Ain’t ‘a That Good News February 25, 2009
Posted by Becca in Write On Wednesday.12 comments
“I’m gonna lay down this world, gonna shoulder up my cross, gonna take it home to my Jesus, ain’t a that good news…” Ain’t A That Good News, a spiritual, arranged by William Dawson
There ain’t much good news in the world this days, is there? As a matter of fact, I posted a bit of a rant on Becca’s Byline earlier tonight about the way our news media has been battering us with every conceivable piece of bad news they can find. In that piece, I challenged the nation’s journalists to use the power of the press to encourage hope and seek positive solutions for some of the current problems, rather than continue their fear mongering and doom-saying.
One of my all time favorite quotes about writing comes from Ingrid Bengis – “Words are a form of action, capable of influencing change.” There is no doubt in my mind about the truth of this statement. The power of the word – written or spoken – can be used to make or break the hearts and will of a people. In the past, I have accused the media of shaping our political opinions with their words, and while I think they have the power to do that, I believe this year their power was usurped by Barack Obama’s own eloquence, and it was his own words which influenced one of the greatest political changes this nation has ever seen.
In spite of my faith in this statement, I find it all to easy to sink into pessimism about my own writing. What’s the point? I sometimes find myself thinking. Who cares what I have to say? Why bother struggling to find just the right word, to come up with the perfect idea, to create a evocative image? What difference can it possibly make to the world? I also find my writing slipping into the “woe is me” category, becoming a litany of complaints and worries that would rival the lineup on my local talk radio station.
It’s in those times that my words – if they come at all - become mired in pessimism and negativity. When I lose sight of the reason I write – to clarify my thoughts and emotions by expressing them in words in ways that are meaningful to myself and others – I can no longer write effectively or influence any kind of positive change in myself or in anyone else.
So I hope to focus on the positive in my writing this week, to speak truth but to seek it from an angle of hope and light.
How about you? How do you find positive things to write about in these troubled times? Do you think the written word has the power to effect positive change?
Resurrection February 18, 2009
Posted by Becca in Write On Wednesday.14 comments
You have to keep your writing on life support, and give it oxygen. Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander and Paint it Black
Write On Wednesday has certainly flat-lined over the past few weeks, hasn’t it? The rest of my life, however, has gone rushing past, reminding me of those scenes from ER when the paramedics come crashing through the doors shouting “GSW to the chest! He’s tachycardic and bleeding out! Get me an amp of epi! STAT!”
Happily, nothing that serious has occurred for me, but in the midst of general life busyness – training a new employee at work, rehearsals for three new musical events, a week’s vacation with a friend – the last few Wednesday’s seemed to come and go in a flash, and writing on that day was truthfully the farthest thing from my mind.
Just as life sometimes mirrors the chaos of a hospital trauma ward, so does ones artistic practice occasionally wither and languish from neglect. When that happens to me, I panic a bit, and tend to rush in with haphazard attempts at revival. These include everything from searching through my “How to Write” library to rummaging around the web looking for new writing prompts. I go out and buy myself new notebooks and pens. I download lots of podcast interviews with writers. I re-read some of my favorite authors. Basically, I transfuse myself with inspiration from other writers – the famous and the not-so famous.
When I get the pulse going again, it’s time to look at prevention. How to protect myself from suffering this same disease in the future?
Most often, neglecting my writing occurs when I allow daily life to overwhelm me. For example, Sunday morning while I was unloading the dishwasher, I thought of a novel to write. Research would be required – lots of it, but that’s all right, I love research. I began thinking about the biographies I would need to read, the historical period I would need to study. Some of the very books I needed were on my bookshelves, I could get started right away.
But first, there was church, and I had to be there to play duets in the service. And then I had promised my aunt I would take her grocery shopping that day. Of course, I really had to work at the score for Sweet Charity, since rehearsals at the community theater were beginning Monday evening. Sunday drifted by, and Monday too, with an extra day at the office thrown into the mix this week. Now it’s Wednesday, and there’s work today, and (not one, but two!) rehearsals this evening.
Daily life has a way of infecting my writing life with a deadly virus.
“I have spent so long erecting partitions around the part of me that writes – learning how to close the door on ordinary life when it’s time to start writing again – that I’m not sure I could fit the two parts of me back together now,” wrote novelist Anne Tyler, in an essay entitled Still Just Writing. Perhaps I should put the writer part of me into quarantine occasionally, construct my own version of an isolation unit and admit myself when it’s time to start writing.
Perhaps that’s what I’m doing “write now,” sitting in my study at 6:30 a.m. while the rest of the house still sleeps.
How about you? Is your writing life healthy these days? How do you keep your writing life alive? What are some of the remedies you use to revive it?
Revision Redux January 28, 2009
Posted by Becca in Uncategorized.18 comments
The revision process continues to be on my mind this winter- notice I said “on my mind,” meaning I haven’t done much more than think about it. The whole process of novel revision seems terribly daunting. I’ve been collecting other writer’s thoughts on their process of revision, hoping to get inspired, and it worked to some degree. I’ve started revising a short story I wrote last winter, hoping that by “practicing” on something smaller, I’ll be less intimidated by the work involved in revising the novel.
Here’s some food for thought regarding the revision process…as you will see, every author approaches it completely differently!
“I start on the first page. Then, I rewrite that page twenty or forty times until it’s right, and then it’s finished. Then, I go to page two and I do the same thing twenty or forty times.” Stephen Dixon
“I go over what I’ve written, but I’m not making major changes. I’m just fixing it by making minor changes that might have a big effect. I hardly throw anything out.” Jayne Ann Phillips
“I do twenty or thirty drafts. I’m a big reviser. I go back…and polish the beginning, then I force myself to go through page by page from beginning to end, over and over again.” Amy Bloom
“I go through with a very cold eye to cut out everything that can be cut without loss.” Thomas E. Kennedy
“I polish as I go along. My habit is to perfect individual sentences, individual paragraphs, and individual pages, and when I think they’re as good as I can make them, I feel free to go on to the next part. So when I write the last sentence of the last paragraph, I’m done with the book.” Kent Haruf
“I do a great many drafts, no matter what it is. This means letting it sit for a few days before looking at it again, then doing it again, then letting it sit and doing it again. I let my friends read drafts after the first ten or twelve. My early drafts are sketchy in the most important ways – everything vital is left out – and they’re wordy in other ways – there’s all this extraneous material that doesn’t matter. So the revisions are in both directions.” Andrea Barrett
“I do a lot of revisions in fits and starts. When I write, I barrel through from beginning to end, and then back up, and if the beginning isn’t working, start over. Once it works, I write through to the end, and start revising, and, if necessary, trash the whole thing, and start over.” Myla Goldberg
Writer Bug posted some great revision advice which she picked up at her last residency. She talks about picking 15 areas you want to work on in your manuscript, and then going through it 15 times, focusing on one area each time. Some things to work with include: verbs, redundancy, verbosity, vagueness. She also advises reading the story aloud, which is a great idea.
As I’ve begun revising my own work, I’ve been taking one paragraph at a time, revising each sentence, looking for better words, paring down wordiness, then going on to the next paragraph until I’ve finished the page. Then I re-read the page and see how it flows. Once I’ve done each page, I’ll go back and re-read the whole thing to see if I need to make structural changes.
So, how about you? Anyone else out there in the process of revisions? If so, how’s it going?
A Writer’s Meme January 13, 2009
Posted by Becca in Memes for Writers.18 comments
A little busy work for you this week, while I’m away on a trip.
Have fun!
What’s your favourite genre of writing?
How often do you get writer’s block?
How do you fix it?
Do you type or write by hand?
Do you save everything you write?
Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it?
Do you have a constructive critic?
Did you ever write a novel?
What genre would you love to write but haven’t?
What’s one genre you have never written, and probably never will?
How many writing projects are you working on right now?
Do you write for a living? Do you want to?
Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper?
Have you ever won an award for your writing?
What are your five favourite words?
Do you ever write based on your dreams?
Do you favour happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers?
Have you ever written based on an artwork you’ve seen?
If you’ve answered all these questions, give yourselves a huge gold star and pat on the back.
Now go off and do some real writing.
Fresh Start January 8, 2009
Posted by Becca in Uncategorized.17 comments
In a mood of faith and hope my work goes on. A ream of fresh paper lies on my desk waiting for the next book. I am a writer and I take up my pen to write..
~Pearl S. Buck
Technically it’s still Wednesday, at least for a few more hours, so I can still “legally” post here. Hey, it’s my blog, anyway, right? So I can do whatever I want <smiles>
I was just visiting Cafe Writing (and if you don’t participate in this marvelous monthly writing adventure, you must!) where the theme for January is “fresh.” Coming back to familiar territory after some time away feels like a fresh start – it’s good to step back from the daily routine, from obligations and expectations, good to change the priorities around a bit.
My mind has been whirling around with some fresh writing ideas. I’ve made a concerted effort to get back to my morning pages, those three pages of writing done first thing in the morning when the mind is fresh. Rather than regurgitating a litany of worries and woes, which can all too easily become my habit in journaling, I’ve been using the pages to reflect on my reading of late. And in doing so, I’m finding ideas coming fast and furious. Ideas for a series on Bookstack - The Writer’s Life, columns of essay/reviews based on biographies of my favorite authors. Ideas for my long laid aside novel, Dear Samantha, the epistolary novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo in 2006. I’ve even thought about trying to find a way to quit my day job and actually write all the time!
Some pretty wild ideas come spilling out of my head in the morning…after a couple of mugs of Gevalia Dark Roast coffee, the brain synapses are in rapid fire mode.
Whether any of these ideas pan out or not, it’s invigorating to think about fresh new things to do with my writing. After all, the new year is the perfect time for a fresh start.
How about you? What fresh new ideas do you have for your writing?
Down Time December 17, 2008
Posted by Becca in Uncategorized.11 comments
I’m taking a brief break from regularly scheduled blog programming, and hope to return in the New Year.
Thanks for all your support and enthusiasm 
May your days be merry and bright…
Getting Physical December 3, 2008
Posted by Becca in Uncategorized.16 comments
One of the things I most hate about winter is the way it curbs my ability to be active. I’m not a terribly physical person – I don’t play sports, or belong to a gym. I do love walking my dogs and riding my bike, and the cold winds and icy pavements of winter have already put quite a damper on my ability to do either one.
Consequently, my body feels lumpish and stiff. There’s a restlessness in my legs about seven in the evening (the time we take our after dinner walks in the summer). My chest feels heavy, as if the oxygen circulating through my heart has thickened. And there’s a corresponding sluggishness in my mind as well. After a good walk, I’m always energized, my thoughts buzzing with subjects to write about. When I sit too much, even if I’m sitting at my keyboard, I can feel my creative brain going into sleep mode.
I suppose I could invest in a treadmill, or go off to the mall and walk laps. But for me, atmosphere is important…I like being outdoors, hearing the birds singing and the leaves crunching under my feet, feeling the wind in my hair.
I’ve just started reading Fruitflesh, by Gayle Brandeis, a really lovely inspirational book for women who write. Brandeis wants to “help other writers tap into the vast, luscious creativity that simmers inside all our bodies.” The inspirational essays in the book encourage the reader to focus attention on the body the soma, “the place where body and mind and spirit have no dimension.”
Our bodies are the repository for all our experiences, all our emotions, all our truest stories. We can capture our own wholeness, our own integrity on the page when we allow our fruitflesh to speak.”
The idea of body/mind connection isn’t new. Back in the late 1930’s when Dorothea Brande wrote her classic Becoming A Writer, she too advocated for regular “moving meditations,” as she called them. The morning walk to set the spirit and the imagination humming.
“Bodies are not nouns,” Brandeis writes. “They’re verbs.”
Yesterday I was reading Andi’s post in which she talked a bit about the dreams she has for the new life experience she’s about to embark upon. “One of the things that I’ve always wanted to do at my home,” she wrote, ”is have a place for artists and others to come and find respite and sustenance. Part of that dream involves having house concerts and courses – yoga, writing, music – for people who need a quiet place to experience these things.”
Isn’t that a wonderful idea? Incorporating the disciplines of mind and body - writing, music, yoga – to enrich the experience of all? I’m beginning to realize the importance of working in harmony with all aspects of the self, and keeping my physical body in a state of healthy mobility is an integral part of maintaining that essential balance.
So, how about you? Do you find that physical activity inspires your creativity? What’s works best for you – walking, running, dancing, kickboxing? How do you get in touch with your body, and use that awareness to inform your writing? How do you keep your body and mind in balance?
Grateful November 26, 2008
Posted by Becca in Uncategorized.11 comments
A short post today, to accomodate all the holiday busyness…
During these days to focus on thankfulness, I’m certainly grateful for the wonderful community of writers and friends who have gathered at this writer’s roundtable for the past few months.
If you have a moment to write during these next days, you might share your thoughts on the people who have inspired you in your writing journey. For some, it might be teachers or friends, for others, lovers or children. Perhaps it’s an author whose work you admire, and whose words set your fingers itching to pick up a pencil.
Enjoy the feast ’round your dining room tables tomorrow.
We’ll reconvene here soon.
Life in General November 19, 2008
Posted by Becca in Uncategorized.17 comments
Before The Red Tent, before Good Harbor, before and during six books on contemporary Jewish life, I was a colunist,” writes Anita Diamant, in her introduction to Pitching My Tent. “I wrote essays about friendship and fashion, about marriage and electoral politics, about abortion, lingerie, situation comedies, birth, death, God, country, and my dog. I covered the waterfront and the supermarket, my synagogue, the waiting room outside the intensive care unit, and my own kitchen table. My job was to report on the events of the day and the changes under my own roof. The challenge was to pay closer-than-average attention and then shape my experiences and reactions into entertaining prose that rose above the level of my own navel. It was more than a great job – it was a meaningful job.
Life in General – that’s the subtitle of my other blog, Becca’s Byline. But it’s also the underlying theme of most things I write about. Certainly my life isn’t exciting or unique by modern standards. Mostly it’s consumed with family and friendships, work and hobbies, worries and fears about the world around me. These are the subjects all humans confront every day, the experiences of life in general.
The uniqueness is in what we make of those experiences, how we process the ordinary (and extraordinary!) events of our lives, the individual filter through which we view everything from our most cherished relationships to the process of picking fresh fruit at the market. That vision becomes the basis of our artistic expression, whether it’s with words and music or paint, clay and fabric.
I love reading personal essays, because they provide me with another viewpoint on Life In General, this thing we’re all immersed in every day. Anna Quindlen and Carolyn Knapp are two of my favorite contemporary essayists. Joyce Carol Oates writes a pretty mean essay, and Anne Fadiman produces some wonderful personal writing about literature and life. Yes, these are women whose lives might seem richer and more fulfilled than yours and mine. But it’s their witty and insightful reflections on those normal everyday events – walking the dog, making coffee, reading books- which truly help me put my own world into perspective. See, I tell myself, they have the same problems and needs as I.
It’s this intimate way of expressing our relationship with Life In General that makes blogging such an exciting format. We have access to sharing life experiences with hundreds of people, and the opportunity to fine tune our self expression in the process.
When it comes to our writing, individual experiences are extremely valuable. It’s not narcissism to value our lives and what we’ve done with them – it’s a way of paying witness to ourselves and to the things which matter. Becoming attuned to the special value of each passing moment allows us to transmit the details into words and images which in turn become valued by our readers.
“Writing is an act of self-cherishing,” writes Julia Cameron. “We often write most deeply and happily on those areas closest to our heart.”
So tell me, what are the areas closest to your heart? What aspects of your life in general do you find yourself sharing in writing? Do you enjoy reading/writing personal essays? Who are some of your favorite essayists?
Extra Credit (from The Right to Write): In your journal, list 50 things you’re proud of about yourself…what does this list tell you about the things you value most?
Warm Ups November 11, 2008
Posted by Becca in Write On Wednesday.17 comments
Music and writing are woven throughout my life like the strands of a double helix, and I often learn things from one discipline which can be applied to the other. Warm ups, for example. Singers simply must warm up their vocal chords before a performance, and there is a wide variety of exercises designed to target specific aspects of vocal production. The high school girls love to do “sirens,” a high pitched “woo-oo” sound which gets them singing in their head voice and also relieves a lot of tension, effectively serving as a (safe!) vocal scream.
As a pianist, I need those warm up exercises too, and the older I get the more important they are. My fingers are literally stiff until I’ve played for a bit, and my mind needs some time to focus itself on the music, to set aside my worries from the day and hone in on the nuances of those notes in front of me. If I’m playing a different instrument, the warm up becomes even more important. What’s the key action like? Is the pedal sticky or loose? Is the upper register overly bright? All those things are important to know to avoid being surprised during the actual performance.
In this month’s Poets and Writers Magazine, novelist Bret Anthony Johnson writes about the effectiveness of writer’s warmups, which, not surprisingly, serve similar purposes for the writer as they do for the musician. Ellis calls them Narrative Calisthenics, and says they transition the writer from the world of daily living into the world of the imagination.
“Writing exercise purges my mind of everything but a concentrated attention to language. I’ve forgotten about the leaky faucet or the overdue library book, and most importantly, I’ve released my fear about starting the morning’s writing.”
Ah yes, the fear of the blank page. Sometimes that seems almost insurmountable, doesn’t it? Here are a couple of Johnson’s suggestions to get the writing muscles warmed up:
- Spend five minutes listing every word you can think of that starts with the letter “a”; tomorrow, use “b”; and so on…
- Spend five minutes listing everything you can think of that’s the color blue; tomorrow, green, and so on…
- Open your dictionary and blindly point to an entry. Do this until you land on a noun, then spend 10 minutes writing a scene in which that noun figures significantly.
About two years ago, I began doing Morning Pages, as recommended by Julia Cameron (The Artist’s Way). I’ve found those three pages of stream of consciousness writing each morning to be a useful warm up exercise, a way of “priming the pump” of my imagination. However, they often become an emotional clearing house for worries and concerns which have little or nothing to do with my writing projects. I see the value of Johnson’s objective writing exercises as a way to sharpen the focus before embarking on whatever writing you’re engaged in.
“Writing is one of the most difficult and frightening things anyone chooses to do,” Johnson concludes. “Exercises make the work a little easier and a little less terrifying.”
How about you? Do you do writing exercises or warm ups? Do you think they could be valuable? Have you found warm up exercises helpful in some other area of your life, e.g. art, music, athletics?
Extra Credit: Try one of Johnson’s exercises above, and post about your experiences. Or create an exercise of your own and share it.
