Personal History: Where We Come From and How It Informs Our Writing

When my first novel was published, the most common question I got was:  Is this autobiographical?  How much of your life is in this book?

I don't know why readers, and interviewers, wonder about that.  Maybe they are trying to see the writer behind the words, align the real life with the made-up one.  I think the deeper question might be:  Where did you get your stuff?  where did these ideas come from?

I couldn't match myself with any of my characters, truthfully.  They were in their late teens, for one.  I barely remember those years.  Glad not to.  They were falling in love for the first time.  I do remember some of that.  One was a championship waterskiier--not me, for sure--and the other was a budding artist--yes, some of that is in my life too.  The location was real, a place I'd spent many summers.  But the story taking place on that lake--the name of the lake, too--was completely made up.

I saw their disappointment when I said this.  No, it's not my life, my history.  But the question made me think.

There was a lot of me in that story, even if the facts weren't from my life.  There was emotional truth, things I value and believe.  Like helping others and doing the right thing.  Like pain and heartache and taking risks.  Like trying to figure out your place in the world, and if you even have one.  And relationships too, echoed some of my personal history.  I grew up with a talented but frustrated artist for a father, someone I loved but didn't get close to until near his death.  My mother was equally talented--and she, like the fictional mother in my novel, flew small planes for many years.  I'd even lost a sibling unexpectedly, as Molly, my heroine, almost did when her brother had his boating accident. 

So, if I tallied up the similarities of emotional truth, there were quite a few.    I had a better answer for those questions.  Yes, there is much of me in this book, even though it never happened to me.  It's a collage of who I am, how my personal history informs my writing.

Why We Get Stuck as Writers
I remember when I was working on the novel.  I got stuck.  A writing friend said to go back to myself, rather than to my characters.  "Mine who you are," she said.  I imagined myself a character in a novel (and sometimes, don't we all feel like one!), with values and beliefs, preferences and fears, things I knew and things I didn't know.  Not the facts of where I grew up, but what I learned about mind, heart, and life in general because of this place, this family, my education, culture, religion, and friends.  From my travels and the books I read.

I realize my effort to make something completely apart from myself was exactly why I was stuck just then in my writing practice.

So I began to reacquaint myself with my own personal history.  Not the facts, but the truths of it.

Writers can get stuck for a lot of reasons.  But a big one for me is not bringing myself into my own writing.  I have to acknowledge and use my personal history.  Otherwise my writing is unsatisfying, and I start to avoid it. 

I'm not talking about the facts of your history, although that will certainly feature in many books.  But don't let the facts get in the way of the truth.  

This week's exercise is what I used to say hello to myself again.  It enriched the writing I did in all the months that followed.  I've adapted it from many sources, but I want to give a particular shout-out to life coach Nancy Okerlund, author of Introverts at Ease and the e-newletter, Introvert Energy.

This Week's Writing Exercise
1.  Spend a few days listing your values.  Focus on the top ten.  Maybe you'd list "being a good neighbor," "order and beauty," "honoring diversity," "having enough money," or "solitude."

2.  Sit with these, maybe even discuss them with a non-critical friend who knows you well.  You're trying to come up with a picture of yourself.  What you believe is most important.

3.  Finally, consider how these values appear in your book.  Are they present at all?  The story may have characters who demonstrate the opposite of your values--that's still having values present in your story, especially if the character realizes some truth by the end.

4.  If you're stuck with your writing, see if placing one of your values into a chapter might make a difference. 

Getting Started Again: Writers' Tips for When You're Stuck

I get stuck with my writing regularly.  Don't you?  I stop for day or two or six, and I have a terrible time getting started again. 

Over the years, despite thinking I was the only one, I've learned that almost everyone who writes, professional or not, faces this stall-out occasionally. 

What a relief!  I was convinced I lacked self-discipline, my story was a poor excuse for literature and contained no inspiration to keep me going, I was insane to think I had time to waste with spec writing, or I didn't have the emotional or spiritual stamina to write deep stuff.

Actually, stall-outs are just time-outs, and lots of good processing happens.  You think about your story, whether it's going where you want.  Whether it's rushed or bloated and where.  You mull over how to solve certain problems in the chapters.  Time-outs are because you ARE working on your writing.

But getting started again--that's another story.

Once you learn that time-outs can be OK, you still have to know when to get back to work.  Otherwise, it becomes procrastination.  And we all know all about that.

Tip #1:  Making a Good Habit
Most pros say, "Just start."  It's true, that's the solution.  Sit down, open the document, type something.  Or pick up the pen and begin describing what you see.

But most of us don't believe it's that simple.  We have a thousand reasons we're not ready to start again.  Truthfully, we dread opening that document because of what horrors (bad writing) it could reveal.

A routine helps this.  Just like going to the gym.  Or yoga class.  How many bound eagerly toward those, day after day?  I thought so.  Me neither.  But once I'm there, I love it.  So, having a yoga class to get to by a certain time helps me bypass the excuses.  Writing routines do the same thing. 

In my online classes, students post every Monday morning.  If they buy into the beauty of this simple requirement, the routine aids them.  Even if they don't remember until Sunday night, they still do some writing.  Peer pressure from their small group--and me.  It becomes a positive habit and the brain and body cooperate.  It's almost as if we fall into a happy groove.

When there's no outside reason to write, nobody to be accountable to, it's harder.  I've set up artificial deadlines for myself.  An email agreement with another writer or group.  That works.  As long as someone cares, I am more likely to overcome my own resistance and get my own writing engine cranking again.

I write more, and more often, when I have a routine.

Tip #2:  Linkage
There's a cool technique to get started fast.  It's called linkage.  Many pro writers use it.  It's astonishingly simple but it works.

It goes like this:  stop in the middle of a sentence.  When you are finished writing for that day, be sure to stop in the middle of a sentence.

This causes great discomfort for the linear mind.  It loves to finish things (at least mine does) and will do everything to get you to complete that sentence.  Because you are trying linkage, you won't.  So the next morning, the linear mind will be very itchy and beg you to get back to the writing, just to finish that link.  So you do, and of course you write more.

Good trick.  Works every time.

Tip #3:  Brainstorming List
In my online book-writing classes, we use a brainstorming list.  We create this list early in the twelve-week course.  It's simply a list of possible prompts, possible "islands" or scenes, possible ideas for the book. 

Each writing session, you pick one.  You tell yourself you'll write for 10 minutes, that's all, about anything to do with that item on the list.

Tip #4:  Questions List
This works in a similar way to the Brainstorming List but it's especially great when you're deep in deconstruction mode and feel stumped about new ideas.  Use your creative imagination by making a list of 10-15 questions about your book.  Any question is fair game.  Silly or serious.

I usually have big ones--"How can I solve the unbelievable ending?"--as well as small ones--"What's the real significance of Molly's necklace?"  Make your list without censoring anything.

Like with the Brainstorming List, pick a question.  But instead of writing, let it roll around inside for a few hours.  Especially overnight.  Seems like we can dream the answer, the new ideas.  You may wake up with great ones.  I often do!

Important:  form the questions as actual questions.  Not "I need to know how to end this $%#& book."  But "What's a way I can end this book?" or "Book, how do you want to end?"

The form of an actual question makes this tip work.

An additional tip:  Some pros end their daily writing session by jotting down 3-4 questions about the day's writing or the next day's concerns.  They use the overnight to let the questions percolate. 

Tip #5:  Take a VERY Small Step
For years I used Anne Lamott's idea of the small empty photo frame on my desk.  The opening was only 2 inches wide.  I told myself I only had to write as many words as would fit inside.  About 25 words.  Lamott gives this idea in her wonderful book on writing, Bird by Bird.

It really worked.  What's 25 words?  About 5 minutes of scribbling.  And just enough to trick myself into writing more.  I'd look up, an hour had gone by.  Woo-hoo.  

I was back in the saddle.  Unstuck and into my book again!  One small step to fool the Inner Critic, one giant step back into my writing life. 

Winter Doldrums? Ten Fun Exercises to Get Going on Your Writing Again!

If you have the book blahs this week, if the Inner Critic is loud in your ear and heavy on your shoulder, try one of these favorite jump-starters.  

 

They all work.  

 

Most take ten minutes or less--about the time it takes to walk into Starbucks and order a latte. 

Ten Fun Exercises

1.  Write down your book's working title.  Play with this, have fun.  For inspiration, browse a bookstore or your home library shelves.  You'll begin to feel more focused.

2.  Write five reasons you're writing this book.   You'll remember your passion for the topic, place, characters, or plot.

3.  Write down your chapter titles--even if you're not sure you'll have chapter titles.  You'll tap into the vision of the bigger project.

4.  Make up three blurbs for your back cover.  Imagine asking one of your favorite reviewers or writers to do this--and they say yes.  What might they say?  You'll start realizing this book is worth praise!

5.  Design your book cover.  Use a pen and paper, a graphics program, or go for it with Photoshop.  What colors, designs, images best express your book?  Seeing your book cover mock-up will inspire you.

6.   Get out file folders or open Scrivener or another organizing software.  Create sections for your book--start with the three acts, or major divisions.  Then move into chapters, then into scenes or islands.  Gather your research, ideas, and writing into these sections.  You'll feel very organized! 

7.  Write down three ways your book might affect someone's life.  Would it get them moving on a change?  Would it inspire them or help them know they're not alone?  Would it present new ideas and education?  Would it carry them into a wonderful story?  You'll get more in touch with your reader, who can support you through the journey of writing a book.

8.  Write your premise statement.  See the post below from February 7 for how to.  You'll have an instant "elevator speech" or agent pitch.

9.  If you've been working on this for a while, print out everything you have so far.  You'll be amazed at how much there is--and how far you've come since you started.

10.  Email three writing friends.  Ask them to each tell you one thing they absolutely love about your writing.  Print these out and post them on your writing wall.  You'll remind yourself that you have support and you'll keep going!

What Do You Love about Your Book? A Simple Writing Exercise to Fall in Love with Your Creativity Again

I recently received a wealth of feedback on my novel revision.  I sought this, from other published writers and good readers.  I'd worked hard to get to the point where my manuscript was ready for another round.

The comments came in, and they were excellent.  My readers took time to really think about the story, especially its complicated structure.  Where did they fall into the "dream" of the book?  Where did they fall out, get distracted or confused?  I took all the pages, the emails, and I made a master list.  These were the areas to look at more closely.  Where I hadn't quite delivered what I wanted.

Of course, with feedback, especially feedback in quantity, there are some rules to keep your sanity.  Extreme likes or dislikes are suspect.  Opposing views cancel each other out.  You look for repeating comments.  What many people noticed is often worth your notice.

Read more »

Writing a Premise Statement for Your Book: Inner and Outer Story Synopsis and Why It Helps Get You Published

Imagine receiving 300-400 manuscript queries--each week!  Flooding your inbox.  Some weeks, even more.   

Welcome to the life of agents.  And their hired assistants who sort through queries to find the lucky few that stand out.  Maybe you'd like it to be yours?  What would you have to do, to make that a possibility?

Writers working on their first book may not even know what a query is.  It's a short, one-page letter (via email, often) that presents your book in the most engaging way.  It goes like this:  one paragraph about your book, one about your credentials for writing it, one about why you chose to solicit this particular agent.  It's brief, it's punchy, it's eye-catching. 

At least, that's the plan.

How do you start writing a good query? 

With a premise statement, also called a tag line or pitch or elevator speech.  A quick synopsis of your book's inner and outer story.

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Carrie and Alton Barron on "The Creativity Cure"--An Interview with Two Clinicians about Their New Book

Carrie and Alton Barron are two physicians, well known in their respective fields of psychiatry and orthopedic medicine.  Carrie is on the faculty of Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and Aldon is recent past president of the New York Society for Surgery of the Hand and a long-time orthopedic surgeon for the NY Philharmonic Orchestra.  I had the pleasure of meeting Carrie when she began attending writing classes with me at the Hudson Valley Writers' Center in New York's Westchester County--and Alton some months later.  Passionate about creativity and its power for healing, their new book, The Creativity Cure (Scribners, 2012), is garnering rave reviews. 

This week, they share some of the process of writing a nonfiction book, staying passionate about their subject during the long journey, and what happens when it gets published.

When did you begin writing this book?  What were the stumbling points and the Ah-ha! moments that you remember?

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Check Out The Write Life's List of 100 Best Websites for Writers--We're Included!

This is one of the best collections of writing websites I've seen.  Spend some time enjoying it.  (We're thrilled to be included.  Some heavy hitters in this line up and lots of excellent and inspiring stuff.) 

Click here to visit.

How Writers Reveal a Character through "Container"--The Environment of a Story

A memoirist was trying to write about the sadness she felt at her father’s death.  Her writer’s group gave her unexpected feedback:  while it was clear she was very sad, when they heard her speak of his death, her feelings on the page were abstract, hard to really grasp. 

“They don’t feel any of the sadness I feel,” she told me.  She cried when she wrote, so this confused her.  

When I read the chapter in our next online class together, I too noticed how distant the writing felt.  My take-away was an almost-intellectual sorrow, a wistfulness, rather than any strong emotion.

A very intelligent woman, this writer worked as a psychologist.  She knew people, she understood how they ticked.  But she hid her “character,” herself, behind her thoughtful prose, rather than revealing it. 

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Patterns of Change--How Do You Create Strong Conflict in Your Fiction or Memoir?

Most stories foster change.  Either change in the situation, in the character or narrator, or in the reader and their understanding of a topic.

Most writers know that change in story comes from conflict.  Conflict is a dilemma presented to a person and it forces action.  It makes a person realize a truth, right a wrong, change behavior or thoughts, move to a new city or job or relationship, do something different. 

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Making Your Own Book Trailer--Guest Blog by Authors Juliann Rich and Aren Sabers

You've seen them:  short, sassy movies, using imagery, themes or even text from a soon-to-be-published book.  A moving visual image to entice you--the reader--to purchase that book.  

Book trailers have come out in the last decade.  From novelty item to common device used by publishers and authors to pique interest, generate web presence and platform.  Even used in school classrooms by teachers to entice reluctant readers or prompt discussion, designed by students as part of arts-and-communications curricula.

Are you excited about making a book trailer?  Authors Juliann Rich and Aren Sabers, creators of their own successful book trailers, share their best tips in this guest blog.  Their websites and trailers are listed at the end of their post--be sure to check them out.  Fun, entertaining, and moving--and hopefully offering excellent reasons to read their new books!

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