Chicken Soup for The Soul: Inspiration for Writers--a review

While traveling last week, we stopped at a grocery store in St George, UT.  Directly inside the store was a large table filled with books at 25% off retail price. It was manna for this woman. What I bought and am delighted with, is a first edition of Chicken Soup for The Soul: Inspiration for Writers 101 Motivational Stories for Writers-Budding or Bestselling-from Books to Blogs. It is edited by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Amy Newmark and Susan M. Heim, published by the 19 year old Chicken Soup for The Soup Publishing, LLC, Cos Cob, CT, 2013.

Following their tradition as in almost three hundred other Chicken Soup for The Soul books, this book contains 101 stories by published writers broken into eleven chapters. These vignettes are two to four pages about phases of writing and the authors' experiences. The chapter titled "Queries, Agents and Insomnia" starts with a quote by Charlotte Bronte; "A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow." Author, Beth Cato, told about years of writing, being terrified of querying until finally feeling she had written THE book worthy of an agent and editor's perusal. She had written it too many times to count and in the end slashed 80,000 words down to 20,000 and changed the plot completely. Her past rejections haunted her sleep and made her so anxious that she got sick. She received more rejections for this book until The Call came. Ms Cato continues telling about how surreal her life became working with an agent and getting published.

Another story deals with finding the time to write. As a busy mother with children on the go, she spends much time in the car. When home, she often has no more than 20 minutes before the next car trip. Usually she would work jigsaw puzzles on-line. After turning down a favor for a friend by lying (I have a deadline), she felt guilty. It forced her examine why she wasn't writing. Now "not enough time" did not seem a good enough excuse. When was she going to have time? In ten years? Fifteen? She decided that she had what some would called snippets of time, 20 minutes here, 35 minutes waiting for a child's lesson to be over and that those minutes were going to be her writing time.

"A work has to stand by itself,” said a college professor. This author told of her experiences of how cruel she thought her college classmates were regarding her writing. She was so upset that they did not like most parts of her writing that she forgot it was the writing they were criticizing not her. When she learned how to use their criticisms, her writing improved, as did their assessments of it. 

This book covers inspiration, how writing changes lives, persistence, writer’s block, and the power of writing. All the stories are interesting, read and digested quickly and sometimes memorably. It is the type of book, you can choose what to read knowing the story is short and then not coming back to it until you find you need some mental help. 

I am interested in reading books teaching me how to learn a new task or improve on a skill I am trying to learn. I do not care for the general "how to care for the mind" type books. I have prayer for that. Nevertheless, this book I found helpful and I think I will pull it out about as often as I iron (blue moon) just to tweak my writer's mind. The only criticism I have is that each story reads like a Reader's Digest Condensed Book rendition. They are edited so that each story sounds like the same author wrote it but under a different name; the personal identities of the writers have been edited out. For the price, it may be a good stocking stuffer or gift for friend.

Painting With Words Like Painting With Color

    This past March I decided to paint the interior rooms of my house.  My husband and I have lived in our home for eight years and I was tired of the same drab nondescript creamy white walls  greeting me in bedroom, kitchen and hallway, and longed for color.

    I spent hours looking through  House Beautiful , Cottage Style, and other decorating magazines for ideas,  and days going  back and forth from my home  to Lowe's to discuss color with the expert  Emily in the paint department. When I finally decided each room would be a different color, I had to laugh at myself , and was reminded of Myrna Loy's character in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House  painstakingly  telling the contractor  the precise shade of  color she wanted in each room. After all her thoughtful description,  the contractor turns  to the painter and says,  " You got that ?"

  " Huh-huh",  replies  the painter, " Red, green,yellow, blue and white".

    Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House , a  comic  novel delightfully  written by Eric Hodgins in 1946, the scene I refer to is wonderfully highlighted in this youtube video.

 

    Perhaps  I  wasn't quite as precise as Mrs. Blandings,  but  I did  carefully and clearly   state I  wanted  the kitchen and family room yellow. Not a bright  lemon yellow, but a soft buttery yellow.  And the master bedroom and study I wanted  green, not a hunter green or pea green, but a rich colonial green. And on it went with each  color in each  room. Thankfully, Emily  was very patient, and helpful in making sure the colors were to my liking - even if she had to remix two or three times.

   While going through the exercise of choosing color and painting rooms of my house , I  thought about a book I read last year titled Word Painting  A Guide to Writing More Descriptively by Rebecca McClanahan. Just as I was trying to make the rooms of my home more descriptive, and interesting to visitors, so I strive to do with my writing - make the words more descriptive,  and interesting  to readers.  I must admit, painting seems the easier process with a  more consistent and better outcome; even so I write on!, and like paint that has to be mixed and remixed to find just the right shade and hue, so it is with the words we write,  they have to be written and rewritten before the completed story can be  finished.

   In her book, McClanahan tell  us The characters in our stories, songs, poems and essays embody our writing. They are our words made flesh. Sometimes they even speak for us, carrying much of the burden of plot, theme, mood, idea and emotion. But they do not exist until we describe them on the page. Until they are anchored  by our words, they drift,  bodiless and ethereal. They weigh nothing; they have no voice. Once we've written the first words our characters begin to take form. Soon they'll be more than mere names. They'll put on jeans or rubber hip boots, light thin cigarettes or thick cigars; they'll stutter or shout, buy a townhouse on the Upper East Side or a studio in the Village; they'll marry for life or survive a series of happy affairs; they'll beat their children  or embrace them. What they become is up to us. 

   Just as I thought about writing while painting the rooms of my home,  the next time I sit down to write memoir, short story, essay or poem, I'll think about the process of painting and contemplate  how similar  writing and painting are in  the  need to prepare and plot out your storyboard before starting,   paying attention  to detail and sometimes making a bold choice in choosing  character and description, adding color to the story.

*** NOTE:  Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House written by American author, Eric Hodgins originally appeared as a   short story in the April 1946 issue of Fortune magazine.  If you are lucky enough to find a copy of the book in your local library or used book store, I recommend you grab it. Reading Hodgins is 'word painting' at its best, like walking into a colorfully painted room that helps describe the character and style of  home .
                                                                    

   

    

Winging It, & Writing

Writers so often hear how important it is to outline and plot before ever starting  to write their story. To know their beginning, middle and end. To already have a vision,   and  are able to define their   protagonist and antagonist.

I agree this  seems the popular formula for writing a best selling novel, essay or memoir. 

Who am I to disagree?  I have yet to write a   book , let alone be published. Yet, I am a writer with hopes one day to   write my  novel, and yes,  have it published.  So I'm  always looking for inspiration and ideas about the best way to go about it.  I certainly  adhere to the axiom, write, write, write and re-write , but   today, I  was fascinated , and found it interesting when I read the mediation for August 3 titled Winging It,  on how   to cultivate a productive and meaningful writing life in  Fred White's The Daily Writer.

Writers tend to be intuitive sorts. Yes, it's sensible to work with an outline or synopsis, especially for the book -length projects., but sometimes too much planning ahead can impede output. If you find yourself plodding along  or feeling that writing is more of a chore than an adventure, consider winging it, flying by the seat of your pants, putting yourself out on a limb, having faith in yourself.

We learn from our day jobs the importance of planning ahead, of keeping the risk factor at a minimum. with writing, as with most any kind of creative work, intuition and cautious planning ahead are often at odds. So much of creative writing involves spontaneous discovery and following one's hunches. Sure, we can fall flat ,but part of the fun of writing is seeing where it all leads. The payoff quite often compensates for the setbacks.

So , following White's For Further Reflection, I'll try 'winging it' and take flight from the tried and true, even  if I'm not sure where I'm headed  with the new idea. White encourages writers  to explore new ways of telling a story, of turning a phrase, and says, " Keep in mind that readers are explorers too, and they will be delighted to embark on new narrative and verbal pathways."

MAEVE BINCHY

When I went to Maeve Binchy's web site this afternoon , I was sorry to read the following :


It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of Maeve Binchy on 30 July, in Dublin. Her husband Gordon Snell and her sister Joan Ryan were at her side. 


Maeve was a weaver of magic whose stories touched  the hearts of millions. She died far too soon; she had many more stories to tell.


She will be sorely missed by her family, her friends, her publishers and her readers throughout the world.

After reading  Maeve Binchy's debut novel, Light a Penny Candle  in 1982, I quickly added her to my list  of  favorite authors. I admire her gift for story telling, and consider her  best-selling Circle of Friends,  about the intimate story of friendship one of her  best. Perhaps it's because of my Irish ancestry, I like her novels so well, especially the fact they  are set in Ireland, and often deal with the emotional struggle between folks there. How they rise and fall, and rise again.

                                                               
Cindy Shanks writing for Helium describes her novels as a gentle but addictive read. "Her books remind you of an intimate conversation with a close friend."

Prior to her success as a writer of novels and short stories, Binchy was a  teacher, then a journalist for the Irish Times. It's seems unbelievable her first book was rejected five times. Especially since  today her books  outsell those of other top Irish writers, such as Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, W.B. Yeats, Edna O'Brien and Roddy Doyle.

Binchy received many literary awards , including the Irish PEN /AT Cross Award, joining such luminaries as John B. Keane, Brian Friel, Edna O'Brien and William Trevor. In 2010 , she received a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Book Awards.

With her characteristic Irish charm Binchy  encourages  writers  in her  book, The Maeve Binchy Writer's Club -  Advice, inspiration and information on writing and getting published.   "The most important thing to realize is that everyone is capable of telling a story. If you scribble story ideas on the back of receipts...if you file away bits of overheard conversation from the coffee shop...if you've already chosen the perfect pen name..well, then the journey has begun."

Maeve leaves   us with  an insight into her character, and what she believed important when  she wrote on her homepage:

The happiest moments of my life are connected with family and friends. There is a great comfort about being with people who knew you way back when. There is a mental shorthand, an easy -going feeling that life doesn't have to be explained or defined; we are all in more or less the same boat. To have a community around you in a changing and unstable world is invaluable and nothing can beat the feeling that there will always be people out for our good.


Maeve Binchy (1940 - 2012)   RIP +

Grandma Cooney & The Dictionary

 The other day I was thinking about my Grandmother Cooney and the dictionary. I was about 14 years old when Grandma and I were visiting another family relative, and remember Grandma, who loved to read, saying  to me, “Whenever staying at someone’s home, and I can’t find a book to my liking, I pick up the dictionary to read through it.”   

I can vividly picture Grandma taking the dictionary from my uncle’s shelf, walking to the small sofa in the family room and randomly opening to the letter R and reading aloud the meaning of   ren-i-tent, Rennes, re-port-age.  Grandma and the dictionary had a lot in common – both were a well spring of information. Grandma was a lover of words, and keen on learning something new every day, a trait she passed on to her grandchildren.

I must confess, while I wasn’t totally engrossed with reading the dictionary then, today I have a great respect and cherish everything the dictionary offers, and like my grandmother, enjoy reading through the pages to learn new words.  In fact, I own several editions, including The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, The Random House Dictionary, The Readers Digest Great Encyclopedic Dictionary, Webster’s Dictionary, Oxford Dictionary, The Complete Rhyming Dictionary, The Dictionary of Difficult Words, Dictionary of Thought, and Biblical Dictionary.  Most recently, I have added a dictionary app to my iPad, and particularly enjoy reading ‘Word of the Day’.  Today, agnate (ag-neyt): a relative whose connection is traceable exclusively through males.  A word I was previously unfamiliar with. My grandmother would be proud – I learned something new today.

                                                          

The first recorded dictionary dates back to Sumerian times, and the Akkadain Empire (2300 B.C.)  where cuneiform tablets with bilingual wordlists were discovered in Ebla (modern Syria). There are early Arabic dictionaries, and European dictionaries, but it wasn’t until Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language (1775) that a faithful, dependable dictionary was produced.  Previous dictionaries were arranged by topic, which meant all plants, all birds, etc.  would be grouped together. Johnson’s dictionary was arranged alphabetically, and is considered the first modern dictionary. It remained the standard for over 150 years.

In 1806, an American lexicographer, textbook pioneer and English spelling reformer named Noah Webster (1758 – 1843) published his first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. It took him 27 years to complete. According to Wikipedia, Webster believed that English spelling rules  were unnecessarily complex, so his dictionary introduced  American English spellings ,replacing ‘colour’ with ‘color’, ‘wagon’ for ‘waggon’ and  ‘center’ instead of ‘centre’.  Webster sometimes called the ‘Father of American scholarship and education was outspoken in favor of the new constitution. His name, today remains synonymous with ‘dictionary’ – by its own definition  a reference book containing an explanatory alphabetical list of words, as  A book listing  a comprehensive  or restricted  selection of the words of language, identifying  usually the phonetic, grammatical , and semantic value of each word  with etymology, citations , and usage guidance, and other formations.

According to some scholar’s,  writers and poets owe a lot to Webster’s Dictionary citing many have used the dictionary, often drawing upon his (Webster’s) lexicography in order to express their word play.

As a writer, I would be lost without the dictionary, not only in searching a definition of a particular word, but for expanding my vocabulary, and description for a certain character, place or thing.   I encourage all writers to keep a dictionary nearby,  and for all readers to   follow my grandmother's  example, if no other book to your liking,  pick up the dictionary  for the fun of  reading  through it!

 ** For more about Noah Webster visit   http://www.lexrex.com/bios/nwebster.htm

Plot your Plot

Of all the books I have read about writing, this one tops my charts. As I am a right brained writer, something I have known about myself for quite some time, I found much help, encouragement and yes, sympathy in this marvelous book for those who share my affliction. A right brained writer is one who loves characters, thoughts, whimsy, and thinks their fool heads off, just for fun. Cause, effect, analytical action, and logical sequences are not the stuff of dreams. Not to worry, says Martha Alderson, the author of this wonderful book. The subtitle: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master, was enough to activate my inner one click, add to cart, self.

She writes of the Universal Story: "All of us face antagonists and hurdles, hopes and joys, and by meeting these challenges we can transform our lives. I have come to believe that every scene in every book is part of a Universal Story that flows throughout our lives, both in our imaginations and in the reality that surrounds us. "

As you read Martha Alderson's book, a strange phenomenon begins to take place. Perhaps my right brain is in a constant war with the left. For whatever reason, the more she described how to nail down the structure of a novel, the more flooded I became with ideas, snippets of dialogue, important scenes and all kinds of other inspirational brainstorms that I furtively jotted down and scribbled in the margins of this book. Why it served to fire so many synapses, I can only attribute to her skill. For instance, did you know, that the beginning of a book should be one fourth of the story, the middle, one half and the end, one fourth. Does that not sound easy?

Next comes the diagram. It makes me quiver. Geometry? I DON'T GET IT! I have to really counsel myself through this part. However, she has a list of words to go with it. Blessed, blessed words. It is a really complete set of instructions and I vow to tackle this plot beast once and for all. If I can manage it in the most difficult of contexts, that is, my own life, as I am working on a memoir, then it will be a snap into place in the next book which I will plot from the beginning. I guess I have always imagined that there is some inner plot master, or perhaps a heavenly soul who takes my hand and guides me through the swamp of my left brain wherein all my wanderings will somehow fit as pieces do in a complex jigsaw puzzle. Thankfully, my new friend and plot whisperer is about as good as anyone who can talk to horses, or dogs, and somehow manage to coax them out of their bad habits. She has reassured me that my affliction is perfectly common. Left brained writers set out with a plan, but the characters do not come as easily. Their books are everywhere, from the grocery store to the airport. If I can manage this challenge, I can wed my strength to my weakness, and then all my troubles will be over.

"As soon as the plot and the structure work, your focus can turn to making every word, phrase and metaphor perfect."

I'll get right on it!

"Soar with your Strengths"

Marcus Buckingham, in the auspices of working for Gallop, devised an ingenious method of discerning how we process information. According to his research, information comes through a filtering system in our brains, and gets instantly stored and sorted for further use. Developed as a management tool, it became quite popular with the corporate world, as communication can often be difficult.

I well remember the day when I worked in a call center where we were taken off the 'phones, a holiday in and of itself, and sent into the training labs to hear about this program. Next, we were given a series of test questions and told that we would have our answers in two weeks time.

We were all fairly curious to see the results of the Gallop program, but nothing could have prepared us for the impact. It was not that we discussed it for the next week; it went in to the following months and then years. We were given a small plaque to put beside our computer terminals in our lowly cubicles. Anyone coming to talk to us, about any given matter, could glance at the list of strengths and then ideally, would formulate a plan to address the situation, based on how we like to receive information.

The categories were separated into four themes: Impacting, relating, thinking and striving. When the test results were handed out I was told that in the group of over four hundred people, only two had all five top strengths in the thinking department. Everyone in the room looked at me and I quipped that I must be a brain in a jar.

My list came out as follows: Intellection, Arranger, Connectedness, Learner, Context. Briefly, the first title is described as someone who likes to think things through, endlessly. The arranger is depicted as a juggler who can toss it all in the air and then find a quick way through the morass to a solution and a way forward. Connectedness has to do with always having the bigger picture, that being the universal oneness of being, in mind. Learner is rather self explanatory in that those with this particular strength have an endless fascination with that which they do not know. Context pertains to the history of any given situation. First of all, how did we get here.

Back at my desk with this new information about myself, I suddenly realized that I could not have had a better grouping for writing. At this point in my life, my novel had been rejected, I was feeling rather hopeless in regards to my great dream, and was literally punching a time clock and doggedly putting one foot in front of the other. Suddenly, I wondered if I had underestimated myself, taken rejection too personally and asked everyone around me if I should not have another crack at the old manuscript.

This kind of reaction rippled through the whole company. Relationships ended and many people moved on to other jobs. As Marcus Buckingham once said, “when a child brings home a report card with three A's, two B's and a D which grade becomes the center of our dialog?”

This program, can be useful as we look at characters we have created. It may be a method of sticking to a consistent theme which is evident in a person's life. Are they a driven individual, always, trying to affect change? Are they passive, always trying to understand what is about to hit them next? Do they need to win over others, or are they confident in themselves, no matter how odd they may appear to to others?

As companies learned to stop focusing continually on what an employee was doing wrong, and were trained to shift their thinking towards a more positive outlook, we can apply the same tool to writing. We are all flawed, and we make mistakes, but we do learn from them, and have great strengths at the same time. Nothing is more flat then a one dimensional character. We are complex creatures after all, full of quirks and foibles. Many great stories involve a character, under duress, finding strengths they did not know they possessed.

A Writer's Question

Please tell me , all you  inspired writers, what

keeps you focused to write what you write

To create a story, and choose the plot

that captivates the reader , and

holds ‘em  close, like prisoners caught

Is it the sentence you make

or words you spell, perhaps

punctuation—a comma,

the period, or question mark ?

Please tell me ,  all you inspired writers, what

 keeps you going both day

 and night, what keeps you

focused to write what you write;

Your ideas flowing like a

river flowing  toward the sea

about long ago places, and distant land; People

of history, Mystery

Crime fiction, non-fiction, science fiction

of faith, wee faeries, family

and friends

Please tell me, all you inspired writers, what

keeps you focused to write what you write

How  you decide  between dialogue

 and narrative , and

descriptive thought

 And  the story's  beginning,  middle,

and end.   Who is protagonist ?

antagonist? Is your character complex,

or easy to grasp

Please  tell  me, all you inspired writers 

what keeps you focused to write what you write

I believe  that’s the question many of us aspiring writers ponder, and ask , “How do we keep focused on our writing?”  There are a  hundreds , maybe thousands of books and magazine articles to help answer the question, but one I find helpful  is Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg.  In  her chapter, No Hindrances she writes , “when you accept writing  as what you’re supposed to do, after you’ve tried everything else  - marriage, hippiedom, travelling , living in Minnesota or New York, teaching , spiritual practices—finally there’s no place else to go. So no matter how big the resistance, there is one day, there is the next day, and the writing work ahead. You can’t depend on it going smoothly day after day. It won’t be that way. You might have one day when it’s superb, productive, and the next time  you write  you are ready to sign up on a ship headed for Saudi Arabia.  There are no guarantees. You might think you have finally created a rhythm  with three days running, and the next day the needle scratches the record and you squeak through it teeth on edge. 

See the big picture . You are committed to writing or finding out about it. Continue under all circumstances. Don’t be rigid, though. If one day you have to take your kids to the dentist when it is your time to write, write in the dentist’s office or don’t write. Just stay in touch underneath with your commitment  for this wild, silly, and wonderful writing practice.”

Another book I find inspirational, and encouraging   whenever I begin to doubt my writing is Walking on Water, Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L’Engle .  While L’Engle is author of several books,  including her memoir, A Circle of Quiet, she may be best known for her young adult fantasy, A Wrinkle in Time.   In Walking on Water she  writes, “ Since time was created, had a beginning, and will have an end, it is a creature with whom we can have understandings. All artists ( writers)  know days  when time collaborates with them, and they can do more than they can do in one day. There are other days when they are equally diligent, and yet get little or nothing accomplished.

Perhaps one of he saddest things we can do is waste time, as Shakespeare knew when he had Richard the Second cry out, “I have wasted time, now doth time waste me.”

So there you have it, writers  - those of you just starting out, and those of you who have been writing for years ,  don’t be discouraged when your pen runs dry, persevere.  Grab another one ,  and write  on ! write on !