Blog Chain: The Gift of Writing Advice

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Cole's question - Christmas is a time of gift giving. If you could gift aspiring authors with one piece of advice, what would it be?

When I was a baby writer, just starting out in this very complex industry, I was on the receiving end of a lot of very good advice. My critique group started Operation Awesome as a way to pay it forward, and we've been passing along good advice and writing insights there for the past two years. 

Coming up in January is our very first free, online writing conference, inspired by the awesome ladies of WriteOnCon and the need for a solution to the NaNoWriMo hangover. It's called:

New Year's Revisions Conference: January 4-6, 2013

NYRC is going to have a LOT of free advice for aspiring and experienced writers alike. We'll have Q&A's with literary agents and guest posts by editors, authors, and agents. There will be giveaways and critique partner matching. It's our way of using the connections and knowledge we've been blessed with as Operation Awesome and Mystery Agent administrators to help other writers sharing our journey. 

As you can see, I'm very excited about it! And I hope to see you there, blog buddies. 

But to answer Cole's question, here's the best writing advice I can think about in this moment. It isn't new, and it isn't profound. It's just the best thing I've ever remembered about being a writer. 

Writers write. 

Perseverance is the only thing all writers have in common. If you're querying, write. If you're releasing a book, write. If you're lost for ideas, write. If you're overflowing with ideas and can't focus on just one, write. The only thing you can control in this industry is you. I'm not published yet, but I will be. And while I wait for somebody else to recognize my unique brilliance, the one thing I have complete control over is how seldom or how often I do what I do. How often do you write?

I'm writing every day right now and loving it. I don't always feel like I 'have time' to write. That's why this piece of advice is the most important one to me. It reminds me that my dreams and aspirations are just puffy clouds in the sky unless I do something about them. 

WRITERS WRITE.

And when that's fulfilled, writers revise! See you in January at NYRC!

Also check out Christine Fonseca's blog for her answer. And tomorrow, Lisa Amowitz will answer this week's question.

Blog Chain: My Childhood Realm

Outside is a mysterious metal box, deep forest green with the image of an electric man. Jill across the street says if I touch it, it will shock me. But I play on it all the time anyway. I use it as a table for my rock and flower collages, and I stand there to sing my songs. Further up the lawn is the house. My bedroom window stands protected from the outside world by a pair of stalwart rose bushes. Red tea cup roses look so innocent, but nobody can get in or out of my window past those thorns. Is it a fortress or a cage? To the side, mangled branches stem from what used to be a pomegranate sapling. I've seen it shoot up wildly in my short lifetime, and now I smash its fruit on the bricks to see the plump ruby kernels inside. Some days they really are rubies fit for my crown. Before the front door are two red brick pillars, but you can scarcely see the color of the brick behind graceful vines of Star Jasmine, my favorite little white flower. It makes every day smell sweet.

Behind the door is the hallway and the front room with the piano. I practice... sometimes. Besides that, there isn't a lot to do in there. Behind the wall is the family room, and that's where the TV is. My favorite movie is The Little Mermaid. To the right is the kitchen, pantry, and table. But more often, I run to the left, down the narrow hallway decked with family pictures in plain wood frames. Everything is this way. The bathroom, and all the bedrooms. I share with my sisters: bunk bed, trundle bed. Three of us, making up games at night when we can't fall asleep. We get in trouble when we're loud, but if we whisper and close our eyes, we're almost psychically connected. Together we can make another world, and so we do.

This blog chain round was begun by Jonathon Arnston: 


Imagine the home(s) where you grew up, and start drawing a floor plan. As you draw, memories will surface. Grab onto one of those memories and tell us a story.

You can see I took a little liberty with the assignment. Be sure to check out Cole's pullout couch of dreams before me and Michelle H. tomorrow!

And if you try this writing exercise yourself, link it in the comments. I'd love to see it. 

Happy writing!

Bad Writing Days

My topic today is fitting for a blah Monday.

Bad Writing Days.

We all have those days. I'm not talking about writer's block or days when you decide not to write at all. I mean those days when you sit down at your Word document and try your damnedest to put something good down.

And everything comes out as word vomit.

This usually happens to me when I'm feeling hopeless to begin with. I start typing and out come the cliches. Then I think, I need to be more original, and out comes the purple prose. And just when I realize maybe I'm trying too hard, out come the rhetorical questions. They're my kryptonite.

It's sort of like an out-of-body experience. I'm watching myself get worse and worse but am powerless to stop it.

So usually what happens next is, I find something shiny to distract myself from the despair of being a sucky writer. Most recently? Angry birds. Don't try it - it's really addicting. And once I feel sufficiently distracted, I can usually go back to my work-in-progress with a better attitude, and the determination to make it work.

Unless it's a really bad writing day.

What do you do with your bad writing days? Do you call it a wash and delete it all or do you keep it and try to fashion that purple prose into something resembling good writing?

And just so this post isn't a total downer, here are some exercises for getting those creative juices flowing:

• Pretend you're the villain in your story - no, really. If he wears a black cape, put on that cape and walk around the house plotting your hero's demise. It's not writing, but you might just get some useful villain catch-phrases out of the exercise.
• Go to pandora and pick a song to be your MC's favorite. Get up and dance to it. Think about why it's his or her favorite and if it could be incorporated into the story someplace. If not, just let it wash over you while you plot your villain's demise.
• Get out of the house/library/writing space and go someplace that fits your setting. Even if it's not the same state or country. Check out places your MC would normally go, like a high school or a local dance club. Pay attention to details. Bring your notebook to jot.
• Become an expert on your MC via youtube. If your MC is a boxer, watch boxing videos. If she's a dancer, watch the dancing vids. Violinist. Swimmer. Tattoo artist. There's pretty much something for everyone, and you might even discover a new favorite hobby (bird watching?).
• Eat a food you think a character might eat, even if it's french fries dipped in ice cream. What better way to get into character?
• Take a nap if you can. Not only will sleeping put your brain in a better, healthier place, there's also a possibility you'll be inspired by a dream. If nothing else, at least you'll feel different when you wake up.

And when it comes to Bad Writing Days, different is always better.

Happy Monday!! *cheesy grin*

Story Idea Saturday! Universal Studios

So, two weeks ago my family got the chance to go to Disneyland for free, which was awesome! Today we get to go to Universal Studios for free, courtesy my husband's company. I'm hoping my kids will get to meet some of their favorite characters, like Shrek, Diego, and Curious George...

...which inspired today's Story Idea Saturday!

Grab your Word documents or notepad and start thinking, who would your main character meet (whether real or fictional) if given the chance? How would that meeting go down? Bill and Ted met Socrates. Doctor Who met Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. Walter from FRINGE met his rock 'n roll idol. So who would you or your main character meet?

Go forth and write. Have fun with it!

And have a great weekend!

Disneyland - use life as inspiration

Today I'm going to Disneyland. I haven't been since I was twelve, and a LOT of things have changed. My husband hasn't been EVER, and my two little boys have never seen a place like this. When I tried to explain to my four-year-old where we were going, he said, "Going to the park with a mouse?" Yeah, no. Some things are better to see than hear explained.

Feel free to use our excitement as a plot facelift for you if you're writing and getting stuck in something boring. I know how it is. You're thinking, "How am I going to get from plot point A to plot point B without depressing the heck out of everybody?"

Answer: Disneyland!

Just slip in a scene or two about a funner-than-life theme park and see where it takes your characters. You can direct them back to plot point B so they're still dealing with the issues and problems you originally fathomed. OR... your story can turn into a theme park horror. OR... maybe you'll decide to write a literary novel metaphorically analyzing the other thrill-seekers who have come to the park.

The possibilities here are just endless.

Mostly, don't forget to appreciate the little things today. Because even though we're going to "the happiest place on Earth," we're still going to have cranky children at about noon, diapers to change on the baby, and our own waiting-in-line blues to deal with. The key with every situation--literary or literal--is to celebrate every tiny joy.

Happy Disneyland Tuesday! Enjoy your theme park writing exercise!

Six Sentences...endless fun

I just discovered the Six Sentences (6S) social network on ning.com. Tell your story in six sentences. I've done three 6S stories, and it's unexpectedly addicting.

My Page

http://sixsentences.ning.com/profile/KatrinaLantz

The Blog

http://sixsentences.blogspot.com/

Members are friendly and encouraging of each other. Superb online community!

Dumb Museums:

In retrospect, maybe I should have left that giant ruby where I found it. It didn't have a name on it or anything, but I should have known it belonged to somebody. After all, rubies that big don't polish themselves and settle into velvet cushioned pedestals.

On the other hand, putting something so valuable out in public as if it were a magazine rack....I mean, anybody could have made my mistake. The police didn't really need to be so rough.

Survival? Overrated.

She was the last person I would have picked to accompany me on my proverbial desert island.

All through middle school, she made my life miserable.

I was relieved when our tiny school flowed into the giant local high school, and I could become anonymous at last.

But she insisted on keeping in touch, moving to the same towns, going to the same university.

Now we were trapped in a basement bomb shelter, together with four toddling boys, my food storage, her kids' electronic toys--and not a coconut in sight.

When the basement hatch was axed open on day 57, I didn't care if our discoverers spoke Russian, Chinese, or American...as long as they didn't have batteries for her sons' Tickle Me Elmo.

Astral Break

One moment, he stood above his body, anchored by nothing but a silver strand of light. The next, he vaulted through space, completely detached. What went wrong? He remembered what the guru had said: "Focus on that connection until the astral cord becomes thin and pliable." Great, I'll never get to date the guru's niece now.

Well, now I'm off to work on Drats! Foiled Again! I could write sixes all day, but my novels aren't going to write themselves. I hope you enjoy the 6S network as much as I have.