a tangled web

by Karen Dums


At times the muse can work against us. Our minds are so full of ideas they become fishing line full of knots. If you've ever tried to untangle fish line you'll know its a near impossibility.

Journaling helps me with this. I can blather on in my journal without rhyme nor reason since no one is going to see it but me. But even that can get to feeling "old". Something that makes at least a modicum of sense would be wonderful.

Enter the prompt. I often throw out prompts at writer's group. But when my head is a tangled mess how am I  to come up with a decent one? What do I have to offer myself or anyone else until the web inside my head becomes a nice, smooth, straight line of coherent thought?

Shopping. Book Shop shopping.

The local bookstore shelves held this beautiful little tome. All browns and golds and lovely to look at. Much more importantly was what lay within. Ideas. It was a five year journal with ideas for each and every day. A journal that gives a sense of direction instead of just a blank page. Of course it found its way into my shopping bag. I love it. I love that if my untidy, clutter mind is more or less empty I can open it to the date and fine something sublime or something ridiculous. Not only that, but if I'm true to this little treasure, I'll have years of joy and directed writing to compare one to another.

Bliss.

Sigh.

It may be difficult to untangle the web, but I can still write with clarity in the meantime.

I love a good "book."

the friction of silence

by Anna Maria Hansen

 

 

~ ~ ~

I cannot write

words dried up, blood from a wound

fire quenched, only smoke left, wreathing

each thought silent prisoner, dragooned

Sitting silent

waiting for their return, birds frightened from the nest

Ears straining, the friction of silence audible

no sound of my words returning, no peace and no rest

I am speechless

fingers hovering, hoping to capture phrases

Like stealth, like hunter, watching for some sign

seeking words through the mindless mazes

I cannot write

creativity sapped, draining, dripping, drying

As a tree in winter, leafless, dead at first glance,

spring must come, melting words, I cannot stop trying

~ ~ ~

 

 



Part of being a writer is knowing that stretches will come, sometimes only a few hours, sometimes days, when words will not come.

Just empty pages, the cursor blinking palely on the screen.

The trick for me has always been sidestepping the writer's block, going around it, instead of trying to battle a straight-forward way over the top. I wrote the above poem on a night when I sat down at the computer determined to write for 20 minutes. I couldn't come up with a single useful line for my book, so I opened a new word document and typed the gospel truth, "I cannot write." And then proceeded to do just that.

Learning to understand (and accept) the silence of thought is a work in progress. I've often found that when I cannot work on a set project... doing something else is usually the key. Change the pace, the rhythm, the tone. When writing is impossible, read over what you've already written. Sooner or later, a sentence will stand out at you and resisting the need to tamper with it will be impossible. You'll be writing, even if it's only a few words.

Writer's block, I'm told, is all in our minds. Truly then, the antidote to it must be there as well.

"...I cannot stop trying..."

the writing game

by Anna Maria Hansen

There it was again. That fleeting, fragmented idea skipping sideways through my mind. With a growl of impatience, I half-turn, blocking my mental view of the partially formed idea. 

Not so fast.

The idea is back, this time holding a sibling idea by the hand. It's impossible not to watch them. They're multiplying, their shapes changing, flashing, filling in and fading out. Kaleidoscopes of possibility.

To a writer, this is a familiar situation. Ideas come all the time, and usually when you least want them or are not prepared to handle them. The only way for me to control the river of ideas is to put them down on paper. Which ultimately results in four full-fledged first-draft novels, a 30-plus page document of novel ideas, a computer file of  fragmented stories, a desk so full I can't open the drawers, and a mind bursting from new, unrecorded thoughts.

Channeling my creative writing ideas has always been a work in process. One way to manage it is NaNoWriMo, a flash-flood of writing so fast and forceful that the ideas don't have time to build and gather dust in the corners of my mind. It's the other 11 months, November aside, that bother me.

Editing novels is a process I enjoy, but it's very different than writing. You are re-shaping ideas, adding new ones, but there is little room for the raw creation experienced in the first draft. But I'm still getting ideas for new stories, temptations to waver and go off on some new project.

What I'm really learning is how to use the ideas I have on the book I'm working on. Every idea gets shaped, honed, to fit into the story, strengthening it, deepening it. Adding to it.

Writing is a game. Like chess. Thinking several moves ahead, planning the next attack, the next move that will leave your reader's mental gears turning. You can't let a single move go by. Every turn has to count.

There's only one rule in the writing game.

 

Finish.

Attention please... what happens when the writing is done

This is a first for me. Querying. This is what authors do when they want to submit their work to an agent or a publisher. Sound simple? It's not.

First one must draft a query letter. This should include a concise overview of your work (if your work is fiction, for non-fiction a proposal is accepted) that is short and sweet. Much like a movie trailer. Your novel may be 65,000 words but what it really says needs to be condensed in a paragraph, two at most, that will hook the interest and attention of the recipient. Wow.

About the recipient. If you've done your research he/she or it (publishing house, not creature from another planet) belongs to AAR, Association of Author Representatives. If they do they have been vetted, they are legitimate, they are not shysters who ask you to pay them money, steal your work, then make a mint signing a big fat book contract for your hard work! This research can be done online by going to the official AAR website, or by the old fashioned way -- through books such as Writer's Marketplace. You'll want to research several of those hes, shes or its since unless you've written the next Pulitzer Prize winner, your work is going to be sent off to more than one. Here's where technology comes in handy. Less and less folks require hard copy, so you won't be paying a fortune in postage sending out packets of printed material. In most cases, but not all (another area in which to pay strict attention) email will do.

Back to the query letter. Pay attention to what the recipient is looking for. Don't pitch your children's book to a publishing house that looks for poetry and poetry only. Don't pitch your non-fiction piece to an agent who only handles Young Adult fiction. If you've written a straight romance don't pitch to erotica. And for goodness sakes if you've written erotica don't pitch to Christian Lit. Please. You're wasting your time and theirs. Simply put, know what genre, or sub-genre your work fits in, lay a good foundation by investigating who or where your work will ultimately land, then add those bits of personal information to the query. Definitely include your body of work, any awards you've received, past publication, if any, and writers groups, associations, etc. you belong to. Be honest. Then polish it, polish it, polish it and send it off with a measure of cautious optimism.

What next? We wait.

I've known some authors who've received requests for a full manuscript within a couple weeks. Others who receive a polite "no thank you" with personal notes. And then there is the dreaded standard rejection which gives you no clue as to why your work is not wanted, leaving you to draw your own conclusion. One that may not be pretty. Or necessarily true.

I have the utmost respect for writers who have submitted work, received a rejection, and keep plugging away until they find someone who wants their book. It may take years. Did you know that Stephanie Meyer, who penned the Twilight series that spun off into merchandise and movies, was rejected 11 times before she found a publisher willing to take her on? Perseverance pays.

While I await responses, if any, to my queries I've got several ideas floating in my head, on paper and on my computer and flash drive (back up is important). Waiting.

Hopefully I've paid close enough attention and my research will pay off. Wish me luck, huh?

The reader is the thing

By Karen Dums

At a recent meeting Guild member Linda brought her friend Cathy as a guest and possible new member, though Cathy avows she is not a writer. (We'll have to take her word until she decides to share with us otherwise). An avid reader, Cathy listened with interest as Guild member Allie shared some of her novel-in-progress. Not only did she listen, she shared her insights.

In after-meeting conversation Cathy claimed she'd brought nothing to the table. Seriously?

As writers we often get caught up in our own heads. The story is so familiar to us; we tell it as we want it to be told. That can be wonderful of course, but one thing we might forget as writer's is who we're writing for. (And here's a clue: it's not the person holding the pen or with his/her fingers poised above the keyboard). It's the reader of course. We are taking them on a voyage of discovery. A voyage that we should be sharing with them. If we take them to the mountain top too quickly they're liable to become oxygen starved and give up the climb. If we take them to the ocean depths too soon they're liable to get the "bends" and that's never good. A boring book is less deadly than a pulmonary embolism, but do you understand my point? We may have our story, total and complete, however rough and as yet unedited, in our heads. But we must remember to "make" those discoveries along with our audience -- not too much so that our work is utterly predictable; not so little that it cannot hold anyone's interest unless they have the attention span of a gnat.

This is a fine and sometimes difficult balance keep. As writers we must, at all times, keep our audience first and foremost in mind.

All authors are writing for someone. That is why in writer's groups readers are such a valuable asset. With diverse backgrounds, tastes, gifts, interests we can give a relatively well-rounded critique of any written work. Are any of us experts? Not really. But we know what we like. Are all that sea of as yet faceless readers out there in book buying land experts? No as well. But they too know what they like.

I once read an article concerning a writer who created her own "reader". She gave her ideal reader a name, an occupation, a family, a hometown, a house, likes and dislikes. Our group used this as a writing exercise. We created our own ideal reader. It might sound like a no-brainer. If my target audience is high school age boys I'm probably not going to hook them with the marital problems of a middle-aged couple. But if my target is a 52 year old woman named Edna, who lives in a small farming community in rural Indiana, has children now grown and gone and a workaholic husband named Clyde, that book about the marital problems of a middle-aged couple might just be it. Keep an eye on that target. Remember who you're writing for. Imagine Edna or Joe or Brittany or Jordan intently turning the pages of your book, smiling all the while.

And if someone is reading your work prior to submission give them a big thank you. Bottom line. The reader IS the thing.





  

limping toward writing

guest post by Jerry Apps 


My writing career was greatly influenced by what happened in 1947. In January of that year, I came down with polio and was confined to bed for several weeks, out of school, and not able to walk. I was in eighth grade, attending a one-room country school.

That fall, able to walk but not run, I entered Wild Rose High School. I discovered I could not participate in any sports because of a bum leg, and was encouraged to take a typewriting class with a room full of girls (a rather enjoyable experience as it turned out). I became a reporter for the Rosebud, our school newspaper, and then editor. I wrote many of the articles, all of the editorials, and “borrowed” heavily from Reader’s Digest, Farm Journal, Wisconsin Agriculturist and other sources. I had not yet learned about plagiarism.

In 1966, after college, the army, marriage and the beginning of a full-time teaching job. I began freelancing a weekly column called “Outdoor Notebook” for several central Wisconsin newspapers. This was the first time I was paid for my writing, earning a hefty $5.00 for each column. I did this for ten years, not missing a week. I called these years of column writing my writing apprenticeship. Everything I wrote was published—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

My first book, The Land Still Lives, was published in 1970, which was the beginning of my book writing career. Several nonfiction books followed. I also had long wanted to write novels. After many rejections, false starts and abandoned projects, my first novel, The Travels of Increase Joseph came out in 2003. Since then I have written five additional novels—the most recent to be published in fall, 2014.

In 2012, Wisconsin Public TV contacted me about doing a documentary based on several of my books about early farm life in Wisconsin. The hour-long show (A Farm Story) came out in 2012, and was aired on some 65 public television stations in 49 states. WPT did a second hour-long documentary with me, (A Farm Winter), in 2012, which aired in 2013. This documentary is based on my book The Quiet Season, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2013.

After many years of not wanting people to know about my bout with polio and how it was the main reason I am writing today, I was convinced to write about the experience. Limping Through Life, (2013, Wisconsin Historical Society Press) is about my polio experience and how my writing career evolved over the years because of it.

After nearly fifty years as a professional writer (meaning it earns me a little money), I still try to write six days a week. And after all of these years, I am still learning how to do it.


***

Visit Jerry Apps at his blog and learn more about him on his website.

the winter of my discontent

by Karen Dums

Wisconsin may be called  God's Country by some, but the landscape, especially in the northern parts, is not for the meek. I've lived here all my life. I've ridden the rollercoaster that weather brings and for the most part "weathered" it without major difficulty.

The winter of 2013/2014 is different.

It began with an inate sadness. I hesitate to call it depression -- far too clinical for my present state. There is a restlessness residing in my soul. There is a need I cannot define. Ephemeral. Veiled. Half-formed nebulous thought that needs putting to paper (or computer screen) yet I have no will. Has this long cold winter sapped me? What shall I do? After all it may be months until spring.

Am I not a writer? Am I not capable of creating a world beyond this sub-zero ice-clad snow-to-my-hips place? Of course I am. I can write sun and sandy beach and ocean waves pounding; I can write of music, how it takes me to a different time, a different place. A place where I am free! Unencumbered by mittens, hats, boots and long underwear.

When I arrive at any of those places I realize I am overthinking. I can surely find simple beauty in the arc of draped snow, defying gravity. Or the striated layers, another thing of beauty, those white mounds on deck, roof, trees. Or the glistening trees. Or a pillar of woodsmoke rising to the sky.

Hmmmm.  This long cold winter seems to be sending me off on a voyage of self-discovery. Not what I can endure, or even my limitations, but how I can stretch myself to reach those very limits and persevere. Find words, blessed words, no matter how well they attempt to stay hidden.

Here's a truth: so much of writing for me is emotion. It spills on the page as happiness, love, rage, that dark side of my psyche that oft needs to escape its bonds. I can find words for that. Easily. No matter what the weather I will find words to bend to my will. I suddenly realize they have not been hiding from me, it is I who have been hiding from them. Even in my discontent I can put pen to paper and create!

A bit of advice: Don't suppress your sense of self when you are writing. There is no need, no matter the topic. To write does not always mean to share. Sometimes we write simply selfishly -- therapeutically so to speak -- to maneuver ourselves past a bad patch, to revel in a good happenstance, to sing without music and to dance without fear. I'll be dancing as fast as I can until spring arrives. And writing all the while.