A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Writing

Getting Published or Not

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In the book On Being a Writer, I recently read a chapter on getting published.   Seeing as it was a goal of mine at the end of last year to get published SOMEHOW by the end of the year, it got me thinking.  I got to thinking about how life gets in the way sometimes of dreams, and that sometimes you have to be reminded of dreams.  I think I needed that reminder.

I found this to be an interesting chapter….showing two (well okay I don’t know if it’s two) It just kinda seemed like two.  The question is Should one work toward getting published or not?  The two halves:

The first being … don’t worry so much about being published, work at improving your skills.

The second being… if you want to be published, suss out opportunities and work toward them.

graysacale image two people fighting with sword
Photo from free stock

It’s like writing is a two-edged sword right?  You want to be published, but if you write only with the end goal of being published you are not doing yourself any favours, you need to focus on improving your skill set. On the other-hand if you only write without having the end goal of being published, then you aren’t pushing yourself to be the best you can be. 

Improving your Skill Set

The deal if you wait to be published is this:

You get to focus on what you need to focus on.  Could be a career you are building, raising your littles, getting a degree or whatever.   AND as you have time, and a chance to work on building your skills, you build your skills, and test the waters, without the pressure being there that you MUST GET PUBLISHED.   Who needs that pressure when you have other things you need to focus on. 

This gives you the time you need to form a writing community, hone your skills, test out different waters, see what passions mesh with your writing skills and styles, Learn and grow and live out your passions and research your loves as you work through what you also need to focus on. 

Wanting to get Published.

If you want to get published, you need to take steps to that end.

  1. Research opportunities for paid work.. magazines, papers, websites and more.
  2. Finding your passions: what do you like to write about?  What do people like learning from you?
  3. Honing your skills, ask yourself “Would I publish me?”  Get friends or a group of readers to help you fine tune your work, to see your blind spots to make your work better. 
  4. Write for where you want to be published, consider what the publication is like and what style they use.  Do you have a favourite magazine?  Why not consider submitting a piece to it?
  5. Learning how to make a pitch, or how to submit an article, or a book proposal.  It’s all research and work eh?  
  6. Be prepared, rejection will happen, acceptance will come.  Roll with it as it comes. 

 

Finding the “ah ha!” Moment

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You know when you are reading a poem and you hit a line in the poem that makes you go “ah ha!”?  You find a line that causes you to see the entire point of the poem or line of thought the author is trying to convey?   It’s like a touch of magic, is it not?  Stay tuned for free worksheet attached.

Boy looking surprised, needing to find the Ah ha moment in poetry

When you are writing, don’t forget to look for that line, the line that causes you as the author listening to your own poem to go “AH HA!”.

What causes that moment?

  • sensory detail that surprises the reader
  • a lingering note, a sound that rings
  • an odour that brings a memory
  • a change in the structure of the poem
  • a detail described in an unexpected manner
  • the unexpected that cements a thought

But how does one prepare for the unexpected as an author?   How can you build that into your verse? Can it be learned like how one used adjectives or adverbs better?  How can you find those moments (which can be different for individuals) that turn the light on in a poem?

You prepare by reading verse looking for what hits you emotionally, surprises you making you say “NO!”, changes the way you think, gives a picture you won’t soon forget and/or rings true in your heart.  Look for it, and in that looking, you’ll learn how to write it. Or if not HOW to write it, to at least be willing, to take risks in your art, to experiment with a new style of writing, and to be willing to even surprise yourself.

Don’t force it… just read, and write, and practice.   Bring out your own true thoughts and play around with how you put them on paper. have your moments be so real, so poignant that the memories linger in the minds of your readers. Write your words down, re-read them, bring out the emotion and paint your pictures, and let the surprise and wonder and lingering memories happen. 

Other writing posts can be found here.  The photo courtesy of  Ben White on Unsplash.

To practice this skill I’ve put together a worksheet that you might find useful.

 

Watching Adverbs

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You know what an adverb is right?   An adverb is a word that helps define a verb.  Do you want to change how you write?  To make your writing better?

Then watch what you do with your adverbs.

Watching adverbs, a writing tip to improve readibility

Most of the time when people use adverbs all they are doing is making the verb more defined.  Doing this doesn’t really add anything to the sentence.  It just makes the verb stronger, and does that verb really need that strengthening?  Generally not.  Consider these:

        She smiled prettily.
        He laughed heartily.
        The boat swiftly moved across the waves.

What would happen if you changed the adverb to either a stronger, better verb or used an adverb to change the meaning of the verb?  Changing the meaning, changes the punch of the verb.

           She sadly smiled.
          He guffawed.
          The boat dashed across the waves.

When you do this, you tighten up your sentences giving them more punch, and create elbow room in your sentences.

As you write, pay attention to what you are doing with your verbs and adverbs. We’ve already considered what this means for adjectives.  Replace weak verb/adverb combinations with strong verbs. For instance consider these sentences

          The rabbit went quickly through the garden.
          The rabbit raced through the garden.

         Djedet listened, his expression changing slowly.
         Djedet concentrated, his expression deepening.

Which works better? Which describes action in a way that is brief and descriptive with room to grow?

As you write, consider well the verbs and adverbs you are using.  How can say what you want to say, better?  Can you become more clear, in a succinct, descriptive manner?

Write well!

Routines Encourage Creativity

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Quote from Dorothy ParkerDoesn’t this quote just sum up how you feel sometimes?   How nice it is to have something written, but the process of writing sometimes isn’t what we want it to be.  The drudgery of sitting down to write is hard when there are so many things to claim one’s attention.

Take for instance today… the weather was beautiful!  I had this blog post to write but instead I went outside and worked in my garden.  I am so delighted that I managed to get all the weeds out, and then planted potatoes and peas. 

gardening putting in potatoes and peas

A creative cat reminded me of how tired I was getting, Miss Lizzie is not allowed outside but she’s mighty creative in finding ways to get outside, as I went to bring her back inside my feet ached.

Miss Lizzie, the cat, outside

Leading me to sit down in my comfy chair to contemplate what I should write for my post today. But my thoughts wouldn’t gather. I was too distracted by all that was going on around me. The TV show, my lad recovering from surgery, hubby trying to figure out why he’s not feeling right today, and the mess waiting for me upstairs. I simply couldn’t focus. There was no use fighting it, so upstairs I went.

New Shelves up, books on

I was pleased to get almost all the books up on our new shelves upstairs. Took me most of the afternoon though.  It’s good to pack and organize, it helps my brain to settle and allows me time to mull over thoughts spilling through my mind. 

I was finally able to chill out when supper was all over, and then writing a post came to me as easy as can be. As I thought about the topic of this blog post I realized how very true it was. Routine helps with writing and creativity. I had all my thoughts kicking around in my brain all day but couldn’t get them down as my brain and body were simply too busy.

But sitting down after all my busyness is worked out and my brain is settled knowing I worked hard today, the writing comes to me so very easy.

A post where I was thinking, how can I write in a realistic way about how routine helps with writing?  Yet today was the perfect example of that.  I write best at night when my family is quiet (in bed sleeping or quietly watching tv).  The distractions of the day are behind me and I can just write until I am tired enough mentally to sleep.   It’s a routine that works really well for me.  Helping me to formulate my words and my thinking much better than at any other time of the day. 

routines encourage creativity, write better by developing routines

I want to encourage you, my dear fellow writers, to figure out what time of day works best for you to write.  Perhaps early morning works well for you, or grabbing an hour in the afternoon, or binging on the weekends.  We all have a time that suits our lives, lifestyles and ways of thinking best.  A show my son has recently discovered and enjoys is called “Stuck in the Middle” and the young lady in the midst of it all learned that her creativity is at it’s best when she’s in the middle of the chaos of her family.   That’s what works for her. I ask you this… do you know what works best for you?

Have you discovered the benefits of making this discovery?

  1. a regular time helps get your mind in the frame for writing
  2. a routine helps sparks your imagination
  3. a regular time provides a safety net for your creativity

I do want to caution you though, a routine doesn’t have to just be a time of day.  It could be a location or a time of day, or article that stimulates your creativity (like my laptop does for me!) or it could be a combination of all the above.  In Pep Talks the author of this chapter uses a hat!  A different hat to inspire each unique book written.   Isn’t that an interesting idea?

What can you do to inspire routine that will affect your writing?  Can you find a time, or a talisman, the right environment or location?   What safety net can you provide for your imagination and heart as you write?

 

Listening for Line Breaks

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Do you remember me talking about sound and how you need to use it to write well?   As I was reading in “how to write a poem” this thought came up again.  How important it is, when you are writing free verse, to listen to what you are writing so you can break your lines where the sound demands it.

write better free verse, listening for line verse, image for blog post

What is free verse? 

Free verse is poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter. It will often closely follow the natural rhythms of speech. A regular pattern of sound or rhythm may emerge in free-verse lines, but the poet does not adhere to a metrical plan in their composition

How to write it.

As much as free verse will often will follow the pattern of speech, it’s not always intuitive, because written language is not quite the same as spoken.  This is why when you write, you need to listen to it and speak it out, so you know where to make the breaks in lines.   If you make the breaks well, it helps your poem to express itself well.

Line breaks don’t always happen where the sentence end.  but sometimes where a sentence ends the thought does too.  So you need to talk it out, over and over until the right spacing occurs and your poem reads the way it should and conveys the thoughts you want it to.   Experiment and play around with how your free verse lines come out.  Speak them.  Let them roll around as you listen and feel and let them become all the words that you intend them to be. Line by line it will come together.

Officially this is called enjambment: The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation; the opposite of end-stopped. For example:

the cup
runneth over

The water
green
sparkles like
fish jumping
in the sun

This happens line by line, section by section, figuring out how each thought patten needs to be laid out.  No rules, and yet, much thought and consideration goes into it.   As you read and break your poetry into the lines needs it should resonate with in you with mystery, wonder, suspense and sound.  You will know it when you hear it.  So listen for it, listen well.

Using Sound to Write Better

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When you are writing… do you listen to what you are writing?   Do you hear the sounds in your words?  Especially if you write poetry… are you continuing the oral tradition of telling a tale that wants to be told?

Because writing … whether in prose or poetry, it all started as an oral tradition.  Around before reading and writing was even considered.  It was how carpenters learned to work, how children learned their history, how adventures were shared, in word and song.  This is how life progressed before writing became common place.  Therefore I ask, when you write, do you listen to what you are writing?

Using sound to write better

Recently I read these lines to my non-poetry loving lad and he chortled: 

Like that mouse captured by Miss Lizzie
With a squeak and hop twisted out of her grip.
Like the spider.. caught between a wall and a tall menacing woman
Found a crevice to slide away into.
Run mouse. Hide spider…
 

He laughingly responded “Mom!   That spider would never hurt you!   Why do you have to threaten him?!”   This tells me that he heard me well, that my poem was worth listening too.   That’s a good thing no?

For when you write poetry, you want it to be memorable.. to be something others can share and pass around.  You want the lyrics to flow well, for the rhyme to stick in your ear.   Consider the poem  Baa Baa Black Sheep.

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

Do you hear the rhyme when you read it?   Doesn’t it flow off your tongue?   The rhyming patterns that help you remember the ebb and flow. Do you hear any other sounds?   The near rhymes, the alliteration, the repetition, and similar sounding words and nouns?

How do you learn to listen for sound?

Just how do authors learn to listen for sound in the words they write?
Practice of course.

  • Just keep practicing and playing around with words. 
  • Make a list of words you enjoy.
  • Write a boring sentence and see how you can change the words to mean the same thing but just sounding better and/or more interesting.
  • Try out different phrases, play with the timing and the rhymes.

You don’t just want to use the first words that come to mind, but you want to play round with sounds (alliteration, assonance, consonance, repetition, rhythm and rhyme) until what you hear is memorable.  Read it out loud and let it flow off the tongue until it pleases you. Then test it out and see if it pleases another.  

Let  your words flow, tell your story, and tell it well. 

I made a printable to help learn these skills.  Click on image below to download. 

Write Like a Beginner

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Shut your eyes, think back, think back as far as you can to when you started.  Can you remember what it was like when you first started writing?   What was it like for you?  Did you write because it was a natural extention of who you are?   I remember writing my mom notes when I didn’t have the words to talk to her.  Some of my notes were words of love and appreciation, and sadly…some of them weren’t.  Notes of anger and condemnation.  But my mom, she read them all.  And took her time in answering me when my notes must have been none to pleasing to her. She kept a lot of those notes eh?  The ones of praise and questions, where the notes there were less positive found their way out the door. 

Write Like a Beginner

Do you know in those notes to my mother I didn’t care about sentence structure, or fluid sounding sentences, or how it would look or what mom might think?  I wrote because I had things to say and not the ability to say them out-loud. Seems a bit foolish to me now looking back but you know what?   I still have that, the ideas the float around in my head and that lack of ability to put those words on my tongue.  It’s so much easier to write than it is to talk.  

The Problem

The problem is this now though.  Now when I write I find myself concerned about what people will think.   Will they like what I write?   Will the SEO come through okay?  Who might see and find a reason to complain? What if I mess something up, will people only focus on that, or will they see my heart?   In my devotionals, will they see the Lord come through or will they only see the words I write and how I falter at times?  So many thoughts and concerns flood my brain that sometimes, just sometimes, the words don’t want to come through and out.  And I want, no rather… I NEED those words to come out.  I need to share what I’m learning and what I think about the topics that enter my life.  Keeping my words bottled up doesn’t help me at all.. and doesn’t allow my readers to learn either you know?

The Solution

It begs the question: what does a writer do when concerns about form and function stifle?  When concerns about the reactions of people slow the pen?

Go back to the beginning.  Take on again the mind of a beginner when the possibilities are endless?   Before you preconceptions, expectations, judgements and prejudices settle in.  Go back and regain your eagerness.  Be willing to start anew, to find a fresh perspective.

Like today.. I have to admit, today was not an easy day, and I called a friend and she graciously came over and shared a cup of tea with me.  We didn’t talk as deeply as I would have like as 12 year olds have big ears and he doesn’t need to know everything that troubles my heart.  As we talked, I shared briefly that thoughts that the Parkinson’s book had on my thinking.  How changing one thing can make another thing better which can have this massive trickle down affect that can be mind-blogging.  How one has to FIGHT, actively fight against letting a disease or a situation get the better of you.  As we were talking I could feel myself resetting myself.  To acknowledge that right now things are tough.  THEY ARE.  No way to change that.  But I can change how overwhelmed I feel about adjusting to changes in routine, about supporting my family through this change, about thinking outside the box for possibilities in how I can make an income and make a difference here. 

So to, it is with writing.  

It can so very easily, become overwhelming, when one considers all the things one can write about, and then the desire to write about them well.

A beginner is not bogged down by that.  They only see the possibilities and they set out and write.  Just as I used to just write letters to my mom, and write stories just to please myself, if I remember those days, and seek to go back to that freedom… oh.. it’s a lovely thing indeed. The freedom that sets loose in my mind.

My recommendation

Don’t worry so much about your writing.  Just write.  Let it come from your heart.  Find a way for those words inside of you to just spill out.   Don’t let your expectations, opinions and stresses drown out your words.  Remember your heart when you first started to write, remember that urge that welled up inside to write and share.  Write like no one is watching.