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A Writer’s Week in Twitter Hashtags II *

I’ve been behind on my reading (and my writing, but that’s another post). Blame it on the weather, a series of sick days with kids, a lack of focus. I’m ready for Spring.

But, I’m catching up this week and armed with several articles worthy of bookmarks.

#Writing

What does a novel’s interior say about its characters? from Nichole Bernier on Beyond the Margins

[Certain novels’] distinctive settings stayed with me, years after reading the book, for being not just unforgettable, but critical in molding their characters. Environments that were epic not just because they were vividly drawn, but because they represented very specific emotional landscapes, sometimes packed into very small spaces.

#FindYourCommunity

For the man who called me for advice about how to get published, from Cathy Day on The Big Thing (when a phone call for quick advice turns into a lesson for her students, and all of us):

My advice: find two or three people in your classes [or your writing circle] who you can trade work with in the years to come, because you’re going to need those people. Bad.

#Submissions

Literary Magazine Submission Tips Submitted to Myself, by Joseph Scapellato on Gulf Coast Blog.

Submit to the idea that submitting your work can teach you where you’ve come from as a writer, where you’re at as a writer, and where you might be going as a writer.

#BookBloggers

Beth Hoffman – LOOKING FOR ME – Review on Tribute Books Reviews and Giveaways.

Beth Hoffman is a master at crafting a gentle story fierce with emotion. Her novels are comfort reads, and Looking for Me is no exception. It’s a work that defies categorization encompassing aspects of mystery, romance and literary fiction while maintaining a cozy distinctiveness that’s become a signature touch. Hoffman is a keen observer of life and her astute awareness of the world around her filters into her writing immersing the reader in detail that’s as multi-dimensional as it is visceral.

I’ve got my copy (and can’t wait to share all about in a Q&A with Beth Hoffman in May). You can pre-order your copy here.

What’s on your Twitter feed this week?

* Read A Writer’s Week in Twitter Hashtags (first edition) here.

 

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On Reading and Writing: Quotable Posts

underlining while reading

A host of posts worth bookmarking.

On Reading

It’s Short Story Month at Fiction Writers Review. Here’s a bit of what you can look forward to if you stop by their blog:

There’s more to watch for at FWR during May, like interviews and short story collection giveaways. I’ll be running my own interview and giveaway in a few weeks, when Erika Dreifus stops by the blog to discuss her book of stories, Quiet Americans.

Siobhan Fallon reflects on author readings and the book tour, the thrill and the hardship:

…[T]ouring can be as difficult as it is wonderful. Wonderful, because, c’mon, the ‘book tour’ is every author’s dream…to have your book taken seriously enough that your publisher is actually sending you out in the world to talk about your written words. . . . Also difficult because writers are usually a shy bunch of people…. It is scary as all hell to get up in front of strangers and try to charm them for a half hour.

To authors who brave the mic, I say Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You pave the way for those writers who follow in your footsteps. you enrich the experience of readers as you give voice to the printed word, and you inspire those in the audience to run home and put pen to paper.

On Writing

Cathy Day shares an “end of the semester” lecture online, addressing the ever-present question in students’ minds: Am I a Writer?

You don’t “become” a writer because of a particular degree or a particular kind of job…. Nobody—no degree-granting institution, no teacher, no editor, no association—grants you the status of writer. You don’t need anyone’s permission to be a writer. You have to give yourself permission. It’s an almost completely internal “switch” that you have to turn on and (this is harder) keep on. . . .

Convincing yourself each day to keep going, this means that you are a writer.

There’s so much more in this post worth reading and considering, like what we mean – exactly – when we say we “just want to be published”.

Lisa Romeo talks about the Aha moment in writing and suggests that we stop waiting for it:

In my experience – and I’m talking here in broad terms that include motherhood, writing, marriage, career, relationships – the aha moments come in two general forms. Either they hit me like all at once at an unexpected and always later time: in the shower hours after the marathon work session, while awaking the morning after an argument, during the long drive home from the much-anticipated event… . . . . Or else they creep along, small and quiet at first, and then build speed and grow in size and shape until one day I realize (with very little fanfare) that some new angle, method, mindset, approach, skill or proficiency has worked its way into my usual routine. . . .

Corner-turning, breakthroughs, aha moments have their own agenda, and it’s not yours. Relax. Stop waiting. Your job now is to take it all in, to read, to study, to try, to experiment, to think.

This post hits the mark for me; I am always looking for the burning bush to urge me on, instead of (simply) relying on my own sheer will to write.

What posts would you quote this week?

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Plan the Story, Meet Your Characters.

I used to believe that my best writing happened while under pressure and without a plan. Pick a prompt, jump on a first line, go.That strategy still works for small projects, but when I approach a longer, more complex story – like a novel – I find some planning helps.

During the last several months, before I kicked off with the first paragraph of a novel I wanted to write, I tampered with outlines and notecards and concept maps, trying to wrap my head around the heart of a story (this particular novel requires research and a definite sense of direction). I also spent time with my characters.

In the past, I would begin a story with a fuzzy vision of a main character, his or her name, a hint at what they wanted. But this time around, I dug deeper. I gathered a pool of resources for character development and probed into the lives of a few people the novel would spotlight.

If you peruse Twitter or Facebook or your favorite author’s blog, you’ll find plenty of character worksheets. The questions on the worksheets vary, but they all read like an application. I’ll print off these sheets from time to time, especially when they come from an author whose work I appreciate, but no one sheet or exercise works well for me. Maybe they’re too rigid for this panster at heart. So, instead of relying on one specific form of character development, I pulled ideas from a few different places and gave myself a variety of prompts from which to draw.

1. The Character Sketch

From the presses of Writer’s Digest comes a great publication, Write Your Novel in 30 Days, complete with worksheets like the ones mentioned above. This simple form (one of many within the workbook) guides you through the basics, like name and birth date and physical descriptions. It also prompts you to consider character role and internal or external conflicts.

2. Characterization Exercises

Cathy Day (author of The Comeback Season and the blog, The Big Thing) spoke on a panel at the AWP Conference in Chicago this year. I couldn’t make it into the conference (though I got close), but I did find access to a document, compiled by Day and her group of panelists, on the best practices for teaching a novel workshop. I’d love to take one of these classes, but since I can’t, I’m especially grateful for the few writing exercises listed within:

  • “Describe each of your primary characters in the novel…their psychology: likes/dislikes, hopes and fears, odd predilections, good and bad habits…friends and nemeses.”
  • “Let’s hear them. Write representative speeches…for each of the primary characters.”

3. Character Visualization

From the files of Glimmer Train, Yelizaveta P. Renfro’s article about “Creating the Fictional Family” focuses on several directions writers can take, questions to ask or exercises in visualization:

  • “Visit your characters at home. Family often have specific places that are important to them…. Spend some time mentally visiting the places that are important to your characters, and write down everything you can.”
  • “Picture your characters. Having a physcial picture of your characters can help you get to know them. Find a photo or a painting of your fictional family. . . . Once you have your picture, put it at your side and write everything you observe in the image.”

Renfro suggests stopping into an antique store for pictures of real people. I’m suggesting another idea: the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog, where you can search for and find thousands of images. Little treasures, like this one:

Photos that make you want to tell a story.

Do you plan? And, how do you get to know your characters?

* photo credit: Alvimann @ morgueFile.com