Emotional Senses

Over Memorial Day, my sister and her husband invited us to go to a park with them for some roasted hot dogs.  We were excited because it was finally warm enough that was an option!

When we got there, we started the fire, and I’ll admit that the little girl in me did a giddy dance.  There’s something about campouts and smores and just sitting around the fire that brings back the best of memories.  Everything from Family Reunions to Girls’ Camps to activities with friends in high school.

Picture taken by me

Sure the burning of the fire was a great visual, but that wasn’t what triggered the happy feelings.  It was the smell.  I’m a sucker for the smell of campfire.  Random, I know.  When we got home, my husband wanted to shower right away because he thought we stunk.  I wanted to bask in the smell for just a bit longer.

When writing, there’s the tendency to focus on sights.  After all, most of us are very visual learners.  I tend to remember faces much better than I remember names.  (Okay, maybe not just a tendency.  I can’t remember names at all.)  There’s a reason why teachers use chalkboards, whiteboards and PowerPoint Presentations.  We all want to see it for ourselves.

But is there any sight that can evolve the same memories and emotions as a smell?  In my own humble opinion (and feel free to disagree), I think that smell and taste are the two most emotional of the senses.

Remember the scene in the Parent Trap?  The really old one?  The first time Susan meets her grandfather, she smells him.  Then she says, “All my life, when I’m quite grown-up, I will always remember my grandfather and how he smelled of tobacco and peppermint.”

In one of my favorite animated movies, Anastasia can’t remember anything about her past.  At least, she can’t until she catches a whiff of her grandmother’s perfume.  The smell is enough to open up the gates.

I’ve been working on using more smells in my writing.  Smells that the readers will know.  Ones that could set the scene better than if I described every piece of furniture. 

What’s your favorite smell?

What I Wish I Knew When I Started

Recently, I’ve been thinking back.  Maybe I’m just in a nostalgic mood, but I’ve been wondering about the me from ten years ago.  What would she think of me now?  And what would I tell her, if I had the chance?

There’s been so many paths that I’ve taken that I never imagined existed when I was a teenager. 

To answer the first question, I think fifteen year old me would be amazed by who I was today.  I’ve overcome so many fears, experienced so many new things, taken so many risks.

And that would be my biggest advice to the younger version of me.  Don’t be afraid to take those risks.  Don’t be afraid of pain.  Because without that, I would never be who I am today.  Those growing moments are the moments that I cherish more than the easy times.

In the writing sense, there are so many things I wish I could tell myself.  Things I wish that I’d known when I first started writing.

Me from many years ago

1.       First drafts.

 It’s the one area where you can take words and just put them together on paper.  There’s always the chance to improve, the revise, to rewrite.  But without that first draft, there’s nothing to build on.  Get the words on the page.  Get the story out.  The first draft is one of the greatest things that a writer can create because once it’s finished, it’s written.

2.       Writing is harder than it looks.

 Can I count the number of novels that I’ve never finished?  No.  Having an idea is just the first step.  The most exciting step, admittedly, but the steam runs out first.  It takes determination, perseverance and just a little bit of crazy.  But there’s nothing like actually finishing a draft.  Knowing that you were able to focus for just long enough to create something.

3.       Practice, Practice, Practice. 

One improves writing by writing.  Practicing putting sentences together, putting thoughts one after another on a page.  You can’t just learn that by reading a book or taking a class.  It’s a matter of doing it yourself and putting what you learn to use.  It’s like anything else you want to learn.  If you want to play the piano, practice.  If you want to be able to place a folley, practice.  Never stop practicing.

This will be continued next week!  What kind of advice would you tell your writer self from ten years ago?

Practice, Practice, Practice

I’ve been writing for a while.  My first ‘official’ novel was written in high school, once I finally figured out the value of outlining and preplanning.  It took me almost three months to write, but I was incredibly proud of myself.  After two or three ‘drafts’ of that novel, which consisted of mostly just fixing the spelling, I moved to my second novel, though that one was never finished. 

When I got to college, I left all of my writing at home and focused on ‘real life’ until I realized that the more I ignored my writing, the harder it was for me to focus on my studies.  And nursing is not a field that you don’t want to be able to focus in.  My Junior year, I went back home, grabbed my binders and started reading through that first novel that I’d written.  To my surprise, it was awful.  Terrible.  I cringed at how juvenile it sounded. 

I spent most of my Junior year, and the summer after revising the novel.  I made some pretty substantial chances, and it ended up with 35,000 more words and a much more satisfying ending.  But it still didn’t feel like enough.  So I went back and revised that.  And then I revised again.  I read books on how to write, and I began to branch out, explore on the internet to see what was available.  I found critique partners who were willing to work with me, despite my inexperience. 

After a year of revising that first novel, another idea came to my mind.  I tried to follow the same procedure, using months to plan and prepare, but this story took me by surprise and after just a week of planning, I wrote the entire novel during the last month of my Senior year.  I was amazed by how much better this novel was than the first one.  It’s not me bragging, I had just learned enough skills that this draft was almost to par with draft number 4 or 5 of the first novel.

I’ve found, after years and years of writing, that I’m a reviser at heart.  I don’t mind taking my novels and tearing them apart, just as long as I know that it will be better.  I just finished a major revision of my Blue WIP, probably one of the only ones where I was dissatisfied with how it turned out after I finished the first draft. 

Now that I’ve finished with that revision, I went back to my NaNo novel, ready to tear it apart.  Last week, I went through the entire thing, doing a quick read to decide what major changes needed to be made.  To my surprise, this novel was solid.  Yes, there will be revisions, but nothing as drastic as the first 4 novels that I’d written.  The practice, and the dedication that I’d shown to my writing had finally started to show.

Growing up, I took piano lessons.  And I believe that I had some talent.  But years and years of half-practicing and not dedicating myself to the craft has decreased that talent somewhat.  At least, that’s how I feel.  Now that I live on my own, and now that I understand the value of practice, I actually have improved much more than I did when I took lessons.  It’s just a matter of focusing and practicing on a regular basis.

Picture taken by me

Writing is the same way.  No matter how much talent a person has, there’s always something more to learn.  I heard once that the first million words are just practice.  As I went through all of the novels, half-novels and rewrites that I’d done, I realized how much that’s true.  My NaNo novel was probably the novel where I surpassed that number.  (If not before). 

Does that mean I’m done?  Everything I write will be gold?  Not in the least.  But it does mean that I’ve learned, I’ve improved and I’m going to keep improving.

Children in Literature

As a writer, I’ve experimented with many different types of genres and writing styles.  Through all of this writing, I’ve found a writing style that feels the most natural to me, something that I enjoy writing and that I feel I do well.

I love writing about children.  Growing up, I was around a lot of kids.  I had four younger siblings, and I began babysitting at age ten.  My parents had me take a babysitting class at the hospital where I learned how to deal with children of all types and ages, as well as how to keep them safe.  I have over thirty younger cousins that I love to spend time with.

There’s something about the innocence and the wonder of a child that I love to explore.  Children have a way of looking at the world that reminds all of us that life isn’t always so bleak.  Even in their worst moments, I’ve seen them pull through and keep going. 

I love reading about children as well, though I can honestly say that there are a lot of books where I don’t feel like the writer completely has the right ‘voice’ when it comes to a child.  So here’s a few things that I really try to focus on.

Photo taken and edited by me

1. Children say what’s on their mind.  They don’t say “Kids Say the Darndest Things” for nothing.  After years and years of dealing with children: babysitting, teaching, etc, I’ve learned that to be true.  You never know what children will say and they can always keep you laughing.

2. Children are naturally curious.  Nothing escapes their attention, and they’re not going to let something go if they really want to know the answer.  Have you ever been followed by a child who asks “Why?” all day?  They’re natural learners.

3. Children absorb whatever they hear.  Never assume that they aren’t listening.  Even if they don’t completely understand, they’re going to remember how they feel when they heard you.  That’s especially true when a person loses their temper, says something without thinking or tells a lie.  Children won’t forget. 

4. Children speak and think simply.  They’re not going to always put all of the facts together.  Don’t assume that they’re going to sense that people are in love or that something’s wrong.  They’re going to take things at face value, they won’t always dig deeper. 

Children are the ones who are beginning their journey.  Their slate is new and ready to be written on.  Maybe that’s why I love telling their stories.  There’s so much that’s still going to happen for them, and I get to experience it with them.

What about you?  Any other attributes about children that you’ve noticed?

Writers are Readers

Growing up, my closest friends were books.  Or maybe my closest friends were in books.  Either way, I was almost never far away from a book.  When we went to Niagara Falls as a family, I read Sense and Sensibility and A Tale of Two Cities on that trip.  Every time we stood in line, every time we waited for a meal, I pulled out a book. 

Every day after school, the first thing I would do is pick up a book and read.  I had a bookshelf full of books and a basket of books underneath my bed. 

I really became the person I am because of the books I’ve read.  But as I grew up, went to school, started working, I didn’t have as much time to read.  Life got in the way, and I think my writing suffered from it.  I never stopped writing, but I did have the tendency to put reading on hold.  I still went to the library, picked out a few books, but not as frequently as before.

For Christmas, I received a tablet, and I use it for reading.  Now, I can buy books for a lower price and carry them around in a pocket.  I love the convenience, but at the same time, I miss the feel of books and turning pages.  Though my sagging bookshelves probably appreciate not having to hold any more weight. 

The small bookshelf at the end of the hall

But on the upside, I’ve been able to read much more than I have in years.  In fact, the past 2 months, I’ve read more than I did all of last year.  And I’ve seen a definite improvement in my writing.  As I see how other writers do it, as I see fantastic plotting, and not so great writing, I’m noticing what I like and what works and doesn’t.  I get ideas and I can’t wait to get back to my own writing once I finish. 

The old adage of improving your writing by reading is true.  Watching and learning from others is a key ingredient to writing.  Just like in nursing, I have to learn from other nurses with more experience than I have.  

There’s always an opportunity to learn, and reading can give a writer new insights to storytelling.

Are we there yet?

Over the holidays, my husband and I made an impromptu trip to visit my parents. It's a long drive, usually between 9 to 10 hours, and most of the way, the view is just desert. As a child, we took the trip at least once a year to see my grandparents.  And of course, 9 hours stuck in a car seemed like an eternity.

As we were driving, I was amazed by how much faster and seemingly familiar the trip was. Maybe because I'm now familiar with road signs and I'm able to determine for myself if we're "there yet." It’s much easier to endure the journey when I know what to expect and when I can gauge where I am on the road.

Writing is similar, at least for me. 

I need to know where I'm going so that I don't lose energy and determination to get there. I need a road map, a guide. And that's exactly what my outline is for me. But what's amazing is that now, after writing so many stories, I have a better idea of the journey. I know how to get there, even if the roads aren't always the same.

In my planning, I know what I need and what doesn't always add to the story. Instead of needing weeks to months to create characters with intricate back stories and settings, I know how much I need to start. Why take a journey if there isn't a little bit of adventure? As long as I know where I'm going and how to get there, I'll be fine.

How about the rest of you? What kind of road maps do you use when writing?

Fairy Tales and Childhood

Last week, my husband and I went to see Frozen.  I am a huge Disney fan, and when I saw the trailer, I was incredibly excited, especially when I found out that it was based off of the story of the Ice Queen.  I was curious to see how they would do it, especially since it didn’t look like they were following the main plot points as much as they usually did.

To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I loved the small twists that gave a nod to Han Christen Anderson’s original.  I won’t mention them here, just to prevent spoilers. 

One of the things that I love to do, especially when I read/watch something that I really enjoy, is to go online and read others’ reviews on the topic.  Usually I don’t post my own, but I like to see both sides of the story.  And for some reason, I like to read the negative reviews, to see what sections were a bit less satisfying for others. 

What surprised me the most about these negative reviews were two things: One it was considered a ‘good effort,’ but nowhere up to par with the Disney classics like Lion King or Little Mermaid.  The other complaint was that the score was less than thrilling with ‘forgettable’ songs, except for one.  And if you’ve seen the movie, you know which one they’re talking about.

So I’ve been thinking about that quite a bit recently.  What made those Disney movies classics?  How is it that most of the new movies are considered subpar when compared to them?  Is it the animation?  Is it the music? 

As I was thinking about this, I talked to one of my sisters about it, and how much I enjoyed it.  I began mentioning that the story meant so much more to me because I loved the story of the Snow Queen, and I loved seeing it expanded in the way that it was.  She mentioned to me that maybe I enjoyed it so much because I knew the story.  I was already familiar with the characters – to a specific point.  That’s one of the things that Disney is most famous for.  They take classics that everyone has grown up with – Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and give it a new spin.

Why is there such a surge in fairy tales in the movies?  Yes, I’m sure it has something to do with copyrights, but I think it also has to do with the fact that fairy tales are almost universally a part of everyone’s childhood.  It touches them in ways that perhaps a new story won’t.  How many people read a classic from their childhood and immediately get a flood of nostalgia?  I think that’s one of the reasons that the Polar Express and Where the Wild Things Are became movies.  Not because they were that long or good of stories, but because they touched the viewers in a way that a new story might not have.

So when I see critics of Frozen, I wonder how many of them know the actual fairy tale.  It’s not as common as a story like Beauty and the Beast, or even Rapunzel.  I think Rapunzel received much higher praise, just because it was a well-known fairy tale with a unique twist.

Now, for the second question, I’d like to take this just a bit further.  The songs were heard by critics, aka adults.  How many of those adults, comparing the score to classics from the Lion King, were children when watching those classics?  I went back and compared the music.  I know that this is all very subjective, but I think that if the Lion King were to come out for the first time, it wouldn’t be as well received by our critics as it was back then.  Those songs aren’t just a representation of ‘good music,’ but they’re also a representation of our childhood – a time that seemed simpler, when things were happier.  So how could anything else compare? 

But when we look at these movies – for children – with the eyes of children, something surprising may occur.  This isn’t our childhood anymore, but it is theirs.  In ten year from now, I’m almost positive that songs from Frozen, Tangled, and all the movies coming out will be considered the ‘classics.’  While the songs that we grew up with will be considered ‘old.’  In fact, I’ve already seen that happen with some children that I’ve worked with recently.  

What do you think?