Writing is Not For Wusses!

Writing is not for wusses
by PK Allen

(I welcome PK Allen as my first guest blogger! He has been a participant in some of my writing Workshops.)

With all the hype over personal trainers and gym memberships and jogging, for God’s sake, why has no one promoted the cardio-vascular benefits of writing? Gnashing of teeth, tearing of hair, rending of garments in search of the perfect word ––all these thrashings about contribute to our physical well being. Who needs crunches and squats? We lug our bulging laptops in and out of Starbucks, day after day, stooping to plug and unplug. We suffer endless reps, table to lips, table to lips––hoisting the dead weight of a giant latte. Doesn’t your body just tingle?

Those in Roy’s Life Story classes have the added benefit of emotional wind sprints: stretching recall to the breaking point in search of that one time when your Dad looked at you with pride behind his eyes, gulping and sobbing as you recreate the moment on the page, racing to get it down before the memory dims. Then jolting to a standstill when you realize that was just one of such looks. You were just too pissed to notice. Then, brick by brick, rebuilding your gloomy self-image from the bottom up, this time in the light of understanding.

Writing is a workout. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Is there anything heavier than a rejection slip? And how many of those do we have to handle? If you start to feel a little stale or dispirited, simply add a bit to your routine. Walk (don’t ride) all the way up to the counter and order another latte. This time with the whipped crème.

PK Allen, pka1943@sbcglobal.net

A short story is/A novel is/And....

I'm re-reading a wonderful book called Readings by Michael Dirda. He's book editor for the Washington Post. The book is full of his reading adventures, pointing readers at many fascinating books they might never know about otherwise.

He quotes writer Howard Waldrop's definitions of a short story and a novel.

A short story, Waldrop said, is "about the most important thing that will ever happen in a character's life," while a novel is about "the most important time in a character's life."

And, he says, by story's end "there must be some cost to the character."

NINE SURE-FIRE TIPS TO WRITE A GREAT FICTION OPENING!

1/ Show the reader where she is. Is she on a crowded New York City subway? Or a secluded pathway along the seashore?

2/ Make it clear who she is there with. Is this story about a pickpocket or a priest? And is the pickpocket kneeling in a dimly lit church? Or is the priest hunched over on a curb on the Bowery?

3/ Start your story with an arrival. The setting is an old-time Western town. The townspeople peer through half-drawn curtains to peer at a stranger dressed all in black riding into town with a scar on his cheek and a scowl on his face.

4/ Start with a departure. Melinda leaves her small town with nine dollars in her pocket to travel to a far-off big city. She knows no one there, but she has to escape the stifling world she’s been living in.

5/ Open with dialogue. Not “Good morning, Joe.” “Oh, hi, Louise. How’re you doing?” “Oh, can’t complain.” And so on. No, start with a snippet of conversation that the reader will find fascinating. One of Sydney Sheldon’s excellent thrillers starts with this line of dialogue: “Can you make it look like an accident?” Don’t you have to keep reading?

6/ If you’re writing humor, start with something funny. If you’re writing something sexy, start with a hint, at least, of the provocative.

7/ Frontload! This is a word you hear around the desk of an editor putting together an anthology. It simply means to put the best first. Put your best writing in the opening, and then strive mightily to keep up the high standard!

8/ And, most important of all, start on the day that is different. Things will never be the same again.

9/ A final thought. Paraphrasing a famous movie producer (Goldwyn?): Start as close to the end as you can and end as soon as you can. In other words, cut out anything superfluous at the beginning, and at the end!

And…write the opening last, not first. Not all good fiction writers do this, but it’s often true that a writer doesn’t know the best way to start a story until she’s finished it. And, if you get hung up on writing a great opening, often you just don’t get beyond it!

I Invite You to Visit My Web Site

I invite you to visit my web site, www.RoySorrels.com

You'll find out all about me, and you'll learn details about what a writing coach does, and how it can help you achieve your writing goals.

And, I'd love to hear from you! Email me at RoySorrels2@aol.com

WHAT IS/WAS A DOLLAR WORTH?

Let's say you're writing a story set in in 1934. Your central character is Joey, a hobo down on his luck. He counts out the grimy coins in his pocket and discovers that he's got $1.16.

Not much. Poor Joey. But it was 1934. What buying power did $1.16 have in 1934, compared to today? You could do all kinds of research and figuring and come up with a guess.

But I can tell you exactly. Joey would have the buying power of $17.79.

And here's how I know. There's a web site service by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve bank. It's called "What Is a Dollar Worth?" and it can make the comparison, from way back then to right now, or the other way around, instantly. Here it is: www.minneapolisfed.org/Research/data/us/calc/

So, if you're in to time travel, and you're walking the streets back in 1934 and Joey says, "Buddy, can you spare a dime?" he's really asking for $1.53 in 2007 money.

CAN YOU SMELL IT?

If you're writing fiction or nonfiction, using all five senses in your descriptions can make your writing come alive, and put your reader right in the middle of things!

For me, it's the smell of the sea. It takes me right back to some very emotional moments in my early 20s.

We're all moved by smells. That includes our readers, fiction and nonfiction. And yet many writers forget all about smells when they write. They depend entirely too much on what can be seen. It's true, unless we're blind, most of our information from the world around us comes from what we see.

But, for the writer, it's a mistake to leave out the smells, sounds, textures, and even tastes of the world of the story.

Can you overdo it? Sure. But a little goes a long way. Portraying all the senses can make a piece of writing come alive.

Try it the next time you sit down to write!

Take the following steps toward decluttering your writing space and improving your writing:

* Touch every piece of paper that you can see from where you sit to write. Either throw it away, or file it where it belongs.

* Put yourself in the center of your writing space, so that you have easy access to the computer, the phone, the filing cabinet, your supplies, and anything else that you need.

* Use a bulletin board for information and inspiration. Put it directly in front of you as you're sitting at your keyboard. When you look up be sure your eyes fall on something beautiful or inspiring!

* Clear the floor! Make sure you can see every square inch of the floor of your writing space, and that is clean and dust free.

* Keep the supplies you need close at hand. Never run out of paper, envelopes, stamps, cartridges for your printer, etc.

* Have your notebook always at hand. I call mine my "bucket," a monicker I learned from David Allen's books of getting organized and becoming more effective (I highly recommend them!).

* Have an excellent light, and put it exactly where it will do you the most good.

* Spend money. Put your treasure where your heart is. If writing is important to you, spend money to get the best you can afford of everything.