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This week: The Writing Tree Edited by: Fyn  
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There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein. ~Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith
You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ~Ray Bradbury
So often is the virgin sheet of paper more real than what one has to say, and so often one regrets having marred it. ~Harold Acton, Memoirs of an Aesthete, 1948
The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~Anaïs Nin
Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow
A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket. ~Charles Peguy
And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~Sylvia Plath
I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all. ~Richard Wright, American Hunger, 1977 |
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You know how sometimes when you are writing that another idea hits out of the blue and totally sidetracks you? This happened to me the other day when I was supposedly writing about a 'family' tree idea, but got waylaid by the notion of a writing tree. The trunk was my writing in general, but then I realized there was a huge bough going off that was just WDC. There was a newsletter branch, a favored author branch, a contest branch. There were black, yellow, blue and red leaves fluttering in the wind. The friend author branch had twigs leading to leaves as friends or family of writers had become friends and contacts as well.
There was a work bough with branches fanning out of the various authors I work with as well as other branches dealing with bookstores, events and trade-shows. Each of these in turn leads to a flurry of leaves.
There was a bough branching off into smaller branches of the schools I've attended and friends made there as well.
My tree was beginning to resemble a baobab tree with roots stringing down, connecting and intersecting with various branches. And it was while I was off on this tangent that I realized just how many connection (just with writing) that I have.
The roots of this tree were strong and growing with each twig. Then, as my mind is often wont to do, I started drawing another tree. This one just of friends, extended family connections. This, then, led to another thought and I started another tree of characters from just one book, and then more. I even found seeds dropped from one tale had sprung up into another. I realized (and this hadn't been consciously done) that characters from one story had run into each other in previous stories.
My paper was rapidly growing a forest of connections! I mentioned this to someone who remarked that it was like the seven degrees of separation. So I went looking, and indeed, there were some of them there as well. Minor characters from one story had intersected with other minor characters from elsewhere. Just as people meet, mingle, and then run into someone else. It is all about connections: real life, writing, the business of writing and people. |
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While researching my family tree I discovered lots of twists and turns.
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From cleaning out closets, and for some, cleaning out in-boxes!
Christine Cassello says: I can certainly relate to your mess as you tried to clean out your closet. I have paper piles all over my apartment because I have been trying to sort stuff out but I get so discouraged that I end up leaving it where it is. Do you think there is any hope for us? As for finding things that you didn't know you had, that is one of the advantages unless you find you have a dozen of an item you use rarely and only needed one of like I sometimes find.
Hope? Of course there is!! I even have some extra I'll share with you. It's here someplace...hmmm...Under the towering book pile? In the plethora of papers? Mingling with the dust bunnies? Ah, here you go! It was sitting there, right next to my monitor!
LJPC - the tortoise writes: Hi Fyn! I really enjoyed your tale about the excursion through the Twilight Zone spare closet. We have a small apartment so the most I have is a junk drawer -- not much exciting in there. I don't write down discarded story ideas. Sad. Perhaps I should. I also adored the funny quotes you had at the beginning of the newsletter. Those were hysterical and I'm just the lazy housewife to agree with them! I'd always rather be typing away at my computer rather than cleaning.  -- Laura
Me too, me too!
SkyHawk - Into The Music adds in from a bit ago:Fyn,
In catching up on back newsletters, I came across this missive about common problems / trip ups. THANK YOU! I have been hoping / wanting to see something like this; you've hit some of the biggest mistakes that many of us make when writing. Two things I would add. One -- don't automatically accept what your word-processor's grammar check tells you to do; I've seen it make some of the errors you listed. Two -- learn the difference between "accept" and "except"; I see that error a lot!
Amen!{{/i}
monty31802 questions: Snowing today in Vermont Fyn. Good Newsletter.
Did you find that Marriage Certificate?
Nope, never did. DID find a photo from when we were signing it. Resized and printed it; it was legible and they accepted it!
Marcia~I'm Home :) adds: I really enjoyed your newsletter. I have to admit it made me laugh. It made me think of myself. I (am) new to writing. I am trying to write my true life story. It also made want keep trying.I keep writing it over and over do yo have any advice for me?
Find a spot...beginning, middle or end, and go from there! Never give up! Post it in your port and ask others for input! And just keep going. *smile*
S.A Hayes writes: Great newsletter, loved the story of all the clutter and such! Sounds like my house! =) And I love sifting through writing ideas, I've got tons of them written down all over the place as well =)
Satuawany  says: Man, you ain't lyin'. Randomly rifling through my note scraps, I find this jewel: "Chapter 11 note, then throw away." What that pertains to, I have no idea. The only other thing on the little paper is "Taco Bell," written in silver crayon. I'm sure it was all very poignant at the time. Here's to spring cleaning! Good luck with yours.
Adriana Noir adds:  I had a closet like that once! It sounds like you and your husband both share a wonderful sense of humor. Wonderful newsletter, Fyn. I think all of us could benefit from a little decluttering of the mind now and then!
Yes, but then when it is all organized, I can't find anything!
Tehuti, Lord Of The Eight  comments: It sounds as if you're hoarders. This is no judgement, as I'm one myself and am only just now cleaning up years' worth of papers and books, as I too hoard writing and have more books than space. (I can't help it! I love them!) I find the mentioned idea notebooks useful for "floating" ideas; if they have a tendency to get lost, perhaps a computer file/folder would work better? It too can get cluttered, but at least it won't take up closet space. 
Nah, we aren't hoarders, we just like to keep the 'you-might-need-it-someday items.' We needed a 5.75 electolytic capacitor (there's more to the name, but I don't remember what it is) to fix me computer and hubbys says, "I used to have some. I think I still might. Maybe in the basement? Or out in the garage." He didn't find one but he found some other 'stuff' and we had a good laugh over it!
Rixfarmgirl  laughs: Hilarious and so, so true. If I needed my marriage license, I would just write for another one. I know better than to start hunting something I really need. It takes of days of looking in the same old places time and time again before giving up. Maybe that is why I have trouble with the story ideas....I keep looking in the same old places and need to try some new ones. Thanks for the heads up! Rixy
You are quite welcome! Didn't have time to send for one! Photo (see above) worked tho!
michellekeyes says: This is so timely. I recently dusted off some old drafts of short stories and with a fresh perspective (spring is usually good for giving me that) saw potential where before I had only seen an exercise. Good luck with your spring cleaning!
Yours too!
Caledonia Lass from earlier: My condolences on your loss. Death in writing has to happen more frequently than readers think. I don't think a writer should be afraid to kill off a character for whatever reason. In some cases, there are times when the author takes you through someone's life and it seems absurdly unrealistic when no one dies, especially when that character is pretty much run through the mill and so are the friends. Dangerous situations abound, tensions rage, yet somehow...magically...no one dies? There are times I have called for death after reading some books and I'm usually a peaceful person. It just seemed to me that without death, characters could not live. But not always. Sometimes there is no need for death. Excellent newsletter.
Thanking all those who responded! It always makes my day!
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For Authors: May 18, 2011 Issue [#4401]
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