Off Like a Herd of Speeding Turtles plus June #writemotivation update

Yes, that is how June has started. Despite my desire to move faster, I am being lapped by turtles...specifically the turtles resting on the on in the picture above. I would be more frustrated except that I know that other authors out there have the same problem. It happens. You get over it, you move on.

My goal for May was to finish my WIP. This didn't happen. However, in my defense, I was writing a short story for my Creative Writing class that I ultimately submitted to the college literary journal. Feedback from various writerly friends and students from my class was really positive. So, we'll wait...and wait...and wait...and maybe hear back.

On other good news, poetry.com has risen from the dead. Spent some time on there and it looks really nice. I finally found my old poems that I posted on there. I've included links in my Publications and WIPs page. Check them out and leave me a comment if you want.

Also on that page, you'll see that I have retired "The Forgotten Arch". I did that because I was incorporating it into WIP#1 and have decided to alter it significantly to fit better into the plot (and because I have some ideas to make it sound cooler).

So, my goal for June? Well, I would like to finish the first draft of WIP#1 so I can get it out to Crit/Betas for review. Almost done, but like I said, I'm running a little slow right now. So, we'll see what happens. June isn't a #writemotivation check-in month, but I'll still be posting updates via Twitter and this blog. I also plan on cheering for all of my writer friends out there in the Tweet-verse. You guys are an inspiration and a joy to talk to.

'Till next time.

That was easy...ok, maybe not and #writemotivation update

I actually have an easy button, it is supposed to make things easier. Isn't that what the commercials say? If only that were true...but I digress...I think.

Anyway, May has not been going as planned, but most plans don't. By the end of April I was supposed to have reached the 40K mark on my WIP. I hit that mark a couple days ago. By the end of May, I was supposed to be finished with draft one. Yeah, um...not gonna happen.  But you know what? It doesn't matter.  The important thing is that I'm working on it. I'm in the middle of ch. 17 and have 24 planned. I've already reworked the first 3 chapters in my head. Once I've finished draft one, I plan on printing it off and then going through with a pen and writing down notes, etc. that I have gotten from betas, or have popped into my head. Anyway, the beginning of the end is near.

#writemotivation update
1) Finish WIP -- I'm currently on ch. 17 of 24. I'll be close, but I don't think it's gonna happen.
2) Cheer on my #writemotivation tweeps -- struggled a little with this, but getting back into it.
3) Blog once a week -- Yup, almost didn't this week, but made myself do it.

That's all I have for today.

'Till next time.

I Write, There for I am...

A writer...see, I said it. I am a writer. Am I published? No, but that doesn't stop me from claiming that title as mine. Why? Because. I. Write. Simple as that.

This all started Easter when we were visiting my in-laws.  I was talking to my father-in-law about how I was connecting with other writers on Twitter and some of the amazing people I've met as a result.  He stopped me as soon as I said "a bunch of us writers".

"How can you call yourself a writer?" he asked. "You aren't even published yet."
My response was, "I write. Therefore, I am a writer. I may not be published (yet!) but that doesn't mean I'm not a writer."

I wasn't mad when he asked me that question. It was an honest question. And to be quiet frank, a part of me thought the same thing for a long time. Of course, that was before I met some really amazing writers (both published and unpublished).

It's interesting that people make assumptions about you based on a label. If you tell someone, "I'm a writer," they immediately assume that a) you are published and b) you are good at coming up with written things on the spur of the moment. Both of these are false assumptions. Just because I'm a writer, doesn't mean I can whip out something meaningful on demand. It doesn't work that way. If you are a writer, you know this. Just because I'm a writer, doesn't mean I'm published. It doesn't even mean that I'm a good writer. I just have a passion for writing that supersedes most other things.

This last Saturday (April 14th), there was a meeting of the local writers group. I've mentioned them before. All wonderful people. Some published, others almost, and some like me, not yet. It was a small group this time because of the impending storm-pocalypse that they were predicting (which ended up hitting every where else, but where we were) and other things like life and illness.

Anyway, I was talking with the very talented Tessa Gratton (yes, I'm name dropping!). If you haven't read her debut book, Blood Magic, then you need to. It's awesome. Her second one, Blood Keeper (which has a wicked cover) comes out in August.  So, we were all talking and my brain was still melty from my downward spiral (mentioned in my last post). I can't remember what I said, but it was along the lines of me not being as cool as her because she was published and I was only 30,000 words into my first novel.  Her response was immediate.

"Don't self-deprecate."

In other words, don't put yourself down because you aren't as far along the path as other people.

And since, I've decided to spruce up my blog with random things, here is a video I did of me raising one eyebrow...why? Because I can. :-p

'Till next time!

P.S. I am waaaay behind on my #writemovation goal of 20K words on WIP. We'll see how the rest of the month goes. Now that my brain isn't melty, I should be able to make some progress. :D

Poetic Form Examples

In a previous post, I defined 2 poetic forms of geeky inspiration. I created them for my creative writing class. Unfortunately, I was too obsessed with writing WIP#1 to actually write down examples. My teacher even commented on that fact, so I decided to make up for my failings and write the examples.

Here is the first one.

Icarus (Piece of Pie Form)
How would you
Steal
The sun from the sky?
Its
Burning orb searing my flesh
Falling from grace to shatter against stones and earth.

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The second one was significantly harder. I will admit that I cheated, however I did get all of the requirements in. I will explain why I stayed true to the form and at the same time, cheated.

Dreaming the Impossible (Towel Form)

If I could fly
Through space,
Fleeing the confining sky.
Keeping pace
Fleeing suns on high.
They race
Breasts swelling with pride.
Their faces
Red from keeping stride.
They grace
Us before they die.
Streaming displaced
Atoms they scream by.
We retrace,
As we vainly try,
To replace
The silent night denied
We embrace
Those things we deny
Icons defaced
Ne’er asking us why.
Worst-case
Scenarios our final goodbye.
Lives erased
With a final sigh.
The birthplace
Of wishes we rely.
Souls interlaced
In the arena vie
Keeping apace
Of Hell’s reach imply
That anyplace
Be a willing ally.
Death commonplace
While others do standby
Hateful menace
In their wicked eyes.
Flee hyperspace
And other words scifi
Don’t misplace
The Infinite Improbability Drive
9 x 6 = 42

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There are 42 lines.  I know, I counted them.  However, I also cheated.  The last words were supposed to be "Infinite Improbability Drive", and they are.  Unfortunately, they way I wrote it, I only had 41 lines. So, I cheated. 9 x 6 = 42 is an equation, it is not technically text.  So, not only did I write the poem, but I also completed all optional and improbable challenges.

You could argue with me, but you would be wrong. :-p

'Till next time.

Zombie Sestina

I don't like sestinas. I honestly don't like them. It's not that they are bad, I'm just not a big fan of them. I don't like reading them and I'm not a huge fan at writing them either. However, I had to write one for class. So I started thinking. I needed a theme, something to focus on. I was floundering, then I saw this post by the lovely, and talented, Natalie Parker. Suddenly, I had an idea...an awesome, evil, zombie idea. So, Natalie, this one is for you.

Zombie Sestina


The government wants to hide the fact there are zombies.
Did you know that they eat brains?
It starts as a virus.
And it infects your blood.
The best way to kill them is to use a gun.
If you’re out of ammo, you should be running.

If you are out running,
You better watch out for zombies.
They’ll be gun-
ing for you because they like brains.
They can also smell warm blood.
If they scratch you, you’ll get the virus.

If you see someone infected with the virus
Your best bet is to start running--
They’ll soon be out for your blood,
Trying to turn everyone into zombies
That want to eat your brains
Hope you didn’t lose your gun!

You have to know where to aim your gun
The virus
Lives in their brains
It keeps their bodies running,
Turning the dead into zombies
Who love the taste of blood.

Did you know there is no blood
When you shoot them with a gun?
I mean the zombies!
Did you know the military developed the virus?
So stop running
And blow out their brains!

I told you about their brains
Right? That there is no blood?
We need to find a safe-house so we can stop running,
Maybe find some ammo for your gun.
Stupid virus!
Damn zombies!

The zombie’s brains hold the virus that infects your blood. Grab your gun and start running.

Poetic Forms and #writemotivation update

This week is spring break, so I won't be attending class.  It's funny, but when I was in college the first time, I couldn't wait for spring break.  Now that I am in this creative writing class, I can't wait for spring break to get over. Partially, I want to see my teacher's comments on one of my assignments.  If they are good, which I expect them to be (he's liked most of what I have done so far), I plan on using it as a basis for my final short story project.  I'm also partially wanting to get back to class.  Its been fun and I want to take more classes like this.

One of the assignments that I need to get done before the next class is to create my own form (poetic or prose).  From what he showed us from last year, they can get pretty crazy.  There were all theoretically possible to do.  I've got a couple weird ones that I am probably going to turn in...and yes, I will share them here...now.

Piece of Pie Form (Poetic form)

1. The poem must be 6 lines long
2. Must be in this form:
• 1st line: 3 words
• 2nd line: 1 word
• 3rd line: 4 words
• 4th line: 1 word
• 5th line: 5 words
• 6th line: 9 words
3. There can be no repeated rhythms, phrases, or rhyming.
4. Optional challenge: Don't repeat a word in consecutive lines

Towel Form (Poetic form)

1. Poem must be 42 lines long
2. First line must be 4 words, 2nd line: 2 words.  Alternate the 4 words/2 words pattern until the end
3. The last 3 words of the poem must be "Infinity Improbability Drive"
4. The poem cannot make reference to any book by Douglas Adams (excepting the last 3 words)
5. Optional challenge: Every 4 word line must rhyme, Every 2 word line must rhyme
6. Optional challenge: Include the word "towel" 4 times and the word "mice" 2 times
7. Improbable Challenge: Multiply 9 x 6

Ok, #7 is a joke, but I had to add it.  These should be possible to write.  I will have some poems written in this form by the time classes resume (I hope!).

Now on to my #writemotivation update:

1. Finish ch. 4 and start ch. 5: Um, yeah. I'm up to ch. 8 now (need to revise my goal!)
2. Blog at least once a week: Yup!
3. Write 30 minutes every day: Done (and then some!). There were a couple days where I wasn't actually typing, but I did get some stuff plotted out and figured for WIP#1
4. Cheer on everyone else: Definitely! It's one of my favorite things!
5. Not get distracted by WIP#2: He's still lurking in there, but he's been really quiet so far. I think he's decided to be a good boy for the time being.

'Till next time!

Five Easy Pieces

I normally write these on Tuesdays after class, however, I had two posts on that Monday (#1 and #2) and didn't want to overload my loyal friends and followers with a third one on Tuesday. Also, the teacher didn't return our work from the previous week. Anyway, we did some really interesting in-class writing that I wanted to share with you. The topic was "insight" and how we as writers can express it without sounding pretentious and annoying.

The teacher handed us a photographed page from a book. I'm not sure what book it came from, but the title of the article was "Five Easy Pieces" by Richard Jackson. In it, the author lists five things to use to formulate a scene (poetry or prose). You start with a person (real or imagined) and a place where you might find that person, then follow the steps below. Try this on your own, you might be surprised at the results. Give yourself 15 minutes and then stop. What I came up with follows.

1. Describe the person's hands.
2. Describe something he or she is doing with their hands.
3. Use a metaphor to say something about some exotic place.
4. Mention what you would want to ask this person in the context of 2 and 3, above.
5. The person looks up or toward you, notices you there, and gives and answer that suggest he or she only gets part of what you asked.

Choreography

by M. Andrew Patterson

His hands were smooth

Never having labored over a hot stove in July

The grease burning and searing the skin

The charcoal embedding under your nails.

His pencil twitched a rapid staccato

As his hand moved it smoothly over the page

A ballerina in graphite

Dancing through Elysian fields

A swan over stormy seas.

"What do you think?" I ask it. I dread it

A pause -- A dip

The dancing done.

"Tuesday would be a good time, you think?" 

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The next in-class writing assignment was to take an ordinary kitchen appliance or utensil and write about it from a different perspective. We had to write it in 8-9 sentences and we had to avoid describing it to obviously. We had to be creative. We had 10 minutes.

Kitchen Appliance in 8 Sentences

by M. Andrew Patterson

Oh you conveyor of mana. That heavenly nectar that raises us from our slumber. We imbibe on your holy blood. Your divine vessel filled with riches. It stains our lips and tongue. It marks us with its earth-bound scent. Warily we dare not spill it for its kiss will surely burn us. Oh, how we worship you.

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'Till next time.

An Argument Between Equals

This, impossible, exercise was asked of me as one of my assignments for my writing class. We had to write an argument between equals. The catch? We couldn't use anything but dialog. No descriptions, no "he said's" or "she explained's", just pure dialog. It was "interesting", but ultimately, an impossibility. Why? Because arguments are never between equals. One person will always have the up. If they don't, then eventually, one person will leave or something will interfere and force a resolution. It's human nature. We don't like conflict. However, if you want to see a pure argument between equals, then you should check out the AI vs. AI video. It's funny, and weird.

Anyway, I think I did an "ok" job with mine. The only issue I had was that I kept using "he said" and "he replied" etc.  Oh well, this version won't have it.

Bedtime

“Zachary, time to get ready for bed.”
“I’m just trying to fix this thing.”
“Zachary. You need to stop what you are doing and get ready for bed.”
“I’m just trying to fix this THING!”
“I realize that Zachary, but I TOLD you to get ready for bed.”
“Just a minute, I’m just trying to fix this THING, Dad. You never let me finish.”
“You need to STOP what you are doing and get ready for BED!”
“NO!”
“What?!”
“I HATE YOU!”
“I don’t care if you hate me. You still have to get READY FOR BED!”
"No! I don't want to!"
"Well, that's just too bad. I'm the dad and I make the rules. Get ready for bed!"
"Well, when I'm the dad, I'm going to make the rules and then you'll have to get ready for bed!"
“That’s nice. Now go brush your teeth.”
“I don’t have my PJs on yet!”
“What?! What have you been doing this whole time?”
“I’ve been trying to finish my Lego thing!”
“I told you to get your PJs on! Not mess around with your Legos!”
“But my Legos keep falling apart, and I it won’t work and I need to get it fixed. Then I can go to bed.”
“I don’t care. I told you to do something. Now DO IT!”
“No!”
“OW! Did you just bite me?! You get back here right now. Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m leaving this house! I’m going to go somewhere else, ‘cuz I don’t like you! You’re being mean to me and won’t let me fix my Legos.”
“Oh really. Well, it’s dark outside and it’s cold. Where are you going to go?”
“I’m going to Sarah’s house. I’m gonna live there with her and you can’t come and visit me!”
“Zachary, you take your coat and shoes off and go to your room until you can calm down.”
“FINE!”
"Don’t…slam the door.”

Writing Image Transitions

This is yet another class assignment. The assignment involved transitioning from summary images to detailed images. It was a fun assignment.

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Stranded

Sebastian shaded his eyes from the blinding sun as he stared across the beach. The blazing, white sand was littered with the dark corpses of the unfortunate ship. As he looked out to sea, Sebastian could see the tide bringing more remains to the shore. The cool breeze blowing from offshore brought the familiar scent of brine and seawater. With that familiar and comforting scent, was the smell of smoke and death.

Sebastian gritted his teeth, wiped his salt crusted eyes, and headed back down to the beach. The day had just begun and there was plenty of work to do. The salvage would be floating in for the next couple hours and he needed to gather as much as he could before the tide changed.

He picked his way across the littered beach. He stopped every so often to inspect a piece of wreckage or body, looking for anything of value. The bodies of the unfortunate crew, he drug into a pile. He carefully removed items of value, a belt here, a pair of shoes there. It was a gruesome task, but necessary. They had no need of it anymore. He on the other hand, needed as much as possible if he were to survive.

He worked as fast as he could to move as much of the wreckage up past the tide line, sorting as he went. By the end of the day, the once littered beach was cleared and the random jumble of debris was replaced with piles of wreckage. The middle of the beach was dominated by a large pyre. Sebastian rested under a tree and watched it burn as the sun set.

It had been a long day. Tomorrow would be just as long. Tools needed to be fashioned. His meager shelter needed to be reinforced to weather the storms that plagued the area. Food and adequate water were also a necessity. He didn’t know how long he would be stranded there.

He slowly rose from his perch, his body aching from the exertion. He saluted his former crew-mates and made the short trek to his shelter. The smell of burning permeated the air as he huddled under the shelter he had fashioned from a piece of sail and two trees. It wasn’t much, but it would keep the elements off of him for the night. He took a sparing drink from the water barrel that had saved his life, turned over, and let the exhaustion of the day pull him into sleep.
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'Till next time

Antivirus, a story

This was one of my class assignments that I just turned in. Unlike previous assignments, I had to write something devoid of all images. This is harder than it sounds. My wife suggested that I try writing something stream of conscious. At the time, I couldn't come up with anything that didn't evoke some form of imagery. An hour before class I had a brilliant flash of inspiration. I have a friend to thank for that because the evening before I was working on her virus infected computer. The story is in no way a reflection of the reality that I experienced, but if you've ever been hit with a virus, or had to fix a computer that was infected, you should appreciate this.  This flew out of my head in a record 20 minutes.

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Antivirus

Stupid virus! Why can’t you just go away like a good little virus? But no, you want to lurk inside my operating system, insidiously infecting my files until there is nothing left but garbage. Dammit! Now you’ve shut down my antivirus! It’s not like I paid $39.95 for that thing! What waste of money! Couldn’t stop a flea with a head-cold!

Now, let’s see. Google don’t fail me now. How do I get rid of this thing? Come on, give me something good. Penis enlargement!? Not what I was looking for! Ok, let’s try this site. Um, maybe we’ll just close that site down. Yeah, don’t want to look at that image ever again. Why are all my searches taking me to porn? Curse you virus! Now I will NEVER get THAT image out of my head. Thanks a whole freaking lot!

Great, now I can’t search for anything without pulling up sites that I would rather never see again. Ok, virus, maybe this anti-what-sit-callit program will work. Yeah, it works! Damn, never mind. Come on brain, think. What do I have left that this thing can’t kill? There has got to be some Holy Grail, Hail Mary, full of grace program out there. Oh, wait! I can’t search the internet without getting results that could be used against me in a court of law. NEVER MIND!

Ok, calm down. There has to be a solution. Don’t make me wipe the hard-drive. Please! It will take days to reinstall and reconfigure everything. Not to mention I’ll have to find the restoration discs, backup EVERYTHING, and then start from scratch. Arrgh! You insidious bastard!

You know what? Fine. You want to play hard-ball? Well guess what, eat restoration disc sucker! Let’s see, just pop the disc in, reboot the computer and here we go. Yes! Houston, we have lift-off! Ok, now. Yes, I want to reformat the hard-drive and reinstall the operating system. Yes, I’m absolutely sure. Yes, it will delete…wait a minute! Oh crap! I forgot to back up everything! NO! Stop it! Don’t continue! Quit! Quit! Abort! No!

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 'Till next time.

Writing Images

This weeks assignments revolved around images.  The phrase that keeps being said is, "show, don't tell."  As cliche as that might be, it is actually a really good way at looking at it.  Simply put, show how the picture is moving, don't tell, or summarize, what is happening.  The gives your images a feeling of motion whereas a summary is just a static picture.  Here is an analogy.  A static image, a.k.a summary, is like a family photo.  It's nice, people look good, but you aren't going to spend the day picking out details.  A picture of a football player diving for a one handed catch with his toes just inside the goal line is the equivalent to "showing" an image.  It isn't easy to do, without some practice, but it is very important if you want to be a good writer.

So, one of the in class exercises we did was to go up the hall, look at the student art that was on display, and then write a poem on it.  We had 30 minutes.  There was some good art, some ok art, and then some really weird art (I actually saw a sculpture of a giant set of teeth...it was weird...nothing else, just teeth.  One of them was gold).  Anyway, I kept getting snagged by this charcoal picture of this girls face.  The only color were her green eyes.  They were almost a turquoise.  I've seen a lot of photos done like this (with photoshop).  The affect, if done right, is very dramatic.  Anyway, I wrote the poem.  After we wrote it, he then made us condense it into a Haiku-esque form.  Haiku being a very loose translation of what we did.  Anyway, here is the poem (unedited) and the two "Haikus" that I wrote.

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Eyes
Your eyes,
they capture me
and tear me asunder.
You watch,
but it is not me
that your vacant eyes follow.
Someone else
that is speared by your gaze.
I beg them to see me,
to burn me with their beauty.
Yet I stand here,
--cold and alone.

Eyes Haiku 1
Vacant eyes
A far-away stare
Leaves me wanting

Eyes Haiku 2
Laughing eyes
They watch another
I am invisible
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So, there you have it.  The rest of class involved something called "story cubes".  Essentially, they are a set of dice that have pictures on them.  You roll several of them and then construct a story using those images.  If you get an image more than once, you have to use it more than once.  You also have to pick one of the images and have it as your title, which of course, the story cannot be about.  I'll spare you the gory details of how horrendous my cube story was.  When you have 2 aliens, 2 houses, a lightning bolt, a question mark, a speech bubble, a cellphone, a key, and a shooting star, you are not going to have literary genius.  To make matters worse, we had to roll the dice once more, pick an image, and change the whole context of the story.  I rolled a die, a pyramid, and a book.  Yeah, it was as bad as you are probably imagining.  It was fun, but very hard to do on the spur of the moment.  I think I will have to get a set and start practicing.

Till next time.

Writing with Energy

Since I just sent my blog link to my professor, I will start by saying how much I really really really enjoy my creative writing class. Notice I said this with a straight face and without a hint of sarcasm. If you know me personally, you'll realize what an accomplishment that was.

Seriously, it is a fun class. I'm learning a lot. The textbook is really interesting to read.  It is also fascinating to sit and listen to other people talk about what you have written. It was hard not to say anything. Not because I disagreed with what they were saying, but rather, I wanted to join into fun of the discussion. As a novice writer, this kind of feedback is really helpful.

Anyway, one of the assignments we had was to write a 250 word short story that involved a minimum of two characters in a conflict situation. So here is the story. I've removed the last sentence as per a suggestion from my professor...I'll tell you what it is afterwards so you can see what I mean. The only "negative" comment was that the way I ended the story meant that there was no more. I admit, it was a fairly final ending. Mostly, I was trying to hit the 250 word mark and I'll be honest, I like an ending that hits "below the belt". Happy endings are easy, endings that leave you going "ouch" are harder.

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The Stairwell

Sam pulled on Gary's arm, "Come on Gary. The stairs are this way." Gary mumbled a response as he staggered after his friend, his hand pressed to the wound on his head.

Sam gingerly picked his way through the debris field that used to be their office. He could see shapes moving in the flickering gloom. Voices calling out to each other as the survivors searched for friends and coworkers. Sam tried to not look down at the still forms trapped in the rubble. He wanted to stop and help, but he could feel the floor shifting as the remaining supports groaned under the extra weight. There wasn’t enough time.  They had to reach the stairwell. The stairwell was their salvation.

Gary tripped and went down. It wasn’t the first time. Sam struggled to help his friend stand. "Should have cut down on the burritos, Gary," Sam said lamely. Gary said nothing, just leaned against him, panting, eyes unfocused. "Seriously, Alice will kill me if I don't get you out of this. Just a few more steps and we'll be home free."

The shriek of tortured metal filled the air and the floor tilted alarmingly. Survivors screamed in panic as they lost their footing. Voices were cut off abruptly as heavy office furniture shifted. Sam staggered the last few steps and wrenched the door open.
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Originally, the very last sentence was "His shout of triumph consumed by the raging fires below." I'll admit, that is a really harsh ending. I wasn't writing it to be anything longer. However, after listening to the discussion of my classmates, I might have to leave out that very depressing ending. That way, I can possibly expand on this story as the semester progresses. We'll see.

Till next time.

Perception versus Reality

Had my first writing class today. It was actually really interesting. There were a mixture of people. Despite differences in age, we all shared a common desire. That is, to write. That in itself took some of the pressure off. After a discussion on what the difference was between essay writing, composition, and creative writing, we had to write five things about creative writing and what it means.

Wait. What? Seriously?

Ok. Back up. You want ME to write five things about writing and what I think it means. Um. Yeah. Ok.

So, after a brief moment of panic, I desperately tried come up with something deep and insightful. So, let's see. When we were discussing the differences between the three types of writing, I mentioned that creative writing was the soul as opposed to essays, which were dissection of a body, and compositions were constructing the body. He liked that, so let's try it.

1) Writing expresses the soul

Ok, a little cheesy, but that didn't hurt too bad. On to the next one. Let's see, someone mentioned that creative writing creates an experience. Ok, I can work with that.

2) Writing creates a world for others to experience.

That was a little painful, but I can't think of anything else...um, let's see...oh here's another one.  I think...

3) Allows us to be someone else

Ok, that's a serious "DUH!" That's the whole point! Aarrgh! This is horrible, but I have to come up with two more! It's like pulling teeth! Ok, just two more.  I can do it.

4) Express our deepest feelings

Not as stupid as number three.  But seriously, this sucks. I feel like I'm regurgitating something I learned in English 101...ok, one more and then I can finish.

5) Explore ourselves/the world

Seriously? What the hell is that crap!? I mean, yeah, you can do that, but I sound like a freaking parrot! People are going to hear this and think, "What the hell was he smoking at the last break?" Come on. I can do better than that. Think. Think! It's all crap. Wait a minute. That just might work.

6) It's all crap, but everyone eats it anyway.

Hey. That's different. What does it mean? Hmmm. I might be on to something here

7) You have to say what has to be said.

There you go. That's what I want to say. That felt good.

Number 6 and 7 happened after I read "Thirty-two Statements About Writing Poetry" by Marvin Bell and "Thirty-two Statements about Writing" by Catherynne M. Valente. If you ever get the chance, look them up. They are very interesting. On the one side, you have Bell who is very intellectual in his approach. He sentences are economical and sparse. He says a lot with just a few well-chosen words. On the flip side, you have Valente who uses the phrase, "...joyless husks of once-living flesh, and should be given no more attention than your average lurching zombie".

After reading them and the resulting class discussion, I had an "Aha!" moment (for the lack of a better cliche). What I figured out was that I really want to be like Bell and be the intellectual who can say a lot in just a few words. The reality is that I'm more like Valente. I might still have some deep insights, but I'm going to take my time and enjoy the scenery while I'm at it.

I'm not sure what this means for my writing. I still have genre's that I'm interested in writing and exploring. What I think it means is that I have a lot of perceived notions about how I am supposed to write and that what I am actually supposed to write are two different animals.  Perception versus Reality gets ya every time.

Till next time!

Writing in the Moment

I decided to take a creative writing class in the spring semester.  I decided to do it because, being human, I don't know everything.  Shocking, I know, but it does happen.  There are two reasons for taking this class.

1. I love feedback.  As a writer, it is invaluable.  Taking this class will expose me to a lot of different viewpoints and opinions.  This is a good thing
2. It will expose me to a style I've never tried (playwriting).  Even if I never write in this format after this class, I'm a firm believer in the more you know, the better.  Plays are dialog driven, so if nothing else, it will help learn some good dialog techniques.

The class only has one textbook (which I have already purchased).  I'm generally not one to read classroom textbooks unless I have to.  Usually, they are dry and boring.  Not so with this one.  It actually practices what it preaches, good creative writing.  Even if you are not a student, I would highly recommend it as a useful tool in improving your craft.  The book in question is: The Practice of Creative Writing : A Guide for Students by Heather Sellers.  A new copy will run you about $40 on Amazon.com, but there are used copies for less.  I bought the new one as I wanted a clean copy for when I need to mark in it.

Among the numerous bits of information that I've picked up from this book is the concept of "writing in the moment".  It is the practice of imagining a scene and writing the "action" and not the "thought".  It is actually more difficult than you would think.  You have to focus on the movement.  You let the action of the scene explain what is going on.  Instead of saying "Joe thought the sunrise looked pretty", you would say "Joe marveled as the sky slowly change from the dark of night, to a vivid blue, as the sun rose over the hillside".  Although the second sentence is a little long winded, it evokes more activity than him just thinking about how it was a pretty sunrise.

As I've said, it isn't easy to maintain that type of image.  With more practice, I'm sure it gets easier.  The book lists several aids to help you center yourself in an image while writing.  One of things it suggests is sketching the scene (if you are artistically inclined).  If you lack the requisite artistic talent (or just don't want to), the book lists several questions you can ask yourself to help solidify the scene in your head.  If you don't see the scene clearly, then neither will the reader.  Another thing about the scene, it isn't a static image.  Even standing still, people, and their environment, are in motion.  Don't write static images, they are boring.

The other thing this book strongly encourages is to read.  Sounds easy, right?  Not necessarily, you need to read and pay attention to what works and what doesn't.  What scenes evoke good images and what scenes make it difficult to image.  When you run into either of those, really look at how the writer used the language.  Reading what others have written is a really good way to learn the do's and don'ts.

Till next time.