Quashing the Inner Editor – For a While

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This past Saturday I went to a National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) write-in in Harrisonburg, VA. Seven of us made it and commandeered a corner of Panera to have some writing fun–word sprints, where you write as many words as possible in a set amount of time, and the “no backspace” game.

The “no-backspace” exercise really suppresses your inner editor, and the exercise consists of writing and not backspacing or deleting anything, not even a typo. The person who can go the longest without backspacing is the winner. In the first go-round, I lasted six words; I made it to about 200 words the second time around, but, oy, what a mess!

The concept of NaNoWriMo is to write without editing yourself in the moment. That comes later. By not editing as you write, NaNoWriMo-ers believe you tap into creativity that pausing to edit disrupts. Writing purists may cringe at such seat of the pants writing, which does sacrifice structure to a certain extent, but I find it particularly liberating.

A few weeks ago at the James River Writers Conference I heard Tim Robbins explain his writing process. The reason years pass between his works is because he literally perfects one sentence at a time and doesn’t go back to revise when the book is done. When he finishes a book, he considers it edited and revised because of this rigid method.

I’m not dissing that sort of structure; in fact, I admire it, and, obviously, it works for him. I’ve always been the type of writer to get what’s in my head down on the page, then I go back and “fix” it–rather a middle ground between a seat-of-the-pantser and the dedicated structuralist.

When I’m not doing NaNoWriMo writing, which, by the way, is eleven months out of twelve, I typically start the next day’s writing with a review and rework of what I wrote the day before. That refines it for me and gives me a basis to begin the next part. It’s true I rarely work from a written outline, but I usually have the structure in my head. I’ve always jotted down notes and ideas for anything I’ve written, but I, personally, find a detailed outline confining. I haven’t adhered to one yet.

The free-wheeling aspect of NaNoWriMo is what appeals to me, to just sit down and write without second guessing a sentence or what a character says or whether this is the direction the story should go. I know I’ll go back and fix that later, and the very act of putting the editing and revising off for a period of time, unleashes my brain.

For example, I had a fairly detailed list of scenes I’d foreseen for this year’s project, but somewhere about a third of the way through getting those scenes fleshed out, a new direction emerged. Frankly, you can’t ignore that. You can’t limit yourself to an outline or a list of scenes and not be flexible. At least I can’t. If the idea pops up that I need to go over here and explore something, I have to go do it. I may end up tossing it out in editing and revising, but I have to write it when it manifests itself.

The NaNoWriMo project from 2009 wound up in an entirely different way than I ever intended. The idea came to me that I should kill off one of the two main characters I’ve written hundreds of thousands of words about, so I did. It was an amazing writing experience to explore the thoughts and feelings of the person left behind (and a great outlet for those same feelings after the break-up of my long-term relationship).

When I got to the revision stage, though, I knew it was wrong. I’ve joked the character tapped me on the shoulder and said, “It’s not my time, yet.” Purists scoff at the idea that characters speak to you or direct a story, but I know what I know. The character was right; I knew I wouldn’t be able to write more stories in the genre I’d chosen if he weren’t around.

That’s not a wasted manuscript though; I’m incorporating large portions of it into another plot. Another NaNoWriMo MS I’ve mined for short stories. Yet another, after editing and revising, just completed a trip through my critique group, and after another set of revisions, will be ready to see if someone is interested in publishing it. I haven’t touched the MS from last year (2011), but that’s on my list for projects in 2013.

This year’s? I’m so pleased about the direction it’s headed and the fact I decided to strengthen my literary fiction skill set, that it will be a 2013 revision project as well, probably toward the end of the year to get time and space between the writing and the revising.

NaNoWriMo is neither futile nor frivolous. It is, however, what you make of it. If you treat it as a creative way to develop a first draft, it can be very fulfilling. And great fun.

NaNoWriMo Update

This weekend, eleven days into the adventure, I hit the 30,000-word threshold. At the NaNoWriMo average of 1,667 words per day, by day eleven 18,337 words would have put me on track to finish with 50,000 on day thirty. Well, I’ve always been an overachiever.

The point is, without that artificial stimulus, that “imposed” deadline, I would never have written an average of 2,700 words a day. That’s worth it to me.

 

Friday Fictioneers and NaNoWriMo Update

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I’m continually amazed at how quickly Friday rolls around. It seems as if I just posted a Friday Fictioneers story, and, lo and behold, it’s Friday again! Funny how that happens.

Perspective is a funny thing. I first viewed this week’s photo prompt on my iPhone and figured it for a floor tile, one where the glaze is particularly shiny and reflective. An idea came into my head, and I knocked around some words to go with the idea. I even had the perfect title.

When I downloaded the photo I saw what the .jpeg file had been named–“ice-on-the-window”–and I took a better look then went, “Oops.” This was indeed a photo of ice collecting on the outside of a window. Of course, Friday Fictioneers leaves the interpretation up to each writer, so had I wanted to, I could have just proceeded as if the photo was of a floor tile. Nah, I’m too much of a literalist for that.

Instead, we have “Cold Reason,” and it’s a little sci-fi, a little spec-fi, which ends in some wry humor. If you don’t see the link on the title in the line above, click on the Friday Fictioneers tab at the top of this post and select it from the drop-down menu. To read other Friday Fictioneers stories, click on the icon at the end of the story, “Cold Reason.”

NaNoWriMo Update

I broke through 19,000 words today and have set a goal to be halfway through the 50,000-word mark by Sunday evening. I think it’s doable. I have a write-in tonight in Waynesboro, and another one tomorrow in Harrisonburg, so I should be on target.

This NaNoWriMo project has created the need for a lot of research because it switches between present day and World War II on the homefront. I’m find Pinterest and Google Images very helpful. For example, I wanted to describe a 1940’s style dress and found examples on both sites. That was invaluable assistance in being able to describe that dress in a way that reflected the time period. Pretty cool.

Another update on Monday. I hope I won’t have to report that I only made it to 24,999.

Thanks, Mom

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The project I’m working on for this year’s NaNoWriMo is based on a Friday Fictioneers, 100-word story from several months ago. This was the photo prompt:

And here is the story:

Amontillado

“That wallpaper’s stuck to the wood,” the contractor said. “If you want it gone, you’re gonna have to take the wood down then drywall.”

We’d hoped to save the old walls. They lent such a rustic feel to the place, but the ancient wallpaper wouldn’t budge. Drywall wouldn’t be the same, but what can you do?

To save money we did the demolition ourselves. With pry-bars we had fun, imagining we ripped away annoying people.

It was all great fun until the last corner, when the boards came away and we saw the tiny bones wrapped in a baby blanket.

I had a lot of positive comments on the piece (and, yes, someone did mention I used the word “fun” twice within a couple of lines), and several people suggested I expand it into a longer story or even a novel. I appreciated the confidence in me, but I put it out of mind until I was on a train trip to New York. The story kept coming back to me, and I started jotting notes. It wasn’t long before I had four pages of them, some snippets of dialogue, and a concept for what was obviously a novel.

However, I had a couple of writing/editing/revising projects I was deep into and didn’t want to start anything new back in the spring, but I kept the notes close by, added to them over the months, did a little research (part of the story takes place during World War II), and decided this was perfect for NaNoWriMo. So, I’m off and running–just over 12,000 words in four days.

As an historian, I love researching other times, but this project has another significance for me. Many who know me well know my relationship with my mother was problematic at best, traumatic at worst. She was a teenager to young adult during World War II, worked in a uniform factory, and wrote to a lot of soldiers whose convoys passed through her home town. She would talk about the homefront of World War II as if it were her personal playground, and she often referred to it as the best time of her life. (Yep, Mom wasn’t particularly thoughtful of others; it was always about her.) Her stories, though, have given me a lot of background detail that I can include in this project. So, in a big way she can contribute to my writing other than as a model for a nutcase character.

It’s probably good that she’s gone, though, because she’d be pissed as hell to recognize any of her life stories in anything I wrote. You see, no one was allowed to talk about her except her, but thanks anyway, Mom.

And something a little off-topic here: Tomorrow is Election Day, and it is the civic duty of every eligible voter to vote. Find a way to do it. It’s important to our democracy.

Spy Flash – Week 29

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I must have a masochistic streak. I’m trying to keep up both Friday Fictioneers and Spy Flash stories while NaNoWriMo-ing. Three days in to NaNoWriMo, and so far, so good.

The first two stories of the “second twenty-six” have been Mai Fisher-centric, so it was time to give her partner, Alexei Bukharin, a bit more column space. This story, “Window on the World,” is the middle tale of two bookend stories (“Patience” and “Here, There Be Dragons”), which appear in the book, Spy Flash, coming out in December. This story can stand alone. It is, however, a somewhat graphic depiction of torture; not the obscene euphemism “enhanced interrogation techniques,” but torture.

Here’s Week 29’s roll of the cubes: 

From left to right, here’s what I saw: blindfolded; a beetle/a bug; a rainbow; laying bricks/building a wall; missing a ball/making an error or mistake; a cell phone/phone; breaking or broken; a bridge; a flower.

If you don’t see the link to the story on its title above, then click on the Spy Flash 2 tab above and select it from the drop down menu.

Friday Fictioneers and NaNoWrimo!

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You know, if I planned better, my 100-word stories for the month of November would go toward the NaNoWriMo word count. But, alas, no. Friday Fictioneers was a nice break from grinding out nearly 1,700 words.

And even though Hallowe’en was two days ago, this week’s Friday Fictioneers offering, “A Ghost’s Tale,” is a bit of an homage to that spooky time of year. If you don’t see the link on the story title, click on the Friday Fictioneers tab at the top of the page and select “A Ghost’s Tale” from the drop-down menu. To read other Friday Fictioneers stories, click on the icon at the bottom of the story page.

Countdown to NaNoWriMo

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National Novel Writing Month begins in just under nine hours where I live, but it’s already kicked off in other parts of the world. For those who don’t know, National Novel Writing Month–or NaNoWriMo–is a pure fun project where you write a 50,000-word novel draft in thirty days. You “win” by reaching at least 50,000 words on or before 2359 on November 30. You can download web badges, get pep talks by video, enjoy local write-ins, and generally have a good time writing.

The Office of Letters and Light is the non-profit that sponsors NaNoWriMo to highlight the art and craft of writing and to raise money for school programs to encourage kids to write.

An excuse to write and donating to a great cause, and NaNoWriMo lives up to its tag line: “Thirty Days and Nights of Literary Abandon!”

Many writers have turned their NaNoWriMo novels into published work–after editing and revising, of course. Some, unfortunately, have self-published their work immediately after writing and omitting the key steps of editing and revising, but that shouldn’t detract from the fact it’s very liberating to sit down and just write for writing’s sake for thirty days, knowing revising and editing can wait for a calmer time.

I almost didn’t participate this year because I’m prepping two other manuscripts–one for a contest and one to publish in December–but I managed to get both MSS ready ahead of schedule, despite having a cold.

So, I’ll have leftover Hallowe’en candy for snacks, plenty of coffee, a fully charged laptop, and an idea I came up with back in the spring that I can now flesh out. I’ll crank Sat Radio or my iPod up to full volume and put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door.

And I’ll write, and it’ll be fun, until the end of the day and the word counter hasn’t hit 1,667. (To get to 50,000 words in 30 days, you have to write at least 1,667 words per day.) Plus, I’ll be an election officer on November 6, so no writing that day, unless it’s all over quickly and the poll numbers add up.

If you’ve never NaNoWriMo’ed before, give it a try. It’s never too late to subject yourself to such exquisite torture.

 

Spy Flash – Week 28

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I said you might get another Spy Flash story rather quickly, and never let it be said I’m not a writer of her word. (I think that might be a pun.)

Week 28’s story, “Delicate Sensibilities,” is somewhat of a sequel to “Hero Worship,” posted yesterday. “Delicate Sensibilities” takes place about a year after the events in “Hero Worship,” again in the late 1980’s.

Here’s the roll of the cubes:

l. to r. – a rainbow; dancing; earth/world/globe; a magnet; sadness/dismay; a book; a clock/4 o’clock; hanging on/doing chin-ups; waking to an alarm

As usual, if you don’t see the link on the title, “Delicate Sensibilities,” above, click on the Spy Flash 2 tab at the top of the page and select it from the drop-down menu. If you want to give the Rory’s Story Cube Challenge a try, write a story of any length based on the items and actions pictured above, then put a link to your story in a comment below or at Jennie Coughlin’s blog.

Spy Flash – Week 27

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In truth, week twenty-seven for the Rory’s Story Cubes Challenge was almost two weeks ago, but I’m not going to skip any. You may just see several Spy Flash 2 stories show up in a short amount of time.

The original twenty-six weeks of Spy Flash stories I’ve taken down from this site because the manuscript for the book Spy Flash is currently in the proofing stage and on track for December publication. Here’s a glimpse of the cover:

You’ll be able to purchase it from Amazon.com as a paperback and an e-book, and don’t worry. You’ll know when it’s available because I’ll be self-serving about it.

The next twenty-six-week servings of the Rory’s Story Cubes Challenge will be called Spy Flash 2, and I’ll likely compile those stories into a collection as well.

In the meantime, here is the story for week twenty-seven, “Hero Worship,” and it takes place in the mid- to late-1980’s. As usual, comments are welcome.

 

 

This was the roll of the cubes for week twenty-seven:

l. to r. – dropping a ball/missing a ball/error; escaping thief; playing baseball; a flower; bratty child; kicking a ball; checking a present/ticking time bomb; carrying a burden; lightning.

If you don’t see the link on the story title above, then click on the Spy Flash 2 tab at the top of this post and select it from the drop-down menu. If you’d like to give the Rory’s Story Cubes Challenge a try, write a story of any length based on the cubes above and post a link to it here or on Jennie Coughlin’s blog.

Friday Fictioneers’ New Era

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This is our first Friday Fictioneers under our new “management,” Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Not only was the prompt up bright and early on Wednesday morning, but Rochelle had posted her own story by Wednesday afternoon. Way to hit the ground running, Rochelle!

Last week, my story had a bit of a political touch, and some people didn’t like that. Well, too bad. If you read any of my longer fiction, you know my political leanings are not hidden. It’s called an allegory of self for writers, and it is what it is. If you don’t like my political leanings, don’t read what I write; it’s that simple. However, if you do read a Friday Fictioneers story, I expect a critique on the writing, not my politics. I’ve read plenty of Friday Fictioneer offerings where I don’t like the genre, or the situation, or the politics, but I comment on the writing.

I do, however, have a political blog separate from this blog, which is, well, my writing blog. If you want to challenge my politics, do so at Politics Wednesday, but a brief warning here. I’m a political scientist and historian and, therefore, an inveterate fact-checker. Be civil, and we’ll have an intelligent discourse. Be a troll, and you’ll get deleted. Again, that simple.

This week’s story, “Shrine,” is an homage to those who serve this country and to those who wait at home. ‘Nuff said.

Until we get the transition all straightened out, to read other Friday Fictioneers, go to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ blog and check them out.

James River Writers Conference 2012

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As with anything that’s successful and grows, change can be upsetting to some. James River Writers had held its annual writers conference at the Library of Virginia for several years. As a first-time attendee at last year’s conference, I saw it was obvious the conference had outgrown the Library, wonderful venue that it is. Last minute room switching because some presentations were more popular than others meant clogged hallways and confusion.

The Greater Richmond Convention Center hosted this year’s James River Writers Conference (the tenth!), and I was pleased. Light, roomy, airy, the space almost made the conference seem small, but the meeting rooms were larger, as was the exhibit space. The conference fee this year included lunch for both days of the conference, which was very convenient, and the food wasn’t too bad either. Also, the conference was part of the Virginia Literary Festival this year, and it’s a good fit.

Still, there were plenty of people who lamented not being at the Library of Virginia, but some people just can’t handle change. I, for one, am pleased to see the success of James River Writers’ annual conference. It has the potential to be a showcase event for the Commonwealth–and heaven knows we need to emphasize our contributions to the arts since we’re stuck back in the 19th century in so many other areas.

I attended a total of six workshops over the two days, all good, but one in particular stood out: Writing Diversity. I almost didn’t go to this one, and am I glad I changed at the last minute. I had slated myself to go to “Publishing Industry Issues Demystified,” but when I arrived at the conference on Sunday morning, I realized this would probably be repetition of several articles/blogs I’ve already read on the publishing industry. “Your Day Job and Your Book,” wherein you learn how to apply project management concepts to writing, seemed too much like my old job, and “How to Survive a Plot Collapse” just didn’t sound appealing. So, “Writing Diversity” it was.

The description didn’t do this workshop justice: “Panelists discuss the importance of diversity in fiction and nonfiction, issues of cultural appropriation, and ways they write people of many ages, ethnicities, classes, and more.” It was a powerful discussion of why literature should reflect the make-up of society and a challenge to writers to write outside the boundaries we find so comforting.

The panelists were Jonathan Coleman, Camisha L. Jones, Malinda Lo, and Lila Quintero Weaver. They are, respectively, an older white guy, an African-American poet, an Asian who proudly describes herself as “queer,” and a Latina, who lived the life of a South American immigrant in rural Alabama. That’s probably the most diverse panel I’ve encountered in two years of attending writers conferences.

The panelists told us that by sticking to characters who reflect us (in my case, a middle-aged white woman), we limit our focus as writers, and in that aspect we limit our voice. There was understanding of the reluctance to write a character who’s gay but you’re straight, who’s ethnic but you’re not, but, as Malinda Lo said, you can overcome that by “doing your research.” Lo emphasized that the overall civil rights struggle is ongoing, especially for gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender people. “There is a need,” she said, “for stories where it’s okay to be gay, stories that normalize what we now consider the ‘other.'”

Most of the panel directed their remarks to writers of young adult or middle-grade fiction with an emphasis on showing those age groups strong characters who are like them. Jones said by doing this, writers “help people see one another’s humanity” through their stories.

A question from the audience encompassed what many of us were thinking: If you write about a character you’re not, will you be taken seriously? Coleman replied, “If your writing is good, if it’s your best work, you’ll be taken seriously. Just don’t over think it, and take a risk.”

Jones added, “Just because you’re white doesn’t mean you can’t write about diversity. I would like to see stories by white people about the pressure on them to conform to racism. That’s an important story to tell.”

Weaver said, “When you don’t see yourself reflected in literature, it’s not interesting to you. You have to have characters who look like all your potential readers.”

The final question engendered a passionate response from Lo. A writer indicated that she deliberately wrote characters for her middle-grade books so their gender and ethnicity were “ambiguous” and asked if that weren’t the better way, so any child could see themselves in the story.

“Say what a character’s race is,” Lo said, “because ambiguity reads as white. A character should not be a blank person.”

I could have gone to a day-long workshop on this subject with these panelists, and this was one panel whose challenge I’ve accepted. This panel and these writers, more than anything, made this conference a complete success for me.