When Beverly Cleary died in March, at 104, the little girl who still lives inside me cried her heart out.
Cleary’s books, along with Judy Blume’s TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE NOTHING and SUPER FUDGE, were the first chapter books I read as a kid. I remember relating to the Quimby family’s always-tight finances, and the frequency with which Ramona heard her parents struggling with depression, big bills, and unavailable jobs. I’ve never forgotten the agony of squeaky shoes on the first day of school or the horror of throwing up in class. And remember when Ramona broke a raw egg on her head? Ugh. Ramona and her foibles taught a generation of kids that one could endure all that, feel all the feels, and carry on.
Did Ramona grow up to be a writer?
The Ramona books came out in the 70s when the economy was hurting, and gas lines were long. Our parents sighed after reading the news a lot, and they tried hard to find their way. Those days smell like peanut butter sandwiches in metal lunch boxes, leather shoes wet with rain, and school glue. Ramona and I both wore hand-me-downs, chose favorite teachers, and felt big feelings. We were little girls without front teeth, and we, too, were trying hard to find our way.
Ramona’s parents weren’t perfect like the parents in other books. They were often irritable or struggling with their burdens, and getting hamburgers in a sit-down restaurant as a family was a BIG TREAT. There were even lovely strangers in the world who paid for their meal. The way Cleary wrote the Quimbys helped me (and a generation of kids) feel seen and life would be okay.
“I think children like to find themselves in books.” ––Beverly Cleary
A librarian told third-grader-Beverly to write stories. She wrote about her third-grade experiences, writing childhood from the inside out. Eight years old is such a pivotal time for a kid. Eventually, Beverly wrote about Ramona, who was eight, who was read by readers like me, also eight. The result is a bit like Russian nesting dolls, except with a writer, inside a writer, inside a writer. So, maybe generations of kids who nested inside Ramona like me became writers because of that librarian.
I have a hunch Ramona Quimby grew into a woman who still found wonder around every corner, felt all of her feelings, and laughed at her foibles––eventually. Looking at photos of the elderly Beverly, with the glint of Ramona forever in her eye, I’m sure that’s exactly how life turned out. And now, at 104, Beverly has died. But Ramona lives on, in books and in writers like me.
Writing coach
Tia Levings hired me as her writing coach in 2017. Since then, she completed her memoir, co-authored a book on the craft of writing, and started a podcast for writers. I’m delighted to have Tia as a colleague, co-writer, and client. And I’m so glad that she’s sharing some of her writing experience with us, here. Thanks, Tia!
I ASKED MY GOOD WRITER PAL MK SWANSON to share her magic. You see, MK writes consistently, creatively, and to completion without writer’s block. Currently, she’s preparing two novels for publication (watch this space!). But whether she’s got a book launch in mind or not, she successfully makes her way through big drafts of complex, full-length manuscripts—and tells excellent tales, at that!
I’ve watched MK work this literary magic for years. As someone who helps writers deal with serious stress about getting words on the page, I was curious about MK’s process. How, I wondered, does she get it done so well and so effortlessly. So I asked. And this is what she had to say:
I rarely have writer’s block. It’s my superpower.
Sometimes, I’m inspired. I dream a crazy story-line, read an enlightening science article, remember a strange episode, or just think of an idea. But for now, I’m between muses.
So how do I start a story—or keep one going—with no gentle voice in my ear? How does my superpower work?
It starts with attention. Or perhaps inattention? (Looking directly at the problem is ineffective.)
I turn my head away from my computer screen and stare out the window. I’m drawn to a colorful flying creature, a moth or a wasp, maybe; I can’t tell from this distance. It could even be a beetle or a damselfly.
Bees are hovering, too, even though it’s late in the year, getting their nectar before the flowers thin out during a Florida winter.
I’m reminded of the big freeze of 1983. When the freeze destroyed our orange grove, my mother told me how, when she was a child, she helped her father light the grove heaters and keep them stoked all night.
I could write an imagined story of my mother and grandfather, allied in purpose just this once.
I think of crickets at night, a low hum and rise to crescendo, before falling again, a sound I’ve heard less as the city encroaches. What would the world be like without bees and butterflies? Dragonflies and moths?
The absence of buzzing and the brush of wings made a summer’s day hurt the ears.
Frogs, too, are scarce—Cuban treefrogs have displaced the delicate green ones that liked to rest in the furl of a palm frond, and I rarely hear carpenter frogs, spring peepers, or leopard frogs.
I think of a poem about disappearing species, but instead I return to my fluttering insect, available only in memory now.
The bee, or beetle, or maybe moth, lit on a Turk’s cap’s never-opening red petal, slipped over the edge and into the throat of the flower in an indistinguishable blur of legs.
Who is watching the insect? Is this a protagonist in a story I’m already writing, or a new someone?
Helera directed her attention to the insect, commanding her cybernetic implant to focus telescopically on the details—multifaceted eyes, six legs with barbs designed to keep nectar attached, incidentally lifting pollen to father other plants in Utheria’s garden.
A bee, she thought triumphantly, and searched her database for its exact species and role, until she felt an elbow jostle her mechanical left arm.
“Stop it, Hel. This is a garden, not a machine,” said Utheria.
And just like that—a turn of my head, a window, an insect I can’t identify—and I have the beginning of a semi-biographical essay, a line of post-apocalyptic poetry, and a science fiction scene.
My process for writer’s block isn’t unlike meditation, improvisation, or a shamanic journey; I have to look and listen. And then write it down.
Do you have a favorite literary quote? Here are 10 literary quotes to inspire writers
1. EVERY STORY IS A STORY OF SUSPENSE. I wish I could recall where I heard this. It’s been invaluable as I help writers get the most power from their stories. Whether you’re writing a memoir or a novel, remember that readers are held fast by suspense. Give your story stakes by making your readers care about a character or an anticipated event—and then create suspense by threatening that in which you’ve gotten them to invest.
2. But how do you get started? Crime novelist Lawrence Block says in this literary quote, “One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself that I’m going to do my five or ten pages no matter what, and that I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I’ll have lost nothing—writing and tearing up five pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off.”
3. And if you get stuck? Speaking to the power of the unconscious to provide elegant creative solutions, Nobel Prize in Literature winner Saul Bellow says, “You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.”
4. In her guide to finding your most authentic voice, WRITING ALONE AND WITH OTHERS, poet Pat Schneider explains this further: “Never underestimate the power of sleep. Leading a disciplined writing life is not all about work. It is also about sleep. Entering and staying in the mysterious place where daydream meets night dream is important to the writing life. Our deepest writing, our genius, requires an engagement of the unconscious mind.”
5. Another favorite literary quote is from writer Brenda Ueland, author of the classic IF YOU WANT TO WRITE, finds another way to unravel a tangled tale. A fiend for walking to find creative gold, she says, “I will tell you what I have learned for myself. For me, a long five- or six-mile walk helps. And one must go alone and every day.” (Personally, I manage two miles a day—and consistently find at least one crystalline, often startling, solution along the way.)
6. And then there’s the question of what you feed your writer self while it’s walking and sleeping and spinning out the threads of suspense. Best-selling author Stephen King, never one to beat around the bush when offering writing advice, says this: “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
7. Poet and novelist Natalie Goldberg, who has encouraged at least one generation of writers to settle into a meaningful writing practice agrees. In WRITING DOWN THE BONES, she says, “If you read good books, when you write, good books will come out of you. Maybe it’s not quite that easy, but if you want to learn something, go to the source.”
8. Sometimes, though, we need to remind ourselves why we write. Diarist and novelist Anais Nin says, “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”
Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you, You must travel it for yourself.
It is not far, it is within reach, Perhaps you have been on it since you were born and did not know, Perhaps it is everywhere on water and on land.
…. And I realized [Tan says]: This is what the character is about. No, more than that: This is what my writing is about. This is what my whole life is about.“
10. Tan’s conclusion, that her whole life reflects Whitman’s idea that we must travel our road ourselves reminds me of another quote by Natalie Goldberg. Speaking of her desire to write a novel after her well-received books on writing process, WRITING DOWN THE BONES and WILD MIND, were published, Natalie says,
“I [had] a story I wanted to tell, something I’d half lived and half felt, and I needed the big space a novel afforded to tell it. I was a writer and liked to keep my hand moving. The road was out there and I wanted to ride it.”
This takes us far from the idea we started with—that suspense is what keeps a reader turning the pages and that, implicitly, we bother to write at all so as to be read. In searching out quotes that were meaningful to me, however, I seem to have taken myself on a winding journey. And here is where I end up: Maybe we don’t always write to be read. Maybe, at least sometimes, we write because we are creatures who have something to say, who have a head full of words to say it with, and who have a road before them just waiting to be illuminated by those words.
As a writing coach, I often share this tip with aspiring authors:
READING is the flip side of writing. Every author, teacher, or writing coach worth their salt will suggest you read widely in your genre if you want to publish—Stephen King* not least among them! We’ll repeat this tip for writers (often) because we know you’ll learn as much about structure and style from considering how your favorite authors artfully construct their stories as you will from even the most instructive books about the writing craft.
Further, reading—in one’s genre or out of it—reliably restocks our pond of creativity, so that, when we go angling for new ideas and approaches, there are always plenty of fish to choose from.
Also, as poet W. H. Auden is reported to have said, “We read to learn more of what it means to be human.” And it does seem that often we are—consciously or unconsciously—seeking wisdom of some sort when we pick up a book.
Wherever you are in your reading life, keep turning those pages and don’t forget this writing tip. Reading not only fills the creative well—it fills our hearts, our souls, our minds, and our imaginations.
Used to be, I’d have to hunt for great story ideas.
Sometimes, I’d dig out an idea for a story from the newspaper or a conversation I heard at Starbucks. Recently, though, I haven’t even had to get out of bed to gather inspirational goodness. That’s because a couple of bloggers have been delivering fresh literary fodder to my inbox on the regular.
Here are two such story ideas. Either could blast a humdrum story out of its complacency!
1) Inventing narratives
Hip biz guru Seth Godin wrote recently aboutinventing narratives. He said, That story in your head? It’s invented. It has to be. It might be based on some things that actually happened…. But it can’t possibly be a complete and detailed understanding of everything.
Seth sees this creative interpretation as problematic. That’s because Seth is not a novelist! Novelists are probably especially prone to inventing narratives—and probably particularly good at it! They might tell stories about everyday occurrences, family history, or the big issues life flings at us. What type of story ideas do you have?
For instance, a novelist could make up a story to explain the behavior of someone who snatched a parking spot from her, the reasons her parents favor her sister, or why one person got a terrifying diagnosis but she did not.
Which is actually pretty awesome! (Maybe not in real life—but in our literary lives, for sure.) That’s because it’s a short trip from misinterpreting a situation to taking misguided action on it—which, in fiction, can lead to exactly the sort of trouble needed to drive our story full speed ahead!
Got a dead spot in your plot? A place where not enough is happening? Play with this idea:
Your main character misunderstands another person’s motivations—believing them to be acting out of malice, when that is far from the truth!
Even worse, your MC takes vindictive action in response to the story she’s concocted.
What bad stuff comes tumbling down the hill to complicate her life as a result?
How the heck is she going to dig herself out of this mess?
2) Alter egos
Clever tarot writer Kate at DailyTarotGirl.com has been promoting the subversive advice of her “evil twin,” Veronica, for years. As I pondered a fresh approach to complicating a story I was working on, I thought about Veronica and realized the damage an alter ego could do to a plot!
Just imagine it! What if your main character had an alter ego? A persona she allowed to say, eat, or do whatever her daily persona was constrained against? That alternative personality might be braver, stronger, or kinder than she is in her regular guise. Or that other personality might be sneaky and underhanded. Or, if you’re writing a thriller, she might even be murderous!
And that’s just a start! What kinds of literary trouble might such a character generate? The story ideas seem endless—and fascinatingly, conflict-inducing-ly, complicatedly fraught!
So, that’s it for this week. Now, go forth and blow up your plot with these or any other trouble-inducing ideas. Just light the fuse and stick your fingers in your ears. After it gets over the shock, your story will thank you for it!
WHILE WRITING CAN BE A FORM OF SELF-EXPLORATION, it is also a way to communicate our thoughts and stories with others. That’s why it’s important to publish your writing.
About this, my novelist pal MK Swanson says,
There is no writer without a reader. Writing is a performance art. When I was little, I used to make up stories that my girlfriends and I would act out—sometimes with puppets, but usually with our bodies. One time, Kori and I pretended to be in the Nautilus, being dragged down into the depths by a great sea creature, a story inspired directly and entirely by the sound the washing machine made as it shifted cycles.
We performed as if someone was watching and applauding. I thought I was the most talented, funniest writer in the world, as I directed my friend and myself to run around the porch, captaining the submarine. Now, when I try to make something new, and I don’t think anyone will ever see it, it falls flat. An audience pulls art into the third—or maybe the fourth—dimension.
I agree with MK. When I write with an audience in mind, it gives my work a sense of purpose—traction, focus—that it lacks when I am writing only for myself. But going public with our work can feel daunting. Here’s the good news: You can publish your writing in a wide variety of ways.
In SHOW YOUR WORK! 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered (see a list of those ten ways, below*), author Austin Kleon discusses the many benefits of sharing our creative work with others—especially how doing so can make us “findable.” Reviewer D. Bivins says of the book, “This is a refreshing kick in the butt about believing in yourself as a creative person and jumping in with both feet. The basic idea is to put yourself out there even if you (or your work) are a work in progress.“
And while we may not currently be availing ourselves of pre-Covid in-person opportunities to show our work (remember open mics and free, monthly bookstore writing groups?!), there are myriad contact-free ways to offer our writing to the world.
You could always start a blog, join an online writing group, or send out stories to literary contests—all great options for sharing your work. You might also try one or more of the following suggestions if you’re seeking fresh avenues to show your writing to others:
Postcard poems
Every August, there’s an event called the Postcard Poetry Fest. Essentially, once you register at the site, you’re sent a list of addresses. You then write a (possibly terrible) poem each day for August’s 31 days and mail it to one of the 31 recipients on your list.
Can’t wait until August? A friend and I used to declare an arbitrary period our own personal Postcard Poems month. Then, for the next 31 days, we would email daily mini-poems back and forth. Often goofy, sometimes poignant, our “poems” generally started with a place name (fictional or not) and were written from the perspective of an imagined persona who was there visiting. Here’s an example:
Dear Dolores,
I’m in Quincy, Alabama, and the almond trees are in high bloom. So are my allergies. My nose, red like a rose, won’t win me any suitors. But my days and nights are full enough without thoughts of another to cloud my view of the stars.
Wish you were here.
Myra
Throw a Zoom! prose-and-poetry party
Back in the day (basically, pre-February 2020), friends and I used to gather regularly to eat, chat, and read our work to one another. Zoom! makes this even easier, now. No need to arrange a ride—or even wear proper pants. Just find your tech-iest friend and get them to make it so.
Publish on Medium
If you don’t know about Medium, I’m about to make you very happy. Medium is a platform for writers. And readers. Here’s their mission statement:
Medium is not like any other platform on the internet. Our sole purpose is to help you find compelling ideas, knowledge, and perspectives. We don’t serve ads—we serve you, the curious reader who loves to learn new things. Medium is home to thousands of independent voices [um, that means “independent writers,” which, by definition, could include you!], and we combine humans and technology to find the best reading for you—and filter out the rest.
Submit to THE SUN MAGAZINE‘s Readers Write
A well-regarded, ad-free, glossy print and online monthly, THE SUN magazine not only publishes poetry, interviews, short memoir, short fiction, and fabulous black-and-white photographs, they also open their pages to their readers!
In their Readers Write section, they publish twenty or so short nonfiction pieces each month. These pieces are written to themes (like “ghosts” and “getting started”) listed on the website. As their Readers Write submission guidelines say, Topics are intentionally broad in order to give room for expression…. Writing style isn’t as important as thoughtfulness and sincerity. There is no word limit, but we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the section before you submit.
And if your piece is chosen for publication, you’ll receive a six-month subscription to the magazine!
More ways to publish your writing
You’ll find more ideas and resources in A Writing Coach’s 5 Simple Tips for Sharing Your Writing on Social Media. Choose an approach from those choices, or from any of the ones listed above. But whatever way suits you, do as Austin Kleon suggests and be “open, generous, brave, and productive [… and] share something small every day.”
“Publish your writing” doesn’t have to mean getting a three-book deal with a major publisher! It can simply mean “make your work public.” Sharing your ideas and work with the world in whatever way appeals to you can make you feel more empowered as a writer and more involved as a citizen of the world.
Not all Writers Look Alike; and Neither do the Writing Resources We Need
SOMETIMES, WE’RE MUTE, we writers. Sometimes, we drift, dream, words floating above us, like sunset clouds in fantastical shifting shapes—now a ship, now a sheep, now a swan and his wife. Sometimes, it’s twilight, and we’re quiet, content. Sometimes, we choose not to cast our nets to capture those words, glittering like so many stars in the broad night sky of our imagination.
My writer friend and co-author Tia Levings signs off emails with this quote:
But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people, for they may think their dreams into reality with open eyes. —T.E. Lawrence
So, yes, sometimes, it’s enough to read what’s in our own hearts, and let the words build castles and angels and half-memories, undisturbed. Sometimes, we have no need to chase them and jar them, like fireflies, but, instead, simply watch the words flicker into tiny, brief constellations that mean just what they mean to themselves, while we allow them—and ourselves—to be mysteries that remain unsolved. At least for now.
These may be times you search for other writing resources – to read fairy tales or peek into other writers’ journals to see how they dream and drift on the page. Here are some stories and pages that may flutter beside your own quiet heart right now.
WE WRITERS CAN BE AS VISUAL AS WE ARE VERBAL. Each of the following writing prompts capitalizes on this by inviting you to start with images and find words to accompany them. Use these exercises to spark a new story or poem—or to just have fun!
Writing Prompt 1: That looks good enough to eat!
Find an image of a prepared food dish that intrigues you—because it looks delicious, or ridiculously complicated, or for any other reason. Then, without knowing the ingredients, write the recipe. Now, write a scene in which your dish is prepared and served—for better or worse.
Children’s picture books and graphic novels both rely as much on illustrations to tell their stories as they do words. For this prompt, find half-a-dozen compelling images (funny, absurd, poignant, intriguing) online or in a magazine. Cut them out or print them, then arrange them so they tell a story, which you then write.
Go to the hardware store and grab a handful of appealing paint chips. The color names are often almost poetic! Combine some of them to create a found/collaged poem—or write a story about someone who names paint colors for a living. Be sure to include plenty of color words in whatever you write.
If you’re interested in another color-centric prompt, check out this post: “Color My World.”
WHEN YOU VISIT MY SITE FOR THE FIRST TIME, I want you to feel welcomed. Also, because you’ve likely come to find out if a writing coach can help you achieve your writing goals, I want to introduce myself and explain the process!
About me
I’m a full-time writing coach who’s been coaching writers for well over a decade. Among other writerly pursuits, I directed Central Florida’s Woodstream Writers for ten years, mentored writing consultants at the writing center at Rollins College, have taught creative writing classes and presented at numerous writing conferences, was a featured writing coach in THE WRITER magazine, and co-wrote PLOTTING YOUR NOVEL WITH THE PLOT CLOCK.
And you? What are you writing?
We may not have met yet, but I bet you’ve arrived here because you’ve been researching “writing coaches“ and “book coaches“ because you have an idea for a book! However, you might be feeling a little stuck. Maybe you’re trying to figure out exactly what you want to say, or how to organize your thoughts, or what’s the best way to plot your story. Or maybe you just wonder how to handle such a big project with so many other demands on your time!
So, can a writing coach offer the support—accountability, know-how, strategic planning—to help you move your book ahead?
Of course I think so! But you may not be so sure! That’s why I offer a free consultation.
That (free!) initial writing consultation
I offer a free writing consultation—and it’s exciting for both of us! During that initial chat, I’ll want to hear all about your writing goals. (I might even give you a few pointers right away!) And, most importantly, you’ll want to get a feel for my style: Am I supportive and encouraging? Am I knowledgeable about your project? Do you find me generous with my insights, right from the get-go?
All of this—and that undefinable quality called “chemistry”—will let us know if we might work well together.
Steps for working with a writing coach
Now, truthfully, I don’t work with every writer who calls. We want to make sure we’re a good fit. So, if I think there might be a better coach out there for you, I will make a few suggestions—or even offer to introduce you to them.
If it is feeling right (yay!), we’ll decide how to begin. We might agree that developing a solid outline for your book is job one (I did co-write a book on plot, after all!). But if you already have an outline (or you’re a pantser!), we’ll create a plan to launch a draft.
Either way, our work together will be unique—because you’re unique! However, it will generally look something like this:
Every week or two, you’ll send me what you’re working on—an act, outline, chapter or scene, perhaps—and your current questions about it.
After I review your pages, we’ll meet by phone or video to dive into the material you’ve shared.
At the end of the call, we’ll decide on our next steps—always moving your book toward your publishing goals.
(And just so you know, our calls will be deep and engaging—and a ton of fun, too!)
First-50 page manuscript review
But what if you already have a draft? Great! Then we can start with my review of your first fifty pages. In that case, using my “literary sixth sense” and years of experience in the book world, I’ll identify the strengths of your work, as well as areas that would benefit from further attention. Among the many points I’ll consider are:
style and tone
plot and pacing
structure and arc
audience and genre
character and point of view
After the follow-up consultation that’s included in your review, you’ll have a bushel of fresh ideas tucked into your literary knapsack. Those ideas will guide us as I coach you through your revision.
I appreciate you visiting my site. If you like what you see here, let’s make a date to chat. But please know that, even if we never meet, I wish you and your book the very best!
From the desk of a writing coach: What is the connection between writers and their cats?
MAYBE YOU’RE NOT A CAT LOVER. If that’s the case, you might not understand the enduring connection between cats and writers. Here are some thoughts on the matter from a professional writing coach:
Cats are companionable. They’ll hang around wherever you settle to write. (Sometimes, they want to sit on your keyboard. Sigh. But if you put low boxes on your desk, they’ll likely curl up there instead of on your hands.)
Despite the above caution, cats are relatively undemanding. Unless they’re hungry, they won’t interrupt your work—nor will they make critical comments. Pretty much, they think you and your writing are awesome.
Not only are they noncritical, cats are quiet. Unlike, say, dogs, cats sleep right through most anything that’s going on, inside or outside your house.
The only noise your companionable cat is likely to make is a soothing purr. An old wive’s tale says the purr of a cat knits broken bones.* I don’t know about that, but I do know that the sound knits my frayed nerves when a scene or paragraph is going awry! This is why I keep boxes filled with purring cats on my writing desk at all times.
This YouTube video features a cat purring for three minutes. If you don’t have cats of your own, cue it up the next time your story is going south and you want to pull your hair out by the roots! Chances are the sound of this lovely little cat will calm you—and a calm writer is one to whose mind unexpected solutions spring!
*Our old friend science is definitely pro-cat—for writers and for other folks! Recent studies have shown that purr vibrations may help heal infection, promote bone strength, and even reduce the risk of heart attack!
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