Some Thoughts on the Skeleton

So, at the meeting where I presented Angela Hunt's skeleton diagram for outlining a story, I said I wasn't sure that the part about the character reaching a point of despair and receiving outside help held true for all stories. I'm still not sure it does, but from watching movies, I've decided that part of the problem for me is that it may be presented much more subtly than Glenda's help to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

For example: in the movie Hidalgo, the main character (an ex-cavalry soldier from the American West, whose name escapes me) is involved in an endurance race on a mustang named Hidalgo in the deserts of the Middle East, against all-purebred Arabian horses and Bedouin riders. Near the end, he reaches a moment of despair, and is about to shoot his horse, who has succumbed to the heat, lack of water, and injuries, and seems unable to go on. He is deeply attached to the horse, and can't, when the moment comes, bring himself to do it. At that time, the heat also begins affecting him, and he sees a mirage/vision of Sioux ghost dancers, his ancestors, one of whom may or may not have been the his mother. Seeing them allows him to embrace the Sioux half of his ancestry, which is his Hidden Need, and that decision, coupled with Hidalgo's near-miraculous recovery, allows him to finish the race bareback and win.

When I was thinking of "help", I was not thinking of heat-induced hallucinations that gave no explicit advice. I've noticed in other movies that both the moment of despair and the "help" are even more subtle and hard to spot. However, this makes it easier for me in working on my current novel, where the outside help is similarly difficult to spot. At least, it makes me feel better.

On an unrelated note: there is a great article by Holly Lisle here about creating conflict.

Notes on the Keynote Adress at the 2011 PPW Banquet

Julia asked me to share my notes on Angela Hunt's speech with her, and I thought I'd just go ahead and post them here for everyone while I was at it.

The Writer's Toolkit

Writing is like building -- a writer can write anything (any genre) with the right tools and blueprint.

Tape Measure - a love for reading. You need to love to read and do it often.

Screwdriver -- for joining and prying. A willingness and ability to ask questions, both of yourself (what if? What next?) and of others (interviewing, listening) and to ask yourself what the reader needs to know.

Hammer - a drive to communicate - writing is hard work.

Saw - enables the builder to make things that fit - the writer must understand and adhere to genre guidelines; must check fact and do research.

Stud-finder (get your mind out of the gutter, romance writers!) -- you have to know where you can anchor -- how to be true to yourself in what you write -- don't prostitute your skill just to make a buck.

Vise -- perseverance holds the writer together, especially at the beginning; there WILL BE a learning curve. You must have willingness to keep learning and working to improve. Learn to wait.

Level - Someone who likes you and can give an honest critique of your work. The professional writer needs perspective - we can't see all the flaws in our own work.

A blank sheet of paper - the builder can build whatever he can sketch (subject to skill and budget restraints). The writer can write whatever his/her imagination can create.

Glue -- we need it to keep us in our chairs. Sit, write, repeat.

Stuff to look forward to...

Pens and Pages writer's group is in the middle of hosting Lauraine Snelling's "Writing Great Fiction" cd seminar at the Library. The group is currently on the fifth of seven discs but the group owns the set so if you missed a session, I'm sure you'll be able to catch up!

Our group is also hosting Dianne Sagan on April 16th, starting at 10:00 a.m. From 10:00 a.m. to noon, Ms. Sagan will present a workshop on Plotting and Character Arc, followed by a member-provided potluck from noon to 1:00 p.m. Ms. Sagan's husband will then present a workshop on Rewriting and Editing Your Manuscript from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Members are collecting gas money for the Sagan's. You can make your contribution to Diane or Brenda.

And from my perspective...
After a little bit of a rough start with Ms. Snelling's workshop (technical difficulties, etc) I can say that I'm actually taking a lot of useful stuff away from her presentation. I'm in the middle of reading a book by Larry Brooks (an affiliate of Writer's Digest) titled, Story Engineering. I have a great deal of difficulty grasping story structure - call it a mental block. (For me, Ms. Sagan's upcoming workshop couldn't come to soon.) Mr. Brooks' Story Engineering clearly and concisely outlines the architecture of a story and I think I'm gaining the insight I've desperately searched for lo these many years. I highly recommend it if you are looking for some advice on the more technical aspects of storytelling.

I haven't "written" anything lately... but I've been furiously jotting down little scraps of characterization, scene outlines, and possible plot points for my two flagging NaNo novels. I'm getting excited again - but I'm trying to temper my excitement with caution.

See, I tend to "binge" on "writing procrastination". I can come up with a million reasons why writing every day just isn't convenient, or not possible because I lack inspiration or a topic or any number of real and imagined road blocks. Just like a person who procrastinates in developing that healthy lifestyle through daily moderation, exercise and nutritious food choices, I put off developing the daily practice in writing that will make me a "healthy" writer. Then, I will get excited about something, and I'll go on a writing "diet" - much like the person trying to lose 10 pounds before some event - and I'll write like crazy... for a while. But eventually, I start cheating, and before I know it, I'm off my "diet" and haven't written anything for a week... and well, you know the end of that story. Once you've gone so long, you tell yourself you can't get back on that wagon again.

So, I'm trying to change that pattern, hence the caution, this time. I want to develop a writing habit... not a writing diet.

How about y'all? What's going on with you?

P&P Opps

A place to encourage writers to further their writing skills by considering:

Writing contests

Magazines

Presses

Internships

Grants and Scholarships

And much more…

　

Poets & Writers --We may want to consider subscribing to this magazine for our group if individuals haven't subscribed. This is possibly the best thing we could do for ourselves!
Find many opps here like: mags, presses, conferences, workshops, agents

http://www.pw.org/submission_calendar
Poets & Writers, Inc., is the primary source of information, support, and guidance for creative writers. Founded in 1970, it is the nation's largest nonprofit literary organization serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. Our national office is located in New York City. Our California branch office is based in Los Angeles.

Take a moment to see “Tools For Writers”

Looking for accurate information? Our staff carefully sifts through piles of claims, statements, and announcements to compile resources with real value to writers.

　

Love those Chicken Soup for the Soul books?

Find all the info here:

http://www.chickensoup.com/cs.asp?cid=guidelines
Guidelines for a Chicken Soup for the Soul Story

1. Tell an exciting, sad or funny story about something that has happened to you or someone you know. Make sure that you introduce the character(s). Please know that your story should be written in the first person.

2. Tell your story in a way that will make the reader cry, laugh or get goose bumps (the good kind!) Don’t leave anything out — how did you feel?

3. The story should start with action; it should include a problem, issue or situation. It should include dialogue and the character should express their feelings though the conflict or situation. It should end in a result, such as a lesson learned, a positive change or pay-off.

4. Above all, let it come from your HEART! Your story is important!

The most powerful stories are about people extending themselves, or performing an act of love, service or courage for another person.


Stories and poems should be non-fiction, ranging in length between 300-1200 words.

Submit online only.

I wrote this out several weeks earlier but am going to be lazy and post it as is. One benefit was gaining first hand experience with the "auto reminder" feature in Poets & Writes. It was excellent! Give it a whirl.

If you have more suggestions for P&P Opps either post them with "P and P Opps" in the labels or send them to me and I will post them. This will make it easier for us to find them months or years later. Heroic writing to you!

Just get started!

Sometimes, just getting started is the hardest part of writing something that's in your head.

I just read a blog about this, and I'll post one paragraph, which I thought was great, here, and you can follow this link to Scott Berkun's blog to read the rest.

"Writing is easy, it’s quality that’s hard. Any idiot who knows 5 words can write a sentence (e.g. “Dufus big much Scott is”). It might be grammarless, broken, or inaccurate but it is writing. This means that when people can’t start they’re imagining the precision of the end, all polished and brilliant, a vision that makes the ugly clumsy junkyard that all beginnings are, impossible to accept. Good voice, tone, rhythm, ideas and grammar are essential to good writing, but they’re never introduced all at once. I promise you, the first draft of Strunk and White didn’t follow Strunk and White. The secret, if you can’t start, is to begin without constraints. Deliberately write badly, but write."

Failure as Opportunity

I was reading an old Readers Digest article a few weeks ago, about how a flexible mindset helps you bounce back from failures. And of course I was tying it into writing, because that's what I do.

Basically, it says people have one of two mindsets: a fixed mindset, or a growth mindset. Fixed mindsets are grounded in the belief that talent is inborn, and that as such, a person is entitled to sucess without much effort. Failure leads a fixed-mindset person to blame, withdraw, and even avoid future challenge and risk. A growth mindset assumes that no talent is entirely inborn, and that effort and learning make everything possible. The growth mindset sees failure as an opportunity.

Opportunity for what? Opportunity to learn. Thomas Edison is famous for his growth mindset (oh, you thought he was famous for inventing the lightbulb?). One of his frequently trotted-out quotes is "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." That perfectly illustrates the growth mindset. Failure isn't a disgrace, it's just a chance to figure out what went wrong and do better next time.

Often it's hard to escape the fixed mindset. It's HARD to think of failure as a good thing, it's HARD to examine our own failings critically, when all we want to do is crawl into a hole and lick our wounds.

In writing, the classic example of this is rejection slips. Many writing books advise that the writer needs to look forward to rejection slips as an opportunity to learn. If you don't, it can be too depressing to go out there and try again, sending your work off to another market to be rejected.

I don't think any of us can do this perfectly. Sometimes I let failure get the best of me. Last year I got back my entry to the Frontiers in Writing Contest and didn't do as well as I'd hoped. The judges comments stung, even though they pointed out things that subconsciously I knew were off, and just hoped no one else would notice. I put the judge's comments away after reading them once, and went off to lick my wounds, abandoning that novel's revisions.

I still don't think I'll work on that novel again. I really do think it has flaws too big to be worth dealing with. It was a learning experience in many ways, though. But this year, before I sent out the first pages and synopsis of my second novel to the Frontiers in Writing contest, I went back over the judge's comments from last year. Lo and behold, there was useful information there, information that helped me craft a better synopsis.

So sometimes, I guess what I'm saying is, even the failure to deal with failure well can be looked at with a growth mindset. It's never too late.

Take A Break

If your writing is getting boring and cliched, it's time to take a break and gather some new inspiration; read a book, watch a movie or TV show, then tomorrow get back to the old word processor (or typewriter, or yellow tablet) after giving your brain a little time to revive.

I've seen a few movies in recent weeks which seem especially good for those of us who write:

"Stranger Than Fiction" is the story of a writer (Emma Thompson) who confronts some major problems while planning to kill off her main character (Will Farrell). This is a little more serious role for Farrell than his usual slapstick comedy style.

"Miss Potter" is a great movie for those who write for children. This biographical story evolves around Beatrix Potter of London who wrote and illustrated the classic Peter Rabbit series of children's books at the turn of the last century. Here's a lady who got things done in spite of obstacles in her path. If you rent this one, be sure to check out the extra film clips about her later life in rural England explaining how she preserved the country environment around her. A lady WAY ahead of her time.

"Shadows in the Sun" is a pretty good movie about writer's block; losing your ability to write because of of emotional trauma. It stars Harvey Keitel and Joshua Jackson. Beautiful scenery, set in Italy, with a little romance thrown in just to lighten up the story a bit.

Someone in our group, I can't remember who, recommended the book "Home Safe" by Elizabeth Berg. Surprise --- it isn't about baseball! The main character is a well-known writer who conducts writing workshops similar in scope to the writing exercises we do at P & P meets. This is another story line dealing with emotional trauma following the death of a spouse.

I also enjoyed the recent TV series "Castle" (ABC) which centers around a mystery writer who works closely with a lady police detective. Of course there is some romantic comedy involved, but you can pick up a few writing tips along the way. One such tip goes thusly: there are only three reasons to kill (murder) your main character; money, love, or to cover up a crime already committed. Interesting! I hope this series returns to the small screen next Fall.

I'll close with a quote I picked up somewhere: "Bad decisions make good stories." I'm planning to think about the worst decisions I've made during these past seven decades and write them down. I've got plenty to choose from.

Grannie Carol

Visible, Verifiable, Virtual!

Whoops! I am late again.

First of all, wish me a Happy Birthday. I'm 46. I'm resolved to never lie about my age. It's not like I could get away with it anyway.

I'm thinking a lot about the author's platform lately. This is a concept which attendees to last years FiW Conference will recognize immediately, as -- along with the repetetive drumbeat of "More likely than not, you won't be published" -- the concept, buzz word, what-have-you seemed like an unofficial theme of the 2009 conference.

I think I only mentioned a little about your 'platform' as a writier at a PnP meeting but, like critique, I believe it's a subject that stands up to a little periodic refreshing. I want to disclaimer right now that when I first heard of building your platform at the FiW '09, I was a little miffed and put off. I mean, I want to be a writer, for goodness sake! If I'd wanted to be a salesperson, I would hit the pavement and apply for sales jobs!

Because, like it or not, that is what "building your platform" is all about. Some folks have a ready-made platform in some other area -- like sports or politics -- and don't need to work at getting name recognition to help boost sales of a book. Like former presidents don't have to be writers to get book deals, see. Some are "industry names" -- not known to folks outside of their industry, but very well known within it -- all they need to do is demonstrate their saleability to a publisher and bam! = book deal.

As it is with success breeding more success, so it is with your author's platform -- you gotta have it to get more. In the just-linked article from Writer's Digest, the author mentions visibility, and if I had to use one word to describe "platform" -- say I was on a desert island and I could only take a few words with me -- this would be the one I'd use. This can be problematic for a technophobe like me! (I don't even have a - gasp! - Facebook page!!) But like it or not, in this day and age, visibility - high visibility -- usually evolves out of digital social media.

I despise knowing this! I really do. If there were any way around it, I would take it, you betcha. But the more I look into the world of writing/publishing, the more the truth of the matter crystallizes: you must be visible, you must be verifiable, you must be Virtual! (okay, that middle "v" word is questionable, but I gotta do things in three's. It's an OCD thing.)

So, in the spirit of the subject of the above post, I encourage you to hit the highlighted links embedded in the post and get educated on how you can build your 'author platform' from scratch.

Because we can't all be Paris Hilton, now can we?

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge?

Can you imagine having a name as Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge?

I am very thankful that I do not although I absolutely LOVE the book by the same name. The book has the most delightful and honest illustrations which I described in a poem:

The illustrator has the most remarkable way of capturing truth
Truth in an honest and loving and somewhat embarrassing way
A way we all look in our honest and everyday real self
Softened with watercolor gentleness displaying big bellies and skinny legs
Big lumpy bottoms, hangy down breasts and almost bald heads
Pants held up almost to necks with suspenders
Pantyhose stockings rolled down past knees with lavender dress shoes and orange dresses
Wilfred Gordon Patridge McDonald didn't mind any of these things in the least
He peers at his friends in an honest, loving and somewhat embarrassing way himself

note: This is part of a poem I wrote for the April challenge of writing a poem a day. As you can see I don't follow poetic rules but they haven't seemed to mind, so far. ;-)

As you can see the illustrator deeply warmed my heart and roused a warm "yummy" feeling for "our honest and everyday real selves." Julie Vivas is an outstanding illustrator

The story itself is a gift of warmth, love, deep longing and sadness, mixed with unabashed love that bringing the young and old together can often do. After being asked "is there actually a man living by that name? Or is it poetic license you're taking?" I, myself, became curious.
The first site listed after one Google search with "wilfrid gordon mcdonald partridge by mem fox" was
http://www.memfox.com/wilfrid-gordon-mcdonald-partridge.html

What a treasure on every level this site is. This is a precious jewel you will cherish. Do yourself a favor and relish all the finds there. This website has many gifts for the young and old. I can't wait to dig into it more.

Thank you, Mem Fox, for sharing with our world.

The Writer's OTHER Full-Time Occupation

Most any "On Writing..." book published, whether authored by a famous-name Fiction author or by an academic author, will mention -- almost as an aside the fact is so unanimously understood -- that 'real' writers are also serious readers. I've come nowhere near consuming every single "On Writing..." book ever written and yet I will stick my neck out and say nearly every single one will, at very least, allude to writers being nearly tireless readers.

I invite any and all to provide me evidence to the contrary; I will happily admit I was wrong. But we'll both know I was actually RIGHT, because the author of the work you cite will have simply edited their own oblique or pointed statement to the effect of 'writers are readers' as it would be superfluous to state an obvious fact, anyway... and they needed to bring the word count in a little.

I'm the one who snapped up Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott from the Library after our meeting on Tuesday. But don't worry, those of you who were hoping to be next in reading it -- I'm already nearly half through it and will get it back to the Library in a timely fashion.

I mention Lamott's book, not to rub anyone's nose in the fact that Nyah-nyah, I got the book! but because she mentions the 'writers are readers' adage in her book -- which is very good, by the way -- a couple of times in a couple of different ways.

Anne Lamott really likes reading. And writing. And her son Sam. She's extremely relateable. I like her, I like her book, and I really like her take on writing. And reading.

I'm in something of a slump, actually. 'Well, duh!' those of you at Tuesday's meeting might be saying to yourself! Not that I'm the center of the universe or anything, but my face? She does not lie. I don't mean to insinuate that everyone was looking at me and paying attention to me and wondering what was up with me... Only that I tend to eminate my feelings in such a way that -- for those around me -- it's kind of like trying to dodge the fine mist issuing forth when someone sneezes. Only like, emotionally. So, yeah.

What I like about Lamott? She is like me. She is in over her head, confused, full of "psychological illnesses" (her ...well, if not her exact words, it's at least her concept), and all sorts of insecurities and shortcomings.

Which makes her a FABULOUS writer.

Reading Bird by Bird is like going back to the "Square One" that Heather Seller's Page after Page (huh. Bird by Bird ... Page after Page ... hmmm -- similar titles, there. Anyway -- back to the thought -- ) rescued me from almost two years ago when I was knee-deep in a deja-vu like slump as well.

Do you ever get into one of those? What does it feel like? How do you describe it? -- Here's how I describe it: Shane Falco, describing 'Quicksand'. The most important question, however, is How do you get out of it?

Well, I've obviously answered the first question, twice over (at least) just in the time I've been a member of PnP! As for the second question... well, it feels like... well, I cannot say for sure how it feels to have a limb amputated or to be paralyzed, so I'll have to go with that awful 'pins and needles' feeling you get when a limb falls asleep. As to describing it... well in addition to the 'Quicksand' quote, see the previous answer. (I'm nothing if not redundant and repetitive.)

As for the last, most important question? Well, I think I'm in the midst of developing a strategy... I think I'm going to buy those "On Writing..." books that I find especially inspirational, especially uplifting... and when I hit a slump, I'm going to close my eyes, do an eenie-meenie-mynie-moe and pick one.

Then I'm going to do that thing that Every Writer Does, and read.