onewildword

Jun 6

The #1 thing every writer should do every day

Attending Robert McKee’s Story Seminar in Los Angeles a few years ago was an experience I will never forget. From the hotel I stayed in with whispering elevators, themed floors, fuchsia colored walls, and stuffed sheep in the lobby, to Mr. McKee’s intense (read scary) demeanor and boot camp-style story lessons, I learned more than I could ever have imagined. I learned about story events, scenes, beats, sequences, acts, inciting incidents, story climaxes, different types of plots, and much more–all designed to make us better storytellers.

At the end of our long, exhausting weekend, Mr. McKee said there was one more thing we needed to do everyday if we wanted to become a “serious” writer. We collectively held our breath, waiting for this last drop of wisdom to anoint us into full-fledged writerhood.

What he said was not what we expected. Read more

Jun 3

4 Comments

Seven tips for how to write like a 5-year-old

If you read my post about writing like a 5-year-old, you may be asking yourself, “But, HOW do I do that? Here’s how to prime yourself to write in your child-like zone.

Practice. Every craft requires practice. In music you practice playing scales, you practice playing songs. To write like a 5-year-old, know that you’ll need to practice this carefree frame of mind so that it becomes natural to you. As a reminder, stick a Post-it note on your monitor that says: “Write like a 5-year-old.” Then do it. Here’s how:

Talk to yourself: Before you start a writing session, recite this sentence aloud several times: “Now I’m going to write like a 5-year old.”
Act as if no one is reading what you write. To do this, pretend you are someone else and make up a writing identity and name that you will write as during your 5-year-old writing sessions. Suggestions: Pippy, Skippy, Chipper, or Aurora. Read more

Jun 2

3 Comments

Write like a 5-year-old

Last week, I pulled out a draft of a children’s story I wrote years ago — actually one of the first stories I’d ever written. I realized that the most striking thing about the story was my frame of mind while I was writing it. At that point in my life, it didn’t occur to me that I had any limitations. I didn’t sit and stew about how to get into the story, or if it was good, or what anyone would think about it, or if anyone would want to read it or publish it. When I wrote the story, I was writing like a 5-year-old plays. Being a little messy, running around (on the page), and just being in the moment.

I was writing because I had an idea, I thought it would be fun, and I wanted to share it. At the time I wrote the story, I’d never gone to a writer’s workshop or read many books on writing. Now, after studying writing and going to seminars, I’ve figured out some of its flaws. Read more

Jun 1

The Jagger effect: the power of passion in writing

I watch the Grammy Awards each year because I love music. Since I was a little kid I’ve dreamed I could sing, play piano, or rock the guitar. In the early 70s, my cousin and I would ride in the back of my dad’s old Ford pickup belting out Carole King or Carly Simon at the top of our lungs. Things were different back then. I didn’t have to worry about carrying a melody, getting the words right, or even being in pitch. Now when I sing—as a grown up woman, wife, and mother—I am asked by various family members to stop—including our three cats, who begin to howl in unison when I burst into song. Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit but, really, it’s that bad.

Fortunately, each year the Grammy Awards supply our household with some much needed relief along with some stunning moments. One of my all-time favorite performances was during this year’s ceremony when Mick Jagger hit the stage with “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love,” his tribute to Solomon Burke—the King of Rock ‘n Soul. From the first notes, everybody was on their feet. Thanks to our DVR, we recorded the show and watched his performance three times. Each time, Mick brought us to tears.

What was so great about his performance? Read more

May 30

3 Comments

Two steps to stronger verbs

Strong verbs equal strong writing. Normally, the first words we get down on paper tend to be thoughts, images, and ideas off the top of our head. Revision is the place where we go deeper and discover more original ideas, images, and metaphors, along with stronger verbs and nouns.

The good news is in two easy steps you can begin to train your brain to produce stronger verbs even in first drafts.

Step One: First, you have to know where you’re at.

Do a short timed write or use a piece of first draft writing. One page is good. You don’t want polished or revised work for this exercise—only first draft material! Next, underline or highlight each verb on the page. Read more

May 13

2 Comments

An experiment in form: Channeling a beat poet

I brought a new poem to my writing group last week. They loved it. Said it was the best poem I’d written. I was almost embarrassed at the accolades (notice I said “almost”).

The poem was different than the kind of poem I usually write. For one, it was longer—39 lines. And, the lines themselves were longer than what I normally write. Plus, it was a sestina (a poetic form of 39 lines with 6 stanzas of six lines each and a tercet of three lines at the end. In a sestina, the end words of the first stanza are repeated in a certain order through the rest of the poem). Intriguing? Yes. Easy to do well? Not so much.