Writing Wednesday: Mid-story Slump

Every writer has been there or will be there at some point. Your story is flying along and you’re feeling great about it and then, there’s a change. An ill wind blows over you and suddenly each word is pulled like taffy and you’re slogging through a chunk of story that you can’t find love for or excitement for and you’re bogged down, pulled down until you’ve come to a complete stop. It’s not exactly writer’s block but it’s at least a cousin.

There are many ways to deal with that mid-story slump. My favorite way is not to deal with it at all. If I reach a place where I’m stuck, I either switch projects until something shakes loose, or I’ll put a note in the file, highlight it, and move to the next thing I know that happens. That’s what revisions and rewrites are for – filling the holes and sanding the edges. Usually, by the time I get back to that spot during the rewriting process, I’ll know what has to happen.

My way doesn’t work for everyone and certainly not everyone has a plethora of projects to hopscotch between willy nilly. Even if you’re a pantser like me, a brief outline of a section of a story can really help get it back on track. Remember in high school when your English teacher had to write up that timeline of whatever assigned book (in my case, Heart of Darkness)? Do that to your own story. What has led up to this place? If you’ve got a lull in the action, what needs to happen to spark the next leg of the journey? If you know how it’s supposed to end, work backward to find the steps of how it unfolded that way.

My oldest always tells me that the stuff he learned in high school English wasn’t the sort of thing he really needs to know, especially where teachers had them dissect novels and boil them down until all the good stuff was gone and it was just bones left. Maybe he won’t need it (probably will)  but fiction writers can use those techniques to fill their own plot holes or catch their own inconsistencies.

If you’re really stuck in your story and you don’t want to do something else until you figure out the problem, strip the story like you would have in Freshman Lit and figure out what questions don’t have answers yet. Finding those answers might help you see how your stubborn story should unfold.

Try ReadWriteThink ‘s database of worksheets, especially the drama map (needs flash)! Also Education.com has several printables available that might be useful.

Happy writing!

A jumbled puddle

That’s about the best way to describe me at the moment. My brain is going a thousand miles an hour and bouncing from topic to topic like a pinball bouncing off pop bumpers on the best run ever. I’m trying to make sure the youngest has all the things he needs and is getting into the rhythm of his new school year. How the hell is he in 8th grade already? I’m trying to make sure the oldest is all packed up and ready to leave for college (I can barely wrap my head around the college thing) and I’m so worried he’ll forget something and I’m pretty sure he thinks I’ve completely lost it (and he hasn’t even seen me blubbering over not having anyone to watch the funny show with and doesn’t read my blog). I’m trying to read two books (both will eventually get reviewed). I’m trying to figure out if I’ve got the platform to work a patreon properly – I know I have the material to make one work, I just don’t know if anyone would be interested. I’m trying to make sure I’ve got everything ready for the Beaver County Bookfest – I really want to have a good table set up and my helper is probably going to have to work (anyone want to come help?). And there’s my writing too.

On the patreon – I think I’ll keep looking and thinking about that a bit. I’ve got more than enough material to have fun with it. I may start doing a bit with that somehow, I just need to get all my ducks in a row and figure out what people might be interested in and in what format. I’ve got pieces that didn’t make it into the books, and how they changed from first draft to what got published, character sketches, short stories, a few longer stories that could be serialized pretty easily, audio (not so much video – not a fan of cameras on myself), poetry and that sort of thing. What would you like to see become a regular feature on whatever platform I end up going with?

Most things are going to have to wait until monday at this point – the rest of my weekend is going to be pretty full up figuring out how to let my little crow go without making a nuisance of myself. And maybe a little trying to figure out if the Unexplained Files is a serious show or not and why the Yeti episode feels so much like SNL’s skit about finding Santa Claus.

Writer Wednesday: Appropriation and Appreciation

A writer does not have to be a particular race or culture to write a character that is but said writer should be mindful of damaging stereotyping and willing to listen to the very real people who are of that particular race or culture. With everyone talking about diversity being important but also talking about how cultural appropriation is something bad to avoid, it’s hard to find the balance. The real world is generally a diverse place and so should be your fiction unless there is an in-universe reason for there not to be. You can write about a culture without giving in to damaging stereotypes or tropes. It takes dedication, research, and the willingness to listen and speak to the people of that culture.

I think we have to be careful to encourage the people of underrepresented cultures to write their stories as those outside that culture work carefully to include that culture in their own stories. The key to building a diverse, believable world in fiction is to take note of the very real, very diverse world we live in.

Many people smarter and more well spoken than me have touched on this topic at length and I’m going to point out some of them. Cultural Appropriation in Fiction.  Don’t Dip Your Pen in Someone Else’s Blood is a good insight into some the perils of writing about other cultures and how to take steps to avoid being part of the larger problem.

Personally, I think it’s important that we write the stories with an eye toward inclusion. Every kid (and kid at heart) deserves to be able to read books about people like them, who look like them, sound like them, etc. But we need to do it the right way, with sensitivity and knowledge and depth. Enjoying a culture shouldn’t be synonymous with appropriation, nor should enjoying the art or media of a particular culture. I don’t believe having a character be of another race or culture or gender or preference than the author is immediately suspect. But I absolutely believe that if we aren’t careful, diligent, our stories become more harmful than helpful and I don’t know any writer who wants that. Write what you want but do it with care and understanding.

Happy writing!

Emptier Nest

It’s not empty yet but it’s getting a whole lot closer. My first born is about to be headed to college and I’m so excited for him and proud to be his mama and sad that one of my skizzlebutzes is heading out into life. (Side note: I have no idea what a skizzlebutz is or how it’s spelled and Google failed me but my mama used to call me that and I’ve always called the kids that so hopefully it’s nothing awful). It didn’t actually seem really real until we had his graduation party. Between that and the growing pile of whatsits and doohickies that he needs to outfit his dorm room, it’s really sinking in now.

He’s excited and I’m excited for him. The opportunity he’s been given, the program he’s in at the school he’s in in the city he’s in, it’s all amazing and I can’t wait to see what he does with it. I know I’m going to miss him and I’ll be a little sad but holy moly, this is amazing.

I’m not worried about him – he spent a big chunk of a year doing a lot of the adult sort of stuff when I was having my first RA flare for all those months. He did the laundry and the dishes and a lot of the housework sort of stuff (not ashamed to say he’s a lot better at cleaning than I am). He’s understands financial responsibility a lot better than I did at his age. He’s never been my wild child and he’s never given me cause to worry about him. I feel a little guilty that I’m not more worried about that sort of stuff.

I’m sure I’ll cry when I go to watch something we would have watched together. I’m sure I’ll cry a bunch because I do that. That doesn’t mean I’d rather he were home. I don’t want to be an anchor, I want to be a lighthouse. I want to be there when it’s stormy and bleak but I don’t ever want to be the thing that holds him back or keeps him down.

That’s not say I don’t worry or won’t worry – I’m really good at worrying about stupid shit that might never happen. I’ll haunt the news sites of his new city and find new ways to worry about him because this is a big scary world and because that’s part of my heart going off on this grand adventure but I’ve got my fingers crossed that his dad and I have done our jobs well enough that he figures out the flying part with nary a glance over his shoulder at us. Fly my little crow, fly.

Writer Wednesday: People Watching

It goes against everything we’re taught in polite society but one of the best ways to learn to write conversations is by being a third party witness to them, especially with strangers where you have no bias or stake in said conversation. I call it people watching but really, it’s being nosy and eaves dropping. Dialogue isn’t easy. You’d think it would be, given we generally write in the language we’re most comfortable speaking but getting the rhythm and cadence of actual speech is harder than you’d think.

Generally, the lack of contractions make dialogue sound forced, robotic, and unbelievable. People speak with varying vernacular depending on their geographical location but it isn’t all people or all locations and if you aren’t well versed in that vernacular beyond the stereotype of it, don’t use it. Dialect is tricky and goes halfway unnoticed when it’s used well but it should never be so intrusive that it makes a reader wonder what the hell the character is saying. Slang is part of that dialect thing – different people have different words for the same thing depending on their location and culture. Gesticulation goes hand in hand with all of that and also varies depending on culture and location.

I know it’s rude to listen to other people’s conversations but it really is useful. I would never suggest you use that overheard and stolen conversation in a story though – that would be rude. You don’t even need to really listen to the words. Take the Peanuts tv specials. We never hear the adults talk, just this blurred mwah mwah but it sounds like part of a conversation because the cadence and tone feels real enough. Try it next  time you’re people watching, don’t listen to the words, just the cadence and tone, the volume and emphasis, and then try to infer from those things the mood of the conversation. Arguments tend to be faster and harsher but, in public, quieter than regular speech. Sad conversations are slower, softer, almost defeated sounding.

When you write dialogue, are you taking those sorts of things into consideration? If not, you should be.

Most important note about dialogue: There’s nothing wrong with the word said. Use it where you must, use other things where they fit, but don’t just use variations of the word said – said is fine for that.

Happy writing!

(and sorry about last week, I was having a doozy of a day and it just didn’t work out)

 

The Continuing RA Voyage

I’d started a post about some of this a few days ago that I didn’t post as it was more annoyance than I like to post on my blog and I’m trying to do better at letting some things go, even when they frustrate me. I’m two years in to this journey now, coming up very soon on the second anniversary of my first rheumatologist appointment and all the official stuff. I’ve come a long way but it’s not perfect yet and I’m certainly no where near what someone might call remission. But I’m feeling better today than I have in two and a half years and that’s a lot.

My rheumy diagnosed me with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia (though that’s more of a catch all for the pain I was still having that wasn’t precisely presenting like RA). I’m on methotrexate and nortriptyline. I’m taking a women’s daily multivitamin with energy boosters and an omega-3 supplement because I don’t eat fish. I’m no longer crashing out at 1pm every day or even really taking a nap. The pain is mostly under control – it’s less pain now and more discomfort. I can finally focus on other things beyond what’s hurting today. I needed to lose about 100 pounds according to both my rheumy and my gp for my health (and to avoid some scary things in my family history). I’d like to drop 120 pounds aesthetically but I’m much more concerned about the health stuff. Having all the extra weight on my joints exacerbates all of my issues.

I am not good at losing weight. I’m certainly not good at it when I’m not paying attention. Food is my happy place and that’s great for my taste buds and horrible for my waistline. This year has had some major ups and downs medically – stupid scary lumps and cyclical depression – but it feels like I’m coasting for the time being and that’s not bad. Because I’m feeling better, sleeping better, and all that, I can really focus on the weight.

I was poked at the other day for using diet as a means of weight control but there’s not a lot of options when the kinds of exercises that are most helpful are hurty and take me days to recover from. Some people just can’t or won’t understand that all the things I do today, I will pay for tomorrow. I am constantly in energy debt, borrowing against my tomorrows. If I wasn’t living a situation where I can set my schedule and not move for extended times, I don’t know what I’d do. So yes, my primary weight loss tool is counting calories. It’s also the only thing that has ever worked for me. And it’s working again now. I’ve lost 10 pounds since I started up again with the MyFitnessPal app (only 90 more to go). I also bought a little peddler because I CAN do that without hurting my knees or feeling like I can’t move for three days (like aerobics or wii boxing or wii tennis or hiking).

Part of my desire to lose the weight is just for me though. I am not comfortable in this skin. Telling me I should be, spouting body positive things at me, aren’t going to change my personal ideal aesthetic. I would rather look like Morticia than Mad Madam Mim thank you very much. That’s a personal preference – my personal preference. I don’t mind being curvy but I do mind that I could probably pass for pregnant without a whole lot of effort. My baby is about to turn 13, I should really have lost it by now. It’s a happy side benefit that losing this weight would be beneficial for my diseases and possible help me avoid some of the scary things that run in my family – type 2 diabetes and heart disease for instance. I’m not wanting to lose weight for other people’s opinion, just mine, so leave me to it thanks. Honestly, I have to pay attention to the calorie intake as, if I’m perfectly honest here, I’m just as likely to eat the whole pizza as I am to have just one slice of it. Counting calories helps me not to do that.