The Burn

Call us crazy, but all of us at Face The Page are taking on the NaNoWriMo challenge this year. For the uninitiated, that means each one of us are committing to write an entire novel - 50,000 words - in the month of November. As if we didn't have enough to do, right?

In between full-time jobs and car pool runs and moments of sheer panic, we'll be recording our experiences and insights right here on the blog, so if you've ever wondered what makes otherwise sane people agree to this level of anxiety and self-flagellation, feel free to hang around. And if you are one of the inmates in the NaNoWriMo asylum and just need a place to commiserate, we'll be here!

Tonight, we kicked off the experience with a Burn. Pyros, you'll love this... For a Burn, think of any negativity in your life that's keeping you from reaching your goals. Write those negatives on slips of paper. Torch them.

Here you can see my Burn. I'll confess that I had started out with my negatives written on little sticky notes, but when I dumped them in the Chipotle tin and lit them, they just kind of sat there and smoldered. So I rewrote everything on plain notebook paper and whoosh! A much more satisfying flame!

So there you go. Negativity, gone with twenty minutes to go before NaNoWriMo officially begins!

I'd... um... better go finish my outline...

Left Turns

Once upon a time, I had an established writing routine that worked. I knew how my process unfolded, how to write until I got to the flow of telling the story without fear (more or less) and without thinking about and criticizing every keystroke. I was able to freewrite and know that I could come back later to edit.

Then life took a sharp left turn and I was unable to follow my old routine and so was unable to write.

For awhile I was too busy dealing with life to think much about it, but lately I feel like part of me is withering away from lack of sunlight and air and attention. I have tried sitting down at odd times to write and started at the blank page with an apparently empty mind. I can almost hear the crickets chirping. No, not even crickets. Nothing but a bit of dust blowing across an empty street and maybe the occasional tumbleweed. A desert.

I started out Googling on things like inspiration, procrastination, writer’s block. I tricked myself by saying I'd just take a few notes. But as notes sometimes do (at least in my world), they took on a life of their own. In the process, I made a few self-discoveries (one of which is that I probably need some counseling). Of course the editor’s voice inside my head has grown stronger each day that I haven’t been writing, like that plant in Little Shop of Horrors.

I need to use some self-discipline to find a new routine and rediscover the joy of writing.

But how do I rediscover the joy of writing? Of sinking into a world of characters I have given birth to? How do I relearn how to turn off the editor, to freewrite, discover characters and stories, to ride the current of the swift-moving river of writing?

I always believed (and still do) that pain, turmoil, stress, troubles—anything negative in my life can be turned into fiction. Everything is fertilizer or fuel. Take lemons and make lemonade. Or as Nicole has often told me, "spin sh!t into gold." But I have discovered that going through a life-altering change has actually blocked me rather than inspired me. When I sit down to write—even for 15 minutes—I can write nothing but a bland calendar entry or the shallowest of descriptions.

I've justified my block with a variety of reasons - mostly blaming my over-booked schedule. In trying to map a way back into writing, I accidentally bumped into the real reason I have been avoiding the page instead of facing it. I realized I am afraid to write about my deepest feelings. I am afraid that to express myself is to judge myself, or leave myself open to judgment. I am afraid that if I uncork the bottle, my feelings will come pouring out in a froth of pain that will paralyze me. I am afraid to let loose the pain and find I am unable to leash it again. I can't afford the luxury of a meltdown, a breakdown, or even a king-sized pity party, and so I have kept the door locked on pain which might otherwise fuel a thousand characters.

And I've used procrastination as a way to avoid facing the page. It's safer than facing the real reasons I am afraid to write. I hope that by pushing my way past the procrastination, I will also be able to push past my fear.


My favorite excuses:
Excuse: "I can't possibly take time to write until I have cleaned my bathroom, kitchen, garage, basement..."
Truth: There are no conditions that are necessary in order to write, save two: 1) a writing implement (a keyboard or a pen) and 2) someplace for the writing to go, such as into a computer or onto a piece of paper.

Excuse: "In order to write, I must have six uninterrupted hours." (something I had in my life as a stay-at-home mom and which is no longer even a vague possibility)
Truth: It is possible to write an entire novel in one hour blocks (or shorter). Even a page a day will add up to a 400 page novel after only little more than a year.

Cures:
-Make an un-schedule ( a realistic schedule which shows the time you spend doing all those untimed activities during the day - cooking, eating, email/phone calls, family time, showering, etc) and then block in small bits of time to write.
-Set the timer and honor it. 15 minutes is easier to fit into a busy schedule than an hour, and you will be more likely to sit down and write. Even if you want to keep writing, stop. "The procrastinating self needs to be able to trust your new non-procrastinating self the next time you say you will only write for a certain amount of time."
-Be accountable to someone.

What are your excuses? What are the possible cures?

Quote of the Week

You know how it is in the kid's book world; it's just bunny eat bunny.
- Anonymous

Quote of the Week

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.

~Sylvia Plath

Pushing Back the Finish Line

After reading Ginger's post and thinking about reaching goals, I realized I had more to say on the subject, so here I am.

I was doing an interview the other day and one of the questions asked about when I first felt I'd made it into the published authors' club. I had to think about that one. DBL is my fourth book to come out, I still have this kind of outside-looking-in mentality. Once the goal was just to get a book published. Now I worry if that book doesn't make lists or get nominated for awards. There's always something. Some further goal to reach before I can really feel like I've "made it."

Ginger's words made me stop and think about how we are so reluctant to give ourselves credit for accomplishing something. How we always feel there has to be more. Claire Mysko, author of You're Amazing! asked the readers on my blog a while back to post about what made them amazing. The answers were largely hesitant and apologetic - as if we don't have a right to look at ourselves and say, "Damn! I'm good!"

So here's my resolution... From here on out, I'm going to celebrate and reward myself for every accomplishment, no matter how small. I'll keep pushing back the finish line and reaching for more, but I will be proud of how far I've come instead of how far I have left to go.

Thanks, Ginger!

Quote of the Week

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.

C. S. Lewis (1898 - 1963)

Quote(s) of the Week

Two Quotes for you this week:

”The rewards go to the risk-takers, those who are willing to put their egos on the line and reach out to other people and to a richer, fuller life for themselves.” --Susan RoAne

"It is up to us to give ourselves recognition. If we wait for it to come from others, we feel resentful when it doesn't, and when it does, we may well reject it.” --Spencer Tracy

Reward yourself!!

Everyone loves a prize right? I mean, who doesn’t love to be rewarded for their accomplishments or hitting milestones? I know I do. Do any of you reward yourself for your writing accomplishments? You should! There are many big moments on this crazy writing journey. It’s so often long and arduous, it's important to give yourself kudos along the way. It helps to keep you going.

For instance, a milestone could be either winning or being a finalist in a writing contest. (Maybe even entering in the first place is something to acknowledge if that was a huge step for you.) Obviously finishing a novel deserves recognition. What about taking that big step and submitting your work to agents in hopes that they will fall in love with your work? Landing an agent—said agent selling your work—holding your published book?


Each of us will have different things that are momentous and meaningful. And you don't have to reward for everything so that the 'biggies' aren't as meaningful. Choose the things that are truly a 'big moment' for you. When I was a finalist in a large contest, I bought myself a silver bracelet. When I finished my first novel, I was supposed to treat myself to a really good quality, shee-shee-poo-poo, pen. (I still need to do this!) It’s like getting a recognition pin or plaque at work. Or a bonus after finishing a project. You deserve to reward your own accomplishments.


You are your own boss. Don’t forget to recognize your employee’s hard work and triumphs.


So, tell us how you have rewarded yourself for your writing milestones. Or if you haven’t yet…how will you?

Quote of the Week

"Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time... The wait is simplytoo long."

-- Leonard Bernstein

Breaking Dawn: A Critique

WARNING: This post involves the latest in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. So if you haven't read it and plan to, there will be SPOILERS. And if you have read it and love it, you might not be so happy with me. And let me also say that this post does not in any way represent the opinions of the rest of the Face the Page gang; my comments are solely my own.
I read through the first three books very quickly, and I give them credit for being good escape material. But throughout the books, there are some fundamental problems with the writing and the structure of the story. All four of the books could easily be 200 pages shorter than they are. Each book has a sagging middle of over 100 pages where nothing happens. And the central relationship is stagnant; it doesn't evolve throughout the four books. The only book in the series where the relationship differs at all is New Moon - because Edward isn't in most of that book - and perhaps that's why that book is my favorite of the four.
Throughout the journey of a novel, a character should change and grow through the obstacles they face and overcome. The story should be propelled by the choices that a character makes and the consequences of those choices. But throughout the four Twilight books, the main character, Bella, doesn't change much at all. She doesn't grow. And she doesn't make her own choices; she doesn't make things happen. Things happen TO her, and then someone else steps in and makes it okay. She doesn't solve any of her own problems. And then, magically, everything turns out perfectly for her. She doesn't have to make any tough decisions and therefore doesn't have to face any consequences. And as a result, there's very little conflict or tension in any of the novels, but particularly Breaking Dawn.

SPOILERS BELOW!

Along the way, Meyer misses a thousand opportunities to provide real conflict. Instead of forcing Bella to make the conscious and deliberate choice to become a vampire, she cops out and has her die (after the out-of-nowhere pregnancy storyline that has no grounding in any of the first three books). A huge opportunity is missed when Jacob imprints on Renesmee; it could have set into a motion a terrific war between the werewolves and the vampires. But once again Meyer takes the easy way out and clears up that conflict in a paragraph. And instead of providing fantastic inner conflict by having Bella as a newborn vampire be dangerous and out of control, Meyer takes the ultimate cop-out and has Bella be the exceptional vampire who has unheard-of self-control. I personally think Bella should have lost control and killed Charlie. Talk about consequences!
Many people compare the Twilight series to the Harry Potter series, and I'm sure you all know which books I consider superior. But here's the reason. Throughout all seven Harry Potter books, all the characters - ALL of them - change and grow. They make mistakes and they learn from them. They fail. Things don't work out for them. They lose people, and they grieve. Relationships deepen. These are flesh and blood characters who have real lives. Despite the fact that they are witches and wizards, they don't live in a fairy tale. Most importantly, as the books progress, you can see J.K. Rowling progress as a writer. I love that. She changed and grew along with her characters. I didn't see any of that kind of growth or progress throughout the four Twilight books. (I haven't read Meyer's stand-alone novel, The Host, so I would be interested to see if that is any different.)
I, however, have learned a lot from reading her books. I've learned how crucial it is to keep asking your characters, "what will make it worse?", instead of "what will make it better?" Coddling your characters does not a good story make. How much more tension would the last 100 pages of Breaking Dawn had if Bella had had mere hours to prepare for the confrontation with the Volturi! I actually laughed out loud when one of the characters said, "We only have a few weeks to prepare!" Talk about taking all the air out of a scene.
I've learned that if the main character sets the story (and conflict) into motion, your book will be infinitely more interesting. How much more gut-wrenching would it have been if Bella, knowing all that she is giving up and all the pain she will cause her parents, turned to Edward and said, "Ok. I'm ready," and bared her throat to him. Instead, that decision is made for her.
And I've learned that happy endings aren't always satisfying. Happy endings are satisfying when the main character has fought hard, sacrificed some things along the way, and learned some difficult lessons. Happy endings are not satisfying when everything falls into the character's lap. Let's be honest - we don't root for that type of person in real life; we root for the underdog, the person who has to struggle to succeed. Why should we be expected to root for someone who always falls into a bed of roses in our fiction?
I can't argue with Meyer's success, and when it comes down to it, anything that gets teens reading is A Good Thing. But I've read many other books for teens that satisfy all of my complaints with the Twilight series - our own Linda Gerber's Death By series, not to mention her two SASS books where the central female characters learn and grow immensely, Libba Bray's fantastic The Gemma Doyle Trilogy, and anything by Celia Rees. I urge readers to check these out, and escape with these well-rounded, fully-realized, flesh-and-bone characters.

Commitment

Our local Sunday paper had an interesting article called ‘The work and art of writing: Muscle vs. Muse’. The author, Joe Kurmaskie, contacted different authors to see which approach they used. He writes, “Without exception, generous amounts of coffee enter the equation, and divine inspiration packaged as an entire book waiting to be channeled strikes no one.” Here's the article. I know we’ve talked about muscling through the writing process before, but it does bear repeating. Especially if you’re a forty-something writer with a fairly full plate who’s been procrastinating new writing a lot. *ahem* A whole lot.

I think I can safely say that every writer I know, have met, or have heard talk about this subject – every one – considers themselves to be a writing athlete. They don’t write for the muse, they keep going no matter what. That doesn’t mean that they don’t pay attention when a story idea appears in their heads, it just means that this is a job, pure and simple. It’s the difference between a local running club and the Olympic trials, between talking about a secondary degree and actually enrolling, between dating and getting married. It’s about commitment.

After finishing my first book, I think I’ve spent a wee bit too much time patting myself on the back and waiting for everyone to fall at my feet in awe of my accomplishment. Can you see me rolling my eyes here? (I think I sprained my eyelids. Ouch.) So I’m refocusing on my commitment to this rollercoaster ride of a calling, and thinking back to what made me decide to do this in the first place.

Let’s all renew our vows, so to speak. What made you realize you had committed to writing? What makes you continue to be committed to this wacky journey? And should we all be committed for thinking we can do this? *g*

Every Four Years

It began when I was ten.
That summer, the summer of ’84, my parents piled my sister and I into a used van and we headed west from our upstate New York home. For ten weeks we lived out of that van, traversing the country and stopping everywhere from Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore to Wall Drug and the Corn Palace. It was an incredible journey with an even more fantastic destination: Los Angeles and the Games of the XXIII Olympiad.
That was the summer that my deep love of the Olympics was born. I was there when the now-familiar Olympic Fanfare and Theme was heard for the very first time in history during the Opening Ceremony, I was there when Mary Lou Retton tumbled across the floor towards America’s first All-Around gold, I was there when Carl Lewis flew down the track in world record time, and I was there when the president of the IOC handed the Olympic flag to the South Korean president and he danced across the stage with it like a child with a shiny new toy.
What is it about the Olympics that captures our imaginations and makes us stand still and hold our breath for sixteen days? Is it the beauty of a tiny gymnast spinning through the air and the powerful majesty of a swimmer moving through water? Is it the look on an athlete’s face when he bows his head to receive his gold medal and the way a runner falls to her knees after winning the 100-meter dash? Or is it the bubble in which the Olympics seems to exist, as though all the evil of the world, all that stuff outside, cannot touch it? It is all of these things, and a thousand things more.
My father was a marathoner who participated in the Olympic Trials in ’68. And though he didn’t make it to Mexico City that year, he continued to run marathons for decades after. He loves running so much that he founded the Road Runners Club in the county where we lived and trained my stepmother for her own marathons. I’m sure when he ran in the Trials he could only see the immediate goal of getting to the Olympics in front of him. When he didn’t achieve that, instead of quitting, he turned his passion into a lifelong love, and inspired others to do the same.
As writers, we’re engaged in a marathon every time we start a new story. When we write, we go into that zone that marathoners talk about: just one foot in front of the other, just one moment at a time. Don’t worry about Mile 23 when you’re at Mile 15. And don’t forget to breathe.
We may not all win the publishing equivalent of a gold medal: a Pulitzer or a Newbery or a RITA. But if we fill ourselves with joy every time we sit down to write, just as a runner does when he steps out onto the track in the morning light, we have won. If we turn our passion into a lifelong love, we have won. And if you’ve ever written the words THE END, you know you’ve run a marathon.
My father never held it against the Olympics that he didn’t make it there. He’s been to every Summer Games since the 1976 Montreal Games, except for Moscow ’80 and Seoul ’88. He’s in Beijing right now, watching the marathoners trickle into the Bird’s Nest, one by one, each on their own journey. That is the beauty of the Olympics; it loves everyone that comes to it with a dream or a hope or a desire to be inspired.
Writing is like that too. It loves us deeply. It wants us to succeed, whatever that might mean to us. It whispers encouragement in our ear as we tie our laces and set our foot on that track. It loves us even when we falter at Mile 21 and rejoices when we cross the finish line.
The Olympic Creed reads, “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.” They are words we hold true for sixteen days every four years, and should carry with us every day in between.

An uplifting read and a writing exercise

A writer friend of mine put a very comforting and inspiring entry up on her blog today. And I've determined that linking this exercise to her blog is way better than the cheesy writing prompt I had for you today.
With that in mind, head out to Lise's blog, read it slowly, in a quiet place. Then, choose one or more of the "activities" she mentions and write a scene in which your main character(s) engage in that activity. Or, if you're a poet, choose and activity and write a poem about the emotions it may invoke.
And remember, we'd love to hear about any breakthroughs or just plain giggles you're experiencing when doing these exercises. Share with us!
All right then, here's the link to the blog:

right here

Good luck and Get writing!

Characters

As I'm working through revisions this week, a new character has been elbowing his way into the story. He's a minor character, but important to the plot. His unexpected arrival has had me thinking a lot about creating characters.

On that note, my dear friend and mentor, Marsha Skrypuch, just completed running the Brantford Summer Writing Workshops, wherein she presented a workshop on creating characters. When sharing her notes with me, she said, "Another thing that I point out is that not once do we ever talk about appearance when building characters because appearance has nothing to do with character."

That really struck me. It's absolutely true in real life, right? So naturally the same holds for characters we're creating. I just had never thought about it. Of course our readers want to know what the characters look like, but that's just packaging. Who they are is the important thing.

How do they act when they think no one is looking? How do they handle stressful situations? What makes them happy? What drives them up a wall? And, more importantly, why? What makes them tick?

Often, our characters don't even know the answers to those questions... but they should find out through the journey of the story.

Anyone else have a revelation on creating characters they'd like to share? How about a favorite character from something you've read? What made that character memorable to you?

Speaking of THE DARK KNIGHT

Or is it just "Dark Knight"? Doesn't matter. I am today holding this blog hostage so I can talk about the movie. And okay, not the whole movie. Yes, I, too, can go on at length about the brilliance of Heath Ledger's performance. I, too, can sigh and swoon over Christian Bale. I, too, can praise the testosterone poisoning that created such great action sequences. But none of that's going to happen here. Here, on a writer's blog, I want to look at character.

So.... I'm in the middle of edits on my latest completed manuscript. And one of the things I struggle with is character depth. Knowing this, when I do edits I go back to familiar sources to help me work through concepts of character. One of these sources is Mary Buckham and Dianna Love's Breaking into Fiction plotting templates. Another is screenwriting guru Michael Hauge. This weekend, with many thanks to Gerb, I sat and watched Hauge (with Chris Vogler) talk about the Hero's Journey and there too he talks about character.

One of the things Hauge stresses when it comes to character is making your characters relatable. He suggests a number of ways to do this. And while I pondered how to make the characters in my manuscript relatable, my thoughts wandered (as they do) until they landed on DARK KNIGHT. I've been going 'round for a couple of weeks saying DK is a fabulous movie, just a hair shy of excellent... but adding that it wasn't quite "my thing". Only, I couldn't put my finger on why. Now, after pondering Hauge, I think it was - FOR ME - a lack of relatability in the characters, and its extension, a lack of likeability. I'm afraid that probabably the character I can most grasp and relate to is Alfred. And seeing as the movie's not about him, the whole experience left me kind of... unmoved.

So, without getting into a bashing and without bringing comic book history into this, what are your thougths? Could it be that there is a lack of relatability in the characters? Or was there some flaw somewhere in the story? What trait exists in Bruce Wayne that the audience should/could relate to? What trait does The Joker possess?

Discuss.

The Big Leagues

Last week, teens everywhere (and a lot of adults) were howling over the imminent release of the newest Stephanie Meyer book, Breaking Dawn. As numerous stories of her path from suburban stay-at-home-mom to bazillionaire author deluged every media outlet, I thought about making it big in publishing. Really, really big. What would that be like? Could I imagine being one of the few in the Big Leagues? Uh, yeah!

When I finished drooling over the imaginary shopping list to spend my bazillions, I wondered what it would take to make my imaginary dream a reality. Is it possible to craft a story that will sell to everyone based on what you know of popular culture? Is there a way to create universal appeal? What makes us latch on to characters, never to let go and forever to sing their praises at book clubs, dinner parties and casual grocery store conversations?

Unfortunately, there isn't a 'bestseller checklist', dang it all. You can use the Hero's Journey templates, write complex and endearing characters, study the trends and predictions, and try to imitate those Big League Authors. But even if you do all those things you could still be a mid-list author, or even an undiscovered one. The only thing you CAN do is tell your story, the best way you can. Will it be great? Will it intrigue an agent and publisher to take a chance and publish it? It's a crap shoot. But when you are true to the story in you, which is what most of the members of the Big League did to get there, I have to believe that good things will come your way.

Being Open

One of the things I've learned along this great, grand journey of being an artist is to be open. Open to opportunities and possibilities, and especially to new ideas. So often an idea will pop into our brain and we'll dismiss it as stupid or impossible. This, I've learned, is a mistake. It could be that that idea is the thing that will get us off our over-beaten path and into new territory.
Now, sometimes that new path is a dead end. But I think it's better to take the detour than to continue down our familiar path, always looking over our shoulder and wondering what might have been if we'd gone a different way.
I'm dealing with this right now. I've been working on a YA novel set in 16th century Italy, with a supernatural twist. Although I love the premise and the characters and have the whole novel plotted out, something is just not hooking in for me. I've tried a number of things to break out of this rut but nothing seems to really work. It's very frustrating.
Over the weekend a sudden idea popped into my head. What if this story isn't meant to be set in the 16th century? What if this isn't an historical novel? What if this story is meant to be told in the here and now?
Needless to say, as a self-proclaimed writer of historical fiction who loves and relishes history, this was a pretty radical and scary thought. My first instinct was to sweep this thought under the rug and stomp on it, hard.
But instead I swept all of the "what a stupid idea" thoughts under the rug and stomped on them. Hard.
As a writer, my first responsibility is to tell the story. If there's a chance that this story needs to be told in contemporary times, then I need to explore that.
So this morning when I should have been settling in to write, I got up, futzed around, did the laundry, made some coffee, watched Gilmore Girls on ABC Family, and generally avoided going down this new path. But as I did these empty chores, sentences drifted in and out of my head until one hooked in. The first sentence. I sat down at the computer. And an hour and a half later, I had the first scene.
I don't know if this is the right path for this story yet. But I'm open to going down it for as long as it takes for me to find out. I'm here to serve the story, and sometimes that means putting on a good pair of hiking shoes, tucking a water bottle into your backpack, and following the trail all the way to the sea.
What wild ideas have you had and followed? Are there any ideas you've had that you didn't follow through on and wish you had? And if you're in the midst of following a wild idea right now, please share so I don't feel all alone!

Weekly Writing Prompt

This week, there are two options to choose from, both tied to the phrase "Blast from the Past".

Option one:

For those of you with manuscripts under your bed or hidden away in a drawer or in the back of your closet, "resurrect" two or three of the main characters from that old manuscript and have them attend a reunion (for a school, a club, a job, the choice is yours). Try and find a way to show the reader how much the characters have grown and changed during the intervening years.

Option two:

Write a scene in which characters from your work in progress or characters created for this exercise (or write a poem about the emotion evoked) come across an object from their past. Think: cleaning out the attic or garage. What do they find? How does it make them feel? Explore emotions; make the reader laugh or cry or both.

Easy, right? Good! Now get writing!

As always, feel free to share your experiences doing this exercise in the comments section.

Changes

It was a tough weekend. My childrens' dance teacher lost her father, and a friend lost her husband. One was unexpected, and one defied every medical opinion. Both changes, both part of life. Changes, yes, but unpleasant ones. Just call me Debbie Downer.

After I bawled my eyes out, I felt the need to put words on paper. Do something creative. Anything, really. And so I started another edit of my book. I had decided that one specific character needed to have a major change, which sent me off on adding, deleting and solving continuity issues.

In a totally self-centered way, making the changes in my manuscript made me feel better. I can't do anything to make my friends hurt less. Only time will do that. But changes, even uncomfortable ones, can lead to good things.

What changes have happened lately in your life ,or your pages, or both?

30 Pages, Baby

Check out Nathan Bransford's blog where he explains the importance of those first 30 pages in a requested partial.