Tag Archives: Writing

Do The Work

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I’ve just written a list of things I need to get done. Things hanging over my head like a piano dangling from a flimsy cord and I’m standing on a big, red X.

Hate that feeling. Kinda.

Instead of doing the things that need to get done, I do the dishes. The laundry. Dust. Scrub the baseboards. Write to my second cousin twice removed whom I haven’t spoken to since I was eight.

Why?

Fear. Resistance.

If I do the things I have to do, I step into the unknown. And the unknown can be scary.

All the things I need to do are writing related and the outcome of my doing these things might just be wonderful. Like, dream-fulfilling awesomeness with a bow and a box of chocolates.

One thing I’m learning about myself in this writing journey is that sometimes I’m far too comfy living in the in-between. Dwelling in the possibility (to twist a favorite quote by Emily Dickinson). Right now I’m in a solid state of MAYBE. To take the next step forward will lead me either in the direction of YES or NO. MAYBE is ripe with possibility. I could stay in MAYBE forever, living in the tension of this piano hanging above. But, let’s be honest: staying in MAYBE is just NO in disguise.

So I enlisted some help in the form of a book. Do the Work, the follow-up to Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art.

You need to read The War of Art. And then, a couple of months after you’ve read it and your rocket boosters begin to sputter, read Do the Work.

Whereas The War of Art explains the battle you’re in any time you set out to accomplish something that will better yourself and/or the world, Do the Work gives you a swift kick in the pants. Tells you to get off your butt and, well, do the work.

This book exposes all of your excuses and leaves you with a lighted path toward your destination. It tells you how to get started, how to get finished and how to get your project out the door.

I need this book right now. That piano is looming over me. I’ve got people waiting on me. Heck, I’m waiting on me.

The dishes are done. The laundry, too. All my excuses are stupid obstacles I’ve put in front of myself to keep me from doing what I need to get done. I need to give fear the finger and get on with this show.

Now, too, this blog post is done. And I have nothing left to do, but…

Do the work.

500 Club (5/17)

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This Thursday I find myself ready to melt into the concrete. With some luck, maybe we can also thaw a bit of that creative glacier with a few writing prompts. Who knows where the word-runoff could lead.

Here’s what to do:

  1. Write 500 words based on one of the two prompts below.
  2. Post it to your blog.
  3. Give us a small taste in the comments below along with a link to the full text.

As always, feel free to change the name and sex of the characters as you see fit. After all, it’s your story.:

1. Finish this opener: Only one left. The first two were wasted.

2. Flashback Challenge: Write 500 words where the last half is a flashback. The first half should stand on its own, but have the flashback change the way the reader sees the first half.

The Worst Writing Advice I Ever Ignored

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There’s a lot of writing advice out there. A lot of it is great. And some of it is B-A-D, bad. Like many things in life, you have to take writing advice with a grain of salt. Always trust your gut.

My first real foray in writing was in 2004. I jumped in with both feet by participating in the 3-Day Novel Contest, an adrenaline filled writing fest in which writers try to write an entire novel between Friday midnight and Monday midnight over Labor Day weekend. It’s crazy. I loved it. I finished my novel by deadline, turned it in and…won third place.

I was shocked. Thrilled. I took it as affirmation that I was meant to be a writer.

Knowing that the novel I’d written wasn’t first place material (yet), I asked an acquaintance in my book club to read it and give me comments. I didn’t have the network of writers I have now, obviously. But this woman was very well read and worked in communications. I felt confident she’d give decent feedback.

Imagine how I felt then, after the high of placing third in the 3-Day, when I read the note — the only note — she’d written on the manuscript. In essence, it suggested I use my energies elsewhere.

Any enthusiasm I’d had for the story fizzled away. I put the novel away and didn’t look at it again for years.

Only recently have I realized how much stock I put in her opinion, and really for no good reason. And only recently have I thought about that novel and seen that, while it still needs work, it’s something I shouldn’t have given up on. That I won’t give up on.

The worst writing advice I was ever given was to not pursue writing. I am SO glad I didn’t heed that advice. That I trusted my gut and didn’t give up on my dream.

If I may be so bold as to offer you advice now… Always scrutinize the advice you’re given. Regardless if it comes from someone you trust, always trust your gut and your passion for your dreams more.

500 Club (5/10)

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I see we found our way to another Thursday and yet another set of writing prompts. Let’s see if we can’t wring some creative thoughts in 500 words. Think you can do it? Here’s all you need to know to get at it:

The rules as we see fit:

  1. Write 500 words based on one of the two prompts below.
  2. Post it to your blog.
  3. Give us a small taste in the comments below along with a link to the full text.

As always, feel free to change the name and sex of the characters as you see fit. After all, it’s your story.:

1. Deus ex machina: Where a seemingly unsolvable situation is neatly wrapped up by an intervening god, character, event, object, etc. A device better avoided… except this time. Write 500 words from the view-point of that intervening god, character, event or object.

2. Picture Worth 1,000 500 Words: Write 500 words based on the picture below.

Click for larger image.

Up and Over the Query Letter Mountain

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I used to read angsty blog and forum posts written by frustrated writers who were toiling over query letters and think, What’s the big deal? You write the letter, you send it off. Clearly they were making mountains out of mole hills.

Then it came time for me to write one.

And I got it.

What a nerve-wracking, nail-biting, anxiety-inducing venture that little letter is. Turns out those mole hills loomed rather large after all.

I questioned everything. Was I professional enough? Too professional? Overly personal? Cold? Desperate. Did I capture the essence of my book? Holy cow, what was the essence of my book? Hang on, I wrote a book?! In a blink, I’d over-analyzed everything and was totally out-of-whack.

Then I remembered a little book I’d downloaded a while ago that I thought might come in handy one day.

Elana Johnson’s From the Query to the Call. Great book. Filled with practical information and examples of winning letters. I only wish I’d remembered it when I first sat down to craft my letter.

If you’re about to enter the querying fray, check out Elana’s book. It’s free on her website. Seriously, it will lead you through the madness. (Thank you, Elana!)

The other resources that have been wonderful are Amy and Kate, my two writer friends who are also writing query letters right now. We’ve been workshopping each others’ letters. So helpful, getting feedback from people you trust an who want to see you succeed.

So that’s this month’s confession: my query letter is out in the world. *gulp* I hope it does what it’s supposed to do.

Now I find myself joining those angsty writers obsessing over response times and acceptance rates and all the other things that drive us writers bonkers. Turns out you tackle on overly-tall mole hill, and there’s another one right there, waiting to be climbed.

500 Club (4/26)

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Hi everybody, it’s time to write!

Here’s the rules for our little game:

  1. Write 500 words based on one of the two prompts below.
  2. Post it to your blog.
  3. Give us a line or two in the comments, along with a link back to the full text.

1. Write a story about a tight-knit community. Does your hero want to break free, or remake the rest of the world in his community’s image? And would that be a good or a very bad thing?

2. Start with an omen. A raven, a black cat, a shining light haloing someone’s head. Just make sure your omen foreshadows the opposite of what we expect (halo = bad! Raven = good!)

Good luck and have fun!

A Writing Lesson from Sherlock

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There’s a TV show I used to watch, back in the days before I took writing seriously. BBC’s Coupling. Some shows made me smirk and others snicker. Coupling is one of the only shows that has made me laugh out loud. The writing was brilliant. The writer was Steven Moffat.

Imagine my joy, then, when it was announced Steven Moffat would be taking on Doctor Who after Russell T. Davies. Huge relief. Oh good, I thought, the show will be fine. *exhale*

And then, like an extra pressie on Christmas morning, along came BBC’s Sherlock, with none other than Mr. Moffat at the helm.

Sherlock blew me away. And it taught me something about writing. Namely, that passing dialogue can be used to plant plot seeds along a story line.

Elementary, right?

(Sorry. Had to.)

One of the things I love most about Moffat’s story lines are the clues he hides along the way. Little gems that seem at first like throw away lines, and only later — on second and third…and fourth viewing — are seen for the foreshadowing omens they really are. This is particularly true in the final episode of the second season of Sherlock, The Reichenbach Fall. I want to give examples here, but…well…spoilers.

Okay, fine. Here’s one. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, don’t read. In fact, I’ll put it in white text so you’ll have to highlight it to read it and then you can’t blame me for the spoilers, deal?

Spoiler example here:

In what seems a transition scene in The Reichenbach Fall, Sherlock startles Mrs. Hudson. She says, “Oh Sherlock, you made me jump”. Seems like a throw away line. Passing dialogue. Fill. Until you get to the climax of the show, and what you realize is that little statement, “Oh Sherlock, you made me jump” is LOADED with foreshadowing. 

Kind of gives you goosebumps, doesn’t it? 

See? That’s brilliant. And it happens again and again throughout the show.

That’s the kind of writer I want to be. Beyond tone and setting, I want even my passing dialogue between characters to do as much work as possible. To become road signs for what is to come. To be on the page and yet invisible such that the reader will want to read the book again just to find those markers missed during the first read.

There’s only one way I’ll learn how to do this, you know. Only one way to really understand how to effect this trickery in my own work.

I’m going to have to watch Sherlock again.

And again.

And, as Sherlock would say…observe.

P.S. – Sherlock will air on Masterpiece/PBS beginning next week. Check your local listings.

writing lessons from the idiot box: Band of Brothers

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I’m not big on war movies, so it’s hard for me to talk about how very much I love Band of Brothers, because it’s such a outlier of my usual preferences for entertainment. A dear friend talked me into watching the first episode, Currahee, and I was quickly hooked by the strong pacing and  smart writing.

(On Lieutenant Sobel, a hapless dickhead of a drillmaster hilariously played by David Schwimmer. How much of a hapless dickhead was he? Well, besides constantly punishing Easy Company for imaginary infractions, he quite frequently bellowed out “IR-RE-GARD-LESS” during his dressing-downs of Easy, which is not, you know, a real word.)

Capt. Nixon: Sobel’s a genius. I had a headmaster in prep school who was just like him. I know the type.
Maj. Winters: Lew, Michaelangelo’s a genius. Beethoven’s a genius.
Nixon: You know a man in this company who wouldn’t double-time Currahee with a full pack just to piss in that man’s morning coffee?

Besides often being funny, Band of Brothers is captivating for many reasons; not least of all that it is a true story of a company of men who were larger than life. It’s great to watch just for the sheer pleasure of good tv, but on the rewatch (and it is infinitely rewatchable) I’ve got my writing hat on. I’m learning how opposition breeds heroism and camraderie, I’m getting a whole new definition of the word “brother.” I’m getting a better idea of how an army actually works, what wartime is really like, and how to realistically write a soldier, a man at war, who might be hilarious and loveable like Perconte… and yet have no qualms about stealing watches from the dead enemy, like Perconte.

“They’re all ticking, unlike their previous owners”

And that’s just one soldier out of a whole company; each of these guys has his own life, story, personality, quirks and foibles. There are no flat characters here. This verisimilitude is really important to me in crafting my own fiction. Yeah, my wars might be fought with swords and sorcery, but I like to think the people caught up in them are chips off the Easy Company block.

So if you ever want to write about soldiers, I really think you can’t do better for entertaining research than Band of Brothers. I wanted to put some clips in here, but a 2 minute Youtube reel just doesn’t do it justice. You can see it at HBO’s site, if you have one of those pass things, or download eps through itunes. Personally, I am going downstairs right now to watch Currahee on my shiny metal boxed set.

500 Club (4/19)

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Hello Thursday!

I have some writing prompts ready and waiting to be tackled. Carve out a few minutes and give them a try.

Here’s all you’ll need to know:

  1. Write 500 words based on one of the two prompts below.
  2. Post it to your blog.
  3. Give us a small taste in the comments below along with a link to the full text.

As always, feel free to change the name and sex of the characters as you see fit. After all, it’s your story.:

1. Finish this opening: Killing the headlights and coasting up the driveway, the crunch of the gravel under the tires was the only indication he had arrived. He checked the passenger seat again. No turning back now.

2. Work a poem into a 500 word story. The poem can be as long or as short as you like, made up or well-known (just remember to give credit where credit is due).

3 Things I Need to Stop Doing and Write Instead

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Every writer has the best intentions. (I’m going to finally write that novel. Yay me!)

A lot of writers have overly ambitious intentions. (I am going to write a bestselling novel this weekend. Just watch me!)

And many writers get in their own way. (I’ll get back to that novel after I finish this level of WoW. *yawn*)

Me included. I don’t play Warcraft, but I do find that a lot of unnecessary things suddenly become very important when I’m starting a new project.

Call it Resistance. Call it fear. Call it laziness. Whatever it is, I need to call it out and get back to work.

Here are the 3 things I need to stop doing and write instead.

1. Internet

Stupid internet. Stupid, wonderful internet. Why must you be so shiny? So often I start a new story, new page, new sentence and then, boom. As soon as I get to that first hesitation where that initial idea runs its course and I have to think up the next thing, I flip open a browser page and see what fascinating bit of distraction there is to entice me. It’s like a nervous tic. A foolish consistency. It’s much easier to see what pictures from Pinterest people are posting on Facebook than write that next sentence.

I need to stop avoiding the hard work and start writing.

2. QueryTracker

QueryTracker is awesome. What an incredible resource for writers. I love it. I’m kind of addicted to it. Especially the “watch” feature. Now that I’m querying agents, I’m checking my watch alerts, researching who reps who and what, adding agents to my lists. And that’s all well and good. But I’m spending too much time reading other people’s updates about agents than writing my new project.

I need to stop obsessing and start writing.

3. Worry

I worry. There. I said it. All kinds of thoughts fill my head when I’m writing and when I’m not. Am I a hack? Will I get an agent? Will the agent who requested the full like my novel? Is this the new project I should be working on, or the other one? Am I getting the tone/voice/setting/mood/sentence structure of this chapter right? What if I don’t find an agent? Should I self-publish? What if I’m just a hack and not good at this? What if the world is ending and I’m wasting my time writing this book? Ugh. It’s an endless battle.

The thing about writing, though, is it brings me such joy. And if I can ignore the worry wart in my brain and write, I’m transported out of that mindset altogether. Writing is a great remedy.

I need to stop worrying and start writing.

What do you need to stop doing so you can start writing?