Category Archives: Uncategorized

What Baking a Cake Taught me About Writing

Posted on by
Reply

My daughter loves carrot cake, the frosting, the mix of certain spices…alright, mostly the frosting.

Last week I decided to bake a carrot cake with my daughter. On the recipe it said to use spring form pans, this is possibly because it’s easier to take the cake out of the spring form than a regular cake pan.

We don’t keep those types of pans in the house; they don’t get used enough.

Instead of the spring form I used basic cake pans, and they worked beautifully.

Recently with my writing I’ve been trying to write something more literary than the sci-fi stuff I usually write, well I haven’t written a word I actually like, then I made the cake last week, and like the cake I was trying to fit my writing into a mold, a pre-form of what I thought I should write.

I started writing something that is more like my other writing and discovered I shouldn’t try to be a writer I’m not.

As long as the writing tastes good on the reader’s palette you shouldn’t try to fit into a mold of what you think you should write.

Don’t use a mold, and write what you prefer.

It’s good to experience new things, but sometimes you’re either not ready for that new experience or your mind hasn’t settled from another story.

Remember, You’re the writer, write what you want and break the mold.

Fear and Loathing in Writing

Posted on by
Reply

“Buy the ticket, take the ride.” Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Writing is something I’ve grown to love, and loath. It always feels like one or the other, never anything other than that.

Waking up, the sun shining through the blinds, my kids playing in the hallway as my wife tries to wrangle them for school, I often sit in bed, pen in hand and write what I hear in the house.It’s these little observations that make a writer.

We’re often trying to get the next story written, plotted or struggling to make sense of the story we’ve just finished.

The ride of writing is one which, though the rails seem to slide off at times, buying the ticket for the train ride is more than worth the price of sleepless nights of worrying about the next sentence, thinking about the next story or wondering if you’re going to make it.

Every writer thinks these things. We all have days when we wish we’d have burned the ticket for the ride, or when we would have jumped off the train when the rails felt unstable. These moments are the clarity moments, the ones where the best writing happens.

The ride of writing and discovering what we enjoy writing is nearly better than the act of writing.

Each journey of the story we’re pulled into a world we never knew existed and sometimes a world we’d like to live in.

With each story we purchase a ticket into Neverland, where we take the ride and whether we enjoy it are up to us.

Are you enjoying the ride? Answer in the comments.

A Star Chart is Essential to Reach the Stars

Posted on by
1
Night_Sky_Stars_Trees_02
Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. ~ Harriet Tubman

Oftentimes, we’re stuck in a reality of chaos, wrapped in an enigma of what we believe our lives should be. And through the chaos time stands still.

We see where we’ve wanted to be with our lives, where we are and how far we have to get there or maybe we think that our lives are under our control and not fate. If fate is in control why don’t we just walk through the middle of the freeway during rush hour and “take our chances on fate?”

Our reality is we must keep doing what we’re doing, ignore the mystery of who we are. Wake up tomorrow and plan better than we did the previous day, or days.

If we’re going to reach for the stars we need to create a better star chart. Without a star chart we’re wandering, staring at a sky full of blinking lights.

Your life is in your hands, as is your ability to create. Your ability is given to you to do as you please, but if you don’t use it wisely you’ll be like every other creative who gave up and threw away their star chart, or worse…burned it!

The gift every writer has is a story. It doesn’t matter how good the story is, at least not at first, as long as you enjoy it. You’ll learn to hone your ability the way a comic book character learns when to use that super strength and when is the worst time.

Your life goes by faster than you believe, and when you don’t stop to write it down, sooner or later it will be gone and you’ll discover you don’t have any notes or stories.

When you discover your gift for writing you’ll learn that you can write better than you thought and it will teach you that all those people who support you were really right, and those who said you’d never succeed didn’t know your drive or willingness to achieve great things.

Go out with the gift you have and amaze yourself and eventually you’ll learn your reality isn’t chaos.

You’ll discover that enigma of who you are, it was staring you in the face the entire time.

That time you believe was standing still was only a dream and you’re control the time circuits.

Deal a blow to time and do something amazing with your gift.

Have you created your star chart? Answer in the comments.

The Misconception of Write What You Know.

Posted on by
Reply

Sunlight

What do you know about yourself? What have you seen? Where have you lived?

These are what I believe is meant by, Write What You Know.

Only you have lived your life, only you have done the things you’ve done. These are the breaths on the wind, the muse whispering in your ear.

The things you’ve done with your life are unique, because only you’ve experienced them. No one else has lived your life, and because no one has seen life through your eyes, no one can write what you can.

There are famous writers who’ve employed this with great success: Ernest Hemingway in A Farewell to Arms, Mark Twain and though he’s done other books, Neil Gaiman.

Neil’s most recent adult book, Ocean at the End of the Lane, the book is one of his most personal, as it takes place on the lane and in the house he grew up in.

Each writer incorporates their lives into their writings. This is what, Write What You Know, means.

Here’s how:

  • Make a list of places you’ve traveled to.
  • List interesting people you’ve met, they don’t have to be famous. You only had to find them interesting when you met them.
  • Write down the big things that happened, good or bad, in your life.
  • Make a list of people you’ve lost, and learn about who they are.

From the above lists you should be able to write a story which is both original–because it’s from your point of view–and people would like to read.

Remember only you’ve lived your life, no one else. No one has seen life from your point of view. Write only what you know, only what you’ve seen.

Use imagery from your childhood, your teenage years and your early adulthood. There is always a story, if you only look for it.

Are you writing what you know? Answer in the comments.

Our Delusions of Storytelling.

Posted on by
Reply
Street at night
No, the thing is, we all love storytelling, and as a writer you get to tell stories all the time.
Joyce Carol Oates
A story can come from anywhere.
The man at the bus stop with the sad face, why is he sad? The woman at the mall, her kids looking at her with frustration and anger as they’re dragged through the mall. What is going on with them?
There are also the dreams.
Waking from a ultra-visual dream and having a notebook on a bedside table to write it down, that’s one of the best things.
Storytelling and the visuals you see in each moment of the story–from the opening to The End–requires the writer to be creative at times with the writing, these moments can make or break the storytelling.
Look at your favorite books. Does the story pull you in immediately? Does the story take you to places you were expecting, or does it revisit old tropes?
When our species was young, we learned about things through stories told from travelers. They could be about anything, but those stories were written on cave walls for others to see. Because the stories were written down we know those people existed. We may not completely understand the stories, but through the drawings we get the gist of the story.
From ancient wall carvings to the newest thriller, storytelling is part of heritage.
Every story we tell, like the cave paintings of our ancestors, lives forever. One day someone will pick up a book, read a blog or tweet and learn about us.
What they read should be something wonderful. Write what you want to write, never write what the market is, you’ll like the writing better and enjoy the process more.
Show them great storytelling!