Alchemy Ink

Feeding my creativity

/ Melanie Marttila

Here’s the prompt Gabriela sent this week for the DIYMFA launch team:

“Coming up with ideas takes practice. You have to train your brain to get creative on demand. You can’t sit around waiting for your muse to show up because she might take her sweet time. Instead, you have to go after your muse. Hunt her down and show her who’s boss. One writer told me he “keeps his muse chained to his desk.”

While I find that mental image of the muse-prisoner hilarious, I prefer to think of it a little differently. I have a shrine to my muse, a small box I call the ORACLE. (Like most things in DIY MFA, ORACLE is an acronym that stands for outrageous ridiculously awesome creative literary exercises.) Just like the ancient Greeks made pilgrimages to oracle temples so they could get guidance and wisdom from their gods, I visit my ORACLE whenever I feel the creative well going dry.

These contents have changed over time, but a few things have stayed constant:

  • Dice: I use dice for writing exercises whenever I need to leave something up to chance. I’ll assign each number an option, and then do whatever the roll decides.
  • Word Box: This small box contains slips of paper with words on them. I pull a few words out of the box at random, and then write a short piece that uses all those words.
  • Image Box: I keep an old chocolate tin filled with photos I clipped from magazines or postcards I picked up at museums. Whenever I’m stuck for ideas, I use those images to spark a story.

These are just a few things I keep in my ORACLE. I also have a paper prototype of the Writer Igniter app, a Writer Igniter deck of cards (also an early prototype for the app), a stack of fortune cookie fortunes, and a pocket-sized book of prompts.

Do you have an ORACLE? If not, treat yourself and start putting one together this week. It took me several years to refine and build my ORACLE, so don’t feel like you have to fill it overnight. Go out, get a nifty container, and start assembling materials to put in it.”

Muse-inks

I don’t have an oracle. I’ve bought decks of story cards, but, I have to confess that I don’t use them. I’m not fond of prompts, honestly, though the idea for one of my novels did result from a prompt. It was a Natalie Goldberg prompt, though, so that may have had an impact on how things turned out 😉

A lot of my story ideas come from my dreams, which, when I can remember them, are quite theatrical/cinematic in scope.

Other ideas come from articles that I read that trigger interesting connections in my head. I talked about the reasons I started my Thoughty Thursday curation a couple of weeks ago. I keep this curation going for myself as much as for others.

I share the posts and articles that make me think, start the mental corn a-popping. Some of those pops ignite story ideas.

I’ve always had story ideas, and more ideas than I knew how to write, especially when I was young. I used to write my stories (so-called) in Hilroy exercise books. I still have them. I still have most of the stories I wrote for school, too.

When I had an idea that I wasn’t sure how to write, I’d write as much as I could about it in one of those notebooks. Eventually, spiral bound notebooks and loose leaf paper replaced the exercise books.

That was the beginning of my idea file.

I mentioned last week as well was that when I was in university, I started making those thoughty connections with all the things I was learning in my classes. Psychology fed into sociology fed into Taoism fed into Old English fed into genetics fed into astronomy.

I started keeping my first journal in those years.

I have a stack of them now.

I keep one beside my bed to capture dream ideas.

I carry one in my purse so I can write down ideas that occur at work or when I’m otherwise away from other means of capturing them. I could use my smart(er than me) phone, but I like the feel of pen on paper. I take all my conference and convention session notes by hand as well.

Also during my university years, I worked in libraries. I learned a lot about research in those years, and, in the course of processing books and magazines to put on the shelves, if I came across an article that elicited a pop, I’d copy it. I called it being a clip rat.

These, too, went into my idea file.

I once clipped an entire series from a newspaper on families living on welfare. I also copied articles on the future of economics. And yes, both of these have story ideas that go along with them.

When the library’s collection was culled, I bought whatever books I could afford from the resulting sale. I accumulated a number of interesting, if slightly out of date, reference books, including an etymological dictionary (in two volumes), a name dictionary, and a couple of collections of popular quotations.

Currently, I read a number of blogs using Feedly. Before Feedly, I used Google Reader (when they announced the end of Google Reader, I was in a panic until Michael Hyatt mentioned Feedly in one of his blog posts).

Things that inspire an idea for a story, I clip to Evernote.

When I start working on a story, outlining, drafting, revising, I do my research in dribs and drabs. I use Evernote to capture online research as well.

Finally, my husband is a great source of ideas. We watch a lot of science fiction, fantasy, historical, and anime series. We have discussions about them. Because my man is Mr. Science, he’ll often have a few things to say about the poor science in a science fiction series. One of my stories was inspired by a discussion we had about Star Trek: The Next Generation.

He’s also very critical of story/plot quality. We can have animated conversations about what writers do and fail to do in the series we like to watch.

I can also fact check some of my SF ideas with him. He’s awesome that way 😀

So, I have lots of ideas and a lot of the resources I need to refine them.

I find that the best way to come up with story ideas is to be present, pay attention, and capture them however you can.

I like to keep things simple.

Tomorrow: It’s next chapter update time 🙂

Next week: DIYMFA will be out on the 10th! I’ll be posting my review to Amazon and Goodreads, and posting it to Writerly Goodness on Saturday.

Have a great weekend!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, May 22-28, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

Thoughty Thursday is weird and wonderful this week. Well . . . weird, anyway.

On refugees: a history of the ‘other’ in Sudbury. Nilgiri Pearson for Sudbury.com

This was one of the sad bits of new to come out in Canada this week: Gord Downie, lead singer of The Tragically Hip, diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. The Globe and Mail.

Here’s the sensationalist article: bodies of strange creatures found in the basement of old London home. Design you trust. And now, the real story: the truth behind the viral story of mysterious skeletons in London basement. The Earth Child.

Complain all you want, but your busy schedule may be helping your brain. Angus Chen for NPR.

Angela Hanscom wonders why can’t children stay still in the classroom? It turns out that movement is critical to attention and learning. The Washington Post.

How to be happy: lessons from an Amazonian tribe. Rick Warren for Medium.

A psychologist identifies three elements that determine happiness. Diane Koopman for LifeHack.

Finding 16 cents on the sidewalk helped one person recognize something important about happiness. The Business Insider.

The more I learn about this man, the more I love him. Albert Einstein: racism is a disease of white people. Open Culture looks at his little-known fight for civil rights.

The #HeForShe Media Summit (it’s an hour and a half long) featuring Patricia Arquette and Joss Whedon. UN Women.

 

Maisha Z. Johnson offers a black feminist’s guide to the racist shit too many white feminists say. Everyday Feminism.

Amanda Vickery says it’s time to bring female artists out of storage. The Guardian.

This is too cool. This Finnish university gives its doctoral graduates a funky top hat and sword. This is so Hogwarts, I have the desire to get my PhD! Oh. Tuition. Dissertation. But top hat and sword!

Jupiter gets his by visible asteroid impacts six times a year. Phil Plait for Slate.

Ed Yong reports a shocking find in a Neanderthal cave in France. The Atlantic.

The gruesome history of eating corpses as medicine. Maria Dolan for The Smithsonian.

Coming up: The next chapter will be coming out this weekend. I might have one more DIYMFA QotW, too! Oh, the writerly life 🙂

Thoughty Thursday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, May 22-28, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Another wonderful week of writerly goodness!

Roz Morris helps writers avoid this plotting pitfall when writing drafts at speed. Nail Your Novel.

Everyone’s getting into video. Should you? Jane Friedman on Writer Unboxed.

Barbara O’Neal makes the case for journaling. Writer Unboxed.

Dan Blank advises you to invest in yourself. Writer Unboxed.

John Vorhaus tells us how to write like the Buddha. You guessed it. Another great post from Writer Unboxed.

Lawrence MacNaughton guest posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University. Five questions you need to ask if your story is stuck. Later in the week, Janice is back with how to keep your characters compelling beyond the first draft.

Angela Ackerman explains how to deepen your protagonist by challenging her moral beliefs. Writers helping writers.

Sara Letourneau offers part six of the developing themes in your stories series: the inciting incident. DIYMFA. Later in the week Amy Bearce shares five marketing tips for introverts.

K.M. Weiland also wrote about theme this week: how to create a complex moral argument for your story’s theme. Helping writers become authors.

Chris Winkle shares seven great sources of conflict for romances. Mythcreants.

Steven Pressfield offers his advice on drafting: cover the canvas.

Nina Munteanu shares part two of her writer-editor relationship series: five things writers wished editors knew—and followed.

Marcy Kennedy guest posts on Christine Frazier’s Better Novel Project: five times Katniss nailed deep point of view.

Kameron Hurley confesses that she’s thought about quitting . . . but, don’t quit.

Over on Tor.com, she shares an excerpt from the recently released Geek Feminist Revolution. It’s awesome. You should read the post. And then you should buy the book 🙂

All of us toilers need reminders like this: Rick Riordan on his ‘overnight’ success. It’s from 2007, to give context.

Emma Straub was born to be an author. Alexandra Alter for The New York Times.

Kim Vandels shares the secret to writing great science fiction. The spinning pen.

Airship Ambassador interviews Kate Heartfield about her story “The Seven O’Clock Man” in the Clockwork Canada anthology.

BookBaby offers some tips on how to promote your science fiction on social media.

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is an Indigogo success story. The Guardian.

Mental Floss explains why reading makes you a better person with an infographic 🙂

Leila Fadel reports on the delicate task of restoring one of the world’s oldest libraries. NPR.

Louisa Young grew up in J.M. Barrie’s house: we longed for Peter Pan to come for us. The Guardian.

Judith Shulevitz reveals the Bröntes’ secret for The Atlantic.

The teaser trailer for Disney’s live action version of Beauty and the Beast. I’m looking forward to seeing what Emma Watson does with Belle 🙂

 

Here’s the Ghostbusters UK trailer.

 

The Little Prince is coming to Netflix August 8 🙂

 

Laura Prudom explains how Outlander created its most powerful and devastating episode yet. Variety.

And that was Tipsday.

See you Thursday. *waves*

Tipsday

Resistance and where it leads

/ Melanie Marttila

The DIYMFA QotW for week 8:

“Share an example of a time when resistance has pointed you toward a writing project that was juicy and high-stakes . . . and maybe even a little bit scary. Did you face that fear and overcome your resistance? What was the result of pursuing (or not pursuing) that project?”

To be honest, I don’t feel a lot of resistance as far as pursuing a writing project. I tend to follow my instincts, or my muse, if you prefer, and write what the heck I want.

You may see this as a naive attitude, but enough published authors, experienced editors and agents have pointed out the futility of trying to write to the market, that I’ve taken at least that much to heart.

I have an idea file that’s about fifteen novel ideas backlogged. Sometimes it’s hard to decide which one to pursue, but once I’ve decided, I generally stick with it until the draft is done . . . and revised . . . and critiqued . . . and revised . . . and edited . . . and revised . . . and beta read . . . and revised . . . and queried . . . but that’s as far as I’ve gotten (with novels).

I’ve had a couple of science fiction short stories published (for paying markets, even), but even with my short fiction, if I have a suitable idea, I write the piece until it’s done. Substitute submitting for querying in the above novel equation, and I’ve been accepted, worked with the publication’s editors to refine the piece, and been published.

When an editor suggests changes with a piece of short fiction, I’ve been very accommodating. I’ve generally accepted the suggested changes or made clarifications in the particular story elements so the changes are no longer necessary.

I can see pretty clearly and quickly with a piece of short fiction what makes sense to change and what does not.

Where I feel resistance is when, whether a critique partner, editor, or beta reader, someone suggests a major change to a novel I’ve written.

I generally have to sit with the suggested changes for a while, until I can see clearly the reasons why the changes were suggested. Then I can (more) objectively judge whether to adopt them or not.

Case in point: the editor for my first novel suggested eliminating a character. It took me a long time to realize she was right. She’d also suggested eliminating a couple of extraneous point of view characters, which I accepted and changed right away. A critique partner for the same novel didn’t like the number and types of POV I was using, and, initially, I changed everything. Later, however, I realized that my original choices made sense for the story I was telling and after I have eliminated the extraneous POV’s and the extraneous character, I changed everything back.

So, it works both ways for me. Some things I should change but am slow to act on the advice. Other things I change, but then realize there were compelling reasons why I made the decision in the first place.

Really, I’m still working through the whole process, developing my sense as a creator regarding which suggestions and advice to act on and which not to. As things progress, I find myself making better initial creative choices (I think).

I added the ‘I think’ in parentheses because I’m still not sure whether I’ve done this to avoid the criticism and/or potential conflict that results. I avoid conflict in life, generally. I kind of hate it. And really, that’s not a good reason, on its own, to change a creative work.

Ultimately, I’m always open to learning anything about my craft from anyone. I just get reluctant when I’m not sure of the motivation behind the advice I’m given.

Professional or experienced editors, I trust.

Unfortunately, it’s possible to be an excellent writer and not know a thing about editing, or critiquing, or beta reading. Telling me how you would have written the story doesn’t help me. Giving me your reasoning or thought process along with the suggestion allows me to assess your advice and accept it in the spirit it was offered, whether I choose to act upon it or not.

I think this all stems from my experience during my MA, which I’ve written about enough that you’re probably all sick of hearing about it by now 😛

So, Gabriela’s question didn’t really take me in the expected direction, but this is where I experience resistance.

Where do you experience resistance?

Muse-inks

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, May 15-21, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

A small, but interesting assortment of goodies.

So this happened: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accidentally elbowed an NDP MP in the process of trying to escort a Conservative MP to his seat. Yes, he shouldn’t have done it. He apologized three times. Gabrielle Gallant explains why associating ‘elbowgate’ with violence against women is an insult to victims. The Globe and Mail.

Aboriginal children express their pain through art and story. Peggy MacDonald for CBC news.

Why we live in an age of anxiety. A special feature by The Guardian including pieces by Paula Cocozza, Lindy West, Chitra Ramaswamy, and Rhiannon Lucy Cosslet.

Anna Lovind searches for a simpler life.

Ruth Whippman says people with more money are less lonely. The Guardian.

The record-breaking temperature trend continues. Phil Plait for Slate.

Portugal runs for four days on renewable energy alone. Arthur Nelson for The Guardian.

Recyclable six pack rings could save a lot of turtles. Popular Mechanics.

What hiking does for the brain is pretty amazing. Michael Pirrone for Wimp.com

Yuval Harari’s latest book predicts the rise of the useless class. CNet.

From ‘little people’ to shape shifters, Lucy Tulugarjuk shares the encounters she’s had with some of the North’s most fascinating otherworldly entities. Edge North.

Dancing with the devil: the history of satanic burlesque. Dirge Magazine.

The Presets: Epic Fail. Shared by a friend following the previous week’s DIYMFA post 🙂

 

And that was your thoughty for the week.

On Saturday, I’ll be tackling the topic of resistance for DIYMFA.

Thoughty Thursday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, May 15-21, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

Fact and fun, all rolled into one . . . curation post 😉

K.M. Weiland shares strategies for writing faster (and why maybe you shouldn’t). Helping writers become authors. Later in the week she shares her number one tip for writing books readers can’t put down.

Chuck Wendig explodes more writing myths as he invites us to crotch-punch the creative yeti. Terribleminds.

Kristan Hoffman puts forth an argument for letting your creativity rest. Writer Unboxed.

Kameron Hurley writes about fame, publishing, and breakout books: dancing for dinner.

Jami Gold helps us understand how plot obstacles affect character agency.

Dave King continues to explore historical fiction pitfalls with this post for Writer Unboxed: sympathetic characters in unsympathetic worlds.

Carly Watters shares five secrets to publishing your debut novel.

Porter Anderson looks at book prices and writing value. Should we have been careful what we wished for? Writer Unboxed.

Five signs your novel may be sexist – against men. Chris Winkle brings a little balance to the table for Mythcreants.

The establishment has always hated the new kids. Kameron Hurley.

Monica Alverado Frazier wonders, do you know how to use a curandera?

Modern witches are so much more than Maiden/Mother/Crone. Natalie Zutter for Tor.com

Daniel José Older reads from Half Resurrection Blues. This man reads like a poet. I could listen to him all day 🙂

 

John Mullan explores how plots grip us, from Dickens to Line of Duty. The Guardian.

Women swept the 2015 Nebula Awards. Andrew Liptak for i09.

Five science fiction and fantasy novels that treat mental illness with compassion. Barnes & Noble.

This is COOL. Boston’s sidewalks are covered in secret poems. Atlas Obscura.

Lincoln Michel explains why fairy tales are magic for modern fiction. The Guardian.

Dig at the Curtain theatre unearths a Shakespearean surprise. Jill Lawless for Phys.org

Do overused words lose their meaning? Jonathon Sturgeon for Flavorwire.

CBS passes on Nancy Drew adaptation for testing “too female” for line-up (whatever that means). Carly Lane for The Mary Sue.

The BBC shares nine life lessons from Doctor Who.

Two of the shows I liked got cancelled. Fortunately, the end is only the beginning for Supergirl and Marvel’s Agent Carter. Alisdair Stuart for Tor.com

Honest trailers – Game of Thrones, vol. 1 Bewbs!

 

Come back Thursday for your weekly dose of thoughty!

Tipsday

Debunking creative myths for DIYMFA

/ Melanie Marttila

This week’s QotW prompt is this:

Today we’re shifting gears a bit. In chapter 6 of DIY MFA, I debunk five myths about creativity. These myths are:

  1. Creativity is an exclusive club, and you can’t be part of it.
  2. Creativity is innate–you either have it or you don’t.
  3. Creativity is driven by chaos, so there’s no way to control it.
  4. Creativity is all about getting that one “Big Idea.”
  5. Creativity is focusing on an idea until it’s perfect.

We were to choose one and run with it.

Gabriela, however, wrote about her struggles with numbers three to five.

So . . . I’m going to tackle one and two.

I’m firmly of the opinion that everyone is creative in their own way and in their own realm of expertise. Just because my creativity expresses itself in the invention of stories doesn’t mean that everyone’s will work the same way.

My husband, for example, is, as I have mentioned before on this blog, Mr. Science. His first career was as a medical laboratory technologist. Now, he’s a network administrator, but he is also a programmer, and technical wizard. His hobbies include geology, astronomy, and cosmology.

Since he works for a charity, he has to find ways to do things economically. This means doing a lot of the work himself. He’s developed the registration system for his employer’s summer camp program. He’s put together their passcard system for the enhanced change rooms. He created their web page (someone else was responsible for the graphics and content) and has it set up so that the other employees in various departments can update content themselves.

Now, he’s working on a new program which will focus on finding work placements for autistic youth. His role is to develop his employer’s documentation and reporting system for the program.

He is so creative in his realm of expertise.

Creativity isn’t just about making art. It’s about making an art out of the work you do.

To shift gears a bit, my weekly curation posts are all about fostering the creativity of my followers.

I long ago realised that I’m not in a place in my career where I feel comfortable imparting writing advice. There’s so much of it out there on the interwebz and it’s shared by people who are far more articulate that I can be at this point.

I follow a lot of these people and so, when I come across a writing post or article that really speaks to me as a writer, I share it. A few years ago, I collected these posts into a weekly curation I call Tipsday. It’s kind of like an informal learning opportunity for writers. I’ve learned so much from the people I follow, I just want to share the wealth of their knowledge.

Other things pop my mental corn. Yes, just sit with that image for a minute. Your skull is a big pan, full of popcorn, apply heat (interesting posts and articles), shake it around, and pop! Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!

This used to happen all the time in university. I’d see connections between all the seemingly random things I was learning and the ideas would go zinging around inside my head. That’s when I started journaling, and when I started working on my first novel.

I also think about the movie Working Girl in this context. The protagonist, Tess, gets great business ideas from reading the society column and business articles in the paper. Disparate ideas coming together to make awesome.

That’s what Thoughty Thursday is all about.

While Tipsday is pretty much focused on writing, Thoughty Thursday could help anyone be creative in any endeavour. I just hope that the things that interest me might have some kind of positive impact on others.

And so there you have it. My take on creativity. It’s not en exclusive club and it’s not something you have to be born with. It just takes a few juicy ideas to get things going.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more Ad Astra reportage.

TTFN!

Muse-inks

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, May 8-14, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

Lots of thoughty for your big squishy brains this week!

The Jian Gomeshi case was in the news again this week. Another complainant came forward, but chose not to go to court and accept a peace bond. The agreement? Gomeshi would admit his wrongdoing and apologize publically. Kathryn Borel released this statement outside court after the unsatisfying apology. The Toronto Star.

Sandy Garossino reports that Borel’s counterpunch blindsides Henein and knocks out Gomeshi. National Observer.

The UN champions essential services for survivors of violence against women and girls.

 

Here are a couple of fabulous articles by Lindy West. First, the ‘perfect body’ is a lie. Then, break the period taboo. The Guardian.

Are you a cool girl? ASAP Thought wants you to help dismantle the patriarchy 🙂

 

Latinos are now the largest ethnic group in California. The Los Angeles Times.

You may remember that I’ve mentioned in the past how careful we need to be with media reports of scientific studies. This explains why. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Scientific Studies.

 

How World War II changed Walt Disney. Time.

Clint Edwards gleans lessons from The Goonies, and from the loss of unsupervised time for kids. The Washington Post.

John Reed tells a tale almost too creepy to believe: my grandma, the poisoner. Vice.

The CDC releases new statistics on suicide in the US.

And on the other side of the death coin: when patients and doctors disagree about end-of-life care. The Washington Post.

Sarah Kurchak shares depression-busting exercise tips for people too depressed to exercise. The Establishment.

Not to be facetious, but Emily Hartridge lists 10 reasons why . . . she’s grateful to have anxiety.

 

BigThink offers proven tools for lifting a bad mood.

IndiHope lists 51 Dr. Seuss quotes on happiness.

This is just cool. The brain dictionary, on AmpLIFEied.

Kepler reveals a new bounty of exoplanets, including nine in the ‘Goldilocks’ zone. Phil Plait for Slate.

It’s okay to be smart. The cosmic afterglow:

 

William Gadoury discovers a link between the constellations and the locations of Mayan cities. YourNewsWire.com

And this is just funny. Ken Ham tried to disprove science using . . . science. Epic fail. Slate.

It’s okay to be smart: the most important moment in the history of life:

 

Weird science: can corpses turn to stone?

 

David Bowie on being authentic:

 

The Buddha Weekly focuses on the consciousness of non-human beings. I’m really sorry. I enjoy the meats 😦

Have a happy Friday, and we’ll see you on the weekend!

Thoughty Thursday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, May 8-14, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

All kinds of writerly goodness for you this week!

K.M. Weiland has made no secret of her disappointment in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In classic Kate fashion, she gleans writerly goodness from the experience. Planning your story: what George Lucas can teach you (not) to do. Helping writers become authors.

Later in the week, she offered eight tips for writing child characters.

Jessi Rita Hoffman explains how to write a thrilling action scene for Writer Unboxed.

Sophie Masson shares the building blocks of great young adult fiction. Writer Unboxed.

Lisa Cron advises: don’t accidentally give your characters a time out. Writer Unboxed.

Margaret Dilloway explores overcoming impostor syndrome for Writer Unboxed.

Christine Frazier shows you why your hero should eavesdrop and make a bad assumption (in four steps). The Better Novel Project.

Janice Hardy looks at writing a character with a gender not your own. Fiction University.

Dan Koboldt offers some tips for creating fundamentalist religions in fantasy.

Chris Winkle offers strategies for defeating the contrivance boogeyman. Mythcreants.

Jami Gold wonders if your plot obstacles are too easy, too difficult, or just right?

Jennie Nash studies great opening lines. The Book Designer.

Chuck Wendig advises us to defy reality and become artists. Terribleminds.

Jami Gold explores how to reach your potential through writing feedback.

Angela Ackerman offers six rules that will keep your critique partnerships golden. Writers helping writers.

Gabriela Pereira interviews Charlaine Harris for the DIYMFA podcast.

Annie Neugebauer says, don’t hate the query—master it! Writer Unboxed.

Janet Reid shares a checklist of things you need to be thinking about between offer and acceptance.

Susan Spann offered some advice on royalty clauses in publishing deals and how authors get paid. Writers in the Storm.

Karina Sumner-Smith guest posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University: is a quick release schedule right for you and your books?

My friend, Kim, is back on the road. This time, she spends an afternoon with Margaret Atwood.

Micah Solomon offers three books that will help you to radically improve your writing. BookBaby

Cory Doctorow shares his vision of how publishers, libraries, and writers could work together. BoingBoing.

Delilah S. Dawson wrote this beautiful post on writing and grieving: someday this pain will be useful to you.

Natalie Zutter shares Nnedi Okorafor and N.K. Jemesin in conversation: masquerade, initiation, and science fiction and fantasy. Tor.com

Bustle wants you to diversify your reading list with these 23 LGBTQ books with a person of colour as a protagonist.

What Bustle says your to-be-read list says about your personality.

Ferris Jabr revisits the lost gardens of Emily Dickinson. The New York Times.

Kathryn Hughes looks at the dystopian world of Beatrix Potter. The Guardian.

Shakespeare and death:

 

Women swept the Nebulas! i09.

Jo Walton reviews Ada Palmer’s Too Like the Lightning for Tor.com.

A Ken Liu short story will be made into a movie. i09.

John Marcotte reports that Marvel is committing to a Black Widow movie (at some unknown point in the future). Heroic Girls.

And, speaking of Marvel, the next X-Men movie is due out May 27th: X-Men Apocalypse.

Here’s the teaser:

 

And the official trailer:

 

Buzzfeed shared what was a sneak peek of Outlander’s next episode (I saw it Sunday) but I thought I’d post it anyway. “Ovaries explode!” – funnee.

See you Thursday for some thoughty stuff 🙂

Tipsday

Best practice epic fail

/ Melanie Marttila

How’s that for a sensational headline? 😛

Until Gabriela’s book comes out, I’ve decided to tackle her question of the week on Saturdays, and do the Ad Astra reportage on Sundays. We’ll see how things go. I just find that I can’t manage two posts in a day and combining them doesn’t do justice to either topic.

Here was this week’s question:

QOTW 6: What’s one “Best Practice” that didn’t work for you?

“There are a lot of people spouting “best practices” about writing. Write X number of words per day. Write every day. Don’t reread what you write. Don’t share your work until you’ve perfected it. And so forth. Have you ever tried one of these “best practices”? How did it go? Write about that experience.”

I had to think about this for a while.

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Why?

This was the interesting part for me, so I’ll dig in a bit here.

Before I really committed to the writing life, in 2006 or so, I was creatively damaged. Wounded even.

Before that time, I took every piece of writing advice or critique I was given as literary law. I couldn’t differentiate between opinion, advice, personal experience or preference, and what would actually work for me as a writer.

I’ve always been a keener. I like to learn. I also like to be praised for learning well, being a do-bee. I used to feel that any teacher put before me would somehow magically be able to intuit what I needed to know, and give me the tools I needed to achieve my goals.

Yes. I was naive.

During my MA years, I took the opinions of my fellow students, and those of my advisor, a well-respected author of literary fiction and eighteenth century scholar, to heart. My chosen genre (a crime in itself in a literary environment) was crap; my writing was crap; ergo, I was crap.

It’s the progression that many inexperienced writers make.

When, following a few workshops by some award-winning, bestselling authors (Canadian and American, literary and genre), I committed to writing something, every day (I set my sights low at first, aimed for one page and didn’t castigate myself if I only managed a few sentences), I began to examine my process.

I also started to read a lot of writing craft books, follow authors online. I joined social media with an eye to developing my “platform.” I started to take control of my learning.

In my day job, it’s called informal learning.

Formal learning is like a classroom, or a workshop. There are good classes. There are excellent workshops. In these, the instructor offers their knowledge and experience in context and with the caveat that what works for one writer may not work for every writer.

At their worst, though, the teacher—the expert—is the talking head, mama bird, and the students are the baby birds, waiting for ‘dinner’ to be stuffed down their throats. It’s all about trying to consume, or memorize, every bit of wisdom that comes out of the instructor’s mouth.

In informal learning, the learner enters into the learning contract on their own terms and in their own time, having identified what they want to accomplish in the learning experience. Everything is filtered through that goal, and the learner takes or leaves knowledge as they see fit.

It may involve experimentation. What sounds good on the page (or webpage) may not work in practice.

Since my entry into the realm of regular writing practice, I’ve been an informal learner. I never take anything at face value, no matter the source, without examining it critically. If I think it will improve my process, or my writing, I’ll try it out. That’s the acid test. If it works, or I derive some value from the technique, I keep it. If not, I discard it, with all thanks to the teacher for the learning opportunity.

In that light, there hasn’t been much in the way of best practices or writing advice that, if it made it through my filter and I tried it out, didn’t work for me. There are a few things on which my internal jury is still out on, but I haven’t completely discarded the possibility that they could work. Some things take time.

Now, back to the QotW.

The piece of writing advice that I can say that I have considered and discarded, because I knew it wouldn’t work for me, was to dress for success. I’ve written about this before, and the post is still one of my most popular.

The idea was that being a part of the “pyjama patrol” was not showing respect for your art and craft. The writer not only has to show up, but has to “report to work” as a professional writer.

I can see the perspective of the workshop facilitator, an author whom I like and respect, but she writes full time. If I didn’t have a day job, I’d probably feel differently, but since I spend my most productive hours working for someone else, I need to make a clear demarcation between that work and my calling.

When I get home, the business casual clothes I wear to the day job come off and the flannels go on. My husband calls it becoming comfort woman. I want to come to the page having created an environment for myself that says, “this is my time.” I want to be comfortable, cozy even.

In my own way, I do dress for success, but not in the way the workshop facilitator intended 😉

Tomorrow: I’ll be looking at the relationship between self-publishers and editors.

Next week: I’ll be debunking creative myths 🙂

Muse-inks