Quotation Saturday

Romans 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
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POTENTIAL/POSSIBILITIES

“Refrain from asking what is going to happen tomorrow, and everyday that fortune grants you, count as gain.”
-Horace

“There is more in us than we know. If we can be made to see it perhaps for the rest of our lives we will be unwilling to settle for less.”
-Kurt Hahn

“Life can be lived more fully if people simply quit pretending to be who they were told to be, and be who they really are…”
-Doug Firebaugh

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act but also dream. Not only plan but also believe.”
-Anatole France

When people complain of life, it is almost always because they have asked impossible things from it.
-Ernest Renan


All too often we are living in the past, preoccupied with something that has happened to us; or we are living in the future, waiting for a time when life will treat us magnificently and we will be happy; or worrying about what lies ahead and how we will cope....But every day of our lives brings the opportunity for a new beginning, and there was never a better time to be.
-Eileen Campbell

PLANNING

“I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change.”
-Jim Rohn

“Every evening, write down the six most important things that you must do the next day. Then while you sleep your subconscious will work on the best ways for you to accomplish them. Your next day will go much more smoothly.”
-Tom Hopkins

“Planning is a real waste of time.... for those who waste time.”
-Doug Firebaugh

“Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.”
-Susan Ertz

HOPE

The important thing is not that we can live on hope alone, but that life is not worth living without it.
-Harvey Milk


Take from a man his wealth, and you hinder him; take from him his purpose, and you slow him down. But take from man his hope, and you stop him. He can go on without wealth, and even without purpose, for awhile. But he will not go on without hope.
-C. Neil Strait

The Plot Thickens

Now that you’ve worked on an outline of your characters, the high points, conflicts and climax, you’ll see your plot developing. Not all writers start with a plot in mind. A plot can be as flimsy as man meets woman, woman is on the run from the law, man falls in love, woman doesn’t feel the same, they both rob a bank together, fall in love just as they get nabbed by the police.

The plot is the reason behind things. Why does the man fall in love, why doesn’t the woman fall for him, why on earth do they rob a bank? Why does the woman suddenly fall in love? What happens to their lives while on the run before getting nabbed?

As we discussed in the outline, you’ll need a beginning, middle and an end. Without these elements in a story whether a novel or short story, your words will float aimlessly onto the page, never being understood by your reader, and more than likely being rejected by publishers.

A lot of times as you’re writing, the plot changes. Maybe you had in mind the above scenario of man meets woman, but then he finds that she has a child that she’s been hiding from her estranged ex- husband. They no longer want to rob a bank, they want to both see the child safely across the border into another country.

You see? The plot isn’t a set of rules that you play by. Sure someone can say "plan your plot THEN write the story," but as a writer (and as a human being) I find that plans never go the way they are intended. Unintentionally, they go somewhere you hadn’t planned at all. This is where the creative writer expands his/her imagination and delves into the unknown.

Breeding familiarity is not a place for your plot. Your story needs to be UNIQUE, something that ISN’T out there on the shelf right now. A lot of writers try the backward method. And that is writing the last scene first and backtracking to the beginning. Seeing it from this angle, you’re in the midst of creating a plot.

In essence the plot is the WHY your story is taking place (character’s etc.) You character is what’s going to shape your plot. Create a good character, give him/her their own profile, (what color eyes, hair, faults, vices, benefits etc.) With each part of the character’s development, the plot will surface. Always ask WHY and the next paragraph will form itself (in your mind’s eye.) Write your heart out without even thinking of a plot.

Allow the plot to become a mirage way off down the road, the closer you get to it, the clearer the whole picture becomes.

I hope this helps. Now write!

Setting Goals

Setting Goals, the most important thing a writer can do (besides writing of course.)

If you’re like me, you sometimes place goals as second or third on your list. I can’t help it, I have a son to tend to first and foremost and making him set goals is as important as me setting goals.

Okay maybe I need to be more clear here. Setting WRITING goals is front and center in a Writer’s life. You need to be clear as to where you are going and what you want to accomplish.

If writing a story is your goal, then set out to make it the best story possible. Day one, you will free write. Allow the keyboard to take on a ghostlike feature and just type away until your fingers hurt. Remember turn the internal editor off first, then type.

Day two of your writing goal will be to peek in on what you wrote. (This is where we usually begin talking to the screen and saying, "EGADS, did I make THAT many mistakes?") You may go over your work and fix all the red squiggly lines. Try not to edit too much at this point.

Day three, peek in again at what you wrote. (This is where you might say, "Sheesh did I write that?") If that’s the case let it settle a little longer. But while it is settling, think of markets that you’d like to send it to. Get a clear vision of what you wrote in your mind and think markets!

Have you gotten a market in mind? Well now you need to revise the piece! Revise it three to five times, hopefully with a workshop (like the great ones in WVU) or a yahoo group, of course. And make the piece shine. If it is 1,000 words or less this will be easier. If it is a short story, then you’ll obviously need more time. If it is a novel, it is still a good idea to have a clear marketable place in mind.

Goals are important in life. It is like a highway that is placed in our journey. We ride with the flow of traffic but if we didn’t have an occasional red light or off-ramp, we would keep driving aimlessly into the blazing sun. The road will then take on the mirage of melting wax, and you may get lost along the way, swimming in a pool of the unknown.

In writing we need to know where we are headed. Setting goals is the perfect way to absorb the clear idea you have in mind. "Where do I want to go with my writing?" After you know where it is that you want to go, make plans to get there. Whenever you are headed out on a long journey, what is it you do first? PLAN the trip first, setting a direct goal and the finishing outcome in mind, then you leave, hopefully not forgetting anything or you’ll have to start all over again on the journey.

Is your goal to become published? Do what is necessary to get you from point A to point B. Point C is reaping the rewards of all your hard work. It’s the relaxing part where you sit back in the luxury of a deserted island drinking Mai Tai’s and basking in all the glory.

Okay, that’s a fantasy for Mr. King. For us realistic souls, we go back to the writing board and begin the journey all over again!

Happy Writing! ~ joni