WRITING EXERCISE: DIRECTED FREEFALL

If I could get paid for reading...

I often have the feeling that I read too many books on how to write a book.
It's a good way to avoid the haunting blank page without feeling too guilty about it. 
After all, I'm still doing something about my writing! 
Except I'm not writing, I'm reading.

I've always been a book worm. 
If I could get paid for reading instead of writing, I would be a trillionaire before I turn 40 years old. Unfortunately that's not the case, and so I keep reading books on how to write a book.

"How to write a non fiction book in 60 days" by Paul Lima

 I'm loving this book. It's simple to read, easy to follow, it contains practical useful tips. 
In the preparatory days before even starting to write your book, Paul Lima suggests you do a simple exercise called Freefalling, nothing new, just the good old 10 minutes brainstorming where you write no stop without worrying about editing, spelling or silliness.
Then Paul Lima suggests your try a variation of freefalling called Directed freefalling: you pick a sentence and start writing whatever comes to mind in relation to that line, brainstorming for 10 minutes or more. 

Exercise: Directed Freefalling

Last night I tried the directed freefalling exercise using as my first line a simple sentence that was flashing on my laptop, totally unrelated to the task: "The bell rang..."
In ten minutes I had written 323 words about some weird accident that happened in my high school fifteen years ago and I had never thought of since. 
The story was catchy, fun and smelled of bullies and Nirvana.
I read it again today, started editing it, and I intend to submit it by the end of March for the flash fiction competition Lascaux 250.

Lascaux 250: the 2014 contest

Every year the Lascaux 250 flash fiction contest gets hundreds of submissions. The entries are required to be no longer than 250 words, submissions close on 20 March 2014.
Last year the competition was free, this year it requires a payment of 4$ but the first prize winner will get a reward based on the number of submissions received.
Everyone can send more than one story, every genre is accepted (except rude and offensive contents).

This will be my second year participating in the Lascaux writing competition: I strongly recommend every writer to submit their stories, and this is why:

- You get to see your story online, your name among the other writers. This makes you feel good and motivates you to keep going. 

- You get to read hundreds of flash fiction stories, that is a great writing exercise. 

- Comments to your story are a precious feedback for improving your writing skills.

- Comments to other stories help you to distinguish between good stories and weak stories.

Let me know if you decide to participate, I will make sure to leave a comment on your entry. I hope you will do the same with mine.
And if you know of any other good writing contests, please share in the comments section.

Have a good novel!

HOW TO SET FREE YOUR CREATIVITY

Creative writing – a psychological perspective

Fear is the cause of failure.

Failure starts when I'm not true to myself for fear of:

- external judgement: my mind is focused on what you think of me instead of roaming freely in a creative mood;


- high expectations: my mind is scared of not meeting the top target I'm imposing myself. Doing my best to get better does not mean caging my ideas for fear of them being wrong or silly;


- limited point of view: if I never look out of the window, I will live in a very small world. Being narrow minded implies missing tons of opportunities, prompts and fun;


- low motivation: if I put gas in a leaking tank I will never reach my objective. Low motivation is always a symptom of some fight that is happening between my behaviors and my values;


- external worries: everything that is not related to writing is a distraction that stops me from reaching my objective.

MY OBJECTIVE IS TO FREE MY CREATIVITY:

1) I decide to sign a contract with myself:
I ask myself: Why is writing so important to me?

"Stories are the single most powerful tool in a leader's toolkit” (Howard Gardner)

2) Once I'm clear about why I'm ready to do anything it takes to free my creativity, I need an action plan to verify my progress.


How to overcome:


- external judgement: I need higher self esteem and confidence in my abilities

- high expectations: I need to take destructive criticism and turn it into constructive criticism

- limited point of view: get out of my comfort zone


- low motivation: get to know my real values, how my behaviors affect them, fix the problem. This does not mean I give up. It means I compromise and choose a new satisfaction criteria.


- external worries: carefully choose what is more important. Is my worry really that crucial that I can't think about it later?

Immediate strategies to boost my creativity

It takes time to free my creativity. I need it today, right now.

THIS IS HOW I CAN GET MY CREATIVITY RIGHT NOW:

WARNING: this is a quick fix that does NOT substitute the complex work of freeing my creativity for good. 

The genius of Walt Disney was to understand that the creative process comes in three different phases: creative, critic, and realist.

He then chose three different settings, each one devoted to only one of activity:


§ a room to daydream without criticism or interference
§ a room to cruelly criticize every idea
§ a room to be pragmatic, rational and realistic


I need to choose my settings carefully. 
Where do I feel free to dream, no limits?
Why do I feel this way about the place?
If there's no such place available to me right now, how can I create it?


While I set up for work, I feel very thankful for my loyal and warm BFF... of course, it's CAFFE'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a good novel!

THE SPIN OFF

"Write every day" is the advice we keep hearing from famous authors.

"Make sure you write at the same hour every day" is a mantra we find in "how to write a novel" manuals. 

Write. Write. Write. Force yourself to sit down at your desk, avoid the social media, ignore your hurt family and neglected pets. 

Sometimes we are enthusiastic about the project we are working on. Other times our minds are blank canvas ready to get inspired, but The Muse is nowhere to be found (I like to imagine her sipping Martinis in Sicily).
So how to entertain ourselves during those long hours of loneliness?

A good fun technique is the SPIN OFF. 

Imagine your favorite book, movie, play or fairy tale. We know what happened to the hero in the end, but what about the secondary characters?

Have they moved? Do they have families? If they were the hero, what would happen to them?

Some authors are more inclined to write character driven stories, others prefer plot driven adventures. The former will focus on the development of one or more of the characters of the original book/movie/play. The latter will fantasize about the events that occurred in the future of the story and how those facts affected the characters. 

I recently read the classic Jane Eyre by the English novelist Charlotte Brontë. 
I was fearing a hard read, full of uninteresting details; I'm not a big fan of descriptions. 
Surprisingly, I found myself loving the book. I then watched the recently released movie and loved that too (just not quite as much as the book, as usual). 

I got impressed by the character of Helen, Jane's first friend at the charity school where Jane gets shipped by her evil relatives. Helen dies of consumption in Jane's arms (this happens quite early in the story, do not worry, I'm not spoiling the end for you!) 
During her short appearance, Helen shows a fiery character, rebel red hair, and a quite complex attitude towards religion and its rules. 

What would have happened if she had survived that unforgiving winter? If given the choice of living and growing up, what type of woman would she have become?
Would she have followed Jane in her adventures? Become her lover? Turned into a sophisticated smart feminist?

Whatever your choice, make sure you don't pick some uneventful life with a lousy ending. Remember: your hero should always be riding on a roller coaster!

Have a good novel!