Your Creative Environment

by

Mitchell Wiesjahn

 

Most writers will want to have a separate environment for writing their greatest works. So if you have this separate space, wherever it may be, you should now prepare it to be a proper writing environment. You may ask: what would qualify as a good place to write? How do I prepare it for writing? Why do I really need to prepare it for writing?

Preparing a proper space is necessary because your designated writing space needs to allow you to write without distraction and needs to ensure maximum creative productivity. This is part of the reason you won’t want to write in a living room that could have distractions like television, people, or pets disturbing a peaceful writing session. Distractions like these not only hinder your writing, they can take away from your creative muse. That great idea you had is gone as quick as your dog can bark. A proper environment should block out the rest of the world to let you write in peace. Think of places in your home that might provide such a place. You may have an office space already, but if not, you could set up shop in a laundry room (Stephen King did that at one time), an attic, a basement, or even possibly your bedroom, if you can modify it to your needs as a writer.

             That’s not to say that your environment should just be about finding peace. It also can bring up great inspiration. As a writer, you may be building fantastical worlds for readers to escape to. Think of setting up your writing space as an exercise for building your grand world. Think about your work and what you need to envision as you write, then just decorate as necessary.  As a fantasy writer, maybe you’ll try to fortify your space with illustrations of Middle Earth. Science Fiction writers will probably want to use this space to properly set themselves in outer space by setting up constellations. Throwing in a Death Star would most likely help too.

            You might also want to think about making your space as real as possible, not just an artificial environment that you are piecing together. If we are to think of this place you’ve constructed being as real as any setting, not to mention making the space help you write about vibrant settings, could you add a touch of smell that could invoke your creative muse? Maybe you are writing about a doctor as a main character and his adventures in the medical field, how about making your working space smell as sanitized as a hospital to help you become one with the character? Depending on what you want to write about, you may want to put some thought into what sort of smells your characters will encounter, for that can only help you in making your own writing come off as realistic and sensory as possible.

            If we talk sensory, then touch is also noteworthy. It might be easier to envision than smell, as you might be more aware of what you touch than what you smell (unless the smell is very distinctive from others). If you’re in fantasy, maybe incorporate some tree bark or castle concrete into your space. This not only serves as a visual element, but if you are procrastinating and suffering from writer’s block, touching these items could get you back into the fold, and they will serve as comfort in such times. In this case, your environment is becoming a breathing entity, and if you’re incorporating smell, then it becomes even more alive with every addition you make.

Decorating doesn’t need to be expensive, but it needs to inspire you to write. What you write could potentially benefit you tremendously, so keep in mind that this expense of decorating (or world building exercise if you prefer) is really just a small investment. Posters are not expensive, and if you’re nerdy like me you may just use childhood toys to help you out. Something that you may also want to consider is the positivity you should put into your space. You may think a cheesy line about believing in yourself doesn’t help, but a few inspirational quotes can go a long way in getting through those plot holes you need to fill up.

Maybe this doesn’t work for you, or you aren’t sure how to go about using space to generate creativity. You might consider examining some of these articles, which can provide you more information about where to write your great novel or short story.

 

http://thewritelife.com/10-creative-writing-spaces/

http://www.pw.org/content/writing_spaces

http://thewritelife.com/writing-spaces-9-famous-creatives-best-work/

 

 

 



Adopting Ideas and Maintaining a Journal

by

Tiffany T. Cole

 

Adopting Ideas

I'm one of those writers who gets more ideas than I can handle. Possibilities and what-ifs are constantly on my mind, and I'm acutely aware that nearly everything I look at and everything I hear has some kind of story if I ask the right questions about whatever features stood out to me. When I walk past a group of people and hear fragments of an animated conversation about something that happened, I automatically fill in the blanks of what I didn’t hear with a what-if story of my own. Similarly, when I see an item that is out of place or unusual, I start asking how and why until a scene emerges.

Sometimes, though, those ideas are too self-contained for me to develop a full story—maybe just a character, scene, or setting. When too many of my ideas are self-contained, I consider adopting ideas in one of three ways:

Nanowrimo's Adopt a Plot Thread

NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, is a writing movement that takes place every November in which people write 50,000 words in 30 days. NaNoWriMo has a writing community that's beneficial all year around, especially if you're just trying to find ideas. The Adopt a Plot thread is viewable even if you're not a member. You can simply scroll through the pages of the thread and adopt as many plots as you want. To access the Adoption Society, where you can pick from a variety of adoption threads, go to http://nanowrimo.org/forums/adoption-society.

Because anyone else on the thread can also take the ideas, I suggest you change any specific setting or character names and give whatever idea you choose your own personal twist.

Dreams and Nightmares

My dreams are vivid with recurring themes, so much so that I make a habit of recording all the characters, settings, and feelings in a dream diary because I'm certain I can get a story out of it. If your dreams aren't vivid or you don't remember them, that doesn't mean you can't benefit from this method of idea adoption. You don't have to use your own dreams, especially if you're close to them. You can always ask your friends and family to share their dreams with you or just go on Google and read about people's dreams.

Writing Prompts and Idea Generators

For me, the only type of writing prompt I can get a full short story or novel from are prompts that indicate characterization and specific conflicts. However, there are many different types of prompts, and every writer responds differently to them. Finding prompts and idea generators is as easy as doing a quick Google search. However, here are a few recommendations:

·        http://www.writingforward.com/writing-prompts/creative-writing-prompts/25-creative-writing-prompts

·         http://creativewritingprompts.com

·         http://writingexercises.co.uk/plotgenerator.php

 

Maintaining a Journal

Regardless of whether you adopt ideas or they just bombard you on a day-to-day basis, it's absolutely vital to have two journals:

·         A small journal or some place on your phone to record any thoughts that occur to you. Often, I just end up writing ideas all over my hand and arm, but that makes washing my hands a devastating process.

·         A document or idea journal where you gather all these ideas and then, later, go through the ideas and section them. In my idea journal, I categorize each idea by its genre; whether it'll be a short story, flash fiction, novella, novel, or part of a series; and if I'm likely to actually pursue the idea. I then flesh out the ideas I'm likely to pursue.

Ideas come in all shapes or forms. No matter how they come to you, whether you borrow them from someone else or they pop up when you least expect it, each idea is valuable and has the opportunity to be the story you were looking to write.  

__________

Tiffany T. Cole is a freelance editor and a copy editor for Limitless Publishing and the Purdue University Chronicle. She has edited and critiqued dozens of newspaper articles and dozens of books, fiction and nonfiction alike, in a variety of genres. Before that, she was an editorial assistant for Month9Books and the president of Reader's Den, a website where she reviewed and promoted books for small publishers, self-published authors and traditionally published authors, for two years. If you need an editor or editorial advice, e-mail Tiffany at editor@tiffanytcole.com.



Where Do Ideas Come From?

Post by

Kathryn Page Camp

 

www.kathrynpagecamp.com

 

Some writers have trouble coming up with ideas. I have the opposite problem. I have computer files filled with potential story lines, and my challenge is deciding which one to use next.

 

So where do they come from? Many of my ideas are generated by what is happening around me. I’m not as good an observer as many writers are, but I see enough. A good story line comes when I watch strangers interacting or read a newspaper article and ask questions: What makes them act like that? What will happen next? What if the facts were changed?

 

Sometimes my ideas come from reading books with similar themes. The idea for my first middle-grade historical novel, which I am now circulating to publishers, came from reading Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston. Their book introduced me to our infamous actions toward Japanese Americans living on the west coast during World War II. But those events are quickly fading into history and losing their impact. So I wondered what it would be like to write a story that brought children into the experience and kept them from forgetting it.

 

But maybe you would rather hear it from a widely-published writer. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is one of Indiana’s best-known children’s authors, and her works include the Newberry winning Shiloh. She also wrote How I Came to Be a Writer, which is a memoir for middle-grade readers. She describes how she gets her ideas in a chapter called “The Things That Make Me Up.”

 

Many of her ideas come the way some of mine do—from reading the newspaper and observing the world around her. But what does she do when they don’t flow? Here is her answer from How I Came to Be a Writer.

 

I found it helpful then to just sit down in a quiet place and get reacquainted with myself. What things were important to me? What did I know so well I could almost write about it with my eyes closed?

 

So if you are having trouble coming up with ideas, don’t panic. Watch the world around you. Read. And if that isn’t successful, find a quiet place and think about what matters to you.

 

It works for Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

 

__________

 

Kathryn Page Camp is a licensed attorney and full-time writer. Writers in Wonderland: Keeping Your Words Legal was a Kirkus’ Indie Books of the Month Selection for April 2014. The second edition of Kathryn’s first book, In God We Trust: How the Supreme Court’s First Amendment Decisions Affect Organized Religion, was released on September 30, 2015. You can learn more about Kathryn at www.kathrynpagecamp.com.



Jean Shepherd: A Hammond, Indiana Story

by

Kathryn Page Camp

 

www.kathrynpagecamp.com

 

Like Jean Shepherd, my husband grew up in Hammond, Indiana. So one of our family traditions is to watch A Christmas Story on Christmas day.

 

After moving away from Northwest Indiana, Shepherd became a radio and television personality. He is best known for co-writing and narrating A Christmas Story, which was filmed in Cleveland. But it and many of Shepherd’s beloved short stories are set in his hometown. He changed the name to protect the guilty, but Hammond by any other name is still Hammond. 

 

Humorist Jean Shepherd was born on July 21, 1921. His biographies give conflicting information on the actual place of his birth, with some listing south Chicago and others saying he was born in Hammond. But it is clear that he grew up in Hammond, graduated from Hammond High School in 1939, and worked in the steel mills for a time. He served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II and spent most of his career in New York City, with earlier stints in Cleveland and Philadelphia. He eventually retired to Florida and died there on October 16, 1999.

 

But although Shepherd spent his career outside of Indiana, he couldn’t get Hammond out of his blood. As mentioned above, many of his short stories are set there, as is the movie A Christmas Story.

 

Hammond can’t get Jean Shepherd out of its blood, either. The picture at the head of this post shows the Jean Shepherd Community Center. Hammond also recognizes its hometown hero during holiday events, such as a tribute held downtown and an annual display of scenes from A Christmas Story at the Indiana Welcome Center.

 

If you haven’t read any of Jean Shepherd’s books, I recommend starting with In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash.

 

You just might get hooked.

 

__________

 

Kathryn Page Camp is a licensed attorney and full-time writer. Writers in Wonderland: Keeping Your Words Legal was a Kirkus’ Indie Books of the Month Selection for April 2014. The second edition of Kathryn’s first book, In God We Trust: How the Supreme Court’s First Amendment Decisions Affect Organized Religion, was released on September 30, 2015. You can learn more about Kathryn at www.kathrynpagecamp.com.



Stream Line Series to Celebrate Indiana's Bicentennial on March 9th

by

Janine Harrison

 

How is Indiana developed as a place in writing—physically, socially, politically, and culturally?  What is its regional dialect?  How is Northwest Indiana, in particular, portrayed?  Who are “Region Rats”?  What is its history, and in such changing times, where is the state—the Region—going?  What can be said about its literary community, past, present, and future?  In celebration of Indiana’s 200^th anniversary, Stream Line Literary Reading Series will be exploring these questions and more.

Please join us for an Indiana-themed poetry and prose open mic and roundtable discussion on Wednesday, March 9^th, from 7 to 9 PM, at Paul Henry’s Art Gallery.  During the first part of the evening, interested open mic participants will have an opportunity to read poetry and either short prose or long prose excerpts in which Indiana is featured.  After a potluck intermission, readers and listeners will settle into a roundtable discussion, rooted in the open mic readings, about Indiana, and specifically the complex character that is Northwest Indiana, heroic yet flawed.  The evening will also include Indiana trivia and more.

The eclectic and inspired space, Paul Henry’s Art Gallery, is located at 416 Sibley Street in Hammond, Indiana.  Admission is $5.00 or $3.00 with a potluck contribution at the door. 

Stream Line Series is entering into its second year.  In 2015, the program, hosted by the Indiana Writers’ Consortium and sponsored by Purdue University Calumet’s Department of English and Philosophy, held events ranging from poetry readings and a slam; to children, YA, and speculative genres; to drama and an oral storytelling slam.  Stream Line will host 2016 events on the second Wednesdays of March, April, May, August, September, and October, always at Paul Henry’s Art Gallery, beginning at 7 PM.  If you are interested in presenting, making a theme suggestion, or simply have a question, please email streamlineseries@gmail.com.

Hope to see you on March 9^th for this bicentennial literary bash! 



Jessamyn West: Indiana Writer at Heart

by

Joyce B. Hicks

 

www.joycebhicks.com

 

Though she grew up in California, Indiana considers Jessamyn West (1902-1984) an Indiana writer. She was born in Vernon, Indiana and some of her short stories and her most well-known book, The Friendly Persuasion, are based on the life of Southern Indiana Quakers. Though she may not have experienced these times herself, they were clearly conveyed to her, during bed rest for tuberculosis, by her mother and by a grandmother who was devoted to books. Her parents practiced the Quaker faith in California, and Jessamyn attended Whittier College as an undergraduate. The values of charity and kindness, as well a sly Quaker humor, bred the interest in people that comes through clearly in her stories.

 

In an interesting interview with the Paris Review (1977), Jessamyn West commented she didn’t think she was a very good plotter. For evidence she recalled that, while in Hollywood working with director William Wyler on the film Friendly Persuasion (starring Gary Cooper and nominated for an Academy Award, 1956), he said to her, “’We’ve got to get one more ‘will he? won’t he?’ into this.’” She went on to say, “I think this is what a reader wants” (Paris Review). However, her wide praise as a storyteller, as well as the popularity of the film in its time and the enduring popularity of the book (1945) contradict this self-criticism.

 

When asked in the 1977 interview whether she agreed that contemporary fiction was in trouble, she concurred saying, “So many novelists no longer seem to care what happens to other human beings,” a description at odds with her own sensibilities. She observed that the modern novel was “a metaphysical composition” (Paris Review). Indeed, it may be her genuine interest in familiar people in familiar dilemmas that makes some of her stories saccharine today, though she is clearly interested in questions we could term metaphysical.

 

IWC members should be happy to claim West for Indiana and feel a kinship with her efforts. Though filling notebooks with story plots as a child, West was not published until her late thirties, starting with small magazines in 1939 and moving to literary fiction in magazines like the New Yorker. She published collections and many novels, among these the very popular Cress Delahanty (1955), which today might be called YA.

 

Though thrilled with Cress as a teen, I began my reading of West again with The Friendly Persuasion. It took a chapter or two before I was caught up in the life of a Quaker family in a small Indiana town and in the evolution of their faith over their lifetime. From the Civil War to their old age, the stories record the lives of Eliza Birdwell, a Quaker minister, and her husband Jess in Vernon, Indiana, West’s birthplace.

 

Whether riding with their sons as they break Quaker tradition to join the local defense against Morgan’s Raiders or following the ruminations of father Jess, I was awed by West’s skill of getting to the heart of our experiences, often through analogy. For example, at eighty Jess befriends a foster child. His wife says his pleasure stems from seeing himself in the boy at that age, but he disagrees. He accounts for his interest this way: “It was meeting a human being at first hand, not as was the case with most grown-ups, second hand, if at all: not meeting a person assembled, put together so’s to present to the inspecting eye the very object for which it was searching” (The Friendly Persuasion, 209). Speaking with adults he says is like “peering through the chinks and knotholes” to see inside the “makeshift building” (209).

 

I’d like to come back to West’s comments about plot, a frequent topic of advice for writers. Her prescription is simple. When asked where she began with a story or novel, she said, “I think of a character in a situation. The character must be involved. I mean, he can’t just stand there. . . So, the two, character and situation, go together” (Paris Review). She goes on to say that she has found the novel to be an easier form because of less tight organization. “With the novel you simply live with the people for a considerable length of time and you write as things happen, whereas the short story, like the poem, must be convoluted for a purpose . . . a shaft of light into that particular happening” (Paris Review). What a perfect analogy for what she does so well.

 

Your library may have to request her books from other branches. I’d suggest beginning with The Friendly Persuasion, the book, not the movie, acclaimed in its time. The Paris Review interview linked here is also good preparation, as is looking at portraits of Jessamyn West on line or on her book jackets. She is a gracious-looking, lovely woman in waved hair and dresses, definitely a writer to claim for Indiana.

 

West, Jessamyn. The Friendly Persuasion. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company,           1940.

 

 

__________

 

Joyce B. Hicks is a member of Blank Slate Writers and the Indiana Writers’ Consortium. You can find her website at www.joycebhicks.com and can contact her at joyce.hicks@valpo.edu.

Gene Stratton-Porter

by

Kathryn Page Camp

 

www.kathrynpagecamp.com

 

This year celebrates Indiana’s bicentennial. During January, the Indiana Writers’ Consortium blog will highlight several well-known Indiana writers, starting with Gene Stratton-Porter.

When I was in high school, I discovered The Girl of the Limberlost among the books that my mother had saved from her own high school years. I was always hungry for something new to read, and it didn’t take me long to devour this one.

On the surface, I had little in common with the protagonist, Elnora. She had a dead father and a cold mother. I had two living parents and knew that they loved me. Elnora fought her mother to attend high school, and my parents fought for a good education for each of their children. Elnora lived on the edge of a swamp in Indiana, and I lived in the middle of a small town in Michigan.

And yet, Gene Stratton-Porter found the commonality in our shared emotions and desires. Elnora wanted to fit in, and so did I. Elnora loved reading and music, and so did I. But mostly, Elnora wanted her mother’s love. Although I had that, I could imagine what life would be like without it, and I ached for her. I also rejoiced at those times when there was a glimmer of hope, such as when her mother packed a sumptuous lunch and Elnora exclaimed, “Sure as you’re born she loves me; only she hasn’t found it out yet!”

I won’t give away any more of the story because I would rather you read it yourself. Instead, I’ll tell you something about the author.

Gene Stratton-Porter was born on August 17, 1863 in Wabash County, Indiana. She did not finish high school, but she loved to read and was an ardent naturalist. Although she is best known for her novels, she wrote many books about nature and was also a wildlife photographer.

Gene married Charles Porter, a pharmacist, in 1886, and they had a daughter a year later. Charles owned pharmacies in Geneva and Fort Wayne, Indiana, so they built a home in Geneva near the Limberlost Swamp. When developers ruined the swamp, the family moved north and purchased the land to create their own wildlife refuge on Sylvan Lake in Noble County, Indiana. It is now the Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site and is open to the public. I visited it many years ago with my daughter and husband when my son was attending Camp Lutherhaven near Fort Wayne.

Unfortunately for all of us, Gene Stratton-Porter moved to California for her health and to found her own movie studio. She had only been there a few years when she was in an automobile accident that took her life. She died on December 6, 1924 at the age of 61.

Even though she spent the last few years of her life in California, Gene Stratton-Porter was a quintessential Indiana author. If you haven’t read her yet, you should. To paraphrase Elnora, “Sure as you’re born you’ll love her; only you haven’t found it out yet!”

_________

The picture of Gene Stratton-Porter at the head of this post is in the public domain because of its age.

__________

Kathryn Page Camp is a licensed attorney and full-time writer. Writers in Wonderland: Keeping Your Words Legal was a Kirkus’ Indie Books of the Month Selection for April 2014. The second edition of Kathryn’s first book, In God We Trust: How the Supreme Court’s First Amendment Decisions Affect Organized Religion, was released on September 30, 2015. You can learn more about Kathryn at www.kathrynpagecamp.com.