Where Is Your Creative Effort?

One of my fave books is by the acclaimed author and teacher Robert McKee's book STORY. If you don't know about it or don't own a copy, get it QUICK here: [link]. Every person who is serious about writing should own it. Though McKee is focused on screenwriting, the book holds truths for ALL forms of writing.

There's a passage from the book that makes me think about the Writers Boot Camp course I offer online.

McKee states, “Of the total creative effort represented in a finished work, 75 percent or more of a writer’s labor goes into designing a story. Who are these characters? What do they want? Why do they want it? How do they go about getting it? What stops them? What are the consequences? Finding the answers to these grand questions and shaping them into story is our overwhelming creative task.

“Designing story tests the maturity and insight of the writer, his knowledge of society, nature, and the human heart. Story demands both vivid imagination and powerful analytic thought.”

In my Writers Boot Camp, I instruct and coach writers on the questions mentioned by McKee because like McKee, I believe that for a story to live and breathe and connect with readers it has to be designed in a way that all storytelling engines run perfectly together.

Many new writers spin stories that lack full development of these vital questions. We read way too much description of a character's appearance. We read way too much backstory. We read way too much thoughts and feelings that are not integral to the story's purpose. We read flowery prose that is meant to heighten our reading experience but is too "fluffy" to hold any real literary weight. We read way too much telling and not nearly enough showing. We read way too much "real life" that is not examined to show us a "real" life.

To grow as a writer, to develop your storytelling abilities, you need to study and put forth most of your creative effort in examining the vital components of a story: character, desire, motivation, conflict, obstacles, resolution, etc. By taking the time to understand what these components are and how to develop them for your story, you will be surprised at how deep, how complex, and how real your book will feel to you...and to your reader.

The Pull to Write

A fan of CLG Entertainment and The Write Life for You articles I write contacted me. The fan, a writer, asked, "How do you know if you have the talent to pursue writing? Words have always had a powerful pull on me, but I don't know if I can actually write ... Do you have medicine for my affliction?"

I wanted to share my response because I think it might be beneficial to those of you out there feeling, thinking the same thing.

You know, the need to pursue writing often comes before one even KNOWS if he or she has talent. It comes from a desire, a need to express something. The fact that you're pulled to write is BIG. For me, writing was always a NEED. Started writing when I was 10, and it was all about looking at the world and writing what interested me, and then that moved to what I didn't understand, and then that moved to what I hated, and then that moved to what I wanted to be made right, and on and on.

That pull to write is important because it will warm your heart when you're rejected, it will urge you on when you receive criticism, and it will move you to want to learn so that you can better your craft.

First and foremost, I think you need to KEEP the pull. Recognize it. Communicate with it. Nurture it.

Allow the pull to keep you writing.

As you write, think about what you seem "called" to write about. This calling isn't set in stone, but it's a great place to begin to think about who you are as a writer and what you hope to convey in your writing.

As you write, READ. Read works you deem "good," and be able to illustrate to yourself why they are good and what you can glean from these findings for your own writing.

As you write, READ. Read works you deem "bad," and be able to illustrate to yourself why they might be bad and what you can glean from these findings for your own writing.

As you write, READ. Read works about writing, especially those books that delve into the errors you find you make consistently in your work. You want your problems to become tools to fill your writer's toolbox.

Connect with other writers, especially those willing to read and critique your work. It's important to know what you want to get out of a critique group and what you can bring to that group; you do not just want to jump into a group and wallow within it. And be open to constructive criticism.

And almost as important as your writing these days is your platform - who you are, what you stand for, how your writing reflects this, who you connect with, network with, how you BRAND yourself.

But ultimately, I think it is about the PULL. If you don't feel moved to write, who will be compelled to read WHAT you write?

I Declare: Envisioning Your Writing Future

Sit and think about your dream writing life. What does it entail? Do you spend vast parts of your days writing and taking trips and spending time in the library to research and experience the world to which you will write about? Are you a novelist? An essayist? A poet? A screenwriter? A playwright? All of the above?

What do you SEE? And just as important: what do you WANT?

It's not good enough to simply have these visions and wants locked inside your mind. You need to DECLARE them - to yourself and to others.

When we declare, we

1. make known or state clearly, esp. in explicit or formal terms;
2. announce officially; proclaim: to declare a state of emergency;
3. state emphatically: He declared that the allegation was a lie;
4. manifest; reveal; show ("Declare" - dictionary.com)

Take out a sheet of paper, and number it from 1 to 5 for starters (you may have more than five declarations, but let's start here.)

After each number, write "I".

Each of these "Is" will begin a declarative statement about you and your writing desires.

Some of us may think it's not very humble to go off declaring all over the place, but this isn't about you simply tooting your horn. You are affirming what you know to be true.

Once you have written your declarations and have announced them, then you must plan to achieve them. What are you going to do, what action are you going to put into motion so that you can realize your declarations?

Nothing comes to fruition without a declaration of it and then a plan to obtain it. Having these two things will practically guarantee your literary success.

What are YOUR writing declarations? What is your plan to make your declarations reality?

Finding Time to Write

During the month of April, “busy” was the operative term to describe my life. In fact, “busy” is not a strong enough word to define me.

In April, I:

• edited 4 novel manuscripts and a collection of poetry
• wrote several articles for various columns
• read over 30 articles and sections of books for various academic projects
• hit crunch time for end-of-semester, where I had to produce drafts of non-profit grant proposals, business proposals, pilot studies, etc.
• racked up many hours of “bonding time” with my Usability team as we went through testing for a project that’s due soon

This list does not count for time in class, time on phone with various clients (current and potential), time conducting research for various projects (current and potential), and time on phone as sisterfriend.

Needless to say, there wasn’t a lot of time to sleep.

But there is one other thing I did in April that was probably the most rewarding: I started and completed Script Frenzy [http://scriptfrenzy.org/]. Created by the founder of NaNoWriMo, Script Frenzy gathers screenwriters from around the world during the month of April with the goal being to write 100 pages toward a screenplay.

All I wanted to do during the month was get some writing done. Even if it were only five pages, I would have been ecstatic, but I finished having written 110 pages.

How did I do that when it seems as if there was no time for it?

Three things helped me find the time to write.

1. I TREATED WRITING AS A TASK. Many of us put writing down on our to-do list, but it becomes an expendable task, meaning if something more important comes along, then writing goes further down the list until it disappears. During the month of April (much like I treat NaNoWriMo’s November), writing became a task, just like putting gas in the car, finishing a project for class, or paying my rent. And because I treated it as such, I felt a responsibility to COMPLETE the task.
2. I TREATED WRITING AS MY ESCAPE. I haven’t written much during my first year of doctoral work, and it has been very unsettling for me. Before April hit, I told myself that writing would be my refuge during this hectic academic month. Whenever I got stressed, whenever I needed to “get away” from academics, I opened up my script outline, opened up Final Draft and wrote bad pages to my screenplay. When I was done taking my mini “vacation,” I was ready to get back to the school work at hand.
3. I TREATED WRITING AS MY ENTERTAINMENT. There are a lot of things I do to keep from doing work…to entertain myself. I get on Second Life and play with my alter ego. I watch TV. I play games on my phone. I play music and dance around until I’m too tired to do any work, LOL. I read. For the month of April, writing became my entertainment. Instead of turning on the TV, I wrote. When I felt the itch to play on Second Life, I wrote. When I had the urge to play music and dance, I played music, chair-danced, and wrote.

In the end, using these avenues to get writing on the page, I nearly completed a whole screenplay in April. And it kept me sane enough to stay on task with all the other things on my plate.

What do you do to keep yourself writing?

Writing in 140: Finding Desire to Write

What do you do when it seems as if you've lost the desire to write?

Every writer, at some point of the writing journey, will ask this question. The writing seems to flow like water from a faucet and then one day, it doesn't. Then days later, there's still no mojo.

What to do?

1. Read. A really good book makes me remember why I love to write and often makes me want to write.
2. Live life. You have to spend time living life in order to write about lives.
3. Study self. Go back and read some of your writing. Perhaps doing so will ignite the urge to write.
4. Don't worry. This is normal. Use the time to recharge yourself in other ways.

What do YOU do?

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Writing in 140 is my attempt to say something somewhat relevant about writing in 140 words or less.

Writing in 140: Writing is...

“Writing is turning one’s worst moments into money.” ~ J. P. Donleavy

Perhaps, but writing is also turning one’s worst moments into great reads for readers and personal understanding for the writer. I’ve written many stories that began from a “worst moment” in my life. Because writing has always been so cathartic to me, it seemed natural that I would weave my real-life angst into creative fodder. In writing stories, I can explore the whys and hows of my situation through characters, allowing me to take a step back from the situation and see things from another perspective. Every good story starts with a conflict, and if I can develop a story that satisfies readers while working through my “worst moments,” then to me that’s a win-win situation.

What is writing to you?

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Writing in 140 is my attempt to say something somewhat relevant about writing in 140 words or less.