Motivation #4

By N. Bright

Story Beginnings

Glorious words and unique descriptions inspire me to work harder on my own stories. Next time you’re out enjoying a latte, wander into your favorite section of the bookstore and read the first two paragraphs only of randomly selected novels. Great story beginnings can be very inspirational. If you come across a few that blow you away, jot one or two first sentences down in your idea notebook (You do have pen and paper in your pocket or purse, right? I use the notepad on my iPhone a lot too.)

Finding Inspiration in Beginnings

Since I write for children, here are a few of my favorite beginnings in books for kids.

humor (+ element of sound effects)

“On the morning of the best day of her life, Maud Flynn was locked in the outhouse, singing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

A Drowned Maiden’s Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz

interesting fact

“The road that led to Treegap had been trod out long before by a herd of cows who were, to say the least, relaxed. It wandered along in curves and easy angles, swayed off and up in a pleasant tangent to the top of a small hill, ambled down again, between fringes of bee-hung clover, and then cut sidewise across a meadow.”

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

surprise

“Princess Quinn of the underground Kingdom of Mandria steadied herself as she balanced upon a footstool in the circle of light directly below the wishing pool.”

Princess Nevermore by Dian Curtis Regan

“Phut Phat knew, at an early age, that humans were an inferior breed. They were unable to see in the dark. They ate and drank unthinkable concoctions.”

Phut Phat Concentrates by Lilian Jackson Braun

unusual idea

“In the city of Ember, the sky was always dark. The only light came from great flood lamps mounted on the buildings and at the tops of poles in the middle of the square.”

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

personal vignette

“Gramps says that I am a country girl at heart, and that is true.”

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

in the middle of things

“Where’s Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.” (+ element of dialogue)

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

What motives you to keep writing and submitting, despite the rejection and bad reviews? We’d love to hear from you, too.

Thanks for joining us at WordsmithSix!

www.nataliebright.com

Motivation #3

By N. Bright

For self-preservation, writers must learn how to take the critiques that go along with the publishing business as objective feedback and move on. It is really the hardest thing to do and maintain productive momentum as well. You have to keep cranking those pages out, if you ever want success.

I’m blogging about ideas to help you stay motivated.

Read Author Bios

THE TALE OF BEATRIX POTTER by Margaret Lane, published 1946 by Frederick Warne & Co Ltd inspires me to learn more about story craft. Beatrix spent her days as a little girl in a third-floor retreat of Bolton Gardens in London, where she drew pictures and wrote stories about her pets and kept detailed field journals of plants she discovered while summering in Scotland every year.

“…she was very rarely sent for out of the nursery or taken anywhere, and she never went to school.”  Thinking of that lonely child breaks my heart, or maybe I can relate since I’m an only child, but oh, what wondrous things she created in her solitude. It wasn’t until her mid-thirties that she got the notion to self-publish her own illustrated children’s book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

For inspiration, read about the writing career of your favorite authors. The internet is abundant with Q&A’s, podcasts, and website bios.  After opening a particularly biting rejection, I could not force myself to write much of anything.  I spent one day job shuffling piles back and forth across my desk, and then I spent lunch break watching podcast interviews in which authors talked about the spark and inspiration behind their novels. Their experiences motivated me to keep going and it also reminded me how this business runs like “molasses going up hill,” as one author described her career.

The roadblocks and successes of others can be an inspiration to you.

What Motivates You?

What motives you to keep writing and submitting, despite the rejection and bad reviews? We’d love to hear from you, too.

Thanks for joining us at WordsmithSix!

www.nataliebright.com

Motivation #2

by N. Bright

Do you still waste creative energy fretting over things you can’t control, like rejection letters you can understand or bad reviews from snarky people? I’m blogging about motivation and self-discipline, and finding way to stay inspired.

Read a Book Relating to Your Story’s Theme

Whatever the theme, setting, time period, or genre of your current work in progress, read articles or books relating to that topic. Have you found a picture of your main character’s home? What is the floor plan? Have you researched the history of the town your story is set in?  What about vehicles, food, or clothing? The list is endless.

Bookstore Treasures

A recent rummage through a used-book-story resulted in a 1^st Edition copy of A-WOMAN-TENDERFOOT by Grace Gallatin Seton Thompson. This treasure was published in 1900 by Doubleday. I’m holding a 100 year old book in my hands! It’s about camping and backpacking in the Rocky Mountainswritten by a Victorian city girl who refused to allow her husband to vacation out west without her. I loved her adventurous nature.

In her own words, “Dear woman who goes hunting with her husband, be sure that you have it understood that you do no cooking, or dishwashing… Cooking out of doors at best is trying, and certainly you cannot be care free, camp life’s greatest charm, when you have on your mind the boiling of prunes and beans, or when tears are starting from your smoke-inflamed eyes as you broil the elk steak for dinner.”

Her positive nature and sense of adventure when she road through the mountain snow or shot her first elk for their dinner shed much wit on her experiences out west. I hope I can convey the same sense of wonder and freedom in my historical westerns for kids.

Bury yourself in your story. When you’re not writing, you can read about anything and everything relating to your novel.

What Motivates You to Keep Writing?

Over the next few posts, I’ll be sharing insight on motivation, and we’d love to hear from you, too.

Thanks for joining us at WordsmithSix!

www.nataliebright.com

State of Mind:  Motivation Part 1

By N. Bright

Rejection is inevitable

— if you’re writing and submitting on a regular basis. No doubt, being a writer requires self-discipline and a whole lot of confidence in your purpose.

After a while you have to learn how to let opinions roll off, and if you haven’t been able to take the critiques that go along with the publishing business, the time is now for a new mindset. Stop wasting creative energy fretting over things you can’t control. As long as you keep writing, polishing, learning story craft and submitting, at some point you will have success.

Sometimes though, I have to admit, there’s always that one comment that gets to me and makes me question the whole process. Was it really necessary for that critic to add one more jab after the ‘no’? These types of rejection makes me loose sleep wondering what I could have done differently. Maybe the ending doesn’t fit, maybe the middle sags, or maybe the beginning needs a prologue. Perhpas I need a complete redesign of the website, to work harder on my blogs or make an effort to be more active with my tweets. And then I become obsessed about working even harder and pushing myself to submit more. Good grief! Writing is the hardest work I’ve ever done.

Motivation to Keep Going

The few months of rejections and a few successes as well, got me to thinking about motivation.

As writers, how can we keep a positive attitude?  How can we maintain our creative energy and be productive despite the ongoing criticism?

How-To by A Favorite Author

If you’ve lost your motivation to write and need some inspiration, find a how-to book about story craft written by one of your favorite authors.

TAKE JOY by Jane Yolen (published in 2003 by Kalmbach Publishing Company) is one of my favorite books on writing by one of the most prolific children’s authors of today, whose career span decades and includes hundreds of books. Right at the beginning of the book she states, “We are talking here about the difference between desire and obsession; between hobby and life. But in either case, I suggest you learn to write not with blood and fear, but with joy.”

Many best-selling authors have penned how-to books, and most are available as eBooks. For a small investment in your career, you can be reading one right after you finish reading this blog. There’s something inspiring and motivating about someone who has worked hard and found success.

Where do You Find Inspiration?

Over the next few posts, I’ll be sharing insight on motivation, and we’d love to hear from you, too.

Thanks for joining us at WordsmithSix!

www.nataliebright.com