Community (from thewildwriters.com)

My friend and critique partner, Laura, wrote about community and how it helps as we wrestle with questions like Am I a real writer? Don’t “real” writers earn money? How can I justify spending the money to take another class/attend another conference/fill-in-the-blank when I haven’t actually published anything yet? I hope you find her answer as inspiring as I do:

Community

The long haul

For many writers, especially those who started seriously pursuing publication decades ago, the Holy Grail, the mark of being a “real” writer, is having a book published by one of the big New York publishing houses. Being a writer who’s been seriously pursuing this marker of success for twelve years, with a first attempt at it some twenty-five years ago, there have been many times along the way when I’ve felt like a failure. For the last four years people have been telling me I’m “so close.”

I doubt I would have stuck with it this long, no matter how strong the calling, if I hadn’t had critique groups along the way. I co-founded a group twenty years ago that offered primarily support and encouragement, as we were all beginning to learn our craft. Several years later, after finding the Rocky Mountain Chapter of SCBWI, I helped to start another group focused on children’s writing, which led me to the Wild Writers.

To read the rest of this post, please visit my critique group’s cooperative blog at www.thewildwriters.com.

Do You Take Yourself Seriously?

Earlier this week I wrote about the skills it takes to succeed as a writer—and the ability to take yourself seriously as a writer was #1 on the list. It’s the foundation on which everything else rests. If you don’t take your writing career seriously, it’s darned hard to justify spending the time and energy you’ll need to grow as a writer.

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Tuesday Ten: Skills Every Writer Needs

What does it take to succeed as a writer? The answer might surprise you. You don’t necessarily need an agent, although an agent can be helpful; you don’t necessarily need to be a genius with words, although that helps, too; you don’t even need an MA in writing, although if you do have one of those, I'm insanely jealous.

 

How do I know what you need to succeed? Well, I don’t. Not exactly. But I do know that my personal growth as a writer has been dependent on certain key skills…and I bet you might find some of those skills helpful, too.

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Tuesday Ten: Deadline Tricks to Boost Productivity

Last week, I wrote about the power of deadlines to improve your writing productivity. And that’s great—if you have an editor waiting for your finished manuscript. But what if you don’t? How can you make deadlines work for you?

Here are some tactics that have worked for me:

Step 1: Find Motivation/Inspiration

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The Power of Deadlines

Deadlines: the bane of the writer's existence, right? At least, that's what you'd think to hear us complain sometimes...but I think we may be missing an important benefit of the world of deadlines. Deadlines can be a pain, sure, but they can also be a terrific tool to boost your focus and productivity.

In this way, writing is analogous to running: you can’t improve your speed and stamina by running the same route at the same speed day after day after day. If you want to become stronger, faster, better, you need to do sprints and long distance runs and hill intervals. You need to push yourself.

In the writing world, deadlines give you that extra push.

Here are some benefits of the Dedlinus dreadicus, otherwise known as the common deadline:

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Tuesday Ten: Character Development Through Hobbies

This week, I wanted to expand on one of the character quirks I listed in last week’s Tuesday Ten post: hobbies. If you’re like me, you might give your character a hobby simply to add a bit of color. And hobbies do add color: a good hobby will make your character quirkier and more memorable.

As a writer, though, you may want to make this character detail work even harder and, especially as you get deeper into a book, it can useful to think about what a character’s hobby can accomplish beyond adding surface color.

Photo Credit

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Extreme Writers!

I’ve noticed that I, and many other writers I know, develop the skill (because it is a skill) of writing anywhere and everywhere, while cooking dinner, walking the dogs, hiking, sailing, camping…you name it. In honor of the Versatile Writer, I wanted to start featuring all you Extreme Writers. 

You know who you are—you write rain or shine, during soccer practice and in line at the grocery store, and neither flood nor famine nor dark of night can stop you (because you have a handy-dandy electronic device to capture midnight ideas).

You are….SUPER WRITER!!

<<Ahem.>>

So. Send me your pics, of you writing in extreme conditions, whether that be on a bicycle or surrounded by young’uns or lounging on the beach with an umbrella drink where all but the hardiest would fail to write. I’ll post a winner every Friday. For this week’s prize, I offer one of my favorite inspirational writing books, Page After Page: Discover the confidence and passion you need to start writing & keep writing (no matter what!), by Heather Sellers.*

Send submissions to cheryl (at) cherylreifsnyder.com. I can’t wait to see where you all are writing this summer!

:) Cheryl

*If you already have/don’t need Page After Page, other giveaways include Donald Maas’s Writing the Breakout Novel and The Fire in Fiction; and Sol Stein’s On Writing.

Short or Long? Which Way to Post…

I follow several blogs on blogging. I’ve read the advice—write short posts, readers want short posts, keep your word count below 300—and I’m not 100% convinced.

Photo credit

Yes, when I’m searching for information on the Web, I’m more likely to skim than read pages in-depth, and shorter articles are good for that. And I’ve read many great blogs where short posts are the norm. Shorts posts can be funny and succinct while still being informative.

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Grammar Byte: It's vs Its and Four Other Confusing Word Pears

If you had to read that title twice, kudos to you--you've got a bit of the right-brained copy editor angel (or demon, depending on your point of view) whispering in your ear. And that's a very good thing. At least, that's a very good thing when you're in the revision and review stages of writing, preparing to submit your manuscript, because editors, in my experience, have very LOUD copy editor angels (or demons) that can get irate over details like dangling participles, serial commas, and the misuse of it's/its.

  

Before you submit, click publish/send, or otherwise send your writing into the world, check for these bad boys...because seriously, how can an editor fully appreciate your writing with that copy editor angel shrieking at her?

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Mix-and-Match Characters

I played with a cool “puzzle” as a kid: three blocks stacked on top of one another, with a rod threaded through them so they can rotate independently. The result is a 3-cube stack with a different picture on each of the four sides. The top third of each image shows a head, the middle third a body, and the bottom pictures the legs and feet.

Line up the images, and you have four simple characters: for ex., a cartoon tiger, alligator, hippo, and monkey. You can also twist the blocks to connect the monkey body to the hippo head and alligator legs, or connect the alligator body to a tiger’s tail and a monkey’s head. (Now, of course, this puzzle is available as a smart phone app….)

Sometimes I think character creation works the same way: you borrow the geeky appearance of one person, add in the always-in-motion high energy of another, mix in a quirky turn of speech you overheard in the elevator and the girl-next-door’s fluorescent pink high tops…and pretty soon you’ve pieced together your protagonist.

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When Characters Lie: Eight Questions to Ask

Do your characters lie? Lies can lead to additional untruths, misunderstandings, problems that grow bigger each time the character tries to solve things—in other words, lies are a terrific way to build story conflict.

Having your character lie is a terrific plot device—but one that can backfire if you aren’t careful.

Here’s what I mean. In the TV series White Collar, con-man and FBI “consultant” Neal Caffrey tells the occasional untruth. You’d expect as much from a con-man, but the funny thing is that he’s more likely to get what he wants through charm and wit than by lying; and when he has something to hide, he’s more likely to do so by keeping his mouth shut than by concocting an explanation. When he does lie, it’s always for a good reason: to protect someone, to accomplish a purpose that can’t be accomplished otherwise, to hide information from someone he doesn’t trust.

The result? Neal may be a con-man, forger, thief, and professional smooth-talker, but he makes a decent, loyal, and (mostly) trustworthy friend.

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Handwriting, Learning, and the Science of Writing Longhand

Longhand? Keyboard? Pen on parchment? Number 2 pencil on graph paper? Blood on strips of birch bark?

Ask a roomful of writers for their methods of putting words on the page, and you’ll spark a debate as passionate as the outline vs. seat-of-the-pants writing methods.

For speed, you can’t beat typing your story straight onto the computer—and that’s a skill I’m working on. When I hit a creative slump, though, I find that writing longhand lets me tap into my subconscious in a way that clicking keys don’t.

*Photo courtesy of D Sharon Pruitt at the Flickr Creative Commons

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The OCD Writer, Revisited

I’ve written before about the ease with which a writer can drift into obsessive-compulsive behavior. And I have to admit: I’ve succumbed.

Unlike earlier bouts of obsession, when I fought the evil temptations of compulsive email checking (Did anyone respond to my submission yet? How about now? Or now?) and mailbox haunting, I like to think that my current state of…ahem…hyperfocus has been not entirely a bad thing. Maybe even a little bit of a good thing, because I’ve been obsessed with WRITING.

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More gifts you can write

This is a continuation of Monday’s post on gifts writers can create. Lest you think huge projects are the only possibilities, here are some less time-consuming endeavors to round out your gift-giving plans.

• Coupon book: Yep, you’ve probably heard this idea before, but oldies can still be goodies…and who better to come up with a collection of interesting coupons than a creative writer? Print or handwrite coupons for hugs, brownies, moonlit meanders, proofreading services, dog sitting, kisses—you’re limited only by your imagination!

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Music and Mood: Emotion Classification in Contemporary Music

Music is a recurring theme in my writing, so it was with great interest that I read recent news from the Glasgow Caledonian University on how music can impact mood, stress, and even the experience of pain:

 

In a study titled “Emotion Classification in Contemporary Music”, researchers had volunteers listen to a variety of contemporary music that isn’t available to the public, then rank the music in terms of its emotional impact. Project leader Dr Don Knox says, "We look at parameters such as rhythm patterns, melodic range, musical intervals, length of phrases, musical pitch and so on. For example, music falling into a positive category might have a regular rhythm, bright timbre and a fairly steady pitch contour over time. If tempo and loudness increase, for instance, this would place the piece in a more 'exuberant' or 'excited' region of the graph."

I think of music as a language* that we humans don’t fully understand, but one that speaks to all of us. It’s a language birds use to fight, defend territory, boast and brag…a language we humans use to inspire, soothe, comfort, trigger memories, rile up a crowd…I find it fascinating that particular arrangements of sound waves, performed in particular rhythms, volumes, and pitches can influence so many different people in so many different ways.

Music is magical.

At least, it is if you’re writing fantasy :).

Cheryl

*NYC’s Radio Lab produced a fascinating radio show titled “Musical Language,” in which they discuss topics such as research showing that people from multiple different cultures use the same “song” in their words when speaking to infants and “musical illusions”. Check it out!

Work Space and Productivity

As I continue to work my way (slowly) through Julia Cameron’s Artist’s Way, I continue to experience moments of synchronicity in my life. Cameron’s definition of synchronicity is when you put a request out to the universe—for instance, your desire to take up acting—and the universe replies—for instance, you meet a woman who teaches a beginning acting class at a dinner party.

I think there’s another type of synchronicity: as I learn a lesson from one source, I’m likely to notice complementary lessons elsewhere. For instance, one of the exercises in this week’s chapter was to design a creative space for myself; the idea, although not explicitly stated, is that by surrounding oneself with things that are inspiring, comforting, and beautiful, you free your creative side to come out and play.

It turns out that Cameron’s wisdom, penned nearly 20 years ago, is now backed by scientific research. While a graduate student at University of Exeter in the UK, Dr. Craig Knight performed research on employees’ attitudes, work satisfaction, and productivity as they relate to employee control over workplace environment.

His work challenges the mentality of many corporations, where “managers often create a 'lean' working environment that reflects a standardized corporate identity.” In a study of over 2000 office workers, he consistently found that the more control people have over their work environment, the happier and more motivated they are. In two additional studies, researchers compared the productivity of workers in “lean” environments, “enriched” environments (decorated with plants and artwork), and “empowered” environments (employee-decorated spaces). They found that employees who designed their own work spaces were 32% more productive than those in lean environments without increases in errors.

The lesson for writers: where you work IS important. Giving yourself a place that nurtures your spirit will improve your creativity—and productivity. After all, it’s not just an artsy thing any more: science backs it up!

:) Cheryl 

How a Writer Goes Camping…

She stops at her local thrift store to pick up some inexpensive camping togs...



...then hits REI to stock up on her camping supplies...

...and finally visits Staples to purchase pens and notebooks. Because how can you camp without writing materials?


 
I'll be out of town for a few days to camp with my dad, who has been trying for years to get me to join him on his annual hunting trip in the Colorado mountains. He knows his daughter: it'll make a great story, Cheryl, says he. Blatant bribery.

But I guess it worked, because I'm going! :) It's good to have a dad.

:D Cheryl

Flora and fauna reports a la The Artist’s Way

Tuesday morning, for the first time in a while, I woke up feeling energized and ready to face the day. This comes during week three of working through Julia Cameron’s Artist’s Way, which is a fantastic course on getting your head straight as well as fostering creativity.

In it, Cameron writes about the importance of taking time to notice things. “Flora and fauna reports,” is her example, an aunt’s lengthy letters detailing the flowers blooming in her garden, the cottonwood’s leaves, and other snippets of beauty and joy. My ability to notice and enjoy the world around me is one of the things I like about myself—but when I get crazy busy, it’s one of the first things I stop doing. I duck my head and plow forward, trying to survive one day to the next.

So Monday night, I took a break from the endless to-do’s to spend a little time in my garden. Not long: I spent about half an hour watering flowers, pulling weeds, and collecting windfall apples from my lawn to compost. For half that time, I press-ganged my older son into picking apples with me as the sun sank behind the mountains. I got my hands wet and muddy; the smells of crushed mint and sage filled the air from the flower beds; and we ended up with a full compost bin and a colander full of red and green apples.

I spent the next half hour luxuriating in those apples, cutting and chopping (there were quite a few bad spots to remove) and plopping them into a few inches of water in my pressure cooker. I have a great pressure cooker cookbook by Lorna J. Sass, so I turned to it for guidance on how long to cook apples to make applesauce. Instead, I found a recipe for cranberry applesauce…and since I had a wayward bag of cranberries in my freezer, I decided to give it a try. I added one bag of frozen cranberries and about two cups of water to my apples (6 cups or so), brought the pot to pressure, and cooked for 5 minutes (the advantage of a pressure cooker!). Then I put it all through an applesauce maker (a sort of pot with a strainer on the bottom and a hand-turned crank that presses the soft fruit through the strainer while leaving peels and seeds behind), added a few tablespoons of chopped candied orange peel (the recipe called for orange zest, but I didn’t have any), a bit of sugar and a dollop of agave nectar…

…and the result was this jewel-toned creation. It satisfies the senses in every way: bright, colorful, tart, sweet, yummy.

And the next morning I awoke refreshed. Coincidence? I prefer to think of it as a sign that I’m on the right track.

:) Cheryl

The morning after…

The morning after the Eastern Traditional Archery Festival, the staff (and supporting kids and sisters) all gathered to eat piles of pancakes and share stories of the weekend…

…stories of the guy who towed his dog around in a garden cart, because it had recently had back surgery and there was no one home to take care of it, so rather than skip the festival he brought the dog along. Of course, the dog threatened to bite everyone who came within ten feet of him…

…stories of the guys who were going to jump the guard rail and climb down the bank to avoid paying the entry fee, and how the other people walking to the gate stopped them…

…of my brother reading what must have been a prank name entry in the end-of-show door prize drawings…

…of the group—the ??? Society—that gathered around midnight every night to chant and yell goofy slogans…

…of the tornado that touched down only a few miles away from where 500+ campsites were set up all over the ski resort grounds…

 

The point is that the best stories come out when you gather a group of people together like this, all of them exhausted from the event, pumped up on shared work and experience. It’s a special kind of storytelling that happens only in the aftermath of some challenge, whether it’s camp, a cross-country drive, or putting on a major archery festival.

I like it—and yep, I took copious notes :). (Names will be changed to protect the not-so-innocent….)

:) Cheryl

Portable Prose

I’m writing from the road again, this time from PA—and I have to say, the scenery couldn’t be more different than when I last wrote. I’ve traveled from the desert sunshine of Lake Powell, Utah, to Potter County, PA, where the world is green and lush and—for my first few days here—very, very wet.

 

Since I was traveling here for the Eastern Traditional Archery Rendezvous, you’d think this would be a problem, but the rain cooperated. Mostly. That is, it cleared up long enough for some outdoor fun on Friday and Saturday, and when it rained, well, we wanted to spend some time checking out all the vendors inside, right?

 

My writing brain is a bit dizzy right now, though, because I have so many projects to think about. (Yes, I’m on vacation. This is what I do for fun. Think about writing projects :).) These include:

1. Setting research for my next book, which will take place in PA. (I love Pennsylvania. I love it even more as I look at it with a writerly eye, taking note of ferns and skunks and the smell of crushed mint along the streams and the way a sudden downpour floated a bin of t-shirts right out of the big tent at the archery festival….)
2. Putting together a few nonfiction queries for new magazine markets I’m trying to break into.
3. The YA rewrite (Voice), which seems a little less daunting if I look at it slantwise, like when I’m hiking or driving down a rainy road.
4. And, of course, the miscellaneous to-do’s needed to keep current projects moving forward: reviewing an article galley, answering emails, collecting and processing manuscripts for the Rocky Mountain Chapter SCBWI’s 2010 Manuscript Critique

Maybe that’s what vacations are for: letting old ideas simmer, collecting new ideas, recharging, and playing. This is my “working” vacation, the one where I’m carrying about notebooks filled with prose and projects…but I don’t feel like I’m working. I feel kinda like I’m playing hooky to do all the writing things I don’t usually have time to do.

And that, dear readers, is a very good thing!

:) Cheryl