Tag Archives: diane holmes

advice, fiction

If You Hate Rough Drafts….

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by Diane Holmes, (a) Chief Alchemist of Pitch University, (b) lover of learning, and (c) writer of fiction, non-fiction, and the occasional manifesto.

Some writers dread starting a project. 

They’re a perfectionistic lot, refusing to be pleased with the  imperfect efforts known as DRAFTS.

Somehow, drafts feel like failure.

its all bad

Is This You?

Real Life Artist, Chloe, has an idea book.  That’s better than a rough-draft book, don’t you think?

Rough Draft Book = WRONG BAD EVIL WRITING (that is blood-smeared from my valiant and noble efforts to craft worthy prose)

Idea Book = BRILLIANT NOODLING AND GENIUS LEAPS OF GREATNESS (that are effortless, feel like recess, and taste like lollipops)

And this got me thinking about Catherine Tully’s write-from-the-gut first draft.

Writing in an all-out passion is the dream.  Some writers even do it on an on-going basis.

But many writers wrestle with first drafts and every draft after that:  the imperfect, necessary drafts.

So I’m going to suggest some solutions.

1)  Stop Failing.

Don’t continue to follow your writing process if it never works for you. (Or if it only worked for you once, 10 years ago.)

2)  What You Tell Yourself About Your Process Matters.

Figure out what you believe about your writing process and first drafts.  Make a list.  When you run out of ideas for your list, ask what you assume about your writing, what you fear, and what you want to force to be true.

Trust me, you’ve got some hinky ideas that are holding you back.  Some writers actually believe they are bad at writing first drafts.  Or can’t write more than 2 pages a day. Or can only write at home, in the evening, if no one else is home.

What you believe becomes true (and yet unhelpful) and will stop you from finding a solution.

3)  Speed Liberates.

Look at the speed of your writing.  Many writers write better when they’re forced to write fast (timed speed-sprints).  Better means easier, happier writing, and also all-around better writing.

4) Be a Detective.

Keeps tabs on your  process.

Watch for times when you start bogging down, when you hate what you’re writing, when you start resisting writing altogether.  What specifically is happening?  What course corrections work to turn it around?

  • Sometimes, when you start slowing down, hating the draft , you’re headed in the wrong direction.  It’s your gut instinct speaking up. 
  • Or maybe your creativity benefits from background music. 
  • Or maybe you just don’t write well after 45-minutes of hard focus, and you need a break.

5) Project vs. Process.

Not all projects are worth spending your life on.  They don’t keep your attention, much less engage your passion.  And working on a project you hate stops you from working on something that sings to you.

When you are hating a first draft, it’s crucial to know the difference between Wrong Project and Broken Process.  (PS  If your writing process is broken, all projects become the Wrong Project.)

BONUS:  Learn to be Imperfect.

Seriously.  If the problem is perfectionism, then learn how and when to be imperfect.  And learn why this is beneficial.

Here’s why I think it’s absolutely essential:

Trying things out is how you find your genius. 

That’s all drafting is.  Exploring the universe of what you could write.  Trying something, then something else.

Just to  see what’s possible. 

So instead of perfect, try to be possible.  Pretty much all great  inventions happened because someone tried something to see what was possible.

Possible is the new Black.

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

editorial, fiction

A Creativity Vitamin

by Diane Holmes, (a) Chief Alchemist of Pitch University, (b) lover of learning, and (c) writer of fiction, non-fiction, and the occasional manifesto.

stay creative

I was recently challenged to find 5 YouTube videos that make me laugh.  (Not just once.  But over and over.)

Now, don’t be asking why.

That only muddies my point, which is that it’s hard to find 5 reliably funny videos so that you can create a “funny library” that makes you laugh.

(A lot of stuff is only funny once.  Know what I mean?)

So, as a writer, I find myself wondering if there’s a “funny library” for creativity.  Could I create a go-to resource for genius, insight, and inspiration?

(Instantly, I realize want one, baaaaad.)

Anywho, here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

10 Awesome Videos On Idea Execution & The Creative Process

The folks at 99U have a pretty awesome Creativity Mission:

We focus on what happens after inspiration — researching the forces that truly push ideas to fruition.

Our profiles of proven idea makers, action-oriented tips, and annual conference are all designed to help you transform ideas from vision to reality.

Watch the videos and let me know your favorites!  Pretty good start, eh?

My Challenge to You

Start collecting your own sources of creative B12, articles or videos that you can go to over and over to put the zing in your mental chain reaction.

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

Business, Marketing yourself

7 Marketing Secrets for Writers: When the Message Takes a Lot of Words

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by Diane Holmes, (a) Chief Alchemist of Pitch University, (b) lover of learning, and (c) writer of fiction, non-fiction, and the occasional manifesto.

Not everything is a jingle.

Sometimes the message is a mouthful.  A conversation.  An mini-education.  Even a rant.

Then what?  How does marketing work when you need to give your reader/client a lot of information?

You can’t force them to listen.

Force someone to listen

For one thing, you’re not even there in person.  They’re looking at your words.  And baby, reading your words, your marketing material, is totally, 100% voluntary.

That, my friend, is your biggest hurdle.  Think it’s hard to gain “visibility” with a 5-second tag line?  Try holding a stranger mentally captive for 5 minutes so that you can get your long message across.

Big fun, that.

The Lesson

Yesterday I read a 5-minute marketing message by accident.

I was at Starbuck’s, and I ambled over to the bulletin board while I waited on my whole-milk latte. So, I’m here for coffee to go.  I’m not hoping to learn something or take notes.

On the bulletin board, I expected information about (a) garage bands and (b) manicures.  Instead, I read Free Our City’s marketing brochure.  4 pages long.  Front, back, two inside pages. On a topic I didn’t want to read about (sex slavery). 

And I read all 4 pages.

If Free Our City can get tender-hearted me to read on such a gruesome, appalling, heartbreaking topic, then they’re doing something right.  (And aren’t I just the type of person who should be their reader?)

Here’s what we can learn from Free Our City.

FOC Front

1. Be Bold.

Own your message. Get to the point. Lead with the bottom line or at least something that clues the reader in to the topic at hand.

Even if it’s a tough topic, dancing around it won’t help.  In the seconds or minutes that you try to ease into it, your reader has moved on to manicures.

We don’t want to be lured into messages.  We’re hip to all forms of marketing, so don’t toy around with us.

So I read the topic, saw that it was Sex Slavery in my own city, and I felt obligated to read more.  It’s my city for Pete’s sake!

Q,  What’s your bold message?  What message do you need to just go ahead and own?

2. Use Structural Shorthand.

When you frame your information in a format that is familiar, we know the rhythm of what’s ahead, PLUS we’re able to take it in bite-sized pieces.

FOC Page 2

By using a Top 10 List, I was able to digest a whole lot of key information at a glance. In fact, with 10 items, there’s a subconscious test: Do you know all 10 things? 

That’s hard to resist

Examples of Structure Shorthand:

  • Top 10 Lists
  • Knock Knock / Who’s There?
  • Surveys
  • Questions / Answer
  • Definition Lists
  • FAQs (frequently asked questions)
  • Infographics
  • Timeline
  • Diary
  • Advice Column
  • Poem
  • Map
  • Interview
  • Artifact (real or fake)
  • Mind Map

Q.  How can you take the information you need to get across (for your freelance business? your novel? your blog post? a speaking opportunity?) and format it into an irresistible, easy-to-understand structure?

CONTINUED NEXT WEEK! 

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

editorial, fiction, lifestyle

Find A New Dream

by Diane Holmes, (a) Chief Alchemist of Pitch University, (b) lover of learning, and (c) writer of fiction, non-fiction, and the occasional manifesto.

dream bigYour dream is about writing.  I already know that.  But what I want to know is if you’re living your big writing dream today? 

Because I’m not.

And, in a way, I’m farther away than ever.

(How in the world 20 years of hard work can lead you farther away, I have no idea!  But reality is like that.  It’s illogical and ill-behaved and apt to squash your hopes and dreams.)

Now, some of you are getting close to your dreams, so this article won’t help much.  But if you have worked hard every waking moment and still aren’t “there,” then this article might help you ask The Big Questions.

Should I let go of my dream?

Should I stop giving it CPR?

Should I find a new dream to dream?

The more you fear these questions, the more important it is to ask them.

And yes, your new dream can be a new writing dream. Or not.  I’m not imposing rules on your dreaming.  Not my job.  But basically you have all of reality to play with, so don’t panic.

The Importance of Today

In all my years of hard work and dreaming, what have I been doing?  I’ve been clawing my way toward a future goal.  The Dream.

I thought that was how it was done.  Everyone said so.  You set your sights on a big dream and then you don’t give up.  You use your fingernails if you have to, as you dig in and keep going. 

But now, I’m not so sure.

  • What about all the todays on the way to your dream? 
  • What if you don’t reach your big dream, ever? 
  • What if your fingernails break before you get there? 
  • Does that mean you have no dream to live, because you never made it to your dream location?

What if the future is today?  How would that change things?

The folks over at The One Question put it this way:

“…to find your life purpose you have to live your life purpose. You can start living your life purpose immediately.”

If you don’t live your purpose (or your dream), then you’ll never find it.  And if not today, then when?

Just For Today

Instead of a big dream, I wonder if the key isn’t found in what you dream just for today?

What you live for today

Maybe all you have to do is find your dream for today.  Or as John December says:

Find a way to gain some aspects of your dream today.

The pieces of the dream ARE the dream, just smaller.  To ignore these small pieces is to miss the whole point of having a dream.

Gain your dream, piece by piece.

Own your dream, today by today.

By owning a piece of your dream today, you are eliminating the space between you and your dream.  In fact, you and your dream are one.

Dreamer and dream.

Now Back To The Big Questions

Is it time for a new dream?

It really comes down to today, doesn’t it?

Do the small pieces of your dream create a wonderful today?

That’s the one question this whole article comes down to.

Until you can answer this question, you can’t ask any of the others. 

How can you know if you should let go of your dream–if you should stop giving it CPR–unless you ask yourself about the reality of how you live your dream.  Or how you don’t.

After all, if your dream doesn’t even exist until some dim future, then what are you planning on letting go of?  Something that never existed?

And what about if you decide to let go?

There are so many, many changes you can make to your dream and how you experience it.  And beyond that there are a multitude of dreams you can call your own.

You’re the dreamer.  It’s your call.

It’s okay to make a change.  It really, really is.  And it’s okay to keep your dream exactly the same.

I just wish we talked about the small pieces more.  The day-to-day tasks.  the way we tried to move forward.  About how we see these small pieces as “living the writing dream.” 

I think we might be a lot happier with a dream we live just for today.  A dream we can touch.  A dream that makes us… US.

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

editorial, fiction

Top 10 Ways To Tell If You’re Creative

by Diane Holmes, (a) Chief Alchemist of Pitch University, (b) lover of learning, and (c) writer of fiction, non-fiction, and the occasional manifesto.

Creative Child Hands

10. See a problem, brainstorm solutions.

You can’t help yourself.  It give you happy feet.

9. See the box, play outside of it.

Color the box.  Take an object from inside the box on a little trip outside the box.  Remove the box altogether. Cut box up into little pieces to see if they make something better.

They do.

8. Every word has a certain feeling to it.

You want to explain how valuable this is.  Sometimes you even try.  But ultimately it takes a Jedi to feel the Force.

7.  Mental leaps.  Take them you will.

Yet each looks totally logical, practical, and the speed of all worthwhile thought.  Everything else is slow and painful.

6. Stories are essential to mankind.

Good news:  everything is a story.  (Or would be if you ran the world.)

5. Real life can always be made more meaningful.

Especially when seen through the lens of fiction.  Also non-fiction and limericks.

4. Creative people can be fearless and full of fear at the very same time.

Certainty and uncertainty.  High gear and the emergency brake.  When people say you should create a balanced life, you think this is exactly what they mean.

3. The moments when we’re brilliant make everything else worthwhile.

You don’t even need very many of them. You can go for months on the fumes of one moment of creative genius.  Imagine what you could do with two?

2. Compliments are currency.

A fan letter is like an Oscar.  They like us!  They really like us!

Sob.

1. Epic idea = writing crack.

It’s your biggest superpower.  The thing from which everything else flows.  And this feels normal to you.  Totally, 100% normal.

Ordinary, really.  Like a wheat bran muffin, ordinary.  Except it’s made of sparkles and travels mach10 around 25 billion brain cells, in a world made of only your favorite colors. (Except the bran muffin is really chocolate.  But you knew that.)

After all, in an ordinary day, there’s always enough time for your mind to be blown.

And THAT’S how you can tell if you’re creative.

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

fiction

How To Screw Up an Action Scene

by Diane Holmes, (a) Chief Alchemist of Pitch University, (b) lover of learning, and (c) writer of fiction, non-fiction, and the occasional manifesto.

As a thriller writer, I love me a good action scene.

CartoonBomb

In fact, there are no thrills without something actually happening.  Color me obvious, but a lot of writers don’t link these two concepts together.

Thrills without something happening?  How would that work?

So, this is the first part of an occasional series about how writers screw up their action scenes and what to do to fix them.

Today I want to focus on the order of your action.  This is something more than story, plot, or scenes.  It’s how you break story information up into little pieces to give the reader an adrenaline rush.

And how you can screw this up.

It’s all about “Visual Grammar”

OpenCulture’s recent post The Dark Knight: Anatomy of a Flawed Action Scene, features a brilliant breakdown of action-scene failure by film critic Jim Emerson.

Read it.  Watch it.  Master it.

Even novelists must master how to create a movie in the reader’s head.

The danger of “The Storyteller Cut”

One of my favorite fiction experts is Terry Rossio.  And of all his brilliant articles (on his site and available free), I find myself recommending The Storyteller Cut over and over, even to advanced writers.

Okay, especially to advanced writers.  Sometimes this is the only thing holding an advanced writer back.

I truly believe that understanding the pitfalls of this type of storytelling can save your novel, script, or stageplay.

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Okay, that’s it this time!

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.