DYI Writing Internship – Books for Writers

Over the past weeks, I have been compiling lists of books that various writers (and others) think offer the best insights into how to master the craft of writing.

Here is another list, from “The Write Life”.

Of special note

• This list breaks the topic into some useful sub-categories
  • How to become a better writer
  • Overcoming the struggles of writing
  • Writing as an  art form
  • Making money by writing
• You see Steven King’s book “On Writing” here, and on just about every list. That may tell you something
• “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott is a runner up to King

I am thinking about this in terms of

• Becoming a writer (steps that enable anyone to think like a writer and thus empower you to start writing ever day)
• Creating  stuff (how to build up various types of writings – stories, articles, etc.)
• Upgrading what you write –  (how to edit)
• Sustaining the effort (how to define and achieve success as a writer)

 

 

DIY – Creative Writing Internship 3

The main goal of this do it yourself internship is to develop a framework for understanding and using “creative voice”. I chose that topic thinking that the voice comes first. It gives energy to the written word.

The first step has been to go through Brenda Ueland’s book “If  You Want to Write”. And this has already offered me some framework ideas.

• We all have things to say and write – important things – but most of us are held back by our own judgmental, critical thinking. We judge even before we create!
• Creating is a natural flow that emerges from our true self.

And this is the latest, and perhaps most important framework of all. The voice I am looking for is not the voice I normally use in conversation. It is a voice that emerges from a different mental process. That process is slow. It requires time and space., And it is fragile. To enable that voice to emerge, I need to get used to imposing “creative idleness”. To stop the brain from its usual thinking patterns and wait for the voice to talk to me. To listen to it without judging. And each day that I do this, that voice will get stronger. Today’s thinking will enrich tomorrow’s session.

This idea is consistent with a thought that has been percolating in me mind for some time. It is a thought that Brenda Ueland said straight out — being glib is the enemy of being creative.

DI/Y Creative Writing Internship – 2

I am moving along in my summer internship on how to build “voice” for creative writing. This is my second post where I track what I am learning.

BTW, one thing is already clear from this project. Committing to this type of project creates a certain amount of energy — even before I started  doing anything or learn anything. I felt that energy. I think it has to do with the motivation one gets from seeing a path to “mastery” (I take that from Dan Pink’s Drive). You don’t need to achieve mastery to feel the engagement in following the path.

The first step in my own learning path has been to revisit the wisdom of William Blake. To feel the energy he got from creating from the true self.

Brenda Ueland takes this a step further.  She introduces two emotions that are at the core of the creative process. Love and gratitude. She points out that renaissance noblemen wrote sonnets to express their love, not caring whether the works was published. Van Gogh too created out of his love for nature and people. His genius boils down to the simple desire to share what he loved with people whom he loved. And he was grateful for that opportunity.  Though he suffered in real terms, he persisted in sharing his love for the beauty around him.

The core idea – the strongest foundation for building a creative voice is that sort of triad. A strong emotional bond to people with whom you want to share what you love. It might start by wishing to share your own genius (love of self). But notice how that motivation requires the writer to create a fictional genius self to write about. A separation from the true learning self, and a recipe for madness if it is taken too seriously.

DIY – Creative Writing Internship – 1

Yesterday, I posted on the idea of doing a creative writing internship — on my own. A “DIY” internship.  My motivation – to organize — on my own — a learning project and from that to create a tangible product. You might call it an “internship report”.

I  have the idea that by doing this, I can get better at “learning how to learn”, and create platforms that I can share with others to help them do the same thing.

So my first step was to gather some resources on creative writing, and start by selecting my first topic – creating a voice. I posted on this yesterday. As it turns out, Brenda Ueland’s book “If  You Want to Write” is all about finding your voice.  I have to chuckle. Brenda’s book has sat on my bookshelf for years and I am just now dipping into it!

Lesson learned! Create a learning project and you will start to see the value of the resources that you have!

I have gone through the first 2 chapters, and would share these thoughts

• We all have original and meaningful voices – things to say.
• One does not have to “try” to create a creative writing voice. One has to try to discard the various artificial voices that have been taken over in the name of what one “should” sound like.
• Judgmental criticism (from the self- or from others- stifles the creative self.
• Our voices get stronger by using them.
• And — taking a cue from William Blake, we do well to “fuse” the inspiration we get from life with the inspiration to create. The energy unleashed is pure joy.

Lesson Learned – This leads me to think more deeply about a metric to use in assessing the value of what I create -where is the energy in it?

A quick aside — the energy that Brenda speaks of is not just energy one gets from writing. She points out that anything we commit to can create energy. You might call this “conviction” rather than just momentary inspiration.  For example, the conviction that drove a figure like Oliver Cromwell.

I will read more from Brenda – and post on my DIY Internship as I make further progress! Stay tuned!

DIY Summer Internship on Creative Writing

Al Wenger posted that lots of students are having trouble finding internships this summer. His rec – DYI it. Pick a learning experience that you believe will help you, gather some resources, and go for it!

While this may not sound optimal (for example, you may not get to rub shoulders with the great and mighty), it may be the best you can do!

Full Disclosure: I am not a college studentm. On the other hand, I am a believer in LLL – Life Long Learning. So just for fun, I am going to do a DYI summer internship on creative writing, and I will post on my learning here on this blog.

The first step — just what is it that I plan to learn? Hmmm … there are lots of choices out there. Here are just a few that pop up in my mind:

• How to develop a creative writing voice
• How to develop characters and dialog
• How to build tension in plots
• How to edit
• How to get published

I have no idea which of the above would be more interesting. So I will just go with the first one that came to mind — how to develop a creative writing voice.

The first step — I will be assembling materials on this (books and articles) that I will use as resources, and I will start putting together a work plan.

Here is my initial list of books on hand that I will be using

• The Art of the Novel (Milan Kundera)
• Conversations with Kafka (Gustav Yanouch)
• How to Argue and Win Every Time (Gerry Spence)
• If You Want to Write (Brenda Ueland)
• The Reader Over Your Shoulder (Graves & Hodge)
• The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing
• Will Cather on Writing
• Writers on Writing (Breadloaf Anthology)
• The Writing Life – (Annie Dillard)
• Writing Without Teachers (Peter Elbow)

I will be picking up this book among others (as I find useful)

• Bird by Bird Anne Lamott

Stay tuned!