Writing is like playing a game show.
When I was growing up I remember my mom watching the Price Is Right or Jeopardy or even Wheel of Fortune. I always was curious when you had to pick a prize behind one of three doors what the other prizes were. Typically though, if you picked door number three you would get to see what you missed out on and what was behind doors one and two.
Writing can often feel as if you are picking the prize behind generic door number three but never getting to see what was behind doors number one and two. There are so many decisions that run through a writers head as the words fall upon the page. These decisions can be instantaneous or they can be plotted out and deliberate. When you write these decisions that by the end of a chapter or the story could have an impact on the outcome or the vision of the story. Behind door number three you get a character with long dark hair, tall and smart. You get a trip to Romania and DC and you get the storyline of being haunted by memories. Yet, what if my story were set in Germany in 1962 or the character was illiterate or the family were open and friendly and close versus sinister and manipulative. What if my main character were a male who played sports or was fat and sat in front of the TV all day or a grandmother or a child....these choices are endless. Often, these may be the choices behind door number two.
When you watched those game shows they never let you change your mind AFTER you selected and saw what was behind door number three. You had to stick with your decision. This is not uncommon with writing. Your story may change from your initial outline but as the story flows you are making decisions to keep everything moving. When editing you can remove a minor character but that is again another decision. In truth, as you are writing you have to commit to your main characters and locations. This allows you to form relationships with your characters to the point that they appear real to you. If a character feels real to you then the chances are better they will feel real to the reader. This could also mean that you may have to do a little research to add in landmarks on your locations but it will seem as if you were really there. Behind door number three is a fantastical trip to a far off land and yet you never have to leave your seat and you computer. You don't have to pack anything but your imagination.
That does in no manner negate all the work that goes into your story. In fact, if you think of that same game show format you will recall that you can't pick the ultimate prize without making it through the maze to the end of the game. Every chapter and progression is getting you to the final scene and so what is behind door number three...maybe a completed, finished work and there standing behind my door number three may be a publisher. Or, I can pick door number two and learn that I want to self-publish. Or, I can go with door number one and become a crazy lady with ten cats who dies and they find piles of manuscripts locked in a safe with my will that leaves everything to my cats... Writing is like playing a game show and selecting a prize door all the way through. The important part is committing to your decision and your story and whichever door you select there will be a prize because of your accomplishment of a finished novel.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Read...Learn...Create. Thank You Maya Angelou!
Many who know me intimately know that Maeve Binchy was one of my favorite authors growing up. I have a few favorite childhood authors in fact because in my household reading was the foremost pastime. To name a few there was L.M. Montgomery, Beverly Cleary, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Julie Campbell Tatham and the list could go on and on. As I got older I discovered different genres like crime and mystery and couldn't get enough of Patricia Cornwell, John Grisham or James Patterson.
However, in honor of my father on this most recent father's day I must credit him with introducing me to so much more. I usually list my three most cherished memories of my father as riding our bikes all around town, listening and learning to appreciate the Beatles and my love of baseball. Yet, when I think of my Dad I also recall literature, not just books but classic literature. I credit him with introducing me to a literature that is considered classical and such authors as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Shakespeare (of course), Mark Twain, and again I could go on and on.
He may not have realized at the time what introducing his like minded daughter to such classics would do. It opened my thinking of language. It expanded my world of expression and enriched my abilities of discourse beyond a teenager's slang. It also opened my thinking so that I could imagine those worlds that do not exist anymore but held a romanticism that I did not find in my own. Reading those classic stories, that still touch people today, influenced so much of how I learned to love words and discover my passion of writing. It opened my mind to poetry and rhythm of words, fiction that held characters still so real hundred years after pen to paper materialized them for the readers, and locations that became characters in their own right.
As a result of my father's influence, by the time I got to college I discovered so many other writers like Langston Hughes, Margaret Atwood, Allen Ginsberg and of course Maya Angelou. When Maeve Binchy passed away last July I was so saddened. I felt that I had lost a friend I had never met. All the characters she introduced me to and the idea of Ireland she portrayed seemed as if it had a dark shroud of mourning placed over it. This year Maya Angelou passed away and I again felt that same sadness. In many respects she was one of the biggest influences when I thought of being a writer. Her words of inspiration having touched so many people around the world was undeniable but it was her life that influenced me.
Often we have dreams that seem so epic and large that to really reach for them we instead become our own barrier. I have always wanted to write more than short stories and poems and start my own fiction novel. Yet, the dream became so large and mixed with my own internal doubts, it was as if I built a boulder that I could not lift or move that blocked my path. Then, I watched a simple interview of Maya Angelou one afternoon. She talked of her simple upbringing and yet her passion for writing . She spoke of the influences in her life and the trials she went through which she used to then share with the world what she learned and how she overcame each to reach happiness. A happiness that was discovered through writing and a passion for writing that was endless. It was as if she always had the stories inside of her knocking at the door of her mind but until she let go of some of her fears she could not unlock the door to let those stories out and put them on paper. In the end, it was the fears that held her back that also pushed her forward.
In honor of Maya Angelou and her influence on me I have found some of her most inspirational quotes about writing:
What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks “the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat.” And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, “Okay. Okay. I’ll come.”
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
Making a decision to write was a lot like deciding to jump into a frozen lake.
Talent is like electricity. We don’t understand electricity. We use it.
Tell the truth and not the facts.
The writer has to take the most used, most familiar objects—nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs—ball them together and make them bounce, turn them a certain way and make people get into a romantic mood; and another way, into a bellicose mood. I'm most happy to be a writer.
I see a yellow pad, and my knees get weak, and I salivate.
Poetry is the strongest language we have.
And of course my favorite quote that I have never forgotten once I read it:
A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.
If I had to give anyone advice about writing it would be to first be a reader. Discover different authors and genres and formats. Try to emulate and then try to create. First learn as a spectator and then discover your own voice, words and story and you will stand out on your own. It took me a long time to get over my own fear of starting to write a novel. In that time though I was learning and reading and discovering. Once I was ready it was because of the influence and passion I could no longer deny to finally write my own novel. This in turn has led to an outpouring of ideas and creations to follow this first book. So if you are a writer...read and learn, then go out and create. The stories are inside of you just waiting to fall upon the page. As Maya Angelou taught us..."A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song." Unlock your song, or story, and let it sing.
However, in honor of my father on this most recent father's day I must credit him with introducing me to so much more. I usually list my three most cherished memories of my father as riding our bikes all around town, listening and learning to appreciate the Beatles and my love of baseball. Yet, when I think of my Dad I also recall literature, not just books but classic literature. I credit him with introducing me to a literature that is considered classical and such authors as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Shakespeare (of course), Mark Twain, and again I could go on and on.
He may not have realized at the time what introducing his like minded daughter to such classics would do. It opened my thinking of language. It expanded my world of expression and enriched my abilities of discourse beyond a teenager's slang. It also opened my thinking so that I could imagine those worlds that do not exist anymore but held a romanticism that I did not find in my own. Reading those classic stories, that still touch people today, influenced so much of how I learned to love words and discover my passion of writing. It opened my mind to poetry and rhythm of words, fiction that held characters still so real hundred years after pen to paper materialized them for the readers, and locations that became characters in their own right.
As a result of my father's influence, by the time I got to college I discovered so many other writers like Langston Hughes, Margaret Atwood, Allen Ginsberg and of course Maya Angelou. When Maeve Binchy passed away last July I was so saddened. I felt that I had lost a friend I had never met. All the characters she introduced me to and the idea of Ireland she portrayed seemed as if it had a dark shroud of mourning placed over it. This year Maya Angelou passed away and I again felt that same sadness. In many respects she was one of the biggest influences when I thought of being a writer. Her words of inspiration having touched so many people around the world was undeniable but it was her life that influenced me.
Often we have dreams that seem so epic and large that to really reach for them we instead become our own barrier. I have always wanted to write more than short stories and poems and start my own fiction novel. Yet, the dream became so large and mixed with my own internal doubts, it was as if I built a boulder that I could not lift or move that blocked my path. Then, I watched a simple interview of Maya Angelou one afternoon. She talked of her simple upbringing and yet her passion for writing . She spoke of the influences in her life and the trials she went through which she used to then share with the world what she learned and how she overcame each to reach happiness. A happiness that was discovered through writing and a passion for writing that was endless. It was as if she always had the stories inside of her knocking at the door of her mind but until she let go of some of her fears she could not unlock the door to let those stories out and put them on paper. In the end, it was the fears that held her back that also pushed her forward.
In honor of Maya Angelou and her influence on me I have found some of her most inspirational quotes about writing:
What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks “the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat.” And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, “Okay. Okay. I’ll come.”
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
Making a decision to write was a lot like deciding to jump into a frozen lake.
Talent is like electricity. We don’t understand electricity. We use it.
Tell the truth and not the facts.
The writer has to take the most used, most familiar objects—nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs—ball them together and make them bounce, turn them a certain way and make people get into a romantic mood; and another way, into a bellicose mood. I'm most happy to be a writer.
I see a yellow pad, and my knees get weak, and I salivate.
Poetry is the strongest language we have.
And of course my favorite quote that I have never forgotten once I read it:
A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.
If I had to give anyone advice about writing it would be to first be a reader. Discover different authors and genres and formats. Try to emulate and then try to create. First learn as a spectator and then discover your own voice, words and story and you will stand out on your own. It took me a long time to get over my own fear of starting to write a novel. In that time though I was learning and reading and discovering. Once I was ready it was because of the influence and passion I could no longer deny to finally write my own novel. This in turn has led to an outpouring of ideas and creations to follow this first book. So if you are a writer...read and learn, then go out and create. The stories are inside of you just waiting to fall upon the page. As Maya Angelou taught us..."A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song." Unlock your song, or story, and let it sing.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Long Live Words!
As Ernest Hemingway said, "Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure only death can stop it. "
Words. I want to discuss words. Obviously to a writer words are important but I was recently reminded by someone how important words are to me. Ironically, it was due to an argument with an individual who did not believe words were important. As a note of advice to anyone, telling a writer words are not important is like flashing a juicy, red steak to a rabid dog.
I credit musicians with the ability to make people feel through the sounds and music they produce and though a listener may not necessarily understand the notes on the page in front of the musician they can feel emotions such as sadness, happiness, anger, calm, peace, energy. Any number of feelings can be produced by the song they are hearing and it may be a feeling unique to them triggered by a memory or a shared love of a group enjoying the energy.
I credit painters and sculptures and artists of all kinds. The ability to produce an image or shape a piece can move people, make them question, make them give thought and reaction. The viewer may not fully understand the detail and the work that went into the piece of art. They may not understand the techniques used or the artist's motivations. Yet the viewer can be so moved visually, stimulated by sight over an image or sculpture or dance that they can have a physical reaction.
On the other hand, a writer and reader have a symbiotic relationship. The reader needs to understand what the writer is saying through the words. A writer is compelled to express what they are feeling or thinking in those same words. The difference between the writer and reader may be how those words are interpreted but the words are the foundation for both. It is a relationship that ties writer to reader.
I have always been a logophile, which means word lover, and even more a sesquipedalian, a lover of long words. I have often been known to just pick up the dictionary and open it to any page and read the reads until I find one I do not know just to learn a new word. When I left 8th grade my school had a graduation type ceremony and my parents gifted me a red dictionary and a yellow thesaurus. Those are, to this day, books that go with me wherever I live, those and my large anthology of the Complete Works of Shakespeare.
So in response to the individual who tried to say that words are not important but that it was the underlying, hidden meaning that was important, my response is that I respectively but emphatically disagree. Words are like a house. Words are the foundation and the hidden underlying meaning is the interior design. You can not have the inside of a house without a foundation. You can not arrive at a thought or underlying meaning without words.
Words have roots but no boundaries. Words can start wars or end wars. They are a weapon that can kill and heal. They can excite and arouse, anger and abase, elate and sadden, describe, encourage, discourage, create images and fantasy, express love, express hate. They can sooth and caress and teach and entertain. There is no boundaries to how words fit into our lives. Words do not need sound, which if you want someone do sign language can be beautiful, but those signs are based on words. They are symbols and warnings and messages and creations.
Words not important. Ha! In this debate I can not side with that opinion. In fact, I recommend everyone at least once a week open their dictionaries and learn a new word. Go to the library and just stop in front of a book, open to any page and seek a word you may not recognize. The root of words is historical, the boundaries of what words can do endless and the hold it has on each and every one of us is tight. Words do matter. They will live to fight another day and in another way. Long live words!
Words. I want to discuss words. Obviously to a writer words are important but I was recently reminded by someone how important words are to me. Ironically, it was due to an argument with an individual who did not believe words were important. As a note of advice to anyone, telling a writer words are not important is like flashing a juicy, red steak to a rabid dog.
I credit musicians with the ability to make people feel through the sounds and music they produce and though a listener may not necessarily understand the notes on the page in front of the musician they can feel emotions such as sadness, happiness, anger, calm, peace, energy. Any number of feelings can be produced by the song they are hearing and it may be a feeling unique to them triggered by a memory or a shared love of a group enjoying the energy.
I credit painters and sculptures and artists of all kinds. The ability to produce an image or shape a piece can move people, make them question, make them give thought and reaction. The viewer may not fully understand the detail and the work that went into the piece of art. They may not understand the techniques used or the artist's motivations. Yet the viewer can be so moved visually, stimulated by sight over an image or sculpture or dance that they can have a physical reaction.
On the other hand, a writer and reader have a symbiotic relationship. The reader needs to understand what the writer is saying through the words. A writer is compelled to express what they are feeling or thinking in those same words. The difference between the writer and reader may be how those words are interpreted but the words are the foundation for both. It is a relationship that ties writer to reader.
I have always been a logophile, which means word lover, and even more a sesquipedalian, a lover of long words. I have often been known to just pick up the dictionary and open it to any page and read the reads until I find one I do not know just to learn a new word. When I left 8th grade my school had a graduation type ceremony and my parents gifted me a red dictionary and a yellow thesaurus. Those are, to this day, books that go with me wherever I live, those and my large anthology of the Complete Works of Shakespeare.
So in response to the individual who tried to say that words are not important but that it was the underlying, hidden meaning that was important, my response is that I respectively but emphatically disagree. Words are like a house. Words are the foundation and the hidden underlying meaning is the interior design. You can not have the inside of a house without a foundation. You can not arrive at a thought or underlying meaning without words.
Words have roots but no boundaries. Words can start wars or end wars. They are a weapon that can kill and heal. They can excite and arouse, anger and abase, elate and sadden, describe, encourage, discourage, create images and fantasy, express love, express hate. They can sooth and caress and teach and entertain. There is no boundaries to how words fit into our lives. Words do not need sound, which if you want someone do sign language can be beautiful, but those signs are based on words. They are symbols and warnings and messages and creations.
Words not important. Ha! In this debate I can not side with that opinion. In fact, I recommend everyone at least once a week open their dictionaries and learn a new word. Go to the library and just stop in front of a book, open to any page and seek a word you may not recognize. The root of words is historical, the boundaries of what words can do endless and the hold it has on each and every one of us is tight. Words do matter. They will live to fight another day and in another way. Long live words!
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