Day Twelve: Stop...Look...Listen

Stop...look...listen. As children, we were taught to do this before crossing a street. But it is also a good reminder for writers.

Our lives seem to be busier than ever, and the pace of life is often in overdrive. Especially, as we get older, time seems to fly by at warp speed. Our "To Do" lists get filled with so many things that need doing, that our "wants" get relegated to the bottom of the list--if they make the list at all. There is too much happening, too much information "out there," and too little time. As a result, we tend to narrow our focus to those things that directly affect us and ignore the rest.

Writers, though, need periods of time in which to slow down in order to refill the creative tank. Physically, this might mean getting away for a period of personal refreshing of body, mind, and spirit. Creatively, it might mean opening our mind's intake valve for an infusion of fresh ideas. For water to be fresh, there must be an inflow as well as an outflow. No inflow, and the stream dries up. No outflow, and it stagnates. It's the same with creative ideas. We must keep ourselves open to new ideas and engaged in life, or we may suddenly find ourselves unable to continue writing--otherwise known as "writer's block." If nothing fresh is flowing in, nothing can flow out as stories, articles, or essays. I have a friend who is constantly observing, listening (eavesdropping, if you will) to those around him. I recall one time when we were walking down the street and he pointed out a young couple ahead of us. He began telling me all about them: why they were there, what they were doing, what was going on in their lives. When I asked if he'd known them long, he replied that he didn't know them at all--he'd just spun a story about them from the things he observed as they walked ahead of us: their gestures, how they looked at each other, whether or not they were holding hands, the tone of their voices. This is the creative mind in action. You can learn a lot, and get fresh ideas for your writing, simply by observing people around you. So, S-T-O-P: Stop To Observe People.

As I said, because our lives are so hectic, we tend to narrow our focus. We limit ourselves to what's familiar, to what touches us personally: our interests, our family, our friends, our community. But to keep fresh ideas coming, we need to look beyond the familiar, to see what's going on in the lives of those around us and around the world. In our modern age, what happens in other countries affects what happens in our own. Rising energy costs and the global recession are just two examples. Likewise, we need to understand how our actions affect others both at home and abroad. We also need to be lifelong learners. While working on this year's NaNo novel, so far I've learned about mucking out stalls, milking cows, and gained a rudimentary knowledge about mid-19th century barns and the modifications their construction went through in the early 20th century. I'm also learning about the history of Stowe, Vermont, where my story is set. Will I ever really muck out a stall? Probably not. Nor do I see milking cows and building barns in my immediate future. But learning stimulates the mind, gets those synapses firing, and the creative wheels turning. It keeps our brains from stagnating. So, we need to L-O-O-K: Look Outward, Optimize Knowledge.

And then we need to listen, not just with our ears but with our minds and hearts. Learn to hear what's NOT being said. Learn to "hear" body language: facial expressions, gestures, posture. Listen to people's hearts, not just their words. As you're going about your day-to-day business, listen to what people are talking about. Carry a pen and pad with you and jot down snatches of conversation that are interesting or that stimulate creative thinking. Did you hear something your characters might discuss? Is that woman's body language saying something other than what her words are saying? How could you use that in a story? While sitting in a coffee shop or in a park, waiting in the checkout line at the store, or dining in a restaurant, spend time observing and listening to those around you. Do you just hear an indistinguishable buzz, or do bits of conversation stand out from the background noise? If something does stand out, allow your creative mind to speculate "what if?" So, L-I-S-T-E-N: Listen Intently, Sift Through External Noise.

STOP...LOOK...LISTEN...then WRITE!

Day Eight: School is Now in Session

If you're not willing to learn, don't become a writer. It's a given that if someone is writing a non-fiction book, they will have to do research in order to write intelligently about their subject and be able to convey that information to the reader in a clear, understandable manner. But what about the writers of fiction? If you're making up a story, doesn't all of it come from your own imagination? Can't you just create things the way you want them to be? Why would a writer of fiction need to do research?

When I sat down to work on my NaNo novel today, it didn't take long before I knew I was going to have to stop and gather some additional information. A large section of my story takes place in the second half of the 19th century in rural Vermont. As I began to write a scene set inside a barn, I wondered: What kind of clothing would these people have worn? What tools and implements would they have had available to use in doing their work? How would their lives have been different from ours in terms of opportunities and attitudes? What names were common at the time? So, I began combing the internet for the answers to these questions, sifted through the material, and decided what and how much applied to my particular characters and their situation. Due to the time constraints of NaNo, I couldn't spend a great deal of time on this, so there will be more to delve into when I begin the revisions after the holidays.

Attention to detail helps to ground your story in time and place, and makes it more authentic. A farmer from 1870 would not be listening to music on a boom box while hitching his cows up to electric milking machines. Boom boxes did not exist, and while attempts were made earlier in the century to develop a milking machine, the first successful one didn't appear until 1870. Therefore, it would be highly unlikely for a poor rural farmer in Vermont to have one in the first year of its existence. Nor can I have people wearing fabrics and styles that didn't exist in the 1800s. If my character is a farmer, I need to know what kind of farming was done at that time. For example, Vermont is known as a dairy state; but prior to 1850, Vermont was known nationally for its sheep farming. It wasn't until the middle of the century that sheep farming began to decline, and dairy farming took over. Public libraries and public education didn't come into being until the late 19th/early 20th century, so my characters can't go trotting off to the public library to check out a book, because such an institution didn't exist.

In addition to time, place, culture, and customs, it's surprising what your characters themselves will teach you. Tonight, one of my characters had to teach another the proper way to muck out a stall. Since I'm not an authority on stall mucking, it appeared I would also have to learn this skill. After doing another search, I can now state that I know the proper steps to take in cleaning out a stall, the order in which to take them, and the proper tools to use. I also learned what happens if you overfill a wheel barrow with horse manure and try to move it--unfortunately, so did my character.

Writing requires imagination, observation, discipline, and a willingness to be a lifelong learner. It's not enough to have a good plot and an interesting story. As the saying goes, "the devil is in the details," and an astute reader will quickly know whether or not you've done your homework.