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Category: Writing

Posts in which we talk about the writing craft and process

Getaways

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It’s been a rough week or so. The kids have been sick. I won’t bore anyone with the gory details, but they were . . . gory. It’s pretty sad when going to the mailbox feels like an outing.

I need a real one now.

I’ve managed to eke out a bit of writing time, but it’s been tough. It’s a bit like having sex—you can deal with a few interruptions, but too many and it’s really, really hard to recapture the mood. Like a couple who need to get away for a weekend, I need to get away with my muse (inner artist child, Girls in the Basement, subconscious mind, whatever you call the place ideas come from) and get her to stop sulking.

The little darlings are both in school today. If all goes well, I don’t get a call from the school nurse, and they continue to do well tomorrow, I’m heading out to the Corning Museum of Glass. I’m going to do a leisurely tour of the galleries (for fun, not research except in the laziest way), have lunch at the café and go make a sun-catcher at the Walk In Studio. Last summer my kids made projects there and as I was helping them I decided I’d like to try my hand at one myself. It’s time.

Whether you’re a writer or not, getting out and doing something fun and creative helps keep the juices flowing for other parts of your life. It’s what Julia Cameron calls an “Artist’s Date”. You go out to the movies, to a concert, bake, paint, take a walk in the woods or anything you think is fun and NOT directly related to your job. Anything that makes you feel like a kid with a brand new 64-count box of Crayolas.

Do any of you (writers or not) do Artist’s Dates (whether you call them that or not)? What do you do to keep your mojo? To get it back when it’s deserted you?

Elena
LADY DEARING’S MASQUERADE, RT Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee
www.elenagreene.com

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Faking it

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The boddynge flourettes bloshes atte the lyghte;
The mees be sprenged wyth the yellowe hue;
Ynn daiseyd mantels ys the mountayne dyghte;
The nesh yonge coweslepe bendethe wyth the dewe;
The trees enlefed, yntoe Heavenne straughte,
Whenn gentle wyndes doe blowe to whestlyng dynne ys broughte.

Thomas Chatterton, the anguished teenage poet, was one of the great fakers of the Romantic period–his short-lived and unsuccessful career, which started with him faking medieval poetry, ended with his suicide in an attic at the tender age of eighteen.

And plagiarization is something fiction writers are too often accused of…after all, all regencies are about fresh-faced ingenues and rakes, right?…aren’t they? Even though academic story analyses have proposed that all story-telling is derivative, and derive from a handful of basic plots, it’s something we are accused of far too often.

As a living example of how different writers can take a simple plot premise and work it into something different, visit Diana Peterfreund’s Great Blog Voice Experiment. Diana invited twelve writers for their contribution, and each is different and interesting. Why? It’s a question of individual imagination and individual voice–whatever voice is. It’s one of those difficult-to-define elements that distinguishes a writer’s work, and I hold the theory that the stronger the voice, the more extreme the reader’s reaction.

Can you define voice? Which writers have a strong voice, and what do you like/dislike about their work?

Janet

Posted in Reading, Writing | Tagged | 5 Replies

Carrot or Stick?

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Recently a friend sent me a link to stickk.com. According to the website, StickK is a method for setting and achieving goals developed by Yale economists. You make a commitment contract (for exercise, weight loss, writing, or just about any other goal) and if you don’t meet your goal, you donate a sum of money you designate to a cause of your choice.

It got me thinking about my work-in-progress and the snail’s pace at which it is progressing. In my defense, I’ve been really trying to work for an hour every day. When I miss, it’s usually due to issues related to my disabled husband, the kids or the house. (It is NOT a good thing when you are on a first-name basis with your plumbing and heating guys.) But there are days when I’m tired and the words don’t come.

Although it sounds like StickK works for a lot of people, I’m not sure it would be right for me. I already have a tendency to beat myself up, so maybe I don’t need a program like that to do it to me.

One thing I have learned helps my productivity is seeing my progress visually. When I participated in National Novel Writing Month a few years ago, I loved logging my daily wordcount and watching the graph update. So this week, I decided to look for something similar. Here’s my progress bar from storytoolz.com.

Click to view daily statistics

Unfortunately, life intervened on Wednesday and Thursday and so I haven’t had the fun of updating my wordcount. As for today, a dear friend and I are taking a mental health day and going for what is probably our last hurrah of the season on the ski slopes.

Next week I will be productive. I promise!

How about you? What sort of motivation do you find works best?

Also, Heaven Sent is my working title, but I’m worried that it sounds too much like an inspirational romance. What do you think?

Elena
http://www.elenagreene.com/
www.facebook.com/ElenaGreene

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Historical Series

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So I have mentioned my day job, which is being the Community Manager at HeroesandHeartbreakers.com. One of my primary responsibilities is to assign blog topics, and to see what’s working and what’s not, and follow up in response.

One of the things I knew prior to starting the job–duh!–is that paranormal romance is the most popular genre. Not only that, once we started gathering a relatively large community, I saw that PNR posts inspire the most passion.
So why is that? It’s not like historical fans aren’t passionate, nor that they don’t visit the site and read the posts. They just don’t get all hot under the collar (and other places…) the way PNR fans do.
One of the reasons why, I think, is that although historicals are released in series, they don’t have ongoing cliffhangers. Or if they do, it’s not the Fate of the World that is in balance, but perhaps discovering who a spy is, or who stole the jewels, or who someone’s parents are, or whatever. Not earth-shattering stuff.
I also think that historicals, once the HEA is achieved, don’t have many places to go; in PNRs, there is always a world to save, or demons to kill, or vampires to stake. A couple can BE a couple in subsequent books and still be interesting. How interesting would it be to see Lord and Lady Whomever live their lives, have great sex, and be all spoony about each other?
I have to admit, as someone who gets bored once the couple is happily together–even at the end of the book–it wouldn’t be interesting at all.
There are historical mysteries featuring ongoing couples, but their working relationship is more important than their romance, at least in the ones I’ve read. They’re not as passionate anymore because they have to concentrate on solving the mystery.
So–any thoughts about how a historical series could spur on the kind of passionate response a PNR series has?
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Signs of Spring

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It’s been a mild winter, weather-wise, but a rough one for my psyche. I won’t go into the details, but some stressors I’ve been dealing with should ease up in the next month or so, and I’ll have more time to write and do other fun things.

Seeing my crocuses looking this gorgeous (with my Ice Follies narcissi not far behind) helps me feel hopeful! Also being able to paint my toenails and wear sandals again.

I’m also looking forward to a retreat my writing buddies and I are planning for next month. As in past years, we’ve rented a house near Taughannock Falls on Cayuga Lake, where we always do a lot of writing, interspersed with walks through the park or kayaking on the lake. In the evenings, it’s romantic historical films, wine and chocolate. I can’t wait!

Below are pictures I took last year of the falls and of a patch of wildflowers we admired on one of our walks. Later, I discovered that this plant is called bloodroot, for its red sap which was used as a dye by Native American artists. We also see trilliums, trout lilies, Dutchman’s breeches and many other wildflowers during our spring retreats.

Anyone else into flowers, wild or otherwise? What are you looking forward to this spring?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Posted in Writing | Tagged | 4 Replies