Wednesday, December 7th, 2011 Here’s my highly-opinionated view of gift-giving for writers. In case you’re wondering…and even if you’re not.
What Not to Give
Unless your writer friend mentions or asks for any of these things, stay away from:
Think About Giving:
- Books. Really. You can’t give a writer too many books…but not just any books. Buy the latest books available in the genre your writer friend specializes in. Writers need to be widely read in their field in order to keep up with trends. It’s impossible to buy all the books published in a given year in a particular category. You can help.
- A Magazine or Journal Subscription. Ditto above. Get something in the writer’s field. I frankly don’t want a subscription to The New Yorker even though it’s highly respected. Give me Asimov’s, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog…
Does your writer friend write poetry or literary fiction? Then a sampling of several different literary magazines might be on target. (It gets expensive ordering copies of litmags just to see if you want to submit.)
Note: If your writer friend is anywhere beyond the beginning stages of writing, stay away from “how to” magazines such as Writer’s Digest, The Writer and Poets & Writers Magazine. (Unless they ask, of course.) Ditto how-to books.
- A gift certificate to a book store.
- An E-reader, like the Kindle, the Kindle Fire or Nook. (There are others… and as with all these suggestions, do your research before purchasing!)
- A portable hard drive to back up all their manuscripts.
- A small digital recorder he or she can carry to record story ideas and thoughts.
- The new Asus Transformer Prime (quad core) tablet with keyboard accessory, available December 19. (To be sure, a gift to be given by a really close friend or perhaps a Husband of Awesome™.)
Gifts that “Go Away”
I’m a big fan of gifts that get consumed (so the house remains uncluttered):
- Good coffee. (And don’t just go to Starbucks, not everyone — ahem — enjoys their over-roasted, burned up beans.)
- A nice bottle of wine or spirits.
- Chocolate. And do make certain it’s fine chocolate. You don’t have to buy a lot when you buy the good stuff: a little goes a long way.
- A gift certificate for a massage (to help relieve that deadline stress and endless hours sitting at a desk) or for a manicure (because typing is hard on the hands).
Inexpensive Gifts, or Gifts from the Self
Every writer I know can use a little more time in their day to get their writing stuff done. Since the time machine hasn’t been invented yet, you really can’t lengthen their day…but you can give gifts that will save your favorite writer some time.
Of everything mentioned on this list, these are my favorites:
- Coupons or gift certificates (that you can easily make yourself) for:
- running to the store to pick up a few things
- baby sitting or child care (especially useful on deadline days)
- researching their next project
- updating their web site (or building a new one)
- taking digital pictures they can use on their blog or Web site, (or)
- taking their portrait (every writer needs a good photo for their Web site and book jackets!)
- Read what they’ve written, and write a thoughtful, honest review at:
- amazon.com
- goodreads
- library thing
- shelfari
- your own blog, or any other review sites you’re familiar with.
- Help with their marketing by:
- “friending” them on Facebook, Google and other similar sites
- following them on Twitter – and re-tweeting their clever and witty tweets
- “liking”, digging, stumbling upon, +1-ing and “whatever else-ing” their blog posts on all the appropriate social media channels (super mondo bonus points if you go through your writer friend’s entire blog and do this for every appropriate post)
- “tagging” all their books at amazon.com
- adding their blog to your ‘blogroll’
- linking to their Web site from your own
Bake a casserole, make a lasagna or some other kind of “toss it in the oven, crockpot or microwave” meal that can be put together in minutes. If you can’t cook, there are lots of ready to serve items in the grocery store!
Better yet: come over and make dinner (and stay. Writers are notorious for spending too much time alone.)
A Final Note
It’s nice that you think of your writer friends, and want to give a gift to highlight that fact, but, writers are people, too. Writing might suck up their entire life, but they’re not all about writing. They have interests outside the written word. (Would you buy your construction-worker friend a new pair of steel-toed boots for Christmas?)
In short: you don’t have to give a writer a gift related to writing.
And if you have no clue: ask! If you’re close enough to give a gift to someone, they’ll appreciate that you want to give them something they’ll like.
Which also means: if you don’t know them well enough to ask, maybe you shouldn’t be buying a gift. That would be like stalking. Ick.
Friday, December 2nd, 2011  December is “National Write to a Friend Month,” so I thought I’d do a prompt on writing letters.
With the advent of email, it seems that the “art” of letter writing has gone by the wayside, but it doesn’t have to. I like receiving personalized letters via snail mail (so I make sure to write some, so that people write me back).
Writing to a friend differs from writing to a business, but both include a salutation, a body, a closing and a signature. A friendly letter doesn’t need to have a date on it, but I’m partial to that method.
The facts:
- Salutation – The opening of the letter, for example, “Dear Mom”
- Body – The text of the letter. The body contains everything you say up to the closing.
- Closing – How you “sign off” from the body. It brings closure to what’s been said, and alerts the reader that the letter is ending. An example: Until next time…
- Signature – Your name (so that the recipient knows who the letter is from).
- Date – The date can go at the top of the page or the bottom. Your choice.
Letter writing is useful, even if you never mail it out. They can be cathartic — allowing you to get all your feelings down on paper. You can say all those things you want to say to someone, and then burn it up before anyone reads it.
You can write a letter to your children and tuck it away for them to find after you pass on.
You can write letters instead of diary entries.
Letters make a great memoir in place of a narrative.
Letters can be used in novels and stories to move the plot along. (Also very useful for figuring out what your characters want. If you don’t know where the story is going, have your main characters write letters to each other. Don’t censor your writing: just see what comes out of your brain as you’re writing.)
Here’s Your Prompt:
Write a letter!
Friday, November 25th, 2011 This idea will work if you’re blocked, or if you want to write, but don’t have any idea what you want to say.
It can work with a short story, a novel or a poem; anything, in fact.
I believe I first heard this method from author Bruce Holland Rogers, though I can’t be 100% certain. (Bruce, if you’re listening, please set me straight.)
What to do:
Take a book off your shelf and crack it open to the first page, or the first page of a chapter, or a poem at random.
Read the sentence, then write one very similar to it, changing the nouns and verbs and setting, etc. Then move on to the second and third, or as many will help you as a jumping off point. Then, continue on your own.
So, for example, from Chapter 2 of Anne Ursu’s book, Shadow Thieves, the second chapter begins:
Charlotte was one month into the school year at Hartnett Prepatory School, and thus far the year had proved to be just like all other years, except more so.
I might write something like this:
Mark had been in the sanitarium for eight weeks now. And it wasn’t quite living up to the standard of nuthouses he’d formed in his mind. It was worse.
We could go on…
Anne’s opening paragraph (in C2) continues:
Eight of the other girls in her class, whose names all begin with A, had left for the summer as brunettes and had come back as blonds.
So I write:
Three of the others in his “we see dead people” ward, had been treated to brain stimulation therapy that left them near comatose, until their bodies seemed to heal the damage. (And then, they didn’t see their dead relatives anymore.)
Mark sighed, glad he’d seen the first two come back looking like zombies after their treatment. He never would have known how to act otherwise. The treatment left him giddy, feeling free, and his Uncle Bob sounded even more clear than before. And if he wasn’t mistaken, his dead sister, Melissa, had something really important to tell to him.
He simply had to act like the others, so the docs wouldn’t catch on. Soon, he’d be out of here, too.
Didn’t take me long to go off on a tangent, eh? And I took an interesting YA sentence, and waltzed off into something supernatural. It doesn’t matter what you start with, your brain will engage with what you want to write.
Here’s Your Prompt:
Take a book off the shelf and open it to the beginning, the beginning of a random chapter, or anywhere, if it’s a poetry book.
Read the first few lines to see if the content is interesting to you. (If not, choose another spot.)
Write the first line exactly as written, skip a few lines on your page, and then start your own writing.
See where it leads you!
Friday, November 18th, 2011  As part of the entire roof debacle, I had all the carpet replaced in the upstairs of the house. In order to carpet the closets, everything had to come up off the floor in each one.
Inside my closet, I found this brown, paper grocery bag.
I’ve no idea what’s inside it. The top’s turned down, and stapled, and I haven’t opened it. I’m having too much fun trying to decide what’s inside to peek right now.
(Incidentally, it’s not my style to store something like this. It sounds like a certain parent I know… On the other hand, I may have learned it from her. But, still, I’m usually good at labeling. I can’t believe I’m at fault.)
Here’s Your Prompt:
Tell me what’s in the bag.
Where did it come from? Who was it given to? What happens if the wrong person looks inside?
Is it a gift? A memory stored away out of sight? An embarrassing impulse buy?
Don’t just make a guess….write the background, then the story.
Friday, November 11th, 2011  In honor of our country’s Veterans, I’m hosting a Veteran’s Day Writing Prompt today.
Many thanks to all the men and women who’ve served in the US Armed Forces. I’m grateful that our country has a strong military, for both the freedoms it’s continued to safeguard and how safe I feel knowing it’s there to protect us.
Thank you to the men and women who continue to serve.
A quick digression:
I wrote a little about my family’s strong military background and some info about Veteran’s Day in my post last year, if you’re interested.
Last year’s post has a pic of my great-Uncle Walter. That’s him in the background of the picture to the right. He and my great-Uncle Frank are pictured in a downtown Baltimore bar, having a drink before they both return to duty after the Christmas holiday.
(Wasn’t Frank a handsome fellow? He looks like an old-time movie star to me. I’m sure the ladies swooned when they saw him coming.)
Now, on to the prompt…
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Write a diary entry for a single day in the timeline of any “great war.” Include specific details, as well as personal reactions.
- Write a thank you note to a veteran (or current member) of the armed forces.
- Take a few moments and brainstorm some words that come to you when you think about the military. Write a poem using one or more of the thoughts that occurred to you.
- Make a list of words that define “the perfect soldier.” Create a character sketch of this hero.
- Based on the prompt above, choose the one trait you think every soldier should have. Now, create a character sketch of a soldier who doesn’t have that trait, or blatantly disregards it. (Does that make him an unfit soldier? An anti-hero? A villain?)
- Imagine the military of the future. What gadgets do they have? What skills do they need?
- Write a story about U.S. Military Occupation on the moon. Why are we there? What’s happened? What would happen if weren’t there?
- What if there were no militias the world over? Would the world be a better place, or worse?
Friday, November 4th, 2011  Today is National Candy Day.
You’d think someone would have the good sense to combine it with Halloween, when it comes right on the heels of it, wouldn’t you?
No worries, though, I plan to celebrate with my absolute favorite candy/drink combination:
York Peppermint Patty and an ICE COLD bottle of Diet Coke. There’s nothing better than that cool minty sensation burning down the back of your throat in a huge swallow of icy cola.
Yum.
But not before breakfast. That would be sacrilege. Perhaps for a mid-morning snack…
(According to the National Confectioner’s Association, there are no less than 15 “National Chocolate” something or other days and one International Chocolate Day, as well as 35 “National” candy days total in the yearly calendar, including National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day, only a few days away on November 7. However, their calendar doesn’t mention National Candy Day at all…nor does it mention that, apparently, June is National Candy month.)
Before you get started today, I recommend channeling your inner child and eat all the candy you find around the house. If you don’t have any leftover, I’ll bet you could catch a good sale. You remember the immortal words of Bart Simpson, right?
“It’s okay. There’s no sugar in Pixie sticks.”
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Invent a new candy! Put on your Wonka hat and create the sugary treat missing the world over. Make a list of all the ingredients that have to go in (don’t forget those spoonfuls of love and pinches of mystery.) Describe it, draw it, and then write the advertising copy.
- Do this slowly: Close your eyes and lift your favorite candy to your nose. What does it smell like? Can you smell the individual ingredients that make it up? What do you think of when you smell them? (Does vanilla remind you of sex? Does cinnamon recall the pungent odor of a burning fire or a cup of hot chocolate?)
What is the texture of the candy on your fingertips? What does that remind you of. Lastly, take a bite. Take note of the texture, the blending flavors on your tongue. How much did you salivate? Write down all these sensations, thoughts, feelings.
- Think of a character you are writing about. What is his or her favorite candy? Why? How does knowing this change your story? Could this candy play a key role in the plot of the story?
- What kind of candy best describes your personality? Write about it.
- Write a haiku or other poem about candy. The heart of the poem can be about anything: an ode to your favorite candy, or a poem of disgust for what you think is the worse; that candy should be banned, how candy once saved your life (or nearly destroyed it), that candy should be served before dinner… Anything.
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011  Wherein I whine just a little bit after having done a stupid thing…
Writing fiction is hard.
And starting over from scratch is even harder, I’ve found.
Except for some free writing in class the last few weeks, I haven’t written anything on my work in progress: not since I lost 25 pages of the manuscript.
I’ve been in a terrible funk. And hopeful.
Hope is a terrible thing sometimes…and crippling.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve tried to recreate my lost work, but the words just aren’t flowing.
In the back of my mind, I’ve constantly been thinking:
- It’ll turn up.
- It’s got my name on it. Some kind soul will drop me an email to let me know they found it.
- It’s not really lost, it’s misplaced…
- I just haven’t looked hard enough for it yet.
And as long as there’s been a smidgeon of hope in my mind that the dratted pages will turn up, I haven’t been able to write a word…because why should I re-write these chapters when I know they’ll appear at some point?
But the fact is, it hasn’t turned up. No one’s called me about it. And I’ve looked high and low, and called a lot of places and dropped in on several more (some more than once) and so I know it’s it’s worse than misplaced:
It’s lost and I’m never getting it back.
(Okay, I said the words. Maybe, if I say them enough times, I’ll believe it.)
Yeah. I’ve not quite given up hope. But I’ve got to fake it, or I won’t be able to move on.
It’s not like this writing should be hard. I know what happens. I know where the plot turns. I know about that secret reveal in Chapter 15.
And this version will likely be better since I’ve already written it once. It’ll be the second draft, for 25 pages, halfway through the novel.
I’ve written a few hundred words between yesterday and today. Not great progress, but it’s more than I’ve done in a month.
Have you ever been paralyzed by hope? How do get past it?
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“My Lost Hope” image by Freida. Not used by permission, since I’ve been unable to contact the artist. See more of Freida’s work at RedBubble. Freida, if you see this, please drop me a line so we can talk about the use of your gorgeous painting. Thx!
Friday, October 28th, 2011  Leaving the restaurant last night after my monthly writer’s group meeting, I was struck by a hint of sadness. It’s always like that: similar minds coming together for a few hours, talking shop, encouraging each other, witnessing some really great writing.
Last night we laughed a lot. And I’m still smiling thinking of our conversations.
And then we had to go home. The End.
How sad.
We stepped outside into utter darkness, a fierce wind blowing, the promise of rain in the air…letting us know that it wasn’t just the evening ending. The year is fast on its way to being over, too.
So, today we’re talking about endings…arguably the most important part of a story. Does it have to tie up all the loose ends? Not necessarily. I like to think the characters I love have more to aspire to then the end of the book. The ending does have to solve the major problem, though: I can’t have all that build-up without some kind of resolution (even if it’s one I don’t like). That just feels like hard work without any reward.
When I get to the end of a book, I want to feel like I’ve just eaten chocolate.
Here’s Your Prompt:
Write an ending.
Have you read a book that you didn’t like the ending of? Re-write it. Have you seen any movies that had you mesmerized…until the last twenty minutes? Write the rant you’ve been discussing around the water cooler. Once you’ve gotten it all out, write a better ending.
Write about something that ended before you expected to.
Write the ending of your own life. Write three endings to your life.
When you’re done writing, write “THE END” at the bottom of the page. How did that make you feel?
Friday, October 21st, 2011
This was the scene I faced the other day, driving home from work. Fog, fog, everywhere!
Strangely, it was just as thick on the highway as it was on the back roads. Usually, the highway is clear no matter how foggy it is elsewhere, I presume from all the traffic…?
It was a slow commute, and of course my mind wandered to writing about fog…
I’ve done a lot of that myself. I find it fascinating, eerie, comforting, mysterious…. You name it. A lot depends on my mood. It’s a great backdrop for a story, or poetry. In grade school I wrote scads of really bad poetry (some, which didn’t even rhyme!) about fog, and thoughts and feelings lost in it, like ghosts… I’ll spare you the rest.
Here’s Your Prompt:
Write about fog. It doesn’t matter if you write about a memorable experience, or a scene with a character you’ve created (or even with a famous character someone else created), or a poem, etc.
Also: the fog doesn’t have to be physical. Just use the idea of fog in your writing.
You could write about foggy memories, or the fog of inebriation, or a drug-induced fog, or an emotional onslaught, etc. Doesn’t matter. You choose.
Here are some foggy prompts to get you started:
- There’s a little child // Running round this house // And he never leaves // He will never leave // And the fog comes up from the sewers // And glows in the dark – (Song Lyrics by Radiohead)
- Fear death?—to feel the fog in my throat, The mist in my face. – Robert Browning
- The fog is thick as pea soup. You could cut it with a knife.
- Cause the fog’s getting thicker // And the world’s spinning fast // The chaos is building // It’s going to last – (Song Lyrics by Maroon 5)
- …but a strange young girl hung around the neck of the hostess is about as welcome as a fog at a garden party. – Etiquette, 1922 by Emily Post. Chapter 17: Balls and Dances
- She carries the evening in her chest // And knows that she must wither away // She lays her head in his lap //
And asks for a last kiss – (Song Lyrics for the Song “Nebel” by Rammstein – Nebel, translated to English = “fog”)
- [Indications of Danger.] Alarm. Alarum, larum [archaic], alarm bell, tocsin, alerte [F.], beat of drum, sound of trumpet, note of alarm, hue and cry, fiery cross; signal of distress; flag at -half-mast, – half-staff; blue lights; war cry, war whoop; warning [See Warning]; fog signal, fog bell, fog horn, siren; yellow flag; danger signal; red light, red flag; fire bell, fire alarm, still alarm; burglar alarm; watchman’s rattle, police whistle. – (Roget’s Thesaurus, 1922)
- Some say no evil thing that walks by night, in fog or fire, by lake or moorish fen, Blue meagre hag, or stubborn unlaid ghost That breaks his magic chains at curfew time, No goblin, or swart fairy of the mine,
Hath hurtful power o’er true virginity. – John Milton
- “A Scotch fog will wet an Englishman through.” – Common saying
- October 22nd to November 21st used to be referred to in the French Republican calendar as Brumaire, or, fog-month.
And here is some information about how fog is formed from USA Today.
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011  Would you steal a few moments of time to write by spending extra time in the bathroom at work?
Someone on one of the many newsletters/mailing lists I read advocates writing for ten or fifteen minutes (whilst sitting on the throne) at work – once or twice a day – as a means to find more time to work on your current manuscript.
I seriously doubt I could do this. Not only am I too busy at work to spend more time than necessary in the ladies room, but I have a feeling that the public nature of a four-stall room provides a less than conducive atmosphere for creativity.
Besides, I’m just not certain I want to be pretending to use the toilet, while attempting to write, while someone in the stall immediately next to me is actually using the toilet.
And can you imagine this conversation, after publishing a blockbuster novel that sells a bazillion copies:
Reporter: Just how did you come up with this fabulous idea?
Author: Well, I was sitting on the crapper when the idea hit me…
I’ve written before about finding small bits of time during the day in which to write.
I’ve found that I can meet my (self-imposed) word goal, even on busy days, by taking advantage of these lulls and wracking up fifty or one hundred, or even several hundred words at a time.
(It took me a while to get over the need for a large block of time in the day to get some writing in, but once past that mind set, I find I’m able to accomplish much more.)
I’m not usually picky about the aesthetics of where I choose to write, but I’m drawing the line at the restroom at work.
How about you? Could you carry a notebook (or netbook!) into the lavatory and work on your masterpiece?
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