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Summoning the Muse
Was supposed to have posted this serpent snippet ages ago but sort of got distracted by Nanowrimo and an assortments of tweets from #Trumplethinskin
One of the more useful and unusual books about writing that I have recently encountered is Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande
If you can get past the antiquated and annoying ‘he man’ language, it is actually full of useful ideas and information.
It is very different than most other books on this subject in that it does not deal at all with plots, three act structures, character arcs, dialogue and all the usual things one would expect to be covered in a book about writing. It is more concerned with the mindset that is required to write, how to develop it and the delicate juggling act required to balance the conflicting aspects of the mind.
It would be more accurately described as a book less about writing and more about Summoning the Muse.
The 3 most important ideas in this book I found are
1 Sneak past the snarky carping inner editor
By writing first thing in the morning after waking up - before turning on the radio, talking to anyone (or especially these days - checking the smart phone) it is possible to bypass the pesky inner editor and let the subconscious run riot on the page. It is also a good idea not to reread these pages lest you unleash the inner editor or give up in despair at the awfulness of your rambling purple prose.
2 Tame the Beast
The subconscious is a creative creature but childish and wilful and prone to fits of procrastination. It has to be tamed and disciplined if it is to serve you well.
She recommends this be done by writing first thing in the morning to develop the habit and then later to choose a time to write and to keep to it. No negotiations and no excuses. At the appointed hour you turn up at your desk and write. It is best to pick different times on different days to train your subconscious to be able to produce the words on demand.
If you stick to this schedule the subconscious will soon learn that its temper tantrums and trickery are of no avail and will then conform to your will.
3 Feed Your Head
The creative self needs lots of new experiences to keep it inspired and amused. Go to museums and art galleries. Be a tourist in your own town. Or else be condemned to constantly replaying significant emotional episodes from childhood when everything was truly new and magical and almost every day an adventure.
If this advice sounds suspiciously similar to that offered in Julia Cameron’s “The Way of the Artist” that is because it is. Only some 50 years older.
One of the more useful and unusual books about writing that I have recently encountered is Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande
If you can get past the antiquated and annoying ‘he man’ language, it is actually full of useful ideas and information.
It is very different than most other books on this subject in that it does not deal at all with plots, three act structures, character arcs, dialogue and all the usual things one would expect to be covered in a book about writing. It is more concerned with the mindset that is required to write, how to develop it and the delicate juggling act required to balance the conflicting aspects of the mind.
It would be more accurately described as a book less about writing and more about Summoning the Muse.
The 3 most important ideas in this book I found are
1 Sneak past the snarky carping inner editor
By writing first thing in the morning after waking up - before turning on the radio, talking to anyone (or especially these days - checking the smart phone) it is possible to bypass the pesky inner editor and let the subconscious run riot on the page. It is also a good idea not to reread these pages lest you unleash the inner editor or give up in despair at the awfulness of your rambling purple prose.
2 Tame the Beast
The subconscious is a creative creature but childish and wilful and prone to fits of procrastination. It has to be tamed and disciplined if it is to serve you well.
She recommends this be done by writing first thing in the morning to develop the habit and then later to choose a time to write and to keep to it. No negotiations and no excuses. At the appointed hour you turn up at your desk and write. It is best to pick different times on different days to train your subconscious to be able to produce the words on demand.
If you stick to this schedule the subconscious will soon learn that its temper tantrums and trickery are of no avail and will then conform to your will.
3 Feed Your Head
The creative self needs lots of new experiences to keep it inspired and amused. Go to museums and art galleries. Be a tourist in your own town. Or else be condemned to constantly replaying significant emotional episodes from childhood when everything was truly new and magical and almost every day an adventure.
If this advice sounds suspiciously similar to that offered in Julia Cameron’s “The Way of the Artist” that is because it is. Only some 50 years older.
no subject
The morning writing exercise does sound remarkably similar to the Artist's Way "morning pages". I don't remember if Cameron ever referenced this book, or did she come up with the idea independently? Anyway, it's rather common-sense. But I had tried it (a lot) and I'm already disenchanted with it. "Freewriting" (and that's all I'm capable of when I just wake up) almost inevitably evolves into a mundane rant about my life. It's often therapeutic, I use it when I want to release some steam, but starting every day with a rant is bad for your emotional health, and all I practice is not fluent writing but fluent whining...
(I guess I can "fix it"... write just before going to sleep, when the mind is already almost as fuzzy as in the morning, and (or?) about anything but your daily life. Tarot, or any image prompts, can be incorporated into it. The writeup may end up as a rant anyway, but when it's clearly fictional, it's less destructive.)
As for the other exercises, some sound cool, e.g. a detailed analysis of every book you read (yay spreadsheets! but life is short, and who has time for that... ) and self-questionnaires. But there are many more that I'd hate: writing on schedule (which would work 90% of the time, but ANY external interruptions are more important than my writing hobby: my job, helping my son with his homework, my mother's computer emergencies etc) ; wordless recreation and meditation; paying extra attention to your surroundings (don't I hate them enough as they are? I'd rather try to get distracted so I won't notice anything around me! Pokemon Go makes going outside so much more bearable ;) , read books that you dislike in order to learn what your writing is missing...
Overall, I suspect that it's just like she says: writing is really not for me, and I should find myself a better hobby. "Your resistance is actually greater than your desire to write, and you may as well find some other outlet for your energy as early as late."
no subject
The he/man language drives me demented but in spite of that it is still one of the best books on writing out there because it addresses the most important issue of all - should you even bother to be a writer?
Reading this book at the beginning of your writing career could save a lot of worry and wasted time. In the case of the Cat - I guess that means you should stick to squiggling in code since that is the territory where you are always testing the limits and going above and beyond the call of duty and it seems to be your default mode of procrastination. Create a script for some new tech toy in the pursuit of productivity porn perfection
On the subject of procrastination - the Izzie Christmas gift list has been put on the very long finger but now the international postage deadlines are looming and today I finally made a start on it.
Was astonished to discover the often enormous discrepancy between dead tree and bytes books. I know that you prefer the geekish incarnation in preference to the paper stuff and the postage costs and speed of delivery have a lot to recommend on that front.
But the naive ickle Izzie is completely confuzzled and confused. After discovering that one particular tome offers the options of $30 silver sickles for the paperback version with postage included and 2 weeks delivery or $3.50 for immediate access for the very same information, the inner goblin was convinced. Problem is - I cannot find the supposedly existent option of "Send as gift" on the Kindle page.
I did download it for myself as it had been on my wishlist for so long - Lynne Kelly - The Memory Code - which will make you look at the myths and legends of ancient times in a whole new light. All the craziness and drama was in service of making the stories more memorable in the time before writing was invented.
Hannibal Lector's memory palaces play a very important role.
I snaffled it for myself and then tried to send it to you but could see no 'send as gift' option and any further attempts at clicking on the 'buy'button just told me that I had already bought it.
There are a few things out there that I suspect the Cat will find interesting and enlightening but will be more than happy to get some suggestions.
By the way - the catholic thing - the word did originally mean something along the lines of 'universal' and that was the origin of its use for a certain perverted church. Small c catholic still has that meaning but it is a word rarely used or correctly understood these days due to the influence of the dominant brand. All those poor folks in Scotland with the family name McDonald can so relate to this - which reminds the Izzie that the other Donald might get it in his petty head to sue the burger joint but then again maybe that is why he sticks to the T word instead.
no subject
Bwahaha, maybe Donald can sue casinos instead... but the meaning of his last name is actually a flattering metaphor.
You got me curious about the book, did you buy it on Amazon? It definitely allows to gift Kindle books in general (https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201964280), but it depends on the book; The Memory Code is not even available for me yet, I suppose that's the reason you can't gift it, it's not released worldwide, this is what I see on my account: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gdbgu6o6qvxf7vl/memorycode.png?raw=1 (I wonder why the prices are that different too ;)
I guess writing tutorials are lost on me... but I'm still a sucker for spiritual/inspirational workbooks with exercises, like these 2 I have on my wishlist : https://www.amazon.com/Walking-Twilight-Path-Gothic-Book-ebook/dp/B003U8AB58/ and https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Dance-David-Richo-ebook/dp/B00HZ374EK/ or maybe you know some better ones? (as long as it's not Wicca, LOL)
[edit] Btw I use a special private email address for Amazon, not cat or catness. I think I sent it to you once, but if not, please PM or email me.
Oh and something I saw on my LJ f/l:
"Okay, new rule: if you regularly consume the blood and flesh of a demigod in a room full of chanting elders you’re not allowed to call other religions primitive and evil"
"This is oddly specific and leaves some very interesting questions unanswered."
"Catholicism sure does sound weird when you put it that way."
"They have a dead body nailed to a wall and wear little execution devices around their necks. Next to that, Cthulhu cults are practically cuddly."
no subject
Strangely enough - the dead tree version in paperback was released in July 2016 and has a green cover with a picture of Stonehenge on it while the version with the Easter Island statues is in hardback and is not released until February 2017 and costs only a couple of dollars extra.
I did mention it a few times way back in June when I first heard stories about it on the radio.
Please do owl me your preferred amazon address. It's just so much easier than sending dead trees across the universe. The price and speed of postage and packaging is the real attraction.
That quote about certain sorts of Christians (Catholics are famous for their glorification of suffering) seems familiar. The Romans apparently considered the new Jewish splinter sect as a cannabalistic cult and of course any self respecting impartial Martian would also see it that way.
Izzie also suspects that it was no accident that Lord Voldemort used a similar ritual to resurrect himself at a very special Black Mass at the Little Hangleton graveyard.
There's a lot to be said for growing up in a Catholic culture - they do bling, pomp, ceremony and ritual really well.
Giftige Schlange
"On the product detail page, click the Give as a Gift button."
Could you send a screenshot or something from a Kindle store so I can see exactly where to find this seemingly invisible button.
At the moment, the only options for 'deliver to' are the serpent's android device or the cloud reader which is not much use to Cats :(
Re: Giftige Schlange
Re: Giftige Schlange
I tried about 6 different books just in case one of them was not available like the previously mentioned "Memory Code" and then it dawns on me that maybe the other thing they have in common is that the site keeps redirecting to the Oz amazon kindle website even when using VPN. I guess that they use the billing address as an override.
So of course the reason I could not find that button was because it is not there - on anything on the stupid Oz site. It won't even let me see the purchase options section for the US Amazon site.
That so sucks. Maybe I'll have to try register at Amazon UK or DE instead.
Re: Giftige Schlange