Neal Abbott's Blog, page 15

My New Facebook Author’s Page

It’s been a long time coming, but I recently put together my Author’s page on Facebook. I would like to encourage everyone to check it out, and I’d greatly appreciate it if you would Like my page. And if we aren’t Facebook friends yet, send a friend request to my personal page and I’ll be glad accept.

We Are All Lil’ Engines

We all have people in our lives who support us no matter what we try. If we weren’t Creative Writers, they would tell us how good we are at music or painting. Likewise, each of us has friends and family who are really good at telling us what we can’t do. In fact, we all have folk who love us and want the best for us who will tell us in detail why Creative Writing is not a worthy pursuit. Either we are not talented enough or it’s a waste of time or something like that.

As well intentioned as they are, and as dear to us as they may be, their opinion is toxic. And to drink full from their words will hemlock your dreams until they are as dead as Socrates. If you want to be a writer, then be a writer. Tell these people, that although you love them and they love you, they need to Shut Up!

Creative Writing begins in the mind before it ever reaches our fingertips. And by the mind, I mean more than thinking of a great story plot executed by interesting and individualistic characters. It is our attitude that serves as the starting point. You need to think of yourself in terms of Being a Creative Writer (and I mean Being in its fullest Existential sense).

Other people may encourage or discourage you, but in the end, each and every one of us as Creative Writers have the greatest potential to build ourselves up or tear ourselves down. The first positive voice you need to hear is your own. In order to Think Like A Writer you must maintain the proper Focus and Confidence. These two mutually feed off each other. The greater your Focus, the greater your Confidence, and the more Confident you are, the more Focused you will become. It is the perfect compositional perpetual motion machine, creative and artistic, and it is beautiful.

We all grew up hearing the tale of The Lil’ Engine Who Could. It was designed to encourage young people to feel self-assured in their abilities. But just because it is a children’s story, that doesn’t mean that the meaning is childish. It affirms a truth that endures as long as you do. The Creative Writer who develops his Focus and his Confidence can then Think Like A Writer in the fullest sense of that phrase.

This may involve finally taking a Creative Writing class or getting around to writing that novel you’ve always wanted to compose. It could be any number of things, and will become a great number of things all at once when you’ve fully committed yourself. It all begins by being a lil’ engine who thinks he can, and then gets to tracking. And once you’ve topped that mountain and cruise into that literary valley of fulfillment, you can remind yourself that you got yourself there because all along you thought you could.

 

I am in the final stages of editing a book for Creative Writers entitled Think Like A Writer. Be looking for it soon, and I will let you know when it is available and how you can get a copy.

Top Ten List of my Favorite Poems by Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson

Poetry is the music of Creative Writing, and great poetry is the Classical Music. My all favorite poets are Lord Byron and Alfred Lord Tennyson. I have put together a Top Ten List of my favorite Tennyson poems. Each of the titles is a hyperlink so you can read the poem just by clicking on the title.

 

10. “Break, Break, Break”

9. “Recollections Of The Arabian Nights”

8. “To Virgil”

7. “Of Old Sat Freedom On The Heights”

6. “Milton”

5. “Charge Of The Light Brigade”

4. “The Higher Pantheism”

3. “The Lady Of Shalott”

2. “Ulysses”

1. “Crossing The Bar”

 

It was difficult to bring it down to ten. Maybe someday I’ll come up with a list for Byron. I hope you enjoyed reading these poems. Make a top ten list of your favorite poet. If you’d like, include it in the Comment section below.

Your Protagonist’s Needs

No author when asked about his book says, “It’s about some guy …” Our novels are about people who, although fictional, are real. If you like flat, two-dimensional characters, then read Rudy Anaya. But if you would like to creative interesting and compelling characters, there are 7 things your main character needs.

Desire

Everybody wants something. What a person wants factors into the choices made. Literary characters cannot be different. What our hero desires is almost what defines that person. David Copperfield wanted a wife. Henry Sutpen wanted a big house. No write can obey the precept, “Show, don’t tell,” if a character’s actions are not anchored to his desire.

Obstacles

Something needs to get in your heroes way and keep him from getting what he wants. If not, the main character succeeds in the first chapter, and your novel becomes a short story. The bigger the obstacle, the greater the tension, and the greater the tension, the more interesting your book is. The page-turner, the book someone can’t put down contains grater tension because of higher obstacles.

Flaws

Nobody’s perfect. In fact, a perfect hero is boring. His challenges end up being no challenge at all. Flaws make your main characters real. Flaws may be thought of as internal obstacles. There may be plenty of things that keep your hero from getting what he wants, but one of them has to be himself.

Uniqueness

People are people, which means we’re all the same and we’re all different. Our characters must be as individualistic as we can make them or they will be boring. What we want, what we do, what we say, and so many other things go into making a unique main character. Plain and indistinctive heroes are found in books that aren’t read.

 

Antagonist

One special obstacle is the villain. He can want the same thing as our hero or he can want our hero to not get what he wants. Possibly our antagonists acts in some way that is determines what out main character wants. A good example of this is the typical vengeance tale. Our villains, like our heroes, need to be individuals. A little bit of humanity or even sympathy makes them more intriguing.

Angels

This life is hard, and we all need a friend once in a while. Your main character can benefit from a Yoda or a Merlin. It doesn’t even need to be a mentor-type, or someone older. It may be a good friend who is there for encouragement or inspiration. They may teach something or give a gift that somehow helps your hero.

Demons

Just as your hero needs angles, so is he in need of demons, as well. He may not want them, but he needs them. Different from your antagonist, and more like a foil to your angels, a main character’s demons may tell him he can’t get what he wants. This may be a friend, even a very well intentioned friend, or someone looking out for the welfare of the hero, as incorrect or misguided as they may be.