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.

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!

Quick Answer to Questions about Best-Way-To-Do Nanowrimo

Ok - Nanowrimo is starting next week and many of you have been asking about the "right way to do it". Dingdingdingdingding there is no "right way".

What works for you? Does an outline help you focus on the story? Go for it! Does automatic free writing work for you? Go for it! Do you write better in a coffee shop surrounded by strangers? That's where you should be. Do you write better in a dark room with soundproofing and blinders on your eyes and ear plugs?(Could I make this up? Jonathan Franzen said he needed something of the sort while writing The Corrections)If that's the case, do it.

You might find that different pieces or parts of the story require different internal or external stimulation. You might be the type (pardon the pun) who writes for 24 hours straight and then collapses. You might be the type who writes for an hour and leaves the thought hanging so you can begin again the next day. WHATEVER WORKS!

Some of you wrote that you find Dorothea Brande's Becoming a Writer is a bit too pure and artsy and internal and touchy-feely. Try Stephen King's book On Writing. It's down to earth, fantastic, real and really gets you going whether or not you're one of his rabid readers.

And for those of you who have asked me whether or not I'll ever compile all the workshops and writing into a book on creativity and writing. Thanks for asking - it's in the works but no idea when it will be ready... and that's a workshop for another day.....

Enjoy the day,
RK

Barnes and Noble Writing Workshop - Rescheduled for November 12th + Nanowrimo Info

As I mentioned, tonight's Barnes and Noble Writing Workshop has been cancelled due to foot breakage. The next one is on Monday, November 12th at 7:00pm.

I was going to talk about Nanowrimo and many of you have been asking about it since I posted on it last week. NaNoWriMo is an annual (November) novel writing project. It's a great way to kick-start your writing, break through some blocks, practice some automatic writing, try out new styles or a new genre and all around have some very intense and creative fun.

I've gotten some emails and questions asking for suggestions. Here's the rub. Every one of you has a different style of writing, a different writing process, different reasons for writing, different subject matter that you're writing and lots of other differences. What you have in common are the tools of your creative endeavor. Words. Even the way you go about putting them down is different. I work with writers who use pen and paper, some dictate to someone or to a tape or podcast, some type on old favorite typewriters or computers, some on newfangled PDAs or even their phones.

The challenge is to assist YOU whoever you are, in getting what you want to say on the page. In articulating your thoughts, emotions, ideas and anything else and getting it from inside to the outside. Ok. That means you've got some thinking to do about the who, what, where, when and whys of your material and process. Having said that - I can answer generally here - Susannah H. posted a comment and question about it last week.

Susannah, thanks for the kind words and comment. The first thing I would do is check out Nanowrimo and register. As for getting ready. A great book that I recommend is Becoming A Writer by Dorothea Brande. It's great for beginning writers as well as experienced writers and it's the kind of book you can go back to over and over.

It was written in 1934 and isn't a how-to or about the ins and outs of fiction or other forms of writing. It really is about becoming a writer. Harnessing the inner and getting it out there. It has a beautiful purity about the process and writing, in my opinion because it was written in 1934 when writing and reading were so culturally different than they are now. Especially since the advent of personal technology and the immediacy of writing and electronic publishing that it has brought with it.

Brand's book is a great place to begin. Please email or comment with more questions - I'm not sure what kind of writing you do or how you go about getting it on the page. It's easier to make recommendations if I have more info.

As for Nanowrimo if you decide to do it - have fun! I'm doing it this year and looking forward to the insane pace of it and to see if I can accomplish what I'd like to.

Enjoy the day,
RK