Writing

A Brain-based Interview on Writing & Creativity

By on February 15, 2016   /   For Writers, Writing  

I needed to write another MUF post. I sat in front of my computer, staring at the screen. Time was tight. Inspiration limited. Then my brain stepped in to save the day.

In a gloriously generous gesture, my brain volunteered to conduct an interview with a wide variety of sources, tapping into their collective wisdom about writing and creativity. When I accused my brain of simply pulling together a random sampling of writing quotes and miscellaneous ramblings, it assured me this was not the case. It then provided the following transcript from the interview.

* * * * *

MY BRAIN: I sure do spend a lot of time staring out the window when I’m supposed to be writing. Is that okay?

ALBERT EINSTEIN: “Creativity is the residue of wasted time.”

MY BRAIN: Thanks, Al. I guess that sitting-and-starting thing is okay then. But even once I get something written, it always needs so much more work. . . .

ROBERT CORMIER: “The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.”

SCOTT ADAMS: “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”

MY BRAIN: That’s really great! I’m quickly gaining insights. This is truly—

STEPHEN KING: “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”

MY BRAIN: Oh. Sorry, Mr. King. I’d even say I’m really sorry, but I suppose that would only serve to quicken my journey down the road to hell. Anyway, what about plot? I want to make it so my readers feel compelled to keep going.

BLAKE CROUCH: “Create an expectation in the readers for what’s going to happen next (let them think they’re ahead of the author) and then do something completely different.”

WILLIAM ARCHER: “Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty.”

KENDRA ELLIOT: “Give the characters sucky and suckier choices.”

MY BRAIN: That makes sense. . . .

MAX ALLAN COLLINS: “Suspense only works if we care about the characters. An incredibly dangerous situation involving a character we care little for is rather a waste of the imagination.”

MY BRAIN: I’ll keep that in mind, too. . . . This writing thing is hard work, but it feels like my story idea is coming together now! Of course, once it’s done, I know I’ll have to revise. And revision sucks. Any advice on how I should approach that part of the writing process?

ELIE WIESEL: “Writing is not like painting where you add. It is not what you put on the canvas that the reader sees. Writing is more like a sculpture where you remove, you eliminate in order to make the work visible. Even those pages you remove somehow remain.”

MARK TWAIN: “Substitute damn every time you’re inclined to write very; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”

ELMORE LEONARD: “I try to leave out the parts that people skip.”

MY BRAIN: Well, I guess that does it. Thanks again, everyone, for all of your help! Now, if anyone else has a writing quote or personal insight to share, I sure do hope they post it in the comments below. . . .

T. P. Jagger The 3-Minute Writing TeacherAlong with his MUF posts, T. P. Jagger can be found at www.tpjagger.com, where he provides brief how-to writing-tip videos as The 3-Minute Writing Teacher plus original, free readers’ theater scripts for middle-grade teachers. He also has even more readers’ theater scripts available at Readers’ Theater Fast and Funny Fluency. For T. P.’s 10-lesson, video-based creative writing course, check him out on Curious.com.

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What Would Abe Read?

By on February 12, 2016   /   Book Lists, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers, Nonfiction, Writing  

AbeReadsHis neighbors used to say that Abraham Lincoln loved to read, and would walk for miles to borrow a book. For having so little formal education, our 16th president was eloquent in both his writing and speeches, no doubt partly due to being such a fervent reader. We know Abraham Lincoln was a lover of great literature. But which books entertained him? What did he read for “fun?”

Abe’s own words show how much value he placed on reading: “A capacity, and taste, for reading, gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the key, or one of the keys, to the already solved problems. And not only so. It gives a relish, and facility, for successfully pursuing the [yet] unsolved ones.”

So without further ado, lets take a look into Abe’s library.  How many of these books have you read? (I was thrilled to see Jane Austen listed, since in my opinion, no library is complete without her.) This list is only a small sampling of popular works the president is believed to have enjoyed, extracted from Robert Bray’s What Abraham Lincoln Read. Lincoln also loved poetry, plays, humorous sketches, history, biographies, and philosophical works.

pride-and-prejudice-1946Aesop’s Fables

The Arabian Nights

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Shirley by Charlotte Bronte

Artemus Ward, His Book  by Charles F. Brown

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

The Lascover1t of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens (another of my favorites)

Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

“The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read.” Abe Lincoln

Can’t get enough of literary-loving Lincoln? Check out this list of the 25 best books about his life. Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Looking for more ways to celebrate Lincoln’s birthday? Check out this MUF post, Living Lincoln’s Words, by Katherine Schlick Noe.

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Finding Writing Inspiration through the Five Senses

By on January 20, 2016   /   Fiction, For Writers, Writing  

I’m starting to think about a new book. It’s hazy now, like shapes in the fog, but it’s getting closer. I am not an outliner, so I have to feel my way through that fog, stumbling in a direction that I hope is right. I find that the more I can immerse myself in the world of the story, the quicker it comes. Here are some of the tricks I’ve used; I would love to hear yours.

tree trunk

  1. Sight

Like many writers, I gather images to inspire me. I’ve got a framed photo of a giant tree on my writing desk, a remnant of my first book. I have pictures of people who look like the people in my books saved in my Scrivener files, as well as pictures of the settings, animals, even particular pieces of furniture. Pinterest is great for this. For those on Twitter, the hashtag #novelaesthetics is really fun.

rufus wainwright

  1. Sound

I know that a book is coming closer when I start gathering songs for a new playlist. Rufus Wainwright’s Hallelujah instantly transports me to the world of my first book. I don’t listen to the playlist when I’m actually writing (too distracting), but when I’m thinking about the book, on a run or on a drive, it helps me get in the zone.

big red

  1. Smell

Much of my first book takes place in the woods, so when I was hiking, I would try to note and hold onto the smells—the pine, the earth, the dew. I also, though, am an inveterate gum chewer, and I have assigned a different type of gum to my different works in progress. I’m chewing a lot of Big Red these days. If I open a pack anywhere in the world, I immediately think about my work in progress.

biscuit dough

  1. Taste

The taste of the gum also helps me. The fiery, cinnamon taste of Big Red puts me in the right frame of mind for the quick and snappy soccer players I’m writing. The inspiration goes the other way, too. I remember writing one biscuit-baking scene and getting so hungry that I had to go bake some myself. The kids were thrilled to wake up to fresh biscuits on a school day.

oysters

  1. Touch

Going to the woods also helped me get into the tactile nature of the woods. I would feel the bumpy bark, shuffle through the pine needles, note the hot sun on the back of my neck. For the book that is coming, I recently brought an oyster shell home from a canoeing trip. Something about the sleek, iridescent ridges spoke to me. It feels right in my hands, though I don’t know yet how it fits in with my forming story. I can’t wait to find out.

Katharine Manning is a middle grade writer. Her books are fueled by cherry blow pops, as well as Big Red. She had six cavities the first time she went to the dentist, but has since learned much better dental hygiene. You can find her online at www.katharinemanning.com or through her book blog, www.kidbooklist.com. On Twitter, she’s @SuperKate.

 

 

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