Feb

3

Writing With Children

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In the first parent/teacher conference with Donovan’s third grade teacher, we talked about the usual. When she discovered I was a writer, she asked if I would come in and talk to the class about writing fiction. Of course, I said yes.

While a date for it hasn’t been set, I’m working on getting my “lesson plan” together. As third graders, they’re just getting started in their writing careers. It’s too early to hit them with character or world building strategies. Plus, I’ll only have about half an hour, maybe an hour at most, with them. So, it needs to be something simple, but will affect them profoundly. But where to start?

I did a search for “teach children to write fiction” and came up with a pretty good list of places to start. The first page I checked out was “How to Teach Kids to Write” at eHow.com. Not really what I was looking for – too complicated for the half hour I’m aiming for. The next page I looked at was “Teaching Children to Write” – and that’s what I’m looking for.

I think that author’s right – kids sometimes need a helping hand, a bit of guidance. So I’ve decided to do a kind of guided writing exercise. One of the things I find in a good writer’s work is the incorporation of all the senses into a scene. “The alley stank” as opposed to “the alley smelled like week-old garbage.” So, that’s what I’m going to teach them about – using the senses in a story.

I’m putting together a one page hand-out for the kids, which will be a one paragraph example of using the senses, then a list of questions they need to think about when writing. Then, after they’ve read it, they’ll be given a prop which they have to write about. What is the prop? A chocolate chip cookie. :)

Only, they won’t know it when they first get it. I’m going to put each cookie in a brown paper bag, and then we’ll go through and write a paragraph together as we explore with our senses and write it all down. And the very last sense we will explore is taste. After all, for all that hard work they’re going to be doing, they deserve a reward.

Have you written with kids (either or own, or someone else’s) before? Do you have any tricks you can share?

Jan

26

The Man With A Gun & Other Ways To Defeat Writer’s Block

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One of the things writers talk about is writer’s block. Some people say there’s no such thing. I think of it more as “writer’s stuck”. I don’t think you can ever truly be blocked. There’s always something ready to come out of your head. You just need to figure out what you can do to get unstuck. Here are four ideas that might help you:

  1. The Man With A Gun: If you find yourself in the midst of a scene and you have no idea what to do next, or how to get your characters from where they are now to where they need to be, have a man with a gun show up. I don’t mean literally a man with a gun shows up to threaten them, but introduce something to shock or motivate them. It could be a man with a gun, an ex-boy/girlfriend (with or without a weapon), a knock on the door, a phone call, overhearing a breaking news flash on the radio or a breaking window. Something to jolt your characters out of complacency.
  2. Jump Ahead: If you can’t figure out how to move your characters from Point A to Point B, just skip ahead and write as if you’ve gotten them to Point B. You guys know I don’t necessarily mean a physical Point B, right? Points A and B can be plot points too – you’ve got them eating dinner, but then you need them to be in the office to find Joe’s boss’ dead body, but you can’t figure out how to do it? Just jump ahead and write them walking into the office. Don’t worry about how they got there, or why they went, just have them there. You can go back during your revisions at put that stuff in then. Who knows. Maybe as you continue forward in the story your characters will give you the answers.
  3. Write Something Else: Sometimes all your brain needs is different scenery to play around in. If you’re having problems with Project A, try working on Project B for a while. If you want to stick with Project A, then why not try working on a tangent – write a journal entry for one of your characters. You may learn something you can use immediately, or find inspiration for future writing.
  4. Entertain Your Brain: Once in a while, you just might need a break from writing. Go do something else. Read a magazine. Read a story – or better yet, read something outside the genre you’re writing in. You never know what tricks or ideas you might learn that you can use. Surf the web a bit. Read my blog, or check out my online swipe file. Watch some tv.

I will come out and say it right now – don’t use these things as an excuse not to write. What you’re trying to do is refresh your mind, get it unstuck so you can move forward.

So, what do you do to get past your blocks, get unstuck, and move forward with your writing?

Jan

23

Journals as a Character Development Tool.

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Yesterday was a pretty big writing day for me. The word count was about 4000 words written/revised. 2400 of it was for TMA (so for those of you keeping track, you can see the word meter has progressed), and the rest was for games I’m playing in. That doesn’t count the actual in-game stuff I wrote. (There wasn’t a lot of that.) What was it that I spent 1600 words on? Journal entries for my character. (If you’re interested in those journal entries, check them out here. )

Why do I write them? It’s a way to record my character’s thoughts about what’s happened. It also allows me to explore her, learn new things about her, and express stuff that really ought not to be brought up in game because it is either inappropriate or would derail the scene. For example, in journal entry #3, Brigid talks about the scars she got. She goes on to explain why they are so important not to just her, but to her own kind. That kind of exposition (I had to look that word up to make sure it meant what I thought it did :) would have been out of place in the game. It was an ensemble scene, and it was a point of transition between one act of the story and another. A completely inappropriate time and place to be talking about things the character already knows, and is unimportant to the story as a whole.

The reason why I bring up these character journals is because they are a great thing to do for characters in regular fiction. You can’t have pages and pages of inner monologue in a book. Not if you want your reader to keep turning those pages. Not can you afford to ignore that stuff going on in your character’s head that wants – and needs – to come out. An in-character journal is the ideal tool.

It’s not something you ever have to include in your book, or even show anyone. The important thing is that it lets you work things out. It allows you to verbalize your character’s thoughts and feelings and figure out what they’re thinking. You might know your hero hates the color red, but it’s in a journal entry where you discover the playground bully in elementary school always wore a red jacket. That specific piece of information may never make it into your story, but it’s an important piece of background that colors (if you pardon the pun) your hero’s actions.

Why not consider creating a journal for your characters, to see what they’re thinking?

Jan

20

Top Five Writing Myths

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One common thing whenever human beings gather is the need to talk and share experiences. Often that need turns into something a little more fun, a little more dangerous — gossip. Gossip is often fun but it can also be dangerous because it spreads quickly (because it is fun) and often distorts or even completely avoids the truth. Gossip creates myths in many fields and professions, and the field of writing is especially prone.

Here are the top five myths about writing:

Myth 1: Writing is easy for some people. Let me tell you that is just about the biggest myth going. I have been writing for almost three decades now. I also know professional writers of various ages, experience, and income. I don’t know a writer that will tell you that writing is easy. Writing is brutal, hard work and there are times when I think it would be easier to simply open a vein as Red Smith said. However experience and practice can make many writing tasks easier. There are some writing tasks that I can almost accomplish on autopilot because I have written that specific format and/or topic a lot.

Myth 2: Writing requires talent. I won’t lie. Talent can certainly help and talent is what separates the great writers from the good writers. But the truth is that talent is not enough to make a writer great or even good and talent is not a necessary requirement to be a good writer. Writing is a skill that can be learned, developed and honed. If you practice your craft, if you read the writing of others to learn more about your craft, and if you seek and accept guidance and suggestions about your writing then you will improve and grow as a writer. Dedication harnessed with talent can create amazing results but if I had to pick just one then I would go with dedication. You can always increase your skill level through dedication.

Myth 3: Writing isn’t a useful skill. Even if you don’t intend to make your living with words you will need this crucial skill. There simply isn’t a profession that does not involve writing. Perhaps the form will vary, but written communication is the cornerstone in every professional field. Your writing ability will often impact landing a job as well as advancing in your career. Today written communication is even more crucial in professional and personal relationships.

Myth 4: You can’t make a living as a writer. Lots of people say English Majors end up flipping burgers – you can’t support yourself. The truth is many people never had trouble finding a job and some own their own businesses because of this flexible and important skill. Not only can you make a living as a writer but writing is an essential tool for many other careers and professions.

Myth 5: Writers block is alive and torturing writers as you read this. I’m not dismissing the difficulties inherent in dealing with writers block but whenever I talk with writers purportedly suffering from it they fall within two general groups. The first group actually creates their own block by insisting on the perfect place, mood, or alignment of planets in order to write. This is beyond ridiculous. To be a scucessful writer you have to be able to write in almost any condition or mood. Deadlines will teach anyone how to give writers block short shrift. The second group I have more sympathy for as their problem really is internal in nature. Usually the problem is that the particular story (whether fiction or nonfiction) they want to tell is not yet finished cooking in their brain. In this case, while the writing may be stalled I don’t agree that it is blocked. The writer must listen to that inner voice and respond appropriately. Sometimes the idea needs more time to percolate and sometimes more research and/or planning is necessary. Once the proper adjustments are made the writing will begin to flow again.

Don’t let your writing fall victim to these five myths about writing.