“A writer’s job is to imagine everything so personally
that the fiction is as vivid as memories.” ~ John Irving
that the fiction is as vivid as memories.” ~ John Irving
A Tip from John Irving
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Tag Archives: writing – tips and tools
Friday Five: The Round-and-Round Edition
1) As mentioned before, I’ve had to circle back and work on opening chapters some more and have been mostly pleased with my progress.
2) Then yesterday I hit a bump and realized I needed to circle back yet again to tweak a scene so brainstormed characterization and plot issues to prepare myself for today’s work.
3) This afternoon I revised and revised, then printed out the pages and congratulated myself on a job well done.
4) Except when I began jotting notes about a tangential issue on my enormous whiteboard, I started doubting myself regarding the characterization and plot line I’d supposedly just wrestled to the ground.
5) So I went outside and shoveled very heavy snow while talking out loud about all this stuff and came up with this answer: there’s such a thing as over-thinking a story and it would be wise to relax and enjoy the ride.
image from morguefile.com
Wishing everyone a whirly-twirly, fun-filled weekend!
Friday Five: The Round-and-Round Edition
1) As mentioned before, I've had to circle back and work on opening chapters some more
and have been mostly pleased with my progress.
2) Then yesterday I hit a bump and realized I needed to circle back yet again to tweak a scene
so brainstormed characterization and plot issues to prepare myself for today's work.
3) This afternoon I revised and revised, then printed out the pages and congratulated myself on a job
well done.
4) Except when I began jotting notes about a tangential issue on my enormous whiteboard,
I started doubting myself regarding the characterization and plot line I'd supposedly just wrestled to the ground.
5) So I went outside and shoveled very heavy snow while talking out loud about all this
stuff and came up with this answer: there's such a thing as over-thinking a story
and it would be wise to relax and enjoy the ride.
image from morguefile.com
Wishing everyone a whirly-twirly, fun-filled weekend!
I’ve Seen the Light!
This is NOT me.
image from morguefile.com
The photo, however, represents how I feel right now.
Just one week ago I was a weepy little mess as I struggled to learn Scrivener.
Today I’m thrilled to announce I understand the basics of this writing software,
and that I’m looking ahead to a more streamlined, organized approach to writing novels.
I’m still a huge fan of carrying around a notebook, and that won’t change.
Nothing beats the thrill of matching a project idea to a new notebook.
But.
I appreciate the words of encouragement and tips shared in my original post.
Thank you, friends!
Friday Five: The Scrivener Edition
In honor of massively computer-challenged Me learning how to use Scrivener for Windows
(writing software adored by oodles of writers), here are some glimpses into my journey:
image from morguefile.com
1) Yesterday I shed tears of frustration and pulled my hair. Literally.
2) Today I teared up a tiny bit when faced with something I absolutely did not understand,
and then wiped away those tears and told myself "You might not even need to know that."
3) My mantra: Even if I master only a tiny percentage of what this program can do,
that tiny percentage will be huge in comparison to what I knew about Scrivener last week.
4) The thought of writing with a "corkboard" and "index cards" has kept me going, and sure enough,
those are the features I’m "mastering" and will be able to use right from the start.
5) I’m sure it doesn’t count for anything but I feel better prepared to learn this software
having read Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener in my sophomore English class.
having read Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener in my sophomore English class.
Anyone else out there have an emotion-laden time learning this software?
(For those who mastered it without a problem, it’s probably best to keep that to yourself.)
Friday Five: The Where-I’m-At Edition
1) I’m loving my whiteboard as I sort out characterization and plot for BIRD BRAIN.
2) But for the sake of my brain cells, I need to make the big investment and buy non-toxic, no-odor markers.
3) I’m now enjoying all the little revelations that come with revision, and am no longer beating myself up
for not being an omniscient author.
4) I’m writing every single day, making progress every single day, and feeling better about myself
every single day.
5) This week I received a 14+ month response to a query for FRAMED, and all I could do was laugh.
Wishing everyone a grand weekend filled with whatever brand of happiness your hearts desire!
Highlight This!
Am hard at work in the revision cave,
but wanted to share a tip that might help others.
I had concerns about continuity within a relationship
between two characters,
so I went through my entire manuscript and used the Highlighting function
to color code everything having to do with that relationship.
I used one color for interior thoughts
and another for direct interaction between the characters.
The colors made it very easy to track the progression in the relationship,
and I’m now confident the ms isn’t suffering from emotional ping-pong.
(I thought I’d already eliminated that stuff but apparently my emotionalism dies hard).
There’s a good chance you all know about this computer highlighting trick
(I’ve done this before with hard copy but never within my document),
but I’m a big believer in putting info out there.
May this tip reach the right person at the right time…
I’m missing this community, but am sending good thoughts for all your writing and life projects!
Fun at the dentist office! Really!
Who says it’s no fun going to the dentist?
I just spent an hour there and had a grand time.
Did I mention I was only in the waiting room?
Zebu had an appointment to get his braces-clad teeth cleaned,
so I hung out in the front office.
Did my figure eights,
inserted my ear plugs,
and drafted another couple pages of my final chapter.
Let’s hear it for the dentist office!
Friday Five: Notebook Love
1) I love spiral-bound notebooks.
2) I love this notebook I’m using for revisions,
a notebook formerly used by Wildebeest:
3) I love that I can keep my pen and pencil handy
for immediate use:
4) I love that I have pages and pages in which to jot any old thought that pops into my
head and that I can rewrite sentences and figure out characterization issues and vomit
out any angst and uncertainty here, and generally just have lots of room to move:
5) But maybe most of all, I love that the back cover has a drawing by Wildebeest:
Cutting and Pasting
Yesterday I had big plans for my revision work
and except for using 12-pt font and choosing the counter over the hair-covered floor,
I stuck to my plan.
Here is my original ending in all its glory.
And here, after hours of agonizing and brain-sweating,
is the cut and paste version of my revised ending.
I don’t think I could’ve slogged through all that without
a huge visual aid.
Word processors are grand
but nothing beats paper and scissors.
Not even rock
(sorry, couldn’t resist).
