Fuel Your Writing

Where Does Poetry Begin?

2010-03-12T12:37:06Z

Any person who is above the age of five, and quite a few under, know what poetry is. That is, they know what a poem tends to look like and feel like. They can recite “Mary Had a Little Lamb” without a second thought and then move on to the “practical concerns” of everyday life. But what is a poem? What constitutes it? What gives it power? What use is it? And even if we answer all of these questions, how can we use this to actually make a difference in what we’re writing?

Most people who would call themselves poets will readily acknowledge that they know very little about the source of their poems. For most of us, poems are those things that come into our rooms at 3 AM and sit on our shoulder until we decide to throw them onto a piece of paper. When we pick up that piece of paper and read it back to ourselves in the morning, it often comes across as something mysterious, something that was channeled through us as if poets were literary shamans. In this article, I will outline one way of looking at a poem that will help the burgeoning writer make sense of what she has scribbled out the night before.

Poetry – The Snapshot

This is one description of poetry that is especially close to my heart, probably because I’m such a visual person. Poetry operates according to a different logic than prose (often this comes across as “no logic”), so readers who are used to the methods of prose will often find themselves stumped when they’re presented with a poem to read.

Prose often works through a series of events, normally following a plot that emphasizes the arc of a character toward a transformative end (though I won’t even try to bring Joyce or Faulkner into this). Prose tends to be more “mathematical,” though I use that term loosely. Main Character’s natural tendency to fear monkeys + Heroine’s natural ability to identify fruit + Villian’s desire to get the Golden Banana + Final Epic Battle = Story. I’m not saying that prose is a bad way of writing, just that it works in a fundamentally different way than poetry. Presenting a sequence of events, the form of prose connects perfectly with the human mind’s way of constructing and analyzing information.

Poetry, in its purest sense, is a relationship between two seemingly unrelated objects. Often, these two objects cannot be rationally harmonized with each other. It’s more like a snapshot of life that has a title scribbled on it that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the picture. For example, if you were given a snapshot of a sunset, and it had written on the back in blue sharpie, “the heart of the earth,” there are tons of ways you could interpret this. The red of the sunset connects naturally to the color of the human heart, and so the sun is a heart that is receding into the earth. This could mean that the earth is slowly hiding its heart from us because we’ve hurt it with our pandemic pollution. This simple interpretation came from comparing the image of a sunset with the nature of the human heart.

Just for the sake of having a more literary example, here’s a famous poem by Ezra Pound:

IN A STATION OF THE METRO

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.

I know you’re probably thinking that I left out some piece of the poem. Actually, I didn’t. That’s the entire thing. This is a poem that is consistently placed in literary anthologies for one reason — it is representative of the simplest that poetry can get. It is based on one image and one description of that image. In a way, it is an atom of poetry.

But what is constant throughout all of these examples? It’s a little term that we all heard back in grammar school and are probably still hearing today — metaphor.

The Fact of Metaphor

The poet must use this system of comparing one thing to another through metaphor as his primary method of getting to the riches of the text. This method, however, is part of what has been so off-putting to some who read, specifically those who despise, poetry because it does not “come right out and say it.” But this is necessary in poetry, and any poet can attest to this, because it is impossible for a poet to “come out and say” anything, since the thing that the poet wishes to communicate is something that lies eternally “behind” the words.

The fact that not all readers recognize this revealing effect in reading poetry is not a strike against metaphor, but is rather a sign of its ingenuity. When a magician is performing some trick on the stage, he or she is trying to show the audience something that is not physically present on the stage. The magician does not show the audience her wires, the holes in her cloak, or the trapdoor leading to the basement. She hides them not because these things are not necessary to the illusion, for in fact they are vitally necessary, but rather because if the audience sees these things as they exist physically, it will never see clearly the illusion presented by the cooperation of the objects in the metaphor.

Now this metaphor naturally leads to some negative conclusions concerning the work of poets, but not all of these negative conclusions must be disregarded. Poets do lie, just as painters lie. Poets make it seem as if things disappear and that bunnies really do come out of hats. The difference between the magician’s audience and the poet’s audience is that the readers of good literature realize that, in a way, things do disappear. They recognize that on some other level, things are not as they seem, and that they can never quite explain why they feel this way. This is the beauty and magic that makes poetry so consistently exciting.

Conclusion

This is only one way that you can look at the art of poetry; trust me, there are plenty of others. Whenever you’re hunched over your Cheerios trying to work through the mess of last night’s draft, try taking a look at your work through one of these lenses and see what happens.

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

Where Does Poetry Begin?

What is Your Pen Personality?

2010-03-11T02:10:17Z

What are you writing with at the moment? Well, chances are if you’re reading this, you’re not writing with ANYTHING, but once you get done and get back to work, what is your writing instrument of choice?

FYW writer Giselle Maclean has said on a number of occasions that she’s got to have a certain type of pen in order to write. I don’t. The notes I took for this post were done with a purple ballpoint, I edit things with a red felt-tip marker, I do my homework with a plain ole #2 pencil…you get the idea.

But what if you ARE looking for the special writing instrument? Do you consider yourself to have a “Pen Personality”?

Since you’ve already picked up one of the journals I suggested, here are some pens to go along!

Ballpoint

Okay…I’m starting with the obvious. If you’re a run-of-the-mill writer who prefers functional instruments at the low end of the pricing/technology scale, then your best bet is to stick with these everyday utensils. They’re so average, in fact, that I think I’d be offending you if I even post a link to a place to sell them. BUT (and there’s a but) you can get some very classy, and very expensive pens from the likes of Mont Blanc.

Fountain Pens

We’re talking high class, ladies and gents. At least the appearance of it. After all, I can remember in the 5^th grade writing with a pink and purple fountain pen that my Mom got at Kmart for like $6.00. You can’t deny that there’s an air of elegance about writing with a fountain pen, though. I liked that scratchy feel they make sometimes and the way the ink is darker in some places. It gives everything an authentic, old-world feel to it. I thought these “Retro 1951” fountain pens were kind of cool looking.

Quill Pens

Yes…they’re still around and for sale! Quill pens make me think of the likes of Aristotle hovered over a scroll and writing with a quill pen via candlelight. Maybe it’s just the thing you need to create that masterpiece of yours. Nostalgic Impressions gives you color options and lets you choose from the authentic dip-in-ink type or a ballpoint (cheater).

Promotional Pens

Maybe the pen isn’t for you necessarily and you want to promote your writing business with a writing instrument. Clever, huh? In that case, you want promotional pens. There are so many types and vendors to choose from. Many, if not most, have larger minimum orders, bumping up the price. If you’re a smaller outfit and just want say, 50 or so, then check out Vista Print’s options. What I like about Vista Print is that you have the option of putting your actual logo on the pen, not just your company name and contact information, like many other vendors do.

Novelty Pen

I wouldn’t feel like I’m doing this article any justice if I didn’t include any fun options. For this category I head back to one of my favorite places- Uncommon Goods. They have this Scroll Pen that is perfect for not only writers, but for all of those “jotters” out there. Need to take down a name, number or the license plate number of that jerk in front of you? Simply pull out the attached paper. Convenience is the name of the game here.

Red Pen

It’s a necessity. Kind of like having to invite your eternally-burping Aunt Bertha to Thanksgiving dinner. It’s a must have for every writer and definitely for every editor out there. In fact, you editors probably have a collection of them not only on your desk, but ones that you’ve used up in your garbage can. If you don’t have one, suck it up and get one. Run to your favorite office supply store and pick one up. Now.

Pencils (duh)

Technically these aren’t pens, but they deserve attention nonetheless. With these you can go luxury mechanical or you can go budget #2. They’re definitely an oldie but goodie, especially when you’re not using them to fill in those little bubbles on standardized tests. And while I can’t promise anything, that little thing called an eraser may just help you use that dreaded red pen (see above) less and less.

Write on!

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

What is Your Pen Personality?

7 Writing Distractions I’m Kissing Goodbye

2010-03-08T06:26:58Z

I have to admit–I’m hopeless at writing when I’m distracted.

There are several things that have recently contributed to wasting a good portion of my allotted writing time, and these are things I want to learn to avoid.

I’m not saying the following list of programs and habits should be completely shunned; they’re all very useful and necessary. Still, I’ve decided to make a concerted effort to break free of these distractions during my writing time.

From now on, I’m kissing these 7 distractions goodbye:

Checking Email. I tend to check it not once, but every five minutes-or-so during my writing. Checking my email always leads to further distractions like replying to urgent (and not-so-urgent) messages.
Moderating/Replying to comments. This is one of the evils of checking email every few minutes. As soon as I see there are comments queued to be moderated, I feel the need to log into WordPress. I must then reply to comments so my readers don’t feel unloved.
Tweetdeck. Every time I hear that little tweet and see a pop-up on my screen, it takes my mind off writing. I don’t need to read tweets in real time. I can catch up on them later. I can retweet later. I can check out my new followers later.
Google Reader. My feedreader is one of the best tools I have for keeping up-to-date on what’s being discussed in the blogosphere. As much as it’s necessary, I often can’t help logging in to see if my favourite blogs have new posts up. Then, of course, I want to read them.
Feedburner/Blog Stats. I don’t really need to know what’s going on with my subscribers or traffic, not every day and not during my writing time. There’s really no excuse for this one. Yet, I still do it.
Image browsing. Looking for new blog photos can be productive, but I tend to get distracted by them too easily. Give me a thousand pages of free images to look through, and I’m totally gone.
Facebook. As much as I adore my friends and my fan page, they can wait until later in the day. There’s nothing urgent about seeing the latest status updates or checking out friends’ photos.

I’ve already started to beat some of these distractions, but others are harder to let go of. I have to keep reminding myself they’ll still be there when my scheduled writing time is done.

There’s a program called MacFreedom, which allows you to disable your internet access for up to 8 hours at a time. It’s available for free download here. Who knows, it might be just the thing to help me get my 2 full hours of uninterrupted writing time each day.

What things distract you from writing? Have you tried to give them up, and were you successful? What strategies have you found for writing without distractions?

Images courtesy of pedosimoes7

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

7 Writing Distractions I’m Kissing Goodbye

Put Down That Pen!

2010-03-05T16:25:33Z

For as long as I can remember writing has played a major role in my life. My home is filled with journal upon journal with intimate details of my notorious adventures. The books also contain story and article ideas, with thousands of random thoughts strewn throughout its pages. I truly believe it is important to write every day. But once in a while the necessity to put down your pen takes on a greater importance.

During the month of December 2009, I took a self-imposed sabbatical from writing. With my plate loaded with more projects than I was prepared to handle, and my stress level reaching epic proportions, I no longer found writing fun. Yet I pressed forward as all good writers believe they must, when hit with writer’s block or fatigue. I allowed my competitive and ambitious nature to berate my good judgment. Until one day, shortly after writing an article for a local magazine, I stopped. I put down my pen, and closed my journal. What followed was relief. For too long I had lost sight as to why I loved writing in the first place. Though it may sound like a cliché, this statement reins true, when writing stops being fun, then stop writing.

I tuned into other creative outlets, which provided the rejuvenation that I needed – music, card making, and hosting a horror movie marathon. Writer’s block, the demands of family, work, and life are all perfect examples why a break from writing may be in your best interest. The last thing an author wants is for their work to sound hollow and unnatural. A lack of passion in your writing is the side effect of forcing yourself to write, when you should not.

My advice is to have fun within all aspects of your life. So, if you decide to put down your pen, or close your notebook, here are two websites, which have the ability to bring a smile to your face, clear your mind and eliminate your stress. Enjoy.

hunch.com

Hunch is an interactive website of questions and answers. It is very easy to become hooked. Be warned.

reasonablyclever.com

Ever wanted to know what you would look like as a mini plastic lego-like being? Well, me too! This site is hilarious, for those with an easy sense of humour.

Have you ever reached a point where the joy you gained from writing ceased? What did you do?

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

Put Down That Pen!

And Your Favorite Place to Write Is?

2010-03-03T16:12:41Z

Great writers possess extraordinary discipline and well-developed, positive habits that fuel their writing.

As part of this discipline and set of habits, most writers gravitate toward a special place to craft their words. Sometimes, it isn’t just one spot, but several. Heck, maybe it’s wherever their muse strikes them.

My point is you should be thinking about where you’re stringing your words together.

It carries importance. More than you think.

It inspires. Nurtures. Provides focus. Grants freedom. And so much more.

I’m certain the places we choose to write in grab hold of us in all sorts of different ways. This got me thinking…

Upload a Photo of Your Favorite Writing Spot

So where do you write and what does this place mean to you?

Upload a photo or photos of your favorite spot or spots to an image sharing site like Flickr or Picasa and include a short one to two sentence caption about what it means to you or why you like writing there.

Then post the link in the comment section of this post. And don’t forget to invite your writing friends to do the same.

My Writing Spot

I’ll get us started. You see mine above. I love this space mostly because of the photography hanging right in front of me. It’s a shot by Henri Silberman called Poet’s Walk.

It reminds me that writing is a journey, and often a long, hard road, but one worth following.

I can’t wait to see and read about your favorite writing spot!

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

And Your Favorite Place to Write Is?

An Education: Reasons to Take a Writing Course

2010-03-01T15:49:06Z

As writers, we are always learning our craft. Most of us will never “master” the art of writing, and I might guess that even those truly great authors, who we mere mortal writers consider masters, may argue that they were still learning and didn’t know everything. There is much to learn, both about the art and about the skill of writing. A lot of it we learn as we go, from editing our own work, from reading a wide variety of fiction, and from reading blogs such as this one. .

But, should we take a writing course? Many of you may have already taken a course – a learn-at-home course done at your own pace, a week-long writer’s retreat, or even a longer, University-based course. Other may be thinking about it, weighing up the pros and cons. I’d like to share with you here my experience during my time studying for my Masters in Creative Writing. I’ve summed up the experience into the main pros and cons, as I see it.

Con #1 – The money.

A course like the one I took costs money. A LOT of money, in fact, and at several times during the course I was unsure whether the money I was spending was really worth it. I took this course before we slid into a recession, but at this time now it is even harder not to look at things from a cost and reward viewpoint, we are always looking to get our money’s worth. Actual teaching time on this course seemed sparse, about four to six hours a week, so we really had to make the most of the time with our tutors.

One particular area of the course that I did not feel was value for money was the module dedicated to the publishing side of writing – something that me and my fellow students were really looking forward to. All of us, even from the start, had some measure of skill and confidence in our writing, but we all lacked awareness of the industry in which we wanted to break. Unfortunately, this module delivered little of this insight. Each week a different local professional, from publishers to writers to agents to theatre directors, would give us a talk on the industry. But mostly they seemed to focus on how hard it would be for us to get our work published, how little money we would actually make if we did. One writer spent the entire lecture telling us about all the extra things she did to promote her books, with seemingly very little success. Not particularly inspiring, or insightful.

One lecture did come close, where an agent outlined what would make a good submission and query letter, but helpful practicalities like this seemed very thin on the ground.

Con #2 – Lack of long-term help.

I feel that the Masters course, despite being a year long, still did nothing to help my long-term writing career. This is another major con of a course like this, if you are looking for something like this as a “way in” to the publishing industry, I don’t think that it is it. Even if the course that you take offers better advice on the practicalities of the publishing industry, it is a far cry from actually applying them in the real world. Maybe I went into the module, and my friends also, with the wrong expectations. A better way to learn about the practicalities of the publishing industry, if that is all that you are looking to do, may be to delve into the advice found on the Internet. Yes, you won’t get the face-to-face benefit of talking to an agent, but maybe this is not necessary. After all, you can learn all you can about writing queries, but that’s no use if you haven’t written something that’s good enough to publish!

Despite these cons, and I believe they are pretty major reasons not to take a course like this, they are definitely outweighed by the pros. To see them, you just have to focus not on the future, but take a while to focus on the immediate benefits you experience on a writing course.

Pro #1 – Honing your Skills.

Stephen King argued that while it is impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, or a competent writer out of a bad one, it IS possible, with help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one. On the Masters we definitely got the help and advice for this to happen. We all got the opportunity to really hone the skills that we already had. Learning them from scratch on a course like this may be a lot harder, but we all went into the course already with some writing skill, and I don’t think anyone would take a writing course if they didn’t already have some skill in writing.

Perhaps the dullest parts of the course, for me certainly, were spent learning about some of the mechanics of writing. However, these are all important, even if you do not think about them all the time while you are writing (in fact, it’s probably a good idea if you don’t, for fear of restricting and second-guessing yourself) it is important to be aware of how the words you put down and the way you construct them affect the meaning and the story that you convey to the reader, and can make a big difference in your writing.

Another skill that we all honed was becoming aware of and developing our individual styles. One such exercise in style that I can remember, and one of my favourite memories of the course, was when we had to count the number of adjectives that we had in a (short) passage of our writing. I had seven, one of the lowest in the class. Most people had a few more than that. My best mate had 22!

Pro #2 – The company you keep.

One of the best things about taking a writing course (unless it is a home-study one) is the wonderful people that you are likely to meet. On the Masters I was brought together with lots of like-minded people, people who wrote but wouldn’t yet call themselves writers. There were many people my age, and also a lot of older people, which was a great mix of enthusiasm and experience. There were some amazing characters too — the American pastor who had a story for every occasion and would tell it no matter who was or wasn’t listening, a lady who seemed to accidentally make everything that she wrote erotic and filled with double meanings, and a Lord (not a real one…) with whom I have shared many a milkshake, and many a game of Wii Mario Kart.

And these were just the students! The teachers were amazing too, for the most part, and were all so different in their backgrounds and writing styles that we were exposed to a range of influences and teaching styles. The teachers included Jackie Kay, a writer who almost became the first female Poet Laureate, a Malawian writer who was imprisoned for almost 4 years by the Dictator Hastings Banda for his poetry, and the wonderful David Almond, author of Skellig. He, in particular was utterly inspiring, sharing with us not only practical skills, but also ways of thinking about our work, and the magic that is at the heart of writing. On any writing course I am sure that you will be exposed to a similar variety of tutors, many of whom may be rather famous and successful themselves. Even the ones who aren’t will have a wealth of knowledge, both practical and inspirational, to pass on.

Pro #3 – Having FUN!

Writing is supposed to be fun, right? Far often we take it too seriously, sitting for long hours at our desks, writing away, editing, getting frustrated. On the course we would meet up frequently outside of class, sometimes with our current work that we would share with each other, critique etc. We bad-mouthed a particularly obnoxious tutor, joked with some of the girls that they fancied him. Me and my best mate got told off once, like little schoolkids, for laughing and joking on in class. We had parties, drank cocktails. The great thing was that even spending time not writing with these new friends was rewarding and beneficial. What we ultimately all had in common was writing, the creative spirit, and a commitment to furthering our knowledge. Being like-minded individuals, we all helped each other to grow, not just as writers but as people as well.

In the end, it boiled down to one thing. It was the people I met that made it worth taking the course, and the same will be true for you.

Have any of you taken a writing course? Did you think it was worth it? Please share your comments below, and please ask any questions you might have about my experience studying the craft.

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

An Education: Reasons to Take a Writing Course

KISS – Keep It a Simple Story

2010-02-25T19:51:00Z

The traditional hype surrounding the Super Bowl ads were no different this year. However, the art of effective story telling – as created by good writing – was rekindled with one single spot from an unexpected – Google.

Entitled “Parisian Love”, the 60-second spot mesmerized the viewer with a story of romance that began with online academic research. The ad used Google’s global search engine to incrementally pace into descriptive snippets that moved the viewer from schools to jobs to restaurants to churches to baby cribs. The ad hit a home run with many watching the Super Bowl, some reporting they were moved to tears. Why? Because the ad told a great story. It’s that simple.

Good story telling often times requires a defined beginning and end. The Google ad did that by demonstrating its own search engine product. Well-thought-out sensory touches can make a good story a great story. Google did that through selective, but audible sounds heard only three times during the ad. And the story’s point must resonate with target audiences. Even the most die-hard, beer-guzzling football aficionado could appreciate the point of this story.

Kudos to Google’s creative team! Thanks for reminding us that, as writers, we need to keep it a simple story.

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

KISS – Keep It a Simple Story

Whelmed

2010-02-25T20:09:35Z

Just like any poet, prophet or forward-thinking bringer-of-light, you, as a writer, have a big task ahead of you. Whether writing a novel, screenplay, play, essay, or updating your gardening blog — you are both shaping the future and immortalizing the past. And wielding such deity-like power is freakin’ exhausting.

When I sat down to write this article, I had no clue what the topic would be, so I started with the title. I had never heard the word “whelmed” on its own, and the little red spell-checker-underline-thingie appeared. I guess you’re either under or over, and whelment itself is a level of balance so unattainable that it wasn’t worth putting in the dictionary.

Don’t Quit Your Day Job

A teacher of mine once said:

Your legacy is the only thing you should be working on.

That’s a tall order. And I took it literally, feeling like I should just blow everything else off.

Looking a little deeper the word “working” stood out. Am I “working” to handle all the petty tasks that are most day jobs? Am I dwelling on them? Stressing out about them? Or am I just getting them handled and out of the way in as calm a manner as possible?

If the day job doesn’t entail doing what one loves (or is not a viable stepping stone to that end), and it’s taking up exorbitant amounts of time and energy — either find a job doing what you love, or find a job that will pay the bills and that doesn’t. Then “work” at doing what you are passionate about.

Maybe you’ll get frustrated while writing, painting, singing or expressing yourself in whatever creative medium floats your boat — that’s fine. Better stressing over your art than over something that will mean nothing to you — or anyone else — months from now, let alone when you’re gone.

Take an analysis of how you spend your days. Are you contributing to your story? (and stories.) Answer and go from there.

Love The Chaos

Since the chances of being whelmed are slim to none — it’s really a game of balance.

By nature, creative types are emotional, sensitive, and passionate beings. And Sensitivity always travels with her kid sister, Drama, who drives us up a wall—but is secretly the propagator of our best art.

Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity — T.S. Eliot

Look at history’s best writers, they’re all insane to some degree — and that’s part of what makes them so damn good.

Is insanity prerequisite to be a great writer? Possibly. At least a little. A writer must be somewhat schizophrenic to invoke and portray his and her many characters; to be his own antagonist and protagonist; her own desperation and hope; their own villain and hero.

Where the balance comes in is in embracing the insanity. Wrap your arms around Drama, that little bitch, and let her know that you appreciate her. Accept the chaos in your head — as well as the chaos in your life — for the gift that it is. Without chaos, we’d have no clue what order was. In the same way that without a villain, we’d have no idea what a hero was.

In like fashion, it is our time spent in those thick, tangled fields of overwhelm, and barren, dusty acres of underwhelm, that leaves us yearning for and ever moving towards that luscious, green whelm-adjacent pasture.

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

Whelmed

Start the Story: Where Do We Begin?

2010-02-19T19:09:29Z

We never should have told Susie and Johnny what happened to Eeyore.

Image

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

Start the Story: Where Do We Begin?

Did You Show Up For Your Job Today?

2010-02-17T19:39:42Z

One of the best speakers I ever heard discuss creativity and writing was Elizabeth Gilbert, a writer best known for her memoir Eat Pray Love. She also wrote, before that international bestseller, a National Book Award-winning biography of Eustace Conway called The Last American Man, a Pushcart Prize-winning volume of short stories called Pilgrims and a truly excellent New York Times Notable novel called Stern Men.

I mention these accomplishments because I’m betting most of you only know Gilbert from the sudden celebrity stardom brought on by her memoir. You may not have even picked up the book because it was sure to be one of those weird viral quirks that went big just because it was trendy, not because of the quality of the writing.

But Gilbert’s writing blows me away. This is a woman with some serious writing chops, people. And that’s why what she has to say about the creative process is so important.

Gilbert gave a twenty-minute talk on creativity at the TED conference in 2009. It’s an entertaining talk, and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s been feeling lousy about writer’s block or writer’s inadequacy or any of the other issues we writers struggle with now and then.

What I particularly want to draw your attention to, though, is a really important concept:

You are separate from your inspiration.

Gilbert calls it “your genius”. Her thoughts are that instead of striving to be such creative geniuses, we should be grateful that every now and then a little piece of genius drops out of nowhere and flies through us, giving us the ideas and inspirations for the stories we want to write.

This idea is awesome. It takes the pressure off us as writers and puts the focus on hope: We hope that today, a little piece of genius will find us.

Sounds pretty good. Now we just have to hope that genius finds us and we don’t really have to do any work until then, right?

Afraid not.

One day, Gilbert was writing and writing and getting nowhere, having one of those terrible days where nothing comes out right. She sat down her creative entity and gave it a talking-to:

“Listen, you, thing, you and I both know that if this book isn’t brilliant that is not entirely my fault, right? Because you can see that I am putting everything I have into this, I don’t have any more than this. So if you want it to be better, then you’ve got to show up and do your part of the deal, okay? But if you don’t do that, you know what, the hell with it, I’m going to keep writing anyway because that’s my job. And I would please like the record to reflect today that I showed up for my part of the job.”

I think this is brilliant. We’re used to not thinking of our creative endeavors as a job. A job is what makes you money, and then you write because you have to or because you want to or because you need an outlet for your creativity.

We don’t think of writing as something we should do unless the genius has already shown up that day.

Think of it this way: Let’s say you have a job building a house. If you show up every single day to work, but the person who hired you hasn’t delivered the materials to build the house, then the house won’t be built. If, on the other hand, the materials are delivered but you’re not there to receive them, the guy who delivered the materials might just decide that you don’t need them, and he’ll take them away again.

And the house still won’t be built.

It’s your creative entity’s job to deliver the materials. It’s your job to be there when they arrive, so you can take those materials and build something wonderful with them.

That’s why it’s so essential to sit down and write every day, preferably at the same time. Your genius knows exactly where to find you so he can deliver the goods. And if he doesn’t show up with the delivery? Hey. At least you were there.

So the next time you’re stuck, ask yourself this question: did you show up to work today?

Image

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

Did You Show Up For Your Job Today?

How Not to Write Off Those New Year’s Writing Resolutions

2010-02-13T00:03:08Z

Perhaps you made a few New Year’s resolutions centered on your writing life.

In 2010, you want to move forward in some way and grow. Who doesn’t want that?

But we all know how notoriously difficult keeping promises are — especially those made to yourself.

That pinpoints the reason most resolutions fail.

They are just promises to yourself. You need more than that to keep those commitments.

So if you’re struggling to stick to your goals, here’s how to increase your chances of success:

Let Others Know What Your Goals Are

If a few family members and/or friends know what your goals are, it will become harder to neglect them.
Pick two people who know how important writing is to you and let them in on your goals for the year. Make them promise to ask you about your progress. This forms a great support network.

Know How You’re Motivated

People are motivated in two basic ways: positively and negatively. Think about a runner trying to set a new personal best. He or she either responds to “Is that all you have? That last lap could have been way better,” or “You’re knocking on the door to a new level. Keep pushing!”
Discover which approach works for you and ask your support network to use it.

These two simple steps will help add some credibility to your goals. The writing life is a lonely one, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Don’t forget those you want and are able to support you, and they’ll help you reach your writing goals.

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

How Not to Write Off Those New Year’s Writing Resolutions

Literary Villains We Love To Hate

2010-02-10T14:52:49Z

What characters do you love to hate?

I came across this post on the 50 Greatest Villains in Literature, and was able to identify several of my favourites in the list. It got me thinking–what makes us hate villains, and what makes us love them?

Villains must be motivated to do the things they do. Motivations might include:

Greed: The desire for money, possessions, or some other superficial thing
Revenge: Wanting to get back at someone for past wrongs
Power: A thirst for control over something or someone
Agenda: Religious or political motivations
Insanity: The inability to see he or she is doing wrong, or a skewed view of reality
Natural urges: In the case of an animal (ex: Shere Khan from The Jungle Book), the natural urge to hunt and kill; survival of the fittest
Supernatural urges: In the case of vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghosts–motivations that are beyond the realm of reality

Villains can be aware they are doing evil, but not necessarily. In fact, they may see themselves as the “good guys,” especially in the cases of insanity, or political/religious agenda.

We usually hate villains because they oppose the main characters’ goals. Generally, it’s the main character we want to see triumph.

There may be a good reason we hate them, but there are actually more reasons we love them. We love them because:

They bring conflict to the story. The White Witch from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe wants to rule Narnia. Her goals oppose the main characters’ goals, and thus drive the main conflict. Stories aren’t stories without conflict.
Their actions increase suspense. Hannibal Lecter from Red Dragon is unpredictable. His keeps us on the edge of our seats, wondering what he’ll do next.
They can make us sympathize with them. Fagin from Oliver Twist is a villain, but his human characteristics make us less critical of him than the seemingly all-evil Bill Sikes.

Perhaps my favourite villain of all time is Count Olaf from A Series of Unfortunate Events. He’s over-the-top wicked, he’s greedy, and he’s hilarious. In fact, his actions drive the plot that runs through the entire series of books.

But, I also love more subtle villainy, such as that of Mr. Wickham in Pride and Prejudice. His character dupes everyone into thinking he’s a gentleman, whilst he attempts to ruin the reputations of two underage girls. And, he makes Mr. Darcy look like a jerk while he’s at it.

Who are your favourite villains from literature, and why? Do you prefer those with realistic characteristics, exaggerated characteristics, or both?

Photo Credit

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

Literary Villains We Love To Hate

Are you a Literary Snob?

2010-02-08T08:06:28Z

A good friend of mine and I have long discussed the division between what is considered quality literature vs. popular fiction. Quite often the two do not go hand in hand. The image of the unpublished writer who sits alone at his desk with his glass half-filled with cheap scotch while he taps away at his keyboard to create an original masterpiece which will embrace the souls and minds of his readers has become iconic. Writers and non-writers have adapted to this persona as the individual who will create our literary works of art. It appears that one must suffer, be disillusioned, and have a lust of contempt to create unparalleled fiction. The works of this person are studied and critiqued. Mass popularity may not follow until years later, when we realize how truly phenomenal they were. Thus, leaving us with a final belief that writers should follow the path of most resistance so that they, too, may one day be labeled as truly talented.

Do I believe in this statement? Well, yes and no.

An author’s work must derive from a place within them. Whether it is from their heart, or a place much darker, an author’s writing must be fed by emotion. Otherwise, it is empty drivel that a fifth grader will see through. This does not mean that all great works of fiction are required to have long words, random soliloquies, and over-the-top narratives that only a person with a degree from MIT will be able to decipher. The author’s writing, if fueled by passion, will find its place with both literary snobs and the masses.

What constitutes a snob? Do you only read works from Conrad, Joyce, Atwood, or Austen? Do you worry what others will say regarding your choice of reading material? Would you vehemently deny reading, or having any such knowledge of, popular fiction from such authors as King, Patterson, Brown, or Meyer? Are you a closet popular fiction reader? Then yes, my dear, you are a snob. I am not here to judge. I took a long hard look at my bookshelf before writing this article and found that the scale tipped quite heavily in favour of what are known as “great works of literature.” But scattered between Dennis Lehane, Carol Shields, and Ann-Marie MacDonald were James Patterson, Stephen King, Dan Brown and, yes, Stephanie Meyer.

Writers, whether they wish to admit this or not, want readers to enjoy their work.

A work created with passion will undoubtedly find a reader who will connect with the story and its characters. This is the starting point of great fiction. And it is what truly matters, snobbery aside.

Do you consider yourself a literary snob? What is on your bookshelf? If you wish to include some of the more notable literary works, a good site to bookmark is The Greatest Literature of all Time. This website is a wonderful reference for commentaries on authors, their works, and even film and video reviews on great works of literature. But then again, a book you pick up from the summer reading table at the bookstore might hold just as much value…

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

Are you a Literary Snob?

How to Learn the Skill of Being Inspired

2010-02-05T13:57:29Z

A writer’s biggest problem is how to find inspiration. Once you have a subject, a character, or a circumstance that fascinates you, it’s all anyone can do to keep you from rushing to the blank page and scribbling away like mad.

Writing with inspiration is easy. Finding inspiration can be one of the hardest things in the world.

One of the reasons for the elusive nature of inspiration is that we expect finding inspiration to be effortless. More than effortless – we expect it to be nearly magical. One day we’ll open the drapes and look out on the street and there, walking in front of us, will be the character around which our next great novel will revolve.

Or we’ll be sitting at a coffee shop one day and inspiration will hit us, suddenly, like a bolt of lightning. All at once, we’ll know exactly what we should be writing about.

Inspiration does sometimes happen this way, but this is a little bit like saying you shouldn’t have to go grocery shopping just because a friend of yours occasionally stops by with pizza.

Sure, sometimes inspiration happens unexpectedly, at just the right time and in just the right place. Most of the time, writers have to go looking for it. And we have to have the skills to recognize where to find it.

Explore New Experiences

I know many aspiring writers who sit around the house all day by themselves, trying to think of new things to write about. Whenever they’re invited to do something new and exciting, they say, “Thanks, but I have to work on some writing.”
These same people are constantly in distress because they can’t find the inspiration to make their writing flow easily.

The last few times I was struck with sudden inspiration, it was because I was doing something new, something I hadn’t experienced before. At the very least, it was something I hadn’t experienced in quite awhile. The new experience forced me to look at the world in a slightly different way. From that, I got an idea.

That’s inspiration.

Go ice fishing. Attend an art opening. Check out a rodeo. Visit some of the tourist attractions in your area that you’ve always known about but had never bothered to visit. Go on a walk by yourself with no music and no particular idea where you’re headed.

Then pay very close attention to every single thing that happens.

Ask People about Themselves

One of the common failings I notice in writers is that they only want to write about themselves. Sure, writers are all told to ‘write what you know’, but no one ever said, ‘write what you know about yourself’. Your work will be seriously one-dimensional if all it is are simply variations of you and your experiences.

In order to find out how other people think and to get inspiration for new material, new characters, new ways of looking at the world, you need to know what people think and do and believe in. The only way to get that information is to ask them.

Pay attention. It’s very hard for us to listen to another person without jumping in with our own anecdotes. It’s a natural human response to demonstrate, “Hey, I’m just like you!” Resist that impulse, if only for the reason that you’re interested in what makes you two different from each other.

Think about that. If you like, start discussing your differences with this person. He may be able to expand on a viewpoint to the extent that you really feel you understand it. The next time you’re crafting a new character, you’ll think of all those viewpoints and one of them will ring true to you.

Bring a Notebook

Ever see a writer look very distant, very suddenly? It happens a lot among the creative crowd, and it’s usually because they just had a wayward thought about a possible idea. Mostly, they’ll try to remember it long enough to write it down later, but later comes after dinner and conversation and drinks, and they can never quite dredge up exactly what made that idea so wonderful.

That’s if they remember the idea in the first place.

Bring a notebook everywhere you go, especially when you’re exploring new sources of inspiration, because it’s you’ll likely have a flash of a great sentence or a scene or a just-right metaphor. You’ll want to catch that idea while it’s still fresh.

Later, when you lack inspiration, open up that notebook and browse through some of those brief moments of brilliance. I guarantee you that you’ll find what you’re looking for.

Image

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

How to Learn the Skill of Being Inspired

Having Guts – How to Physically Affect your Readers

2010-02-03T15:34:00Z

Inhale. Take in as much air as you can.

The goal of most of us, as writers, is to cause some sort of an emotional response in our readers. Whether we make them think, or make them angry or sad or excited, it is a sure sign that our writing has heart and substance and has linked the mind of the writer to the mind of the reader and touched them in some way. When this happens, we can be pleased with ourselves.

But, why just aim for an emotional reaction?

The short story, Guts, by Chuck Palahniuk, has gained almost mythical status for its ability to cause an extreme physical reaction in its readers. During the book tours in 2003 and 2004 to promote his new novel Haunted, Chuck read Guts for his audiences. At these readings around sixty people are said to have completely fainted.

How can just words make this happen? Sure, the story is graphic and deals with a dark, shocking subject. But this physical reaction that Chuck was able to achieve from his audience shows that his writing is bold, brave and powerful.

Like him or not, Palahniuk can teach us something here with Guts. His writing, particularly in this story, is extreme, and for better or worse it grabs readers by the throat and shakes. I’m not saying that we should completely change our writing styles in order to be outrageous. But we can all push the boundaries of our writing in little ways, and push our readers for the physical reaction. Even if you don’t get an actual physical reaction (and, let’s face it, you’re probably not going to make people throw up) you will certainly go a long way toward affecting them at a deeper emotional level.

Here are some ways that you can aim for that physical reaction.

Give your WORDS guts.

Sometimes, the right word for what we want to say is obvious, but we writers, for whatever reason, try and think of a different one. Sometimes we are trying to be clever and use an interesting or little-used word. Perhaps we are showing off. Sometimes we do not have enough faith in the words and try and think of a different way of saying it. Other times we try and explain too much with our words.

Have faith and let the words speak for themselves. Do away with those pesky adverbs, and write boldly and clearly. Your words will have guts and your meaning will be unmistakeable — and your story far more readable, enjoyable and, most importantly, much more emotive. The words will make your reader feel their power, not just try and persuade them to feel a certain way.

Give your CHARACTERS guts.

Characters should be real. They should live and breathe, both on the page and in the minds of the reader. They won’t do this unless you flesh them out, give them guts – a background (even if you don’t write about it), emotions, feelings. Make them hate something, make them love something and, most importantly, make them want something.

Also, when writing dialogue for your characters, have them talk as though they would in real life. If your character would swear, have them swear. And I don’t mean, “Aw shucks.” A man who has just lost his wife, or a mob boss who has just been shot, is going to swear. A lot.

Give your STORY guts.

Be bold and brave. When writing a story, even a simple one, you must not be frightened to write exactly what happens, even if that is ugly, depressing, shocking, brutal or disgusting. To the question, “What should I write about?” Stephen King tells us…

Anything you damn well want. Anything at all… as long as you tell the truth

Whatever it is that you write, be truthful and honest with your readers. If that means pushing the boundaries or being shocking, so be it. This is perhaps the best way to achieve the deepest, most powerful reaction in your readers. Be real, and write about the truth. Don’t pull your punches.

So next time you write, give your story some guts. Try your damnedest to make the reader feel it, whatever that is. Make their blood boil. Make them feel sick. Make their skin crawl.

And make them turn the page and read on.

Any more ideas on how to give your story guts? Please share them in the comments below!

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Brand Network.
Fuel Brand Network 2010 cc (creative commons license)

Having Guts – How to Physically Affect your Readers