Monthly Archives: May 2013

Writing Loss

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Outtakes 93

 

Writing Loss

By Cait Collins

 

The protagonist in your current work is a successful cardiac surgeon. He is in route to a conference where he is to present a paper on a new surgical technique he developed. The pilot comes over the speaker announcing engine problems, and requesting the passengers comply with the instructions from the crew. As the cabin attendant is relaying the crash procedures, there is a sudden drop in altitude. The airplane crashes into a field. Your character survives, but suffers a head injury and damage to the optic nerves. He is blind.

Psychologists tell us there are five stages of grieving:  denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.  Everyone responds to loss differently. There is no order or time limit for passing through the various stages. If the writer is not in his character’s head, if he hasn’t invested a part of himself into this individual, the story may fall flat.

Put yourself in the surgeon’s place. What do you imagine his reaction to the news will be? Or, maybe more important, what do you think your response would be? Consider all the possibilities. Will he be in denial, refusing to accept the diagnosis? Perhaps he will respond with rage and push everyone who cares for him from his life. What if he gets stuck in the grieving process? All these emotions and more are possible. But how do you write the story without losing the emotional impact? Permit yourself to access a similar experience. Recall your responses, the pain, the tears, and then write what you feel. Avoid clichés. Use word images. Vary the tempo of the prose. Since emotions are messy, it’s important to allow your character to experience every range of feelings. Don’t hold back and do not edit.

Writing for emotional impact is not easy. I have recently learned the best way for me to write feelings is to accept the mess and wade through the mire. While the writing has been difficult, it is freeing. There’s something rewarding in seeing the readers’ teary eyes, and hearing their choked voices. When you get this response, you know you did your job as a writer.

Success

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Success

By Rory C. Keel

I revisited an article on success written when I served as President of the Panhandle Professional Writers organization. It helps to keep me moving forward and successful in my writing.

President’s report by Rory Craig Keel 

“The word successful is an adjective that is defined as “accomplishing an aim or purpose.”

Some of us have been successful in our writing by simply starting the writing process, or by learning how to write better. Others have been successful in completing and having a piece of work published. Yet others were successful in marketing their completed and published works.

Being successful is not a static or finite level a person reaches, never to be pushed off as if they were playing King of the Hill, but it is a description of someone that continues to move forward in their goals.

January 2010 PPW Window, 

Here is my simple plan for success.

1. Today – Set an achievable goal and meet it.

2. Tomorrow – Set an achievable goal and meet it.

3. The day after tomorrow – Set an achievable goal and meet it.

When I set small goals and meet them, that’s success.

Don’t wait to be successful, do it today.

roryckeel.com 

In Search of Meaningful Critiques

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In Search of Meaningful Critiques

by Natalie Bright

 

The creative writing instructor provided numerous reasons for joining a critique group and I rejected the idea at once.  How could I possibly find a group of strangers attempting similar goals plus a willingness to meet at the same time and place for the rest of our lives (because that’s how long I knew I’d be writing–forever).

Let us imagine we find such an assembly. The unattainable involves leaving your feelings at the door and listening with an open mind as these ‘wanna-be published’ criticize your best efforts. In return, you must provide positive comments and insightful suggestions for their work. The final deal breaker was time.  Whose real world itinerary allows meetings on an already unyielding schedule?  I discovered so many reasons why NOT to find a writing group.

Therefore, I felt determined to reach my goals on my own terms. As the creative writing class progressed, I struggled with the assignments and soon realized a second opinion might be more than helpful.

WHO WANTS TO READ THIS?

I turned to a son who listened intently to my ramblings.  One day, he responded to my request of “listen to this” with, “That’s okay, Mom.  I’d rather not.”

I felt devastated, but I didn’t let him know it. Pulling myself together, I sought advice from my mother. After all, who shows the most support of any new ambition and who never fails to elicit an honest, unbiased opinion?

Mom said, “I just can’t help you. Don’t you have any friends?” Honest to a fault; that’s a mother for you.

Rejected. Again. (So they were preparing me for the realities of publishing in the beginning. Who knew?) I searched my heart and contemplated my dilemma carefully. I needed someone who believed in me, someone who was not afraid to bestow the gut wrenching truth.

Behold, there he sat. Someone who’d been there all along. I approached my darling husband.

NOTHING LIKE AN HONEST CRITIQUE

He agreed to help and seemed pleased that I included him in my newfound passion. Thrilled at the possibility of sharing a common interest besides kids, I envisioned lengthy conversations into the night, deliberating words and phrases. I might even dedicate a book or two to him someday.

A pattern soon appeared in his critiques. He always began with “Promise you won’t get mad,” and ended “You should write a Western.”  The critique itself consisted of one to two word comments and usually now more, such as “needs research,” “no emotion,” and my personal favorite, “cornball”.

A critique group of strangers was the only option left.

A GROUP OF STRANGERS

On the final night of class, the instructor encouraged us to compare schedules with other classmates in hopes of leaving the semester-long course armed with a writing group.  I felt fortunate to find several people willing to work together.  I volunteered to be the organizer and listed names, addresses, emails with a promise to send notification for a first meeting.

We came together preparing to pour our heart and soul onto written pages with hopes of receiving sparks of inspiration – not only to learn ways to improve our work, but starved for any words of praise. We had to know if there were any good parts.

MEETING RULES

The first meeting involved establishing rules and clarifying goals. Participants could submit ten pages of new material, or share an educational piece about the business of writing. No idle observers allowed; everyone had to participate.  We agreed to begin work promptly, saving visiting for last.

Numbers were drawn at the beginning of every meeting to determine who goes when.

The meetings functioned awkwardly as life got in the way, some people came and went, and a routine was established. In the beginning we welcomed visitors, however due to time limitations we’ve finally settled into a comfortable group of six. A core group of strangers emerged into a group of writers who are passionate about their craft, a group of writers who celebrate each other’s successes, a group of friends.

All the things I’ve heard about belonging to a writer’s critique group are true. The process can be hurtful and a huge time commitment, however your manuscript will be nurtured in ways you never thought possible and your prose will be the better for it. If you have not found a reliable critique partner, you should keep searching.

CORNBALL IS KEY

In case you’re wondering, when my kids appear at the door while I’m writing, all I have to say is “Hey, listen to this.” Poof! They’re gone. And on occasion my husband continues to read my work, only because once in a while he surprises me with a unique, very male perspective so opposite of mine. And he truly likes the western I’m working on now.

More importantly I have learned, if someone responds to your story with the comment “cornball”, it’s probably true.

nataliebright.com

I Want To Be

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

I Want To Be

By Nandy Ekle

When I grow up, I want to be a teacher. I want to be a nurse. I want to be a ballerina. I want to be an astronaut. I want to be a policeman. I want to be a mommy. I want to be a singer, an actor, president, race car driver . . .

I want to be a writer. I have heard this one a lot lately. You want to be a writer. You gluttonously gobble up other writers’ stories. You add millions of words to your vocabulary. You learn spelling, grammar and punctuation. You take literature and psychology classes. You take every writing class that teaches any kind of reading and writing you can get into. And all the while, your mantra is, “I want to be a writer.”

So you begin to think in terms of plots and you meet characters. You take photos of settings and think of interesting situations and horrible things to put your characters through. You put your words on paper and build stories that you’re convinced would make Oscar-winning movies. You join critique groups and writing groups and nurture your platform and fan base.

The only thing you need to do now is stop trying to be a writer.

A very talented and successful writer once said, “Writers write.” Stop wanting to be a writer and just write.

Here’s a perfect first step. Get a chair from your dining room and place it in your front yard. Climb up and stand on the chair. Raise your face to the sky and shout, “ I AM A WRITER.”

Now, go back in your house, open your computer and write your story.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

SUBWAY

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SUBWAY

Sharon Stevens

I found a receipt from Subway in my purse today.

This was nothing new, of course. I am always finding bits and pieces of flotsam that I have saved for some reason or the other. Most times there are scribbled notes on the front and back as to what I was feeling at that exact moment, but there was nothing to signify why this scrap of paper was saved.

Our home and work is filled, AND I DO MEAN FILLED, with billions of notes .  As a writer I never know when I might come across that one perfect notation that will lead to the greatest story. Even better is when I come across something that reminds me of rainbows or sweetness, or pain and ugliness. Oftentimes a scribble takes me right back to that moment in time and enriches the story I am trying to write.

Funny there are so many things I remember that connect. Take for example the kid who usually waits on us at Subway’s, he also happens to come in to buy textbooks at our bookstore. I know his mom and grandmother, his aunt used to care for our daughters at day care. He is a good kid and works hard.  But I don’t think that’s it.

My receipt reminds me that I purchased our sandwiches at the beginning of April during lunchtime so it had to be for the lunch break at our store. Why does this matter?  I have no idea, as I didn’t write anything to signify the rhyme or reason.  This is killing me! Surely there was some special occasion that caused me to tuck the receipt in my purse. You would think so wouldn’t you?

Loula Grace Erdman writes in “A Time To Write” that she always instructed her creative writing students to mark down their inspiration. She had one gentleman that had an epiphany. He went to his knees to thank God for this stroke of insight. By the time he arose from his grateful prayer he had already forgotten what it was he was rejoicing in. Erdman says to always write it first and then thank the Almighty.

Oh well, I have spent way too much time trying to figure out why I saved this one piece of paper. Maybe I wasn’t meant to covet it in the first place. Maybe I just put it in my purse along with the change that went with it. Maybe the story was in the ten dollars and five cents I received back. Maybe one of those bills was a “Where’s George”. Who knows, and better yet, who cares. If I can’t turn away from this one single bit of recyclable issue then I have more problems than that to worry about.

I am looking back over my receipt one last time to try to make some sense and find the clue of why I saved it. Nope, nothing there, nada, zip. It’s no use, no Divine intervention, no Heavenly voice intercedes.

It’s only trash!

But then again, this did help me write my blog for this week. I guess there was something written there after all.

In the Beginning

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Outtakes 92

In the Beginning

By Cait Collins

Do you ever think about the first story you wrote? What kind of paper did you use? Did you have a pencil or a pen? Did you use a typewriter, a word processor, or a computer? What was the theme of the story? How many characters? Do you even remember your first story?

Sadly, I don’t remember the themes or characters in my first story. I do know it was written on a Big Chief tablet. In my early school years, we used those red covered pads for everything. Not only did we learn to form our letters on those pages, we did math problems in the same book. At first I used a fat, round jumbo pencil.

In time stories were written on notebook paper or in my single-subject spiral notebooks. Ink replaced pencils. But I had characters. I’d fallen for Illya Kuryakin, the Russian Man From U.N.C.L.E.  My pages were full of the love that had developed between Illya and his female co-agent. In retrospect, the stories were really bad. What did a 15-year old sheltered girl know about men and love? The truth is, nothing, but it was sure fun to imagine their first kiss. They met in a restaurant, ordered wine, and when they said good night, their lips met. Fireworks exploded. Ah, romance.

Life experiences, experimenting, and practice have given me the tools to write better stories. But there are days when I remember Big Chief tablets, fat pencils, and Dick, Jane, and Spot. Those were the days.