Hi friends! Reading your blogs makes me feel like we're together sharing stories in person. I just want to say how much I appreciate being a part of this group. How many people are so lucky?
This weekend I was reading a memoir and the author referred to a poem by Wordsworth I had read in college. Everyone seems to know the couplet that William Wordsworth wrote:
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar
But the rest of the poem is even better, at least, I think so. The passage that speaks most to me is about being strong when faced with the inevitable losses life brings:
What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
Like me, maybe some of you can hear Natalie Wood reciting the line about "splendour in the grass," in the movie of the same name about lost innocence. But the poem (and the movie) are also about "find[ing] strength in what reminds behind." Another Englishman, Thomas Carlyle, said something similar: For everything we've lost we've gained something else.
If you have time to read the entire poem, I've given the link below. But for now, here are a few more lines where Wordsworth opens his heart to both joy and loss. (I love that he's speaking to the animals :-)
Ye blessed Creatures, I have heard the call
Ye to each other make; I see
The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee;
My heart is at your festival,
My head hath its coronal,
The fulness of your bliss, I feel--I feel it all.
Oh evil day! if I were sullen
While Earth herself is adorning,
This sweet May-morning,
And the Children are culling
On every side,
In a thousand valleys far and wide,
Fresh flowers; while the sun shines warm,
And the Babe leaps up on his Mother's arm:--
I hear, I hear, with joy I hear!
--But there's a Tree, of many, one,
A single Field which I have looked upon,
Both of them speak of something that is gone:
The Pansy at my feet
Doth the same tale repeat:
Whither is fled the visionary gleam?
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?
My answer is, It's still there. It's all still there. Just behind a cloud or a mountain, tucked away until we make our way a little further. And until then, we will find strength in what remains.
http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww331.html
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Things Do Change, Don't They?
When I started writing - a century ago - we were told you must first show your characters in their normal life situations, doing their everyday thing. Then we plunge them into unforeseen problems that have them over their heads in trouble, on an adventure/quest that they should be reluctant to undertake, but MUST in order to restore the balance in their lives. (And it makes a better story if they are reluctant heroes instead of anxious to take on the quest.) We were to show our readers how much unbalance there is now in their lives - how precarious things have suddenly become for them. Then we had to turn up the tension.
But now the word from the publishing world is that we must plunge our reader into the action in the first paragraph, or at least the first page. There is no showing of the normal world before our protagonist's world is turned upside down. Like our own life today, things have sped up. There doesn't seem to be time to relax and enjoy the moment.
I had a list of questions to make sure I increased the tension by several degrees:
1. What is the worst thing that could possibly happen to my protagonist?
2. How can I make it even worse than that?
3. How could my protagonist turn this into a good event?
4. Could they think it's turning out better than they thought - and suddenly it gets even wore than they first suspected?
How like life that seems to be today. The worst things we could possibly imagine - suddenly do happen. And before it gets better, it frequently gets worse. We try to turn it into a learning experience, and just when it seems things may be turning around, the bottom falls out again.
In our creating process, plot twists and turns keep readers on the edge of their chair and turning pages. Our agile minds must stay just one step ahead to keep the reader guessing at how the horrible situation will turn out for this character they've become involved with.
That mirrors my life today: my daughter is set to travel to Mexico next week and I usually go stay at their home to help her husband with the little ones. Then my son and his wife planned to travel to the far east and I had promised I'd be available to stay at their home and get my three grandsons to school and all their activities for ten days. Conflict. Schedules changing every other day. Plans made, fall through, plan again. I feel like a reader in a novel where the author couldn't quite make up her mind where she wanted her characters to go!
Back to our creating: Growth must happen during this quest. Throw in conflict: Nothing moves forward without conflict and readers will lose interest without conflict. I was taught that we need some sort of conflict in every scene so the reader can mark the growth of the character:
1. Our protagonists must overcome the conflict facing them, and as they do, they exhibit some growth.
2. As soon as our characters are doing good on one level, they need conflict somewhere else in their lives: personal, social, or on a world level.
3. Complications must increase in magnitude as story/quest builds to its climax.
Again, that seems to mirror life today. I just get one problem solved and another appears on its heels, and more often than not, they come in clusters, all at the same time. Am I remembering something out of a dreamy past, or was the reality of life when I thought it was less stressful just like it is today and "less stressful" a figment of my imagination?
So now we have our main character at the end of the quest: she has withstood the conflicts and challenge, she has solved the problems and mysteries, she has grown and evolved because of her actions and decisions. Her world, changed because of her involvement in this situation, will never be quite the same again. And readers will need a nice easy let down from the emotional rollercoaster you've just taken them on.
It would be wonderful in our lives to have that nice easy let down, to have all the threads of the different problems and conflicts neatly tied together and leave us in the warm glow of accomplishment and satisfaction that we are supposed to leave our characters and readers in.
Will it happen in this lifetime? Certainly not today in my life. I do hope you get some of that warm glow in yours.
But now the word from the publishing world is that we must plunge our reader into the action in the first paragraph, or at least the first page. There is no showing of the normal world before our protagonist's world is turned upside down. Like our own life today, things have sped up. There doesn't seem to be time to relax and enjoy the moment.
I had a list of questions to make sure I increased the tension by several degrees:
1. What is the worst thing that could possibly happen to my protagonist?
2. How can I make it even worse than that?
3. How could my protagonist turn this into a good event?
4. Could they think it's turning out better than they thought - and suddenly it gets even wore than they first suspected?
How like life that seems to be today. The worst things we could possibly imagine - suddenly do happen. And before it gets better, it frequently gets worse. We try to turn it into a learning experience, and just when it seems things may be turning around, the bottom falls out again.
In our creating process, plot twists and turns keep readers on the edge of their chair and turning pages. Our agile minds must stay just one step ahead to keep the reader guessing at how the horrible situation will turn out for this character they've become involved with.
That mirrors my life today: my daughter is set to travel to Mexico next week and I usually go stay at their home to help her husband with the little ones. Then my son and his wife planned to travel to the far east and I had promised I'd be available to stay at their home and get my three grandsons to school and all their activities for ten days. Conflict. Schedules changing every other day. Plans made, fall through, plan again. I feel like a reader in a novel where the author couldn't quite make up her mind where she wanted her characters to go!
Back to our creating: Growth must happen during this quest. Throw in conflict: Nothing moves forward without conflict and readers will lose interest without conflict. I was taught that we need some sort of conflict in every scene so the reader can mark the growth of the character:
1. Our protagonists must overcome the conflict facing them, and as they do, they exhibit some growth.
2. As soon as our characters are doing good on one level, they need conflict somewhere else in their lives: personal, social, or on a world level.
3. Complications must increase in magnitude as story/quest builds to its climax.
Again, that seems to mirror life today. I just get one problem solved and another appears on its heels, and more often than not, they come in clusters, all at the same time. Am I remembering something out of a dreamy past, or was the reality of life when I thought it was less stressful just like it is today and "less stressful" a figment of my imagination?
So now we have our main character at the end of the quest: she has withstood the conflicts and challenge, she has solved the problems and mysteries, she has grown and evolved because of her actions and decisions. Her world, changed because of her involvement in this situation, will never be quite the same again. And readers will need a nice easy let down from the emotional rollercoaster you've just taken them on.
It would be wonderful in our lives to have that nice easy let down, to have all the threads of the different problems and conflicts neatly tied together and leave us in the warm glow of accomplishment and satisfaction that we are supposed to leave our characters and readers in.
Will it happen in this lifetime? Certainly not today in my life. I do hope you get some of that warm glow in yours.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Too Much Research!
I think I've hit research overload. As a writer of historical fiction, research is important...nay, absolutely necessary if one wants to have any credibility, but the problem is, is that research can take over your life and cause you great pain.
I am into my forth, 400-600 page, book concerning China, the take over of the communists, and Mao Tse-tung. I know, I'm nuts, right? It is very depressing stuff and I can only take so much before my mind goes numb and my heart suffers. Also, after six hours of sitting and reading, my lower back starts yelling, "Get up! Go walking! What are you thinking! Get up!"
There are times when I really want to write children's chapter books. I'd come up with some quirky character who wants to be the world's next great pastry chef and goes to Paris to study. Nothing but fun and froth! Sounds like heaven.
Yet, in spite of the joy of that dream, my mind reverts back to the necessity of telling the story of people's lives that were decimated by the evils of communism in China, so dutifully I return to my books about Mao.
My mom always said, "Bloom where you're planted," and I guess I'm planted in the realm of historical fiction. And, in spite of the occasional grousing (and back ache), I have to say I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to tell stories of the past.
I am into my forth, 400-600 page, book concerning China, the take over of the communists, and Mao Tse-tung. I know, I'm nuts, right? It is very depressing stuff and I can only take so much before my mind goes numb and my heart suffers. Also, after six hours of sitting and reading, my lower back starts yelling, "Get up! Go walking! What are you thinking! Get up!"
There are times when I really want to write children's chapter books. I'd come up with some quirky character who wants to be the world's next great pastry chef and goes to Paris to study. Nothing but fun and froth! Sounds like heaven.
Yet, in spite of the joy of that dream, my mind reverts back to the necessity of telling the story of people's lives that were decimated by the evils of communism in China, so dutifully I return to my books about Mao.
My mom always said, "Bloom where you're planted," and I guess I'm planted in the realm of historical fiction. And, in spite of the occasional grousing (and back ache), I have to say I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to tell stories of the past.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Salvo
By Anna Jones Buttimore
My middle daughter, Angharad, was scared of dogs. We just got a schnauzer from a local rescue centre, and now she isn't any more. Apparently facing your fears head-on is one of the best ways to overcome them.
I have always had a phobia of clowns. I think it's something I read in a book when I was young about how clowns can paint a smile on their face but be feeling something quite different underneath. Somehow I have imagined that they were all in fact murderously evil and out to get me, and I have avoided them ever since including not taking my children to the circus, for example.
Last year I decided that I needed to overcome my phobia, and was (unknowingly) aided in this by Salvo the clown, who lives in my village and is a familiar local character. Rather than avoiding him as he modelled balloon animals at the school gates or in our local shopping centre, I stopped to say Hello and got to know him. We had several friends in common, and before long I was able to admire him as a man of great itegrity and faith, dedication and patience, and with an inspiring life story. I've spent time with him when he's been in and out of character, and I think I can now say that my phobia is cured, and Salvo is the reason why.
I have learned that behind the painted smile, clowns can be great people.
I have also come to realise that it's not just clowns who paint on a smile and pretend to be happy and jolly when they are not. We all put on a face to the world and try to hide our true feelings. At least clowns do it for a noble purpose - to make others happy and provide entertainment.
Maybe we have to. Studies have shown that forcing yourself to smile - but putting a pencil between your teeth if you have to - can elevate mood. Any how many of us would be a little short of friends if, every time they asked how we were, we listed our various ailments and woes? Perhaps a painted smile isn't a bad thing at all.
My middle daughter, Angharad, was scared of dogs. We just got a schnauzer from a local rescue centre, and now she isn't any more. Apparently facing your fears head-on is one of the best ways to overcome them.
I have always had a phobia of clowns. I think it's something I read in a book when I was young about how clowns can paint a smile on their face but be feeling something quite different underneath. Somehow I have imagined that they were all in fact murderously evil and out to get me, and I have avoided them ever since including not taking my children to the circus, for example.
Last year I decided that I needed to overcome my phobia, and was (unknowingly) aided in this by Salvo the clown, who lives in my village and is a familiar local character. Rather than avoiding him as he modelled balloon animals at the school gates or in our local shopping centre, I stopped to say Hello and got to know him. We had several friends in common, and before long I was able to admire him as a man of great itegrity and faith, dedication and patience, and with an inspiring life story. I've spent time with him when he's been in and out of character, and I think I can now say that my phobia is cured, and Salvo is the reason why.
I have learned that behind the painted smile, clowns can be great people.
I have also come to realise that it's not just clowns who paint on a smile and pretend to be happy and jolly when they are not. We all put on a face to the world and try to hide our true feelings. At least clowns do it for a noble purpose - to make others happy and provide entertainment.
Maybe we have to. Studies have shown that forcing yourself to smile - but putting a pencil between your teeth if you have to - can elevate mood. Any how many of us would be a little short of friends if, every time they asked how we were, we listed our various ailments and woes? Perhaps a painted smile isn't a bad thing at all.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
One of Those Days
Every once in awhile I find myself having "one of those days." It's not that anything went terribly wrong; I'm just not satisfied with . . . anything in particular. I actually managed to write 2489 words today, had minimal phone calls, and my husband fixed dinner. Still the flowers on the dining room table are dead and need to be thrown out, the sheets on the downstairs bed need to be changed, there are cobwebs on the entry hall chandelier, the kitchen floor needs to be mopped, and the wind has been howling like a banshee today with snow in the forecast. I know, some days are just like that.
Sometimes writers have some of those days too in their professional life. The words are drivel, there's no way to get an uninterrupted block of time, there are too many other demands on our time, and we'd rather play on Facebook than write.
An occasional such day can be chalked up to "that's just the way it is." Or it might be a hint someone has been pushing too hard and needs to take a break. Sometimes the same remedies we use to deal with writer's block work for overcoming a cranky, blah, nothing-suits-me day. Sometimes sitting down to the computer and getting lost in the WIP before us does the trick. Other times a good run, a chocolate bar, or vigorously scrubbing the kitchen floor will do the trick. And sometimes we just have to hope to wake up in a better mood the next day.
I've already told you this isn't one of my better days. It isn't a day when I can come up with a blog topic either, but I can tell you a few things that have crossed my mind to share but won't fill an entire blog. First, I've been invited to speak at a book club. There's nothing unusual about that, but this club is comprised of Latino ladies, and I don't speak Spanish. Should be fun. Funny thing is I've longed to have my books translated for Spanish readers for a long time without any success, but I feel flattered that women who struggle with English read my books and want to meet me.
I received the smallest royalty check of my life since I started writing fiction this week. It's fun to get the big checks, but I'm okay with this one. I chose to spend time with my sister before she died instead of writing and I have no regrets.
The temple is closed for regularly scheduled cleaning this week and next. It's good to have the time off, but it leaves me feeling a little disoriented and confused as to which day today is.
My sales of Run Away Home on Kindle are going pretty well and I like their system that allows authors to track sales. I'll post Journey Home on Kindle too as soon as I finish my long overdue pair of western Historicals I've been working on for a couple of years. And speaking of Kindles, I think the only way I can keep up with finding the called for scriptures in Sunday School is to look up all the scriptures listed in the study guide for each week ahead of time and book mark them. The Kindle works well for reading, but I find it dreadfully slow for trying to locate specific scriptures. I'm not sure I retain what I read on my e-reader as well as what I read on a printed page either, but that may improve as I grow more accustomed to using it.
I've got eight new books to read and consider for reviews on my shelf and four Whitney finalists. I can't read them all, so I guess it's the Whitney finalists that won't get read. I've finished everything in four categories and there are only a few in the other categories that interest me anyway. It just saddens me a little that I won't be able to vote for the overall top book.
Well, that's all I can think of, so I think I'll quit and go watch the Jazz game. Wait---that just might move me from feeling blah to depressed.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Technology - Love/Hate relationship!
My microwave went out. I cannot cook without it. Therefore my family can't eat. This isn't good.
To replace it means spending $500 for a new one and getting my husband to install it. This isn't good either.
I have learned that I have a dependency, nay, an addiction to technology. My phone is basically attached to me at all times. If I misplace it even for a moment, panic ensues. Having kids away from home has created this. Especially my daughter in New York. Sometimes she texts me because she needs my help with something. I know I'm a pushover but I like to be available when she needs me, or any of my family needs me.
My computer . . . I am very dependent upon my computer for everything. All my correspondence and social networking happens through my computer. All my photos are on my computer. All my writing is on my computer. All my Zumba music is on my computer. It almost makes me hyperventilate just thinking about what would happen if my computer died or caught a virus. (I am knocking on wood as I type)
My DVR. I love this thing. Commercials have become extinct. I don't have time for commercials. I never watch any TV program at its regularly scheduled time. I DVR it then watch it when I can fast-forward the commercial. The only way to do it.
I don't think I realized how dependent I was on all these things until my microwave died. Amazing how many times I've opened the door of the microwave to put something in there out of habit, only to realize I can't use it. Do you know how long it takes to reheat things in the oven!!!
Yet, part of me wonders if there isn't some important lesson to be learned from this. It is scary to be dependent on something I don't have control over. When the church teaches about self-sufficiency, maybe this should be included because we still need to know how to function without all of our technological machines.
I found a couple of interesting quotes.
The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. ~Isaac Asimov, Isaac Asimov's Book of Science and Nature Quotations, 1988
All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness. ~Mark Kennedy
I've taken some time to really think about all of this and wonder if I need to make some adjustments in my life. Think about how much time you spend each day with some sort of technology. It might surprise you. Then ask yourself the question, how much would my life be impacted if I didn't have this?
I'm not saying I'm giving up any of this completely. But maybe we should start communication with people in person, rather than through machines. And maybe I need to become familiar that magical box underneath the burners on my stove which bakes things.
Does this mean I don't want a new microwave. Are you kidding? I can't get one fast enough. But I might just try my hand at baking a homemade lasagne, rather than microwaving one from Costco. I'll take pictures when it happens . . . of the shocked faces of my family.
To replace it means spending $500 for a new one and getting my husband to install it. This isn't good either.
I have learned that I have a dependency, nay, an addiction to technology. My phone is basically attached to me at all times. If I misplace it even for a moment, panic ensues. Having kids away from home has created this. Especially my daughter in New York. Sometimes she texts me because she needs my help with something. I know I'm a pushover but I like to be available when she needs me, or any of my family needs me.
My computer . . . I am very dependent upon my computer for everything. All my correspondence and social networking happens through my computer. All my photos are on my computer. All my writing is on my computer. All my Zumba music is on my computer. It almost makes me hyperventilate just thinking about what would happen if my computer died or caught a virus. (I am knocking on wood as I type)
My DVR. I love this thing. Commercials have become extinct. I don't have time for commercials. I never watch any TV program at its regularly scheduled time. I DVR it then watch it when I can fast-forward the commercial. The only way to do it.
I don't think I realized how dependent I was on all these things until my microwave died. Amazing how many times I've opened the door of the microwave to put something in there out of habit, only to realize I can't use it. Do you know how long it takes to reheat things in the oven!!!
Yet, part of me wonders if there isn't some important lesson to be learned from this. It is scary to be dependent on something I don't have control over. When the church teaches about self-sufficiency, maybe this should be included because we still need to know how to function without all of our technological machines.
I found a couple of interesting quotes.
The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. ~Isaac Asimov, Isaac Asimov's Book of Science and Nature Quotations, 1988
All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness. ~Mark Kennedy
I've taken some time to really think about all of this and wonder if I need to make some adjustments in my life. Think about how much time you spend each day with some sort of technology. It might surprise you. Then ask yourself the question, how much would my life be impacted if I didn't have this?
I'm not saying I'm giving up any of this completely. But maybe we should start communication with people in person, rather than through machines. And maybe I need to become familiar that magical box underneath the burners on my stove which bakes things.
Does this mean I don't want a new microwave. Are you kidding? I can't get one fast enough. But I might just try my hand at baking a homemade lasagne, rather than microwaving one from Costco. I'll take pictures when it happens . . . of the shocked faces of my family.
Monday, February 14, 2011
For All You Fantasy Writers & Readers
For those of you in the Utah--specifically, Provo, Utah--area, you ought to know about the big sci/fi fantasy symposium that has been going on here for the last 30 years. It's called Life, the Universe & Everything, or LTUE. Something that's been going of for 30 years seems to be doing right, and if you look at the symposium website, you'll see some of the participants and guests. (Go to ltue.org.) Special guests this year include James Dashner (who gives LTUE a lot of credit for his success in writing) as well as David Farland and Jessica Day George (who may credit LTUE, but I just haven't seen it in print).
If you'd like to hear a radio interview of the founders and organizers--people who have been involved in the symposium for just about all of those 30 years--you can go to http://www.classical89.org/thinkingaloud/archive/?y=2011 on Wednesday, February 16, when the interview will air and be posted to this website (sorry, but the interview can't be posted until it's aired).
In the meantime, you can enjoy the LTUE website and its links. For those of you outside Utah--and outside the U.S.--you can probably search out podcasts for some of the guests, like Dave Doering (http://www.davedoering.com/). Or check out Schlock Mercenery, the Hugo-nominated comic space opera by Howard Tayler at http://www.schlockmercenary.com/.
It was a really stimulating and energetic discussion, good for writers of all kinds of fiction, not just science fiction and fantasy. Listen and see if you aren't energized yourself.
If you'd like to hear a radio interview of the founders and organizers--people who have been involved in the symposium for just about all of those 30 years--you can go to http://www.classical89.org/thinkingaloud/archive/?y=2011 on Wednesday, February 16, when the interview will air and be posted to this website (sorry, but the interview can't be posted until it's aired).
In the meantime, you can enjoy the LTUE website and its links. For those of you outside Utah--and outside the U.S.--you can probably search out podcasts for some of the guests, like Dave Doering (http://www.davedoering.com/). Or check out Schlock Mercenery, the Hugo-nominated comic space opera by Howard Tayler at http://www.schlockmercenary.com/.
It was a really stimulating and energetic discussion, good for writers of all kinds of fiction, not just science fiction and fantasy. Listen and see if you aren't energized yourself.
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