by Theresa Garee | Jan 4, 2017 | Blog
“Caress the detail, the divine detail.” – Vladimir Nabokov
I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions, but I do take a personal inventory when the calendar flips to the next year. This year when reviewing my writing skills, I looked back over the rules of writing practice as set forth in Writing Down the Bones. Specifically (pun intended) Natalie Goldberg’s admonition to “be specific.”
A few of the beta readers who reviewed Twenty-Six Point Freaking Two noticed that my entries about running were full of sensory detail while other parts of the book lacked it. So my revision process has included finding those places where I drifted into vagueness. “Be specific” grounds us in the here and now. While we may be writing about something that has already happened, we should not record just what we think about it, but features and particulars to help the reader experience it as we have.
Yet I don’t want it bogged down in description. Like everything, this requires balance. Narration helps move the story forward. But it must be grounded in the here and now, the place where we want the reader to be. Nineteenth century England? We need to feel the china teacup in our hands and taste the first sip of hot tea. Running along the Olentangy Trail? We need to smell the musty woods and hear the Olentangy River sloshing along beside us as we move through damp air.
As the author, I need to feel this myself. If I don’t, I can’t communicate it to the reader. And that requires me to slow down and remember the details myself. Only then can I put them on the page.
by Theresa Garee | Jan 3, 2013 | Blog
“Many years ago I resolved never to bother with New Year’s resolutions, and I’ve stuck with it ever since.” ~Dave Beard
Last January, departing from my usual custom to not make New Year’s resolutions, I resolved to read 50 books and watch 50 movies in 2012 as part of the fiftyfifty.me challenge. I also promised to wear earrings every day. I missed all of those goals. Instead, I ran a marathon, revised more than half of the memoir about my last year with my father, and started writing a book about running. Setting goals isn’t a bad thing, just sometimes we wind up achieving different goals from the ones we set. At least that’s how it worked for me.
Although I didn’t achieve my publicly stated goals, I’m still pleased with my progress. I watched 41 movies including many titles I wouldn’t have watched if I hadn’t taken the challenge. I watched thrillers and documentaries, romances and comedies, and a few sad movies which made me cry. I kept track of the movies on Pinterest by posting an image and writing a one or two sentence comment about each. You can see them here.
As for the books, I finished 25. I read several memoirs, a few books about dogs, several running books, and four novels. I started many how-to books about running and didn’t finish them out of sheer boredom. Again, I’m pleased with the result. Twenty-five is nearly a book every two weeks which is still more than the 17 books the average person reads in a year.
The truth is that I couldn’t make myself begin many books because I was afraid. Ever since my last major depressive episode (the politically correct term for a nervous breakdown) which began after my niece died in February 2007, I have been self-preservationally selective about reading. I hate to say I’m sensitive, but it appears to be true. I fear reading anything too sad, too violent or too dark. I go to those emotional places so easily without the aid of art that I am loathe to read, see, hear, or visit any book, show, lecture, or exhibit that might send me tunneling into the depths. Although I am much more resilient now, I’m still afraid. And that fear kept me from reading more in 2012.
I picked up Marley and Me and although I have heard it is good, I’d also heard how it ends and couldn’t bring myself to read it. The same is true of The Reader which Ed adored and which has gotten high marks, but I couldn’t put myself through it. I thought about reading nothing but romance novels, but I couldn’t bear that either. While some romance novels are well-written, a little bit of that goes a long way with me. And so, twenty-five is my total. I tracked my progress on GoodReads if you care to look it up.
As for the earrings, it was lofty to think that I was going to dress up enough or even remember to wear earrings every day. It got old really quickly. I don’t think I made it through April. I’m not sure.
I thought about tackling the 50 book goal again in 2013, but decided against it. Rather, I will just read as many books as I can. I would love to hear suggestions of books with happy endings that are well written. Let me know what you adore. I will also watch as many movies as I can and will wear earrings when the spirit moves me! That is much more my style.
Did you make New Year’s Resolutions in 2012? If not, why not? If so, how did that work out for you? I’d love to hear your experiences.
by Theresa Garee | Jan 4, 2012 | Blog
Toward the end of last year I looked on my dresser at the numerous pairs of earrings, many never worn. Were they actually beckoning? It seemed as much. And so, my second challenge for 2012 is to wear a pair of earrings every day. “Just what does this have to do with writing?” you might ask. Well, let’s just say that my attire is not always presentable. I have been known to drive through McDonald’s in my pajamas and I sometimes appear quite rumpled when I sit down to write at a coffeehouse. And sometimes, people recognize me.
Back in the day when writers were more anonymous, when they didn’t need Twitter accounts or blogs for their books to sell, it didn’t matter what a writer looked like on a day to day basis. On the occasion of a reading, the writer who had spent every day writing in his pajamas, could head to Lazarus (it was a now defunct department store) to pick a few new threads off the sale rack, stop by the barber shop for a trim, and no one was the wiser.
But today, it’s not uncommon to be waved at in the drive-through line. Despite being the 15th largest metropolitan area in the United States, Columbus is still a small town. And so, I decided to spruce myself up a bit – at least my earlobes. If you see me in public without earrings, please do not hesitate to remind me of the challenge. And if you see me in my pajamas in the drive-through, please just move along. There’s nothing to see here.
by Theresa Garee | Jan 3, 2012 | Blog
“Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.” – Mark Twain
I don’t typically make resolutions, but I do accept challenges. This year I have accepted the challenge to read 50 books and watch 50 movies. You too can join at http://www.fiftyfifty.me/ It will be a stretch. According to goodreads.com, I read 27 books last year. According to my increasingly shoddy memory, I watched about 12 movies. Time to crank up the volume.
The folks at fiftyfifty.me encourage us to create majors and minors by choosing lists of books in different categories. I chose two groups: books for fun and books to study for writing.
In the “books for fun” category, I began New Year’s Day by listening to part of The Night Circus
on CD. It’s steampunk full of magical realism and not my usual fare, but it was written during National Novel Writing Month a few years ago and came highly recommended by some of my best writer friends. So far I’m enjoying it. With a second-person prologue, it can’t be all bad!
As the first book in the “books to study for writing” category, I chose The Leisure Seeker: A Novel
which was recommended by a friend who’s a former editor. Zadoorian wrote the novel as a way to harness the material provided by watching his parents age. My friend, now a literary consultant, suggested that the book might give me some insight on how to distance myself when writing about similar experiences with my parents. Only 59 pages in, I can see how Zadoorian mined what he knew to shape the characters.
What about you? Any writing-related resolutions on your agenda for 2012? As always, I’d love to hear about them.
by Theresa Garee | Jan 3, 2011 | Blog
“May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions. ~Joey Adams
“Relax and lean.” That’s the main thing I remember from the ChiRunning class I took with marathoner Doug Dapo last summer. I took up running again last March after a fifteen-year hiatus. Since my body is more “mature” now, I researched ways to make running easier on the joints and found ChiRunning, a technique created by Danny Dreyer, an ultrarunner and student of Tai Chi.
“When you relax and lean,” Dapo said during the class, “You go faster without as much effort.” He asked us to try it while we ran back and forth along a section of bike path in a small park near Westerville where he held the class. “When you pull yourself along with your legs, you’re working against gravity. If you relax and lean, gravity does the work for you.” I was skeptical, but interested. As I ran, I leaned slightly forward and relaxed my body into that position. It worked! I immediately began moving faster without as much effort. I continue to use the “relax and lean” philosophy in my running and I’ve improved my time with each race.
As 2010 turned into 2011, I began to wonder if “relax and lean” would work for writing. I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but this year, I’m going to do my best to “relax and lean” around writing. By relaxing, I hope to ease the tension I unconsciously hold in my body when I write, as well as the mental pressure I put on myself around publishing. Meanwhile, I’ll lean by showing up at the page. I’ll put in the time, but without the type of pushing and pulling that’s made me crazy in the past. This is an experiment. I hope this balance of “relax and lean” will improve my productivity. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Have you tried any new techniques in your writing? Please share them with us.
