A smaller-yet-(even-more)-passionate-(as-proven-by-the-fact-that-they-showed-up) group of Schmoozers gathered for the November 12th Schmooze to discuss the next step on the Journey of Your Book: getting the thing out of your head, onto the page, and into a readable form.
After the usual announcements of
all the conferences and contests and contemplative confabs one can partake of
in this crazy, mixed up SCBWI world we inhabit, Charlie started off with his
standard exhausting research.
Sorry, we meant exhaustive.
This time he focused on how folks get themselves to write, despite the terror, and where that terror comes from. Here’s a smattering:
This time he focused on how folks get themselves to write, despite the terror, and where that terror comes from. Here’s a smattering:
MG fantasy author Julie Berry had a great list of fears and
advice on how to get over them:
1
You lack motivation and
often fail to choose writing over other temptations. Solution: “Blow up your TV, Twitter and Facebook.”
2
You find no writing time
is left after day’s obligations are met.
Solution: Recognize that writing will cost you something.
3
You fear that you’re not
good enough. Solution: Don’t confuse a
draft with a finished work.
4
You feel overwhelmed by
all the plot decisions you have to make.
Solution: “Dance between writing in the dark and making a plan. Use both the ‘outline’
and the ‘just write’ approaches in tandem.”
5
You feel like you don’t
care about your book anymore. “Your
characters haven’t hooked you yet,” diagnosed Berry, “because somewhere you
took a shortcut and held back from making them real and true.”
Some other tips:
1. Create a feeling of
urgency to write.
2. Commit to finishing
your draft by a certain date.
3. Hunker down when it
gets hard.
“You can get a lot of writing done if you just write,” she said. “The rest of the time, don’t write
and don’t fret about writing.”
Joanna Penn had some good tips about getting the material
onto the page. Charlie’s favorite: Get up really early and work while your
brain is still half asleep.
 |
| Karol's philosophy in life |
And here's another one that sent shivers down Karol's spine:
Trust the process of emergence. You won’t know what is coming until the words appear
on the
page. Something happens when you commit to the page, to the word count goal and you write through the frustration and the annoyance and the self-criticism. Creativity emerges. Ideas emerge. Original thought emerges. Something happens – but only if you trust emergence.
page. Something happens when you commit to the page, to the word count goal and you write through the frustration and the annoyance and the self-criticism. Creativity emerges. Ideas emerge. Original thought emerges. Something happens – but only if you trust emergence.
Karol’s favorite tidbit of the night came from Schmoozer
and The Pen And Ink blogger, Sue Burger, who said you should print out your
manuscript, make a title page, and bind that sucker. Heck, Karol thought – why not write a dedication and
acknowledgements while you’re at it?
(Christmas/Hanukkah gift list – handled!)
Charlie went on and on (as he is wont to do) listing tops,
including Simon Clark’s wise advice to get up and LEAVE the writing table when
your first draft is done so that you can return to it some days or weeks later
with a fresh perspective.
He finally finished with this sweet little bon mot from the
comments section of the Ask the Writer blogpost :
Lastly, be generous with self-forgiveness. Writing is a process.
--Brandi Reissenweber.
Thanks Brandi, wherever you are.
At this point Karol wrested control back from Charlie and
turned it over to the estimable Laurie Young. She shared about a 7 HOUR REVISION CLASS she’d just taken
the previous weekend taught by Liza Palmer at Writing Pad. We thought she was gangbusters, but
Laurie felt that what she’d said was a tad muddled (and
seriously, who could blame her after a 7 hour revision class??), so she us sent
the following:
There was some real insight in
Liza Palmer's class that I failed to communicate to the group. So here are a
few points from the class that could be helpful:
* Revision is about percolating. Take time to
breathe.
* Ask yourself why you are writing this story,
now.
* Break it down into acts. Make sure your
tentpoles are strong. Plug holes.
* Outline to the point of ridiculousness, then
rewrite. Repeat as needed.
* What does your character know? When do they
know it? When does the reader know it? Map it out.
* Passes: Look for word repetition. Check swear
words to make sure they have impact and are not used carelessly. Make sure you
have not pulled punches, and up the stakes wherever you can. Dialogue tags.
* "When we have trouble revising, we are
too close to the painting—obsessing about the small details when we need to
focus on the big picture."
* And lastly, make peace with the
fact that it will never be finished.
After that everyone got involved,
sharing tips, once in a lifetime insights and the warm, supportive words of
brilliance you’d wait a lifetime to hear. We’d recount it all here, but, sadly,
we’ve run out of space. Also, if
we told you everything, why would you come to the next schmooze?
And speaking of the next
Schmooze…we’ll be meeting again December 10th and welcoming special
guest Jen Rofé of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. How cool is that?!
Answer: VERY.
So be sure to join us and, until then, keep passing the open
windows,
Charlie & Karol
Links to articles referenced in this post:
http://metro.nyscbwi.org/news/stop-fiddling-start-finishing-julie-berry-on-getting-through-your-first-draft/
Links to articles referenced in this post:
http://metro.nyscbwi.org/news/stop-fiddling-start-finishing-julie-berry-on-getting-through-your-first-draft/
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