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The Joy of Structure
When we first begin writing our memoirs, more often than not, it’s dull. Boring. A recitation of the facts of our life. Devoid of emotion. A bland telling of the stuff that happened without any of the emotional involvement that makes a story great. Meh! And that’s totally okay. First drafts are supposed to be a dull recitation of plot, without all the bells and whistles that make a story come alive for the reader. First drafts are meant to get the ideas out of your head and down on paper or screen so you can do something with them. It’s only as we revise and revise and revise…
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What Comfort Zone Can I Step Out Of Today?
On a Jim Fortin podcast this week, I heard the phrase, “What comfort zone can I leave today?” This really resonated with me. To leave a comfort zone means we need to change, and that’s not an easy thing to do. We like our status quo. It’s comfortable. We understand it. It’s not challenging or painful or hard. We love our routines. I’m reminded of the hermit crab. This little guy carries around the empty shell of another creature as his home and his protection, but whenever he grows too big for his current shell, he must find another, larger one and take a leap of faith that he’ll be…
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When It’s Okay To Act Out
Okay, so you’re writing away and you have no idea what motivates your main character (or yourself at age twelve). Or you can visualize your MC’s best friend, but you can’t hear her voice. Or you’ve finally finished your fifteenth draft and you’re ready to share with your beta readers or your writing group or your editor or (gulp!) your publisher, but you have a niggling feeling there’s something missing. Take a step back and try a couple of editing techniques that are a little different. When we read, we tend to “hear” the words in our heads. If the story’s well-written, we “see” the…
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How Not To Be A Wimp
Using Blind Spots and Limiting Beliefs to Power Your Memoir In my memoir classes, one of my favourite things to do is ask questions of my students to get them thinking more deeply about their stories, their characters and ultimately themselves. One of my students brought up the topic of fear of success the other day. She mentioned that she had a crippling fear of being successful, ie. “a public figure”. When I asked her what she thought was scary about that, she couldn’t tell me exactly, although, for her, it was tied up with public appearances, maybe interviews or readings of her work. They terrified her. It came down…
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Just Who Do You Think You Are?
One rainy day many years ago, while I was still in college, I was stomping along the street, resentful and annoyed, on the way to buy some milk since nobody at the house had even considered what happens when you use up the last few drops. Somehow, it always ended up being I who ran these little errands, and I was sick and tired of it. Suddenly, out of the blue, I heard a voice in my head say, “I am me.” Wait, I thought and stopped walking. What does that even mean — I am me? I know that. Who else could I be? The words held vague overtones of self-awareness, integrity,…
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Creative Cross-Pollination
Recently, in an online chat group, a friend of mine posted this quote: “My work is not merely about making and achieving a final product to wear or hang. They are my journey, my feelings, and my stories.” — Reiza Wahid I think that could apply to any of our creative efforts. It’s not just the destination. It’s the journey, the learning, the transformation. My friend went on to say, “It’s hard to explain that my diaries and origami give me such joy when there’s not much productive to show at the end. Transformation is the key – transformation of us and who we are.” …
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Daydreaming as an Art Form
“Idle minds are the devil’s research-and-development department.” — Robert Stacy McCain Daydreaming, a definition: noun The activity of thinking about pleasant things that you would like to do or have happen to you, instead of thinking about what is happening now. Daydreaming appears to be the brain’s default setting when no other external task is occupying its attention. For years, those of us who spent hours inside our own heads were considered time-wasters, dreamers who couldn’t live in the “real world”, unsuited for the practical requirements of daily living. We were called Procrastinators and we were taught to wake up and smell the coffee, stop dithering, get back to work and all the other sensible, pragmatic advice that goes along…
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Description—How Much Is Too Much?
Don’t use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do. — Mark Twain What is Description? Merriam-Webster calls it “an act of describing, specifically: discourse intended to give a mental image of something experienced.” Or: “a statement or account giving the characteristics of someone or something, a descriptive statement or account.” Narrative (the events), and description (how the character experiences the events), are the glue that keeps your reader stuck in your story. If nothing much happens, if the character is not emotionally engaged, then neither will the reader be engaged. Why is Description Necessary? 1. Description is all about the strategic delivery of important…
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Riding the Razor’s Edge
Recently a writer asked me this question: “How can I turn my ideas into fiction? My short stories tend to be small slice-of-life sorts of things.” This is something that I often run into in workshops and classes. People tell me they only write about true events. They don’t know how to stretch their imaginations to turn facts into stories. They’ve never learned the infinite possibilities behind that magical phrase, “What if?” To turn ideas into fiction, take your true-to-life story elements and take them as far into what-if as possible. The key to making a true story fictional is exaggeration. Make the events bigger than…
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“High Concept” Stories
While researching the week’s topic for my seniors’ group, (“A Clever Idea”) I tripped over a phrase that is much revered in Hollywood — “High Concept”. Definition of “High Concept”High Concept is defined by Merriam-Webster as: having or exploiting elements (such as fast action, glamour, or suspense) that appeal to a wide audience. In essence, High Concept is: Premise-driven Suited for a wide audience Unique Immediately intriguing Premise: A High Concept story must have an intriguing protagonist with a challenging goal that is highly significant to him/her, and the outcome must have tremendous consequences for the protagonist and the world he/she lives in. Audience: High Concept stories must…
