I have hit a brick wall.  I haven’t posted in two weeks…or has it been longer?  So I do apologize for being absent.  Unlike some writers, I’m not stuck for ideas.  Or ability.  Or skill level.  It’s just plain poor time management. 

In Victoria Schmidt’s book, a self help book for the miserably time challenged (Book In A Month), she identifies several self defeating thoughts.  The one that I identified most was “I feel like I have no control over my time and how I spend it; writing is always pushed to the wayside.”  I don’t blame anyone but myself.  

Here are some strategies that I am employing to see if I can get over the brick wall:

1.  I started blogging to see if just the act of writing daily would morph into writing more substantive material.  Result:  It turns out I like blogging, but as you can tell by the last two weeks, I haven’t had much time. Results:  Blogging keeps me sane and as focused as I’ve ever been. 
2.  I have been searching for a writing buddy.  I’m not thinking about writing collaboratively, just someone to talk about writing, critiquing each other’s works, and to keep me from sliding into the nonwriting abyss.  Results: The first three people whom I approached wanted to be a writing buddy, but time management got in their way.   A little disappointed, I figured it was  better to know early in the game than later…and if they have more time issues than I do, how was I to ever improve?  I have a new writing buddy.  I am ever hopeful that this will be the one that helps me push through my writing dormancy.
3.  I have set deadlines for small assignments.  Results:  These have come and gone…and another deadline for a short story at the end of this month looks like more of the same. 
4.  I have daily to-do lists.  I have started listing writing at the top of the list instead at the bottom as an afterthought.
5.  In my spare time, I am always reading.  Results:  I’m enjoying the reading.  Am I more a spectator when it comes to writing?
6.  I’ve mapped out every hour of my day to see where I could be amiss.  The last two weeks I was sidetracked by the Olympics and now the political conventions are full steam ahead.   Results: No excuses.  I shouldn’t have given television a priority over my time with the computer.  
7.  Part of my problem may lie in the fact that I am working in front of a computer 8 hours a day.  I try not to hop back on the computer right after dinner.  I get a little exercise and then write.  Results: Obviously, this area could use some improvement.  Is my job the large elephant in the room?  Would I be more productive, if the best energy hours of the day were open to personal writing?  Do I have to wait until retirement, because I’m too undisciplined to make any progress?
8.  I am trying to say “NO” to people, but I often slip up.  Results:  When I do say no, which cuts down the level of noise that runs through my head, I am able to sit and write and enjoy myself.

Anyone have any suggestions that I can employ?  Giving up my day job is not one of them. 

Btw, writing is a great cheap form of therapy.  Try it.  I understand that writing also aids good health.

 I took a photo of three bamboo stalks a while back.  What interested me was the curling.  As I looked at the stalks, I realized that in its simpleness there is much symbolism. 

Bamboo is a Chinese symbol for longevity.  It earned this distinction because if you ever had bamboo grow in your yard and tried to get rid of it, you realize that bamboo is hardy.  It springs back even when you have pulled all the stalks year after year.  The bamboo root system is extensive and prolific.  Despite my efforts to eradicate the plant, every year the tender stalks poke their way through the underbrush.  Its endurance and adaptability are a lesson to us all that the secret to a long, happy life is to go with the flow.

It is significant that there are only three stalks in this vase.  You’ve heard people say that “things happen in three’s.” 

Three seems to have a completeness about it.  Many phases of life and other references exhibit how three is important in understanding higher concepts of life.  Take these for example:

• child/adult/senior
• mother/father/child
• life/death/rebirth (meaning life after death).
• birth/life/death
• red, blue, yellow - the 3 primary colors with which all other colors are created
• three phases of the moon
• three wishes for a genie
• three wise men
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• physical, mental and spiritual
• thought, word and deed
• animal, vegetable and mineral
  

In writing combinations of three also appear:

• beginning, middle, end
• creating a scene: goal, conflict, disaster
• creating a sequel: reaction, dilemma, decision
• three acts in a play
• rising action, climax, denouement

If you are looking for some real insight, I don’t have any.  I’m just writing whatever comes to my head in the early hours of the morning (1:22 AM).  I could go on and make some connection to the fact that the stalks remain green all year round.  And maybe there is something symbolic in that the leaves, which are much more tender than an oak, are few and appear at the end of the stalk. 

This exercise shows what can happen when you let your mind wander, connecting the dots between the universal truths and that which is real and concrete.  Every writer needs the ability to dream, because that is his or her well of inspiration.

As a panacea to my time management issues and my desire to focus on my writing, I purchased Book in a Month by Victoria Lynn Schmidt.  She claims it is a fool-proof system for writing a novel in 30 days.

Yes, this is what I want.  To knock out a rough draft in 30 days.  This goal I know would be much easier if I wasn’t working full time.  However, I am determined to give it a try.  I am tired of being the hamster in the wheel — expending energy, but not getting anywhere.  I may not progress fast enough for a 30 day book, but I commit to working steadily.

I read the first 50 pages, which covered goals and time management, fighting off your inner critic, and a chapter dedicated to resistance.  Geesh.  I thought I was unique.  Naw, it seems there are a whole lot of us writers out there wallowing in desire, but clueless in getting the work written.

I am encouraged by Schmidt’s analysis of the writer’s plight.  She comes with solid credentials.  I will keep you posted on my progress.  In the meantime, she has a website that might be of interest.  I haven’t visited it myself yet, but maybe you would be interested.  Schmidt claims it can be a motivator to keep writers focused.   Check it out if you have time.  www.CharactersJourney.com 

Also, if you haven’t already signed up to get an email notice when I post, please feel free to do so.  You will find a place to subscribe on the home page of this blog.  If anyone has also purchased this book, I would love to hear your thoughts on Schmidt’s strategy.

Sorry about the hiatus.  I was contemplating in what direction I was taking this blog.  I am debating whether introducing more of me into the content would dilute the content.

So, I have been scouring other writing blogs to see what other bloggers say on the topic.  A couple of them have two individual blogs.  One dedicated to writing and the other dedicated to more personal perspectives. 

I can barely find time to write this blog (I work full time).  So sustaining two blogs is not happening. And while I could blog at work, because I am often alone in the office, I do not.  No, I don’t consider myself a goody two shoes (I wonder where that strange expression came from?) by any stretch of the imagination.  I just think that I can accomplish more if I try to keep my activities confined to blocks of time. 

Okay, I also think that when you are hired to do a job and you do your own thing on company time, you are in essence stealing from the company.  It isn’t traditional stealing in tangible goods, but nevertheless, it impacts the bottom line.  How does a small business truly grow if everyone on the payroll takes undue advantage of the situation?

I began this blog on a whim.  Writing daily was my first goal.  I know that if I keep the channels open, writing becomes easier.  It’s like playing piano.  You lay off the keys for awhile; you get rusty.   It also builds a readership.

During my hiatus, I have been learning about search engine optimization and working on writing projects.  I sense that I am spreading myself thin, so I’m paring down again.

I will stick with this blog, because I have things about writing to share.  I will work on my writing. 

And while we are on the topic of knowledge and sharing….did you ever notice that as we grow older, we seem to know less? 

Visit again and learn what I just noticed about aging and learning.  Sometimes, it is painful to be that observant.

When I started blogging, I never realized just how much energy it would take to sustain writing consistently.  I have to admit it became a little easier the more I posted, but still sometimes I think of it as work instead of a fun thing to do.

I like blogging.  Did I kill the fun when I limited the topic to the business of writing?  On some days, such as this, I like writing about whatever I’m thinking about.  (Okay who’s yawning out there?)

Unless my blog becomes a reveal all reality journal, what will be the attraction, the hook?  And do I really want to venture into the realm of telling people I hated my ex-boyfriend’s mother or brother or couldn’t stand my husband’s best friend?

Is it okay now to air the family’s dirty laundry?  Remember the Jones next door will know my secrets and the Jones family in Siberia will too.  

Victoria Schmidt writes “if you can’t stand conflict in life, then you won’t be able to write conflict on the page.  Conflict is what stories are made of, so get used to it.  Enjoy it.  When writers can’t stand to do bad things to their characters, they usually are terrified of conflict.  These writers rarely have successful careers.”  Her point is well taken…but who goes out there and taunts viewers to charge them with daggers? 

Okay, yes shock jocks like Howard Stern and Don Imus, well known for antagonizing one group or another do it.  Yes they are successful for not dancing around conflict but what is the price they have to pay? 

Will I ever be that controversial?  Probably not.  Do I have something to say?  I think so.

So, my immediate issue is that I need to make blogging fun again.

We blog because we want attention.  Otherwise why not write in a journal and hide it under the mattress, the way most people did four decades ago? 

I’m changing the tone, but not the look.  I’m evolving and so is this blog.

Welcome to: The World According To Cori Chu. 

Geesh.  Blogs are now the new hip research project.  The hypothesis is that blogging is good for you. 

And this is a surprise?  Didn’t anyone read the same studies I read about 25 years ago  (cough, cough)? How writing encourages good health was the research topic.  Isn’t blogging considered writing?  So why wouldn’t you surmise that the results might be similar? 

The 25 year old article stressed how even the simple act of writing a list of things to do can greatly improve your well being.

Drawing up a checklist can relieve mental stress, it reported.  By looking at the tasks at a glance, you can tell how realistic your expectations are.  When half the list falls to the next day, it comes as no surprise.  You have become mentally prepared for the stress of  not completing everything you had hoped and therefore, alleviating some of the stress that accompanies leftover tasks.  As the tasks are accomplished, you tick them off,  and aside from getting stuff done, you also get a surge of serotonin, a chemical in your brain, which makes you appreciate what you accomplished.  You feel good.  You feel satisfied.

So what if you poured your feelings onto a page, spewed forth your anger, your frustrations and recognize your many gratitudes and why you feel so blessed?  Will it have a more noticeable, positive impact?  If I remember correctly, it does.  When you spill your guts onto a blank page, it is like opening a pressure cooker valve release. 

At Southern Methodist University and Ohio State University College of Medicine the scientists conducted clinical tests that show that writing contributes directly to your physical health too.  They noticed that their subjects who wrote thoughtfully about their traumatic experience showed increased T-cell production, drop in physician visits, fewer use of sick days, and overall improvement in physical health.

This makes sense, because say we accept the assumption that writing relieves stress.  If stress is relieved, then the immune system is not compromised.  Supposedly, stress and over eating can cause the immune system to slow, leaving the body vulnerable to greater opportunities for infection.  So it is safe to say writing is considered a stress coping mechanism.

Research also reveals that writing improves memory and sleep and speeds healing after surgery. 

All of this is not new.  People have been writing journals and diaries for eons, but what is different is that blogging has allowed the researchers greater access to the process and content.  Bloggers share their thoughts with the world.  And maybe that’s what is making a difference in this round of research studies.  Bloggers hide nothing. 

One article referred to blogging as self-medicating.  Interesting viewpoint…maybe this is up for further exploration in another entry?  Suddenly I’m feeling quite tired.  Did I over do it with the self medication with all this thinking and writing?  Until another day.

You want to come up with something unique.  You want to find a subject or topic that will sustain you through the marathon writing process.  And whether you are a first time novelist or written 25 books, you are forever searching for that novel idea that will bubble to the surface and have universal appeal.

Every story has been told.  You know that…think.  How many ways can you write about a romance? 

Boy meets girl.  Boy and girl enjoy each other’s company eventually.  Girl gets annoyed, disappointed, or hates boy.  Boy finds a way to make amends.  Boy and girl get back together on some level.

Here’s what is going to make your romance novel different.  You are going to find two unique individuals.  They are in opposition in thought, ideals, careers.  Pick one that your readers will find interesting and will be able to identify.  Then, throw in some “what ifs.”  What if it were set in NYC?  How would it change if it were in Kansas? Or set in Alaska?  Or in Jakarta? 

What do we have so far?  Two unique individuals engaged in an opposing viewpoin and living in a locale embracing who these two are or completely challenging them.  The venue is like a silent character.  Bring texture to your novel by selecting a venue that will heighten the differences or be symbolic of the conflict betwen them.  For example, did the inclusion (like a jounralist’s sidebar) of a mother bear protecting her young, emphasize the nurturing characteristc in the female protagonist?  Or is the salmon’s run to its spawning place highlight a male protagonist goal? 

These examples are stereotypical of the male and female role.  What if you have the nature image switched?  What if you show the male bear protecting its cub and pair that up with the male protagonist?  How does that subtly change the message?

None of your stories will be originals.  What makes them unique and yours are the elements you choose to craft the storyline.  You also bring your unique viewpoint and personality.  These are the things that mask the underlying storyline and tug at the reader’s emotional heartstrings.  Think of all the possible combinations and permutations that are embedded in the simple storyline.  When there are too many similar combinations, we recognize that and think it was a ripoff of another more familiar story.  So use your unique experience and writing style to make the story yours.

A good story has all its elements intertwined and working to support other story elements.  If you are cognizant of why you choose what you decide to include in your novel, you will increase your storytelling power.  Like a large jigaw puzzle, there are pieces that almost fit and really look like they do fit because they are so close in color and shape. But upon closer examination you can tell they don’t quite fit.  The puzzle pieces are not pressed snugly against each other, a small gap along one curve.  To leave that one piece in the wrong place, will not change the result— a piece or many pieces left over; there will be unanswered story threads.   And therefore, under the critical eye of the reader, your novel won’t rate a “WOW!”  It will solicit an: “Oh.”

If you are a writer…and even if you aren’t a writer, there comes a day when you face a blank piece of paper or the glaring whiteness of a blank computer page.  I’m sure you’ve heard the “write what you know about” and still find yourself scratching your head for a topic or theme. 

Why not start here?  Instead of trying to pick a theme or topic, another approach is to define who you would like to read whatever you want to write.   Is it for men?  Women?  Both genders?  For fishing lovers?  Baseball fans?  You get the idea.

Once you get the demographics down, think about what that group of people would like to read about, if you were one of the group.  Oh no, you don’t know anything about that topic?   It is easier to write about something you know, so now your task is to get to know something about whatever you’ve chosen.  Do the research.  Get to know people in the field.  Ask questions. People love to talk about what they know best.  And most people I’ve found are very generous with their time when they trust you.  (and in the process, you might discover a new best friend.  How cool is that?)

While you are interviewing, listen carefully, because the people will tell you stories and subtext, which you will convert into sidebars.  Since I am focusing on novel writing, these stories become your subplots.   You have a bunch of notes, story clips, venue descriptions and vocabulary (topic jargon) at your disposal.  This information is the basis for your skeletal outline.

If you didn’t find story lines in your interviews, you either didn’t ask enough questions, not listening hard enough, or couldn’t get the person to open up.  If this is the case, while you are honing your interviewing skills, find subplots from newspaper and magazine articles (things that happen in everyday).

Now you’ve got the bits and pieces.  Take what you now know and see if you can find a common denominator for a theme.  It could be forgiveness, courage, or love.  See how the main plot and the subplots highlight the theme.  Write it down because if you are like me, brilliance only strikes once.

Once you got this in place, you can start breathing life into your characters.  Do character sketches so you have a backstory and motivation.  Remember each major character must have a goal.  Since goal to me sounds so clinical, I prefer calling it a yearning, something that the character must have to make him or herself feel happy, satisfied or whole.

Whatever you call it, make sure the yearning is clear.  This is what is going to have the readers hooked.  We readers want the feeling of rooting for the character.  We can identify with that void and need to have it fulfilled.

Good luck and let me know how this works for you.

Some predict that the recent surge in gas prices will force publishing to be more choosey about what they publish.  I’m not tapped in.  Maybe they are already.  We can see the increase in food and clothing prices, but have we noticed an increase in hardbound books?  Paperbacks?

It stands to reason that if delivery costs the booksellers more, then this cost will be passed to the consumer.  Will the consumer be willing to pay $30 to read a first time novelist?  Pretty expensive for an iffy read.

Looming gas prices will pressure people to purchase e-books.  While there is something awkward and less satisfying about reading a book on your computer or  on a handheld telecommunication device, the electronic version is the obvious solution to cost. 

However, I don’t think the pleasure of holding a new book and experiencing the anticipation of delving into a good read will disappear. 

Here’s a thought.  Can you imagine reading a book on a 60″ plasma tv while sitting on the couch and pressing the remote to turn pages?  After all, you could probably adjust the text size, change the font, color and whatever else.  At least you may not have  to look around the house for your glasses. 

I know I set four goals last week.  I haven’t been procrastinating.  The past couple of days have been filled with personal and professional demands.  I have been working on my second goal — the writing timeline, but have yet to commit it to the web.  And my fourth goal — not to make excuses any more starts here. 

So for today’s post, I thought I would share some of my favorite books on writing.  Here is the shortlist. 

1. Writing the Breakout Novel + Workbook by Donald Maas.  By far, this is one of my favorite books.  It is comprehensive by a man who has read thousands of manuscripts over the years.  He is a critic, a literary agent, a teacher.  His teachings are interactive and has a nice even hand with all the literary elements.  Retail cost: $36.98 for the two book set.

2.  Another very good writer and teacher of how to write a novel is Noah Lukeman.  Although I have only read articles he has written and bits and pieces of his books, I find his writing style very engaging and his knowledge on how to craft a story insightful.  Here are three of his books:

The Plot Thickens: Ways to Bring Fiction to Life - 2002 - 252 pages
The First Five Pages: A Writer’S Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile - 2000 - 208 pages
The Art of Punctuation - 2006 - 200 pages

3.  How to Tell A Story:  The Secrets of Writing Captivating Tales by Peter Rubie and Gary Provost had to be one of my all time favorite how to books.  I think you too will find it helpful in crafting your story line. Retail cost was about $18.

4.  Writing the Blockbuster Novel by Albert Zuckerman connects the dots for you.  It breaks down why novels such as Gone with the Wind, The Godfather, and The Thornbirds achieved popularity.  It also has a chapter on how to get your books on the Bestseller’s Lists.

5.  The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron is inspirational in that it helps one get focused on writing by discovering and working with your own personality.  It is a must read, no matter what your occupation.   It will open up your creative self and work with your self doubts.  Retail cost: $16

There is one more book on the list that I perused at Barnes and Noble this past weekend.  Book in a Month by Victoria Lynn Schmidt is very well organized, user friendly and perfect to carry with you while you are between tasks.  I am tempted to buy it because it could very well be the umpf to get my would-be novel onto paper.  I know what I should be doing, but is another prompt going to help me get there?  Good question. 

Let me know what books you found useful.  If you have read any of the books in this post, I would like to hear your thoughts.