MY NAME IS SUE. MARY SUE.

Writer’s Block implies that our creative well has dried up.  When creating an epic hero, be certain to dip into your creative well and create a hero that is relatable.  If main characters have depth and fallacies, readers will more easily connect.  How can we create depth?

Ensure that your hero has fallacies and makes mistakes.  Norwegian author, Jo Nesbo, created an award-winning series of crime fiction novels revolving around a detective named Harry Hole.  Harry Hole asks probing questions, notices clues that others miss, and contains all the desired aspects of a great investigator.  However, Hole is an alcoholic.  He sabotages his own romantic relationships.  He smokes, he makes mistakes, he struggles with depressive thoughts – in short, he is human.  He is a hero, but he has depth. 

Nesbo does not spend a lot of time describing Hole’s physical attributes, other than to say that he is tall and has blue eyes which are frequently bloodshot.  If a writer spends too much time describing a character, the writer will be accused of self-insertion.  Let the reader fill in some of the gaps of physical details, and the reader will subconsciously insert himself and get hooked.

 A “Mary Sue” is a character that is simply too good to be true.  Roger Moore’s portrayal of James Bond is certainly a “Mary Sue.”  He gets the girl, kills the villain, saves the day, and still has fantastic-looking hair.  (He had fantastic hair in the television series “The Saint” as well!)  I am an admitted Bondophile, and own all of the Bond books.  The books are much better than the movies because the author, Ian Flemming, created a hero who often made mistakes.  In the novel Casino Royale, Bond questions whether he himself is the bad guy, realizing that a Russian spy would perceive Bond as an arch enemy.  Bond is unsure of his mission in life and considers leaving the service.  He doesn’t have perfect Roger Moore hair.  His hair is described as dark, forming a “cruel comma” above his brow.  He often gets captured and is a victim of incredible torture, and the author takes us to the dark shadows in Bond’s mind.  It is an interesting journey and a great study into character development.

In short, don’t make characters too perfect, too brilliant, or invincible, unless you’re Roger Moore, who is successful despite his perfect hair.

Keep writing and keep sharing! – Cronin Detzz

FIBONACCI POETRY

FIBONACCI – not your father’s haiku

General Motors tried to inspire a younger demographic with the catchy tagline of “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.”  I’d like to think that a Fibonacci poem is not your father’s haiku!  A Haiku has a mathematically metered number of syllables in three lines, using a count of 5, 7, 5.  Similarly, a Tanka uses the measure of 5-7-5-7-7.  Below is an example, written when I was about sixteen years old:

LONELY TANKA

the wound is so Deep

it will scar your Memory

alone and Empty.

even after she leaves You

her unwanted stench Lingers

The Fibonacci sequence adds each subsequent number as the sum of the previous two numbers: 0 + 1 =1, 1 + 1=2, 1 + 2 = 3, 2 + 3 = 5, and so on.  This mathematical sequence occurs in nature, music, science, geometry, and art, and has also been applied to poetry.  The Fibonacci poem uses the following number of syllables per line:  1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc.

Below is a great example, used with permission by poet Narendra Rai:

Morn

As

It’s born

Brings with

Itself your aroma

That gives me hope

To hold you in my arms one day

Another mathematical approach to poetry can be found in an etheree, which contains lines of syllables in numerical sequence from 1 to 10.  I tried my hand at a reverse etheree:

BLACK DREAMS

1  In

2  my dream,

3  I reach out

4  Wailing, weeping,

5  the darkness creeping

6  heart beating and bleeding

7  growing numb as senses pale

8  Blackened by burning betrayal,

9  You enjoy my screaming as I drown

10 You even help the demons hold me down

9   But wait, here is the craziest twist

8   you let me live to make it last

7   pulling me into your past

6   you laugh as my blood drips

5   licking fingertips

4   luminous scream

3  ruinous,

2  haunting

1  dream

Writing in this style is more difficult than it looks!  Many poems typically have four to eight syllables per line, and in poetry, each line stands alone to allow the reader to pause.  Challenge yourself and try this art form.  You can share your poetry on this blog or you can share on my Facebook wall, just search “Cronin Detzz.”

Keep writing and keep sharing!  - Cronin Detzz

WRITER'S BLOCK - YELLOW STICKY NOTES

If you have a sudden rush of inspiration, where do you record it?  We often get great ideas while brushing our teeth or while sitting in traffic at a red light.  If you are anything like me, you know that you have to record your inspiration before it flutters away from your brain.

To prevent writer’s block, I make sure that I record inspirations as soon as possible.  A quick inventory shows me where my inspirations are sitting right now:

·        On a yellow sticky note on my car’s dashboard, and two more floating around in the bottom of my purse

·        On a tiny notepad next to my toothbrush

·        In a journal in the back seat of my car, and another journal in the trunk of my car (that journal is full)

·        In a journal next to the easy chair, and another journal on a chair in the dining room

·        In my gratitude journal, located on my nightstand

·        On virtual sticky notes in my smart phone, using an app called Color Note

·        On the backs of recycled envelopes, which have been stuffed inside a manila envelope entitled “Blog Ideas”

I clearly need to simplify!  I try to remember to stuff blog ideas into a manila envelope entitled “Blog Ideas,” but with life moving so fast it is difficult to stay organized.  On days where my eyes are tired from working on the computer for hours and hours, I go through my journals and tear out pages and organize them into categories.  If I already have a book title, the journal notes are stuffed into the back of a folder or manila envelope. 

Once I’ve used my latest delicious idea, I put a large checkmark next to the sections that have been used.  This helps me remember which ideas have already been put to use.

Writers, what systems do you use to capture all of your ideas?  Do you have a special app that you like to use, or do you have other systems?  Let me know!  The more we share, the better we can all become.  Writer’s block can be frustrating, so anything that you can do to stay organized can only help.

Keep writing and keep sharing!  - Cronin Detzz

WRITER'S BLOCK: FRIENDS, ROMANS, BOOKWORMS

“Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ear…”   Those few, simple words written by William Shakespeare are well-known to casual readers and bookworms alike.  Similarly, “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?” has been drilled into our heads by our beloved English teachers.  (By the way: wherefore doesn’t mean “where,” it means “why”.) 

Banal quotes and trite cliches make us wonder why certain phrases are so easily recognized.  Why do some lines have sticking power in our brains?  We are bombarded with clever turns of scripts every day, from Facebook posts to television shows to radio ads; yet, certain quotes are indelible.

Certainly, some famous quotes stick in our gray matter due to pure rote memory.  I had a Latin teacher, Mr. Paris, who began each class by making say aloud the opening line to Caesar’s Gallic wars:  “Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres.”  Mr. Paris added a few more words each day, and promised us that we would probably remember this for the rest of our lives.  After the Christmas break, a 30-year-old student popped in just to say hello to Mr. Paris.  That adult could recite the entire first paragraph, and we were amazed.

Besides rote memory, there are other tricks that our brain uses to remember these kinds of phrases.  If we see a parody on television that makes us laugh, our brains will ease and we will absorb what we are hearing.  If we are very sad or angry, we might identify with a particular phrase or song lyric and subconsciously think about it.  If we are celebrating a holiday, our hearts can quickly recall moving sayings like Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech, or Tiny Tim’s gleeful, “God bless us, every one!”

In your writing, remember that a heartfelt phrase can have real staying power.  We don’t always know which phrases will resonate with a fellow bookworm, but chances are that if you are sincerely writing from your heart, readers will take notice.  It takes some confidence and a willingness to be vulnerable enough to share your innermost thoughts, but isn’t this what writing is all about in the first place?

Keep writing and keep sharing!  - Cronin Detzz

PITHY POETRY

“How long should my poem be?”

Deciding on the length of a piece of creative writing is a common question.  If one is writing a novel, the basic answer is that it must be sufficiently long enough to cover the topic, bring the emotions up to the climax, and in the end wrap it all together like the ribbon around a present. 

Poetry, on the other hand, is succinct by nature.  Poetry can be described as a piece of creative writing that distills ideas into the fewest, most impactful words possible.  Poetry could even be described as pithy – forceful and concise (not to be confused with a pith helmet).

Poetry that drags on endlessly is boring.  The best practice is to perform a Spock-like Vulcan mind dump, writing everything to your heart’s desire.  Then revisit the poem, and look for useless modifiers, repetitive adjectives, and unnecessary adverbs.  Common pitfalls include using bland words such as “very” or “really.” 

Part of the poetry-writing process should always involve masterful use of crisp words.  It is through the simplicity and beauty of language that a poet delivers a message with a powerful punch.  For example:

“It was a very dark and stormy night”

could be rewritten as:

“Night clouds burst, thunder’s hunger and lightning’s thirst”

Verbosity is a problem for poets.  Find a way to put your poem into a sieve, letting the useless, murky words fall through while retaining the heart of your poem.  Challenge yourself by taking a few lines out of the poem.  If you can retain your original meaning, leave the lines out of your final draft.  Keep writing and keep sharing! - Cronin Detzz

MASTERING THE SEGUE

MASTERING THE SEGUE

WHILE RIDING A SEGWAY

A segway is a personal transportation device on two wheels – no, not a bicycle.  It’s much more quirky and dorky than your bicycle.  Yes, even dorkier than the bike with the white basket and a dapper, chirpy  bell.

A segue, on the other hand, is its corresponding heterograph (sounds the same, spelled differently).  A segue seamlessly moves the reader from one place to the next.  Segues transition your story from one idea to the next.  A segue isn’t really a cliff-hanger, but it could certainly be described as a page-turner.  Segues round out your thoughts, and show multiple perspectives of a multi-faceted idea. 

Typically, segues are expressed through key words, including:

·        While – since – in addition to – along with

·        Obviously – clearly – similarly

·        Consequently – as a result – subsequently

Remember adverbs?  These are words that tell us how, when, where, or to what extent.  Notice that adverbs play a prominent role in segues:  “consequently,” “similarly,” and “subsequently.”  These are known as conjunctive adverbs and they connect one phrase to another.  These connections do not have to be similar ideas.  The connections can be contrasts (examples:  “on the other hand” or “conversely”).  The words chosen might be other types of adverbs as well, but this type of grammar hair-splitting isn’t critical.  The take-away from this article is to make writers more aware of the prominence of segues.

Let me know what other segues you create!  While a riding a segway might be a lot of fun, you know that as a writer, segues can be fun, too.  Just wear a helmet.  

- brought to you by "The Crow's Pen"

WRITER'S BLOCK - 3 TIPS FOR WRITING DIALOG

CAN WE TALK?

Crafting sentences while empathizing with a reader’s mind can be challenging and frustrating.  This article is intended to provide a few tips for improving dialog.

 

Writers put their best foot forward, and believe that they have written a great story…but remember that the reader is your ultimate critic.  Imagine the frustration of reading confusing dialog, combined with the boredom of reading bland “he said – then she replied” dialog.  This should be enough to fuel your passion for great writing.

As a consummate reader, I have noticed that even the best writers sometimes overlook three basic rules:

Rule #1 - Tell us who is talking!  Some books have a lot of characters, and when multiple characters get involved in a conversation, the reader can easily lose track of who is speaking.  For example:

               Lucy was bitter.  She turned to Charlie and said, “Get over here, you stupid blockhead.”

               “Are you calling me a blockhead?”

               “Don’t call him names,” said Snoopy.

               “I will call him whatever I want.”

               He seemed to consider the situation in deep thought.  “I don’t think that’s appropriate, Lucy.”

Quick:  who said which line?  Was Snoopy the last speaker, or was Charlie defending what was left of his manhood?  If your reader gets confused, the conversation loses its impact. 

One way to clarify the speaker is with action.  For instance:  He dropped his doggie bone and said, “Hey, you can’t talk to Charlie that way.”  Snoopy would be the only character with a doggie bone.

Another method of clarifying the speaker is by having one character mention the other character’s name (e.g., “Charlie, you are a blockhead” would infer that Lucy is speaking).  

Rule #2 - Enliven the dialog tags.

Occasionally replace “he said / she replied” with some of these examples:

Yelled

Replied

Shrieked

Begged

Cried

Muttered

Denied

Some of these can be modified with adverbs:

Angrily shrieked

Flatly denied

Softly cried

Vehemently begged

Anxiously replied

Rule #3 - Know how to transition conversations:  more showing, less telling.  Yes, my English teacher wrote this a million times on my school papers, and I try to keep this in mind.  In dialog, if a character spoon feeds the story, it seems unnatural and amateurish:

               “Has anyone seen the butler?” asked Sherlock.  “The butler was here this morning, and he had blood spatters on his shoes.  He was also carrying a large knife and had mean little beady eyes, and although it was a dark and stormy night, he was wearing a yellow shirt and…”

Blah blah blah, you’ve bored us to tears.  Give us action.  Describe feelings, thoughts, sounds, smells. Was Lucy smiling when she called Charlie a blockhead?  Was her face angry and red?  Was she frantically waving her arms in the air? Draw us into your head, alluding to the situation in your story, without having your characters spell out every detail.  The better you know your own characters, the easier your writing will flow.

Then after you’ve rewritten your dialog, share it in the comments section below so that YES, WE CAN TALK!  I will offer any guidance that I can.

KEEP WRITING & KEEP SHARING! - Cronin Detzz

PUBLISHING YOUR POETRY - "The Crow's Pen"

I did it, and you can, too! THANK YOU, poet friends, for your continual encouragement. I published my first poetry book on Amazon: “Poetry for Our Time.” What an amazing feeling, to finally have the book in my hands. Below are some questions that I have received regarding publishing poetry:

 ==========

QUESTION: “Cronin, why did you sort your poems into these 5 chapters?” REPLY: Sorting hundreds of poems into is not an easy task, but one that does seem worthwhile. I’ve read anthologies and have been disappointed by lack of structure and framework. Consider categorizing your poems into some type of chapters. The poems in my book, “Poetry for Our Time,” were sorted into the following five categories:

1. The World Today – war, politics, religion, pop culture
2. Going Off The Grid – escaping into nature, technodespair
3. Our Families – estrangement from family, bonds with parents, siblings, and children
4. Modern Death – agnosticism versus mysticism
5. Modern Love – a poet’s bread and butter!

==========

QUESTION: “How much did it cost?” REPLY: I used Amazon’s self-publishing tool, called Create Space. The only fees that I paid were for shipping proofs. Writers should order proofs, which are essentially previews of your book, after each editing update. Editing takes a lot of work, so be prepared to clear your calendar and set some goals for yourself. There are margins to consider, spell-checking concerns, artwork to view, and so forth. Amazon does offer prepaid artwork and marketing services; however, I did not utilize them. I did read through their member resource blog pages. Research is vital to any writing project.

==========

QUESTION: “You stated that research is vital. Specifically, what steps did you take?” REPLY: After speaking with some friends, I came into contact with someone who had just written a successful book. I grilled him on his strategies, and he recommended Amazon, blogging, and setting goals. His first question was: “Cronin, what do you hope to accomplish by publishing this book?” The answer was clear: to make my family proud of me. There are several writers in my family, and they supported my goals. Other research included reading hundreds of pages online and reading the “For Dummies” books.

==========

You can easily find my book by going to Amazon and searching for “Cronin Detzz.” You can also read the intro, view the critiques on the back cover, and read a few pages of my book by clicking “look inside.” Additionally, you can also preview my book by copying & pasting to your browser: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=cronin+detzz Keep writing and keep sharing!

WRITER'S BLOCK - BURNT ORANGE IN MY BOX OF CRAYONS

WRITER'S BLOCK - brought to you by "The Crow's Pen"
BURNT ORANGE IN MY BOX OF CRAYONS

One of my fondest memories is sitting at the kitchen table with my mother and sister, selecting coloring books and then scattering a box of crayons across the table. Choosing which page to color was a delicate process. Sometimes it was just too hard to decide, so we would simply choose the first un-colored page we encountered in our books. Once we had chosen our respective pages, we faced another important decision – which color? Our mother (“Ma”) didn’t simply choose brown for the tree trunks and green for the grass. She would choose any color she darn well liked and colored her own fantastic world.

She didn’t “stay in the lines,” either. She showed us how we could easily create circles of color by twisting the wrong end of the crayon onto the paper. A bunny could have polka dots. The sun could have stripes. She delighted in exploring her creativity in this way. She once remarked that she wished she could color for a living.

We found it hilarious that the crayons had such unusual names: cadet blue, raw sienna, burnt orange. I mean, who burns oranges?! If you want to explore more fantastic color names, look at women’s nail polish. For instance, I have a bright pink bottle named “shrimply devine.” Crayola has had their share of crayon name changes: "Prussian blue" was renamed midnight blue, and “flesh” became “peach” as a result of the civil rights movement era. Clearly, color evokes emotion – especially the color of our skin.

When writing with color, therefore, be sure to bring the reader into your world by choosing the right crayon. Below are some alternatives:

• Orange = pumpkin, carrot
• Blue = azul, turquoise, aqua
• Yellow = golden, sunny, daffodil, maize (corn)
• Green = pine, shamrock
• Purple = violet, lavender
• Red = crimson, auburn, apple flesh

Look around you and see how the colors affect your mood. Which descriptors or objects could describe the color? You can certainly substitute “tangerine” for “orange,” but is this simply an expression of your wit or does tangerine really fit your writing? Below is an example:

• GOOD: He looked up at the overcast sky and felt a sense of sadness.
• BETTER: He looked up at the nickel gray sky and felt a sense of sadness.
• BEST: Under an oppressive cement sky, he was crushed with the weight of sadness.

See how the ‘cement’ can give a sense of weight while hinting at color? Other ways to weave color into your writing includes ‘sunny’ dispositions, a youthful ‘rosy’ glow, or being infected with the ‘greenness’ of envy.

Ma is in heaven now, and I’m certain that she is coloring fantastic astral worlds, armed with a full box of crayons.

KEEP WRITING AND KEEP SHARING!

WRITER'S BLOCK - NEGATIVE ENERGY

Writer's Block - Diversions and Immersions

Brought to you by The Crow's Pen

Negative energy can be experienced as residual effects from an upsetting event, or it can be experienced as a vague feeling. When an upsetting event occurs, such as an argument with a friend, a writer knows that energy will instinctively need to be siphoned to address the trauma. When a writer is experiencing a more vague negativity – experiencing a mid-life crisis, for example – energy flow may be more difficult to resolve. What can a writer do in order to overcome his black cloud and successfully complete a project?

It is important to remember that life is a continual balancing act. We all have 24 hours in a day, yet some people are able to accomplish astounding things with their allotted time on earth. It is amazing to think that Albert Einstein had the 24 hours that you and I have each day. Below is a list of some key tips designed to help zap negativity:

1. We instinctively know that we need to eat right and get enough sleep. If your food quality is poor and you’re not sleeping well, then make it a priority to focus on these basic needs. Remember Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? He suggested that we breathe. Good advice. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF so that you can better serve others in your life.
2. The best tip of all may seem counter-intuitive: write. If you only write a paragraph or a short poem, you can feel better that you made some small progress.
3. If you can find a moment to write, incorporate your negative situation into your writing. Maybe it really WAS a dark and stormy night when Edward Bulwer-Lytton sat down and penned these infamous words.
4. Venting to family, friends, and coworkers is a common coping mechanism. However, be aware that when you spew venom, your poison has an effect on the listener. Venting and spewing anger are two separate things: venting opens the door for some camaraderie, while spewing negativity ends up snowballing and covers your friends in a toxic avalanche. We do need sounding boards, but we do not want to pollute our immediate atmosphere. Tip #2 encourages you to write, while this tip encourages you to write an imaginary dialogue about the negative experience itself: “Dear Diary, you wouldn’t believe the day I had.” Keeping a journal is important for self-growth. “Write about what you know about” incorporates the material into your current work in progress.
5. If the negative situation emanates from the writer’s block itself, you simply feel stuck. Think of your writing as energy flowing throughout your body. When you have writer’s block, the energy is constipated! To uncork the flow, find a way to reach a meditative state. Personally, I find that taking a walk is highly beneficial. During the walk, I ensure that I keep an even, rhythmic pace. I let my thoughts wander and once I latch upon something, I write it down as soon as the walk is done. There is something about walking that seems to engage the mind in a useful activity while allowing energy to flow more freely. If you cannot walk (due to the weather, for instance) then find another rhythmic, solitary activity such as sweeping the floor.

Negative energy is so common that there should be a vaccine! In the end, it all comes down to attitude. Changing your attitude can be very difficult, for it involves changing your beliefs. Honestly ask yourself if you believe that you deserve to feel crummy. Once you realize that you deserve a life of happiness, the universe will respond. The problem is that we never know how long we will be in our funk. Release any fears of inadequacy that you may have. This block won’t last forever. It won’t be the last time that you experience a block, so it is worth finding ways to shield and protect your life-force. Don’t give in to the dark side. May the force be with you.

BE WELL AND WRITE WELL

WRITER'S BLOCK - brought to you by "The Crow's Pen"

The dreaded writer's block. Whatever should we do? Go to Starbucks and juice up our veins with high doses of caffeine and chatter? Go to the mountains/the lake/the skateboard park and get all kinds of ommmm-zen going? Or just hunker down and write? If we force it, this might be as fruitful as squeezing blood from a stone. BTW, if you are able to get that blood-stone thing going, be sure to let everyone know, that’s a book we’d love to read!

Writers need creative outlets. If you can help it, don't push it just to make a deadline. Writing under a deadline can certainly get the job done, but you want to put your best writing into your project.

Diversionary tactics can be highly successful. Do something different for awhile, like facebooking with a few hundred friends or meeting one in person for some real face time. Hug a tree. Bake cookies. Take a nap.

Best of all, READ. Read an author’s writing that you are trying to emulate. For instance, there is one particular author, Gregory Maquire, author of “Wicked,” whose style really suits my next project. I have quite a few of his books, so when I feel stuck, I stop banging my head against the wall and re-read at least one of his chapters. This is a hybrid diversionary tactic which has done wonders for me. However, I am not reading with the intent to get lost in the story, I am STUDYING it. I keep pen and paper handy and jot down:
1. Really well-composed lines
2. A clever string of conversation
3. A descriptive method he uses to set the tone or setting

Invariably, his writing energizes me and a good start for my next chapter comes flying off my fingertips.

If, after trying these diversionary tactics, you find that writing is still blocked, try the following:
1. Ensure your room is dark and quiet
2. Ensure that paper and pen are nearby, preferably on your nightstand
3. Take a nap and let your subconscious work on the issue. Say aloud, “Okay, brain, I’ve given you some inspiration. I am going to rest my body so while I’m sleeping, let my subconscious do the work.”
4. After you wake up, jot down any ideas right away, no matter how far-fetched they may seem.

Just have the confidence that it will come back - it always does!
BE WELL & WRITE WELL