Guest Bloggers – Page 22

Guest Blogger Amanda McTigue — The Power of Place

Writing is setting. Indeed, to write is to place (that’s “place” as a verb).

We writers place readers in worlds. We set them into circumstances, stories, imagery, facts, memories, actions, fantasies, and so on.

Setting in this sense isn’t mere background. It’s the sum total of every last word we write. And yet, so often we think of place as scenery. What a mistake!

Place shapes voice. I’m not talking dialect here. I’m saying the ways we writers situate ourselves in imagined (or remembered) worlds give rise to the ways we convey those worlds to others.

Our first task, then, is to place ourselves so fully that our readers go with us.

“All well and good,” you say, “but how can we interrupt our action-packed, conflict=drama, page-turning flow to squeeze in some detail of setting? We’re writing to keep readers reading! There’s no room! There’s no time!”

I feel your pain. We writers are in such a rush. Determined to finish-and-publish, we worry about where to put the “where” in our text before we even know where “where” is.

But place gathers power when we slow down.

In my writing process, “where” has a time and pace (that’s not a typo). I do everything I can to remind myself that plot points can wait; endings will find themselves. Meanwhile, when I’m lost, I get more lost. I schedule time for sheer exploration. We’re talking undirected (but focused!) wandering accomplished through short sessions of stream-of-consciousness writing.

So often, our best work is discovered, not planned. When’s the last time you ambled through your worlds with no agenda? How about sitting still? How about nosing around for nothing in particular? Try leaving your map at home. Paddle. Search. Listen. Taste. Sniff. Find a new vantage point. Marvel. Take a nap. Unpack a picnic, etc.

Forget writing. Just notice and take notes. The bird watcher doesn’t agonize about her style when she’s out in the field. She scribbles as fast as she can. Who cares if there’s a better word for “red?” She keeps her eye not on the page, but on that tiny splash of color hidden in the branches. She tries to capture everything, knowing the bird will fly off any minute, taking the moment with it.

Lately, I find such field trips invaluable. I schedule them not only as I’m drafting but also right through my editing process.

Let’s say I’m polishing a chapter for the umpteenth time and it’s still god-awful. Sometimes I know what’s missing. Sometimes I have no idea why it stinks. Either way, I set the manuscript aside, put on my boots and step out into a wet garden or a fetid alley or a crater on the Planet Zarn with absolutely no sense of how that’s going to help. I just give myself a half-hour and go.

I take field equipment along to sharpen my observations: binoculars, a camera dolly, a satellite, a cloud boat, a microphone, a microscope, my tongue. I grab every writer’s prompt I’ve ever enjoyed and bring them too—questions or novel points-of-view—to keep myself playful and curious.

I place myself—and things happen. Setting always brings more than static landscape. Worlds always world, even the quietest of them.

When I return to editing, I bring the fruits of my wandering. Suddenly an overlooked shoelace suggests a murder weapon, a tree branch holds a charm, or the stitching on a pillow brings a character to life.

Does that mean that I use every word I write in such sessions? Not even close. But nothing is wasted. What I don’t use leads me to what I do use: richer passages—even new storylines—far fresher than anything my editor’s brain could cook up.

There’s nothing like a road-trip. Whether staring at a blank page, or yet another re-write, schedule time to explore. Place yourself first (pun very much intended). Shake off your worries about the where of where; you can figure that out when the where is there.

Go.

Slow down.

Forget writing.

Take notes.

Amanda McTigue’s debut novel, Going to Solace, was selected as one of four “Best Reads of 2012” by Gil Mansergh on KRCB’s “Word by Word.”
Elizabeth Beechwood shows how to create animal characters on her Blog, “When I write, strange things happen.”

Here’s an excerpt:

Anyone who knows me knows that I love animals. When I was a kid, I was always bringing home stray dogs and baby birds. After I got married, my husband had to deal with opossums in the backyard, baby goats running through the kitchen, and let’s not forget the epic night he came home to find a loon in the bathtub!

It seemed natural, then, that when I began to write, I included animal characters in my stories. I quickly realized, however, that writing from an animal’s perspective had its own particular challenges, whether my characters were cats or pigeons or griffins or giant moths. I discovered that, by focusing on four main elements, I could portray all sorts of animals – from the realistic wolf surviving in the cold north to the fantastic mouse going on a quest. If you imagine these four elements on a sliding scale with ‘realistic’ to the far left and ‘fantastical’ to the far right, where you, the writer, place these elements determines the type of animal character you will create.

These elements are:
- POV
- Senses, including intelligence and emotional range
- Behavior
- The Wilding
To find out more about creating animal characters, please go to Elizabeth’s blog.

Elizabeth Beechwood writes about herself:

I wrote and self-published my first novel “The Brown-Eyed Trio” when I was nine years old. Unfortunately, the only copy was lost so you’ll have to take my word when I say it had a killer plot and tons of adjectives. It also featured a nine-year old girl, a dog, and a horse. Now, years later, I continue to write novels and short stories, striving for killer plots and as few adjectives as possible. Animals figure prominently in most of my work.

I’ve lived all over the United States, including Alaska, but presently make my home in the Pacific Northwest. I’m pursuing my MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast program. My work has been featured in Every Day Fiction and Beyond Boundaries.
Guest Blogger Marie Judson-Rosier writes about Fantasy Fiction as an Ancient Way of Mythmaking.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes invites our voices: “We have a reason for being. Blow away the over-culture that says we weren’t longed for,” (heard at a Mysterium workshop with Dr. Estes). Many of us do not think our words are awaited or even welcome. We have to deconstruct messages we absorbed subliminally through our early lives just to allow ourselves to be creative. There’s an invisible hand at our ankle, holding us back. One of the most common blocks to taking our writer selves seriously is our need to extricate ourselves from a sense of judgment, believing that our contribution is not worthwhile. The doubt of our personal voice runs deep. Many if not most of us are acculturated to believe that true authority lies with someone else. Yet we crave creative expression. We owe it to ourselves and our world to give voice to it.

I came through great swaths of higher academia before I found myself immersed in writing fantasy fiction. As I struggled to write a dissertation, based on research regarding communication in 21^st century high schools, I longed to draw my writing from the rich material I knew – as only one’s soul knows – ran thick as sap somewhere in me, out of reach. That’s when I started Jungian dream work and other forms of inner work. In this period, I began daily journaling and have never stopped the daily practice of freewriting, which carries a mother lode of benefits – self-reflection, aid to dream work, and a sense of mental cohesion, to name a few.

It is ironic that the very discipline of writing a dissertation – along with the angst it brought, which drove me to deep inner work – led me to writing the most frivolous of all literary forms; at least it is believed to be so by some. I, however, see some fantasy fiction as holding the key to our ancient ways of mythmaking. I also believe that it has the potential to release us from a tightly defined identity into something broader, with less circumscribed edges. Sometimes the very farfetched nature of fantasy ideas can break us loose from the fetters that bind our minds and can, thereby, be healing.

Companion to the great joy I have discovered in creating fiction is the magic of a good writing group. I can see no better way to hone one’s craft than by the feedback of a dedicated, steady group of fellow writers, helping us to see where we lag in interesting vocabulary, fall into repetition, fail to stir lively curiosity or dedication to the characters. Our group’s anticipation of our next installment feeds the fires of our innovation, allows us to dare to approach revision, and renders the writing a joyful event rather than a lonely endeavor. At least that is my experience. (If you have been considering taking part in a writing group, see below.)

Marie Judson-Rosier, MA, is a teacher, freelance writer and editor. Judson-Rosier has been copyeditor for the scholarly journal Mind, Culture and Activity, an international ground-breaking publication founded by the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition at UCSD. She currently serves as managing editor of ReVision, Journal of Consciousness and Transformation. In addition, she is volunteer coordinator of writing groups for Redwood Writers, a branch of the California Writers Clubs started by Jack London. Anyone living within range of Sonoma County who is seeking a writing group is welcome to e-mail her at mariejudson@gmail.com to be added to the list.
Transforming Depression Into My Writer’s Muse — by Teresa LeYung-Ryan

What do I have to be depressed about?

I am blessed with friends, writing colleagues, housemates, spouse, family members, coworkers, a half-time day job, health insurance, my intellectual properties . . . and what friends call a sense of humor. But I don’t feel like laughing in my condition, maybe later. I may have inherited the depression gene (or genes) from my loving mother.

While I sympathized with my mother’s illness (my novel Love Made of Heart was inspired by her), it would take experiencing the illness myself before I could gain empathy.

Poor health of the physical nature (especially with overt symptoms) alerts us to seek help; poor health of the mental nature (especially the first occurrence) usually has no clear signals.

Depression snuck up on me, in my forties. The symptoms didn’t look like my mom’s. I had not lost interest in food. I thought I just needed more sleep (and later, even more sleep) when menopause came to stay.

Memories of my personal life during those years are foggy; evidence of their existence and my growth are the people still in my life and the books I still use.

If not for three other miracles — the half-time day job (where people needed my showing up to produce my share of the work) and my clients (authors who needed my identifying the core themes and archetypes in their stories) and my falling in love with blogging (where I have full control as to what and how often I publish) — I might have slept into another world.

Reading and writing have saved my life, more than once.

Two other groups of writers needed my help (which meant I needed to show up). Authors who had invested years crafting their books were being turned down by agents and acquisition editors at publishing houses; these authors were judged not by the quality of their intellectual properties but by modest size or lack of platform; who wouldn’t get depressed! Authors who wanted to self-publish needed help in growing their fans. I root for underdogs; thus the birth of my workbook Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days. (video)

Honestly, even without the rejections, there are other matters that trigger depression – sensational news headlines; lack of rain; climate control; genetically modified organism “GMO” foods; knowing that friends are battling physical and mental illnesses.

Illness is a harsh antagonist, but, who is the protagonist of my life anyway? I am. I learn from all the other archetypes in my life. I need to help myself!

Even though I slip into depression (or depression slips into me), the only way I know how to deal with that menace is to show up for me and my writing.

The theme of “mental illness” shows up in all my work. Two years ago, I began writing “Talking to My Dead Mom” monologues. Last year, I began writing my first memoir. And that is quite exciting for me.

My prayer for everyone is this: May your muse show up for you when you show up for yourself in whatever endeavor you pursue.

For a list of resources, please visit my blog page and scroll down for Helpful Websites & Resources & Guides for Mental Health / Mental Illness / Depression.

Thank you, dear Marlene Cullen, for asking me to be your guest-blogger this week.

Sincerely, Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Teresa LeYung-Ryan author photo by Sasa Southard

Teresa LeYung-Ryan is 22-Day Coach Teresa; author of Love Made of Heart: a Mother’s Mental Illness Forges Forgiveness in Daughter Ruby (novel used in college courses), Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW (workbook for all genres), “Talking to My Dead Mom” monologues, and Coach Teresa’s Blog.
Guest Blogger Victoria Zackheim writes:

How many of us are beset by that nagging voice that tells us we’re not good enough, not thin enough, not smart, tall, educated, talented enough? I don’t know about you, but I face this every day. It used to run my life . . . now it’s a tiny slice of annoyance that I can easily push away. It took years—decades, to be honest—but those demons are silenced. When they try to reappear, they’re quickly vanquished. Not dead and gone, but shoved aside where they can do no harm.

It wasn’t always like that . . . and for many women, and those of us who spend our lives not only writing, but putting our words into the world for everyone to read . . . and judge . . . fear is often the rule, whereas a sense of security is the exception.

Girls are too often told to behave, not to rock the boat, but if we want to live full and creative lives, we must take risks. I have a friend with ten novels published, including at least one on the NY Times bestseller list, and she still worries herself sick with every publication. I have another friend who’s got nearly thirty million books in print, yet she battles the same self doubt suffered by first-time authors. Why do we do this to ourselves?

It’s about trust. Trusting ourselves. Trusting the universe to treat us kindly. Trusting our friends and family to be there for us, sharing the celebration when all goes well, sharing the pain when it doesn’t. And we have to trust time, that finite thing that can be friend or foe. A support system is golden. For me, it’s what keeps me breathing, writing, and taking risks. When I hit 60, I was NOT happy with my body of work, so I decided to act on every creative thought that crossed my brain. I promised myself to view a no-go idea not as a failure, but as an idea that had no legs. And I created a new definition of “failure”: the idea we’re too afraid to pursue,

The result? Since I made that promise to myself, I’ve sold six books, have two plays in development, signed an option with Identity Films for my first feature screenplay, wrote a documentary that ran nationwide on PBS, and am teaching writing workshops for UCLA online, and at writers’ conferences here, as well as in Canada, France and Mexico.

You are never too old to follow your dreams. You want to write a memoir, but you’re convinced that your mother’s ghost will haunt you? Make it a novel! Got an idea for a play, short story, anthology . . . just do it!

Whatever you read in the beauty magazines, whatever the television commercials promise, you ARE getting older . . . and it’s a good thing. Every day gives you one more shot of maturity, confidence, and fodder for your writing . . .or for living a fuller and more satisfying life. As for me . . . I can’t wait to see what my seventies bring!

Victoria Zackheim is the author of the novel, The Bone Weaver, and editor of six anthologies, the most recent being FAITH: Believers, Agnostics, and Atheists Confront the Big Questions (working title, Simon & Schuster/Beyond Words, March 2015 publication). Her screenplay, Maidstone, a feature film, is in development with Identity Films. Her plays The Other Woman and Entangled are in development, with the latter having its staged reading at San Francisco’s Z Space Theater in April. Victoria writes documentary films for On the Road Productions. Their latest, Where Birds Never Sang, appeared nationwide on PBS. She teaches Personal Essay in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and is a 2010 San Francisco Library Laureate.
Guest Blogger Maria Victoria: My novels are not for free.

Give away your stories for free, suggests the book marketing “expert.”

He insists that if I follow his advice, readers will immediately download my novels on their reading tablets and once they read my work, they will be so enamored with my pen that they will buy everything else I publish from here on out. His logic reminds me a little of the slogan for Lay’s Potato Chips, “you can’t eat just one.”

The problem is that I’m not a potato chip. And if I don’t eat now (even a bag of Lay’s) how will I survive to write more novels? Moreover, this guy forgets that I’m paying for his advice and if I give my work away, how am I going to pay him? Of course I understand the marketing strategy of “giving a taste,” like when we get a slice of watermelon at the market. And that is precisely why I write my blog “for free.” Readers can browse through the novels I publish on Amazon – if the reader likes my work they can buy it; otherwise they can keep searching for titles more to their liking. But giving away the whole watermelon?

There is another reason, perhaps much deeper, which compels me to charge for my work. I am of the opinion that people do not appreciate what they get for free. This is something I learned from my father. When I was young, one of my responsibilities was to help him every Saturday in his clinic. That was the day his assistant rested. My father was an obstetrician in the city of Veracruz, Mexico. With great sacrifice, he had bought a house,which he divided into two, reserving one side for his private clinic. Among the many lessons learned from him, was how to collect fees with humility and respect. He charged the same fee, whether the patient was rich or poor. However, when the situation was appropriate, he would ask for “whatever you can pay, señora.” Even the poorest patient paid “something” – eggs, mangos, chico zapotes, or homemade plum pie, his favorite. Sometimes his patients asked for credit and he always said yes, accepting their “word of honor” as sufficient guarantee for the debt. If any of those women didn’t pay, I wouldn’t know, because he never mentioned it. What happened inside his office never left his office; the sanctity of professional privilege being another of his great teachings. My father’s philosophy was simple: people come here for help, not handouts or charity; even the poorest will pay “something.”

Last week I went with my grandson to a bookstore in the beautiful little town of Poulsbo. There we were, admiring books for children, when the young man at the cash register casually remarked to a customer, ” I just found out that in the Nordic countries (he did not say which) the government is giving away all the authors’ works that have been registered with their copyright agency. Isn’t that wonderful?” Before the woman could comment, I had to intervene. “Excuse me, sir, but who is going to pay the authors?” The guy, very surprised, replied, “Well, that’s the only problem … I don’t know…”

Because I am not only an author, but also a reader, I think it would be wonderful if suddenly our US Copyright Office released all titles to anyone wanting to read them. Access to literature, for rich and poor alike, is something I support wholeheartedly, which is why I love our libraries. The difference with libraries, however, is that they do, ultimately, pay authors for their work; a very small royalty indeed, but at least “something.”
Perhaps the real reason I am not willing to give my work away is because I seek readers like you. I want readers who appreciate culture and art and are willing to pay for that painting, that song, or that book before buying a hamburger; readers who are very aware that when they buy one of my novels, they are not buying just anything, but a piece of my soul.

The truth is that although our capitalist system does not promote art as a need for society, artists will continue to pursue their true calling. They will continue to paint their canvases, make their music and write their poems, and will also continue to have a second job to survive. My only hope is that my colleagues stand firm and demand, like I do, to be paid “something” at least, out of respect.

Selling online does not allow me to decipher if the situation warrants that I accept “whatever you can pay, señores (and señoras).” But let it be known that in exchange for my novels I accept mangoes and chico zapotes. And that my favorite pie is lemon.

From Veracruz, Mexico, Maria de Lourdes Victoria is an award-winning author whose work has been published internationally in English and Spanish. Her first novel, Los Hijos Del Mar (Children of the Sea), was the finalist for the Mariposa Award (Best First Novel in Spanish) at the 2006 International Latino Book Awards in Washington, D.C. Her second novel, Más allá de la Justicia (Beyond Justice) took third place in Barcelona, Spain, at the prestigious Premio Planeta de Novela book awards (2010), as well as honorary mention as the Best Novel in Spanish and Best Popular Novel at the New York Latino Book Awards (2012). Maria’s short stories have appeared in prominent literary and legal journals and her books for children have received numerous awards. She resides in Seattle and Petaluma and is currently working on her third novel, Los Hijos de las Nubes (Children of the Clouds). Her website is www.mariadelourdesvictoria.com
Guest Blogger Susan Hagen wants to tell you something…

After a long weekend together, I wrote this to honor the courage and heart of the students at my fall writing retreat. I offer it again here to all of you:

What I want to tell you is that you are not like most people.

Most people would not be awakened at dawn by the beating of a drum and feel happy about it. Most people would not hurry through their yogurt and bacon to climb a hill and sit all day on a threadbare couch. Most people would not spend four days putting words in a notebook or listening deeply to the words other people spent four days putting in a notebook – and pay for the privilege.

They would not weep in front of strangers, or talk about their sex lives, or say truth be told, I’m glad my parents are dead. They would not slow down enough to imagine rivers running beneath their skin, or their outbreath a ribbon of air that gives lift to the raven, or their bones redwood trees, or their heartbeats the container for love.

Who would say I dropped acid and galloped around the neighborhood as a horse spirit? Who would say I asked the ocean to make love to me and she did? Who thinks about collagen as peach juice, or allows talkback from a spider, or cares about a certain tree only because it’s important to an owl? Who loves water so much it falls from her eyes when she speaks of it?

Most people would not cry because they feel sorry for a character they’ve just made up. They would not care so much about a pretend Indian on a pretend horse that they cannot move them forward for fear of what might befall them.

Who loves like that over what most would perceive as nothing? Who loves over nothing so much it hurts?

Writers do. Writers love like that.

So this is what I want to tell you. You are not like most people. No one speaks the ceremony of life the way you do. It’s the way you see things, the way you turn them over in your hand, that one silky line that comes with the afternoon rain: “A drop falls, and I am born.”

I know you are no stranger to this. The stories are in your bones and your blood and your breath. This is who you are. It’s the gift you have been given and the gift you give away. You are not like most people. You are the living story coming through.

Susan Hagen is an award-winning nonfiction writer, writing teacher, and co-author of Women at Ground Zero: Stories of Courage and Compassion. Her writing programs are inspired by the vision quest, an annual journey into the wilderness that informs her life and work. As a writing guide, Susan combines meditation and nature-based practices to help clear a path to the deeper writing life. She offers writing retreats for women twice a year, and Saturday writing circles at her cottage in Occidental. Upcoming dates are January 18, February 22, March 15, and April 26. Contact Susan at suzhagen@sonic.net or 707-874-9223
Guest Blogger Amanda Socci: Getting Inspired by Food Boxes!

If there is one thing that writers thirst for, it is inspiration. We have a constant need for things to speak to us, create magic for us, and fill our souls with ideas and information that will make us burst out of our skin and onto the paper. Inspiration is everywhere, but sometimes, writers tend to overlook the obvious, hoping to find deeper meanings in things.

Today, I’d like to take this opportunity to lighten things up a bit by talking to you about an unlikely source of inspiration that appears to be boring or meaningless, but really, is just the opposite. That’s right, I’m here to tell you that food packaging is a friend to writers. All kinds of food packaging is interesting, but most specifically, I’d like to chat about cereal boxes.

When you go grocery shopping, are you the functional, anal-retentive type who makes a list, sticks to it, and escapes the store quickly in order to run 35 other errands before the day runs out? If that sounds like you, you may wish to alter your strategy and get lazier, creative, and definitely more curious at the supermarket.

Take a leisurely walk in the cereal box aisle. What are some of the things you might notice? Brand names? Varieties of cereals? Logos? Graphics? All those are good, but I need you to look further. Take the time to really read and pay attention to the writing that is on the cereal boxes. What kinds of things do you notice?

Here are some of the things that should interest you:

(1) Seasonal flavors. Are you familiar with the styles of cereals and their turnover rate? Do you notice how different seasons bring about changes in the style and appearance of cereals or cereal boxes?

(2) Marketing promotions. This is a big one. Writers who are pop culture enthusiasts like me will particularly enjoy this one. Did you know that movies, television, and music offer tie-ins with cereals? Did you know you can collect boxtops and earn branded merchandise?

(3) Loyalty programs. Here is another big one that should be right up everyone’s alley. Are you familiar with the concept of loyalty programs? What are they? What are the benefits? Why should you participate?

You may be asking yourself why you should care about cereal boxes so much if you don’t eat cereal. The real point is not to care about cereal or to have a desire to eat it, but rather, to look at cereal boxes with a different perspective. I encourage you to view cereal boxes, and really, all food packaging, as an easy source of inspiration.

By taking the time to observe, look at the cereal boxes carefully, and read the boxes with a sincere interest and a natural curiosity, you’ll be doing more than turning into an expert-in-training. You’ll be investing in your career as a writer by giving yourself quick sources of inspiration that will get you motivated to write some really goof nonfiction pieces.

What are you waiting for? Get ye to a supermarket today and start checking out those cereal boxes! One thing always leads to another and before you know it, you’ll have at least ten ideas for future blog posts, freelance articles, or other writing.

Note from Marlene: Although Amanda’s post specifies cereal boxes as inspiration for writing, I couldn’t help add a photo from one of my favorite good groups: Chocolate! Now . . . go for it. . . get something from your pantry and do a 15 minute freewrite.

Amanda M. Socci is a freelance writer and blogger who affectionately describes herself as the Creative Idea Gal for her uncanny ability to come up with 1,000 ideas about any topic. Amanda eats, breathes, and lives all things creative. Easily inspired, Amanda also loves cooking, baking, crafting, photography, recycling, and line dancing when not busy caring for her two precious girls.
Guest Blogger Patti Trimble asks, and answers, “Who cares if I write?”

Sometimes I ask myself, “Who cares if I write, who basically gives a damn anyway?” Then I remember this is a real question that should be asked with a radical change of voice. Who DOES care if I write? Exactly who am I writing for?

Writing is a mode of conversation: If I don’t know who I’m talking to, it hardly makes sense to speak.

Once, on a beach, not in this country, I watched twenty men pull in a surf net. At least that’s what I thought they were doing. For several hours I watched them pull—knee-deep in surf, hauling in two fat ropes that disappeared into the sea. As they inched backwards up the slope, one man jumped up; then some young people ran down to help pull. The town was into it because it was good work, hauling in sustenance from the depths.

I wouldn’t, couldn’t, write if I didn’t have someone—the whole town, or a few friends—helping me pull in stories and poems. I need my audience and I appreciate them. I ask strangers if they care about my topic—and why. I ask editors. I ask my mom. When I write, I address my audience. If I feel their enthusiasm, I want to write generous explanations, a funny line, a personal insight.

I also need to be honest about audience. If I was writing for the Nobel Committee, I’d have arranged my education, marriage, work schedule, and publicity machine accordingly. When I’m writing a love letter, I lower my voice . . .

Try it, try asking, “Who the hell cares if I write?” with curiosity and a sense of adventure. Make a list. Test a story on a friend. Write for someone who needs a laugh. Has your daughter heard about your 1980s hairdo? Does the city need your opinion on the asphalt plant? When your heart jumps at the flying geese, who’s jumping up to help pull out a poem? Is it your writer friends, next week’s slam audience, Mary Oliver, or your dad?

I’m just saying that writing is a collaborative process, and assembling your team makes things easier.

Patti Trimble is a freelance writer and widely-published poet. She often performs her lyric poems with music, and will have a new CD out in 2014. Patti teaches writing for Arcadia University in Sicily and also in the Bay Area, including an inspiring “mini-memoir” class that begins Jan 21 at Sonoma State Osher Program, and two spring workshops through Pt. Reyes Field Seminars.
Guest Blogger Bella Andre shares what it takes to get writing.

In the workshops I give to writers, I talk a lot about blocking out the white noise (email, Facebook, phone calls, prolonged internet searches for information you don’t really need to know to write your first draft, etc.) and putting on blinders so you can really give your focus to your book. This advice is a lesson I personally relearn with every single book I write.

That’s the quick and pretty version, but if you pull back the glossy cover, the past 30 months actually look like this:

* Decide to start my new book.

* Do everything but start the book.

* Make more big plans to start the book, for real this time.

* Freak out about not starting the book.

* Tell myself that tackling the non-writing items on my enormous to-do list is important, necessary work, so really, how could I start the book yet?

* Tick through non-writing items on my to-do list and get crankier by the day.

* Force myself to sit down with my laptop and stare at the blank page and not get up until I’ve written at least 1,000 words.

* Finally realize (yet again!) that the number-one thing to help both my career and my peace of mind is sitting down and writing. Every single day. From one book to the next.

Today’s start of Sullivan #12 was no exception. I went through every one of the above steps during the past two weeks until I simply couldn’t stand it anymore. When I woke up this morning, I decided the to-do list could wait. Answering emails could wait. A walk could wait. Eating could wait.

But the book could not.

I truly believe that no matter where you are in your writing career, the book is always the most important thing. For a new writer, finishing your first book will likely require great focus and determination. All you want is to finally get to “The End.” But once your book is out in reader’s hands, the most important thing will always be your next book. I’ve seen again and again, in both my own career and others, that the surefire way to create ongoing success is to write the next book. And the one after that. And the one after that.

Once I finally push myself to start a new book, I always find that’s when the focus finally comes. Fortunately, day by day as I sink deeper into the manuscript, it becomes far easier to block out that white noise and keep focus on the writing.

Happy writing! Bella Andre.

Visit Bella’s Facebook Fan Page.

This “Pep Talk” originally appeared on National Novel Writing Month’s website, nanowrimo.org

Having sold more than 2.5 million self-published books, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Bella Andre’s novels have appeared on Top 5 lists at Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. After signing a groundbreaking 7-figure print-only deal with Harlequin MIRA, Bella’s Sullivan series are being released in paperback in a major global English language launch in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia in continuous back-to-back releases from June 2013 through April 2014. Known for “sensual, empowered stories enveloped in heady romance” (Publishers Weekly), her books have been Cosmopolitan Magazine “Red Hot Reads” twice and have been translated into nine languages, and her Sullivan books are already Top 20 bestsellers in Brazil. Winner of the Award of Excellence, The Washington Post has called her “One of the top digital writers in America” and she has been featured by NPR, USA Today, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and most recently in TIME Magazine. She has given keynote speeches at publishing conferences from Copenhagen to Berlin to San Francisco, including a standing-room-only keynote at Book Expo America on her self-publishing success.