July 30, 2014 Check-In

I fiction read about two hours yesterday. I read both Elizabeth Stuart's Olive Kitteridge (for my theology book group) and Lois Lowry's The Giver. This morning, I took my book to the harbor and sat on a park bench, drank my morning coffee, and read The Giver for about forty minutes. Then, I read some more over an egg and cheese sandwich at a breakfast place. The Giver is creepy! It's a warning against totalitarianism. I am a little confused about the difference between totalitarianism and communism. I was using them interchangeably, and they are actually opposite ends of the political spectrum. Totalitarianism means a central power makes decisions for the people and owns property, while communism means the community makes decisions and property is owned communally. I'd like to learn more about examples of actual governments that operated under both regimes. Was Mussolini's Italy a totalitarian government? Was the form USSR communist? What about Stalin or Lenin though? Weren't they authoritative? I'm confused still about what these political systems mean....The Giver is very much a commentary on a political structure. Was Lowry writing in response to the systems that had been in play in the 20th century and the consequences of operating under those systems?

I'd like to find some commentary on The Giver....If you know any, please let me know!

I wrote for a very little bit yesterday. I will concertedly try to fiction write today. Thinking of not working on the novel today...just writing still life scenes of what I see before me. Good writing toggles between the character's inner world and descriptions of places, objects, settings. Both the inanimate and animate need to be written down by the writer. 

Behind!

I went to a wedding this past weekend, which was beautiful. Nothing got done really over the weekend in the way of writing or reading, but I have since travelled to Maine for a week of relaxation with family. I've gone to the library several times and several book stores in Maine over the last two days (ha!) and gotten loads of books, including The Giver, which a friend at the wedding recommended. I also read part of a book called The New Feminine Brain by Mona Lisa Schulz last night for a while. She's a neuropsychiatrist ( I think that's what she called herself) and a medical intuitive, who has collaborated by Christiane Northrup, author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom. Mona Lisa writes about how men's and women's brains are just different. From the hormones running through them, to the way the left and right brains operate. She argues that men's brains have less connectivity between the left and right hemispheres than women, and  women's brains (in general) are more intuitive (this is attributed to the right hemisphere). Interesting....Will look again at the book to flesh out what she's trying to say and be able to remember some examples to add some body to her argument....I still need to clarify in mind what she is trying to say...

I went to a presentation last night at Maine Media Workshops and College at the Rockport Opera House. There were two presenters---one an archival researcher, who clears permissions and finds images for documentaries that appear on channels like PBS. The other was a photographer professor, who examines the intersection of science and art in his photography. He's particularly interested in capturing the unseeable in his photography---the wormholes, the paradoxes, the other dimensions. He sees the artist and physicist as both trying to attempt to describe the unseeable....which makes sense to me. They just use different languages to do so...It was particularly inspiring to see someone who asked questions about everything, and explored the answers slowly and with observation and not speedily heading to Google to get the answer. I felt a kindred spirit.

How can I do this in my own life?

July 23, 2014 Check-In

How was your week?

Mine is going well. I didn't do much creative wise on Monday but yesterday I did. I went to the library after work and got out a few books on poetry (a manual, a collection by Margaret Atwood, and a Bill Moyers selections collection), as well as a new book for my theology reading book group --- Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. I finished Year of Wonders last night. The last thirty (?) or so pages are a whirlwind of action and the strongest part of the book to my mind. I'm not sure if I left with a 'theme' from the book. It was more of a book that was like looking at a painting depicting a life and period intricately but there was no agenda to convince the onlooker of anything -- like a Vermeer painting rather than political art. Have you read it?

I went for a run and thought about writing on my jog. I looked up at the clouds and thought, it will take me a lifetime to be able to translate the beauty of what I see right here in that simple skyskape into words. What words to pick? What rhythm, sound, meter? How to communicate that wonder and beauty to others...

A child can color a cloud and we know it signifies a cloud. You see someone like the Renaissance artist Titian who can draw a cloud and there's beauty in his symbolism. It took years of mastery and probably iterations upon iterations of clouds to give us something that has both sacredness and symbolism because the time the artist paid to developing his craft.

Writing about a cloud in the sky will take a lifetime of work. And what a joy of a journey and work I feel more and more drawn to each day.

July 20, 2014 Check-in

Weds-
On Wednesday, I went to hear Angie Smibert, a good friend and fellow writing critique group member, talk at Hollins University. Angie has written and published a great YA trilogy and you can check out her wonderful work her: http://www.angiesmibert.com/blog/
Several other members of our writing group were there to support Angie. She spoke to us, her critique partners, members of the Hollins creative writing program in children's literature, and others (the lectures are open to the public) about her journey to becoming a full-time writer. One thing that struck me, among many other things, was that she said something to the effect that she chose writing, because anything else was not enough. I get that. Writing gives me the space to reflect, to learn, to explore, to articulate, to grow. I feel a sense of companionship and belonging and wholeness when I'm writing. What about you?
Afterwards our group went out to a restaurant and were joined by some others.

Thurs-
Zip. Zonked from the night before. When I got home from work, I went for a long run and watched House and did not fiction write or read. What about you? How was your Thursday?

Friday-
I critiqued pieces for my writers' group. It takes some time and I try to be gentle and helpful. Friday evening, I went to my theology book group meeting. We discussed Hammer of God, which, no, is not about Thor. It was, however, written by a Scandinavian author so both Thor and the book do share that. I read a third of the novel, but was happy to participate when I could and hear other's views. The first novella, which I read, takes place in Odejso, Sweden, and centers on a curate named Sarvonius. He is motivated to help his congregants by bolstering his reputation. He causes division among his church by harping on everyone's faults rather than speaking about God's grace. He separates rather than binds up and make whole. The congregation want to oust him, and he comes to the realization that he has been doing his ministry in the wrong spirit. He affirms the importance of proclaiming God's unmerited grace. Bo Giertz wrote this as an argument against pietism, which was a 18th/19th century movement that said you had to X,Y,Z and not A,B,C to earn God's favor. When he comes to this realization, he is welcomed back warmly by the dean...much like the prodigal son.

How do your characters change in the courses of your stories? What are the inciting incidents, obstacles that lead them to change? Who changes them? Do you leave room in your story for the characters to keep changing even after the last page and the novel is over?


Sat-
I continued to critique pieces for my writers' group. Then, it was critique time! We met at a local lake and discussed our pieces at a picnic table. There were some very good comments. We discussed magical realism. If anyone wants to chime in and tell me how it's different than paranormal fiction, please do. I got some helpful comments about my novel -- my thoughts are still percolating. We discussed point of view, characters' voice, and poetry. Allison recommended I read a book about the craft of poetry (and poetry) since I'm writing my novel in free verse. That's actually really helpful since I do get confused about where my line breaks should be since I'm not following a set meter or number of feet.
After critiquing, I swam, we had a potluck and barbeque and since our deal Allison is moving, shared a time for her to open going away presents. Not surprisingly, we all pretty much got her books! I got her this book which I really want to read myself ----- http://www.amazon.com/Chains-The-Seeds-America-Trilogy/dp/1416905863
It's historical fiction, which I'm attempting in my novel.


Sunday-
Went to church. Some hymns really do have the loveliest lyrics. They are poetry. Perhaps that is where my ear first learned to love the music in language.

The rest of the day will be some time to just be and create....I'm going to dip back into Year of Wonders, read some of Walking on Water, by Madeliene L'Engle, and shoot for writing the fourth chapter in my novel.  This chapter is about the raising of a wheat silo...

Update - read a lot on Sunday afternoon and even got a jog in. Started outlining my fourth chapter in The Tower. After outlining, I just sat and closed my eyes and tried to play out the scene in my head. I don't think "writing" needs to be just in front of the computer or notebook. A part of "writing" is "visualizing" the scene first...then translating the images into words....Well, at least for me it seems to be so far. What about you?

July 16, 2014

Wow ---- check-in came fast! Not too much to report these last two days...

Monday:
Wrote for a little less than an hour Monday am. Read Kidlit/Writers digest for a little less than 10 minutes...

Tuesday:
Fiction read abt an hour in A Hammer of God.  Why, when you reread chapters, can they seem so different depending on where you're sitting, level of concentration, and time of day?

Keep it Simple: Keys to Realistic Dialogue (Part I)

Keep it Simple: Keys to Realistic Dialogue (Part I)

July 13, 2014 Check-in

Weds-
I fiction read for 30 minutes in Year of Wonders.

Thurs-
I fiction read for 40 min read in Year of Wonders and 10 minutes in KidLit411.

Friday-
I wrote for 30 minutes in the morning. Morning time works for me! I fiction read for 30 minutes in Year of Wonders in the evening.

Sat-
I went to the wonderful Smithfield Historic Plantation in Blacksburg, Virginia, for some creative inspiration. It was a great trip---I learned all sorts of things. I love meeting people who are passionate about what they love and want to share it with a guilelessness that shows how innately they've been drawn to the subject. I learned that tea used to be shipped in bricks and the binder was pig blood and later pig manure. I learned that the origin of the phrase, "Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite." Any guesses?

I fiction read for about 40 minutes in Hammer of God. I need to shake a tail feather on reading this! My book group is meeting this Friday.

Sunday-
I fiction read for about two hours in Hammer of God. It's three novellas in one book. I think each one takes place in Sweden in the 1800s--I'm only through most of the first novella. I do jump around a lot when reading. I tend to like to get a feel for how a book hangs so I'll dip into the middle then read the end and try to understand the structure of the book from a birds eye view. Then I'll read the beginning again. This book is all about pastors who learn about God's grace during their work. I find the characters do a lot of preaching of the author's thoughts. So it's theology through dialogue more so than theology as revealed through events. Though I'm a bit wrong about this in a way, because the end of the story of the first novella is really about a character's transformation after a decision by the church has been made about him. The author writes a lot about light in his physical descriptions. I have more respect for any author now that I have started trying my hand at creative writing myself. It is just tough sometimes to eek out the words.  I wrote for about a half an hour in the sun at  a local coffee shop for quiet to write because I was free of distraction there. Do you know how horses have blinders when they ride through city streets so things don't distract them from the sides (other lanes)? I kind of feel like when I write I need to put on blinders too, just so I can zero in and focus. I heard that metaphor once sometime a while ago, about needing to be like horses and put blinders on sometimes in life. Not sure where I heard and from whom, but it's stuck with me.

I tried something different after the stint at the coffee shop writing. I sat on my couch for an hour and just closed my eyes and took myself to the scene I was trying to write about, without pressure to get anywhere. I just let things float in and then float out with no anxiety to get it on paper or any anxiety of the blank page staring me in the face. I tried to smell the room I was writing about, tried to walk through it and notice the wallpaper, the floor, the skin on my character's hands and face. I started to ask myself questions about the characters I was meeting. Why did they do this? What did they want from life? What did they do all day? I started to think of writing as a receptive act --- trying to listen for the story to come  and reveal itself---rather than a purely creative act. I did naturally fall asleep as I was daydreaming about my story. It was lovely to just rest --- to just be.

I'm not sure how your creative mind works but when I tap into mine it works best when it's unencumbered and making free form associations and sort of unspooling itself naturally. This is the land of right brain thinking and at this point in my writing life I am quite aware when I am flipping the switch and allowing myself to enter that territory. It's the space of circles and intuition, not lines. It is a creative space and truly I need to carve out time for it because my engines run on linear thinking much of the time. And getting quiet and stopping and shutting my eyes is one way I can flip that switch and visit my story, let the ribbons of creativity unspool, and listen more to what my story is telling me, rather than force the story, like heavy, plodding, thick legs and feet, out.

I wrote for an additional hour and forty minutes in the evening on a chapter about memories, what gives our lives meaning, the Civil War, aging, and slaying dragons. Very grateful for this time. I feel like I'm getting to know my characters more and walking with them finally.

July 9, 2014 Check-In

Monday-
I read KidLit411 on Monday, but got sidetracked from writing because I wanted to prepare a care package for one of my best friends who just had a baby, write birthday cards for my aunt and cousin, and another present for a friend. So life intervened and I didn't write and I'm cool with that! I did read for the thirty minutes in Year of Wonders. I love all the words she uses. She has such a rich vocabulary. Sometimes I like to imagine myself as a word hunter, with a net trying to capture new words in the wilds. Thought maybe I'll try to get up in the morning and write then, rather than at the end of the day --- more motivation and less tired at the start of the day.

Tuesday-
Not much of any of the Row80 goals accomplished today! I wrote for ten minutes in the morning. The evening (all the way til about 10 pm) was taken up by a fun church council meeting/potluck at the lake. It was a wonderful meeting where we made some good progress about our social ministry programs and also just shared our lives and laughed. Plus I got to learn about the history of the host's house which was so interesting. So I didn't have any time to devote to my Row80 goals after work but I'm ok with that. Good things were going on in their place. Maybe I need to change my goal to 15 minutes a day of reading and writing? We'll see...I will have some time Wednesday to focus on Row80 goals so I'm excited about that.