This idea came to me in early spring, and so far it has worked well for making sure my writing projects get face time at least once a week, if not (ideally) daily.
Have you ever been sitting with seven to fifteen minutes to kill before work/yoga/meeting/store opens/bedtime and asked yourself, what could I be doing right now?
I propose to you, that you create a list of answers to this question; an inventory of quick-fixes you need to make in a take-your-pick fashion. I call them Quickies.
Say that you realized at the end of your last big writing chunk (however long ago it was) that there was a conflict in description, or you realized what a better line would have been for your furious character on her warpath, or thought of something else to add/change that begged the resigned after-thought, I'll do it later.
These tiny tasks can add up, and leave a lot of work and edits to be done that feel heavy and are easily procrastinated. But what is important to remember is that they are little things, Quickies, and keeping an inventory of them will give you small ways to feed and water your novel/memoir/epic poem, even when the universe is being a time Nazi.
Depending on your level of organizational needs, you could estimate time needed for each Quickie under columns. For example, you could have a <1 minute, 5ish minutes, and 10+ minutes space to identify each fix or addition you have, so you have more time (when the time comes) to pick one from the appropriate space and go!
The other great thing about a list taped to your cabinet/television/fridge/bathroom mirror, is that not only are you slowly chipping marble from the big masterpiece, but you are preventing your project from collecting dust, from sinking between the metal spirals of the back burner and creating a funny smell inside your life goals that sets off unhappiness smoke alarms. It keeps your characters and messages with you even when time isn't, and that way when you do have a larger chunk of time, your writing endeavors are likely to have more visible frantic hands waving over the top of Netflix/Pinterest/buying more jalapeno pretzels.
They don't have to make sense to anyone but you. Some items on my Quickie list:
Adventure rustling
The binoculars are red!
Lee's bedroom?
Marvin needs a face!
Make use of your time-holes! Make your Quickie lists and tell me all about them!
Showing posts with label Writer's Block. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writer's Block. Show all posts
Monday, June 4, 2012
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Good uses for old books
Even when my father found boxes of old, musty books no one reads in storage, it made me sad when he threatened to burn them. Books hold a certain energy and magic to them before we even get to read them, especially when old fonts and elaborate hardcovers are involved, but if the fact of the matter is that your bookshelves are full and these old tomes are going unused, what are some good ways to keep them in our lives, or the lives of others?
- Donate themWhether to an old library for archives or a theater or portrait photographer for props, there are lots of places that may still value those books exactly as they are. Think about organizations or people in your community that could take the time to preserve them, or who would make use of them in their current condition.
- Writing prompts/writing gamesIf the chapters inside are doomed to go unread, perhaps there is use to be made of the words. Roll a die and select words from that page to build a new scene. Create censorship poetry by blacking out certain lines/words and leaving others, so the pages say something new. Use them when you need a name or place quickly. Play with the language in them to enhance your own.
- Editing practiceAs many writing students may learn the hard way, writing that was considered great for its time is not always to be replicated today. Although ideas from older works were profound and universal, sentences have gotten tighter, and pages have gotten livelier. Perhaps the old fashioned pages in your attic could be a practice field for some good red-penning. How would you develop that character if it were your novel? How would you rewrite a beginning, or and ending, if you could? What can you learn about stronger language based on the wording in those books that may be hard to get through?
- Hollow them outYou know I had to bring this up. How cool are the secret hiding places found in books? If this is the kind of sleuthy storage you've longed for, here are some links that explain the process:
- Crafting materialSince we know that older books often have a more ornamental quality to them, why not reuse their beauty? Cut out old illustrations and paste them for homemade greeting cards, or bookmarks. Snip out words in graceful fonts to spell out your favorite quotes, or to write someone a friendly letter.Additionally, there is decoupage to consider. Why not recover old furniture, or any creative surface? It could give your home a more literary feel, or make some great gifts for your bookworm friends!Old paper products and candy wrappers have been used for some creative weaving as of late, to create products like handbags, or belts. Could there be a pretty penny to be made on your pretty texts?Literary pinatas for bookish parties are also a possibility. For a paper maché recipe, go there: http://ultimatepapermache.com/paper-mache-recipesMore about Paper weaving: http://www.origami-resource-center.com/weaving-patterns.html
- SculptureThis kind of goes along with crafting, but is in a way, more elaborate. Sculpting with old books has been in the news lately due to Edinburgh's Library phantom: http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2011/12/05/magical-paper-sculptures-from-the-library-phantom-photos/?pid=3333#slideshow but this literary hero is not the first person to turn a work of writing, into visual art. Here are some other examples of this tedious and glorious art form you may enjoy:
- Become a Library PhantomAnd as long as you're fighting to keep books used and beautiful, why not make a statement with what you make? The library phantom is leaving presents in Scotland that stand for literature and finding of “words, stories, ideas..” and that simple anonymous drop is inspiring awe around the world. What can you make that will ignite awareness around what you love?
- At-home bankingIt was not uncommon in times of financial crisis for people to store their money between book pages, as a back up in case banks didn't pull through, or as a replacement for banks entirely. The hiding place is inconspicuous, and also hard to discover, as searching through every page is hard unless you already know where they are. Put a bill at every page with your favorite number, so you remember where you left your rainy day stash!
- Flower pressingStacks of books are a common and even traditional tool for saving flowers you would otherwise see die. Pressed flowers can be used in jewelry, matted and framed, or made into book marks and other gifts. Pressing is also used for preserving/drying herbs for tea and medicine. For more tips, go here: http://preservedgardens.com/how-to-press.htm
- AestheticAs we've established, there is something about the presence of an old book that has power. If you can't bring yourself to cut up or scribble on them, why not bring them out of storage and let them hand around? Use them as door-stoppers, or a centerpiece, or to fill an otherwise dead/boring corner of your home. I hear they're nice housemates.
- Rock-it launcher (Fallout 3)For any of you familiar with gaming, specifically the post-apocalyptic Fallout Series, you know that the wasteland is covered in ruined or destroyed books that accomplish nothing. You can not read, sell, or even sculpt with them. You can, however, kick ass with them. The game offers the chance for you to build your own junk-weapons, one which propels junk into the faces of your adversaries. Whenever I build the rock-it launcher, I pick over old teddy bears and toasters, to always fight with literature. To see the famed gun in action, watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbvBihpZ_Do
- Read ThemIf all these solutions seem unacceptable, you may as well get busy reading them. It is, after all, the reason they were printed however many eons ago, and there is always something new to gain from them.
For more ideas on reusing old books, visit: http://www.wikihow.com/Reuse-Books
Friday, October 14, 2011
Writers for Writers: Alexander Chee's Writing Advice
Alexander Chee is author of the novels Edinburgh and Queen of the Night. He came to UMF in Spring of 2011 to give a reading and to meet with senior writing majors and gave us a lot of refreshing ideas about editing and self-doubt. Here are some of his insights.
For more about Chee, see:
http://alexanderchee.net/home.html
Chee's Thoughts on Editing
1. Return to where you left off to go on
This sounds simple, but there's an explanation. Chee explained an interesting theory about the difference between writing by hand/typewriter, and writing on a computer. In the days of old when one had a paper copy of their novel on hand at all times, a writer would just press on from where the last line left off. But on a word processor, the electronic document always opens to the beginning, and you have to scroll to find where to go next. "I've seen writers murder their openings with these revisits," Chee told us, and it makes sense. We should be careful not to doubt what we have each time we go back to our work. If one isn't careful, their self-doubt could talk them into starting all over, or worse, into quitting, if they judge a first draft too harshly while trying to finish it. Best to zip immediately to the blinking cursor and write as if you hadn't just seen your beginning and its inevitable flaws.
2. Don't start to edit until you've drafted to the end
Have you ever embarked on a first paragraph, and then halfway through a second or third, gone back to read over what you have? Then, while re-reading, have you starting changing words around, and becoming frustrated with how unpolished your beginning looks? No one will find value in a perfect beginning if a beginning is all you have. Soldier through (on your intuition) and then edit the entire thing. This will also help to keep a consistent voice and to look at the big picture as you polish.
3. Let the story be your editor, not your fears
This is something I know that we all know, but have not necessarily taken time to think about. The stories and characters we're working on normally have a logical procession, and to allow this to develop without worrying about judgement usually allows for a fuller piece we are happier for in the end. Are your doubts interfering with where your story needs to go?
4. "Intellect is for edits, intuition is for drafting"
This is somewhat of an elaboration of the above bullet. Once you get a sense for how much or little control you've been inflicting on your storyline, Chee's line is a useful motto to remember. When beginning a story, its good to just allow things to unfold without trying to mold them too much. Worry about what makes sense once everything has filled out, and you'll be able to progress much faster.
5. Save EVERYTHING that you cut
I normally do this out of paranoia, and was happy to hear it endorsed by another writer. Its a good idea to keep up a notepad document alongside your draft as you're editing, and to copy/paste paragraphs or pages into it as you're removing them from your story. This way if pieces were sliced out in a self-loathing rampage, this can be discerned and remedied later with little harm done. Also, you never know when a side-tracked idea that doesn't fit where it began, could become a useful seed for another endeavor. I could go on for a while about why you should save what you remove and perhaps this will be a larger post in the future, but let the base fact stand that it is rare where an idea created and then not needed in one place, would not be useful on a future date.
6. Keep a writer diary
This may sound silly. In fact, some of my writer friends have raised eyebrows at me when I've told them that I do this. In the same way that talking about a conflict can untangle it better than thinking alone, writing not just your story, but about your story can help you realize a lot about your characters' motives or situation that you may not have actualized before. Chee also pointed out that it's handy for reminding you how you felt during your last writing session: "This way, I'm not so far away when I come back. Page 37, still horrible!" It's also a good place to keep a to-do list of things you meant to get back to, like moments where you meant to add research or tension.
7. Changing font and text sizes
Although all of Chee's advice was intuitive and helpful, I found this piece to be the most clever. We are all painfully aware, I'm sure, of how easily a typo or awkward sentence can be overlooked. The reason for this, Chee suggests, is because the text, as an image, becomes familiar to us. If we change the font or the sizing of our test to rearrange the way we've come to look at the lines and body shape, it will snap us out of skimming because everything will look new. Then once you've polished away all the rough pieces, feel free to return the text of your writing to your original graphic presence.
For more about Chee, see:
http://alexanderchee.net/home.html
Chee's Thoughts on Editing
1. Return to where you left off to go on
This sounds simple, but there's an explanation. Chee explained an interesting theory about the difference between writing by hand/typewriter, and writing on a computer. In the days of old when one had a paper copy of their novel on hand at all times, a writer would just press on from where the last line left off. But on a word processor, the electronic document always opens to the beginning, and you have to scroll to find where to go next. "I've seen writers murder their openings with these revisits," Chee told us, and it makes sense. We should be careful not to doubt what we have each time we go back to our work. If one isn't careful, their self-doubt could talk them into starting all over, or worse, into quitting, if they judge a first draft too harshly while trying to finish it. Best to zip immediately to the blinking cursor and write as if you hadn't just seen your beginning and its inevitable flaws.
2. Don't start to edit until you've drafted to the end
Have you ever embarked on a first paragraph, and then halfway through a second or third, gone back to read over what you have? Then, while re-reading, have you starting changing words around, and becoming frustrated with how unpolished your beginning looks? No one will find value in a perfect beginning if a beginning is all you have. Soldier through (on your intuition) and then edit the entire thing. This will also help to keep a consistent voice and to look at the big picture as you polish.
3. Let the story be your editor, not your fears
This is something I know that we all know, but have not necessarily taken time to think about. The stories and characters we're working on normally have a logical procession, and to allow this to develop without worrying about judgement usually allows for a fuller piece we are happier for in the end. Are your doubts interfering with where your story needs to go?
4. "Intellect is for edits, intuition is for drafting"
This is somewhat of an elaboration of the above bullet. Once you get a sense for how much or little control you've been inflicting on your storyline, Chee's line is a useful motto to remember. When beginning a story, its good to just allow things to unfold without trying to mold them too much. Worry about what makes sense once everything has filled out, and you'll be able to progress much faster.
5. Save EVERYTHING that you cut
I normally do this out of paranoia, and was happy to hear it endorsed by another writer. Its a good idea to keep up a notepad document alongside your draft as you're editing, and to copy/paste paragraphs or pages into it as you're removing them from your story. This way if pieces were sliced out in a self-loathing rampage, this can be discerned and remedied later with little harm done. Also, you never know when a side-tracked idea that doesn't fit where it began, could become a useful seed for another endeavor. I could go on for a while about why you should save what you remove and perhaps this will be a larger post in the future, but let the base fact stand that it is rare where an idea created and then not needed in one place, would not be useful on a future date.
6. Keep a writer diary
This may sound silly. In fact, some of my writer friends have raised eyebrows at me when I've told them that I do this. In the same way that talking about a conflict can untangle it better than thinking alone, writing not just your story, but about your story can help you realize a lot about your characters' motives or situation that you may not have actualized before. Chee also pointed out that it's handy for reminding you how you felt during your last writing session: "This way, I'm not so far away when I come back. Page 37, still horrible!" It's also a good place to keep a to-do list of things you meant to get back to, like moments where you meant to add research or tension.
7. Changing font and text sizes
Although all of Chee's advice was intuitive and helpful, I found this piece to be the most clever. We are all painfully aware, I'm sure, of how easily a typo or awkward sentence can be overlooked. The reason for this, Chee suggests, is because the text, as an image, becomes familiar to us. If we change the font or the sizing of our test to rearrange the way we've come to look at the lines and body shape, it will snap us out of skimming because everything will look new. Then once you've polished away all the rough pieces, feel free to return the text of your writing to your original graphic presence.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Defeating Writer's Block: A Tip
This is what I like to do when I'm stuck. I am sharing with you because, because. I'm not an authority on the matter, but where would writers be without other writers to throw rescue ropes into our word pits? =)
Writer’s block, as many of us are anguishly aware, is often when we have the desire or need to write, but nothing is occurring to us. If only the beginning of an idea could show itself, we may know where to go.
One thing we can do rather than leave ourselves to entire sentences, is start with the baby-step of filling in the blank.
Step 1: Look up famous first lines, famous last lines, find a line in a random book near you, get a favorite quote—start somewhere, and take a line out of context entirely.
Step 2: Take the line you’ve chosen, and find a way to fill it with blanks. Take only the first half, or remove all the verbs, or take the end of the line and plan to end up there, or use any other method of diminishing you can think of.
Examples of steps one and two completed:
For the seventh time, …
As he fumbled to ____________, he looked up and saw….
One thing that ___________ never was, so they said, was….
…and lay in a crumpled heap at the feet of his _________.
Her ________ was/were wide, and his was/were __________.
Step 3: Have a field day. Even if lines like these don’t lead you to accomplish your task at hand, they tend to break the embargo that kept dramatic and enticing words from reaching you.
Writer’s block, as many of us are anguishly aware, is often when we have the desire or need to write, but nothing is occurring to us. If only the beginning of an idea could show itself, we may know where to go.
One thing we can do rather than leave ourselves to entire sentences, is start with the baby-step of filling in the blank.
Step 1: Look up famous first lines, famous last lines, find a line in a random book near you, get a favorite quote—start somewhere, and take a line out of context entirely.
Step 2: Take the line you’ve chosen, and find a way to fill it with blanks. Take only the first half, or remove all the verbs, or take the end of the line and plan to end up there, or use any other method of diminishing you can think of.
Examples of steps one and two completed:
For the seventh time, …
As he fumbled to ____________, he looked up and saw….
One thing that ___________ never was, so they said, was….
…and lay in a crumpled heap at the feet of his _________.
Her ________ was/were wide, and his was/were __________.
Step 3: Have a field day. Even if lines like these don’t lead you to accomplish your task at hand, they tend to break the embargo that kept dramatic and enticing words from reaching you.
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