Do You Embrace Technology Or Resist It?

Rubik's Revolution & Rubik's TouchCube

Do you embrace technology or resist it?

It seems everything is virtual, electronic, or computerized.  Nothing is off limits.  Even the Rubik's Cube.  It's now available in two electronic forms.

Yet, I prefer the old fashioned, mechanical Rubik's Cube.  I guess I'm a traditionalist.  Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't have an inkwell and a feather quill for writing.  And I don't belong to a historical reenactment society signing Benjamin Franklin's name on parchment.

When it comes to writing, I have embraced technology whole-heartedly.  I used to get a thrill from writing longhand.  It was just me against that blank notebook.  The physical act of my hand trying to keep up with my mind was an adrenaline rush.  After an hour writing that way, I'd flex my hand open and closed and look over the pages smeared by my palm.

Writing is hard enough.  I don't need to endure the pain of cramped hands and strained forearms.  Maybe it's just arthritis, but I embrace technology now.  There's freedom in not having to be constricted when I get in the flow.  I just want to get my thoughts down in a flurry of keystrokes.

Like most other writers I compose my stories on a computer.  But I also take advantage of a few other pieces of technology.  Each helps me in different ways:

1. Email
2. Portable keyboard
3. Private blog
4. Kindle eReader

1. Email:  Story ideas will come to me at inopportune times and I'm not always in front of my laptop.  I'm lucky enough to have a phone with email, so I can capture these tidbits before they fade and email them to myself for later.

2. Portable keyboard:  Whenever I'm traveling or otherwise out of my normal routine it's easy to make excuses not to write.  If I'm not in front of my laptop, I'm not writing.  But with my foldable keyboard it's more difficult to come up with reasonable excuses to not write.  I can synchronize it to my phone and compose without the overhead of my laptop, or worse yet the temptation of the Internet.

3. Private Blog:  I have set up a private blog.  This is for me and me alone.  Okay, so it's the virtual version of the leather-bound journal.  But the neat thing I discovered about this was that I can submit blog posts via email.  So it is a great way for me to jot down notes without having to worry about which scrap of paper or notebook I wrote something down in.

4. Kindle:  I just got a Kindle.  I love it because reading on it is like getting a massage for my eyeballs after a long day staring at my computer.  The unexpected use case I found for it was the ability to read drafts of fiction.  I can transfer documents to my Kindle and read at my convenience without having to print out reams of paper to edit my work or critique others'.

Technology is what works for me right now.  I still write longhand, but mostly for writing exercises or to jot down ideas.  In fact, there is a large following of Julia Cameron's the Artist's Way that advocates writing out three pages of longhand first thing every morning.

What about you?  How much writing do you do in a notebook?  Or do you prefer the keyboard?

Even Snoop Dogg enjoys new technology.  Here he is with the Rubik's Revolution.  Me?  I'm not as cool, so I'm going to stick with the original Rubik's Cube.

Happy Writing!

(Another) 10 Ways Writing is Like the Rubik's Cube

Today, I'm continuing where my original post, "10 Ways Writing is Like the Rubik's Cube," left off.

11. You won't ever get it right the first time.  (Just ask Hemingway about first drafts!)
12. You can do it almost anywhere.
13. Even a four-year old can do it.  (Dorothy Straight and the Little Solver)
14. There are billions and billions of possibilities.
15. You should do it to impress only one person...yourself.
16. There is no right or wrong way to do it.
17. You can always learn something new from the Masters.
18. Competitions can be a humbling experience.
19. Too much time away and you get rusty.
20. Changing one part invariably affects the whole thing.

Did I miss any?

Is Your Story Worth Telling?

Some say that every story has been written before.  There are no original stories, they say.  Well then, is your story even worth telling?

Of course it is!  Unless we become clones eating "soylent green", there will always be opportunities to create unique stories.

Ask one hundred writers to tell the Dickens' story, "A Christmas Carol" and you will get one hundred different stories.  (There might even be some paranormal romances in there.)  How can this be?  If you're starting with the same theme, the same plot, and the same characters, can it still be original?

Sure it can.  Take some inspiration from the Rubik's puzzles above.  These are just a few variations of the Rubik's Cube.  There is something familiar about each of them.  It's because they are really not too different from the original design.  Tweak something minor and it's easy to see how dramatically unique each one can be.

What can you do to make your story unique?

Like the cube, twist some familiar aspect of a good story.  For example, look at the Creation Story.  The first person on Earth was lonely until a companion was created for him and together they populated the planet.  T.C. Boyle also wrote a great story about companionship and populating the World.  It was called, "After the Plague".  In his story, the narrator thought he and a female companion were among the last people to survive on Earth...but they hated each other.  That twist makes for good reading!

Even if you start with an old premise, you can create an original story.  Your personal experiences and world view will guide you.  Your voice alone, can be enough to turn an old, cliché of a story into something new and fresh.  If anyone has ever mused to you in conversation, "Interesting point, I never thought of that," then you have what it takes to write original fiction.

It Was a Dark and Lonely Night

I remember solving my Rubik's Cube for my wife the first time.  She said, "That's nice, Dear...now let me watch some television."

Well, that only encouraged me to find more difficult and convoluted puzzles.  And yet, she was hardly impressed.  What a dark and lonely night that was for me.

Was I so eager to find approval that I simply overdid it?  Did I become annoying in my attempts to impress her?  (Yes.)

Then I considered my writing to that point.  Was I overdoing it?  (Yes.)

I tormented my brain to conjure up grand imagery and the most poignant analogies.  Like a model ship builder, I painstakingly arranged the prose for maximum literary effect.  But did it work?  (No.)

Readers don't like a show off.  Overly descriptive writing can be distracting and downright annoying.  Here's a famous example of what I mean:

It was a dark and stormy night: the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.

Wouldn't you prefer simply, "It was a dark and stormy night"?

Stop trying to show off.  It's challenging enough to find the right words to tell your story, but finding the proper balance is key.  Too much "purple prose" is not fun to read...and your readers won't be impressed.

Random Recommendation: An Occurrence at Owl Creek

Do you love to read stories with twist endings?  Do you strive to write compelling and memorable stories?

If so, then read the story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek" written in 1890 by Ambrose Bierce.  Simply put, it is an amazing story.  For its time, it was truly ground breaking.  Movies, such as American Beauty (1999), owe Bierce a debt of gratitude for paving the way.

You can read this masterpiece online here.

If you haven't read it before, I encourage you to do so.  Even if you have, read it again...I give it a giant Thumbs Up!

Don't Overthink It!

In 2006, the World Cube Association eliminated the "No Inspection" event for the Rubik's Cube.  (For those of you who don't know, the WCA is thee governing body for twisty puzzle competitions.)

Every competitor was now allotted 15 seconds to pick up the cube to study it prior to their solve attempt.  This gave them time to plan and predict their moves ahead of time...before they started.  Some speedcubers objected to this pre-solve inspection time.  They even tracked their own unofficial "No Inspection" records online.  Don't get me wrong.  A well thought out plan can build confidence and make the execution stage go more smoothly. 

But for writers, you can sometimes overthink your story.  Too much time spent plotting out your story can stifle your flexibility and creativity crafting your piece.  It can even lead to writer's block if you're planning more than you're writing.

Sure, there are benefits to planning out structure, plot, setting, and or characters. I've done this before and it's like using a grocery list. Check off the items as you march down the aisles so you can get home to cook dinner.  Doing this can save time.  It can mean less revisions later. In fact, in my earlier post, "Are You Afraid of Process," I talk about the benefits of process applied to writing.  Instead, make it an adventure.  Jump in and start to write.  Do a cannonball into the pool.  You will have much more freedom to explore your story if you simply jump in.  And what better way than to start in the middle?

One trick you should try is called "in medias res," which is Latin for into the middle of things.  The premise is to start with the action before really establishing the setting, plot, or characters.  You just might find out that your pink bunny character fired the shotgun for a much better reason than you had originally planned.

In any case, don't overthink it.  Give yourself permission to explore.  Start writing and see where it takes you.  You just might surprise yourself.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  It's 2011.  Time for New Year's Resolutions.

If you're like me, then you might set a goal at the beginning of the year and then before too long, that goal seems like a distant memory.  Diets are blown.  Exercise programs get dusty.  What was once an ambitious, yet achievable goal now seems like an impossible dream suited only for superhumans.

I'm certainly not superhuman, but I did achieve one goal:  I can now solve the Rubik's Cube blindfolded.  I don't say this to brag.  I say this because it can be done...it is possible.

I don't worry about how fast I can do it or how elegant I look doing it...in fact, I look pretty ridiculous wearing a blindfold holding a Rubik's Cube.  It wasn't easy to figure out and it took a lot of practice.  But now I can do it routinely.  The point is, I set a goal and didn't get distracted by all of the other details that only serve as fertilizer for excuses.  Always keep the end goal in mind.

I struggle with this as a writer.  Just write.  Write the story.  Get the draft done.  Get to the end goal.  Don't worry if it's perfect or not...it won't be.  I need to blindfold and gag my inner critic for a while and get writing.  Things will be missing and need to be fixed, but that's part of the process.  These are all distractions that sometimes paralyze me and keep me from my end goal...the story.  So, I resolve to write more freely in 2011.

What is your Resolution this year?