Tuesday's Inspiration - inspired by Anne Lamott - Bird By Bird #MFRWauthor #writing

I've come to the last essay in Bird by Bird and once again the journey has left me with new insights. Last Class has done this as well. One thing she says is to write about your childhood.

When I first read this I was puzzled since my stories vary from contemporary womances to the paranormal and the mystery. Then what hit me is that writing about your childhood meant other things than the specific incidents. For me it's capturing the emotions I once experienced. The other is to address fears. Not the ones like the monsters in the closet, well not in that way, but the monsters in my own closet of fears. So writing about my childhood takes me on many paths. One is through the imagination. As a child mine was a fertile one often triffered by the books I read and in spinning my own versions of these stories. So imagination, emotions and fears are about my childhood.

Writing out of vengeance may not be the way to go but vengeance can mean many things. Stories told that aren't about real people but bits and pieces of others. Avoiding libel is a way to go. Should you base a character on a real person, changing their habits and characteristics can prevent. Thus you have changed the real person and made them something or someone different. I've done this in several of my stories, both with characters who infuriated me or who I wanted to honor. The good thing is none of these people ever recognized themselves. They were changed and become characters of the mind.

So thank you, Anne Lamott for inspiring me yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Inspired by Bird by Bird - Publication #MFRWauthor #inspiration

I chuckled when I read the first sentence of Anne Lamott's essay. "Publication is not going to change your life or solve your problems." How right she is though it sort of changes your life. Suddenly you add a new hat to the ones you're wearing. Idea finder, writer, typist, submitter. Promoter comes to mind and promoting is something you must do. If not the only people who will buy your book will be the few friends and relatives who make the purchase to support you. Then you have to find ways to stir the interest of other people. There's social networking, there are book signings and other fun and not so fun things. Getting your name out there and showing others that your book is an interesting event. Take this slow and easy and learn as you go. There are ads you can buy and they may work or not work. You can hope people will review your books and say glowing words. All this is part of promotion.

So take courage and send yourself into the fray and hope selling your book gives you confidence - probably won't since you don't want to be a one book wonder. Selling that book won't change your appearance and it probably won't make you rich, though that does sometimes happen but usually not with the first book. So ease into tis world and accept the role of promoter. You may find this takes too much time but it's what you have to do.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Inspired by Anne Lamott - Writing Groups #MFRWauthor #Writing

In Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott the author speaks about writer's groups. There are many kinds of these groups, especially in these days of the internet. A writer can go on line and find any number of these groups. Some are concerned with craft and some with the business aspects of writing. There are also groups where one meets face to face. Some are chapters of larger national groups, some are groups sponsered by publishers, some are what is known as critique groups.

As a writer, I belong to many groups and from the ones that are on line I've learned much about promotion and also of writing. Sometimes it's just the support of other authors that's important. I also belong to one national group and belong to a chapter of this group. Here is where learning and support are very much given. I also belong to a critique group that has been in existance sinde somewhere around 1990. The members change since people move, give up writing, become successful and have to put their efforts into other areas. There are also online critique groups where pages are shared between the members. Some are groups some are what's called partners.

I really believe these groups are important to a beginning writer and also to writers who are in it for the long haul. Speaking or emailing other writers can be a boost for the ego, can keep you writing when you think you can't continue. So look for the various kinds of writer's groups and fine the ones who are a fit. The fit doesn't always work but don't give up. Just keep looking and you'll find the one that offers support, critiques and above all support. Writing is a lonely business.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Talking to People in the Know #MFRWauthor

Anne Lamott in Bird by Bird has an essay about calling people who know things. I've done this a number of times and probably should have done more. I did spend a lot of time talking to those who know things I need for my books.

Many of my books concern doctors and nurses. Since I worked in hospitals and am married to a doctor I've found this easy. I once had a doctor sit down and draw diagrams for where a person should be hit on the head to produce the kind of amnesia I wanted one of the characters to have and how to trigger her memories in time to help the heroine.

Some of my calls to experts have resulted in amusing stories. I was writing one of my mysteries and needed to know when the funeral could be held on a murdered victim. The funer played a large role in the story. My daughter had a friend who was a cop. I used his cell number and left a message. This young man had been a many times visitor at our house so I knew he would call back. He did. I'll try to reproduce the conversation.

Mike _ Ma, is there a problem?
Me - I just murdered this woman and I want to know how long you'll keepthe body before the funeral.
Quick and to the point.
Mike - No, No. She didn't. She's a writer. This is a mystery, Ma?
Me. Yes.
Then he gave me the information I needed. I will laugh about this forever.

So when you need facts for the story you're writing and you don't know the answer, call, visit or email the people you think might have the answer. Just don't forget to tell them you're writing fiction.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Anne Lamott - Index cards #MFRWauthor #amwriting

When I read the essay by Anne Lamott in Bird by Bird about index cards, I recalled my attempt to use them. I decided this was a good idea so I bought several packets of index cards and containers for them. I jotted ideas, snippets of conversation, observations of the world around me and put them on the cards and stored them in the boxes. The small cards held often no more than a word or two. The larger ones might even have snippets of a scene. I felt so organized. I like to make lists and often have a number around the house where I can jot one more thing to do. I especially like crossing out what I've done. But this is straying from Index Cards.

The file boxes were stuffed to overflowing. I sat down to begin the story I was about to begin. I spread the index cards on the table and sorted them into categories like Setting, Characters, Dialogue, Plot and probably more. When I finished I shook my head. Many of the cards didn't fit the story I planned to tell. In fact many of them made no sense. I looked at the long lists I had made while mulling over the story. These made sense. So I decided I'm not an Index Card person. I like my plans for a story numbered.

If Index Cards are your thing, you should read what Anne Lamott wrote in Bird by Bird. Then you should see if they work for you and if not find your own way of organizing. That's what writing is all about. Each of us approaches the story in a different way.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Triggered by Bird By Bird - Anne Lamott - Voices In Your Head #MFRWauthor

What Anne Lamott calls Station KFKD, I call the voices in my head. They're not what I try to listen to and unfortunately can't avoid. On one hand they speak about what a great writer I am and on the other time they shout about how awful this story is and how Writer A or B can do tell the story better. Concentrating on the characters in your story is one way to keep those voices out. Also a bit of knowledge that you're telling stories and the story is yours not Author A or B's. The characters are figments of your imagination and no one else's. You can also remember it's all right to envy another writer's success as long as it doesn't keep you from telling your own story.

So the moral of this is to focus on your characters and your story. Anything else needs to be filtered out. So the negative and the positive cancel each other out and you're left with telling the story of how your characters get on with their lives.

Tuesday's Inspiration - By Bird By Bird - Anne Lamott - Paying Attention #MFRWauthor #writing

"Writing is about paying attention." Anne Lamott.

Paying attention is good and learning to use words to let other people know what you see is an important lesson for a writer. I remember a course I took many years ago that set me to describing different people, places or things. I'll admit when I started out all I had was lists of words and thsoe lists found their way into any story I happened to be writing. Frankly they were boring. What I nad to do was learn to use words to bring those views into focus. An artist or a photographer has it fairly easy. What they envision comes across to what the picture shows. Putting those pictures into words takes more than a list.

If it takes more than a list, then what comes to mind. Those lovely phrases and those comparisons are what makes a word picture come to life. She sat in the garden changes. A slight breeze brought the scent of roses swirling around her. The vivid reds and whites paled before the nearly purple rose on the climbing vine.

That's what paying attention should mean to a writer, not lists but making those lists come alive. As I continued to write, I became better at making my lists come alive. So pay attention and make those lists while you're viewing a scene. Once you're done, really pay attention and make thsoe people, places or things come alive. Don't just have a car, have a heap with the rear doors tied in place or a sleek perdatory machine. Show the twinkles in the heroes eyes and the spark of mischief in the smile. Make paying attention what you do when you observe the world and then make what you;ve seen come alive.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Inspired by Bird by Bird #MFRWauthor

The second part of Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is titles The Writing Frame of Mind. Intriguing title. Are writers different than other people? Do they have a specific frame of mind? I believe the answer is yes.

What sort of things go into finding that specific writer's look at the world. A good friend once said her mother called her a chronic liar but she was really gathering ideas for writing. Most writers I know have this rick fantasy life. I know from the time I was a child I told myself stories to lull myself to sleep at night. Sleep often was and still is hard to come. So these stories continue to be spun at night. Sometimes during the day. Actually those night time stories often morph into real stories I put on the paper. A healthy imagination will bring the writer's frame of mind into being.

Curiosity is another thing to explore. Do ou overhear people's conversations or actions and suddenly your imagination is making up stories that may or may not be true. So look around and watch people every day. Also sit still and think of things and places you've seen and try to recreate them in your head.

Put yourself into that frame of mind. If people stare at you when sometimes you speak aloud what you believe is a great line of dialogue, just shrug. You're in the zone.

Tuesday's Inspiration - More From Bird By Bird - Am I done? #MFRWauthor

 Anne Lamott always makes me chuckle. She equates finishing a book to tucking all the legs of an octopus and not letting them go. I hear this so often. "I think I'm finished with my book but how do I know?" I'm not sure there's an answer that suits everyone.

There are some questions to ask yourself. Are there any loose ends someone will find? I did this once to a friend who left a loose end that troubled me. The book was already published but when she had a chance to re-publish the book she got rid of that loose end. Have the characters reached a satisfactory ending? This is easy when writing a romance that finds the hero and heroine in each other's arms. In a mystery, the answer is two fold. Has the hero or heroine found justice and has the villain recieved that justice. There are a dozen other things to look at to make sure the story is over.

I usually tell people this. "When I feel like I'm going to vomit if I have to look at the story again I know it's done. It may not be perfect but perfect doesn't happen."

How about you? Do you have a special reason that tells you the story is completed and it's time to start a new adventure?

Tuesday's Inspiration - Bird By Bird - Plot Treatment #MFRWauthor

I'm still delving in Anne Lamott's book for inspiration and just finished reading the segment on Plot Treatment. This brought to mind my first few efforts in writing novels. I certainly whipped through knowing I had the characters and the idea and knew where I wanted the book to go. That first draft turned into a lot of taking wrong turns and never quite reaching the end of the story. Then an editor sent me this word of advice. You have many elements to make a good story but you really need a road map to decide not where you're going but how you're going to get there.

The interesting thing was we were planning a trip and got one of those trip planners by AAA and suddenly I knew what I had to do. This plan for the three day drive was broken up into segments.

So later I set down to write what I called the chapter synopsis. I looked at this like my telling the story. There was littleor no show in the story. When I finished I had about 20 pages that had a lot of words written there but this was a plan of the story from beginning to end. I've used this plan ever since then and it certainly makes writing the books easier.

My advice is if you're having trouble figuring where your story is going or should go, try writing a chapter plan. You may not use all that's in those pages. You may have to tear it apart at some point in the story and change what goes in the chapters but doing this might just inspire you when you sit there and don't know where you're going. You may find a plan sends you speeding to the end.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Triggered By Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott #MFRWauthor

By Set Design Ms. Lamott means the setting.
Years and eyars ago when I began writing an editor once remarked "Your characters are existing in a vacuum." The plot was moving along. The characters were well defined and motivated. What I had was a a lot of dialogue and action with a minimal bit of showing where the characters existed. Carefully I started to develop the setting for my stories. This was hard at least for me. So I had to go to the drawing board and I sketchedn rooms, I wrote long descriptions of weather, places, environments all I could think of.

Fault number one or two since no scenery was mistake one. I put this setting material in large blocks of prose. Another editor sent the mss back with a sorry. A little note mentioned that setting should be established through the characters' interactions with the environment and should be fed in small bits. Also just pick a few things to orient the reader to the palce, the season and other setting bits.

A few attempts later and I had this down. I still have to remind myself about setting as I move through. How about you?

Tuesday's Inspiration - Plot - triggered by Bird by Bird #MFRWauthor

Plot is one of the important elements of any story. According to Anne Lamott plot "is the main story of your book."

This is an exercise in thinking. Which came first the plot or the characters? Different writers will answer plot while others will yell characters. A good story needs both.

For me when I start a book I have a general plot in mind. A very general one. Then I find characters who might carry this plot to the end of a book. These characters are vague with some traits. For me writing means an interaction of characters with the elements of the plot. Each drives the other and I am the conductor.

My style of writing is quite different from Anne Lamott's. I begin by telling myself a story and once I have this down, I have both plot and character but nothing I would show anyone else. Once this is done I begin layering. I have friends who struggle over each word before they come to the end. A friend and I once did an experiment. She is character oriented and the plot comes from her characters. I'm the opposite. I write drafts. She writes and rewrites each chapter until it's perfect. The strange thing is that it took us the same amount of time to complete the story.

So, for you which comes first - the plot or the characters? A good story needs both.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Polaroids Bird By Bird - Anne Lamott #MFRWauthor #inspired

 Since I'm reading Bird by Bird again I'm having fun. Each chapter in this book inspires me and makes me think. When she talks about Polaroids I suddenly had several thoughts. One is that a story starts with an idea that often is hazy and one must wait for the story to develop. The second is that the story doesn't always develop is quite the way I imagined.

I have a series of mysteries. They all began with a hazy idea and a character who leaped into my thoughts. A nurse nearing retirement age. Why did I want to make her into a mystery solver I'm not sure. The story sort of began with an idea of walking on egg shells. I sat down to write. I was going to have murders happen in the hospita.. Suddenly I had a picture of a Victorian house and this great front porch with a swing and a first floor tenant. The story merged from the hospital murders to a neighborhood one.

So you see, the hazy idea when developed became a different story than what I initially thought it would be. The initial picture when developed showed me things differently that first imagines. After finishing the book I knew I'd gone in the right direction. But the idea of murders in a hospital remained in my thoughts and the heroine from that first mystery finally found murder, not in a hospital but in a nursing home. Waiting for the picture to develop gave me two stories instead of one.

Tuesday's Inspiration - ala Anne Lamott - Perfectionism #MFRWauthor #amwriting

I'm enjoying my reading of Bird By Bird for who knows how many times. This piece on Perfectionism brought back memories of when I first began writing. My first short story of 2500 words took me three months to write. Why - because I strove for the piece to be perfect. To quote from Bird By Bird - "Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people."
 She is so right.

Writing that short story took a long time, but my first novel took several years - nearly three. Not that I was striving for perfection, I was learning. Thanks to so many editors who viewed the book and sent me reasons why my book wasn't suitable for them, I learned. I also learned that nothing is perfect.

Recently I've been reworking a number of stories written three or four years ago to have them re-published. I've learned several things. Most of these books received great reviews. 4 or5 on a scale of one to 5. But I discovered there were things that needed to be made better. Notice I said Better not perfect. I'm sure if I look at them in four or five years I'll be able to make them better. I'm not going to do that though.

For me Perfectionism is one way of  procrastinating. How about you? Do you look at your work and write the end, then send it off and have qualms? Is it perfect? Probably not. It's as perfect as you can make it at your stage of writing. If you're like me, the more you write, the more you learn. So the moral of this piece is - There is no Perfection so don't hang yourself up on trying to find it. Save that for the next book or story.

Tuesday's Inspiration - ala Anne Lamott #MFRWauthor #aminspired

When I came across this quote in Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, I realized there was hope for my latest story. "Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts." One month into the writing of what may soon be my latest story, I had the rough draft finished. Then I went back and looked at what I'd written. The good thing this was typed into my computer so I couldn't give into the desicion to tear it up. I thought about hitting delete. But then I remembered those hours of writing that were wasted.

But reading a bit further in her book had me doing a second draft and really looking at the plot of the story. Taking the wrong turns that pushed me into a dead end street and finding ways to make the story work. I ended with a better story but certainly not one I would let an editor see. My critique partners might hear a bit of this draft at one of our every two week meetings.

Then came the third run through the story. That's what I'm ready to begin now, That's the one where I look at each line and make sure the story connects. After that comes a fourth draft and then I look at things like grammar, spelling and things like It was and other passive bits. Also thsoe words that seem to be used much too often.

So having that rotten first draft doesn't mean you have to hang the story up. Theis calls for another run through and another until the book feels perfect for you.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Back to Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott _Rough Draft #MFRWauthor #aminspired #PDF1

There are some writers who don't experience this part of writing. I am not one of them. In her book Anne Lamott writes about Shitty First Draft. I definitely have written an many of them as I have books published. I just can't help it. Writing a draft that has long trips into what doesn't need to be in the story and putting in things like Love Scene here or fight scene here is my way of creating. Once upon a time I tried not to do this and I failed. If I spent the time polishing the first chapter to perfection I rather forgot how the story was going. Therefore I decided I actually like those rotten first drafts, the one only the writer can see. Yes there are some of those words I've written that will remain when the book is finished. There are some that will be expanded to make sense, or rewritten to get to the meat of the matter.

How about you, do you finish the rough draft and say things like, deep six this whole thing. Back to the drawing board. Though most writers won't admit that their words don't flow smoothly across the pages with no need to do more than a single draft.

For me, getting all the nonsense on the page makes me when I return to draft 2 and probably 3 the story that I thought was shitty becomes a more manageable one and suddenly makes sense. So say to yourself "I must get this out of my system so I can write the book."

Tuesday's Inspiration - Thoughts on A Bit From Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott #MFRWauthor

"It's a matter of persistence, faith and hard work," This little bit sums a great part of being an author. Having this displayed above the computer might be a good idea for those time when you're wishing for those words to come or when you hit a spot where you're not sure you can work yourself out of that spot you've placed your characters in and you can't see the way out.

Persistence is doing what you want to do every day, The sun is out but you haven't reached your word goal of the day. Do you allow yourself to take off and hope the words will be there tomorrow? You could but the words may or may not appear. Set your goal for something you can easily obtain. Surpassing your goal will give you a boost.

Faith is believing in yourself. Do you sit and think I can do this or do those doubts creep in. I can't do this may soon become I won't do this.  Instead of thinking, Maybe someday I'll sell a story, it's taking away the maybe and the someday. I will sell a story. Taking the iffy thoughts and making them positive is a good way to think. So have a bit of faith in yourself.

Hard work - Writing isn't digging ditches or any other physical kind of job. Writing is hard work. Mentally hard work. It's also the kind of hard work that makes you master all those elements of what makes a story. This has happened to me. Someone says "You're writer. I wish I could just sit and put words on paper. Such an easy job." Not necessarily so. All you can do is shrug. You'll never convince anyone that what you do is hard work.

So you add persistence and faith to the hard work and you will sell a story.

Tuesday's Inspiration - More Thoughts on Word By Word

Ann Lamot has an interesting few paragraphs about answering the question I believe is "How do you write?" I've been asked this question and I'm not as funny as she is so if you have a chance read Birt by Bird.

She starts out by saying you sit down at approximately the same time every day." We all know how impossible this is. I've trained myself to write just about everywhere. If not on the paper I can write in my head. This isn't so cool when you're driving or when walking. There are crazy drivers out there and cracks in the sidewalks waiting to ambush you. I don't always write on the computer. Sometimes it's pen and paper.

There's also those people around you who don't understand you're working. They call on the phone or just drop in. Tune them out. An occasional uhum or a yes will let them believe you're listening. There's also the voice in your head that says this is a bunch of nonsense or sometimes in stronger words. I try to tell these voices, It's all right, I'll revise it later.

So I close with this try to set a schedule of time or number of words and just keep writing day after day and suddenly there's a story or a book.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Anne Lamott - Bird By Bird #MFRWauthor #amwriting

Once a year or sometimes more often, I pick up Anne Lamott's Bird By Bird purchased after I heard her speak at a conference. It's not that I'm stuck or something but I just need something to help pull a memory or to trigger wrods. Today when I picked up the book these words struck me as true. "Remember you own what happened to you."

I'm writing a scene in a story where there is a mud and rock avalanche. Trying to put it down led me to think of a time when my husband and I were in Santa Fe for a conference and we were driving along the Ri Grande with the cliffs above us. There was a mud slide. Now we weren't close enough for it to effect our car but the sight of that stuff flowing down the cliff really set my imagination running. Pulling on this memory allowed me to write this scene - at least block it out so I can go back later and put in the emotions of the characters.

So remembering things good or bad that happened to you are grain for your stories. You may not have experienced the exact thing you're writing about but there are events that came close. You can remember your first kiss when writing a character's first kiss. There are many things so, "Remember you own what happened to you" and use this to make your stories sing.