“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”
— Terry Pratchett
Attributed to Terry Pratchett
#amwriting #justwrite #iamawriter
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Wanted: Real Characters
“. . . there’s nothing more glorious than when a fictional character feels completely real. And nothing more meh than when a fictional character feels like a cardboard cut-out”
Excerpt from Forever Workshop
From Marlene: I agree! I love to immerse myself in writing that takes me into another world. I’m not interested in reading what a character looks like and haven’t been able to articulate why until I read this by Jo Gatford:
“I usually don’t give much of a crap what a character looks like, unless there’s a particular physical attribute, gesture, or way they move that helps show who they are. So dive deep and look for a line that gives us a guts-first impression of your fictional person.”
From Workshop Your WIP — Introduce Your Protagonist with ONE Line, By Jo Gatford
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A Prayer for the World
“Let the rain come and wash away
— Rabbi Harold Kushner
the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds
held and nurtured over generations.
Let the rain wash away the memory
of the hurt, the neglect.
Then let the sun come out and
fill the sky with rainbows.
Let the warmth of the sun heal us
wherever we are broken.
Let it burn away the fog so that
we can see each other clearly.
So that we can see beyond labels,
beyond accents, gender or skin color.
Let the warmth and brightness
of the sun melt our selfishness.
So that we can share the joys and
feel the sorrows of our neighbors.
Let the earth, nourished by rain,
bring forth flowers
to surround us with beauty.
And let the mountains teach our hearts
to reach upward to heaven.”
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When is writing done?
“Even after a poem has hardened into print, it may continue to represent a risk, a chance, a surmise, or a hypothesis about itself.”
— Mary Kinzie
Mary Kinzie. A Poet’s Guide to Poetry, U Chicago Press
Thank you, Sonoma County Poet Laureate, Dave Seter, for letting me know about Mary Kinzie.
Dave’s response to Mary’s quote:
“What this means to me is, a piece of writing is never truly ‘done’ so instead of worrying so much about whether it is ‘done,’ we should share our writing with each other even when it feels a little raw, because there is power in the original idea and sometimes it takes time for the words to catch up with the idea.”
#justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter
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Why Write?
“Writing sheds light where there is darkness. It brings people a greater understanding of themselves and each other and the world. It connects them and brings them together. It makes our world warmer and brighter and more hopeful.”
— Tiffany Yates Martin
Tiffany Yates Martin, Nov/Dec 2024 Writer’s Digest magazine.
More on “Why write:” Writing Resilient: Why Write?
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Surrender for Inspiration
Note from Marlene:
Grant Faulkner’s musings on his Substack page are golden comfort to a writer’s soul, offering unique perspectives that inspire writing.For example, his essay on “Surrender as Action Verb.”
“When we surrender ourselves to our art, we allow ourselves to soften. Surrender invites us to give ourselves up to something larger, to meld with wonder and awe. Surrender creates intimacy and expansiveness at the same time. It sparks curiosity, exploration. It’s the equivalent of going to sleep: by sinking into an unconscious state, we allow dreams to fill us. We give up trying to change and control things. The rigidities of expectations, desires, and aspirations melt away.
Think what would change if you allowed yourself to surrender in a conversation. What if you committed to listening, to let another’s words and spirit rise up and take you instead of focusing on your point of view, your needs. What if you decided not to try to win the next argument you find yourself in? What if you decide not to be the star of the conversation?”
Excerpted from “Surrender as Action Verb” on Grant Faulkner’s August 18, 2024 Substack: Intimations: A Writer’s Discourse.
More quotes from Grant Faulkner on The Write Spot Blog:
Writers: Open doors to flights of imagination
Just Write!
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Memory is a river, not a block of cement
“Alternate versions of past events are common, because it is human nature, especially where childhood memories are concerned, to move ourselves—over time—to the center of a story. We are hardwired to see the world through our own points of view, and increasingly so with the passage of time. Memory is a river, not a block of cement.” — “But My Sister Remembers It Differently: On Working with Contested Memories,” by Dinty Moore, Aug. 15, 2024 Brevity Blog.
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What is creative intuition?
KimBoo York has this to say about intuition:
“It is your brain connecting dots so quickly that you are not aware of the connections until you look backward to figure out why you know what you know, or did what you did.” — “The Secret Sauce for Writers: Intuition,” by KimBoo York on Jane Friedman’s September 4, 2024 Blog
More Write Spot Blog posts on intuition:
Trust your intuition for creative writing
Bella Mahaya Carter writes about courage, love, and intuition
Just Write!
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It’s more than okay to ask for help.
“Always remember one thing. If you respectfully ask for help, you give the other person a chance to be a good guy. You’re giving as well as getting. Don’t ever apologize or embarrassed to be part of that process.” — Hap Glaudi
Excerpt from “A Sportcaster’s Advice,” Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Note from Marlene: I love the concept of “give the other person a chance to be a good guy.”
Reprinted with permission. -
Faulkner: Intimations
“ . . . our primary drive as humans is to be understood, be seen, and writers use words, these tools of precision and imprecision, to make ourselves understood, to make life understandable—to try rather, to endlessly try.” —Grant Faulkner
To read more about Grant Faulkner and why he started his Substack platform “Intimations: Writer’s Discourse,” click on Intimations.