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Lyn Fairchild Hawks

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Three Ways to Keep At It

Lyn Hawks · September 30, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Starting a story is daunting and many of us who write struggle to find enough hours in the week to go deep into a narrative. As I embark on a new novel, three quick ways I use to keep me in the game felt like ones I should share.pencil-918449_1920

  1. Find Your Passion, or Embrace the Pain. I know, sounds like a massively tall order, but you need fuel for the journey. If it’s not something you think about constantly, then I wouldn’t pursue it. Whether it’s a cool idea that keeps flooding your brain, a meltdown you’re having about politics, or a personal situation that keeps you up at night, it is the perfect source to keep you writing. Motivation. My test is this: if I can talk with friends or family about it, I can probably write about it, too. I am good at turning obsessions, anger, revenge, distress into a scene in a novel.
  2. Keep Paper Everywhere. I could also say, Keep the Phone Nearby and Use Your Notes app, but the moment I tap my phone, notifications from Facebook/Tumblr/Messages flood my view and I am off down a rabbit hole before I realize it. Blank sheets of paper have inspired me since childhood. Seeing blank space gets me jazzed to fill it. So when an idea strikes at an inconvenient time, like when I’m driving or tumbling into bed, I have the blank sheet nearby giving my brain a little jolt to Jot it down, jot it down! before I forget. Because I will. I always do!
  3. Gather Up These Notes and Head to the Computer. If I do one thing, it’s get rid of one of those notes in the pile every day. I tap in something, somewhere. It could be in one of three documents I start: the Character Profiles (a stream-of-consciousness study of each major player in my story–thank you, Elizabeth George, for that tip), the Synopsis (my outline following Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat principles and beats of a story), or the Manuscript (first draft). The idea gets dumped somewhere so it’s not lost. So even if I don’t write a full scene or even a paragraph today, I have done Something. And believing you have accomplished Something lets me move forward with some confidence in unmapped territory.

This is how we do it. Idea by Idea, piece of paper by piece of paper, line by line.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: characterization, inspiration, novel, novels, passion, persistence, persistence with writing, the writing life, writing a novel, writing process, writing process

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“author

(Photo by My Friend Teresa Studios)

Could I live without words, writing, story? Probably not. I love telling stories. I love teaching stories. I love helping other people find theirs. That’s my story. [READ MORE...]

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It’s so wild to read this developing news when I It’s so wild to read this developing news when I knew in my gut back in 2012 and 2013 that something toxic this way comes… In other words, the relatively new obsession back then with phones was not only toxic to teen mental health, but also dramatically altered my conversations and daily interactions. I remember being made fun of because I didn’t have an iPhone in 2016. In my most recent young adult novel, Minerva struggles to keep up with social media, and feels horribly inadequate looking at the way some peers use it. She feels horrified at the bullying, but she can’t look away. She feels conflicted because someone who wants to be a journalist needs to pay attention to social media, right? Something’s gotta change, but how? IRL this author has begun leaving the phone in other rooms so that it can be forgotten. I am trying to invoke some kind of mantra that says, “It’s OK to not be connected all the time. It’s OK to not be on emergency alert just because an emergency *could* happen or news might be breaking. It’s OK to not be hip, or in the know, or constantly available, or the recently evolved/expected version of a ‘good’ person who should respond in a nanosecond to all possible crises.” And I wonder why I’m more anxious than I was before I had a “smart phone”? I’ve turned off notifications. I look at social media less. I am happier.💜💖💜
#happier #socialmedia #yalit #youngadult #journalism #journalist #nerdssometimesknow #yougottafollowyourheart
I love a good journalism movie. I love it especial I love a good journalism movie. I love it especially when female journalists are the focus. Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey ought to be household names. I also thought that these three words from this Slate review–“persistence, persuasion, and pleading”– really do sum up the job of a journalist, trying to get the story, build trust, and out the truth. Now I need to read the book!
#Journalist #TruthWillOut #movie #MovieRecommendation #FemaleJournalist #Journalism
2013. @ nervesofsteel is set in that time, when ce 2013. @ nervesofsteel is set in that time, when cell phones went from maybes to mandatory in teen life. Ezra Klein’s most recent podcast delves into the research about the effects on teen girls’ mental health from social media and constant online engagement. My book tells a story that begins on Instagram and ends on Twitter. 
#bullying #metoo
#mentalhealthawareness #yalit #historicalfiction #2013 #books #book #youngadult #mentalhealth #truthwillout

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