Cool, Powerful and Provocative–

All writers would like to believe that their writing is cool, powerful and provocative.

Cool—as in the slang of my youth, meaning very good or pleasing

Powerful—meaning strong or intense; with the ability to persuade

Provocative—meaning with the ability to excite, stimulate or arouse

A presentation by Dr. Lorraine McConaghy, made me think about how, research infuses our writing with these three qualities.  It also made me think about how often we fail to use the resources readily available to us.

Dr. McConaghy was talking about her new book, New Land, North of the Columbia, however when I returned home I realized that my notes contained as many references about her process for researching the book as they did  to the contents of the book itself.  I must admit this didn’t dampen my spirits at all.

Dr. McConaghy’s book is a historical study of Washington through the documents stored within public archives and museums.  She said that she approached each archivist and curator by asking them what they had in their collection that was “cool, powerful or provocative.”

The more she spoke  the more I realized how important the documents stored in our public archives can be to both fiction and nonfiction writers.  As she reminded us, political and legal documents in a local archive can reveal insight into the past to help us understand the present.  Vintage brochures, pamphlets and even art work on an old can found in a local museum, tell us something about the community and why the population believes what it believes and holds the ideals it holds.

For example, in her book Dr. McConaghy shared some promotional materials from an era when federal programs brought irrigation to Eastern Washington in hopes that the “desert would bloom”.  Irrigation, of course, played a major role in turning parts of Eastern Washington into the agricultural centers that they are today.

Don’t tremble at this point because, as Dr. McConaghy points out, these public archives are part of our public inheritance and many are free.   Some of the data, such as land records and patents can be accessed online.

Dr. McConaghy encouraged us to honor the documents and archives of our state and to honor the collection managers charged with the responsibility of maintaining the collections.  This I will do.

I am looking forward to exploring the possibilities and finding inspiration as I spend more time accessing our public archives.  I plan to keep my mind open as I look for ideas that will help make my writing cool, powerful and provocative.

 

 

[Note 1:  This piece was written for Three Word Wednesday.  This week’s words are: dampen, tremble and keep.

Note 2:  Dr. McConaghy is an engaging speaker with a delightful sense of humor.  It is clear that she has thoroughly researched her books and can provide delightful antidotes about both the subject matter and her research.   She is the Public Historian at the Seattle Museum of History and Industry.  More about her and her work can be  found at the following sites:

 

http://www.humanities.org/programs/speakers/current-speakers/inquiring-mind-speaker-lorraine-mcconaghy

 

http://www.humanities.org/programs/speakers/current-speakers/inquiring-mind-speaker-lorraine-mcconaghy

 

http://www.redmondhistoricalsociety.org/RHS/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=213:lorraine-mcconaghy-phd&catid=25:people&Itemid=185

 

 

 

Now What? Writer’s Block!

I have discovered that writing a novel is sometimes like wading through a creek in the dark.  At some point you will run into a rock or stumbling block.  You’ll have to decide if you can step over it; write around it; or if you must go a whole new direction.

I’ve also discovered that sitting in my chair and staring at my computer screen does not help.  Lately I find myself stepping over the obstacle and writing a different scene.  Upon completing the new scene I often realize that the transition or solution to my previous quandary is perfectly clear.

On other days I take a whole new direction.  I get out of my chair and go for a walk….

Scenes and Settings — Seabeck, Washington

The following is written for three word Wednesday:  generous, penalize, and just.

There are times when I wish I was an accomplished artist or a fantastic photographer, but alas, I am not.  At times I struggle to find the right words to convey not only the sights but the sounds and the feeling of a town I visit, or a place that exists only in my mind.

Seabeck is one of those towns.

I spent this past weekend at a retreat at the Seabeck Conference Center.  I had to smile as I drove into Seabeck.  The business district, if I don’t count the Conference Center, consists of only about a half a dozen buildings, but when I arrived in town I was greeted by a small gray building with a bright blue door.  White trim around the window caused the red   “Espresso” sign to pop.  I decided to go inside.  The usual rows of flavors were lined up on a shelf; an espresso machine and a barista were visible from behind a tiny counter.   Five or six wooden stools filled the remaining floor space– stools that were all occupied by the locals.   They are a generous lot.  I discovered that they will tease anyone.  They didn’t penalize me for being a visitor; locals and visitors are all teased alike.

With my vanilla latte securely in hand I stepped outside and looked around.  The marina is under construction or reconstruction, I am not sure which.  But it is aptly named the Olympic View Marina.  Although I have seen this view of the Olympic Mountains several times, I still had to pause, reflect, and allow it to take my breath away.   Crests of silver rose above the Hood Canal and reflected off the water below.

Just up the road, not more than a few steps away, a large white building stands near the beach.  This is the Seabeck Landing General Store.  A hint of color fills the planter boxes hanging below its oversized windows.   The red door with its “OPEN” sign welcomes patrons inside.  I didn’t go in this time, but I know that there is also a small café inside to feed the hungry.   It is hard to imagine that this store was once part of a community with a lumber mill that was so busy that the mill built its own shipyard to handle its shipping needs.

Across the street the planks on a wooden bridge enticed me across the lagoon and into the conference center grounds.    On prior trips the scene was reminiscent of an old village beckoning the weary.  This time however it was obvious that changes were being made.  Two or three new buildings, large enough to house multiple occupants have emerged on the hillsides and landscapers were busy hydro seeding the disturbed areas.  It wasn’t the same.

Although I know that economically things have to change, it didn’t seem just.  I missed the restful feeling of the grounds.  The old buildings are still there.  The historic inn with its massive dining room and welcoming lobby still offer the nostalgic feel of an era gone by; and the yellow house at the edge of the woods still stands two stories tall; and the older buildings named  Reeser and Cedars and Tamarack still dot the landscape;  but I couldn’t help but feel that  somehow it’s different now.

Saturday morning I arose early and joined a friend for an early morning walk.   I noted that towering conifers still inhabit the hillside, the little white chapel still provides a quiet place to meditate and tulips still fill the planting beds.  The quiet was suddenly interrupted, as it has been in prior years, by the  “rat-ta-tat-tat, rat-ta-tat-tat,” of a pesky old woodpecker  as he tapped away on a metal pole.   As we crossed the bridge over the old mill-pond a blue heron swooped down out of the sky, made a cursory glide across the lagoon and disappeared again.

To me Seabeck is once again like society, a contradiction of the old and new struggling to see which will survive.

Do Not Go Back to Sleep–

At the end of the day, when the house is quiet, and just before I turn out my light, I often read a chapter from one of my favorite books.  Often it’s a book on the craft of writing. And yes, as a result, I sometimes lie awake thinking about what I just read.  But I also find that in the early morning hours, during that meditative state when my mind is still free of distraction, I am at my most creative.  This is when I formulate the plan for using what I read the night before.  When I get up I immediately try to put pen to paper, hoping to capture my thoughts before they flit away.

One Rumi’s poems says—

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.Don’t go back to sleep.

I am trying to get up early every day, so as not to let those secrets slip away.  Perhaps that is why so many writers, that I know, write early in the day.

 

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.

Don’t go back to sleep. 

You must ask for what you really want.

Don’t go back to sleep. 

People are going back and forth across the doorsill

where the two worlds touch. 

The door is round and open.

Don’t go back to sleep. 

From Essential Rumi

by Coleman Barks

Simply Savoring Sounds

I like pretty prose.  I woke up this morning thinking about how rhythm and repetition are nearly always present in pretty prose.  Poets already know it.  Fiction writers often forget it.

First thing I did was check the Three Word Wednesday site.  Much to my delight the words were—bloody and kinky—words that both end in a long “e” sound.

My first thought was terrific.  I can write a terrible tome using words ending with a long “e”.  But then I discovered that Thom had tossed us a twist and added tender to the mix.

It is interesting to investigate the sounds in a passage.  Repetition doesn’t always appear as the first or last letter and it doesn’t always rhyme.  Consider mix and twist, and listen to the “i” sound.

Well folks, I guess I’ll write today until I am weary with words.  And maybe, just maybe, I’ll be back again tomorrow.

Pick Your Partner Carefully

If you plan to write, pick your partner carefully.

If you have been reading my blog you know that I have spent the past week at a series of writing workshops and presentations. My mind has been totally consumed with all things writing.  Early this morning I was lost in the meditative state that often occurs before I am ready to admit that I am awake.  Since I started writing I have discovered that my body reacts to this time of day differently than it did in the past.  I may be aware of what is going on in the house, but my mind will be exploring a vast array of other possibilities.  My body simply does not get up.  I stay there, mentally transported where ever my mental agenda has taken me.

When I get up, I usually feel this urgency to grab pen and paper and get the thoughts written before I lose them.  This morning was one of those days.  I walked into the kitchen, poured myself a cup a coffee, poured my spouse a cup of coffee and said, “Don’t say anything to me.”  He just smiled and nodded.  He knew immediately what I would do next.

I like the feel of pen to paper.  Although about ninety percent of what I write I write on a computer, I love that early morning time of day, when I sit in a comfortable chair, with journal in my lap, and write whatever is on my mind.

I seldom use this time for structured writing.  It is the time of day when I free my thoughts of all the strange and wonderful ideas germinating in my head.  Often all I need is ten or fifteen minutes and then I can say—

“Good morning, Dear.”

Pick your partner carefully so that no matter when your creative time of day arrives, you have the support you need to say “Don’t say anything to me,” and to know that it is okay.

 

About Learning to Write with Persun and Wingate

I am still on a mission to improve my writing.  This past weekend I attended a writing workshop at the Writers’ Workshoppe in Port Townsend, Washington.  First–the shop itself.  If you have missed this shop, you have missed a real jewel.  It is a place for writers–would-be-writers, wan-a-be-writers or whatever it is you call yourself.  It has something for you no matter what level of writing you have achieved. It has the best books for improving your craft.  It has space to write.  It is comfortable and friendly.  It hosts lots of writing workshops.   For more information check out their website at

http://writersworkshoppe.com/

The workshop I attended was Write Award Winning Fiction with Terry Persun and Susan Wingate.  These two have very different writing styles, therefore they give you options.  We learned to structure a novel using Wingate’s very structured method and using Persun’s more organic method.  We were introduced to character development, scene setting and how to effectively use narration.  They teach with humor, exercises and examples.  They are fun, witty and informative.  To learn more about these two authors their websites are:

http://susanwingate.com/

http://terrypersun.com/Home.html

For information about whether you can work on more than one piece of writing at a time check out Terry’s December 1, 2011 blog.     http://terrypersun.blogspot.com/

To see how Susan describes this workshop check out her April 21, blog. 

http://susanwingate.wordpress.com/muscle-up-the-gut-of-your-novel-writing-instruction/

I’d love to know what you are all writing.

If you would like to accomplish something, you must first expect it of yourself. –Unknown