Make Time to Daydream

I don't know about you, but I miss daydreaming. My life is so busy and full with wonderful things - children, family, friends, work, but I am having difficulty finding any time to stare out the window and daydream.

I need to, my writing life needs me to, my sanity needs me to.

Desperately.

Maybe blogging is a modern form of daydreaming? But no, I'm searching for meaning in my thoughts here. Daydreaming is freedom from thought. To quote Winnie-the-Pooh: How sweet to be a cloud, floating in the blue . . .

I am running ten workshops this semester, working with kids and teens I admire and who inspire me with their capacity to daydream, to free associate, to build castles in the air. I challenge them, trick them to break through and follow up their dreams with thought. I need to practice what I preach.

I used to be a big daydreamer - so big, that I was self-destructive. I used to build castles in the air and then try to move in, inevitably falling on my face, wondering how on earth I (figuratively) broke my legs.

But I don't want to be the other extreme, do I? I need to make time to lie in the grass and make up worlds in the clouds, to stare out windows imagining inner and outer lives.

If I am not running a workshop, I am driving to one or I am constantly emailing or in meetings or training, and I play word games on my I-phone to relax, sometimes even to put me to sleep. I am constantly plugged in.

But my brain needs time during the day as well as the night, to dream and process things through my sub-conscious.

Last weekend I got my first speeding ticket. Ever. A tangible reminder to slow down, yet I haven't been able to do that.

So this is me confessing, me wanting to get right with myself and the world. I need to slow down. I've written about saying "yes" to things, but I also need to learn how to say "no", so that I can take care of myself and recharge my batteries with sweet nothingness.

On the next warm, sunny day, I vow to lie in the grass and have a date with the clouds. Will you join me?

Writers Fight Darkness

Yes we do! This concept is something that crystallizes for me the more I practice the art myself and the more I meet other writers through the workshops I lead.

Although I am back in New York,  part of me is still in Mobile Alabama, and maybe it always will be. Those Mobilians touched my heart!

Those writers from all different walks of life who have a story to tell and have the right to write.

I spoke my truth about writing and life to the Mobile Writer's Guild last Thursday night and then on Saturday I led two workshops: the first being sponsored by the library and the Metro Mobile Reading Council. It was a 50th anniversary celebration of my grandmother's opus, A Wrinkle in Time  where I led a workshop for kids, tweens and teens and asked to think about not only Wrinkle, but every book they read and everything they write themselves in an introspective way.

Betsy Gillespie, president of the Reading Council writes: "Thank you for such a wonderful Young Authors' program today in Mobile! In just a few minutes you took the students from apprehensive to engaged! You captured the hearts of a very diverse group of young adults and had them all writing and participating! This was one of our best programs ever!!! Many thanks to you and to the Mobile Writers' Guild. All of us in the Metro Mobile Reading Council were delighted with the workshop!"

We did some group and individual writing and dramatic exercises, culminating in a poem or short piece about fighting darkness. Morgan Grable and Natasha Novikov, both 8th graders, agreed to let me publish the poems they wrote, here on this blog!

Uncover The Darkness

My encouraging words light the darkness, it strikes every corner every crevasse.
My fearless words rewrite the words of extraordinary power that were never spoken never written. 
As I speak with these words the darkness retreats.
As the light shines through the darkness it's time for me to find who I am.
It's time to uncover what's hidden behind all the anger.
It's time for our lights to shine and over power the darkness.

This young author is pretty incredible, don't you think? But wait - you haven't read Natasha's!

Fear

When I'm doing something scary, fear comes to me,
Fear goes straight to my head and tells me, "You can't do it,"
Although we think fear is bigger than ourselves, it really isn't.
Some people run away from fear, while others run toward it.
Why do the others run toward fear?
Because the only thing standing in the way is fear itself.

Amazing emerging authors, huh?

In the afternoon I led a three hour professional workshop called Mining Your Life for Your Fiction for adults (and one teen) where I asked participants to go deep into themselves and their subconscious in order to bring their own truths to light. We stayed late so that everybody had the chance to share and receive feedback. I was blown away by participants' willingness to uncover themselves, for writing really is about stripping down and revealing ourselves, isn't it? We fight our own darkness.

I made some new friends and solidified a few "internet" friendships into "real life" friendships.

I had to write this morning to ground myself back into my own life, here in New York. Now I can hit the ground running, but first, for this writer, it is best to hit the ground writing!

Wrinkles in Time with 38 Young Actors

Image via Wikipedia

I love my life! I get to do so many fun things with so many people. This morning my cup was bubbling over with excitement and nervousness as I made my way to The Little Village Playhouse in Pleasantville to adapt my workshop methods and teach a "Master Class" on A Wrinkle in Time.

LVP runs a theater camp, and I jumped at the opportunity to develop my Wrinkle workshop even further.

There were 38 kids! The most I have ever workshopped with is a class of 24. They were all incredible. Half of the class had read the book already, so we were able to look at character and motivation deeply, hooking the other half of the class. I changed and added some things on the spot: as a teacher you have to be flexible and adaptable! This workshop explores individuality and community through the lens of Wrinkle, of which there is no shortage of material.

We rounded out group acting exercises with individual writing exercises, read from the text, brainstormed together, ending with the kids writing poems. They were eager to share them, and they were all WONDERFUL writers as well as actors. I'd love to publish some of them on the new Madeleine L'Engle website. She would have been thrilled to see these kids' interpretations.

I'm looking forward to more good times at LVP!

Next up: tomorrow, my sister Charlotte and my 10 year old niece meet up at LaGuardia Airport to fly to Orlando, Florida for LeakyCon 2011! Stay tuned . . .

Mining Your Life For Your Fiction

Image by lippert61 via Flickr

A writer must not forget to live life to the fullest, if we are to create characters with rich emotional lives. All of our fiction comes from our psyche and our spirit - even fantasy comes from some seed planted in our life somewhere.

EDGES was borne out of very real personal experiences. I was transformed myself by Moab, Utah. Addiction/ recovery is a theme close to my heart as both a therapist, friend and family member. I have put myself in others' shoes and looked at my own tendencies to teeter over into addictive territory. I have witnessed first hand the power of the 12 Steps and the fallibility of personalities involved in any tradition. If there is to be truth in story, then you must write about things that matter to you. It's not important to necessarily write about what you know, because you can always learn. But for a work to be compelling, you must deeply care about what your characters care about, in order to make your readers want to keep turning the pages.

I will be in Richmond, Virginia at Fountain Bookstore on Tuesday, March 22nd, doing not only a reading and a signing, but leading a workshop with the very same title as this post. Both teens and adults are welcome to explore character development with me from the core of your being. Writing exercises and discussion will be intertwined. I'm looking forward to seeing you there!

Connecting through Words

One of the best parts of having a writing career  is the new connections I'm making with people - meeting other writers, in person and on-line, published and pre-published. We are building community, a most important boon and a necessity if we are to survive in such an isolating field.

January 22nd marked a full year in blogging. One year, 185 posts. I hope I've delivered what I advertised: Léna's Lit Life - my journey through writing and publishing. Maybe you've even been on that emotional roller coaster with me. Maybe once in a while I share some wisdom, but the best thing I have is the ability to share myself. (There are sooooo many awesome writing blogs out there!)

And I want to meet you, I really do! Hopefully, you feel the same way. I need to expand my scope on the web to some live events.

Yesterday I traveled to New Jersey to meet with a few folks at WORDS, a wonderful independent bookstore in Maplewood. It was a small, intimate gathering, but well worth the effort. (2.5 hours on a train - both ways!) The folks who came were warm and supportive, eager to hear me read and talk about the craft and process of writing. I finally got to meet "in person" another writer who I have been internet friends with for the past six months. I met new faces, friends, who I will now connect with via the web, and who will recommend Edges to others.

A woman I met there inspired me to try and make as many face to face connections as I can. So.  I've put out to the universe (and Facebook - my insecurities be darned)) asking if peeps would be willing to host me if I can find independent bookstores and/or libraries that are interested in what I have to offer (workshops, readings).

And I have a fantasy of planning a trek/ workshop/ retreat in Moab in the future.

What do you think?

The Thlot Pickens . . ..

"If you're rewriting a story, is it okay to to use the same plot, or do you find yourself stuck in the same problems?" One of the teens in yesterday's workshop asked me. I had never heard the question about REVISION phrased in this particular way. Have an outline, fill in differently. See how refreshing Writopia is?

We launched into a discussion about structure vs. plot.

(I had hammered out the plot to EDGES in three months, but it took me three years of rewrites and playing with the structure before getting it into the hands of a publisher.)

"How do I do that? How do I know whether or not the structure is working?" She asked.

"That's what we're all here for!" Learning how to both get and give constructive feedback are two of the main goals of workshopping.

This group is split between teens whose writing tends to be plot driven and those who prefer character driven stories. Since both character and plot inform each other so much, these guys and gals have much to learn from each other this week. I relish being their guide and witness.

I suggested switching her Point of View, see the "plot" from another character's eyes, or to simply change the narrative from third person to first person.

Picasso was known to use canvasses over and over again, switching colors, form, content - he had to "rule out" certain factors first, before getting to the heart of his painting.

This is a helpful reminder for me as well: I have a manuscript about a reality TV show (based on my personal experience) that I'm getting excited to get back to, which I wrote as a double narrative in the third person. Maybe I should be open to switching it to a single narrative in the first person. This may alter the plot, structure and character arcs a great deal, and might work better. Or it might not, but I will learn more about my characters and their stories in the process!