David Eric Tomlinson (author) » writing exercises

Made To Be Broken

David Eric Tomlinson — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:05:33 +0000

I just stumbled across this excellent article, inspired by Elmore Leonard’s top 10 rules for writers. Authors like Margaret Atwood, Roddy Doyle, Richard Ford, Jonathan Franzen, PD James, and more weigh in on how to keep the creative spark burning bright in the face of procrastination, obsession, addiction, and a whole host of other distractions.

I’ve been writing long enough now to feel confident adding in a few of my own tips:

Go With Your Gut
- If it feels “wrong” on any level, axe it. You’ll know when you’ve nailed your story or concept.
You’re The Boss
- The best writers will seek out help – in the form of critique groups, freelance editors, alpha and beta readers, or other sources of constructive criticism which should help the work “be all that it can be.” But you’re ultimately the author, and it’s your responsibility to own the final product.
- Neil Gaiman sums this up best in the article above, when he says: “Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”
Get Lost
- And I don’t mean the TV show (though it’s an excellent time-waster if you need one). Take your dog for a walk, get away from your normal routine, get outside of your comfort zone. And pay attention to what’s happening around you – and inside your head – when it happens.
Just Do It
- Talking about writing … isn’t writing. Wanting to be an author … won’t make you one. Sometimes you have to just sit down in the chair and put words on paper. Stick to a routine. Sometimes it will be difficult to write a single sentence, other times the paragraphs will flow easily for hours on end. But eventually, day-after-day, you’ll build momentum. And the story will have written itself to “done.”

The thing I found interesting about this article is the diversity of tips that these authors have included. Everybody finds inspiration in different ways, and gets excited about their work (and the work of others) through different vehicles. Next time you sit down to write, see if you can come up with a few pointers for yourself. Then write them down … it might help.

The Outline

David Eric Tomlinson — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:19:47 +0000

I’ve started to appreciate the power of having a well-planned outline as I close in on the last half of the one I’m currently completing. At over 100 pages (and 35,000 words so far) the outline itself is only about 2/3 complete. But already I’m glad to have taken time out from producing pages to really think the story through.

Being an intensely visual person, I realized right away that some kind of chart or diagram would be required to keep me on track. Google turned up some examples of various techniques used by authors to keep organized, including the duct-tape of outlining tools – the 3×5 note card. But I wanted something digital, which could easily be emailed or saved onto a thumb drive, then accessed from my computer in various coffee shops around town.

So I ended up just using Adobe Illustrator and hacking through what I’m calling the novel’s “visual synopsis” on my own. I created a matrix, with characters on the vertical axis and dates/chapter numbers/estimated page count on the horizontal. Each chapter icon contains a few sentences summarizing the relevant plot points, and I can now easily sketch out, rethink or completely change a character’s development across the novel as I work on the outline in Microsoft Word format. Without the visual synopsis I’d be lost, as the outline has swelled to a larger beast than I’d originally planned, and I’m now on version number four of the story.

I’m hoping that this few months of preparation will help me stay focused when I begin writing. Right now I have a full time job running the marketing department at a software company here in Dallas, and at the end of a day filled with buzz words it’s much easier to slip into full-blown writing mode if I know where I’m at in the story … and where it’s headed next.

Get Back, Jack

David Eric Tomlinson — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:08:49 +0000

In college I had a writing professor – Rae Armantrout – who had us read Jack Kerouac and attempt to imitate his style. We were supposed to go to a crowded place and sit down and just start writing the first thing that popped into our minds, ignoring any impulses to edit or steer the narrative in any way.

I found myself at a coffee shop in San Diego, the ‘Gelato Vero’ cafe, which was right across from a big Mobile gas station that featured a giant, red sign with a Pegasus leaping up into the sky over San Diego’s Mission Bay. I remember that sitting next to me was a man reading a “Time” magazine which had a cover story asking “Are Angels Real?”, and he was in deep conversation with his friend.

I can still remember that conversation and the flow of that writing exercise: the man was complaining about how people seem to “sap his energies” – that some people in his life took up more energy than they gave him back in return. I called this guy the “Miracle Man” in the writing exercise and he was constantly being interrupted by the man he was talking to, who was totally picking up what Miracle Man was laying down. As they talked, I was scribbling away furiously at the next table, faithfully recording the conversation and the passing traffic and the feeble attempts of the MOBILE! Pegasus to hawk gasoline at us from across the street.

Now Jack Kerouac had a really interesting and unique approach to writing – when he drafted “On The Road” he created one giant, 120 foot long roll of paper which he fed into his typewriter so that he could write without having to stop and reload the machine. He believed in “breath” and spontaneity in writing, and supposedly abhorred the instinct to edit (though it’s apparent his work was often revised and heavily edited).

I’ve been working for almost two months now on an outline for a book I’m about to start writing (the outline’s about 70 pages long so far and not even close to done), and this freeform approach to writing is starting to sound like a ton of fun after the methodical and almost scientific past few months. If you’re an author and need a break from your current project – consider heading down to the local coffee shop (or wine bar, if you’re really trying to channel Jack) and just mashing everything you see together into a kind of prose poem: it could be a catalyst for some new ideas.