The Write Spot Blog by Marlene Cullen

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  • See your story and tell it.

    Relax into your chair.

    Escort your inner critic . . . your editor out the door.

    Shed your ideas about what perfect writing means.

    Give yourself permission to write the worst stuff possible.

    Writing isn’t about talent, it’s about practice.

    Creative writing is an act of discovery.

    Take a deep breath. Relax into your breathing.

    Rather than write for an audience, write from an instinctual level.

    Immerse yourself in writing. Let go of your worries. Just let go.

    Write to satisfy an inner desire and to go to a meaningful place, that’s all your own.

    Go deeper into the recesses of your mind and really write.

    Write to get to a powerful level – not for an audience.

    If you notice thoughts and feelings that cause discomfort, take a deep breath and exhale. Look around the room. Get up and walk to a window, or get a drink of cool, refreshing water. Then get back to writing.

    Write from the well that stores the fears. Let the tears come, let the stomach tie up in knots. It’s okay to write the story that is difficult to tell.

    When you are writing, if you run out of things to say, or don’t like the direction your writing is taking, write “What I really want to say . . .”

    If you want ideas about what to write, click on Prompts on The Write Spot Blog.

    My Journal.1

     

  • 100 Word Story

    Do you like to write short pieces? If yes, then Grant Faulkner’s 100 word story is for you!

    From the 100 word story website:

    “One hundred seems perfect. It’s the basis of percentages, the perfect test score, the boiling point of water (Celsius), purity. Pythagoreans considered 100 as divine because it is the square (10 x 10) of the divine decad (10). Even a Scrabble set has 100 tiles.

    And yet 100 is a fragment. It’s an arbitrary marker, like the ‘First 100 Days’ of a president’s term—merely a promise of what’s to come, or a whiff of what has passed.”

    Submit: 100 words … no more or no less. Tell a story, write a prose poem, pen a slice of your memoir, or try your hand at an essay.

    100 word story

  • Zazzle. . . . Prompt #186

    Today’s writing prompt:  Zazzle

    You can write about something that happened to you, something that happened to someone else, or write fiction.  I look forward to reading your writing about Zazzle.

    Zazzle

  • Jennifer Lynn Alvarez: The Book You Were Born to Write

    Guest Blogger Jennifer Lynn Alvarez writes about The Book You Were Born to Write.

    I recently read The Martian, by Andy Weir. It’s a unique, thrilling, and detailed survival story described as “Apollo 13 meets Cast Away.” I thoroughly enjoyed the book, in spite of all the math equations and the use of the metric system (English Lit. major here). But I’m not writing about Andy Weir to review his wonderful book, I’m writing about him because of something he said in an interview:

    “I love reading up on current space research. At some point I came up with the idea of an astronaut stranded on Mars. The more I worked on it, the more I realized I had accidentally spent my life researching for this story.” Andy Weir (Book Browse online interview)

    You see, Mr. Weir is a self-proclaimed space and science fanatic inspired by the idea of humans someday traveling to Mars. While penning the novel, Mr. Weir wrote his own software program to calculate the constant thrust trajectories of his imagined mission—all based on real-life technology. He crafted the main character’s wisecracking personality after his own, and supplied him with entertainment on Mars in the form of a crewmate’s recorded 70’s shows, which happen to also be the author’s favorites.

    The fact that this book is grounded in the passions and education of Andy Weir is what makes the tale ring true. He used what he knows; space travel, computer science, his own personality, and his childhood interests to imagine a story that is pure science fiction. And The Martian has taken the world by storm. Mr. Weir originally self-published the book, but quickly sold the rights to Crown Publishing. The novel debuted on the New York Times bestseller list. Film director, Ridley Scott, and actor, Matt Damon, will bring this story to life next month in theaters everywhere. (Source: Wikipedia)

    So how does Andy Weir’s success apply to us as writers? It all goes back to his sentiment from the interview: The more I worked on it, the more I realized I had accidentally spent my life researching for this story. While the author didn’t set out to write the story he was born to write, he accomplished it by pursuing his passions and his expertise with his pen.

    We all have a passion for something, right? I hope so. And we all have expertise, whether it’s studied or acquired through life experience. And the intimate knowledge we have about people, places, things, or relationships can be used to bring our books to life for others.

    Readers, literary agents, publishers—they respond to authenticity no matter how outrageous the tale. Personally, I wrote and queried four novels before I sold my first book, The Guardian Herd, to HarperCollins. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense that this fifth book is the one that broke through because it’s the book I was born to write. I’m a lifelong horse-lover, I’m fascinated by politics, and I love reading fantasy. My book series is about five herds of flying horses at war with one another and the special black pegasus foal who will inherit the power to either unite or destroy them. As you can imagine, this upsets the leaders who stand to lose their power. It’s politics, horses, and fantasy all rolled into one.

    But what do I really know about pegasi: Very little. What do I know about horses: A lot. I grew up riding and I own a horse now. I applied my knowledge of stallion behavior to all my pegasi, male and female, making them fierce, protective, and territorial. But I also used my imagination to give them ninety-year lifespans, emotions, speech, and strict rules of power. It’s an imaginary world, but it’s informed by my real experiences with horses, my studies of politics, and my formative years of reading animal fantasy novels.

    This brings me to my last point, which is about genre. I believe that the book we’re born to write is also the book we’re born to read. When you hit the sweet spot of combining your passions with your knowledge and adding that to your favorite book genre, you will write something truly magical. I can’t promise it will become a bestseller, but I do believe it will find a devoted audience of like-minded readers.

    How about you? What are your areas of expertise, your passions? What type of book are you dying to read? Well, don’t wait for someone else to write it, that’s your book.

    Here are some equations to help you get started (in honor of Mr. Weir who loves math):

                                       Knowledge + Passion + Genre = Book You Were Born to Write

                                      Computer Science + Traveling to Mars + Science Fiction = The Martian (Weir)

                                      Horses + Politics + Fantasy = The Guardian Herd Book Series (Alvarez)

    But don’t worry if the book you were born to write doesn’t immediately pop into your head. I loved horses and knew I wanted to write about them long before I tried it. Instead I filled my time writing practice novels, studying the craft of writing, and daydreaming, and so when inspiration struck, I was ready to act! I encourage all writers to set regular hours, don’t judge your first drafts, and to seek feedback. One day, the big idea will come, and when it does, you’ll be ready.

    Note from Marlene:  Figure out your equation and just write! Jennifer will be the Writers Forum presenter in Petaluma on Sept. 17, 2015. Join us, if you can. Jennifer will talk about World Building: How to Create Fiction That Feels Real. The Guardian Herd Series Starfire and Stormbound will be available for purchase.

    Jennifer Lynn Alvarez is the author of The Pet Washer and The Guardian Herd Series: Starfire and Stormbound and the soon to be released, Landfall.

    Jennifer is an active horsewoman and volunteer with U.S. Pony Club. She draws on her love of animals for inspiration when writing her books. Jennifer graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a B.A. degree in English Literature. Jennifer lives on a small ranch in Northern California with her husband, three children, and more than her fair share of pets. Please visit her website for more information.

    Follow Jennifer on Twitter @JenniferDiaries
    Visit her Facebook page: Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

    Alvarez + books

  • Ice cream . . . Prompt #185

    Today’s writing prompt:  Ice cream

    Ice cream

  • Brevity publishes extremely brief essays.

    Brevity is an online journal,  publishing short narrative essays (750 words or less).

    Employing strong verbs and using sensory detail increase chances of your writing being selected.

    “There is no room for throat-clearing in search of a point. . . You need each sentence to do more than one thing . . . provide setting, forward the action and give insight into character, all at once.” Founder and editor Dinty W. Moore, interviewed by Kerrie Flanagan, The Writer August 2015

    Information about using sensory detail can be found in the Just Write section on The Write Spot Blog.

    Good Luck!

    Brevity

  • Random Words + Photo . . . Prompt #184

    Today’s random words writing prompt:  honey, drunk, fast, feet, power, languid

    You can also use the photo below as a writing prompt.

    It will be fun to see what you do with this!

    piano.sausalito fair

  • Guest Blogger Steve Fisher writes about Musical Writing

    Guest Blogger Steve Fisher writes about Musical Writing

     Writing is a mysterious craft. Part inspiration, part perspiration. This is about inspiration. Or rather one form of it. Music. When I’m looking for a magic tonic of creativity, I turn to motion picture soundtracks.

    Think about some of the most effective films you have seen. Chances are they started with a great script, added competent and creative direction, exceptional performances, sublime cinematography and brilliant editing. But perhaps the crowning element was the evocative score. What would Star Wars be like without John Williams’ majestic symphonic score? How effective would Titanic be without James Horner’s haunting themes? How chilling would Psycho be without Bernard Herrmann’s staccato strings? A good film can be made great by the music. A film can also be ruined by a bland or misguided score. In deference to the filmmakers, I won’t cite examples.

    So what does that have to do with writing? We’re all affected by music, one way or another. When you sit down to write, play the kind of music that evokes the emotion or atmosphere you are trying to achieve. Take a moment to immerse yourself in the melodic environment. Then try putting pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, ingesting the music continuously as you do so. You may find a new richness wending its way through your words.

    Try this for an exercise. Select four tracks of music, each with a different sensation—upbeat, somber, romantic, whimsical. As each plays, write. It doesn’t matter what: poetry, prose, screenplay, essay. They don’t have to go together. Just do it to see how it feels.

    When you’re ready to actually use music to work by, be selective. Match the musical themes to the emotional ones you are trying to achieve. You may just find additional inventiveness. And the labors of writing may become more harmonious.

    Steve FisherSteve Fisher has written for television, film, stage and print for more than 3 decades. He sleeps in formaldehyde to keep his youthful good looks.

     

     

  • Shopping Prompt #183

     Shopping and bootsToday’s writing prompt: Shopping

    Set your timer for 15-20 minutes and write about Shopping.

  • “The publishing world is always changing.” Jane Smiley

    “As long as there’s a persistent audience for reading novels, then there’s going to be some way for them to be published.” —Jane Smiley, interview by Adrienne Crezo, Writer’s Digest September 2015

    Jane’s daughter works at Book Country, an online writing community where you can share your work-in-progress and receive feedback from community members.

    “Connect with fellow writers on the discussion boards and learn from accomplished authors and editors on the blog.”

    Book CountryInformation at Book Country, “Treat Your Book Like a Start-up“