The Writing Community

"I received the following email: "Good news! I just today found out I'm getting a book published! It's a young adult novel set in Indianapolis, and the publishing company is a small group called Wild Rose Press. My book will be in their Climbing Rose section. :)

Pam"

That's one way to be a part of the writing community. Let us know what's going on, your successes or even failures if they would help someone else. In this case, Pam has found an outlet for her creative writing and shared their name with us. Someone is buying Romance stories. Do you write in the appropriate genre to give Wild Rose a sniff?

Another way to demonstrate the camaraderie is to show up at book signings, and not just for best selling authors. Heck, they don't need it and a good many find those events tedious and can't wait to bolt for the door. I hope I don't get that way. Well, I hope I get to be a best selling author but I also hope that I will always feel the excitement and passion.

But assuming those who are on top of the mountain will have sufficient support, let's help out those still climbing. When someone in your local community has a signing, turn out to support her. There is no place so lonely as the signing table in Borders when no one is asking for a copy of your book. Writers should help fill the place. Drag your spouse along or your kids. Get your neighbors to show up. If the author has penned a story that your best buddy happens to enjoy reading, tell them about the signing. If the story isn't to your liking, you can always donate it to the library.

If there isn't a crowd, stay and chat with the author. You know the drill: How did you get started? Who is your agent? :-) Chit chat could lead to a new friend in the business or maybe a contact.

No one is going to help new authors except other authors. Publishers will help once you are under contract but in most instances, they won't be there every time you make an appearance somewhere. But writers are everywhere.

Congrats to Pam. Hopefully she will let us know when the book is released and we will all show up to wish her well.

Stuff It.

Stuff It is a monthly or more frequent post about events and stuff. Watch for it.

I have felt like a dinosaur for much of my later adult life. The speed of everything today is leaving me lumbering behind. Oh, I try to keep up but the pesky mammals and their inventions are too fast. I remember when twitter was was dino-birds did. Sigh. Still, I refuse to become a fossil - yet. Here, at this spot, I am taking another dinosaur step to avoid extinction. To all of my students, please join me. My mailing list will soon, for all practical purposes, be extinct.

If you are looking for love in the arts here in Indiana, sign up at this link. http://www.in.gov/arts/
Heck, they're even looking for poets!

Let me thank Fred for sending in this link. Fred says that it is a "Terrific video interview with John Irving in this week's on-line NYTimes Book Review."

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/06/05/books/1194840682758/a-conversation-with-john-irving.html?8bu&emc=bub1

Though my herd (aka followers of this blog) are few in numbers, one did leave an amusing review of the entire presentation to date. First though, I have to let readers who are not former students know that exclamation points are anathema in our writing. (Hmm. Explaining the punch line before telling the joke is kind of awkward.) Jeanne said: "Read every word of the blog and I really think that deserves one of my exclamation points. So: Read every word of the blog! Entertaining and informative." Creative, eh?

One of my favorite local writing venues is the Midwest Writers Workshop. An annual event in Muncie. It is entertaining. You learn things. You schmooze with agents and or publishers. You hang with other writers. Listen folks, writing is a long trip. Take part of that journey by migrating to the MWW at least once. Not one person who has attended has ever said anything negative about the experience. Yes, some like it more than others but at least the comments are positive. http://www.midwestwriters.org/

If you enjoy the blog, click on the FOLLOW button. Leave a comment on any of the stories. Send questions. Hell, send money. Do something.

Write More - Think Less

Before the next six weeks is over, at least fifteen Indy writers will hear me say that. Hearing it out of context, it doesn't seem to make sense, so I had better explain. (Damn clever of me to segue into a lead in to my writing classes, one of which starts tonight - June 2nd) Many writers get a clever idea and jot down some critical notes. Then they start thinking - and thinking - and over thinking and suddenly the burst of creative brilliance vanishes in a cloud of despair. The story that offered such promise is gone and the writer, after struggling mightily for some weeks or months abandons it all together, assuming the idea may not have been that good after all. Unfortunately the story is probably still good but it will languish in some computer file and eventually be sent to the Trash Bin.

In Introduction to Creative Writing, we have an exercise that demonstrates the subject. Each writer starts a story. I time the event and after a minute or two, I give a ten second warning to allow the writer to finish the sentence they are working on. Then the papers are passed to another writer. That writer reads what the previous author jotted down and then has to continue on. They, too, are timed. A minute and a half to allow reading time. And so it goes from one writer to another (usually four to a writing group). Read. Write fast. Pass. I then announce Finish It! Each writer quickly finishes the story they are working on. And then...

...We read them.

In virtually every group, the story reads well, makes sense, and most remarkably, who wrote what portion is nearly impossible to determine. Four or five people working fast with no time to think create a very enjoyable multi-paragraphed tale. Why? Because they didn't have time to worry about the right word or being clever. They simply wrote as though the team depended upon them to finish their part of the task.

And therein lies the key to writing. Get an idea. Do your research. When you're ready, sit down and start writing. Ignore spelling. Don't worry about finding the right adjective. Forget the fact that the characters' names are rather common. Write. Write as though the team depended upon you to finish fast.

When you reach that last page, now you can jazz it up. Oh, and 'jazzing it up' is actually known as Writing. The real writing. Sure, some call it something else, editing for example, but it is the Real Writing. It is when you change Jane to Lola and insert a powerful descriptive topping to add some flavor to the vanilla you served up the first time through.

Remember this. You work with things that come and go. Ideas pop up like spring storms and disappear just as fast. Writers have to get those ideas down before they aren't there any longer.

Do yourself a favor. Write Fast. Write Smart.

Think about it.