Yesterday I attended a brilliant workshop led by Lynn Parker - the Words Worker for ArtsNK Sleaford - at North Hykeham library. Poems were created via an interesting exercise that I am sure could be used to gain ideas and inspiration for short stories and perhaps even plots for novels.
Each of us chose two books at random from the library shelves. Then we opened one of the books at a random page and placed our fingers (again randomly) on the page and copied the line out. Then changed books and followed the same procedure. And then back to the original book and so on....The books I chose were: Head Over Heels in the Dales by Gervase Phinn and The Jewel That was Ours by Colin Dexter.
It was weird how some of the passages - although from different books - seemed to be related. Synchronicity? (the coming together of inner and outer events in a way that cannot be explained by cause and effect and that is meaningful to the observer. Carl Jung). It was all about connections and it proved fantastic starting material...
Here is my first attempt; called simply Lips
He grinned his sad, lopsided grin,
Removed the somewhat disturbing hand,
And looked at her.
Her upper and lower lips of almost equal thickness,
Moist and parted,
And temptingly squashable.
He never knew that nuns had a sense of humour.
Feeling for a few small moments,
An intense and splendid happiness.
It was to be hoped that he could come up with some fairly definite cause of death.
David shook his head wearily.
The last day of term had been an emotional occasion.
Artists use messy materials like paints, charcoals, crayons,
Clay, cardboard, glue, pencils, paper.
Not that they are a particularly complaining lot;
(except for that one woman, of course).
As the clock on the county hall tower struck ten, David arrived.
Into his barrow, under cover of the night, the body was put,
Before being wheeled across the low wooden bridge,
Across to the swiftly flowing current of the river,
Where unceremoniously the body was tipped into the water.
He took the call just after 11pm
The prisoner looked lost and defeated.
Her mouth was a shining bow of lipstick.
Friday 25 April 2008
Monday 21 April 2008
Fear: A Writers Worst Enemy
A new website: http://calliope.jimdo.com/ was recommended to me by Karen Maitland (no excuse for name dropping) this week and there is a brilliant article entitled; Fear: A Writers Worst Enemy which I have summarised below.
Many of the reasons writers give for not writing are chiefly motivated by one element: Fear. Oh, writers will say it is one of a multitude of other reasons — busy schedules, lack of inspiration, discouragement, a lack of good ideas, etc. However, in many of these cases, the reason can be pared down, again, to the simple concept of fear. No matter how busy a writer’s life becomes, if a writer truly wants to write, he/she will make time for it. Why then, do so many writers procrastinate and put off the actual process of writing?
Checking e-mails; surfing the internet; cleaning up around the house, or thinking of a task that needs doing “real quick” before writing, and before you know it, the time to write has slipped away. So the question stands: Why does writing so often get shoved to the back-burner?
Often, the core problem is fear. This fear can manifest itself in several ways: Intimidation of the blank page, Fear of not producing something that is “good enough”, Fear that your idea itself might not be “good enough”, Intimidation by the sheer amount of effort the piece of writing is going to require, Fear of criticism from others, Fear of self-criticism, Fear of failure (of attempting to write something and not succeeding).
This fear, if allowed to continue, can lead to countless excuses for not writing: I just don’t feel inspired; I don’t have any good ideas at the moment; I don’t have time; I have other things I need to do.
The difficult truth is that nothing will ever get written unless someone actually puts in the effort to write it. There are many people in the world who could be great writers. They have good ideas, they have a talent for language, they have a unique and creative perspective. However, they never will be good writers, because they simply never force themselves to actually write anything. And yes, at times, that’s what it takes — force.
Contrary to what many people think, most great writers don’t write in fits of frenzied inspiration where the ideas and language come out perfectly on the page. They write word by word, painstakingly forcing their thoughts to the page, then editing them, rewriting, until the finished product appears seamlessly before the reader as if it had taken no effort whatsoever to write.
But if writers allow fear to keep them from ever putting anything down on the page… well, then nothing will ever get written.
So, here are a few Tips for Overcoming the “Fear” of Writing:
1. Force yourself to put something on the blank page
It doesn’t matter what you write initially; you can free-write, brainstorm, make a list — the point is to put some words on the page so that the blank page doesn’t seem so intimidating. Once there are words on the page, the project has begun and you have some material to work with. Until then, well, it’s nothing but a blank page.
2. Silence your internal editor
Put some real effort into shutting out any internal criticism when writing a first draft. Any time that voice pops in to say “That’s a dumb idea,” or “That sounds lame,” or “This is rubbish; you’ll never turn this into anything decent,” quickly stuff a sock in its mouth and keep on writing. The internal editor becomes immensely important during revision, but on the first draft the main objective is to get the material written down. There will be plenty of time for self-criticism later.
3. Lower Your Expectations
It’s easy to become intimidated into near mental paralysis by your own expectations. If you are always expecting this story to be “the” story, the one which will make it big, which will be widely acclaimed and beautiful and perfect and win you world-wide fame, then most likely nothing you write will seem good enough. Instead, remind yourself, “This is just another story; The fame and awards will come with the next one I write.” In that way, you have the freedom to be creative and to write to your fullest without the anxiety and pressure which comes from expecting the end product to be “perfect.”
4. Write About What You Know
Sometimes fear can come from a concern with not being accurate or believable. This is easily fixed — write about the things you know best. Don’t attempt to write on a topic about which you know very little (or nothing). Instead, pull from your own life, your own experience, your own knowledge, and then expand it or enhance it with research if necessary. Writing always comes more easily (and reads better as a finished product) if the subject is something that is both familiar and meaningful to the writer.
5. Make It Up
If you can’t think of anything interesting to write about what you know, then write something that no one knows about. Why else would fantasy be so popular? If you write about something completely made up then you are the master of that little universe. Who’s to tell you the facts and details are wrong?
Many of the reasons writers give for not writing are chiefly motivated by one element: Fear. Oh, writers will say it is one of a multitude of other reasons — busy schedules, lack of inspiration, discouragement, a lack of good ideas, etc. However, in many of these cases, the reason can be pared down, again, to the simple concept of fear. No matter how busy a writer’s life becomes, if a writer truly wants to write, he/she will make time for it. Why then, do so many writers procrastinate and put off the actual process of writing?
Checking e-mails; surfing the internet; cleaning up around the house, or thinking of a task that needs doing “real quick” before writing, and before you know it, the time to write has slipped away. So the question stands: Why does writing so often get shoved to the back-burner?
Often, the core problem is fear. This fear can manifest itself in several ways: Intimidation of the blank page, Fear of not producing something that is “good enough”, Fear that your idea itself might not be “good enough”, Intimidation by the sheer amount of effort the piece of writing is going to require, Fear of criticism from others, Fear of self-criticism, Fear of failure (of attempting to write something and not succeeding).
This fear, if allowed to continue, can lead to countless excuses for not writing: I just don’t feel inspired; I don’t have any good ideas at the moment; I don’t have time; I have other things I need to do.
The difficult truth is that nothing will ever get written unless someone actually puts in the effort to write it. There are many people in the world who could be great writers. They have good ideas, they have a talent for language, they have a unique and creative perspective. However, they never will be good writers, because they simply never force themselves to actually write anything. And yes, at times, that’s what it takes — force.
Contrary to what many people think, most great writers don’t write in fits of frenzied inspiration where the ideas and language come out perfectly on the page. They write word by word, painstakingly forcing their thoughts to the page, then editing them, rewriting, until the finished product appears seamlessly before the reader as if it had taken no effort whatsoever to write.
But if writers allow fear to keep them from ever putting anything down on the page… well, then nothing will ever get written.
So, here are a few Tips for Overcoming the “Fear” of Writing:
1. Force yourself to put something on the blank page
It doesn’t matter what you write initially; you can free-write, brainstorm, make a list — the point is to put some words on the page so that the blank page doesn’t seem so intimidating. Once there are words on the page, the project has begun and you have some material to work with. Until then, well, it’s nothing but a blank page.
2. Silence your internal editor
Put some real effort into shutting out any internal criticism when writing a first draft. Any time that voice pops in to say “That’s a dumb idea,” or “That sounds lame,” or “This is rubbish; you’ll never turn this into anything decent,” quickly stuff a sock in its mouth and keep on writing. The internal editor becomes immensely important during revision, but on the first draft the main objective is to get the material written down. There will be plenty of time for self-criticism later.
3. Lower Your Expectations
It’s easy to become intimidated into near mental paralysis by your own expectations. If you are always expecting this story to be “the” story, the one which will make it big, which will be widely acclaimed and beautiful and perfect and win you world-wide fame, then most likely nothing you write will seem good enough. Instead, remind yourself, “This is just another story; The fame and awards will come with the next one I write.” In that way, you have the freedom to be creative and to write to your fullest without the anxiety and pressure which comes from expecting the end product to be “perfect.”
4. Write About What You Know
Sometimes fear can come from a concern with not being accurate or believable. This is easily fixed — write about the things you know best. Don’t attempt to write on a topic about which you know very little (or nothing). Instead, pull from your own life, your own experience, your own knowledge, and then expand it or enhance it with research if necessary. Writing always comes more easily (and reads better as a finished product) if the subject is something that is both familiar and meaningful to the writer.
5. Make It Up
If you can’t think of anything interesting to write about what you know, then write something that no one knows about. Why else would fantasy be so popular? If you write about something completely made up then you are the master of that little universe. Who’s to tell you the facts and details are wrong?
Monday 14 April 2008
Ideas, Ideas, Ideas...
If you are stuck for ideas for a Crime Story / Novel, then you can do no worse than get a copy of Douglas Wynn's The Crime Writer's Handbook (65 ways to kill your victim....in print). Just flicking through gave me some ideas for both means of murder and also motivation and means of detection. I see that Douglas has also written The Crime Writer's Sourcebook which Amazon says is A reference book which examines a number of real-life crimes in order to provide ideas and inspiration for those wishing to write crime or criminology books.
Anyway, there is my recommendation of the day, and Thanks to Bryan for lending me his copy. I am off to buy my own one so I can scribble all over it and fold the corners down.......
Anyway, there is my recommendation of the day, and Thanks to Bryan for lending me his copy. I am off to buy my own one so I can scribble all over it and fold the corners down.......
Thursday 10 April 2008
Writing As Therapy
Recently read The NLP Coach by Ian McDermott and Wendy Jago, Piatkus(2001) which was basically a positive thinking manual with longer words, but it did have some interesting things to say which can be related to writing:
Once you stop thinking of yourself, your potential and your ways of operating as fixed, and begin to treat them as processes, change becomes just another adjustment you can make.
Good habits can be created one day at a time. Any pattern consists of repetition.
The book; as well as other things that have been going on in my life, have made me realise that I have been avoiding writing lately because I am avoiding my own feelings. A lot of my novel is based on my own experiences and avoiding the writing is simply avoiding contact with my emotions. I have read elsewhere about Writing As Therapy and I want to try to embrace this in the coming week. Lets see what happens......
Once you stop thinking of yourself, your potential and your ways of operating as fixed, and begin to treat them as processes, change becomes just another adjustment you can make.
Good habits can be created one day at a time. Any pattern consists of repetition.
The book; as well as other things that have been going on in my life, have made me realise that I have been avoiding writing lately because I am avoiding my own feelings. A lot of my novel is based on my own experiences and avoiding the writing is simply avoiding contact with my emotions. I have read elsewhere about Writing As Therapy and I want to try to embrace this in the coming week. Lets see what happens......
Sunday 6 April 2008
Success....
‘Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words. If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself no less impressive than sailing single-handed around the world.’ Tom Clancy (quoted in Writers News: May 2008)
Thursday 3 April 2008
A Novel in a Year ??
Yesterday I read Louise Doughty's; A Novel in a Year which says the following about how long writing a novel should take: Your novel will take you as long as it takes you, she says, but specifically; you are looking at around three years from start to finish. Year One is when you will get started, gather material, make notes, plan, write some scenes. In Year Two, you will despair, put it aside, come back to it think you are wasting your time and then realize you want to go on anyway. Year Three is when the real work of rewriting and honing will begin.
Well, I can honestly say I am in the final year, but obviously this is when the real work takes place!! What you are asking yourselves is; How much has she really written? The answer is almost certainly Not Enough. But, its more than I had written before October and I'm not giving up yet!!
Today is the first day of the rest of my novel.
Well, I can honestly say I am in the final year, but obviously this is when the real work takes place!! What you are asking yourselves is; How much has she really written? The answer is almost certainly Not Enough. But, its more than I had written before October and I'm not giving up yet!!
Today is the first day of the rest of my novel.
Tuesday 1 April 2008
A New Perspective On My Future
Thanks to Steve for giving me a new perspective on the predictions....
So, this clairvoyant? A children's book with a bright yellow cover that's jolly. And she saw three children. Supposing she wasn't entirely accurate...
I don't exactly know what your book is about but on your blog you say you're researching cases of missing children. Perhaps the book she saw was about children, not for them.
And three children? You have three main different viewpoint characters I think? They could be classed as your children.
Incidentally, did you know the Italian for yellow is 'giallo', a type of (albeit lurid) CRIME novel? And, it's a stretch but jolly/giallo? It's not that far off.
Anyway, just a thought.
That or she thinks you're the perfect person for the "New Adventures Of BananaGirl"
So, this clairvoyant? A children's book with a bright yellow cover that's jolly. And she saw three children. Supposing she wasn't entirely accurate...
I don't exactly know what your book is about but on your blog you say you're researching cases of missing children. Perhaps the book she saw was about children, not for them.
And three children? You have three main different viewpoint characters I think? They could be classed as your children.
Incidentally, did you know the Italian for yellow is 'giallo', a type of (albeit lurid) CRIME novel? And, it's a stretch but jolly/giallo? It's not that far off.
Anyway, just a thought.
That or she thinks you're the perfect person for the "New Adventures Of BananaGirl"
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