A friend of mine who will go unnamed, *cough* Holly Jahangiri, otherwise known as the Wizardess of the Willows, Thwartress of Wallows, opened a massive, steaming can of slap-upside-the-head on my Facebook page last weekend. She was responding to my response to another person who will go unnamed, *cough* Unfinished Person, who had asked how the writing was going. In so many words, I admitted that I was struggling a bit because it goes against every parenting impulse I have to tune out of hyper-vigilance into the altered state of twilight, (neither wakeful nor asleep), where I do my best writing.
Her Wizardessness suggested that while my children are small I might want to think about creating stories for them instead of concentrating on adult novels. I countered with, "But... but... I don't know how" (in so many words) and she volleyed a, "Kill the inner critic and just do it! You can write. You read to your children. Write what your children would like to read." (In so many words). Then she kicked me square in the behind. 8O
And so I'm thinking about this thought as one thinks about thoughts in a thinking sort of way, and all I can come up with is, "But... if only I could draw, I'd make the fear go away..." .
And putting my butt against the wall. 8O
So now I'm thinking of stories. How does one tell a story on the fly? Does one sit on the fly and tell a story? I'm less prone to act, more apt to worry.
Writing prompts! I need to find a website with writing prompts for children's stories. Oops, there isn't one. Oops, yes there is. But I can only find prompts for Christmas and Easter. It's neither Christmas, nor Easter, so those prompts are certainly of no use to me.
Ouch! 8O
I suppose I could give one a try. Or create my own prompt. But I don't know how to do that.
8O
Okay! I know how. I'll do it right now. :D
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Heather Kephart, Heather Kephart. Heather Kephart said: The Wizardess of the Willows has me thinking about writing for children: http://is.gd/bpHQD [...]
ReplyDeleteGo Holly GO! :)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, follow your heart. You know what to do, it's the doing it that's hard. And if you really stopped and looked about, you're already doing it. Now I must start digging through some old love letters and get to know my grandparents a little better. Time is growing short and there is a book waiting to be pieced together. ;)
.-= Anne Bender´s last blog ..Springtime in Virginia ~ in pictures =-.
Two-part advice I've taken from the masters. This one's from Holly: Apply butt to chair.
ReplyDeleteAnd this one's from Steven Pressfield: Commit to the pain. Steven says, "The Muse wants commitment. She demands a long-term contract. She wants us to sign in blood and hang in from now to the finish line. The Muse hates one-and-done. She will not tolerate weekend warriors or drop-ins. If we’re in, we’re in for the duration."
Why scrounge for writing prompts when you can very well have a lusty and hopefully fruitful assignation with your muse?
But don't mind me too much. I'm talking to myself as well. :)
Charles, you have made it to Chapter 6? FANTASTIC! That's a HUGE accomplishment! Perhaps a little mind mapping? A tiny bit of outlining for the next chapter alone will get your juices flowing?
ReplyDeleteKeep going. Bravo!
That's true - you're getting your creativity on in other areas as well. Plus, writings can be a lonely and solitary activity. Takes a bit of pulling people away from you like a band-aid in order to even get started. A bit of a challenge for a young, vibrant and social man like yourself, or for a stay at home mom like myself craving social interaction. Still, I know we can do it.
ReplyDeleteI have tried a few, but settled on yWriter. I liked Liquid Story Binder as well, but never took the time to learn its ropes. yWriter is free and simple to use, and allows me to create scenes when I'm in the mood and shift them around by dragging and dropping. You can create characters, take project notes, etc. Then you can export chapters to something resembling a book. Cool. :)
Heather, sounds to me as if you are doing better than you give yourself credit for - if you're writing fiction every day, you'll figure it out - honor the process - blah, blah. Trust that there are stories inside of you that will find their way onto the page. Polished and finished is always a long time coming, and don't measure yourself against anything or anybody else! As far as prompts - there is one book I've had some luck with.. it's kind of off-the-wall, hold on I have to go find it because I can't remember the title..THE WRITE BRAIN. If you look at it, don't worry about following the exercises to a "t", but I found many of the exercises to be a great way in the "side door" because they get me writing immediately without thinking (and therefore bypassing all those pesky inner critics.)
ReplyDelete.-= Margo´s last blog ..Lowcountry Boil or Frogmore Stew (no, frog isn’t one of the ingredients) =-.
Thank you, Jack! You give really great advice for such a goofball. :) I love your idea about lyrics!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I was just sitting around last night thinking about your blog, just shaking my head and saying aloud, "That Jack, I just don't like his blog. I don't like it at all! Jack's blog, Jack's blog, oh please make it go away! Send it to its room and bid it to stay!"
Boris, thanks so much for imparting more of your fantastic advice!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I've been feeling the creativity flowing these last two days and have been having a blast! Thanks for leaving a link to your creativity post. Be well, brotha!
Margo, hello! Thanks so much for reading and caring enough to comment. I'm so lucky to have some super cool people going through the process right along side me. I will check out that book for sure!
ReplyDeleteHow is your travel website going? Hey, maybe you could put together a series of books for ladies to read when vacationing and traveling? Short, engrossing, life-affirming stories perfect for that time of freedom and exploration? They'd be a great companion to your site!
Aaaaaawesome! Thank you so much, Holly! I'm taking it all in. I'm buzzing and crackling with all of this. Who knew it would be so much fun? Well, I guess YOU knew, didn't you?? Even if it amounts to nothing, it's still good practice and I'm amusing Joe with some of the stuff I've come up with, so it's all good.
ReplyDeleteBUT of course, I am going to submit some of these goofy stories and see what happens!
I LOVE that your guppy story came from a writing prompt! How totally bitchin' is that? Hey, maybe someday we can finish our err.. cat and mouse story lol
This blog scares the bejeezers out of me
ReplyDeleteBOO!!! Oogity boogity! Ah ha HA! xo
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, to The Wizardess of the Willows. Hey, maybe I should write a book with a mini-Holly as the lead character? Would you sue me if I did that? lol
ReplyDeleteChange the name to protect the infamous, and give me a nice tribut--er, acknowledgement--in the front, and I think I'd be honored.
ReplyDelete.-= Holly Jahangiri´s last blog ..WTFM, So You Can RTFM =-.