Inkabout L. Darby Gibbs

Science Fiction & Fantasy author

Writing

Tuesday prompt: #28 2012

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 Point of view should make use of a number of characterization features.  So in this prompt, imagine a creature, intelligent or otherwise.  Write what this creature sees, but include characterization.

  • One way to supply character through point of view is to include how the creature feels about what he sees.  This does not mean that you should write that he is looking forward to eating that rabbit.  Describe the rabbit in terms of potential lunch: scrawny; plump; practical ways to avoid getting too much of that soft, white fur in his mouth; and the smell of just dead meat.  
  • Also think of word choice; you may even make a few up that would seem appropriate to your creature.  His word for snack or lunch might be “the mid-day gnarle.”  
  • Other characterization would include what is important to him. A predator would not make note of the color of the sky unless it denotes a particular time of day or season or weather important to him.
  • Consider giving him a specific quality: speed, visual acuity or discernment (he might be able to see in infrared, for example), silent movement.  
  • Consider a flaw: he drools copious amounts or suffers from the shakes or an injured hip.

Write about a paragraph.  I look forward to seeing it, so post it in the comment box.

Setting up my writing for the next day

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Notes to write by

I am now working on my second book in the Students of Jump series, No-Time Like the Present.  Though I am editing, I have found that there is much yet to be developed in the story line, so I find myself in create mode far more often then clearing up errors.   My last edit first lost me 150 words than gained me another 400.

So I am leaving notes for the next day at the end of my day’s work.  Every writer has his or her own way of keeping the writing going.  For me, I try to follow a few simple practices.  I stop when I still have more to say, I leave a note in all caps reminding me where my characters are headed or what complication or connections need to be made in the next set of writing, and frequently, I’ll leave a piece of dialogue that I think will help get my muse back on track.  Here’s what I left yesterday for example.

    “Misty, have pity on an old time traveler.”  He turned over on his stomach, visibly comforted by the change in position.
    “Old, you haven’t even been born yet.”
    He crushed a pillow and shoved it under his head.  “Sure feels like I have.”
    Misty grabbed a hand that gripped the pillow beneath his head.  “Let’s go; we’ll just walk about town.”  Pulling Quixote off the couch, she coaxed him out the door. 

NOTE THINGS ABOUT THE WALK DOWN, MEET A COUPLE OF NEIGHBORS.  WAVE TO A TRUCK AS THEY STEP ONTO MAIN STREET.  HERE AGAIN QUI HESITATES. HE DOES NOT FEEL PREPARED – MISTY FEELS HE IS QUITE KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THE TIME, BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT HE MEANS.  HE IS NOT PREPARED TO PROTECT MISTY OR IF THERE IS NOTHING TO PROTECT HER FROM THAN MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION CONCERNING HER.  HERE MISTY GETS ANGRY.  SHE NEEDS TO KNOW WHY BRENT LEFT AND DID NOT COME BACK.  QUI HAS NO ANSWER.  SHE STARTS TO HEAD DOWN MAIN STREET AND QUI CALLS HER BACK.  ARGUMENT: QUI SAYS “HE IS MY BEST FRIEND.”  MISTY STATES HE WAS HER UNCLE’S BEST FRIEND ALSO.  THIS SENDS HER INTO AN ANGRY RANT ABOUT HOW BROKEN HEARTED MICK WAS WHEN BRENT DID NOT COME BACK.  (SET UP FOR LATER DECISION TO CONFRONT BRENT.)

Basically, I tell myself in my notes and show it in my book.   Of course, I never follow it precisely.  I always tend to deviate as the story and characters will change the course of my plans though they always ultimately get to the goal. So what do you do to ready yourself for the next day’s writing?

Tuesday prompt: #27 2012

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write behind the door

Sit somewhere unusual, i.e., under a table, behind a chair, in the part of your yard no one ever goes.  Get comfortable and make sure you have something to write on: paper, iPad, laptop, paper napkin, and something to write with, pencil, pen, fingers.  Close your eyes, clear your mind, then write whatever slips in.

How to build a classroom writing community

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Day 1: but this pattern holds true for the days to follow
  • Tell them to look around at the other writers in the room (For some, this is a frightening experience, for others confirmation.)  Recognize them immediately as writers.  If you have returning students, ask them to explain the difference between this class and an English class.  Their words will be more convincing then yours.  Your actions will support what they say.
  • Provide a prompt to write to and give instructions: write about anything that comes to mind.  Give them a set amount of time, about 7 minutes.
  • Each student shares by reading his/her response to the prompt.  Encourage returning students to go first.  (I follow a seniority pattern.  By setting this now, it won’t be a surprise in a workshop [see post for June 16, 2012], and it shows the new students what behavior is expected [and accepted: writers are quirky]). Some students refuse to share; explain that you allow this occasionally, but they must at least tell what they wrote about or what they hoped to write about.  Encourage them to share the next time.
  • Each student’s work must be acknowledged.  Point out a strong image, what you think the idea might develop into, or summarize it.  Don’t forget to smile.
  •  Diversity is already present, but it is important to point it out.  New
    writers in a creative writing class will often try to emulate (or think they should) the more
    polished writers which results in the sacrifice of their own individual
    voices. So point out the diversity and how it is a bonus for the class
    to have so many different styles present.  Encourage them to help each
    other develop this diversity.
  • Begin your lesson for the day.  All writing should be shared and encouraged. No lesson should lack an opportunity to write.  Some should just be shared and left in the journal.  Some writing should be turned in and graded for effort to fulfill the task.  Grading should be gentle: attempt is much more important than result. (Final work, I grade mercilessly, but practice is a different animal.)

By having a pattern of daily writing and sharing, your class will become a community.  Be a positive role model: be specific, encouraging and excited about what they are doing.

Rules for a classroom writer’s workshop

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A writer’s workshop is one of the best ways to advance student writers both in their writing skills and in their personal recognition that they are part of a community.  This is especially important in the classroom where many students may be admitting for the first time that they write because they like it.  There is much I can say about building this community feeling, but I am just going to focus on key rules to teach students how to participate in a workshop.

Both the writer and the critic must use their pens with thought.

The workshop critic

  • Focus on the writing, not the writer.  This workshop is not an opportunity to attack.  This is where the teacher/mediator must model the behavior required.  (I always go last and never pull my punches. The first workshop is always awkward since I make the students go first in order of seniority (so the most experienced writers set the tone. When necessary, I quietly redirect comments or responses to maintain the rules.)
  • Honor the writer’s voice.  In other words, don’t change the writing into something you might have written.  In fact, you must make an effort to appreciate this writer’s voice and work to help the writer develop it.
  • Be honest and kind.  Being kind without honesty does not help the writer.  And being honest without kindness for the sensitivity of a young writer is foolishness and destructive.
  • Point out what is good and why (often).  Every writer needs to know where it worked, so he or she can do it again.
  • Don’t just say what needs work; give suggestions for how it might be improved.  Then don’t expect the writer to use your suggestions. The intention is to give inspiration so the writer comes up with something original that fits both the writer’s style and the needs of the work.
  • Be clear and specific about both fine work and work that needs redrafting.  Also as a group, agree on routine symbols.  A question mark could mean confusion while an exclamation mark could mean especially fine image (or whatever was underlined).

The workshop writer

  • The writer must turn in as quality a work as possible.  Don’t write it the night before you distribute it.
  • Distribute your work in as timely a manner as possible.  All workshop members need time to look over the work.  Two days before a workshop is minimal.
  • Don’t take criticism personally.  The workshop is about the work.  Learn to put up a wall that allows you to listen with a willingness to consider change rather than a defense against every suggestion.
  • Do not explain to the others what you meant.  If they could not understand it, then you did not do it correctly.  I tell my students they must take the criticism in silence.  They may answer questions if asked, but may not volunteer information.
  • If you have concerns you want addressed, put questions at the top of your work, so the other members have time to consider them and be prepared to give you useful answers.
  • Do not provide a rewritten work that has not gone through considerable change.

Today I wish I was perfect, and probably tomorrow, too

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It is hard to believe, but I am close to publishing my second book at Smashwords.  This work is an anthology of shorts stories, Gardens in the Cracks & Other Stories. They are loosely connected by the “world” they are all derived from in that similar technology and history are imbedded in each.  The title piece (“Gardens in the Cracks”) and another short work (Scrapper, a novella) have some characters in common as well as time and general locale.  The remaining stories developed out of experiments of one sort or another: repeating motif, what if, narrative from a secondary character, and such.  I think all writers will agree, the editing is the hardest part.  I have gone over them so many times looking for every error I can.

Besides the fact that I write recursively and therefore edit constantly as I write, I am now on my fourth line edit of this work.  I can say that turning on the feature that checks grammar and mechanics in a word processing program can be the most annoying and beneficial experience.  I found myself examining nearly every sentence and defending or correcting innumerable aspects of my writing.  Frequently, the program would highlight a word or two and state “if you are using this to mean…., then you are correct.  But if you mean…., then….”  I can’t say how many times I said, “Can’t you tell?”  Every once and a while I was glad it did not let a single questionable word by, as I had in fact used a word incorrectly.

Dialogue can play a large part of a fiction work, and in an effort to sound like the genuine article, my characters often speak in phrases or are not necessarily grammatically correct.  So I was reminded on a regular basis that I had fragments of sentences or slang where I intended them to be.  This still was a benefit as I noticed that some of my characters did this more often than others, and I had the opportunity to decide if this was a characteristic I wanted for the individual or if it was too heavily used.

The fine tooth comb that I am using now gives me a headache, but not using it would be worse than a headache.  So off I go again scraping each sentence free of error.  This is one of those times when I really wish I was perfect.