Setting Limits

Limitations can be liberating.  I know it sounds like a contradiction, but hear me out.  Sometimes having too many choices can be paralyzing and the best thing we can do for our writing is to set some limits.  To that end, here are a few exercises that help me keep those pesky choices in check.

Minus an "E":  Inspired by Ernest Vincent Wright's Gadsby: A Story of Over 50,000 Words Without Using the Letter "E" in this exercise I challenge you to write for 15 minutes and the only limitation is you cannot use the letter "E."  For variations on this assignment, choose a different vowel (no fair choosing "Y") and write for 15 minutes without that vowel instead.

The idea here is that by limiting which vowels you can use, you have to stop and really think about each word you choose.  It exercises your brain in a way that regular writing doesn't.  Sure, you might not produce a work of genius with this exercise, but it trains you to think about word choice and you'll start seeing the results in your writing in general.

Single Syllables:  Another exercise I learned from a favorite writing teacher is to write for 15 minutes using only one-syllable words.  Not only does it make you stop and choose your words carefully, but by using only one-syllable words you'll infuse your work with energy and punch that you don't get from words with multiple syllables.

Sometimes when I feel like a piece I'm writing needs more punch, I'll go back and rewrite a section, trying to use more one-syllable words.  The change in the energy never fails to amaze me.

What do you think?  Do you think you need to set some limits in your writing?  If so, what tricks have you used that work?

A Day for Poetry

April is National Poetry Month and today I'd like to take some time to enjoy that genre where words really count.  In poetry the wrong word--no matter how small or innocent-looking--can be the difference between pretty or pathetic, inspiring or insipid.  Words rule in poetry in a way that isn't possible for any other genre.

I can already see some of you rolling your eyes.  "Here she goes... getting all ga-ga over poetry.  Gross."  I promise I'll keep my love of verse under control.  All I ask is this: before you click away, take 30 seconds to read the following poem.  Not because I told you (though that's also a very nice reason), but because you're a writer and you love words in all flavors.  Take these 30 seconds to recharge your inner muse and enjoy words for their own sake.  This poem by Billy Collins is about reading poetry, but it continually helps refresh my perspective on all literature, regardless of genre.

Introduction to Poetry
by Billy Collins

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

Homework: Today I'd like you to visit poets.org or break open an anthology and read one poem you've never read before.  It can be a poem with an interesting title, or a poem that you've been wanting to read but never got around to.  There are no requirements except that it be a poem.  Once you've read it, I'd love to hear about what you read.  Also, do you like poetry and read it for fun, or was this new for you?  If you love poetry, what about it speaks to you?  If you're not a poetry-lover, what turns you off?

Words, Glorious Words!

All writers--whether they write lofty literary fiction or spunky sparkly vampire stories--have one thing in common: an intrinsic love of words.  We can't get enough of words.  We're like Oliver, lifting up his bowl and saying: "Please, sir, I'd like some more."

Today's post is about glorious words that enrich our love of language.  One tool I've developed that helps me rekindle my love of words is the Word Box. 

The concept is simple, really; you just cut up a sheet of paper into lots of little slips and write a random word on each slip.  They can be words you love or hate, words that sound funny or that are fun to say aloud.  The point is that the words be random.  Once you're done, put your word slips in a container (an envelope, bag, small box.  The only requirement is that it should be easy for you to reach in and pull out a few words at random.

How to Use the Word Box: Pull out 3-7 words at random.  Write for 15 minutes and use all the words.  Note: No fair using a random word in a way that doesn't make sense or feels forced.  All the words have to feel like they belong in the piece.   Tips: (1) Start with with 3 words and work your way up to 7 with practice.  (2) Keep adding new words to your Word Box over time, to keep things fresh.

Homework: Start a Word Box of your own.  With a little help from friends, the task of finding random words can be easy.  Share some of your own word finds in the comments and borrow suggestions from each other!

Here are 20 words from my Word Box to get you started:

galaxy, gamble, fissure, scamper, flutter, flash, troll, manipulate, secret, nefarious, snarl, flinch, croak, glitz, arabesque, pirate, swirl, windswept, totem, no.

A note about DIY MFA Chat today, (5pm ET) I know it's Easter so I wasn't sure if any of you were still up for a chat.  Please tweet or comment if you're still up for chatting and I'll be there.  If enough people respond saying "yes I'll be there" then we'll proceed as always.  Watch the #diymfa thread for a twitter update on the status of the chat.  I'll a couple of hours before and let you all know if the chat's still on or if we're taking the holiday off.  Sound good?

Mood Music

This past week we've discussed how to set the mood for writing through reading, collage, color theory and writing rituals.  Today I want to talk about music.

I've played the violin on and off since I was four years old, and music has been a central part of my life for even longer than that.  I love music that tells a story.  Here's a list of the essentials in my music library.

• The Four Seasons by Vivaldi.
  This classic piece of music sets the tone for each of the four seasons.  For a different take on this piece, check out the recording by Il Giardino Armonico, where the orchestra plays entirely on period instruments but give the piece a contemporary, edgy feel. 
• The Planets by Holst.
  In this piece, each movement represents one of the planets.  The music captures the personality and sets the mood for each planet.  
• Such Sweet Thunder by Duke Ellington.
  This jazz suite is based on various plays by William Shakespeare.  Each track represents one play or one set of characters from Shakespeare's plays.  My favorite is "Up and Down" where the different pairs of instruments are supposed to depict the different couple pairings in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral" by Beethoven
  In my opinion the most beautiful piece of music ever written, Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony captures the mood of a day in the countryside, complete with waterfalls and streams, a country village and a thunderstorm.
•  Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens
  A great piece--especially for introducing newcomers to classical music--the Carnival of the Animals captures the feeling of being in a carnival.  From the lion to the aquarium to the aviary, each movement of the piece represents one group of animals in the carnival.  A great recording of this is the one conducted and narrated by Bernstein where he explains each of the movements and what to listen for (a great recording for introducing kids to classical music).
  

If I had to limit my inspirational writing music to just five albums, these would be the ones I'd choose (and it would be a tough choice because I left off some of my absolute favorite pieces).  I chose these five because I feel like they give me the most mileage for my writing.

Homework: Today I'd like you to choose a piece of music and listen--really listen--for at least one track.  Try to hear the story being told in the music.  If you're not sure of a piece to choose, feel free to borrow one of my selections above.  After listening, jot down a few notes so you remember the story you heard in the music.

Then tell me how it went.  What piece did you choose?  What did you hear in the music?  What story did it tell you?

Writing Rituals

Today, I'd like to talk about writing rituals--you know, those little things we all do to get us in that writing mood.

What are writing rituals?  They can be anything, as long is it sets the mood for writing.  I read once about a writer who literally wears different hats when she's writing or editing.  Another writer I've heard of lights a candle when it's writing time.  The writing rituals can be as simple as a turning on your iPod or using a specific pen or notebook.

My writing ritual is that I always use an unlined notebook and a fountain pen.  Something about writing with a fountain pen makes me feel like I'm channeling the great women writers of old, like Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters.  I also have certain playlists I listen to for different projects.  Right now I'm listening to the GLEE soundtracks because I can always use more glee in my life.

Why are rituals important?  Rituals signal to your brain "OK it's writing time now."  Just like having a bedtime routine can help kids get in the mindset of going to sleep, writing rituals tell your inner writer that it's time to get in that writing frame of mind.  Writing rituals are also a great way to pamper your inner writer a little bit.  Scented lotion can be soothing, a pretty potted plant on the window sill can make you smile, a favorite poem or reading passage can inspire the writer within.  Whatever you choose, having a small writing ritual can help set the mood for writing.

What if your ritual becomes too routine?  Every so often, it's good to shake things up.  Break your routines and do the exact opposite of your writing ritual.  This can be a challenge, because stepping outside our comfort zones can be uncomfortable and scary.  But a healthy dose of fear can be energizing--exciting even--so don't shy away from breaking your rituals now and again.  Take a risk!

Why it works:  All writing is the act of making rules, then shaking them up.  When we write, we establish rules for our readers and the reader gets lulled into a comfort zone with the story.  When we shake up those rules (give the story structure a twist, introduce a new character, add a new plot element) it gets the readers' attention.  They sit up and start listening again.  The same is true for our inner writers.  When we shake up our writing "rules" it grabs our inner writer's attention and helps it engage with the work again.

Homework: If you don't already have a writing ritual, think of something that would help get you in the writing mood and do it today.  Establish a ritual so that in a couple of weeks, when you break it, your writer will respond.

If you do have a ritual already, I want you to break it today.  Do something outside your routine, something exciting and maybe a little bit daring.  (I know some of you already did this for the first writing sprint, but that was weeks ago and it's time to shake things up again.)  Remember, it doesn't have to be a huge change; it can be just one small, meaningful thing.

Please share in the comments because I'm dying to know: Do you have a writing ritual? What is it?  What small thing did you do to break out of your comfort zone today?

True Colors

As you might have noticed, I'm really into design.  A graphic designer and product manager in a past life, you could say I'm a little bit obsessed with clean lines and balanced designs.  I love problem-solving so that form and function work together seamlessly.  One of the areas that most fascinates me in design is color theory and color symbolism.  I find it remarkable that certain colors seem almost to have certain personalities or identities.  Much like characters in a story.

Colors and their meanings:

Certain colors have intrinsic meaning.  Red means "stop" or "warning."  Orange is an attention-grabbing color, green suggests growth and life, and blue generally has a calming influence.  Even before we add the layers of other influences, these colors already have a certain symbolism inherent in the color itself.

Traditions and cultures help shape symbolism.  In Western culture, the color white implies innocence and purity while in other cultures it is actually the color of mourning.  The phrase "green with envy" has added a different layer of meaning to the color.

Combining colors lends nuance.  Blue alone might symbolize peace and calm, but add red and yellow, and you get the primary colors which imply youth.  Replace the yellow with white and you get a patriotic color combination.  When you pair colors together, their meanings can change or acquire nuance.

A little color theory:

Red, Yellow and Blue are the primary colors.  They are called primary colors because you cannot mix any other colors together to get these three.

Note: red, yellow and blue are primary colors for pigment.  When you're talking about color and light, the primaries are actually red, green and blue but that gets us into crazy physics stuff and I'm not going there.

Orange, Green and Purple are secondary colors.  They are called secondary because you can make them by mixing only two primaries.

See the color wheel below for primary and secondary colors.  Primaries are marked with a 1 and secondaries are marked with a 2.

Image Credit Tiger Color: Color Lab

Opposites provide good contrast.  Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel are called complementary colors because they complement each other well and provide contrast.  Each of the primary colors has a secondary color as its complement.

But, what does this have to do with writing?

Color can set a mood.  It can inspire a feeling or set the tone for a piece of writing.  You can use individual colors or a color scheme to capture the essence of your story without words.  Think of it as a wordless summary.

Characters are like colors.  Often the best way to draw a character out is to pair it with someone completely opposite.  If your character is best represented by a shade of purple, try pairing her with someone who's a yellow and watch the sparks fly.

How I use color: When I develop a new character with an acrostic bio card, I tape a paint chip to the back of the card.  The color becomes like a wordless bio for the character, telling me almost as much as the written bio on the other side of the card.

Homework: Field trip!  Next weekend, take a half hour and go to a hardware store to browse the paint aisle.  Most stores give out free paint chip samples so grab a few.  No wait, grab a bunch.  Try to find the perfect paint color to represent your character or your story.  If you're really ambitious, pick out colors for each of your important characters.  See where the contrasts are, as well as the harmonious combinations.

If you're really really ambitious, skip the paint store and browse a fabric store instead (where you can play with color as well as pattern and texture).  If you don't have time to browse the stores, break out the markers, colored pencils or better yet, paints!  Mix and match and play with color.  The point here is to have fun and to look at your characters and story in a new and different way.

What did you discover about your story by playing with color?

Mood Collage

Remember back in grade school when we used to cut up magazines and glue pictures together to make beautiful artwork?  Well, believe it or not, collaging is actually a great way for writers to explore and express the mood of their project.

I actually learned the benefits of this technique when I was in art school.  "Mood boards" were an integral part of each portfolio presentation and we learned the importance of capturing the essence of a project through imagery.

How do you make a mood collage?  There are no rules.  You can clip pictures from magazines or cut out letters and words in different fonts.  It doesn't even need to be concrete objects or words; you make a cool background by using printed fabrics or pretty papers.  Use whatever inspires you.  Lay out the pieces in a way that inspires you and move things around until you've got a design that you love.  Finally, break out the glue-stick or glue-gun and start sticking the pieces down.

I happen to have Photoshop and I'm into that techie stuff so I actually do my collages digitally.  That way I can print them out in different sizes, email them to people or even post them here on the blog.  To that end, here are a few mood collages I've done.  The ones included below are for products I've designed, but the same idea applies to mood collages for writing projects.

Mood collage for a road trip project.

Mood collage for a tween fashion project

Mood collage for a project representing the experiences
of girls and women from different cultures.

Homework: Set aside an hour sometime this next week to make a mood collage for your work-in-progress.  Clip pictures from magazines or print images you find online and cut them up.  If you like, while you're clipping pictures and gluing, listen to some mood music that inspires your story.  The idea with this project is to get completely immersed in the mood of your work-in-progress.

Once you've finished your collage, give it a place of honor in your writing space.  You could even take a picture and share with us it on the DIY MFA FB page if you like.  Can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Now you tell me: what do you do to capture the mood of your current writing project?

Outline Techniques for Those Who Hate Outlines

This past weekend in #diymfa chat, we had a great discussion about outlines and whether we plotted out our stories in detail or wrote by the seat of our pants.  As you can imagine, the responses were as varied as the number of people in the chat.

This discussion got me thinking about my own writing.  I'm not a seat-of-my-pants writer--not even a little--but I hate traditional outlines.  Something about long lists (I.A, 2.b--it's all Greek to me) just doesn't work for my visual brain.  I think it's my background in design that means those outlines are too logical and sequential for me.  To that end, I wanted to share some plotting devices that have worked better for me.  These techniques help me organize my writing without killing the spontaneity.

Mind Mapping

I give a detailed How-To for this technique in the first DIY MFA.  Unlike traditional techniques, this type of outline forces you to look at a topic from multiple different angles. It also makes it easy for you to see an entire project in one glance, rather than having to read through line-by-line to get a sense of the full story.

How to Apply this to Fiction: Try mind-mapping your story or novel by making each of the main branches as chapter topics or major events in the story.  The sub-branches can be scenes that sub-divide these larger branches.  There are no rules with mind-mapping so feel free to doodle and make notes (I use thought bubbles and speech bubbles to add notes to my mind maps, as you can see in the image.)

Here's a mind map I used to brainstorm the very first DIY MFA back in September.

Story Maps
I love subway maps.  What can I say, I'm a New Yorker so it's in my blood.  Recently, I started outlining stories using New York-style subway maps.  Just as subway lines intersect, different subplots weave in and out of the main plot thread in a novel or short story.  I like to think of writing as a journey so to me, this idea of mapping out a story works for me.


How to Apply this to Fiction: The different threads in a story are in different colors.  Scenes in each thread are marked as subway stops.  If a scene applies to more than one story thread, then it becomes an intersection.  What I love about this technique is that when I sit down to write a scene, all I'm writing is a "dot" of the story.  Dot's aren't big and scary; they're cute and round.  They're just dots for crying out loud.  Somehow in my mind, it seems a lot more manageable.

Tip: If the subway concept doesn't work for you, think of this as a road map instead.  The main story threads are interstates, subplots are smaller roads and the dots are the stops you make along the way.

Here's a subway map I designed to use for DIY MFA.

Scene Cards

This technique is super-portable, which is one of the reasons I love it.  Take a stack of index cards and make one card for each scene you know needs to happen in your story.  What's nice about this technique is that you don't have to write the scenes in order (you can move the cards around), and you can always add more cards later if you think you need them. 

How to Apply this to Fiction: On each card write the following information.

•  Scene Title: Something easy to remember like "Scene where Jimmy falls from the tree."
• Characters: Who's in this scene?
• Events: What happens?
• Setting: Where are we?
• Purpose: Why do you need this scene? (Character development? Important plot point? Reveal important information?)  This last one is important because if you can't think of a purpose for the scene then you have to question whether you need the scene at all.

Some computer programs actually have an index card function built in (Scrivener, for instance) which is nice because it makes editing and moving the cards around even easier.  I still like the old-fashioned method because it means I can grab a handful of cards and take it with me anywhere.

Homework: Choose one technique and try it out. Then tell us about it in the comments or on twitter!

Character Interview

Another technique I use when I need to get to know my characters is the Character Interview.  In this case, I ask a character various questions and then answer them in the voice of the character.  I find this exercise useful even when my novel or short story is written from different point of view (i.e. not that character's POV in first person).  Even if I only use the character's voice in dialogue and not in narration, it's helpful to hear these questions answered from the character's own perspective.

Some questions I like to ask are:

• What was your scariest moment?
• What was your happiest moment?
• What's the most dangerous thing you've ever done?
• What is your biggest regret?
• Who do you love most in the world?
• What is your most prized possession?
• Do you have a nemesis? Who?
• Who was your first love?
• Where is your favorite place?
• Who or what makes you feel safe?
• Who makes you jealous?
• Who or what makes you feel inadequate?
• What is your theme song?
• What is your signature color?
• What is your favorite season?
• What is your catch-phrase?
• What is your pet peeve?
• List your character's ten favorite things (Example: raindrops on roses, etc.)

For more interview question ideas, check out these Character Questionnaires from Gotham Writers' Workshop.

Homework: Answer all these questions quickly in your character's voice and point of view.  Now go back and choose three answers, and follow-up like you would if you were a reporter doing an interview.  Don't let your character get away with easy answers.  Dig deep.  Ask who, what, when, where, why and how.  Whenever your character starts to shy away from answering, press him or her further.  Keep asking: "tell me more about that" until you get to the juicy information.

Now I'd like to know: what's the most surprising thing you learned about your character?  Feel free to dish in the comments.

20 Questions to Create a Character

Remember that game 20 Questions, where you had to guess what the person was thinking of only by asking yes/no questions?  This exercise uses a similar technique to help you develop a new character or get to know an existing character better.

There are two ways you can use 20 Questions to create or develop a character.

Option A: Take a character you've been working with, perhaps one from your current work-in-progress (WIP).  Answer these twenty questions as quickly as possible about your character.  Then write a short scene with that character, using this new-found knowledge.

Option B: (my personal favorite) Use a coin-toss to select one option from each pair.  That's your character.  Now write.

The 20 Questions are:

1. Male / Female
2. Old soul / Young at heart
3. Left brain / Right brain
4. Glass half-empty / Glass half-full
5. City / Country
6. Big spender / Penny pincher
7. Loves water / Can't swim
8. Glasses / Tattoo
9. Dogs / Cats
10. Hybrid car / SUV
11. Bites nails / Always manicured
12. Chocolate syrup / Hot sauce
13. Coffee / Tea
14. Overgrown garden / Plastic plants
15. Always tells the truth / Lies when necessary
16. Organic food / Fast food
17. Straight hair / Curly hair
18. Soft-spoken / Loudmouth
19. PBS / Reality TV
20. Motto: "Do or die" / "Look before you leap"

This exercise is based on an exercise from the Write Brain Workbook by Bonnie Neubauer.

Homework: Use this technique for one of your existing characters or create a new one.  Now write a short scene with that character, where at least three of these details are revealed.  This can be something completely new or an extension of a piece you're already writing.

TADA Method of Studying Character

You've all probably heard the saying "Show, Don't Tell" a million times. The trick, of course, is figuring out how.  This is where the TADA method comes in.  I call it the TADA method because when you're done *TADA!* there's your character.

TADA deals with the four elements at play in character development that lie within the character herself.  Sure, you can also show us the character by having other characters react to her, or by showing us the contents of her refrigerator, but these do not come from the character herself.  These are all great ways to use the environment as a lens to show us the character, but with TADA we'll focus on elements that come directly from the character.  These are:  Thought, Action, Dialogue, and Appearance.

To analyze how the author is using TADA with a character, use a Character Compass.  This is a technique where each axis in the compass represents one letter in TADA.  In two easy steps, you get your analysis.

Step 1: Choose a passage to read.  This can be a passage you're struggling with in your own writing or someone else's work.  The important thing is to focus on a short passage (short story, one chapter, one scene).  After all, the way the author shows a character can change from chapter to chapter, or scene to scene.

Step 2: Note down how much of each TADA element appears in the passage.   The closer to the edge of the circle, the more of that element we see for that character.  The edge of the circle is the maximum and the center of the circle means that element was used not at all.

Example: The compass diagram shows a passage with a lot of dialogue and action but little emphasis on thought and appearance.

Note that you don't need a perfectly balanced compass for the scene or story to work.  The purpose of this technique isn't to force you to use all four elements of TADA, but to help you analyze how you're using them.  You might do this exercise and realize that you're much more dialogue-heavy than you thought.  Or maybe you'll want to add a little more description of the character's appearance.  Or maybe you'll keep it just the way it is because the scene works.

The idea is to help you become more aware of how you're using these four elements in your writing.  The more aware you become, the more you'll be able to make certain choices on command, rather than by accident.

It's also important to practice techniques like this when reading work by other writers.  As we've mentioned before, as writers we're not just concerned with what an author is saying (or why for that matter).  What we really care about is how.  Using the Character Compass, we can become more attuned to how our favorite authors develop their characters.

Homework:  Pick a character in a passage you're reading (focus on a short story or one chapter of a novel).  Read that passage and make a character compass for the character you picked.  Note: This character does not need to be the main character.

If you'd like a suggested passage to read check out Myla Goldberg's "Going for the Orange Julius"

Did you learn anything about the passage you read that surprised you when you did the Character Compass?  What did you discover?

Image File

I'd like to start DIY MFA by looking at art because that's one of the writing tools I use most often, especially when I need to find new characters.  It has taken me a while, but I finally have a small collection of postcards that story ideas for me.  These can be pictures almost always depict people, either going about their daily lives or stuck in bizarre situations.  When there aren't any people in the images, I try to place myself in that scene and imagine what a character would be doing or thinking in that setting.

Image File Litmus Test:  The picture's content doesn't matter.  What matters is that I get a sense that the world of the image extends beyond the canvas or photograph.

Warning:  You need to set some limits for yourself.  Rome wasn't built in a day, and the same is true for image files.  You could waste hours of precious writing time collecting images of characters you're never going to use.  This is why I prefer postcards.  Every time I visit a museum or a new city, I take five minutes in a gift shop to buy a few postcards.  At first I had only a handful of images, but over time the collection has grown, and without much time, money or effort spent.

Tip:  If you have family or friends who travel, ask them to send you a postcard with a "picture that tells a story."  This way, your image file can grow even if you're not collecting the images yourself.  They'll get sent to you!  Also, it will be interesting to see what images they choose.

Here are a couple of pictures to help you get started.

Eugene Atget, Staircase, Montmartre (1921)

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Juvisy, France (1938)

Karen Halverson,  Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California (1992)

Edward Hopper, Movie (1939)

Archibald John Motley Jr., Nightlife (c.1943)

Pierre Auguste Renoir,  Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise (1875)

Gerhard Richter, Woman Descending the Staircase (1965)

Sheron Rupp, Trudy in Annie's Sunflower Maze, Amherst, MA (2000)

August Sander, Children, Westerwald (1920)

John Singer Sargent, Fumee D'Ambre Gris (1880)

Homework: Find 5 additional images for your image.  These can be postcards, pictures clipped from magazines or even images you captured with a camera or sketchbook.  The important thing is that all five images help us find a character.

Are there any artists or photographers you recommend who are especially good at capturing such images?  Any must-haves I should add to my image file?

4 Phases of Idea-Generation

Most new ideas or concepts go through a four-phase process.  The time spent in each phase--along with the order of the phases themselves--can vary depending on the person and the project.  Some phases can even be repeated multiple times throughout the creative process.

4 Phases of Idea Generation

Inspiration Phase
This phase is where you get that initial spark of an idea and it's what most people think of as the creative process (though as you'll see, the creative process extends beyond this phase).  In DIY MFA 2.O, we'll be focusing on this phase, talking about some of the techniques writers can use to dig up new ideas for projects.

Incubation Phase
This is when you let the idea sit for a while.  You might feel weird leaving a project hanging--lazy even--but this phase is an important stage in any creative development.  In writing, incubation can occur between drafts, in the middle of a draft, or even before you start the very first draft.  The important thing is being able to recognize when you need to step back from a project and give yourself room to do so.

Illumination Phase
This is the evaluation stage, where you look at the idea or project, tease it apart and figure out its weak points.  This is also where you look at the overall organization of your idea and shuffle things around as needed.  While your inner critic might usually be persona non grata, in this phase, it might be appropriate to let it have its say.  Later on, we'll talk later about ways to use your inner critic productively without letting it go spastic and take over your project.

Implementation Phase
This phase, which usually comes at the end, is where you stop thinking and start writing.  Funny how that keeps coming up again and again in ORACLE-related posts.  In the end, it all comes down to the same thing: you can plan and think and ponder all you like, but sooner or later you have to sit down and write.

Every writer has at least one phase they love and at least one that makes a root canal sound like fun.  For me, implementation is where I drag my feet but I'm nutso for the other three.  In fact, I have to limit the number of WIPs I have going or else I'd be constantly tempted to start a ton of projects and I'd never finish any.  What phase do you tend to get "stuck" in and never want to leave?  Which phase scares the living daylights out of you?

5 Principles for Generating Ideas

When it comes to generating ideas there are basically two ways you can do it: the easy way and the hard way.  Neither one is necessarily better than the other, but the easy way will definitely save you a lot of time, stress and agony, while the hard way... well, it's just hard.

This is where the ORACLE comes in.  The ORACLE is all about making life easier for you, especially when it comes to generating ideas.  Here are a few principles that I've learned from my ORACLE that have helped make my writing life a lot easier.

•  Leave some things to chance.  Let's face it, part of what makes writing so challenging isn't that we don't have enough choices, it's that we have too many.  Sometimes having to make so many decisions can be paralyzing and limiting your options can actually be liberating.  This is when I turn to the ORACLE.  With the flip of a coin or roll of the die, I can take a decision out of my hands and put it in the hands of chance.  Today, try letting chance decide one small detail in your writing.

•  Engage the five senses.  When I'm at a loss for ideas, I go back to the basics.  I focus on the five senses, particularly senses other than sight (since that one tends to be the one I use most often).  I make a soundtrack for the story I'm working on.  I burn a candle and focus on the scent.  I eat jelly beans in weird flavors.  I go to my knitting stash and pet the yarn.  The latter is how I got the idea for one of my projects.  Try to draw on one of your lesser-used senses.

•  Embrace the unexpected.  I still remember the first time a character of mine hijacked the story from me.  I was writing a short story with an eleven-year-old boy protagonist and suddenly the kid is standing in the living room with his mom measuring him for a party dress and I realized that my character was really a girl.  I spent some time trying to rework the story, to keep with my original vision but the story only came to life the minute I let go of my own personal agenda and let the character be who she wanted to be.  Have you ever had something unexpected come up in a project?  How did you handle it?

•  Step beyond your comfort zone.  It's easy for writers to get into a routine and sometimes rituals can help us prepare for a writing session.  At the same time, though, too much routine can hinder more than help, and it's up to us to do something to shake things up.  For me, a great way to break a humdrum routine is to try an new environment.  Sometimes that means just moving to a different room in the apartment; sometimes I have to pack up my notebook and take a subway to a different part of the city.  Do one small thing this week to push you outside your comfort zone.

•  Practice, practice, practice.  One of the most important parts of DIY MFA is the actual doing of it.  We can talk about writing in the abstract forever but the writing won't do itself.  Sooner or later we have to grit our teeth and do the work and this is where practice comes in.  A friend recently recommended an app for the computer called Pomodoro.  I tried it and now I swear by it.  Seriously.  It keeps me accountable and forces me to focus for short spurts, rather than letting me sit at my desk for hours, zoning out and checking twitter.  What kinds of techniques can you use to help get you in the zone?

How you can apply these five principles to your writing this week?

ORACLE

You've heard me mention the ORACLE in the past, but today I thought I would give you a more detailed look at what the ORACLE really is. First things first; the ORACLE stands for:

Outrageous
Ridiculous
Absurdly
Creative
Literary 
Exercises

I store my ORACLE in a treasure chest because every time I visit, I like thinking that I'm going to discover a little piece of treasure.  What's inside this box of tricks?  I'll show you:

These are just a few things that live in (or near) the ORACLE.  The box is so jam-packed with stuff that some things no longer fit in the ORACLE proper and have been moved to various annex locations.  There are also some additional items not show in the picture, including: mood playlists on my iPod, a deck of cards (for playing solitaire), and of course the Idea Bank.

Why do I keep bringing up this ORACLE idea?

Because the ORACLE will be central to the structure of DIY MFA 2.O.  Just like DIY MFA is about giving you the tools to build a satisfying and productive writing life, the ORACLE is about building a diverse skill set for generating ideas.  Sure, I could give you prompts or exercises from my own ORACLE, but at the end of April, where would that leave you?  Instead, I'd rather give you tools and tricks I've developed that will help you come up with your own infinite bank of ideas.  That way, you'll always have somewhere to turn if your creative well goes temporarily dry.

But before get carried away, we need to talk about some ORACLE basics.  This week, in preparation for DIY MFA 2.O, I'll be doing a post series on the ORACLE.  Posts will include:

• 5 Principles for Generating Ideas
• 4 Results You Can Expect from the ORACLE (and I'll let you in on which one will be especially important to DIY MFA 2.O)
• The DIY MFA 2.O Schedule

In the meantime, I want to hear from you.  I showed you what's in my writing toolbox, now show me yours, 'k?  What are some things in your writing toolbox that you simply cannot do without?

Idea Bank

One of the things you'll need to collect for DIY MFA 2.O is an Idea Bank.  The bank itself can take any number of shapes: a cookie tin, a shoebox, a jar, a small vase.  I'm using this pink cube vase that I found at a thrift shop.





How it works: Write down and any ideas you can't work on right now and deposit them in the Idea Bank so that they'll be there for you when you need them later on.  You can keep adding to your stash or taking from it over time.

How is this different from the ORACLE?  The ORACLE is where you keep your creativity tools.  The Idea Bank is where you store the unused fruits of your creativity.

How I use my Idea Bank: I carry slips of paper with me so I can jot down ideas on the go.  When I think of a funny line, prompt or idea for a story, I write it down, fold it up and when I get home I put it in the bank.  Then when I need a creative kick in the pants, I pull an idea out of the bank at random and use that to fuel my writing.

Note that there are no limitations or rules about what you can put in your Idea Bank. In addition to folded pieces of paper, you can also use put in pictures or any other objects that could spark a story or idea.

Hint: If you're planning to do StoryADay in May, start building up a store of ideas in the bank.

Think about it: if you come up with one good prompt every day between now and April 30, you'll have more than enough story ideas to get you through May.  Then when you get to the challenge, you can focus on writing and not on thinking up ideas.

Even if you don't do a month-long challenge like StoryADay, you can still use the Idea Bank to store your ideas until you have time to work on them.  Right now, I'm only alloted two works-in-progress (otherwise I'd have way too many started projects and none that are ever finished).  I use the Idea Bank to store concepts I don't have time for right now but would like to come back to later.

Have you found an Idea Bank for your DIY MFA 2.O?  What is it?  How do you plan to use it?