Screnzy prep: crafting your story

Dear readers, Screnzy is fast-approaching, and the more background and organizing you can do now will mean more time to actually write when April 1st rolls around.

I know many people cringe at the mere mention of outlines, but when you're facing a writing challenge like Screnzy, outlines can be helpful. You don't have to create a complex, detailed outline to get yourself ready for April. Even just jotting down your story arc or a list of scenes will give you an idea of where you want your story to go when you start writing. It will help keep you from writing yourself into a corner.

When you write an outline, it forces you to develop your story beyond the one-line idea you had when you first started brainstorming for Screnzy. My one-line idea is "A collection of vignettes that center around people waiting for something."

When I started outlining the script, it became a story. As I thought about the different vignettes, I had to flesh out the idea into something more substantial than an idea. I needed story arcs for each of the vignettes, and before I knew it, I had something ready to actually be written.

If you really can't handle outlining, think of it as crafting your story. You need to know what you're writing about. Jotting some notes about how the story is going to go, how many acts and scenes you're writing, etc., will help make sure you can hit 100 pages between April 1st and April 30th.

What are you writing for Screnzy this year?

Screnzy prep: committing to the challenge

Ladies and gentlemen, Screnzy is just around the corner.

For those who don't know, Screnzy is short for ScriptFrenzy, an April writing event put on by the same awesome people that do National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The official website says the challenge is to:

Write 100 pages of original scripted material in the 30 days of April. (Screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, and graphic novels are all welcome).

Let me tell you that, compared to 50,000 words in November, 100+ pages of script is easy peasy. Not only is it easier to do a challenge based on pages rather than word count, but the script allows for quicker writing based on page count. Have you ever looked at a script? Lots of white space. Easy peasy.

If you're thinking of doing Screnzy this year, now is the time to commit to it. Sign up on the website, start thinking about your script, and get ready for a crazy, fun adventure. You don't have to sign up on the website to do it, but it will give you access to the support offered by the forums, and will let you "officially" check in once you complete your script.

Whether you want to participate officially or not, giving yourself the challenge to write a script in April is a good challenge for writers. It forces you to sit down and actually write, and shows you that you can make the time to write if you set it as a priority in your life. I enjoy participating because it reminds me--a prose writer--that other mediums can be fun, too. I don't know that I'd ever pursue a career as playwright, but it's fun to write scripts sometimes. Just for something different.

Last year, I did not participate. I was quite pregnant with Bunny during April (she was born the 26th), so it just wasn't possible. However, I would like to participate this year, using an idea that I came up with last year (or the year before...?) and never wrote.

My idea is a stage play called Wait, which will be a collection of vignettes in which someone (or more than one someone) is waiting for something or someone. I'm looking forward to writing it, and will be spending some time in the next few weeks outlining the vignettes.

If you haven't decided whether or not to do Screnzy, there's still time. It doesn't start until April 1st. Get on their website to look around a little, spend some time brainstorming. The important thing to remember is that it's not about creating some prolific work of art for stage or screen. It's not even about what you get in the end. Screnzy is about proving to yourself that you can make time to write, and that if you make the time, you can write a 100+-page script in 30 days.

Are you in?

Renew Your Spirit Sunday

For those who follow FlyLady, you know well that Sunday is "Renew Your Spirit Day." It's a chance to take time away from the day-to-day schedule to refresh and re-center yourself.

Even people with busy, highly structured schedules need time to rest and relax. If you don't, you can find yourself burnt out, and it's a good way to wind up with a bad cold, especially in the wintertime.

Renewing your spirit allows you to step back from the busyness of life to find balance in your mind and spirit. It allows your spirit catch up with your mind by slowing your mind (and body) down.

Unfortunately, in a society that's always got us moving (quickly) to the next thing, it can be hard to find ways to slow down, calm down, and relax. Sure you know how others relax, but what can work for you, and in your situation?

Every Sunday, I am going to give you a suggestion of how to renew your spirit, including how each suggestion has worked in my own life. (In other words, I won't make a suggestion I haven't tried myself.) If you have any suggestions you'd like to share, please email me and I'd be happy to let you write up your suggestion to share here.

Take some time today to breathe slowly, close your eyes, and simply slow down. Renew your spirit.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

I've been sort of procrastinating writing this review. I was nervous about reading Atlas Shrugged to begin with, and then to be reading it for a client made it worse. I will say I wish I'd been able to take more time with it. It's the kind of book that is better appreciated when it's taken slowly and studied more deeply. Unfortunately, I was on a deadline, so I did what I could with the time I had. I would like to think that maybe, someday, I will pick it up again and read it more slowly, but I probably won't.

The basic story of Atlas Shrugged is that the American economy is imploding. The government, which is enacting policies based on socialist ideas, has too much control, and their attempts at fixing the economic problems actually creates more. As this is going on, the best industrialists are retiring and simply vanishing, usually when they are needed the most. And at the heart of all this turmoil is the cryptic expression, said with a shrug, "Who is John Galt?"

Prior to reading Atlas Shrugged, I knew basically nothing about Ayn Rand or her philosophy, and I'm glad I didn't research it prior to reading. I disagree with her philosophy, as presented in the book, and I think if I'd known more before reading, it would have been much more of a struggle to get through than it already was. As I got into the story, I did do some research into Rand's life, works, and philosophy, which ultimately helped me understand the story better as I read.

I will say I appreciate the book. For what she was trying to do, I like how the story and characters are crafted. She draws on a lot of myth, and her characters and the story itself have an almost epic/mythic quality to them, which I think was beneficial for elevating the story and getting her point across. The strike in the story is the type of event that, within the world of the story, will be a legendary event, and the way Rand tells it emphasizes that.

However, I didn't like the story. I don't like Rand's use of extremes in the economy and government to make her philosophical points. I understand why she did it, but I don't like the story because of it. Life is not that black and white, and I had a problem with willing suspension of disbelief because of it. If she'd taken it further (a la "Harrison Bergeron"), it would have worked for me.

I feel like Atlas Shrugged is one of those books that people should give a chance, even if they don't like it. (Or don't finish it.) I'm glad I read it, even though I didn't like it. And now that I'm done with it, I'm glad to be moving on to other titles.

Oh, the places I've gone thanks to you!

Photo source

Bookmarks: the Coffee-Stained Writer

The Coffee-Stained Writer, 2008

This is an old photo of me. This is not what I look like anymore (though I think I still have that skirt, and much of what's in the background scene).

In an attempt to encourage reader contribution, I am holding a contest for Bookmarks. All contributors in the month of March will automatically be entered. On April 1st, I will randomly draw a name, and the winner will receive a $20 Barnes & Noble gift card!

Remember that the photos can be of you reading or writing (or both! Both is good!). Submissions can be emailed to me. Be sure to include your caption/explanation with the email, credit the photographer, and include any links to a blog or website you'd like included.

The deadline for submissions for the contest is March 31st at 11:59 p.m., central time. The winner will be drawn on April 1st.

NOTE: Even if your submission is not posted on the blog during the month of March, you will be entered in the contest.

Reading Challenge Update

Reading has been going better since I've started working with this new client. So far I've read Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, and Watership Down by Richard Adams. (Reviews of Rand and Adams will likely be posted this weekend.) I didn't read Atlas Shrugged as deeply as I would have liked, particularly because of what the book represents, but I did get through it, which is enough for me...because of what the book represents.

I'm happy with how I'm doing. I know I need to read more quickly to hit the goal of 100 books, but with the way things have been going, I think I'm doing pretty well. I'm glad I'm doing this challenge--it's forcing me to take time to read, to immerse myself in stories. They say writers should spend time reading, and this challenge is helping me do that.

Right now choosing stories has been easy. I have a list of books on my shelf I'd like to read, and I'm being given stories by my client to work with. But I know that as I get further in the challenge, it might get harder to pick books. There are always and forever books to read, of course, but I'll have worked through many of the titles already on my want-to-read list, and will need to add to it. I'm also resisting the temptation to go through an entire series for this challenge. I feel like it would be too easy to read, say, the Harry Potter series. Sure, it would count, but it's not really my goal for this reading challenge. In fact, except for reading Song of Solomon and Sula, both by Toni Morrison, I would like to only read one book by each author I pick up this year.

How's your reading going this year?

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

The first book I completed for the 100+ Books Reading Challenge 2012 is Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. Originally I was going to start my reading challenge with Sula, but a freelance opportunity presented itself that allows me to read fiction, so I jumped on it, and Song of Solomon was my first title.

Toni Morrison's work is not unfamiliar to me. In a college literature course I read/studied The Bluest Eye, so I was excited to have the chance to read Song of Solomon.

The story centers around the Dead family in an unnamed Michigan town. Specifically, the protagonist of the story is Macon Dead III (called Milkman from childhood). It is a coming-of-age story in which Milkman goes in search of a stash of gold that may or may not exist from his father and aunt's youth, and ends up finding out about his family history and his own identity instead.

I had high expectations of the story when I started reading it, and I wasn't disappointed. I did have trouble connecting with the character of Milkman--I found myself connecting more with his mother, Ruth, and his aunt, Pilate. I know part of that is because they are female characters, but I found their life experiences more closely resembling my own, and I found myself rooting for them more than other characters in the book.

Pilate does play a large role in the story, and is also considered a protagonist in some ways. More than that, she is a connective thread among the characters, and provides a link for Milkman to what he is seeking, even when what he is seeking changes. In fact, it is Pilate that helps connect Milkman to his own father.

The story is told chronologically and includes flashbacks to fill in exposition when needed. The use of flashbacks helps reveal the story to the reader in the same way it is being revealed to Milkman. Not only does this help build suspense, but it puts the reader in Milkman's shoes as he is on his journey, tracking down clues and figuring out who he is.

I was not disappointed when I finished Song of Solomon. I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed the characters and their relationships, and when I put the book down, I found myself thinking about it for a few days afterward, still putting pieces together and processing the story. That's usually a good sign, isn't it? Of course, I didn't expect less from a Nobel Prize winner.

Whether you've read Morrison or not, Song of Solomon is worth taking time for. Morrison is an outstanding author, and this story will help you see why. Song of Solomon is my favorite of her works so far.

Freelance specialization

One of the many pieces of advice that veterans have for new freelance writers is to specialize what they do.

When you first start out, you may find yourself casting a wide net, willing to write just about anything someone will pay you for. That's how I started out. I was writing for pennies on topics ranging from diets and fitness to Halloween costumes to mixed martial arts gear. It's how you build a portfolio and gain experience in freelance writing.

As you write, though, you may find yourself drawn to a particular area of writing. For example, I found myself writing a lot of health/fitness/natural living articles, as well as a lot of education articles. My background working in education gave me a good foundation for education articles, and with my mother working as a nurse, I knew enough about health/fitness to break into the topic, and built on the initial articles to write more.

Though I still write a lot of different things, depending on what clients need, I tend to stick to health/fitness articles (which includes nutrition, the field of health care, exercise, natural living, etc.) and education articles. These are the two areas I have the most experience in, and can write them pretty quickly with minimal research (depending on the specs, of course).

By specializing, I've been able to strengthen my portfolio. I focus on these two areas, so when a client comes up and asks for samples, I have recent pieces ready to send. I won't say I'm an authority in those areas, but I'm confident enough in them that I can tell clients that there's no problem writing about virtually anything that falls under those umbrella topics. (In fact, I have one client that asked me to do a project that consisted of many topics covering nursing education--it was the best of both worlds!)

Specialization does not limit your writing. Sure, you may find yourself passing on projects because they aren't your niche, but it means that as you grow and strengthen your skills, you can command a higher rate for the work you do. Instead of settling for a lower rate of pay and casting a wider net, you can focus in on the "big fish" in your topic areas. In addition, writing what you know or are comfortable with is more cost-effective. If I have to write about a topic I know nothing about, I'm going to spend more time doing research, which means the article takes longer, and I'm getting paid less per hour. If I stick to the areas I'm comfortable with and know well, I can write faster and be earning more for the same amount of time.

If you haven't specialized, you should consider it. Think about what you like to write, what you're good at writing, what you know a lot about. Think about what you did in your life before writing. This can help you narrow down your writing and strengthen your skills.

It's coming....!

It's mid-February. For many that means starting to think about spring, about St. Patrick's Day, about Ash Wednesday and Lent. However, for others, it means something different. It means thinking about ScriptFrenzy.

I know, I know. It's early. But, really, is it ever too early to start thinking about a writing challenge?

For those new to the idea, ScriptFrenzy is like NaNoWriMo, except that it's for scripts. ScriptFrenzy (referred to from here on as "Screnzy") offers flexibility in what kind of script is written. Screenplay, stage play, radio, television.... it's about writing not about following a long list of rules for how to do it. It's 100 pages in 30 days (which is super easy when you're writing a script, by the way, and especially compared to NaNo!).

I already know what I'm doing. The reason is because I came up with a script idea in 2010 and didn't write it. So I'm using that script idea for this year's challenge. It's called Wait, and is a collection of vignettes about... (you guessed it) waiting. And though I've outlined the script already, I think I'm going to start from scratch with the outline. I'm a very different person than I was two years ago, and I want the play to reflect the person I am today.

Again, I know it's early to be thinking about Screnzy. But the earlier, the better. Start thinking about whether or not you want to commit to writing 100 pages in 30 days. It can be done, and though it sounds nuts, it's a lot of fun to do.

In addition to participating, I will be offering virtual support throughout the experience, beginning with helping you prepare. Throughout the month of March I will post weekly prep posts to get your script ready to write, and throughout April I will post pep talk posts to keep you going. And you can know that I'll be right there along with you, scribbling away.

It's a wild and crazy adventure. And worth every moment of sleep lost to get it done.