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| Short stories and poems and novels, oh my! They are not the end all beat all of creative writing. They do however get the most press and at times esteem from practitioners and want-to-be’s alike. Try one then fail or fail to get the response you want and the world has ended as you know it. It stinks to fail or fail to measure up but that is why God made the world so diverse as there is always something else out there to put your creative energies toward with your writing. |
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I’m the first to admit that once I fail to measure up to my own expectations I want to collect my toys and go home. Nothing is more humiliating than failing. I can lose a game or a match and pretend to take it in stride but when I fail I feel the intense desire to hide.
My wife and I have been reading Tony Hillerman mysteries for the last several months before we turn out the light to sleep. His stories are entertaining and close to home for the both of us as we live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There is a specific style to his writing and though he can get away with run-on or incomplete sentences like they were going out of style he also has a way of bringing all the elements together. I did not grow up reading fiction. My reading list has always been filled with history books and that more than anything has affected my fictional style. But, I’m no Hillerman. I’m not even an H to the rest of his illerman. So what? Well, for someone trying to write a novel it is a big deal when I fall into comparison and wonder why I wasted all that time. And much time it has been. Years, decades even. It knows no limit because I’m still trying to write and finally edit it. I see the styles and wonder how to rescue what I’ve done from the pit of banality. If it were just this novel and my short stories I probably would have given up all pretense of calling myself a writer long ago.
By now some of you are pondering the next NaNoWriMo. Good luck to all who do. I again find myself unable to make the time this year due to several other commitments. Even if you fail to make it again do not succumb to the lie that you aren’t a writer. We see and read and watch those who are before us and it is natural to want what they have. What is a writer? Is it only to the published, the paid, or the famously paid?
I don’t have an answer either that would not stand up to much scrutiny. But, I know I’m a writer. I see scenes and hear dialogue. I see camera angles and shots. I have a video brain thanks to MTV and cable. I see movement and lines that bring about a point or stir up the plot. These are the things that I write down when motivated to.
Thanks to my years of directing church drama I have amassed a wealth of experience doing minimalist or street drama. It isn’t hard to do any more. Sometimes it comes harder than others but in general I’ve learned what works and what does not even if I did not grow up in theater. But, I found that I could write what I wanted to see performed and do it well enough to make an impact. There are plenty of drama ministry leaders who are constantly looking for material to perform. From this I was asked to form an acting troupe for a local community access cable show and to direct each episode from opening to credits. You may not know it, but video and television are highly scripted and organized endeavors. I use my writing and imagination in ways that bring me a lot more satisfaction than troubling over how my novel is going or not going as the case may be. Though the forms of stage and video scripts may be foreign to you they are not hard to learn with practice and they all have the same elements that make any story worth a read.
If you are struggling with one form pick up and try another. It is easy to find ones worth in the perception of a goal or end result. But that is never the case with anything. We are who we are because of what we choose to do and not what fills our mantle pieces or trophy cases. Billy Graham and Mother Theresa are too such examples of humility and generosity that made up their characters. Though both gave their all to acts of ministry it is principally how they lived their lives that history remembers them and not specifically what they did. We need to learn to judge ourselves by ourselves and not anyone else if we are to survive and create in this life. Many are those who give up too soon because they fail to measure up. My work in drama has kept me writing and trying different ways to be creative with it.
If you are failing to write good novels by what other means can you tell a story?
Has your own written journey take you through twists and turns?
phil1861
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Since I spent last week writing then directing video scripts I pulled a few scripts from our site. A script can be esoteric at times since as readers we are accustomed to having the world we read about painted for us in bright colors and audible descriptions. Try your own hand at a script and see if you like the style.
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Questions from the 9/27/06 NL
How would you describe your “art”?
Have you lost your art to the pursuit of “Art”? What is more important to you: to create or to be a great creator?
karabu
Submitted Comment:
Congrats on the great accomplishiment! How exciting.
Thanks! Finishing was almost anti-climactic. Once it was done I felt both relief and the onset of the stress of editing.
johnjohnny 
Submitted Comment:
Thanks for this newsletter. You have opened up a topic that is not far from the surface of many writers' minds.
I have been in an emotional balancing act with some of these ideas, paricularly that of whether I want to create for an intended market, or to create just for me, and for those souls who might "get" what I write about, which might be a much smaller audience than publishers would like.
Right now, I'm very new to this, and I write for me, and for those who might get me.
Seems like a sensible way to go about it.
billwilcox
Submitted Comment:
You are so wise Pookie Man, I could listen to your advice all day and never tire of your wit and style. WRITE ON!
I advise you send me all your gps and you will find happiness. 
Bradly
Submitted Comment:
Interesting that now that you are done how much you long to be starting again. I don't think I will ever 'go back and rework a story'. If I wrote something years ago, not likely since I am only 17, I would start something new. Maybe scrap the old idea, or keep the plot and start anew. That's just me. I am reminded of what Orson Scott Card once wrote, "Let the publisher read what you have written today, and move on."
He was writing about how you shouldn't keep a story and be constantly 'reworking' it, trying for perfection. It will never come!
This is true, perfection is an illusion but sometimes in a re-reading/writing of something a truth missed may leap out and demand a new alteration that might change the whole work; not for perfection but for truth. I hear you though and have been tempted to re-work portions that I thought should be done away with.
terru1
Submitted Comment:
Pookie: It's nice to see you accomplished completing your novel. My hope is you can get it published soon.
One day.
H Max Marius
Submitted Comment:
After reading your opening comment, I wondered if you have let anyone read what you have written. Having started off my own writing in the realms of fan fiction, I swiftly came across the term Beta-Reader. I have discovered that my creativity, quality, and satisfaction level with my writing all benefit from a talented beta.
I would call that a safe reader, someone whose opinion and trustworthiness I would feel comfortable with to ferret out plot points missed.
lmattlively
Submitted Comment:
Hello, feeding feedback, and what the jack is "hey express yourself or fail."
Jack is running very fast, "Who is in this pail and how does it apply to the bloody ledge I see?"
In fact it is just convention; now so that we are all on the same page with it's"...
Create is art, is creative, is a wholehearted vehicle to captivate and transform the shared moment in which we have...together for the time beings.
Much love, Lardo.
Johnny_mac
Submitted Comment:
Why do you and quite a few more on this writing site continue to address everyone as if they lived in your hemisphere. Where did summer go and mention of grade school, simply leaves me cold to any further comment you may have to share. The world does not revolve around the USA. From: Johnny_mac
Did I mention the world? I live in the USA as do most of the NL authors as do a large majority of site members so writing about what is around me and in common experience I use the terms most familiar. I did not expereince anything other than "grade school" as we call it nor any other season but "summer". If using those terms makes me United States centric I cannot help it.
monty31802
Submitted Comment:
Your first paragraph made this newsletter one I wanted to read, It is true whether you write Novels, or Poetry. I get into anything I want to read as wathing a movie and if it doesn't do that for me I change the channel, Great subject.
Monty |
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For Authors: October 25, 2006 Issue [#1340]
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