The Real Writer

What's Your Writing Life or Writing Goal Theme for 2012?

I'd like to share a quirky little ritual I do every New Year's Eve.

I'm a writer so I'm imaginative. I love the symbolic and figurative. And this ritual is that!

You need:

- 15-30 minutes of undisturbed quiet

- Some pieces of paper or better yet, a journal

- Something fun to write with. This is not the time for the boring ballpoint pen (although I love them for writing in general). Get a colored marker or pencil or even crayon. Or that fancy fountain pen someone gave you years ago that you never use. Or a quill if you're into period dramas on PBS, like me!

- A drink. Something to toast with. That can be tea or wine or whiskey or water. Up to you.

- A fireplace or big spaghetti pot or ashtray, and matches.

You may have heard of this type of  'write it and burn it' thing but bear with me. I have some fun and important questions ahead.

And, it's really helpful to release a year. To 'complete' it so to speak. The good and the bad, in order to move towards the writing life and goals that are important to you. You can't do that dragging around your perceived inadequacies and failures from the previous year. 

Note I said perceived.

I always say there is no failed writing and I say the same for whatever you reached for this year: some contests, a fellowship, an agent. If you didn't get it either you're not ready and there's still practicing to do (don't you want to give your best?), or there's something better around the corner for you to receive. I tend to think it's both. So take heart!

(Pardon me, I'm feeling colorful today.)

Read through the process before beginning.

Take out your paper and write all the crazy, complicated, depressing, sad, frustrating, heartbreaking things that happened this year related to your writing. Just purge everything.

For me, the biggest thing was that I lost my 18 year old Westie, Keegan, a once-in-a-lifetime-extraordinary dog  and went through a period of considering giving up writing for a while. It just didn't feel important or necessary anymore. Here's my boy a month before he let me know he was ready to go:

He was as delicious as he looks.

Anyway, the LAST thing I felt like doing was writing. I talked this over with my writing group and they were very supportive. I kept going to the meetings and workshopping their pieces. And I didn't write for several months - about four. Usually I write to get through a sad time, but it didn't work for me this go round. I couldn't read either.

Eventually, in late May, I wrote some poems, then pulled out a novel idea I'd been wanting to start, and in a weekend I had the outline. I felt a glimmer of 'good' about writing again and decided to start slowly, about 10 pages a month. And now I'm in the last third of it and it's turning out really well.

How about you? Get it all out. Everything that makes you sad and mad about your writing and writing life in the last year. No time to write because of the kids? Lost your job so all your time was spent looking for a new one? No money to go to the conference you've been dreaming of? It all goes here.

Here are some questions to help organize your thoughts:

1) What were my biggest lessons and challenges in 2011?

2) What were my biggest disappointments in 2011? 

3) What am I ready to let go of from this past year?

 Now do the same for everything that went right. The goods, the surprises, the gifts of ideas and characters and images and poems. Maybe you were really disciplined this year about writing and kept your butt in the chair when you were supposed to. Maybe you won a scholarship to a writing conference or won or placed in a contest. Maybe your query letter garnered full manuscript requests from 75% of the agents you queried. Even if no one took it - that's a success. And they gave you feedback in their response, so USE IT to make the book better.

1) What am I most proud of in the past year?

2) What surprised me about myself?

3) What made me feel great about my writing and my abilities? 

My big 'good' this year was that I traveled to England for a Jane Austen pilgrimage, something I'd wanted to do for a long time (sad fact: I was only able to go because Keegan was gone - he'd been too old to board for many years so I hadn't traveled in long time).

Not the sites where the adaptations were filmed, but some of the sites related to her - her grave and the house where she died in Winchester, her portrait at the National Portrait Gallery, her home in Chawton, for example. It was marvelous, everything I'd wanted and more, plus I received an exciting novel idea on the trip that I quickly outlined so that's waiting for me after I finish the current one. Can't wait! (If you'd like the posts about the trip, I just put up #3 of 4 here: Jane Austen Pilgrimage)

Here's her beautiful home, now a museum:

I also took a class there called Writing the Ideal Heroine, taught by Austen's great-great-great-great-great niece, Rebecca Smith. To read about the class and the exercises we did: Writing the Ideal Heroine.

The best part: I saw a Westie the first day of my trip, within one minute of walking out of my hotel so I knew Keegan approved. :)

Now it's time to create a personal theme for your writing life and/or goals in 2012!

Using what you've just written for reference, answer the following questions:

1) What have you put off or avoided this year related to your writing?  What's the next logical step you're not taking because it scares you? Because you have to put yourself out there?

Has your novel been ready to go but you haven't written the query letter so you can send it to agents?   After all, if it's still in a file on your computer, it can't be rejected, right? It's perpetually a work of genius. :)

Or you need a critique group but you don't know if you can take their critique or where to find a group or how to run it?

Or you have lots of notes but haven't actually written the book you say you want to write? You could also have notes for poems or poems that need revising but you just haven't gotten to it so there's no collection to send to contests.

2) Write about how you have been feeling in 2011 and choose how you want to feel about 2012. 

Has this year been all about frustration because you didn't have enough time to write? Disconnection because you haven't been writing or your critique group disbanded and you need a new one? Or you haven't been attending events in your writing community?

Maybe it's been a great year and you've had lots of success - you did most of what you wanted to do. In fact, you worked your ass off, but now you want to slow down, take some time to do research, or just write flash fiction, send out the work you've written rather than write something new for a bit, or catch up on books on craft and try the exercises.

3) What do you want more of in 2012?

Time to write. Recognition. Ideas that flow easily. Getting out of your own way and letting the story through. Opportunities to read your work.

4) What is something big that would blow your mind if it happened in 2012? Blue sky this - no limit.

Remember, writing related. So you could win the lottery, but a portion of the funds should go to you renting a house in Italy for a summer so you can write. That sort of thing.

I don't suggest the lottery, though, I suggest being less specific in that case and saying, "I receive funds that would allow me to rent a house in Italy for the summer so I can write." That way you're not limited to the lottery!

Reread what you've written and write down five key words that jump out at you. Perhaps you've written 'recognition' somewhere, 'community' or 'creativity.' I'm talking abstracts here, not 'novel' or 'conference' or 'critique group.'

Pick the words that excite you and/or make you nervous (that's really excitement masquerading as fear, our ego getting in the way).

You can either choose one of the five words that really resonates with you, that you instinctively know is what you should claim for 2012 by completing this sentence: 2012 is the Year of ___________,

OR write a sentence that encapsulates the theme: Recognition for my writing. Or: Connecting with a supportive writing community.

Write this on several pieces of paper or Post Its and put them where you can see them - wherever you write, one in your car, one on the bathroom mirror.  It might make you feel silly but do it anyway, at least for a few months.

This is NOT a resolution, it's a theme for your life in the next year. You are writing the story of your life every day. Keep this word or sentence in mind and make choices accordingly.

You might want to go a bit further and write down three things you can do in January to get started on honoring this theme. To get recognized you have to get out there, so maybe the list looks like this:

 - research and write query letter draft and give to writer friends to critique

- look for critique group (make a flier and put it up in libraries, the local Whole Foods, church if you     go to church. Post it on Craig's List, or in the forum of your state writer's association).

- enter one contest a month (Poets & Writers is a great resource for reputable contests: Poets & Writers - Contests and Grants).

If you can only get one completed, start the next in February. The point is to KEEP MOVING FORWARD with your theme in mind.

It shouldn't bore or annoy you to do it because hopefully you were very clear and picked what excited you. That excitement will give you momentum.

If it doesn't, do the exercise again. Perhaps you knew which word you should choose, but you chose another out of fear.

Choose the right one now.

You don't have to know how it will be supported. Just know that if you commit to it, it will.

I'd love to know your writing life/goal theme. Share it in the comments section.

Mine is EXPANSION.

When I thought of what that would look like, being a very visual person, I got a picture like this:

The universe - which seems appropriate somehow. Find a picture that symbolizes your theme and put that up instead of the word if that works better for you.

Keep what you've written for your 2012 theme where you can refer to it whenever you like for inspiration. And especially for next New Year's Eve, when you do the exercise again!

NOW WHAT?

BURN IT. In a SAFE place, fold the list you made of the goods and bads in 2011 to symbolize completing them, place them in the pot or ashtray and burn the list (or throw into a fire if one is handy - that's the safest way). If you can, feel grateful for all you learned, struggled with, and received.

DRINK IT IN. Next - hopefully you've brought your drink outside so it's handy - raise your glass to yourself, your next year of creativity, and say the word or sentence that symbolizes your theme.

Happy New Year!

Writing the Wabi Sabi Way

My new article in the "MFA My Way" series at JMWW: Writing the Wabi Sabi Way.

Here's the beginning to get you started:

I’ll give you a second to laugh over the title of this column. No, it’s not a sauce or a type of sushi. It's not related to Star Wars. It’s an ancient Japanese aesthetic of imperfection, incompleteness, and impermanence that originated with Buddhist monks and then was integrated by masters of the tea ceremony in the 15th century. And if you keep it in mind, it’ll cut a lot of crap out of your writing and help you ignore your ego (the source of a lot of frustration and bad work), and bring out a beauty in your writing you didn’t know you were capable of.

Plus, winter is the best time to explore this concept. Wabi sabi is everywhere.

Click on the link to go to the full article, which includes several writing exercises to try (poetry and prose), including one that will create the perfect log line (elevator pitch) for your novel!

Writing the Wabi Sabi Way

Greek Out Your Sentence Structure

As writers we love language. We love the sound and texture and rhythm of words fitted together.

We get a visceral thrill, a little wordgasm, if you will, when we encounter the “best words in their best order,” as said by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (actually, the ‘best words’ applies to poetry. For prose he said ‘words in their best order’ but I think ‘best’ should apply to prose as well).

That's a lot of pressure when building sentences. So, first off, let me let you off the hook. That kind of building should be done in the revision process, not during the writing process.

I’m going to add technically here because the more familiar you are with various techniques, the more they will naturally slide into position at the appropriate moment during the writing process. You won’t have to dig for the tool later; it will present itself in the moment. But, for now, just write however it comes out and do the building later.

And so begins a series on sentences.

I want to start with the two types of sentences recognized by ancient Greek critics: periodic and loose.

In another post we’ll dive into some rhetorical devices with tongue twisting names like homeoteleuton or ones that sound like a illness like paronomasia. In the last post we’ll go into the sound, rhythm, texture idea (kennings and diction and polysyllabic words, Oh my!) and I'll give you some other fun sentences to try.

Yes, it’s important to try them, to make a mess of some and a triumph of others. In writing, as in everything else, we practice.

We’re starting with periodic because the great Roman orator and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero  was considered the master of these. Okay, he’s Roman, not Greek, but he introduced Romans to Greek schools of philosophy and was a translator so…

Let’s hear a bit of what Cicero has to say about sentences (the translator was British, so note British spellings):

“But of sentences, there are as many different kinds as I have said there are of panegyrics. For if teaching, we want shrewd sentences; if aiming at giving pleasure, we want musical ones; if at exciting the feelings, dignified ones. But there is a certain arrangement of words which produces both harmony and smoothness; and different sentiments have different arrangements suitable to them… "

And another!

“For it is a fault in a sentence if anything is absurd, or foreign to the subject, or stupid, or trivial; and it is a fault of language if any thing is gross, or abject, or unsuitable, or harsh, or far-fetched." 

Guess he told us.

(By the way: Translated by English historian Charles Duke Yonge, Cicero’s preface to Orations of Demosthenes and Aeschines de Corona).

The Periodic Sentence

In Greek the name means “speech turned or guided to an end” (and there’s a metaphorical component – the idea of guiding a racehorse around a track with the start and finish in the same place).  It has a beginning, a turning point, and an end.  A purpose.

Components of a Periodic Sentence

• markers introducing subordinate phrases or clauses point ahead on the path. Signs prepare the reader for what lies ahead. Some markers used could be who, which, first, then, after, where
• expectations are set up and fulfilled
• reader should feel the appropriate end has been reached
• the thought of the sentence is not complete until the end

IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER:

When composing sentences, it’s the thought that drives the structure!

EXAMPLE:

Well, as you may imagine, this is not a popular device, but it’s one you can adapt. Perhaps, instead of having six or seven subordinate clauses and phrases (or more, trust me, there can be more) you only have two to three of them.

For example, a reason poets use this device, delaying the verb or the completion of the thought several lines, employing the rhetorical devices we’ll discuss in a later post (like anaphora), and building the idea, is to create tension and momentum that keep the reader reading.

Check it out - I just wrote a short periodic sentence right there using parallel phrases:  delaying, employing, building.

The payoff isn’t until the end of the sentence.  Why do poets use this device? To create tension and keep the reader reading. You have to get to the end of the sentence to find out.

It’s worth trying.  Learn to direct your reader through the sentence as if it is a channel of water flowing out into the larger paragraph of the sea….

Sorry. It just came over me.

I could tell you things like, “It’s the basic art form of the humanists” (Michael Baxandall, Giotto and the Orators, Oxford 1971 – Look! Citations! Fancy!) or that it was the “model for modern prose from the Renaissance onward” (Hardy Hansen, Greek Sentence Structure, City University of New York) to beef it up but I’m pretty sure you already hate me for making your brain hurt.

This is good hurt people. It makes you smarter, better, bolder, more skillful, more beautiful. Yeah, sentences can do that. Instead of suck it up I’m saying SOAK it up. Invent some new neural pathways.

Because I feel for you and want you to like me, I will give you an easy, short example.

It’s from Edward Gibbon's, "Memoirs of My Life." (Yes, he also who wrote "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." “Top of my reading list, for sure, Chris,” I can hear you snickering. But it should be.)

It’s one of the most famous periodic sentences written in English (I know, I know, SO exciting!):

Unprovided with original learning, uninformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved -- to write a book.

Take note of the device of repeating words with the prefix ‘un’ creating the same basic idea of lack and ignorance.

The technique has both elements of the rhetorical devices anaphora (starting phrases and clauses the same way) and parallel structure (ideas related to each other in parallel form, elements alike in meaning and function).

Now that wasn’t painful was it? I could have given you one from Samuel Johnson’s preface to his edition of Shakespeare. He uses "consolatory expedients" in it. I know you’re disappointed. But we must move on to…

The Loose Sentence!

Just hang on, this one’s easier.

The Greek for this means “speech strung together.” Think beads on a necklace. Statements follow one another without indicating another will be coming. The sentence ends in a place where it doesn’t matter. It could have ended earlier or later. It would make no difference. It lacks the beginning, turning point, and end.

EXAMPLE:

Well, what I just wrote above is an example. Here’s a more interesting one from Ernest Hemingway’s "The Sun Also Rises":

The bus climbed steadily up the road. The country was barren and rocks stuck up through the clay. There was no grass beside the road. Looking back we could see the country spread out below. Far back the fields were squares of green and brown on the hillsides. Making the horizon were the brown mountains. They were strangely shaped.

Got it?

Cause that’s it. Here, watch “Marcel The Shell With Shoes On” to clear your head. You did good.

(If you want to read a really long periodic sentence, it’s just past the video below. Dare you. Come on, it's Gogol. You know you love Gogol.)

From Nikolai Gogol’s famous short story, “The Overcoat”:

Even at those hours when the gray Petersburg sky is completely overcast and the whole population of clerks have dined and eaten their fill, each as best he can, according to the salary he receives and his personal tastes; when they are all resting after the scratching of pens and bustle of the office, their own necessary work and other people's, and all the tasks that an overzealous man voluntarily sets himself even beyond what is necessary; when the clerks are hastening to devote what is left of their time to pleasure; some more enterprising are flying to the theater, others to the street to spend their leisure staring at women's hats, some to spend the evening paying compliments to some attractive girl, the star of a little official circle, while some—and this is the most frequent of all—go simply to a fellow clerk's apartment on the third or fourth story, two little rooms with a hall or a kitchen, with some pretensions to style, with a lamp or some such article that has cost many sacrifices of dinners and excursions—at the time when all the clerks are scattered about the apartments of their friends, playing a stormy game of whist, sipping tea out of glasses, eating cheap biscuits, sucking in smoke from long pipes, telling, as the cards are dealt, some scandal that has floated down from higher circles, a pleasure which the Russian do never by any possibility deny himself, or, when there is nothing better to talk about, repeating the everlasting anecdote of the commanding officer who was told that the tail had been cut off the horse on the Falconet monument—in short, even when everyone, was eagerly seeking entertainment, Akaky Akakievich did not indulge in any amusement.

Fun With the Paraprosdokian Sentence

As a writer, it's your duty to find ways to spice up your writing, nay, spice up your very sentences.  Using active voice and not too much 'to be' verb is a start. Not always writing the same sentence length or following the structure of subject-verb-adjective-object is also good. Eradicate the adverb from your memory banks? Yes, dear god, yes.

But there is so much more out there my friends! Like the paraprosdokian (from Greek "παρα-", meaning "beyond" and "προσδοκία", meaning "expectation") sentence.

The paraprosdokian is a figure of speech  in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part. It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect, sometimes producing an anticlimax. For this reason, it is extremely popular among comedians and satirists.

Some paraprosdokians not only change the meaning of an early phrase, but also play on the double meaning of a particular word, creating a syllepsis. Another great one to try. Here's an example, as I remember it, from a story written by one of my students years ago, "She was pink with tulle and perspiration." You pick two very disparate things that can both be linked back to the original word, and put them together. It has the same effect as a good metaphor. The trick is not to force it. Don't look like you spent longer than two seconds creating it.

Some examples of funny paraprosdokian sentences (if they're not your style, write mean or dark or wry ones. Make it your own).

If you're really into this, there's a Facebook group for it (of course!):

Paraprosdokian Facebook Group

(By the way, I have no idea where these came from. They were forwarded to me in an email so if I'm infringing on somebody's copyright, just let me know and I'll pull them.)
  
 
I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.
  
 
 
 Ø Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
  
 
 
 Ø   I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.
  
 
 
 Ø   Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
  
 
 
 Ø   The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.
  
 
 
 Ø   Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
  
 
 
 Ø   If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong. 
   
 Ø   We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public. 
 
 Ø   War does not determine who is right - only who is left. 
  
 Ø   Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening', and then proceed to tell you why it isn't. 
   
 Ø   To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research. 
   
 Ø   Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "If an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR". 
   
 Ø   Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet? 
   
 Ø   Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America ? 
   
 Ø   You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice. 
 
 Ø   Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. 
 

 Ø   Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
   
 You get the picture.
 
 

Who Do You Write Like? Try This Site!

This is a fun tool:

"Check which famous writer you write like with this statistical analysis tool, which analyzes your word choice and writing style and compares them with those of the famous writers.

Any text in English will do: your latest blog post, journal entry, comment, chapter of your unfinished book, etc. For reliable results paste at least a few paragraphs (not tweets). "

Give it a go! I write like Chuck Palaniuk apparently. Not too shabby.

I Write Like 

Journal Prompt for Summer Solstice

I just posted a journal prompt on The Real Writer Fan Page on Facebook. It's under 'discussions.' You can reply with some of what you wrote in answer to the questions. Would love to read whatever you'd like to share.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Real-Writer/114726578574368?ref=ts

If you're on Facebook, choose 'like' to receive more notifications of prompts, which I will post periodically for all type of writing, including poetry and prose.

Resolution Revolution: A Better Way to Start the New Year

I'm posting from one of the newsletters I receive as I love this idea!

Resolution Revolution: A Better Way to Start the New Year

By Christine Kane (www.christinekane.com)

Last week, I overheard a radio talk show. The hosts were discussing the most common New Year's Resolutions and the average success rate. Among the most common were Get Organized, Be More Spiritual, Lose Weight, Quit Smoking, and Spend More time with Family.

I don't know about you, but this kind of To-Do List approach to life transformation does little to inspire me. And it doesn't surprise me that the success rates were low.

Why Resolutions Don't Work

The reason most resolutions don't work is that they address only one level of your life. The DO level. It's the DO-HAVE-BE model. It goes like this: "I will DO this thing." (i.e., Lose weight) "So I can HAVE this other thing" (Self-Esteem) and I can BE this thing. (Confident.)

The average New Year's Resolution doesn't address the core of the issue: The "BE" level. The best order for creating positive change in your life is the BE-DO-HAVE model. This means you start from the BE level. When you begin changing on the BE level of your life, then the DO level and the HAVE level follow more easily.

When you start only on the DO level, then the blocks on the BE level will often become the obstacles you can't overcome.

A Better New Year's Ritual

Several years ago, my friend Kathy and I decided that, instead of making resolutions, we would pick a word that would guide us throughout the year. It would be our touchstone. It would remind us of living our lives at the BE level.

This didn't mean that we didn't take action. It meant that our actions were inspired from the BE level. In fact, I took more action than ever with this new approach!

For two years, I've blogged about this inspiring way to begin the year. The response has been huge. So have the success rates! I regularly hear from people who have created big changes in their lives because they focused on one word.

How to Choose A Word

Look through the list below. Get quiet and listen to your Wise Self. Pick a word. Then, hold that word in your mind throughout the year, and let your word guide you to take action.

Here's an example: Let's say you're one of the many people who would normally choose "Get Organized." You're tired of chaos and clutter. So, you think, "I need to get organized. That'll be my Resolution."

But then you read this article. You decide to try this new approach. You sit with your clutter. You spend a few days pondering words. You realize in an "Ah-Ha!" moment that you hold on to lots of things. You're scared to let go.

So you choose the word "Release" because it inspires you in a bigger way than "Get organized." So, every time you approach your clutter you remind yourself of that word. "Release," you say softly. You start to let the clutter go.

Eventually, you realize that you're still holding on to lots more than just physical clutter. You realize that you hold onto resentment at old relationships. "Release," you remind yourself.

You realize that holding on is affecting your diet and health. "Release" applies to some of the extra weight you've gained as well.

Throughout the year, you can see clearly how much you hold on. "Release" is your touchstone. It grows you throughout the year. It becomes your guiding force, not your harsh standard. Your clutter became your teacher simply because you shifted your intent towards it. This wouldn't have happened if you'd opted only to "Get Organized."

What word to choose? Many people know immediately which word resonates with them. For others, a little contemplation is required. As you read through the list of words, see if one stands out. It's tempting to choose four or five, believing that you can do it all! (Or that you're so messed up, you can't possibly narrow the mess down to one!)

I recommend that if you can't choose just one, choose no more than two. One is ideal. It gives you focus. If you master that one word, you can choose another one in June.

Compassion

Delight

Generosity

Effortlessness

Wealth

Gratitude

Abundance

Creativity

Willingness

Change

Growth

Freedom

Mastery

Kindness

Health

Presence

Acceptance

Courage

Confidence

Self-Love

Action

Forgiveness

Forgive

Release

Trust

Knowing

Patience

Friendship

Fun

Grace

Laughter

Love

Expansion

Exploration

Adventure

Openness

Discipline

Awe

Awareness

Risk

Gentleness

Choice

Spirit

Prayerfulness

Power

Allow

Artfulness

Attention

Beauty

Joy

Focus

Ritual

Heal

Order

Clarity

Pioneer

Peace

Laziness

No

Yes

Deliberateness

Commitment

Savor

Integrity

Listen

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it: Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her 'LiveCreative' weekly ezine with more than 4,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative at www.christinekane.com.

Be Quiet

This is a challenge I'm giving myself so thought I'd extend it to you. Take a day (or a weekend if you can manage it) and just be quiet. No phones, no TV, no email, no music, no visitors, no parties, etc. Stay home if that works best for you, but you can also go out - you just can't talk to anyone!

The last year, for me, has been so busy, which has been great, but I haven't heard myself think in a long time. Not good for any artist to not be able to hear that 'still, small voice' within. Now that my residency with Creative Alliance is over and I've moved into the new house, I finally have the quiet and privacy I've been craving for a while, and can see and feel how much I need a big, healthy dose of silence. Right now it sounds better to me than chocolate, which is really saying something.

So I am setting my intention to do this within the next week or so. If this is harder for you - you might have kids - lock yourself away somewhere for an hour (closet, laundry room, master bath?). Figure out what might work for you and take whatever size dose you can. It does add up.

Yes it's good to find time to write and to read, but it's also important to find time to make space - in your head, in your heart, as well as your life, for whatever belongs to you to enter. Have pen and paper handy if you must, but just listen and think. And don't expect anything momentous to happen right away. It's a process. It's a journey. It's cumulative. Let your mind clear, and just be quiet.

Doesn't that sound delicious?

Loving Yourself More

I wanted to give you the gift of a website that offers 'assignments' every week (I think it's weekly) of various kinds - writing, post pictures, collage, conversation, music, etc. I encourage you to check it out and give some of them a try. You don't need to be an "ARTIST" to do these, you just need to have an open heart and mind. As a writer, you should never - I repeat: never - not try another art form because you think you are 'only' a writer. Um, that's bullshit, just so you know...

Writing may be what you choose to focus on, but you can find inspiration from many other forms. Sometimes by trying something else, you get a different perspective on your writing - it's that averted gaze thing, where you don't look directly at something and that enables you to see it more clearly. Think stars, for example. The minute you take your focus off something, you stop expecting something from it, and then you can see it for what it is.

Plus, it's just plain fun and relaxing to try another form and give yourself a break. Here's the link:

www.loveyourselfmore.com

FanFic: Write an Episode for Your Favorite TV Show

When I was an early teen, a girlfriend and I used to write episodes for our favorite TV show, Battlestar Galactica. You remember: Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, Lorne Greene. We loved it. And we wrote 200 page 'scripts' for the show for about a year. They probably weighed more on the side of romance than science fiction (I had a crush on Benedict; she had a crush on Hatch), but they were great practice at character development and sustaining a storyline.

I haven't done this in years, but have come across others doing it, which has been a nice surprise. Not many people know this, but I'm a mad Doctor Who fan from way back. I've been watching the show on public television for over 20 years and loving every minute! (I'm not a big sci fi TV/movie watcher, but there are a few that I can't resist and Doctor Who is one of them.) I am thrilled that it's back with new Doctors and episodes (I'm more partial to Eccleston than Tennant as the Doctor, I have to say), and have come across many blogs where fans are taking matters into their own hands and writing scenes and episodes of their own to develop the relationship between the Doctor and his companions, as well as his backstory, and producing funny, technical, dramatic stories to boot. It reminded me how much fun it was to write like this way back when.

It's called FANFIC (fan fiction), and it's a fabulous exercise that I encourage you to try. The characters and structure are already in place for you, all you have to do is think up a story and start writing. There's no pressure, only fun. What's especially good about it is writing outside your genre. If you normally write romance, maybe try a cop show. If you write humorous pieces, try a hospital drama. Sci fi is fun because there are so many possibilities - anything is possible: romance, science, drama, history, humor, politics.

So c'mon you literary fiction writers or poets, show me some Spock!