My Disappearance

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I have always disappeared in one way or another. The history’s there; I just had to write this blog to discover it and understand why. 

My family lived in New Hampshire in a small ranch house across the street from Lake Winnisquam. I shared a bedroom with my sister who is six years younger. My brother, two years younger had his own room. The walls were thin, the commotion pretty constant, and finding privacy almost impossible. Dad used to tease me about spending so much time in the bathroom, the only room where no one barged in or bothered me unless it was an emergency.

I first disappeared into a typical pre-teen refuge, burrowing down after bedtime under my blanket where I would read or write in my diary by penlight with one ear bud plugged into my transistor radio. Even though I had school the next day I would stay up until one or two in the morning, leaving my parents dumbfounded as to why, when in the morning, I was so miserable to get out of bed. Sometimes my dad resorted to pulling the pillow out from under my head and yanking back the covers. One time he sprinkled my face with cold water. My escape was discovered one night when I fell asleep, the transistor radio cord unplugged, and rock-‘n’-roll woke my parents.

That was around the time the Beatles took over my life and I soon disappeared into a fantasy world with three other friends. We formed a secret club, each of us becoming “the bird” of our favorite Beatle and writing stories about our “luv” and then exchanging them. That only lasted until one of the parents caught Ringo’s bird passing a rather risqué story to John’s bird. We had to disband. After that, I didn’t dare write stories.

Next, I disappeared into my diary, filling it with a teenage angst pot of longing for love and someone to understand me, a place to help me figure out what to do with classmate troubles and old-fashioned, strict parents.

Then the summer after turning fourteen, I wrote in my diary that I’d fallen in love.

Because we lived on the opposite side of the road from the lake, we had to use the right-of-way at the west end to go swimming. That summer I met and fell for a boy from Boston who was there with his family vacationing in one of the summer cabins. His name was Bruce, but his cousin called him “Punk,” as I would. To my astonishment this handsome lad liked me. I kept him a secret as my dad thought all boys from Boston were “bad seeds.” Punk and I would meet and hang out at the right-of-way during the day and a few times we met in the evening to be alone. I wore peddle-pushers and a mod satin shirt with puff sleeves and twenty-five tiny buttons down the front. I wasn’t ready for the heavy petting. I only wanted to kiss him, and those buttons kept me safe.

After Punk returned to Boston without conquering that blouse, a few letters followed, but soon my first love faded away. My parents never saw the letters as I brought in the mail every day, so I was safe from discovery, or so I thought.

One night at dinner, Dad asked about the boy from Boston.

I can’t remember what I said, but I must have asked him how he knew, and he said, “You shouldn’t leave your diary out and open on your desk.”

I waited for some kind of punishment while I went from fear of discovery (Oh, my god, what had I written? What had he read?) to anger at this breach of my privacy. (What gave him the right to read my diary? And how could it have been open on my desk? I always lock it and hide it away.)

I don’t know what happened to that diary. I wish I had it now. After that, I only wrote notes to my girlfriends, poems, and school reports. For my escape, I started drawing and painting instead.

When the fights with my dad increased, I would retreat to the right-of-way and sit under the old tree where Punk and I made out. The roots that protruded above ground held me between them and I would lose myself in the cry of loons, the twinkle of lights from cabins across the lake, the smell of bar-b-ques, and the accompanying laughter and voices of other families that drifted to me over the water’s dark surface. I often took a book and could stay there for hours.

The day after my father committed suicide, I disappeared to the right-of-way, scaring my mother. But that house was too chaotic and filled with confusion, shame and grief. I needed to be alone, to cry, to settle my head, body and soul so I could return and carry on, although my heart would be damaged for a long time.

Life continued and changed many times, and so did my reason for and avenue of disappearing. Whenever life became too noisy and stressful, whenever I needed to escape trying times—the fear of moving to a new land three-thousand miles from home, the loneliness of being that far away with a three year old, divorcing an abusive first husband, the craziness of an out-of-control seventies and drug culture—I would lock the door of my house, hang up a do not disturb sign and paint or draw while listening to music. For days, I would do this, often having to tell those who stopped by, “Yes, sorry, that sign does mean you,” even when it was a new friend.

And here in the writing of this blog is where a memory brought an epiphany.

Kippy, a blue and green parakeet, was my first pet. I think I was around ten or eleven. He’d ride on my shoulder, poop on my cousin’s blonde flattop, repeat a whistle I taught him, and generally make everyone laugh. I fed him regularly, cleaned out his cage, did my best, which I admit, being a kid, probably wasn’t up to adult standards.

One day, after school, either my mom or dad forgot to bring home birdseed. Knowing that kids often don’t give their parents enough heads-up time about these things, I probably waited until the last minute to tell them I needed birdseed.

I walked to the local market and bought wild birdseed, the only kind they had. Just before dinner, as mom was cooking and dad was reading the paper at the kitchen table, Kippy started to choke. I took him from his cage. A sunflower seed was caught in his throat. I yelled for my mom and dad, raced to the kitchen with him in my hands, crying, as I watched my bird struggling and falling down. Mom continued to cook, dad read his paper. They looked over, but by the time they responded, Kippy was dead. I think I remember someone saying, "It was only a bird." Maybe not, but I heard it in my heart.

Something lodged in me that day, something that equates with how it feels to have something dying in me. I tried to feed my parakeet so it wouldn't starve, and I had the wrong food, so Kippy died. No one from the outside helped. And that’s what brought me to this conclusion as to why I disappear.

I believe that when creative people are threatened with the outcome of being a “starving artist,” it’s a way to discourage us from taking hold of our creative life. (My dad: “You are not going to be a starving artist; you will go to college to be a teacher, nurse or secretary.”) If you’re not being productive in the traditional sense, when you’re seen as selfish or self indulgent because you want to follow your art, your passion, then you're gifted a sense of guilt.

The real threat, however, is being starved of time, freedom and the opportunity to create. The real threat is not taking care of our true selves. The real threat is listening to that inner “guilt pusher” that says you should be doing something else.

In the past six months I have cracked a rib, had oral surgery, helped plan a big party for my mom’s 90^th birthday, gone to that party in Florida, returned home to the worst sinus infection I’d ever had, and during this time I had to make a decision: while I healed from these various health issues, I could concentrate on writing my novel or continue to take time from that writing and blog.

I took care of myself. I met with a few friends, but stayed home most of the time and was as quiet as I could be as I worked on my novel. I had breakthroughs. I had a-ha moments. I held myself in my hands and removed that sunflower seed. I fed myself the right food.

And the irony was, when I tried to blog in November, the universe slapped me silly. My blog feed would not work. No matter what I did, I could not get Feedburner to send to my email recipients. I didn't need a clearer message. I went back to work on my novel.

Since then, life has allowed a little time, and I switched my blog email feed to a reliable one. 

Hopefully, for those of you out there who have had a rough time lately—and I’ve read and heard many of your stories—I hope this brings some kind of epiphany for you, too. Even if you are not an artist or writer, you have a creative soul. We all do. 

Last year in January, astrologer Johanna Mitchell said about 2012, “It's a great year if you’re going to change. It’s not such a good year if you can’t find inspiration in chaos.”

My discovery makes me wonder if others out there have found themselves “disappearing,” or retreating, or whatever name you put on it. I wonder if you found your creative soul or true north in all that chaos and if you took the time to feed what was starving.

So much of our time is spent in trying to figure out what to do when we really know all along what we need; for some reason it seems counter-intuitive to care for ourselves. That’s when I go back to the context of “starving artist.” It all depends on who you’re listening to.

Hugs to all,

Val

Other blog posts that you might enjoy:

Enemies of the Art Part II--Psychic Vampires

Kristen Lamb's Blog

A Brain Scientist's Take on Writing

"Author Blogging: You're Doing It Wrong"

I think blogging is a wast of time.

 

Procrastinating Writers

"Get Rid of "Should" Once and for All"

The Intrinsic Writer

"They Call Me the Wanderer"

If your comment won't post, email me at ValinParis (at) earthlink (dot) net. I'll post it for you.

Part III – Managing Social Media: Val’s Tools & Hardcore Suggestions

Before I give you tips on how to:

put a few tools in your toolbox for fixing social media woes,

POST THIS TO YOUR COMPUTER:

Do the Most Important Thing First -

WRITE

Good. Now, let me clear up where I stand on social media. I am not against it. I’m on many social media sites. I’ve made some great friends there and have also kept up with writer friends who are as busy as I am. Social media is an important tool for connecting if used correctly.

For writers, however, it can be, as I’ve said before, a time suck. I hear more and more about writers and artists who can’t seem to manage their time since joining social media sites. I don’t need to say more about this. I hope, however, that the following tips and tools are helpful, and above all keep you writing. That’s my only goal here: to keep you writing.

In fact, this blog post is NOT about social media at all.

It’s about creating time to write and putting writing first.

Let’s get started with “Val’s Tool Kit”:

My Portable Office Admin Assistant

#1 Tool in Val’s Tool Kit

            Do you schedule your writing time? Why not? We schedule doctor’s appointments, kid’s after school activities, our jobs, our vacations. Do you keep that all in your head? No, you use a calendar.

            I have a calendar that I call my “Administrative Assistant.” It makes me feel as if I have a secretary and puts my writing into terms of “going to work,” making it important.

            Mine’s an old-fashioned Day Timer-type calendar with my writing time scheduled into it, weeks in advance. That prevents me from scheduling any other social events on that day. As a writer, I prefer using the old fashioned type of calendar for a number of reasons. (I love my iPhone, but its calendar is useless. I also have a house calendar for the rest of my life.)

            Check out the photo above. That’s an actual week from my calendar. I’m a visual person, so I created a simple visual method. I use a diagonal line for writing related activities. Every Monday and Friday I write at our local Barnes and Noble Café. (I’d love to work at my favorite independent bookstore, Tsunami Books, but I know too many people who come and go there and, therefore, I’d be managing the socializing aspect and I don’t want to.) B&N’s café offers me a table, and I can buy my tea and food there. Those two writing days each week are sacrosanct. The reason I don’t work at home much anymore is that my husband’s retired. ‘Nuff said.

            Tuesdays are divided up between my writing group and writing days.

            Thursday is my day to meet with best friend and creative soul mate Jan Eliot. Jan and I have been meeting for twenty-three years in order to keep our creative lives on track by talking about issues that effect us and to track yearly goals we set in January. Another diagonal line there.

            I scheduled time this week for writing my blog and social media. See separate section for this.

            For everything else, I use a vertical line to show it has nothing to do with my profession. (Notice I use the word “profession.” Start using it. That helps develop a sense of priorities. Even if you’re a lawyer by trade, writing is your profession—if you want it to be.)

My Weekly To Do List

#2 Tool in Val’s Tool Kit

            I work best with a TO-DO LIST. If I don’t write down the major needs for the week, they often don’t get done. The list is divided into major components: BIZ (this is for paying bills, communications, errands in town, returning phone calls, etc. all related to my writing profession); MY NOVEL (where I write down everything I want to accomplish that week on my writing); MY CLIENT (I always schedule Wed. for working on my client’s poetry marketing); other MAJOR PROJECTS (I’m organizing the upcoming Oregon Writers Colony Founders Day weekend this month); and last, but not least, SOCIAL MEDIA.

            My To-Do List is written on a large sticky note that fits in my calendar admin assistant.

-------   Scheduling social media   -------

            Here’s the thing—psychologically, we can fool ourselves into believing that everything we do online is related to writing. Research. Networking. Marketing. Keeping current. Checking out the competition. Finding ideas.

            We’re creative beings. We can justify any use of the internet.

            And isn’t that where we get in trouble?

            Let’s look at an example:       

            Say you’re writing a scene in your historical novel where you need to know if Boston Commons had a pond in 1854. You get online, Google the many permutations of “Boston Commons pond 1854.”

            You can’t find the answer, although some of the research points to the possibility. 

           “Wait!” you say. “I can post this to LinkedIn, Women Writing the West Yahoo Users Group, and Facebook. One of my historian friends will know.”

            You post the question.

            But as you’re posting, you see someone has posted an article on a new service for writers that grabs your attention. When you follow that, you see a YouTube video for a new novel you’ve heard about and you watch it, justifying that you, also, will need to create a trailer for your novel when it’s published. Two hours later, you’re reading a blog post about “ten fixes for your novel’s saggy middle” because you’re in the middle of your novel.

            Sound familiar?

            Yes, and you can justify all these side trips because they have something to do with writing. (From experience, I know many side trips have nothing to do with writing.)

            Bravo to those of you who have the self-discipline to stop when you’re done with your research.

            For the rest of you? Here’s what to do.

            Don’t get online.

            Do the research later during scheduled internet time.

            I can hear you now. “But I need to know that information before I can continue on with my story.”

            No, you don’t.

            Journalists write drafts all the time without stopping every paragraph to do research. They don’t interrupt the flow of their writing if they can help it. They leave the unknown fact out, replacing it with the letters tk. (tk = To Come, the phonetic abbreviation used in journalism)

            I use a highlighted tktktktkt so I can easily find it later. Later, during my scheduled time to be online, I’ll do my research.

            If your brain right now is scrambling for a reason not to do this, I can provide one: “I need to know that info for plot purposes.”

            Nah, not buying it. Sorry. Story elements can always be changed later. What you really need to do is keep writing. If there is no pond for your character to drown in, kill him another way. Besides, we usually do this type of research ahead of time while forming the plot in our head.

            My big rule for myself is “Try never to leave the page. Keep writing.”

            (I couldn’t remember what tk stood for so I looked it up after I wrote a draft of this blog and then plugged it in. Yay! I'm following my own advice!)

“But I Found this Great Article and I had to Read It”

#3 Tool in Val’s Tool Kit

            Ok, so you went online anyway, ignoring my “research later/schedule online time” advice, and you found an important article on “ten fixes for your novel’s saggy middle.” You swear you needed to read it.

            Really? Bet you didn’t need to read it at that moment. Bet you've made up a justification for the time you spent reading it. Bet you interrupted your writing flow. (Yes, I’m trying to make you feel guilty.)

            No, you didn’t need to read it right away. Be honest. You could have read it in the evening without your world falling apart. Right?

            So let’s look at the real motive for needing to read that article right then.

            Quite simply, you could have been procrastinating. More likely, you, as I always was, were afraid you’d forget it, afraid you wouldn’t get to read it because it would be hard to find again. It would bug you if you left that page. You won't bookmark it because you have a million bookmarks.

            Breathe! I have a solution.

            This is my all-time favorite tool:  Evernote. 

            This brilliant program saves web articles or whole html pages, Word docs, pdfs, and photos. It lets you create notebooks to file them in and then synchs them to all your other electronic devices such as your iPhone, iPad or Kindle. I have a Kindle, so I can read my saved articles on the go. Evernote is my library, and it’s super easy to use.

            File folders I created in Evernote include: NEED TO READ ASAP, Agents, Blog Ideas, Book Promo, Concept/Query/Synopsis, Craft, Editing, Inspiration, Marketing, Pinterest, Publishing, Query Letters/Samples, Quotations, Reading, Self Publishing, Social Media, Web Site, Writers Resources. I also have folders for my novels and research-related files.

            This tool is my “fantasy” admin assistant's file system. I can’t sing its praises high or loud enough.

            I also keep notes on it, like the list of hashtags I use on Twitter. If I’m in town and need to send a Tweet to a hashtag group, I can quickly look it up on my phone because Evernote synched everything, including changes I made. If I'm riding in the car and I post on my iPhone, it synchs to your computer. 

But I Want It Now!

#4 Tool in Val’s Tool Kit

            This one is so simple.

            A DO TODAY! desktop folder

            Let’s say you find an historical photo that would be great to pin to Pinterest. You’ve done really well by going online and finding a map of Boston in 1854. (You weren’t supposed to go online, but this time you did, found what you needed, and got off right away because you were afraid Val was looking over your shoulder. Bravo!)

            Should you open Pinterest and pin the photo?

            NO!

            You know what happens when you do that. You get sucked into looking at other photos and another hour is kaput.

            Instead, pop that photo into the DO TODAY! folder. At the end of your writing day, during your scheduled online time, you open the folder and handle everything you put in it during the day.

The Goddess Gave Us Sticky Notes

#5 Tool in Val’s Tool Box

            Yes, Sticky Notes. Simple. Instead of going online to check a spelling of a foreign word, type in tk, write yourself a sticky note, and put it on your desk, lamp or calendar, someplace that’s not your computer where it can distract you. At the end of the day, you check your DO TODAY! folder and take care of your sticky notes.

“I Still Get Sucked In”

#6 Tool in Val’s Tool Box

            This is the simplest and most effective tool I have.

            My iPhone clock timer. 

            Any timer works. I set the timer for 30-minute increments when I’m working on my client, working on research, working online.

            Thirty-minute increments work best for me because an hour seems too long. Thirty minutes passes quickly, and I’m ready for another 30 minutes. The timer helps me stay focused. I’m less apt to waste time, especially on social media. If I set my timer, I hurry! Especially if I’ve allotted myself only an hour.

            Maybe this would work for you with writing. I don’t know. I don’t need a timer for writing. Once I’m in it, I’m gone.

           

Now for one of the biggest problems writers seem to have:

Getting My Butt in the Chair

#7 Tool in Val’s Tool Box

            This seems to be the worst offender for me—getting my butt into my chair. Once I’m there, I’m good to go.

            I’ve developed two ways to make this difficult body part sit down.

            For at home:

            Create a Ritual.

            Before I procrastinate by doing laundry or dishes, I shut off all the phones, home and cell. This signals to me that I’m serious about shutting the world out so I can write. Then I make a cup of tea and take my laptop to the bedroom where our big slider looks out over the back meadow. Why there? Because it’s away from my office, the magazines I need to read, my client’s pile of submissions, and other distractions. The bedroom is peaceful and I’m not tempted to do anything else. Yes, I have Wifi, but for some reason, when I’m in the bedroom, I’m not so tempted.

            Whatever you do, make it special to the writing process. Light a candle. Meditate for 10-15 minutes. Fill a page with stream of consciousness writing. Make a list of those ten things you’re grateful for. Doodle for five minutes. Reread the last ten pages you wrote in hard copy.

            Go someplace away from home that feels like you’re going to work.

            On Mondays and Fridays, I get up in the morning, shower, get dressed, pack my computer case, and head to town where I work in the café at Barnes and Noble. I also have a writing pal who does the same, so we’re reinforcing this with each other.

            When I’m in town, I have no dog to walk, no unexpected visitor, no family calls, and all noise is not my noise. If I’m distracted by loud voices nearby, I put on my headphones and listen to instrumental music. I work 9-3:30. At lunch, I take a break and read a few chapters in the latest novel I’m reading or check out the new arrivals in the bookstore.

“I’m Addicted”

Badass Tools for the Hardcore

            So you confess: you’re an internet junkie. Well, there are a few tools left to help if you’re willing to take a hardline with yourself.

           

·      Work at a place other than your home like I do, but choose a place that doesn’t have WiFi

·      Have your husband or wife take your modem to work

·      Use software like Freedom. This software lets you choose a certain amount of time you want to be offline, then shuts you out. Yup. It won’t let you back online no matter what you do.

·      Make a contract with a friend or writer; call each other at a certain time to say, “Start writing,” and then call each other at the allotted time when you’re done. Accountability to others sometimes works better than accountability to ourselves.

Bottom Line

            Warning: I’m getting tough here.

            If none of this helps you, then you really don’t want to write that badly. Writers need to write. They simply cannot NOT write. It’s not always about self-discipline. It’s about passion. It’s about doing what you love. It doesn’t matter what you write. It matters that you have to write.

           Sorry, but if you keep talking about writing and you’re not writing, then you’re not a writer.

http://blogwritingcourse.com/

A Word About Blogging

            I started out loving the act of blogging every week. But I love writing novels more. At first I felt guilty when I took a hiatus this year and didn’t blog for two months. I felt guilty because this was something I started and I felt as if I had to stick with what I started—blogging every week.

            But I realized it had more to do with how badly I handled it. I didn’t let you, the readers, know that I was taking a hiatus. I didn’t tell you why right at the start. That would have been the right course of action. Later I wrote about why I didn’t blog for two months, but that was too late. I apologize. Sometimes I forget the good manners my mother instilled in me.

            I have switched to blogging when I can, preferably every two to three weeks. If I take another lengthy hiatus, I’ll let you know.

            This, of course, is a cautionary tale if you’re thinking about starting a blog. Everything when it’s new is fun. Well, almost everything. Give it a good amount of consideration. Talk to people close to you, people who know your habits and how you work. Make sure you can keep up your blog or, if you start and decide you don’t like blogging, let your readers know and then take down the blog. (See Kristen Lamb’s post below) I understand that, if you’re a writer, you’re trying to create an online presence and blogging sometimes fits. But if it doesn’t, don’t do it because you’ve been told you have to do it. Find a different way. Like Cheryl Strayed in my last post. Right from the start, she decided to work the heck out of her Facebook page.

Social Media for Published and Yet-to-be Published Authors

            Here’s the distinction between social media for published and yet-to-be published authors:

            You will, at some time, need to have an online presence. You can wait until you sell your novel to create an online presence. Or you can create it now, become comfortable with it, build it while writing your novel or memoir. All agents and publishers will expect this of you. If you do create an online presence while you’re writing your novel, this presence will give you leverage with agents and editors. They will see that you’re serious about writing as a career. If they can Google your name and it pops up on a long list of search results, that is going to make them very happy and give you an edge in the final verdict of whether you are publishable.

            Nothing, however, beats a page-turner of a manuscript, luscious prose, or the uniqueness of your story. And what does that mean?

            Do the most important thing first:  WRITE

A Last Confession

            I’m a creative person. My needs change. I might be on Facebook a lot, and then find myself back to blogging. I have a tough time with Twitter because I like immersion. LinkedIn hasn’t yet satisfied my needs as a writer. SheWrites is one of the most supportive social networks out there, but I had to stop the posts from being delivered to my email because everyone there is soooo supportive! I also regularly purge my email subscriptions.

            A last word of advice: be selective about the social media you choose to use. I have not joined Google+ because it seems to duplicate what I already have. That may change when I publish my novel.

            I love staying in touch with you. I love telling personal stories and helping writers when I can. I’m not a born teacher. But I do like passing on what I’ve learned.

            I hope you find something in this post that will keep you writing. And if you have something to add that would be helpful for other writers, please share it with us by leaving a comment.

            Keep those words flowing,

            Val

From agent Rachelle Gardner’s blog:

Should unpublished novelists be platform building?

From Social Media Guru Kristen Lamb:

How not to end up a Social Media Undead

Silicon Valley Says Step away From the Device

COMING UP:

Graciously accepting (although very late) a blog award

Where I Work: a photographic peek into my writing spaces

A Confession: What happened after my six readers responded to my novel

The Muse is Back and Dishes Inspiration

Hello, everyone!

Sparrow here, Captain Val’s muse. Thank you for all the support you’ve given her lately and, new pirates, welcome aboard the Gobsmacked.

I’m once again filling in for Captain Val as she is a tad bit overwhelmed (taxes, polishing her novel, family, a short trip to Ashland, and, well, life). For those who remember my last post (read it here), she did apologize for calling me flighty. I’m not upset anymore. She needs me. And what’s a muse for?

            Of course, now I have to think of something muse-like to write about. As my role is to inspire and sprinkle some kind of writerly fairy dust, I decided that perhaps the lot of you could stand a little sparkle also. It’s January, it’s winter, the holidays are over, and don’t you feel a little … well, just a smidgen in need? of encouragement? of love? of inspiration?

            Good. Now that’s settled, let’s start with a bit of humor, sent by Kathryn Lang and found at Jason Love’s website.

            Isn’t it refreshing to see that writers can make fun of themselves—well most of them. I do understand your angst. We all have it. But if writing is like dealing with cancerous tumors, as one writer told Captain Val, stop writing and become a pilot or a nurse, anything that gives you joy. Life is short!

            Now, onward to inspiration.

I am not a writer, just a muse. So I turn to others, your kin, with their words of wisdom. Think of what I offer as your very own goody grab bag.

            Let’s start at the beginning. 2012. How did you approach the new year? Resolutions? A to-do list of all the things you want to fix or make or change? Now that we're in the year of the dragon, let's do something auspicious. Ellen Goodman has a the right idea.

"We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives ... not looking for flaws, but for potential."

Potential. I like that! Thank you Becky Green Aaronson for posting this.

Barbara Sullivan, Captain Val’s go to advisor on all things literary, uses this idea of potential when guiding her through a rewrite. I paraphrase here:

Don’t look at what isn’t working. Read through your novel. Look for and highlight all the passages, scenes, descriptions that knock you out. The ones that cheer you as in “I can’t believe I wrote that!” That’s the good stuff you want to tap. That gives you the potential, the scaffolding, for everything else.

            Captain Val’s crewmate, Chris Scofield, sent this quote from Josephine Demott Robinson, a circus performer in the first half of the 20th century. Her advice not to let failure deter you is sound and is the idea that you need to encourage your efforts. Like the inferred note of self-assessment too, not so bad, a little more practice and you'll get there, an applicable bit of inspiration for everyone. For writers, this can be what you need during each rewrite.

"Never mind if you fall far short of the thing you want to do, encourage your effort. If no one else will say it to you, say it to yourself. ‘Not so bad.’ It will make the next effort easier and better."

            Do you encourage your efforts? Do you give yourself credit for every growth jump you take? Captain Val doesn’t wait to publish before she rewards herself. She rewards the levels of efforts it takes to get there. If she finishes an application to a residency, she celebrates. If she finishes a first draft, she celebrates. Every rewrite, every move to the next professional level is cause for celebration according to her. (Yes, she does like to celebrate!)

           Another bit for those who love the crazy free-spirited Jack Kerouac. In 1958, he wrote a letter to Don Allen and included a 30-point list of “essentials” that he titled “Belief and Technique for Modern Prose.” You can read the entire list on Lists of Note, but here are numbers 14-17:

·  Like Proust be an old teahead of time

·  Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog

·  The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye

·  Write in recollection and amazement for yourself

 The ultimate inspiration for February and the Year of the Dragon? Kristen Lamb’s treasure chest blog Warrior Writers offers “Three Steps to Freedom: Grab Hold of your Brilliant Future.” What a title! And this is not just for writers. Everyone! Read this. Please! Here’s a taste:

This blog is dedicated to helping writers holistically. We are more than robots sitting at a desk pounding out word count. We have hopes, dreams, fears, bad habits and baggage. …

Three Lessons of Confession

Confess the Real Emotion—Name It and Claim It

One of the first things that offered me a new sense of empowerment was when I learned to confess the real emotion I was feeling.

Click here to read this blog: Kristen Lamb’s WarriorWriters

            Ah, there’s my call to duty. Seems as if the Captain needs me for a few hours while she polishes her novel.

My inner child at the moment

             BUT before I go, I want a word with the guy who wrote “Housebreaking Your Muse.” I beg your pardon! Muses are not DOGS! How demeaning! Muses everywhere demand an apology. I know you were trying to be cute, but muses are energy, light, intuition, not a bad pup that needs its nose rubbed in its pee. It’s the writer who needs training, focus, meditation … whatever! Muses are always there for our captains. So, please! No more!

            Sigh.

            Again, gentle readers, thank you for letting me be here. Captain Val will be back next week.

            In the meantime, what inspires you? Can you see the potential instead of what doesn't work? In fact, tell us how you're going to change your outlook, how you'll approach your project from now on. Will you now approach your writing with a fresh new attitude? What will you do? What will be your reward for the first step you take?
            Oh, what fun! Captain Val would love to hear from you, and you don’t need to be a writer to do this. I think February should be The Potential Month, See the Possibilities Month. Now I’m excited!

            For now, until next time, much love,

            Sparrow
 p.s. And don't forget to call on your Muse for help! (But please, don't use a dog whistle.)

Coming Soon!

Captain Val Throws a Creative Soiree with her Crew
Waiting for Wild and Why I'll Read Everything Cheryl Strayed Writes

How a Research Trip to Paris went Aground and What Saved It

How a Pulitzer Prize Winner Writes and Gobsmacked Blog Awards

“It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy.”

Steve Jobs (RIP fellow buccaneer)

 

Me Hearties!!

            What a few weeks it’s been. I’ve been to Wordstock, am creatin’ a writin’ workshop to present on Tuesday, and finished writin’ the last chapter of me novel. Ai! The last chapter. Nye, it’s not the end. I’ve plenty to do in the finishing stages (more on that in a later blog), but I have popped a celebratory champagne cork with my critique group. I’m an ardent believer in rewards at every stage!

A Pulitzer Prize Winner Writes by Hand?

            Most fascinating author at the Wordstock Literary Festival? Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan. She spoke about pushing the limit of form in fiction and working outside the three-act structure or hero’s journey models.

            And, ai, this Pulitzer Prize winner writes by hand. I be gobsmacked.

            She writes a first draft by hand and then enters the draft into her computer, not stopping to do any editing or changes. After she has the computer draft, she makes an outline of what she’s written with extensive notes. She is a “Seat of the Pantser” writer, or as I prefer to call it an “Wild and Organic” writer, writing whatever comes up in her first draft, not stopping so she doesn’t kill any good ideas or the flow of her imagination. She said she never writes from her own life.

            With her novel The Keep, she had this as a working title, which I found hilarious: A Short Bad Novel. Writers often have a working title for their novels as the best titles come from the writing of the beast.

            Her Pulitzer Prize winning novel Welcome to the Good Squad ended up echoing a concept album with sides A and B. Linked short stories that thematically dealt with the music producing world. When her publisher wanted her to decide what to put on the book—novel or short story collection—she said neither because she wanted the reader to make that distinction. It killed hardback sales. So on the paperback, she had them put “novel.”

            Jennifer discusses what inspired her and how the "novel" came about:

            At Wordstock, Jennifer, when asked by the moderator what she thought about meta-fiction and deconstruction devices that break the usual form of fiction, she made this point: breaking form has been going on forever. She used Middlemarch as an example, calling its form “flexible and odd.” I’d never thought of that before, but it be true.

            I wandered around the booths and tables at Wordstock, keeping me nose to the noticeable and that led to a number of tables that spawned tales for next time, so you’ll have to wait for those.

            I also met an old friend Diane Prokop who moved to Portland, and she’s now blogging reviews of books. She’ll be covering Anne Enright, Craig Thompson (graphic novelist), Justin Torres, Sebastian Barry (Irish playwright, novelist, and poet) and many more. Check out her site here.

Gobsmacked Awards & Paying Them Forward

            Avast! All me life, I’ve had an aversion to awards. Every award or honor seemed to be attached to someone else’s rules and an opposing force that sunk the happiness. I don’ mean ta be snivelin’, just honest. On the same day in high school just before being inducted into the National Honor Society, I was put on detention for going outside to my boyfriend’s car to tell him not to park where he was parking. He was there to attend the awards ceremony.
            When I was told I would be Valedictorian of our class, I lost both Valedictorian and Salutorian honors to two secretarial-prep students. I don’t belittle their academic status, only they didn’t take physics, trig, Latin, French, chemistry, et. al. for university track.

            Ai, I need to rid meself of this bilge and hold me pirate head up high when someone gives me an award, so I go forth with a new attitude and graciously accept both the Stylish Blogger Award and the Versatile Blogger Award.

Thanks, Julie!

            I don't know Julie Farrar of “Traveling Through …” personally, so receiving these awards from her is an even greater honor. After only ten months of writin’ me blog, I'm even more gobsmacked at the awards. About Gobsmacked she said, “I love her title. And I love her love of Paris and the Pacific Northwest. And I love her pirate talk.”

            Huzzah! to you Julie and a tip o’ me hat. And in accordance with the rules of receiving these awards, I offer seven doubloons of truth about me.

1) I don’t like black licorice or lima beans.

2) I’m a lifetime member of the American Legion Auxiliary because it means so much to my mom.

3) I am proudly a former back-to-the-land-style hippie who has now embraced what I call a bohemian French lifestyle.

4) Although I’m not into sports, I believe that sports keeps us from waging even more wars than we do.

5) I was trained in ballet even though I’m 5’9” and am not svelt. I also learned tap, jazz and baton twirling. When young, I marched and twirled baton in Memorial Day parades.

6) My first crush was on a boy named Punk. True!

7) I’m a Gemini with a Capricorn moon, Pisces rising, Venus in Cancer, Mars in Gemini and Jupiter in Aries. That means I’m grounded, am in my head a lot, and am tuned into the collective unconscious. The luck planet of Jupiter being in Aries gives me an edge.

To Those I Admire

            As a captain who recognizes the steadfast and necessary work of others, I hoist me flag to these five blogging captains and bestow the same awards on them, for style, because they each have their own, and for versatility because they are:

Captain Barbara Sullivan of the ship The Solace of Lowered Expectations.

            If we all sailed under her compassionate care and intelligent insight, we’d rid the world of numerous ailments. For those who need guidance, both in life and in writing.

Captain Kristin Lamb of the ship Warrior Writers.

            I’m certain Kristin has won these awards too many times to count, but I don’t care. She’s a buccaneer of the first order in the way she keeps every writer’s ship afloat. No shrinking violet or shaking in her boots, not this pirate! She gives us the necessary guidance to fly our flags as authors. 

Captain Lesley Howard of the ship The Art of Practice

            Lesley’s new blog deals with “a woman’s reflection on the chronic chaos” of writing and parenting. Ai! And she deftly ties the lessons of one to the other in ways only a true creative mind and heart can.

Captain Anne Schroeder of the ship Anne Schroeder’s Author Blog

            “A Baby Boomer writer's insights into the challenges of life as wife-mother-daughter-writer-dreamer-homemaker-reader-doer of all things. Humor and Inspiration.” She receives the awards for her bravery and honesty for reinventing herself.

Captain Samantha Stacia of the ship The Blooming Late Journal

            For having the Adams blood coursing through her pirate’s veins. We must never be afraid to speak up, to try to enlighten the world about serious matters while doing other work, such as Samantha’s good work of helping bloggers build their world.

Who Guessed My Muse’s Name?

Give a hearty Huzzah! to MaryJo Comins! She guessed the name of my muse: Sparrow.

            Sparrow, of course, is named after Jack Sparrow. Sparrow mimics Jack in being eccentric and loving the pirate life, although she’s walks more like Marianne Faithful than Keith Richards. Like all birds, she’s flighty. She hangs around the ship as long as there are no strong winds and she’s in the mood. In other words, I can’t always count on her, so I must carry on without her at times. But she’s incredibly creative and inspiring when she’s focused.

            Stay on board for in a few weeks I’ll be introducing The Buccaneer Award.

            Until then, Ahoy! Carry on, and remember to do honor to the pirate code. For more on that, take heed of Captain Jack’s Pirate Hats Fame. He and his family follow this code of honor: http://www.captjackspiratehats.com/apirateslife.htm

Unlike their raping and pillaging ancestors, these modern-day pirates are focused on giving back via art, entertainment, culture, charity, and living history.

Me very best to you, maties,

Captain Val

Coming Up!

NEXT WEEK! Interview with Jan Eliot, creator of Stone Soup—and it’s a good one!

What It Takes to be a Writer (besides a serious masochistic streak!)

When a Research Trip to Paris Goes Aground