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This morning I learned a young acquaintance of ours ended his life this week.  Stunned, I stood in silence, images of the man and our dealings with him reeling through my thoughts like a movie.

Cheerful.  Giving.  Resourceful.   Three descriptions that come to mind when I think of him. 

As my neighbor  and I walked our morning trail, she said, “Don’t people realize the blues pass?”

“But depression isn’t just feeling down,” I said.  “It’s more all-encompassing.  I know because my uncle suffered it all of his life.”

Memories of his battle  floated to the present.  I knew he took pills which gave him side effects that weren’t pleasant.  So he got off the pills and would be all right for a while until he slid into the depths of misery again.

“And what about his mother?  Didn’t he think of her?  She had to find him,” said my neighbor of the young man’s suicide.

I nodded.  “But he wasn’t thinking about her, he was so inside his own pain and grief.” 

It’s another one of those what if stories.  What if you could have stopped him in time?  What if you hadn’t left? 

Modern medicine has come so far . . .  and yet it hasn’t. 

Writing Prompts:

1.  Writing can be cathartic.  Is there a memory you have been suppressing?  Writing about an emotional pain may bring relief.  Try it and see if it can help you.

2.  Write a poem, song, essay or story in honor of someone you know who has faced a battle – – either emotional or physical.  What do you admire about this person?  Why?

3.  Create a piece of art expressing a mood you are in right now.  You choose the form and style.

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This morning was a sleep-in day.  Hallelujah!  While dozing past our usual bounce-out-of-bed time, we heard a clunk from above. 

“What was that?” asked my husband.

Later, when we stood outside our car ready to run errands, a Pacific Gas and Electric worker approached us from his truck parked in front of our house. 

“A problem?” I asked.

“You had a meter leak.  I fixed it,” he said. 

I thanked him.  He nodded. 

“It was small,” he added, before hopping into his truck and driving away through the neighborhood. 

My husband said, “Wow.  I worked over there in the yard just yesterday and I never smelled a gas leak at all.”

“Bob,” I reminded him.  “You couldn’t smell a fire if it raged next door.  How could you smell gas?” 

“Maybe,” he admitted. 

“Face it,” I said.  “Your sniffer is off.”

“Humph,” he said in mock dismay.

As we pulled out of our driveway, we noticed the PG&E worker stopping at another house. 

“I think they’re being very careful after the accident,” said Bob, referring to the horrendous gas explosion in San Bruno last fall, which caused many deaths  and destroyed a complete neighborhood. 

“They SHOULD be,” I said.

Unfortunately, it took a high cost to become preventive now. 

Writing Prompts:

1.  Rewrite your history. What if . . . is a game we all play in life and in writing.  What if a turn of events DIDN’T happen?  What if a turn of events DID?  In world history, there is always a WHAT IF.  Which WHAT IF do you WISH had occurred?  What WHAT IF do you wish hadn’t?  Write scenes as though they had and hadn’t occurred. 

2.  Show a preventive scene in your writing project that foreshadows an upcoming disaster.  It doesn’t have to be a physical disaster – – it can be an emotional one.  (Example: a break-up could be foreshadowed by a small rude or annoying behavior, or a tell-tale sign of infidelity)

3.  Write the climatic scene of the break-up or the disaster in your book or story. 

4.  Write a poem of an image or scene in your life you would have liked to have had preventive knowledge. 

 *****

Poets and Writers Contest

http://www.pw.org/about-us/california_writers_exchange_award

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Writing Beginnings and Character

On Beginnings

A question from a writer:  I know the basic premise of my story, but am uncertain exactly how to begin the story.  (She writes the specifics to me.)  What do I do now?

Writers often think there is a magic formula to writing.  There isn’t.  No one can prescribe an elixir for your story.  It’s TERRIFIC when you already know your premise!  This writer is ahead of the game.  Now the fun begins!  She knows her conflict, so all she has to do is throw her two characters together into a scene and let them talk, act, and REACT to each other.   Keep on writing and sooner or later,  the writer will instinctively know where to begin.

What if you don’t know?   Read what you have written aloud.  By hearing your own voice, you will feel the rhythm of your pacing and feel what should come next.  Do you have too much dialogue chunked together?  Or too much narration and not enough action? 

Revision is your best friend.  Play with your words.  Have fun with it! 

Sleep on it.  Time is another savior.  Go back to your story and you will discover hidden insights later. 

Talk with other writers.  Sometimes our community can help one another in our progress.

———

On Character

Do you want to know your character better?  Besides throwing her into scenes, daydreaming about her, and basically spending lots of time with your protagonist, make sure you know her inside and out.  Discover the quirky tidbits about what makes her tick.    You can answer these questions about yourself and later write an anecdote or personal narrative about a memory that may be inspired by them, and also use them for your characters. 

Favorite quote: 

(Mine:  “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend.  Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”  Groucho Marx       and

  “All who wander are not lost.”  J. R. R. Tolkien . . . oh, and one more . . . “In every struggle, there is a hidden

blessing.”  Joan Chittister )

Current photo on desk or dresser:  

(Mine: a 1940s picture of my mother)

A movie to watch over and over again:

(Me:  Ruthless People, Born Yesterday)

Quirky collection:

(Mine: water bottle labels – – I don’t drink, so when I travel, I collect “interesting” labels to tease the wine snobs in my life . . .)

Favorite book:

(Mine: Charlotte’s Web, Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill a Mockingbird, and 1000 more)

What to save out of a burning house:

(Mine: my dog, Zoie, and old photos)

How earned money as a child:

(Mine:  babysitting)

First jobs:

(Mine: worked in a library, a factory, a liquor corporation, in a school)

Quirky jobs?

(Mine: Easter Bunny!)

Writing Prompts:

1.  Write an anecdote, story, personal narrative or poem inspired by any of the questions above pertaining to YOUR life. 

2.  Write a scene inspired by any of the questions above pertaining to your character’s life. 

3.  Come up with other questions and answers for your character – – and you – – to answer.

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Writing About Unlikable Characters

My husband and I returned to our car after shopping when we discovered, adjacent to our car’s passenger door, a disheveled guy in shorts standing next to his rear view window, checking himself out. 

My husband pointed his keys at our car, and we heard the clicks.  We stood at the end of our car and waited a few moments.  I cleared my throat. 

The man picked his nose as he watched his reflection.

(Really.  Not kidding.  Or in Dave Barry’s style, I’m not making this up.) 

We waited some more.

I took in his physical looks; his belly extended beyond his tee-shirt and his plaid shorts.   As he adjusted his mirror and gazed at himself, his greasy hair flopped over his eyes.   Meanwhile, on the other side of his vehicle, his wife loaded their toddler into a stroller. 

Clearly, he wasn’t going to move an inch to let me in the car. 

Bob said,  “I’ll back out the car for you.” 

As I got in the car, I said, “He doesn’t have a clue.”

“#@%!, ” said my husband. 

Writing Prompts:

1.  Go to a public place with a notebook.  Jot down physical descriptions of people you see.  Be as specific as possible.  Start with general notes and then glance at small details – – the mole on a face, the brown spots on one’s hands.  How does the person walk?  Stand?  Sit?  Does the person have a way of talking that is unique?   Show emotion?

2.  Use some of those notes to create an unlikable fictional character.  Why is this person the way she or he is?  What kind of annoying habits or morals does she/he possess?  Write a backstory for the character which may show motivation for the character quirks.

3.  Write other characters who must deal with the unlikable character.  What will be the problem/conflict/plot of your story?  Is  your unlikable character the main character or a minor character?

4.  Write a personal experience piece about a person you have dealt with who would fit the description of an unlikable character.

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House on Fire! What Do You Take?

Joan Morris, a columnist from the Contra Costa Times, posted a good question in a recent article.  “Fire is moving toward your house, and emergency officials have given you 15 minutes to save what you can before evacuating.  What would you take?” 

Her question was based on the book, The Burning House: What Would You Take by Foster Huntington (It Books).

I think back to the Oakland fire in 1989, when Maxine Hong Kingston couldn’t get to her house to save her manuscript, and there were no online back-up systems available. 

A friend’s sister lived in the area and didn’t even have fifteen minutes.  They yelled for her to run, and she noticed her jewelry box, her photo album, and a coffee mug on her bedroom dresser. 

It wasn’t until she was at the bottom of the hill she noticed what was in her hand. 

The coffee mug.

Writing Prompts:

1.  What are your most prized possessions?  Why are they important to you?  Share the anecdotes or the backstories of these items.  Craft this into a personal essay if you can.

2.  In your most recent writing work, what is your protagonist’s most prized possessions? Write a scene about them.

3.  Create a poem about possessions and their importance, their weight, and the depth of their meaning or non-meaning to you.

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Missed Opportunities

Several years ago, a friend had written a fiction manuscript which had an amazing voice.  I couldn’t wait for her to market it.  She sent the ms. out a few times to editors  and received standard rejections until finally she got a nibble. 

“You need to show more than tell in these chapters,” suggested the editor.  “But your writing is good.”  She went on to give more of a detailed critique of what the writer could do to improve the beginning of the story.

My friend, instead of being elated that she received A PERSONAL REJECTION (aka SUCCESS IS COMING!), she felt dejected.  How could the editor not love each and every word of her book?  This must mean she was a failure as a writer.  

She put the manuscript back into a drawer. 

“Why don’t you work on that book again?” I suggested to her recently. 

She lifted up her hands into the air,  helpless.  “It’s too late now.  The editor wouldn’t remember who I was, even if that editor was still at that publishing house.  The house might even have folded.” 

“So what?”  I said. 

“But I missed my chance.”

“It’s not too late,” I said.  “You still have the manuscript with the fabulous voice.  Rework it.   Even if the editor is now selling Tupperware, there are OTHER editors out there.  And you never even tried an agent.  Besides, maybe the editor still IS and editor after all.”

My friend nodded slowly; a light flickered in her eyes. 

Writing Prompts: 

1.  Write about a time you missed an opportunity or thought you had.

2.  Create a poem titled, Missed Opportunities.

3.  Sometimes we choose to say no to an opportunity that we think isn’t right for us.  This opens the door for something better.  Who knows?   My friend may have more maturity now to handle the rewrite and will come up with a better draft.   Write a piece (any form or genre) about another door opening to a more desirable turn of events.

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Feel helpless in your writing?

A bird flew into our window the other morning.   He sat up after a few minutes and stared into space.  We set a plastic cap of water in front of him with some birdseed in case he needed refreshment.

Fortunately, after an hour of recovery he flew away.   

Writing prompt:

1.  When was the last time you suffered a shock; something that put you in a daze for awhile?  Write about this experience and how you reacted.  Did it change your behavior afterwards?

2.  Have you ever worried about someone or something that was totally out of your control?  Write about this situation. 

3.  Create a conflict for your protagonist making him feel helpless.  How does she/he react?  Thoughts?  Feelings?  When can he act to create a difference?

4.  Choose one of the bold printed words in this blog and write a story, poem, or personal experience based on it.

5.  Do you ever feel lost or helpless during your writing process?  Stuck when it comes to marketing your work?  Journal about your thoughts and feelings.  But recover as much as you can with positive thinking with support from your writing friends.  Thoughts create actions which promote good writing.  Remember, even the best, most successful writers have been lost in their process and have received many rejections.  Read Working Days; The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck .  It’s a fabulous look at how a remarkable writer wrote and viewed his process.   A couple of great quotes about writing:  

“A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult that it is for other people.”  Thomas Mann

“There is nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.”   Red Smith

“Easy reading is hard writing.”  Anonymous

And remember,  Madeleine L’Engle’s  A WRINKLE IN TIME was turned down 29 times.

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Line of Overheard Dialogue

Stepping outside my front door, I heard my neighbor say to her Poodle,  “Oh, Xena, I wish you weren’t a dog.” 

Although I laughed when I heard her say this, immediately characters in a story began performing in my mind based on this piece of dialogue. 

Talking with my neighbor, I discovered she, her husband and Xena were embarking on a trip.  Where could they eat that allowed Xena, too?   Many wouldn’t have outdoor seating so Xena would have to stay in the car. 

We writers have a rather impolite way of poking our noses into others’  lives.  I’ve been known to follow a couple around the block – – completely out of my way – – just so I could hear the rest of a conversation.  Snoopy?  You bet.  But for the right reason.  Sometimes you discover a line of dialogue or a character quirk that is just too good to pass up. 

Ever borrow traits from what you’ve heard and saw to plop into a character?   Of course you have.     Real people have appeared in my children’s books and sometimes unknown actors from old movies pop into my stories too.  At least they have physically.  It’s helpful to have a model of someone and then you can create the personality you need.  Like Franzen borrowing his brother’s family album hobby to add to one of his characters.  Learning about your characters are part of the fun of building a story.    Why not use a line of dialogue to help you start?

Writing Prompts:

1.  Write a story or poem that goes along with the line of dialogue I heard above.

2.  Hang out in a place where lots of people mill around.  A town square, mall, airport, or a park all are examples.  Lounge around with a notebook and overhear conversations.  Jot down dialogue for future inspiration. 

3.  Use one of the lines of dialogue you’ve heard recently to inspire a piece of writing or artwork. 

4.  Build a character from one flash of a real person.  It can be from a picture in a magazine, someone you barely know, or one trait from someone you know well.  (Just don’t use that whole person.)  Plop your character into scenes of conflict to see how your character will respond.

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Your Lucky Break

I read Anna Quindlen’s lovely memoir, Lots of Candles Plenty of Cake and paused at her question, “Do all of us, by the time we’re grown-ups, have something that was our signal lucky break?”

Thinking back, I can construct a time-line of lucky breaks, but I don’t really believe in luck.  I believe everything happens for a reason, both “lucky” and “unlucky.”  If it’s not something we desire, perhaps we learn more from those stages in our lives?

But no matter what my philosophy is, there are moments for everyone that there is a click . . . everything comes together perfectly.  Whether it is in a career, level of creativity, knowledge, or a special relationship that changes a life forever, it is a break. 

Writing Prompts:

1.  Answer Anna Quindlen’s question through a personal narrative, poem, song or another work of art. 

2.  Create a time-line of creative learning experiences you’ve had in your life.  Choose one to express with an essay.

3.   What about the characters in your most recent project?  What have been their lucky breaks?  Create scenes about theirs.  What about their unlucky ones?  How have they dealt with these?  Favorably?  Unfavorably?  Show their character’s growth or weaknesses through these scenes.

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Jonathan Franzen – Writing Fiction and Memoir

Jonathan Franzen, author of The Corrections, Freedom, two other novels, a work of nonfiction and two collections of essays, gave a talk the other night and I was a fortunate attendee.

He spoke with thoughtfulness and richness.  When the audience asked questions, Franzen didn’t merely pop off answers from the top of his head, but gave them much consideration; the answers were from deep reflections, much like his writing. 

“Reading and writing fiction is an act of social engagement.”

“A character dies on the page if you can’t hear his or her voice.”

“A novel is a personal struggle.  What is fiction after all if not purposeful dreaming?”

“If fiction is easy to write it’s not any good.” 

(He mentioned he wasn’t talking about fun, light reading.)

“Take autobiographical risks.  Trust people you know to love the whole you.  All writers have to be loyal to themselves.”  His brother was similar to the character, Gary, in The Corrections, in that he was also working on a family album.  But Franzen learned not to be concerned because he knew his brother had his own life.  After his brother read the book he called him.  “John?” he said.  “This is your brother.  (Pause.) Gary!” 

“Tone, language, character – – – even a great TV show like Breaking Bad can’t do moral subtly. I’m trying to defeat other media.” 

“A writer wants to be alone in a room.  He’s easily ashamed and is an exhibitionist.”

“I’ve grown a thick skin.  I’ve learned not to Google myself.” 

“I never thought I’d do nonfiction.  I thought it was a betrayal of the novel.” 

Favorite bird at the moment?  The California Towhee.  Why?  Subtle.  Charismatic.  Not shy. 

Just like Jonathan Franzen. 

Writing Prompts:

1.  Franzen gave a plug for Memoir Journal, a nonprofit that is a literary magazine and also holds writing workshops.  Check this publication out a memoirjournal.net    

They are open to submissions for memoir pieces, with $500 and publication as their top prizes.  Write a memoir following their submission policy.   

2.  Choose one small autobiographical detail and combine it with a fictional character in your story.  Make sure it enhances and adds depth to your character and story.   

3.  Create a character with one or all of these descriptions:  subtle, charismatic, not shy.

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