Tag: Writer Wednesday

  • Writer Wednesday – The Dangers of the Echo Chamber and Why Handwriting Is Important

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    We are surrounded more and more by media – social media, augmented reality games, television commercials at gas stations; the list goes on.  I’m the first to admit that the internet can bring people together – I am, after all, writing this on  blog I started with some friends, all of whom are geographically scattered.

    But I have noticed the echo chamber can have an unhealthy effect.  Psychologists call behavior that pushes against another person “impinging,” and it’s my belief that, if we’re not careful about our inflow, that can happen.  I noticed, for example, that when I had Facebook on my phone, the constant dings or buzzes of incoming alerts would break my train of thought.  As I checked in, I would get drawn into whatever was trending:  racist politics, cop shootings, and cats.  Lots of cats.

    I don’t mind cats.  I like them, as it happiness.  But I’m a novelist, and the first casualty in the war for attention is sustained train of thought.

    As a social experiment, I took Facebook off my phone.  My daily round got calmer.  I stopped drinking as much coffee and focused more on my journal.  I noticed a couple of things:

    1. Writing by hand disciplines my mind to hold a train of thought, since I don’t write as fast as I think.
    2. It felt like I woke up from a collective hallucination.  I don’t need strangers’ opinions in my daily round.
    3. I started writing more – always good news for a novelist.
    4. I started thinking more deeply about issues like politics, body image, feminism, and philosophy.

    This Writer Wednesday, I invite you to try it:  turn off the inflow and let your own thoughts loose on the page.  Nanowrimo’s coming.  Let’s be ready.

    Write on!

  • Darla’s Writer Wednesday – Inspiration

    Dear friend and gifted writer Nicole Gordon once gifted me an inspirational book. It’s called “Rip the Page! Adventures in Creative Writing” and offers all sorts of open-ended writing experiments, encouragement from writers and poets, and enough blank pages to let your words roam.

    That’s taken from the cover, by the way, and fittingly descriptive. Karen Benke and company clearly wish to instill a love of words in children, a worthy endeavor, while also entertaining this adult with some very clever suggestions.

    One involves quirky phrases which Ms. Benke suggests we cut apart and put into a little container. Then, when a writer wants something to get creative juices flowing, he or she simply pulls out a slip.

    So that’s what I did today. My phrase ended up being “It’s like a slow collapse of words”. That curious imagery resulted in a bittersweet ficlet to be posted on my Darla M. Sands blog.

    What inspires you? I’d enjoy reading your suggestions in the comments.

    Whatever fires your creativity, I hope you build a bonfire. Happy writing!

  • Writer Wednesday – The Sagging Middle

    Sunrise Over Evanston or, What’s the “O” For?  Oh, my God, it’s early! (Thank you Robin Williams!)
    Image Copyright 2015 A. Catherine Noon; All Rights Reserved

    So, those of you who are paying attention will notice that it’s actually Thursday.  Yup.  This may give you some indication of my state of the state, compounded to the fact that someone seems to have ripped May out of my calendar completely and it feels like it still should be early April.  Maybe March.

    This actually gave me my idea for today’s post:  the “dreaded middle,” or the “sagging middle,” take your pick.  Where I am in my life, the “sagging” is more apt on many levels, some of which I’m not prepared to discuss.  ~grin~ So.  Middles.

    Writers talk of the middles as being the hardest part of writing a novel.  Sure, crafting an opening that snares the reader, and finishing off with a bang, are all to be desired.  But once we have them, there’s still the problem of the journey.  Do we add layers?  Do we have too many characters?  Too few?  What about that plot twist that you weren’t a hundred percent sure of – now that you’re at the other side of the mountain, does it provide shade, or block the light?

    One of my buddies on Romance Divas, author Amity Lassiter, shared some motivation with the board that I think applies to how I’m feeling today.  I’ll share it with you, but first, a warning:  it’s loud, and rather startling, but very worth it – especially if you, like me, get stuck in the middle.

    We can do this.

  • Writer Wednesday – With Guest Leela Lou Dahlin!

    Noony, here! I’m tickled pink to introduce my buddy from the Nice Girls Writing Naughty group, Leela Lou Dahlin. She’s our special guest for this week’s Writer Wednesday. Please make her feel welcome!

    Take it away, Leela!

    * * *

    Being a writer… it’s something that I’ve always done but it wasn’t until recently that I became serious about being a published author.

    Someone recently I was on a site that asked how people came up with their stories and I thought it was fascinatingly funny reading about how all of these different people come up with stories. I’ve almost never heard of any one person doing it the exact same way and on that site it was no exception. One thing it showed me is there is no right or wrong way… you make it work out the way it’s best for you. Some people start with the characters, some with the troupe or storyline (unrequited love, brother’s best friend, friends to lovers, etc…), some start at the beginning and others at the end.

    My story always starts with a scene. Sometimes it’s a love scene or maybe it’s an argument but it’s a passionate moment that tells me a lot about the people who are within it. I may think about this scene for a few minutes, a few days or a few weeks until more and more of the character’s personality traits are revealed (Unfortunately this usually takes place when I’m writing someone else’s story – sometimes the characters wait quietly and other times they demand to at least be written down).

    After I get through the scene where I’m introduced to these people, then I have to figure out how and why they got to this point. Usually one of the characters will let something out in the conversation that will clue me in to their history. This sounds very complicated, I know, but it really isn’t. I plot out the how, when and why before figuring out what is going to break them up and what will bring them back together.

    My first published book was released April 15, 2014 so I’m coming up on my Author-versary (side note – I’m the queen of making up words) for my book titled A Haught Date. It was released as an e-book almost a year ago and earlier this year they released it to the world in print form. Bwah-hahahahaha *attempting evil laugh*

    So there you have it…that’s how I do it.

    What about you…how do you start your masterpiece?

    Feel free to come say hello on any or all my social media hang outs.

    or email LeelaLouDahlin AT gmail DOT com.

  • Planting the Seeds – Darla’s Creative Garden

    March is not yet half over, but spring seems nearly here in my little corner of the world. Today I saw a crocus blooming in my garden. More exciting is the fact our migrating vultures have returned in droves, filling (!) a neighborhood tree. All the same, May’s vegetable planting season remains far off. So I have made plans for April, enough to keep me busy before I can seriously dig in the dirt.
    One activity is the A to Z blog challenge. Thinking of alphabetical subjects is already interesting. An additional undertaking is Camp Nano. I enjoyed National Novel Writing Month so much last fall that this additional event held by The Office of Letters and Light beckoned, too. I would have forgotten without a friend inviting me to join her virtual cabin.
    (Thanks, Rochelle Bradley!)
    We “campers” can set our own goal for Camp. It doesn’t have to entail the full fifty thousand word craziness of NaNoWriMo. Yet the way I figured it, why not go big? 50,000 it is. So, I plan to rewrite my November 2013 novel, Jimmying the Locke. Maybe this time I will think of an ending because that’s one tale that meandered off track.

    Whatever the season in your area, what are your plans? I hope you enjoy some creativity, indoors or out.

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  • Writer Wednesday – Walking Darla


    There is so much writing software available today it makes me dizzy. A friend recently raved about something to the degree that I decided to try it out.
    Sure.
    Fine.
    Step one, it’s officially installed. Since then I have imported one story and begun several others.
    Wonderful.
    Fantastic.
    Guess what software I’m using for this blog post. No, don’t waste your time. I’m typing in Microsoft Word.
    Yeah.
    Splendid.
    It works. I’m over it. All the extra features in fancy writing software just seem to take away from storytelling time.
    Hey, it’s okay. At least I’ll be able to use a manual typewriter when zombies take over the world.
    Aah…

    Argh…

  • Darla’s Writer Wednesday – One Writer’s Obstinacy


    I have been dragged kicking and screaming into the modern electronic era but only to a certain degree. The Oxford comma is still pertinent to me. Likewise, my habitual double spacing after each sentence continued until only recently.
    I’ve finally begun accepting the one space rule behind closing punctuation. It took long enough seeing as how so much online software automatically condensed my double spaces to one. Yet I blindly and doggedly continued until just a few days ago.
    The reason? It is purely selfish and simple. In fact, I lament not embracing the idea earlier.
    Single spaces require a lot fewer keystrokes over the long term. Why not save my overworked thumb just a little extra effort? So, this document I’m typing officially lacks all extraneous spacing. Just don’t expect me to stop putting a space between paragraphs.
    And I still decline to either discontinue, desist, or disavow my love affair with the aforementioned Oxford comma.  ~grin~

    Are there any old, linger linguistic habits you maintain?

  • Shaking Things Up – Darla’s Writer Wednesday

    Tired of feeling like a lump, I recently discovered the joys of working out. I’m learning as a novice that increased fitness relies on alternating exercises. No surprise there.  No doubt circuit training has its place, too – set routines using the same equipment for X number of workouts. Switching seems to suit me well right now, though, especially as it keeps things more interesting.
    Of course, “interesting” sometimes translates to wandering around until I find the correct machine. All devices are numbered, but some sadistic soul made sure their placement follows no pattern.
    Anyway, the same principal applies to my writing.  (um… not the numbers, and usually not the sadism… ahem…)
    Point being, I find my productivity remaining satisfactory with variation as the key. Whether editing or writing anew, I sit down to a document every day now. And breaking from a frustrating dry spell feels fantastic.
    Flexing my muscles, on the page and in the fitness center, is something I intend to continue. I hope you’ll join me in creative reshaping. Whatever my future brings physically, though, I promise right now that I will never, ever refer to my upper arms as “guns”.
    What gets your creative juices flowing?
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  • Darla’s Writer Wednesday – Dabbling with Drabbles


    Many years ago I discovered a website through which people shared their stories.  I met some really great people and read some remarkable fiction.  Another unexpected discovery turned out to be learning a miniature story format termed the drabble.
    Each drabble should be a mere one hundred words and sketch a complete scene.  Some readers and writers despise them.  I became addicted, which is not necessarily a good thing.  But positive results have stayed with me to this day.  For one thing, pithy storytelling can be some of the best.
    (Flowery language certainly has it’s place, though; don’t get me wrong.)
    In addition, I have learned to tackle the challenge of National Novel Writing Month a hundred words at a time.  The concept is no different than taking baby steps, of course.  Still, it works for me.
    On that note, I better get back to my NaNoWriMo story.  There are about five hundred more words to go before I reach today’s goal.
    Oh, and if you decide to adopt my ploy, try not to be obsessive about counting.  ~grin~  Stopping to constantly hit alt→ t → w in Microsoft Word contributes unproductive key strokes and takes time away from the actual composition.
    Happy writing!
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  • Gearing Up for NaNoWriMo


    Wow!  Is it really October eighth?  In another month we’ll be through the first week of National Novel Writing Month.
    I’m attempting to stoke the artistic fire with activities like those mentioned in my previous post.  Likewise, I’ve joined a “Walking in this World” workshop.  There is a great group of folks delving into this Julia Cameron book together, so I’m excited about everyone’s potential.
    Meanwhile, I have no firm idea what I’ll write for NaNoWriMo, but I am writing.  A little travel (for pure pleasure – good times!) seemed to boost my moral and give new perspective, kicking off this creativity.  In fact, yesterday was the first day I haven’t produced at least a few hundred words of fiction since returning home.
    My WIP is actually a rewrite.  I felt the finished but un-submitted manuscript deserved a fresh take.  Maybe, come November, I’ll just keep going on it and count toward that 50,000 word count goal starting with whatever hits the page on the first.
    What about you?  I hope you’ll join in the NaNoWriMo challenge.
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