I've been thinking a lot about excess. It all started this past Thanksgiving. As many faithful blog readers know, I moved from Wisconsin to North Carolina this year, and Thanksgiving was the first holiday we had the chance to celebrate in our new home.
However, if you follow me on Pinterest you also know that I've been a dedicated vegan since 2014. So, needless to say, Turkey Day being the killing and eating of turkeys rather than a day to celebrate their individuality really put a damper on my mood to begin with. Then, I learned that my family was planning to serve not one but TWO 15+ pound turkeys, plus a spiral ham and five pounds of pulled pork barbecue. When only 10 out of our 11 guests ate meat, and two of them were children, this seemed like a ludicrous amount of food (not to mention the 12 sides and 5 types of desserts) to feed less than a dozen people for one meal.
I kept asking, "Why do we need so much? Why can't we do with one turkey or one type of pork instead of causing so much waste and death?" And the only answer I ever got was, "Because it's Thanksgiving."
Directly after Thanksgiving follows Christmas, where again the talk of giant amounts of food reigned supreme. More turkeys, pork tenderloin, beef brisket, potatoes and stuffing and green beans and cheesy mac, one yellow cake, one cheesecake, one gluten free pudding cake, two pies, three different kinds of sugar cookies and four other types of candies and cookies were made and served to not 11 people, but 6.
And directly following dinner, there were presents - mounds and mounds of things we really didn't need to survive, which filled two black garbage bags of torn wrapping paper and ribbons all destined for the landfill.
Something within me shifted this past holiday season. For New Years I made a personal resolution (separate from my writing resolution, which you can find here) to cut back on how much trash I produce and to really think about the food I consume and waste.
I urge you to do the same, if not in your life, then at least in your writing. As I write my new novel, I've employed a minimalist mindset to my words. Why use three words to describe something you can say in one? Why use two scenes to farther the plot when condensing them is possible and allows for a faster tone of pace for your novel, ratcheting up the tension?
If you think about it, what do all your favorite books have in common?
They keep you interested!
The plot moves and the characters sizzle and the tension keeps you wound tight into the pages like the curly ribbon on a Christmas present.
One way you can achieve this same interest is by cutting back the excess in your work. Take out dialogue tags that aren't needed. Use only one simile in this paragraph rather than two. The concept applies to every aspect of the craft.
I've found that cutting back the excess in my life and only keeping what functions or what makes me really happy has helped me to relax more and be more creative. I no longer feel like I'm wasting time or things. I no longer have anxiety that I need to clean and tidy and straighten all the time because there are fewer things that can get out of place.
Why wouldn't you want the same feeling for your novel?
So, the next time you write - condense, condense, condense - and the next time you throw a party, how about cutting out one excess meat option just for me and animals :)
Showing posts with label Challenge Post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Challenge Post. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
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.......
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
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.
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.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Why It's Important To Ride Out The Storm
I recently wrote a short story with a pretty great plot (as long as my writing group isn't lying to me) that all stemmed from one simple thing: Brainstorming.
Remember in elementary school when your teacher would set aside ten minutes a day for you to brainstorm new ideas for your writing journal or so you could come up with a slightly more creative approach to your essay on the Underground Railroad? I sure do. A good 80% of the time, it worked, too.
And yet, very few writers brainstorm daily or even when they're out of ideas.
Instead, we wait around for inspiration to strike. We do laundry, we go to the store, we sit and stare at a blank screen at the coffee shop. We think, "It'll happen. I'll just ignore it and it'll come forward like a shy deer." When a smidgen of an idea does finally come, we usually stop it before it grows to its full potential. We outline it and worry about the characters to fill the idea, but we never let the idea grow crazy and wild before trimming it back. We wish it to grow inside our defined little box of "my genre" and "things I write".
But if brainstorming proved to be so beneficial as children, why do we so easily turn our backs on it?
The answer is, because it can be difficult.
It's scary to go unbridled into the lightning and thunder. It's dark most of the time. What if we can't come up with any ideas? What if we come up with a ton and they all suck?
These are questions everyone has asked before brainstorming.
And it's true: sometimes, nothing happens.
However, other times bad ideas turn not so bad. They grow and shift and change with each strike of lightning - illuminating themselves a little more to the writer.
I've personally set a goal to brainstorm at least once per week. Rather than getting stuck on my writing and going off to make cookies, grocery shop, or watch Project Runway (admit it, you've been there), I force my creative muscles to flex. I sit down with a timer, gluing my fingers to the keys and my butt to the seat.
And you know what? It works. Pretty soon ideas come and characters show themselves and plots unravel. Pretty soon my brain stops procrastinating and shrieking like a tired two year-old and it starts to have some fun.
That's why we got into this in the first place - it's why we do what we do - because we find writing intoxicatingly fun and we can't stop.
So, next time you're at your rope's end and you want to throw your hands up in frustration, try brainstorming. It may give you a new idea for a poem or novel, or it may help you riddle through the portion of your work-in-progress that has you at a standstill.
Need a new idea? Brainstorm.
Can't think of a title? Brainstorm.
Have an extra ten minutes while the soup boils? Brainstorm.
Incredible things happen when you give your creativity slack like that. You'll bring up things you never thought imaginable. They're all right there in your head, waiting for you to get out of the way so they can be seen.
Remember in elementary school when your teacher would set aside ten minutes a day for you to brainstorm new ideas for your writing journal or so you could come up with a slightly more creative approach to your essay on the Underground Railroad? I sure do. A good 80% of the time, it worked, too.
And yet, very few writers brainstorm daily or even when they're out of ideas.
Instead, we wait around for inspiration to strike. We do laundry, we go to the store, we sit and stare at a blank screen at the coffee shop. We think, "It'll happen. I'll just ignore it and it'll come forward like a shy deer." When a smidgen of an idea does finally come, we usually stop it before it grows to its full potential. We outline it and worry about the characters to fill the idea, but we never let the idea grow crazy and wild before trimming it back. We wish it to grow inside our defined little box of "my genre" and "things I write".
But if brainstorming proved to be so beneficial as children, why do we so easily turn our backs on it?
The answer is, because it can be difficult.
It's scary to go unbridled into the lightning and thunder. It's dark most of the time. What if we can't come up with any ideas? What if we come up with a ton and they all suck?
These are questions everyone has asked before brainstorming.
And it's true: sometimes, nothing happens.
However, other times bad ideas turn not so bad. They grow and shift and change with each strike of lightning - illuminating themselves a little more to the writer.
I've personally set a goal to brainstorm at least once per week. Rather than getting stuck on my writing and going off to make cookies, grocery shop, or watch Project Runway (admit it, you've been there), I force my creative muscles to flex. I sit down with a timer, gluing my fingers to the keys and my butt to the seat.
And you know what? It works. Pretty soon ideas come and characters show themselves and plots unravel. Pretty soon my brain stops procrastinating and shrieking like a tired two year-old and it starts to have some fun.
That's why we got into this in the first place - it's why we do what we do - because we find writing intoxicatingly fun and we can't stop.
So, next time you're at your rope's end and you want to throw your hands up in frustration, try brainstorming. It may give you a new idea for a poem or novel, or it may help you riddle through the portion of your work-in-progress that has you at a standstill.
Need a new idea? Brainstorm.
Can't think of a title? Brainstorm.
Have an extra ten minutes while the soup boils? Brainstorm.
Incredible things happen when you give your creativity slack like that. You'll bring up things you never thought imaginable. They're all right there in your head, waiting for you to get out of the way so they can be seen.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
I Wanna See You Write Brave (Challenge Post)
My schedule has been hectic, to say the least. It seems like everyday I have less and less time to do the essentials like washing dishes and taking care of my buns, let alone fit in adequate time for yoga and writing.
So, this week I want to post a challenge:
No matter who you are, where you are, and what you have going on, I want you to submit something for publication.
Dig out an old poem from your underwear drawer. Uncover a flash fiction file from your hard drive. Or ruffle up the final draft of your novel in progress.
Then, revise and edit it. It should have been sitting long enough by now that you can see it with fresh eyes. Reread, tweak, fix, and polish.
Finally, find a market for your work and submit it. Maybe it's a new startup lit mag. Maybe you decide to go for the magazine of your dreams or the agent you always admired. Maybe you shoot for inclusion in a friend's weekly fiction mailer. Whatever the market, get that manuscript out there.
Because, really, what's the worst that can happen? You get rejected? Pff! It's happened before and it'll happen again. You can take it.
Maybe, just maybe, this will be the time you get constructive feedback. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the time you're accepted.
Whether you take this challenge the week I post this blog entry, two months from now, or three years from now, make the commitment to submit. Because you'll never be a published writer if you don't put yourself out there.
Take the challenge. Be brave. Submit your writing.
So, this week I want to post a challenge:
No matter who you are, where you are, and what you have going on, I want you to submit something for publication.
Dig out an old poem from your underwear drawer. Uncover a flash fiction file from your hard drive. Or ruffle up the final draft of your novel in progress.
Then, revise and edit it. It should have been sitting long enough by now that you can see it with fresh eyes. Reread, tweak, fix, and polish.
Finally, find a market for your work and submit it. Maybe it's a new startup lit mag. Maybe you decide to go for the magazine of your dreams or the agent you always admired. Maybe you shoot for inclusion in a friend's weekly fiction mailer. Whatever the market, get that manuscript out there.
Because, really, what's the worst that can happen? You get rejected? Pff! It's happened before and it'll happen again. You can take it.
Maybe, just maybe, this will be the time you get constructive feedback. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the time you're accepted.
Whether you take this challenge the week I post this blog entry, two months from now, or three years from now, make the commitment to submit. Because you'll never be a published writer if you don't put yourself out there.
Take the challenge. Be brave. Submit your writing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)