Writers need resources

So you know you’re internet savvy, but are you searching smart? For writers the computer can be a work boosting best friend with keys to beat up or embrace with words, grammar, spell check, and all of the bells and whistles of Microsoft Office suite. But then there’s that great black cloud called the internet, where useful information and innovative ideas lie in the same nebulous spinning orb as Facebook, Twitter, and tumblers with Ryan Gosling and kittens. Now, now we know that social media is important for the aspiring writer. In the world of e-book self-publishing and small house presses…heck even big time houses, self branding, marketing and PR skills are a must. We will get to more of those in future posts.

Today we are talking about the time you spend on Facebook scrolling through photos of your friends until your back in high school, wondering why people thought that wearing dresses over jeans was a good idea, clicking on youtube links to s___ people say videos (we’re keeping it pg here), or trying to decode the meaning of the newest twitter hashtags.

Briefly lapsing into cyber space certainly relieves tension from hours spent at work, which we all need to do occasionally, but if you’re trying to stay on a writing schedule it’s best to come to quickly, or at least find an alternate way to pass (key word pass— not waste) time. If you can’t get back to your own writing, better to consider rerouting to work and self boosting web outlets instead of time suckers…as much as we all enjoy them.

The Scribbler Suite has selected some of our favorite writer related sites to share:

http://thisrecording.com/today/category/the-world

This site includes a mix of everything, from flash fiction pieces and short memoirs, to articles on favorite movie stars, with an “Arts” category that includes literature, artwork, poetry, film, TV, and music. The  “Places” section has memoir, travel pieces, and personal essays  from across the globe. This is a nice way to get a dose of pop culture along with inspiration from various artist angles.

http://fictionwritersreview.com/

We’re embracing this suggestion offered by Erika Dreifus in the latest issue of The Writer magazine. This site is run by a group of writers dedicated to reviewing forthcoming fiction titles, while also hearkening back to the classics to spur literary dialogues on why we love fiction and what constitutes strong stories. The blog also includes author interviews and essays, and offers authors a chance to submit a query of their latest novella or novel to be considered among review subjects.

http://duotrope.com/

Submissions, submissions! What better way to cure writers block than to start searching for where to submit your latest project or even future stories. This site offers a searchable database of fiction and poetry markets. It’s worth taking some time to see who’s out there and if there are presses specific to the genre you are or plan to work towards publishing in.

http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/likefire/

Ever wonder about the stories behind your favorite books? The “Novel” section of this site includes back stories of published works, exploring the personal history of authors and how it played a role in writing their novels, along with an analysis of  selected book content. “Open Letters Monthly” links to a full book review page with titles spanning all subjects.

Try these sites on for size. We will continue to offer posts of useful writing links and time passing web pages that are fun to peruse, while also offering alternate ways of thinking about your next big project. If you have a tip please share it with us, we’d love to hear what else is waiting to be discovered on the web!  Remember once your done surfing…start scribbling!

Care for a cookie with Proust? (from the Test Kitchen)

This Scribbler decided to go with a classic author and classic flavor combination for the first test kitchen run. Today we take a closer look at the work and palate of Marcel Proust. I decided to stay away from madeleine cookies, because they seem quite delicate to bake. So we have opted to embrace another one of the author’s favorite drinks in cookie form—espresso! The French novelist proclaimed he was unable to start writing until he had at least one demitasse cup each day. (And who can survive without chocolate?)

Here are the Scribbler Suite’s crackled chocolate espresso cookies and a some tidbits on Proust:

So what of the madeleine cookies? Did you know Proust didn’t actually publish the story A la Rechere du Temps Perdu (Remembrance of Things Past) that included the famous scene in which his narrator, Marcel, eats madeleine cookies, until the last decade of his life? The novel is a sort of coming-of-age story of Marcel that suggests many autobiographical links to Proust himself. Lacking plot form or a clear narrative voice, the novel is written in a stream of consciousness style, wherein Marcel begins his story uncertain of his purpose in life and comes to understand its meaning by journeying through memories of romance and disenchantment to discover his calling as a writer. Fictional Marcel then begins a novel much like the one Proust constructed for him.

Remembrance of Things Past  focuses on small emblems of memory and their power to connect people to lost times. In the novel Marcel expresses his struggles with “the past which already extended so far down and which I was bearing so painfully within me.” He realizes that the only way to free his thoughts is through his art. Rather than letting the memories bleed into him Marcel puts them on the page! The madeleine cookies become the first trigger of Marcel’s novel, when he dips one into a cup of tea and is instantly transported to his childhood home in Paris where his aunt would give him the same morning treat. The rest of the book weaves through memories of Marcel’s childhood and explores the way that people changed in his life to become almost unrecognizable, save for his acute memories of them, which he uses to capture their essence in art.

While Proust is considered one of the fathers of the modern novel, it is interesting to note that the first publisher he approached for Remembrance of Things Past denied it, and famous novelist of the time E. M. Foster called the entire book chaotic. Remember Scribblers… persistence is a virtue!

Of course even the most Proust obsessed scholars must assess his life and works from a critical angle—after all he did spend a great deal of his time locked away from society picking apart the vacuous nature of popular culture. Proust was one intense cookie!

We like to think of Proust much like sweets…good for you in moderation. We’ve seen from the historical struggles of many writers that the introspective nature of art can make for some heavily maudlin observations. Yet, by embracing such writing many are able to come to terms with the real and perceived disappointments we face in life. When approached in small doses, without allowing oneself to enter a coma of sugar and loathing from Proust’s cookies and disillusioned artistic fascinations, reading and employing his writing style can be quite cathartic.

Here is an excerpt of the famous cookie scene (we like to think that Proust would appreciate our In the Moment Espresso Cookies too!):

“Many years had elapsed during which nothing of Combray, save what was comprised in the theatre and the drama of my going to bed there, had any existence for me, when one day in winter, as I came home, my mother, seeing that I was cold, offered me some tea, a thing I did not ordinarily take. I declined at first, and then, for no particular reason, changed my mind. She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called ‘petites madeleines,’ which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim’s shell. And soon, mechanically, weary after a dull day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid, and the crumbs with it, touched my palate, a shudder ran through my whole body, and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, but individual, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory–this new sensation having had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me, it was myself.”

Find more information at Books and Writers: http://kirjasto.sci.fi/proust.htm

Feed your writing life

Of course writers require nourishment for their bodies…but what about nourishment for their art?

It’s a common misconception, even for those who identify as writers, that beginning a new project should be relatively easy. If you aren’t able to plop in your seat and start scrawling on a page or filling up a computer screen, something must be gravely wrong. You must be suffering from the awful malady that is writers block— an itus worthy experience wherein you can’t seem to find the right words, or any words, to conquer even half a page.

Well, we scribbler are here to tell you that there is nothing wrong with being unsure of where to start a story, or even where to find one. Just because your inner muse isn’t doling out inspiration today, that doesn’t mean that she’s gone off to live out her fantasies elsewhere. She may just be trying to remind you to look beyond the borders of blank pages when it comes to plotting your next work.

There are different levels of writers block to address, and many approaches to doing so.

Here are some ideas for today:

1

The first and perhaps most fear inducing block experience is when you, the storyteller, have no narrative to speak of. Where for art thou Scribbler, if you don’t have a story?! Never fear, you still deserve the title, it’s just a matter of finding the right material. Have you been reading the news lately? Not just Writers Digest, and Writer magazine, and not just CNN.com, the New York Times, or Huff Post. What about the Boston Review, the Economist, articles on politics in Rolling Stone, articles on the environment in  Outside magazine, or in-depth coverage of national news in Time? Vanity Fair has some great investigative pieces as well.

It’s difficult to process what is going on in the world when we’re bombarded with fragmented information of ongoing news stories throughout the day. A little bird told us that getting the scoop from Twitter doesn’t always give you all of the details. Writing is about helping your audience to see the bigger picture. How can you achieve that goal if you don’t have an aerial view? Scope out articles that offer context for real life stories and consider how they can impact your poetry and prose.

2

Got a story? Good! If you are unsure how to start writing down your idea, or where to take it once you do, we suggest playing off of the first point. Consider doing some research! If you have already started digging for information, it never hurts to do some more. We live in a 3D world; keep that in mind and approach life and stories at different angles.

Want to write a memoir? Remember that while you know each of your characters, your relationship with them is not the only one that they have. Consider the other people in their lives that you know and don’t, the different personas that they take on throughout the day, and how your relationship with them fits in into the grand scheme of the rest.

3

Finally… you have a story, you’re writing it, but you’re starting to get uncertain. Alright Scribbler, buddy up! Find someone to look over what you’ve been doing. Be careful now, in the incubation stages you don’t want to scare your story cold. Perhaps ask a friend to offer opinions on a limit. Give me two compliments and three criticisms, and do so nicely please. Once your story is written, go back to that person, or someone else for ideas on draft two. These can be more critical. Don’t tell your friend too much about the story beforehand. The goal is to see how someone will perceive it at first glance and without you there to explain. Sometimes we get so caught up in the world of our stories that we generate minute plot elements or ideas we keep moving in our minds, but fail to put on paper. A second set of eyes will help you to reconsider the clarity of your work and the message it conveys.

Also, food for thought…The Scribbler Suite will be posting its first test kitchen picture soon!

Who are the Scribblers?

Writers— the long stigmatized, tortured, lonely and despondent souls who need only cut open a vein and let the blood of their stories fall onto the page to compose new works (thank you “Red” Smith).

Whether the notion of “the bleeding writer” evokes mental images of the grisly and gory, or a distant empathy for the tortured romantic heart, it leaves limited nexus for community and communication, which is after all at the core of language and literary understanding. Yes, the writer may have a muse, but she is comprised of days worth of musing among others—no?

We Scribblers imagine the bleeding writer is pale, chair bound and likely growing queasy…not a pretty picture.

Despite the strength of the almighty pen, often writers require an extra set of tools to pull together the lineaments of the characters in their stories (people, animals, inanimate objects…whichever you prefer) to expose their existence and meaning. Whether you are a career or hobby writer, you have the joy of crafting in imagination, ever charting new territory. The goal of The Scribbler Suite is to offer company on the journey, tried and tested sign posts along the way, food for thought and literal accounts of the foods of favorite authors in their lives and in their stories.

Contrary to the image of slowly seeping ones consciousness onto a page, abject and alone, the act of writing doesn’t have to be such a solitary art. Why shouldn’t the writer be a social butterfly finding stories, sharing ideas, contemplating means of improving their work and that of others? Imagine a mingling of the muses…what power we will amass!

So please comment, question, and share advice from your experiences in the writing life. This blog seeks to offer emotional and intellectual inspiration for you, the author.

Write on scribblers!

P.S. The quote in reference above is actually: “You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed.” We got our facts at the Quote Investigator. Check out Quote Investigator’s entire article explaining the origin and many variations of this famous metaphor: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/09/14/writing-bleed/