August Writing Challenges: Day 4 - Getting Dramatic

August. The summer is nearly over. Kids are going back to school. You now have some time on your hands.  Okay, you still have a list of chores a mile long, but let's put writing at the top of the priority list, okay?

I am going to challenge you with a writing prompt every day this month. Are you up for it? I hope so.

The writing challenges will be about a variety of topics and hopefully cause you to dig into your writing toolbox to complete with emotional skill.

Watch out, I just might throw in a fun one, well, just for fun!

For the second challenge we're going to get dramatic:

Here is your challenge:

Ask three (3) people: "What's the most dramatic thing that has ever happened to you?"

Pick one answer and write a scene about that event.

TIPS: Everyone has a different degree of drama. Technically, a drama is a serious (non-comic) play; the need to act out feelings on the stage has probably let to its secondary meaning, which is high emotion. 

In fiction, the writer's job is to make sure events are fully dramatized, that enough happens so that we feel what the writers wants us to. (And writers overdramatize events - there can be too much action and not enough meaning.)

The "what's-at-stake" question, so common in workshops, is closely connected to the question of "what's-the-drama?" Getting someone else's report on an experience of the "dramatic" can raise the stakes from the get-go. Answers involve trauma, risk, pride, shame, heartbreak.

Aristotle, always thinking about drama, said a tragedy was an imitation of an action of high importance, complete in itself and rendered so that the viewer, through pity and fear, experienced catharsis.

Modern short stories do this in their own ways. This challenge, though it's only an exercise, is meant to remind writers of that purpose. It also gets them out of their own experience, which can be a good thing.

Have Fun!
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Finding the Time to Write what You want to Write

You'd think working at home would give you more time, right? NOT!!! Sometimes I yearn for the company office just so I don't have to do all the extra stuff around the house. And... all the 'tasks" my husband assigns me. Let me give you an example. This week, he's writing a chat program so that he and I can chat on our computers between his office and me at home. The company he works for has a firewall that won't allow conventional chat programs like ICQ to operate. So, while he's writing the program, he has be doing the design document, designing the interface, and doing research on appropriate icons. All of that takes TIME. Lot's of time.

And, if that isn't enough, he sends me versions via e-mail to test. It's copy this file to my desktop, or put that executable in the directory, or go shutdown the program that is already running on his desktop, then start the new program, no not version 1.7, version 1.8. Moreover, when it's all done, page him and let him know the program is running so he can test it.

All of which takes time. And, then it's schedule meetings with pool heating companies, call for prices on door locks, organize our equipment manuals, etc. You name it; he's probably already thought of it; from scan these invoices and bills to make copies and mail.

Now, you not only run your own business, but you are a full-time office assistant!!

And of course, how can you avoid the dirty dishes in the sink or the laundry basket. I mean, come on, it only takes 10 minutes or less to throw a load of clothes in, or load the dishwasher, right? But, what about all of the other tasks that distract you when you tell yourself it'll only take a couple of minutes? Those minutes add up, and fast!

Am I just ranting or is there an end in sight?

Well, to be honest, a little of both, I guess.

First of all, this probably doesn’t happen in all households. Ours is a little unique as both my husband and I are technical geeks. We are also a perfect match personally and professionally. He is a Vice President and manages a team of application developers and programmers and I am a technical writer/fiction author/business analyst. He's stable and realistic, deep in details, while I'm full of visions and new ideas, and ready to take on any new task. 

Ready to take on any new task? Well, now we're getting somewhere. 

I am always ready to take on new tasks, as a matter of fact, I enjoy it. But, there has to be a better way of organizing those tasks. 

Prioritize, Prioritize, and Prioritize.

Sounds easy, right? Of course, there is, and it won't take hours of planning but it does require some amount of commitment. 

I’ve changed my priorities over the last 11 months. I’ve closed several businesses so I can concentrate more on studying the Bible and biblical history. I spend more time keeping my household together and my mental and physical health on track. 

Over the last 11 months I’ve been on bed rest three times, and each time wasn’t fun. Just think how much worse I would have been if I were still overwhelming myself with the workload I used to carry? 

My suggestion to you is create a column of all the things you want to accomplish, and then give them a priority number. You can’t give more than one item the same priority number, no cheating!

Then, see how each of those top 10 or 15 items fit your lifestyle and your life goals. You may have to prioritize again.

That’s okay.

If you choose to work at home and write, set yourself specific hours and make sure nothing else interferes with your writing. It’s your JOB. 

As for me, I don’t spend 8-10 hours in my office anymore. I have a memoir to work on, blogs to upkeep, and the rest of my time is split between: church, friends, family, pets, home and myself. Not necessarily in that order. 

Figure out what works for you and if it’s important enough, you’ll find the time to do it. But, remember, not at the expense of your own physical or mental health. 

Maintain your sanity, always!

And, if it’s not fun or enjoyable, then why are you doing it?

Think about that.

It’s your time. You only get a finite amount. Use it wisely.

And, remember. Take each day one at a time. 

Friday Writing Prompt - Your Author's Bio

Here we are, it's Friday again and time for the Friday Writing  Prompt. Today we are going to write your Author's Biography. Use the following "Author's Bio" prompt to stimulate those writing juices and maybe even come up with a variation for a 140-character Twitter bio or a short 50-word bio for articles or blogs.

Every author who has their own website, blog, or published a book, article or blog post or anything else, will have to write an author's bio.

Most writers do not like writing their own bios, however it's something that every author must endure the rite of passage into becoming an author.  For published authors, a bio is especially essential, as it is used as part of the press kit.

Whenever someone reads your writing, reviews your work, interviews you, or more importantly, thinks about buying your book, they're going to look at your bio to get some basic information.

So, why do authors find the process of writing an author bio so cumbersome?  Basically, authors have lived full and complex lives. To ask a writer to distill that into a page or less is a monumental task! If you have tons of writing credits, you might be forced to squeeze some of them out, only picking the "cream of the crop", so to speak, to highlight your career. If you don't have any credits, you'll be hard pressed to fill in your bio adequately.

One of the best ways to get great ideas for creating author bios is to visit websites of other writers and check how they've composed their own bios. For this purpose, make sure you visit successful writers' websites. Many bios will briefly mention the writer's other hobbies or interests, but these should be kept to a minimum. A bio should focus on who you are as a writer. However, the last paragraph or sentence of a bio often states where the author lives and whom he or shed lives with (spouse, children, or pets).

So, for your exercise today, I'd like you to spend some time looking at professional authors' bios, and write your own. It should be approximately 250-350 words, written in third person, and it should focus on who you are as a writer. Take your tine and go over your bio several times, editing and polishing it.

TIP: Try to make your bio as clear and concise as possible. Would you send this to a newspaper or magazine? If not, keep working on it.

VARIATIONS: Write a 140-character bio for Twitter (this should be in first person). Try writing a short 50-word bio (about the length that appears in article bylines and "about the author" boxes on blogs and in newspapers.)

APPLICATIONS: You can use your bio on your blog or website. You'll also find that you can extract excerpts from your bio to fill out profiles on various social media websites, especially once you get active with marketing and promoting yourself as a writer.


Did this prompt help you? Why or why not? Were you able come up with a response for the prompt? Did you use something from your own life as inspiration for your author bio? Did you remember to include past writing credits and a bit of personal information for the end of your author bio? Did you find this exercise easy or hard? Why or why not?

Please let me know in the comments below.

Happy Writing!

Tips for Breaking down Writer's Block

We've all been there at one point or another in our writing career. We stare at the blank page, we pace, we (argh!) do housework or chores!!

So, what does writer's block mean, anyway?

Well, for some authors it could mean that it's time to give the writing a rest and let the muse take a break.

For other authors, it means you're pretty darn stuck on something and you can't figure it out. Maybe the plot is going nowhere, you can't get your characters to talk to each other or to you, or maybe they've up and left the story.

Maybe you're just waiting for inspiration to strike. Well, keep waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

Writing is hard work. Really hard work, and if you think it's going to come easy to you, like a magic voice whispering the words to the next best seller in your ear, wake up. You're dreaming.  According to James V. Smith, Jr who wrote The Writer's Little Helper, "Creativity doesn't strike sparks in you like a bolt from the ionosphere. You can't expect much from wandering around idyllic settings waiting for an inspiration."

Every author is going to encounter some sort of challenge while they're writing. That's a given.

Joseph Heller said, "Every writer I know has trouble writing."

Well, Mr. Heller, you got that right. Listen to Mr. Smith who says it succinctly, "..writing does not occur by thinking about it. Writing only happens when you do it, so plant your butt in a chair and get busy."

So, how do we get past the block and get back to writing? What a great question. You, in the back, you get an extra credit for your effort.

You can go out on Amazon.com and buy all the books you can find about Writer's Block. That should take up an afternoon and use up about $100.00 on your credit card. But, it's not getting you any closer to getting over your Writer's Block.

You want answers now. Right now.  Well, here you are, tips for breaking down Writer's Block:

Copy Something. Yep, that's what I said. Find some passages that you like to read, and sit down and start typing them out on your screen or writing them on a piece of paper. Do you notice anything? Did you think the author could have structured that sentence more clearly? Could they have used another word to describe what the character was doing? Now, write it as if you were the author. Let your imagination go and change whatever you want.  Maybe you'll read along as you write and say, "Hey, the author had a great idea here, putting these thoughts into words." Maybe you'll learn something you didn't know and it'll spark something in your writing.

Write in a Journal. Put all the bits of dialogue, prose, narrative, and whatnot in your journal. Jot down conversations you overhear. Great pieces of inspiration that come to you in the middle of the night. Use your journal to take notes on a new activity or task you're learning. You never know when a character might need to know how to do something similar. Then, when you ever come to a point where you experience some kind of writer's block, you have a mine of ideas to forage through. I know, I ended that sentence with a preposition. So sue me. But, read this closely: Every idea you write down is going to spark another idea and then another. Develop that idea. Play with it. Work with it. That's how you get back to writing.

Talk About What You're Writing. Tell everyone you know you're writing a story. Tell people the subject and theme. People will want to talk to you about your story or something similar they read or heard about when they were listening to the radio or watching television. A quote or even a lead is something to go with and get back to writing.

Exercise Your Body and Your Brain. Your brain needs oxygen. Give it some. Get that body moving. If you're sitting in your desk chair, get up, do some toe touches or go for walk. Get that cardio up. Now it's time to work that brain. Do some writing exercises. Google "writing exercises" and I'm sure you'll be inundated with pages. If you're still droopy and tired, maybe you need a nap?

Organize or Re-organize Your Research Material. If you're desk looks anything like mine, you'll thank me for this tip. Some writers can be a little "too" organized, and how do you ever find anything anyway? But, that's another story. Let's do a bit or re-organization so we can actually find what we're looking for or start organizing so we can find things a little faster. Organize is whatever logical way seems right to you. Only you need to know your system, right?

Make Lists. Oh, wow. You thought you were done with lists, right? Not. Some writers are pantsers and some are outliners. (Pantsers are those writers who don't use an outline, they just start writing. The story is all in their head.) But, I digress just a bit. Think about what you want to include in your story. Use key words and write down - in list format - all the elements you want to cover in your story. Maybe you have some questions. Add them to the list.

Picture Your Reader. Do you even know who your reader is? What they like to read, and why? If you don't have a reader for your story, who is going to want to read your story? So, figure out whom you are trying to reach. Describe your reader. Imagine your reader is in your office. Ask your reader questions. What do they do for fun? for work? What would make this story important to him/her? What is your reader's education background? Are you using words too big for them to understand or too small and your reader feels as if you are talking down to him/her?

Ask Yourself One Question. Why are you writing? Do you have goals? What emotion are you trying to get out of your reader? Do you have a purpose for your story? If so, what is it?

Here it is, my last quote to inspire you:

"I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts. All right, one of them does, but we do not like her very much. We do not think she has a rich inner life or that God likes her or can even stand her."
 -- Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

Now, get writing. If you have other tips for breaking through writer's block, please add them to the comments below. I'd love to know what you do to get back to writing.

References:
The Writer's Block by Jason Rekulak
The Writer's Little Helper by James V. Smith, Jr.
100 Ways to Improve Your Writing by Gary Provost


Copyright: 72soul / 123RF Stock Photo

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Reflection

1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about Reflection. Are you a pondering writer? Do you do your research in your head as you observe the world? Think about the many mind tools you use to write.

Get into as much detail as you can for the next five minutes.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?

Did you succeed with this writing exercise? Was it helpful? Did you determine if you are a pondering writer? What mind tools do you have available to use to write? Was this exercise helpful? Did you enjoy it?

Why or Why Not?

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Taking Risks

1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about Taking Risks. Is your life as a writer a risky one? Do you see it as an adventure? Do you feel blessed because you have a passion for writing? Write about the risk you take in life if you do not listen to your heart and write. Does the risk of losing the chance to experience life as a writer outweigh the risk of failure?

Get into as much detail as you can for the next five minutes.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?

Did you succeed with this writing exercise? Was it helpful? Do you have a passion for writing? Do you take risks? If your life as a writer a risky one? Can you write about the risk you take in life if you do not listen to your heart and write? Have you found that the risk of losing the chance to experience life as a writer outweighs the risk of failure? Was this exercise helpful? Did you enjoy it?

Why or Why Not?

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Fate

1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about Fate. Do you believe in fate -- that power which is thought to determine one's future? Does fate play a role in your success or failure as a writer?

Get into as much detail as you can for the next five minutes.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?

Did you succeed with this writing exercise? Was it helpful? Did you come to terms whether or not you believe in fate? Did you determine if fate played a role in your career as a writer? If you do not believe in fate, what do you believe in? Was this exercise helpful? Did you enjoy it?

Why or Why Not?

Writing Tips - Telling a Story or Giving a Report?

The difference between "story" and "report" is crucial to the reader's expectation and the writer's execution.

The word "story" has a special meaning, and stories have specific requirements that create predictable effects.

What are the differences between "report" and "story", and how can the writer use them to strategic advantage?

A scholar by the name of Louise Rosenblatt argued at one point that readers read for two reasons:

1. Information
2. Experience

That's the difference.

Reports convey information. Stories create experience.

Reports transfer knowledge. Stories transport the reader.

The tools required to create reports and stories differ as well.

Every writer should know about the famous "Five W's and H". They've helped writers gather and convey information with the reader's interest in mind.

Who
What
Where
When
How

They are the most common elements of information.

When used in reports, these pieces of information are fixed in time, fixed so readers can scan and understand.

This is how you "un-fix" them, when you can transform information into narrative:

Who becomes Character
What becomes Action (What happened.)
Where becomes Setting
When becomes Chronology
Why becomes Cause or Motive
How becomes Process (How it happened.)

As the writer, you must figure out whether your project requires the crafting of a report, a story, or some combination of both.

In can be said that stories require rising and falling action, complications, points of insight, and resolutions. As a novelist, you can invent these movements into a story. However, as a reporter or non-fiction writer you must report them.

A narrative requires a story and a storyteller.

An article in a newspaper requires a reporter.

By combining story and report, you, the writer can speak to both our hearts and our heads, creating sympathy and understanding.

Here are some things you can do:

1. Look at the newspaper with the distinction between reports and stories in mind. Look for narrative opportunities missed. Look for bits of stories embedded in reports.
2. Take the same approach to your own work. Look for stories, or at least passages in stories, where you transport the reader to the scene. Search for places in your reports where you might have included story elements.
3. Reread the conversion list for the Five W's and H. Keep it handy the next time you research and write. Use it to transform report elements into the building blocks of a story.
4. The next time you read a novel, look for the ways in which the author weaves information about politics or history or geography into the tapestry of narrative. How can you apply these techniques in your own work?

So, in your next project, are you going to tell a story or give a report?

Writing Resource: Writing Tools - 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Getting Older and Becoming Wiser

1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about Getting Older and Becoming Wiser. Write about your feelings and issues' concerning age. Focus on the insights you have gained through your experiences. Write about self-reliance and self-confidence as they relate to getting older and becoming wiser.

Get into as much detail as you can for the next five minutes.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?

Did you succeed with this writing exercise? Was it helpful? How helpful was it to look inside yourself and see the insights you've gained as you've gotten older and become wiser? Have you become self-reliant? Have you gained self-confidence? Were you able to relate them to getting older and becoming wiser? Was this exercise helpful? Did you enjoy it?

Why or Why Not?

Which Came First, the Reader or the Writer?

What does this mean to you? To be a writer you must first be a reader?

What were you thinking, Michael Chabon, when you spoke or wrote this little missive?

I think as a writer we must keep ourselves strong. We must work out all the muscles necessary to become a good writer. One way to help with working out those muscles its by reading.

When reading, we put on our editor's cap or proofreader's chapeau and work those muscles.

I know, sometimes as a writer, we'd like to read for pleasure.

Is that possible?

Let's think about that? Can you really turn off all your editing techniques and tricks and trades of proofreading and just become a R-E-A-D-E-R?

Belle Beth Cooper has a very unique approach to our dilemma. Five Unconventional Ways to Becoming a Better Writer. 

Belle Beth Cooper states that:  "Even if you’re not a ‘writer’ per se, writing can be highly beneficial. It can be helpful for a number of things:

• help you to work through feelings
• stay positive
• express your thoughts more clearly
• market your product."

Writing can Help you to Work Through your Feelings

Do writers have problems with their feelings? I'd say so, if you consider all the maladies that writers seems to have come up with and the drinking and the drugs and the mental health issues. Yes, I do believe that writing can definitely help with these feelings.

Writing can help a Writer Stay Positive

That's totally awesome and I truly believe it. There's nothing like writing to keep yourself positive. Writing brings out the good in people. Writing and positivity go hand in hand in my book. 

Writing can Help you Express your Thoughts More Clearly

Another benefit from Belle Beth Cooper. She nailed it. Who more than anyone else in the world can express their thoughts more clearly than a writer? 

Writing can Help you Market your Product

Yes, and I say this with much chagrin, because most writers do not like to market their own product. But, who knows their material better than anyone else? Who has the ability to create the marketing material better than anyone else? The writer.

But, where does this all lead back to my first question: Which came first, the reader or the writer?

To put it logically, there wasn't something to read until something was written. So, of course, the writer came before the reader.

So, then as Michael Chabon did say, "Being a Writer is about Being a Reader First."

So then, what are the benefits of being a Reader first?

Belle Beth Cooper wrote an article, Become a Better Writer with These Important Reading Skills First

In it she quotes the following:

Reading—the good and the bad—inspires you. It develops your palate for all the tricks that writers have invented over the years. You can learn from textbooks about the writing craft, but there’s no substitute for discovering for yourself how a writer pulls off a trick. Then that becomes part of your experience. – Roz Morris

Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window. – William Faulkner

Belle Beth Cooper came up with five unconventional ways to become better writers by the way we read.

1. Skip Sections

"According to Ms Cooper, I’ve actually realized recently that there is a kind of freedom in giving up that feeling of needing to see everything. Sometimes, it’s okay to skip parts. Especially if they’re not relevant to you. Readers on the web skim for a reason. In fact, it has almost become our default way of reading"

2. Quit Altogether

Ms. Cooper says, "Reading is meant to be a fun activity. Your brain doesn’t want to slog through something it finds boring. In How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read, Pierre Bayard defends the habit of not reading as something we should all do more of:P

To speak without shame about books we haven’t read, we would thus do well to free ourselves of the oppressive image of cultural literacy without gaps, as transmitted and imposed by family and school, for we can strive toward this image for a lifetime without ever managing to coincide with it.

If we really respect our time, let’s spend it on things we enjoy and reading that has long-term benefits for us."

3. Read Things You Hadn't Thought About Reading

Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window. – William Faulkner

"If you’re stuck in a reading rut like me, try pushing yourself to try a new genre or writing style now and then." per Ms Cooper.

4. Walk Away and Take Notes

 To get more out of the books you are reading you should be taking breaks from them and taking notes about what you have read.

Believe it or not, it helps test your comprehension and your brain's ability to assimilate what it's read.  

"Mary Gordon wrote about how copying sections from books and taking notes on what she’s read helps inspire her own words

Before I take pen to paper, I read. I can’t begin my day reading fiction; I need the more intimate tone of letters and journals. From these journals and letters—the horse’s mouth—I copy something that has taken my fancy, some exemplum or casual observation I take as advice. These usually go into the Swedish journal, except for the occasional sentence that shimmers on its own, and then it goes into the handmade Vermonter.

I move to Proust; three pages read in English, the same three in French. In my Proust notebook I write down whatever it is I’ve made of those dense and demanding sentences. Then I turn to my journal, where I feel free to write whatever narcissistic nonsense comes into my head."

5. Fight Back

This is what Ms. Cooper says, "Finding something you care about is worth cherishing. If you want to rant against the author’s premise or post a rebuttal to their argument, go for it. This will make your brain work really hard, as you analyze their ideas and form your own in response."

What do you think? Did Ms. Cooper hit the nail on the head? I think so.

And as Paul Graham said, “writing doesn’t just communicate ideas; it generates them.” So get reading, get writing, and watch the ideas start flowing!

So, what do you think of all this?

Do You Think You're the Only Scared Writer Out There?

Twenty-Five Years Ago:

I was the scared writer who didn't know if I had enough talent in my little finger to try and write a book.

• I have been there with a book, not knowing if it's good enough to catch a publisher's eye.
• I've been there with a publishing contract in my hand not knowing if I should sign or what?
• I've been there when that first book was printed and I held it in my hands for the first time. Like holding your baby for the first time.
• I've been there in critique classes when another writer would tell me I "wrote it wrong" or "used wrong tense" or something else equally as humiliating. How could I be writing it wrong? Then the flood of "am I not good enough" comes again.
• I've been there during book signings when no one shows up. Once again, it hits, "Am I not good enough?"
• The marketing is scary. It means I have to talk about myself in a positive way.
• The selling is hard. How do I tell people about my book and hope they'll buy it? I'm not a salesperson.
• I've been the writer who sits in a room of other writers thinking I'm the only one who is scared.

Does this sound like you?

Raise your hands. Too scared to raise your hand? I totally understand. I've been there.

I have BEEN there.

Not anymore.

That was twenty-five years ago. I am no longer that scared little writer thinking I'm the only one in the world who feels like that.

I've written books. I've had books published. Yes, with real publishers!! Publishers who I had to submit to and wait anxiously for acceptance or rejection.

I've got a rejection pile so large you can sit on it.

Yes, I've kept every single rejection letter. 

Why? Because it means I'm working my butt off trying to get my work published. It means I'm working.

I got past the "what if I'm not good enough" and I'm writing, but I think my dialogue is flat or I can't tell which Point of View I'm in. I did research. I learned. I asked other writers. 

I wanted to join a writers' group. There wasn't a writers' association  in Florida. So, what did I do? I co-founded the Florida Writers Association. I worked hard with other people to make it the best organization in Florida. It is, too. Just ask anyone.

I created writers' groups. I created critique groups. I helped other writers. The FWA motto is "Writers Helping Writers". 

Like it?

It's my mission to help other writers. I want to provide aspiring fiction writers with the tools they can use to be the best writers than they can. I know I can do it. 

Why?

Because I've been there.

And, I did it all the while fighting a debilitating disease. Bipolar Disorder. I fought against 

• social anxiety disorder, 
• generalized anxiety disorder, 
• panic attacks, 
• PTSD, 
• and OCD. 

It never stopped me from writing. It never stopped me from succeeding. 

I did it. 

You can too.

I know, deep down in my heart, you have what it takes to be a great writer. If I can do it, anyone can. 

I wrote through hospitalizations. 

I wrote through suicide attempts. 

I wrote through depression. 

I had great writing moments during manic episodes.

I learned ways to manage the Bipolar Disorder so that I could be the best writer I knew I could. I knew it was inside. I knew I had to be the one to break out of my barriers and fight the obstacles. 

I did.

If you are a true writer, you won't let any obstacle, big or small, get in the way of writing.

I didn't. 

I can help provide you with the tools you need to be the best writer you can. 

Just write to coach@vickimtaylor.com and tell me you're ready to be the best writer you can be. We'll take it from there.

Image credit: poulcarlsen / 123RF Stock Photo

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Procrastination

1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about Procrastination. Why do you defer the inevitable? Do you do it because the work is hard? Create a written time schedule to accomplish the inevitable. Do you love your life as a writer because of the freedom you have from strict schedules? If so, alternate the tasks on your schedule daily or weekly - the key is to plan, tackle, and move on to the next task.

Get into as much detail as you can for the next five minutes.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?

Did you succeed with this writing exercise? Was it helpful? Did you figure out why you procrastinate? Do you procrastinate?  Were you about to create a schedule with tasks? Do you like being a writer without a definitive schedule? Were you able to plan, tackle, and move on to the next task? 

Why or Why Not?

Writer Turned Architect - Designing Your Perfect Workshop

Let's take off our writers' caps and put pencil behind your ear and grab a tape measurer. We are going to build us the "perfect" writers' workshop.

For better understanding, we are talking about fiction writing. Ok, now that we got that out of the way, resume.

Is there such a thing as a "Perfect Workshop?" Let's start with that, shall we?

I think so. I think if we held a consortium and asked writers of various stages in their writing career what the entities they felt needed to be in a workshop of their choice, we could build not one, or two, but many "perfect" workshops.

So, let's begin at the beginning. If you were a beginner writer (or those who aren't and can look back and say "hey, I wish someone asked me that question!") what topic or topics would you like to be taught?

What is most important to you when developing your book or writing?

•   Characters
•   Plot
•   Point of View
•   Description
•   Dialogue
•   Setting and Pacing
•   Voice
•   Theme
•   Revision/Editing
•   Business of Writing (remember, this can be a WHOLE other group of workshops)

Look at the list I just created above. We could create separate workshops on each topic. Don't you think?

Okay, Let's take it a bit deeper.

Of these topics, what is most important to learn? Tell me. I really want to know.

Would you like hand-outs that the instructor would actually go over with you?

Would you like hands-on writing exercises where you could be brave enough to read yours to the group and possibly receive feedback? Would you like feedback from the other members of the group? Would you like feedback from the instructor?

How many people would you feel comfortable in a workshop style setting? 5? 10? 20?

I know, some of you are raising your hands in the background. I see you. Yes, I know what you're going to ask. What about critique groups? That's a great point.

Would you be interested in a critique group? Would you want to meet with writers of various calibers and work on pieces and have them read and critiqued by others?

I know, it's a bit off the topic of workshops, but that person in the back was waving their hand so wildly I had to pick on him, or else he might have fallen off his seat.

Let's get back to workshops.

Could you describe your perfect workshop to me in the comments below?

We're not talking price, location, or anything like that. If all those outside influences were met, and we just talked about you designing the subject, what would it entail?

So, tell me, at what level do you see yourself as a writer?

• Just beginning, no publications
• Just finishing with first book
• Looking to publish first book
• first book published, how to top it with a second?
• Advanced writer, several books under my belt, but something is missing
• Uber Writer. I know it all. Well I thought I did, until my books stopped selling and I can't find anything else to write about

So, with your level of writing in mind, describe the perfect workshop for you in the comments below. Can you do that for me?

Thanks.

Image Credit: vectorart / 123RF Stock Photo

Writing Tips - Pairs of Beginning Sentences

Today's Writing Tip comes from Alexandra Marshall, from the book titled What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers.

I'd like to know what you thought of it, so please leave a comment at the end.

Sometimes less is more, and sometimes it is just less. But no matter what, writing with a strict economy of purpose can force useful answers to fundamental questions. Even from one sentence you can learn both who the character is and what the story is about. To provide focus, it is helpful to begin by writing sentences in arbitrary pairs with established parameters.

THE EXERCISE

Write the first sentence of a story about a birth. Now write the first sentence about a death. Try other paris, such as falling in love an filing for divorce. Try pairs that are not in opposition, such as spring and summer. Then invent your own pairs.

THE OBJECTIVE

This is a way to sharpen skill by working for a specific kind of clarity. It is about naming essences.

STUDENT EXAMPLE

A birth and a death

1. I won't be doing any bonding with either one of them for quite awhile; I know I shouldn't have gone into the delivery room.

2. "He doesn't look peaceful or tortured or saintly, and no he doesn't look 'just like himself''; he looks like some dead thing that I never knew, and I don't know why I'm here."

Falling in love and filing for divorce

1. It could have happened to him a dozen times before and with women prettier, smarter, richer, funnier, sexier, even nicer, but it didn't, did it?

2. I don't want to throw her out the window or cheat her out of the money or tell her what a shit she is; I want to thank her for every damn day of it.

Spring and summer

1. All spring means to me is that things change, and if they didn't, I'd never die--but I'd want to.

2. The end of summer stopped having any tangible meaning in his life long ago, but with each year he is still slower to recover from it.

Can you think of other examples? Choose subjects and write beginning sentences. I'd like you to come up with pairs of sentences that help you bring together a specific kind of clarity; the naming of essences. If all you can come up with is opposition, that's great too. Just start writing.

Let me know what you think of this tip and exercise.

Writing Tips - Structuring Your Story

Story Structure. Think of it like building a house. You need the foundation which the story structure is built. And, you need framework, that holds the story together.

With me so far?

Within the framework of a story are three major elements:

1. Characters
2. Action
3. Conflict

Winding it up, the structure indicates that there must be a beginning, a middle, and an end.

We will not be discussing Plot. Plot is different from structure because it deals with a story's design. The architectural design of the structure. We'll deal with plot on another day.

So, does every writer need to structure their story the same way?

Of course not. You, as a writer, must figure out what works best for you from a various set of designs.

Some writers outline first.

Some writers begin with page one and just write.

Some writers start with character sketches and go from there.

Most writers are flexible with their ideas and plots and sketches. To them, so long as it all works out in the end, whatever worked was how it should have been.

So, how do you as the writer keep all of the bits and pieces of your story straight in your head and not float away?

One author I know uses Storyboarding. What they use is have a very large white dry-erase board hanging on a wall in their office. By figuring out the beginnings of the characters she maps out in a couple of sentences what the physical action is going to be. If there is a romantic relationship, she maps that out as well.

By using the storyboard, you can check your time line to be sure things are progressing in the right order. You can track your character development, even your settings, to make sure everything is in conjunction with everything else and all of these elements are compatible with the story line.

Don't be set on the ideas that you start with when you create your story line. Ideas will come to you as you write. It's up to you to decide if you are going to use them or not. Some ideas are just what your story was looking for, other ideas can be captured for use later either in this story or another story.

All in all, have fun with your story and don't be too rigid in your planning.

Writing Resource: How I Write - Secrets of a Bestselling Author by Janet Evanovich with Ina Yalof

Image credit: AnnieAnnie / 123RF Stock Photo

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Priorities

1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about Priorities. How will you determine what will be a priority today? Write about priorities and how they relate to you as an effective and productive writer. Does the ability to set priorities have anything to do with your level of creativity?

Get into as much detail as you can for the next five minutes.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?

Did you succeed with this writing exercise? Was it helpful? Were you able to determine what is a priority today? Did you figure out how priorities relate to you as a writer? Were you able to determine if the ability to set priorities had anything to do with your level of creativity?

Why or Why Not?