Quite the Life (and all in Times New Roman 10pt!)
Pictures are mirrors. Today I didn’t like what I saw.
There are two pictures here. Scroll down to see the second.
I hope, should there be a lesson for you in this, it is neither as painful nor as necessary as mine.
Take a moment to answer the question in the first picture.
Give yourself time. Go wild with it. Explore it.
Exhausted yourself?
Scroll down and let me know your response to the answer.
And thanks.
Continue reading “What I learned about myself by looking at a picture”
I read Dorothea Brande’s Becoming a Writer right after reading Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones. The two books share a theme of self-exploration. Becoming a Writer was originally written before meditation and Buddhism were established in the west, and Brande still makes her case for self-exploration through “meditation without calling it meditation” exercises. I’d offer that Becoming a Writer is a prelude to Writing Down the Bones.
Both books contain exercises. Becoming a Writer‘s exercises are different; while still self-exploration oriented, they are directed towards perfecting one’s craft. There is a definite goal to the exercises and that goal has two parts: Determining if you have what it takes to be a writer first then developing the necessary discipline to become a writer.
Specific to that discipline, Chapter 14 “The Practice Story”, should be engraved on every author-wannabe’s brow. It is ten pages rich in getting a story out (and not necessarily a “practice” story. Her suggestions hold for any point in storycrafting, me thinks).
Becoming a Writer is not a how-to book. I’ve reviewed several how-to-write books and most of them are mechanic’s dreams. Those books deal wondrously with how to revise, how to handle POV, character, and the like. Such books are journeyman’s books for the most part, helping people develop their craft. Becoming a Writer is about developing yourself into a writer.
Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones is not a book for everybody. I’m not sure how many authors, writers, and author-wannabes will take to it.
Did I take to it?
Oh, yes. But I’ve studied mystical traditions, perform regular meditation, and enjoy learning different teaching methods.
There are good exercises in the book and they’re really about learning about yourself as a writer, not about being a writer, not about writing better.
I’d offer that Goldberg’s primary focus is you being better at being yourself writing, not necessarily writing better. Consider it “Zen and the Art of Writing.” It even has an endorsement by Robert Persig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance on the back (another book I recommend for self-discovery. Or reading about someone else’s self-discovery).
The chapters are short. The longest is just under five pages. The average length is probably 2.5 pages. There are no “conjugate verbs this way” or “the best form of the participle clause is…” What there are are beautiful suggestions and insights into the writing life.
Long ago and far away I self-published Reading Virtual Minds V1: History and Science (trade-technical). Left-brained thinkers hated it. Right-brained thinkers loved it. It didn’t explain how to do things (left-brain), it explained how things were done (right-brain) and invited readers to decide if they wanted to learn how to get things done or just do them.
Writing Down the Bones is much the same kind of book; it’s not about doing it, it’s about getting it done.
Personally, learn how it’s done. Once you’ve done that, you’ll know how to do it.
Okay, not real so much as believable. Fiction has to be believable at some level or the reader won’t be interested. Readers tell me my characters are believable. When I ask some questions it comes out that readers feel (empathize) with the characters.
Great! Excellent! Yowza!
Ask a few more questions and readers tell me they can relate to the characters.
Again, Great! Excellent! Yowza!
Being a researcher, I ask more questions. Readers tell me my fiction seems real to them and it comes down to six things I didn’t realize I do:
And please do comment directly on the stories I share. I love receiving emails and DMs, and comments are your opportunity to let the world know what you think.
First and up front, I’ve never enjoyed an Orson Scott Card book. I could never get into them. They didn’t interest me. When a reviewer favorably compared my The Augmented Man to Card’s Ender’s Game, I scratched my head. Grateful, of course, and still confused.
However, Card’s Characters & Viewpoint?
Another story (forgive the pun) entirely.
Although titled “Characters & Viewpoint”, the subtitle is “How to invent, construct, and animate vivid, credible characters and choose the best eyes through which to view the events of your short story or novel.” Tear that subtitle apart and you get (or, at least I got):
I so dog-eared this book my folded pages made it twice as thick as normal.
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