Ritual or A Routine, It works #mfrwauthor

Welcome to the 2019 MFRW 52-week challenge where authors reveal insights into their lives, their pasts, the writing life, and on other topics. Since I wrote about what passes for my writing rituals in the 2018 challenge post, Music, a Porch Swing, and a Pen, this one will concentrate on the second part of the prompt, the truth behind writing rituals.

You can’t just write when you’re inspired, you have to write consistently, regardless of if you in the groove or not. Finding success as a writer requires you to be intentional about your writing. To do things with purpose. Or to describe it in another way, to be disciplined.


A study by the National Writing Project revealed that rituals built around the elements of environment, time, and behavior seem to foster conditions that reduce writing anxiety, promote a sense of power and control, and enhance linguistic fluency. 

Image by Solarus from Pixabay

Starting off a project or a writing session with a specific series of actions seems to work for several reasons. The National Writing Project states the reasons rituals are effective are because rituals are familiar and automatic, and often productive of a hypnogogic—that is, a dreamlike—state. Rituals can create a muscle memory for the mind. Much as a tune or scent can trigger a memory, surrounding yourself with familiar items or being in a given place associated with writing can put the mind in the tenor to work.

As far as the dreamlike state mentioned? Daydreaming or staring out a window releases control and allows the writer to disengage from the everyday work so that the subconscious mind can emerge and creativity begin. Rituals can accomplish the same thing.

Do you need a complex ritual every time you sit down to write? Or a specific color of ink or a special pen? If so, you are not alone. Leave a comment on the ritual that gets you into the state of mind to write.

It's a hop. Be sure to read the other posts in the challenge. ~till next time, Helen

Gift or Not? #mfrwauthor

The official topic for this week's post is "Gift Getting - What I Wanted, But Not Very Much." Thoughts on the first part of the topic were shared as "Best Gifts Are Personal" in the 2018 challenge.

A post that covers the good and the bad of a gift was also part of that challenge. It covered piracy (the worst gift to an author) and a review (which could be the best.) So, no talking about reviews which are gifts we as authors want, but sometimes not very much. Instead, I asked my characters to share. First up, Captain Ellspeth.

Lady Ellspeth, have you ever received a gift that you weren't sure you really wanted?

That night at dinner when the Archmage Lord Dal implied that I had the ability to work magic, it took every ounce of my self-control not to throw him overboard. Sea Falcon was my ship. I earned my command and vessel. But magic and the deep blue didn't mix, so the gift he offered meant losing everything I had worked my entire life for.

And now?

A smile twitched her lips. I couldn't imagine not being a mage.



The whoosh of dragon wings overhead told of another who wanted to share. A tall slender man walked from the dust raised by the dragon's landing. Good day, Lord Talann.

I heard that the talented writers of MFRW were talking about gifts.

He pulled a small, black velvet pouch from his pocket and dumped its contents into his hand. After a brief moment, he extended it for me to examine. The gold cylinder was embossed on one end with a dragon in flight. What Talann showed me was what many would kill for, the symbol of the power of the dragshi. With that seal, a person could get food, shelter, transport, or anything he wanted.

Yes, it is the symbol of the dragshi. When my parents gave it to me, I saw a different reality than what was was generally expected. It was not the key to a treasure but a curse. A shadow darkened his face. To me, the gift meant that my parents believed I would never be a dragshi, never take on dragon form.

What does the seal mean to you now? 

A genuine smile twitched his lips. A special gift from my parents, of their faith in me--and a special remembrance of my heritage.


Thanks for stopping by the challenge. Click on the title or the large cover for buy links to both Windmaster and Hatchling's Mate. Hope you'll consider adding them to your to be read pile.

More authors share their insights and thoughts in the list below. ~till next time, Helen

Journaling - A Thought or Two #mfrwauthor

Yes, I know the 52 week challenge is at week 20, and this is the first time I'm popping in. After completing both the 2017 and 2018 challenges, having a new release, and completing the AtoZ in April Challenge, focus was on things other than writing for pleasure. However, I've decided to do a few of the 2019 challenges. This week, the official topic is "Does journal keeping help with the writing process?."

How to write something different than the 2018 topic, Diary or Journal. That focused more on the differences between the two types of writing. No instead this post will be more of the writing life.

One of the pieces of advice I often give authors in my lectures, especially those just starting out, is to keep a journal. No it is not the diary once popular among young girls. It is not a small pink book with a lock whose key was worn on a chain around your neck or hidden in a secret spot in your bedroom. The purpose of the writing journal can be to record feelings, however it is much more. A journal as a motivational tool records each days accomplishments in words written or edited. (Or if in promotion mode, number of social media posts.) Of course, if the numbers aren't what you wanted, that might be motivation to quit rather than continue on. 

Pixabay Image. Used under CCO Creative Commons.

Some might call a novel notebook or a series bible the journal for that particular project. Character lists, storyboards or outlines, and pictures to inspire settings or characters fill the pages.
 
But for the purposes of this post, I'll talk about the small spiral notebook that I jokingly call my journal. And since, it's a digital world I also include the files and folders on the laptop into which some of the data has been duplicated.


What goes into the physical or the virtual journal. On their blank pages storyline ideas develop and expand.  Notes on scenes to write, unique words to add to my vocabulary, also get jotted down, although sometimes in cryptic notes.

One of the main uses of my writer's journal is to accumulate names. The credits of a television program often contain a name that says "I am xxx." I have to admit that my memory for small details (or even some larger ones) isn't as good as it used to be. Age has introduced the shiny object syndrome. Or what I like to call "walk into a room and forget the reason why," because going through the doorway took away all memory of my task. So writing information down immediately upon discovery helps save it for potential use.

But there are problems with having a journal. Handwriting gets illegible. Even worse, they are hard to organize. The information is not grouped by subject but chronological. Sticky notes or paperclips used to mark a particular piece of data fall off.  And you have to remember what information you wrote to be able to search for it.

Still, the act of writing something down helps its capture in the memory, so I will keep my spiral notebook with the black script on the cover that says "Journal."
 
~till next time, Helen

Voice and Numbers #mfrwauthor

It's Friday. Time for another post in the 2018 challenge. More than halfway there and I haven't missed any posts. That's a surprise. And it ties in with this week's topic - Best Writing Advice I've Gotten."

Learn Your Craft
Find Your Voice
Just Enough Detail
Write the Best Story You Can
Edit the %$#$# Out of the Story

And to end the post a piece of advice I've used for both this hop and the Wednesday #MFRWauthor BookHooks. And that is Keep 10 Posts Ahead.

There's a lot more advice on the hop. ~till next time, Helen

First or Second, Third or Deep #mfrwauthor

It's Friday again. Welcome to the MFRW author 2018 52-week challenge. We dish on topics of craft, writing life, and ourselves. This week the topic is First, Second, or Third Person point of view. Grammarly succinctly lists them as follows:

First person is the
     I/we perspective.
Second person is the
     you perspective.
Third person is the he/she/
     it/they perspective.


Now the prompt was open-ended. We can answer it as a reader, as a writer, or by craft.  As a reader I don't usually go for first person stories unless I am reading to a small child. As a writer of fantasy, there is too much backstory to have everything first person, especially since I have more than one characters point of view in a story. To avoid head-hopping, I keep to a single character's view in any given scene or chapter.

As both a reader and a writer, my preference is third person. But there is a caveat. As a writer I tend to do deep third. I like to pull the reader so far into the story that they are the character. In her article on Deep POV, Ann Laurel Kopchik states "Deep POV does not mean that the character bounces between third person limited and first person italicized thought."  So why or why not use Deep Third all the time. One reason that immediately came to mind is it can be grueling on both the reader and the writer. Sometimes we have to step back for a breath.

Which then begs the question, why not just do first person. Alicia Rasley in The Power of Point of View gives a valid reason in a major difference between deep third and first person POV.

“This [deep third] is the most intense and intimate POV level, more intimate, in fact, then first-person narration. 

Why? Because an effective first-person narrator can and probably will lie. Click to tweet.

In deep-immersion third person, the reader can assume that what’s reported is the deepest of personal truth, at least as far as the character knows.”

It's a hop and there are other posts on the topic. ~till next time, Helen

Creative Without Paper #mfrwauthor

Many of the prompts in the 52 weeks-52 posts challenge dare the participating authors to reveal something personal about themselves. This week's topic is "Creative Outlets I Enjoy." This post is going to be short. One reason is that a post in last year's challenge was hobbies which, over the years, has been my main creative outlet. Another outlet, has been teaching. Whether museum protocols or writing craft, developing the material could be considered a creative effort.

That said, at this time and place my main creative outlet is writing. Rather than highlighting my covers (the really gorgeous ones I can't claim ownership of), or of my books (in an effort to ask for reviews), I'm going to do a photo array of some of the creative things I've done.

Photography - Needlepoint - Painting - 

Leave a comment if you will. And be sure to check out the posts of the other authors who have challenged themselves to reveal their inner selves and their writing lives.

~till next time, Helen

Don't Use It All #mfrwauthor

It's Friday! time again for a challenge post. This week's topic had me spinning the decision wheel again. What have I learned from research?

First off, research for what book? Do I want to discuss insights derived from the creation of the local history books I wrote? They represented decades of research and the information and images covered millennia. Of course, the stories, whether published or to be written, that were set in the old west might be appropriate to use as the focus because they required so much research.

However, since the challenge is from Marketing For Romance Authors, I will focus on what I learned researching my fantasy books: The Windmaster Novels, The Dragshi Chronicles, and Imprisoned In Stone. I could wax for hours on the gorgeous landscapes of the British Isles and Hawaii that were used as settings. But I won't.

I could write about the re-enactments I attended to immerse myself in a specific time period. Visits to museums or walking archaeological sites, practicing with replicas of ancient weapons, or lying on the floor studying maps of the civilizations long past are all types of research I've done. You might even take lessons to get a feel for a skill or to experience a once commonplace event such as horseback riding.

As you can tell, research can take many forms.

Each project, each book, each author requires different research. It might be street names for a contemporary, period clothing and customs for a historical romance, or projections of what a future world would be like for a science fiction novel. However, there are commonalities that transcend genres that I stress whenever I talk on research.

In her post "The Devil's In The Details," C. S. Lakin tells authors they are the manager of their books. That "you hold the power to guide your readers, managing their attention and memory. By stressing a certain detail or event, you are managing readers by sending the message: 'Pay attention to this. Remember this.'" While the story may mirror real life, your readers will not know which details matter to the story and which are incidental. If you overload readers with stimuli, they won’t know what to pay attention to and what to ignore.

Every editor at some time has held a manuscript that contained excessive, detail. the author had obviously done their due diligence into the historical period and loved it so much they put every single detail into their work.

Description is about drawing the reader in and making them live the story with you. Too much detail strips the reader of bringing their own experience to the story. Having to stop for a history lesson, even one featuring intriguing characters, can pull readers straight out of the fiction.

Sprinkle your details as you would a spice. Not too much, not too little, and blended throughout for a perfect balance.

~till next time, happy researching Helen