Different Strokes

Different methods and different modes for different means and different moods. Okay. I’m finished speaking in jive. I, forcing myself to Write, found various ways in which my thoughts flowed.

Sunny mentioned in class that her best ideas came on the edge of sleeping, and a day or so before that class, me, too. Paragraphs of the main character, Ryal, talking to his counselor poured from pen to the piece of paper I keep by my bed. Currently, I have two versions of the same story—one written in prose and the other laid out in speech bubbles with the promise of illustrations to come. The prose captures a lot of subtleties in descriptions that will have to wait to be expressed with illustrations by the latter method.

I also tried different writing processes. One day, I scared my cousin nearly to death. (The doctors say she’ll eventually be all right.) I found the best writing spot on that day to be on top of the dryer in our laundry room—quiet, warm, and few distractions. I wrote for a few hours there and translated from prose to speech bubbles. Even when my cousin came home, I did not stop to greet her, so when I emerged after she had been home for a while, I was unexpected, and she jumped.

I also talked some ideas over with a friend, but found myself hesitant to talk about it. Currently in the story, Ryal is having difficulties expressing his thoughts and feelings. I guess I’m too empathetic—I was having trouble expressing what I thought and felt about Ryal’s story.

I could not write with music playing earlier today. I wanted to work with noise. I found myself looking around the Internet, looking at my to do list, and not working at all. But, hey, there was music. As a solution, I spoke to my computer and myself about what I wanted Ryal to do, look like, feel, and experience in the span of the story while having background noise (Okay, I was playing a video game.). I thought about how his peers, teachers, and family would treat him and react to him, how he would handle conflict, how he would relate to others, what he thought about school, and what he did when he was not in school. I candidly discussed options for him. Now that I have these “notes” recorded, I can go back and listen to them whenever I want. I came up with ideas I do not think I would have dealt with yet had I not used this method. I might not use any of the ideas, but I kept thinking. It was a great exercise.

[Blurg. I tried, for about 45 minutes to post a video of me talking about the book. It isn't working right now, but I'll figure it out.] [Aha!! It took me until the next day, but for your listening pleasure, a snippet of my rambling:]



One neat truth about writing cannot answer it all.... Some techniques are appropriate at some times and some for other times. Every moment is different. Different things work. --Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones

Good Writtens

The first time I noticed my hesitancy toward writing was late 2005, and the first of 2006. I received a brand new journal—a Moleskine. I felt so much pressure to give this journal the sort of writing I felt it deserved. Fill it with language that flows and ebbs to its own melody and harmony, that speaks truth over great and grave populations, that treats humor as though it were a piece of wood to be whittled into whatever shape a writer, this writer, fancies. I thought wrong. But it happened again later that year. Someone asked me to write a poem to perform. I wanted to perform, but could not bring myself to write anything. I helped someone shape her poem. I wrote snippets and bits, but I could not form a complete thought. Maybe I have drawn too many parallels between my writing habits and my psyche. However, I feel as though I am a writer who does not write, and I wish to change this. Thank you for this assignment, giving me the opportunity to force me to use all the knowledge I have gathered about writing but refuse to use because I am afraid of my own perfectionism and not meeting my own standards. Screw standards. Because work is work. And bad writing, once it’s out of the way, has gotten out. And I’m that much closer to the good stuff.


This semester: Write. Deliberately. I have one children's story written about a gifted girl. By the end of the semester, I will not be able to say that. I'll have more books about more subjects, probably all concentrating on gifted children. Also, I'll read about writing and doing so creatively from various authors. I will pull in all the resources I am able.

"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware off, no shortcut."-- Stephen King, On Writing