Tag: Goals

  • Writer Wednesday – Using the Tools


    Tips and tricks abound to aid the creative process.  I’ve become familiar with some very clever ones, often through the warm and wise counsel of accomplished author Catherine A. Noon.  She introduced me to the multi-talented Julia Cameron, for example, who has an entire side career dedicated to inspiring fellow artists.  Another gifted friend reminded me just this morning of some grand ways to hush the inner critic (Thanks, E!).

    Unfortunately, I’ve discovered a recurring failure to utilize these tools.  However much sense a plan makes, my good intentions somehow evaporate.  Why?  I think I’ve pinpointed a reason.  Buried in my psyche, a notion seems to persist that good writing materializes like a rabbit out of hat.  It’s supposed to be magic.
    I do believe that art has magical properties.  Without it, existence lacks a sense of hope or wonder.
    An important thing to remember about magic, though, is that David Copperfield didn’t really walk through the Great Wall of China.  Criss Angel can’t actually levitate.  They’re illusionists who put countless hours into manipulating the willing minds of an audience.
    Performers on any stage workto entertain us.  Why should writing be any different?  The answer: it’s not.
    Julia Cameron summed up my quandary in a line from “Finding Water”.  To paraphrase, my ego wants creativity shrouded in mystery.  This snooty persona thinks that artistic pursuit is somehow above punching a time clock.
    Today I defied this snob by setting a timer.  And you know what?  Thirty minutes dedicated to storytelling didn’t feel constrictive at all.  The added paragraphs gave me a sense of accomplishment even if the critic still sneered at the low word count.  So what?  I can set the timer for another thirty minutes when this post is up.

    What gets you on the page, stage, or wherever you wish your art to flourish?  I hope you’ll find the time to get out there today and do it.

    –

  • Resuscitating the Inner Artist


    I’ve been making a real attempt to renovate the front garden this year.  The neighbors must be pleased; I know I am.  While gardening is invigorating, if often sweaty and exhausting work, the results have been spectacular.  But as punishment for years of neglect, a noxious weed plagues my perennials.  Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), otherwise known as wild morning glory, is sprouting all over as the season advances.  What I once considered an acceptable invader with its tiny white flowers now alarms me with several feet of growth in mere days.  The skinny vine rapidly winds around my cherished butterfly bush, mangling the delicate blooms.

    As I unwind this vermin, deceptively tender stems snap off at the ground and give me a false sense of accomplishment.  Only upon identification of the weed have I learned that new shoots will emerge from the smallest bits of roots left in the soil.  Complete removal requires pesticides that I’d rather have avoided for the sake of the wildlife I want to attract.  There’s just no way that I want to try eradicating this thing without modern chemicals.  Heck, one recommended compound is 2-4, D, a component in Agent Orange!  So I’m going to continue unraveling the vines from my flowers, leaving enough at ground level to target with the broad spectrum herbicide glyphosate while avoiding the desired plantings.
    I face a prolonged, fastidious process.
    With a weakness for metaphors, I can’t help but see yet another in this lesson.  My artistic side has been suffocating for a long while.  I’m slowly learning that there are a number of weeds I’ve allowed to infiltrate and strangle my writing.  Time and persistence are required to identify, control, and eventually decimate these damaging trespassers.
    Distractions, doubts, and detractors that keep me away from the page have to be systematically acknowledged before destruction.  That critic in my head with those easy whispered excuses must be confronted.  I have tools at hand such as those taught by Julia Cameron.  In fact, a group of very supportive forum friends (some of whom contribute to this blog – thanks to you all, dears!) are currently guiding me through Cameron’s “Finding Water”.

    This fight can be won.  I just need to stay alert, attentive, and consistent with my efforts.  The fruits of these labors will be well worth the effort.  Now excuse me while I go work on a story.

    –

  • Cultivating the Imagination – Darla’s Writer Wednesday

    Recently I resumed gardening with a vengeance, renovating neglected areas of the yard as summer simmers in my region of the United States.  Succumbing to cliché, I can’t help making an analogy with my fiction writing and the situation currently underway.

    No longer do I wake with plot ideas brimming.  Instead, the once active muse continues to lie dormant after an extended period.  Attempts to pollinate my inspiration wither on the vine in sterile soil.  A tiny Haiku feels like a big accomplishment (though I guess that’s okay to some degree, as it is at least a form of creation).

    The frustrating this is that many months ago I wrote with furious intensity at every opportunity.  Pages of notebooks filled up with penned stories that I later transferred to computer.  Sheets of print-outs stacked on the passenger seat of my sedan allowed editing at long traffic lights.  I’d reread while on the NordicTrack making further, if sometimes difficult to decipher, notes of improvement.

    Minor elements twined together to sprout unforeseen branches for ever-growing characters.  I began to feel as if I’d been possessed by some benevolent spirit sharing stories from the afterlife.  Now, when I have more time to devote to writing than ever, the field is barren.

    Enough of the self indulgent puns, however.  As a wise friend pointed out, life ebbs and flows like the tide (Thanks for that uplifting remark, A. Catherine Noon!  What goes out must come in, eh?).  The author in me seems to be stuck in winter, but no season lasts forever (Okay, one more pun).

    I’m going to try starting fresh each morning, perhaps assigning each weekday with a particular goal.  Mondays could be devoted to reading those short stories moldering in a binder.  Tuesdays can be spent working on blog material, which I’ve neglected.  Wednesday might be time to develop new ideas, whether for a virgin project or an unfinished one.

    Before I go on, let’s just say that I’ll have to find what works.  In the meantime, I hope you don’t stagnate in whatever you desire to achieve.

    Now let’s go create!

    Maybe I’ll scribble down a Haiku before logging off…

    –

  • Spring Fever

    While I am posting this several days late, there are several achievements of which I am very proud.  For one, I figured out how to set up events in Google Calendar and share them.  Yeah, yeah, I’m behind the times, but I get there eventually.  Anyway, now such tardiness should not reoccur.  This is something I’ve been meaning to do and, like most things I procrastinate attempting, proved much easier than expected.

    Another big accomplishment took more time yet felt even better.  Over the years, recipes accumulated in a kitchen drawer, migrating from one spot to another when the space was renovated last year.  This afternoon I flipped through an inches thick stack of computer print-outs, culling those never expected to be made again if they were even tried in the first place.  Honestly, with several bottles of delicious hot sauce open in my refrigerator, the odds of me whipping up an experimental batch are slim to none.  So those are out, along with anything deemed better left to the professionals (naan, for example, when a great Indian restaurant is minutes away).

    In between those tasks, I tackled the most emotionally charged one of all.  Laugh if you want.  I actually cleaned out my underwear drawer.  Silly thing to put off, isn’t it?  There were many things which had seen better days – in more ways than one.  First, once pretty items were faded and often a bit ragged when viewed with an honest eye.  Second, my body hasn’t fit the lingerie in the back of the drawer for many, many months (years, actually…  sigh…  better days, indeed).  It was time to face the fact that if I ever reach such sizes again, I’m going to want new garments.  Heck, I’ll deserve them.

    So with all that accomplished today, I think it’s official that the verdant spring growth around my home has reinvigorated me.  And having ridded this house of clutter and prodded my intellect by learning a new minor skill, it’s time to wake up my hibernating muse and shake out the cobwebs.

    I hope you’ll begin anew with me, stepping lightly into whatever season awaits you.  Once we clear out the odd bits, we may find some wondrous creations within.  Or, at the very least, we won’t have to stuff freshly laundered unmentionables into an over-packed drawer.

    –

  • Can You Spare Some Change?

    I’m writing this post two days late because I forgot when it was due.  Unfortunately, the online calendar I relied upon to keep track has been dismantled, the domain name now up for grabs.  It’s just a modern example of the inevitability of change.

    Change and I have never been friends.  I tend to stick in ruts rather than forging a new path.  My life would probably be very different but for simple events that led me here, plodding along in their wake.

    Oh, I make cosmetic changes, for sure.  I’ve gone through various phases, from conservative to goth in dress and attitude; exchanging talk shows for alternative rock on the radio.  The important matters, however, such as where to work and live, have been dictated by chance.

    There have been no big dreams I took a chance on trying, just jobs found through temporary agencies and a house that limited the resulting commute.  Even my pets, whom I love dearly, have been virtually (in one case, literally!) dropped in my lap as strays.  It’s pretty sad, in retrospect.

    But, on the bright side, I’m not dead yet.  Maybe there is a butterfly inside this shell, waiting for the right time to break free from its cocoon.  And despite temperatures in my boring, landlocked suburban neighborhood, the old fashioned wall calendar I’m looking at announces Wednesday as the first day of spring.

    What better time to spread my wings?  Now if I can only figure out in which direction to fly.  I’ve never been a migratory creature.  Wish me luck.

    –

  • Written into a Corner

    I have several stories that have never been completed.  As the title of this post suggests, I essentially wrote myself into a corner.  The problem returned to mind when I completed the following word game with my partner:

    We ended up with this interesting corner-to-corner design but were unable to play all the tiles availed to us for the game.  I found it uniquely frustrating, as well as reminiscent of the backlog of tales languishing on my hard drive.  It even escapes me as to who won this round of the game.  I’d prefer to play to the bitter end, either ending up with unused tiles or leaving my partner with them, ultimately using every letter rather than hitting the “pass” button again and again.

    So how do I work toward that goal in writing?  How do I complete these unfinished stories?  If I really don’t mind a bitter end as mentioned above rather than “happily ever after”, the sky’s the limit.  Right?

    The first step is to quit beating myself up.  To look at the whole catalog and mark each unfinished title as a failure will only freeze my willingness to fix any of them.  Instead, I intend to pick one example and pinpoint what caused me to stop writing.

    I know one of my weaknesses is in action sequences.  One story in particular comes to mind where the hero and heroine are about to meet their latest nemesis.  Then everything just stopped for fear I would only ruin what came before.

    Perhaps it’s time to find help in that regard by seeking out writing exercises or even just reading a good action scene I admire.  The important thing is to try.  And for some months I’ve been too intimidated by the inner critic to begin.  I’ve been paralyzed from even reading these works in progress.

    Maybe I should ignore what came before, thereby avoiding my inevitable edit mode, and pick up where things left off.  The results might bring a surprising success.

    I hope you are not like me and aren’t letting anything hold your creativity back.  Let’s go make art!

    –

  • NaNo; Now What?

    A few days ago, I succeeded in amassing a fifty thousand word rough draft to meet the National Novel Writing Month challenge.  I am grateful to NaNoWriMo creators at the non-profit Office of Letters & Light, as well as members of this blog, for the opportunity and the inspiration that made my creation possible.  With the closure of that November madness, I have relaxed from my frantic writing pace (a bit too much, truth be told – I don’t want to lapse back into a recent state in which I barely wrote at all).

    So, now what goal should I set?  Wise folk have told me it is best to step back from a new WIP, letting the creative mind take a break between the processes of writing and editing.  With that in mind, I incidentally plan to focus initially on writing for blog posts.  One particular endeavor is overdue for a new chapter on a serial story.
    Obviously, posting chapters requires a very different technique from the NaNo rush where no time can be spared to look back.  NaNo is simply a mad rush to produce new material.  Instead of just diving into writing for that blog, I first need to review the chapters so far posted, getting back into the mood of that tale.  I think the distinct change of pace will be most welcome.

    Please wish me luck.  And happy December, all.  May you create in abundance, however you proceed.

  • NaNo No No

    It’s no secret that I’m participating with National Novel Writing Month (NaNo for short).  Sadly, I find myself in a very different place from when I wrote my Writer Wednesday installment for this blog.

    Today I sit at the keyboard wondering why the house is so quiet at 1:30 in the afternoon instead of simply enjoying the fact.  Usually I hear talk radio wafting from the office next door where my husband works from home.  There’s no sound at all, though, and I realize he may be taking a rare nap.

    This realization should make me happy.  After all, he’s not going to disturb my writing if he’s asleep, right?  Instead, I found myself wishing he would knock on my door and ask me to come out to spend time with him and the cats.

    Why is this?  Sure, it’s nice to be wanted but, frankly, the inner critic is telling me to throw in the towel.  The dream sequence idea that so motivated me the other day seems to have taken over.  My most recent story additions consist of nothing more than aforementioned dream sequences, endless sex scenes, or worse yet, a puzzling combination of the two.

    The predicament is actually more funny than truly worrisome, I know.  And this bump in the road should motivate me to jump off in another direction, even if the new tangent makes no sense.  That’s what the motivational messages on the NaNo web page suggest.

    Instead I’m tempted to turn on the television and see what mindless drivel might distract me from my frustration.  And therein lies the “no no” from my blog post title.  Stopping now, just after 2:00 when possibly a crazily productive hour could lie ahead (I typically write until three on a good day), is a rotten idea.

    So, I’m going to wrap this up and jump back into my silly, meandering, but growing manuscript.  Trimming, editing, and overall refined plotting can wait.  There are words to write that have never seen the light of day.  That’s too big an opportunity, some might say even a responsibility, to quit now.

    I hope you’re having a productive day, whatever your endeavor.  Just keep moving forward and you’ll hopefully find yourself advancing to a better place with every step.  Even if your walk only seems to take you backward, I’m rooting for you from my own little path, so hang in there!

  • Darla’s Writer Wednesday – Keeping the Faith

    Today I find myself nearly smack in the middle of National Novel Writing Month.  If you’re a writer, I hope you’re with me.

    This, my third effort, started shakily.  With only a title thought up on a whim, one character that has starred in numerous unpublished short stories, and the vaguest of plot concepts, I fell prey to my biggest failing – editing instead of writing.  The word count floundered, the tale going nowhere as I painstakingly sought the perfect verb for a single sentence instead of pouring forth the paragraphs required to generate fifty thousand words for the month.
    Then yesterday happened.  Dreams from the night before woke me with vivid if nonsensical images.  I wrote what I remembered in my morning pages (like a journal, it’s an exercise recommended by Julia Cameron’s “Artist’s Way” creativity workshop), whether to purge them from mind or record them for posterity, I do not know.
    Still getting an early start after that, I sat at the keyboard with no clue how to continue.  The people on the page meandered through some dialogue when the notion of a dream sequence occurred to me.  I’m sure you know where this is going, but I’ll say it anyway.  Why not use the new material my sleeping mind generated?  I proceeded with my largest daily word count ever.
    The whole sequence might be throw-away material; I don’t know yet.  But knowing I’ve produced something that has never before existed has left me invigorated to keep going.  And as soon as I post this, I’m going to get back into that document and strive forth.

    I’ll say again, I hope you’re with me.

  • Monday with Aunt Noony – and a Fireside Chat with Kimberley Troutte!

    My friend, Kimberley Troutte, is up for several awards and I wanted to chat with her about the awards process and how it fits in with the rest of her writing. She was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to chat with me. Grab a cuppa and join me as I get to talk with Kimberley Troutte!

    ACN: Kimberley, you said you received word that your manuscript, Epicenter (also called Her Guardian, His Angel), is a finalist in the RWA contests Launch A Star AND the Melody of Love. You also have a second manuscript, God Whisperer, in the finals of the Hot Prospect contest. First, congratulations! That’s awesome news!

    Can you tell me a little more about Epicenter?

    KT: I would love to. Epicenter, is the dramatic story of an American philanthropist and a Haitian doctor who are fighting to save lives when the greatest earthquake Haiti has ever known rips their world apart.

    ACN: How did they get considered for Launch a Star and Melody of Love? Is that something you had to submit, or were you nominated? How does that work?

    KT: These are writing contests in two different RWA Chapters (Romance Writers of the World). I entered online, paid my fee and kept my fingers crossed. Preliminary judges read all the entries, score them based on predetermined scoresheets, and determine which entries are good enough to move to the final rounds. I was honored and thrilled to hear that I was moving to the finals where agents and editors determine the final standings of the winners.

    And the nail biting begins…

    ACN: Is there a contest fee?

    KT: Yep. Usually around $15-35 USD.

    ACN: How about God Whisperer? What is that about?

    KT: It’s the story of a mother and her eight-year-old son who are hiding for their lives in a Danish community in the hills of California when the boy becomes famous due to an ear surgery that allows him to hear God.

    God Whisperer is near and dear to my heart. I wrote it because my little boy was born without an ear canal or eardrum in his right ear. The outside of the ear looked normal (albeit a little smaller than the left) but he had no hole! Very rare. The amazing surgeons at UCLA recreated his ear, drilling the hole, making an eardrum from his own tissue, and lifting the bones so that they could pick up sounds. It was a miracle when my boy could hear out of both ears for the first time in his life and I wanted to pour that love and miracle into a book.

    ACN: How did it get selected for Hot Prospect? Is that something you did on your own, or were you nominated? How does that work?

    KT: I entered it in the online RWA writing contest. I was so pleased that it was a finalist in the single-title category that I cried.

    ACN: What made you want to be considered for these?

    KT: I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hope to win :-), but mostly I entered these contests looking for answers. I had made huge revisions to the beginnings of both manuscripts and wanted to know if the changes worked.

    First chapters are hard for me. I tend to revise them several times before the book is ready. I always worry that I might be starting in the wrong place, or in the wrong point of view, or including too much backstory, or…

    The questions I hoped that the judges would help me answer were:

    • Would readers be hooked enough to want to invest their precious time to read on?
    • Am I clear—not too much backstory but enough information so that the reader is not confused?
    • Are the character likeable?
    • Is the plot interesting?

    I was thrilled to pieces to see that the preliminary judges liked my first chapters, OMG they really did.

    ACN: How do you find contests fit into your writing process? Is it something you do out of enjoyment, or is it part of your overall marketing strategy?

    KT: Contests give me a chance to see where I am succeeding and falling short so that I can improve my story before other readers and publishing professionals see it. I always keep in mind that judging is subjective but if two judges touch on the same weak point, it probably needs to be changed.

    ACN: What advice would you give to a writer wanting to start out competing? Where would a person start and what strategies could you recommend?

    KT: I would recommend going to the RWA [Romance Writers of America] website. There are all sorts of contests for the unpublished and published alike and you don’t have to be a member of RWA to enter. Make sure you read the rules carefully and email the contest coordinator if you have any questions. I would choose a contest that offers judges feedback so that you can learn and grow from their advice. And remember that it is a subjective process. All judges, just like readers, are not the same. I have had one judge love the chapter while the other disliked it rather intensely. That’s the way it goes sometimes. If you are willing to put yourself out there and enter with an open mind, determined to use the contest as a tool, you should be able to learn something from it.

    ACN: I wish you every success and, regardless of whether you win, you should be proud for having entered. That takes guts and I’m sure proud of you.

    KT: Thank you so much. I am in a place of happy shock. I’m so grateful that judges gave up their time to help me become a better writer. It’s such a gift.

    Write on!

    Kimberley Troutte