Category: Musings

I’m a visual type of person. I grew up watching lots of TV in addition to reading a lot. With TV or movies, you can see the character’s emotion (or the lack thereof if the actors aren’t good) as well as the world the story is set in. You can see the clothing, the objects they use in their lives, what they eat, in general how the characters live. As a result, when I read everything runs through my head like a movie.

Because I can visualize in my head what I’m reading, I think it should be easy for me to be able to write that way. But I can’t. I struggle mightily with what people, places, and certain objects look like. Sometimes it drives me so nuts I can’t possibly concentrate on the actual story. For the longest time if I couldn’t wrap my head around whatever it or who looked like, I was more inclined to abandon the story for something else.

I’ve tried a few different techniques to help me. The first thing I tried was creating a computer file I named Face Book. No, not the kind just about everyone and their mother is on. Or to be confused with Mitt Romney’s ‘Binder of Women.’ I divided the file folder by gender, hair color, age, ethnic background, etc. I used to type searches into a search engine, comb through pictures, and save the pictures of people who looked intriguing. The idea was to be able to look through the folder quickly for a visual of a character I had in my head. However, as I searched the internet for pictures of random people, the idea freaked me out so I stopped.

Yet I still struggle visualizing the people and world many of my stories are set in. My next idea was to once again turn to search engines for pictures to inspire me. I think doing it this way helped me better because of the additional creativity it sparked. I also realized for short stories that I’m not nearly as worried about going into full detail since I’ve got a finite amount of words to work with. But as I transitioned to writing my first novel, this approach became problematic and was part of the process of figuring out what works best for me.

It’s not just people I have problems seeing; its settings and clothing, too. These things are important as setting define how a character interacts within their world and with each other and clothing tells a lot about a person. Perhaps these things are more important then what the characters even look like. For example, say you have a set of identical twins. One is wearing dirty linen clothes, her shoes are falling apart, and her brown hair is a mess. The other twin is dressed in fine silk, brocade shoes, and her hair is done up in curls. From such a simple description, a reader can tell a lot about these two women.

At first I thought before I started writing the story, I had to have every physical thing down. I fretted that I needed to know about the flora, fauna, what the terrain is like, every mountain range, every landmark before I could even start the story. Same concerns regarding clothing. I had to absolutely dress my characters at all stages of their planned journey ahead of time.

I now know this is flawed thinking at least for me. Ultimately it is the story that is most important to get down first. Yes what everyone looks like, wears, and their world are crucial but those things can be fleshed out after the initial draft. It goes back to my theory the rough draft is a skeleton draft with subsequent drafts consisting of putting the muscles, tendons, veins, and skin on to create a fully developed story.

Is it important to have at least some vague idea of what I’m dealing with before starting the story? Yes. Doing some preliminary research is a great idea as it not only gives context but can inspire the story further. A new character may present itself. A new plot forms (as if I need help in that department) simply because of a photo. Now to keep working on taking the movie in my head and transferring it to paper.

As I progress, I’m finding new websites and other resources to help me. I’m still using a lot of the tools like Evernote, Writer’s Digest, local library, and Dictionary.com. In addition to these standbys, I’ve played around with new tools like Scrivener but there have been a few new resources I’ve discovered this year that I’d like to share.

Writer’s Beware: Each year Writer’s Digest puts out a list of 101 best websites for writers. This one is usually on there and for good reason. The purpose of the website is to educate writers at all levels about the scams which exist in the publishing industry. It’s scary to read about the same people over and over changing their business names in the hopes of continuing to con writers into giving them lots of money, promising to publish them, but never doing anything. In addition to alerting writers to repeat offenders, the site also highlights new schemes that pop up. While it’s distressing to think a site like this has to exist it’s a great thing it does. For writers it helps us spot potential issues we get to the point where we want to start pursuing getting a novel published.

Anne R. Allen’s Blog : I find this blog to be very helpful as her weekly posts explore a myriad of topics which speak to writers at all levels. It’s another site that usually shows up on Writer’s Digest’s list each year. I frequently clip the posts to Evernote and repost them on Facebook. I’ve gotten lots of useful tips on many aspects of the craft and the writing life. If Writer’s Beware is written in a cautionary tone, Anne R. Allen’s blog injects more humor while still doling out realistic advice.

Romance University: This is a site I discovered a couple of months ago. I don’t remember how I discovered it and at first I was cautious about exploring it since I don’t write romance. I quickly realized despite its name, the site doesn’t concentrate on giving advice for just romance writers. All genres can benefit from the weekly schedule of ‘lectures’ (in other words, articles) presented by various authors of both genders and different genres. It’s another site that is geared toward writers at all levels.

Meetup.com: Not a resource solely geared toward writing but I have found it invaluable as it has allowed me to discover my new writers group as well as a couple of book clubs.

Pinterest: Just a fun place for me to look up pictures to help inspire me or describe something. Still learning how to back my boards private, though, since the point of it for me is for my eyes only. There are images I can get there that I can’t get via either Google or Bing.

Just a few of the new, fun, and informative sites I’ve added to my ever expanding writer’s toolbox.

A few weeks ago I read an Op-ed piece written by a local high school English teacher in my local newspaper. In it she discusses reading something in either print or digitally affects reading comprehension. One would not think the method of information delivery would make much of a difference but shockingly it does. When humans read digital text, they do not retain the information for as long. Also, our comprehension is worse than if the same information was read on paper.

Why is this? Both the Op-ed piece and another article posted by the Washington Post cite research showing people’s brains do not absorb information presented to them electronically as they do when they read it on paper. The research also pointed to people felt more confident they scored better when tested about information read digitally vs. print yet their scores were worse. Teachers report their students struggle with more complex text, missing key facts, and misinterpreting syntax especially in relation to the classics or lengthier texts.

One factor contributing to our ability to absorb information read online are the flashing ads, comments sections, and clickable links all of which greatly distract a person. The more links an article has, the more likely people are to click on those completely forgetting about the original article. People are less inclined to finish an online article then they would a print version.

The author of the Washington Post article notes how difficult it is for her to go back and read a physical book. For example, it took her 2 weeks to truly get involved with a book not because the book was dull, but because her eyes skimmed the pages searching for keywords. In essence she had to retrain her brain.

She wondered if this was just her but researchers have discovered the human brain is adapting to digital reading. Too much time reading computer text vs. print has resulted in their brains being wired differently. We are too use to clicking around, scrolling through a page, videos starting automatically so we have to stop them, so that when we sit down with a book and no distractions, we struggle to focus. This is good and bad as it shows how marvelous the brain is at adapting but bad because of how much information the mind is missing.

Is this a cause for alarm? Personally, I think so. Even though I greatly prefer print I’ve noticed I have to slow down my reading and force myself to pay attention despite the fact most of the books I read are physical. I can go months without touching my Kindle. I read a physical copy of my local newspaper even though as part of my subscription I could access an online version. When I critique stories I print them out to read them. I take breaks from the computer to read during lunch, write, and research yet I still struggle with my attention span. I never had this problem growing up.

As a writer I find it increasingly distressing the push toward flash fiction, short stories, and novellas because more and more readers are digital readers and apparently can’t be bothered by longer works. We’re told no long sentences (different from condemning purple prose) as readers don’t have the attention span. Shorter is better. Produce shorter works so that you can get your name out there faster and keep the public’s attention. It’s all about instant, fleeting gratification.

This isn’t sound advice nor is it an absolute. Look at how long readers waited for the final books of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. Some of the best-selling books are so thick they could be used as door stoppers. People still do read and want longer, complex prose.

Perhaps all this digital reading is why so many people get into arguments online. We don’t understand each other. We skim and only see what we want to see. Sit down with paper, retrain your brain in order to enjoy and fully understand what is being said.