DIY Writing Retreat 2023: Mentor Texts

When I attended writing retreats, one of the best things was that the presenters brought in boxes upon boxes of genre-specific books. Participants perused them and choose a mentor text.

I always chose something that I’d never read and was never disappointed. (NOTE: Love That Dog by Sharon Creech was an especially delightful surprise.)

Reproducing that abundance of mentor books seemed like a challenge. I planned to focus on contemporary fantasy for children and young adult.

Naturally, I visited the library. Librarians knew not only contemporary literature, but popular fantasy authors of the ’60s and ’70s. And, as luck would have it, the Friends of the Library held a book sale: $2 per BAG.

Between borrowing and buying, I now have a plethora of mentor texts. Expect, dear blog-readers, to see reviews.

Slooooowwwww writing

The weirdest thing happened this week. Normally, I start each writing session by rereading the previous day’s work, which primes the pump and gets me ready to write for three hours.

This week, the number of words slowed to a trickle. I still felt like I was writing at my normal pace, but then the bedtime reminder sounded and… 300 words after three hours. Also, I realized I broke a rule of my world and I have to figure how to make things right.

I am going to write in the morning this week and see if it helps.

 

 

DIY Writer’s Retreat: Not as Planned

The first zucchini sprouts

Before I planted vegetables (and a melon!) in my garden, I planned. Some plants, like radishes, required containers to prevent ground-pests worming their way in. Others, like squash (and melon!) needed room to sprawl.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten a seed-packet of zucchini which I bought last year.  After I planted it, I had a leftover of a different breed.*  There were no more open,  sunlit spaces with clearance all around…

Resources for the DIY Writer’s Retreat

Whenever I find good advice while reading about writing, I take notes and make a citation. Soon enough, certain names repeat; e.g. Donald Maass and James Scott Bell. Here are two whose work resonates with me:

• Elizabeth Sims. I don’t read her genre (mystery), but her sound advice and encouraging tone strike a chord with me.  Many of her articles are available free online.   This week, I’d recommend her “8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One.”
• David Farland aka David Wolverton.  Long ago, in a galaxy far away, I read a Star Wars novel and somehow got onto his newsletter mailing list. (These things happen.) Some of his more popular newsletter topics can be found on his blog .  I thought his post “Opening Strategies” would be good and “To Plot, or Not to Plot.”

DIY Writer’s Retreat: Plotting

Photo by Bich Tran on Pexels.com

I decided to share upbeat advice by Elizabeth Sims, an author of mysteries and frequent writer for Writer’s Digest: “Get Messy With Your First Draft.”

Unfortunately, there’s no free link to the article I found most helpful this week. “Plotting Your Way” (Writer’s Digest, September 2019) includes a quiz to determine a plotting method to fit your personality, and then explains it. The article is great whether you’ve got a plan in mind or you don’t know what you’re doing.

My quiz result recommended The Relaxed Framework Plotting Method. It’s a flexible structure that allows me to adjust plot points.  I found it so helpful, I wanted to explain how I used it.

It required a “master trove,” a stack of index cards, and my working draft.

DIY Writer’s Retreat: Where to Begin?

At the beginning, of course!

Well, maybe.

Now that we’ve chosen what to write, we must choose where we’re jumping in.

I won’t bother to reiterate ways to begin the opening scene. Ruthanne Reid at The Write Practice already did the heavy lifting in Three Ways to Start a Novel. (Read it now or later – but definitely read it!)

On the other hand, we can start by writing the final scene.

DIY Writer’s Retreat: Choose your battle!

Before diving in, writers should ask themselves: What should I write? What do I want to write?

The answers might not be the same.

The “should” response may include matters of skill and marketability; e.g. you feel competent to write a particular story and/or there’s a market for it.

I should work on polishing the rough draft of a SF novel for young adults that I finished and put it aside to “simmer” before the rewrite.  YA novels sell well now, and the premise of mine generated interest from an independent editor.

The “want” response is an emotional one. Characters appeal to you. Writing the action scenes is fun. The conflicts get your heart pumping.

What I want to work on is a fantasy novel for young readers who are advanced enough to handle higher vocabulary but not ready for the content of YA novels.  I started working on a series of stories about these characters when I was child.*  The setting feels like a second home and, with little preparation, I can pick up where I left off in the story.    

 Weigh the options and make a choice.

For me, the fantasy novel is the right choice. The SF novel requires research, including a trip to a currently-closed library.

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* I remember tossing it into a burning barrel when I left home for the last time. However, my parents later delivered a box of source material they found in a closet: written scraps, typed character studies, and notebooks!

DIY Writer’s Retreat: Spring Version

Several years ago, I conducted a do-it-yourself writing retreat. I hadn’t written creatively in many years, and it jump-started a new routine.

In the years that followed, I conducted a few more. I found them personally satisfying, although long-time readers of the blog may not remember them because I left short, cryptic posts.

The time has come again!

However, I will post every Friday (my timezone) with a tool, an idea, or something for anyone who might wish to join me.  The reason is twofold: most of us have no place to go for a while (May 15 is my gubernatorial date) and there’s a LOT of traffic on my old posts about writing theory and advice.

Stay tuned!

Goals

• Daily fill-the-gaps writing on the Craptastic Draft (aka first draft)
•  A weekly chapter edit
•  By Monday, 1 de junio, the complete Second Draft

 

Writing: Your Mileage May Vary

According to experienced writers of my acquaintance, writing a free-form draft of a short story takes an hour and a half, on average.

I wrote for five hours. I took a tea break and a false-alarm break. The latter found me nervously checking for a wild animal just outside the screen door. (No, thank God! I couldn’t see it, but there was a raccoon growling at something. Raccoons have a distinctive sound.)

Anyway, I guess the time estimate fell short because the advisors are experienced both with writing drafts and meeting deadlines (several are published). So as with any writing advice, your mileage may vary.

I typed 2,435 words. However, that number includes asides like “Look up climate of coast.”

I woke up this morning with the realization that a character mentioned in passing is more important than the supporting character who was so enjoyable to write. So revisions will ensue.

 

DIY Writer’s Retreat 2017

This summer has been exceptionally bogged down in minutiae like tearing out an overgrown patch garden and preparing for a very different work environment at The Young Human Factory. I despaired of having a block of undisturbed time to be alone and writing. Plus, I decided to go rewrite the first draft of my novel – and made it worse.

However, I have found the time to do a three-day, self-directed Writer’s Retreat. It started this morning.