Is that old-fashioned Coin
We spurned --"

Set… turn off the phone, step away from the internet, and the tell the world you’ll be back in fifteen minutes. Or an hour.

Today’s prompt: Think of a scene or a story that you want to write, but that requires a lot of research. Jot down the central idea in a sentance or two. (If you can’t think of anything off the top of your head, consult the list you made yesterday.)

If you had all of the time and the money that you needed, how would you research this story? Be as detailed and specific as you can.

Bonus prompt: When your fifteen minutes is up, hop on the internet and see if you can find affordable and time-reasonable alternatives to your research ideas. For example, you may not be able to spend a week hiking in the Abruzzo region of Italy, but you can track down people who lived there, seek out Italian documentaries, contact photographers who have been there. I find that if I write a rough draft of a scene, then write the specific questions I need answered (What was the procedure for enlisting Continental soldiers in the fall of 1777? What was the promised pay? Term of enlistment? What evidence is there that these rules were broken? Where can I find actual enlistment documents? Who has studied enlistments in the period surrounding the Battles of Saratoga?) it motivates me to actually do the research. And then I can write.

Scribble… Scribble… Scribble!!!

 

 

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WFMAD Day 8 – accountability

 

You made it through the first week!

Most of you.

If you were able to write at least 15 minutes a day for the last week then HUZZAH!! What (if anything) felt different about this past week’s writing?

If you stumbled, then I will pat the back of your hand, brew you a cup of tea and murmur soothing sounds. It’s OK. I understand. That’s why we do this project in the first place, because we all fumble and stumble a lot when it comes to our writing.

If you don’t want to be soothed and find yourself wishing I was more of a drill sergeant, then brace yourself. The following paragraph is for you and you only:

Stop whining and write. Get off your ass and write. Turn off the television and write. Take all the time you use to complain about not-writing and write. Just do the damn thing already!

(I don’t like yelling. Can I stop now, please? And I have the overwhelming urge to make you some tea. Do you take sugar or honey?)

In the Comments yesterday, Jeni asked “Do you ever revise one project and work on a new one at the same time?”

I always have at least two projects going, often more. There is always the Number One Priority Project, but I find it’s helpful to be doing research or scribbling notes on something different at the same time. Jane Yolen once told me she always has many projects going at once and she doesn’t decide what she’s going to work on until she sits down at her desk in the morning and figures out what kind of mood she’s in.

And then there is the difference between writer-projects and author-projects. Right now these are my writer-projects:

  1. Draft of new YA
  2. Research for next historical
  3. Research for next non-fiction picture book
  4. Notes for next series book
  5. play with ideas for fictional picture book

These are my author projects:

  1. Continue generating new website content
  2. Prepare presentations for book tour
  3. Daily blogging for WFMAD

Pretty much every author I know could generate a similar list, if you asked them.

Ready…

“First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!” Ray Bradbury

Set….

Turn off the phone and step away from the Internet. And the television. And, and, and…

Today’s prompt:

Write 25 one-sentence descriptions of books that you want to write. You heard me; 25.

If there is still time in your 15 minutes when you are done with the list (or you want to write longer!), expand on the five projects that are the most exciting OR terrifying. Actually, the terrifying ones would be more interesting.

Scribble…Scribble…Scribble!!!

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WFMAD Day 7 – Ready for the Close-Up?

When I am teaching writing to students, I sometimes tell them to think of themselves as a film director. Like Clint Eastwood, who dabbles in a little of everything; writing, acting, directing, financing, cooking, etc. The director has assembled her actors (characters), she kind of knows what she wants to do with the scene, but she isn’t quite sure of the specifics (the unfolding of the narrative) or the camera angles.

OK, maybe this director isn’t Clint. I imagine he’d have all of this nailed down before the filming began.

(If you are on an early draft of your project, this analogy make more sense if you think of yourself as Christopher Guest directing, writing, and acting in Best In Show, because so much of the dialog was improvised.)

So there you are, actors/characters standing around yawning, texting, filing nails, eyeing the snack table while you are burning valuable daylight. You know this is supposed to be a scene about two frenemies running into each other at the grocery store, but you can’t figure out how to get the scene started.

In situations like this, I tell the students to experiment with the kinds of shots available to a director; close-up, medium, or long shot. I have often rewritten scenes three times, starting with a different camera angle and length of shot as I try to figure out which works best for the scene. The long shot would show the entire grocery store and would have many different kinds of action. A medium shot would be composed of say, one aisle, and might contain two or three characters.

Choosing the close-up shot is the most challenging of all. It can lead to some of your best writing. At the same time it might make you tear your hair out and register for graduate school courses in accounting, so proceed with patience and tender care for yourself.

The close-up can be maddening because there are so MANY details you can focus on! Which one is the best? The ketchup shelves? The way ketchup and mustard compete for shelf space? The way the smears of red and the yellow look if the character forgot to put his glasses on? (Why did he forget his glasses, btw?) The torn label on the third bottle of Heinz organic ketchup? Or the dried wad of gum sitting on the shelf in front of it?

I’ve found that if I keep pondering until I find the right details to focus on, the rest of the scene falls into place.

Ready….

“Taking a new step, uttering a new word is what people fear the most.” Fyodor Dostoyevski

Set….

Turn off the phone and Internet and tell your loved ones that even though it’s Saturday, you need fifteen minutes to write. Put up your boundaries in a friendly way.

Today’s prompt:

Free-write a scene that starts with a tight close-up on a detail of the scene. If you can’t think of something, take a picture and enlarge it until you can only see one part of it. Write about what you can see, then slowly pull the lens back and incorporate the surrounding details. Once you have close-up details established, go back and make one or more of your characters interact with them, so you have action as well as descriptive narrative.

Need help? Use these photos. (be sure to mouse over the photos for extra help)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scribble…Scribble…Scribble!!!

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WFMAD Day 6 – When The Words Don’t Come

We all have days when the words don’t come.

I hate them.

It’s like all my creativity is frozen in a country that has never been drawn on a map. Write? Me? Ha!

::bangs head on table::

Where do these days come from?

Sometimes you can pinpoint the spot: you are worried about someone you love, another rejection letter arrived or your royalty check was for less money than the postage stamp it took to mail it. Maybe you’re coming down with a virus. Or you ate both pizza AND hot wings for dinner and you woke up to find your body has decided to slide into a semi-coma, complete with depression and headache, to make you suffer for eating such crap.

And then there are the days that mystify you. Everything is fine. You ate chicken and steamed broccoli for dinner. You’ve been flossing. You children help elderly people cross the street and then rescue kittens from storm drains. Your writing is even going well.

But you have one of those days anyway. You wake up sad or irritated with the world and when you set your timer to fifteen minutes and you sit down to write, you get absolutely……… nothing.

Your creativity is frozen.

I have a new way for you to look at those days. I think they are a natural part of the creative rhythm. Everything in nature cycles between fullness and fallow, between wax and wane. Why should your soul be any different?

The trick is to learn to recognize when you’ve stumbled onto a fallow time and to be prepared for it. You don’t want to stop writing – dear heavens, anything but that! Because it’s my experience that these mired, frozen times usually come right before a burst of creativity, and you want to be all limbered up and prepared for when that day dawns.

Ready….

“You must do the things that you think you cannot do.” Eleanor Roosevelt.

Set… turn off the phone, disconnect the Internet

Today’s prompt: Write about what it feels like to not be able to write. Curse vehemently. Describe your entombed creativity ten different ways. Give it a color, a sound, a song, a name. Describe what it would look like if it were a dog. A zombie. A banker.

Once you are done, take the paper that you wrote on to a safe place. Set it on fire. When the ashes are safely disposed of, go for a walk. Be sure to listen to lots of music for the rest of the day. Things will be better tomorrow.

Scribble…Scribble….Scribble!!!