Writing Distractions

By Susan

A writer is simply one who writes. It should be that simple—putting words on paper, one after the other, until one produces a cohesive thought. String those thoughts together into a story, build that story into a novel.

Yet distractions abound. They are our excuses to not write. Here are some main distractions as we enter the summer months, and some solutions:

Distraction: Other People.

Children who are old enough to make their own meals but still insist it tastes better when you do it. Spouses who need help finding something. (Seriously? Seriously.) Neighbors, ailing parents, bosses with new deadlines, friends-in-crisis. Other people are my favorite reason to not write—after all, they need me. They want me. My fiction? Not so much.

Carve out your alone time and put it on a calendar. Hang a do not disturb sign around your neck. I've been known to hide in my car to write (in fact, I am doing that RIGHT NOW). Turn your phone off, set a small goal, and get to it. Treating your words as if they are your job (if they aren't already) can ensure that you find a way to say 'No' when you need to. Sometimes, you have to take your writing seriously. Give yourself permission to do that.

Distraction: Other Responsibilities.

We all have lives, and lives are messy. Housework and bills, careers and family. Protect your writing time. Remember that no one is holding a gun to your head, forcing you to write. You write because you love it, because you cannot NOT write. Sometimes, you have to treat your writing with love. Guard it, protect it, baby-talk to it if you have to. Choose words with tenderness, construct your paragraphs with care. Don't allow your life to keep you from your art.

Distraction: The Evil Internet.

Ah, here's the rub—the greatest distraction of all.

I believe the Internet's purpose is to frustrate writers with its abundance. We follow never-ending trails seeking clarity and detail to add realism to our fiction. We get distracted by the photos of a distant acquaintances' last vacation on Facebook. Hours pass and, although you've been sitting at the computer, the word count on your manuscript hasn't changed. Not by one word.

There are times when the only solution is to unplug. (Gasp!) I know, you don't think you can. You need it, right? Well, guess what? You don't. Remember all those short stories you wrote when you were in college? There was no Internet then (okay—maybe for some of us.) Remember all the handwritten pages that were the first draft of your first novel? No Internet there, either. Sometimes, you must unplug to truly get plugged in to your own work. Try it sometime. Turn off your wi-fi and turn on your own writing machine. Maybe just for an hour to see what happens.

We all have distractions, responsibilities and, if we're lucky, people who need us. It all comes down to discipline. Protect your writing. Love your craft, and avoid falling down the rabbit hole in your research. Set goals and stick to them.  Decide to write and don't make excuses. That's the only way to get to the end!

As seen on the web

by Joan

We often grumble about how much time we fritter away surfing the internet or reading blogs (yes, like this one). Our minds are distracted, lured by words and pictures meaningful to us. We click on news feeds, writerly sites and online bookstores. Is this wasted time or research? A little of both, I suspect. 

For me, these tangents have inspired more than one story idea or plot twist. As I write this, my inbox shows ten emails from myself, chock full of gems forwarded from news apps or Twitter feeds. 

I find the BBC News feed fascinating. In addition to the expected categories, Top News, Business, The World, they run a Features and Analysis section with essays and articles on literature or cultures or lifestyles. Especially enlightening is the “10 things we didn’t know last week” column. 

Maybe you’re writing historical fiction set in fifteenth-century Britain and come across this:
 

“Richard III buried in hastily dug untidy grave." Hmmm, a story from the gravedigger's perspective sounds good to me!

Richard III - credit The Independent

Do you know about Flipboard? You can find this app on your phone, tablet or computer. It offers an array of magazine sources and a way to personalize your page. Do you like travel and art? Photography? Film? 

I'm a newbie to Twitter, but follow a few groups, such as Random House, LittleBrown, NY Review of Books, Writer’s Digest and Publisher’s Weekly.

Looking for the best new books from PW? 

How about an inspiring story about a Walmart employee in California who found a spiral-bound notebook containing almost two hundred handwritten rules in the parking lot. He decided to track down its owner after reading rule no. 154: “Protect this rule book.” Now Simon & Schuster is publishing the book, written by ten-year-old Isabelle Busath and eight-year-old Isabella Thordsen.

For all things literary, visit Literary Traveler. The top ribbon offers Articles, Tours, Travel, Gear, Hotels and, of course, Books. How about a tour of Thomas Hardy’s Dorset? Or a stay at this cool hotel? 

You might want to learn about (or visit) Britain’s The George, a famous literary pub that may or may not have served Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens.

Or read the review of author Pete Brown's Shakespeare’s Pub: A Barstool History of London as Seen Through the Windows of Its Oldest Pub—The George Inn (St. Martin’s Press).

Interested in H.G. Wells, spacetime, cosmic clocks, and timeless truths? Although I’m not a big sci-fi reader, time travel has always fascinated me (Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife anyone?). Perhaps if you’re going to tackle this in your plot, you might want to read a new book by theoretical physicist Lee Smolin about time and space: Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

Writer’s Digest runs a column “Seven things I’ve learned so far,” featuring guest authors. And I always learn something from author Brian Klems’ The Writer’s Dig. 

And this post on writing historical fiction is a must-read for anyone about to embark on writing in that genre. The essayist is the Susan Sherman, author of The Little Russian, a book that I can’t wait to read.

What online treats have you found? Please share!

Honoring Authors on Memorial Day

By Pamela

The first official Memorial Day took place on May 30, 1868, when General John Logan proclaimed the remembrance of fallen soldiers; flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. Today it's a national holiday, although many southern states still honor their Confederate soldiers on separate dates.

Over time, the meaning of Memorial Day has diluted from honoring war dead to the inclusion of honoring all deceased--even those who have not fallen in service to our country. In 2000, a National Moment of Remembrance was passed to help reeducate the public about the reason for the holiday. So, today, at 3 p.m., all Americans are urged to "voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps.'" I'll pause to pray for safekeeping of those currently serving our country.

I thought it was also fitting on this day, to recognize American authors who served our country during war times. Here is a list of author/soldiers I thought you might recognize:

E.E. Cummings, prolific author and poet, World War I*
Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, etc., World War I*
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Slaughterhouse-Five, etc., World War II
Edward L. Beach, Jr., Run Silent, Run Deep, etc., World War II
Pres. George H.W. Bush, All the Best, etc., World War II
Norman Mailer, The Executioner's Song, etc., World War II
Hal Clement, Mission of Gravity, etc., World War II
Joseph Heller, Catch-22, etc., World War II
J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, etc. World War II
Gore Vidal, Ben-Hur, etc., World War II
Richard Hooker, M.A.S.H., Korean War
Ron Kovic, Born on the Fourth of July, Vietnam War
Gustav Hasford, The Short-Timers**, Vietnam War
Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried, etc., Vietnam War
Sen. James "Jim" Webb, Fields of Fire, etc., Vietnam War
Tobias Wolff, This Boys Life, etc., Vietnam War
Anthony Swofford, Jarhead, Gulf War
Kevin Powers, The Yellow Birds, Iraq War
Colby Buzzell, My War: Killing Time in Iraq, Iraq War

Weston Ochse, Scarecrow Gods, etc., Afghanistan War

A more inclusive list of American author/soldiers exists online, and many non-American authors dutifully served their countries during war times such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. I researched dozens more lesser-known American authors and was struck at how most wrote volumes of science fiction. If I'm somehow skipped over one you think deserves mentioning here, please leave a comment.

*Both Cummings and Hemingway were ambulance drivers.
**Adapted for the screen as Full Metal Jacket.

Memorial Day Break

The contributors of What Women Write wish everyone a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend. We will resume posting next week.

Eating and drinking and writing ... oh, my!

A sampling of goodies at The Grand Tasting.

By Pamela

This past weekend I had the good fortune of attending Culinaria--a weekend festival in San Antonio devoted to food. Yep. It was a tough gig.

A group of about 15 of us spent Thursday through Sunday hopping from one marvelous event after another. We attended a food truck competition in a parking lot. Donned hats and aprons for a morning at culinary school at the Culinary Institute of America (or CIA, as they call it). Together we sat at private meals hosted by the hippest hottest restaurants in town. We even got VIP access to The Grand Tasting--which was aptly named, if you ask me. And did I mention wine? And tequila? And craft beer? No great meal goes down without the perfect beverage.

My fellow attendees were all writers--journalists, I suppose is more accurate, but that hat looks different today than it did when I started writing years ago.

Meet Ali, a young writer at GimmeSomeOven.com who just turned 30 and has successfully carved out an online niche for herself in the vast world of food bloggers.

Andie, me and Ali at culinary school.

And then there's Andie, another blogger who's not quite 30 and already has a book deal with a division of Random House--a memoir of her journey from overweight teen to svelte young woman. An ordeal that spanned a 135-pound weight loss. And did I mention she's graced the cover of Woman's World magazine? Check out her blog at CanYouStayForDinner.com.

Lynn and Cele, a married couple from North Carolina (they regularly hang with Pat Conroy!) who are travel journalists, were two of the best dinner companions you'll ever meet.

Another couple, Greg and Moran, work as a team as well--she as a graphic designer, he as a writer. Again, lovely people with a new baby on the way. (We were campaigning hard in Moran's corner for the name Flannery over his choice of Kit.)

I could list everyone but the point is--writers come from all walks of life and find work in all manner of venues. The one thing they have in common is passion. Passion for the written word, regardless of how it's read, and passion for telling their stories. I came away from the event inspired and hopeful for my own writing career. Part of that includes beefing up my online image and exploring options for travel writing--something I've always wanted to do. But most of all I realized once again that writing is not a solitary pursuit. Our work grows when we get out among other writers who share our crazy life and wouldn't have it any other way.

The Flowers of May

by Elizabeth

I've often said whoever put Mother's Day in May was surely playing a sick joke. When my son began preschool, I quickly learned that May is crazy for mothers. Add in the second kid with school, soccer, dance lessons, etc., and it was nothing short of pandemonium. Then with actual school, teacher gifts, end-of-year assemblies, it was simply insane. I don't know how many times I uttered "May!" with disgust as I raced from event to event.

But this year has been different. Which has been a relief, a shock, and to my surprise, has carried a tiny (very tiny) element of mourning along with it.

I still have a lot of the usual stuff, the teacher conference here and there, awards ceremonies to attend at school (hooray!), and that last week of school I'll be cutting up pineapple and strawberries and hauling kids around to end of year parties. But without anyone in a dance class or a play or soccer or softball, this May has been less than frantic. As I stood out in the school field the other day, running a game for "Buddy Fun Day," I mentioned to more than one mother-of-youngers that come middle school, May was maybe not so terrible. (Though maybe it will be for them, if their kid is a multi-sport athlete. We have Tae Kwan Do, and no belt test for a while thanks to the achievement of the black late last year.)

My daughter and friends celebrate another tug-of-war victory.
 

It was sort of a revelation, and I've taken a moment a couple of times to wonder if this feeling of non-urgency where before had been rush is a little like moments when you finish up portions of a book. Not only wonder: I know. I remember that feeling of relief each time when I "finished" my two completed novels (though they were both revised, and revised, and in one case revised yet again, but that moment nonetheless occurred). I wonder if there's the same moment of "ahh" when it's sent to the publisher with revisions, and again when the galleys are corrected and complete. I hope so. I think probably so. (I should really ask Julie.)

And that's a pretty great feeling.

But so is the rush of May, a reminder of why I had kids in the first place. I didn't have them so I could sit on my rear all day and watch them grow. I'm realistic, and was before conception, to know, even if I didn't really know (because you can't), that it's not an easy road. May, I didn't know about, but each year when it rolled around with all its bustle and angst, I enjoyed it even as I suffered through, because that's a big part of what motherhood is.

And the rush and hurry and work work work is part of being a writer. In the groove, when it's going really well, you can feel that it's working (like when you land on the perfect idea for teacher gifts and think, "Of course!"), and it's a good feeling, busy as it may be. It's satisfying to do the work, get it done, and know at the end you did it well.

Then it's out of your hands, a breath expelled as you send it off into the world for a while, hoping it will come back to you with more work to do to get it further and further out into the world and finally to stand on its own.

There's a reason people think of their books as their babies.

Reading Short

By Susan

Like most writers, I'm also a reader. Over the past six months, I've tackled several new short story collections that I can't help but pass on.

Here's a list of some of the compilations I've read so far this year.

The Tenth of December, By George Saunders
I cannot praise this compilation enough. Beyond his innovative style, incredible devotion to point of view, and his boundless imagination, George Saunders is a genuinely friendly, normal, and totally cool guy (I met him at his Dallas book signing last month and was impressed with his kindness.) Allow yourself the pleasure of reading all of the stories in this book. Once you understand Saunders, you can't help but love him. He's a writer's writer, and I can't speak highly enough about the perfection of his work.

Dear Life, by Alice Munro
She's simply fascinating. The 81 year old writer is a powerhouse when it comes to the short. I wish I could explain how she does it, but somehow each short story encapsulates a world that feels simple and familiar yet also incredibly complex. If you can only read one short story from this collection, I'd recommend "Corrie."

Nothing Gold Can Stay, by Ron Rash
If you don't know of Ron Rash's work, you will soon. He's the kind of writer I'd only dream to one day become-- a prolific poet, short story writer, and novelist, with five published novels, five published short story collections and four volumes of poetry to his credit. This September, the movie version of his novel Serena will be released with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in the lead roles. His latest short story collection feels so real and raw it's as if you've met these characters before. This entire collection will break your heart. He's got a great gift for ending each story with a turn the reader doesn't expect, yet appears so effortless you wonder how you didn't see it coming.