Reading books on writing–STORY by Robert McKee and how writers cope with limits

February 12, 2014February 12, 2014beccakinla advice, writer, writing, writing process Tags: challenge, conventions, creative limitations, genre, limit, Robert McKee, screenwriting, story, theme, write, writer, writing Leave a comment

“But it’s about screenwriting!” I said.

Story, by Robert McKee is a book that has come up again and again with my writing friends. A colleague even coached me in some of McKee’s techniques. And I’ve recommended it to random people in the library looking for books on screenwriting. But it was not something I’d ever actually read.

I think my block was this: I’m not planning to write a movie. I haven’t even seen one in a theater for (it’s now official!) ten years. Why would I read a book about screenwriting?

Taking the Plunge

After listening to so many novelists and other writers praise the book, I finally decided to read Story.

It’s fascinating so far.

One of the issues that came up in the bit I read today was about the conventions of genre. Continue reading →

Coping with rejection, again.

February 9, 2014beccakinla advice, persistence, rejection, rejection letters, review, revision, writer, writing, writing process Tags: bad, bouncing back, character, cope, coping, cry, editor, good, humble, rejection, tears, write, writer, writing 4 Comments

Okay, so I’ve written about rejection a lot of times. Like, a whole lotta times. But since the story I revised and returned to my wonderful editor is still deemed insufficiently engaging by her, I’m coping with rejection again. (Honestly, she gave me the option of cutting half its length, but I have officially washed my hands of the whole situation.) If I have to cope with it, I might as well post about it. Continue reading →

Exploring other media to conquer writer’s block

February 6, 2014February 3, 2014beccakinla advice, art project, frustration, poem, poetry, writer, writing, writing implements, writing process Tags: art, bad day, blahs, blues, blurry, brain, collage, conquer, creative, creativity, fix, frustration, fuzzy thinking, media, multimedia, nervous, overcome, poem, poetry, project, reboot, snap out of it, trick, trickery, writer, writer's block, writing 3 Comments

So, earlier this week, I had a case of the blahs. I suppose I didn’t technically have writer’s block–the problem was more that I didn’t want to do anything, not that I couldn’t write–but the results were the same.

My muddle

My best friend phoned. I told her my sad story. I didn’t want to write. I felt uncreative and just foggy in the head. She suggested I do something different, maybe go for a walk. Just don’t even try to write. Reboot.

The way out

For some reason, I’ve been getting back into art gradually over the last year. As a child and teen, I loved art, but like many people quit when I realized my mediocrity.

My collage poem.

I’ve been taking a lot of photos lately, even framing them and displaying them in my home. I’ve done a bit of sketching, as well, although that tends to send me back to a place where all I see is my lack of skill instead of getting pleasure from exercising what skill I have.

Anyway, after my phone call, I was itching to make a collage. I didn’t give into the itch right away, but as my kids settled in for homework this evening, I grabbed a couple magazines and a pair of scissors. Continue reading →

Put some funny in your Adar

February 3, 2014February 2, 2014beccakinla adar, authors, reviews, writer Tags: adar, annoyed, author, bad, bad review, black humor, book, cope, coping, funny, pain, painful, revenge, review, sad, terrible, writer 2 Comments

Purim is still almost six weeks away due to our extra Hebrew month of Adar this year, but it’s not too early to get silly. Writer Libi Astaire posted a hilarious “app” to repair your worst reviews. It’s pretty funny. She invites authors to go to her comment section and apply the app to their own negative reviews. I participated. Head over to her post to check it out.

Rehab for my Lame-O story

February 2, 2014beccakinla authors, fiction, rejection letters, revision, stories, writer, writing, writing process Tags: anger, career, cost, desire, fee, frustration, love, motivation, on demand, pay, process, professional, remuneration, revision, time, write, writer, writing 2 Comments

Last week, I resubmitted the Lame-O story that stressed me out a couple weeks ago. I found an ending that was logical, got some advice from my husband and my writing buddies about how to make the main character more sympathetic, and cut a lot of material that just seemed to distract from the main focus of the story.

I’m hoping the editor will now find it publishable, because I am simply sick of the story. Continue reading →

Conducting interviews to bring realism to your fiction

December 13, 2013December 22, 2013beccakinla fiction, HaModia, how to write, preparing, publishing, research, stories Tags: anecdotes, binyan, Cuban Missile Crisis, detail, Duck and Cover, fiction, history, interview, interviews, learn, magazine, past, realism, rebecca klempner, research, short story, survey, tips, writer, writing 1 Comment

Radio and television connected Americans with the facts of the ongoing crisis, and also increased their anxiety about its dangers.

You’ll find my story “Duck and Cover” in this week’s Binyan. While I lived through the tail-end of the Cold War, I’m not old enough to have survived the Cuban Missile Crisis, the setting for my story. In order to get details about how teens reacted to the situation, I conducted brief email interviews of a number of subjects who were old enough to remember the events. I asked about their feelings, how they coped with them, how they heard about the crisis, how the adults around them (both parents and teachers) reacted, and so on.

How did I use the interviews?

The responses I received were fascinating, and often contradictory, Continue reading →

Rebecca Klempner

Author page of Rebecca Klempner

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