I’m so excited to tell the Plotmonkey aspiring writers about a Craft series that will be going on here every Saturday for a little while…I’m grabbing some of the best writers in the biz (who also happen to be members of my local writer’s group) and having them take the reins and teach a few lessons here just for our readers. The topics will run the gamut and our first guest blogger is none other than JOANNE ROCK
Joanne and I met years ago at a conference in Atlanta. Previously, I’d judged an entry of hers in a contest and had been so blown away by the book, I contacted her. We met in Atlanta and I had a chance to introduce her to my editor, Brenda Chin, who’d also read her work. She bought her for Temptation soon afterward. Joanne is a versatile and amazing author…and a big-hearted, intelligent and generous woman as well.
Please welcome her to Plotmonkeys!
I like time off as much as the next writer. In fact, when I take vacations, I try to leave my laptop at home wherever possible so there is no option to write a chapter. But time has taught me that walking away from the computer—or pen and paper—can be a dangerous thing if I don’t give myself a deadline to return. Because while it feels like I’m recharging mentally, I start to lose some of my facility with words after a couple of weeks. And I shudder to think what would happen if I stopped writing for longer than that. I took a long break after school before I set to work on my first novel and trust me—there was some serious dumbing down that took place in that time!
For awhile I thought maybe that was just because I was out of school and not talking about books and writing on a regular basis. But eventually I realized it didn’t have anything to do with a lack of classroom experience and everything to do with NOT writing. Your writing talent is a muscle. Flex it regularly and shape it with exercise and your words flow faster, smoother and sound all the sweeter in the ear. But if you quit using the muscle, it turns to flab in no time.
Making it Fun
Writing frequently doesn’t have to be a chore. Mix it up by writing in a journal or keeping morning pages (have you read Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way on this topic?). You can write about your observations during the day or you can spout about your daily frustrations and joys. Topics like this keep you actively writing without having to expend a lot of effort on “what comes next” the way you need to when writing a book. There’s nothing stylized about keeping a journal. You simply write what comes to mind. This act of writing will improve all the rest of your writing by giving you a simple, focused outlet to practice your craft.
To give yourself a challenge or to flex another writerly muscle group, try writing a page of description in your journal one day. Take a common room and write about it from the perspective of a stranger or one of your kids. See the details through new eyes and explore the room with the five senses. Exercises like this fine tune your sense of detail and help you to cultivate your descriptive skills.
Extend this challenge by writing about a wider variety of subject matter. The Internet overflows with websites that give journal prompts. Just Google the phrase journal prompts or writing prompts and see what comes up. You might describe your bedroom as a child or write about your first day of junior high. You could describe one of your favorite people or rewrite a moment in your past you wish you could change. This kind of exercise keeps you engaged in regular writing and varies your routine.
Lessons Learned
Beyond the buff new writer muscles you’ll build with this exercise, you’ll also gain invaluable insights on your creative process. If you wrote at a variety of times of day, think about which times were most successful. Are you a better morning writer than afternoon writer? Do you need to wait until after dinner to even think about writing? The more you understand your process the better you can take advantage of your best creative times and – just as importantly—you can avoid sitting at your computer during those times of day where your thoughts are sludge. If you know you can write three pages in an hour in the morning when you are fresh, you’ll never want to waste two hours in the afternoon to get those same three pages because you keep drifting off over the keyboard.
Do you need a routine in place to write? While some people can plunk down anywhere and start typing away, most of us need to indulge in a small amount of stage setting. For example, I like to have my desk cleaned off, my phone at my side, the door shut and instrumental music playing as I work. Chopin is great, but I need something darker for my medieval books. Does noise bother you while you work or do you like a multimedia blare to fuel your pen? Everything you learn about your creative preferences is pure gold to the working writer.
Making it Super Functional
While journaling can be a fun way to build your writing skills without the pressure of adding to your work in progress, you can also use your journal pages as a place to brainstorm your next book. Have you ever tried writing a note to yourself about your story when you don’t know where to go next? A journal is a super place to work out story problems or test scene ideas. Use your journal to brainstorm ten scene ideas or try coming up with ten random opening lines for stories you haven’t even imagined yet. There’s something exciting about coming up with “just” an intriguing opening line. It’s a creative exercise, and a great line just might inspire its own book!
You can also try writing a scene out of context as a journal exercise. Turn off your internal editor and write a high-powered action scene out of sequence. Does the act of disconnecting it from your story ramp up the tension or allow you to think about the sheer impact of the scene without worrying about character motivations and over-arching conflicts? Even if this activity feels painful to you, try it once just to see what happens. Sometimes the most challenging of professional experiences can bring out our most supercharged work.
Commit Yourself
Writing requires tremendous discipline and the sooner you figure out how to motivate yourself, the more successful you’ll be. By setting small page goals with a writing journal you can develop a good habit of writing while discovering a lot about your creative self in the process. Remember that the point of the journal isn’t to be brilliant. Your goal is simply to write. Write for fun, write to learn. But mostly, just start writing. You’ll be surprised how fast the exercises pay off in discipline gained and creativity awakened.
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Takeaway:
1) Discover your best writing routine: time of day, appeal to your own five senses through your writing environment, what external steps do you need to follow to tell your brain you’re now in “writing mode”?
2) Finding writing prompts to make writing fun again and enjoy the act of responding to them.
3) Work out your writing problems on paper in a long note to yourself. Discuss the story problem and write your way to an answer.
4) Know that you’re getting better at writing BY writing. Trust the process!
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Joanne Rock frequently analyzes her work process in the hope of finding ways to streamline, tweak or – sometimes—completely overhaul her approach to writing. The author of over thirty books from sexy contemps to medieval historicals, Joanne’s latest release, BET ME, is an anthology project with friends Debra Webb and Catherine Mann.
By all reports, Julie Leto was a sweet child once, somewhat shy, preferring to play quietly in her room making up stories. However, being raised with three brothers in a loud, primarily Italian household did have its influences and Julie discovered her inner tough girl. That’s probably why most of her heroines kick serious butt. Writing sassy heroines has worked out, as she’s sold over forty books to four publishers featuring strong, confident women. Julie lives in Florida with her daughter, a spoiled dachshund, a haughty lynx-point Siamese and a wide range of relatives all within driving distance.
Destiny
Dirty Little Secrets
Once Upon A Valentine
Through The Night
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Great advice, Joanne!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience with all of us! 
Oh, Oh, OH! I heard it was your birthday today!
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Is it your birthday? And you’re spending it here with us???
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Hi, Joanne@ Welcome to the Jungle! :banana:
Excellent writing advice. I have trouble following it myself as far as writing things that aren’t work related because if I find the time to actually write, it feels like a waste of time to me to write something that doesn’t show me page count progress. But your ideas show how it not only can jump start you but help your writing. Thanks!
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Hi Joanne,
Welcome to the jungle. Feel free to swing in the trees.
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Welcome Joanne and
! Thanks for the great advise. I’m not ready to start writing yet but am glad to have sources available once I get to that point.
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Hi Joanne~ thanks for being here and
for all your valuable guidance and these great Saturdays. I really appreciate it!
You really hit a chord with me and I’m going to start a journal today! Like Carly said, I’ve always felt like when I sit down to write it should be on my current WIP, but you’ve made some really good points and maybe I feel especially keen on them because I’m having a bit of a hard time right now. I think I made a huge mistake – I stopped working on a manuscript half way through to write a novella that I wanted to enter in the Brava contest. I finished the novella (which I really like and entered in the contest yesterday- well 750 words of it, boy that was tough to narrow down) and now have returned to my manuscript. And I’ll tell ya, it’s been hard remembering what I was thinking, where I was going with my characters (I’m a pantster) and just basically getting back in sync with that writing. It’s slowly coming back to me but I think I learned I can’t stop something and then start it up again very easily.
So thanks for the great advice and thank you Plot Monkeys
Have a great weekend everyone!
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Hi Joanne, Welcome and Happy Birthday
Great writing advice. There is always something new to learn.
Thanks for being here.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Cher
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I LOVE CANNOLIS AND WOULD LOVE TO HAVE BOOK IN SANTORI’S SERIES
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hi jOanne
love your books
reading just one look now.
happy bday to u
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Hi Joanne, Thanks
for the advice and for spending your birthday here in the jungle 
I had a similar situation as Robin, only my stopping in the middle wasn’t for a good reason, for me it was life’s distractions, and maybe a little lack of confidence and lazyness
One day turned into two, and before I know it I’m struggling to find my way back to the story.
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Hi – I’m back…
I know, you didn’t know I was ever here. Just as I started typing “Happy Birthday” my battery died so I had to go back and recharge, then walk back down the river to steal the internet access. So…..
Thanks so much for spending some of your day with us and for the great advice. I’ve read The Artist’s Way a couple of times but I think I need to pull it back out. I really struggle with the morning pages but I think I need to discipline myself to do them. I was able to copy and paste your comments into a Word doc before my computer died so now I’ve got all the great advice saved and can go back and look at it as a reminder from time to time.
Julie – I’m just finishing “Just Watch Me” and love it!!! It’s such a clever story, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.
Janelle – hubby is feeling better. We came to the river last night so my FIL could help get the boat and jetski out of the water before the storm hits. I knew all of our neighbors would be here today doing the same so we stayed just to give Charles something different to watch and other people to visit with.
We’re in such drought here that we’ve basically been praying for a tropical system to bring us some rain. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to get anything but a hassle of pulling out boats and some beach erosion.
In case anyone cares and wants to know where I live, if you look at the weather channel and see the projected map, our river cottage is in the middle of the cone (basially on the Pamlico Sound) and our house is on the left side. It’s a good time to use a map to show where I’m from!
Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Joanne – enjoy the day, enjoy your birthday weekend and thanks again!!!!
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Jodie, thanks for sharing where you live. The book I am reading takes place in a small town by the Pamlico River!
Enjoy the weekend, everyone. :wave:
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Robin – good luck on the Novella contest. I’ve debated about entering it, but have worried about what’s happened to you, happening to me. I’ve stopped in the middle before, lost my train of thought, lost my voice, everything. I think I should just stick with my current WIP – keep it at 60,000 words – and maybe work on something after that for next year’s contest.
Good luck with your entry!!!
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Donna – how cool! What book are you reading?
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Happy Birthday!
Very informative blog.
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Thanks Jodie! I hope everything’s going well for you guys at the river. I’m so bad at geography, I definitely need to look at a map to see where you’re from. And good luck with your current WIP – I’d definitely recommend sticking with one manuscript at a time. Maybe one day we’ll be as talented as Julie and be able to do two at once.
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Wonderful advice Joanne! I always find myself getting less and less interested in getting back to writing the longer I’m away from it. It’s very easy to slip down the slope into not writing land!
Thanks again for being here…and Happy Birthday!
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Hi Joanne I found your post very interesting. Thank-you
Julie first I “Stripped” and then Leslie had me “Overexposed and now
Janelle is giving me a really “Wilde” weekend. Holy Canolli!
Worth the wait, Janelle, and I am barely into “BORN TO BE WILDE”
as I have to work this weekend Shucksie d-a-r-n!
and I am
really enjoying it.
Update on Zoey,
Back into the dog house merely 2 hours after she and Daddy were
given a get out of jail free card. Zoey spent an hour today, toilet
papering the house. D you see was snoozing on the couch while resting
his eyes and watching TV at the same time. Boy to be retired.
They redefine the term “Terrible Twos”
My ??? is this:
Why is it when I pull the paper off the roll it breaks before I
have enough?
Zoey emptied almost a whole roll throughout the bathroom, kitchen &
parlor. Like the pink bunny she and the roll just kept going and going
and going. Hope you enjoyed the chuckle :happy2: These 2 together could
prove to be very dangerous in a cute and fuzzy way.
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Joanne, welcome to the jungle…I love Saturdays because they are learning days
…I am learning some really valuable info. not only for writing novels, but I can also use the skills I learn from these lectures when writing poetry and short stories…I like the premise that writing is like a muscle that needs to be exercised regularly…I never really looked at it that way before…I use many of the techniques you describe, but I didn’t recognize it until I read what you talked about it…very informative…I am going to try some of the exercises you mentioned…unlike you, I don’t need a special set up before I write…poetry is easier, in a sense, because it flows for me, mostly based on when or wherever the inspiration hits me…then any material becomes my blank slate…from napkins at a deli to menus from takeout restaurants to actually getting a piece of paper and writing my thoughts down…have you (any of the other authors who are in the jungle) ever been hit with material for a book and you weren’t ready for it?…like waiting in a line, for the bus, in a meeting or something…what do you do then? Just curious…I hope that everyone is having a wonderful weekend so far…talk to you all later….
Peace and love,
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Peace and love,
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Jeannie, it sounds like you have your hands full with Zoey! :happy2: But I bet she makes you laugh and smile, doesn’t she? And that’s all that matters! :wub:
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Paula — I’ve been hit with ideas or snippets of scenes or dialogue many times when I’m away from the computer. That’s why I ALWAYS carry a pen and pad of paper with me in my purse and even in my car! Even when I go for my walks I take a notepad, because it always seems that when my mind is “clear” and not focused on something directly, I’ll get hit with some of my best scenes, dialogue, or ideas!
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Hi Joanne, Happy Birthday! Great guest blog.
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Janelle, I do the same thing…except for when I take walks…I will usually fund for or find a piece of scrap paper to write on, but I am always armed with a pen…go figure…Once you are hit with the idea, do you ever change it once you sit down to type it up or leave it as it is?
Peace and love,
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Paula — Yes, most time that the original “Idea” that I’m hit with does change once I sit down to type it up.
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Hey Joanne, great topic. Sorry I’m a bit late commenting. Yesterday was the TARA meeting and I never found my way back to computer afterwards.
While doing the 100×100 I’ve found that it’s so much easier to write. I’m in my story everyday. During the move I didn’t write for two weeks. Coming back was hard. I can’t say it was hard to sit down to write. That was the easy part actually. The hardest part was coming back cold to the story.
For me, at least, I need to be in the story everyday. The words flow that way. Of course, they may be POS and end up on the cutting floor but as Nora says you can’t fix a blank page. :)
Julie, we missed you at the meeting. :)
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Hi Joanne. Enjoyed reading your blog. Love your books. Happy Belated Birthday. Mine is Tomorrow.
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Thank you, thank you for the birthday wishes and having me at Plot Monkeys! My birthday was plagued with Internet connection problems, but today, I’ve thwarted my satellite provider by going to my old-fashioned dial-up connection that I never did delete on my computer. It’s slow going, but I’m HERE!! Will catch up momentarily, assuming I can keep the football fans in my living room from calling me in to see every other play…
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Kimh, thank you for reading!! I appreciate that :-). And I wanted to echo Carly’s fear of wasting page count time on excess writing… I think that’s a fear we all share! But I actually got back into occasional journaling after I wrote a long-winded post to my cp where I was trying to explain to her why I was in such a plot corner. Then, by blathering on semi-pointlessly about it, trying to get to the heart of the matter, I sort of wrote my way to a solution to the whole mess. Yahoo!!! And I never would have expected that outcome. I honestly just wanted to sit down and whine.
That moment helped me remember how much the act of writing can become a mental trigger for unlocking cool stuff.
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Happy Birthday, Joan! My Internet woes put me just in time to wing birthday wishes right back at you.
I just wanted to say to Paula that I keep a file full of deli napkins and magazine cards where I’ve scribbed story ideas. I don’t retype them or anything, I just put them in an idea folder that I refer back to in between books for fresh input. Although, sometimes the strongest ideas end up sticking even if I don’t actively think about them. My brain works on them in spite of my WIP and then I usually have to make more notes while the idea is cooking because it’s something I’m closer to being ready to put on paper.
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That’s interesting, Joanne because I sat down and did some character sketches and came up with much more than I would have if I’d just started this story … so there IS more to be said for prewriting and writing things that are outside the story than I thought, LOL!