by Mayumi-H | Mar 24, 2012 | Process, Uncategorized
Like all of my posts, this is just my personal observation, about my own writing and editing habits. But, I’ve found time and again that this particular habit of mine could be used by others.
As writers, many of us are used to creating on deadline. There are few greater reasons to finish a project than a circled date on the calendar. But I think that many of us also have a desire to have our work seen, read, and appreciated. That’s normal, right? What a lot of writers often do, though, is jump that gun, and publish (online, usually, but I’ve seen it happen in print, too) without really looking at what’s been written.
Take a note, fellows: Take a breath, put the manuscript (or article, or drabble, or blog post) aside, and just walk away. Not for always, not for forever, not to forget about it entirely. But put it away, for at least a day, before you press “Send” or “Publish” or “Okay.” And for your day of freedom from that manuscript, take a walk, play a game, whip up for yourself and your stud-muffin a big, home-cooked meal. Do something – anything – to get away from those words you’ve put down on paper. I guarantee that, when you do come back to it the next day, you’ll see it with fresh eyes.
Because that’s what’s really important: seeing your own work as everyone else will see it: new.
Our brains have a tendency to fill in the gaps when we’re writing and reading, especially our own work. We’ll auto-correct our own mistakes, if you will. Especially if that work is still actively bouncing around in our brains. But if we leave it alone for a while (at least overnight), when we come back to it, we catch all kinds of simple, stupid mistakes. Those mistakes often separate a gifted writer from a disciplined one.
I’ve had a lot of students bring me work that I know they finished in the last minutes before showing it to me. They’re not fooling anyone. The rush shows. So I tell them the exact same thing I’ve mentioned above: take a step back, leave it alone for a while, and then come back and read it with new eyes.
Now, I’m guilty of the rush job, myself. Whenever I finish a post or a chapter, I’m always chomping at the bit to get it seen. Because I want people to read. I want people to tell me what they think. I want the approval…! But I’ve learned that it’s better for me – and better for my readers – if I just relax and follow my own advice to my students:
Don’t rush it. Leave time to set the work aside, and come back to look at it later, when the mind’s recovered from all of those bouncing, beautiful words. Trust me. You’ll be doing yourself a favor.
by Mayumi-H | Mar 17, 2012 | Excerpts, Fearless, Process
A bit of odd background on this scene. Husband and I were watching the Danish crime drama Forbrydelsen late last year, and we had (almost word-for-word) this same conversation.
It’s always fun to incorporate actual dialogue from my own life or the lives around me, but I also thought this would be an interesting little commentary on the developments that have occurred between the characters:
Neville joined them upstairs in the flat for curry and the Danish crime drama that had captured their attentions over the last several weeks, during which Amber curled herself close under Ross’s arm, sucking thoughtfully on the last of the pulpy mangoes they had for dessert, while the guys sat quietly engrossed in the subtitles.
“Those two are totally going to do it,” Ross interjected during the closing scene of the episode.
Beside him, Amber broke into light giggling. “I know!” she said, tumbling gleefully against his chest; without the on-screen drama and tension, she turned lively and lighthearted once more. “I was going to say the same thing.”
Sitting on the floor in front of the sofa, Neville craned his head around to look at Ross. “Why does everything with you have to be about sex?”
“It doesn’t,” Ross told him. He gestured toward the screen. “But they’ve got chemistry! I mean, look at them. You can see that she wants him.”
Amber poked him in the chest. “He wants her, you mean! He can’t trust his old lover anymore, not after she planted that evidence. But he can trust this woman. And you can tell he really wants to trust her; you know, he wants someone he can believe in, someone he knows is honest and worthwhile.” She bobbed her head knowingly. “That is prime love material, right there.”
Yes, it is, Amber, love. Yes, it is.
Have you ever used any real-life conversations in your own stories?
by Mayumi-H | Mar 12, 2012 | Process, Uncategorized
I’m going to be honest. My husband – whom I love – has not read anything of mine since our uni days. Articles, short stories, drabbles, novellas, monstrous works of fan fiction: they’ve all gone unseen by his eyes.
He’s not the only one in my family who doesn’t read my work, of course. My parents are probably afraid to know what I write, and my in-laws don’t want to spend much time around my husband, let alone me, so they’re out of the loop, as well. My sister reads my work occasionally, but she has a family of her own, and our tastes don’t exactly match up. I have an aunt who takes an interest from a creative standpoint, but even her feedback is very general, and I get the impression that she’s being supportive of my writing simply because I’m following my muse, not because she thinks my work is good. And the girls…well, let’s just say they’ve got more primal interests (food, naps, playtime) on their minds.
So, I often get left to ponder and second-guess myself whenever I put down more than a few words on a piece of paper.
Now, I’ve spent most of my life huddled up at my desk, scribbling or typing away the words of my imagination, so I’m used to the solo aspect of writing. And, for some of it, I wouldn’t want anyone to see. It’s for me alone to read, like a personal journal expressed in fictional characters and adventures. Or, it’s just plain bad. So, I can’t really complain about that.
But the husband thing… The husband thing bothers me.
This is my mate. The person whom I’ve chosen to lean on when times are tough. Not sharing something so integral and personal to me such as my writing feels like I’m keeping a secret from him. A secret that I want so badly to tell.
When we first started dating (and I hesitated to use that word, since our relationship was not your typical pick-up, go to dinner and a movie situation), I made the utterly stupid mistake of showing him some of my younger work. That stuff was terrible, and I’m certain that that is what soured him to my fictional musings. But I’ve grown so much since then…! And I want to be able to talk with him about this part of my life which is so important.
So, I write away, tapping at my laptop and note-taking machine that on rare occasion doubles as a telephone, and I wonder how to get him to open up to what I do. He says he’d like to read my stories…but I don’t want it to be like mowing the lawn or taking out the garbage. I don’t want this to have to be a chore for him. I want his support. I want him to know what I’m capable of doing. But I feel like he needs to come to it willingly. I’ve even given him the easy out of just reading some of my 100-word drabbles. “They’re only a hundred words,” I tell him. “You can read them in less than a minute!”
But, no.
He does support my writing in other ways, of course. When I need to work without distraction, he lets me do so. He takes care of the girls, handles the chores, whatever, so that I can lock myself away and get down to some serious writing. But I don’t think he’s ever actually read anything that I’ve created in the last ten years.
He’s my husband – whom I love – and I don’t want to give up on this. But maybe it’s time I do so.
by Mayumi-H | Mar 10, 2012 | Excerpts, Fearless, Process
…[I]f the whole truth were to be known, Neville wasn’t the only one who found the ups and downs of this romance mystifying; Ross himself had trouble figuring out just what it was he was supposed to say and do for Amber, and when. Women before her hadn’t seemed at all to care about his thoughts or his feelings, just that he performed to a degree of satisfaction.
But Amber constantly pressed him for his opinion on things, even of the most mundane nature:
“Which do you prefer?” she asked as they were browsing the produce at Crispin’s later in the week. “Cherry tomatoes, or plum?”
“I don’t care,” he muttered, picking up one yam and trading it for another of heftier quality that he dropped into their basket.
She made a sniffing sound. “What do you mean, you don’t care?”
“I mean, I don’t care,” he replied. “A tomato’s a tomato.”
“They’re not all the same,” Amber insisted. “If they were, they’d all be called just ‘tomato.’ Not ‘Roma’ or ‘Campari’ or whatnot.”
He turned to her with an exasperated groan. “What does it matter? They taste essentially the same-”
“Ah-ha!” she snapped, pointing her finger at him, nearly into his nose. “So you admit that they aren’t all exactly alike!”
Ross pushed her hand away from his face. “It doesn’t make a difference.”
“It makes quite a bit of difference!” she told him with a nod. “If you prefer one over the other, then we should get that one, and not settle for something you don’t like as much, just because you don’t want to commit to a decision about it.”
He groaned again, and then – because there were other people about – he leaned toward her, rumbling, “I don’t care! And what’s more, I don’t understand why this rubbish is so bloody important to you!”
She paused, then straightened on her heels, feet together, and blinked. “I just want to please you,” she said from between half-closed lips, her soft-spoken response quieting and humbling him instantly.
So he stood back again and felt his shoulders slope, as he let go a low breath. The honest, trenchant look on her face was so precious that he relaxed, and he was struck by a now-familiar surge of affection for her. He smiled then, and told her, softly:
“Cherry.”
She smiled back at him. Then she reached out and with one deft, quick stroke of her hand she stole one of the tiny tomatoes from their wooden case, and rose on her toes to pop it quickly into his mouth. And the sudden burst of sweet juice between his lips then was as nothing compared to the sweetness of her kisses later that same day, when they were back at the loft, clutching tightly to each other as she bounced up and down in his lap.
This lead-in has some light-hearted happiness to it, but there’s also a touch of conflict, if you look. Lovers experience a whole gamut of emotions when they’re courting, not all of it dealing with the sexual side of things.
In some stories, characters fall in love and that’s their story. I almost never end with just that, though. Because real love is about so much more than physical attraction or mutual affection. It’s also about the growth of trust and honesty, the overcoming of fear and uncertainty. Sometimes, love occurs from huge leaps of faith. And sometimes, love happens in the little moments. I like examining both, because I think that both are very real.
As a love story, Fearless doesn’t have any gargantuan revelations or crescendos of thrills. It’s more about people learning about themselves and about each other. It’s quiet and gentle, but I’m also hoping that it is honest, too. Because that’s what I like in the stories that I read.
by Mayumi-H | Mar 5, 2012 | Fearless, Process
I do a lot of my initial writing (and drawing) to music. I like putting on my awesome headphones and queuing up my playlist, to help put me in the mood: to write a particular scene, or just to get the feel for the story in general. Part of that is also because I can’t write while I’m distracted; television or an engrossing videogame draws too much of my attention. So, when I put on my headphones, the family knows it’s time for me to write.
Now, for those times when I really need to concentrate, I will actually lock myself away in my work room, get under my toasty kotatsu, and work to no distractions. I highly recommend this approach for anyone who feels they need some space, for writing or drawing or whatever floats your boat. It’s just that it’s terribly anti-social of me to do that as often as I’d like to write, so the headphones become a compromise.
The first time I created a writing playlist was back in 2007, for Sixes and Sevens. Since the story took place in London, circa 1996-97, I listened almost exclusively to Britrock from that era and earlier; basically, music my protagonist would have listened to.
Good old classic British rock. Nothin’ beats that.
The second writing playlist came for 1 More Chance!, which takes place in modern-day Japan. That was actually about four different playlists, but all of them consisted of Japanese artists. That really got me into the groove of writing for another culture, let me say!
For Fearless, I wanted to use music to get a sense for the story rather than the location or the era.
When I drafted my original plot in the weeks leading up to November 2011, I had a mostly specific idea of the emotional and dramatic “waves” of the story (no pun intended as regards to the plot). So, I planned the music to help me remember how the story should flow, while I was writing it. Of course, the direction of the story changed a couple of times from initial outline draft to what finally was put onto paper, but I still listen to this playlist whenever I need to settle into the mood of writing for Ross (especially after watching something drastically different on the television, or playing a videogame, or – most importantly – reading another author’s work).
Since the story’s about a surfer, you’d think there’d be a lot of Dick Dale and Man or Astroman in this playlist, but there isn’t. (I did put some Los Straitjackets in there, though, so I’m not totally without my surf cred.)
I just thought I’d share the Fearless playlist here, for anyone interested.
Special note: Anything marked by artist “Kevin MacLeod” is available to listen to – free! – from Incompetech.com. If you like what you hear, why not even make a little donation?
“With the Sea” by Kevin MacLeod
“The Song Is Over” by Who
“1979” by Smashing Pumpkins
“On Melancholy Hill” by Gorillaz
“Here Comes The Rain Again” by Eurythmics
“Who Are You” by The Who
“Something About Us” by Daft Punk
“Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
“I’ll Go Down Swinging” by Los Straitjackets
“Wild Wild Life” by Talking Heads
“Little Sister” by Queens Of The Stone Age
“Are You Gonna Go My Way” by Lenny Kravitz
“Let’s Go to Bed” by The Cure
“White” by Kevin MacLeod
“California Sun” by Los Straitjackets
“Stumble & Fall” by Razorlight
“Female of the Species [Fembot Mix]” by Space
“Lover” by Devendra Banhart
“Tell Me Baby” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Don’t Do Me Like That” by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
“PDA” by Interpol
“Complete Control” by The Clash
“Are You Gonna Be My Girl” by Jet
“The Look of Love” by Susanna Hoffs
“Digital love” by Daft Punk
“Behind Blue Eyes” by Who
“There is Romance” by Kevin MacLeod
“Mysterious Ways” by U2
“Rock This Town” by Stray Cats
“And She Was” by Talking Heads
“Come Into My World” by Kylie Minogue
“Accidentally In Love” by Counting Crows
“Lazy Eye” by Silversun Pickups
“Luminous Rain” by Kevin MacLeod
“A Jagged Gorgeous Winter RB2 Remix” by The Main Drag
“Friday I’m in Love” by The Cure
“Stages of Grief” by Kevin MacLeod
“Feel The Pain” by Dinosaur jr.
“Downtown Lights” by Annie Lennox
“Overkill [Version]” by Colin Hay
“Creep” by Radiohead
“Wake Up” by Coheed & Cambria
“The Dumbing Down Of Love” by Frou Frou
“Parting of the Ways – Part 1” by Kevin MacLeod
“Is There A Ghost” by Band of Horses
“Bargain” by Who
“Daybreak” by Kevin MacLeod
“Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)” by Lostprophets
“Let Go” by Frou Frou
“Let My Love Open The Door” by Pete Townshend
“Touching Moments Five – Circle” by Kevin MacLeod
“Life on Mars?” by Seu Jorge
“Don’t Look Back In Anger” by Oasis
“Hallelujah” by John Cale
“Gymnopedie No 1” by Kevin MacLeod
“The End of the World” by Los Straitjackets
“Stubborn Love” by The Lumineers
“Float On” by Modest Mouse
“Clear Waters” by Kevin MacLeod
“Have It All” by Jeremy Kay
“I Can’t Stay” by The Killers
“No One’s Gonna Love You” by Cee Lo Green
“Real Good Looking Boy” by The Who
“My Heart Will Go On” by Los Straitjackets
“Village Dawn” by Kevin MacLeod
“Beautiful World” by Colin Hay
“Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall
“Here Comes My Girl” by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
“Eternal Hope” by Kevin MacLeod
“I Would Do Anything for You” by Foster the People
Remember that artists who make music are just as valuable than any other kind of artist. If you enjoy what they do, please support them the best way you can – with your wallet. Illegal downloading/sharing of artistic property doesn’t help anyone!
Do you listen to music while you work? What kind?
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