tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90003063478955193642024-03-13T09:53:31.013-07:00Ink Slingin SamuraiAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01266880149857972652noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000306347895519364.post-982534127314660132014-10-13T06:30:00.000-07:002014-10-13T06:30:02.646-07:00Moving Right AlongThis blog has moved!<br />
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Like Kermit and Fozzy in the old Studebaker, I'm moving right along (doog-a-doon doog-a-doon).<br />
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To keep up with all the fun, point your browser to <a href="http://jynnemason.com/">jynnemason.com</a>!<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Footloose and fancy-free.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Getting there is half the fun; come share it with me!</span></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01266880149857972652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000306347895519364.post-90238090762915697212014-02-10T06:36:00.000-08:002014-02-10T06:36:02.768-08:00Radical Approaches to Writing Pt. 3<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2013/12/02/248089436/the-truth-about-the-left-brain-right-brain-relationship" target="_blank">New research</a> has started to debunk the idea that the two hemispheres of our brains do separate or independent tasks.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpw6mvnD6BP9O6hOO-GgqWt2BmclqxNOzrmJhRIdbOy52Px7ZHZvv_XtjYD5NF8bczHHiFIVqOXwzrutoEiez3QEc_D42D-DZfbBLQEXBgzZYlzupocQ8Eg8li0cRxYeXLzLgcdMqV9w/s1600/split-brain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpw6mvnD6BP9O6hOO-GgqWt2BmclqxNOzrmJhRIdbOy52Px7ZHZvv_XtjYD5NF8bczHHiFIVqOXwzrutoEiez3QEc_D42D-DZfbBLQEXBgzZYlzupocQ8Eg8li0cRxYeXLzLgcdMqV9w/s1600/split-brain.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from <a href="http://www.wallpaperhi.com/Art/Minimalistic/abstract_minimalistic_vector_graffiti_brain_circuits_electronics_creative_logic_hemispheres_electron_73637">www.wallpaperhi.com</a>.</td></tr>
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Neuroscientists like Kara D. Federmeier has found that the brain is much more dynamically linked than we ever suspected. Federmeier asserts that the two sides of the brain actually work in tandem, through unified partnerships, to get things done.<br />
<br />
Take language processing, for example. We used to think that the right brain handled that (along with other various "creative" tasks), while the left brain handled math (or other more "logical" tasks). Federmeier's researc<span style="font-family: inherit;">h through the <span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Neurosciences Program and The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology</span> shows</span> that BOTH the left and right side of the brain are involved with language. So when someone is talking you, your left brain is anticipating what's coming next and actively trying to predict meanings. The right brain is also actively engaged, only its neurons are working on retention tasks. It's like your brain's little secretary jotting down the important stuff you'll want to recall from the conversation.<br />
<br />
Essentially, neuroscience is finding that the brain breaks up big tasks into bite-size pieces and both hemispheres share the many tasks involved. Like a couple sharing the household chores! One washes the dishes, the other one dries. One sweeps the floor, the other one mops.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NiewvJP8xX2-aORea8eb5XDby7LwF987bpxn34fUz7VGSy9OO6A7mioJjdKbIo3FCO_qjXFFFva6wdzXVXcPFkR1ts3Ouk2PXMs7kAT-DRt8-aOVWXKYyyyAUC9Li8vWX7XN10_KREI/s1600/Auguste_Serrure_A_distraction_from_chores.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NiewvJP8xX2-aORea8eb5XDby7LwF987bpxn34fUz7VGSy9OO6A7mioJjdKbIo3FCO_qjXFFFva6wdzXVXcPFkR1ts3Ouk2PXMs7kAT-DRt8-aOVWXKYyyyAUC9Li8vWX7XN10_KREI/s1600/Auguste_Serrure_A_distraction_from_chores.jpg" height="400" width="377" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auguste_Serrure_A_distraction_from_chores.jpg" target="_blank">"A Distraction from Chores" by Auguste Serrure</a>. Image PD. </td></tr>
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And this new research is huge for me because one of the tenets of my writing methodology encourages writers to a.) break up the task of writing into smaller pieces, and b.) get their brains to work as a more unified and harmonized system (rather than a left-logical/editor brain at war with a right-creative/writer brain).<br />
<br />
Evidently, this is what naturally works best for our brains. It's what the brain is already doing! In <a href="http://jennifermichellemason.blogspot.com/2014/01/radical-approaches-to-writing-pt-1.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a>, I talked about how imagination impacts neurology. Imagining yourself playing the piano or practicing a sport stimulates and develops the neurons almost as if you were actually physically practicing. Thus, to be more effective and productive, writers need to stop imagining their two brains (the editor brain and the creator brain) at war. In <a href="http://jennifermichellemason.blogspot.com/2014/01/radical-approaches-to-writing-pt-2.html" target="_blank">Pt. 2</a>, I explored how writers can break up the monumental task of writing a novel into more manageable pieces. Not only that, but how to break it up into tasks that allow both hemispheres of the brain to participate as a unified team: how to revise while writing, how to edit while creating!<br />
<br />
This time, I want to cover the next bite-sized bit in my radical approach to the writing process: <b>Gathering Sources</b>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDEDiKmj4tu7lQZrPkaEAB4N55XXnaukrhahu-aiMn1j4JOqduVSJjfU1NPw4L512M36eXpKdR0hE6qiXC25LCBKYOYdIy0zb24qyjDv9rWL4W_SPjggsP4x59q2qmbQBjUNoj_np8CsA/s1600/book-tower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDEDiKmj4tu7lQZrPkaEAB4N55XXnaukrhahu-aiMn1j4JOqduVSJjfU1NPw4L512M36eXpKdR0hE6qiXC25LCBKYOYdIy0zb24qyjDv9rWL4W_SPjggsP4x59q2qmbQBjUNoj_np8CsA/s1600/book-tower.jpg" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, this is a tower of books! Beautiful, eh? Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alrod/3308687620/" target="_blank">Aleksander Razumny</a>. Image CC. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Yfce205VXLFB8ldw0F6l2pT6THTltfCEOSB2f0Wuiejgd0xvCQsUHVjRenG6epuYHGrgkUSwrkG5tLstcvVZam3c-7B6XnyFVu0XO61kuYNpVLwowqIUi3Sazo_soCj0CVb9q31DkFQ/s1600/inside_booktower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Yfce205VXLFB8ldw0F6l2pT6THTltfCEOSB2f0Wuiejgd0xvCQsUHVjRenG6epuYHGrgkUSwrkG5tLstcvVZam3c-7B6XnyFVu0XO61kuYNpVLwowqIUi3Sazo_soCj0CVb9q31DkFQ/s1600/inside_booktower.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An inside view of the tower. Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dermartin/2955625983/" target="_blank">Mar.tin</a>. Image CC.</td></tr>
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When
researchers gather sources, they go about gathering books, articles, or
interviews. They talk to librarians and consult experts. They draw pictures,
diagrams, charts, or maps. I recommend those steps if you are writing
nonfiction, or need some fact to back up your fiction. But the kind of
gathering sources I’m talking about is a little different.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Gathering
sources is the time to journal wildly. Make character diagrams. Interview those
characters and creatures. Find out what they want most and what they most fear.
What they treasure and what they can’t stand. Explore your world. Draw maps of
your settings. Be your own best expert. Do any of the millions of writing exercises suggested in all those craft books you read. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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You might
be tempted to think of this as the drafting stage of writing, but really, it’s what
my VCFA faculty mentor <a href="http://julielarios.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Julie Larios</a> would call “playtime.”<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0gpHCY9xIl3ssn8TWyxBPbnSfCBRFFXo3H81KmiqwH16qfEU0mUciesYFsDoMqSGnxouW3-UwcYAyoHz8cr6syXy96vOEQO7aw3Xc5C-e8qkMpukue8vYZM8I8ymBGmEf1QFvVNn6Rxc/s1600/depths_of_imagination_by_jennaleeauclair-d5u790g.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0gpHCY9xIl3ssn8TWyxBPbnSfCBRFFXo3H81KmiqwH16qfEU0mUciesYFsDoMqSGnxouW3-UwcYAyoHz8cr6syXy96vOEQO7aw3Xc5C-e8qkMpukue8vYZM8I8ymBGmEf1QFvVNn6Rxc/s1600/depths_of_imagination_by_jennaleeauclair-d5u790g.png" height="278" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Depths of Imagination" by <a href="http://jennaleeauclair.deviantart.com/art/Depths-of-Imagination-353057632" target="_blank">JennaleeAuclair</a>. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
AND, there’s a
plethora of research already out there underscoring the importance of play! (Curious? Check out <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Play-Shapes-Brain-Imagination-Invigorates/dp/1583333789" target="_blank">Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Brown and Vaughn</a>. Also, there's a <a href="http://www.aspenideas.org/session/neuroscience-play-what-play-does-you-and-your-brain-and-what-happens-you-if-you-dont-play" target="_blank">great video</a> from the Aspen Ideas Festival 2010, and a <a href="http://brainsciencepodcast.com/bsp/why-play-is-essential-to-brain-health-with-dr-stuart-brown-b.html" target="_blank">podcast</a> worth your while!)<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So if
this is not drafting, then what is it? Well, to me, it’s the kind of writing
you should do throughout the whole of <a href="http://nanowrimo.org/" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a>. It’s the kind of hot and fast
writing Stephen King refers to as “telling yourself the story” (<i>On Writing</i>). Here’s a snippet of my “gathering
sources” writing which I blazed through in the 2013 NaNo challenge. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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WARNING:
<i>What you are about to read is in its
roughest, toughest, most nascent forms</i>. It came from a beat on a <b>beat sheet</b> and then from a summarized
scene on a <b>scene card</b> – two other
methods in the revise-before-you-write approach that I’ll talk about further
on. Yes, this scene will undergo future revision, but for now, this is how the
writing comes out when I forget all about being a writer and just focus on
telling myself the story. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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WHAT
YOU NEED TO KNOW: This scene falls in the middle of book two in my Silk and
Venom series, a YA hard boiled urban fantasy that chronicles one teen’s
encounter with seretans. Seretans are the half-human, half-spider creatures
descended from Arachné – ya’ know, the woman tortured and transformed by
Greek gods. Humans are a seretan staple. They crave our bodily juices.
In my saga, seretans are poisoning smartphones with their venom in an effort to
make the surface of the earth their new kingdom and cafeteria. In this scene, the protagonist computer-hacker
Harker, is prepping for a journey. He and a few rebel seretans (Brash and others) have had to team
up in order to defeat "the big bad," but at this point, the team is not exactly
getting along. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Okay,
here we go:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
---</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the next scenes, I think it would be fun to have Harker
and Brash clash a little over what all Harker is packing. He’s got a huge
duffle bag full of crap. Brash points out that he won’t be able to carry and it’s full of stuff
he won’t need. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I do need all this! And it’s not that much, says Harker.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">That duffle bag is bigger than you are, Brash retorts. Then
he sifts through it noting the multiple pairs of pants, undergarments, feet
coverings—</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Those are called socks, Harker corrects.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And you can’t go a few days wearing the same…socks?! Brash
snorts. What happens to human feet if they do not wear clean socks every day?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, for one, they don’t grow weird hooky-things on their
toes.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Brash squeezes his feet self-consciously. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yeah, Harker goads. That’s right. I saw those bad-boys when
you were bleeding to death on my dining room table.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My toe-claws are at least useful. Unlike your four sweaters—</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Hey, I don’t know what the weather is gonna be like where
we’re going—</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And your…comic books. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Brash spreads out the full series of Destin Espoir and he is
immediately reduced to gleeful mush when he sees there are so many to be read.
“There is more than one?”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Harker snorts. Chuh! There are 262, not counting the
spin-off series. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I had no idea, Brash says. I had this one (he indicates the
series opener).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Brash thumbs through the second in the series. He remarks
that he thought the first one ended on an unreasonable cliffhanger. Stopping
mid-action like that. Ridiculous! But now he sees why.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Harker nabs the comic book and makes a remark about maybe
Brash can check them out when they get back—since none of these can come along
now.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Brash relents that maybe they should bring a few,
considering the long drive and back. They seem on even
ground for a just a moment. Brash picks through Harker’s packing supplies and
says he should put those in something he can carry on his back.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Brash even goes so far as to twist it all in Harker’s bed
sheet and tie it around Harker’s body. He displays how all of his possessions
are on him in the same way. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">That is how a Warrior packs, he says. Harker admires the
compact approach.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Harker looks in the mirror and realizes he
looks like an idiot. Madda even cruises by the room to ask about more sleeping bags
(should they send someone out to go buy some?) and she laughs pretty good when
she sees the twisted sheet tied around Harker's torso. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Harker thanks Brash, but then dumps out his backpack and
says he’ll stick with how humans pack. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As Harker struggles with the knot, Brash goes to the window
and checks their surroundings. He glimpses Sophie in her room, spying on them,
but she’s gone so fast he’s not entirely sure.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">He mentions it to Harker who says, “Oh that’s my good
friend, Sophie. She’s not spying, she’s just really shy. You can wave at her if
you want. But you gotta’ do it human-style.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">How’s that, Brash wonders.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">With this finger up, Harker demonstrates. He makes a fist
and lifts only the middle finger.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">That’s weird, Brash says.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yeah well, that’s humanity for ya. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Brash waits until he sees Sophie again, and then he smiles
big and waves. The look on her face is not what he expected but she stops peeking through the window. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
---<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s
it. No quotation marks and really not a whole lot of proper punctuation in
general. But who cares? The scene flowed fast and furious. It made me laugh out
loud because all of the sudden Harker tricked this bad-ass Warrior who inadvertently
flips the birdie to a nosy next door neighbor. THAT detail was NOT on
the beat sheet and it certainly was not on the scene card! It just happened. It
was an act of autonomy, a declaration of independence! An imaginary character that
I created basically asserted himself as unique, self-motivated, and independent
of my puppet strings. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And all
because I took the time to gather the source material on him. I let the two spheres of my brain work together, each one taking on a different aspect of the writing process. And all that miraculous neuroscience took place while I was basically playing around!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Playing
helps you better understand the people you will write about and the world they
live in. It also sparks your best critical thinking and problem solving (<i>The Craft of Research</i>, Booth et al, 30).
In other words, what seems like purely creative playtime is also an analytical
heyday for the brain. And if revision boils down to reconsidering ideas in
light of new evidence, then gathering sources is the time when you encounter a
lot of new evidence and will likely revise your story a lot. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But
never fear. All you risk changing at this point is a one-sentence logline
(refer back to Pt. 2).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unfortunately,
you can’t gather sources indefinitely. You have to complete your novel some day.
So, set a deadline for your playtime and really focus and funnel your creative
and analytical efforts. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now,
even though you may be tempted, do not jump in and start drafting—YET. I know
the pull back to your old two-brains-at-war habit will be strong. But trust me,
postpone drafting for later. Your Jekyll and Hyde have only just begun to get
along and work together through aiki. And besides, we have a lot more <b>revision </b>to
do. So, before you run off and write your story, go play and gather sources. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
In the
next installment of radical writing approaches, I’ll show you how to make a
beat sheet (AKA an outline) and then some scene cards! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01266880149857972652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000306347895519364.post-81570022111228855422014-01-20T16:19:00.001-08:002014-01-20T16:19:59.404-08:00Radical Approaches to Writing, Pt. 2<div class="MsoNormal">
Today’s post is dedicated to the Magic Ifs who just
graduated from the <a href="http://www.vcfa.edu/wcya" target="_blank">Writing for Children and Young Adults program and VermontCollege of Fine Arts</a>. These magicians are my colleagues and my friends. Their
amazing creativity is a part of what inspires me to clear the authorial
roadblocks and explore the writerly conundrums and cruxes.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Congratulations Magic Ifs!</div>
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<br /></div>
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So, to pick up where I left off in the last post, part of
what makes writing so daunting is the overwhelming mob of decisions banging on
the walls of your brain. Making decisions fatigues your brain. Fatiguing the
brain leads to reckless behavior (AKA cleaning-under-the-fridge-instead-of-writing)
or indolence (AKA writer’s block). </div>
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<br /></div>
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Add to the fatigue the natural (but inhibiting and festering)
tendency to imagine the writing process split in two, separate and opposing
spheres. Writing vs Editing. Some see it as a creative phase followed by an
analytical phase. Or an amorphous brain in tune with creative muses fending off
the nit picky rule-flogging logical brain. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I am not saying the brain isn’t divided into two spheres equipped
with different skills; however, conceptualizing those spheres in a never-ending
dual only kinks the brain in endless neurological knots.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But what’s a poor writer to do?</div>
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<br /></div>
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To start, I say try aiki, or harmony. Why not re-envision
the writing process as a unified, collaborative effort – a partnership that
bridges creative brain with analytical brain? A time when the logical and the
amorphous can co-exist, and in doing so, construct the most stunning feats of
written expression.</div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1mhuU7SvO1QpqWqfQcVDfxIqFw5-2wYbg4DFXpleCCVxmT2YsKew8hT51tn4tY9kLyNY33hIjVlEdKrxU53ZR9_8i9uTVMaXGwlp9cNjs_AG9gEAJU6bBFhjnpNfCXe7Oxz4-UPQLnLA/s1600/playground.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1mhuU7SvO1QpqWqfQcVDfxIqFw5-2wYbg4DFXpleCCVxmT2YsKew8hT51tn4tY9kLyNY33hIjVlEdKrxU53ZR9_8i9uTVMaXGwlp9cNjs_AG9gEAJU6bBFhjnpNfCXe7Oxz4-UPQLnLA/s1600/playground.jpg" height="231" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playground at the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Photo CC. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Playground_at_Fuji-Hakone-Izu_National_Park.jpg" target="_blank">Courtesy of Stephen Oung and David Case</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Because the imagination has a powerful effect on your
neurons, go ahead and re-imagine the battlefield in your brain is really a
lovely playground. Replace the carcasses with carousels. Swap the bloodstains
for a swing set and slide. Fill the trenches in with sandboxes. And for the
sake of vanishing bees everywhere, plant a few flowerbeds. Ideas need
pollination, too.</div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqsdR6ioDB_MRceTnoUNB9djGuRfnRX2DWBcfq795VE1EjuC3PdKv44KLEoV3jYjarFJluNil7vzPRPkP8SrNsHKOYAnS_15gBDPadUtA2fmLlhrqkYOhQ9l6oQv_IeQLg1qUnMIvHwYc/s1600/Bees_Collecting_Pollen_2004-08-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqsdR6ioDB_MRceTnoUNB9djGuRfnRX2DWBcfq795VE1EjuC3PdKv44KLEoV3jYjarFJluNil7vzPRPkP8SrNsHKOYAnS_15gBDPadUtA2fmLlhrqkYOhQ9l6oQv_IeQLg1qUnMIvHwYc/s1600/Bees_Collecting_Pollen_2004-08-14.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo PD. Courtesy of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bees_Collecting_Pollen_2004-08-14.jpg" target="_blank">John Sullivan</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Ahhh, that feels better already!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now that the carnage is removed, it’s time to experiment
with your writing process by incorporating some techniques that get the two
halves of your brain to cooperate. Interestingly, these techniques are found in
the usual process of screenwriting and research writing. Perhaps even more
interestingly, these techniques cause the writer to do lots of revision before
the actual drafting begins. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Let’s jump in with…</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Loglines & Pitches</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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What’s
your story about? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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That’s
got to be one of the hardest questions you will ever answer about your writing.
But having an answer is essential because you’ll never escape the question.
Think about when you’re at writers’ conferences – it’s the question everyone
asks you. It’s the question you must answer when you query an agent. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Answering
this question before you tackle the first draft gives you a North Star to
follow through the writing. The answer is your compass, a shorthand Sherpa to
guide you to THE END.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW30O8TaCC9j8Gv_HwYs4NyTMgD1y5XPNmBufYu3mDfLorcrXbbLIdRC2bhRi05uH_tXXOr8NmxmJM4DV4jdBU16sA3xJIMqXaFwzze8rBqACg42bKDijWwzr9zNQo99RqmVY9dUmmWVk/s1600/Yak_on_way_to_Everest-BC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW30O8TaCC9j8Gv_HwYs4NyTMgD1y5XPNmBufYu3mDfLorcrXbbLIdRC2bhRi05uH_tXXOr8NmxmJM4DV4jdBU16sA3xJIMqXaFwzze8rBqACg42bKDijWwzr9zNQo99RqmVY9dUmmWVk/s1600/Yak_on_way_to_Everest-BC.jpg" height="221" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo CC. Courtesy of <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yak_on_way_to_Everest-BC.jpg" target="_blank">Uwe Gille</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Screenwriters
answer “what’s it about” by writing down a logline or a one-line. They have to
be able to sum up their entire 120-page screenplay in one sentence. And they do
it BEFORE they write it. Researchers also try to narrow down their topic by
stating the thesis, or one sentence that declares “what” or “who” is going to
be researched. It narrows down the topic BEFORE the writing begins.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Screenwriters
have a very rigid definition of what a logline is and what it should contain,
which works well for their industry, but for creative writers, I’d say you’re
well on your way to a killer logline if you can summarize your story in one
sentence! Two at the max. It’ll be even better if, in that one sentence, you can
also establish the story’s protagonist, the central conflict, the antagonist,
and the story’s significance. (For more on loglines, see Blake Snyder's <i><a href="http://www.savethecat.com/" target="_blank">Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need</a></i>.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Here
are a couple of examples that can help you formulate your own logline: </div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">In
order to avoid the autumn slaughter, an ordinary pig must become extraordinary
to all people and to himself. (</span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Charlotte’s
Web</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">, E.B. White)</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Through the power of love, a magical boy defeats
an evil wizard who would otherwise destroy him and terrorize the world. (</span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The Harry Potter</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> series, J. K. Rowling)</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroq0Bla034pyvG2Rv5ag6cOWxPRJbP7ex-DNAIpR8LU26_3ikHeHUF5yzEeQvikQrCJ2v6hApmvpNPf5G8qvRhH_xmIw7TSSRCbtN7hmtcAdqOrOb5t0-FRZ0fdWn-6wHN1GnmK33O0A/s1600/Spiral_Orb_Webs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroq0Bla034pyvG2Rv5ag6cOWxPRJbP7ex-DNAIpR8LU26_3ikHeHUF5yzEeQvikQrCJ2v6hApmvpNPf5G8qvRhH_xmIw7TSSRCbtN7hmtcAdqOrOb5t0-FRZ0fdWn-6wHN1GnmK33O0A/s1600/Spiral_Orb_Webs.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo CC. Courtesy of <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Uspn" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;" title="User:Uspn"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bjørn Christian Tørrissen</span></a>. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Both
examples boil each story down to one sentence. But let’s break those down
further so we can see their essential components.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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As you
can see, each example connotes:</div>
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</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">a
protagonist (the pig, Wilber or the boy, Harry),</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">a
central conflict (stay alive or protect the world),</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">an
antagonist (Mr. Zuckerman’s ax or Lord Voldermort), and</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">the
story’s significance</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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The
significance is the “so what” of your story, or why this story must be told, or
why you think anyone else should read it. <i>Charlotte’s
Web</i> should be read because it deals with the dignity and exceptionality of
life. <i>Harry Potter</i> is a worthwhile read
because in it love overpowers hate.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Once
you have a logline, try pitching it, which is another excellent revise-before-writing
exercise. To pitch your story, deliver your logline to a stranger or a friend.
Watch their eyes, because if they look away or glaze over, you’ve lost them. Your
story is not quite there yet. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I know
pitching puts you under tremendous pressure to say “what is it” and why it’s
awesome. But if you can figure out what in your story gets and keeps someone’s
attention in one or two sentences, then you’ve got something worth months of
effort.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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And, as
you might have guessed, nailing the logline and pitch is going to take several
attempts, which means, you’re revising BEFORE you write the full first draft! It
also means your reducing the monumental task of writing a novel down into one
utterable sentence. Rather than make 60,000-80,000 words worth of decisions,
you decide on roughly 20 words. Definitely doable without fatiguing the brain!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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So, go
ahead, give it try. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Write up
a logline for your story – whether it’s the one you’ve had in progress for a
while or the one you’re about to dive into. See if you can riddle out who you’re
protagonist is. What’s his/her/its central conflict? Who or what is the
antagonist of your story? And, finally, why must this story be told? What’s the
significance? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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For
additional fun and experimentation, try boiling your story down into a haiku
and submit it to Zach Hively’s newly inaugurated <a href="http://zachhively.com/category/low-ku-contests/" target="_blank">low-ku contest</a> (which is free
of many “hai” expectations.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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Next
time, I’ll cover how gathering sources and researching prevents brain fatigue and
epic sphere battles between the creator and editor sides of your mind! I’ll
also reveal how playing while gathering results in the kind of daily writing
with word counts more than sufficient to complete challenges like NaNoWriMo sans
tears, stress, hair-pulling, and insomnia! <o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01266880149857972652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000306347895519364.post-18764892863131254302014-01-10T13:59:00.000-08:002014-01-11T20:10:47.284-08:00Radical Approaches to Writing Pt. 1<div class="MsoNormal">
Waaaaayyyy back in November, I promised to write about the
kind(s) of writing that can lure the writer down the path of
self-defeat. I have returned from the black hole hiatus of holidays to fulfill
that vow, like your own knight in shining armor!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpX63KG3h334fMYROpml4EI-0vbhuwLRJDtDY9zR6UHyzcv2uOYSEXSj8qzil2qy959iWQjmjyJzZSKkFmwjuJxkQ4eMeihGfCKqW5MQ5TEwQbcRj8RCInN-Yh5XVC4Ok1N6-FR2MzOwg/s1600/Edmund_blair_leighton_accolade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpX63KG3h334fMYROpml4EI-0vbhuwLRJDtDY9zR6UHyzcv2uOYSEXSj8qzil2qy959iWQjmjyJzZSKkFmwjuJxkQ4eMeihGfCKqW5MQ5TEwQbcRj8RCInN-Yh5XVC4Ok1N6-FR2MzOwg/s1600/Edmund_blair_leighton_accolade.jpg" height="320" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edmund Leighton, The Accolade, 1901. {{PD-US}}</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Actually, like a true knight, I have returned from a quest out in the hinterlands. December was a mostly internetless
existence (due to bad routers and damaged towers) wherein I was delightfully
plagued with many a late night squandered on writing new material. My beloved, <a href="http://zachhively.com/">Zach</a>, discovered a <a href="http://darkcrystal.com/authorquest/">neat little contest</a> that I
just had to enter. Yes, there's good money at stake and, yes, my chances of
winning are slim, but who cares? I was provoked to write. Invited to explore a
new world with new characters. And I had such fun!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
But, now that my entry is submitted and my e-powers of communication are
restored, I am back to look at writing from a radical angle. I want to share
with you a dastardly approach to writing that helps eliminate writer's block
and plows a traversable path all the way to THE END of your novel!<br />
<br />
I call it writing in reverse...or revise before you write!<br />
<br />
Jeeeezzz -- now you tell me, you grumble, post-<a href="http://nanowrimo.org/">NaNoWriMo</a>.<br />
<br />
Well, if I'd told you to try this before you tried writing a novel in a month,
you wouldn't have believed me. But now, you've made the attempt and had time to
recover. Now you're in a prime position to reflect back on your writing
performance and pinpoint where things went off track, tapered off, or tuckered
out. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYc07I0fTnrAluyiyD5OMpuUbEbGaI-hnsvEgMPA9-5jNsCXsGvAArIN0F5pglx_6LH8IiucR2f3AC2ZI2bqBpmESt1Zf1A6ImyyFltvagb597aVrEa_V499Pqckt5mRpCpeGB5347DK8/s1600/creative-exhaustion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYc07I0fTnrAluyiyD5OMpuUbEbGaI-hnsvEgMPA9-5jNsCXsGvAArIN0F5pglx_6LH8IiucR2f3AC2ZI2bqBpmESt1Zf1A6ImyyFltvagb597aVrEa_V499Pqckt5mRpCpeGB5347DK8/s1600/creative-exhaustion.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Girl_with_styrofoam_swimming_board.jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now's the perfect time to ponder why the galloping novel challenge may have
bucked you off its thick bully back.<br />
<br />
Typically, we writers tend to think that first comes writing a draft and
then comes revision. Or, we align the two steps like binary stars and revise
while writing the manuscript. Instructions, recommendations, and advocacy
for either approach appear in dozens of craft sources.<br />
<br />
But is either approach truly effective?<br />
<br />
Whether you write-then-revise or revise-while-writing, here are the most common
craft elements you should alter or reconsider: plot, theme, symbolism,
structure, stakes, motivation, obstacles, character arcs, character
authenticity or 3-dimensionality, antagonist arcs , antagonist authenticity or
3-dimensionality, point of view, opening scenes, closing actions, back story,
endings or resolutions, climaxes, page turns, concrete vs. abstract desires,
objective correlative, metaphor, narrative proportions, motifs, repetition,
simile, rhythm, pacing, conflict, dialogue, setting, typos and errors, etc,
etc, etc.<br />
<br />
Staring down that long list can feel overwhelming. We have no idea where to
start. Or we feel the onset of writer’s block. I know that’s how I felt for a
long time.<br />
<br />
You might find parallels in your New Year’s fitness resolutions. Like I
said in my <a href="http://jennifermichellemason.blogspot.com/2013/11/fighting-writers-plaque.html">last
post</a>, you can suddenly take up jogging, buy bushels of fruits and veggies,
upend your normal way of life and evict all the junk food inhabiting in your
pantry, but the path to the newer-trimmer-you peters out as quickly as it
appeared.<br />
<br />
Why?<br />
<br />
Because the new options in food and activity -- like the list of craft elements
you must tackle – overwhelm your brain with decisions. Recent studies show that
decision-making fatigues the brain (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magazine/do-you-suffer-from-decision-fatigue.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">Tierney</a>).
The more choices we make, the harder each one gets. After too many decisions,
the brain suffers from “decision fatigue.” Writers are no doubt regular victims
of decision fatigue. Every single word on the page is a decision the writer
must make. Tackling that long list of tasks after the first draft or juggling
it alongside the writing is a sure way to fatigue the brain.<br />
<br />
So if traditional methods fatigue our brains, why do we use them? I suspect
these approaches came about because of common observations -- sort of like how
Earth started off in the center of the solar system. It seemed right based on
what everyone noticed.<br />
<br />
We writers all notice how our brains seem divided between a creative sphere and
an analytical sphere. Drafting demands the free-wheeling, creative side of
the brain, while revising requires the more analytical, logistical, editorial
side of the brain. As a result, the storycrafting process can feel like an
adversarial tug-of-war between the two. To combat the tug-of-war, author
Natalie Goldberg instructs the writer to defeat or else ignore the editor-brain
(<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Down-Bones-Freeing-Edition/dp/1590302613/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389386247&sr=8-1&keywords=writing+down+the+bones">28</a>).
Stephen King cranks out his fast first draft so that he can outrun the
editor-brain (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/On-Writing-Anniversary-Edition-Memoir/dp/1439156816/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389386280&sr=8-1&keywords=on+writing">209</a>).
In short, most writers shush the editor-brain because it keeps the
creative-brain from creating. Conversely, they will chain up the creative-brain
so that it won't muck up everything the editor-brain is trying to fix.<br />
<br />
Sounds a lot like the iconic struggle of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: two warring
personalities trapped inside one body. But things don’t exactly turn out
well for Jekyll or Hyde, and the same is true for our brains.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJRv8YaAOwV0ARKCZj1-FXUdUWymCGOkJMmG1nPN9IqvL0K62VnD2defwhT0G4ixkJkCWBb9ZmBHgfCzSyTGobpGJzxFPfNALRaMgUrx_aVMgqlIbH0DAn_vMLhrjmtbAaiU6C60zFpWw/s1600/jekyllhyde.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJRv8YaAOwV0ARKCZj1-FXUdUWymCGOkJMmG1nPN9IqvL0K62VnD2defwhT0G4ixkJkCWBb9ZmBHgfCzSyTGobpGJzxFPfNALRaMgUrx_aVMgqlIbH0DAn_vMLhrjmtbAaiU6C60zFpWw/s1600/jekyllhyde.jpg" height="320" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artwork courtesy of <a href="http://injurdninja.deviantart.com/art/Jekyll-and-Hyde-66848149" target="_blank">injurdninja</a> on deviantart.com.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When we defeat,
ignore, shush, and suppress a part of the brain, we are actually causing
neurological damage.<br />
<br />
The brain is made of many neural pathways, or neurons that are connected to one
another and working together. The more you do something, the stronger these
pathways get. When you write-then-revise, your creative, amorphous neural
pathways get big and strong. But shushing the logistical neurons for many
months of drafting results in neural atrophy. It’s like turning one side of the
brain into a couch potato. Your logistical neurons get flabby. They get weak.
They diminish. And, after months of banishment, suddenly you spring upon them
the monumental task of revision. Likewise, if you spend many months juxtaposing
short bursts of writing with mini-bouts of revision, you literally develop
short-circuits, or amorphous neurons good for only a short while and logistical
neurons good for a short while.<br />
Lucky for us all, the damage inflicted during either approach is not permanent.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Newer studies have found that the brain is malleable or
plastic. Unlike a laptop from the factory, the brain constantly rewires itself.
This ability to rewire is called neuroplasticity. In his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Brain-That-Changes-Itself/dp/0143113100/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389387360&sr=8-1&keywords=the+brain+that+changes+itself">The
Brain that Changes Itself</a>, psychologist Norman Doidge explains how
neuroplasticity has enabled stroke victims to overcome paralysis, the deaf have
learned to hear through their tongues, and the blind have been taught to see
through their skin.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
And surprisingly, your imagination can cause the brain to rewire itself. “Each
time you imagine…you alter the tendrils in your living brain,” says Doidge
(213).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwmiC9M9dsVhLPhpFb47GI5B8LEHJVOYgmtAVdirBy4c7E0kOz4ObysB2rk9Xb6TOiPMvm3M9ez11beHePs0JiYBqGNEu0ciazwf6XPVpXrj3hS7J-mcTRb6OBTXE63xjRCV9iRNrVCWU/s1600/IMAGINATION_by_archanN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwmiC9M9dsVhLPhpFb47GI5B8LEHJVOYgmtAVdirBy4c7E0kOz4ObysB2rk9Xb6TOiPMvm3M9ez11beHePs0JiYBqGNEu0ciazwf6XPVpXrj3hS7J-mcTRb6OBTXE63xjRCV9iRNrVCWU/s1600/IMAGINATION_by_archanN.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artwork courtesy of <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IMAGINATION_by_archanN.jpg" target="_blank">archanN</a> on Wikimedia Commons. Image CC.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This is a staggering fact for writers, but not just because our jobs demand
lots of imagination. It’s a big deal because if we imagine the
writing process as one sphere of the brain battling the other, then our neurons
will physiologically respond. In other words, to imagine conflict is to produce
the carnage of the battlefield.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morihei_Ueshiba">Morihei
Ueshiba</a> articulated this principle long before modern neuroscience. At
the turn of the last century in Japan, Ueshiba founded <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aikido">Aikido</a>, a new martial art
dedicated to eliminating conflict. Continual conflict—imagined or actual—ruins
the mind and spirit (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Peace-Teachings-Founder/dp/0877738513/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389387448&sr=8-1&keywords=the+art+of+peace">8</a>).
As an alternative, Ueshiba proposed aiki training. Aiki means harmony, thus
aikido is a way to practice harmony.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ59NvzO3nknA81PM3Jdc9ZBpJZIwrJF9ajeN2MSbAulc8mvpnccLjF5FZbRiBdjNEWMtQlFCFMd-DDIiweIHggx-UcKhTuItGj8u70TRecYq6CtK4mXiZwgmpZyWapHd1k4D440nkUBc/s1600/IMG_1567.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ59NvzO3nknA81PM3Jdc9ZBpJZIwrJF9ajeN2MSbAulc8mvpnccLjF5FZbRiBdjNEWMtQlFCFMd-DDIiweIHggx-UcKhTuItGj8u70TRecYq6CtK4mXiZwgmpZyWapHd1k4D440nkUBc/s1600/IMG_1567.jpg" height="275" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of <a href="http://zachhively.com/" target="_blank">Zach Hively</a>. <br />
That's me, demonstrating for my Nikyu test in 2013!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My aiki training started in 2007, and it’s the reason why I can’t lock my brain
in a Jekyll-and-Hyde struggle while writing! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhvcUmjY2mQ">Richard Moon</a>, an
internationally renowned sensei, notes that <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGQXC4Cy33s&list=UUL_IvoqYe6KmHN_K9sEt2qQ&index=5">a harmonized
“aiki” brain functions with more creativity</a>. For writers, this means
that when we put the brain in a state of harmonious cooperation rather than in
battle, we can accomplish more on the page. We can be better storycrafters.<br />
<br />
Over the next few blog posts, I’m going to invite each of you to indulge in
some aiki writing training so that you can unify and harmonize the Jekyll and
Hyde spheres of your brain. Let’s rewire those plastic neurons and elevate our
writing abilities!<br />
<br />
Don’t banish your editor-brain to the dungeon only to resurrect it months later,
when it is a dust-covered, half-rotten thing. And please don’t handcuff your
creativity while revising each word and sentence as you go, which is like super
gluing each grain of sand in a sandcastle—pretty soon you’re working with a
lump of granite.<br />
<br />
Rather than write-then-revise or revise-while-writing, I would like to show you
how to revise-BEFORE-you-write. I’d like to suggest that you have opportunities
to revise BEFORE the first draft of your novel is even written. Seems
impossible, I know. How can you possibly be creative and logical at the same
time? And how can you revise what you have not written?<br />
<br />
Tune in next time to learn about writers who revise before they write: screen
writers and research writers. Pros like Joss Whedon, Quentin Tarantino, E. O.
Wilson, and Stephen Hawking use similar techniques to revise before they write.
And I’m going to show you how they do it—how they mix preliminary creation with
logistical revision in order to tell good stories, which is the goal, whether
you are writing an EPA research report, a blockbuster script, or a middle grade
novel, whether you want to be the next Dr. Seuss or the next Junot
Díaz. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01266880149857972652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000306347895519364.post-36576023608209847872013-11-15T10:15:00.001-08:002013-11-15T10:15:07.926-08:00Fighting Writer's Plaque23,000+ words into National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and I have to say I'm feeling pretty good. True, I am about 2,000 words behind today's target of 25,000 words, but I know I'll catch up.<br />
<br />
After all, I had one very busy weekend and a few very strenuous days at work which put me 3,000 words behind by Sunday, but I caught up.<br />
<br />
Little by little. Being persistent. And...I think that's the most common thing writers lose perspective on while tackling this month-long challenge. In many ways, NaNo is like a writer's diet. You put your novel on the scales at the end of every day and see if target numbers match up.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzyFin4TzP6O4Yhn9v7wSaHVokOU-NOfoGNf0cVzrkG1rY0StAVHgZUGwOK2OMcHWF64Zwr6k1pVcvDEyZU1xUzDBuvJkxlQiXrwY2B5kLXQ__-11l-8GlOah1RzFqOFyL-ddpTbhKVOs/s1600/scales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzyFin4TzP6O4Yhn9v7wSaHVokOU-NOfoGNf0cVzrkG1rY0StAVHgZUGwOK2OMcHWF64Zwr6k1pVcvDEyZU1xUzDBuvJkxlQiXrwY2B5kLXQ__-11l-8GlOah1RzFqOFyL-ddpTbhKVOs/s1600/scales.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The first week feels great. Most writers hit well over the daily targets. They fist-pump until they contract a mild case of carpal tunnel.<br />
<br />
But then the fateful day arrives when they inevitably slip up. Like a dieter indulging in a velvety bowl of chocolate pudding, the writer indulges in a blank page. It feels good. Boy, was that little break needed! But then the next day, the guilt is an ax hacking at you! The numbers are off. You're behind. You suck. What were you thinking? Now whatever words you cobble together on the page feel worthless. What's the point? This is too overwhelming! Too big to tackle. What the hell were you thinking a few days ago -- bragging on Facebook like some kind moron!?<br />
<br />
But to all that, I say: Whoa! Breathe! Calm down!<br />
<br />
Despite all the daily word targets, all the numbers, stats, and pep-talks, NaNo is neither a diet nor a race. Sure, it can be, but I don't think that's the true intention behind the concept.<br />
<br />
Because I suspect many writer's lose perspective, I want to try to take a few steps back and look at this whole thing from another angle. Climb up on the monkey bars with me, will you? Hook your legs to the bars and hang down from your knees. Remember how? I know its been a while for most of us.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7unWGrBuqlTGoAhz5Q0y7yE-CTyIu4fDwNZ7oo_X2MOZupWBUAuEX6A0K_u213UJ0LG-V44Y7Ua78noIM2_CgKhj_d5rnxVJoiJhTUFEyYSKXbWB98TMYtXVLy6k9mkR37K0WBEUnAQ/s1600/monkeybars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7unWGrBuqlTGoAhz5Q0y7yE-CTyIu4fDwNZ7oo_X2MOZupWBUAuEX6A0K_u213UJ0LG-V44Y7Ua78noIM2_CgKhj_d5rnxVJoiJhTUFEyYSKXbWB98TMYtXVLy6k9mkR37K0WBEUnAQ/s1600/monkeybars.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Okay, now that we're looking at NaNo from a whole new perspective, what do we see? Well, I see that rooted in its name is the word "nano." Think of that not as a contraction of National and Novel, but as just <i>nano</i>. Something small, minute.<br />
<br />
I don't mean to suggest that NaNo is a some small, insignificant event and thus you can totally give up on it and not even care, because you've been told before not to sweat the small stuff. I DO mean to suggest that what NaNo is asking you to do is attempt something small in order to lead to a huge payoff.<br />
<br />
In effect, all this month is asking you to do is write. Consistently. Persistently. It encourages and seduces you to make writing part of your daily cycle. Rather than treating writing like the divine miracle that only comes about when the ether of muses oozes at its strongest, NaNo purports that writing can be as routine and simple an act as brushing your teeth. (Yes, I am assuming you brush your teeth daily.)<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBvyDjeqtSi3Bkurlc74R5UJUQIkkhKchBwjvy6k52NSksSYXr6UGB8SWLseQzMkYIG6kGjXtfg2cHkD1hkseZmcrpmctgGTEWjbeaH1yo9wxi2RREZRpMcLDJMDTlFbkul7pszuUlqd8/s1600/teethbrushing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBvyDjeqtSi3Bkurlc74R5UJUQIkkhKchBwjvy6k52NSksSYXr6UGB8SWLseQzMkYIG6kGjXtfg2cHkD1hkseZmcrpmctgGTEWjbeaH1yo9wxi2RREZRpMcLDJMDTlFbkul7pszuUlqd8/s1600/teethbrushing.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Remember how when you were little, your mom or dad always had to remind (read: nag) you to brush your teeth? It just wasn't incorporated into the fabric of your lifestyle. But eventually, with persistence and practice, it was. Eventually, you needed no reminders. And to this day, you do not skip it because when you do, you go around with bad breath. You go the whole day feeling icky and yuck.<br />
<br />
And the same is true for writing.<br />
<br />
So you missed a day. So you're behind on the daily targets. So what? When you do forget to brush your teeth or plum run out of time, do you kick yourself and condemn your whole future to the dungeons of acrid plaque, rotting gums, and tooth-blackening cavities? No.<br />
<br />
Why? Because dental hygiene is a life-long activity. It's small in the grand scale of all that you do with your day, and its payoff is huge. Take good daily care of your teeth, and you won't wind up in dentures when your forty. You can crack into as many apples as you want. You can crunch-anunch all the crunch-anunchy things the world has to offer. In short, you can indulge in all the splendifous flavors of life!<br />
<br />
And the same is true for writing when you do it every day. So, if you are at this point in NaNo, kicking/hating/bagging on yourself: STOP IT. The more you do that, the more discouraged you'll feel and the less likely you'll be to take up writing again. Then your plaque just builds and builds around your imagination. And then it calcifies! And then, you've got this big smelly crust around your once beautiful mind!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI2jvAggd9WilQdxSbnQd-894PUDm6GuuA8lIms8zXZ46KxACXsC1o6WPs6JqNMjw53iearVay6M-Pec8xHxc8kEW5BbFpV5PSUvBdhhm7YtRl9I-O9osrDcAEeBOagfMQx_bU8bpK4o8/s1600/beautiful_brain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI2jvAggd9WilQdxSbnQd-894PUDm6GuuA8lIms8zXZ46KxACXsC1o6WPs6JqNMjw53iearVay6M-Pec8xHxc8kEW5BbFpV5PSUvBdhhm7YtRl9I-O9osrDcAEeBOagfMQx_bU8bpK4o8/s1600/beautiful_brain.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"A Beautiful Mind" by TheLionofOz on deviantart.com.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Pick up that pen and perform a small, seemingly innocuous act. Remember that it is a life-long activity requiring very little effort for a very big payoff. Working it into the fabric of your lifestyle means that you will continue doing it in December...in January, then February, and so on.<br />
<br />
Now I can see that all the blood as run to your head. Ease yourself off the monkey bars. Look at NaNo now that you're upright once more. Can you see now that it is not a race? Rather, it is a path we all travel at our own pace. It is a path you chose as much as it chose you.<br />
<br />
Remember, too, that it is not a diet -- a quick-fix with temporary results. It is a way for you to indulge in all the marvelous flavors of storycrafting everyday of your writing life!<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHubSDmn15t3bFTAUui8-PGk32CnrHnERn3uVjnQWTVbIYcMtb_QfWdLab625-XKV7ocpiHWVzu7w7N7ybzLW1W9ajsU6iaI3rDoF07XRQdzhnv9AsrrodLt5T3MUpEFEtCK9l8SVn4k/s1600/love_writing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHubSDmn15t3bFTAUui8-PGk32CnrHnERn3uVjnQWTVbIYcMtb_QfWdLab625-XKV7ocpiHWVzu7w7N7ybzLW1W9ajsU6iaI3rDoF07XRQdzhnv9AsrrodLt5T3MUpEFEtCK9l8SVn4k/s1600/love_writing.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
And speaking of storycrafting flavors, be sure to tune in again soon when I take a look at the kinds of writing that may not be ideal for completing NaNo. It's like when you decide to turn over a whole new leaf and get yourself in better shape. You take up jogging, buy bushels of fruits and veggies, and evict all the junk food inhabiting in your pantry. How long does that last? Yeah, not long at all. In my next post, I'll look at similar patterns in writing that lead to ultimate self-defeat.<br />
<br />
Join me then, but for now, go write! Go remove some plaque! And smile more (knowing you stink a whole lot less than you thought you did a few minutes ago)! <br />
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01266880149857972652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000306347895519364.post-85615981755232965682013-10-28T18:19:00.000-07:002013-10-28T18:19:44.365-07:00Chrysalis and Entropy: A Celebration of Adolescence <span style="font-family: inherit;">I have a monthly Google calendar reminder to check on several interesting children's/YA publishing industry related blogs. Actually, I have many calendar reminders set to pretty much boss me around day-to-day and month-to-month. Many of the tasks I set up on a revolving basis are treats. Like writing 2,000 words each day. I love that one and it pops up first thing every morning at 8 a.m.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Others pop up and I scoff and send my eyes in search of the top-most textures of my head. Checking those blogs, I admit, can sometimes be a scoff-task. But this time around, I came across the following video on the <a href="http://carolrhoda.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Carolrhoda Lab</a>, and it made me clap and cheer!</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/mYKLvYGqaC0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">The footage reveals a large group of very young musicians totally rocking out. And the short blog post accompanying the video on the Carolrhoda site praises young folks for doing intricate, complicated, and spectacular things!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the post+video made me cheer out loud not only because it is true, but also because it encapsulated my philosophy and methodology in writing for adolescent audiences.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Manymanymany novels out on the retail shelves depict teens coping with, causing, and sometimes solving drastic, catastrophic, world-bending events. And in the midst of all that hubbub, they intermingle elements of the adolescent experience. Puberty. Relationships. Dermatological disasters. Family drama. Love.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Books that exhibit this approach include <i>Those That Wake</i>, <i>The Hunger Games </i>trilogy, or the <i>Divergent</i> trilogy. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">And on its own, that approach sounds perfectly respectable. It certainly hasn't cost any of those authors any profits. There is, after all, a world with teenagers in it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">But the-world-with-teens paradigm does a disservice to the adolescent experience. From the vantage of a teen, there is, first, exhilarating chaos within the body, then exquisite madness beyond the body. It's more like there are teens with a world around them. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sounds neurotic? Self-centered? Maybe even a little narcissistic? Well, that's because it is...and what the hell's wrong with that? The neurology of the adolescent brain resembles a rain forest feasting on Miracle-Gro. The heart is simultaneously shredded and nourished by hormones that swell and crash with more force than a thousand tsunamis. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The lyrics of Tool's song in the video above encapsulate precisely the teens-with-a-world paradigm. "Change is coming through my shadow...." "My shadow's shedding skin...." "Change is coming through...."</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The song depicts the itchy, uncomfortable, scabby, bloody process of growing up -- that epic war between entropy and chrysalis. The childlike husk of the self erodes while the new but-not-fully-formed shroud of the teen emerges. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I maintain that when it comes to writing YA, the metamorphosis a child goes through while "growing up" is substantially more important than evil forces scheming to take over the world, dystopian governments, or even, the apocalypse! Make no mistake: the primacy of the experience receives no short shrift in a novel like Martine Leavitt's <i>The Book of Life by Angel</i> or in any John Green novel (include any novel considered kith and kin to Green and Leavitt). But I suspect that a "genre" or "spec-fic" writer is just as capable as the real world chronicler when it comes to depicting </span></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">adolescence</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">When I write, I seek to celebrate the complexity and profundity of teenage ability and creativity. Beyond that, I strive to honor the glory, the pain, the horror, and the beauty of adolescence.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01266880149857972652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000306347895519364.post-75710049250010926462013-10-21T11:04:00.001-07:002013-10-21T11:04:18.554-07:00Guest blogging: The Nectar of SuccessFor writers, success is like nectar. It's oh-so-sweet, but comes in small servings and only after lots and lots of diligent toil. <div>
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Recently, I got to be the guest-blogger on Zach Hively long-running blog of books, thoughts, and other interesting ephemera. In that post, I announced to the world my latest little drops of nectar-success! Check out all the juicy details here: <a href="http://znhively.blogspot.com/2013/10/guest-blogger-jennifer-mason-ink.html">http://znhively.blogspot.com/2013/10/guest-blogger-jennifer-mason-ink.html</a></div>
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I am so pleased to announce that my writing is now available for the world to enjoy in two different volumes of <i>Chicken Soup for the Soul</i>! To read more about what I contributed, please visit Zach's blog!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01266880149857972652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000306347895519364.post-29697064824287190762013-10-08T17:39:00.001-07:002013-10-08T17:39:22.422-07:00N-InfomaniacsNow that I'm finally done with the whole "I'm-gonna-do-two-Masters-degrees-in-two-countries" thing, I have time to read all the really juicy books on my must-read list. All the ones that stacked up as research reading and critical reading had to get done. All the ones that beckoned to me from bookstore and library shelves.<br />
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<i>Read us! You know you'd much rather read us than Ball's theories on mise-en-abyme, or Ron's counterarguments on embedded narratives.</i><br />
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Well, those siren books weren't wrong. And now I am indulging. Mostly in nonfiction.<br />
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I just got through Erik Larson's <i>The Devil in the White City</i> and (for a second time) Deborah Heiligman's <i>Charles and Emma: The Darwin's Leap of Faith</i>.<br />
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I think for the purposes of this discussion, we can forget that these books were written for two different audiences. Heiligman crafted her work for young adults while Larson was targeting adults (historically knowledgeable adults, at that).<br />
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On the most basic levels, both books are simply creative nonfiction -- that is to say, nonfiction crafted to read like a fiction novel. Unlike textbooks, which present researched facts assembled from various primary sources in a dry and unbiased tone, creative nonfiction seeks to render mood, tension, and stakes out of its sources so that facts come alive and the story electrifies the reader!<br />
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To do that, creative nonfiction writers are sworn to never make anything up. If they deploy descriptions of settings loaded with descriptive adjectives, then by golly, those adjectives had better come from actual sources and not the imaginative warehouse of the writer's brain.<br />
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Both authors can be trusted to present only factual details; however, both authors do not exert the same pressures on those details to make them relevant, startling, surprising, and compelling. In other words, one book suffocated under the weight of its factoids. It choked on its own research, failing to properly cut the information into bite-size, digestible bits. The author fell victim to research and became a festering, throbbing, unrelenting n-infomaniac.<br />
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And I am sympathetic. With more than a decade of research and nonfiction writing under my belt, I can attest to the seductive lure of information. The more you find, the more you crave. Uncover one lost, but juicy tidbit, and that's all it takes to set the writer off in pursuit of more tender fact morsels.<br />
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But the devil is in the details.<br />
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And Heiligman faces the devil down. She executes her story with more restraint. Undoubtedly, her research churned up countless gems of unknown secrets lost to time and obscurity. Did she share them all? Nope. Share shared only what the reader needed to understand and love the personal story of Charles Darwin and his wife, Emma.<br />
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Heiligman strikes a comfortable balance between her sources and her story. She relies heavily on the personal correspondance of Charles and Emma Darwin, but she puts these letters to work in a storycrafting sense. Quotes from letters come alive as if they were dialogue being spoken. She achieves banter and repartee. Other times, Heiligman pulls out notes from Charles Darwin's notebooks. These she uses like thoughts he is having, in media res.<br />
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And in every chapter, Heiligman establishes stakes. In one chapter, Charles privately debates on a sheet of paper whether or not to get married. Why should that matter? Oh, no reason -- except that to not get married would mean a lonely lifetime in a grimy London apartment, while to get married might keep him from pursuing research that will eventually upend the foundations of science into the foreseeable future.<br />
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No biggie.<br />
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Larson, on the other hand, sets out with a provocative hook: compare the builder of the 1893 World's Fair to the psychopathic serial killer who murdered many of the fair goers. Essentially, the dust jacket would have you believe that Larson was going to compare a man who built a fantasy-land (Daniel Burnham) with another man who constructed a hotel-of-horror (H.H. Holmes).<br />
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Like Heiligman, Larson attempts to have personal correspondence masquerade as dialogue and live-action thought. In reality, the book flounders under a menagerie of alternating viewpoints. Chapters flip between Burnham, Burnham's partner, other World's Fair designers, Holmes, the then-mayor of Chicago, one of the mayor's staffers, to a quack-nut named Prendergrast (who will go on to assassinate the mayor), a police officer, and on and on the list goes. The effect is like an ensemble-cast Love Actually filmed with an attention deficite camera that keeps wandering away from the Emma Thompson's and Colin Firth's to follow up with the blurry extras in the background.<br />
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And because of the text's wayward narrative lens, Larson is not able to sustain the ominous mood and skin-rippling suspense one expects from a book involving psychopathic torture alongside monumental architectural achievement. (Okay, maybe I'm the only one with those expectations...) The slow-yet-sudden pattern of revelation throughout the book winds up feeling like a Hitchcock movie where the director teases viewers with a slow pan up into a box of macabre delight only to suddenly kick the box over and spill all of its sinister secrets.<br />
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In the end, the lesson for writers and storycrafters: avoid temptation and descend not into the murky depths of n-infomania!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01266880149857972652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000306347895519364.post-75076256475774822202013-08-21T14:27:00.001-07:002013-08-21T14:27:09.289-07:00How to Write with Forks and SpoonsI had a writer's epiphany.<br />
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It happened while I was making my usual Wednesday night drive home from the dojo. I'd just spent two hours on the mat practicing Aikido, a martial art founded on principles of ki (energy) rather than combat. Essentially, Aikido teaches its practitioners not to hit back when hit, but to a.) avoid the hit, b.) absorb its energy, and c.) give it back to the attacker in a harmonious way. "In a harmonious way" tends to mean incapacitating the attacker. Pinning them down...which is comparatively harmonious.<br />
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So, I'm heading home, all amped up with leftover ki, feeling harmonious with everything -- admittedly, I'm in an absorbent and impressionable state of mind. I'm listening to <i>American Routes</i> on the local public radio station.<br />
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Producer and host Nick Spitzer is interviewing Pat Martino, Philadelphia jazz modernist. Martino left home when he was a teen and pursued jazz in Harlem. He played ensemble for a while, then went solo and got big. But in 1979, he underwent an emergency operation to correct an aneurysm. The surgery damaged a part of his brain and left him with amnesia. Family, friends, and how to play music: all forgotten. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMMSW83OYxwMDJi9O-CrrJNnP9xdJx0WzO0l3BfU1rTl7MIEMJ40-Q4Du1bEFRbEXl_lRAcgF_7gr4RbSmdTvLHW07IkwMea6FNLLWjyJSVvns8Qne5WyOTAiwW776MbVVm8dIGbDu3kc/s1600/Pat_Martino.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMMSW83OYxwMDJi9O-CrrJNnP9xdJx0WzO0l3BfU1rTl7MIEMJ40-Q4Du1bEFRbEXl_lRAcgF_7gr4RbSmdTvLHW07IkwMea6FNLLWjyJSVvns8Qne5WyOTAiwW776MbVVm8dIGbDu3kc/s320/Pat_Martino.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: start;"><i>(Pat's story comprises a portion of the second hour on the show called</i> </span><a href="http://goo.gl/rwB3BN" style="text-align: start;" target="_blank">"Guitar Heroes: Pat Martino & Ben Hall."</a><span style="text-align: start;"> <i>Jump to about a half-hour in, unless you want to groove to the whole show.)</i></span></span></td></tr>
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As Martino recovered, his father pressured him constantly to pick up the guitar and play. But the guitar felt alien to Martino. He didn't understand what he was supposed to do with it. He avoided it.<br />
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But not playing began to feel "volatile" so he picked it back up. He learned how to play again, bit by bit, and returned to all-new realms of jazz greatness.<br />
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To achieve any level of greatness, Pat talks about having to simultaneously reduce and elevate the guitar. He likens it to any necessary, functional item around his house, specifically spoons and forks. They are tools he takes out when he needs them. They are tool that serve their purpose.<br />
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Oh, baby, that admission walloped me hard.<br />
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I thought immediately about the writer's tools: pen/paper or e-pens/paper (laptops). Some writers, both famous and unpublished, often fuss over having just the right kind of pen (roller ball vs gel ink, smooth flowing vs scrape-heavy) or the right kind of journal (hardback spiral-bound vs soft, sturdy leather-bound), or the right kind of laptop (tiny, lightweight vs a good, ol' fashioned typewriter). I used to fuss over these exact things. And while I fussed, I did not have to worry about writing. How could I possibly write when all I had was a Bic click pencil and a floppy five-subject notebook to scrawl in?<br />
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But when I finally got the exact pen I wanted and the precise kind of journal, I emptied the one and filled the other with words. Not stories. Meaningless, rambling, disconnected words. By themselves, words do not tell stories. They are just words.<br />
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But I had all the right tools to tell stories, didn't I? Shouldn't the stories just be pouring from my ballpoint?<br />
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Well, no. Stories don't come from the pen, the paper, or the keyboard. They come from the storyteller. <br />
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The same is true for jazz guitarists. Notes may come out of an instrument, but music flows only from a musician.<br />
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Pluckers may pull strings and writers may scribble, but it's musicians and storytellers who do the real work. And to transition from one level to the next, the artist must learn how to properly use her tools.<br />
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I was not using my pens/papers like tools. Instead, I treated them like divine totems. Years ago, when I finished my undergraduate degree and had to push writing out of my prime time and into my spare time, I learned how to reduce the pen/paper to tools. Because I worked full-time and managed a household, time was tight. When I sat down to write (around 11 p.m.) I felt the necessity to get the story out because 2 a.m. was gonna creep up like an assassin and kill my writing time. When I commuted on the bus to and from work, I wrote with anything I had on hand. I wrote on anything that had blank sheets of paper. And I wrote despite the bumps and sudden swerves that mangled my handwriting.<br />
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Oh, how I would bemoan the corrosion and corruption of my writing. It used to be magical. It used to come out in gorgeous swirling script from a fancy pen on smooth stone-ground paper. Now it was relegated to pragmatic, get-it-done taskery.<br />
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And that was how I continued to work, even when I left my job and took up graduate school. Every month, I had to produce twenty pages of creative work. Twenty pages of story. So I sat down (anywhere, anytime possible) and I wrote (with anything available).<br />
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And it wasn't until I heard Pat Martino talk about his guitars like spoons that I realized what a huge favor I had done myself. My pen/paper, and all the other craft elements that go with writing (using metaphors, crafting settings, exploring objective correlatives, mapping character arcs, engineering storyboards, etc) had all become tools. No more mysterious or elusive than spoons and forks.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Spoon slave by Forked Up Art.</i></td></tr>
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I could take them out and use them when <i>I needed them</i>.<br />
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They were there to serve <i>me</i>.<br />
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Imagine if every time you sat down for breakfast, you had to summon the spoon-muses just to eat your bran flakes! Imagine what you'd look like if you only ate when the mood struck just right.<br />
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Writing IS eating to me. It is sustenance. I can't wait till the mood is ambient and gods are friendly. Screw moods and gods -- I'M HUNGRY!<br />
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Yes, I have relegated my pens and paper to mere tools, but I have not demoted my storytelling. Because I had mastered my tools, I could use them to construct many amazing things!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjulM2PiXYiHOG7bD7dZ2eZA-ZQ_YTNQk7_XDS_DcLD9EenEDD1828itECfBI4bFd5cVHwqye7iEZJAo-J9OrL4Ciur9vztvqoovV_l0SIJ0rXOr7n6VGl4oChm4hQ0U6g1t9Pw1I72rcY/s1600/amazing-material.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjulM2PiXYiHOG7bD7dZ2eZA-ZQ_YTNQk7_XDS_DcLD9EenEDD1828itECfBI4bFd5cVHwqye7iEZJAo-J9OrL4Ciur9vztvqoovV_l0SIJ0rXOr7n6VGl4oChm4hQ0U6g1t9Pw1I72rcY/s320/amazing-material.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Art by Matthew Bartik.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01266880149857972652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000306347895519364.post-37035764656993487832013-03-22T16:22:00.001-07:002013-03-22T17:29:55.714-07:00WelcomeWelcome to my website.<br />
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I know, I know. It says blog and it's hosted by Blogger, but this is really my space to share what I do with the world.<br />
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In brief, I am a writer. Specifically, a novelist. Additionally, a work for hire writer and editor. Yeah, that's right. A freelancer. Or, as I prefer to be called, a word-wielding warrior! An ink-slinging samurai.<br />
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I write daily, diligently, ritualistically, passionately, spiritually, and preferably for children and young adults.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSeXeaedFiveoTdsMIfxXogcE_bQGaZ5QOKsjF1fh-nRCXR1A948TgZa4gCEN2MgIEUCuK3rcz4DM4sPxXJSQNSsLuzytdWyaB3fmXogxOqITWwbvBF8N2B2XvnSzu3U4l195skXqMl7A/s1600/jenny_falltrees.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSeXeaedFiveoTdsMIfxXogcE_bQGaZ5QOKsjF1fh-nRCXR1A948TgZa4gCEN2MgIEUCuK3rcz4DM4sPxXJSQNSsLuzytdWyaB3fmXogxOqITWwbvBF8N2B2XvnSzu3U4l195skXqMl7A/s400/jenny_falltrees.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I've spread lots of information across the pages of this site, so have a look around. If you have a project that demands creativity, wit, research, and above all, excellent writing, please email me (jen.michelle.mason at gmail dot com). Also, feel free to friend me on Facebook, tweet me on Twitter, or plus me on Google+.<br />
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(Unfortunately, I've yet to tumble onto Tumblr...my knees just ain't what they used to be. I also have yet to snag on Pinterest.)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01266880149857972652noreply@blogger.com