Tag: Writing

  • Not Alone

    My new found delight in poetry is proving that subject matter is limitless, with new ideas constantly eager to be written. Friendship was the inspiration for this poem. At first I thought it would be light and airy, but it morphed into something deeper and took me by surprise, yet again.

    Memories bite and sting
    Resurrected fears
    Crowd my mind

    Thoughts of you
    Stir wondrously
    Suggesting hope is alive

    From that land so distant
    I dreamily imagine
    Shining eyes on me

    Gentle in their focus
    Generous eyes, your eyes
    Dispelling my dark fears

  • Thoughts on ‘The Vein of Gold’ by Julia Cameron

    I recently completed a book about f inding your creativity, ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron. I enjoyed it immensely and learned a lot; about myself, about letting go and pampering my ‘inner child’ and most importantly, about doing the things I really want to do.

    With this in mind, I am excited to begin another of her books, ‘Vein of Gold’. The author describes the ‘Vein of Gold’ in all of us as where we find our greatest creativity. We may be successful writers in many genres, comedy, angst, biography, but we all have our special niche where we do our ‘best work’, and that is our ‘vein of gold’.

    She uses the actress Merle Streep as an example. Ms. Streep has done excellent work in comedy (Death Becomes Her), musicals (Momma Mia) and suspense (Silkwood), but it is in her portrayals of ‘tragic women’ that we find her ‘luminous’. The grieving mother in ‘Sophie’s Choice’ is one of her best performances. No one would argue that her ‘vein of gold’ is to be found playing these tormented characters.

    Is this to suggest that she limit herself to this narrow field of films? Definitely not. I believe any actress would become bored with the same type of part each time she worked, (as would we of watching her perform them as well). Variety is a good thing, for artist and viewer alike. But when we hear of a new drama starring Merle Streep, we know we are going to see something excellent and enjoyable because these movies are her greatest strength, her ‘vein of gold’ if you will.

    Bearing this in mind, Ms. Cameron sets out to help us find our own ‘vein of gold’ in our chosen field of creativity by helping us find ourselves. She suggests writing ‘morning pages’, three hand-written pages each day to help you clear your mind. As you write these ‘pages’ consistently, you find that they will clear your mind, help you vent your frustrations and find those lurking fears, feelings and angers that your ‘conscious’ mind has been trying to sublimate. They are like a sounding board, or a very close friend that you can tell anything to. These are not to be seen by anyone else and are therefore a safe and sacred place to lay it all on the line, to be yourself and to express those things that you are afraid to let others, including your close friends, see.

    A walk a day is another tool suggested in the course. Twenty minutes a day, walking indoors or out, city or country it doesn’t matter where. The actual act of walking, the repetitious movement of body can be soothing in and of itself. The scenery along your path is to be enjoyed as well, the fragile rosebud on your neighbor’s rosebush, the brightly colored house around the corner and the lazy cat on the large porch you pass are all fodder for creativity, be you a writer, a painter or a musician.

    The smell of the rain on the hot cement, the sound of a lawnmower and the smell of the barbecue down the street can inspire you as well. The noise of jackhammer and construction workers can be just as wonderful as the quieter sounds of suburbia or the country. Neighbors yelling in the apartment next door, the sound of taxis whizzing by on a busy street and the distant wail of a police siren are fertile images to be used in your art as well.

    My first thought was that I didn’t have time for these daily walks, and in truth, I don’t. But I forced myself to make the time, and have found that I miss them on those busy days when I choose to do other more pressing things. They are like a personal treat, to myself and my ‘inner artist’, and I have found reasons ‘to do’ them; quiet time to wind down after work and before sleeping, spending time with my kids, exercising the dog, exercising myself. Funny how a change in attitude makes something ‘needful’ instead of a chore.

    In the first chapter of our journey of self discovery, we are asked to write a self history. The author suggests writing about your life in five year increments, 1-5 years, 5-10, and so on. Include favorite friends, toys, games, where you lived and your family members. These memories will help you not only get these things down on paper but allow you to analyze your feelings about the events that made you the person you are today.

    For instance, your parents may still describe the ‘long awaited and wonderful’ move to that new house in the suburbs when you were a child, and you have been blinded by their feelings on the subject. Maybe on closer inspection of your memories you were angry at having to leave your old friends and school. It might not have been a ‘happy’ decision for you. Include these observations, they are important.

    This exercise will hopefully jog some memories that you had forgotten, some exciting, joyful, or even painful things that have been pushed to the back of your mind. These events might be used in understanding yourself and in your writing, essentially ‘mining’ your life for inspiration.

    There are further exercises to help you find your own personal ‘vein of gold’, that niche where you do your best creating. There are seven ‘kingdoms’ to progress through on your journey of self and I have barely scratched the surface of the first chapter in this article. I am looking forward to the other chapters, it has been a rewarding trip so far and it’s only just begun.

  • Unanticipated power

    I grew up shy, quiet, tongue-tied and longing for something more, although I could never put what I wanted into words. I was just a girl who winced at having to get up at six thirty a.m. to make it to Home Class on time. Nobody who saw me imagined my larger-than-life thoughts. I was an average looking girl wearing acceptable looking clothes, who dreamed of something more than an idiot boy who wanted to snap the strap of my training bra.

    I lived an everyday girl’s experience. I ate chocolate shakes when my lunch money ran low because they were only seventy-five cents. I ducked my head and tried not to care when girls prettier than I was called me names–brace face, metal mouth, pizza face. I’d accepted from early on that I just wasn’t the type of girl who was going to fit in, although I’m not sure when I first had the thought. I think it became less of a pain the older I got because surely things happened for a reason. Suffering had to have a point; feeling like an uninvited devil’s imp from hell had an end, right?

    The books I read made me feel I wasn’t alone. There was hope. There was an optimistic sort of ending. There were lessons to be learned with the characters I fell in love with–characters who struggled with peer pressure, Multiple Sclerosis, death and parents who were divorced. Those stories written by Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary and Carolyne Keene saved my life. I can’t even properly communicate the power of those stories and the characters who influenced me–I just know that it happened. I was humbled and taken-aback by how much I seemed to connect with these characters; they weren’t real, they were just someone’s imagination on a page.

    Why did they have such power over me? How did they influence me so much? Was I nuts? Did I have my head too high in the clouds like people said I did?

    Maybe. Always maybe.

    Once I learned how to read, that was it. Reading was all I wanted to do. And then I decided I wanted to do what those writers had unwittingly done for me–to save a life. When you’re young, awkward and not at the top of the popularity chain, characters like Deenie, Nancy Drew and Marcy Lewis helped keep my soul strong.

    It shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone that I wanted to do the same thing for others some day…if I could. If I had the strength, the perseverance, the dedication. But nobody seemed to understand my need to write while other kids my age were outdoors living it up. I didn’t even understand it myself. My flag of self-esteem was never high, and wanting to write made me feel more conspicuous and embarrassed.

    I tried to ignore the odd glances older people gave me, the embarrassment I felt about it when my teachers caught a whiff of my desire (was I doomed to be a freak forever?), and the utter incomprehension of my friends and family. Maybe it was teen-aged angst in action, not that it matters. It was almost enough that the feelings strengthened me at the same they ostracized me.

    What I do know is that at twelve years-old, when I was in the sixth grade and wrote my first story for a teacher’s review (The Lucky Charm, which totally sucked jumbo-size eggs), I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to be God on paper. To make a positive difference in someone’s world. To give back what I had been given.

    Because words can save a life.

  • What To Do When Stress Rears Its Head

    Four Simple Tools Anyone Can Use

    Those of you who have read my blog recently, know that I was stranded in Minnesota a few weeks ago. I want to share some of the tools that kept me calm and able to function to the best of my ability during this experience.

    Tool the First: Morning Pages

    First, Morning Pages. I know I’ve talked about these before, and quite honestly, will probably do so again. Morning Pages are from Julia Cameron, in her book The Artist’s Way and others. They are three pages of longhand writing, done in the morning. (Hence the name, nu?) They are many things, but most of all they are NOT writing.

    Huh?

    Nope. Not writing. They just happen to be written, but they are emphatically not writing. In fact, writers will find them the hardest. The rest of us who aren’t writers will find them easier. Feel better now?

    The genius about writing morning pages is that they are just three pages of writing, done in the morning. They can’t be done wrong. If you wrote three pages, you did them right. If you did them, then they’re done right. This is sort of counterintuitive to us left-brain Westerners, but it’s true. Just three pages. Longhand.

    Think it’s got to be harder than that?

    Try something for me. Pause from reading this essay (but you’d better come back to it! ~shaky finger~) and go grab three pages of paper. Could be lined or not, doesn’t matter, as long as it’s 8.5” x 11”. Now write. Just fill up that paper. When you get to the bottom of the third page, stop.

    There. You did it right.

    Feel good? Uh-huh. That’s all there is to it.

    Why am I harping on Morning Pages?

    Morning ages are a method of moving meditation, sort of like walking. Like sitting Za-Zen, they bring us into the moment where we meet the moment, and ourselves. This may sound kind of hokey, but it’s true – it’s easy to be in the moment when you’re writing, because writing IS in the moment. You can’t write later, or in five minutes. If you’re writing, you’re in the moment. It’s a “now” activity. It’s sort of hard to let your mind wander when you’re writing longhand, because then your pen tends to stop and you’re no longer writing.

    When I was stranded, one of the only ‘creative’ activities I could do was writing my morning pages. I couldn’t even fill up the endless hours while I waited for news of my doomed car with any actual creative writing – I was too tense. I just managed to do my Morning Pages, and stay present.

    I kept the television off during this time, as an added method of staying in the moment and being present.

    Tool the Second: Walking

    Another tool I used was walking. That’s right, just putting one foot in front of the other. Nothing more profound than that. The town I was stranded in had a lovely lake in the center of it that the tow truck driver passed by when he took me to the hotel. I was able to find it from my hotel and wandered over there in the evening. After that, I was able to return to the hotel, much more centered in my body. I didn’t do anything more strenuous than walking, looking at trees and the little tree-dwelling creatures that were by the lake. Several cheeky squirrels and a family of ducks kept me company, as did a man walking his mother in her wheelchair and several afternoon joggers. It’s amazing how much one slows down when one is walking.

    Tool the Third: Bathe, Thou Stinky One!

    Another tool I used was a bath. Is this a tool? If not, it should be. “Noony’s Guide to Enlightenment, Chapter Four.” (No, I haven’t written it yet.) But seriously. Sitting in water is an excellent way to relax. Something about the water is grounding (or is that, wetting?). Regardless, it helped me feel comforted, miles away from my family and friends, stuck in the middle of nowhere. (Well, to be fair, the residents of Winona probably don’t think of their town as “nowhere.” But I digress.) Bathing is an easy way of getting present. I’ll give you a little secret – you don’t actually need any bath soup, either. Just water. It might be odd the first time you try it, it was for me anyway, but having bath oil or bath salt or bath sugar isn’t required. Just hot water.

    If you dislike baths, try sitting in the tub or shower with the water beating down on your head. That’s another way to get present.

    From a magical perspective, water is one of the four Aristotelian elements, and as such, extraordinarily powerful. Even if you don’t go in for that kind of “hokum,” water can be very helpful to the grounding and relaxing process. Why do you think spas have hot tubs for use by patrons before their massage?

    Tool the Fourth: Breathing

    Breathing was the final tool I used. Duh, right?

    I’m serious! Breathing is very underrated, particularly by Westerners. How are you breathing right now? Chances are, very shallow, little breaths that hardly fill up your central cavity. If that’s the case, try something. Take a nice, big, deep breath that fills your belly up so much, your tummy distends. Now hold it for a second or two, then let it out. Press it all the way out of your body like you’re pressing water out of your laundry. Now do that two or three more times. Chances are, your fingers and toes will start to get warmer. That’s the blood flow increasing all the way to your extremities. This is very healthy, and means that you are getting into the moment – which is where your power is.

    Tie Them All Together With a Cute Little Bow

    We have all the power and strength we need to handle life’s challenges, but we shortchange ourselves and ignore our power. We cannot access it anywhere except in the moment. And the only way to get into the moment is to get into the moment. (Which is sort of a silly thing to say, but nonetheless true.) We spend so much time elsewhere – reading books or watching time-filler television. (You’ve seen my rant on Americans and television, right?) Well, these four simple tools can be used right where you are, and don’t require any special equipment other than a pencil, paper, and shoes – things most of us are fortunate enough to have in our possession. And if you can read this, then you can breathe. If you can’t breathe, then I can’t help you.

    So, go forth and power yourself into the moment. See what kinds of problems and challenges you can surmount by doing so.

  • Writing Prompt

    This awesome website provides fun prompts to do http://languageisavirus.com/writing_prompts.html

    I decided no matter what I got, I’d stick to it and I was actually quite lucky. My prompt ‘Describe each of your friends, with no more than 10 words per person’

    So, I’m describing my friends here….

    Andi
    Quirky, a bit mad but altogether alright as she is

    Byz
    The niftyest australian I’ve met, great humour makes me laugh

    Dawn
    Kind, bright and full of energy, she just blatantly rocks

    Eden
    A sherlocky tea muffin and completely loffley, she’s simply epic

    Evey
    Partner in crime in the creative lie game, she’s awesome

    Gwen
    Queen of writing, and always there to sort out problems

    Jean
    A lovely kind person who writes well, she’s utterly brilliant

    Noony
    She’s a mad muffin who is completely lovely to everyone

    Some of the words aren’t exactly in the the dictionary but this was hard to write and I loff you all *glompsnuggles*

  • Setting the scene

    ‘Nothing happens nowhere‘, or so said Elizabeth Bowen. I think she’s right. Your characters deserve a place where they can roam freely and interact, yet subtle enough to fall into the background (which is where it belongs, being a setting) like the landscape behind Mona Lisa. Her slight smile and lack of eyebrows would not be so amazing if the background was dull, hazy smudge.

    Through the setting we can tell the time of year, the approximate century, the country and even the predominant emotions the characters are feeling.

    Now when I first heard this, I could agree with all but the latter point. The weather could tell you the season, the various fixtures could be a big clue to the date and there are different building styles in every country. Of course, there are exceptions, depending on the hemisphere, the genre and the diversity of the community, but generally it’s true.

    I didn’t think a character’s feelings could be shown through setting, but of course, they can. I’m sure we’ve all been out on a lovely day feeling miserable; the sun would be too bright and the heat an uncomfortable weight. When you feel happy, the whole world glimmers and seems more vibrant.

    But I’m getting ahead of myself. Eep! What I do when making a new setting is similar to what I do when creating a character. I note important things – the size, the walls (painted, papered, postered, colour) the floor (carpet, bare, rugs, colour), lighting, furniture. I make a plan, rough and by hand, to refer to so I don’t have my characters going through a door that wasn’t there in the scene previously. That’s the skeleton and it’s actually pretty boring, but needs to be done so you can move onto the fun bit.

    I’m going to take my WIP, Unreal and more specifically, Stephan’s bedroom to show you what I do. I think of six objects I can ‘see’ in the room. If I can’t see six, I think about what that character would consider of some importance, and I list them.

    Now, Steph is a romantic, and enjoys reading. In fact, the first thing I wrote about Steph was him curled on a sofa, reading a trashy romance. So the first thing in the room – a romance novel. Next, being undeniably British and a little lazy, the next thing in his bedroom would be – an old cup of tea. Stephan is a little absent minded, something that leads me to – a dried out plant. He also gets lonely sometimes, but has had many acquaintances. That added with the absent-mindedness mean there should be – an address book. The next thing is a secret, but it was the next item I though of -a stoppered vial. And then we get to the last object. A chessboard.

    These items are all hints into Stephan’s character. Taking those six items and what I know of the room, I write a short description, around two- to four-hundred words long. It doesn’t have to be polished, but it has to be clear.

    The bed is spacious and neat, the sheets a light ivory, the quilt carefully folded back to look inviting, no sign that anyone had slept there the night before. The windows along the South wall let the daylight bleed into the room through the long, thin curtains, the light colours making the room larger yet almost clinical. The door to the landing is on the West wall, the wood the same light ash as the bare floorboards. On the glass bedside table there is a book, the cover bent and curling but the image of a woman wilting in a man’s strong arms is still visible. The title is illegible, the gilt on the embossed letter flaked off. The pages also curl, as if it had been wet and dried quickly. Beside it is a mug, charcoal grey and square rimmed, a few simple green tiles adorning the sides. Inside, milk congeals in the long cold tea.

    There is another table against the far wall, the varnish scratched and a few scorches along the top. It could be called a dresser, as it held a mirror with tarnished spots under the glass and a single draw with a brass handle. A withered, twiggy plant stands on the table; its stems twist morbidly as if it were in great pain, the soil cracked and dusty from lack of water. An empty vial, the length of a finger, has been left in the shadows of the plant, the cork sealed tightly with black wax. The rest of the table is taken up by a soapstone chessboard. The squares are cream and green, but there is only one piece on the board – a green rook. One corner of the board, diagonally opposite the single rook has been chipped off.

    That’s as clear as I see Steph’s bedroom. It’s not how I’m portray it in my story, but it’s handy for quick reference. Doing this can also help spark plot or just give the characters more depth. The book, for example, hints that Stephan likes to read in the bath. Who hasn’t dropped a book in the tub one time or other? The address book is in the draw, and it acts like his little black book, holding the addresses of revisited bitees, the people he can and can’t rely on. The vial and the chessboard were gifts from his maker.

    I don’t do this for every room, but I do a general one for the places visited in the story, a more detailed one for my main character’s semi-private areas (not those areas! Romance writers, seeing smut everywhere… *muttermutter*) and where major plot events occur.

    Setting is important for a story, but should be like the bass guitar in a song, the oak-taste in whiskey, something subtle but enhancing. Don’t forget it or you’ll lose an important layer. Respect settings. They are more important than you think!

  • Editing Schmediting

    Unless you’re lucky enough to write everything perfect the first time, or you have an editing slave at your beck and call, editing is a reality for every writer. For some people, editing comes naturally, for others, it doesn’t. I’ve figured out I’m one of the latter. I’m a writer. A prolific one. Give me a prompt or idea, and a keyboard, and . . . off I go!

    But just because I can write and write and write, doesn’t mean it’s actually good. There has to be clean up, tightening, re-wording, re-structuring, clarification to make my writing read-worthy, just like anybody else (except for you annoying three people who get it exactly right the first time). I spent the better part of a week earlier this month doing nothing but editing, and here’s what I’ve determined: it’s no fun. XP

    But I learned something else about myself: I can learn to edit. Really edit. And while it might not be as much fun as letting my imagination have free reign and letting my fingers fly over the keyboard – the results are very satisfying. It does require me to switch out the cogs in my head, and after a bout of editing like what I just went through, I think it will be some time before I can turn off that ‘internal’ editor and get back to writing smoothly. However, the next time I sit down and put on my ‘editor cap’, I’ll be better prepared because of the list of steps I’ve made for myself.

    I thought I would share them here because, a) they are gathered from various well-trusted sources, b) I find them useful, c) I told you I’m sapped and I couldn’t think of anything else to post. =P

    So, here’s my semi-gelatinous editing task list:

    1. I edit for spelling, grammar and continuity as I go. In a novel, this means after I draft a scene, I read it again and edit. Sometimes more than once. If I go away for any length of time, when I get back I read the last scene or two again (and sometimes edit) before moving on. However, if you don’t do this, a spellcheck and grammar check are a good place to start. They won’t catch most homophones though, so watch out.

    2. My next step is a simple cut/re-arrange. Basically, ignoring mechanics, does each scene move the story forward? Is there a message to take away from each scene, and what is it? This is the time for major cuts/re-writes and this is also where I take word count under strongest consideration. I’m sort of obsessive about having well-balanced chapters, meaning that they be a fairly consistent number of words. I know, I know . . . moving on.

    3. Next, I do a search and highlight (in various colors) for the major ‘weak writing indicators’. Some of these are universal: was, were, have, and had can signal passive voice; began, started, almost, practically are stall/lessening phrases; something/anything/everything are vague; THAT – they aren’t lying when they say you can delete half of these with no effect. I also have a set more specific to me, words I know I overuse: look, shrug, grin, nod, eyes, dark, wanted, felt, etc. By the time I’m done with this – my manuscript looks like a laser light show.

    4. Time for another read-through. Yep. From the beginning. The goal here is to lessen the color spectrum by re-phrasing, choosing stronger verbs, more exact nouns and or taking out unnecessary clauses. At the same time, on this read through I try to manage the flow of the narrative, make sure I have the emphasis in the right place, fiddle around with paragraph breaks, vary my punctuation, etc. I’m like a diva shoe-shopping with my word choices too – “Hmm… maybe this one. No, no . . . this one.”

    5. If you’re doing it all by my lonesome, the last step is yet ANOTHER read-through. From the beginning, just for smoothing. This time, I try to focus on envisioning the story, feeling the characters. Did I get my point across? Is the story engaging? Does anything kick me out as a reader. It’s always better if you have someone else to do this step for you. But if you’re very prolific, sometimes this is difficult. So, taking a break from the steps above (when possible) is most advisable. Try to look at the story as if you’re a reader reading it for the first time.

    As you can imagine, my eyes are still crossed. I read my novel about six times in a week. And now I’m sick of me.

    For what it’s worth, though . . .

    ~Gwen

  • Building A Goal Pyramid

    Last time I posted a long essay for Wiley Wednesday talking about motivation and dedication, following one on balance-point. I’ll finish this series with today’s post on GOALS.

    If you missed the first two, you can find them here:

    1. Balance-Point

    2. Motivation + Reinforcement = Dedication

    In quick review:

    – It’s crucial to find your internal/external balance-point in any creative pursuit. You have to know your limits in order to set realistic goals.

    – Your desires motivate your actions. The act of reinforcing your motivations is dedication. When you combine dedication and goal-setting, you get positive action – progress towards your ultimate desires.

    DISCLAIMER: As per usual, this is just my opinion, and one of an infinite number of ways to attack the task of goal-setting. If it works for you, that makes me gleeful. If it doesn’t, don’t blame me!

    Once you’ve gotten a handle on what motivates you, and you have your general compass-point (your desires/dreams) you are ready to set some goals. One method for doing this, is to think of your goal-plan like a pyramid.

    Remember: Your dreams are the pinnacle of your ‘pyramid-o-happiness’, which you
    are hopefully always building. Your goals are the bricks that, when stacked with care, will get you to the top. Sometimes they’re gritty and heavy, sometimes they’re fun and ornate. Positive action is the act of stacking your bricks. (And results from combining dedication with your goals.)

    How many writers does it take to build a pyramid?

    One.

    Everything you need to get to that pinnacle is inside of you. And believing this is the key to ultimately achieving those dreams of yours. You can’t stand around waiting for someone else to pick up your bricks and start stacking. It’s up to you. You can recruit help from time to time,
    borrow tools, rely on someone else’s strong back, consult other pyramid engineers – but if you aren’t dedicated to it, your pyramid will not get built.

    Let’s assume that we all have dreams – that spot up in the clouds somewhere that we want to be. Maybe it’s being a NYT best-selling author, or a record-holding sword swallower, or just
    managing to complete one novel on top of raising two stellar kids. Whatever it is, dream big. I’m a firm believer that aspirations are healthy, as long as you realize that until you take positive action towards them, that’s all they are.

    Dream exercise:

    Find a nice quite spot and set aside a good chunk of pressure-free time. Take out a blank piece of paper. At the top, write, “I want to be . . .” and then list off everything you can finish that sentence with. Now, these are dreams, so you’re allowed to be whimsical, of course. But, try to think of it in terms of WHO you want to be. Many of the things listed might be who you are, or strive to be, already.

    Example:
    I want to be . . . Able to run three miles in fifteen minutes. Someone who speaks three languages fluently. A published author. The first person my friends think to come to when they’re sad. A teacher. A good role model for my nieces and nephews.

    You get the idea. This is a boundless exercises, aimed at getting you thinking about that pinnacle of your pyramid. What do you want to accomplish most? Who do you want to be? That is your pinnacle.

    Now we’re back to the first part of our formula: Goals.

    Goals are sorta like dreams – they are things that you want to accomplish, often as a means to obtaining said dreams. The difference is that goals are concrete. In our pyramid analogy, they are the concrete bricks we use to build the pyramid up towards our dreams. To work on goals, you need to pick one ‘aspiration’ or several that are tied together, and set that as a pinnacle to build towards.

    Let’s take my ‘I want to be a published author’ aspiration and expand on that. We’ll ask questions and add details so that it can start to take solid form – so that it can morph from dream to goal. What type of author? What genre? What length? Published where, by who and for what audience?

    Once I’ve determined that I want to be published in novel length fiction, in the paranormal romance genre, by a NY print house (maybe I have a top five list), then I’m almost there. Only one thing missing to make this goal solid by asking one question – when? You have to have something more definitive than ‘someday’. Someday is up in the clouds. We want to come down to earth. But we will answer this question after a little more self-exploration.

    Your goals are very personal. Just as your list of ‘I want to be’s’ is personal. Some goals can remain more abstract and you can still reach them, some can be very detailed. The most important thing in setting your goals is that you do set constraints on them – give them a solid form. Don’t leave them wispy and unformed – these are still dreams. It’s OKAY to have those – have LOTS of them, but don’t mix them up with goals. Your goal needs to have a who/what/where and a when. The why is personal, and the how is . . . well, the how comes later. Keep reading.

    So, have you built your top triangular brick – the pinnacle of this particular pyramid? Great! Now I’ve got news for you: goals come in multiples. Rather, they sort of spawn each other like rabbits. You have one main goal. Now we need all the other bricks that go underneath it – a wide foundation, growing smaller towards the top. You have two choices in planning your pyramid: top-down, or ground-up. It’s a matter of personal taste, so do what feels the most natural to you.

    Pyramid planning exercise:

    We have our main goal, and now we need to carve out the rest of our bricks. Using the back of the sheet of paper you wrote your dreams on (or a fresh one – or, heck, you can make this out of construction paper and glitter glue if you like – have fun), start like this:

    Write your three-sided who/what/where goal at the top of the page. If you’re using top-down, think of two things you need that would be your last two steps towards that goal.

    Example of the top-down:
    I want to be published in novel length paranormal romance by publisher XYZ. I need:
    1 polished manuscript worthy of print, and an agent to land me a deal.

    (The ground-up method would start with basics and work up from there. You might start with: I need a computer/word processor, I need books on craft XYZ, and genre books, I need a basic
    writing class, etc.)

    Now, take each of those branches and think of (at least) two things you need in order to get them:

    To get an agent, I need:
    1. A list of agents and
    2. A polished query

    To get a print-worthy manuscript, I need:
    1. A really great idea
    2. Time to write said idea
    3. Feedback to help polish the manuscript.

    Note: If you have problems with this step, look at your top goal. It might be too general.

    And so on. Do you see how your goals branch out and get wider at the bottom? Sort of like a pyramid? Well, use your imagination.

    You can be as detailed or as vague as you want in this process, depending on how detail oriented you are. Some people will have 100 tiny bricks (steps) and some just need the 10 major ones to keep them on track. You might also find that some of your ‘bricks’ end up being the same, repeating, or inter-linking. That’s to be expected, if you’ve made your top brick concrete enough. Also, remember to make this subjective. They are always multiple ways of approaching a problem, and this is catered to you – what you need and want, what your strengths and weaknesses are.

    The main purpose here is to start seeing the pyramid take form. Maybe some of the bricks you have handled already – that’s terrific. You still need to know what they are and where they go. Maybe there are big holes in your plan and you have no idea what step goes there? Write the question you need answered in its place and below it, put finding a resource to have that question answered. The other thing you will hopefully see is that when setting goals, you can make them tiny manageable pieces, or more general. (Hopefully both.) Just make them concrete.

    Pyramids don’t get built overnight.

    Once you have your pyramid outlined to a level of detail that is comfortable to you, you’re more than halfway there. Now we can ask ‘When?’

    Guess what – the ‘How?’ has taken care of itself! Look at your pyramid again – the how is what you’ve just done. Pat yourself on the back.

    The next step is where my previous post on Balance Point fits in. Be honest about your limits and knowing what you can accomplish. I’m not going to tell you: ‘if you really want to be a NYT best-selling author, you will take out a second mortgage on your house, quit your job and write the Great American Novel in the next year.’ Partially because I don’t believe that, and partially because I think that is a very unbalanced way of doing things. Whether your goal is to publish, or simply to complete a work, it shouldn’t come at the cost of other things and people important to you. KNOW YOUR LIMITS.

    Now, keeping your limits in mind, write underneath each one of your ‘bricks’ how long you
    estimate it will take you to accomplish each of them. Be realistic, and keep your balance point in mind. If you think you can read every how-to book on writing fiction in a year – you’re probably wrong. These estimates can be in rates: two books a month; but they must also
    have a TOTAL time required: 12 books at two books a month = 6 months.

    And remember, these are your best estimates and don’t have to be 100%. Many will be influenced by things out of your control. I guarantee they will ALL change. That’s okay.

    Got that done? All except for the top one right? Here’s a trick – items on the same level of
    your pyramid can generally be done concurrently. Add up the longest time frame of each level. This is the minimum amount of time you need to prepare to reach that pinnacle. It might take longer than you initially anticipate, but as long as you keep building, you’ll get there.

    I’ll see you at the top.

  • Things Not Generally Known – 1859

    This little book printed in 1859 is an interesting collection of historical and social facts, very pertinent to the times in which it was written. I thought it might be fun to take a look at how they wrote, seeing as we are into writing. Life was so amazingly different over 200 years ago, thoughts, attitudes, manners, inventions, science and medicine are absolutely nothing like today. I randomly chose snippets of information to compare with today’s grammar, spelling and punctuation.

     Wearing the Watch.

    The Wearing of a Watch was, till late times, considered in some degree as a mark and proof of gentility; though the invention may be traced back to the 14th century. Watches were even worn ostentatiously hung round the neck to a chain; which fashion has been revived in female dress.

    • I didn’t know the watch dated back to the 14th century.

     The Paschal Light.

    This was an enormously thick wax-candle, which was lighted on the morning of Easter Day; the wax itself being curiously adorned with grains of incense, and inscribed with the epact, dominical letter, &c.; also the names of the reigning pope, king, and bishop of the diocese, and the date of the consecration of the church.-Hart’s Ecclesiastical Records, &c.

     The Dinner Hour.

    The proper Hour for Dinner is laid down by Thomas Cogan, a physician, in a book entitled the Haven of Health, printed in 1584, as follows:
    When foure hours bee past after breakfast, a man may safely take his dinner; and the most Convenient time for dinner is about eleven of the clocke before noone. The usuall time for dinner in the universities is at eleven, or elsewhere about noon.

     Juniper.

    It was formerly supposed that the wood of Juniper, when once lighted, would remain on fire a whole year if covered with its own ashes. Hence Ben Johnson, in the Alchemist, talk s of the “coal of juniper,” which the tobacconist kept for his customers to light their pipes from.-Nares’s Glossary.

     The Days of the Week.

    Ancient deeds are frequently dated the day of the week on which there were executed, e.g. Die Jovis, Die Mercurii, &c.; each day being dedicated to a heathen deity , as follows:

    • Dies Solis………………..Sunday
    • Dies Lunae……………..Monday
    • Dies Martis…………….Tuesday
    • Dies Mercurii…………Wednesday
    • Dies Jovis……………..Thursday
    • Dies Veneris…………Friday
    • Dies Saturni………….Saturday

    In some ancient deeds we find the equivalent terms Dies Dominica for Sunday, and Dies Sabbati for Saturday.

    These Latin designations are also generally used in entries in the account-books of surgeons and apothecaries.

     March-Pane.

    This, one of the glories of olden confectionery, is a sweet biscuit, composed of sugar and almonds, like those now called macaroons. It is also called massepain in some old books. The word March-pane exists, with little variation, in almost all the European languages; yet the derivation of it is uncertain. In the Latin of the Middle Ages, March-panes were called Martiipanes.

    • In Australia this same sweet is called Marzipan, still made with sugar and almonds hundred of years later. Do you have this sweet in the U.S.? Does it have the same name and do you use it underneath the hard white icing on Wedding cakes?

     How To Avoid Sleepless Nights.

    Mr. A. J. Ellis has announced to the Scottish Curative Mesmeric Association, that persons wishing to avoid sleepless nights should lie with their heads to the north, and not on any account lie with their heads to the west.

    • I added this for my friend’s who suffer from insomnia. This may be valuable advice. Turn you bed around and see if you sleep better; let us all know if it works.

    The language in this book is old fashioned, and the spelling is giving my Word Document software a fit with all the different spellings, there are little red squiggly lines littered all over the page. That alone makes this book very interesting, as the changes in the English language over hundreds of years are immense. The differences in punctuation are also quite remarkable. I wonder if the American form of English has changed so much in the last 200 years? I am interested to know how much it has changed and in what ways.

    The example of English from the year 1584 reminds us that language is always evolving, changing to suit the times. It is interesting how language models itself around new inventions, scientific developments, economic and business prosperity and of course the social changes that are constantly occurring in our world.

    Old books contain information that allows us to look back into a world we will never see again. I believe they give us much better insight into the past than modern day historians. We can never go back to living in those times, but we do write about them and original books of factual information are invaluable to us as writers.

  • The Manuscript Graveyard

    My last post must have been a tad over the top, so in an effort to keep this blog rolling and not get it bogged down with the nonsense in my brain, this one is short and sweet.

    Does anyone else fear the manuscript graveyard, or is it just me?

    If you boil the journey to publication down to it’s barest bones, here’s how it goes: write, submit, repeat.

    Simple, right?

    Except . . . what happens when you get beyond that step? What do you do when one of your submissions comes back to you with a rejection letter (it DOES happen). Or worse, you get nothing back at all? It just got lost in the vacume of editor-space and the ghost is hovering on your hard drive . . .

    How do you keep writing, keep submitting, keep repeating when the corpses of rejected stories keep piling up?

    I mean, how sad is the thought that you just keep writing, pouring your blood, sweat and tears into these words, these bytes of consciousness, and they just come back to you to be buried?

    Pretty fricking depressing, if you ask me. And my graveyard is growing . . .

    So, I thought to myself, ‘this simply won’t do’.

    Time to kick over those headstones, those mental blocks that tell me the story is pathetic and will never be published, and breathe some life back into these manuscripts.

    If you’re thinking ‘I don’t want to spend time nursing a rejected story back to life, I just want to make the next one better’, trust me, I’m with you. BUT, there’s no reason that a little effort here and there won’t eventually cycle one of your older stories into the right hands, or effect just the right change to bring it back to life. Right? As writers, we have to have faith that we have something to say – something worth reading. Not everything will be our best, but it’s all worthwhile.

    I haven’t tested this theory, but here is my plan:

    In simple, baby steps, I’m going to convert my graveyard into a garden.

    Now, a garden needs tending – pruning, weeding, watering – you get the idea.

    The steps:

    1. Open up your ‘dead’ manuscript and read it through once – not with an editing eye, but with a reader’s eye. Ask yourself – do you still enjoy this story? If you have no idea what you were on about, or you just cringe – it might be a weed. We’re all sure to have a few of those. Put it in a ‘weeds’ folder and move on. DO NOT beat yourself up about it.

    2. If you enjoy the story, if you still feel it – maybe it just needs pruning or watering. And by that I mean – does it drag, or is it incomplete? Can you trim it down (FYI – the answer is yes – you can always trim it down) and make your message/theme clearer? Or, does it really beg for a deeper explanation? Pay attention to the feedback you’ve received on it, if any, and try to be objective. Design a designator, like P for pruning, or W for watering, or just move the files into their prospective folders.

    3. For each of the non-weeds, come up with at least 3 places where you could possibly ‘plant’ the story after its revision. There are TONS of possible homes out there, and if you’re actively submitting, you know where they are. 😉

    4. Commit some time to your good seeds. Prune, water. Do what you have to do. Don’t drop everything you’re doing, but get it rolling in the background at a reasonable rate – one piece a month, or whatever works for you.

    5. Get them out there! You’re garden won’t grow if you never plant it! Again, find a comfortable rate and stick to it. If you’re going to have one or two or ten submissions out there at a time, do it. Don’t let those corpses pile up. Keep revising, keep submitting. Keep tending your garden.

    And keep the faith that your sunshine is just around the corner!