Bringing in 2016 with Lofty Goals

Hi all!

2016 is just days away and it's about time we started thinking about goals again. While it's great to have goals year round, there's something really exciting about starting the new year with a plan.

Many of us set personal goals: we want to lose weight, quit sugar, save more money for retirement...so on and so forth. But when was the last time you set a professional goal for yourself?

I surely can't think of it.

So, this New Year, along with my personal goal, I'm also going to set a professional goal. And it's a big one.


Drum roll please.......

I'M GOING TO WRITE A NOVEL THIS YEAR.

Whew, I said it. No, I BLOGGED it, which makes it more real.

Now, this won't be my first novel. In fact, I've written five novels/novel length projects since committing to writing as my profession, but the other day I was thinking about how I haven't written something fun (like fiction, essays, or poems) in a few weeks. My life has simply been too chaotic with everything else going on. I'm sure you can relate.

That also got me thinking about my big novels that I've written in the past and how they really need to be revised.

So, that led me to the conclusion that I MUST write another novel in 2016. I currently have no idea what it will be about, who the characters are, or even where it takes place. I know nothing other than the fact that I will write it sometime this year.

The universe will give me the idea when it's ready and I am too. I'm sure of that. In the meantime, I'm screaming out into the void of everything saying, THIS is my year. Let's get this novel going.

Do you have any writing goals for 2016? Shout them into the aether of the universe by sharing them in the comments section.

Seasons Greetings

The holiday season is fully upon us. The stores are packed and people are either getting a few days off from work or are working longer and harder shifts during this shopper-filled season. No matter which camp you fall in, I'm writing to wish you all light, love, and happiness during the holiday season.

In fact, when the family's around and things are nuts can be the best time to slip away to get a few more pages of your novel written.

Or, like many this year, you can simply sit back with a gingerbread cookie and enjoy the tropical weather most of the USA is experiencing. Here in North Carolina it's going to be 75 degrees on Christmas Day!

Just whatever you do, don't stress. Now's the time for fun and relaxation. Now's the time to recharge so next year we can publish that amazing work we've been plugging away at.

Naming Characters

Writers say it all the time: My story is my baby.

We nurture it and watch it grow and pick it up when it falls down. We're actively involved in the progression of its life.

I see the resemblance.

Why, then, don't we put more time into our characters names?

Parents spend months trying to find the best name for their little ones. Books are read, friends are consulted, names are Googled. They want something unique and memorable, but they also think about who they wish their child to be. Want them to be strong and taken seriously - better find a name that matches. More interested in your kid being creative - pick a name that fosters that.

Yet, as writers, we often think of name, write it down and then never go back and question it again.

Why is this a problem? Well, I'll give you an example;

The other day I was revising a short story I wrote. One of the main characters has a unique name that just kind of popped into my head one day. It was pronounced like it was spelled and it was powerful, all the things I wanted him to be. I researched everyone else's names, but this one character was always - from the very beginning - stuck to his name.

Two rounds of beta readers and five revisions later, I was ready to begin submitting the manuscript around to magazines and journals. Right before I began searching for this story's home, though, something made me pause.

I did a quick Google search of that one character's name and found out that it was the same name used by a Russian gang in the 40's.

Now, this character was not Russian, nor would he approve of gang membership. I knew instantly that I had to change his name. I went on baby naming sites and looked up names based on first letter (I knew it had to start with B), and based upon his culture and ethnicity.

I found him a better name, but it was almost a disaster. If any reader Googled his name, they would have found many hits on Russian gangs and probably would have thought very differently about my character.

But - don't fret - there are two ways around making this critical mistake.

1. Let's say you need to write, like - RIGHT NOW - because the idea's there and the magic is flowing. Okay, do it. Write your little heart out. Rather than stopping to research names, use what I call the First Date method. "He walks into the room and looks around. She notices him and waves. "'How are you HE?' she asks." ---- This allows you to write the scene you need and worry about naming your darlings after you've figured out who they're going to be.

2. Does the First Date method drive you bonkers? Well then your other option is to take the time and research baby names. (Google "baby girl names" or "Sanskrit names" or "Jewish names" to find millions of lists out there for free.) When you've found the names you need for your characters, begin writing then.

Whatever you do, don't leave one of the most important aspects of your characters up to chance. Sure, it's always nice to have a name pop into your head like a magic perfectly-fitting slipper, but it may not always be the right foot you're applying it to.

Take the time to name your darlings.

Your children would want that kind of dedication from you.

Challenge Post: Opposite Day

I was recently told that I have to do a pretty hefty revision of a short story I wrote months ago. In my mind, the piece was just as it was supposed to be with enough tension and explanation of the plot to get to the next story in the series while still allowing this piece to stand on its own. Of course, that was 5 months ago, so I probably feel differently about it now. (Readers and editors sure do! lol)

To keep myself from the defensive rut of, "I need this paragraph of delicious prose" or "How can they not understand the subtle characterization?", I'm challenging myself to an opposite day.

The rules of opposite day are simple: You must write in an area or manner which is completely opposite to your normal style.

For instance, I normally write behind tightly closed doors where no one but my rabbits (who are too short to see the screen anyway) can hear my fingers dance along the keyboard. I prefer a tomb-like silence and stillness and even the fan of my laptop kicking in can throw me from my meditation.

So, on opposite day, I'm taking my laptop to the coffee shop uptown and writing amongst human beings. There will be talking, cell phone noise, espresso sounds and smells. People will probably come up and ask me what I'm doing. I will have to be cordial.

The whole idea of opposite day is to jolt you out of your normal routine and mindset and make you see your work from the perspective of new readers - readers who often first encounter your piece on their commute to work, or on their lunch break, or while also watching TV.

But I don't want to be the only one using opposite day. I challenge you, fellow blog reader, no matter what day you stumble upon this post, to do opposite day with me.

Do you normally write surrounded by bustling action and many people? Then find a way to write in peace (yes, even if you have to shut yourself in the bathroom). Do you write listening to blaring music? Take off the headphones and see what your characters say in silence. Vice versa.

Change something. See what happens. Even if it sucks, you'll have tried one more option and be another step closer to perfection.

An Addition to the Books On Writing Series: BIG MAGIC

As you know from my Books On Writing post series, I read a fair share of books by famous writers talking about writing. So, when I visited my local library last week and saw Elizabeth Gilbert's new book BIG MAGIC: CREATIVE LIVING BEYOND FEAR, I just had to check it out.

Image From Amazon (Book also purchasable there): http://www.amazon.com/Big-Magic-Creative-Living-Beyond/dp/1594634718/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449074141&sr=8-1&keywords=big+magic


However, this book wasn't the ABC XYZ step by step book on the craft that I was used to. Instead, Ms. Gilbert focuses on the most basic of building blocks upon which writing is founded - creative living. At first I though, well I don't need this, I already write and paint and draw and craft - I'm creative, dang it! I live it! But as I've read through (I'm about halfway now), I've found some helpful insight into the creative life that I've never thought of before or that I simply skipped over with tightly closed eyes.

In the "Permission" section of the book that I read last night, I found a delightfully put phrasing that applies so readily to writing and other writers.

To paraphrase the overall idea: Ms. Gilbert says that we need to defend our creative lifestyles (mostly to ourselves and our own egos) by first defining ourselves. "I'm a writer." Actually say it, out loud, to the universe. It is your proclamation of intent.

She then goes on to say:

"This proclamation of intent...is not something you can do just once and then expect miracles; it's something you must do daily, forever. I've had to keep defining and defending myself as a writer every single day of my adult life - constantly reminding and re-reminding my soul and the cosmos that I'm very serious about the business of creative living, and that I will never stop creating, no matter what the outcome, and no matter how deep my anxieties and insecurities may be." (Gilbert, pg. 95)

This paragraph is so inspiring to me because it reveals that even an extremely well known and successful author across nonfiction and fiction genres still has doubts. She still feels unsure of herself and her work. It's a feeling I'm not unfamiliar with myself.

So, whether you're just starting out as a writer and unsure you have anything new to bring to the table, or whether you're a seasoned pro unsure whether anyone wants what you've brought to the table all this time - know that your belief in yourself is enough. If you write, then you are a writer, and you deserve to be one. Your voice and your viewpoints deserve to be heard.

And just as you must dutifully work on your craft everyday, you must also affirm to yourself that you are enough in your creative life.

Go on, say it with me now:

I AM A WRITER

Believe it.



PS> I highly recommend checking out BIG MAGIC by Elizabeth Gilbert when you have some time. It's definitely going into my Books On Writing category. Both newbies and vets can relate to the primal info contained in this book.

Forcing the Muse

My schedule didn't allow me to participate in NANOWRIMO this year, but I do have a handful of friends who undertook the challenge. My conversations with them has led me to understand one very important thing: Sometimes the muse doesn't come willingly. Sometimes you have to drag it.

One friend of mine sat looking at her computer screen for the first four days of November, slowly falling behind in her word count. She fretted over the fact she had no concept, no characters, no setting, and no plot line.

Her imagination was an empty void.

"I would have quit," I admitted sheepishly to her. "Not writing, of course, but I would have quit NANOWRIMO. Obviously, it wasn't my year."

The beautiful thing is: she didn't take my advice.

On the fifth day, frustrated and crying, she began writing down absolute nonsense.

My headphones are red. The cord is longer than I think it should be. I have a sugar skull eraser. I don't wish to use it in case I erase off the face.

Pages and pages of nonsense ensued. Two lattes were downed and refilled. Somewhere, along the way, her muse remembered how to walk, then run.

By the end of the week she had a character and a novel plot. Her setting unfolded and she caught up, then surpassed her word count goals.

All of us have been here at some point - staring for days, thinking it's finally happened, we've finally lost our ability to write creatively. In fact, as I write this blog post, I'm in that boat. I've been sick for three weeks and with the surroundings of a new state, new house, and new job, I haven't had much time to devote to writing. Now throw in the holidays and it's like my muse no longer exists.

What I'll have to do next, and what you'll likely have to do eventually too, is force the muse. I'm going to have to get her out of her recliner, walking and remembering what writing feels like and how easily ideas can flow. I'm going to have to make her recall the beauty and the freedom in writing.

And while I won't be NANOWRIMOing anytime soon, I'm hoping a new short story or novel flows forth. I'm not giving up until it does.

A Recipe For Descriptive Phrases

There are two ways for you to describe your characters: through direct description and through indirect description.

Ultimately, the best novels utilize both direct and indirect description in combination with each other. Think of it like cooking. You need a cup of this, a pinch of that. Description works best when the concoction is mixed throughout the story.

First, let's define our methods of description:

Direct description is a clear explanation of what the character looks like/act likes etc. 

Suzie had blue eyes and silky black hair that always slipped from her braid before third period was even over.

Whereas indirect description is the characterization of the character through actions or implied thought.

Suzie slunk through the cafeteria, her eyes glued to her tray as she weaved between tables and ultimately exited through the doors to the field house. 

In the first example, we get a picture of Suzie's physical characteristics in a concise descriptive sentence. Nothing is happening other than the narrator telling the reader what Suzie looks like. We learn that she has blue eyes and silky hair.

However, in the second example, readers are in the action, watching Suzie slink and exit in a timid manner. We learn that Suzie is shy and possibly embarrassed to interact with her classmates. She gets what she needs and she's out of there.

I once had a creative writing teacher boil it down for me and say, "Direct description is telling, and indirect description is showing."

If you've been writing fiction long enough, you know that showing is always better than telling. We've had this drilled into our heads from our first high school writing course.

But wait! Before you go to your work in progress and delete every instance of direct description, hear me out.

We need both direct and indirect description to make a novel work.While, yes, indirect description keeps the reader in the action of the story and is more authentic to how we meet and interpret people in real life (we're not going to get a paragraph about their likes and dislikes spelled out for us before we meet a new person - however nice it would be!), sometimes important descriptive information needs to be conveyed in a concise manner.

For example, let's say the narrator of the above story notices Suzie's shoes:

They were wore out Chuck Taylors with mismatched sets of shoelaces. But Suzie hadn't been the one to give those shoes their scuffs. Those were Goodwill shoes. I knew because I'd donated them last week and my initials were still scrawled in Sharpie on the left sole.

This is a direct description of the shoes Suzie is wearing. We know they're Chuck Taylors, they're worn out, that they have mismatched shoe laces, and initials on the left sole. However, the description continues and morphs into indirect description as well. Suzie wears pre-worn shoes. This could say something about her socioeconomic status and could be contributing to her lack of self confidence.

So, as you can see, direct description is needed to make sense of indirect description. You can't have nameless, faceless characters acting on a blank set and expect your reader to understand it. Both must work in tandem to create the perfect story.

Your personal writing style will determine how much of each descriptive technique you put into your stories.

However, as a good rule of thumb, I like to use this recipe:

Add no more than one sentence of direct description for every page of indirect description utilized.