Category: learning about writing

Posted in guest post, learning about writing, tips, writing, writing advice, writing in difficult times, writing tips

Guest Post: 5 Tips to Keep Writing Through Difficult Times

Posted on by Cynthia D. Griffin
Image from Pixabay

By Rachel Weatherley

“Unbroken happiness is a bore: life should have ups and downs,” notes Richard, one of the protagonists of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun. Paraphrasing Molière here, Richard is a writer working in 1960s Nigeria, frustrated by his inability to finish a manuscript during a time of major social upheaval. Faced with COVID-19 and its accompanying challenges, reading this passage reminded me that we should at least try to maintain some optimism at this time. Difficult times are an enduring feature of life, which we must embrace and adapt to the best we can.

Of course, this is no mean feat. In times of unprecedented personal and collective difficulty, turning away from the world to start writing a book can feel insular and indulgent. Even with the best intentions, adapting to new challenges, and keeping on top of day-to-day life, can distract us from the writing projects we would otherwise love to focus on. 

Preventing that temporary distraction from turning into long-term disillusionment is a task in itself—I hope the following tips can keep you engaged, focused and productive!

1. Reorganise and refresh your work space

As cafes and libraries close their doors, and I find myself staring at the same blank wall every day, Janet Jackson’s lyrics ring ever truer—you really don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone. This new monotony hasn’t exactly been conducive to getting words on the page—but it did get me thinking about how I could adapt my environment to make it a more inspiring and energising workspace. 

Perhaps counterintuitively, I need a workplace with distraction. In my university room, I had a busy and colorful wall covered in all sorts of adornments: postcards, letters, photographs and posters—the more eclectic the better. This wall was the next best thing to a change of scenery: it reminded me of happier times, took me to faraway places, and often served as inspiration when I was stuck for ideas.

2. Consider work that will aid your writing 

Every writer worth their salt knows that a significant amount of research and thinking time goes into producing the shiny finished product. So if you’re suffering from a case of writer’s block, you can still make productive use of your time with the following tips:

• Scour blogs like Reddit, home to thousands of illuminating threads where people share anecdotes, experiences, feelings and opinions, ranging from the poignant to the hilarious.

• Call a friend and ask if they have any opinions or feelings about a certain subject. You could even work together and bounce ideas off each other.

• Watch documentaries and video clips that pad out the factual details and context of your work.

This will provide some respite from typing, and maybe even a spark of inspiration for the next stage of your story. Inspiration is found in the most unexpected of places—so get creative with your free time!

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Posted in better writing, experimental writing, Indie Author, learning about writing, poem

A Poem: Angel

Posted on by Cynthia D. Griffin
Image from Pixabay

Last year I wrote a poem for a friend for her poem project (to give her a little break). She has been writing a poem every single day for almost four years now. There were some days where she just wanted to quit, but she kept going. She had a determination to write a poem for a specific amount for time, and she was going to do it, no matter what.

I have been watching her progress over the years, and have deeply admired her staying power. I also love her use of words. The exactness of them. And her unfolding imagery is really quite wonderful. I also love that she writes poems in a wide range of ways, not just sticking to one or two specific formats.

Anyways, I stumbled across the poem I wrote for her recently, and thought I would share. I wasn’t really into writing poems when I wrote this. In fact, for years I shied away from poem writing afraid to give it a shot. But when I saw what Hannah was doing, she inspired me to give it a try.

Since writing that poem for her last summer, I have dabbled in writing poems off and on. I have found that I like the challenge of finding exact words to convey a meaning, and this practice has made me a stronger writer all around.

So here it is below.

Angel

I see you are having a bad day.

I see that frown.

I see those hunched shoulders.

Don’t snap at me. I didn’t do it.

I know this sucks.

I know you’re hurting.

Don’t you know? It’s going to get better.

Maybe not today.

Maybe not tomorrow,

But it will.

How do I know? You ask.

Because I’m your angel, Dear One.

And I’ll be right here,

Each step of the way.

You are not alone.

If you have the chance, check out Hannah Six’s #1462PoemsProject. She posts links of her poem project on multiple social media formats (Twitter and Instagram) are the ones I follow), but you can also go directly to her blog and see all her poems.

I hope you enjoy!

Posted in author, basics of plot, better writing, book review, book spotlight, building plot, first draft, good writing, how to write, learning about writing, learning to write, novel, novel writing, outline, plot, plotting, plotting a novel, plotting a story, The Writer's Toolbox, the writing journey, the writing process, writing, writing better, writing book, writing craft

Plotting Your Novel by Writing from the Middle

Posted on by Cynthia D. Griffin

As a writer, I am always learning. I think that’s what I love most about writing––the learning never stops. I am either learning something new about myself and writing as I write, or I stumble across new information as I am looking to learn more about writing. This time it was the latter. Recently on Twitter, I ran across a book recommendation for plotting that I loved so much I had to share it here.

Write Your Novel From The Middle: A New Approach for Plotters, Pantsers and Everyone in Between by James Scott Bell is must read for anyone serious about writing. This book goes into detail about why writers should start from the middle of a story instead of the beginning or end (who would of thought!). And how finding a character’s “mirror moment” is essential to true character development.

I definitely believe character development is a key element in a story. The more a reader can relate with a character and feel for a character’s journey, the better the book becomes. And this method certainly will help with that!

This book also helped me realize that I’m a Tweener (I always thought myself a straight up Pantser). I do love writing by the seat of my pants. That’s how I get some of my best ideas, but I also know where I’m writing too as well. I have a loose idea of events I need to reach and about where I need those events to happen. Also, I find already knowing my ending is a necessity to writing, even if I don’t know specifics. Just having a good idea of where I need to stop gives me a clear goal to reach for. But after reading Bell’s book I have an even better way to approach my writing. Start in the middle and Pants my way to the beginning and end. I’ll still have those events and goal posts to reach, but I think it will be far easier to get there knowing exactly what the character’s journey should entail.

And you know this book couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I’ve become somewhat stalled on writing the first draft of my second novel. I think this technique will get things churning quite nicely. Thanks Bell. 🙂

 

Posted in A Writer's Life, book addict, books, ebook, learning about writing, magic, read, reading, reading everyday, The Writer's Toolbox

The Magic of Reading

Posted on by Cynthia D. Griffin

unnamedBooks. They amaze me. They captivate me. They are true magic. Imagine this.

You get a new book to read because someone recommended it to you, or the cover just looks freaking awesome, or it’s a promising jewel you happened to stumble upon. It sits there in your lap eager to be read, but the cover, the title, the words splashed across the pages are meaningless. It’s just a book. Like all the other books taking up space on the bookshelf. But you open the cover and begin to read anyways, because it’s calling to you. There’s this pull to open it you can’t quite explain. So you do and you begin to read it.

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Posted in A Writer's Life, beginning writer, learning about writing, lots of writing, online writing classes, taking time to write, The Writer's Toolbox, the writing journey, the writing process, workshop, writer, writers, writing, writing advice, writing collaboration, writing journey, writing workshop

Writing Groups: Not for All Writers All of the Time

Posted on by Cynthia D. Griffin

One of the first pieces advice I received as a young writer (about eight or nine years ago now) from multiple sources (mostly from writing books and sage advice from published authors) was that to be successful at writing one must join a writing group. I was told writing groups would make me a better writer by giving me a place to talk and learn about writing as well as put me around other like-minded individuals for the support I needed to keep writing.

I took that advice to heart and joined a writer’s group two years after I began my cool hobby of writing, because I wanted to take my cool hobby to the next level.

It was the best decision of my life.

Until that defining moment of joining my first writing group, writing was a fancy. Something I did in my spare time. I had big ideas of being published, but it was a pie in the sky kind of thing. Joining a writing group made me realize that writing isn’t as romantic as I first thought. It’s lot of hard work (and a building of strict discipline and great effort), but work that had a hell of a pay off in the end (and I’m not talking about being published).

Through the help of my new writing friends, I learned that writing was not just something to do or some passing fancy for me, it was a way of life… my new way of life. And for two years, I went to every single writing meeting religiously (every other Saturday afternoon). And no sickness or excuse would keep me from going (okay, so if I was running a fever I wouldn’t go, but you get the idea).

Then I started getting restless. Something was wrong, very wrong and I didn’t know what it was. The meetings weren’t as fulfilling anymore, and more times than not I would come home from a meeting totally frustrated, wondering why I’d wasted hours talking about writing and other things that had nothing to do with writing (because my writing group did love to get off topic a lot).

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