One little big step

As you've probably gathered from my overly wordy blog, I like to write. Recently, I signed up for a six-week-long creative writing class from UCLA Extension. While I've participated in NaNoWriMo multiple times in the past, signing up for this class marks my first formal foray into creative writing. My big problem is, though I love to write, I am terrified of letting other people read anything I've done. In an effort to "do better," I'm going to post my first exercise from my class here and you're welcome to (gulp gasp) let me know what you think. Depending on how this goes, I may post more in the future. Our first assignment was "show, don't tell" and here's what I submitted:

The tabletop fan sat motionless, the newspapers in front of it unrustled. Of all the things to miss, it was the silence of the newspapers that was getting to him. Henry Midfield huffed in annoyance - this slight movement sent his glasses slip-sliding down the sweat of his nose where he caught them and shoved them back into place without noticing. The ice in his drink had long since melted and, next to his chair, the papers that needed grading sat untouched.

Across the room, the TV and radio stared mutely at him, their power buttons black and beady, like the eyes of frogs caught in the porch light. The silence sneaking in from the kitchen only made him more aware of how he had grown used to the hum and chatter of hard-working appliances.

At first the silence had been a pleasant novelty – something about which one could make small talk with neighbors and overly chatty cashiers. Now, though, in its third day, the silence seemed to be hanging back, an injured animal planning its revenge and it was making everyone just a little more unpleasant than usual.

Outside, the neighbor's children were sullenly splashing in a muddy looking wading pool. Sunset was approaching. Normally it was about this time that Henry uttered his first curse of the day, directed at but never spoken to the neighbor who installed a floodlight on his garage that burned through Henry's kitchen window, marring the pleasant banality that should have marked his post-dinner washing up. Today there was no floodlight and no washing up – two more things he never expected to miss.

He swayed up from his damp chair in the living room and waded through the humidity into his kitchen. The room felt cramped and the faded blue plastic cooler set directly in front of the refrigerator only made the room seem smaller. The cooler, like some scratched-up modern-day treasure chest, held the last of the food he had been able to rescue from the refrigerator – none of which was even remotely appetizing at this point.

Lurching back to his chair, Henry sat down and placed a cigarette between his lips, but didn't light it – even that flash of fire would be too much. The ashtray next to his chair was nearly overflowing with unlit but well-gummed Marlboros – the sight of it made him sick. Henry wiped the sweat from his forehead and, squeezing his eyes tightly shut, flicked his lighter and inhaled.

Wanted: A New Excuse

It finally happened - the moment I've been craving since we arrived. I got a desk for my office. Hurrah! I've been doing all my writing sitting on my futon with my computer on a tray on my lap and, as you would expect, wondering from where I had acquired my sudden-onset and unending back pain. I now have a nice big desk for crafting, typing and painting... which leads me to a new problem.

I need a new excuse to do continue to accomplish none of those things. I've been telling myself for months that once I had a desk, I would be writing for a couple hours a day before moving on to the paintings for my still unfinished squid book. Now, thanks to a trip to IKEA, (thanks Olivier and Celia)I have my desk - so now what? Sadly, the desk didn't come with a stack of completed paintings and a stellar manuscript with a "insert your name here" blank on the cover.

The good news is I have felt a bit more like writing and what-not, now that it's comfortable to do so for more than 15 minutes at a time. I've been rereading several of my books for writers and another problem I keep hitting is my own lack of discipline. Without fail, each book I've seen recommends an aspiring writer to cut out a specific chunk of time in their day to write - same write time, same write place. I haven't yet figured out what times are good for me, so each day I say "I"ll work from A to B and then when A rolls around, I remember oh-so-many other things that need to be done. I'm thinking this is part of the artistic process, right? Riiight - ok, so maybe not.

You know what is another great way to procrastinate? Blogging...

Things and nothings

This has been an odd week in its "unstructuredness". I haven't updated recently because I don't think I have much of anything to update. I've been cooking and cleaning and running errands and none of those things are of any interest to anyone, I imagine. In my spare time, I've been working on a few small watercolor paintings - just goofy stuff, and trying to write - something I usually refrain from doing outside the confines of NaNoWriMo in November. I've gotten the idea that maybe an actual novel would be as interesting to write as the one-month rush versions I have completed in the past. I've got a few ideas down. I have also started working my way through a book I picked up before we left: Fiction Writer's Workshop. The book has over 180 exercises and, though I tend to lack discipline, I am trying to slowly get all the exercises in the first chapter knocked out before I move along to the second.

I used to use my strange work schedule as an excuse to not write and not draw and paint. With that excuse gone, I'm finding out what I knew all along - the reason I don't write and paint is because it is difficult and playing computer games and wasting time on Facebook is easy. When I sit down with a fresh piece of watercolor paper and just begin doodling out ideas, I absolutely love the way it makes me feel. I feel blissfully concentrated... I lose track of time. I fall in love with the slip of ink on paper. I shiver at the scratching of the metal nib on the coarse grains. The puddles of watercolor make me grin as they bleed into each other, prodded this way and that by damp bristles. Then the picture is done, and I put it on the wall so I can look at it a hundred times a day while figuring out what I want to change next time. Writing is similar but, because I have done it far less, not quite as powerfully enjoyable. The problem I have is this - I love to paint and I love to write... and I hate to start either one. Something about staring at the blank page and thinking I have nothing to put on it terrifies me. So I sit and stare... and then go play more Scrabulous.

NaNo Notes Edition 1

Hints from "No Plot, No Problem":
The founder of NaNoWriMo wrote a really fabulous book called "No Plot? No Problem!" that is packed full of useful hints and hilarious anecdotes. I know my Swiss counterparts will probably be unable to find or order the book in time, so I plan to include a few choice tidbits in this blog throughout the month. (Note to Chris Baty: I promise to donate to the NaNo site in exchange for haphazardly shortening and sharing your wisdom!)

• Focus on "low expectations, high yield" with your writing - remember this is about completion more than genius
• Stock up on snacks and rewards. Go through your music and set aside some good "novelling" music. I plan to treat myself to new I-tunes every 10000 words or so.
  
• Find a writing area you like and are comfortable in, isolate yourself there (with snacks and caffeine of course) for a set amount of time, when you are finished, be sure to clean the area up so it is ready for your next visit.
• Pick up a new notebook, preferably pocket-sized, and a new "favorite pen." Keep these on you at all times for jotting down ideas as they hit you and tidbits of conversation you overhear. Make note of interesting things you see that could be included.
• Make two lists in your new notebook: one of things you LOVE in books (mine would be things like quirky characters, lots of descriptions, all things food-related and modern takes on mythology) and one of things you HATE in books (some of mine would be historical romance, most chick lit, cheesy horror and excessive bad language). Reference these lists frequently throughout the month, including as many things as you can from the LOVE list and trying to avoid the items on the HATE list.
• Don't stress out too much about having a plot before NaNo starts. As Chris Baty put it in the book, "As intimidating as it seems, plot is simply the movement of your characters through time and over the course of your book. Which means that by having characters in your book, you're guaranteed to have a plot."
• Choose a point-of-view to write your novel from: is it first person, narrated by your main character ("I-based") or is it third-person, giving a bird's eye view of the entire story ("he-or-she-based").
  

"How I plan to deal with writer's block and pad my word count":
Not sure what a character should do next? Check their horoscope. This works really well with multiple characters and gives you an excuse to add drama and tension. Wikipedia is a great place to go for random topics to include as well. If you're really stuck, go for a walk and observe the other people around you. Watch people on the bus and in the grocery. Go find some public place and just sit and watch until something good hits you. Go back a couple thousand words and try to fill in some backstory. Go to Epicurious.com and find a bizarre new recipe; "feed" it to your characters and describe their reaction. Don't forget to fill in info about where they ate the dish and why and how they got there, etc. Go to Flickr.com and look at random photos until something inspires you. For more ideas, check out all the tools available on iGoogle. (More on iGoogle near the end of this post)


Other Tools:
Question list of help flesh out your characters
How to Write a Novel Badly (ha ha!) My plan is every time I get stuck, I reference this list and try to add something from it. My goal for my novel this year is "deliriously wretched"


iGoogle is the Best Around:
Have you checked out and configured your iGoogle homepage yet? It's full of a huge number of really helpful tools... and plenty of ways to waste time as well. I created a tab called "Writing" and found several great tools, including a writer's idea bank that is so funny.