Every Writer Should Read Writing Down the Bones

My NaNoWriMo 2015 prep started with reading the fantastic work of Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones, which is celebrating its 30th Anniversary. Congratulations, Natalie, and thank you for sharing your wisdom with us. I must confess, Writing Down the Bones has been sitting on my shelf for about ten years next to my grandmother's old LC Smith typewriter. Unread and unloved. I'm still kicking myself for not pulling it off the shelf much, much sooner. 

It wasn't until last fall that I decided I needed guidance to keep me writing. Enter Natalie, her reflections, and her honest and pure incites on what it is to be a writer. With the help of her Zen practice and years of writing and teaching, Natalie Goldberg was the first person to ever really inspire me to keep writing. That I am a writer not just by title, but because it is my obsession, my passion, and my purpose.

"There is freedom in being a writer and writing. It is fulfilling your function. I used to think freedom meant doing whatever you want. It means knowing who you are, what you are supposed to be doing on this earth, and then simply doing it." - Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones

Once I absorbed Natalie's every word I had to decide my next steps. It wasn't enough for me to dream, I also had to act. But those first steps are debilitating. Stephen King said it best - "the scariest moment is always just before you start." The horror king was right and if I had let Writing Down the Bones continue to collect dust I would have been frozen by my fear and probably never finished anything.

However, with Natalie's words of courage - "You will succeed if you are fearless of failure" - echoing in my head I took that first step. I grabbed a character that had been teasing me for a year, locked her into her front row seat, and took on and won NaNoWriMo 2015. 

I'm still scared when I put my fingers to the keyboard or grab my pen. I worry if my writing is horrible and not deserving of the ink. Those fears are real and I doubt they will ever go away, but I am no longer going to let them stop me because "obsessions have power," Writing Down the Bones.

How has Writing Down the Bones or Natalie Goldberg inspired you?

Pitch Possible: Resources for Writing the Perfect Pitch

The exercise of writing a pitch for your work in progress or finished manuscript can be daunting. Where to start? What little darlings to include? I know every detail of my story and every bit is important, right? Wrong. Every word in the pitch counts, but it shouldn't be bogged down with description like a book report. Thanks to the great minds of a few fantastic experts, I have managed to finally write a pitch for my story that weaves the tale I'm trying to tell without including every plot and pinch point. The pitch I wrote recently was for the NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza being put on by the marvelous people at The Book Doctors, Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry. Check out their January 12th blog post about the Sixth Annual NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza for more details and a complete list of their 10 Tips for Pitching.

I have tried and failed to write a good elevator speech several times, but every time I had the same problem - I had no idea what I was doing. My least favorite question regarding my writing is "What is your book about?" How do I even start to begin? There's so much to tell and what if I don't express myself correctly. After all I'm a much better writer than I am speaker. I find comfort in the fact that several successful authors have admitted to dreading the same question. Writing is very personal and telling people about the wild things that live in a writer's imagination can be very intimidating. But, we are writers after all and we want to share our worlds regardless of the great risk of being rejected or worse getting "the look." You know the one that says "yeah, that sounds good" with a strong dose of sarcasm. Then that person never asks you about your writing again. Besides we need to master our pitches for when the time comes for us to wow our future agent and/or editor. So where to begin?

With the deadline for Pitchapalooza on the horizon I ventured out to write the perfect pitch with the help of the Book Doctor's 10 Tips for Pitching and the advice from Writer's Digest's editor blogger, Chuck Sambuchino on The Writer's Promise: How to Craft a Book's Pitch. I was finally able to see the path towards writing a pitch worthy of sending out rather than throwing into another black hole of failures. The three most important truths I took away from these great resources were:

1. Let your pitch sing. The tone should be poetic. Avoid at all cost being so descriptive that it reads like a middle school book report on the ancient Egyptians. (That was my favorite book report as a kid. I still remember writing all my bullet points on notecards and lining them neatly on my small fiberglass desk.)

2. Use your words to invoke emotions. No one wants to read a book that reads like the agriculture report. If your pitch only provides information without the meat that pulls a reader in than no one is going to ask to read the rest of the manuscript.

3. Reach out and grab the reader. A pitch is your first chance to make your reader lean-in. To make them pull your book off the shelf before the one next to it with the gripping battle scene on the front. The agents and editors we query are our first audience. Introduce them to the soul of the character, the truths of the story, give them something they can relate to, and then leave them with a cliff hanger that will have them begging for more.

As an exercise of humility, I've included below the first and last two sentences of the pitch I sent the Book Doctors. For the sake of self-preservation and privacy, I've omitted the middle of the pitch. I'd enjoy hearing what you think. And once you've carefully critiqued / judged my pitch, go try your hand at your own. Good luck and keep writing.

"Andy Holbrook lived most of her life in the dark underbelly of a secret world where monsters and magic existed. Now her parents are dead and she must be the one to solve their murders in order to avoid the exposure of the very secrets they died protecting." 

"...is a young adult fantasy thriller that encourages hope even in the darkness and raises the questions what if we were limitless? What if buried in our history was a time and place where anything was possible?"

Pinterest for Writers

I have been an avid user of Pinterest for several years. As a mother I have found it to be very helpful in finding fun activities for the kids, birthday party ideas, age appropriate science experiments that even I can do successfully, and healthy meal recipes even the kids will eat. I can't say all my Pinterest attempts have been successful. Some of my recipe and craft attempts would easily have qualified as Pinterest fails. But I will continue to try because this great tool saves me the time and frustration of scrounging around the endless resources of the internet. Instead I can enter a simple search and find recommended results.

What I didn't realize about Pinterest until about a year ago is how helpful it can be as a resource for my writing. I have discovered a world of fantastic articles about anything from plot and setting to common dialogue. It is also a great spot to find writing prompts to keep your writing moving. My writing board also includes useful infographics that clarify parts of a story in a simple document. Some of my favorite pins have been inspirational quotes from some of my favorite authors or anonymous quips that encourage me to keep writing. I also pin majestic landscape, animal, and human interest images that can inspire setting and characters.

One word of caution when using something like Pinterest to propel your writing is to consider the reliability of your pins' resources. After all you can't believe everything you read on the internet. And as with most rules pertaining to writing you have to take some articles with a grain of salt. For instance I recently pinned a blog post by Hannah Heath called 7 Cliche Characters in YA Fiction That Need to Stop. The article was enlightening in that it highlighted some great points about character development and what to stay away from when writing your own characters. However, having an orphaned teenage character that struggles with self-confidence as my current protagonist I had to appreciate Hannah's article for what it is - a personal opinion. I can't say I disagree with Hannah, but I'm also not changing my character just because I came across her article on Pinterest. My character, Andy, has her own unique story to tell that will help keep her from spiraling into the black hole of cliche characters.

Pinterest is also a great source for writers to be found. Take Hannah for instance. I probably wouldn't have come across her well written article if I hadn't found it on Pinterest. I've come across other helpful bloggers like K.M. Weiland's helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com and Joe Bunting and team's thewritepractice.com. Weiland is one of my favorite author coaches who I follow regularly. Recently I've been studying her infographics on the first, second, and third acts timelines as a way to structure my own story outline. I had felt something was missing in Andy's story and by examining each piece of the novel by using Weiland's timelines, I have found the holes of my story and am filling them with the best word glue I can muster.

No matter where you are in your writing or your goals, I highly recommend starting a Pinterest board to help you meet those goals. While writing is a mostly solitary objective, we cannot do it completely on our own. Helpful artist teachers, images that invoke a story, and motivational quotes are all at your fingertips with Pinterest. Good luck and keep writing.

Nowhereland

January is a hard month for many reasons. First is the weather. In Minnesota January is usually the coldest and darkest month of the year. Leaving us chilled and depressed from the lack of sunlight. But it is also the month we set and break our New Year's resolutions. I can weakly say that I have not failed my 2016 goals yet. However, the January doldrums are pulling at me and my motivation to attack my goals is threatened.

Thankfully I have great support that keeps me going and now a new friend in Scrivener. Many writers are aware of this masterpiece of software that allows us wordsmiths to spill our scattered ideas across a word processing document then reassemble them and eventually write the story. The program has folders for places, characters, notes, and research. And my favorite is the storyboard view when I can see a corkboard of my story's main points without having to plaster my studio walls with post-it notes.

After finishing NaNoWriMo in November and having my first very rough draft, I wasn't sure what to do with it. Enter Literature and Latte and their sponsorship of NaNoWriMo. They kindly gave a discount for Scrivener to those of us that met our 50,000 word count goals. When I didn't know where to start with rewriting my novel I looked to the NaNoWriMo winner prizes. I had heard of Scrivener before, but didn't think it was for me. I like the old fashioned clutter of storyboards and post-its. However, much like my decision to enter the November challenge, I decided I needed something more to finish my first novel.

I've only been using the program for about a week and have a lot to learn about all the tools it provides. So far I am very pleased with the structure that it gives my very disorganized novel. I'm able to enter all my notes, ideas, and little darlings without having to commit to any specific order until I am ready to write. For now my novel is disjointed and only bullet points that mark my main plot and subplots. But being the visual person I am, I can see the story coming together more clearly than it has so far.

So while the weather continues to try to slow my progress, I remain faithful to my project and my goals. Writing is never easy and as writers we are often plagued by fear of rejection and criticism. Still our minds and hearts won't allows us to put the pen down. We must write no matter the excuse, bad day or lectures from our internal critics. And while I fight off the winter blues, I am glad for programs like Scrivener that help me stay focused even if a little scattered.

Feeling Inspired

As far back as I can remember I have loved to create stories whether I made them up entirely on my own or piggy backed on one of my favorite television shows. I would play out my stories in my head or in the pasture with only the horses for an audience. Now that I'm older I still love to create tales only I no longer act them out. I've often thought of where my fascination for creating has come from and I don't have to look far to figure it out.

I have a very talented and creative family including fellow writers, painters, swimmers, dancers, athletes, and musicians. This week I'm especially thinking of my Grandma B who displayed her art through her brilliant baking. I've never tasted a better sugar cookie than the ones Grandma B used to make and her pie, don't get me started on her perfection that wordsmiths like me can't even find the right word to describe just how delicious they were. She really was brilliant and talented. We say our final good-byes to Grandma B this week. Sadness immediately filled me as I received the news of her passing. But the sadness did not last long. I still cry, but they are tears of remembrance for the life she led and the great legacy she leaves behind. In fact, stories of her life will always bring a tear or smile to my face and even inspire me to write.

Stories of living through the Great Depression, young love, destroyed family secrets, salt water taffy, Snickers bars, Dominoes, and an old porch swing instantly inspire me to put my pen to paper. Or a small three bedroom house for ten people with not much more than an abundance of love and discipline to support them. How about a coffee tin full of Valentine's sugar cookies or a boa constrictor as an unexpected guest or a trap door built into the hay loft as a cruel sibling trick. These are just some of the many, many stories with Grandma B at the center. To some her life would appear simple, but in my mind it was nothing short of extraordinary. Thank you, Grandma, for all the love and inspiration.

Who inspires you?

NaNoWriMo 2015, New Year, and New Post

Life has led me on many adventures since my last post in June 2009. But now I'm back! With the help of supportive family and friends, the encouragement of great authors who came before me, a lot of coffee, NaNoWriMo, and a determined character named Andy (short for Andora), I am writing more than ever and loving it.

Over the last six years I have constantly been followed by shadows of characters that were waiting to have their stories told. I tried many times to satisfy them, but life and my internal critic always killed them before I could get the rest of their stories. That all changed when Andora Holbrook whispered from the tall grass of the meadow from my then workplace. She laughed at me with the challenge to tell her tale of missing persons, stolen artifacts, phantom islands possessing resources beyond our wildest imaginations, and the existence of magic. I took the challenge and started writing her story during the summer of 2014. But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get past the first fifty pages. That was until I was challenged by NaNoWriMo 2015 (National Novel Writing Month).

At first I didn't think the 50,000 words in one month was a challenge that was right for me. I had already started my story and didn't want my creative genius to be constricted by a time constraint. No, I was going to write my novel perfectly at my own pace. It wasn't until November 3rd, 3 days into the challenge, that I realized how wrong I was and that NaNoWriMo was exactly what I needed. I needed the fire to be fueled not only with the desire to write, but also to win. Writing 50,000 words in one month is not an easy task especially considering I had only written about 14,000 words in a year. Without thinking twice I jumped in the race and set a pace of about 2,000 words a day. Each day I wrote and every milestone I hit encouraged me more to keep going. NaNoWriMo gave me the surge of adrenaline that I needed to help me reach my goal of completing my first finished manuscript.

Yay, I finished my novel! Well, not quite. I finished my first shitty draft or FSD. And, yes, that is the technical term for the original regurgitation of words that spread across the paper in a clumsy hurry to get all the ideas of a story out before it chokes you. Luckily no one will ever read that monstrosity of a first draft. But even after realizing what I had written was garbage, I had a new commitment to continue with the story. It has to be completely rewritten, but now I know what Andy's story is about and what it is not. When people asked me what my book was about before NaNoWriMo I couldn't answer them even though I knew every detail. After writing it all out I know now what works and what doesn't. I know how I have severely neglected my protagonist while allowing minor players to shine. I know now that little darlings that I thought had to be included must now die. I'm sure I'll shed a tear for them at one point, but in the end I will have a finished novel that successfully tells Andy's amazing story of loss, danger, intrigue, far off lands, and family secrets.

With the start of a new year, I have set goals for myself that will help me keep my promise to Andy to tell her story. They are not New Year's resolutions that are easily started and failed. No, these goals are a matter of such importance that I fear to fail would mean killing all current and potential characters that might linger or ever be born in my mind and soul including Andy Holbrook. I have established daily, weekly, and monthly goals that cut the elephant of writing a novel into much smaller pieces that are easier to consume. So far I'm ahead of my written goals and am greatly encouraged for what this year holds.

Back to the Pen

I can blame my absence from writing on everything from being busy at work to personal anxieties. I have even deluded myself into thinking that it is just writer's block or the lack of inspiration. Who am I fooling? I've just been plain ol' lazy.

I obsess about wanting to write, but continue to convince myself it's not worth it. I am my own worst enemy. If I want to write then why not? What do I have to lose? The words of a dreamer. Is it wrong to dream? Is it possible to dream in this economic climate or should dreams transcend economic forecasts?

I'm not sure what my next step is, but I know I have to do something. I continue to be haunted by the pen and paper that sit on my desk with a month old journal entry being the last. I either have to do something or let it go...for now.

Who knows what will happen. I suppose that's part of the fun of dreaming.