Where Is My Creative Mind?

I keep telling myself, “Come on Gwendolyn. Show your creative side. Rewrite that last paragraph. Show some pizazz!  Pizazz? I let out a deep breath. My pizazz floats away disappearing in the warm April breeze along with any cool thoughts I might have had about my current work-in-progress.

I keep watching the news for updates. I think about my writing project. I watch the news. I think about my project.

What now? I need to finish this project. The deadline is somersaulting toward me with no brakes in sight.

I don’t turn off my TV. Instead, I tune in my favorite music station. It plays jazz music all day and all night. No voices. No commercials. Just soothing jazz. I get some of my best ideas while listening to jazz.

I talk to my writer friends who are extremely generous during regular times and even more so now with COVID-19 AND lockdowns on our minds.  We read each other’s work, offer comments that are on point. You ask yourself, “Why didn’t I think of that?” They bring out more of my creative self.
Pull out a manuscript in your “Not Quite Ready” file. With a new perspective, you may be able to zero in on what could turn it into a sale. Relax. Take deep breaths. Close your eyes and type or write with your favorite pen. Don’t judge your work. Don’t even read it. Just keep going. As I write this, I’m thinking to myself, “Gwendolyn, you need to follow your own advice.”

While Hubby fishes, I write  by the calming
waters of  Lake Draper in Oklahoma City.

I am one of those who stops typing more often than I should and reread, delete and add as I write. Maybe it is time I follow my own advice. After all, it seems as if I’ll have plenty of time for revisions. WOW! Just giving myself permission to write without worrying about the result makes me feel extra creative. Maybe I’ll try a different point of view. There is an old manuscript I want to bring to life.

Is there an idea or character you visit from time to time, but never seriously follow through with your plans for it? Then maybe this is your moment. You won’t know until you explore it fully.

Fill your computer screen with stories only you can write. Your creative mind is within you. Use it. I promise to do the same.

Posted by Gwendolyn Hooks

Celebrating Post #1300 and Revision as Re-Seeing

Before I share my thoughts on our current TeachingAuthors' theme, I want to note that this is post #1300 for our blog!

Wow! Who would have thought we'd be at this for 10+ years?! I hope all of our readers, whether newcomers or long-standing, are still finding this blog helpful. I'd LOVE if you'd share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments or email us at teachingauthors [at] gmail dot com.

Personally, I really appreciate what my fellow TeachingAuthors have shared so far on the theme of re-visioning the new year, 2020. Each post has left me with much to ponder and apply. I particularly love Gwendolyn's idea of taking a train ride (or simply "changing your environment") to gain a new perspective.

But Esther's chock-full post is the one I relate to most right now. In it, she talks of "RE-visioning" our work. That reminds me of something one of my first writing teachers, Sharon Darrow, said many years ago--that revision is about seeing with "fresh eyes,"  or what I call "re-seeing."

Image by chiplanay from Pixabay

 (Don't you love this image? It not only fits the theme, but it's SO perfect with Valentine's Day only 1 week away!)

In Esther's post, the suggestion that most hit home for me was to "look backward:"

"Return to your very first draft to take a second look at the story you were telling yourself. Then reread the subsequent drafts to see the choices you considered and the choices you made to tell that story to your intended readers."  

This is what I've been doing with my current work-in-progress (WIP), a project I started many years ago. My initial vision for it was as a series of poems. But after writing only 3-4 poems, I got cold feet. I thought the approach too unusual to be marketable. And, to be honest, I wasn't very confident in my abilities as a poet. So I switched to a more conventional approach. I've gone through many, many drafts of the straight prose version only to receive rejection after rejection. Some of the responses were encouraging, but they were rejections none the less.

Then an agent casually mentioned that the project needed a unique angle to set it apart. That's when I remembered my initial vision to write it as a series of poems. And that is the approach I'm working on now as I "press forward," as Esther says. I don't know if this will be the format that will finally sell, but for now I'm having lots of fun working on it. I'm currently experimenting with writing a poem in terza rima form. (If you're interested, you can read more about that in my latest Creativity Newsletter.)

Meanwhile, I want to remind you of a post I wrote back in 2010 that included a Wednesday Writing Workout to help you re-see a WIP in need of revision.

Don't forget to check out this week's Poetry Friday round-up hosted by former TeachingAuthor, Laura Purdie Salas.

Remember to always Write with Joy!
Carmela

One Writer’s Rx for Achieving 20/20 Vision in 2020!

TeachingAuthors continues to celebrate 2020 - a New Year that begins a New Decade - with New Opportunities to refract our eyes so we can see our world with 20/20 vision.

20/20 vision - as in, “normal visual acuity (the clarity or sharpness of vision) measured at a distance of 20 feet.”

That’s swell ophthalmologically. (Think: eye drops, dilated pupils and eye exams!)
But how might that work for writers, especially those RE-visioning their stories?
How might they see their stories more sharply, more clearly, so they can tell them to readers the best way possible?

As luck would have it – and I mean that sincerely, since I’m always grateful for opportunities to get my stories right, I’ve spent the past two months revisiting two picture book manuscripts that received requests for revision.
So here’s my step-by-step Rx for achieving 20/20 vision when returning to your manuscripts with refracted eyes:

• Look backward.
Return to your very first draft to take a second look at the story you were telling yourself. Then reread the subsequent drafts to see the choices you considered and the choices you made to tell that story to your intended readers.
Ask: “Better or worse? Better or worse?” 😊
Wallow in your early notes, your first stabs at story starts, character names, plot points, to uncover nuggets that still serve your story.
Smile at your “darlings” – those favorite phrases, names, lines, possibly lamenting their loss.
Think about where you’ve been (conferences, webinars, classes, retreats, Writing Groups) and how much you’ve learned since starting the story, then pat yourself on the back for how far you’ve come since that very first story spark brought you to the page.

• Probe inward.
This is the step in which you see with your heart.
Determine why this story grabbed you.
[Note: I addressed this question in my February, 2019 post.]
Ask yourself what your story is truly about and describe your Reader’s take-away.
Perhaps your original premise and take-away need to be distilled and refined.
Ask yourself why the world needs this story and why you are the perfect person to tell it.
Reflect on just where you are in your story.
You can do all of the above in a letter to yourself.
Digging deep not only ensures your story will connect with your Readers. It will keep you on task.

• Press forward.
This is the true “doing” part because you’re sufficiently fortified by earlier insights.
First read – several times – the suggested and/or recommended revision needs.
Restate in your own words what’s being put forth. Separate the requests into doable tasks – for instance, language concerns, format requirements, reader accessibility, elements of narrative – the plot’s sagging middle, a two-dimensional character, inorganic actions, etc.
Then read those recommendations and suggestions again.
Find mentor texts that address those recommendations and suggestions. (Think:  genre/format/tone/subject matter/characterization, etc.) Read, study and parse each text. Type out the parts that are relevant. Read reviews of each.
One by one, return to your newest iteration willing to address each task, each request, if possible.
Evaluate honestly: "Better or worse?"
Put the manuscript away for at least 3 or 4 days, if not a week or two, or even a month, then re-evaluate.

• Reach outward.
Sometimes we’re still too close to our manuscripts to honestly evaluate how well they're working.
Share both the editorial requests and your revision with your valued trusted Writing Group or Writing Partner.
If neither option is available, consider receiving a critique via a conference, contest, webinar.
Again: ask "Better or worse? Better or worse?"

• Gaze upward.
IMHO: this step requires no further explanation. 😊
We’re not in this alone! Seek help everywhere!

• Continue onward!
This last step may well be prefaced with admiring declines, or even more suggestions that require lots of response verbs that begin with the prefix RE – as in, again.
In other words: there might be some repetition of the above steps.
Or not!
This step offers all sorts of possible verbs, like breathe, believe, sign, celebrate, thank, but best of all, connect and resonate – with your readers.
The truth is, whether we take two steps forward or one step back, when our vision registers 20/20, the possibilities to get your story right are endless

Of course, I’m well aware the above step-by-step Rx for achieving 20/20 vision IS NOT LIMITED to only writers telling their stories to readers. Indeed, it can prove most beneficial to human beings seeking clarity in their lives, regardless of purpose.  We have 365 chances to see the light to get it right, “it” being whatever seeks our focus.

Perhaps "clarity" should be my Word for 2020? Though “upward” and “onward” are mighty contenders.

Thanks to children's author and poet Karthryn Apel for hosting today's Poetry Friday.

And Happy Visioning to our intrepid TeachingAuthors Readers!

Esther Hershenhorn
P.S.
If you're looking for a time and place this summer to refine your vision and your stories, I'm again honored to continue facilitating Barbara Seuling's Manuscript Workshop July 12-17 at the beautiful Landgrove Inn in Landgrove, Vermont.  Innkeeper Tom Checchia is currently offering a discount on Room and Board.  Learn more by visiting my website and scrolling down the page and/or emailing me. Those gorgeous Green Mountains are downright magical!