The Place For My Writers Notes

original posting: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 09:11:53 -0400

As the flock collects, let us pause for a moment of wordiness to let each other know...

Where were you?

What did you do?  (not how, what!)

and other points of social exchange reflecting the summer wanderings and whiffleballs, the little triumphs of the season, the new stuffing on your sofa, or whatever.

(you got out to the inner circle of hell?  And who did you meet there?  Really?  I never would have guessed!)

I.e., tell us, in 500 words (more or less), how you spent your summer vacation.  What, you didn't spend one?  Okay, tell us how someone else spent it, then.

Just put word A after word B and you'll have BA.  Not too useful, although you could do a sheepish thing and go with BAH, darken it up and do BAH HUMBUGGERY, or even go for the gusto with BADINAGE.  Or turn to your dictionary and look at all the BA words!  Citing, isn't it?

Write a little!

original posting: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 12:13:00 -0500

Let's take a look at some thoughts from Writing As a Lifelong Skill by Sanford Kaye, ISBN 0-534-22218-8

Up to Now: Your Writing History

And in case you would like some concrete questions to help you along, from page 15:

• How did you learn to write in the first place?  Who taught you?  What kind of response did you get to your earliest efforts?  How did you feel about writing then?  Does that differ from the way you feel about writing now?
• What has been your best writing experience?
• What has been your worst?  Why was it so bad?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses now?
• What do you hope to accomplish with your writing?

So, do you have your definition, your attitudes, and your history written out?  At least some key points?  Why not?  You don't have to show them to anyone, but you might find it interesting to explore...

original posting: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 22:44:42 -0500

So, here's the basic scenario.

Two people (you pick the characters, the location, the scenery, what have you).

Pick a number from one to twelve.  Got it?

Good.  Here's the emotion you have picked:


Now, pick a number from one to six.  Here's the result:


Your two characters are immersed in their scene (what are they doing?  Oh, that?  Kewl.)

Ding-dong.  Delivery boy, the daily mail, a box dropped from heaven, in one way or another, the object you picked gets delivered (consider having it wrapped, or in an envelope, as you then have the fun of opening it!).

And one of your characters (you flip the coin) experiences that emotion (remember?  one to twelve) in regard to that object.

What is it about that object which pulls them into the emotional maelstrom? What happened that dark day?

And how do they explain this to the other person?  Do they keep a stiff upper lip as their heart breaks again?  Or do they sob on the shoulder of their friend?

A small scene, but one that can go many places.

Just two characters, an object, and the emotions it brings with it.

Write it up!

Original posting: Sun, 13 Oct 2002 00:21:14 -0400

another old column...  feel free to play along!

Speeding into Memories

As we move into summer, I thought I'd give you a little speedwriting exercise and one focusing on remembering for those slow days out on the beach (or wherever you may be relaxing).

Eggtimers and writing?

I realize that most of the time, we like to consider carefully, give ourselves plenty of time, and otherwise move slowly when writing.  (something like a tortoise?)

BUT--today we're going to practice speedwriting!

A ten minute exercise!  Anyone can squeeze in ten minutes, right?

Get yourself a three minute timer.  Eggtimers, a friend, perhaps even that funny timer on your watch that you've never used.

Oh, and don't forget the die (the singular of dice, like nye is the singular of nice:-)

A.  Roll twice, picking a first and last name.


Write for three minutes about this person.  Where did they grow up? What kind of family?  What kind of work do they do now?  Write!

1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9......

BUZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Time's up.

Settle down.  Put that description aside, take a sip of your water (coffee, tea, or...your choice).

Ready?  Okay.

B.  Roll twice, picking a first and last name.


And, once again, write for three minutes.  Where did this person come from, and where are they going?  What kind of face do they see when they look in the mirror?  Who are they?

1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9....

RINGGGGG!

Time's up, please put down your keyboards and other input devices.

Breath, breath, stretch.  You may want to print the descriptions or at least review the two pieces you've written.

C.  Okay, now take these two people and bang them together!

In three minutes, write a scene where they meet.  What do they say to each other?  What kind of conflict might occur just from their backgrounds?  What kind of "bond" or "crucible" where they have to deal with each other might occur?  Write!

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9...

BONG.  BONG.  BONG.

They said it couldn't be done.  But here you are, running those little fingers right over the finish line, with the crowd cheering, the tape snapping across your chest, the coach throwing a towel over your sweating wrists.

Relax.  You may want to set this aside and later come back to it.  If you want to continue the scene now, go ahead, but do plan to revise and strengthen the piece you've written, looking for spots where (in the heat of the exercise!) you may have told rather than shown the reader, senses that didn't get touched, and other details to polish.

So, champ, what's next?  Another 10 minute exercise?   (imagine doing three scenes in a half-hour after lunch :-)  A bit slower pace?  Some thoughtful revision of the quick draft you've just written?

Windsprints for the mental fingers--alternate with some endurance runs, a little weightlifting, and in no time at all, you'll be pushing words with the best.

Once In Every Childhood...

A quick, simple exercise that you can take as far as you like.  Although I've written it for a story, you could also use it for poetic fodder.  Enjoy, and keep those fingers moving...

1.  Pick your emotion.

flip a coin.  and roll a die (okay, pick a number from one to six...)

heads?  your list is:


tails?  your list is:


2.  Remember.  Remember.  Rememb...is that record skipping again?

Sometime when you were a child, you experienced this emotion. Remember that time.  Roll back the years, let those wrinkles smooth away, and put yourself in those days of yore, with the laughing friends making you cry even harder over...or maybe the terror when you drove the neighbor's new gocart and the pedal stuck so you couldn't slow down...or what about the anger you felt when you saw that someone else was in your favorite seat on the bus?

3.  Write it up.  You can push the details around, maybe make the air from the drunk's mouth stink even worse than you really remember, or have Freddie's braces have these enormous spikes that tore into your lip...but make us feel the emotion.  Make us jump in our seats, lean into the spin, call out her name as our favorite dog runs into the traffic and the truck hits...

4.  Now.  Take that same emotion and scene, but rewrite it so that your protagonist (or even the antagonist, doesn't matter) is experiencing it with perhaps slightly different (adult type) surroundings.  Instead of the gocart whizzing around the vacant lot, maybe it's a militarized dunebuggy sliding around Las Vegas?  Or what if the daughter of the police chief darts into traffic and is crushed?

Write about what you know?  You certainly know how you felt...don't you?  Just remember.  Stare into the little whirling bits on the screen and remember...

Then write about it!