Writing Advice from Margaret Atwood
Sometimes, I really need to take my own damn advice and just write. It’s funny how a simple task can become so difficult. Often, I forget the things I preach and I find that consulting others gives me the perspective I can’t drum up for myself.
This week I thought “ah, what the hell!” and asked bestselling author Margaret Atwood a question through the miracle social media platform of twitter.
Here was my brief but poignant answer:
Sometimes you just need to hear things from someone who is the ‘living embodiment’ of that which you strive to become. My hope is that the advice I was given is somewhat useful to you. If you’re unconvinced, try reading a biography of someone in a similar profession. Many writers also use social networking sites to keep us common people updated on their craft. If you follow or research the lives of your favourite artists, you’ll soon find that many of them suffer the same struggles as you and I.
What Ms. Atwood suggests is a great remedy for doubt, I think. This week I’m going to take my own advice, Tori’s advice, and the advice of Margaret Atwood. I’m going to concentrate on the quality of my work itself.
The second I stop to compare myself to others, or doubt that I have the ability to succeed, is the second I stop writing.
Walk the Block
The best cure for writer’s block? Stop thinking of it as a barricade, and think of it more as a path. I find that most people who deal with writer’s block think of it as a physical block that has to be broken down or overcome when it’s better to approach it as a figurative block.
Imagine your creative flow as a road. Perhaps it’s pretty steady at the moment and everything’s going great. You’re writing up a storm and the printer is spitting out pages, but suddenly you reach a brick wall. You’ve lost your momentum and you’re perplexed or perturbed. Now most writers will just stare at that wall and bash their heads against it until it gives way, but perhaps choosing to turn left or right would be more beneficial.
This is where the figurative block comes in. Perhaps you walk down a block or two, and you find a road that leads you back on track beyond the dead end, or maybe it takes a few or a multitude; regardless, at some point you should find your way, even if it means going all the way back and starting over.
What is it that you’re exactly doing walking up these blocks? You’re having an experience. It could be taken quite literally that you’re going for a walk through town (perhaps to get groceries or just have a breath of fresh air). Maybe you’re watching a movie, reading a book, or listening to music. Or perhaps you’re taking big steps and going on a vacation or extensive adventure. Walking down these roads could be anything (heck, even eating can count), but what matters is that you’re broadening your creative horizons by having experiences to draw from. At some point you’re going to find the right road that leads you back on the right track, or sometimes on a new, more inspired path altogether.
To put it plainly, writer’s block comes about from a lack of inspiration. Rather than sit at your keyboard and question your talent, why not take writer’s block as an opportunity to indulge yourself in leisureness or activity? Why not let your mind rest up as well as absorb more ideas? There’s no need to fret, because the fact is inspiration doesn’t magically come about by staring at a blank page; it comes from living and being active. See the world, find a story, and make yourself hunger to fill that page, because you just can’t force-feed inspiration.
-Tori Domay
Top 10 Reasons you should STOP writing:
I’ve compiled a list of 10 reasons why many writers should stop writing.
(9) – If you haven’t gone to school to obtain a degree in creative writing or english, you can kiss your chances of success goodbye. (8) – Writing takes way too much time and effort, and will leave you feeling empty inside. (7) – When you finish a novel, or kill off important characters you’ve created, it’s the equivalent of an emotional loss if someone you loved actually died. Save yourself the grieving. (6) – Writing may lead to suicide. Remember Sylvia Plath or Virginia Woolf? These are two literary figures who had a lot of success, but couldn’t handle the rigours of their craft. (5) – Writing causes stress. Stress is a very big factor in shorting your life expectancy, and may lead to coronary heart disease, or cancer. (4) – Writing is expensive. Many beginning writers spend thousands of dollars, often going into large amounts of debt when self-publishing or marketing themselves to the public. (3) – You run the tremendous risk of spending a mountain of time and money, only to have your novel or screenplay be a complete flop. (2) – Even the most successful writers receive hundreds of rejection letters before getting published. (1) – Most writers spend their whole lives and never amount to anything. Their friends and family may never understand why you pursue something you’ll never be successful at. You may find out later in life, that you actually have no talent, and you’ve wasted years away when you could have been doing something else productive. Maybe you should quit while you’re ahead, before you waste your life? |
Now that you’ve read this list, do you still want to write?
You do?
EXCELLENT!
You’ve past the test! Real writers wouldn’t pay attention to negative things like this. You cannot be afraid of rejection. You cannot be afraid of failure. Writers write, because they have to. If you wake up every day and you think about your craft, you’re a writer. If you only write once a week, you’re a writer. You cannot be afraid of writing 100 terrible pages before getting 1 really good page.
Take a moment today to reflect on all the GOOD things you have going on in your life. Measure your success by setting personal goals for yourself. Don’t compare yourself to other writers, who have achieved many best sellers or optioned screenplays.
I leave you now with some quotes that help inspire me when I’m feeling blue about my craft. These quotes are a reminder that anything is possible.
|
“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” - Albert Einstein “I would like to be remembered as someone who did the best she could with the talent she had.” – JK Rowling. “Serious writers write, inspired or not. Over time they discover that routine is a better friend to them than inspiration.” - Ralph Keyes “The biggest thing separating people from their artistic ambitions is not a lack of talent. It’s the lack of a deadline.” – Chris Baty “It’s not the college degree that makes a writer. The great thing is to have a story to tell.” - Polly Adler “Find a good story and don’t be surprised if it takes you five years to get it off the ground.” –Brad Anderson “God doesn’t require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.” - Mother Teresa “Talent in cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” - Stephen King |
For all these quotes and MORE, please visit the INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES page at the top of this blog!
~ HAPPY WRITING
Know Your Ending – A Writer’s Travel Guide
Warning: The following blogpost is jammed with travelling metaphors. |
Some abstract free-spirit hippie writers might tell you to just ‘free-ball’ your story until it naturally ends. I say, “No way, jose!”
Having an ending in mind gives you a goal and a destination to work towards. When I write the first draft, I want the quickest route possible to get me to that all important finish line. Some people might have the luxury of taking the long scenic route to their first draft, but like HELL if i do. I tried that once, and let me tell you, after being on the ‘scenic route’ for several years, I eventually got lost. Afterwards, I couldn’t even remember where it was that I wanted my story to go.
Our goal as writers is to find a happy medium. Worry about sight seeing later. You need to make the most of your time. Otherwise, it will be a waste of a trip.
Imagine for a moment that writing your story is like going on a far off vacation. Your first goal should be getting to your destination. No one really enjoys long flights or drives, but once you get there, you get to have fun and relax!
This is very similar to finishing your first draft. You must know where it is you want your story to go. Once you’ve plotted a successful ending, you can have fun filling in the details and design.
One thing that may help you, is something famed screenwriting author Robert McKee presents in his book Story. This is what McKee calls the “obligatory scene”. This is that climatic moment that happens as a direct result of your inciting incident.
If your inciting incident involves a group of boys discovering a treasure map, your “obligatory scene” is that they find the treasure.
Here is a list of examples so you can get the idea:
|
It seems juvenile to think about, and appears to be so simple, but a lot of amateur authors seem to miss this all important step. If you skip out on this, you’re depriving your audience of a satisfactory ending. Don’t be an irresponsible first time traveller, and jump into the van to see where it leads. Sure it’s quite the adventure, but it usually leads to financial loss, or wasted time. Whether your story debunks the audiences’ expectations or fulfils them, you need to know where your taking your story.
What’s the moral of the story kids? Know your ending. This will help you finish your first draft, and then you can worry about refining your story. If you don’t know your ending, your story will never really get anywhere, and you’ll soon find that your plot comes to a screeching halt.
A LiL’ Inspiration For All Ya’ll
I went and saw The Campaign last night, and let me tell you, it was a lil slice of heaven.
Just a lil’ kick in the pants to get all ya’ll writin’ today. Just take a few minutes and reflect on what it is you want to write on all ya’ll’s blank pages.
Toodles!~
Divide and Conquer your Writing Project
If you’re anything like me and lead an active, social, busy life, the idea of tackling a large project can be very overwhelming. Any writer could tell you how difficult it can be sometimes scheduling hours to work on their craft. Yet there seems to be a folly among a great deal of writers, where many believe that a novel or screenplay is seemingly written overnight. If you pick up your pen with this mindset, you’re going to fall flat on your face.
It’s like watching a television program on Mountain Climbing, and thinking “hell, I could do that!”. It isn’t until you’ve invested into expensive gear, books, or tutorials, and you’re standing at the base of the mountain before you suddenly realize you’re in way over your head.
Then come the tears, and the shame. You think yourself an idiot for ever believing you could reach the top. You can see where others have planted their flags of success, and how much longer the climb will take you than you imagined.
There is however, light at the end of this daunting tunnel. First, you need to STOP thinking that writers do all of the work in a matter of weeks. Many successful writers will tell you, that their novel or screenplay was achieved after dividing up the workload. Beautiful cave stalagmites are made not from instant buildup, but gentle mineral deposits overtime. Can this be a good working style as well?
Very few people have the privilege of waking up every day to greet their novel head on, and do this 7 days a week. Some authors like Ken Follet can take years working, jotting down a few sentences in their notebooks after the kids go to sleep.
Do yourself a favour, like I did for myself, and DIVIDE UP YOUR WORKLOAD. Julia Cameron, author of the Artist’s Way suggests “small doable actions”. Just chip away week by week, doing a little bit of work at time. Soon, you’ll have something to show for it.
Here’s an example of what my writing schedule might look like in a typical week:
Sometimes I write more than this. Sometimes I write a lot less. Don’t beat yourself up if you have a full-time job, and your only writing time is Saturday morning while you’re kids are watching cartoons, or after your long study hours at college.
The trick, is to divide up your workload, so that you don’t become overwhelmed with your project. I tend to get very discouraged and stop writing altogether when I think like that. So pick up the pen, give yourself time, give yourself a goal, and write.
Here is a blank schedule for all those who need one:
FREE BLANK WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Take Two Quotes and Call Me in the Morning
|
I’ve added a new “quotes” page at the top of the blog. I’ll be updating it every so often. You can also access it under the “quote of the month” on the right side bar. All writer’s need a little help sometimes. Here are some quotes that I’ve collected over the years. Whenever I read them, I affirm my identity. I rekindle the fire, and find a way to push forward. I hope these can do the same for you.
“The mightiest works have been accomplished by men who have kept their ability to dream great dreams.” – Walter Bowie “It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.” – J.K. Rowling “Know how you’re going to end your story before you start writing; without a sense of direction, you can get lost in the middle.” Joan Nixon “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” - Albert Einstein “I would like to be remembered as someone who did the best she could with the talent she had.” – JK Rowling. “Character is fate. We learn about a character from the decisions he makes or fails to make.” - Nicholas Meyer, Screenwriter “Screenwriting books, like screenwriting classes, run the risk of becoming a substitute for writing” – Michael Hauge “It takes courage to be a writer. Courage to face yourself, work through your demons & make your art.” - Terry Rossio “I can’t believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary.” - Lou Holtz “Serious writers write, inspired or not. Over time they discover that routine is a better friend to them than inspiration.” - Ralph Keyes “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” - Stephen King “The biggest thing separating people from their artistic ambitions is not a lack of talent. It’s the lack of a deadline.” – Chris Baty 
“In order to write about life, first you must live it!” – Ernest Hemingway “It’s not the college degree that makes a writer. The great thing is to have a story to tell.” - Polly Adler “You accomplish victory step by step, not by leaps and bounds.” - Lyn St. James “You have to be brave to take out that white sheet of paper and put on it words that could be evidence of your stupidity.” - Sol Saks “Harry Potter is all about confronting fears… Twilight is how important it is to have a boyfriend. “ – Stephen King “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” - Robert Collier “Anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.” – J.K. Rowling “Find a good story and don’t be surprised if it takes you five years to get it off the ground.” –Brad Anderson “You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room.” – Theodore Geisel, “DR. SEUSS” “A writer never has a vacation. For a writer, life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.” — Eugène Ionesco “Books aren’t written – they’re rewritten…It is one of the hardest things to accept.” - Michael Crichton 
“God doesn’t require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.” - Mother Teresa “Trouble in writing reflects troubled thinking, usually an incomplete grasp of the facts or their meaning.” – Barbara Tuchman “The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.” - H. Norman Schwarzkopf “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill “Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what it is one is saying.” – John Updike “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” - Dr. Robert Schuller “99% of success in life stems from just showing up.” – Woody Allan “Even without a religious perspective, love and compassion are clearly of fundamental importance to us all.” - Dali Lama “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” - Maya Angelou “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” - Vincent Van Gogh “Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.” – William James “You have brains in your head. Your feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” – Theodore Geisel, “DR. SEUSS” “Never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill “Nothing will come of nothing. Dare for mighty things.” – William Shakespeare “So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” - Theodore Geisel, “DR. SEUSS” “Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.” - Neil Gaiman “If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.” – Stephen King 
|
