How Do You Grow?

/ Lisa / 6 Comments

I came across an interesting question a few days ago. How do you grow as a writer? In other words, how do you continue learning?

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A blurry photo of the one-room schoolhouse/church my grandmother taught at

The most common answers from writers typically include the following: writing groups, writer’s conferences, resource books, reading in your chosen field/genre, and support from other writers.

All of these are excellent ways to continue to improve. All of them, with the exception of conferences, have been beneficial to me personally. But of course I have to add to the list.

Editing teaches me a great deal. When I read what others write, as their editor, I have to take apart why something works and why it doesn’t. If I’m going to tell a writer something may not be working, I have to be prepared to show why not, and what can be done. This isn’t, by the way, changing the writer’s voice, but the underlying structure. I learn from this job, and when I go back to my writing, I pick out the places where I’ve done the same thing I just critiqued. Without the gift of editing for someone else, I wouldn’t see so clearly in my words. Not that I catch all the mistakes. I have an editor for that!

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A mistake I learned from

Which brings me to the next point. When I send something off to my editor and it comes back all marked up, I know I’m going to learn a great deal. I may not be thrilled at first, but when I’m done the piece is much better and I’ll hopefully remember the lessons for the next time.

I also learn from talking to writers and readers at book events. What a great resource readers are! Especially when they give you honest feedback or when they tell you the part that resonated for them, or the part that dragged. I immediately want to read the section they refer to in order to find out why they reacted that way. I don’t always change anything because that same section, obviously, will get a multitude of different responses. But I’ll study the section to find out why. If nothing else, I can use that later to get a response I want.

Meeting regularly with my close writer friends is another way I learn, for obvious reasons. That works just like a writer’s group does. I prefer the one-on-one meeting, or with maybe three or four, rather than a large group. It’s easier to share in a more intimate setting.

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The right intimate setting or ambience to learn in

I’ve recently signed up for an on-line course on character development that I hope to learn from. The last attempt, signing up for an on-line university course, was a dismal failure with no visible presence by professors or instructors. I’m hoping this course will be more fruitful.

This blog teaches in a small way because it makes me struggle to come up with something to talk about. I mean, everything that can be said about writing has been said already, and much better. So the blog forces me to write somewhat regularly, to think about what I want to say, and to limit the word count so I don’t write a novel.

People watching teaches me a great deal. Overheard conversations, watching body-language, and studying facial expressions gives me information for character development. I watch faces and ask myself how I would describe that nose, those eyebrows, that smile. Watching actors and actresses in movies also helps me figure out how to describe emotion without words.

I know there are many more things that teach me but if I keep going the blog post will become that novel. So how do you learn, no matter what your art form is? How do you keep learning, keep stretching, keep improving? I’d love to learn what works for you.

Composing Dialog Or Just Nuts?

/ Lisa / 2 Comments

Our mail was supposed to be forwarded and the post office sent it all back instead. I told my husband I’d call them to complain.

I then went to bed and couldn’t sleep because of all the dialog I was busy composing. Not just dialog but whole scenes. I’ll say this, then she’ll say that, and then I’ll…and in every instance my words were calm, dignified, witty, and cutting. And then I thought, ‘this might make a blog post’ and began composing. It took forever to fall asleep and now I don’t remember any details of what I composed.

The same thing happens when out in public people watching. I’ll overhear or see a conversation and immediately think, ‘what if this happened instead…’ and the scenes start running through my brain. For example, getting coffee recently. A man in a big truck flirting with the barista. I sat there waiting, thinking, what if she thinks the guy’s creepy? What if she has a crush on him? The scenes become either a romance movie or an action film depending on my mood. Eventually, by the way, real dialog came out of my mouth. ‘Hey! I’m here in a big truck, too. Can I get service?’

This got me wondering if everyone’s mind works like that. So this morning I asked a friend what she would think if I asked her to call the post office and complain.

‘That I have to call the post office and complain. Maybe put a reminder to call in my phone.’

‘That’s it?’

‘What else is there?’

Well, let’s see. There are important variables of dialog where you’ll be calm, dignified, witty, and cutting.

I think everyone has those moments hours after a confrontation where you think ‘I should have said…!’ But this is more about a brain where there’s constant scenes being created and flowing. Some make it into books. Some snippets of dialog come out of character’s mouths. That dreaming sort of scene/dialog sequence is going on all the time. It makes me wonder if this is typical for writers or if non-writers do the same thing.

In reality, dialog is far different. I called the post office.

I was not calm, dignified, witty, or cutting.

Sick Humor

/ Lisa / 2 Comments

I’ve struggled to come up with a blog post about writing while my brain is briefly occupied with other matters. So I thought I’d write about what is on my mind.

I’ve joked around lately about being an expert barfer. Radiation treatments and anti-nausea pills have brought that home. I’m actually serious.

When I was pregnant the doctor said I was the only patient he’d ever had who got tendonitis in their feet from kneeling so much in front of the toilet.

When I was an EMT I could work on a patient, grab up the handy little waste basket, and go back to work without the patient (and sometimes without the paramedic or driver) knowing anything gross had just happened.

Over the past year I’ve provided hilarious moments for doctors and staff as they try to teach me to gargle without barfing. I can’t gargle. It’s unnatural. They want me to gargle numbing medication so I can have endoscopes. They now tell me that swallowing is okay, too. Oh, and they have to give me a double dose of the amnesia anesthetic because – you guessed it – even when I’m unconscious I’m busy.

And let’s not forget sympathy. I feel so sorry for someone else barfing, that I have to keep them company. The dogs in particular. And especially while trying to clean up a dog that’s rolled in dead salmon. But if the dog does something on the rug, I have two options. Join in as I clean. Or, stare at the wall as I drop paper towels in the vicinity, hoping to hit the target, and then leaving the neatly covered bit for the husband.

The husband told me once that I was a ‘dainty barfer’. I had no idea what he was talking about until the first time he got sick in our life together. My god, that man is a pro. I swear he puts his whole head inside to make it echo. You could be down below in town miles away and know what he’s doing.

I sympathized.

I know blog posts are supposed to have photos so people read them. But I don’t believe in ‘selfies’. Especially when I’m being dainty.

And now I’m going to get in the truck for the drive to work. With ginger tea, handy little barf bags from the doctor, and a roll of paper towels.

Yep, I can barf and drive at the same time.