Writing is NOT a chore

Writing is NOT a chore. But unless Muse is riding on your shoulder, the words tumble out slowly, hitting jagged corners along the way, and may bounce right off into the deep end; they are so useless.

One way to remedy this is to find a quiet time to write. If that means getting up at five o’clock in the morning to jot down your thoughts or write an article, go to bed earlier to rise with the sun peeking over the horizon. The dawn of a new day can awaken those juices ready to burst out of the depths of your soul. Program your coffeemaker the night before so the smells of java come wafting through the house in the wee hours, and a cup with an egg and toast will bolster your body to start the day fresh.

Now sit down and get all quiet for a moment. Open your patio door and listen to the birds singing, leaves on the trees swaying, hum of bees or hummingbirds, and traffic rounding the bends in the road near your house. Walk outside with your coffee and smell the drifts of morning, the sun glowing in its corner and brightening God’s creation for all to see. Bask in this wonder for a few minutes, sipping your coffee slowly. Now go inside and write down whatever comes to your mind. This may or may not be what you just saw, but the moment of taking a whiff of daybreak awakened the Muse in you.

Some writers enjoy writing at night. For me, this is the time my senses start shutting down, and I do not feel the urge to caress words across the pages, but find it a chore instead. In any case, if you write at night, a few cups of java might keep those senses burning alive in your soul and the words tumble out with ease. Some people prefer writing in the sleep zone because their senses come alive from their nine to five grind. They are all wound up and writing releases the tension built up over the ten hours of commute and work.

If you ride the train to work, this is another place you may take your writing passion. Writing a novel while bumping along the tracks can prove to be either too distracting or a time-saver for your story. A writing pad, netbook or laptop is most handy for writing in this location. Look at the people around you. They are either reading a book, eating a breakfast bar, drinking a cup of coffee, chatting with friends, or writing on their laptop like you at this moment. People are very interesting to watch! Write down on a side note what you see and hear. There may be an unruly child and a mother either paying no attention or reprimanding the youngster. Describe what the people look like, what they’re wearing, the things they do. These can all be useful now or later in your project.

In any case, the goal here is to write at a regular time when Muse is most likely to appear. Don’t hesitate! Now in your life is the time to write.

Set Your Writing Apart

Set your writing apart from the others. Wow your readers with the obscure, eclectic look. Don’t let any of your writing become stagnant to the reader’s eye. Let your reader view something real, tangible and inviting.

Instead of pummeling your story along, slow down and let the reader get a whiff of your senses. Let them feel your anguish or joy, the softness or roughness of its outer core, or clarity of taste and smell. Describe the object or scene, delving into all the senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Don’t spare your gifts of the word in carving into detail this object, no matter how simple or complex it is.

Practice your craft with an ordinary object, a living organism or a man-made tech machine. If you’re facing a dull read of your story, this could spark up the drab and let in a little bit of light. Plain and simple stories, such as - boy meets girl, boy gets girl, they get into a fight and she leaves him (or vice versa), then they make up and end of story – can be given a second chance when a description of objects, scenes or people here and there bring them to life.

Start with sight—describe the texture, shape, colors, and clarity with metaphors or similes. Next, add hearing—do you hear anything associated with the object? If not, you can skip this sense. Touch the object, rubbing your hands along it if you can, and write down what you feel. Now, smell it—what do you smell? If you smell anything, even a chemical smell, write it down. Last of all is taste. You may not be able to taste it, but if you can, do not hesitate to show the comparison against another similar taste.

Now, combine some of these sentences to spare no workouts of the mind. Like going to a symphony or a Broadway musical, isn’t it? The reader will get caught up in this object which has now taken shape into their soul, and now cannot put the story down. They must read on. . . .

Lights, Camera, Action!

The most memorable writing, in my estimation, comes from carefully planned out metaphors or similes and personification intermixed with a mere sprinkling of passive sentences. "Artsy" writing is what I call it. Pulitzer prizes and other awards adorn authors who praise the metaphor and personification words to their advantage. Locking these creative doses with simple passive sentences tone down the heavy medley, and instead blossom forth what the writer is actually trying to say. Succinct and precise words describe a scene to additionally complement the sentences.

A metaphor or simile describes something using words that are not literal to explain further with figures of speech, phrases or symbols. The simile adds "as" or "like" to the entity to mellow out the figure of speech, while the metaphor is straight-on with its descriptive words. Personification adds life to an object or abstract notion. Passive voice sentences use 1) non-active verbs, and 2) pose the object at the beginning of the sentence and the subject placed at the end of the sentence preceded with the word "by."


Example: (metaphor) She gossips a lot, talks about others behind her back. She is a snake.

Example: (simile) She gossips a lot, talks about others behind her back, like a snake.

Example: (personification) She sat down in the velveteen chair, the wings rounding off her arms to its sides, its purple plush caressing the girl's shape, softening her grief.

Example: (passive voice) A man was struck by a car while crossing Main and Oak Streets. (An active voice would be "A car struck a man while crossing Main and Oak Streets;" notice the passive voice has the man (object) in the front of the sentence instead of the car (subject) as in the active voice.)

Other passive voice sentences contain non-active verbs, such as linking verbs: She made it to the play. This may seem very bland, but mixed with active sentences, it can abruptly halt the reader to sum up all the active sentences to one meaningful statement.

Welcome!

Have you ever thought about writing the great American novel? Well, there are many times in the day I say to myself, "If I could only get the time to write," and the next day comes along, and there are a million things to do again.

Suffice it to say, I created this blog to spur my imagination, my muse, to write and get that novel done! I hope this blog will compel your creative juices to flow, too. I wish you many happy writing days to follow!

- Linda