What I learned from mowing grass
No Comments »18th February, 2009; Category: The Writer's Life, Writer's block, Writing Hints, Writing prompts
My home is situated on five acres (2 hectares) on the outskirts of a country town in South Australia. We have a small orchard, about two acres of bushland scrub and the remainder is open grassland. Many years ago it was used for grazing sheep.
We used to have five sheep, but they had an accident and ended up in the freezer. The sheep did a good job in keeping the grass down and mowing was unnecessary. It’s a different story now. In spring and early summer the grass and weeds grow quickly, sometimes up to waist high, depending on the winter rains. Of necessity I bought a ride-on mower a few years ago. It was a good move.
What has this to do with writing?
Plenty.
I learned a great deal about writing from mowing the grass.
Get a spark of an idea
Last spring the grass needed mowing. It was becoming a fire hazard as it dried in the warm sun. I went to start the mower – nothing.
Not a spark. The battery was flat. It wasn’t going anywhere.
Our writing can be like that. It seems to be going nowhere; in fact, some days it just won’t even start. Sometimes it needs a jump start to get it going. Take a break. Make a cup of tea or coffee. Go for a walk. Read a book for ten minutes. Then come back refreshed and ready to get it going again.
Get some outside help
Even though I charged the battery of my ride on mower, it still wouldn’t start. I tried everything I know about mowers and motors and batteries (which isn’t much – more of a short, short story actually). It needed professional help. I loaded it up on the trailer and took it to the dealer, a specialist in mower maintenance. That did the trick. He knew exactly how to solve the problem, giving me a few maintenance hints as well. Get some professional help with your writing. This is where networking and writers’ groups can be so beneficial. If necessary you may even need to pay to have your manuscript professionally assessed.
Eliminate the rubbish
When the mower was home again I got busy. There was plenty of grass that needed mowing before the summer fire danger season. Round and round I went mowing happily until… until the mower stopped mowing efficiently. What the… ? I stopped and looked down: the cutting area was clogged up with matted dry grass. The blades couldn’t do their job properly.
Is your writing clogged with rubbish? Words that don’t fit, or redundant sentences. Paragraphs that are really run-on sentences going nowhere. Wordy descriptions that “tell and don’t show.” Spelling and grammatical errors that readers – not to mention editors – will trip over and curse you for their sore knees.
Shed some light on your work
Sometimes I was enjoying the mowing so much the sun set on me and it started getting dark. The mower has two headlights but they don’t shed much light on the path ahead. I had to shut down, put the mower away and start again the next day.
Sometimes with our writing we get eyes that are dimmed through tiredness or trying too hard for too long. Put it away over night, or for a few days, and come back in the light of a new day. Instantly you will see where you were having troubles with a piece of writing and be able to correct it and move on.
Be sure to top up the fuel tank
My mower sometimes runs out of fuel. The gauge is on the side of the tank where I can’t see it from where I sit. It leaves me in no doubt about what is happening. It splutters to a stop with no warning. Sometimes it is a long walk back to the shed to get fuel.
Has your writing ever sputtered to a sudden stop, going nowhere? It is then time to refuel. Take a short holiday completely away from the work that is bogging you down. Go for a long walk every day. Set aside a day or two just for reading a novel. Stop and refuel by listening to music. Walk on the beach. Let the wind blow through your hair. See a movie or two or three. Visit a friend and have a good yarn about anything except your writing. Then come back fully refueled and ready to go on with your writing.
Good writing.
Exercise your writing muscles
Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.
Jane Yolen
Good advice.
As writers we need to be writing on a regular basis. I could almost guarantee that Tiger Woods practises his golfing skills on a daily basis. All professional sportsmen and women spend countless hours going over the basics, time and time again, day after day. Actors, dancers and musicians rehearse, rehearse and then rehearse some more. I’ve read that it takes ten thousand hours to become truly proficient at any skill.
Write every day.
This is the only way to hone those skills, to learn how language works, to iron out any problems you may have and to discover your voice.
Here is a quick and simple list of writing activities you could do on a regular basis to exercise those writing muscles. You can probably think of dozens of other ideas. Share them in the comments section.
A very short list of 30 writing exercises:
- Write a few paragraphs in your journal today.
- Write a list of the things you really like.
- Write a list of writing goals for this week.
- Start writing a blog.
- Write ten sentences about your childhood.
- Write a paragraph about your first pet.
- Make a list of the things that annoy you.
- Describe the smells that make you happy.
- Write three paragraphs about your best friend.
- Describe what you can see out through the nearest window.
- Write a letter to a family member who lives far from away from you.
- Write about your favourite fruit.
- Describe the most frightening experience you’ve ever had.
- Write about the happiest day of your life.
- Describe how to make your favourite meal.
- Make a list of the places you would like to visit.
- In twenty words (or less), tell the story of your favourite movie.
- Write a character sketch of your favourite fictional character.
- Make a list of the twenty best books you’ve ever read.
- Describe the smells that make you hungry.
- Write an email to a friend or family member.
- Describe the scariest movie or television show that you’ve ever seen.
- Write a letter of protest to your local paper.
- Write about a time you were terribly embarrassed.
- Write about your favourite toy (even if you are getting on in years).
- Write a list of the ways in which you would change the world.
- Write a list of things you like to do alone.
- What things really bother you?
- Describe the most dangerous thing you have ever done.
- Who is your hero – and why?
A Note to Teachers:
The list above is a great starting point for writing activities for your students. Give them a go and let me know how they go. You may copy the entire list for classroom use.
Good writing.
Further reading:
- Short story starters – an archive of dozens of ideas for short story writing.
Writing prompt #7: Choose a word
2 Comments »20th March, 2008; Category: Short Story Starters, Writing for Children, Writing prompts, Young Readers
Last week in my writing for children course the lecturer handed out a card to each student in the workshop. We were not to show anyone the word on the card. She then asked us to write for about five minutes illustrating the word in some way.
Here is a list of some of the words:
fear, anxiety, enthusiasm, happiness, courage, joy, anger, excitement, despair, sadness
This is what I wrote:
James could hardly wait for Saturday. He was jumping out of his skin. “When will it be Saturday?” he asked for about the tenth time. “Tomorrow,” said his mother patiently.
James raced to his room. He checked his money box again. He counted the coins over and over. He was ready for the Agricultural Show.He couldn’t wait to go on the rides. He wanted to see the animals; the cows, the horses, the dogs and the cats – even the ducks, especially the ducks. He thought of the icecreams and lolly-pops and fairy floss. He could just taste it melting in his mouth. He thought of the colours and the sounds, the smells, the crowds and the clowns. He wanted to see the machines and the cars, the ferris wheel and the tents.
At that point we were asked to stop; and I was just getting warmed up!
Can you work out the word I was given?
Enthusiasm. When I was asked to read it out aloud I also read it with a great deal of enthusiasm.
Your turn:
As a warm up writing exercise, choose one of the emotion words I listed above. Write about it for five to ten minutes. It does not have to be a story, nor does it have to be for children. Just write.
This may be just an exercise but do not throw it away. File it carefully; you never know when it may become useful for a story or an article.
Good writing.
Writing prompt #6: Crossroads
No Comments »17th March, 2008; Category: Writing prompts
Time for another writing prompt to help you with your writing.
Crossroads:
Imagine you are out in the country. You are standing where two dirt roads intersect. There are no trees, no shelter of any kind and you cannot even hear a bird calling – except for a lonely, mournful raven in the distance. You cannot see a house or any sort of building.
In the distance you see a cloud of dust. Eventually a bus comes into view. It hisses to a stop right at the intersection. One person alights, and the bus heads off down the road and disappears from view.
Writing idea:
Describe the person:
- Is the person a male or female?
- What ethnicity?
- How old?
- How is the person dressed?
- What is the person carrying?
- Are there any special or noticeable features about the person?
What happens next?
- Does the person start walking?
- Or does she or he wait for someone else?
- Is this person relaxed, confident, anxious or confused?
- What is their story?
Now let the character tell his story.
Good writing.
More writing prompts can be found here.
And you can find dozens of short story starters here.
Or you might like to read some of my short stories here.