Learn Writing with Uncle Jim, Volume 1

Status
Not open for further replies.

K_Woods

9 of 10 Overlords prefer Evil Pie!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 5, 2006
Messages
1,222
Reaction score
178
Location
South Dakota
Website
web.itctel.com
In my case, it's a matter of identity -- it's the name I went by for the first twenty-three years of my life, and I've gotten attached to it. I might be my husband's wife, but I'm also my mom and dad's daughter. I was fine with changing my name when I got married, since I told my husband (and he accepted) that any art and writing projects would be under my maiden name.

But enough of that. First, I need to get some work out there, and to do that I need to work. I'm looking forward to using NaNo as a test to see exactly how much BIC time I can squeeze in. So far, though, impatience is spilling over and so I've got several other projects on the burners that I'm trying to tend to. It's not easy -- I have a six month old, and right now he's got a teething-and-cold doubleheader.

Uncle Jim -- or anyone else -- do you have recommendations for trying to squeeze writing time in between domestic demands, other than just winging it? (Evenings are better than mornings, but I shouldn't be cutting into my sleep like that. It takes me long enough to fall asleep as it is, and my morning starts when my son wakes up.)
 

Cassiopeia

Otherwise Occupied
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 1, 2006
Messages
10,878
Reaction score
5,343
Location
Star to the right and straight on till morning.
HConn said:
K, the only way to get time is to steal it from other things. If your family can get used to a slightly-dirtier house, they should do so.
Perhaps learning creative solutions for delegating would help. I have a class right now called Creative Problems Solving and it is amazing how helpful it is to find different solutions to the problem. While you may get some resistance perhaps delegating chores to other family members might be a viable solution. Even telling them they will be paid X amount of dollars for their cooperation if necessary or pay one person to be responsible for seeing the work gets done.
 

Milton

do you have recommendations for trying to squeeze writing time in between domestic demands, other than just winging it? (Evenings are better than mornings, but I shouldn't be cutting into my sleep like that. It takes me long enough to fall asleep as it is, and my morning starts when my son wakes up.)
I've just discovered something that works for me: a mini-BIC approach. I make miniature notebooks by folding a regular sheet of paper three times, so the final page size is 1/8th sheet. Staple the final fold, and cut the pages open. If I write fairly small, I get about 75 words per page. One page per hour for most of the day comes to 750 words, three full pages -- and it doesn't seem like I've spent any time at all on it. I can always drive my way to the end of that tiny page, even if I think I'm producing junk.

Of course, others have used index cards for the same effect. (Didn't Jane Austen do something like that?)

--Milton
 
Last edited:

K_Woods

9 of 10 Overlords prefer Evil Pie!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 5, 2006
Messages
1,222
Reaction score
178
Location
South Dakota
Website
web.itctel.com
HConn - I already have trouble keeping things up, and nicking time from housekeeping is liable to drive both me and my husband bonkers.

Casi - Delegation would be great...if my son was about six years older. (He might be crawling early, but chores are a bit advanced yet!) I might be able to squeeze some help from the husband on the weekends, but not during the week, on account of his schedule.

(The idea of paying him reminds me of the bribery scene in The Naked Gun, though it wouldn't be possible to end up with more money than we started with. It'd be nice if we could, though!)

Milton - The minibook/notecard idea might work -- thing is, my best time for that is during my son's naps, and I tend to nap with him. Also, if he's awake, he goes after any paper product he can find -- newsprint, cardboard, and ESPECIALLY books! I've tried using a composition book, but it's not been working too well. Notecards, on the other hand, might be less intimidating.

So far I've been nabbing what time I can, and I keep my computer on during the day so I can jot something down in RoughDraft, even if it's only a couple of lines.

Thanks for the input, guys. I'm going to make this work, the question is how...
 

Theo Neel

Registered
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
38
Reaction score
4
Location
In places where light fears to shine
K,

Try thinking about the two elements of writing/storytelling. Part of writing is actually writing (BIC). But a big part of writing is intellectual. I'm talking about the part of writing that goes on in your head. Don't discount the amount of effort you spend thinking about your story. Seize time to think about your story whenever you have it.

In fact, talking out loud can be very helpful in clarifying your thoughts so that when you do get precious keyboard time, you're not wasting it staring at a blank screen. (Talking out loud helps your brain process creativity -- a left brain/right brain kind of thing.)

Try a headset with microphone and digital recorder for time in the car and while doing chores. Keep a pad and pencil in the bathroom (to capture shower thoughts). Remember that stories don't necessarily get written sequentially, so you can capture a lot of ideas, dialogue, scenes, etc. during times away from the keyboard -- so that when you are at the keyboard, you're writing with maximum efficiency.
 

Lilybiz

glad to be here
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 23, 2005
Messages
391
Reaction score
75
Location
Los Angeles
Website
petreaburchard.com
K,

When I was a kid, my mother wrote her masters thesis, which was published as a book of literary criticism on John Updike's early works (http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/1696dac8c71b6e26.html). She had to read those works, study them, know them and understand them before she could even think of writing about them.

She had four kids, and a husband who didn't do housework. We kids were older than yours is, and we could help with chores. But honestly, I still don't know how she managed. One thing I recall is that she got up early. I think most of the family got up around 7:00; mother got up at 5:00, went into the den and closed the door. Those two hours were hers.

I'm not saying you should do this. I'm not sure I could. But maybe if it was my only option, I'd manage it. Or maybe my mother was nuts. But she achieved something she was proud of. (I'm proud of her, too.)
 

Cassiopeia

Otherwise Occupied
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 1, 2006
Messages
10,878
Reaction score
5,343
Location
Star to the right and straight on till morning.
aertep said:
K,

When I was a kid, my mother wrote her masters thesis, which was published as a book of literary criticism on John Updike's early works (http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/1696dac8c71b6e26.html). She had to read those works, study them, know them and understand them before she could even think of writing about them.

She had four kids, and a husband who didn't do housework. We kids were older than yours is, and we could help with chores. But honestly, I still don't know how she managed. One thing I recall is that she got up early. I think most of the family got up around 7:00; mother got up at 5:00, went into the den and closed the door. Those two hours were hers.

I'm not saying you should do this. I'm not sure I could. But maybe if it was my only option, I'd manage it. Or maybe my mother was nuts. But she achieved something she was proud of. (I'm proud of her, too.)
I think setting aside the time to write is a must. Even if it means that you get up at 5 am or write from 10pm till midnight. A person does what they need to. There is no set rule but one should be willing to set it as a priority.
 

K1P1

Procrastination is its own reward
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 6, 2006
Messages
4,108
Reaction score
851
I have to say, been there, done that. All of this is good advice and it's really the only way to manage to write around small children and family responsibilities. The problem is that some people aren't able to write in every spare 15 minutes. Depending on what I'm writing, I find that longer periods of time in which to concentrate are really required. For example, if I'm writing straightforward non-fiction where I really know my subject, I can sit down and write a section, based on my outline, and interruptions don't really matter.

On the otherhand, if I'm working on creating a character, or developing a complex plot, the interruptions drive me crazy because I have to start over.

And then, there's the fatigue factor. If you are a mother with small children, you're tired. Trying to write after they're in bed at night just doesn't work. The solution is to go to bed when they do (if you are lucky enough to have the kind of child who goes to bed before 9--not like me!), then get up at 3 or 4 in the morning and write until you just can't think anymore. Of course, you'll never see your spouse...

P.S. Just keep in mind that things will change--constantly. Unfortunately, you're probably looking at the worst period at 18-30 months, when your child can go anywhere, climb anything, and doesn't have a lick of sense. See if you can find a child in your neighborhood who's interested in being a "babysitter-in-training." Kids can do this from 10 years and up. Pay a very small amount per hour for an older kid who likes babies and toddlers to play with yours.
 
Last edited:

Nexusman

Chaos Warrior
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 5, 2005
Messages
311
Reaction score
69
Location
The gap between dimensions
Website
nexusman.atspace.com
James D. Macdonald said:
No one needs TV.

I used to install cable TV. You have no idea how right you are. I was doing an install at one house where the lady was very rude and said right off the bat "You wouldn't believe how bored I've been waiting for you. I don't have anything to do!" I pointed to a stocked bookshelf and said "Then what are those for?"

I still watch the box, but only for shows I like, not to channel surf. It's impossible to write with it on.

-Nick
 

NicoleJLeBoeuf

a work in progress
VPX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
1,496
Reaction score
580
Location
Boulder, Colorado
Website
www.nicolejleboeuf.com
The Celtic Knot method of subplotting

Since the Celtic Knot Method of Subplotting has come back up, I was wondering if maybe I could entice Uncle Jim and others to expand upon that a little. I'm not entirely getting how this is used, but I want to, because I love drawing the darn things and their neat over-under-over-under construction makes the patterning part of my type-A soul, the part that also likes sudoku and quadratic equation matrices, just glow.

So one-a-y'all mentioned using a simple three-string braid, where each string is a different subplot. What do you consider the string crossings to be? Is it pretty much just that when the black string is on top, it's time to have a scene that highlights that subplot? Or do you also concern yourself with which string it's crossing over at the time (time to have a Best Friend's Struggle scene and specifically show it intersecting with Main Character's Love Life)? Do you attach any significance to which side of the braid the crossing is occuring on? Does using a regular pattern like a braid ever cause the appearance of subplot material to become too predictable?

Yes, I am quite definitely overthinking this. You can stop me at any time. I'm just really curious to know more about how the Celtic Knot method works for y'all that use it, and how you go about it. My own novel is a bit too well-developed in my head to get totally redrawn this way, but it could benefit from my using different methods to rethink the causality details in it. Workshopping definitely pointed out that a certain amount of causality, or consequentiality, or one-thing-leads-to-anotherness was missing from my synopsis, that's for true.
 

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
VPX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
25,582
Reaction score
3,785
Location
New Hampshire
Website
madhousemanor.wordpress.com
Rather than subplot, when I use these I work with theme and characters. Thus, it's time for a scene with Randy, and the theme will be Honor.

It helps move things along, shows your progress, and provides inspiration for what the next scene will be. And, it's pretty.
 

FennelGiraffe

It's green they say
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 11, 2006
Messages
1,704
Reaction score
441
Location
San Antonio
Yet another newbie here. I've just finished (pant, pant) reading this thread from the beginning (gasp, wheeze), and the first thing I need to say is Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

There were at least a dozen times I was sorely tempted to reply to long-passed discussions. Although I successfully resisted those temptations, I bookmarked one to follow up. Since Celtic knotwork is being discussed again, it's conveniently apropos. Post #3553 included this comment:
sunandshadow said:
The reason I picked the shape I did is that the first 1/3 of the book has two parallel plots in two different settings - so, I don't think I can put interlacings there since the two groups of characters never see or talk to each other.
But now, Uncle Jim, you say:
James D. Macdonald said:
Rather than subplot, when I use these I work with theme and characters. Thus, it's time for a scene with Randy, and the theme will be Honor.
Now I'm really confused. I did understand the part about the strand on top showing where the focus should go. But I also thought that where the strands crossed was saying something about where subplots should be connected. My original question was going to be about other ways to connect when it wasn't possible to have characters from one strand actually appear in another. But now it seems that was never what you meant?
 

K_Woods

9 of 10 Overlords prefer Evil Pie!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 5, 2006
Messages
1,222
Reaction score
178
Location
South Dakota
Website
web.itctel.com
K1P1 said:
And then, there's the fatigue factor. If you are a mother with small children, you're tired. Trying to write after they're in bed at night just doesn't work. The solution is to go to bed when they do (if you are lucky enough to have the kind of child who goes to bed before 9--not like me!), then get up at 3 or 4 in the morning and write until you just can't think anymore. Of course, you'll never see your spouse...
My husband gets home at 3 or 4 in the morning! I barely see him anyway! (Well, he also has a compressed workweek, which means more weekend time. It's not all bad.)

And..."morning" and "think" in the same sentence? Aha, you must be one of those crazy morning people! (I kid.) I might be able to squeak 5 AM, if I fall asleep immediately when the baby does (I am lucky that my son typically tanks out around 9 PM, though I suspect that's the price of him waking at 7), but I don't do well on eight hours even though I can (nominally) function. I do best on nine to ten, not that I often get that anymore.

P.S. Just keep in mind that things will change--constantly. Unfortunately, you're probably looking at the worst period at 18-30 months, when your child can go anywhere, climb anything, and doesn't have a lick of sense. See if you can find a child in your neighborhood who's interested in being a "babysitter-in-training." Kids can do this from 10 years and up. Pay a very small amount per hour for an older kid who likes babies and toddlers to play with yours.

My son is already circumnavigating the ground floor, and he hits six months tomorrow! :eek: (That reminds me, must take composition notebook with to doctor's office today.) I'm bracing myself for a nine-month walker, and the possibility of ADHD -- I don't know how much heredity can play a role, but my brother had it (he grew out of the 'hyperactive' part). The little one already does his best to make it impossible to type with him in my lap.

There are a lot of kids around here, especially for a 700-ish town. I should look into that. (There was a girl next door who watched my son when I came for the house inspection, but they moved. Rats!)

Uncle Jim's right about the TV thing. Mostly. Last week there was a chemical fire about four miles from my parents' home, halfway across the country. This apparently made national news. However, since I don't typically watch the news, I didn't hear about this until I called home, and my mom asked if I'd called because of the fire. (They were upwind and thus outside of the evacuation zone.) Oops.

That, and I'm not giving up Monty Python's Flying Circus on Saturday nights -- at least, not as long as they're showing episodes I haven't seen. ;)

Thank all of you again for your suggestions.
 

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
VPX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
25,582
Reaction score
3,785
Location
New Hampshire
Website
madhousemanor.wordpress.com
FennelGiraffe said:
But I also thought that where the strands crossed was saying something about where subplots should be connected.

It can be anything you want it to be. Theme can also connect. One can be brought to the forefront.

I'm sorry that that isn't clear -- it's an ideosyncratic method of my own.
 

Sarashay

Shut Up and Write
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 14, 2005
Messages
485
Reaction score
110
Location
Atlantaland
Theo Neel said:
In fact, talking out loud can be very helpful in clarifying your thoughts so that when you do get precious keyboard time, you're not wasting it staring at a blank screen. (Talking out loud helps your brain process creativity -- a left brain/right brain kind of thing.)

*light bulb goes off*

Hey, I suddenly have a great idea for what to do during my daily commute. Thanks!
 

Sarashay

Shut Up and Write
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 14, 2005
Messages
485
Reaction score
110
Location
Atlantaland
Well, if I wanted to do that and not be too conspicuous, I could always put a cell phone up to my ear. Though people might still wonder what the hell I'm talking about.

Actually, I drive to and from work. And since I have no shame about shaking my head about to a really good song on the radio while behind the wheel, talking to myself should hardly be a problem. ;)
 

Theo Neel

Registered
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
38
Reaction score
4
Location
In places where light fears to shine
Sarashay said:
Well, if I wanted to do that and not be too conspicuous, I could always put a cell phone up to my ear.
Actually, I drive to and from work.

No need for a cell phone. Just use a headset with a boom microphone. Folks will think that you're talking on a cell phone. Most digital recorders actually use cell phone headsets.
 

Jennifer Robins

paranormal interest
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 9, 2006
Messages
340
Reaction score
33
Location
Ohio
Website
www.jenniferrobins.com
genre

In picking a genre what would you think about Astral-travel. It is not something made up, it is a very real thing that does in fact happen to people. Even though the story may be fiction, the subject is real. I was thinking more like suspense, or horror if the story is suspense and scary, if there was no other choices, but not science fiction. Do you think this is right?

Jennifer
 
Status
Not open for further replies.