Winter White Writing - Marnie Pohlmann

The snow is falling outside my window while I am cozy inside. I feel like I should curl up with a London Fog in my favourite teacup and a new novel in my hands. But I know what must be done first.

White.

Glaring white.

Not a blotch mars the immaculate sheet of white.

Sometimes that unmarked canvas is exciting, inviting me to play, but other times, like today, it just feels like work. An overwhelming task. I am stressed I will not find the motivation to complete this piece - my part of the job.

I close my eyes and open them again. Still white.

I switch my gaze to the other page, the one that holds the prompt, then back again to the blank screen.

Still white.

Sigh.

I spend a few minutes studying the other pieces of this month's task. Usually, as I think about what to write each month for my post on the Writers' Online blog for Inscribe, I make notes of various ideas for the theme. As I read the other posts published before mine I am inspired with something to add to the discussion or reminded of what the topic means to me, and I add these ideas to my collection of thoughts.

Reading this month’s posts, I have certainly been inspired to look for more of the resources others find valuable. I appreciate everyone sharing their favourites. Although I have been learning to write for the better part of a half-century, I am just beginning to learn how to write and what to do with that writing.

Tonight, as I open my October file in Scrivener to begin finalizing my ideas for this month's blog, I shiver. Not from the weather outside, but from my file. It is... empty! GASP! I have not one flake of inspiration collected from which to begin.

I start to throw black words onto the white. Then I backspace. I begin again. And backspace. The white recovers my attempts faster than the snow outside is covering the driveway.

I sit back and glance out the window. The still-falling chalky moisture shows winter is wanting to take hold.

I take a deep breath and consider... what resources help me to write?

I begin again. No deleting this time!

I am presently scribbling in Scrivener, one of the writing resources I am learning to use. My favourite feature is that I can open Scrivener without opening anything else on my computer, so am not tempted to answer email or check Facebook. (Okay, yes, I still do, but the option is there to not give in, and there are times I do focus only on writing.)

Aside from Scrivener, I am grateful for my Lenovo 14" laptop on which Scrivener runs. Small and light, it is comfortable to use at my desk or carry to a lounge chair or to the Inscribe Fall Conference.

I pause, and begin, again...

Writing is the only way I know to get better as a writer. Still, after all these years, I allow interruptions to interfere with playing in my favourite tools. Like picking up that shovel to clear the sidewalk, I find sitting down to write the most difficult step of writing. (Though honestly, my husband reminds me, I don’t pick up a real shovel as often as I pick up my computer.)

What sits me down at the computer to write?

A deadline.

That’s it!

A deadline is usually what pushes me to the keyboard.

Deadlines mean I have committed to writing by a particular date. That is a tool that works for me. Whether the deadline is for this blog, a contest, my church, or my own projects, whether that deadline is set by others or myself, the pledge to meet a date or time encourages me to write.

Does it make me a better writer? I think so because it forces me to write whether it feels like work or play. As a Christian writer, I am encouraged to let my yes be yes, to complete my commitments, and meeting deadlines is one way to do so.

There is no stopping the advance of winter. It will come. Outside my window, the snow has now become slushy. Winter has not quite taken hold.

And writers' block has not taken hold, either.

Tonight, the night before my post is due, I no longer see only white.

* photos CCO license, Pixabay.com

Marnie may need to pick up a shovel this winter, but she'd rather be working with words. 

Blog, Phosphoresence

Never Give Up - Tracy Krauss

Slumps come in a variety of disguises. Writer's block, fatigue, depression, busyness... they all lead to the same outcome: Non-productivity.

I've had my share of writing slumps, so don't let the advice I'm about to share fool you into thinking I've got it together! I may have mentioned a couple of times this year that I've been in a bit of a writing slump compared to previous years. A season of recharging is sometimes necessary, so I don't beat myself up too much. I'm happy to say I've regained my writing 'mojo' this summer, however, and am well on my way to polishing a current novel for submission. (Book 3 in the WIND OVER MARSHDALE Series)

Despite the ups and downs, there is one thing that has remained stable. My determination to NEVER GIVE UP. Quitting just isn't an option for me. I've been writing intentionally for about thirty years. (Unintentionally for much longer.) Call it tenacious or just plain stubborn, I can't imagine life without typewriter, computer, or journal.

Here are a few practical ideas that help spur me on to further productivity.

1. Just sit down and do it! When you don't feel like writing, force yourself to do it anyway for a minimum of five minutes. That's right. Just five minutes. Chances are, after the time is up, you'll want to continue. I've heard it said from more than one source that successful writers don't wait for the muse to hit. Instead, they summon the muse. In other words, don't wait until you feel inspired. Just sit down and start writing and ninety-nine times out of one hundred, you will want to continue after that first five minutes are up.

2. Allow yourself to write junk. Similar to the principle above, when the words aren't flowing the way you'd like, write anyway. Forget about the 'show not tell' rule. Forget about sentence structure and grammar and spelling and active voice and repetitive word choices and whether the thing even makes sense... Let your brain upload onto the computer screen without editing. You can scrap the whole thing later, but you may find that a few good ideas will come out of this type of session. Often, once you get going, the 'real' words start to flow again, too, and you'll be back on track. 

3. Forget about chronological sequence. If you're bored with a scene or can't decide where to go next, skip it and move on to something that happens later. Skipping ahead usually helps me to work out the problem and I can go back to it later. This also works with non-fiction. If you have an idea for a paragraph or a section, go ahead and write it even if there are bits in between that aren't done yet.

4. Have more than one project on the go. Rather than skip ahead, sometimes I just switch to a different project. I always have more than one project in the works at any given time. If I'm bogged down with one story I switch to another, or I work on a stage play, or a blog post. It's hard to get bored when you've got multiple WIPs taking up space in your head.


I've found that all of these ideas work well for me. The first three are especially useful when trying to meet deadlines and are my go-to behaviours when I take part in 'Nanowrimo' every year. I don't always listen to my own advice, but when I do, any kind of writing slump is out the window.

Selfie with the latest release -
a stage play called
MUTINY ON MT OLYMPUS

Tracy Krauss lives in Tumbler Ridge, BC and is a full time high school teacher of Drama, Art and English. When she's not teaching someone to paint, waxing eloquent over a Shakespearean script, or directing a drama performance, she's holed up in her office trying to write the next novel or stage play. Visit her website for more info or to read about any one of her 36 titles. 
  

Getting There - by Susan Barclay

Drinking in the view at at the end of the day. Who could fail to be inspired?

I planned to work on this post while my husband and I enjoyed a cottage rental this week. Pffft. And when we returned home on the 30^th, I thought I could get it done that evening. Pffft again. We arrived to find computer issues that needed attention. So I am writing this June 1^st and back-dating it. 

We were asked to showcase a work-in-progress, so that’s what I’m  doing. In fact, I used part of our vacation to work on my WIP. I spent the mornings writing while my husband read, then we took the afternoon to explore the area, and watched a movie together in the evenings before heading to the beach to catch one of God’s glorious sunsets.

I call myself an eclectic writer. I write children’s picture books, personal essays, short stories for adults, poetry. But my focus this year has been on the novel I started ten years ago. It’s a work of contemporary fiction that deals with family dynamics, and particularly the difficult relationship between a mother and daughter. Themes of understanding and forgiveness are also explored. The idea was sparked when I threw together a short piece for a critique group that was meeting for the first time. One of the participants that night thought the nugget contained the makings of a novel. 

I gulped. It did?

So here I am ten years later, still working on it. Granted, I’ve taken long breaks since beginning, the longest stemming from writer’s block. I’d come to point B and knew where point D was, but I wasn’t quite sure how to get to point C. Thankfully, the block has broken and I am moving forward. I don’t work from a detailed outline and tend to go with the flow, an approach that has both its challenges and its joys.

Over the holiday, I worked on revisions for the first ten chapters. I still have a number of chapters to edit before I pick up the story and work my way through to the end. While I had hoped to complete the novel by the end of June, it looks like I'll have to extend my deadline to the end of the year. The main thing is to keep pressing forward.

Here’s a teaser from early in the novel to whet your appetite for more. In this scene, the mother and daughter are having a tense telephone conversation. The story is told in first person, from the daughter’s point of view. 

 I felt sick to my stomach, but somehow I couldn’t stop myself. I wasn’t like this with anyone but Mom. “Nothing’s eating me,” I said. I tapped my fingers on the arm of my chair. “I’m tired, that’s all. Tired of pandering to your emotional insecurities.” Mom drew in a sharp breath, but I pressed on. “Ben and Jackie wouldn’t have asked you to go if they didn’t want you. So, go. Enjoy your grandchildren and have a good time. Is that so hard? Does it have to be such a big deal?”

“Somebody got up on the wrong side of bed,” she answered. “Maybe I should talk to you later when you’re feeling more reasonable.”

“I think this is as good as it gets today, Mother.”

I heard the phone click. “Mother?” I held the phone away from my ear and looked at it in surprise, then brought it close again. "Mother?” The dial tone sounded an accusation. “She hung up on me!”

____________________

For more of my writing, please visit www.susan-barclay.ca

She Said, He Said - Bryan Norford

What? Are you stuck at that computer again?

Yes.
 

What are you doing?

Writing.

Writing what?

I’m not sure yet, I’ll let you know when I’ve given it some more thought.

I can see. You haven’t written anything yet—you’ve got a blank page.

I know.

Well, write something. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to be doing?

Yes.

Well?

I’m not sure yet what to write.

How much did you spend on that computer?

I don’t recall.

Too much if all you do is look at it.

I know what to write about, I just don’t know how to start.

Okay, What are you writing about?

Marriage.

And you don’t know what to write? You’ve been married umpteen years.

But starting is the problem.

Okay. Let me help.

You’re not a writer.

Nor are you by the look of that page.

Alright. What do you suggest?

Write: “My wife is a better writer than me.”

No you’re not.

I’ve written something. You haven’t!

But that’s not what I want to write.

You want to write about marriage. That’s about marriage.

Oh! Okay. I’ll write, “My wife thinks she’s a better writer than me.”

Hmmm! You think “thinks” is better?

Yes. It aches for a retort. It draws in the reader’s curiosity.

Glad I could help!

Well, it’s a good start for a start. Thanks.

Footnote me! I’ll go make coffee . . .

I might change it later . . .