Move Along ...
I've decided to move this blog to my own personal URL at www.DavidEricTomlinson.com, so get on over there and check it out.
Touching
As I was writing last night I had the TV on and was listening to a PBS special about music. The show was centered around recent studies into the connections between music and neuroscience. One of the contributors said that people often talk about music "touching them" - reaching into their souls and affecting them deeply. He recounted a memory from childhood about sitting on the couch listening to a song and suddenly weeping for its beauty. He said he was about six or seven years old at the time
The show kept switching to other angles on music and neuroscience, but kept circling back around to this scientist guy. He talked about the shape of what most people consider harmonious musical tones: how they form regular, wavelike patterns that make the organs in our ears vibrate. Eventually, in the typical solipsistic documentary style, he brought his hypothesis home and asserted that music really does "touch us" - in that it sends sound waves into our skulls to massage our ear drums, causing them to vibrate in a unique and idiosyncratic way.
We literally vibrate when we listen to it.
I'm writing about this because I went to see my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary this last weekend in Shawnee, Oklahoma. During the party several great, emotional and funny speeches were given, and my second cousins Hilary and Hannah sang a song that within about two seconds brought me within a heartbeat of breaking down into tears. It was that beautiful. I don't know if it was the song, the event, the combination of the two or what - but the moment was really amazing and unforgettable.
When I was about fifteen I used to listen to the album "The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. I haven't sat down and deliberately played the album from start to finish in about ten or twelve years, but tonight I did just that and suddenly I felt 15 again. I remembered my teenage bedroom, the teak bookshelf in there that smelled of new and stale pages, the strange and violent atmosphere of the house I lived in, the yearning for escape. The sunlight angling through the window shades in late winter. All of it came back with the force of a tidal wave, or freight train, or some other tired emotional metaphor.
My wife's dad Arthur has a house full of vinyl classical music. His wife used to call music "the other woman," he was such an opera buff. My wife Lisa once met Placido Domingo at an opera in San Francisco. She and her older sister strayed away from her dad at the after-party and bumped into him. He looked down at the two tiny red-headed girls before him and said, pleased beyond belief, "and who do YOU belong to?" Whenever Lisa tells this story she simultaneously lowers her voice into a deep baritone tone while increasing the volume of the word "YOU." The effect is a hilarious crescendo that perfectly captures the moment.
I'm realizing now that the "YOU" in Lisa's story resonates like the Bruce Hornsby album. I can literally feel the lilting cadences of her story. If everything goes as planned, in 37 years or so Lisa and I will have a 50th wedding anniversary.
If so, there will be music.
The show kept switching to other angles on music and neuroscience, but kept circling back around to this scientist guy. He talked about the shape of what most people consider harmonious musical tones: how they form regular, wavelike patterns that make the organs in our ears vibrate. Eventually, in the typical solipsistic documentary style, he brought his hypothesis home and asserted that music really does "touch us" - in that it sends sound waves into our skulls to massage our ear drums, causing them to vibrate in a unique and idiosyncratic way.
We literally vibrate when we listen to it.
I'm writing about this because I went to see my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary this last weekend in Shawnee, Oklahoma. During the party several great, emotional and funny speeches were given, and my second cousins Hilary and Hannah sang a song that within about two seconds brought me within a heartbeat of breaking down into tears. It was that beautiful. I don't know if it was the song, the event, the combination of the two or what - but the moment was really amazing and unforgettable.
When I was about fifteen I used to listen to the album "The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. I haven't sat down and deliberately played the album from start to finish in about ten or twelve years, but tonight I did just that and suddenly I felt 15 again. I remembered my teenage bedroom, the teak bookshelf in there that smelled of new and stale pages, the strange and violent atmosphere of the house I lived in, the yearning for escape. The sunlight angling through the window shades in late winter. All of it came back with the force of a tidal wave, or freight train, or some other tired emotional metaphor.
My wife's dad Arthur has a house full of vinyl classical music. His wife used to call music "the other woman," he was such an opera buff. My wife Lisa once met Placido Domingo at an opera in San Francisco. She and her older sister strayed away from her dad at the after-party and bumped into him. He looked down at the two tiny red-headed girls before him and said, pleased beyond belief, "and who do YOU belong to?" Whenever Lisa tells this story she simultaneously lowers her voice into a deep baritone tone while increasing the volume of the word "YOU." The effect is a hilarious crescendo that perfectly captures the moment.
I'm realizing now that the "YOU" in Lisa's story resonates like the Bruce Hornsby album. I can literally feel the lilting cadences of her story. If everything goes as planned, in 37 years or so Lisa and I will have a 50th wedding anniversary.
If so, there will be music.
Field Trip
Picking blueberries in southeast Texas this afternoon. H-O-T at 102 degrees fahrenheit, but worth the discomfort now that we're back home with our fruity booty.
Small Victories
My wife Lisa and I went out with some friends of ours to a posh local dance club in Dallas Friday night. Lisa's physician friend was able to "get us on the list" and the four of us arrived around 9:30 pm - late for us but the place was still empty - a pert, tanned graveyard of bouncers, bartenders and idling go-go dancers waiting for the real fun to begin.
We milled around for awhile, touring the multi-level dance floors and checking out the pricey VIP rooms, equipped with flat screen TVs, red velour couches and large balconies overlooking Main street in downtown Dallas. I told Lisa we were "living a short story" right then - the atmosphere was so strange and comical, and the four of us were so obviously fish out of water in the loud neon blare of the place.
Around 10:30 people started showing up, and the scene reminded me of a Sadie Hawkins dance in grade school - everyone was in their 20's or so (except for our group - all of us pushing or having broken past 40), but instead of getting their groove on the crowd stood expectantly around the disco ball brightness of the dance floor, waiting for something to happen. Finally, after waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Lisa and I walked out onto the dance floor and started grooving.
And that was the tipping point - the entire place took our cue and erupted into hours of vapid, oversexed gyrating. At one point the go-go dancers came out with dollar bills stuffed into their skin-tight dance shorts, the word "S-E-X" spelled out in pink rhinestones on their butts in case we were somehow unable to receive the message being transmitted by the jiggling of their silicone-enhanced curves. I also vaguely remember a scene from the movie "You Got Served" being re-enacted, with a girl and guy performing an aggressive kind of mating ritual / dance-off right before our eyes, surrounded by a howling bunch of hooligans.
My right ear is still ringing from the booming drone of the house music, but knowing that we were able to show those young whippersnappers how to cut a rug made my month.
We milled around for awhile, touring the multi-level dance floors and checking out the pricey VIP rooms, equipped with flat screen TVs, red velour couches and large balconies overlooking Main street in downtown Dallas. I told Lisa we were "living a short story" right then - the atmosphere was so strange and comical, and the four of us were so obviously fish out of water in the loud neon blare of the place.
Around 10:30 people started showing up, and the scene reminded me of a Sadie Hawkins dance in grade school - everyone was in their 20's or so (except for our group - all of us pushing or having broken past 40), but instead of getting their groove on the crowd stood expectantly around the disco ball brightness of the dance floor, waiting for something to happen. Finally, after waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Lisa and I walked out onto the dance floor and started grooving.
And that was the tipping point - the entire place took our cue and erupted into hours of vapid, oversexed gyrating. At one point the go-go dancers came out with dollar bills stuffed into their skin-tight dance shorts, the word "S-E-X" spelled out in pink rhinestones on their butts in case we were somehow unable to receive the message being transmitted by the jiggling of their silicone-enhanced curves. I also vaguely remember a scene from the movie "You Got Served" being re-enacted, with a girl and guy performing an aggressive kind of mating ritual / dance-off right before our eyes, surrounded by a howling bunch of hooligans.
My right ear is still ringing from the booming drone of the house music, but knowing that we were able to show those young whippersnappers how to cut a rug made my month.
Summer Reading List
My viewing of "Terminator: Salvation" yesterday afternoon was the official psychological beginning of the summer season for me here in Dallas. Despite having read some flaccid reviews I actually loved it, though I wish I hadn't seen the previews because they gave away a critical piece of information which would have made the movie much better.
We've fired up the Weber grill, dug around in closets and found our swimming trunks, purchased buckets of sun screen and insect repellent, and are making plans for a 4th of July trip to Michigan to see my little sister.
Here's a list of things I'm reading this summer as I finish another few short stories and start on a novel of my own:
- Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned (collection of dark short stories by Wells Tower)
- Little Children (a novel about suburban dystopia by Tom Perotta)
- 2666 (not sure what this is about but I've heard rave reviews)
- Glimmertrain Stories (I've recently begun submitting stories here and thought I should support the cause)
Dream Big
After seeing a letter to my 6 year-old from someone named "Eddie":
"Who's Eddie?"
"A silly boy in my class."
"What's he like?"
"He wants to be a clown when he grows up. And Sarah wants to be a State Fair owner. She's going to have Eddie come and be a clown at her State Fair."
"Who's Eddie?"
"A silly boy in my class."
"What's he like?"
"He wants to be a clown when he grows up. And Sarah wants to be a State Fair owner. She's going to have Eddie come and be a clown at her State Fair."
Beginnings
Here's the first sentence from the new short story I'm working on, called "The Frog Prince" -
The summer Mom left us I learned to do the Fox Trot in Grandma Helga’s living room, my face pressed up against the mothball scent of her mannish bulk as we skipped and twirled over the hardwood floors of her farm house in west Texas.
The Art of the Short Story
I've been writing short stories pretty frantically for a few months now, and I'm beginning to notice a few trends in my process:
- Start at the End: I'm finding that when the "eureka!" moment hits for a story, it centers around how the story will end. Not necessarily a cliffhanger but an important moment of psychological transition or development for the character.
- Center on a Compelling Image: For "Animal Control" this was a pair of white X's in the center of an asphalt road. For "Sympathetic Magic" it was ancient cave paintings. For "Student Body" it was a small white woman dressed in a black face costume. For the one I'm working on now it's a little boy dressed in a white dress. There's something about that compelling image that has to be sustained in the reader's consciousness - from beginning, to middle, to end - so that when the reader finally encounters the imagery it resonates. Carry a notebook with you everywhere and write down images or thoughts as you work, exercise, even watch TV ... trust me, you will forget them later if you don't capture them now.
- Create an Outline: I started a new job recently and I'm finding that drafting an outline before I begin writing a story saves me a ton of of time. I can sit down in the coffee shop and be very productive, even if I'm not really in the mood to write, by cherry picking one of the most fun scenes - no matter where it falls chronologically in the story.
- Experiment with POV: Over the last six weeks I've written stories in first person, third person limited and the dreaded second person POVs. Switching POVs helps you find out which is more fun and can help you stumble upon your voice.
- Get Objective Feedback: Preferably from a professional editor but if this isn't possible then join a critique group. Never listen to your spouse ... they love you too much to tell you what you need to hear.
Run With It
I used to be a pretty good athlete, decades ago. In high school I was the Oklahoma state champion in the pole vault 2 years running, and took second place another year. Over the years, I've kept in shape by approaching workouts like eating, or sleeping: something that has to be done almost every day, no matter how small or insignificant the workout might seem.
After the holidays, getting back into the gym can feel demoralizing. Whereas before the break you might have been running 3, 4, even 5 miles a day on the treadmill, after all of the eggnog, turkey and chocolate from Xmas you're lucky to get 1 or 2 in. I used to beat myself up about a bad day at the gym, which would make me want to go there less and less, until I realized that the important thing is not "how hard" you work out when you're there, but just that you motivate to get yourself there in the first place.
Writing is very similar. Some nights I pound out 1,000 words in nothing flat and feel great - others I goof around in my notebook writing down vague ideas that may never turn into anything at all. The important part is not "how much" you're getting onto the page, the important part is just showing up at your desk in the first place, ready to think about writing, ready to actually write, ready to edit, ready for whatever happens.
Someone told me once about a playwright who would write for at least an hour, every day (I can't remember his name). One day he sat down to write and wrote "The ..." - then paced in his office for 60 minutes, finally finishing the sentence "... hell with it." But at least he was there, ready for the lightning bolt, should it strike. Ready to run with it if the ideas were flowing.
*Update* 05/31/2009
In a surprising development, my writing regimen is cutting into my running regimen. I'll need a new belt soon at this rate.
After the holidays, getting back into the gym can feel demoralizing. Whereas before the break you might have been running 3, 4, even 5 miles a day on the treadmill, after all of the eggnog, turkey and chocolate from Xmas you're lucky to get 1 or 2 in. I used to beat myself up about a bad day at the gym, which would make me want to go there less and less, until I realized that the important thing is not "how hard" you work out when you're there, but just that you motivate to get yourself there in the first place.
Writing is very similar. Some nights I pound out 1,000 words in nothing flat and feel great - others I goof around in my notebook writing down vague ideas that may never turn into anything at all. The important part is not "how much" you're getting onto the page, the important part is just showing up at your desk in the first place, ready to think about writing, ready to actually write, ready to edit, ready for whatever happens.
Someone told me once about a playwright who would write for at least an hour, every day (I can't remember his name). One day he sat down to write and wrote "The ..." - then paced in his office for 60 minutes, finally finishing the sentence "... hell with it." But at least he was there, ready for the lightning bolt, should it strike. Ready to run with it if the ideas were flowing.
*Update* 05/31/2009
In a surprising development, my writing regimen is cutting into my running regimen. I'll need a new belt soon at this rate.
Name Game
I'm currently working on three different short stories, and have just completed the first draft of another, and am realizing that titles are difficult for me to get a handle on.
When the idea for the story I've just finished originally came to me, I called it "Homecoming," simply because the story starts at a football game and is about a costume competition leading up the Homecoming football game in a small town. After that, it changed to "Skin In The Game" as the theme of the story developed over time. A few days before finishing it, I changed the title to "Student Body," as it's all about physical vanity and how an unhealthy attachment to that can drive others away from a person over time.
The others I'm working on are still being drafted, and have the following titles to date:
When the idea for the story I've just finished originally came to me, I called it "Homecoming," simply because the story starts at a football game and is about a costume competition leading up the Homecoming football game in a small town. After that, it changed to "Skin In The Game" as the theme of the story developed over time. A few days before finishing it, I changed the title to "Student Body," as it's all about physical vanity and how an unhealthy attachment to that can drive others away from a person over time.
The others I'm working on are still being drafted, and have the following titles to date:
- "Human Resources" - though I've toyed with calling it "Equal Opportunity Employer"
- "Step Into Darkness" - which I may end up calling "Embracing the Void"
- "The Contextual Importance of Eye Contact" (this one's done but too short and dark for me to submit anywhere at this point - I need to let it sit for awhile)
- "Eat What You Kill"
Go Big or Go Home
It's been a trying couple of weeks here in Aspiring Authorland. After plodding along at a pretty regular clip on a novel and completing about 1/3 of the first draft, I submitted it to an editor and asked for some objective input on how it was going.
Needless to say, his eyes didn't open wide with delight like Simon Cowell's did a few weeks back when Susan Boyle opened her mouth to start singing. His feedback was to stop, go back to the beginning, and start over from scratch. As hard as that was to hear, I actually agreed with him.
But while he was evaluating the manuscript, I shot out of bed one night with a perfect idea for a short story. I finished the final draft last night. It's called "Animal Control" and it's beautiful. Really. I showed it to this same editor, worked with him briefly on it, and submitted it this morning to "The New Yorker." As crazy as this sounds, I think it actually has a shot at being considered for publication there, or I wouldn't have sent it in. I'll post an update here once I hear back from them.
What did I learn from all of this?
Write what you love. I was writing a formulaic novel because I had been reading agent blogs, editor blogs, publisher blogs and the like for months, and thought that if I could just piece together something that made sense and had a semi-interesting hook, it would sell. The problem with this approach? My heart wasn't that into it.
The exact opposite happened with the short story. It appeared one night, fully formed, demanding to be written. I will probably not make much, if any, money off of it. But it's pretty damn good. It's heart is in the right place, because I put all of myself into it.
Needless to say, his eyes didn't open wide with delight like Simon Cowell's did a few weeks back when Susan Boyle opened her mouth to start singing. His feedback was to stop, go back to the beginning, and start over from scratch. As hard as that was to hear, I actually agreed with him.
But while he was evaluating the manuscript, I shot out of bed one night with a perfect idea for a short story. I finished the final draft last night. It's called "Animal Control" and it's beautiful. Really. I showed it to this same editor, worked with him briefly on it, and submitted it this morning to "The New Yorker." As crazy as this sounds, I think it actually has a shot at being considered for publication there, or I wouldn't have sent it in. I'll post an update here once I hear back from them.
What did I learn from all of this?
- Go Big or Go Home
Write what you love. I was writing a formulaic novel because I had been reading agent blogs, editor blogs, publisher blogs and the like for months, and thought that if I could just piece together something that made sense and had a semi-interesting hook, it would sell. The problem with this approach? My heart wasn't that into it.
The exact opposite happened with the short story. It appeared one night, fully formed, demanding to be written. I will probably not make much, if any, money off of it. But it's pretty damn good. It's heart is in the right place, because I put all of myself into it.
On A Roll
Yet another short story came barrelling down the creative pipeline today. The working title is "Human Resources." More later as I try and organize my incoherent notes.
Crossing The Finish Line
I just finished the first draft of a 7,100 word short story called "Animal Control" that literally poured itself onto the page over the space of the last four or five days.
I've been working on a novel since January, working at the pace of about 2,500 words a week in my spare time, and feeling pretty good about that progress. But 25 pages in four days makes me feel as prolific as Stephen King (though to date, not quite as marketable).
I'd been noodling on the story for a few weeks at night, and approached it in a completely different way than the novel. I started with a 1/2 page outline for every scene and wrote from there. The final outline for the 25 page story was almost 6 pages long. This made the whole thing very focused, tight and controlled, building gradually to the conclusion. I'm starting to think that this might be the way to go for every story - outlining in such detail that every paragraph is building towards something. I've heard Elmore Leonard's outlines for his novels weight in at around 400 pages long, so he knows exactly what's going to happen in each scene before he even gets started.
Anyway, I'm spent. Time to watch some mindless TV on the couch for a few hours. If you're reading this, post a comment and let me know how your outlining process works, I'd love to hear about other methods.
I've been working on a novel since January, working at the pace of about 2,500 words a week in my spare time, and feeling pretty good about that progress. But 25 pages in four days makes me feel as prolific as Stephen King (though to date, not quite as marketable).
I'd been noodling on the story for a few weeks at night, and approached it in a completely different way than the novel. I started with a 1/2 page outline for every scene and wrote from there. The final outline for the 25 page story was almost 6 pages long. This made the whole thing very focused, tight and controlled, building gradually to the conclusion. I'm starting to think that this might be the way to go for every story - outlining in such detail that every paragraph is building towards something. I've heard Elmore Leonard's outlines for his novels weight in at around 400 pages long, so he knows exactly what's going to happen in each scene before he even gets started.
Anyway, I'm spent. Time to watch some mindless TV on the couch for a few hours. If you're reading this, post a comment and let me know how your outlining process works, I'd love to hear about other methods.
Word Play
Today after karate class the girls and I were eating dinner at a greasy spoon, waiting for our grub, and talking about imaginary karate techniques. It went something like this:
"I'm training for my rainbow belt."
"Well I'm training for my one thousand black belt."
"The rainbow belt is after that. Duuuuh!"
"It is not."
"Is too."
"Then I'm training for my pink belt."
"Do you know Red Apron?"
"No."
"Then you can't get your pink belt. That's required. You know ... RED. PINK."
"And so is Evading Form Seventeen."
"Do you know Shattering Mirror?"
"No, but I know ... Dubious Reflection."
"What about Stare of Death?"
"So what you just ... look at them funny and they die?"
"Yes."
"I don't know that one either."
"You better get on that."
"I'm training for my rainbow belt."
"Well I'm training for my one thousand black belt."
"The rainbow belt is after that. Duuuuh!"
"It is not."
"Is too."
"Then I'm training for my pink belt."
"Do you know Red Apron?"
"No."
"Then you can't get your pink belt. That's required. You know ... RED. PINK."
"And so is Evading Form Seventeen."
"Do you know Shattering Mirror?"
"No, but I know ... Dubious Reflection."
"What about Stare of Death?"
"So what you just ... look at them funny and they die?"
"Yes."
"I don't know that one either."
"You better get on that."
And Now, For Something Completely Different
We went camping this weekend, 7 (or was it 8?) families at a beautiful lake in west Texas. I was stressing about losing the weekend, which is usually prime writing time, to the fun but mindless task of packing, driving, unpacking, cooking, herding kids, organizing hikes, etc. and worried that it would eat into my weekly page goal.
But the opposite actually happened. Getting away from the city and the computer for a few days was the best thing that could have happened. The overdoses of sugar, junk food, hyperactive children and fresh air acted like a kind of spa treatment on my brain, flushing all of the crap out of there so that when we returned last night I was working with an almost blank slate.
I've just started a new section of the book and am switching POV for awhile, and was having trouble settling into the new character's skin. Today when I sat down to read what I'd completed so far, I scrapped the whole thing and started over. The result is much, much better than what I had going into the weekend.
It takes a ton of routine and discipline required to plug away at a book which could never see the light of day, but I'm finding that it's going to be important for me to step back and build in regular "off the beaten path" experiences as well to ensure that the creative juices keep flowing.
Some notable quotes overheard this weekend ... maybe future fodder for a story line or scene:
But the opposite actually happened. Getting away from the city and the computer for a few days was the best thing that could have happened. The overdoses of sugar, junk food, hyperactive children and fresh air acted like a kind of spa treatment on my brain, flushing all of the crap out of there so that when we returned last night I was working with an almost blank slate.
I've just started a new section of the book and am switching POV for awhile, and was having trouble settling into the new character's skin. Today when I sat down to read what I'd completed so far, I scrapped the whole thing and started over. The result is much, much better than what I had going into the weekend.
It takes a ton of routine and discipline required to plug away at a book which could never see the light of day, but I'm finding that it's going to be important for me to step back and build in regular "off the beaten path" experiences as well to ensure that the creative juices keep flowing.
Some notable quotes overheard this weekend ... maybe future fodder for a story line or scene:
- 8-YEAR OLD GIRL: "My dog ate my brother's umbilical cord."
- 6-YEAR OLD GIRL: "[Redacted] just hit me."
- PARENT: "Aren't you in karate? Next time he does that, you should karate chop him."
- 6-YEAR OLD GIRL: "That wouldn't be appropriate."
Telling Stories
My oldest daughter has been observing my novel writing process with the eyes of a hawk. The other night she sidled up to me as I was working and asked if I would help her write her own book.
"What do you want to write about?" I asked.
"Books."
"What about books?"
"I don't know," she sat down. "Something with magic."
We talked about it for a few minutes and, once I realized she was serious about the project, I helped her outline the book. We created a ten chapter outline on a single sheet of note paper and I quizzed her on what she wanted the book to be about.
"Well, there's this girl, you see, who really likes books. She loves how they take her on adventures and stuff. And then there's this evil wizard who starts making the books disappear. And maybe there's a magic necklace or something that she can use to fight the bad wizard. And then she'll get to read all of the books that disappear. And the girl has a best friend who is a princess. They get to play together at the end. I want a whole chapter on that."
We gradually outlined the thing, settling on a title of "Journey to the Heart of Books," a YA fantasy that will obviously be heavily influenced by her current reading choices of "Harry Potter", "Inkheart" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and started a manila folder where she could keep her notes and ideas.
After finishing the outline, we labeled ten 3X5 index cards with the title of each chapter.
"Now you need to write down 5 things that should happen in each chapter," I told her, "starting with chapter one. Who is this girl? What's her name? What does she look like? What does she like to do? What is she afraid of? That kind of stuff. Once you're done, move on to chapter two, and so on until you have 5 things for all 10 chapters."
"Then what?"
"Then we can write the book."
After she had the basics, I left her alone to work on it.
Then our youngest daughter sidled up to me as well.
"Daddy? Will you help me write a book too?"
Here we go again.
"What do you want to write about?" I asked.
"Books."
"What about books?"
"I don't know," she sat down. "Something with magic."
We talked about it for a few minutes and, once I realized she was serious about the project, I helped her outline the book. We created a ten chapter outline on a single sheet of note paper and I quizzed her on what she wanted the book to be about.
"Well, there's this girl, you see, who really likes books. She loves how they take her on adventures and stuff. And then there's this evil wizard who starts making the books disappear. And maybe there's a magic necklace or something that she can use to fight the bad wizard. And then she'll get to read all of the books that disappear. And the girl has a best friend who is a princess. They get to play together at the end. I want a whole chapter on that."
We gradually outlined the thing, settling on a title of "Journey to the Heart of Books," a YA fantasy that will obviously be heavily influenced by her current reading choices of "Harry Potter", "Inkheart" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and started a manila folder where she could keep her notes and ideas.
After finishing the outline, we labeled ten 3X5 index cards with the title of each chapter.
"Now you need to write down 5 things that should happen in each chapter," I told her, "starting with chapter one. Who is this girl? What's her name? What does she look like? What does she like to do? What is she afraid of? That kind of stuff. Once you're done, move on to chapter two, and so on until you have 5 things for all 10 chapters."
"Then what?"
"Then we can write the book."
After she had the basics, I left her alone to work on it.
Then our youngest daughter sidled up to me as well.
"Daddy? Will you help me write a book too?"
Here we go again.
The Tipping Point
I reached a tipping point in the novel this weekend. I'll be hitting 20,000 words in a few days here, and over the weekend I suddenly had a flash of insight into how the remaining chapters should play out. This necessitated some rework (and painful cuts) in earlier passages, and a complete revision of the outline for several key later chapters, but for the first time it's all been mapped out, from start to finish.
I'm wondering how typical this is for writers and, even as I'm wondering, realize that the range of experiences for writing a book are probably as varied as the types of books out there. It feels great knowing how the thing should evolve, knowing how it should end, etc. But part of the excitement in writing it so far has been diving into the great unknown each day, watching as the story unfolded on the page.
I've also picked up the pace a bit - for the last two weeks I've been going over my weekly quota of 2,500 words by a significant amount (hence the dropoff in blog posts lately).
If I was running a marathon, I figure I'd be on mile 5 or 6 right now ... just getting into the rhythm, with a lot more work ahead. Better get back at it ...
I'm wondering how typical this is for writers and, even as I'm wondering, realize that the range of experiences for writing a book are probably as varied as the types of books out there. It feels great knowing how the thing should evolve, knowing how it should end, etc. But part of the excitement in writing it so far has been diving into the great unknown each day, watching as the story unfolded on the page.
I've also picked up the pace a bit - for the last two weeks I've been going over my weekly quota of 2,500 words by a significant amount (hence the dropoff in blog posts lately).
If I was running a marathon, I figure I'd be on mile 5 or 6 right now ... just getting into the rhythm, with a lot more work ahead. Better get back at it ...
Study Hall
I stumbled across this great website today - Editor Unleashed. With almost daily posts from a variety of industry insiders, the breadth and depth of the information is awesome. If you're an aspiring author looking for insight into how the publishing industry works, start here.
Here are just a few of the articles I'd recommend:
Here are just a few of the articles I'd recommend:
- Write It Forward: how to spread good karma around the writing world
- User Experience of Kindle2: thinking about getting a Kindle2? Read this first
- Authonomy: the pros and cons of using HarperCollins' "Authonomy" service when trying to get published
- How to Build Your Twitter Cred: some good tips on how to ensure your Tweets are relevant, insightful and useful
- Twitter Tips: 25 Good Follows for Writers: follow these folks if you're just getting started on Twitter
Growing Pains
Nobody's perfect.
Even the modern day messiah, Barack Obama, has a character flaw - he smokes. So when you're writing your breakout novel, screenplay or short story, make sure to give your character a few flaws that they can wrestle with and, hopefully, overcome through adversity.
Some of the best examples of this writing tactic tie subtle (or glaringly obvious) plot points to the character's own psychological and emotional growth.
Here are a few examples:
Fracture:
Here's a clip of Olive's dance from the last few moments of "Little Miss Sunshine." Perfect.
Even the modern day messiah, Barack Obama, has a character flaw - he smokes. So when you're writing your breakout novel, screenplay or short story, make sure to give your character a few flaws that they can wrestle with and, hopefully, overcome through adversity.
Some of the best examples of this writing tactic tie subtle (or glaringly obvious) plot points to the character's own psychological and emotional growth.
Here are a few examples:
Fracture:
- Our protagonist begins the film as a rising star in the Los Angeles legal community. He's about to leave the D.A.'s office for a high-paying job at one of the most prestigious firms in the country, when he's dragged into a seemingly slam-dunk case. The problem is, he's cocky, overly focused on making money, and doesn't seem to have a soul.
- After losing the case and seeing his client die at the hands of a sociopath, our hero eats a big plate full of humble pie, managing to find his soul in the process. He quits the high-powered firm, goes back to work at the D.A.'s office, and finds a way to solve the highly complex case and retry the villain on different charges.
- The movie closes with the protagonist preparing to argue his case alone, a phalanx of high-powered attorneys prepared to argue against him. But we're sure that this time, he's going to win ... because his heart and head are finally in the right place.
- The motley group of folks in this film each have some major flaw: Grandpa is a heroin addict. Dad is a failed motivational speaker and life coach who is overly concerned with success and appearances. Mom is in a seemingly loveless marriage and is alone. Uncle Frank, the #2 Proust scholar in the country, has just tried to commit suicide. Dwayne has taken a vow of silence until he gets into the Air Force academy, so that he can escape the drudgery of his home life. And then there's Olive - an unathletic but cheery kid with horrible fashion sense who wants to be a beauty queen.
- When Olive learns that she's been accepted into the "Little Miss Sunshine" beauty pageant, the whole fam-damily piles into a VW bus and takes a road trip to California. Along the way: Grandpa dies, Mom becomes more frustrated with her family, Dwayne learns that his poor vision will get him rejected from the Air Force Academy, Dad's mentor turns out to be a con artist, Uncle Frank reveals that his lover left him for the #1 Proust scholar in the country, and Olive begins to doubt whether she has the talent to win the competition.
- The movie ends with Olive's horrible performance at the competition, a combination burlesque show and pilates act performed to the song "Superfreak". We learn that Grandpa taught her the dance (humanizing the dead heroin addict) and watch as the whole family comes together to support Olive, who is hands down the most interesting little girl at the competition. Dad is no longer concerned what the audience thinks about him and his family, because finally ... after a long road trip in a packed bus ... the family is truly together.
Here's a clip of Olive's dance from the last few moments of "Little Miss Sunshine." Perfect.
Never Judge A Book By Its ... Karate Uniform
I volunteer at my kids' school each week, helping teach karate classes in the after-school program. This usually involves me getting dressed up in a funny-looking pair of white pajamas and trying to get a roomful of toddlers (many with attention spans shorter than a fruit fly's) to stop talking and pay attention to the real karate teacher long enough to soak up some important aspect of Kenpo karate.
We try to mix things up and make it fun for them and mostly the lessons seem to sink in for a majority of the children.
On the other days of the week I'm just a regular old dad, dropping off and picking up my girls, attending parent/teacher conferences, etc. Often, the karate kids are surprised to see me in street clothes, and have reactions ranging from "Karate teacher! Time for karate!" to "Karate teacher? What are you doing here?"
These kids think of me as "The Karate Teacher," even though when I think or talk about myself this is the farthest thing from my mind. The uniform has 'branded' me in their minds, and it's hard for me to grow beyond that first impression that it has created for them.
How does this apply to writing, you ask?
When you're writing fiction, sometimes lengthy, detailed character descriptions can get in the way of the story. The reader wants to be caught up in your narrative - they'll envision a character for themselves based upon his or her actions, dialogue, speech patterns, and thoughts. Don't get it the way of that with overly descriptive paragraphs outlining each wrinkle on the character's face.
Give your reader the freedom to "fill in the blanks" and only sketch out the basic details needed to bring the character to life.
We try to mix things up and make it fun for them and mostly the lessons seem to sink in for a majority of the children.
On the other days of the week I'm just a regular old dad, dropping off and picking up my girls, attending parent/teacher conferences, etc. Often, the karate kids are surprised to see me in street clothes, and have reactions ranging from "Karate teacher! Time for karate!" to "Karate teacher? What are you doing here?"
These kids think of me as "The Karate Teacher," even though when I think or talk about myself this is the farthest thing from my mind. The uniform has 'branded' me in their minds, and it's hard for me to grow beyond that first impression that it has created for them.
How does this apply to writing, you ask?
When you're writing fiction, sometimes lengthy, detailed character descriptions can get in the way of the story. The reader wants to be caught up in your narrative - they'll envision a character for themselves based upon his or her actions, dialogue, speech patterns, and thoughts. Don't get it the way of that with overly descriptive paragraphs outlining each wrinkle on the character's face.
Give your reader the freedom to "fill in the blanks" and only sketch out the basic details needed to bring the character to life.
Let's Do The Time Warp Again
Yesterday we sprang forward, turning the little hand on the clock one full revolution ahead, and I felt like I was in a time warp. It was too dark when I got out of bed. The light wasn't quite right when we ate lunch. The kids were confused when we put them to bed in the weak half light.
I didn't feel, well ... like myself.
This got me thinking about time, and routines in particular ... and how inextricably our identities are linked to our conception of both. As anyone who follows "Lost" should know, messing around with the space-time continuum can have some pretty trippy results (SPOILER ALERT). Some party-pooping physicists are even trying to prove that time doesn't exist - their theory is that it's simply an aggregate sensation that helps us understand the world around us (much like heat is an aggregate sensation describing the amount and activity of molecules in a specific area).
Next time you're in a writing rut, try this: break your routine and see what this does to either your brainstorming sessions or writing itself. Get up a few hours earlier and try to write then, or stay up a few hours later. Stay out late at a bar or bookstore and people watch. Walk the dog at an odd time of day, work out a few hours later. If you're really dedicated, have your roommate change all the clocks while you're sleeping (and if you do this, email me because I want to hear how it went).
As much as sticking to a routine will help us as authors produce at a relatively consistent level, it's imperative that we keep sharpening our imaginations. What better way to do this than to never let them rest?
I didn't feel, well ... like myself.
This got me thinking about time, and routines in particular ... and how inextricably our identities are linked to our conception of both. As anyone who follows "Lost" should know, messing around with the space-time continuum can have some pretty trippy results (SPOILER ALERT). Some party-pooping physicists are even trying to prove that time doesn't exist - their theory is that it's simply an aggregate sensation that helps us understand the world around us (much like heat is an aggregate sensation describing the amount and activity of molecules in a specific area).
Next time you're in a writing rut, try this: break your routine and see what this does to either your brainstorming sessions or writing itself. Get up a few hours earlier and try to write then, or stay up a few hours later. Stay out late at a bar or bookstore and people watch. Walk the dog at an odd time of day, work out a few hours later. If you're really dedicated, have your roommate change all the clocks while you're sleeping (and if you do this, email me because I want to hear how it went).
As much as sticking to a routine will help us as authors produce at a relatively consistent level, it's imperative that we keep sharpening our imaginations. What better way to do this than to never let them rest?
Write With Style
Several links today from articles on writing and publishing that I've stumbled upon over the past few weeks:
- Damon Runyon, who wrote "Guys & Dolls", would sit in New York City restaurants and absorb the speech rhythms of the local gangsters and hoods. This great article examines his dual-layered narrative, and his key insight that "American slang is double: first, that street speech tends to be more, not less, complicated grammatically than “standard” speech; but, second, that slang speakers, when they’re cornered to write, write not just fancy but stiff."
- An article on Ian McEwan's life, process and style from the New Yorker:
McEwan said that he never rushes from notebook to novel. “You’ve got to feel that it’s not just some conceit,” he said. “It’s got to be inside you. I’m very cautious about starting anything without letting time go, and feeling it’s got to come out. I’m quite good at not writing. Some people are tied to five hundred words a day, six days a week. I’m a hesitater.”
- The Book Cover Archive - where authors can review thumbnails and closeups of published book covers and research details on the artists, designers and publishers who created them.
- A series of brief interviews with authors about the Sisyphean occupation of writing.
The Reader
A man will turn over half a library to make one book.What's the number one tool in the writer's toolbox? You guessed it ... his library.
~Samuel Johnson
Read, read, read. Read published books. Read literary criticism. Read book flaps and synopses. Read things you don't like (often - it will break you out of a rut). Look up words you don't understand in the dictionary. Join a reading group in your area. Read the New York Times book reviews.
Deconstruct the things you're reading. Analyze the point of view. Why did they choose first person? Who is this all-knowing narrator who keeps popping in to make those annoying omniscient comments foreshadowing things to come? Can I trust this narrator? Keep track of plot and pacing. Make unseen connections. Buy the Cliff's notes and actually do the homework lessons.
There is a solitary, quiet concentration required to finish a novel that mirrors the writing process itself. Good writers are, first and foremost, good readers - they understand the rubric of their genre, when breaking a rule is acceptable ... and when it's a grammatical mistake. A good writer understands the elements of great literature (even if they're writing in the most restrictive of genres) and uses them accordingly.
And after you're done reading for the day, go sit down in another solitary corner and write.
Walkabout
Brainstorming is a tricky thing. In the advertising world, we try to bottle the process into a sort of scientific method ... cramming a lot of smart, creative folks into a room and hoping for the best. But brainstorming for a client or a product is very different than brainstorming for a novel (or poem), where the intent is to let the mind wander rather than focus it in on a solution.In a season one episode of "Mad Men," Don Draper tells a writer to "think about it as long and hard as you can ... examine it from every angle ... put your heart and soul into it. Then go do something else. It will just come to you." (Or something along those lines.)
And mostly he's right. The best ideas come to us when we're busy doing other things: walking the dog, playing with the kids at the park, falling asleep on the couch.
Other than hard drugs, there are several ways to train your brain to loosen up, and to capture the results:
- Go On A Walk:
Make sure to carry a notepad with you in case the lightning flashes. Vary the time of day. Take the wife, the kids, the dog, a Frisbee, or all of the above ... but make sure you get some time to go off by yourself and think. - Read Poetry:
Really great poetry is like a riddle that needs solving. While your mind is doing the mental back flips required to decode whatever the hell that poet is trying to say, you often get flashes of insight that are great fodder for your own poems, stories, or projects. - Write Down Your Dreams:
Keep a notepad by the bedside and when you wake up in the morning, write down everything you can remember. - Learn Something New:
Learning a new skill (like karate, or transcendental meditation ... even juggling) forces your tired old brain to make connections that weren't there previously. When these connections are made, you suddenly start thinking in new & exciting ways and the ideas begin to flow.
Marry A Reader
Writers can sometimes get too close to their work, losing the ability to objectively see how readers might respond to the obviously brilliant phrases they're throwing down on the page. This can be a good thing ... getting bogged down in what's wrong with your story is the quickest way to slow down your daily productivity.
It can also be a bad thing. Ignoring the 'gut feeling' that something needs fixing can result in chapter after chapter of flat, dull narrative that doesn't move the story forward.
Fortunately for me, I married a reader. I had that gut feeling that something needed fixing in Chapter 4 of the book I'm working on, so I asked Lisa to read the chapter and let me know what she thought. Unaided, she pinpointed the nagging concern I had as needing work.
Writing Tip O' The Day:
Marry a reader, join a critique group or kidnap your best friend and force them to give you objective feedback on your work from time to time. Then suck it up and listen to what they have to say ... though the edits might be painful to make (goodbye, brilliant phrase on page 37), they will ultimately help improve your story.
It can also be a bad thing. Ignoring the 'gut feeling' that something needs fixing can result in chapter after chapter of flat, dull narrative that doesn't move the story forward.
Fortunately for me, I married a reader. I had that gut feeling that something needed fixing in Chapter 4 of the book I'm working on, so I asked Lisa to read the chapter and let me know what she thought. Unaided, she pinpointed the nagging concern I had as needing work.
Writing Tip O' The Day:
Marry a reader, join a critique group or kidnap your best friend and force them to give you objective feedback on your work from time to time. Then suck it up and listen to what they have to say ... though the edits might be painful to make (goodbye, brilliant phrase on page 37), they will ultimately help improve your story.
Travelogue
Back in the day, before the dawn of the series of tubes we call the Internets, writers were forced to get out from behind their dreary writing desks, pack up pen and paper ... and travel to exotic locales to experience new and exciting things which they could then write about in a semi-convincing fashion.
The horror.
Nowadays, when a writer needs to imagine what it must be like to live on, say, an isolated Caribbean island with a semi-active volcano, the only place they have to visit is Google or Wikipedia.
For those of you with a desperate yearning to describe some foreign land in all of its exotic glory, here are a few resources that might help spark some creative ideas:
The horror.
Nowadays, when a writer needs to imagine what it must be like to live on, say, an isolated Caribbean island with a semi-active volcano, the only place they have to visit is Google or Wikipedia.
For those of you with a desperate yearning to describe some foreign land in all of its exotic glory, here are a few resources that might help spark some creative ideas:
- The Sunday edition of the New York Times (Travel section) - I buy the Sunday edition of the Times and cut out articles from this section every week. You'll be amazed at the quirky details that these articles contain about food, attractions, customs, history and more. For the cost-conscious, most of these articles are available for free on the New York Times web site, though I prefer to keep a folder with articles cut out for easy reference.
- The Economist - For the bigger picture, the Economist magazine is an excellent resource. Here you can track economic, political and social trends and how they affect not just individual countries but entire regions of the globe. This is especially great if you're writing a war novel, historical novel or political thriller.
- Wikipedia - Another great reference for pretty much anything. I visit this site several times per day to do research. Often the information contained in the articles will spark ideas for other stories or plot points.
Doubt
The missus and I went to see "Doubt" last weekend after it did so well at the Oscars.
Sitting through the movie, I was positive that Philip Seymour Hoffman's character was innocent ... until the very last scene of the movie. Talking to Lisa afterwards, I found out that she had the complete opposite experience - thinking he was guilty until the last scene, when suddenly she felt as if he had been wrongly accused.
We talked about the movie for several days, arguing our points and discussing key scenes in support of each argument. We still haven't figured it out.
Now that's great writing.
Sitting through the movie, I was positive that Philip Seymour Hoffman's character was innocent ... until the very last scene of the movie. Talking to Lisa afterwards, I found out that she had the complete opposite experience - thinking he was guilty until the last scene, when suddenly she felt as if he had been wrongly accused.
We talked about the movie for several days, arguing our points and discussing key scenes in support of each argument. We still haven't figured it out.
Now that's great writing.
Break On Through
Today I met with 3 different clients, volunteered at my kids' school for 2.5 hours, walked the dog twice and broke through a roadblock in the book I'm writing that had been puzzling me for several days.
Sounds like a lot of multi-tasking, eh?
Not really. I read the following article on "single tasking" and realized that this is what I've been doing unconsciously for several months now: when I'm writing, I don't check email or answer the phone; conversely when I work on client jobs I don't jot down ideas for writing (or worry about walking the dog). Each part of the day is devoted completely to the thing I'm doing at the time.
I've set aside a minimum of 1 hour per day, every day (except Saturday, which is filled with Karate classes and too much caffeine) to work on the book. Several weeks ago, I had 30 pages completed after working for about a month and was feeling pretty good about my progress. But after a very tough reading of the thing, I ended up cutting about 15 of those pages and starting over on several chapters.
Now the goal is 10 pages per week and, so far at least, I've been able to stay on track ... mostly by just sitting down every day and cranking away. Some days I will sit there for hours and end up with a few sentences. Some days I crank out three or four pages in a few hours.
If you want to break on through that roadblock, "single task" your way to a writing regimen that gets you staring at that blinking cursor for at least an hour, every day.
Sounds like a lot of multi-tasking, eh?
Not really. I read the following article on "single tasking" and realized that this is what I've been doing unconsciously for several months now: when I'm writing, I don't check email or answer the phone; conversely when I work on client jobs I don't jot down ideas for writing (or worry about walking the dog). Each part of the day is devoted completely to the thing I'm doing at the time.
I've set aside a minimum of 1 hour per day, every day (except Saturday, which is filled with Karate classes and too much caffeine) to work on the book. Several weeks ago, I had 30 pages completed after working for about a month and was feeling pretty good about my progress. But after a very tough reading of the thing, I ended up cutting about 15 of those pages and starting over on several chapters.
Now the goal is 10 pages per week and, so far at least, I've been able to stay on track ... mostly by just sitting down every day and cranking away. Some days I will sit there for hours and end up with a few sentences. Some days I crank out three or four pages in a few hours.
If you want to break on through that roadblock, "single task" your way to a writing regimen that gets you staring at that blinking cursor for at least an hour, every day.
Douglas Kearney (Poet)
I worked with Douglas Kearney in several ad agencies in Minneapolis many years ago. A very talented poet with a love of performance, he has recently won the coveted Whiting Award (one of those awards you don't actually apply for ... it just seeks you out). Previous winners include Jonathan Franzen, Tobias Wolff and Jeffrey Eugenides.
Congratulations Doug!
You can find Doug online here, where he has made samples of his work freely available for download.
Congratulations Doug!
You can find Doug online here, where he has made samples of his work freely available for download.
Procrastinate to Create
This is a great article about procrastination, and how it focuses attention on our strengths, allowing ideas to germinate into genius:
"If Leonardo [Da Vinci] seemed endlessly distracted by his notebooks and experiments — instead of finishing the details of a painting he had already conceptualized — it was because he understood the fleeting quality of imagination: If you do not get an insight down on paper, and possibly develop it while your excitement lasts, then you are squandering the rarest and most unpredictable of your human capabilities, the very moments when one seems touched by the hand of God."
Ira Glass on the Art of Storytelling
This is a long but rewarding video of Ira Glass (host of "This American Life" on NPR) discussing how he approaches storytelling.
To Summarize:
View The Video Here:
To Summarize:
- Narrative is like a freight train ... readers and listeners want to be carried along by it
- Avoid "fake gravitas" and focus on the small things that make us human
- Occasionally step back from your narrative and tie the events to some greater theme that encapsulates your plot points
View The Video Here:
