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 →

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 →

Personal Geographic

January 29, 2014January 30, 2014beccakinla advice, writer, writing, writing process Tags: anthropology, character, february 2014, garrison keillor, Geographic, geography, landscape, national geographic, Personal Geographic, practice, setting, writing, writing exercise 1 Comment

Some of my readers know already that I’m a big fan of National Geographic. For someone who studied anthropology for years, it’s pretty much like periodical crack. (Yes, periodical crack can be read both ways.) I dig the magazine so much, that I spend an hour or two every month reading it cover-to-cover in order to scribble over any non-G rated language so that my children can read the magazine and become educated world citizens without losing their innocence. To some people, that last sentence probably seemed like a paradox, but if you’re an Orthodox Jewish mother with a graduate degree in anthropology and children, it’ll make perfect sense.

Garrison Keillor’s Personal Geographic

Magazine The February issue has a delightful article by Gerrison Keillor, all about his personal geography. He meanders his way through time and space, describing the landscape of “his” Minnesota: here’s where he went on a field trip, there he had his first job, his cousin died on that spot.

Your Personal Geographic

I thought this was a marvelous exercise for a writer: take a map, add the landmarks of your personal geography to it, then write. Or, better yet, map the setting of your story. Add the landmarks of your characters’ lives. Where did they meet? Where did they lose something? Where did they find something? Now, write.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please share them in the comments below.

This story does not stop here!

January 20, 2014February 2, 2014beccakinla advice, conclusion, ending, how to write, writer, writing, writing process Tags: a guide for the perplexed, climax, conclusion, Dara Horn, ending, how to, in the courtyard of the kabbalist, King Feuerman, MICE, orson scott card, ruchama king feuerman, story, storytelling, wrap up that story, write, writing 3 Comments

For the last week, I’ve been struggling with a major rewrite of a short story. Basically, the character was not so likeable, her journey was boring, and the ending was very, very lame.

The problems with my Lame-O story:

This was already the third or fourth draft of the story. I’d originally written it for a particular venue, who rejected it. Later, it was accepted for a different one, conditional on me completing a satisfactory rewrite.

The main structural changes the editors asked for were the removal of one subplot (and the scenes both where it was introduced and where it was resolved) and a new ending.

I cut out the subplot. No problem. I wasn’t entirely attached to it.

But still not done!

Now my story had a new problem Continue reading →

Rebecca Klempner

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