The most powerful concept that came out of yesterday's workshop was the one that is probably one of the most difficult to do. How to continue writing when the feelings that can come up during the writing feel too uncomfortable? Overwhelming? Unpleasant?
People were asking for ways to avoid having that experience but I believe that in writing, as in life, the best thing to do is to learn how to tolerate the feelings. How to be with them in order to continue.
There are times that the material you're working on is bringing up too many uncomfortable feelings. The impulse and desire to stop is overwhelming but often working with those feelings and using them in your writing can create some of your most powerful and surprising writing.
Thanks all, it was a great group with outstanding thoughts and ideas.
Showing posts with label Writing Blocks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing Blocks. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Barnes and Noble Finding Focus/Writing Workshop
The Barnes and Noble Finding Focus/Writing Workshop is tonight at 7:00pm (Brooklyn Heights Barnes and Noble).
Some questions that I've gotten that I'll be addressing this evening include -
* What if you want to write something but when you sit down to write you end up writing this other thing?
* Could you talk more about 'wanting to write the best thing you can, and wanting to get the story out?'
* Some techniques for automatic writing?
* Identifying - and dumping - your inner critic/s (especially during a first draft).
* Creating compelling characters.
* "Why do I sometimes find myself hating my characters?" and
* What to do when you start hating the characters you've created.
It should be terrific - see you then!
RK
Some questions that I've gotten that I'll be addressing this evening include -
* What if you want to write something but when you sit down to write you end up writing this other thing?
* Could you talk more about 'wanting to write the best thing you can, and wanting to get the story out?'
* Some techniques for automatic writing?
* Identifying - and dumping - your inner critic/s (especially during a first draft).
* Creating compelling characters.
* "Why do I sometimes find myself hating my characters?" and
* What to do when you start hating the characters you've created.
It should be terrific - see you then!
RK
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Barnes and Noble Finding Focus/Writing Workshop + Juno
The next Barnes and Noble Finding Focus/Writing Workshop will be on January 15th at 7:00pm. Bring your thoughts, projects, blocks, gripes, friends and anything else you'd like. The last one was terrific and honestly each one is so full of information, insights, tips and motivation that I'm blown away by it each and every time. If you have any questions or challenges you'd like me to cover please email them to me before the 14th and I'll see how I can work it in.
Now for those of you who've been missing your fix and asking for movie and book recs for the holidays, here's the story (no pun intended). I haven't seen that much lately and my reading material this last month has been gorging on magazines while getting ready for the next batch of texts I have to read come January-ish. (Cinema Editor, Animation, Moviemaker, Scientific American Mind, Esquire(it's the What I Learned issue) and Outside are all great this month. Of course there's always the usual suspects as far as women's mags, fashion mags and of course the Brit rags...)
As for movies, I loved Juno and would definitely put that on my list. I'm probably going to see it again to analyze how the filmmakers did it. What's the big deal? Well, one of the hazards of the profession as a creative writer and being trained in any medium is that you tend to have a hard time just being an observer or consumer of it. (Believe me you haven't lived until you've gone to the movies with a filmmaker and had to sit in the front row so you could FEEL each cut. The memory of it still makes my neck ache and it's been years.)
I still love,love, love the experience of film, drama and reading and it informs my personal work and the work I do with clients on their stories and storytelling issues and challenges. While seeing Juno though, I had an experience that I haven't had in a long time. I didn't notice a lot of what I'm usually tuned into. The story just swept me away, and while I usually go to the movies when it's not too crowded I found myself in a fairly crowded theatre in Union Square with a very mixed crowd of people of all ages and everyone loved it. People laughed out loud. People wept. (Ok -guilty on both counts - but knowing me when it comes to weeping at the movies it's not a matter of "will she?" but "so? was it a three-hanky? one box of tissues? a bed sheet?").
When I work with storytellers of all kinds in many mediums I always stress the character elements. The plot is the plot - in an interview in the current issue of Cinema Editor Magazine Nic Roeg said mentioned the fact that fairly early on people have already seen the 38 plots there are. (Great interview by the way with his long-time editor). It's the truth. There are so many plots and different permutations of them. There's got to be more.
What keeps you there? What makes you care about the characters? What makes you not stand up and walk out in the middle? The struggle to know your characters and make others feel for and with them whether they're "good" or "bad" is a constant one but when you've got it - it's heaven to work on. When a filmmaker gets that it's heaven to watch the film.
Juno is that kind of film. It's the oldest story in the book. 16 year old girl gets pregnant, what will she do? But the characters and the way they're drawn, fleshed out and portrayed is terrific. I really just dove right into the story and when I was talking about it later realized I didn't know how the filmmakers had done x,y, or z. That hasn't happened to me in a long time. I don't know if it's the movies out there lately or me. Jason Reitman who did "Thank You For Smoking" (another terrific film) did an amazing job directing this one. Great and interesting characters, great dialogue, great conflicts, great acting. Great storytelling.
Because I cannot let it go without comment. Will Smith is NO legend as far as I'm concerned. Enough said.
Enjoy the movies and let me know what you've seen and how you liked it!
Enjoy the day,
RK
Now for those of you who've been missing your fix and asking for movie and book recs for the holidays, here's the story (no pun intended). I haven't seen that much lately and my reading material this last month has been gorging on magazines while getting ready for the next batch of texts I have to read come January-ish. (Cinema Editor, Animation, Moviemaker, Scientific American Mind, Esquire(it's the What I Learned issue) and Outside are all great this month. Of course there's always the usual suspects as far as women's mags, fashion mags and of course the Brit rags...)
As for movies, I loved Juno and would definitely put that on my list. I'm probably going to see it again to analyze how the filmmakers did it. What's the big deal? Well, one of the hazards of the profession as a creative writer and being trained in any medium is that you tend to have a hard time just being an observer or consumer of it. (Believe me you haven't lived until you've gone to the movies with a filmmaker and had to sit in the front row so you could FEEL each cut. The memory of it still makes my neck ache and it's been years.)
I still love,love, love the experience of film, drama and reading and it informs my personal work and the work I do with clients on their stories and storytelling issues and challenges. While seeing Juno though, I had an experience that I haven't had in a long time. I didn't notice a lot of what I'm usually tuned into. The story just swept me away, and while I usually go to the movies when it's not too crowded I found myself in a fairly crowded theatre in Union Square with a very mixed crowd of people of all ages and everyone loved it. People laughed out loud. People wept. (Ok -guilty on both counts - but knowing me when it comes to weeping at the movies it's not a matter of "will she?" but "so? was it a three-hanky? one box of tissues? a bed sheet?").
When I work with storytellers of all kinds in many mediums I always stress the character elements. The plot is the plot - in an interview in the current issue of Cinema Editor Magazine Nic Roeg said mentioned the fact that fairly early on people have already seen the 38 plots there are. (Great interview by the way with his long-time editor). It's the truth. There are so many plots and different permutations of them. There's got to be more.
What keeps you there? What makes you care about the characters? What makes you not stand up and walk out in the middle? The struggle to know your characters and make others feel for and with them whether they're "good" or "bad" is a constant one but when you've got it - it's heaven to work on. When a filmmaker gets that it's heaven to watch the film.
Juno is that kind of film. It's the oldest story in the book. 16 year old girl gets pregnant, what will she do? But the characters and the way they're drawn, fleshed out and portrayed is terrific. I really just dove right into the story and when I was talking about it later realized I didn't know how the filmmakers had done x,y, or z. That hasn't happened to me in a long time. I don't know if it's the movies out there lately or me. Jason Reitman who did "Thank You For Smoking" (another terrific film) did an amazing job directing this one. Great and interesting characters, great dialogue, great conflicts, great acting. Great storytelling.
Because I cannot let it go without comment. Will Smith is NO legend as far as I'm concerned. Enough said.
Enjoy the movies and let me know what you've seen and how you liked it!
Enjoy the day,
RK
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Barnes and Noble Writing Workshop - Follow Up and Writing Tips
Great workshop - thanks to all who attended and the great input, comments, advice, questions, grumbles and gripes as well as joys and fun moments in regard to writing. I will just do this as free association and just do a quick draft in order to get the thoughts out there - and worry about editing another day - which was one of the great topics of discussion.
G. hit one of the big challenges of creative writing on the head when he said "I want to just get the story out and I want to make it the best story it can be." That was it in a nutshell.
I suggested that both of those goals are achievable but possibly (probably) not at the same writing moments. So one goal and the goal of a first draft is to "get the story out". A second goal and the goal of re-writing and editing is "to make it the best story it can be". Approaching the writing based on which of the two is the goal for that writing time. If it's "getting the story out" then go - write and write and don't edit yourself. Just get it out there. Then when some time has passed, whatever time that is that you need to see the work clearly and somewhat objectively go back and edit. But both at the same time? One will counteract the other.
Some other great thoughts/tips/tools:
* Automatic writing exercises - just write. No right write just write.
* Word prompts. M said that she's been using that as a writing exercise. She picks a word and just writes about it.
* Getting into the, dare we call it, "hypnotic" state necessary to write. Going to the place of your story. I was describing the sensation of being deeply involved in a book or even going to the movies. With a book, you pick it up and you enter the world that the author has created for you - when writing the story you have to create the world and atmosphere and self-generate the feelings, emotions, descriptions - much harder to do. At the movies you are put into a somewhat sensory deprivation for the few moments before the movie starts. It's dark, silent there's a transition until you enter the world of the film which of course has the advantage of being larger than life and engaging your senses.
* Getting rid of those internal editors whether they're the nasty friend from high school or the college English professor who was so obsessed with grammar she didn't even read for content, or your favorite author whose work you know you can never match. Ask them to please leave the building while you're writing. Gone. Out. Away.
* Setting the stage - B. described how at one point she would have a glass of wine and a cigarette in order to get ready for the muse. I talked about sitting for hours and avoiding the blank screen by being on the internet only to have the perfect phrase/thought/concept enter my head on the train. I also talked about how I was teaching first grade while in graduate school for writing and how for me it was an adjustment when my work circumstances changed. Hmmmm now where can I get me 26 6 year olds and a classroom with a leafy view in order to prompt the muse? And the funny feeling when recently at the doctor's and the waiting room view resembled that classroom so suddenly I felt like whipping out my writing and just sitting there and writing. Go know.
* G. talked about taping dreams and thoughts first thing in the morning.
* R. described asking her patients to keep journals to work through some things and that that works for her as well.
* C. described wanting to write but finding that the idea of a long project made her focus on smaller ones - I suggested smaller projects for her to begin with.
* M. talked about turning chaos into writing and chaotic writing into coherent writing.
*D and B talked about the book by Julia Cameron that is assisting them chapter by chapter to do the writing without feeling pressured.
* Beginning to write what you want to be working on and finding that the page has gotten away from you - the work is something different than you thought it would be. Which will you follow? Which is really the story you want to tell/can best tell/need to tell?
* The difference between writing fiction and screenplays and how learning how to do one can make it difficult, but not impossible to switch and do the other.
Some good writing books were discussed like Norman Mailer's "The Spooky Art" which has an amazing section on the unconscious and how sometimes it's just not ready to write what you think you want to write.
Believe it or not there was more. I don't know how we covered all of that in a bit over an hour but it was great.
Thanks all for a wonderful workshop - I can't wait until the next one.
G. hit one of the big challenges of creative writing on the head when he said "I want to just get the story out and I want to make it the best story it can be." That was it in a nutshell.
I suggested that both of those goals are achievable but possibly (probably) not at the same writing moments. So one goal and the goal of a first draft is to "get the story out". A second goal and the goal of re-writing and editing is "to make it the best story it can be". Approaching the writing based on which of the two is the goal for that writing time. If it's "getting the story out" then go - write and write and don't edit yourself. Just get it out there. Then when some time has passed, whatever time that is that you need to see the work clearly and somewhat objectively go back and edit. But both at the same time? One will counteract the other.
Some other great thoughts/tips/tools:
* Automatic writing exercises - just write. No right write just write.
* Word prompts. M said that she's been using that as a writing exercise. She picks a word and just writes about it.
* Getting into the, dare we call it, "hypnotic" state necessary to write. Going to the place of your story. I was describing the sensation of being deeply involved in a book or even going to the movies. With a book, you pick it up and you enter the world that the author has created for you - when writing the story you have to create the world and atmosphere and self-generate the feelings, emotions, descriptions - much harder to do. At the movies you are put into a somewhat sensory deprivation for the few moments before the movie starts. It's dark, silent there's a transition until you enter the world of the film which of course has the advantage of being larger than life and engaging your senses.
* Getting rid of those internal editors whether they're the nasty friend from high school or the college English professor who was so obsessed with grammar she didn't even read for content, or your favorite author whose work you know you can never match. Ask them to please leave the building while you're writing. Gone. Out. Away.
* Setting the stage - B. described how at one point she would have a glass of wine and a cigarette in order to get ready for the muse. I talked about sitting for hours and avoiding the blank screen by being on the internet only to have the perfect phrase/thought/concept enter my head on the train. I also talked about how I was teaching first grade while in graduate school for writing and how for me it was an adjustment when my work circumstances changed. Hmmmm now where can I get me 26 6 year olds and a classroom with a leafy view in order to prompt the muse? And the funny feeling when recently at the doctor's and the waiting room view resembled that classroom so suddenly I felt like whipping out my writing and just sitting there and writing. Go know.
* G. talked about taping dreams and thoughts first thing in the morning.
* R. described asking her patients to keep journals to work through some things and that that works for her as well.
* C. described wanting to write but finding that the idea of a long project made her focus on smaller ones - I suggested smaller projects for her to begin with.
* M. talked about turning chaos into writing and chaotic writing into coherent writing.
*D and B talked about the book by Julia Cameron that is assisting them chapter by chapter to do the writing without feeling pressured.
* Beginning to write what you want to be working on and finding that the page has gotten away from you - the work is something different than you thought it would be. Which will you follow? Which is really the story you want to tell/can best tell/need to tell?
* The difference between writing fiction and screenplays and how learning how to do one can make it difficult, but not impossible to switch and do the other.
Some good writing books were discussed like Norman Mailer's "The Spooky Art" which has an amazing section on the unconscious and how sometimes it's just not ready to write what you think you want to write.
Believe it or not there was more. I don't know how we covered all of that in a bit over an hour but it was great.
Thanks all for a wonderful workshop - I can't wait until the next one.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Barnes and Noble Writing Workshop - Tonight at 7:00pm
The next writing workshop is tonight, November 12th at 7:00pm at Barnes and Noble Court Street. Seating is limited so please call to reserve a place at 718.246.4996
Bring any thoughts, ideas, gripes, blocks and breakthroughs. See you then!
Bring any thoughts, ideas, gripes, blocks and breakthroughs. See you then!
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Barnes and Noble Writing Workshop - November 12th at 7:00 - Nano/Writing Email answers
Hi All!
How's the writing going? Bring your thoughts, issues, gripes and questions on Monday, November 12th at 7:00pm. We'll talk about Nanowrimo and other writing topics.
Gabrielle - yes, it's ok if writing sometimes becomes the Diane Keaton scene in "Something's Gotta Give" where she's weeping over the computer.
Sometimes? Why only sometimes? Try oftentimes.
Mandy - yes, it often happens that one doesn't like what one wrote/doesn't remember what one wrote/doesn't like how one wrote what one wrote. Sounds about standard actually. A very wise person and writing mentor once told me that no matter what it is you should love your writing. The piece may not be what you thought, the impulse may have turned into something completely different than what you thought, an idea for a comedy becomes a tragedy, one of your characters has some horrific flaw or past that you can't tolerate....but that's the great part of it. The discovery - what you learn about yourself, your characters, your story, your thoughts and feelings.
"Writing is problem solving" a great quote that was in a professor's office. So true.
Juliet - a soundtrack? Very personal I couldn't tell you what to use. I would suggest music that is evocative to you and that takes you to a time and place. Because when the writing is going well (the process) you'll be transported to that place. You'll be where you're writing about.
Michael - don't be shy. Just come by and join the workshop. You don't have to speak if you don't want to. No pressure whatsoever.
Shout out of support to the writers on strike. Without them there would be no stories told. How fast have some of the tv shows gone to repeats?
Writer-at-large - I can't give you specific suggestions on your character because you didn't give me enough information in your email. Feel free to email again with more details.
Laugh, scream, cry but just write. Whatever it is - just say it on paper or ether or your hand or a napkin or a scrap of paper - just write it!
For more info visit Daily Life Consulting
How's the writing going? Bring your thoughts, issues, gripes and questions on Monday, November 12th at 7:00pm. We'll talk about Nanowrimo and other writing topics.
Gabrielle - yes, it's ok if writing sometimes becomes the Diane Keaton scene in "Something's Gotta Give" where she's weeping over the computer.
Sometimes? Why only sometimes? Try oftentimes.
Mandy - yes, it often happens that one doesn't like what one wrote/doesn't remember what one wrote/doesn't like how one wrote what one wrote. Sounds about standard actually. A very wise person and writing mentor once told me that no matter what it is you should love your writing. The piece may not be what you thought, the impulse may have turned into something completely different than what you thought, an idea for a comedy becomes a tragedy, one of your characters has some horrific flaw or past that you can't tolerate....but that's the great part of it. The discovery - what you learn about yourself, your characters, your story, your thoughts and feelings.
"Writing is problem solving" a great quote that was in a professor's office. So true.
Juliet - a soundtrack? Very personal I couldn't tell you what to use. I would suggest music that is evocative to you and that takes you to a time and place. Because when the writing is going well (the process) you'll be transported to that place. You'll be where you're writing about.
Michael - don't be shy. Just come by and join the workshop. You don't have to speak if you don't want to. No pressure whatsoever.
Shout out of support to the writers on strike. Without them there would be no stories told. How fast have some of the tv shows gone to repeats?
Writer-at-large - I can't give you specific suggestions on your character because you didn't give me enough information in your email. Feel free to email again with more details.
Laugh, scream, cry but just write. Whatever it is - just say it on paper or ether or your hand or a napkin or a scrap of paper - just write it!
For more info visit Daily Life Consulting
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