Write Like Your Brain Works: A book to help writers....

Valerie J. Steimle

When I read the title of that book, my first thought I had was that writing like my brain works would not necessarily be a good thing... My brain doesn't always think as it should and I can't always guarantee good works to come out of it.

But the title intrigued me and I downloaded the book onto my kindle. This non-fiction book is by Dene Low (who is a women and has a B.A. in literature, an M.A. in creative writing, and a Ph.D. in rhetoric and composition, whew!). She also writes novels as well.

 The information in this book helps writers to become better at their craft through her knowledge of what makes a better writer and then contains writing exercises to keep you in practice.

I'm already past chapter one so I wanted to talk about what I learned so far:

Whether it's a novel, article, short story or children's book remember these helpful hits when writing:

1.  Know your intended audience: Find a notebook to write down your thoughts in a place where you can refer to it later. Write all that you know about your intended audience.  What do you know about them and what do you think they would like  to read? It is important to know who your audience is otherwise writing becomes mundane and incoherent.

2. Know your purpose in writing: What is your purpose in writing what you write?  Why even bother to write at all? Do you have a passion about telling stories? As writers we must know our purpose and write it down in our notebook.

3. Know the context of your work: What is the model that rules your world? In each of your writing projects you should remember what rules are most appropriate for your creations. Writers can evaluate available options and use what they consider the most appropriate aspect of every part of their writing. When we write something out of place, it can ruin the effect we are trying to create.  You wouldn't have Luke Skywalker not aspire to be a Jedi--that is not an appropriate ideal in the Star Wars world. Think through your story for the best context.


4. Write down experiences: One suggestion to help us with writing ideas is to keep a notebook of what we experience during our day to day activity. You might not use all of them but then again you might find them very useful. Dene Low gives several examples of what she has written but I have one of my own to share which I did write about in my journal:

My husband and I were invited to the wedding of some very good friends of ours. We knew both the bride and the groom and this wedding was to be at someone's home.  It was the second wedding for both and we were looking forward in sharing their happiness.  We arrived at a reasonable time before the wedding and were milling around visiting with the other guests. I talked with both bride and groom and then it was getting close to the time of the wedding to begin. We waited, and waited and waited some more.... The bride was not coming out of her dressing room.  Visions of "Runaway Bride" ran through my head but I dispelled those as her daughter was going in and out of the dressing room talking to others. I'm sure the bride was still in there. 

I started to worry and we waited longer.  It was almost 2 hours later while we were waiting and everyone was getting really hungry.  No one wanted to eat yet because the wedding hadn't happened yet. Then one of the guys we knew who was a friend of the groom came up to me and said, "Hey- I have a great idea!"  Let's all stand around the cake table and on the count of three, charge towards the cake and start eating..." I had to keep from laughing my head off.  It was a funny idea and the vision I had was even funnier.

Of course we didn't do that but the bride gave the caterers permission to start passing out food to everyone so we could eat... They did marry eventually but it was one of the funniest weddings I had ever attended. (I think the delay was due to her getting cold feet.)

Now that is a story I could use in one of my books somewhere I'm sure.

5. Persuade your readers to experience what you want them to in your writings: Appeal to reason, facts, data and logic which will convince the audience about the truth of your assertions in your writings. Making sense is an important part of persuading your readers to your world. Always show positive influence even through challenging periods. Write about overcoming life's most difficult problems.

There is so much more information in this book which will help all writers to improve their writing. This helpful writer's book is a great addition to your writer's collection and will have readers begging you for more books. But you'll just have to download the book to study it yourself.

Here is the link: Write Like Your Brain Works

Loving Limitations- a how-not-to

“And if men come unto to me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” Ether 12:27

Bah, humbug. The message of the scripture above (from the Book of Mormon for anyone not familiar therewith {I got to use the word therewith :D}) is one that I have been at odds with since, well, forever. I have a ton of weaknesses. Most of them involve food like cheese and chocolate and caramel and . . . . *takes snack break*

Ok, what was I saying? Right, weaknesses. I find myself frustrated daily with the prospect of tackling even one of these little demons at a time, and I am super distractible, another failing. Don’t get me wrong this isn’t a pity party post; I just feel like I have a grievance to air.

My faults don’t make me humble. They make me angry. Hulk. Smash. Angry. And according to a really great councilor I met once, anger is the physiological response to the belief that something is unfair. What I have intellectualized from this is that I think it is unfair that I have to have weaknesses. Probably because I don’t want them. More than that, I can’t accept them. I refuse to just acknowledge and move on from the fact of my mortality and therefore my imperfect nature. And despite this TED talk, this talk from the LDS General Conference this weekend, oh and this one, too, I can’t seem to get to a place of embracing my limited nature.

I often see people’s Facebook posts full of awesome accomplishment, and rather than feeling joy for their success, I want to punch myself in the face for not being equally excellent. Even as I am typing this my husband is gently explaining to my son that we don’t use the word stupid in our house, except that he learned that from me. So technically we do. I do. I shouldn’t. *forehead palm*

What this means for my writing is that I go into these places of complete lock down. I can’t write because every word is wrong. Every plot line is stupid, insipid, cliché. I find myself sitting at my computer with enough rage at my own ineptitude to melt the screen with my laser vision.

I have tried to tackle this particular issue a few times. And I manage to make a little progress. I can breathe through the mistakes, shake off the humiliation of one more, “Oops.” And then the cat-o-nine tails comes out and floggings begin anew. Maybe it’s because I care what people think of me (I want them to think good things, only good things), maybe it’s because I know I’m not quite living up to my potential, maybe I just need more chocolate.

I want to be humble. I want to face a place where I need some help or just more work and be able to say, “I know this isn’t my strong place, but I’m going to just try. And that’s enough for now because I am mortal and imperfect.” Yet every time I approach a failing with the intent to work on it I have an internal tantrum. “Why aren’t I better at this? Why is this taking so long? This makes no sense! Why can’t I just be perfect?”

I have no lesson here other than those given in the links above (You should watch them, really. They are fantastic.). So if any of you have been here, this place of epic frustration and wheel spinning over the stuff that isn’t right yet, please let me know. Let me know it’s not just me.

And in keeping with the theme, I signed up for this awesome write-a-thon and I missed the first two days. Check it out, I’m giving away a copy of the anthology I am in to someone who, you know, actually accomplishes stuff. 

The Quest Box

Not too long ago I sent away for some free samples. They were a new brand of energy bar, Quest bars to be specific. The flavors sounded interesting, so I thought, “What the heck?” What I got in the mail was an overheated black box containing my (now withered) samples. Yeah, Arizona summers are not conducive to heat sensitive mail. On the outside printed in red and white, in all caps, it read,

 “You say yes when others say no. You rise while others sleep. You are better today than you were yesterday. You do what others will not. You control your destiny. You are intense. You are obsessed. You are not normal. You are on a quest. Never stop.”

I love this box. I have no recollection of the samples from within, my children made short work of them despite their sun stroked condition, but the box is now a permanent fixture of my writing space. 

I am not sure what enamored me to it so quickly, but it is a prized possession. Maybe the, “you are,” statements function as mini affirmations for me each day. It reminds me that even when all I feel like doing is sipping my unseasonable hot chocolate in front of a film adaptation of an Austen novel, I have stories of my own demanding attention, plot holes to be filled and paved, characters that just want someone to talk to. Whatever it is, the fact that there was a company willing me to greatness regardless of what I thought (or didn’t even get a chance to think) about their product endeared me to the packaging.

Perhaps its greatest assertion, “You are on a quest,” is what really piqued my interest. It prods me to ask, “yes, but what kind of quest?”

Am I on a quest to be published? I don’t think so. Having had my first tiny taste of publication and the immense workload it brings, I’m pretty sure that’s not what I’m after. I’m not really comfortable talking about my writing in public forums, it’s such a personal thing. I really try to right for myself, to write the things that interest me. I certainly don’t expect fame or fortune, and I hope to avoid any form of infamy.

I think I might just be on the quest to find the most interesting story, maybe even the one tale that’s missing from my life. My day is so full, so complete in many ways that chasing stories and characters and themes is one of the few avenues of self-discovery still open to me. When the mortgage must be paid, the children fed/dressed/cleaned/taught, the yard weeded, and the billion other things that make up living in America in the 21^st century, the mind can become one of the last places for real conquest, challenge, triumph.

Perhaps it is silly, and really just evidence of being a packrat at heart, but I’m not parting with this little box of cardboard. Like another rather infamous article it contains my hope for what writing will be for me: a source of joy, a source of wonder, a refuge from life’s hurts and struggles. Yes, I am on a quest, to never stop.

How about you? What are you questing for?