Re-visiting Old Friends (hint...they're books!)

 
 You remember the first week or so of each grade in elementary school was always "review time?"  Those easy A's for simply remembering the stuff you were supposed to have learned last year?  That's how I still think of fall, a time of review and re-assessment of my writing, before moving forward. This year, however, my work didn't need review so much as my mind needed a good jumpstart.

 My brain went on vacation sometime last spring, and I don't mean it was in a hammock somewhere in the Caribbeans, sipping Pina coladas. It's been jammed to the gills with more than usual day-to-day stuff, and the toxic mental environment of the country. My head felt like I'd eaten nothing but stale potato chips for months. Time to send the brain back to school...tuition free.

I've always secretly believed The Answer to Life is in books. I'm still looking for that particular book; it's out there somewhere. Meanwhile, there are my "old friends" books...the ones I return to over and over for their sane advice.

My number one go-to book is, and always will be, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.  Although I've never heard her speak, I can somehow hear her as I re-read my favorite parts marked with Post-It's and the occasional Cadbury bar wrapper.  She reminds me writers are full of self-doubt, no matter how successful. Each new project comes with a new set of fears. The writing never gets easier. First drafts always suck; that's what first drafts are for. I think of Anne as a kind of writer's therapist. And unlike my actual therapist, I haven't paid Anne anything since 1999 when I bought the book.

After Anne bolsters my spirit, I move on to What's Your Story:  A Young Person's Guide to Writing Fiction by Marion Dane Bauer. Marion was one of my mentors in the Vermont College MFA program, and this was her textbook. Don't let the title fool you. It's anybody's guide to writing fiction, regardless of age. If there is such a thing as a blueprint for story building, this is it. Again, I hear Marion's voice on every page, because in this case, I actually know how she sounds!

Marion and I have totally different writing styles; hers' spare, minimalist, not one word more of

description or backstory than the story requires. My first drafts remind me of an ice cream concoction that Baskin Robbins once called "The Kitchen Sink": a Matterhorn of many ice cream flavors, sauces, nuts, sprinkles, assorted crunchy "things," topped off by a cloud of whipped cream and multiple cherries. Over and over as I edit my own work, I hear Marion's voice.  "Why is this...(character, scene, description, flashback) here? How does this move the story along?" In my critique groups, I have shortened this question to HDTMTSA. My fellow critiquers know they have wandered afield when they see that.

Lastly, my oldest "friend"  Julia Cameron. I've "known" her longer than the other two. We "met" when her book The Artist's Way came out in 1992, around the time I first began writing seriously.  Julia taught me how to shake up my creativity, and to stop thinking so hard.  I learned to observe more closely, use my mad eavesdropping "skills" for good not evil (!) and to find another creative outlet in addition to writing. I spent a lot of "artist dates" with my trusty old, pre-digital Canon camera.

Julia has spun the Artist's Way concept every which way she can into a multitude of books--for kids, for parents, for "older" people, for "transitioning" people (transitioning into becoming "older") and her latest...for dieters. Two of my favorite subjects in the same book--dieting and writing! The book boils down to a series of different kinds of journals for dieters. I hate diet journaling. And I've "regular" journaled my whole life. However, she came up with a new journal that helped vacuum out the toxic sludge that filled my brain...The Life Story Journal.

The Life Story Journal is not for publication, writing practice or even especially for generating writing ideas. I've fictionalized my own life and family in nearly everyone of my books. In doing so, I have sometimes forgotten what "the real story" is. Julia's idea is to go back as far as you can remember...and write down everything you can remember. For someone my age whose first memories start at age 3, that's pretty intimidating...and laborious. I also never write anything in sequence. So I've picked random years to write about. Not in any sort of prose...just images, flashes of events, people, descriptions....whatever flotsam and jetsam I find attached to 1957 or 64 or 2001. By consciously not looking for story ideas, they come easily from this no-strings attached method of recounting memory.  Lots of junk there too...but lots of good stuff, too.

1963--What do I remember? I'm the one in the maroon dress.

Lastly, I read something new and challenging after a summer of reading adult fiction (which I rarely do) that all seemed alike to me, and formulaic children's stories. My choice, the latest book by an actual friend. An Na was in the Vermont College program the same time as I, so I was privileged to hear early version of her Printz Award winner, A Step from Heaven.  Her style is so precise, her stories could've been written with a diamond pen....chiseled on to glass, each word exactly right.  She is not a prolific writer, so when I learned her new book would arrive March 2018, I pre-ordered for my Kindle...and promptly forgot it was there. (I have an ungodly amount of stuff on my Kindle).

I believe The Space Between Breaths will become a classic for the 21st century. The book is short, the premise seems simple. Grace, a high school senior, has never given up hope that her missing schizophrenic mother will some day come home.  Her remote researcher father is consumed with finding a cure for this disease.

That's where the simple part ends...somewhere around page three.  An Na takes the use of the unreliable narrator to a new level...or does she? Who is the narrator? Is there more than one? Where are we in time? Is it now, the past or a flashback dodging in and out of the present? I suspect that there are as many perceptions of what happens as there are readers. I have gone back and back, and with each reading, I find more subtle hints that all is not as it appears. How did I miss these the first time? Why?  Because the author fools us into thinking this is a straightforward teen-missing-mom story until it is too late...the reader is already invested in Grace when we also begin to question her.

So having visited old friends for counsel, inspiration and example...it's back to work I go.

School is in!

Carrying On Anyway

In this series of posts, we're discussing how to start or reboot a career in writing for children. Carla gave us five really helpful things she wished she had known when she started. I'm focusing more on the reboot.

In my last post, I wrote about That Awful Balky Feeling and carrying on anyway. Here are a few things that helped me:

1. Ugh. Summer cold. Enough said.

2. I'm halfway through Julia Cameron's It's Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity at Midlife and Beyond. I've long been a fan of The Artist's Way, and although much of this book repeated what I'd already read, I found the reinforcement helpful.

3. Around here, we've been clearing out clutter. For me, that means sorting through and recycling lots of paper--ancient work-for-hire contracts, poems that students wrote in my workshops, half-baked ideas, and previous drafts of work I've since revised. It's a big relief to let go of that stuff! The good news: I found a few nuggets I'm excited about working on again. The other good news: If and when we find the perfect new home, we'll have less to move.

Our latest Book Giveaway: Pamela C. has won an autographed copy of Amy Cattapan's middle-grade mystery Seven Riddles to Nowhere. Congratulations, Pamela!

Penny Parker Klostermann has today's Poetry Friday Roundup. Enjoy!

JoAnn Early Macken

Wednesday Writing Workout: Encouragement

The Dot is a story about encouragement: A generous teacher refuses to give up on a student she believes in. It’s also about determination: The student realizes she can do better, goes back, and tries again. And persistence: Over and over, she faces the blank page, experimenting with colors and sizes.


Today’s Wednesday Writing Workout, inspired by The Dot, focuses on encouragement.

As writers, we have to be our own cheerleaders, coaches, and fans.

Here are some suggestions for remaining positive about your work:

• Print your title page. Frame it. Hang it above your desk or computer.

• Write yourself an encouraging note. Remember to be kind to yourself. Writing is hard!

• Get enough sleep. As my mom used to say, everything looks better in the morning.

• As Julia Cameron says in The Artist’s Way, fill the well! Visit a museum. Hike through the wilderness. Paddle around with a pal.

• Celebrate every victory, no matter how tiny. Invite writer friends who understand to join the party, and be sure to celebrate their victories, too!

Happy writing!

"Replenishing our Inner Well"

Like much of the United States, Illinois is experiencing a terrible drought this year. Earlier this month, the USDA declared 98 of Illinois's 102 counties "disaster areas" because of the combination of drought and heat. Interestingly, the county I live in is one of the few NOT designated a disaster area. You'd never guess it from looking at the parched lawns around here.

I was inspired to suggest the topic of "writing droughts" to the TeachingAuthors team after reading "A Writer's (non) Drought"  by my friend Leanne Pankuch on her blog. Leanne quotes a local meteorologist as saying, “Drought begets drought,” and talks about how the phrase is as true about writing as it is about weather. I agree.

On Monday, Mary Ann shared how she uses her journal to "prime the pump" by noting brief observations. Similarly, Leanne finds that journaling at least a page a day helps her get the writing flowing again. I sometimes use similar techniques. However, one of my favorite ways to deal with a writing drought is to go on what Julia Cameron calls an "Artist Date" in her book, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity (Tarcher Books). 
 
If you're not familiar with the term, here's Cameron's description of it from her blog:

The Artist Date is a once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you. The Artist Date need not be overtly “artistic”– think mischief more than mastery. Artist Dates fire up the imagination. They spark whimsy. They encourage play. Since art is about the play of ideas, they feed our creative work by replenishing our inner well of images and inspiration.

If you have two minutes, I recommend you watch this videoclip of Cameron describing how an Artist Date works before reading on.

© Jusben @ Morguefile, used with permission

When I found the adjacent photo on Morguefile, I thought it a great image to represent what Cameron calls "replenishing our inner wells." (Click on the image to enlarge it.) The photographer says the photo is of "water flow at the Holy Well in Edington Somersetshire England." To me, the inner source of our creativity is indeed "holy."

That doesn't mean an Artist Date is a solemn occasion. Here are examples of some I've taken:

• visiting a large garden center and walking around the blooming plants and garden decorations
• browsing an arts and craft fair, enjoying art in many different forms
• cutting out interesting images from magazines and gluing them into a collage
• using rubber stamps of flowers and plants to create an image and then coloring it in with colored pencils

While I enjoyed all of the above, I found the last two especially fun. I don't consider myself at all "artistic"--I tell people I can't even draw a decent stick figure. So finding that I could create, with my own hands, something I found visually appealing was very affirming. Plus, using colored pencils made me feel like a kid again. (I'm smiling just remembering the experience.) And the process must have activated the creative center of my brain because I came up with all sorts of wonderful ideas. 
    
Funny--despite how much I enjoy Artist Dates, I can't remember when I last took one. I think it's time I do. There's no need to wait for a writing drought. See the (un)Writing Workout below for more on planning your own Artist Date. And if you have additional ideas for Artist Date activities, or would like to share your own Artist Date experiences, please post a comment below.

And don't forget--time is running out to enter our Mystery Guest TeachingAuthor giveaway. You must enter by 11 pm (CST) tomorrow, August 16.   

(un)Writing Workout:
Take an Artist Date

In the book The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron says,

"An artist date is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist."

It's basically a play date with what Cameron calls your "inner artist, a.k.a. your creative child." It's something you do alone, either in your own home, or away from it. Some samples Cameron shares in her book:

• visit a great junk store
• take a solo trip to the beach
• watch an old movie
• visit an aquarium or art gallery
• go to an ethnic neighborhood to taste foreign sights and sounds
• visit an unfamiliar church to hear gospel music

Another idea: do something you loved doing as a child that you haven't done in a long time, such as coloring a picture, riding a roller coaster, or going out for an ice cream sundae. The key is to HAVE FUN!

After finding Jusben's wonderful photography on Morguefile, I may make browsing more photographs there my next Artist Date. 

For additional suggestions, see these listed on Cameron's blog.

Happy (un)writing!
Carmela

The Five Minute Journal

       I've kept diaries/journals since third grade.  Decades of journaling has left me with more notebooks and journals than I can count.  As a third grader, I figured out writers have to practice, like I had to practice piano. Unlike piano practice, which felt like an hour chained to the piano bench, writing practice was nothing but fun.  I wrote morning, noon and night, when I wasn't doing other things like oh, say, going to school, or later, going to work.
     I got married.  I kept journaling. I worked two jobs. I wrote during lunch and work breaks. Going a day without writing was like forgetting to brush your teeth. The world didn't end, but you had this feeling that something wasn't quite right.
     Then I had a baby, and my world did cartwheels. Now I had a baby, two jobs and a husband who traveled. A lot.  I was tired. A lot. I had read A Writer's Way.  Julia Cameron's voice whispered in my ear
You're not journaling. Writers journal.  Oh great. In addition to all the other things I fretted about, I coud add the voice of a woman I'd never met, nagging me to write.
      I wanted to write. But now, even when I had a spare ten minutes, the words didn't come. My words were like stale bread; dry, tasteless, crumbling. No wait. Make that  crummy. See, said my imaginary Julia, what happens if you don't journal.
      But I couldn't do everything.  If I only had an hour a day to write, I didn't want to spend it writing "Morning Pages." But I couldn't just sit down and write without some sort of warm-up.  And without my journal I was finding it hard to generate new ideas, stay enthused about writing. I was a Writing Burnout, and I hadn't sold a single sentence.  That was just sad.
      When I began working with young writers, we discovered we had a mutual problem;  journals. Me, because I had no time. The students were "victims" of a well-intentioned local curriculum that requires ten minutes of journaling first thing every morning, second through eighth grades. My students blanched at just the word journal.
      So we stopped journaling.  Now we observe and report.
     We keep a large notebook, which is our log, but we carry with us a pocket size notebook for reporting.  We have a standing assignment. Each day, my students and I record these three things.
       1. Something that makes you stop and go "Hunh?  I wonder what's up with that?"
       2.  An overheard piece of conversation that catches your ear. Yes, I encourage eavesdropping, but only in public places.
       3. Something that makes a strong sensory impression.
       That's it.  They aren't supposed to do anything with it. They don't draw story webs or brainstorms ten ideas they write about. Just the facts ma'am.
        Here are some examples of my students observations: a bright yellow Porsche parked in the driveway of a small shabby house with an unkempt yard.  A person (sex undetermined) in full clownsuit mode---red wig, floppy shoes and all---waiting at bus stop in the middle of a weekday afternoon. An unused baby swimming pool, now swarming with tadpoles.
      Overheard conversation include such memorable quotes as "Hey, you wanna piece of me?" "I am not leaving this bathroom until I find some mascara." "Peas do not belong in ears."
      Strong sensory impressions ranged from "the pain of having your braces adjusted" to "our neighbors' noisy parties" to "the taste of Grandma's Pizza Potpie.
      At the beginning of each session, I ask if anyone would like to share their observations. I never insist that someone share, but after hearing their friends observations, nearly everyone wants to share.

      Sometimes, the image is so thought-provoking that the group will spontaneously brainstorm on their own. If it happens, cool. If it doesn't, see the five exercises below.

                                                                    Writing Workout

  1.  Have the student choose one of their observations for a five-minute free write.

   2. Using one of the observations, the student will write about it, using all five senses in the description.

   3.  Have the students choose one of their five senses. and write using only that sense. They are not allowed to choose sight as their sense.

   4.  The students write from their observations, this time using all the senses except sight.

   5. Ninety-nine per cent of the time students write first person personal narratives. It's easier (I do it, too!)  Assign each student a particular character (the snob, the mom, the little sister, etc) and have them write the piece again, this time from the point of view of their new character. They can still write in first person, but now they are writing as mom, or an orthodontist, or an older brother.

     After each exercise, the students are then encouraged to share. When sharing generates enthusiasm resembling a pep rally. ("Hey why don't do you this?" "What if..." "And then he could..."), it's time to turn the hounds loose.

     Typically, I only need to use one or two of these exercises before students leap from straight description, to a story or a poem.

     My students come to a session, notebooks in hand, dying to "share."  Little do they know that "share time" is a spring board to writing in their logs." I call it "expanding your observation."You could also call it journaling.  I don't.

    This process has also worked for me, the writer. Jotting down a couple of things to expand on later takes the pressure (and guilt) away.  Julia Cameron is where she should be; between the covers of her books, and not in my head.

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman