Tag: wfmad

 

 Image by Michael Howell

 

Those days when the words flow are magical, aren’t they?

The days when the words don’t flow? When all you hear is the hot wind blowing down the canyon, evil spirits laughing at you? They are hell.

Everyone has days like this. They can be managed. They can be endured and overcome. You will crawl your way out of the desert and drink deep again from the well of inspiration.

When the hot winds blow and I have sand in my brain instead of ideas, I will do one or all of the following:

1. Read a book written by an author I love

2. Go for a walk

3. Read poetry

4. Go for a run

5. Weep. Pout. Curse the sky. Stomp my feet.

6. Draw

7. Take the character who is giving me the most trouble and writing outrageous scenes with her/him. This kind of scene will have nothing to do with the book I’m writing, but is designed to help me get to know a character better.

 

Today’s Quote

“I’ve learned just to go to my room and plug away. It doesn’t take very long for most writers to realise that if you wait until the day you are inspired and feel like writing you’ll never do it at all.”

Anne Tyler

Today’s Prompt: This one starts with writing a few short lists.

Step 1 – write the names of three kids from your childhood (these do not have to be children you knew well or even liked).

Step 2 – write down five smells.

Step 3 – choose  a simple story idea. Don’t have one? Borrow one of these:  Surprise Party, Talking Roses, Exploding Toilet, Bus Breakdown, Burning Pancakes, Girl Scout Troop in Revolt.

Step 4 – Combine the elements from Steps 1-3 and write about the mixture for 15 minutes.

  Scribble… scribble… scribble…

(Image from PostSecret)

 

I have two external scars of note. The one on my left arm is about 3.5 inches long, the one on my right shoulder is a little longer.  I got them both ten years ago this week, when a meticulous surgeon did a great job cutting out the scary melanomas that grew there.

There is much, much more to the story, of course, but I’m going to keep those cards close to my chest until the time comes to spread them out in a novel.

Realizing that I have made the ten-year mark (not completely clean, alas; I had a pre-melanoma removed last year… but clean enough to celebrate!) made me think about the power of setting to evoke strong characterization and conflict potential.

Ready?

 

 Today’s quote

“I think all writing is a disease. You can’t stop it.”

William Carlos Williams

 

Today’s prompt: Write a scene in a doctor’s office. It can be one from your own life. One that you imagine a relative went through. It could be a famous person, stripped down and wrapped in a paper gown, about to get The News. Try to alternate the patient’s thoughts with details from the room. Introduce other characters; nurses, other patents, medical students, the doctor, the patient’s beloved companion, the person the character sees in the mirror. You don’t necessarily have to tell the reader exactly what is wrong with the character. Draw out the tension. Let the reader add his own tension that inevitably comes into play in this setting.

 

 Scribble… scribble… scribble…

 

I spent the weekend with my daughter Meredith in Montreal, Canada. The stated goal of the trip was to watch the Philadelphia Union soccer team play the Montreal Impact, but it wound up being (as all good trips do) much more complex and fun.

WRITING NOTE – Travel is very, very good for your Muse. The change of scenery and stimulation feeds your soul and fills your well. Writers are very sensitive to language and I believe that being exposed to a foreign language stimulates your brain, too.

Not only did we watch the game (Philly lost, despite our loud and raucous cheering), but we got to explore the site of the 1974 Olympics, visited a tiny part of the that city’s great Botanical Garden, rode the subway, mangled a lot of French, ate poutine, and a grilled cheese and duck sandwich, drank a little wine, and enjoyed a divine lunch in an outdoors garden courtyard.

The best part was sharing it with my daughter and laughing constantly. We came home with the need to schedule another get-away weekend immediately!

And now it is back to writing!

 

Today’s Quote

“Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.” 
― Jane Yolen

 

Today’s Prompt: For fifteen minutes – without stopping – you will write about all of the ideas and characters and feelings and memories and dreams and people that you want to write books about for the next fifty years.

NOTE – I find this easier when I am playing music very loudly in my headphones. The noise helps drown out the cackling laughter of my Inner Bitch who makes fun of me when I dream big.

 

  Scribble… scribble… scribble…

 You know the problem with writers? We think too damn much.

We over-analyze and worry about character arcs and rising and falling plot action and what is hot in the market today and will my dog still love me if I don’t get an agent and on… and on… and on…

Most of that worry is an avoidance technique. Writing is scary and we’re never sure if we’re doing it right and it is much easier to fret than to write.

Listen: DON’T THINK. JUST WRITE.

The voices will speak to you if you quiet your mind enough to hear them.

 

Today’s Quote

“Writing begins with getting words down on screen or paper. See movie in your head-scene or memory. Type up details like court reporter.”

Anne LaMott

 

Today’s Prompt: Go to the Washington Post or the newspaper of your choice and choose a story from the front page that, for whatever reason, really strikes a chord in your heart. Read the story through twice, then put it away. Don’t look at it again.

Write a scene connected to that article. Put your character in the middle of the action. The character can be someone who was actually mentioned in the article, or – more interesting! – make the character someone who has a strong emotional connection to the people in the article. Or insert yourself into the middle of the action and write a scene.

 

  Scribble… scribble… scribble…

 

 

It’s Saturday, the day when the best of intentions disintegrate under a heap of weekend plans. Stop right now and figure when you will write today and tomorrow. Set an alarm on your phone, or tell a friend who will annoy you ceaselessly until you fulfill this promise to yourself.

(If your best intentions to write every day this month went up in flames earlier in the week, fear not. Write TODAY. And then tack a few days on at the end of August to make up for what you missed. One year I think we still had people writing on August 46th.)

One of the reasons we let the “real world” interfere with the plans for our writing or art is that we have disconnected from the part of us that remembers what it was like to be a child. I’ve found that by staying in touch with my kid-self makes it easier to make time for writing.

Today’s Quote

“If you want to find a magical situation, magical things, you have to go deep inside yourself. So that is what I do. People say it’s magic realism — but in the depths of my soul, it’s just realism. Not magical. While I’m writing, it’s very natural, very logical, very realistic and reasonable.”

Haruki Murakami

Today’s Prompt: Quickly write a paragraph about what your days were like in second grade (around age 7).  Then choose a fairy tale from this list. Pull one of the elements from the fairy tale and write about who you would have reacted if it showed up in your life when you were in second grade. For example, what if your new babysitter had been Cinderella? Or the giant from Jack in the Beanstalk?

NOTE: You can only use the minutes you are actually writing towards your goal of fifteen minutes. Time spent reading or thinking doesn’t count.

ANOTHER NOTE: Loosen up! Have fun!

 YET ANOTHER NOTE: I’m taking a road trip to Montreal this weekend. I’ve already written and scheduled Sunday’s blog post. If it doesn’t post automatically during the morning, I should be home in the early evening (East Coast time) and will post it then.

 

 Scribble… scribble… scribble…