Celebrating 5th Anniversary

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          I cannot believe I’ve written a blog for five years. I’m so grateful Cheryl and I started it as it’s the best writing assignment ever.

          As I wrote on the first anniversary:

“If you want to be a writer or you are a writer, start a blog. Do it today. It's not difficult—and it is one of the best gifts you will ever give to yourself! I recommend following the easy step-by-step instructions in Publishing a Blog with Blogger (second edition) by Elizabeth Castro and the encouraging text of Are you There Blog, It's Me Writer by Kristen Lamb.

Start with a weekly post. That's not intimidating. A committed deadline motivates me like nothing else.

I recommend limiting yourself to a maximum word count like 500 per post. Again, that's not intimidating. However, it is fun work to make all the points on a given topic in that tight word count. You will be forced to stretch your vocabulary, but it will make you a better writer. However, as many famous writers have noted, it takes longer to write shorter.

Then share your thoughts on topics you love: books, authors--anything that inspires you. Since every writer has a different process, write about yours.

Writing this blog has meant I read more, too. I want to recommend writing books to encourage other writers. Also, I am always on the lookout for well written books to share with our blog readers. Writers can learn from authors even in genres we don't normally read.

Blogging has added so much to my life. I write more often. I write about topics and books I love. Writing about the things that make me happy, makes me even happier.

And when tragic and sad things occurred this past year, I had my blog to keep me writing in spite of the pain and anger. It is too easy to put writing aside for another day or week or year. I committed to Cheryl and this blog that I would publish a weekly post by midnight each Monday and I only missed that goal once by a few minutes due to technical difficulties (a frozen notebook). I take great pride in meeting my deadlines which is why I am so motivated by this blog.

I have written 53 posts now. I hope to write hundreds, even thousands more. Now that is intimidating as I cannot think of thousands of topics off the top of my head, but once a week I expect something to spark my imagination and inspire a post. That's all it takes to be a blogger. Now you know how to be a blogger, too!” ( from post on 9/2/13)

The pressure of this blog’s deadline pulled words out of me. I’ve now written 210 posts including some of my favorite pieces ever. I’ve loved writing reviews in the categories Reads for Writers and Masterclasses. I’ve loved sharing Personal Writing Class ideas. I’ve loved sharing my writing and, hopefully, inspiring others to write through my posts.

          I hope to write 210 more.

          Thanks for reading this blog!

Motivation by Deadline

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          I’m a big believer in motivation by deadline. I have paying deadlines for the magazines I write for—both in print and online. I also have fun deadlines I assign myself—fill a notebook a month which keeps me writing almost daily and projects like Backpack Literature, a textbook by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, which I love because it requires reading, learning, and writing. I can choose to complete a chapter a week or a month.

          Because writing is hard work, writers need to keep their skills sharp by reading, learning, and writing. I love books that combine the three.

          While browsing at a bookstore yesterday, I discovered two more books I’d like to set up as personal writing classes: The Jane Austen Writers’ Club: Inspiration and Advice from the World’s Best-Loved Novelist by Rebecca Smith and The Writer’s Devotional: 365 Inspirational Exercises, Ideas, Tips & Motivation on Writing by Amy Peters.

          I don’t know about Austen being the best-loved novelist in the world, but I do enjoy her work so I’m intrigued by The Jane Austen Writers’ Club. With chapters like “A Fine Pair of Eyes: Point of view,” In Jane Austen’s Pocket: Techniques and devices of the great author as well as “And What is Fifty Miles of Good Road? Making use of journeys (and staying at home) in your work” I believe I will have fun studying her work and incorporating her techniques into some of my work.

          I’m even more intrigued by The Writer’s Devotional. This is not a flimsy list of writing prompts, but a disciplined writing course. Mondays:  Writers on Writing; Tuesdays: Motivation—tips and tricks; Wednesdays:  Writing Class; Thursdays: Editing; Fridays: Biography; Saturdays: Books Writers Should Read; and Sundays: Writing Prompts.

          In the first week, the Writers on Writing section starts with a quote by Anais Nin then Amy Peters discusses The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Persepolis by Marjane Sattapi, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Authors discussed on other Mondays include: Anne Lamott, Lewis Carroll, Thomas Jefferson, Stephen King, George Moore, Anne Rice, John Hersey, W. D. Wetherell, Mickey Spillane, J. K. Rowling, and many more.

          Tuesdays start with a quote by a writer followed by an essay on motivation—sometimes facts and figures about a writers’ work is listed, sometimes you just need to make a decision about your work or goals, sometimes you just need to read some advice.

          Wednesdays are writing classes. Week 1—write a short bio of your best friend. Week 3—write a blog post about a recently released movie. Week 11—write a haiku about your favorite season. Week 36—record your family history of an event you did NOT attend.

          Thursday are about editing. Learn how to edit your dialogue, delete all versions of “to be” from your work, when to use italics, colons, and semicolons among many other editing tips.

          Fridays are short inspiring biographies of writers like George Orwell, Stephenie Meyer, John Grisham, Marvin Neil Simon, James Baldwin, Rick Riordan, Mary Higgins Clark, and 45 others are highlighted on Fridays.

Saturdays give readers more than 52 book recommendations especially for writers.

Sundays are writing prompts which can lead to the completion of a sentence, a paragraph, or an essay if you want to spend the time.

There is also a list of resources and references in the back along with two indexes—one of literary figures and works as well as one of daily activities. The second index is very useful as it lists all the biographies of writers, books to read, editing by topic, motivations, writing on writing topics, writing classes, and writing prompts.

I like the look of The Writer’s Devotional so it will be my next motivational personal writing class. Now I just need to find the time!

My word count for the week of July 23-29 was 5,598.

Reads for Writers: More Personal Writing Classes and Notebooks

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          You might think I have enough writing to do working for the magazines, freelancing, and blogging, but no. I have a lot of other writing plans and dreams. As I mentioned earlier in the year, I have set up several writing projects. Writers write!

          I have five notebooks going right now: my fill-a-notebook-a-month notebook based on Natalie Goldberg’s suggestion in Writing Down the Bones, one for exercises in Backpack Literature by Kennedy and Gioia, one for exercises in Screenplay by Russin and Downs, one for my book ideas, and a new one for the exercises in The Writer’s Workshop by Gregory L. Roper.

          The key to completing any project is a deadline. The first notebook has a built-in deadline, but the other four do not. I’ve set up weekly deadlines—a chapter a week for the three ‘personal writing class’ notebooks. To ensure that I meet my deadlines, I have a pact with Cheryl to send my word counts to her by email three days a week. She is working on a couple of projects of her own so she sends me her word counts two days a week. If we don’t receive them, we agreed to send email reminders.

          So far so good. We’re both professionals so we are meeting our deadlines.

          As for my projects, not only do I see progress by word counts, but my writing is changing. It’s becoming more detailed and specific. I’m also writing more quickly.

I wrote my most recent facebook thoughts for the magazines in seventeen minutes including rewriting. The word count was 165. I wasn’t under a tight deadline, but once I got an idea, the words just flowed through me onto the page. I credit filling a notebook a month with improving my writing speed and thought process to just get the words onto the page so I can rewrite them.

I credit becoming more detailed and specific to both Backpack Literature and The Writer’s Workshop. I highly recommend both books. While I’ve completed six chapters in Backpack Literature (I started the book over to complete all the exercises in each chapter instead of just one), I’ve only completed the first chapter of The Writer’s Workshop. I HATED the first task, but I loved the second two. They made me realize my weaknesses when it comes to describing people or anything else, but also gave me inspiration and concrete steps to improve my writing.

Details are necessary, but thoughtful, well-worded details elevate regular authors to best-selling status. In his book, Roper has excerpts from various authors throughout the ages for readers to review then imitate. While writing in each author’s style, you realize how many ways there are to describe something. It’s eye-opening.

For extra credit, I looked at the character descriptions written by some on my favorite authors. I realized I have very good reading taste, but not very good writing description skills—but I’m enjoying working on them in my five notebooks because I’m a writer.

Word count for week Feb. 5-11 was 8,105.

Screenplay: Writing the Picture by R. Russin & W. Downs

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          Updating my Personal Screenwriting Class:

I just found the book I really wanted and needed for My Personal Screenwriting Class entitled Screenplay: Writing the Picture by Robin U. Russin and William Missouri Downs. Both graduates of UCLA School of Film and Television who wrote every day and eventually sold screenplays, their book is a truly useful and often funny guide that gives you the basics, excellent advice as well as stating mistakes to avoid.

The authors give examples of screenplays, formats, and discuss line by line what should be there and why. They give terrific explanations of what works and what doesn’t. Then they share what readers for production companies are looking for as they read screenplays.

This book is well organized and easy to read. At the end of each chapter are exercises that get you writing the screenplay you’ve dreamed about in the correct format.

Russin and Downs cover every genre with their suggestions. They presume you have a story in mind so they want to help you polish it as well as look professional when you send your screenplays out.

I wish I had found this book years ago. I can only imagine how many screenplays I would have written by now. However, the important thing is that I found it so I’ll be completing my screenplay sooner than I thought—and in better shape thanks to the authors’ wise insights.

My Personal Writing Class--Songwriting

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          Songwriting without Boundaries: Lyric Writing Exercises for Finding Your Voice by Pat Pattison is set up as a two-month class. I’m three weeks in and I highly recommend it.

The first two weeks are timed writing exercises. Each day, one exercise lasts for 10 minutes, one for five minutes, and one for 90 seconds. In less than 17 minutes, you can meet your daily writing goal—a fantastic feeling—and it’s fun! It’s also easy to double up so you won’t fall behind when you have a busy day planned.

          The point of the exercises is to put your five senses to work, along with body and motion, when writing about objects or characters. You can read other writers’ descriptions for inspiration before you write or you can read them after you write to see which senses were stronger for them.

          The exercises seem easy. For example: describe an elevator (what writing), a sailor (who writing), six in the morning (when writing), a park bench in the city (where writing). It’s capturing all your senses in your answers that is hard. The pressure of a timer, especially one that ticks, helps squeeze words out.

          If you have kids old enough to write, you can include them in this class. Look at Taylor Swift—songs she wrote in her early teens became hits. You never know. Plus it’s fast and fun!

          Week 3 moves on to metaphors.

Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space.

–Orson Scott Card

          After a discussion of different types of metaphors on pages 49-51, you start with Adjective-Noun Collisions. On Day 1, the adjectives and words are given to you in the ten 90-second exercises. (example: Lonely Moonlight) On Day 2, you are given the adjectives; you get to choose the nouns. (example: Boastful _____) Day 3 you are given the nouns and have to provide the adjectives. (example: ______ cottage)

          The more you do these exercises, the more writing you can fit into the 90 seconds.

          Even if you aren’t planning on writing songs, these exercises would be useful to complete when you are having a hard time starting your writing day. Three or four exercises will jump start your brain.

          Writing is writing. Trying different genres gives you a new perspective—always a good thing for writers!

My Personal Writing Class--Screenwriting

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

The fun has begun. I picked the books I’m using as textbooks and I’ve read the two books I’m using as reference guides.

I read Story by Robert McKee a while ago so I could review it. It’s inspiring so in the back of my mind I decided I would try screenwriting at some point. I have it on my desk for reference along with The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller by John Truby which I read recently. The overview information from these books helps clarify my thoughts as I complete the exercises in my textbooks.

I started my personal screenwriting class with 90-Day Screenplay: A day-by-day guide through the process of getting your screenplay onto the page by Alan Watt. (I enjoyed following his 90-Day Novel workshop even though I’m not a novelist.) He makes writing entertaining and challenging. All the questions he lists makes you dig deep and discover surprising things about your characters.

As Watt points out on Day 7 on page 39: We are less interested in our protagonist getting what he wants than we are in seeing how he gets what he needs.

The exercises on page 42 ask you to write as your protagonist from six different points. If you let yourself go, your character will “speak” telling you things you didn’t know, hadn’t considered, and/or that explain his/her motivation.

One of the prompts is “The last time I cried was when…” Well I had never considered my protagonist crying. As I started to complete the exercise, I realized he had teared up while driving on the main road back into his hometown after almost a decade away which is at the beginning of my screenplay, but he had cried when he left suddenly without explanation to some important people in his life then, people he wanted back in his life now. I may or may not put that he cried in the screenplay, but it gives me insight into a vulnerability of my character.

I will be honest and share that sometimes I do the 90-Day exercises for two or three days at a time in the beginning because they are short (20-30 minutes) and engaging. This makes me feel I’m immersed in my project quickly. As the exercises take more time, I may only complete the exercises for that day.

I have a notebook dedicated to this book so I can see my progression. It also makes it easy to refer back to my answers as I move forward.

I’m alternating reading chapters from Now Write! Screenwriting with Exercises from Today’s Best Writers and Teachers edited by Sherry Ellis and Laurie Lamson and Writing the Romantic Comedy: From “Cute Meet” to “Joyous Defeat”: How to Write Screenplays That Sell by Billy Mernit.

I’m using one notebook for the exercises in these two books. Each entry is headed by the initials of the book and the page number of the exercise. I’m also using blue ink for the exercises in Now Write! and black ink for Writing the Romantic Comedy. This makes referring back to answers a bit easier.

My favorite section so far (I’m on page 38 on May 31^st when I wrote this post) from Now Write! is on pages 3-5. Mardik Martin, who wrote Raging Bull, discusses that audiences identify more with the conflict than the character. Observe people around you as they deal with conflicts. Collect anecdotes. But he also states on page 5: Remember, you can only steal so much from real life. The great writer uses ingenuity to combine characters and their situations.

On page 25 of Now Write!, Paula C. Brancato, who wrote Subterfuge, discusses that writers have many more ideas than they use. I enjoyed the exercise on page 27. There is a story setup then you are asked to jot down as quickly as possible 20 possibilities of what happens next. Find out how creative and clever you can be.

Writing the Romantic Comedy is more of a big picture viewpoint of your screenplay at the beginning. Lots of details and examples about screenplays: Point of View, Characters, Plot & Structure, Dialogue, Settings, etc.

Exercises start on page 29 and they are all about your screenplay so you need to have a good idea of your plot and characters by this page.

My screenplay plot and characters are taking shape.

I hope your projects are going well, too!

A few weeks after I wrote this post, I discovered Screenplay: Writing the Picture by Robin U. Russin and William Missouri Downs. This is the book you need for this class. See post dated 8/10/15.

My Personal Writing Classes: Schedule & Preparation

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          I’ve set up two personal writing classes for this summer—one for screenwriting and the other for songwriting—just for fun. I’ve never tried to write a screenplay before so new territory, but it seems a good summer-sized project. The earliest writing pieces I completed (age seven or so) were songs. I’m going to try and recapture that “magic.”

          First, my plan is to be in class 2 to 4 hours every day which includes reading my chosen textbooks, completing exercises, and writing. I hope to complete my work in the morning, but by midnight counts.

          I’ve chosen three books for my screenwriting class textbooks and two reference guides:

 

Now Write! Screenwriting with Exercises from Today’s Best Writers and Teachers edited by Sherry Ellis and Laurie Lamson;

Writing the Romantic Comedy: From “Cute Meet” to “Joyous Defeat”: How to Write Screenplays That Sell by Billy Mernit.

and 90-Day Screenplay: A day-by-day guide through the process of getting your screenplay onto the page by Alan Watt.

          I’ll be using Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee and The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller by John Truby as reference guides. I’ve read both of these books.

         

I’m using one notebook for the first two books in my sceenwriting class. I will alternate Now Write! and Writing the Romantic Comedy books after each chapter. The 90-Day Screenplay contains daily exercises so it has its own notebook.

In preparing for this class, I read two published movie screenplays to see how they are formatted. Pick one or two that appeal to you. Since my screenplay is for TV, I also spent several hours replaying a TV movie a moment at a time copying down all the lines so I could see how many words/lines fit into the time frame as well as understand scenes, settings, and characters.

                                                ************

          I’ve chosen two books for songwriting textbooks:

Songwriting without Boundaries: Lyric Writing Exercises for Finding Your Voice by Pat Pattison;

and Writing Better Lyrics: The Essential Guide to Powerful Songwriting Second Edition by Pat Pattison.

          I’m using only one notebook for both books in my songwriting class. I’m going to complete Songwriting without Boundaries first then work on Better Lyrics.

          I'm always thinking of six-word memoirs. It is a useful exercise to distill thoughts so Six-Word Memoirs edited by Larry Smith is a great book for inspiration.

          I plan on writing with a pen most of the time. When I write on the computer, I’ll print out my work and either staple the pages into the notebooks or keep them in a folder nearby—depends on the number of pages.

          I’ve always believed writing in several genres helps improve my writing as well as strengthens my voice. I dabble in poetry (for my eyes only). I write articles and essays. I want to write a screenplay and songs. These personal classes help me achieve my goals.

          I hope you choose a genre and some writing books that appeal to you.

Have fun in class!

  

A Writer's Summer Plans: Personal Writing Classes

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

         If simply planning time to write isn’t enough motivation, if you are not going to Paris to write, or if you need some structured writing time, look into writing groups or classes.

If you cannot find any that work with your writing schedule, set up a class for yourself. Simply pick a genre. Find two or three helpful writing books in that genre that speak to you. Choosing the writing books will take some time and effort as there is no one perfect writing book for everyone so start looking now. Then decide on either one notebook for all your work or one notebook for each book.

You can work with one book at a time or alternate after each chapter. I recommend at least two books to get different perspectives on the genre.

Here are some books I recommend. (If I’ve written a review on this blog, the date appears after the author’s/editor’s name.)

         

For overview:

The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction edited by Stephen Koch (8/5/13);

The Writer’s Home Companion: An Anthology of the World’s Best Writing Advice, from Keats to Kunitz edited by Joan Bolker, Ed.D., (12/3/12);

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg (6/2/14; 3/3/14; 9/17/12);

Lots of writing exercises:

The 90-Day Novel: Unlock the Story Within by Alan Watt (12/31/12; 1/7/13; 2/4/13; 3/4/13; 4/1/13);

The 90-Day Screenplay: A day-by-day guide through the process of getting your screenplay onto the page by Alan Watt;

The Writer’s Home Companion: An Anthology of the World’s Best Writing Advice, from Keats to Kunitz edited by Joan Bolker, Ed.D., 222 exercises on pp. 56-66, (12/3/12);

The five book series Now Write! with Exercises from Today’s Best Writers and Teachers includes these topics:

Fiction edited by Sherry Ellis;

Nonfiction: Memoir, Journalism, and Creative Nonfiction edited by Sherry Ellis;

Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror edited by Laurie Lamson;

Mysteries: Suspense, Crime, Thriller, and Other Mystery Fiction Exercises edited by Sherry Ellis and Laurie Lamson;

and Screenwriting edited by Sherry Ellis and Laurie Lamson;

The Weekend Novelist: A dynamic 52-week program to help you produce a finished novel…one weekend at a time by Robert J. Ray (11/5/12);

The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery: From empty page to finished mystery in just 52weekends—A dynamic step-by-step program by Robert J. Ray and Jack Remick (11/5/12);

Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse by Mary Oliver;

The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron (Cheryl recommended it on 2/28/13);

Six-Word Memoirs edited by Larry Smith (9/10/12).

          Useful tools:

                   The Synonym Finder by J. I. Rodale (6/9/14);

                   The Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus (6/9/14).

         

For novels:

The 90-Day Novel by Alan Watt (12/31/12; 1/7/13; 2/4/13; 3/4/13; 4/1/13);

Now Write! Fiction with Exercises from Today’s Best Writers and Teachers edited by Sherry Ellis;

You Can Write a Mystery by Gillian Roberts;

You Can Write a Romance by Rita Clay Estrada & Rita Gallagher;

Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror with Exercises from Today’s Best Writers and Teachers edited by Laurie Lamson.

For poetry:

Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge (4/7/14);

Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse by Mary Oliver;

Poetry from the Inside Out: Finding Your Voice Through the Craft of Poetry by Sandford Lyne (9/23/13).

          For memoirs:

Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir by Beth Kephart—who recommends many other books, (8/26/13);

Now Write! Nonfiction: Memoir, Journalism, and Creative Nonfiction with Exercises from Today’s Best Writers and Teachers edited by Sherry Ellis.

          For screenwriting:

Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee (12/17/12);

The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller by John Truby;

Now Write! Screenwriting with Exercises from Today’s Best Writers and Teachers edited by Sherry Ellis and Laurie Lamson;

90-Day Screenplay: A day-by-day guide through the process of getting your screenplay onto the page by Alan Watt;

Writing the Romantic Comedy: From “Cute Meet” to “Joyous Defeat”: How to Write Screenplays That Sell by Billy Mernit.

A few weeks after I wrote this post, I discovered Screenplay: Writing the Picture by Robin U. Russin and William Missouri Downs. This is the book you need for this class. See post dated 8/10/15.

For songwriting:

Songwriting without Boundaries: Lyric Writing Exercises for Finding Your Voice by Pat Pattison;

Writing Better Lyrics: The Essential Guide to Powerful Songwriting Second Edition by Pat Pattison.



Six-Word Memoirs edited by Larry Smith

   

I’m setting up two classes for myself. I’ll be writing a screenplay and several songs this summer. You can read all about my preparation as well as how my two classes are going and some recommended screenplays in my next four posts.

Pick your genre. Choose your books. Set a schedule. Time to write!