Backward?

First, a confession: I watch The Young and the Restless. I know, I know. It's cheesy/campy, melodramatic. But I've watched it since college, and it's a guilty pleasure I just can't quit.

Anyway--yesterday's episode was....unusual. And not in a good way. The writers tried to get all creative and have an entire episode written BACKWARD. Like, every scene was in reverse of the bigger picture. It started out with something shocking (Nikki marrying Deacon Sharpe!), and then kept reverting back - 20 minutes earlier....40 minutes earlier....4 hours earlier....to show, at the very end, what led up to that event.

On the surface, yes, it does seem creative. I understand the motive--to create suspense, interest. But as a viewer, I've always hated "backward" episodes. Seinfeld did it once, and even my favorite show, Thirtysomething (which was better written than any "backward" episodes I've ever seen).

Here's my beef with this kind of episode. It forces the viewer to work too hard. Now, don't get me wrong--I love to watch or read something that makes me think, makes me ponder. But watching an episode backward is like trying to fit in missing puzzle pieces that are being kept from us. We don't have all the information we need to form conclusions. And all that does is frustrate me.

I realize this is a personal choice, my loathing of backward episodes/stories. And some writers can clearly handle them better than others (again, the Thirtysomething episode was more than tolerable, though I still didn't enjoy it very much).

Maybe it's just a pet peeve I have, but I think stories should generally be told in the order in which events occurred. I mean, we don't live life backward, do we? So, it just feels unnatural to watch a story unfold that way. *shrug*

Ahh, FREEDOM

Well, I turned in my 1,300 (<--or thereabouts) grades yesterday and attended graduation in my cap and gown. Then I promptly slept 9 1/2 hours, lol. That's what grading for 2 weeks straight can do to a body, I guess.

So--Christmas Break is officially here! Which means something else for the writer in me. I get more time to WRITE! I have a month--in between the wrapping, baking, socializing, cleaning, Christmas-ing--to work on my book. And that thrills me to no end. I've missed it!

Isn't it interesting, how some people (non-writers, of course) would look at me and think I'm strange, for essentially using a break from work in order to....work?

But writing isn't work. Well, not the kind I dread or the kind that makes me cringe. It's the kind that fills me up with something no other job I've had does. I can't put my finger on it, really, why writing means so much to me, why I use precious breaks in my "real" job to toil on it.

Maybe it's better left a mystery. That makes it more fun. ;-)

Great Quote!

And so true!

"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." ~John Steinbeck

Food for Thought...

Here's an interesting blog entry on "Nine Pieces of Bad Writing Advice" - link here

I actually teach a few of these in my Creative Writing class (try to avoid cliches and passive voice, etc). But I do agree that, in the end, creative writing rules can be bent or even broken, and that not every rule will apply to every writer.

I think the key is about following your gut, in the end...

I Needed This Today...

"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

Be tenacious. Write, write, write. Try to get published, if that's your heart's desire.

Never. Lose. Hope. ;-)

Paradox of Time

I was thinking about this today -- how, when I'm absorbed in my writing, time both slows down and rushes by at the exact same time.

It slows down in the sense that I don't feel pressured or hectic or frazzled when I write. It feels like there's this little space, this private window of time, where I can sit comfortably and not worry about the clock. Not worry about schedules or deadlines or to-do lists. It reminds me of this quote I so love:

"Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else." ~Gloria Steinem

But, ironically, time also rushes by when I write. Because when I finally look up from that space, when I wriggle my way out of it, back to the real world, I realize that hours have passed. That I've been consumed with writing, and life has gone on without me.

I've lost time, but I've also gained it, if that makes sense...

Slump

Most of the time, my goal on this blog is to be positive, motivational, inspirational (both for myself, and for anyone who might be reading).

But sometimes, as writers, we hit a slump. A period of self-doubt mixed with frustration. Or, a period of non-productivity due to one thing: lack of time.

My little slump has been mostly from the latter, brought on by work--grading hundreds (literally!) of freshman essays over the past few weeks (hence, my lack of blog posts). Whether I like it or not, it's true: the grading takes time away from the writing. It's not that I have NO time to write--it's that, when I do, my brain is already fatigued from reading/editing other people's work. It just takes too much energy to create my own.

So, how do I get out of the "slump?" One way is that I remember my writing. Make it a priority again. Squeeze out the few precious moments I do have, to do...something. To write something. And when I do that, I remind myself what writing does for me--how it excites me, puts me in another world, lets me focus on that part of me that adores reading and writing. I also make a habit of reading (even for a few minutes a day) a really good novel. I study the craft, even when I'm not working on my own craft.

Finally, I look back. I take time to sift through my current project and read for awhile--remember what it was I had become so passionate about. It doesn't take long before I'm in there again--in that place, excited about the writing.

Slumps don't have to be a bad thing--in fact, sometimes, they're just necessary parts of the writing process. It can be healthy, to take a little break from writing and come back to it, "fresh." The trick is not letting the slump become a permanent hiatus...

What brings on your slump? And how do you get out of it? Any special tips or tricks? I'd love to hear from you in the comments...

I Miss It

It's times like these, mid-semester, where I miss my writing. When other priorities push writing away - things like grading essays and mid-terms, doing lesson plans, attending mandatory meetings. They squeeze out my writing time, but never the desire to write.

Sure, I could bite the bullet and just visit my material for a few minutes, here or there. But I'm usually too (mentally) tired by the time I get those extra minutes.

This post isn't a complaint about my job, not really. It's just a sad resignation that I don't have the kind of time I want, to write. To step back into a world I've created and spend leisurely time there -- more than a few sporadic moments.

But I guess it's a good thing, missing my writing time, my characters. It shows that there's a pull there, a longing to be in that place again. And, surely, that longing is enough to lure me back. Even if it is only for a few precious minutes...

The Power of Words

I have to tell a cute story about a Creative Writing student. Today, we were talking about the new Edgar Allen Poe movie (*shudders*) and this student mentioned how much she LOVED Mr. Poe. Even though he's "scary."

She related the story of how she first read his work, a couple of years ago: "It was 'The Fall of the House of Usher,'" she said, "and I got to a certain part of the story and got SO scared, that I slammed the book shut!"

LOL! That image just tickled me. Because, what happens when we see a scary movie? We shut our eyes or put up or hands to filter the screen, or even mute the t.v. But when we're reading a book, we usually just skim the gory stuff if we're wimps (like me). So, it cracked me up, the idea of a student being so moved, so frightened by mere words on a page, that it resulted in a physical reaction, slamming a book shut.

Yep, words can be mighty powerful. ;-)

400 posts? Really??

I didn't know I could be so verbose! lol

Thanks to those of you who've stuck with me through all 400 posts, and over the past two years. I'm so grateful that anyone reads this blog...

So as not to waste #400 with self-congratulation, I'll turn this into an actual post with actual thoughts about writing:

I watched a George Clooney interview the other day (on the Charlie Rose show). And he talked about the craft of being an actor, of making movies. He denounced the "fame" aspect of it (saying it was fleeting), and said that over the years as he's grown, he's learned something. I'm paraphrasing here, but essentially he's learned that the craft is bigger than the actor. And that a piece is a success when the actor loses his/her ego, and all elements come together (writing, directing, producing, acting) in order to serve the story.

That's so true of writing, isn't it? We're more successful when we stop being enamored with our own writer's voice - when we get out of our own way to serve the story, the characters.

I think that's why editing can be such a challenge. We've poured hours and hours into those words, and the thought of slicing them, erasing them with one click of a keyboard can be heartbreaking. But we have to ask ourselves one question -- does that act (of editing something out) ultimately serve the story/characters? If so, it's the right thing to do...