The Place For My Writers Notes

Watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, and I wondered... I've read several science fiction takeoffs on the Olympics, with participants from multiple worlds, sometimes aliens and such. However, offhand, I don't remember a magical Olympics? Your choice, just humans, or add in other creatures. But...

What would an Olympics look like with magic? Who gets to participate, and what events are there? Go ahead, stretch those imaginary athletes and their goals!

Just write!

Recently, a friend mentioned that they were feeling down, because they couldn’t go anywhere right now. Vacations, airplane trips, all that kind of thing seems to have disappeared, and many people are feeling somewhat restricted as a result.

I thought about it, and asked them to consider (a) take the little google maps figure for a walk somewhere that is interesting! Admittedly, you can't get the figure to walk inside a shop or have something to eat, but you can take a walk along the middle of the Vegas Strip, or perhaps downtown Paris, or someplace else that you find interesting. Also (b) check out travel websites, videos, and such about a place you are interested in. Heck, go ahead and plan that trip, figure out where you would go and what you would do and... do check YouTube, there are a lot of people putting up tours of their locales right now.

They thought about it, and said it sounded interesting. They admitted, they simply hadn't thought about doing something like that. I will admit, we may not be able to take a physical trip quite as easily as we could just a few years ago, but... there's a lot of access on the web! So take a vacation trip in your own living room!

Obviously, this also works for writers. Yes, a trip to that location would be nice, but... do it on the web, and see just how much you can learn that way.

Hum, just started reading another book, where the very beginning started simply "It was her birthday." Of course, then they wandered off into how different her birthday was from the normal cake and family celebration expectations, so we understood right away that things were going to be different. Which suggested something to me.

See, here's a few life passages (yes, I googled...)
1. Birth
2. Puberty
3. Marriage
4. Having children
5. Death

Or what about this list:
1. Rite to birthright
2. Rite to Adulthood
3. Right to marriage
4. Rite to Eldership
5. Rite to ancestorship

Or maybe Gail Sheehy's list?
1. Trying 20s -- trying work and partner
2. Catch 30s -- shake and bake
3. Forlorn 40s -- let's try again?
4. Refreshed/Resigned 50s -- let go and renew

Or take your favorite list of problems, starting/ending school, starting/ending work, starting/ending relationships, moving, crime... whatever you like.

Now, turn it inside out. That's right, let your character look at that normal expected stage of life or transition, but with a very unusual and special twist to it. What happened to turn that birthday, that first day of school, that start of a new job into... marvels and wonders? Fear and trembling? Shock and awe? You decide!

Then go from there. What happens next? And then...

So, here's a little bit of fun. Pick a place. It can be somewhere you have been, long ago or recently, or a place you have read about or seen on tv, or whatever. Just make it a place that you would like to explore. Think about the setting, the sights, sounds, smells, what you might feel, all of that. Yes, if you like, walk the little Google maps figure along the road and take a look at it!

Now, take a character or three. Perhaps from a work in progress, perhaps someone you would like to get to know, perhaps from a piece of fiction that you enjoyed? Anyway, one, or two, or maybe three. Probably not too many more, because you don't really want a mob scene.

Then, put them in that place. Why are they there? What are they looking for? Go ahead, let them walk around and explore, perhaps have a bite to eat (or did something bite them?), or whatever. Show us that place, seen through the eyes, memories, toes, and whatever of your characters.

Write that up. This may not be a scene you want to put in your work, but it is both a good way to practice describing places (aka settings, or even milieu) and a way to get into the heads of those characters and see what they notice about those places...

Okay? Pick a setting, put some characters in it, and write up what happens when your characters take a stroll through that place.

Writer's Digest, January 1994, had an article on pages 42 and 43 by Loriann Hoff Oberlin with the title Learn from My Mistakes. Loriann lays out six mistakes that she feels she has made, along with suggestions about why they are mistakes and what you can do about them. Let's take a look at the mistakes, and what she says about them. You might want to think about your own responses to each of them.

1. Not following up. Actually, she starts with a short anecdote about submitting a manuscript to a new magazine, and not hearing anything. Until she happened to be reading an issue of the magazine and realized her article had been published! The trick here is don't just assume that the parts you can't see are running smoothly, be proactive. Make a phone call, send a follow-up email, check what's going on.

2. Personalizing rejection. "Whether it's an abrupt response to a phone call, a form rejection slip jammed into an SASE, or a kiss off letter from a new editor, rejection is never easy." Ouch! When you get rejections, Loriann recommends admitting your anger to yourself and a friend, but don't argue with the editors. You're going to get rejections, and you may never understand why. One suggestion is to look for publications that pay on acceptance. Your article may not be published, but at least you got paid.

3. Shooting for the stars. You can certainly submit to big-name magazines and publications, but that also means the competition is harder. "Set realistic goals and view your writing as a career."

4. Lacking confidence. "You want me to do what?" You may be surprised at opportunities that come up, but go ahead and take a shot at them. You can boost your confidence level with workshops, classes, and conferences. Join some organizations, experiment with different genres, try out some different projects.

5. Drifting with the clouds. "Success can be an evanescent joy.… The moral is to be confident, but be realistic and never complacent." Just because you're starting to succeed, don't let up. Keep working on it.

6. Failing to read and write every day. Deadlines everywhere, work that needs to be done, I'll just put off reading and writing? "If you fail to read and write every day, you're cheating your creativity. Be kind to yourself. Take time to recharge your batteries, gather new ideas, and try different approaches." Books, the library, all kinds of places can provide ideas and information. You need to feed your creativity. You also need to play with your writing, experiment and grow.

Some of this seems to be tied to the old freelance magazine market, but I think it's worth thinking about anyway. Even with do-it-yourself publication on Amazon or other social media sites, part of the process is handled by other people. You need to make sure they are doing their job. Rejections – what about one star reviews on Amazon! Ouch. Trying to do too much too soon, or not feeling ready to take the next step? We all get caught between those two extremes. And having success blind us to the need to keep working… Oh yeah. Or what about feeding your creativity on an ongoing basis?

What are your mistakes? Have you stopped to think about what went wrong, and how can I avoid it in the future? What can I do to make sure that the next time I don't trip over that same stumbling block?

Original Posting April 4, 2018

Okay! Based loosely on a flash fiction worksheet that I found floating around in my files...

1. Write five problem statements. SHORT! 12 words max! A character, a desire, and a problem.
2. Expand those into beginnings. Put the character and the problem in a setting. Keep it tight! 10 to 150 words!
3. Think about complications. What could go wrong? One small complication, one large.
4. Write those as the middles! Tight! 350 words?
5. Now, dream up endings. Obvious, hideous, and ironic? Pick the one you prefer...
6. Write that ending! TIGHT! 50 words! Can you do it?
7. Poof! Pick out the best and polish it! There you go!

The big thing here is brainstorming those problem statements. You might want to start by brainstorming characters, wants, and issues separately, then try mix-and-match to come up with interesting combinations.

And... of course...

WRITE!

You may have heard of the pomodoro method or technique. I know I'd heard of it, mostly as the notion that you should write in short sprints, instead of grand marathons. Kind of like doing wind sprints instead of long distance runs. Of course, I had the impression that 20 minutes was the recommended chunk, but... over here, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique they say it's 25 minutes. Then a break.

It's an interesting idea. Figure out some scene, or other bit of what you are working on, then sit down and write, write, write for 20 minutes (or 25!). Then take a short break, think about where you are going next, and... do another chunk.

Oh, the tomato? It turns out that the originator used a tomato shaped kitchen timer, and named the approach after that. Except, being Italian, he used the Italian term for it. So, it's the tomato approach! Not rotten tomatoes, but...

I have to admit, I do tend to write in short bursts, with some kind of break in between. Oh, sometimes I manage to sit down and really grind it out for a longer period, but... life brings so many interruptions, so getting a short uninterrupted chunk is a lot easier than the long stretches.

Something to think about. And maybe try using a tomato to chunk that work out.

Write?

I suspect some of you remember JC, one of our Writers from a while back. I still contemplate his advice for writing from time to time. It was pretty simple.

Write the ending first.

See, when you visualize your story, fairly often the ending is the exciting, fun part. It's where the climax is, the detective pointing out whodunit, the fateful happily ever after, the ride into the sunset, or whatever. So, JC recommended that you start by writing that piece. Write that great ending scene, the climax of your piece.

Then, of course, you get to work your way backwards. You can do tentpoles, highlight scenes along the way to that ending, and then tie them all together. By the way, foreshadowing gets easier when you know where you are going! Or you can literally write it backwards, one scene at a time, until you get to the beginning. Or, of course, you can ratchet all the way back, and start from the beginning and go on until the end (which you already know, because that's what you wrote first!).

Heck, even if you are an outliner, carefully working out all the bits and pieces in outline before starting to write, you still might want to consider starting at the end, both for the outline, and for the actual writing. Keep your goal in mind!

It's an interesting twist. Instead of starting at the beginning, and then bogging down in the middle, and never quite getting to the end...

Write the ending first.

Then you can keep your eye on that horizon while you beat your way through the jungle towards it.

Happy New Year!

Yep, it's that time again. Celebrations, lots of fun, and... maybe a little pause to consider what you want to accomplish this year. I'm seeing several writers regroup, making lists of things they want to tackle this year, and thought maybe you might like to do that...

I mean, one of the things about New Year's resolutions is that they are goals you set for yourself, and you get to decide how public or private you want to keep them. But it is a good turning point to sit back and consider...

Do you want to join a writing group? There are online versions around. Critiques, writing prompts, and other helps to keep you going. (Psst? Take a look at https://moreoddsthanends.home.blog/ if you want to join in a weekly challenge!)

Or maybe you just want to set yourself a goal of writing at a certain time or place regularly? Lots of people find that discipline useful.

Maybe take a book, or some other guideline, and work your way through the approach they suggest? Hero's Journey, Save the Cat!, there is a lot of guidance out there, take your pick. But set yourself a goal, and work on it!

For that matter, take the plunge and plan on posting something here on Writers from time to time! Weekly, monthly, whatever works for you. As I used to suggest, either a post about technique (aka tech!) or a submission (sub!) are good ways to participate.

Heck, close your eyes, and let your dreams take wing. What kinds of things could you see yourself doing, what do you wish you were doing, what do you really want to try? I'm sure there are many ways to go, and you can make your own this year!

Anyway, might be a good time to sit back, and think about what you want to achieve this year. Then think about how to do it, what are the steps, the habits, all that to get there. And, of course, decide to start. One step, just to get started....

Write!

(Hum, I started to sketch this out back on Nov. 10, and here it is Nov. 12, and I still haven't finished or posted it? Let's get on the ball!)

Let's see. 10 of 30... Yep, about one third. So that must mean...

Aha! Day 10 of Nanowrimo, and your potboiler is faltering? Well... you probably have some idea about the beginning, and maybe at least a thought about the ending, or where you're headed, but... how do you fill in the middle? Muddle through the middle? Yeah...

Okay, one suggestion that often comes up is try-fail cycles. See, at the beginning, your protagonist (aka the hero) gets some kind of challenge or goal in mind, and they are headed there. Towards the end, we get the dramatic climax, where things get worked out. But in the middle, well, fairly often, we have try-fail cycles. The hero is trying things, and failing! That's right, we don't want him or her to succeed the first few times. Which makes these good material for filling that middle. Just think of some things that the protagonist might try, and how they might fail.

Incidentally, those failures tend to come in two flavors. First is yes-but, and second is no-and. Let me see if I can quickly sketch those out for you.

Yes-but is sneaky. In this case, the protagonist seems to succeed, that's the yes part, but in the process, they learn that there is another challenge, more problems, something else that must be done. That's the but part. I'm going to climb the mountain! Yes, you climbed the mountain, but... there's another mountain behind that one, there's a monster at the top who challenges you with a riddle, or whatever new problem turns up.

No-and is a little more straightforward. In this case, the protagonist doesn't succeed, fails, which is the no part. Then, just to mix it up, they learn that there is another little bit to the problem. That's the and part. So, I'm going to climb the mountain. No, I didn't get there, and in the process, I broke my leg, I lost the jewels, or whatever added trouble you like.

Of course, you can also take side journeys, adding a new mystery, challenge, or whatever to the stew.

Whatever you do, keep writing!