Author's Apology

This post is a preface to tomorrow's where I will be posting a sonnet sequence.

A while back Simon and I challenged one another to a sonnet throwdown (I can't remember which one of us started this whole thing). Originally, I challenged him to write a sonnet that had something to do with the vodka and symphonic metal he's always going on and on about, whereas after my initial post about driving the beer cart around the golf course this summer he challenged me to write a sonnet about beer and old men playing golf.

Okay, says I. Then, he has his "most epic contest" wherein he challenges readers to write short stories or poems on any of a whole list of subjects.

Because I can't turn my back on a challenge, I got it into my head that I would write a sequence of sonnets which would encompass all of the subjects from his contest plus the subjects he challenged me to write about.

So tomorrow I will be posting an 8-sonnet sequence which tells a story about: symphonic metal, vodka, writing, cycling, Scotland, tattoos, Simon, golf, beer, flirting, old men, and me.

When you read it, keep in mind that although I find sonnets fun and challenging, I am not a poet by trade. Some of the lines aren't strictly iambic pentameter, but rather variations, and some of the rhymes are a serious stretch. Overall, I was going for story and snark value over showing off my poetic chops (of which I really have none).

So, stay tuned tomorrow to read my epically silly sonnet sequence!

Creativity Workshop: Week in Review

As part of Merilee's creativity workshop, every Sunday participants are required to post a review and analysis of the previous week's creative activities and then revisit the goals for the upcoming week.

Because I'm a rebel who doesn't follow rules and bucks the system whenever possible (but mostly because I'm chronically late for everything) I'm posting my review and goals today. I'll do my best to accomplish this on Sundays in the future, but we'll see how that goes. My life is fluid and always in motion so I figure if I accomplish goals within 1-2 days of their due date I'm doing well.

That being said, last week was the first week of the workshop and the only assignments were to brainstorm some interests we might want to work on during the course of the workshop, then select a few of those interests and formulate some goals and specific tasks meant to accomplish them. Even though I joined the workshop late, I'm pleased to say I completed both assignments (and they were both done on time, too...nearly a first for me!)

My goals for this upcoming week: For weeks 1-4 I decided I was going to work on exploring genre fiction by writing four stories of different genres (horror, sci-fi, western, detective). Let me start by saying, what was I thinking? I know nothing about any of these genres and they make me uncomfortable. But I suppose that's the point of a creativity workshop, no?

Okay, so I'll start this week by writing sci-fi and I'm going to use the motif of doors to connect the four stories. My goals for this week will include doing some research into what exactly defines a sci-fi story and then brainstorming some ideas. I think I have a general idea of what I want to write, but I find it intimidating and scary when reading the blogs of other participants that they've got stories clearly outlined in their heads and I'm coming up distinctly blank. And I have one week to write a (one would hope) coherent sci-fi story. Yikes.

I am, however, comforted that Merilee noted on her blog that she anticipates making false starts and that "learning words are never wasted." I shall take that to heart.

And now, off I go to learn about sci-fi. Wish me luck.

Happy Mother's Day and News from the Links

It's Mother's Day, but I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it here. This morning I've browsed many of the blogs I follow and I think they've pretty much got the Mother's Day thing covered. So suffice it to say that if you're a mother, Happy Mother's Day.

I'm a mother (x3) but I get to work today driving cart at the golf course. It's not bad, though. I'm happy to be making money after being unemployed for two months. So far it's a beautiful morning (windy, but pretty) and I'm crossing my fingers it'll last. The old and worn out joke here in North Dakota is that if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes and it'll change, which is exactly what it did yesterday. I drove cart yesterday and the day started out blue sky and sunny. It was a gorgeous change from the last week which was gray and dreary with nothing but rain and even a dusting of snow.

Unfortunately yesterday went from good to bad fairly quickly. The wind picked up, the clouds rolled in, and it started raining. Surprisingly, the course was pretty full of diehards. They were traipsing the course in shorts and polos, determined to ignore the nasty weather.

I also did quite well for tips, which was a shocker. Sold nearly 70 beers in six hours, plus myriad pop, Gatorade, sandwiches, candy bars (Snickers was the big fave yesterday).

There were several groups of Canadians on the course and they're always a hoot. Since we're so close to the border, Canadians often come down to shop. They also come to golf. And let me tell you, they're usually the best tippers, too. So I'm always happy to see them golfing.

After just a couple of days driving the beer cart around and having half drunk old guys practically throwing tip money at me, I told my hubby that I've become a tip whore. Sad but true. It's a new world out there. This is the first job I've ever worked where I get tips (I never waitressed). Like I said before, I'm not young and cute, but apparently the more beer these guys drink, the less they care. Which is fine with me, cuz there's not much better than a handful of cash when you leave work for the day. I made nearly twice as much in tips yesterday as I did in wages. Pretty sweet.

So I'm hoping not everyone is at Mom's house today for Mother's day and that there are plenty of people out golfing. Because another big wad of tip money would be an awesome Mother's Day gift (and if I'm really lucky the kids will clean up the house while I'm at work and make the day that much better!)

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Creativity Workshop: Goals

As promised, here is the post where I outline my goals for the Creativity Workshop. These will be based on the issues and interests from my previous post. I am to select three of those items to focus on throughout the course of the workshop.

I have chosen to work on genre, emotion, and character variety.

Weeks 1-4: Genre

I will write four stories in four different genres (horror, sci-fi, western, and detective) linked by either theme or motif (which I haven't decided on yet).

I will accomplish this by researching the parameters of each genre, writing a general character and plot outline ahead of time, writing for at least 30 minutes per day.

Weeks 5-8: Emotion

I will write four stories exploring (at least) four different emotional extremes. I'm going to complicate this further by insisting with myself that these all be set in contemporary settings. I think I'll link them by having all the characters be members of the same family.

I will accomplish this by outlining the family and characters ahead of time, getting into an emotional mindset before I write, not being afraid of emotion while I'm writing.

Weeks 9-12: Character variety

I want to try to slip a twist past Merilee for this section of the workshop. Rather than writing four independent stories, I'm going to write one long story (perhaps four chapters?) about four different and distinctively drawn characters.

I will accomplish this by outlining plot, writing at least brief character studies, being mindful as I write of who each character is (personality, profession, back story, etc).

So there you have it. My Creativity Workshop goals.

Playing Catch Up - Creativity Workshop

Merilee was gracious enough to allow me to join her Creativity Workshop even though the deadline for signing up had passed. Thank you, Merilee!

Now, I'm playing catch up. I'm only a few days behind, but the first assignment is to write a post discussing our issues and interests as writers. My list is as follows:

1. Explore genre.
2. To the point.
3. Explore the world.
4. Explore emotions.
5. Voice
6. Character variety.


1. Explore genre: There are so many to choose from! And I've written in so few of them. I'd like to explore them, stretch myself, see if I can write outside my comfort zone.

2. To the point: I'm not overly wordy and when I write I tend to get right to the point. I need to work on fleshing out my prose.

3. Explore the world: Most of us write what (and where) we know. It's scary to make assumptions about places you've never been and then try to write about those places. I'd like to write about a place I've never been.

4. Explore emotions: I tend to write timid. I want to explore a wider range of emotion. I want to write the extremes and the unexpected.

5. Voice: I need to work on writing more active prose. Sometimes it's easy for the helping verbs to sneak in without me noticing. I need to cut out the sense words too. And I'd like to experiment with POV.

6. Character variety: Sometimes when I have a group of characters they tend to reduce themselves to cookie cutters of each other. I want to work on writing definitively different characters.

So, after some careful consideration, those are my issues and interests. Stay tuned for goals.

Listening to Your Characters

Today is the Primal Scream blogfest, but after searching through my WIPs I couldn't find a good scene that didn't also give away plot points, so sadly I won't be participating. You should go and read the other entries, though!

One more note of business: Elizabeth Mueller is having an awesome contest. Go check it out! Elizabeth Mueller's contest

Finally, here's today's actual blog posting. Because I couldn't find a scene for the Primal Scream blogfest, I'm reposting here the same article I posted at Critique_This_WIP today. If you don't follow us over there, you really should. And don't forget to enter our Flirt Fest blogfest while you're there. You'll be very sad if you miss out on it.

I once had a playwriting instructor who was the best writing teacher I ever had.

One of the courses he taught was advanced playwriting. Because there were only three of us in the class he didn't really lecture. He spent a lot of time showing us video of plays and documentaries about playwrights, having us read a variety of different kinds of plays, and engaging us in conversation about writing.

He also listened. We were constantly giving him sob stories about how this character or that plot point were giving us trouble. He would patiently let us finish our complaining, and then he would tell us to listen to our characters. Quit trying to force them to do something they don't want to. If you pay attention, they'll let you know what's appropriate for them and what isn't.

Good advice, I think. And advice I try to use whenever I'm writing, whether it's a stage play, a screenplay, flash fiction, or a novel.

Case in point: I just finished the first draft of my thesis screenplay, but this was after a major rewrite. The first version sucked big time, and when Hubby and I reread it, it was clear the characters were forced and the plot just didn't work the way it was laid out. So, we listened to the characters and when we paid attention to them instead of trying to force them to be something they weren't, the path was clear. The rewrite is awesome, and something I'm really proud of.

Same thing for my (as of yet unnamed) romance trilogy (which, btw, I'm driving myself crazy trying to name). Although I currently have the first draft of two of the three novels written, while working on editing I can clearly see places I didn't listen to my characters. I am busily fixing these.

So, this is the gist of my instructor's advice: Create your characters, develop them, get to know them as neighbors and friends, or even as enemies. Have conversations with them not related to the story you're writing. Do this until they're not just characters but people you know. Then when you sit down to write their stories, you'll know exactly how they'll react in any given situation.

How do you deal with unruly characters who don't cooperate? Do they give you writer's block? What do you do to whip them into shape?

Happy Star Wars Day

Today, May 4th, is Star Wars day supposedly because of the pun on the similarity between the phrase: "May the 4th be with you" and "May the force be with you."

That's good enough reason for me. It's clever and because our culture is ready to name a day after just about anyone or anything, I'm game for Star Wars day.

Like anyone who grew up during the Star Wars era, the first three movies to debut (A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi) were influential on my imagination. I was 11 when A New Hope was released and I vaguely remember liking it, but Empire Strikes Back was the movie that affected me the most. I was awed by it because it was so different from anything I'd ever seen. I was never a real sci-fi fan, but this was a different kind of sci-fi...it was actually fun. Because I have always been a geek, when the other girls my age were drooling over the rock stars and actors in the pages of Teen Beat, my best friend and I were in love with Luke and Han. We must have seen Empire Strikes Back a dozen times in the theater, going home every time speculating on Han's fate after he was frozen in carbonite. To this day I drive my family insane quoting the movie verbatim.

I'm sorry to say I thought Return of the Jedi stunk up the big screen. Even before a degree in English and some screenwriting under my belt I realized the dialogue was childish and unnatural, the directing was stilted, and the story was melodramatic even for Star Wars. (Though I was relieved that Han was thawed and saved from Jabba the Hut.)

By the time the next three movies (The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith), were released I'd grown up and had three kids. I wasn't as steeped in Star Wars. I found Anakin to be a whiny baby and although I thought the overall story was still good, I just wasn't as "into it" as I had been with the first three. I was pleased, however, to have the story complete and satisfied that most of the loose ends were tied up.

In the end, regardless of how good or bad the writing, directing, or acting was, Star Wars has touched the lives of millions, as well as influenced American culture in general. It fired up our collective (and individual) imagination and inspired writers, directors, actors, and just about everyone else to "do or do not...there is no try."

So Happy Star Wars Day and May the 4th...erm...the Force be with you!