Tag Archives: writing

Some reasons why I am not a novelist

Posted on May 26, 2012 | 2 comments

When I tell people I am a writer, they tend to presume that I write novels. Novels are the most visible and popular form of literature, and best-selling novelists enjoy both fame and wealth. I impute the kindest of motives to these presumptions, choosing to see in them a tacit wish for me to be both famous and wealthy. Because folks tend to be disappointed and lose interest if I disabuse them of their presumption, out of kindness I sometimes don’t bother. What follows is the beginning of an explanation for this outwardly irrational choice on my part, which won’t probably be of interest to anyone who isn’t also a writer.

I don’t like being in charge of people – I want people to be in charge of themselves. As a teacher, I gravitated to decentralized models of pedagogy and strove to create environments wherein learning was student-driven. I prefer the role of facilitator. This sometimes works with real people, under the right circumstances, but it doesn’t work very well with imaginary people. As a writer, I have to make all the choices for my characters, and that really goes against my nature.

I see too many possibilities; my view of the big picture contains a lot of detail. I can detect and analyze patterns more easily where I don’t have anything at stake – in the past, for example. Future projections bring out excessive caution in me, as the undetermined factors increase exponentially at every step. This makes it very difficult to create a story arc of novel length and complexity.

I can only be involved in so many long-term projects at one time. I am currently parenting two children and partnering with another adult. I manage a household, help maintain the yard, and take care of a cat. I just don’t have the energy or the desire to take on another epic project at this point in my life. I feel insanely gratified that I manage to write at all.

This is by no means a complete analysis, but it is devilishly difficult to analyze something when one is smack in the middle of it. Additional posts on this and related subjects are in the works, so stay tuned!

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Tagged parenting, partnering, writing

On voice

Posted on May 11, 2012 | 2 comments

Voice is an unavoidable component of all forms of writing. To slightly paraphrase Janice Hardy, voice is the sense that there is a person behind the words. That sense of person is how the reader connects with what the writer says. If there is a problem with voice, the connection will be faulty or won’t be made at all.

How can there be a problem with voice? Isn’t the writer always the person behind the words? Well, yes and no. Yes, the writer is always somewhere behind the words, but often the writer wants to communicate or connect through a particular perspective or persona, even in non-fiction. Any time the words don’t clearly convey that perspective or persona, the connection shorts out.

Although this can happen in several ways, inconsistency is the most common problem with voice. It’s like someone changing channels during a broadcast without warning: inconsistent voice makes it hard to follow what’s going on, whether that’s a line of reasoning or a plot line. The simplest way to be consistent is to maintain the same perspective throughout a written piece (much harder than it sounds). This is not to say, however, that shifts in perspective make for poor writing or need to be avoided. When executed properly, they bring a delightful complexity and nuance to writing.

How can changes in perspective, by their very definition, be consistent? They happen in a manner that makes sense, that arises naturally from the plot or argument and advances it. They follow a structural pattern, usually visible, occurring at section or chapter breaks. They take place when a scene changes or when new source material is introduced. Here’s the real kicker: when shifts in perspective add to the plot or line of reasoning without disruption or distraction, they weave together to form a single, rich, complex voice.

The writer’s voice.

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Tagged argument, editing, persona, perspective, plot, reading, voice, writing

Z to A Even Day Challenge

Posted on May 2, 2012 | 5 comments

The April A to Z Challenge was a great way to jump-start my writing again, though I found the daily aspect an unwelcome source of added stress. If I had participated from the beginning rather than hopping on near the end as I did, I think I would have been thoroughly burnt out with the whole thing by now.

The upshot is that I’ve decided to attempt a variation on this writing/blogging challenge for the next several weeks. The idea is to post on every even-numbered calendar day, which allows a little more time to think and polish. My hope is to raise the quality of the published writing and reduce the amount of stress associated therewith.

I’ve also decided to work my way backwards through the alphabet, as I found the letter prompts arbitrary enough to inspire creativity but predictable enough get me thinking ahead. I plan to be more subtle with this challenge and abandon the “X is for Y” approach, which becomes tedious after a bit.

If you decide to follow along in your own writing, I’d love to hear about it. Your company on this journey is most welcome, either as a reader or a fellow writer.

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Tagged blogging, blogging challenge, company, writing, writing challenge

Z is for zero

Posted on April 30, 2012 | 2 comments

…days left in the April A-Z Challenge!

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what I’ll do when the month ends. I’ve posted more consistently (and gotten more traffic) than at any time since I began this blog, and I hate to lose that momentum. On the other hand, I’ve come to see that there is a certain tyranny in the requirement to post daily: the demands can be wearing on readers and blogger alike. I think I’ve seen a certain degree of reader fatigue, and I know that the quality of the posts has not been consistently what I would like it to be.

I’ve been trying to cultivate the habit of daily writing for some time now, but that sort of writing isn’t always fit for publication. I think journals are a good place to do that, and I’ve been making use of mine for that purpose. A fair amount of what I’ve written on a daily basis hasn’t made it to the blog, but it has been good for me to be stretched by the letter prompts and by the need to produce something postable every day. I’m not sure, however, that it’s a sustainable practice for me over the long term.

In the interest of everyone’s sanity, I’ve decided to institute the Z-A Even Day Challenge. I will work my way backwards through the alphabet (since I missed the first two-thirds of it) with the commitment to post on even-numbered calendar days. This will take me through May and well into June, by which time I hope to figure out something else to do to keep myself writing.

I’ll keep you posted, and I’d love to hear any feedback or ideas you might have. Thanks for reading!

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Tagged blogging, practice, writing, Z-A Even Day Challenge

W is for work

Posted on April 26, 2012 | 4 comments

I need to finish an editing job for a client, so this will be my post for today. It feels a little like cheating, but I will be using the written language portion of my brain, and I will be writing comments and corrections and such. I just won’t be posting them here. Sorry. 😦

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Tagged editing, work, writing

R is for Really Late

Posted on April 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

Thanks to Tiffany Francis of Some Words, I recently found out about the April A-Z Challenge. I know the month and the challenge are 2/3 of the way through, but if today were April 2, I’d say, “B is for Better Late than Never!”

Given how far I’ve fallen off the daily post wagon, I make no promises. But seeing as fewer than two weeks remain in the challenge, it’s not unreasonable to hope that I might at least make a decent showing. Who knows? I might even end up forming a good habit (though I’ll probably need another equally simplistic challenge to help me along. Any suggestions?)

Dreams of blogging

Posted on February 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

Last night I dreamed about blogging. I dreamed that I had plenty to say, no difficulty saying it, and time enough to post it.

I dreamed I had some thoughts that were so compelling I had to stop what I was doing and post them.

If only I could recall what they were.

Romance sandwich (splash fiction)

Posted on February 15, 2012 | 7 comments

She was the tomato to his lettuce, the bacon to his mayonnaise. Their bread was toasted, exquisitely crisp without being dry. Then she sensed something was amiss: where did that slice of turkey come from?

Today’s splash fiction was inspired by this week’s Red Writing Hood prompt:
“Plump tomatoes, salty bacon, crisp lettuce, soft bread, this week we want you to be inspired by the BLT. Write a piece of either fiction or creative non-fiction based on this photo.”

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Tagged fiction, splash fiction, writing

The shortest of months

Posted on December 2, 2011 | 4 comments

Now that it’s December, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is officially over. I actually participated for the first time this year, after a decade or so of promoting it to other writers and cheering them on. This isn’t quite as hypocritical as it might appear, because I’ve always written short stuff – poetry, flash fiction, reviews, articles, press releases – not novels, which are by definition somewhat long. I’ve never so much as had an idea for a book, let alone a novel. But this year I decided I had nothing to lose and might even discover that I really am a novelist, so I signed up on the web site, in the sight of God and everyone. I came up with a premise and some characters that I thought were interesting and started writing.

As the dust settles and I reflect on what I accomplished, I’ve decided to call my experience NaNoWriWee (National Novel Writing Week) because that’s about how long I was able to keep up with it. I didn’t actually get pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) until November 5, and my last contribution was on November 12. During those several days, I was pretty diligent about writing something every day, though nothing near the 1,700-word daily average required to reach the target goal of 50,000 words. In fact, my final word count was just shy of 3,000. Pitiful though this may seem, it’s quite an accomplishment for me: it’s the longest bit of creative writing I’ve ever done (if you don’t count papers in school, that is.)

Here’s what I took away from NaNoWriWee:

– Even though I didn’t spend nearly enough time writing my story, I did spend a lot of time thinking about it. And I enjoyed both the writing and the thinking.

– I’m obviously not very good at lengthy narrative, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t get better with practice. And I think I’d like some more practice.

– If I got that much done in haphazard moments stolen from my batsh*t crazy life, how much more I could get done if I actually spent a week away from that life, writing?

Okay, it doesn’t seem like a lot, but I didn’t have much in the way of expectations, so I’m thrilled. And I’m already making plans for next year’s NaNoWriWee.

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Tagged writing

Sufficient unto the day

Posted on October 19, 2011 | 2 comments

When I started this blog, I included the word “daily” in its title as incentive to write every day. What I didn’t fully appreciate is that writing every day does not mean I will produce something publishable every day.

In all honesty, I haven’t actually written daily since founding the blog. I’ve fallen off the wagon more than once, for weeks at a time in some instances, but the blog has nevertheless served its intended purpose. My writing practice has been more consistent over the past 27 months than at any time since the years BC (before children). Despite feelings of inadequacy that beset me when I don’t post every day, I can truly say that my writing habits have improved. I’ve written nearly every day since a much-needed getaway in August, and my mental muscles have begun to show the effect of regular exercise in the form of more frequent posts.

On this particular day, I am able to tell myself, “Don’t get discouraged.” Even if I do not reach the goal, at least I seem to be moving in the right direction. And today, by the grace of God, that’s enough.

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Tagged grace, writing