I’m loving Bird by Bird lately, a gift of a book given to me by a very thoughtful friend.
I used to feel a tinge of imposter syndrome when people would ask me what my favorite books are. I read all the time, but it tends to be non-fiction; reading about writing, in particular. The appeal, I think, is the tips and tidbits that I can use in real time, that day, if I so please.
But though I read all the time, I felt a pressure to answer the question of “who’s your favorite writer?” with one of the “greats”, and I don’t often read “one of the greats.”
Who’s my favorite writer? Frank Ocean, to be honest. lol.
I’ve been feeling called to write blog posts lately, if for nothing else, for myself. To help track my process and my journey and have somewhere to organize my thoughts. To hold myself a little bit accountable. But also to help other people who are on similar journeys as mine…who need a little bit of guidance with their writing processes. I’m really into the whole “being the me I wish I had” thing…it’s what drives me.
I can’t guarantee how frequent they will be (i’m a little moody—seasonal depression is really trying to kick my ass—and I have ADHD lol) but this feels like a good start.
Here are some writing prompts/exercises I’m working on this week, from Anne Lamott’s “Bird By Bird”:
(Her chapter on Character is really speaking to me lately. Firstly, because I’m currently reading it, but secondly, because I’ve noticed that I’ve been trying to protect my characters a little too much, which has resulted in me being stuck and maybe playing it a little too safe. Everything below is excerpted from that chapter.)
“You are going to love some of your characters, because they are you or some facet of you, and you are going to hate some of your characters for the same reason. But no matter what, you're probably going to have to let bad things happen to some of the characters you love or you won't have much of a story. Bad things happen to good characters, because their actions have consequences, and we do not all behave perfectly all the time. As soon as you start protecting you characters from the ramifications of their less than lofty behavior, your story will start to feel flat and pointless, just like in real life.
Get to know your characters as well as you can, let there be something at stake, and then let the chips fall where they may.
You may only know your characters’ externals instead of their essences. Don’t worry about it. More will be revealed over time. In the meantime, can you see what your people look like? What sort of first impression do they make? What does each one care most about, want more than anything in the world? What are their secrets? How do they move, how do they smell?
Whatever your characters do or say will be born out of who they are, so you need to set out to get to know each one a well as possible.
Look within your own heart, at the different facets of your personality. You may find a ConMan, an orphan, a nurse, a king, a hooker, a preacher, a loser, a child, a crone.
Go into each of these people and try to capture how each one feels, thinks, talks, survives.
Base them partly on someone you know, a model from really life or a composite—your Uncle Edgar, but with the nervous tics and the odd smell of this guy you observed for ten minutes in line at the post office. Squint at these characters in your mind, and then start to paint them for us…See if you can hear what hey would say and how they would say it.
How would your main characters describe their current circumstances to a close friend, before and then after a few drinks? See if you can take dictation from them as they tell you who they think they are and what life has been like lately.
Think of the basket of each character’s life: what holds the ectoplasm together—what are this person’s routines, beliefs? What little things would your character write in your journals? How aware is each character of how flimsy the basket really is?
How present are your people? Which “now” do your characters dwell in?”