Category: Uncategorized

  • Dark side of Intimacy

    Over the last couple of months I have been exploring Friendship, Intimacy and of course love. Poems on Friendship, Intimacy and Lust have demanded that I write them and today’s poem has been insistent to be written too. Thinking about emotions and feelings has led me to realize that not all relationships are healthy! So, I have written a poem I believe expresses in part, the dark side of relationship…

    Temptation

    Temptation whispering
    Clouding the mind
    Crawling inside her

    Desperate need
    Craving release
    Exacting its price

    Sleepless night
    Thoughts won’t cease
    “Give in”, they whisper

    Early morning light
    Illuminating
    Untamed yearnings

    Selfish desire
    Calling his name
    Branding anxious flesh

    Heart of stone
    Conscience bleeding
    Dead to truth

    Impossible to deny
    Giving into temptation
    Lost in betrayal!

    Links to poetry on: Intimacy, Friendship

  • Vein of Gold–Alchemy Exercise

    Vein of Gold–Alchemy Exercise

    In the book ‘Vein of Gold’, I found one exercise particularly interesting. It is titled ‘Alchemy’. It consists of taking the destructive and painful words that were used to describe us as children and converting them into strengths, or positives. As in the ancient belief that alchemy as a science could convert a common metal like lead into gold, so are we to take these ‘wound-words’ and find their gold–or make that–silver lining.

    Often, parents and teachers will find a child’s gifts threatening or disruptive. Through these words they are able to tamp down that talent in an effort to make the child behave, or in worse cases, maliciously to scold, ridicule or shame. Eventually, after hearing these judgments over and over again, the child begins to believe them.

    A partial list of some of these destructive words might include, but is certainly not limited to: dreamer, impractical, irresponsible, lazy, weird, too sensitive, unrealistic, silly, childish, grandiose, foolish, not disciplined, not focused, selfish. Have any of these words been used to describe you in an unkind way?

    Taking these hurtful memories and accepting them has a therapeutic effect, like cleaning a wound is necessary before it can heal properly. It can be painful, but with a pinch of compassion and some creative thinking we can see the very weaknesses we were derided for, are really the strengths that make us the creative people that we are.

    For example:

    Dreamer can be converted to—-Imaginative

    Eccentric becomes—-Original

    Obsessed makes one—-Focused

    Silly turns into—-Playful

    Unrealistic means—-Generous

    Too sensitive changes into—-Passionate

    There, you get the idea. Now, make a list of ten of those labels that have been used to abuse your self esteem and creativity and ‘convert’ them into gold.

    Now you have your list of Golden Words, ‘consecrate’ them; make them real, the new you and not the old. Post them on cards, decorate them with calligraphy, glitter, illustrations, anything to make them more valid and vivid to you.

    Take these new descriptions of yourself and tape them on mirrors throughout the house, pin them up at your desk at work, or on the door so you are reminded of the new and positive you each time you leave your home and venture into the world.

  • Writing Reference Series #1


    A while back, I went on a ‘craft-building’ book buying binge. Over my next few Wiley Wednesdays, I’ll be talking about what I took away from each of them. One repeating pattern I found was that several of the books had lists of other handy reference. At the top of almost every one of those lists was Strunk & White’s ‘The Elements of Style’ – a short text that packs a real wallop, and definitely the place to begin. In short, I wish I had read this book three years ago. It would have saved me a lot of time.

    William Strunk Jr. was an English professor at Cornell in the early 1900s. He taught from his own ‘little book’ – a concise text he wrote to cover the basics of grammar and composition, originally published in 1869. At 105 pages, including forwards and index, it truly is little. But little is too small a word. E. B. White (Stuart Little, Charlotte’s Web) was a student of Mr. Strunk, and decided much later in his career that Strunk’s ‘little book’ could serve a much broader audience. The text was revised in 1935, 1959, 1979 and 2000 – and everything in it still bears repeating. In his original introduction, Mr. White describes the book as, “seven rules of usage, eleven principals of composition, a few matters of form, and a list of expressions commonly misused . . .” All of these are centered around one theme, that edict pounded home by Strunk himself:

    Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

    I won’t run through every rule here. They are neatly numbered and stated with very clear examples in the full text, and I highly recommend you pick up the book and read it from cover to cover several times, as I did. The full text is also available online. Instead, I’ll skip the grammar stuff, and cut straight to the elements of composition I wish I had learned by studying this text, rather than the hard way (i.e. sludging along cluelessly until someone pointed it out to me the twelvth time).

    13. Make the paragraph the unit of composition. To some, this may come naturally. To others, it is something pounded into our heads by 6th grade teachers. Still others struggle. But it’s quite simple, as laid down by Strunk. Writing is a series of thoughts. How we compose and gather these thoughts either facilitates or hinders how the the reader understands. In summary: one idea per paragraph. Introduce it. Add detail. Conclude or sum up.

    14. Use the active voice. Ugh! I can’t tell you how long people were saying ‘that’s passive voice’ before I knew what they were talking about. And finding someone to clearly explain it had me tearing my hair out. In general, passive voice takes the action away from your subject and misplaces it. According to Strunk, the active voice makes for more ‘forcible’ writing. But, examples do far better (from the text):

    “I shall always remember my first visit to Boston.” Not, “My first visit to Boston will alway be remembered by me.”

    Not, “At dawn the crowing of a rooster could be heard.” But, “The cock’s crow came with dawn.”

    In general, when scanning for passive voice, the words would, could, was and were are indicators. However, this is not to be confused with the progressive past tense: “I was walking through the woods.”

    15. Put statements in positive form. Basically – don’t describe what is not happening, describe what is happening.

    Not, “He was not very often on time.” But, “He usually came late.”

    Not, “She did not think that studying Latin was a sensible way to use one’s time.” But, “She thought the study of Latin a waste of time.”

    As you can see, the affirmative is usually more direct and concise. It also sounds less ‘wavering’. Be definite in what you say. Oh, wait . . . that’s number 16.

    16. Use definite, specific, concrete language:

    Not, “A period of unfavorable weather set in.” But, “It rained every day for a week.”

    Usually, this means you will give more specific details. If you are trying to make a general statement, do so, but make it concrete and definite. At least knock out two of the three:

    Not, “She seldom enjoyed visiting her aunt.” But, “He hated visiting her aunt.”

    17. OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS. This is by far Strunk’s most important point, linking back to his main theme. Omit needless words. Omit needless words! You’ll find this easier at the edit phase. I don’t recommend having this mind set when you are drafting, because when you haven’t written anything, one could argue every word is needless. But once you have a draft, you’ll find there are a HUGE amount of ways to rephrase to use less words or to simply cross out the ones you don’t need, without losing meaning. Some examples of classic needless words are often: that, because, as to, for. Also stall phrases, such as: started to, began to, almost, was going to, etc. Strunk lists several examples of his least favorite needless phrases, which you’ll find very useful. Cut to the action, and . . . OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS.

    I think that is a good start, and a fair chunk of some of Strunk’s most important points. As stated above, I highly recommend reviewing the text in its entirety. Adding these feathers to your editing cap will most certainly help you to write concisely, without losing meaning.

    Happy writing!

    -Gwen

  • Thursday 13

    Most of the contributors of the Writer’s Retreat Blog participate in the weekly meme, Thursday Thirteen, so every Thursday we link to the individual sites of each writer’s TT. Hopefully, this helps you get to know each of us a little better. This week we’ve got:

    Catherine: 13 Things I Carry With Me

    Eaton Bennett: 13 Reasons I wasn’t doing a TT

    Dawn: 13 Beloved Characters

  • Wiley Wednesday 08/27/2008

    The Peripatetic School

    Peripatetic:

    ADJECTIVE:
    1. Walking about or from place to place; traveling on foot. 2. Peripatetic Of or relating to the philosophy or teaching methods of Aristotle, who conducted discussions while walking about in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.

    NOUN:
    1. One who walks from place to place; an itinerant. 2. Peripatetic A follower of the philosophy of Aristotle; an Aristotelian.

    ETYMOLOGY:
    Middle English peripatetik, from Latin peripat ticus, from Greek peripat tikos, from peripatein, to walk about, or from peripatos, covered walk (where Aristotle allegedly lectured) : peri-, peri- + patein, to walk.

    http://www.bartleby.com/61/55/P0195500.html

    So. What does peripatetic have to do with writing? Good question. I was reading Julia Cameron’s work and she commented that several writers belong to the “peripatetic school.” My first thought was, what the heck is peripatetic? Then it was, what does walking have to do with writing?

    Well, try it, then you can tell me.

    I should just stop the essay there, but I’ll be kind. For me, walking is something that slows me down to human speed, rather than caffeine speed, stress speed, or I have to finish twenty things in time enough only for ten speed. Walking is repetitive. There’s not much more than pick up one foot, put it in front of the other. Lather, rinse, repeat. This allows the mind to wander while the feet, well, wander.

    How is this of benefit to writing?

    Well, try it, then… you get the picture.

    It’s strange how we get so into our own heads when we write. Our own heads are not necessarily the most helpful places to be when writing, either. But instead of fighting with our internalized voices, next time you are stuck try getting up and walking around the block for twenty minutes. See what interesting insights might bubble up for you.

    Besides. You can dazzle and confuse everyone by telling them, “I’m part of the peripatetic school.” “Really? What degree are you getting?”

  • Converted

    Many members of our group have already done the Artist’s Way workshop and the following books with Catherine, but I’m a first-timer.

    Ever have those things that just happen to fall right into your life, right when you need them? I’ll be honest, I resisted this for a while, thinking I didn’t have the time, or even (yeah, ego, I know) that I didn’t need it because it’s supposed to help blocked creativity, and I wasn’t blocked.

    Well.

    Skepticism. Yeah – there’s a section on that in this book. There’s also one on synchronicity. And I’m now a believer.

    I’m on Chapter 3 and I can already see the way I view myself as an artist, and creativity in general changing and morphing. The back cover touts the Artist’s Way as the ‘seminal book on the subject of creativity’ and it’s true. It really is.

    I have been trying to put my finger on what exactly it is, because I think part of the reason I resisted so long was that the actual SCOPE of this book was never adequately described to me. But it cannot be adequately described.

    It’s subtitle: ‘A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity’ doesn’t do it justice. I think the only way to describe it is to say that wherever you are on the road, you can get something from this book. I thought I didn’t need it, but then, when I finally gave in to peer pressure, I found I needed it more than I ever could have imagined. And I truly believe that no matter when I might have picked it up, I would have needed it then too, and taken something different from it.

    From an objective position, Ms. Cameron has an amazingly soothing and engaging voice. Her thoughts are well organized, thoroughly informative and totally applicable. In short, I think everyone should read this. I can’t think of a single person in my life who won’t take something away from it. And I know, just like all my friends told me (yeah, I know . . . I’m a stubborn arse, but you love me anyway), I will do it again and again, and take something new away each time. I’m officially on board now.

    Buy it. Read it. Live it.

    And that’s all I have to say about that.

  • My Word Collection

    I am a collector of words. All kinds of words, and phrases too. I keep them in a spiral notebook complete with a well worn cover and creased pages.

    When I am reading, I try to keep a pen and paper nearby to ‘capture’ any words that might strike my fancy in the text and eventually transfer them to my notebook for further reference. Sometimes I will glance over these lists when I’m writing and use any words that might apply in my current work.

    For example, I just completed the novel ‘Outlander’ by Diana Gabaldon and found a veritable treasure trove of words that I just had to add to my collection.

    Bear in mind that these are normal, everyday words, you will recognize each of them I’m certain. But they stood out in my mind as memorable. Anyone who has read the book will undoubtedly know the scene to which I am referring. ~wink~

    Shudder—blow—smack—perilous—feirce—surrender—biting—rasping—clawing—furious triumph—impact—savaged—agonies—inexorable—battered—shattered—fury—hammering—shackled—pinioned—fastened—strike—shatter–rage—use—invading—spread eagle—ragged—ride—pounding—brutally—cruel—and– quiver.

    All of these words, found on three small pages conveyed more ‘eroticism’ than many longer and more graphic love scenes I have read. I am convinced that effective word choice is an important skill for authors and hopefully my writing will improve because of the lists I keep.

    A different list of words I keep is —“ ways to say ‘said’”. As part of an English class in high school, my teacher gave us an assignment to find 50 alternate words to use instead of ‘said’. His point to this exercise was to expand our use of verbs, to help us find more descriptive ways to express our characters’ personalities. I kept my original list of these words, and am still adding to it with over 400 entries and counting.

    Imagine the phrase, “But I love you,” he …… Instead of using ‘said’, what other words might better serve our needs?

    Whispered—hinted—teased—rebuked—whined—barked—explained—laughed—pointed out—reassured—exclaimed—growled—wheedled—giggled—cried—reflected—echoed—lied—dared—exaggerated—commanded—demanded—begged—pleaded—asked—giggled—instructed.

    You get the point. These words are infinitely more interesting than repeating ‘said’ over and over in dialogue and add variety to our work.

    Another list in my notebook includes words whose meaning I had to look up in the dictionary. The very act of writing them down makes me more likely to remember them and their definitions; theoretically improving my vocabulary.

    My latest entries in this category are:

    Ephemeral—short lived, fleeting
    Cogent—intellectually convincing
    Inveterate—stubbornly established by habit
    Laconic—terse speech or writing
    Nadir—lowest point on an arc
    Parsimony—frugality or stinginess
    Abnegation—denying self comfort
    Puerile—juvenile, immature

    Well, there you have it, evidence that I’m a list maker, especially when it applies to words and writing. I find words fascinating and love to play with them.

    When I write, I consider myself a ‘word-smith’: someone who hammers random words into a desirable form through sheer force of will and determination. And to do this effectively, I keep my lists (and a thesaurus) close by; I’m happy to use all the help I can get.

  • Elements of Fiction-Characters

    Throughout the next few months, I plan on doing Wiley Wednesdays that are focused on different elements of fiction. By doing this, I hope we can all learn a few things, and improve our writing (isn’t that the goal here?). Today I shall begin by talking about characters. I’ll be honest, you can have the most amazing plot in the world, but if I don’t connect with your characters, I won’t remember your story a month from now. We all want our characters to be remembered and loved, but to do that it takes time, patience and love. (Yes I said love, stop giggling and pay attention!)

    Character – Any person or entity created in a fictional story.

    There are many different ways and reasons to create a character. The protagonist is the main character that drives the action (Hello! That’s who the story is generally about), this is usually who we consider the good guy. You also need a character that opposes this person, like a villain. This is the antagonist, which in Greek literally means competitor, opponent or rival. Occasionally you’ll read a story from a different point of view and you’ll see the good guys as the antagonist.

    So now you have two main characters to flesh out and create a story for. You’ll usually find you need others to help you along the way. This is where the supporting characters come from. They help move the plot along and can give clues and insight into your main characters.

    Round and Flat characters

    Your main characters are usually what would be called round characters. You’ve fleshed these characters out so well that they’re almost real. You know that they detest onions and have a secret passion for Belgium chocolate. They have good qualities and bad ones. They occasionally get caught up in their own internal conflicts and are just plain complex. Think Frodo Baggins or Sherlock Holmes.

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    There is another kind of character called a flat character. This is “the redneck” or “the con artist.” They have one or two traits and are pretty easy to figure out. You can usually sum them up in one sentence. “Gollum is driven to obsession by the One Ring he will forever try to recover.”

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    Dynamic and Static Characters

    A dynamic character is one who undergoes a change. You see this alot in the coming of age stories. The protagonist starts out young and a bit naive, and by the end of the story they’ve had to grow up and they see life differently. The best example I can think of this is Harry Potter.

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    Static characters pretty much stay the same throughout the story. Their personalties are mainly unchanged and stable. Lots of main characters that are not the protagonist are static characters. Ysandre de la Courcel from Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart springs to mind when I think of a static character.

    This wraps up today’s study on characters. I hope it may offer some insight and help with your characters a bit. Until next time my lovelies 🙂

    ~Dawn

  • Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro; A review

    I chose Never Let Me Go and one other book to study out of a list of twenty others because I’ve never been struck by book like this in my life before.

    Ishiguro is more famous for writing The Remains of the Day which was met with mixed reviews just Never Let Me Go is. A feeling that life’s path is already set out for you and there’s nothing you can do but meekly follow what life expects is an uncomfortable issue for most people. Regardless of what we want to think, we are trapped by society, even the most free of us, we all need to work to live, we all get stuck in a terrible monotonous cycle of sustaining our existence. And this is why I believe some reviews are so negative, people see their own trapped acceptance of life in this book.

    But what is it about? Well the story revolves around three main characters Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, all three are doomed to die young because they are clones existing purely to provide organs to keep non-clones healthy, at around 20 they become “donors” and continue to have their organs taken one by one in a very ghoulish manner until they “complete” which is what the clones call death, once clones have “completed” their remaining organs are harvested and given to ill non-clones. The reader follows Kathy’s narrative all through her life starting at the mysterious boarding school Hailsham (aptly named) which tries to fight for a better world for clones, better living conditions and treatment but most importantly trying to prove the clones had souls. We learn that this movement was very popular until a race of “super-children” was created which made the whole of society shove the clones back into the shadows in fear and disgust along with all other genetic engineering.

    Kathy and Tommy make a weak attempt to avoid the fate waiting for them but ultimately they just sit back and accept that they are going to die. I find this acceptance to be the most powerful theme in book because I was practically screaming at the characters to run away, refuse to die or just do something. But they didn’t succeed, just as we never escape that cycle-like prison in life, their effort was small and now they accept death.

    “This extraordinary and, in the end, rather frighteningly clever novel isn’t about cloning, or being a clone, at all. It’s about why we don’t explode, why we don’t wake up one day and go sobbing and crying down the street, kicking everything to pieces out of raw, infuriating, completely personal sense of our lives never having been what they could have been” ~ M.J. Harrison, The Guardian

    So give it a read, chances are you’ll either hate it or find yourself touched by it.

    ~mlf

  • Fairy Tale: 2

    Andi of Unhinged has decided to try her hand at an online series. Plotting, worrying, and over-thinking what she writes hasn’t worked out so well, so she’s going back to the way it was when she first began writing. She is totally winging the writing of this story, and has no idea where it’s going to go or how it’s going to end.

    This is the second part. If you’re interested, the beginning is here.

    ~*~*~*~

    The numbness spread as my heart slowed its push of blood through my veins.

    There was–

    –no pain.

    Noth…ing left–

    –no more…me.

    Something touched my cheek.

    GUH-GUNGH!

    My spine arched–

    GUH-GUNGH!

    –as oxygen tore down my throat and filled my lungs with intense heat. I gritted my teeth against the pain of it, surprised that rebirth hurt when death had not.

    GUH-GUNGH.GUH-GUNGH.

    My heartbeats grew stronger, impossibly strong, until there was no pause between beats. No room to catch my breath, to swallow and soothe my burning throat. Teeth still clenched to keep from screaming, I curled over into a ball.

    When I could think long enough to string two coherent thoughts together, I concentrated on slowing my heart again.

    GUH-GUNGH…GUH-gungh…GUH-GUNGH!

    It was more difficult than dying, but maybe that made sense. Living was supposed to be harder than death. Maybe this was another test to see if I was worthy. Anyone could die. Everyone died.

    I tried to will my hyperventilation into submission. When I was twelve and obligated to demonstrate an example of Illyria’s Power before The Council, I’d had a panic attack and fainted. What I felt now was similar, and the memory made it impossible for me to control my breathing.

    “Don’t fight it.”

    Through the black wings beating at the corners of my mind, I heard the voice.

    “Or do. And die for real this time.”

    It had to be the troll who guarded the gold. Who else would have such a mellifluous voice, strong enough to soothe me in spite of the words he’d spoken?

    Guh-gungh. Guh-gungh.

    Why was he still here?

    Why was he still alive?

    Why was I?