How I Toned My Writer’s Core in 2011
Posted by: micheleberger on: January 23, 2012
During the last decade fitness experts have touted the importance of developing a strong core. A well developed core (the muscles that run the length of the trunk and torso), stabilizes the spine and pelvis and contributes to balance and strength. The core helps us transfer powerful energy outward to the rest of the body. Looking back, I can see that in 2011, I metaphorically worked on my writer’s core. This included paying attention to the craft of writing and strengthening a self-care system to support my writing life. Shaping my writer’s core afforded me a new level of emotional fitness than I had ever experienced before.
In toning my writer’s core I committed to reviewing the scaffolding of writing (e.g. plot, dialogue, setting, scene building, etc), taking classes and workshops that explored the process of revision, the structure of successful memoirs and key components in writing for children. This allowed me to return to my writing with a generous attention to the shaping of each paragraph and scene in ways that I was unable to do before.
For years, I labored alone with my writing or joined writing groups that were dysfunctional. Despite these past experiences, I developed decent skills on giving feedback and support. Prior to last year, however, I didn’t know how to ask for support or even what kinds of writing support might be good for me. That has changed dramatically. 2011 was my year for developing layers and layers of yummy writing support. Some fell into my lap and others I actively sought out.
February: An acquaintance approached me to be a writing buddy; I accept and we meet monthly to share writing progress, fellowship and encouragement.
April: I’m asked to join two monthly critique groups. I accept. We share similar commitments to writing and neither group is dysfunctional.
May: I discover She Writes! Joining She Writes has been one of the most rewarding experiences of receiving writerly support.
July-December : I join creativity writer SARK’s online writing program WINS(Write It Now with SARK), and her online community AHA (A Haven and Accelerator for Writers). SARK offers profound knowledge about how to deal with pesky inner critics. I highly recommend this innovative program!
This unprecedented year of support has helped me transform several writing blocks (i.e. all or nothing bursts of writing, procrastination and perfectionism, fear, etc) that I have struggled with for as long as I can remember.
Communing with so many writers and participating in several writing communities also gently shifted my focus from an exclusive one set on individual publication to recognizing and celebrating the courage, camaraderie and confidence that comes from being part of a community of writers. I want to write not just for personal advancement, but also to be in conversation and build rapport with writing kin. I’ve gotten equally invested in other writers’ success as well as my own. I’m becoming a better writer, but also a more generous one, too.
Part of toning my core was also to openly explore and write about the difficult feelings that can stop us as writers including rejection, jealousy, envy, competition and anxiety. Blogging about new ways to cope with rejection and openly discussing this topic with other writers was a great strengthener.
A February workshop I took from my writing teacher, Marjorie Hudson, also shifted my perspective on submitting one’s work and coping with rejection. She declared that as part of claiming the mantle of a writer, one should have gathered at least 99 rejections. I sat in the workshop feeling pretty smug thinking that surely with all the years that I have been trying to get published I have reached that number, no problem. Later as I was reviewing my submission file, I was shocked to realize that I wasn’t even half way close to 99 rejections! This revelation spurred me on submit my work, all year, in a serious and organized way. By taking this challenge on, I ushered in plenty of rejections but also a second place prize for a poem in the Word and Sound International Writing Competition, and other writing successes. As SARK says, “If we’re not getting rejected, we’re not stretching far enough.”
In training the physical core, one has to undertake lots of demanding moves: plank, side plank, crunches and push-ups and do them consistently. In 2011, I also worked on the hard things that didn’t feel so good in the short term like developing a daily writing practice and embracing a new perspective on revising longer projects.
For 2012, my intention is continue to strengthen my writer’s core by…
–maintaining and sustaining layers of support ( being active in She Writes, meetings with my writing buddy, continue participating in my three writing groups, and finish round 3 of WINS)
–continuing to work on the craft of writing by taking additional classes
–striving to make it to 99 rejections this year!
–moving forward with a consistent writing practice
–practicing an attitude of revising longer works with delight instead of dread
I wish you a strong writer’s core for 2012!
*This post appeared appeared a few weeks ago on She Writes
Introducing Suspense Writer, Linda Johnson
Posted by: micheleberger on: December 31, 2011
Looking for a new suspense writer to fall in love with? Look no further than Linda Johnson. Linda’s just published two compelling novels. One is A Tangled Web, a black widow suspense drama, and Trail of Destruction, a political thriller. For many years Linda worked in advertising. When the cold and gray of her native Chicago got to be too much, she and her husband, Brian, packed up their dogs and horses and relocated to sunny and warm North Carolina. After working for several years as the owner and manager of a hunter/jumper equestrian facility, Linda decided to trade riding for writing.
I know Linda through our monthly writers’ group and have enjoyed the way she creates smart, psychopathic villains. She’s produced several suspense novels and short stories. I recently sat down with this productive writer to learn more about her writing practice.
1) Where did the ideas for your novels come from?
Both of my suspense novels were inspired by real life situations. A Tangled Web was inspired by a murder that took place in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I was intrigued by the case which involved a young wife and mother who opted to murder her husband rather than divorce him. I couldn’t understand why she would go down that path and I felt it was an intriguing story worth exploring. What’s great about writing fiction is the flexibility to use an idea as a launching pad and then take it in many unique and interesting directions: narcissism, greed, blackmail, betrayal, and murder.
My second novel, Trail of Destruction, was motivated by news stories of various politicians who have affairs at great risk to their careers. Many politicians have tremendous egos which feed into their desire to be with multiple women and can lead to a sense of invulnerability. In my novel, I explored the idea of a candidate running for president who gets his lover pregnant and then has her murdered to cover up the scandal. In an interesting twist, the politician’s younger brother is a journalist covering the candidate’s quest for the White House. He eventually unearths his brother’s actions and is faced with the decision whether to protect him or bring him down.
2) What does your writing practice look like?
I think it’s important for a writer to have a dedicated writing space — a place that is removed from other activities and responsibilities. I set my space up in a guest room that we don’t use very often. When we do have visitors, I take a break from writing anyway. I keep my writing and research material in there, but nothing else — no letters, bills, etc. — nothing that can distract me from writing. Most writers I know are excellent procrastinators, and I’m no exception. So the more focused I can be, the more productive I am.
3) What’s the easiest part of writing for you: plot, voice, characterization?
I’m not sure if it’s the easiest, but the one I enjoy the most is characterization. I start with an overall idea for the book. Then I delve into the characters, writing fairly detailed sketches of all of the key players — including childhood, education, career, personality, ambitions, and relationships. Once I have my characters fleshed out, they guide me through plot and voice. They are just like creative partners with minds of their own, so I’ve learned to listen to them.
4) Who is one writer that you’d love to know was reading your work?
Tess Gerritsen, because she is the writer I aspire to become. She’s an excellent role model — the types of novels she writes, her characters, and her writing style. I’m hoping if I keep practicing my craft, I can become as talented a writer as she is.
Find out more about Linda and where to buy her books!
Writing Prompts for Winter
Posted by: micheleberger on: December 22, 2011
Winter Solstice is a perfect time for writers to take stock of the light and dark aspects of their writing. So much of writing (and creating more generally), is about cultivating the willingness to explore the unknown, uncharted and mysterious places of the imaginative psyche. Often it feels as if we are in the dark. During winter, we can review our writing accomplishments of the year and plant dream seeds for the future. As we turn inward into the muck of our own fertile landscape, we mirror the outward cycle of the earth.
The prompts below can support your writing practice during the winter:
My writing that is most afraid of the light is…
The writing that wants to be born in 2012 is…
Creating support for my writing life during winter looks like…
The time I felt the most joy in 2011 when writing was…
I am most of proud of my writing practice in 2011 because…
The writing seeds that are growing in the deep dark are…
A negative belief I have about my writing that I could release into the light is…
The Creative Tickle Approach
Posted by: micheleberger on: December 13, 2011
I loved being interviewed last week by Molly Matlock, host of Inside The Artist’s Studio from WCOM 103.5 LP FM Radio. She asked provocative questions about the nature of creativity and the role of the arts in society. We talked about some of my favorite topics: my creative tickle approach, neuroscience and creativity, the writing life and the value of a liberal arts degree! Check out the podcast here
Interview with Author Jessica Yinka Thomas: Writer, Social Entrepreneur and World Traveler
Posted by: micheleberger on: November 22, 2011
I’m so excited to introduce readers to newly minted novelist Jessica Yinka Thomas. Her novel How Not To Save the World is a social justice thriller. Jessica Yinka Thomas is a novelist with a background in mechanical engineering and social entrepreneurship. As managing director of the Center for Sustainable Enterprise at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, she has authored several award-winning academic articles. Jessica has also worked as a designer of interactive educational toys, as the director of a social enterprise business plan competition and as a program manager for a community development nonprofit. How Not to Save the World is her first novel.
Jessica’s writing highlights her twin passions for technological innovation and for creating significant social change through entrepreneurial ventures. Growing up in West Africa and traveling around the world has provided her with a rich background from which to draw in her writing.
Her main character, Remi Austin is a fundraiser for the African Peace Collaborative (APC), a conflict resolution nonprofit founded by her late mother. Frustrated by her inability to raise funds and faced with the imminent closure of the APC, Remi turns to a life of crime to keep her nonprofit afloat. From Sydney, to Tokyo, Geneva and Cape Town, Remi transforms from a fundraiser too shy to speak during staff meetings into a daring international art thief who must stop a war from breaking out and figure out how to save herself from a life behind bars.
I think Jessica has single-handedly invented a new genre—the social justice thriller.
I came to know Jessica through The Creative Tickle, my coaching practice. She was finishing her novel when we worked together. She focused on time management issues and juggling her many commitments including job responsibilities, creative writing and new motherhood. I’m thrilled to see her work in print and that she is making her writing dreams come true.
1) Where did the idea for your novel come from?
I started out writing nonfiction travel stories as I traveled around the world in my twenties. I read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron while traveling across Australia and wrote in big letters at the close of the book, I WILL WRITE A NOVEL. That was 13 years ago. Since then I’ve taken my inspiration from the world around me and from the parts of life that I love. I weave my travel experiences into my writing, my passion for technological innovation and my personal vision for creating large scale social and environmental change. The story in How Not to Save the World evolved from a desire to create a compelling story that would include all of those elements. That kept me going for 8 years!
2) What does your writing practice look like?
Juggling a day job, a family, a social life in addition to writing is a delightful challenge. I have to be very strategic about fitting in my writing. Recently I’ve had the flexibility to scale back my day job to half time. So these days I can usually commit at least 2 hours to marketing and promoting my first novel and two hours to working on the second novel. Part of my marketing strategy includes getting book clubs to read the novel. This has actually provided fantastic feedback for me as a writer and as I work towards completing the sequel. The time I commit to writing, I don’t have a special place. I’ll often write on my lap using my laptop on my living room couch or the local library if I’m going to put in several hours. Much of the writing process for the sequel involves idea generation. The woman who runs my fitness class is probably frustrated that I will often pick up my iPhone in between sets and make notes about dialogue, character development, settings, etc. She probably thinks I’m texting my friends, but it does help my productivity and keeps my mind distracted during the bicep curls.
3) What (or who) inspires you to write and why?
I’m inspired to write because I see storytelling as a compelling mode to engage people in big ideas. My hope is that everyone who reads my work will think about how they can find their personal path to leaving this world better than the way they found it. I also just love writing. I’ve never had a moment of writer’s block. The page is the one place I can funnel all of the ideas swirling around in my head. With a generous amount of editing, those ideas can be transformed into a story and even a novel, or two or three.
4) What’s your best writing tip that you’d like to share?
Write every day! Even if it’s only 5 minutes on the computer or 30 seconds on your iPhone. This Year Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley was an inspiration to me and that was one of the core concepts.
5) Will we see more of your main character? What’s your next writing project?
Absolutely, we will see more of Remi Austin. I have laid out a plan for a 3 book series with How Not to Save the World as the first Remi Austin Adventure. I’m hard at work on the second, tentatively titled How Not to Make Friends. I’m shooting to release it in September 2012.
6) Who is one writer that you’d love to know was reading your work?
My father. He is an economist and would never define himself as a writer although I have a shelf full of his academic publications. He has committed his life to demonstrating how technology can be a powerful tool for social change. His work has changed many thousands of lives for the better. He is my writing role model in many ways. I would love to know that he was reading my work. He has read the first novel and I hope he feels compelled to keep reading.
Find out more about Jessica and where to buy her thriller!
Good Things Can Happen When You Open Your Mail
Posted by: micheleberger on: November 21, 2011
I’m in a pleasant state of shock to have just learned that my poem “Ode to Shari Belafonte in her Calvin Klein Jeans” placed 2nd in the poetry category for the 2011 Word & Sound International Creative Writing Competitions sponsored by the Albert Anthony Foundation! It also carries a cash award!
As I was reviewing a pile of mail, I spied my self-addressed stamp envelope that I had sent as part of my packet for the contest in June. It was fat which is not always a good thing. Sometimes the envelope back from a contest is fat because they are sending you a list of winners (which you’re probably not on) and promotional material for next year’s contest.
I was thrilled, however, when I did see my name featured among the winners.
My writing teacher, Marjorie Hudson constantly encourages her students to submit our work even in the face of constant rejection–it works!
Interview with Marjorie Hudson
Posted by: micheleberger on: November 8, 2011
I’m so delighted that my interview with my writing teacher, Marjorie Hudson, has just been published in Western North Carolina Woman Magazine. Although I’ve conducted oral histories for my academic work, I’ve never had an opportunity to interview, transcribe and edit a conversation with a well-known writer. I highly recommend it to all aspiring writers! It’s a great way to get to know your local writer(s). It provides the writer an opportunity to get their work noticed and a publication credit for you. Local publications always need good quality interviews. After you’ve conducted the interview, you can then write a query to local publications.
I prepared for the interview by reading Marjorie’s work, brainstorming questions on my own and then reading lots of interviews with writers in publications and on websites. I began this process in June and now the interview is in print–a very satisfying feeling!
Marjorie Hudson is author of Accidental Birds of the Carolinas (short stories), a Novello Literary Finalist, and Searching for Virginia Dare, a North Carolina Arts Council Notable Book. Her work is published in many journals and anthologies.
Read the interview!
Learning from the Reader’s Digest ‘Your Life’ Challenge
Posted by: micheleberger on: November 2, 2011
There are times that I am convinced that I would do little to move my creative writing along without external deadlines. For many writers the inner perfectionist convinces us that our work is just not ready yet. Then we wait and agonize and wait some more. Working with writing buddies, teachers and groups are crucial to helping us move more of our writing out into the world. For the past four months, I have had the pleasure of being part of SARK’s online writing program WINS (Write It Now with SARK). She has created a delightful, nourishing online community. It has added another layer of support to my writing life.
A few weeks ago, I saw the ‘Your Life’ contest sponsored by Reader’s Digest. They requested 150 word stories about a lesson, funny moment or important vignette in one’s life. The prize is $25,000. I immediately thought, OK, I’d like to do that, but made no real plan for completion. I then saw SARK post the contest to our online forum encouraging us to apply. Some people immediately entered and posted their entries—my inner critic told me there was no point in entering—I was not going to produce as poetic a piece as others. I should have sent it on a most unpleasant task like cleaning all the toilets at the nearest airport, but I ignored it instead.
SARK also holds bimonthly calls for the WINS group and during the last call; she said she was having a hard time starting her Reader’s Digest entry. She said she had started a draft twelve times! It was so refreshing to hear a well published writer reveal a common struggle with writing. Everyone on the call, I think, registered a sigh of relief. Other people expressed that they too were having trouble starting and finishing their entries—mostly because it was not ‘perfect’. So, she asked us to make a pact with her…that we would not only finish our stories but we would post them for each other online. She asked us to press ’1′ on our phones if we were in. Without too much hesitation, I decided, yup, I’m in. We had exactly 5 days to meet the deadline. As a final word of encouragement for the contest and submitting writing to her in general (we can submit a 1500 word piece per month for her review), she told us to write “bad, uninformed, stupid, ragged, slapdash drafts!” We laughed but her message sank home and was a good reminder—to get sparking drafts, we must start somewhere in the thicket of words and not judge ourselves too harshly for it. As the days went on, SARK kept her word by posting her entry for all to see and several others followed suit. I cheered others on and even encouraged my partner to apply.Finally, I sat down to write, too. I knew I had made commitment to others to show up and follow through—an external deadline with accountability. Once I started, I realized I had given a talk years ago that held a vignette that I could rework. The piece was actually easier and more fun to write than I imagined. Creative folk need to be internally motivated to produce strong work. But we also can use contests, residency applications, calls for anthologies, and pacts made with friends as a way to burn through the twin energies of perfectionism and procrastination.
Please take a moment and check out my entry ‘The Queen of the Class Grows Up’ and vote for it if you like it. queen-cl-grows
Do you cheat on your creative work? If not, here are two reasons why you should
Posted by: micheleberger on: September 26, 2011
I am a cheater. I don’t cheat on my partner, taxes or commitment to healthy eating. I do, however, cheat on my major writing projects all the time and to great satisfaction. What do I mean by this?
Revising and completing long writing projects is daunting and requires multiple strategies for success; cheating helps: Writing has its peaks and valleys. For me, it’s often demanding and grueling and only occasionally transcendent. I’ve found that many people get stuck somewhere in that last 10-20% morass of revising or finishing a long project.
So, I have embraced a psychological orientation that helps get me through long writing projects (academic books and now a novel). Longer works demand a kind of focused attention, a ‘creative monogamy’, if you will. And, as wonderful as being committed to a long project can feel, well, we sometimes just want a break from our routine. I draw on the energy and imagery of cheating to allow me to flirt with new ideas and imagine how much greener the proverbial creative grass is on the other side.
This kind of cheating doesn’t get you into trouble and can provide benefits: Now cheating in real life carries risks and often nasty consequences involving arguments, punishment, shame and occasionally jail time. The cheating I’m talking about is a mental game that I play that helps break up the difficult stretches of work and when I get into a ‘I don’t wanna’ phase of revising. When I’m blocked or bored by my novel, I fantasize about my current idea crush. It may be a poem, a nonfiction book proposal or even an op-ed letter. In my mind’s eye, I toy with it, reveling in its novelty.
I am thrilled and teased by this idea’s very existence. I coo at my new wisp of a project all the while denigrating my current work about how boring it is, uninteresting, that the sparks have almost gone out, etc. I fantasize about how obedient this new project will be, how much there is to discover about it, how I can’t wait to leave my current work to be with it. It is truly a love affair that feels deliciously wicked. After a few minutes of this fantasizing, I’ll jump up and announce, “time to cheat”, grab a journal and make clandestine notes.
This kind of ‘ritualized’ cheating refreshes me so much that when I come back to the main project, I am rested, relaxed, and in better spirits. I settle back into a domestic writerly bliss. It also leads to the completion of smaller pieces of writing.
And, what’s great is that my mental excursion hasn’t cost me anything! Not extra calories or IRS visit. I’m in the process of revising a novel, but I have used this technique with the academic books that I’ve written over the years.
Below are two recommendations that I routinely use with my coaching clients. Try them. You might have more fun that you think. Happy cheating!
-Make a ‘love affairs’ folder. If you’re in the middle of a long work that has lost some of its zest, this might be a perfect adventure for you. Get a beautiful folder and decorate it with delicious sayings (or naughty sayings if you like), using words that entice you. This will be your ‘love affairs’ folder. When you get bored, this is where you can go and allow your imagination to sift through ideas. You can use this file as a repository for images and gathering sensory data for your next project. This also works with a gorgeous journal that is just for your noticing and wooing new projects.
-Write a ‘why you turn me on’ paragraph Write one paragraph about the new idea that you’re all crushed out on but don’t have any time for. Celebrate the one idea that’s being rattling around in your mind and every time it pops up, you think ‘If only I had time, I’d give you some attention. ‘ You do have time! Set a timer for 10 minutes and start with “You make me hot just by thinking how we are going to…” Or “10 things that I notice about you that take my breath away are” or “My vision for us together is” or “What makes you so fascinating is” or “You’re so different than my current project because”.
Have you written 100 beautiful sentences in 2011?
Posted by: micheleberger on: September 16, 2011
At the close of the summer, I’ve been rummaging through several journals containing writing from the past year. At the end of a writing workshop last December, my instructor gave us a stimulating prompt. The prompt was: ‘The writer I was meant to be’ and we had ten minutes to free write about it. I wrote the following:
“The writer I was meant to be writes with the courage and sophistication of James Baldwin
-the irresistible beauty of Gish Jen
-the depth of Ursula Le Guin
-the creativity of Ntozake Shange
-the honesty of Alice Walker
-the fearlessness of Walter Mosley
-the precision of Sheri S.Tepper
-the humor of Jonathan Lethem
The writer I was meant to be encompasses the qualities of writers I admire above. It [a writing career] takes craft, training, persistence and subtlety. I’m still working on it! I’ve written probably under a 100 beautiful pitch perfect sentences in my fiction (even though I have written a lot!). Hmm, maybe a new goal for 2011?”
In the ensuing discussion, everyone shared remarkable insights about the distance between the ‘writer that they were meant to be’ and ‘the writer they were’ at that moment. We bemoaned and laughed about this distance and congratulated ourselves for what we had already accomplished. After I left the workshop, I thought about that ’100 beautiful sentences’ line. I made an intention for 2011. I wanted to generate a lot of writing, but also aim to craft more beautiful sentences. I felt this was a worthy goal. I haven’t gone through all of my writing this year and evaluated how many beautiful sentences I’ve crafted. But, I know that holding this intention during the last ten months has helped me pay more attention to the quality as well as quantity of my writing. And, I’ve found myself writing more poems, a pleasant surprise, and enjoying using language in fresh ways. A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Stanley Fish’s provocative and helpful How to Write a Sentence (and How to Read One). It is a spirited meditation on sentence craft. I highly recommend it.
So, as fall approaches and we turn naturally inward, I pose to you these free writes: ‘The writer I was meant to be…’.Try that for ten minutes and then try ‘The writer I am right now at this moment’ for ten minutes. Compare the two lists and reflect on patterns, similarities, differences, challenges and opportunities.
And, finally have you written 100 beautiful sentences this year? Is that an interesting or worthy goal for you? To answer this question might mean making some time to pour over your journal entries, blog posts and other writings. I see you curled up in comfortable warm clothing, as the leaves are turning outside, with a cup of soup near by and lavishing attention on your prose.
These exercises might seed something in you that ripens later this year or in 2012.
I’d love to hear your reflections.
Photo Credit: Ismoyo’s Vintage Playground
