How Writing is like Cooking

NOTE:  I'm trying to fix glitches with links between my different accounts. This blog, originally posted at Wonderings and Wanderings was supposed to also post here. I've posted a condensed version that focuses on the writing connection. 

I usually spend a good portion of my weekend in the kitchen making meals for the coming week. This weekend, however, none of my recipes turned out. I tried to blend two muffin recipes to create a "harvest fruit" muffin. Dud! I think I needed more baking powder or perhaps some baking soda. And, I plain forgot to include an ingredient in one dish until it was in the oven. Too bad I couldn't pull it out and add it (which is a wonderful revision technique for writing but doesn't bode well with step-by-step instructions).

But, in the end, I wasn't upset. First, not all the kitchen mishaps were inedible. Second, the time spent perfectly links with writing. Like these failed  recipes, sometimes we need to write scenes in stories, only to discard them later. It's not that they are awful; it's that they don't work with the other "ingredients" in the story for the most tasty outcome.

I think this is one of the hardest things for newer writers to understand about revising. Sometimes we need to write a specific scene with a character but its purpose is to help us further develop that character. It doesn't necessarily need to remain in the finished story. And sometimes, we need to add a scene (or ingredient) to boost suspense or keep the reader hooked. In the end, the reader doesn't need to know all that you had to accomplish in the kitchen---or even how many attempts it took to get the "recipe" right. The reader only cares about how tasty the end result is.

So, test your ingredients and don't be afraid to toss the "duds." Happy writing!

Corralling Ideas

When I was a 100 percent “newbie” writer, I actually worried that I’d only have one idea to write about. I was actually reluctant to send out my first MS for fear that I wouldn’t know what to work on next. This very thought is ludicrous to me now; once I became aware of all the potential ideas surrounding me, I quickly filled up an 18-inch index card file box! 

The same will happen for you. If you’ve followed suggestions in previous posts, ideas should soon arrive fast and furious. When they threaten to trample you, corral ‘em up in a file or notebook. I often think of ideas while I'm working on deadline projects. Something about the pressure to complete one task temps me with others. Rather than allow new ideas to entice me away from the current project, I'll jot them down to pursue later.  If I'm on the computer, I switch to a new document and make bullet points or brief summaries along with notes on potential markets and research possibilities (if it's nonfiction). If I'm not at the computer I'll use my journal to record ideas (and often go into more detail) or jot the ideas on scrap paper or an index card to develop later.

Make Your Clay

Earlier this week I finally had a chance to catch up with a dear friend. We went for a walk on the beach and talked about writing. Since she has taken my writing classes in the past (that’s actually how I met her), she reminded me about something I tell my students at all levels: "make your clay and then worry about details later."

What do I mean by this? A writer’s draft is the medium of our craft which we shape and refine during revision. The real work of writing comes during revision. As writers we need to make our clay, meaning getting the words out of our heads and onto paper where we can then work and rework those words into a finished manuscript. If we were painters, we would have brushes, paints, palette, and paper or canvas to use to create our work. If we were potters, we would begin with a lump of clay and mold, shape, and work in details.

Writers, too, need something to work with--something to shape, trim away excess, add in detail, refine and illuminate. So I encourage all my writers to finish (or nearly finish) a draft before they focus on revising. Why? It’s easier to trim away the excess and add in details, develop a character, refine a plot line, and so on, if you have your basic three-part structure in place. It’s not set in stone. Word processing programs make it (thankfully) easy to move, cut, and add (and return to a previous version if necessary). But, once the words are in black type on white paper or screen, it gives the writer something to see and work with, much like the clay used by potters and sculptors.

Having something concrete to shape takes away the tension of revision for newer writers. Viewing the draft as something that includes debris or flaws to pick out takes the pressure off of creating a "perfect" first draft. The key word is "first," since many writers create multiple "drafts" before a polished piece is sent to an editor. Incidentally, the editor then refers to that much-revision MS as the “first draft,” since it is his or her first go-round in editing it.

Write Through the Year

I've had a nice long break from teaching. Writing workshops concluded just after Thanksgiving. Teaching for both elementary arts enrichment students and college students concluded the second week in December. That makes it from 4-6 weeks since some of my students have seen me.

My workshops students, however, have been in contact. Not every one of them, but several. Most have asked for advice on how to keep up their writing, so I've decided to add postings to Word Coach to help them out. I'm calling them "Write Through the Year" and I'll answer questions about finding ideas, keeping a writer's journal, various craft elements, creating or finding critique groups, and so on. Stay tuned!

Story Collages

    Sometimes it helps to visualize a character before writing. Since I teach as well as write, I sometimes have gaps of time during which I do not get to work on my projects much. So creating a collage of images from clip art, magazines, and sometimes even crude drawings, helps me get back “into” the world and characters. Then I can quickly pick up the voice and begin writing.
    While talking about creating characters with a group of friends who write, I mentioned my collages. I expected them to react as if I were simply procrastinating. Instead, they wanted to know more.
    So, yesterday we gathered at my home to create these collages. Everyone brought magazines and I showed several of my previous collages. Then we began browsing magazines, ripping out images, cutting, exchanging, and pasting.
    Everyone’s collage reflected her own style. One focused on all the characters for a new project. Another pasted people and items that each character would own into a journal. Another, who writes picture books, made a composite of children the age of the main character to help visualize the reader. Another focused on facts about different characters and found images to represent those character traits. My collages blend character, setting, and items to represent character traits. No white space is visible in my collages; images overlap and pieces flow over the edge of the paper. I also include words to represent the theme or events of the story.
    It was interesting to see how each writer will use these  images to reconnect with a project. The characters and these collages are as diverse and unique as the writers creating them. Not only did this provide insight into my own characters but into the creativity of each of my writer friends.