Write ON # 4 from Chris Mandeville

Editor’s Note: Following are the tips Chris Mandeville provided to those participating in NaNoWriMo and NaNoTRYMo during the last week of November, but they are excellent tips any time of year!

Write ON #4

Five Tips, Quotes and Exercises

Provided by Give! 2011 Collaborating Nonprofits

We've made it three-fourths of the way through November, NaNo-ers. It's been a long and arduous journey, and it's not over yet. Is your energy or enthusiasm flagging? If so, we hope the quotes and suggestions below inspire you and reinvigorate your NaNo efforts. Press on!

1. Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way. Dr. Seuss

Today is your day TO WRITE. Don't let ANYTHING stand in the way! 

--CHILDREN'S LITERACY CENTER

2. "I get everything all beautifully planned out and it has to go and rain." E.B. White in Charlotte’s Web 

If it feels like rain is ruining all your best laid plans, why not embrace the rain? Try welcoming whatever it is that's putting a damper on your plot, waylaying your characters, or washing away your carefully drawn world. Instead of fighting the problem or ignoring it, go with it! See where it takes you. This "rain" could be exactly what your novel-in-progress needs. If you don't end up loving the rain, you can always try a colorful umbrella.

--IMAGINATION CELEBRATION

3. One Man, an Inspiration by K. Chopera:

"He began his work and got his aim. He was alone, but he didn't lose his patience and most importantly his hope." From Stone Soup 2011, a publication of essays by participants of the Pikes Peak Library District's Adult Literacy and ESL Program 

In the last three weeks you began your work and got your aim. Now it's time to hang on to your patience and your hope for the final third of NaNo. Have faith and confidence: you can do it!

--PIKES PEAK LIBRARY DISTRICT ADULT LITERACY AND ESL

4. Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be. Shel Silverstein 

You have the power and the ability within you to reach your goals. But beware--right next to them are the doubts and the excuses. Be aggressive in pursuit of your goals, and shove aside anything gets in the way, especially the obstacles within you. They often seem the most formidable but they are actually the ones most within your control.

--UCCS LITERACY FOR LIFE

5. Want to double the speed you're racking up the word-count? It's simple: banish your inner editor. That means stop critiquing and second-guessing what you've just written, and leave the delete key alone. Shut out the voice of the perpetually unhappy critic who lives in your head, and replace it with a cheerleader who thinks you can do no wrong. If you keep your "editor's hat" in the drawer and your "writer's hat" firmly on your head, you'll be amazed how fast you complete your rough draft. But be careful not to lose your inner editor forever--when NaNo is over, take out that "editor's hat" and make your story shine.

--PIKES PEAK WRITERS

For more information about these nonprofit organizations and their collaboration in Give! 2011, please visit http://pikespeakwriters.com/html/give_2011.html.

Write ON # 3 from Chris Mandeville

Write ON #3

Five Tips, Quotes and Exercises

Provided by Give! 2011 Collaborating Nonprofits

Stuck? Stalled? Or just plain bored with what you're writing? Call "King's X" and take a time out to try one of the exercises below. Before you know it, you'll be ready to get back in the game.

1. "Inside all of us is a wild thing." Maurice Sendak in Where the Wild Things Are

Are you afraid to go wild with your writing? Give yourself permission to let your wildest thing out, and let the wild rumpus begin! To make it less intimidating, start with a fresh sheet of paper or a new computer document, and set a time limit. If your inner wild thing writes something awful, you can throw it away and you've lost next to nothing. But chances are good that somewhere in the rumpus you will find a gem worth keeping.

--CHILDREN'S LITERACY CENTER

2. Feed your imagination...by feeding your characters. What would each of your main characters—including your antagonist—choose for their last meal? Create backstory that explains why.

--IMAGINATION CELEBRATION

3. A Golden Key by Larysa Harrington

"We all know that a golden key opens every door. For us, this golden key is our knowledge of English, which give us the possibilities to have the education, prestigious work, and communicate with friends. To have this 'golden key' we must be diligent, assiduous, and attentive that for the future, we could send our own knowledge ("our golden key") to other people, and help them too." From Stone Soup 2011, a publication of essays by participants of the Pikes Peak Library District's Adult Literacy and ESL Program

Find your character's "golden key" – the one thing that will open the door to his or her biggest dreams coming true.

--PIKES PEAK LIBRARY DISTRICT ADULT LITERACY AND ESL

4. "Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer." Barbara Kingsolver

Banish the voices of the critics you keep in your head, and torpedo your desire to please them.

Be yourself and say what you want to say, the way only you can say it. Trust yourself to give words to your vision. Write your story—no one else can.

--UCCS LITERACY FOR LIFE

5. Take a note from history. Select a famous historical event—a pivotal battle, a royal wedding, an amazing discovery, or even a traumatic/dramatic/climactic event from your own history. Don't take too long, just pick one. Now, how can you incorporate a similar scenario in your story? Chances are the details won't mesh, but look at the event symbolically. How could a situation like that become a scene for your protagonist? Or your antagonist? Try writing a scene in the historical period, then write one in your story's setting.

--PIKES PEAK WRITERS

For more information about these nonprofit organizations and their collaboration in Give! 2011, please visit http://pikespeakwriters.com/html/give_2011.html.

Write ON # 2 from Chris Mandeville

Write ON #2

Five Tips, Quotes and Exercises

Provided by Give! 2011 Collaborating Nonprofits

If you're feeling "stuck" and you can't get any words on the page, here are some quotes, suggestions and exercises to help you break through that block:

1. "Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." Dr. Seuss

Clear away the clutter and simplify your problem scene. Once you get down to the essentials, a simple solution should surface. Then you can clutter and complicate it in a way that works!

--CHILDREN'S LITERACY CENTER

2. When the blank page seems insurmountable, paint a picture on it! First, close your eyes and imagine a great, white place—like a 3-D blank page. Now ask one of your characters to appear there. Go with whoever popped into your mind first and give her a paintbrush. Ask your character to paint whatever she wants in the blank space. If she needs help getting started, provide a prompt like "Show me what happiness looks like" or "What are you most afraid of?" If she still won't cooperate, select a color of paint and insist that she doodle. Whatever scenario or idea arises from this exercise, write that scene even if it doesn't seem to fit into your project.

Trust your subconscious and your character to give you what you need to build your story.

--IMAGINATION CELEBRATION

3. "One of the most difficult things is the first paragraph. I have spent many months on a first paragraph, and once I get it, the rest just comes out very easily." Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Sometimes the first paragraph is too difficult. When this happens to you, skip it! That's right, skip the first paragraph (or whatever part you're stuck on) and start on the second paragraph, the fourth chapter, the ending—start anywhere you can start. After you get rolling, you'll find it easier to go back and fill in the parts you skipped.

--PIKES PEAK LIBRARY DISTRICT ADULT LITERACY AND ESL

4. When you find it impossible to come up with the right word, use the wrong one. Prolific writer Margaret Atwood said, "If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word." Are you guilty of allowing the struggle for perfection to bring your writing to a screeching halt? If so, try following author James Thurber's advice: "Don't get it right, just get it written." Give yourself permission to produce some bad writing. Go on, write something awful! You can edit it later.

--UCCS LITERACY OUTREACH INITIATIVE

5. When you're stuck, go "3 Whys Deep" to get to the root of the problem. First, state your goal and problem (e.g. "I need my hero to run for help, but I can't write that scene. It's like he won't go!). Next ask yourself "why" and give the answer (e.g. "Why won't he run for help?" "Because he would stand and fight!"). Ask "why" and answer a second time ("Why can't he stand and fight?" "Because *I* need him to get help for the next scene to work."). Now ask yourself "why" a third time. In fact, keep asking until your answer illuminates a way to move forward with the scene. In the real-life example above, the writer came to realize that he was stuck because the hero needed to act "out of character" in order to achieve the writer's goal. Once he reconstructed his plot in a way that maintained the hero's integrity, the scene practically wrote itself!

--PIKES PEAK WRITERS

For more information about these nonprofit organizations and their collaboration in Give! 2011, please visit http://pikespeakwriters.com/html/give_2011.html.

Write ON # 1 from Chris Mandeville

Write ON #1

Five Tips, Quotes and Exercises

Provided by Give! 2011 Collaborating Nonprofits

If you're having a little trouble getting started writing, here are some exercises, an inspiring quote, and a tip from a Master to help get the creative juices flowing:

1. "You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes." Winnie the Pooh

Push yourself outside your comfort zone and see what's out there!

--CHILDREN'S LITERACY CENTER

2. Give your character a dream. It can be a literal dream while sleeping (a fantastical tale? a nightmare?), a daydream, or a life goal. Whatever type of dream you decide on, remember to dream BIG. Write that scene and see what it reveals about your character.

--IMAGINATION CELEBRATION

3. "Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of." Kurt Vonnegut

Think of the worst possible thing that could happen to your main character, then make it even more awful.

--PIKES PEAK LIBRARY DISTRICT ADULT LITERACY AND ESL

4. What is one of your favorite stories? Why did THAT story pop into your mind? Think about what in that story resonates with you and what makes it stand out from all the other stories you've read. Try to use this information to make your plot, character, setting or idea more emotionally gripping.

--UCCS LITERACY OUTREACH INITIATIVE

5. Look around the room. Pick a stranger and tell their story. Look at how they are dressed, their posture, their attitude, and invent a scenario. What does it look like they are doing here? What are they REALLY doing here? What do they want and what's at stake for them? Then think about the elements of this "story" or "character" that make it compelling, provoke a strong emotional response, or create curiosity about what happens next. Use this as a jumping-off point for your own work-in-progress.

--PIKES PEAK WRITERS

For more information about these nonprofit organizations and their collaboration in Give! 2011, please visit http://pikespeakwriters.com/html/give_2011.html