Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Everybody Has to start Someplace


Everybody has to start someplace…


On the last blog I attempted to begin a Sacred Wolf Pack, although I don’t think I explained it well. People seemed to think it took a lot of commitment, or they had to journal, or read the book that had spring-boarded me into action.

None of that is necessary.

You don’t have to read, live in the area, or want to write.

My purpose is to connect, to continue to grow, and to share ideas. Simple.

Just check in once in a while and respond to others in the wolf pack. I call it "The Sacred Wolf Pack" because of the trust we have imparted on each other, and at the heart is that feeling of synergy, that the pack is stronger than the lone wolf.

Simply scroll to the bottom of this page--keep going into the darker area, add a comment to the Chat Roll, and keep the conversation going.

Talk to Momma.
Love you,
Joyce

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Come Join the Sacred Wolf Pack




We are the women who run with wolves--or Poodles. 

The common thought is that writers are lone wolves, and sometimes we are, but mostly wolves live in packs and support each other.  

I read about a mother wolf whose cubs were pulling, tugging and climbing on her until she was completely frazzled. Uncle Wolf, like the cavalry, came bounding over the hill, rough-tumbled the cubs, played with them until they were worn out and finally asleep. In the meantime the mother wolf stretched out on a warm rock and slept.

We can be there for each other, not to wrestle the cubs, but to get a reprieve from them. We can be a sounding board, a support system.  The Wolf Pack?  Or The Sacred Wolf Pack? That sounds good to me. What do you think?

There is no charge to do this, it is simply artist to artist.

My reason?

Recently I re-purchased The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I read it years ago, left it in California, but felt I needed it again. And now I am motivated to begin a Sacred circle.






Cameron calls such a circle as “A Cluster.”  One such cluster in Chicago began with these questions:

“Will I be able to write again?” “I would like to improve, but I’m scared.” “Really I’d like to produce.” “I’d like to write a play.”

Years later these were the questions:  “Who’s throwing Ginny’s Emmy nomination party?”  “Should Pam do her third play with the same theater company?”

I am suggesting an online circle, a support group, a writer’s coffee klatch with you serving your own coffee. Sorry, that’s the way it is in virtual reality.  We could talk with each other, though, on this website. 

Success is born in clusters, and success is born in generosity. Let us believe in our own power.

Sacred Circle Rules:

1.     Creativity flourishes in a place of safety and acceptance.
2.     Creativity grows among friends, withers among enemies.
3.     All creative ideas are children who deserve our protection.
4.     All creative success requires creative failure.
5.     Fulfilling our creativity is a sacred trust.
6.     Violating someone’s creativity violates a sacred trust
7.     Creative feedback must build on strength, never focus on weakness.
8.     Success occurs in clusters and is born in generosity.
9.     The good of another never blocks our own.

I suggest, as Cameron suggests, beginning each day, or at least each writing session, with "Morning Pages."  Morning pages are a mind dump. It is a way of writing out our cares, ridding our mind of garbage—you know that endless mind-talk that is standing in the way of our true creative expression. In morning pages you write whatever comes to mind, complaining if you want, whining, just get rid of it. Now we can then get down to the business of being creative. And this isn't only for writers.

After the mind-dump, questions might then pop up, questions such as, "I'm stuck on chapter 6, what do I do now?" "Would you read my query and see if it piques your interest?" "You got an agent how did you do it?"  "Would you read my first paragraph and tell me what you think?" "What do people want to read now?" "Do you write for yourself or for an audience?" Natalie Goldberg said, "Writing will take you where you want to go." What do you think of that? In that case, writing is self-discovery.

Maybe your comment would be, "I wrote 25 pages today! Yippee."

And your rooting section would say, "Whoa, that’s fabulous."

And, you know, here's a secret, When you win your Emmy, I will be there.

When you get an Oscar for that original screenplay, I will watch you walk the red carpet.

When your book is published I will lift a glass of champagne to you.


Please scroll to the bottom and leave the Wolf Pack a comment, or to the top to talk to Momma. Your email address doesn't have to be shared if you wish to remain anonymous. Please, though, give yourself a handle.

I will post any comments so you can respond to them. That way we will get to know each other. Packs like to snuggle.

I'm anxious to see you romp over the hill.










Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Plot


Quick before we begin, squeeze your left hand with your right. I have heard that will activate the right hemisphere of the brain and thus up your creativity.



On the last blog I said I would address that dreaded word Plot and Synopsis. 

To really learn the skivvies on plot, check out The Plot Whisperer by Martha Anderson, www.plotwhisperer.blogspot.com, she knows what she is talking about. Me? I am learning, but then as writers we always are.  

Ray Bradbury said, “Plot is just the footprints in the snow after the players have walked through.”

Yeah but…

Come on Bradbury, I’ve tracked my chicken through the snow and it was a mess, circles, backtracking, blank spaces where there was no snow…nothing logical, nothing organized. On top of that it was frustrating. I found her though, but we're not chasing chickens, we are trying to get a book written.


And then I stumbled upon this and found it explained plot, in pictures and few words, better than I could do it in 1,000.


I realize I took on a task to large for both plot and synopsis, so this coverage will be cursory. I will go into it in more depth on the next blog. 

If you are like me, small increments of information stick in my brain better than long explanations anyway. So, check out the Plot planner above, test it, do some writing and next week we will advance in our search.

Since I mentioned #synopsis in my earlier blog, I will add a pointer here. This is called by some, a sucknopsis, for it is as difficult to write as the manuscript was. It is boiling down a 200 pages into four or five, and be sure to include the ending in it. Publishers don't like to be left hanging.

What will writing a synopsis do for you? One, it will be there when a buyer asks for it (like an interviewer asking for a resume'). I am tempted to be really snide here, for resume's usually go into something equivalent to the grand canyon. 

But, it will do something for you...It will help you see problems in your manuscript, and it just might show you in a cruel way where your book needs more attention. 

More, more more, I'm not complete here...