Twelve Weeks to Me, Part One: Scheduling

When I started thinking about how I would make some changes in my personal and creative life, I started with the first necessary component: scheduling. I knew several things, up front, and I began to plan accordingly.

First, making changes in our lives that have measurable, positive effects almost never happen accidentally. Once I came to a point of saying, “Something’s gotta give,” then I needed to be INTENTIONAL about my actions. Further, those actions have to be a part of a PROCESS. Change is rarely a “magic wand” moment. It takes time, effort, and patience. (And, to fuel the commitment to see the process through, I have to believe in both the process and the intended outcomes.) Finally, I knew my intentions, and the resulting practices, had to be HOLISTIC. The plan I was coming up with needed to address the whole me: mind, body, and spirit.

As the public school year came to a close, and as we settled into our new living space, it seemed like a good time to hit the “reset” button and try something new. So, here’s the three-part method I used to come to terms with scheduling (or planning, or facilitating) my program. (Pick whichever word doesn’t ruffle your creative feathers…)

Identifying needs, establishing priorities, and writing it down: these are the steps I use to schedule active change and progress.

1. Identification – The first thing I needed to do was identify what I perceived as the deficiencies in my current plan, the ways I could remedy those deficiencies, and decide on some measurable ways to keep track of progress. For me, I knew there were some very specific areas I needed to address: creativity, time on task with writing, spiritual and psychological well-being, and physical health. I made a list of each of these areas (along with a brief description of what the “ideal” would look like) and then, within each area, a sub-list of specific actions I could take to address the identified needs. This was a brainstorm list, not just a list of things I had already decided to do.

2. Set Goals – You can call them “priorities” if the word “goal” makes you nervous. I took things from the list (such as “Daily Journal” or “Regular time for prayer and meditation” or “Go to one new place each week”) and began to quantify the frequency I wanted them to happen. For example, I wanted to finish at least one new book a week, and wanted to have a quiet time of meditation and prayer every day. It was during this phase that I also decided to commit to a twelve week plan: once I set the goals and made up a schedule for meeting the goals, I was going to stick with it for twelve weeks. (Why twelve? It’s divisible into three 4-week phases of implementation…mostly.)

3. I wrote it all down – First, by making a listing of the specific things I wanted to accomplish, and the frequency I wished to accomplish them. I wrote them out, then, I came up with a daily “ideal” calendar which would allow me time on task for each area. (Otherwise, I’m just “hoping” it happens, not making it happen.) And then, I developed tracking sheets to measure my progress.

And, that’s where I will resume this discussion, next time…

Until then, Happy Writing.

photo credit: candrews via photopin cc

Little Edits: A Peek Into Process

I’ve blogged before about my process. It is something that a lot of people find interesting. I know I enjoy discussing process and learning about the creative flow as others experience it, even if it doesn’t apply to the way MY writing gets done.

One of the key elements of my work flow seems to be this: I write first drafts long hand, and then transfer the words to the computer at a later date.

First, I am a big believer that writing with pen (or, pencil) and paper is one way of unlocking a very different side of your creativity. I also know that not everyone has the same process, so I never suggest anyone HAS to write long hand. I do suggest that everyone TRY it, especially if you are finding yourself “stuck” in some dark corner of your writing.

Second, when I do get around to typing the words, that process serves as a unique sort of “first edit” for the work. I’ve come to think of it as an “in-line” edit, because I find myself transported into that fictional world I’m trying to create, and that re-immersion tends to free up additional details and subtleties.

I thought I would share a brief look into that process for you, today.

The section of my novel I was working on yesterday included a brief digression of the narrator who is recounting a story she was told about an unusual landscape feature of a house she and her husband lived in: a lawn chair wedged into the upper branches of an old maple tree.

The original, hand-written paragraph reads like this:

According to our only neighbor–the house was surrounded by corn fields on two sides and a wooded area across the road–the chair ended up in the tree one night after a marital squabble had spilled outdoors when a toaster oven had made easy work of the sliding glass door. The husband was so angry about the broken glass–or maybe, he’d been trying to brown an english muffin–that he began tossing the lawn furniture around the back yard while the wife hurled curses at him and sprayed him with a garden hose. Eventually, the festivities came to an end when the wife chucked a garden trowel in the husband’s direction. Her aim was true and she had to rush him to Oxford for eleven stitches, but not before he gave the lawn chair one last, angry heave.

As I typed the paragraph, some minor changes in both content and structure were realized. Here is the paragraph as it now stands:

According to Mr. Dahlhauser, our only neighbor—the maze house was surrounded by a corn field on one side and in the back, and there was a wooded area across the highway—the chair ended up in the tree one night when a marital squabble had spilled outdoors after the toaster oven made easy work of the sliding glass door of the kitchen. The husband was angry about the broken glass. Or, maybe, he’d been trying to brown an english muffin. Either way, the incident inspired a rage in the man. He began tossing the lawn furniture around the back yard like that commercial ape tossed American Tourister luggage. The wife stood in the archway of the glass-less door and hurled curses instead of furniture, but with similar simian aggressiveness. Something she said provoked her husband to turn the garden hose against her, which prompted her to take up gardening tools, which she chucked at his head. Her aim was true. The trowel cut a deep gorge and she had to rush him to Oxford for eleven stitches, but not before he gave the lawn chair one last, bloody, angry heave.

There are some things about this version that make it clearly superior. The lines about the “commercial ape” and the wife’s “simian aggressiveness” are particularly appealing to me, and the entire scenario seems a bit clearer.

Don’t misunderstand: I still consider this the first draft of the text. (I typically call this the first completed draft, once the words are actually in the novel software and are ready for further editing.) I see things I’m not happy with, chief among them, the first digression about the location of the house compared to the corn fields. I am confident when I get to “editing mode” things will still change.

But, this paragraph is a good example of how my workflow molds and shapes the words, even in these earliest stages. I write what I know, and tweak it a little as I type the words into the computer. Sometimes, that means adding details, and sometimes that means shortening sequences. Overall, I find I’m left with a first draft that is more full than if I were to sit at the computer from the start.

What I don’t do, at this early stage, is labor over commas and specific words. There will be plenty of time for tinkering with the text, later. For now, in this stage, flow is much more important to me than precision.

You may have a different method. If you’d like to share, please do so below. I’m always interested in how others find their creative sweet spot. It’s the sort of nerdy, writerly thing I enjoy talking about.

Reading and Responding are Great, But…

Don’t get me wrong: I think reading, responding, and critiquing the work of others is important. It was important to me as an undergraduate because deconstructing the work of others was a great way to figure out my own narrative weaknesses and begin to find ways to shore up my own shaky bits. That was even more true as I pursued my MFA in Creative Writing; there was no shortage of “even better” things to learn from “even better quality” stories.

Even now–even as a MASTER of the craft, as my diploma tells me I am–when I teach beginning level writers and respond and critique the submissions of private writing clients and other writer friends, I find the work of reading the writing of others with a kind-yet-critical eye to be an opportunity to learn.

Sometimes, being focused on reading, critiquing, and responding to the work of others can leave me feeling dizzy and distracted.

But, man, it can be a little overwhelming. It can also become a convenient excuse to not write.

I met with a couple of local writer friends today. We spend time eating and catching up on personal lives and all sorts of things, but we also spend time asking each other some key questions about our writing: what are we working on, what successes we are having, where are we struggling, creatively. Today, as I was talking about all the non-writing things I’ve been up to the last couple of months, I realized just how much time I’ve spent focused on the work of others, and how little I’ve spent on NEW writing for me.

This isn’t a disaster. I do get value from doing that work. But, it’s also time for me to make sure I’m carving a little more writing time for myself.

There have even been a few days when I’ve chosen to work on responding to others and put my own writing aside. Literally. And that, dear reader, is a warning bell: When the desire (and opportunity) to write is supplanted by something that–while good and valuable–isn’t actually moving your own writing forward, you’ve got a problem.

It may be creative fatigue, it may be the writer’s fear, it may be any number of “reasons” that we use to delay the hard work of writing, but it is most definitely a sign that you’d better take a good look at yourself and weed out whatever creative obstacle you’ve placed in your road.

So that’s where I am, this afternoon: proactively seeking answers in my own creative life. I’m taking a look at where I am, where I wanted to be by now, and where I can establish my next benchmark for moving toward the bigger and better writing life I have in mind.

I hope you are being creative and active in your writing life, but if you aren’t maybe you can join me in a little planning and strategy session to get things back on track. And, as always, let me know if I can help.

Have a great day, and Happy Writing!!

 

P.S. No. I don’t ACTUALLY consider myself a Master Writer, just because my diploma says I am… 😉

photo credit: shoothead via photopin cc

Signs of Life: Writing New Fiction

CRAZY!

That’s a great way to describe my writing life the last few months.

Here’s what I’ve been working on:

• Trying to finish a draft of one long-standing writing project that isn’t my own (I’m writing based on a story created by someone else)
• Reading a ton
• Critiquing manuscripts (lots of them!!) for friends, clients, and students
• Dipping my foot into the world of poetry (ack!!!)
• Editing, revising, and submitting several “old” short stories
• Teaching two writing classes (Fiction Writing Basics and Legacy Writing) at the local adult/continuing ed center

Of course, labeling it “crazy” is better than calling my creative life “dead” so I’m not going to complain.

As the old saying (or the Geico commercial) goes, I’ve was happier than a witch in a broom factory when I broke through the log-jam and wrote a new story this week.

One thing you’ll notice has been missing: Writing NEW fiction of my own. It won’t come as a surprise to know that this lack of new fiction comes with a whole host of emotions: disappointment, angst, and fear. There is always, lurking in the back of the writer’s mind, that fear of being “out of ideas” and “washed up before I ever really got going.”

But, I’m happy to report I broke free of that, at least a little, this week. I read a story about a man in Brazil who surprised his family by showing up at his own funeral, and there were too many story possibilities there to pass up. I’ve also been reading a collection of short stories by the Brazilian writer, Nelson Rodrigues, which was recommended to me by a dear literary friend, and something about that mixture “clicked.” Despite my long lay-off from generating new fiction, I couldn’t let that story go, so as I was substitute teaching (the kids were taking a Math test, so things were nice and quiet) I began to write a scenario that might just fit such an odd circumstance.

I was, as the Geico commercial says, “Happier than a witch in a broom factory.”

Is the story any good? It’s too early to tell, but there are some interesting bits that surfaced in the first draft. And, it feels good to shake off the rust and dive back into a fictional world full of characters I don’t know.

These moments, where the story bubbles forth and we can be a part of something new…these are the moments writers live for!

I hope you’ve found something new to spark your creativity. Have a wonderful weekend, dear reader. And, Happy Writing!!

Photo Credit:Vectorportal via photopin cc

What To Write When You Don’t Know What To Write

At about 4 a.m. I decided to get out of bed. I’d been tossing and turning for more than an hour, at that point. It seemed fruitless to stay.

Sitting at the computer I pulled up a file I had been working on, a guest post for another blog. I worked on it a bit, sent it off to the blogger who’d asked for it.

Then, I turned to my own blog (this one, of course) and thought I would work on writing this week’s compliment of posts. I try to do at least three good posts each week. Typically, when I am on the ball and really hitting my writing with my full energy, I’ll write all of the week’s blogs on Monday and queue them to “publish” throughout the rest of the week.

I also keep a running list of possible blog topics, so when I moved on to this week’s blog possibilities, I had a list of several things to consider.

The only problem was, none of them appealed to me this early.

Do you ever get into that writing funk where none of your current projects appeal to you? Maybe you–like me–have a pile of stories you’re working on, in various stages of completion from a germ of an idea to those pieces you’ve re-worked and edited many times. Or, maybe you are in the middle of a book, and there are plenty of places that you can either move forward or re-write or edit, but the energy just isn’t there.

Blogging is like that, for me, sometimes. I enjoy it. I’ve met a number of fun writer friends through blogging. It’s been rewarding. But, sometimes I just can’t find the energy for it.

There are two ways I deal with this lack of specific energy. First, I write through it. I use the idea of free writing (or, in some circles, the concept of Morning Pages) to push through the lack of energy. Sometimes, it is just a matter of putting myself into motion. Pushing myself forward until there is enough momentum to carry me through. There are times, though, when that is not enough. Which brings me to the other way I move through low-energy times: I create something different. Lately, I’ve been playing with poetry. In the past, I would pick up the guitar or even a paintbrush or sketch pad. None of these three “other” creative endeavors (music, poetry, art) are in any way good enough for anyone else to see (or, in the case of music, hear) but they are great ways to vary the creative pattern and free up the ideas and energy and motivation to write.

What about you? Do you have methods that help you deal with a lack of creative power?

Community: One Key to Continued Creativity

I’ve been reading a lot, lately, about the various aspects of our lives that contribute to our creativity and our continued dedication to writing.

Two books that have really been an inspiration to me in this area are The Accidental Creative, by Todd Henry and The Productive Writer, by Sage Cohen.

One of the things that has been on my mind a lot, lately, is the idea that as writers we have to find a balance for a very persistent dichotomy: we create in isolation, but we draw creativity from community.

Since moving to Florida, my creative community has been limited to my online friends and my low-residency MFA classmates (which, ultimately, is 90% online). I’ve met a few writers in the area, but even though we’ve said, “We should get together and have coffee,” when I attempt to reconnect, the other writer is often busy or otherwise unavailable. (It could be, they just don’t like me. At some point, I may have to accept that conclusion.)

In the last few weeks, I’ve made two efforts to do even MORE socializing.

1. Usually, when we exchange stories in the MFA program, we send our responses and critiques back out via email, and that’s about it. Now, don’t get me wrong. These critiques and responses are very valuable to me; I’ve been very happy with the quality, depth, and even-handed critiques my fellow Queens University MFA students have given, and the faculty has been awesome, as well. But, we don’t spend any time in between talking about our work in more general terms. So, this semester, I’ve invited my fellow writers to join me in a “virtual classroom” with audio and video capabilities, and we can chat a bit. Last night was our first try, and I hope the first of several. (I’m also going to be hosting some other writer-centered meet-ups. Be sure to let me know if you are interested.)

2. I’m again on the lookout for other writers here in the Bradenton/Sarasota area, and I’m continuing to reach out to them. Yesterday I had a long discussion about art and life with my friend Matt. Today, I’m meeting a fellow writer for coffee.

Continuity of creativity is something that interests me, and I’m sure I’ll talk about it more in the coming weeks and months.

Before I sign off for the week, I need to say:

Thank you…

This has been another great week here on my blog. I had some great traffic thanks to the post featuring Kelly McGovern’s photo, and my post about being thankful (and prepared.) My blog also passed 10,000 hits this week, which was a nice milestone. Slowly and surely, we keep moving forward, and I want to thank all of you who read on a regular basis, and those who stop in from time to time. I appreciate you being here!

Thanks so much. Have a great weekend.

And, Happy Writing!!