An Offer Of A Thousand Pardons and Tea



Photo Credit: Free Tea Party

You may wonder why it has been so long since I have last written.   

I can easily blame the holiday break. All it takes is one day off, or in my case, the whole month of December for my writing time to fall away. In the interval, I have indulged my fascination of all things English - books, film and yes, tea. It has idled away many hours and done nothing more to my writing than to affect the tone of this post...a thousand pardons.

The choice was entirely mine although now, I recognize how foolish I was to think I could escape my necessity for words. Writing may at times be difficult, but NOT WRITING so easily morphs into something much worse. A reminder that teeters about, always on the brink of one's attention. Such cruelty I know you alone would understand. We have commiserated well enough on the topic before so as not to feel lost in our thoughts and to rally one another foward. While I have always delighted in your company in this regard, I ask that we share no such words today.  

Talk breeds trouble for writers such as ourselves. When writers get to be talkers, our words fall into a hollow, doing little more than bounce about as echoes, speaking to no one.

"Writers must write what they wish to say, not speak" as our dear friend, Mr. Ernest Hemingway once said and so I write to you now to acknowledge our time apart these last few weeks and to bid my idle hours adieu. I return to writing where I am certain you will agree, my thoughts and words will find better uses there. 

Till then, I remain sincerely yours,

Calendar Gal

From My Desk To Yours...

I'm A Lucky Gal...

For Your Words of Encouragement and Writerly Advice

- THANKS -

You've All Been Swell!!

Stuck In Time

I've been feeling stuck lately. Writer's block? That would be the easy, go to answer if not for some compelling thoughts I've read by Martha Alderson aka The Plot Whisperer on the subject.

"If you find yourself plagued with writer's block, chances are you suffer a deeper malady - procrastination. If you find yourself putting off even starting to write, chances are your malady runs deeper still - perfectionism."

Her words linger as I continue to chart the structure of my novel. The process has brought up a lot of questions, for my characters, as well as for me. In taking time to answer them, I've been thinking about time, namely, how much time I spend writing?

I've never been one to sit and write for hours on end. A euphoric session that lasts a few hours will inevitably be lambasted by sessions of nothingness to boot. But in between these two extremes, I've found a comfort zone of about 1 1/2 hours. It's something to work with but to date, I have not produced a readable manuscript, something that I am willing to hand over and so I ask myself why?

My writing time has been a comfortable space, but has it been too comfortable that I haven't asked anything more from it?  Looking back over the years, I've accrued plenty of words but words alone are not enough to render a story complete. What is the difference that some writers can churn out a tale in one, two or three years time while another writer requires ten?

The bones of my story are currently posted on my wall. I imagine the work that follows to be an easy game of connect the dots until I spy something more glaring looking back at me. For all my hours of writing, my story still stands incomplete. In some cases, I have not written my story as much as I have written around the details of it. I can follow the lines till suddenly, the energy falters. Something stops me and I find myself willing to only circle the outer edges of some chapters. Is there such a thing as procrastination-in-motion, the equivalent to spinning one's wheels?

As I said, writer's block would bave been the easy, go to answer if not for the obvious tracks I leave behind. I know some circles aren't worth repeating but now, it seems even time begs for something more. 

Laurence Durrell said, "It takes a lot of energy and a lot of neurosis to write a novel. If you were really sensible,you'd do something else." Are you feeling sensible today?

Sing Me A Song David Gray

Some of my favorite storytellers are singer-songwriters though from a writer standpoint, I find theirs to be a more envious talent. They weave miniature tales, beautifully sparse and exact in feeling to the point that the work appears effortless. That they can sing as well, is really just another hit to the ribs.   

Still, there's something about a song that keeps me coming back. It always gives me more than a tune in my ears. It travels onward, reaching a place deep inside of me. Who can understand or explain it? Surely they must have felt the same thing in writing it, no? Then the shock of words when they admit another familiar tune. "I struggled to write this one...it didn't come together for a long time."  

Maybe we're not so different after all?

Are you inspired by music? Tell me, what song/artist/group unwinds something in you to write?

Hello, My Name Is...

Writers are an interesting bunch. Some of us will never admit to the title of "writer". Perhaps the fear that one day someone will call us out on it feels too great? Still others adopt a host of other tags to define themselves and all that they do on the page.  You know what I'm talking about.

Plotter, panster, left brainer, right brainer, tell me, what does your badge say? To be fair, my blogger occupation is currently listed as wordsmith.

We all hold up signs looking to connect with other like minds. There's a comfort in meeting people who think as we do, but wouldn't we do better to step outside of our boxes?

One can always make the argument that you learn as you go, but at some point you have to concede that your way is not always the best way. That was my thinking recently when I hit yet another snag with my revisions.

For all my pride of being a pantser, a right brain extraordinaire, I had to admit that I was feeling lost, disconnected from my protagonist. I was feeling the need for some structure that only thinking like a plotter could bring. It's not that I was incapable of such mapping detail, just that such a process was never mine or ever needed for me to write...until now.

Putting aside my manuscript, I started delving into some plot and structure books. Reading was my new comfort zone. Thankfully, it didn't take long before I hit gold with Martha Alderson's, "The Plot Whisperer" - a big thank you to Debbie for sharing Martha's You Tube Series! 

Martha knows writers. She speaks the lingo and knows all the excuses, hangups and reasons for which side of the brain fence we roam. She recognizes the divide but also takes some time to explain what we stand to lose when we write with only half a brain. Martha encourages writers to explore both sides of their mind, the analytical, detail oriented, language driven left as well as the intuitive, big picture, character and emotion driven right. It might not be easy for all but she makes a compelling argument that "balance serves a story well".

So now I am working on this dual system of writing and plotting my story. I've surrounded myself with plot planners, bubble diagrams and scene trackers. I've asked questions about dramatic action and considered my character's emotional development. All in all, I am moving forward once again and it feels good. The best part, my mind is full of ideas.

Plotter or Pantser? Yes and yes, but WRITER suits me best.


Have you bridged the gap between plotter and panster? What's the biggest writing challenge you've had to face?

Nanowrimos - This One Is For You

Photo Credit: Joseph Hancock

NOVEMBER DIVE

Some say the act of putting down words
is a leap of faith, a sacred deed
where you try to meet your maker on the page.
Whether you believe it or not,
it still must feel good
to just let the words fall,
from your head, your heart,
creating pools on the page,
deep enough for you to feel
what it means to get wet.

By Nancy Sima

Happy Writing Nanos! How is your Nanwrimo experience so far?

Another thought on Beginnings - The RAVEN

The Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore--
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door--
Only this and nothing more."

Excerpt - The Raven by E.A. Poe




I love sharing poetry and "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe is a classic must read. The first few stanzas are a great study in beginnings. They offer such a beguiling and eerie lure - perfect for Halloween!

I was happy to rediscover this poem when a friend's son (thank you Jacob!) offered Poe's essay, "The Philosophy of Composition" to me as I bemoaned the difficulty of beginnings. Today I am happy to share them both with you. 

To read the complete poem, see HERE.

To read Poe break it down himself, see his essay "The Philosophy of Composition".

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Comic Relief for Writers

This MUTTS comic strip sits at the bottom of my computer. When the outside world feels heavy and gray it serves as a reminder for me to just keep writing.

What do you surround yourself with to stay inspired through the daily grind?

TED - A Name So Nice You Have To Say It Twice - TED!!

I heart TED, do you?

TED is the world stage for Ideas Worth Spreading, a conference that features some of the greatest minds in Technology, Entertainment and Design today. I LOVE their events, especially when authors take to the mic.

Here's a starred talk by "Eat, Pray, Love" author, Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity. She makes a thoughtful and entertaining argument for the use and misuse of genius. ENJOY!!

To learn more about TED, go to their website HERE

Is creativity the work of "a genius" or are you the genius of your own work?



In Between The Lines

Bryan Berg - House of Cards

These days the word "revisions" feels like a misnomer to me. That or maybe I am just doing it all wrong.

Yes, I am revising and shaping up my chapters but I am also adding to them, writing more and more in between the lines. (And I thought I was done with all the heavy writing in my first draft.)

The margins are all to blame. They stand there innocently enough, wanting to help. I cross out a few words here, a sentence there and rewrite in the wide open spaces. The trouble starts when I notice how a change of a few words can invoke a different tone for my character. Another side of them is revealed and it makes me want to go exploring. Streams of words follow, dialogues, new scenes, even whole chapters emerge. In the moment, it's all wonderful until I look back and realize that I am now somewhere else in my novel, in uncharted territory. Wonderful then turns into disconcerting.

These new words impact not only the current scene they enter but all the choices my main character makes from beginning to end. They challenge everything that stands in the first draft and take me to task for a better house of words. "Revision" is too simple a word for all the elaborate play they make inside my head. Truthfully I can't ignore it. I know it's what's needed but dang, if you could only see the view from where I stand.

Where have your revisions taken you? Did you find your way back to your story or did you find something else, for better or for worse, in between the lines?

Where You Begin...

Another thought on beginnings through the lens of photography.
Thanks to my friend Sara for sharing these lovely words of wisdom.

 "Regarding beginnings, I can only share with you my experiences as a photographer... sometimes it feels like you are always in the dark. I go out and shoot returning with nothing but a light tight film canister  (I know I'm dating myself in this digital age), head off to the darkroom and process the film, adding chemistry and time, again in the dark about what is actually captured on the film. It is not until I open the canister with trepidation always, because there are so many variables, did I get the right exposures, did I choose the right chemistry to bring out the best, did I agitate enough or not enough (which can destroy the film with uneven streaks). Once the development tank is open, you can only take a quick glance, as dust and finger prints are equally destructive. After the film is dry, you can begin to reverse the view from negative to positive. In the darkroom you can play with size and contrast too but it isn't until the very end of the process that the creative beginning actually occurs, because it is only when you put the image up on a wall that you can really step back and look. It is always a moment of surprise and often disappointment. But if there is the one image (in hundreds of attempts) that resonates, then the process begins and gives me something to build on."

Question: What do you find more challenging - writing a good beginning or a good ending? Could they be two sides of the same coin?

Zadie Smith - Speak To Me

Every writer should know the tale of Clive. No, you don't? Then let Zadie Smith tell you...

The Tale of Clive

I want you to think of a young man called Clive. Clive is on a familiar literary mission: he wants to write the perfect novel. Clive has a lot going for him: he's intelligent and well read; he's made a study of contemporary fiction and can see clearly where his peers have gone wrong; he has read a good deal of rigorous literary theory - those elegant blueprints for novels not yet built - and is now ready to build his own unparalleled house of words. Maybe Clive even teaches novels, takes them apart and puts them back together. If writing is a craft, he has all the skills, every tool. Clive is ready. He clears out the spare room in his flat, invests in an ergonomic chair, and sits down in front of the blank possibility of the Microsoft Word program. Hovering above his desktop he sees the perfect outline of his platonic novel - all he need do is drag it from the ether into the real. He's excited. He begins.

 

Fast-forward three years. Somehow, despite all Clive's best efforts, the novel he has pulled into existence is not the perfect novel that floated so tantalisingly above his computer. It is, rather, a poor simulacrum, a shadow of a shadow. In the transition from the dream to the real it has shed its aura of perfection; its shape is warped, unrecognisable. Something got in the way, something almost impossible to articulate. For example, when it came to fashioning the character of the corrupt Hispanic government economist, Maria Gomez, who is so vital to Clive's central theme of corruption within American identity politics, he found he needed something more than simply "the right words" or "knowledge about economists". Maria Gomez effectively proves his point about the deflated American dream, but in other, ineffable, ways she seems not quite to convince as he'd hoped. He found it hard to get into her silk blouse, her pencil skirt - even harder to get under her skin. And then, later, trying to describe her marriage, he discovered that he wanted to write cleverly and aphoristically about "Marriage" with a capital M far more than he wanted to describe Maria's particular marriage, which, thinking of his own marriage, seemed suddenly a monumentally complex task, particularly if his own wife, Karina, was going to read it. And there are a million other little examples ... flaws that are not simply flaws of language or design, but rather flaws of ... what? Him? This thought bothers him for a moment. And then another, far darker thought comes. Is it possible that if he were only the reader, and not the writer, of this novel, he would think it a failure?

Clive doesn't wallow in such thoughts for long. His book gets an agent, his agent gets a publisher, his novel goes out into the world. It is well received. It turns out that Clive's book smells like literature and looks like literature and maybe even, intermittently, feels like literature, and after a while Clive himself has almost forgotten that strange feeling of untruth, of self-betrayal, that his novel first roused in him. He becomes not only a fan of his own novel, but its great defender. If a critic points out an overindulgence here, a purple passage there, well, then Clive explains this is simply what he intended. It was all to achieve a certain effect. In fact, Clive doesn't mind such criticism: nit-picking of this kind feels superficial compared to the bleak sense he first had that his novel was not only not good, but not true. No one is accusing him of so large a crime. The critics, when they criticise, speak of the paintwork and brickwork of the novel, a bad metaphor, a tedious denouement, and are confident he will fix these little mistakes next time round. As for Maria Gomez, everybody agrees that she is just as you'd imagine a corrupt Hispanic government economist in a pencil skirt to be. Clive is satisfied and vindicated. He begins work on a sequel.

Excerpt - The New Yorker Festival: Zadie Smith: How To Fail Better.(The Guardian)

If you'd like to read more, send me an email to receive the full transcript.

Question: Have you ever had a "Clive" day, week, or year? What part of Clive speaks to you?

Let's Start At The Very Beginning...Or Not.

As I revise my first draft, one of my challenges has been the fact that I am not a linear writer. My novel currently stands as a collection of documents, scenes that have been written out of order because that is the way they have developed for me.

My writing is a visual experience. I see scenes in my head, like a movie. The story begins when I put pen to paper but it's not the actual beginning per say. If I do my part, looking and listening, the story takes flight quite easily. However the assembling of these pieces into a cohesive whole is another matter.

For starters, I have been struggling with the question, "What is the start of my story?" It would seem obvious, "Start at the beginning..." but there's more to consider with this thought. It's not enough to merely introduce characters and set up a scene. I know I have to offer something more, a compelling read. In this regard, beginnings can present a lot of trappings for novelists. One has to be careful to avoid lengthy introductions, questionable use of tension (too much as well as too little) and sparing use of the ol' writer's friend, the flashback. If used ineffectively, any of these elements can turn into a stumbling block for readers.

Knowing all this, I have been reading through my work over and over trying to decide, what stays, what goes and what ultimately should be my page 1. It hasn't been easy. I've rewritten my beginning several times now, maybe even one too many. There's a frustration in admitting that.

I began writing this post ready to admit my disappointment, figuring something has to give and then I came to realize that maybe that something was me. I've placed a lot of importance on knowing my exact beginning and I had to ask why?

A part of me wants the beginning to be done, set in stone, perfect and yet another part of me knows this is a naive thought in the midst of a first revision. Thanks to fellow bloggers, I know I am not alone in this thought. They remind me that thinking like this gives no room to the possibility of discovering something new as I make my way through the revision process which is the goal at this time. 

So I've decided to let go of knowing my beginning and moving on to another section of my manuscript. If I have any additional thoughts or movies in my head, I will just jot them down in a notebook for the next revision.

In the meantime, I just have to remind myself that some things written will serve me as a writer to understand my characters, most things written should serve the reader to want to turn the page but everything I keep should serve the story's plot. 

Yes, just knowing all that makes for a good start.

What's your feeling about beginnings? How many times have you rewritten your novel, short story, blog post or email?

I'm Up To My Ankles In Crap And You Think This Is A Good Thing Because?

Wellies

First drafts are not pretty. I've heard this said many times. It's only now as I go through my own work that I can see so clearly why - all the muck. 

I can make due with grammatical errors, illegible words, run on sentences and purple passages but what really irks me is when it all begins to feel like I've lost hold of that luminous gold thread, the whole reason I even began. I can still see peeks of it but the excavation is so slow. Some days it just feels like I am standing in SHIT!

Is this all that I am capable of?

Thanks to Jane Friedman I know the answer is both YES and NO. She wrote an article post on Writer Unboxed that talks about this writer pitfall and breaks down why moments like this can be regarded as a good thing. 

Read article here. 

Thanks Jane, I'm feeling better now. Excuse me while I rock some wellies and get back to work.

Do you have a love/hate relationship with your writing? What irks you most about first drafts?

Go On, You Can Tell It To Me Straight

Last September I began work on my first novel. 3 months, a stint of Nanowrimo and I had in my hands 77,000 beautiful words. I can still remember the feeling of typing the very last word, pure rush.

Then came January, the bearer of fresh starts. I followed my plan to re-write and edit my way through my manuscript. It would be easy now, until it wasn't. That's when you learn the meaning of STUCK, over and over again, bogged down in your own dreck. The spring passes like a blur with little sense of movement foward. 77,000, so many words.

Come summer I hide away reading, best sellers, cult classics, tales big and small. It would all be a study in craft, seeing what works and what doesn't. Each read, the good and the oh-so-lovely bad sharpen my critical eye. They also gets me thinking about my own neglected alphabet soup, words that I've let linger and sit, now bitter to my own tongue.

September. Has it really been a year since I began? The thought leaves me hot and cold all at once. This is where I stand now. It isn't as clear cut as the banner titles, "Winner" or "Loser". It's neither good or bad, just a place that I know I don't want to stay anymore.

And so I begin again.

Have you completed a novel? What helped you to get through the first round of revisions?
 

 

Hello Again

Hello to the first day of Fall!!

The summer has been quiet here at Calendar Gal but I'm looking to start things up again and get back on the writing track.

Fall feels like a good time for a fresh start, a new beginning. Keep an eye out for some tweaks and changes around here.

Change is good...so they tell me.

Lucky 7, Lucky You!

So I've been tagged by Jenn from Much to My Delight to share my Top 7 Posts.  I haven't been blogging much these days but this game of tag was the perfect opportunity to jump back into the mix. I have to admit, it was fun to take a look back again.

What is this about: To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

Rules:

1) Blogger is nominated to take part

2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.

So without further adieu, here we go for a walk down memory lane...

My Most Beautiful Post is a tie between SNAPSHOT and PILLOW TALK. To me, the "picture" is worth a thousand words.

My Most Popular Post is HEMINGWAY's GREAT WHITE BULL. The homage and tag to Hemingway brings readers in, the funky paper art gets them looking around and coming back.

I don't really have a controversial side but if I had to pick My Most Controversial Post it would be my first post, OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS WRITING I WILL GO. It's my longest post and in some respects, the most revealing about myself. Sharing my "lost year" might have seemed a bit much for my first foray into blogging but I don't regret the choice at all. There was something very liberating in writing it.

My Most Helpful Post would be during the month of April when I spotlighted National Poetry Month. It was a fun endeavor to explore the many sides of poetry in words, music and photographs. It also started a lot of dialogue and gave me an introducation with other bloggers who wanted to share their favorite poems too.

The Post Whose Success Surprised Me The Most would have to be KTCHEN CONFESSIONAL. I began this post with the intention of sharing some recipes but wound up discovering a little something more about how I fill my kitchen space. Personally, this was a fun post to discover but it's also been nice to see how much it resonated with readers.

The Post Who Didn't Get The Attention It Deserved would have to be the GIRL MEETS WORLD series. These posts totally amuse me...you, maybe not so much.

The Post I Am Most Proud Of is YOU ARE HERE PT 1 and PT2. Again, this was one of those writing experiences where you begin in one place, admittedly lost and discover a happy surprise in the end...it took a bit of writing but well worth the effort!

3) Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.

4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers

5) And so it goes on!

6) The site Trip Base be sharing the best posts from participating bloggers on their blog and everyday on Facebook and Twitter at #My7Links

Now to pass along the baton I nominate the following bloggers...

Maryanne at A Writer's Notepad

Barb at Written Not With Ink

Melissa at Inspiration and Rough Drafts

Keep this train chuggin!

Summer O' Summer

Summer O' Summer - Tell Me

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Just Let Go and Fly!

Comic strips are as sacred to me as any great novel. Why? Well, can you be witty and inspiring in less than 10 words? Nope, not me. That they can say so much with so little is a testament to the artform. Here's one of my favorites, MUTTS by Patrick McDonnell. I got to meet the author during a book signing and he signed it too...very cool!!!

When everyday feels like Monday...what inspires you?