 The turn of weather is a great time to take your writing through a poetic carwash. Fall is my absolute favorite season, and I love the poetry inspired by the leaves' changing colors, the biting cold that whips through my hair, and the dulling sun in the late afternoon sky.
Take a moment to visit these sites, read some verse, and give your writing a seasonal lift. Here are my go-to sites and a few seasonal writings that offer dimensional imagery and language to my writing. 1. The Poetry Foundation Grace Paley's Autumn. 2. Academy of American Poets Noah Falck's from "You are in Nearly Every Future" 3. The Poem Hunter John Keats' Ode to Autumn (I recommend you mute the computer-generated narration) 4. Poetry.about.com Elizabeth Barrett Browning's The Autumn If you are participating in NaNoWriMo and need an infusion of color and life or if you simply wish to take in the beauty of this season, discover again the color of poetry and let it drench your prose with folly. Share your whimsy here. Do you have a favorite verse or site you like? I'd love to know. Write on!
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 This is my first official year joining the throngs of crazies who attempt to write 50,000 words in November. Are you one of us? First, some history... Despite its Viking Helmet which suggests the phenomena began in Sweden or Denmark, NaNoWriMo started in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1999. The lyrical title stands for National Novel Writing Month. The fist one took place in July begun by founder Chris Baty. Starting in 2000, the event moved to the chilly hibernating month of November. Now there's a whole team of people who run the website and support coffee-guzzling authors. Writers are challenged to pump out 50,000 words in thirty days. That's about 1,667 words per day. There's even a challenge for young writers. Yesterday, November 1, I managed 2100 words. That was a Sunday with that extra hour of sleep, no work, and no kids running around asking for anything. We'll see what I manage during the work week. Join in the maniacal fun, and be my buddy! Cheer me on, and let me cheer you on. I look forward to connecting with you at NaNoWriMo. If you need help getting started, drop me a note below. Write on!  Every writer experiences a block on occasion, a point in your writing where you just aren't sure where to go next. I've written before about how to unblock a creative stall. Sometimes it's about the plot, but sometimes it's about the character.
Unstick your writing with a little drawing. If you've distanced yourself from your character, you might need time to see her more clearly. Sketching characters, making maps of settings, and practicing dialogue out loud are not new tricks for writers. You simply need to find the one that works best for you. Try it. Grab a sketchpad or sheet of paper, pencil or pen, and sketch your character. Try to capture her root emotions, her angst, her concern, her hopes, fears, and dreams. Draw her high school graduation picture or her face in the mirror when she wakes up. Create a series of portraits. Once you've got her, ask a friend or stranger to tell you what they see. What emotions does the image evoke? If they see things you didn't intend, consider why they're visible in what you drew. If you meant her to appear scared, but the stranger sees anger, maybe that's her root emotion. Work from there. Why might she be angry? Drawing your character brings her to life. Set her next to you as you write and see what else she has to say about her journey through your story. Share your drawings and thoughts with us. Write on! |
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