Focus

As good as I think the story I'm writing is, there are moments of murkiness. Uncertainty. Sometimes the horrible knowledge I'm going to take a great idea and make it mediocre.

So, when I'm feeling that way how do I get back to the place where I've got all of my crayons spread out on the desk and can create with abandon? Where I believe I can color outside of the lines and it will be beautiful?

Where I can simply get started?

I have a candle on my desk. That helps.

I listen to The Writers Mind CD. That helps. Or I listen to another CD of my choice. That also helps.

I start typing away until something good happens. That sort of helps.

Now, I have a fire going. That helps.

I also play Free Cell. Yep. There. I said it.

When I begin a game of Free Cell, with the intent of moving on, I tell myself what the plan is when I bring the game up on my computer screen. And at the end? It's like flipping a switch. Peg is on. Focused. Ready.

What do you do? C'mon. You can be honest here.




CR: Absinthe of Malice by Pat Browning.

It's all better with friends.

Speed Bumps in The Zone

Saturday was a 'Wahoo!' writing day for me. Over 2,000 words. (2, 047 to be exact.) Followed by Sunday with a thrilling er, well not-so-thrilling, 366 words. Followed by today with . . . well, it's not over. Right?

What happened? I quit Saturday night because my eyes were getting tired. My new reading eye (LASIK was about nine days old on Saturday) yelled "Uncle!" and I gave in and closed down.

But that's such a lying stretch of foolishness. I've had good writing days in the past with lousy writing days following shortly thereafter. And I can only blame a pooped eye on one of them.

Part of it is fear. The 'zone' puts me on such a high, I'm afraid a) I'll get there and never come down, or b) I'll never find it again.

Time for a Reality Check.

James Scott Bell has a wonderful remedy for any kind of writing reluctance. He does the Nifty 350, or the Furious 500. It's bichoking (Butt in Chair, Hands on Keys) with a short-term target. When he first sits down to write, he goes for his Nifty 350 (or 250 or 450) and then has something very positive already done to kind of jump start his next bichok moment. Which comes easier because, well, look at what he's already accomplished for the day.

Giving yourself a good reason to pat yourself on the back is always effective. Just make sure it's a pat you believe in.

The zone comes and goes. Some days it's elusive, other days it threatens to devour me (how cool are those days?), but I can always tuck myself in for a Nifty 350.

You?

JF: Die For You by Lisa Unger who I discovered thanks to Jenny Milchman.

It's all better with friends.

What Do You Do When the Well Runs Dry?

One of the most prolific writers I know has admitted she's not written anything new lately.

Other than hiding out in the throne room until this spell passes (sorry), what's a writer to do?

If you're not under contract, give yourself permission to Not Write. Let it go. This idea rides gunshot to that old theory about women who are having a tough time getting pregnant. Once that woman lets go and decides to adopt, well . . . you've heard it before. The important thing is not to beat yourself up. Go to a movie instead.

Having said that, here's what happens to me if I'm away from writing too long. Fear seeps in and floods my being. Confidence is eroded and I can't imagine ever accomplishing a thing. Sound familiar? Be gentle with yourself, but don't stay away too long. Nudge yourself—with tenderness—to the place where bichoking is all you want to do.

Some Nudges:

When I read about the craft of writing I get itchy to write. That's often enough to stir up something in my head.

Take an existing or new character and write in first person. A character study. I like to observe someone in real life and make up their story.

Write a poem. Effortless, flowing, fabulous writing is grounded in poetry.

Write about not writing.

Create an amazing setting for the type of story you want to write. Urban? Rural? A high rise or isolated cabin?

Take your laptop, or your notepad and pen, to the library. Breathe in all of those words and ideas that float free in the air. Or hustle your bustle to some other location that works for you.

Write a letter to your great-great-great-great grandchild. What do you want them to know about you and your life?

I'd love to hear some other ideas for dealing with this malady.

It's all better with friends.

Seat-Of-The-Pants Plotting

Sounds kind of like an oxymoron, doesn't it? Actually, it's a pretty good description of the way I've learned to put a manuscript together.

This is how I stumbled onto something that works for me. You will find your own way. It could be very simple--you plot. Or it could be you'll develop your own blend of things that get your from Point A to Point Z in a logical and orderly way.

For what it's worth, here's my input.

I can think an idea to death. One will come into my head with so much promise and excitement and potential. But if I push it too much by planning and plotting, I kill it. I sit around with this dead thing stinking up my office and wonder why I can't pick up a fresh scent.

Other writers can plot like crazy from the very beginning and still love their projects--and it shows in their writing.

When I first started writing seriously, I had a story idea and a few characters brewing around in my head. I planted my behind in the chair, put my hands on the keyboard and began typing away. Thank goodness it wasn't suspense--which requires clear, concise direction. My initial effort didn't have much of any of those qualities. Thanks to some gentle coaching by my critique partners, my writing improved enough to win an award, but the story left me lifeless. Like cookie crumbs in the bottom of a glass of milk. Blick.

Now what?

I took my major characters, tweaked them a bit and threw them into a suspense story that energized me and kept me interested. Phew! What a relief to be excited again.

Now what?

I began with a general idea and coaxed it along. The slightest massaging without heavy-duty plotting. I knew a couple of plot points and a twist or two. Fun. But that's all I knew. What I ended up with, for my first draft, was not much more than a fat outline--mostly dialogue and scene titles. I had created an outline without knowing it. That works for me.

Now what?

I needed clarification. Tight pacing and focus. Some . . . er . . . suspense stuff. Creating a detailed, traditional outline didn't excite me. I figured I had one I could work with--why do two? But I needed to also keep things straight. I'd played a little with 3x5 cards in the past, and they were okay, but not visually stimulating. After all, I'm a product of television and movies. Tactile is good, visual would be better. I heard about using colored sticky notes to help the plotting process. My first attempt was a mess:

It was pretty, but a mess nonetheless. I felt productive and creative while I was putting the little pieces of colored paper up, but in the end I couldn't keep them straight. Or move them around very easily.

Susan Lohrer shared the idea with me to have a little more color-coded consistency in my approach. The top photo shows my timeline in blue, different scene POV's in their own character-colors, with the plot points for each scene listed on purple. You can see a couple of little "adds" (and now there are more of those), that represent things I need to make sure and incorporate because of changes I've made elsewhere.

By jove, I think I've found something I can work with.

It's all better with friends.

When Words Aren't Written~or~When Words Dry Out

There are a lot of reasons to take a break from writing. Some chosen, some not. Recently, life has thrown a few curves in my direction and I've been grateful (for once) not to have a deadline.

When I don't write every day, fear and insecurity find it easier to wedge themselves into my psyche. It becomes harder and harder to work, and easier and easier to find some excuse not to.

If you don't use it, you lose it. My sister shared a wonderful term with me: bichok. Butt in chair, hands on keys. Bichoking is what will get you back on track.

Ideas to Nudge You Toward Brilliant Bichoking

~ Pinpoint any issues that may be keeping you from writing. This can be patently obvious, or require some deeper reflection.

~ Writer's block? Ignore it. Successful writers are the ones that show up and just do it. Try journaling as a way to break through this one. Or write something completely outside of your norm. For example, I just finished working on a short article called "Blonde on Steroids" reflecting the ditzy stuff I seem to be doing more of now that I'm getting gray hair.

~ Set a minimum daily word requirement. One that isn't too scary. Say, 100 words. That's equivelent to a paragraph. You'll probably do way more.

~ Set a timer. Fifteen minutes. Go with some freestyle thoughts. Indulge. Don't worry if it isn't worth keeping. Usually fifteen minutes is what it takes to really get in the groove.

~ Change your surroundings. Of course, it's easier to do this with a laptop, but no one said you couldn't take a notepad and pen to a favorite spot.

~ Go back and read what you've written. This is especially important if you tend to write by the seat of your pants (a pantser) as opposed to a detailed plotter.

~ Light a candle on your desk--or something else that can become a trigger for you to open your work-in-progess and bichok.

~ Read something. A writing mag usually creates a huge need in me to get to it.
~ Write when you first wake up in the morning, before life kicks in.

~ Take a walk and think about what horrible thing you can do to your characters you hadn't considered before.

Yesterday I ordered the Writer's Mind CD based on a review I read on Absolute Write. The theory is listening to this CD can increase my mind's performance by fiddling with my brainwaves through audio technology. Hmmm . . . I'll let you know.

"I write when I'm inspired, and I see to it that I'm inspired at nine o'clock every morning." - Peter De Vries

It's all better with friends.