Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog, page 158

Easing that Wretched Stress…

Deplorable – definition: 1. causing or being a subject for grief or regret; 2. lamentable, or wretched; very bad

What makes you most anxious in your writing life?

We all tread this writing journey with a certain amount of trepidation. Even the most successful authors have concerns. Will my novel be good enough? Is the story strong? Will I get good reviews? Have I written my best? Is there another novel inside me?

It is human nature to agonize over these worries but with support from family, friends and a writing group you can lessen them. I experienced a wonderful review on Rumble’s First Scare from a child but also horrid one from an adult – see here:  http://mandyevebarnett.com/2012/06/09/book-review-a-review-to-contemplate/     I resolved to learn from it rather than let it upset me. After all it is only one person’s view. There are many more who love Rumble.

Unfortunately stress has a detrimental effect on the creative process so we must try to elevate it. There are a few simple methods to help us. Firstly, walk away from the project and find somewhere quiet to take some deep breaths. When our body is stressed it tends to hyper-ventilate with short low breaths. Breath slowly and deeply. If possible take  a day away from the project – obviously this isn’t always possible – but try to take at least an hour. Time away enjoying something else refreshes the brain. If the thought of leaving the project adds to your stress, take notes of how you want to proceed. They will help get you back into the mindset and you have a reference to guide you. Focus on each step instead of overwhelming yourself with the ‘whole’ project. Give yourself a reasonable time frame.  If it helps map out each step from start to finish – you have set goals per day, week or month – but ensure you have factored in extra time for each one. That way if a step takes longer than anticipated you still have a buffer of time to complete it.

Here is another writer’s view on stress, take a look.

http://penpaperpad.com/2012/07/10-tips-for-taking-stress-down-a-notch/

 

Mournful Feelings…

Mournful – definition: feeling or showing sadness

I will share  poems by a couple classic authors today, as my grief is far too new to write anything.  Sorry.

I Measure Every Grief I Meet by Emily Dickinson

I measure every Grief I meet
With narrow, probing, eyes – 
I wonder if It weighs like Mine – 
Or has an Easier size.

I wonder if They bore it long – 
Or did it just begin – 
I could not tell the Date of Mine – 
It feels so old a pain – 

I wonder if it hurts to live – 
And if They have to try – 
And whether – could They choose between – 
It would not be – to die – 

I note that Some – gone patient long – 
At length, renew their smile – 
An imitation of a Light
That has so little Oil – 

I wonder if when Years have piled – 
Some Thousands – on the Harm – 
That hurt them early – such a lapse
Could give them any Balm – 

Or would they go on aching still
Through Centuries of Nerve – 
Enlightened to a larger Pain – 
In Contrast with the Love – 

The Grieved – are many – I am told – 
There is the various Cause – 
Death – is but one – and comes but once – 
And only nails the eyes – 

There's Grief of Want – and grief of Cold – 
A sort they call "Despair" – 
There's Banishment from native Eyes – 
In sight of Native Air – 

And though I may not guess the kind – 
Correctly – yet to me
A piercing Comfort it affords
In passing Calvary –  To note the fashions – of the Cross – 
And how they're mostly worn – 
Still fascinated to presume
That Some – are like my own –


SONNET 64 – William Shakespeare

When I have seen by Time’s fell hand defaced

The rich proud cost of outworn buried age;

When sometime lofty towers I see down-razed

And brass eternal slave to mortal rage;

When I have seen the hungry ocean gain

Advantage on the kingdom of the shore,

And the firm soil win of the watery main,

Increasing store with loss and loss with store;

When I have seen such interchange of state,

Or state itself confounded to decay;

Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate,

That Time will come and take my love away.

This thought is as a death, which cannot choose

But weep to have that which it fears to lose.

Is Your Green Showing..?

Enviable – definition: worthy of envy; very desirable

As we juggle normal life whilst competing in National Novel Writing Month, it is hard not to envy some participants word counts. One of my blogging friends has surpassed the 50,000 mark already and we are only on the twelfth day. So do we give up or persevere? 

I will persevere because it is foremost a personal challenge – it’s you against the hours in the day, the days of the week. No matter what the final word count, it is the accomplishment that counts. From the words we have created in this month will come works we can mold, revise and edit into something wonderful. It may be a short story, a novella or a novel. Whatever it is, we have endured and conquered our own writing challenge.

Don’t get discouraged…

Share your word count. Share your thoughts.

Fervor in Your Romance Novel…

Fervor – definition: 1. great warmth, passion, or earnestness of feeling; 2. intense heat

While pondering which direction I should go with this word, I came across a list of romance books. The amount of novels in this genre is mind blowing, and the list I found is only the best known. Romantic fervor is obviously alive and well. As you can see there are 61 pages with 150 novels on each.

http://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/romance?page=1

As quoted ‘ According to the Romance Writers of America, “Two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally-satisfying and optimistic ending.” Both the conflict and the climax of the novel should be directly related to that core theme of developing a romantic relationship, although the novel can also contain subplots that do not specifically relate to the main characters’ romantic love. Other definitions of a romance novel may be broader, including other plots and endings or more than two people, or narrower, restricting the types of romances or conflicts.’

My current NaNoWriMo project is a cowgirl romance, a new genre for me and one I am learning about all the time. Working title – Willow Tree Tears – Trinity is a barrel racing champion who meets a gorgeous Italian boot maker. A jealous ranch hand plots to keep her and the ranch as his.

We have to show the two main character’s fervor for each other but along the way create a conflict ensuring the love element is hard won. The romance genre is global as is it’s language as shown here. Have you written romance? What is your experience of this genre?

Mother Nature’s Force…

Torrential – definition: 1. pertaining to or having the nature of a torrent (a sudden flow of water or rain; 2. violent, vehement, or impassioned flow of action or words.

We are all reminded of nature’s pure force by events such as the devastating storm in the Philippine’s this week. We may build and cover the land mass with structures but they are no match for natural events. Typhoons, earthquakes, tsunami’s and volcanic eruptions all destroy that which we create with such ease, we are filled with fear and to some extent awe. These events bring into sharp focus how venerable we really are. Nature always has the upper hand no matter what contingencies we put in place. 

For me I am reminded of Pompeii, where volcanic ash suffocated its victims and preserved them for hundreds of years. In those days the story of what happened would have taken weeks, months or even years to spread. Today’s technology shows us immediate pictures of the devastation, the heart ache and grief. Aid agencies can react within hours to provide assistance and donations can be sent almost immediately.

However, we are still at the mercy of Mother Nature even in our modern day technology obsessed and filled world, all we can do is predict and take precautions and hope we can survive the torrent. Stay safe and watch out for each other.

Momentous Literary Moments…

Momentous – definition: of great or far-reaching importance or consequence

The Nobel Prize for Literature is a momentous moment in any author’s life. We all endeavor to make our words worthy for our readers and future generations of readers. I am sharing some links today as I’m taking advantage of a long weekend for my NaNoWriMo challenge.

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/feb/04/english-literature-key-moments-jk-rowling

http://lorenrosson.blogspot.ca/2013/03/favorite-literary-moments.html

Please feel free to share your momentous moments…it may not be the Nobel Prize but everything is relative. Your first published book, the creation of your blog or website, a prize of some sort or acknowledge by someone you admire. These are worthy of acknowledgement.

Keep the words flowing…

Related articles

Canadian Alice Munro Takes Nobel Prize for Literature (voanews.com)