Immerse Yourself In Freewriting

Are you feeling blocked? Don't have the time or the energy or the inspiration to work on your novel right now? Do you feel guilty because you know you should be writing, but you just can't seem to commit to a large body of work?

Why not give Freewriting a go?

Freewriting is a contemporary and popular way of playing with words. You can use it to prepare for writing, to develop ideas, to build characters or setting, to work through blockages, to keep your mind engaged and your thoughts fluid, or simply to catch ideas when they're coming too fast to be taken down in a more structured form.

There are no rules for Freewriting. Freewriting, by nature, defies all rules and restrictions, allowing you to open up and let go onto the page. But there are a few guidelines to help push you in the right direction, should you choose to employ them.

1. Find a quiet place where you won't be interrupted for several minutes.

2. Clear your mind completely, and then write whatever comes into it. Try to write for a solid time period or page length. Say, 5 straight minutes or one whole page, for example.

3. Forget spelling, grammar, punctuation and logical development for now.

4. Don't organize your thoughts into sentences or paragraphs, just let the words run out onto the page.

5. Don't stop until you've reached your goal.


I'm going to go ahead and give this a go right here, right now as an example. The word that came into my head was yesterday's spark word: MURKY. Let's see where it takes me from there.

murky perky beef jerky rough and tumble mumble stumble trip and fall stall wall bricks and mortar she was shorter childhood friend with raven hair flew away came back again grin sin dark and twisted how i missed it glory days gone by i stop and sigh why i longed to feel the sun again summer days sunkissed hair shorts and tshirts barely there beaches full with passersby sunglint waters squinted eye burning sand beneath my feet friends that came and friends to meet soon i'm walking down the street rainy days and gathered clouds shrouds i lift my hands toward the skies rainsoaked happy wild and wise rise lies i realize keep them to yourself i don't want any otherwise butterflies dipping soaring feather wings songs to sing that carry them by bells that ring coins that jingle in my pocket oh happy day all my sins were washed away oh love devine give me a sign that I shall see you again someday another day when this whole world has passed away and I shall fly up to your side on feather wings my very own

Hey, that was really fun! :o)

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

MURKY.

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

NUZZLE.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone who has had their privacy taken away.

Quoteworthy

Ink on paper
is as beautiful to me as
flowers on the mountains;
God composes,
why shouldn't we?
~Audra Foveo-Alba

Take A Breather

This morning, outside my window, the clear blue sky is filled with birdsong. The air is chilled, but the sun is proudly shining, warming my spirit and calling it to come out and play.

Today, find yourself a notebook and a window, or better yet, a dry patch of grass, and set your pen to paper as you set your spirit free.

Spark Words

Today's Spark Word is:

BUDDING.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

What is your innermost desire?

Write about someone whose secret wish comes true.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone who loses their winning lottery ticket.

Spark Words

Today's Spark Word is:

RUSH.

Pretty Little Puppets

I came across an article yesterday that I found poignant and I wanted to share some excerpts. It's called "Infuse Characters With Sincere Emotion" by Faith Baldwin, from the March 2008 edition of The Writer magazine.

If the reader, literally or figuratively, can laugh or cry with the people in a story; if he can put himself in their places -- however different their type-script situations; if he can say, "That's what I would have said or done under the circumstances"; if he can leap from page to page in a fever of anxiety to see what happens, good ending or bad; and if he lays the magazine or book aside with the feeling of having lived, for a little while, a life like his own, or a life such as his might have been or might yet be, or a totally unknown life which still holds for him the sense of validity, then you've written a good story.

The touchstone is, do you believe it, as you write?

You have to believe it, you know, or no one else will. The souped-up, the dressed-up, the overwritten, the superior attitude of the godlike writer moving pretty little puppets around a pretty little stage, against a fine backgroud, is just no good.

The great books, if you will take the time to read them again, have valid emotions; they are peopled with realities; they move you, sometimes against your will, and they will endure. Any book or story worth the paper it's printed on must have genuine emotion, communicated by the writer to the character and by the character to the reader. It must have, as well as technique, a spiritual content.

Write from knowledge; learn your techniques, but remember that the great quality is not learned even by experience in writing, for it is the quality of understanding and compassion, and of objectivity as well as subjectivity, so that you can see your characters up and down and around and inside and out, and know what makes them tick ... no matter who they are or what they do. Learn to know them -- by heart.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Start with this opening line:

She touched the little box in her pocket and smiled.

Spark Words

Today's Spark Word is:

WANDERLUST.

It was a dark and story night...

One of the keys to writing a great book is to have a great opening line. Here is a small sampling of my personal faves:

*It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the house-tops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.

Edward George Bulwer-Lytton Paul Clifford

*There once was a boy by the name of Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.

C.S. Lewis The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

*They met -- Colin and Julie --not very long before they were born.

Mildred Cram Forever

*It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice

*One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies.

O. Henry The Gift of the Magi

*It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

George Orwell 1984

*The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new.

Samuel Beckett Murphy

*It was a wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not.

Paul Auster City of Glass

*We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall.

Louise Erdrich Tracks

*I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.

Dodie Smith I Capture the Castle

What are some of your favorites?

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

You're walking down the street one day when you nearly trip over an old skelleton key. Beside you is a strange door in the wall. You try the key in the ancient-looking keyhole and amazingly, it turns! Holding your breath, you swing open the door to find...

Spark Words

Today's Spark Word is:

TENACIOUS.

The Writing Life

Is it just me or has 2009 been passing incredibly fast? I apologize for majorly slacking as far as this blog is concerned, I've been so busy... But before I get to that, I want to thank all those who left such wonderfully sweet and encouraging comments on my last post! You really cheered me up and made me feel that the time I spend here is worthwhile. So I thank you very sincerely.

2009 has brought a few exciting surprises for me, the biggest of which was that we were able to remodel our spare bedroom into an office for me (it still has a bed in it, just in case we should get any visitors). I painted it a gorgeous shade of antique pale green with pale silvery white trim. The colors make me feel like I'm sitting in a place where a fairy tale is about to begin. It's breathtaking. My husband bought me a beautiful, cherry wood, rolltop desk -- my dream desk since I was a little girl -- and a matching chair. With our tax return we bought a new laptop with wireless capabilities which means I can move around and find a comfy place to sit and still be able to write from anywhere in the house. And for Valentine's Day he surprised me with a beautiful cherry wood two-drawer filing cabinent. So I'm basically all set with everything I could possibly need to really begin to pursue my dream of writing as a carreer. Not that you have to have all these things to write, but it sure is nice now that I do!

After a short holiday break, I did jump right back into the thick of revising a short, non-fiction story that I've been working on, a "slice of life" if you will. I have a mentor that's been working with me on it and I feel that it is almost ready to send out. Good thing, because my husband has given me a deadline: I have to have something in the mail by the end of the month or he's taking over my office! What can I say, I'm a perfectionist who can always find some little thing that still needs work, and not only that, but I'm absolutely unsure of myself, which keeps me from sending anything out. Thank God I have someone like him who not only loves and supports me completely but is also strong enough to give me the required boot out of the nest so that I can test my wings and see if I'm able to fly.

I'll keep you posted on what happens. And in the meantime, I'll get back to posting spark words and writing prompts that will hopefully encourage your imaginations to soar.

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

TUNDRA.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone who was fired from their job after accidentally dialing the wrong number.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone who is

dressed up in disguise.

Five Questions for Characters

From The Pocket Muse: Endless Inspiration by Monica Wood, five fab questions to ask your main character:

1. How did you get your name?

2. What object from your childhood do you still own?

3. What was in yesterday's mail?

4. When did you stop being happy?

5. What is your strongest superstition?

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

DISINTEREST.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write a story about a musical instrument that is passed down through family generations.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Describe an everyday adventure.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about an object that

has been mislaid.

Tip For Today

Turn off your computer and reintroduce yourself to a pen.

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

REFRESHING.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about someone whose

differences are glaringly obvious.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write a scene involving the most romantic wedding proposal you can dream up. Give us tingles! Make us weep!

Spark Word

Today's Spark Word is:

SOLITARY.

The Right to Write

I am nearly finished reading and taking notes on "The Right To Write" by Julia Cameron. This book has literally changed my life. I cannot even begin to number all the misconceptions I had about the writing life that I wasn't even aware of until I read this book. It's incredibly positive, encouraging, compassionate and enlightening. I've read probably close to a hundred books on writing so far, and if there was only one I could recommend to anyone who is even slightly interested in writing, it would be this one. Buy it or check it out from your local library (I did). It'll blow your mind. And even better than that, it will get you writing.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write a scene in which your character tastes something new.

Spark Word

Today's spark word is:

ASSEMBLE.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write about a surprise guest.

Procrastination Station

Are you a procrastinator?

I know I am.

Why do today what you can

put off until tomorrow, right?

But while I'll readily admit

that I am the queen of procrastinators,

I'll also admit that living

like that is no fun.

Procrastinating is like walking around with a dragon constantly breathing down your neck. Whatever it is that we're avoiding doing, we can't get it off our minds. We can't really put our full efforts into anything else either, in the meantime, because we're using all

(or most) of our energies pushing those nagging thoughts back that tell us to go do what we really should be doing.

Especially when it comes to writing.

"Come on, what's the big deal?" you say, "All writers procrastinate."

That may be true. Robert Masello, author of Roberts Rules of Writing: 101 unconventional lessons every writer needs to know, says "Both successful writers and unsuccessful writers procrastinate -- but there is one big difference. Successful writers get over it."

"But I enjoy procrastinating," you say, "When I finally do sit down to write, that's when I do some of my best stuff."

No you don't, and no it's not. Trust me.

And if you don't trust me, trust Robert.

According to him, "Procrastination doesn't make the task any sweeter or better, it just drags the whole thing out. Every day you delay makes the work look more formidable, and every day you chip away at it, even with only a few paragraphs, makes it look that much more managable."

I don't know about you, but that's one quote that's going on a post-it above my workspace.

So, stop procrastinating and get back to work already!

Chip, chip, chip!

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Describe a time you peeked in someone else's diary.

What did it reveal to you about that person?

How did it make you feel about yourself?

Your Creative Best

I stumbled across this fantastic gem

of a verse this afternoon, and I just

had to share it with all you creative,

passionate people out there.

It's from Galatians 6:4, The Message.

"Make a careful exploration of who you are

and the work you have been given,

and then sink yourself into that.

Don't be impressed with yourself.

Don't compare yourself with others.

Each of you must take responsibility

for doing the creative best you can

with your own life."

The creative best... Amazing little phrase there, isn't it? It's like an affirmation of your gift and the permission to explore that gift to your heart's content all rolled into one.

What a lovely feeling!

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

According to the officials at

Graceland, Elvis Presley

receives an estimated 100

valentines every year.

Write about one of them.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Visit a nearby cemetary --

the older the better.

Sit down beside the most

unusual tombstone you can

find, and write about the

person lying underneath you.

Rejected

I got my first official rejection in the mail today. Surprisingly, I'm not all that upset.

At my first Pennwriters meeting, a lovely lady named Jan showed me an issue of a Christian Poetry magazine called Time of Singing that she had illustrated. I used to write poetry in my high school days, and thought, "why not just try?"

I visited their website and got their submission requirements and printed out three poems that I thought might be a fit, though in truth, none of them seemed very similar with those I had read in that issue. Most of my work covered topics such as teenage angst and newfound love and were not at the same maturity level that they were probably looking for.

Still, I sent off three that seemed the most "grown up", one dealing with nature, one about introspection, and one about the poverty issue in third-world coutries and our Christian duty toward them (this one probably would have been the best fit, had it not been just a little preachy). These went into the envelope along with a SASE, and I did my best to put the issue out of mind.

Today, approximately one month later I received a response, thanking me for my interest, but letting me know that my poetry wasn't the style they were looking for. Perhaps that was just her nice way of saying "You stink!", and if so, I'm grateful for her subtlety.

I'm going to take it, as Steven King did, as the mark of a true writer. Rejection is just a part of the process. It's proof that you're putting yourself out there.

And so, I'll file it away as tangible evidence of my rite of passage, and try again.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Write a story that begins with an explosion.

Into the Unknown

It was Martin Luther King, Jr. that said, "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

Though he was speaking of our faith in God, I believe that the same holds true in writing. In fact, I think there are many parallels between faith and writing.

Like Peter, we Christians are asked to step out of the proverbial boat into uncharted waters. To believe in something we cannot see, yet feel all around us and in the depths of our soul. Sink or swim, we leap blindly into the unknown, praying that grace will buoy us up. In her book, Chapter After Chapter, Heather Sellers notes that, "Like writers, people of faith focus on processes, not results." The joy is in the journey. It's where we learn, where we grow, where our relationship with God is formed.

As writers, we often start out with just an idea. A bit of plot line or a compelling character. We have no clue where it's going to go, but we step out on faith that one sentence will lead to the next, and the next, and with any luck, the next. Before the words hit the page, we feel it, sense it deep within that here is a story that must be told. But it is only on the way, when we're smack dab in the thick of it, that we truly discover what the story is all about.

We just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and step out into a world full of possibilities.

Dream Jobs

5 Occupations I'd like to hold

vicariously through my characters:

(in random order)

1. florist

2. own and operate a children's bookstore

3. jewerly designer on the craft show circuit

4. design fabulous nurseries for expectant parents

5. pirate princess

What's your top 5?

Spark Words

Today's Spark Word is:

JAM.

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

By the early 1990s, more than 30,000 Americans held reservations with Pan Am airlines for a trip to the moon.

Write about one of these people.

Time Tip

Here's a Writer's Tip out of the pages of The Pocket Muse: Ideas and Inspiration for Writing by Monica Wood:

Just for today, try writing at an unaccustomed time. Night owls can fire up the coffee pot and get cracking by dawn; morning folk can investigate the wee hours, just to see what happens.

Try it and let me know if it gives your creativity the jolt you've been needing!

Pickles of Praise

So on the 10th I attended my 2nd Pennwriters meeting, and my first as a member, meaning that I was allowed to share my own work as well. I ended up taking the 4 1/2 page (double-spaced) prologue about the little girl who's hiding behind the couch when her parents die. I was so freakin' nervous, but I did it! First of all, we make up copies for everyone so they can write their comments on them, and then we have the option of reading them aloud ourselves, asking someone else to read for us, or having a silent read. I chose to read aloud myself, since I've been over that piece a million times and I know the inflections better than anyone else. I forced myself to read at a proper speed and with the correct emotion (even shouting when shouting was called for) and refused to allow myself to feel embarassed by doing so. If I want them to really feel it, I have to read it how it should feel.

Afterwards, we can let the others know what kind of critique we want (only positive, only on flow or grammar, etc) and I told them to just let me have it, because I truly want to learn. Basically, I told them to let me know if I have any business writing at all.I found out that they do what they call "Pickles of Praise" where if someone really loves it, they draw a little pickle (I know, I laughed too) on your page to let you know.

Surprisingly, the only negative feedback I received (if you can even call it that) was that several people agreed that one section seemed too sophistocated for a four-year-old's thinking, and someone else brought up that I used too many exclaimation points (she circled them all to show me, and boy was she right!).

Aside from that, I received one pickle, and several encouraging comments, such as:

"Good start!" from Todd

"Chris, very good! Do not change from using a narrarator to the child's POV." from Gene (it was brought up that maybe I should do it from Rilee's POV, but most people, myself included, agreed that this wouldn't work.)

"Keep writing. You have talent. Good emotional tension and description." from Dave

"Excellent debut! It really holds my attention, Christy! Keep working! (underlined twice)" From Jean

"Very good! Well done and reads well. Keep up the GREAT work." from Tom

"Pickle. Story line is great." from Tina

"Keep writing. The prologue is awesome. Be careful of slipping in and out of characters/narrarator. Have some in control." from Olivia

"Oh yes! You ARE a writer! POV is not confusing for me. Using a narrarator is fine, and then the man and woman." from Alice.

"Interesting! Powerful stuff. A lot of promise. Lot of tension, emotion." from Catherine

All in all, I was pretty encouraged! I can't wait for the next meeting!

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Take the reader behind the wheel with the worst driver you've ever known.

Spark Word

Today's spark word is:

SUPERFLUOUS.

Sticking By

Sometime last week, while lamenting once again that I cannot currently afford to enter a writing correspondance course (namely, the Christian Writer's Guild), it occured to me that I might be able to do something about it. After all, the library has a wealth of writer's reference books, and I've been taking advantage of that for some time now. So I decided to "homeschool" myself. I bought myself a notebook and a Pilot Precise pen (well, the pen I had) and began reading books not as a reader, but as a writer, critiquing and taking notes all along the way. Writer's reference, fiction, YA novels and childrens books: the genres that I'm interested in writing myself, and the self-help books to get me there. It's amazing how different the process is. Certainly not quite as enjoyable, but definitely more enlightening. If a line hits me as especially funny, I jot it down. If a find myself skimming over a few lines to get to the more juicy parts, I jot that down as well. Basically, I'm just disecting each book in order to discover what works and what doesn't. Mastering the craft.

One thing I came across since I began "schooling" myself was how a book-in-progress is like a living, breathing thing. It has a mind of it's own. As long as you're there for it, devoting your time and energy to it's care, it showers you with affection and small tokens of appreciation. But the minute you turn your back on it, and walk away for a few days, it becomes like a sulking child, difficult to manage and refusing to tell you what's wrong, no matter how long you persist in asking. As a way of warding off the story's disconsolation, I have developed a new system that works for me, and perhaps it will work for you as well.

The basic concept of "sticking by your book" is probably nothing new to seasoned writers but for some reason, it had never occured to me before. I came up with it because I am one of those people who thinks they never have time to write. It all goes together with what I just stated, about your book-in-progress being a living, breathing thing. You (meaning me) must no sooner consider leaving it behind than you would your newborn child, but rather, take it with you wherever you go. Obviously, we cannot all carry with us a sheaf of pages all day long, but you can carry a small notebook in your purse, or even a blank index card or two in your shirt pocket. When you are not writing, you can still be thinking of writing, going over scenes in your head or patches of dialogue or character traits. When you have time to spare (for me, it's waiting in my car out in front of the school for my kids to come out, for you it may be waiting in the doctor's office or during your lunch break) you can do a few, simple exercises that you can make up yourself, take as little or as long as you like, and that will keep you connected and focused on your project.

Here are a couple of sample excercises that I made up for myself.

1. The "Name 5 things". Totally off the top of my head, I'll scribble down 5 things that are on my character's desk right now. Or describe 5 pictures that are hanging on her livingroom wall. 5 items that are sitting out on her countertop, 5 things she might have on her to-do list, 5 things she'd have in her junk drawer. It doesn't really matter if I use them in the story or not, what matters is that I'm getting inside her head and seeing her world more clearly.

2. The "interview". As if you were doing an article for the paper, ask any (or all) of your characters a series of questions from what they had for breakfast to what's one thing they'd like to do before they die. Again, it's not about material for your story (though it is, in a way) it's just about getting to know your characters.

3. The "what if". Just for the heck of it, jot down what you think would happen if something totally unexpected happened to your character (pick one) right now. What if a car suddenly pulled out in front of them on the road? How would they react? What if a prank caller called? How would they respond? What if they forgot their backpack/purse/wallet in the last scene? How would they find it?

4. The "that's interesting..." Pay attention to anything that peaks your interest that day. An unusual name. A word you haven't heard in a while. A story you overhear. Write it down and see if you can incorporate it into your story (or save it for another one).

I'm sure there are others you can come up with. It's all about baby steps. Baby steps that keep you and your book connected and flowing like a well-oiled machine.

If you try it, let me know how it works for you!