This post is targeting writers, but really it's for all
artists—everyone (whether a home-maker or a mechanic).
To start, I will say this to the writers. I am not an expert
on craft, so I have nothing for you there. That is your job as a writer to go
find a teacher, a craft book and/or a writing group. There are many good teachers on-line, as well.
Breathe In
Structuring
your writing
For as many writers as are out there, there are just as many
ways to structure your:- Writing time
- Writing style
- The way you get inspiration
- The way you execute that inspiration
Too many writers worry about the how of the above (pantser vs. plotter), effectively freezing their energy and leaving them incapacitated by the shoulds and should nots.
Every writer must find his own way, ultimately, but the Art (dance, visual, written…music)
must be studied and learned before
beginning to practice professionally (there’s another should—but this is different, so take heed). You’ve heard it before
but I repeat it:
Before you can break the rules, you must know the rules.
Too many young writers are
throwing their work out there (publication) and are then getting discouraged
because no one is interested/excited/buying (but sometimes that latter one is not because of skill).
The Emotional component
There are basic, underlying
structures that are at play upon which your art is founded. If you fail to know
what those structures are, your creation will lack the strength and power it
might otherwise have—a nice way to say it might suck.
As I’ve said, I’m not an expert
in craft instruction—so to me, when a piece fails (aside from writing skill),
it’s because it’s lacking the proper empowerment (the blueprint or keys to a
reader’s emotions—and emotions are what hook a reader. Not all keys fit the locks on all
reader’s doors. So you want to have as many keys as
possible to open the most doors (emotional and mental triggers).
Sometimes the trigger is
a love of words strung together in a beautiful, compelling way.
Other times, and for more readers today, I think, the hook is the emotional tug at the
heart, the recognition that the writer knows what the reader is feeling and is
talking to her. Then the reader gets caught up and is carried along.
So, if you’ve learned your craft, and
understood this emotional component, where do you go from there? How do you get
inspired? It is said, just plant your
bottom in a chair and start. I disagree, but then if you’ve been following
me any length of time, you know I'm ornery and disagree with the status quo a
lot.
Breathe Out
Art
is not created in a vacuum
Sometimes you need to get away
from the books and the thinking and just be in life. Rub up against others and
experience, exchange ideas and absorb living before you are able to transmute
those experiences effectively into art.
Live life to be able to write
about it in a compelling way. Be an Auntie Mame and go for it.
I have a novel that I
started but had to put aside to finish the present one (which is now sitting with a publisher-smile). I decided that this time I am going to organize it in a plotter's way (I’ve been so pantser
in the past). So, I am taking my own advice and am going to the ocean, to
Monterey, California this month to get re-invigorated and focused—expressly on that novel--my own writer retreat.
I intend to complete it more quickly than I did my last one. I’m embracing the new experiences and stimulation my days at
the coast will undoubtedly have—because I expect as much. (rubbing my hands gleefully)
If you are at that same moment in
your writing, don't just dream of a writer's retreat, create your own—go forth to be inspired and energized.
Then go and write.
Then go and write.
