On Creeks, Mucking Around, and the Writing Process

March 2017

"People sometimes ask me to quantify how much time I spend in the different stages of the writing process. That's a tough question. If you held my favorite teddy bear hostage and forced me to answer, I'd say roughly 5% goes to Pondering and Mucking Around, 15% is spent Scribbling, 70% is Boiling Down the Bones, and 10% is figure out how to Craft Chords and Singing." --Laurie Halse Anderson, madwomanintheforest

Adventures in the creek happen occasionally around here when hubby takes grandkids exploring. This was the case recently (kids ages 8, 6, and 4). They think it quite a lark--at least this time of year when the mosquitoes haven't come out yet.  There are stones to overturn, salamanders to find (they call them geckos), elusive crawdads to search for, splashings, rock skippings,  and balancing acts on tipping rocks. Although they did bring usable footing for the occasion (rubber boots, crocs, and flipflops), they still came in the house with wet pantlegs and dirty feet--and of course stories to share. But that's par for the course when mucking around in the creek on a Sunday afternoon. (photo sans kids: an after-the-fact re-creation since neither I nor my camera accompanied the original exploring party)

Laurie Halse Anderson (above quote) divides her writing process into percentages, saying that  5% of her process is spent "pondering and mucking around." Doesn't that tell it like it is in the first stages of writing? I love her creative way of describing her practices and found these treasures when I visited her blog at madwomanintheforest. And what prompted me to go there? I just finished reading her fantastic Seeds of America Trilogy (Chains, Forge, and Ashes), was moved and inspired by the stories, and wanted to learn more about the author.

About the Seeds of America Trilogy, from Amazon:

"What would you risk to be free? It’s 1776 and Isabel, Curzon, and Ruth have only ever known life as slaves. But now the young country of America is in turmoil—there are whisperings, then cries, of freedom from England spreading like fire, and with it is a whole new type of danger. For freedom being fought for one isn’t necessarily freedom being fought for all…especially if you are a slave. But if an entire nation can seek its freedom, why can’t they? As war breaks out, sides must be chosen, death is at every turn, and one question forever rings in their ears: Would you risk everything to be free? As battles rage up and down the Eastern seaboard, Isabel, Curzon, and Ruth flee, separate, fight, face unparalleled heartbreak and, just like war, they must depend on their allies—and each other—if they are to survive..." 

Loved this series. Ms. Anderson is also the author of the award-winning YA contemporary novels Wintergirls, Twisted, and Speak, along with numerous other books.

She is an engaging writer. And it's always a treat to get a glimpse into a successful author's life. She elaborates on her methods in her post, "The Bones of the Writing Process--Part 1", where she describes the stages of her writing process as:

• Pondering
• Mucking Around
• Scribbling
• Abandonment
• Boiling Down the Bones
• Chords
• Singing
• Storytelling

Of Mucking Around, she says: "When the idea takes solid shape--I know a bit about the character and I think I know a couple of the book's important moments of conflict--I start jotting things down. I play a lot of 'What if' games and start exploring the relationships..." (note the word exploring!) Of Scribbling she means the first draft. Of Boiling Down the Bones and Crafting Chords: "Let me explain that last 80%. It's rather important. Other people call it Revision."

And Singing? "You've got chords now so you can sing! With your imagery in place, with your plot and character development in place, now you can really plunge into the vast ocean of language and come up with precisely the right words to elevate your prose to a new level."

I don't suppose she had creek beds and salamanders in mind when she visualized this imagery (though maybe she did!). But her words help us traverse the rocky streams of writing and come out of it with a sense of discovery, and with our own stories to share. I've done my share of mucking around in this latest project, but that's okay. I'm like a kid making discoveries in the creek. Although I am looking forward to hearing those chords sing.

How about you? What stage are you in? Have you read any of Ms. Anderson's books? Do you have a favorite series of books you would recommend?

And if you want to see one amazing writer's cabin, check out the youtube video: Mad Woman in the Forest Gets a Cottage. Custom built for Ms. Anderson, it's a place to dream of. It even has a magic window. You'll wish you could put your boots on and truck over to a place like that for all your writing needs. 

______________________________________

On Unicorns, Expecting the Unexpected, and the BMV

image courtesy pixabay

"Writing is a journey of discovery because until you start, you never know what will 

happen, and you can be surprised by what you do. Expect the unexpected. " --Mini Grey

Funny where you meet the unexpected. This time for me, it was at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles where I went to renew our car tags. It's a place where you wait in line and hope this won't take too long since you have a bunch of other errands to run. You might pause long enough to notice some of the characters...I mean, people...around you and ponder if maybe they'd someday show up in one form or another in your stories. But really, you're just enduring it all until you're out of there.

But this time there was a new element introduced to help pass the time: an electronic slide-show on the screen behind the desk. Not much of note until this line came up: "The national animal of Scotland is the unicorn."

I'm not sure what I expected when I walked into the BMV, but I know I didn't expect that!

And as so happens when we start at one unexpected place, we end up at another...

For example, I never gave much thought to unicorns before other than they were some sort of mythical creature and part of my daughter's My Little Pony collection when she was small. But I found myself wondering why Scotland would name the unicorn its national animal. Research (including here), showed how much of the the unicorn's story is woven through centuries of history, mythology, religion, and heraldry. And so, Scotland's unicorn first shows up in the country's coat of arms as far back as the 12th century. And before that--who really knows where the unicorn came from? The figment of someone's imagination?  The misinterpretations of carvings early on, as some say, that depicted bulls and goats from a side-view showing only one horn? Marco Polo's confusion over the rhinoceros?  Certainly the unicorn's story is woven into symbolism and fantasy. Oh, as Dr. Seuss says, the places we'll go!

And then there's the subject of national animals themselves. Did you know that most countries have one? Ours here in the United States is the American bison. Interestingly, the national animal of Belarus is the European bison. Other countries' designated animals include Australia's kangaroo, Peru's vicuna, Greece's phoenix, Mauritius' dodo bird, to name a few (more here). Each one carries its own interesting story.

All of this also took me on a hunt for a quote and thus the above selection by Mini Grey. Maybe you're familiar with Ms. Grey's work, but this search introduced me to her--and I'm so glad for the discovery. For she is an award-winning children's book author and illustrator, noted particularly for The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon, The Pea and the Princess, and the Traction Man series. She is from Wales (neighbor to Scotland!) whose country's national animal is the Welsh dragon--fiery red--dating back to 1485. And beyond learning all of this (unexpectedly) about her, I had to chuckle at the source of her name. She goes by the nickname 'Mini' because, as she says on her website, she was born in the front-seat of a mini-car. Talk about the unexpected!

Stories, stories everywhere. Waiting to be plucked out of the air, or at the BMV as the case may be. What unexpecteds have come your way recently?

_________________________  

April A to Z Challenge: Theme Reveal

"Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew." --Cicely Tyson

I've accepted the challenge for the first time and signed up! Have you heard of the A to Z Challenge (details and history of challenge here)? It's a yearly challenge in the blogging world, now in its seventh year, in which posts in April follow alphabetical themes. Hence, April 1 = A, April 2 = B, etc. (minus Sundays, for a total of 26 posts--a day for each letter in the alphabet). Topics can be inspired by the alphabet letter itself, or by aspects of a specific theme highlighted alphabetically. For my theme, I've chosen:

A to Z Challenge: Haiku A to Z

Haiku for me is a writer's prompt, a word-lover's playground, and an invitation to see things in a new light. It also carries its own challenges. I've been playing with this form of poetry for some time now. Why not then post samples (with each first line starting with the letter of the day) of my haiku along with tips and words of wisdom from those who know a lot more about the subject than myself? I'm a student, still learning and experimenting, so the subject continues to take me on a path of discovery.

Hope you'll stop in occasionally during the upcoming month, I'll enjoy visiting with you. Wish me luck on this adventure.

_____________________________

Words and Music, Take 2: Elizabeth Barrett Browning and More

photo courtesy google images

"Books, books, books!

I had found the secret of a garret room

Piled high with cases in my father's name;

Piled high, packed large,--where, creeping in and out

Among the giant fossils of my past,

Like some small nimble mouse between the ribs

Of a mastadon, I nibbled here and there..."

--Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh

My, oh, my, where did November go? Much activity and a number of details consumed the days, and before I could blink, the month was gone. However, like the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, I nibbled here and there in books. Not only that, secrets were uncovered--though credit goes not to a garret room but to the marvel that we now know as a Google search.

In my last post, Words and Music, I featured an anonymous quote that starts with the line, "Words are instruments of music..." I found it in an old book copyrighted 1947, and was intrigued by the metaphor. Though I tried to find its source, I had no luck. Oh, well, I tried. And that was that.

Or so I thought.

Theodore Tilton

Imagine my surprise when a friend found the source and sent me a link to it. Obviously his research skills are more developed than mine! The words were written by one Theodore Tilton, an American newspaper editor and poet, and are found in his book from 1870, Sanctum Sanctorum, Proof Sheets from an Editor's Desk. In the chapter "Elizabeth Barrett Browning" (p. 51), Tilton wrote: "She knew the true art of choosing words...Words are instruments of music; an ignorant man uses them for jargon, but when a master touches them they have unexpected life and soul. Some words sound out like drums; some breathe memories sweet as flutes; some call like a clarinet; some shout a charge like trumpets; some are sweet as children's talk, and others rich as a mother's answering back. The words which have universal power are those that have been keyed and chorded in the great orchestral chamber of the human heart. Some words touch as many notes at a stroke as when an organist strikes ten fingers upon a keyboard...No finer instance of this skill is found in the whole realm of good English, out of Shakespeare, than in the writings of Mrs. Browning, particularly in those who which pay homage to the affections."

Whoa. Mr. Tilton held Mrs. Browning's writings in high esteem for sure. But more than that was the thrill of discovery all these years later. A mid-20th century writer couldn't find the source for a quote written in the 19th century, but by the 21st century, there it is!

source: About the Brownings

Of course there is so much history in all of this, as is often the case. Reading more about Elizabeth opened up a whole new area of study, and I nibbled Google's smorgasbord about her--things like how she married Robert Browning, another beloved poet of the time, when she was 40 after being an invalid and recluse for a number of years. She was six years older than he. Three years later she gave birth to their only child, a son they nicknamed Pen. A beloved poet, she wrote on a variety of social injustices, including Italy's fight for independence, women's issues, child labor, and slavery. Much of her work reflected her Christian faith. And Tilton, too, has a history himself (here) that included his passion for the game of chess. So much information out there, one can get lost...

Maybe I identify more with Ms. Browning than I realize--a mouse nibbling between the ribs of a mastadon-size wealth of information known as the internet. But December is here, and I'm thinking it's time to get out of the garret and back to the writing desk.

How about you, any subjects you've feasted on lately?

*********

More quotes from Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

"The little cares that fretted me,
I lost them yesterday
Among the fields above the sea,
Among the winds at play." 

"With stammering lips and insufficient sound I strive and struggle to deliver right the music of my nature."

"Earth's crammed with heaven...
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes."

"Light tomorrow with today."

____________________________________

Making Memories

"Memory is a child walking along a seashore. You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things." --Pierce Harris, Atlanta Journal

Last week was one of those special weeks. A memorable week. A memory-making week. Our son and his family were here for a few days from Spain, and boy, did we pack in the activities.

Grandson Nicholas is now two years old. The last time we saw him was almost a year ago. What a joy to spend time with him and learn what he likes (first of all, FRUIT, and then all things transportation, i.e. buses, trains, planes, cars, trucks). With this visit we also had the precious opportunity to gather together all three of our beautiful grandchildren, and their parents, and watch the cousins interact. Treasured moments built one upon another as the days went by.

                       

There was garden time with Grandpa, play time (including throwing rocks in the creek), and occasionally a touch of sleepy time.

 

There was Cincinnati's Krohn Conservatory's butterfly show, lots of story times, a picnic...

 

...and "Ride-the-Ducks," a touring activity on an amphibious vehicle that not only splashes into the Ohio River showing travelers all kinds of upclose and personal sights, like the spectacular John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge (prototype of New York's Brooklyn Bridge, circa1866) and the Bengal's football/Red's baseball stadiums, but also putters along the streets of historical Covington, KY and over the bridge to downtown Cincinnati. Along the way a young tour guide entertained all with highlights of the area's landmarks.

                         

Finally, there was the Racing-to-Read 5K Race/Walk, sponsored by the Kenton Co.KY library system, which benefited Childhood Literacy Efforts (what better cause for a writer/reader to support??). The guys ran, the gals walked, and, I might add, all had pretty good finish times.

                           

Too soon time wound down. After a family breakfast together, we arrived at the airport.

So, what might be said about a week of packing it all in? May I suggest a few random thoughts?

Soak up the opportunities. Sprinkle with generous amounts of fun and love. Savor. Splash with generous hugs. Gather. Fill. Overflow. Cherish. Appreciate. Anticipate the next visit. It's what making memories is all about. 

Who knows what treasures the children might have stored away? I know I stored up bunches!

Hope you find yourself in the midst of memorable and memory-making weeks this summer, too :-) Such is the essence of family, friendship, meaningful times. And, of course--if eyes, ears and hearts remain open--a wellspring for the writer's imagination might be discovered as well.

____________________________

Imagination Revisited

"Write. The physical act itself will free the imagination." --Steven Taylor Goldsberry

We discovered a winner when we pulled out an old doll house in preparation for our granddaughter's recent stay. What to do with a two-year old when it's too hot to go to the park and all the old regulars--bubbles, puzzles, and Play-Doh--have become, well, old? The doll house, one her mommy helped put together when she was a little girl--was a big hit.

Angelica's reaction to the new-to-her plaything was precious. Eyes wide with wonder. Little voice exclaiming, "House!" The discovery of furniture, doll family, and even (ahem) a doll-sized toilet. She loved the piano--they have one at home--and ran fingers over keys as "B-I-N-G-O, Bingo was his name-o" played behind her. We even overheard her tell the children to "sleep" as she laid them on the bunk bed.

A child's imagination was reintroduced into OUR house. Priceless.

I've been thinking alot about imagination as I begin book two. Though some elements, like setting, shout at me, the story still remains elusive. I need to stir the imagination big time. Marshall Cook, in How to Write with the Skill of a Master and the Genius of a Child, says most of us grow cautious as we grow up. "But inventors, pioneers, and entrepreneurs retain that childish ability to play 'let's pretend'. "

So, how to play let's pretend as an adult? How to dream up, create, craft a story using a lively imagination, holding nothing back?

One way is to dip into the experience bag of others who have gone before. One book I have on deck is Blake Snyder's Save the Cat. Though designed for screenwriting, it's also a great handbook for exploring the subject of storytelling. I also plan to play around with Cook's Skill of Master/Genius of Child writing exercises to help jump-start the process.

The most important way, however, is to simply write, with faith that the physical act itself will free the imagination. And that, because I'm a writer and I like to write, should be a little bit like child's play.

What do you do to help stir your imagination?

Discovery Friday

Another day of revision on my middle grade novel has passed. And at one point, a fun discovery snuck up beside me and typed itself right into my manuscript. I had no clue it was coming, hadn't given it a thought, until--voila!--there it was. And instantly I recognized that, yes, this new thought is just exactly right: my main character's cat has big ears.

Big ears? Ha, how silly is that? Pretty silly I'd say--except that it turns out that this little detail can play into the relationship. Who would have guessed? Now another layer exists in the bigger scheme of the story. Someday when the book is published (see, we say when, not if!), my readers will know what I mean.

Isn't discovery in writing fun? At least, today, it was for me.

And so I end this week on a high note, both in writing and in the special events of the past few days here in the family. And I also take a moment at the end of this work week to share a few thoughts on the subject of discovery in writing:

• "We don't write what we know. We write about what we wonder about." --Richard Peck
• "The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." --Marcel Proust
• "Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and you learn as you go." --E.L. Doctorow
• "I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear." --Joan Didion
• "Writing is a tool of transformation and can shine the light on the inside, dispelling darkness, taking us through external layers, bringing us closer to our souls." --Hillary Carlip
• "You always find things you didn't know you were going to say, and that is the adventure of writing." --John Updike

Happy weekend--and happy discovering!

Pep Talk

It is the next to last day of January, and so very cold outside. We didn't get the snow and ice that has paralyzed the south, but we're in a deep freeze and, now that the sun's gone down, it's going to get even colder overnight.

So why am I thinking about playgrounds? You know, like swings and slides and climbing gyms? Walks around the lake, children's water parks? Could it be I'm wishing for warmer days?

Not really.

I'm remembering my granddaughter's delight at summer's end when we took her to the water park and she, at sixteen months old, ran through the sprays. Wet and wiggly, she ran from her daddy into the fountain and out, right into my arms, just about knocking me over. Back and forth, back and forth. She couldn't get enough of the absolute glee of it all. She had discovered something new and loved it. And we loved experiencing it with her.

I think that's one of the things about writing that I enjoy most--discovery. Whether it's discovering who my character is (and I haven't quite gotten there yet) or journaling two or three pages only to come to an "aha" moment of something I didn't realize I was thinking, different from the original direction I thought I was headed in, there's fun in the process.

And so I tell myself, play with words. Play with ideas. Play with character sketches, motives, conflict, themes. Don't make the process hard. Go to the playground of writing. Swing a bit. Dash through the fountain and feel the spray. Choose discovery.

No mattter what the temperature outside is!