Creative Writing Archives - Page 44 of 56 - Trisha Sugarek, Author, Playwright & Poet

Writing Fiction Organically

This was the first time, in twenty+ years of writing that I couldn’t find a place to end the book. What was going on? Every new adventure that LaVerne had in the wilds of Alaska suggested another story thread.

It took me three years to write this saga.(87K words) I didn’t know it at the time, but I was letting it ‘rest’ at certain points and I think it’s a better story for it.

I have learned over the years to let it flow organically; when characters come busting through the door, I welcome them in. They always tell me their story and it always fits with what I am writing. The indigenous people in Song of the Yukon joined me early on. Black-eyed Joe was sitting in the back of the village store and LaVerne (heroine) and I were both surprised to find him there. Then I went on to meet Joe’s brother, Elk-tail and his mother Edna.

Without exception, at some point (early, if I’m lucky) my characters take over the story and I become the typist. I interview authors on my blog and so many of them say the same thing, so, with relief, I find I’m not as crazy as I thought I was.

Research: The story about my auntie LaVerne running away to Alaska is a true family tale. So all I had to do was pull from the many stories my mother told me as a child. But, living ‘off the grid’ in Alaska, in the 1920’s? The Internet is a writer’s best tool. Can you believe that we used to have to go to the library and do all this research, pouring through books? With a couple of clicks I was able to weave the Athabaskan (native American) language, their folk lore and their customs throughout the story. I was able to build a dog sled, from scratch using only wood and rawhide lashings. I was able to set a fur trapping line. I was able to build a cabin with only hand tools. (think about it) I was able to train puppies to become a dog sled team. I was able to describe, accurately, a funeral pot-latch.

My advice to other writers is: write every day. If you get stuck, let the story rest; go write something else. And never, never give up!
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! September’s author will be Joseph Drumheller and October: Author, Lisa Jackson. November’s author will be best selling author, Grace Burrowes Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers!
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More Motivational Moments…for Writers! #15

When characters stroll into your story….LET THEM! I just completed an interview with FreshFiction.com and was relating to her that several characters had walked into my story (Song of the Yukon) and I welcomed them in. It happens to me frequently. They contribute interesting tributaries to my main story stream. Even though I had to stop and do some extra research it was so WORTH IT!

Keep writing, my fellow writers!

‘This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap.’~~George Bernard Shaw

‘An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate.’ Francois Rene De Chateaubriand

‘I’m not the heroic type, really. I was beaten up by Quakers.’ ~Woody Allen
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! September’s author will be Joseph Drumheller and October: Author, Lisa Jackson. November’s author will be best selling author, Grace Burrowes Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers!
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Song of the Yukon, A new Novel by Trisha Sugarek

It’s taken me 3 years to write this saga. Since it’s set in the 1920’s there was extensive research to be done about how life was lived ‘off the grid’ in Alaska. It’s jammed packed with interesting characters and adventure.

The old timers would tell you, ‘it’s a good yarn’ and I’m proud of it. Based on the true story of my aunt when she was a mere 17 years old, running away from home and working her way from Seattle to the wilds of Alaska.

Click here to purchase

Alaska was calling! LaVerne’s dream was to follow in Robert Service’s footsteps to the wilds of Alaska. At sixteen she was already writing her own music and she believed that her talent could only flourish on the back trails of the Yukon. Alone and impersonating a boy, she hires aboard a freighter, out of Seattle, and works her way to the north.

From boat rides on the Yukon and encounters with native tribes to filing homestead papers and working the land, LaVerne uses newfound frontier wisdom as a basis for expanding both her music and her perceptions: “No man owns what Mother Spirit does not freely give.” Black-eyed Joe told her. What a charming folk tale, LaVerne thought. I could use the story in one of my songs.”
It was here she learns the realities of frontier life that will shape her life, help her create music, and lead her in directions no woman has explored alone before.

‘Song of the Yukon covers more than music growth, more than homesteading in the wilderness, and even more than testing one’s abilities against a foreign environment. Most of all, it’s about one woman’s determination to achieve her dream against any odds – and it provides readers with not only a solid background in frontier experiences, but a sense of self and accomplishment that heroine LaVerne learns through hard experience. Song of the Yukon is a powerful saga, recommended for a range of readers. Thank you for the opportunity to look at your fine title! ‘~~ Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review ~~

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More Motivational Moments…for Writers! #14

How to Love Not Hate Rewrites

A writer has to find a way to love rewrites. No matter how good you are writing your first draft I guarantee you will find an awkward sentence structure, typos, a section that is not germane to your story. Best of all, if you’re like me, you’ll discover extra content when you explore some unfinished business in your story.

Love those rewrites! You’ll have a better book for it!

“Rewriting is a large part of the whole job. And get rid of stuff that’s not working. Just pare it down until it’s a beautiful thing you can hand in, probably late, to your editor.”~~ Kurt Loder

“More than a half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer is rewriting. I wouldn’t say I have a talent that’s special. It strikes me that I have an unusual kind of stamina.”~~ John Irving

“Artistry is important. Skill, hard work, rewriting, editing, and careful, careful craft: All of these are necessary. These are what separate the beginners from experienced artists.”~~ Sarah Kay

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‘As a writer, I marinate, speculate and hibernate.’ Trisha Sugarek

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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! September’s author will be Joseph Drumheller and October: Author, Lisa Jackson. Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers!

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More Motivational Moments…for Writers! #13

Is your process the right or wrong way?

As I write my story I make notes, on the last page of my document, about story ideas within the story, lest I forget. We all have such interesting processes, none of them wrong. The important thing is to write EVERY DAY. Good, bad or ugly you must write to become a writer.

I’m certain that my style would drive some writers crazy. I’m what’s known as a ‘pantser’. I write by the seat of my pants. No story outline because I want to experience that magical moment when my characters take over. I never try to wrest the story away from my characters. No plot line because who knows where my story will end up? No character list because new characters are always walking into my story. Why would I keep that door slammed in their faces? And I try to never ‘force it’. If I run dry on one project, I switch to another and wait for the story to pile up in my head.

“If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.”
– Somerset Maugham

This from Charles Bukowski on forcing your story, “...too much just doing it for the sake of doing it? Just not waiting for the words to pile up inside and then explode of their own volition.”

“It’s none of their business that you had to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.” – Ernest Hemingway
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! A long awaited interview with Kathleen Grissom (The Kitchen House) September’s author will be Joseph Drumheller and October: Andrew Snook. Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers!

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Motivational Moments…for Writers! #12

How to Write Rich Characters.

After many years of writing, my characters show up in my head but it’s my job to ‘flesh them out,’ breathe life into them. Many times I will meet or see a character in real life and they inspire a character in my storytelling. If you’re a new writer take the time to write it down. It’s not the same as a few random thoughts about your character. Some intangible thing happens when I put pen to paper and get to know who my character is.

Read through your story and write down EVERYTHING the other characters say about the character you are creating. These exercises do not have to show up in your book. They are merely ways to research and explore who your characters are. When I am editing and rewriting I am looking for additional ways to bring my characters to life.

I keep asking myself about the character’s motivations, goals, and needs.

“One of the things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. Something more will arise for later, something better.”
— Annie Dillard

“A director becomes a diplomatist, a financier, a pedagogue, a top sergeant, a wet nurse, and a martyr, the kind of martyr who used to be torn into pieces by wild horses galloping in all directions at once.” ~Margaret Webster, Stage Director (This quote SO applies to writers, I thought I would include it.)

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More Motivational Moments…for Writers! #11

I had a friendly debate with another author when she responded to my Stephen King’s quote about ‘plot being the the last resort of bad writers.’ One of her comments to me was, “writers have to accept that their readers might not care as much about your characters as you do.”

My vehement answer was, if my readers don’t care as much as I do, then I haven’t done my job. I just finished reading a book by a new (to me) author and I found her characters boring and unsympathetic. She didn’t tell me enough about them through dialogue and description for me to care. I suspect that since this was a series, she was relying too heavily on her readers already knowing her characters from previous books. Big mistake! Even with a series, each book, and character, must be able to stand alone.

Writers! You have to know your characters in order for your readers to know and care about them. With the most despicable villain, you must give your readers something to love about that character.

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.” Elisabeth Kabler-Ross

“When you are completely absorbed or caught up in something, you become oblivious to things around you, or to the passage of time. It is this absorption in what you are doing that frees your unconscious and releases your creative imagination.” Rollo May
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! A long awaited interview with Kathleen Grissom (The Kitchen House) September’s author will be Joseph Drumheller and October: Andrew Snook. Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers!

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More Motivational Moments…For Writers! #10

Okay, your first attempt at creative writing is finished. In your journal or notebook or in a password-protected file on your laptop your first story awaits you. Now what are you going to do with it? You can’t possibly let anyone read it! What if they laugh and it’s not a comedy? What if there’s poorly hidden scorn? Or when they read the last page, what if they look up, their eyes filled with pity…for you.

Sorry, but you’ve just entered the world of writing. You must brave the experience of having someone actually read your work. That is if you intend to go any further.
Here’s the good news: pick people you trust who will give you constructive criticism. If you ask a family member make certain that they aren’t threatened by your new passion of writing. They might sense that if you pursue your writing, it will take you away from them (and it will). Or, worse, they tell you it’s wonderful, perfect….which, you and I both know it isn’t at this point.
Keep writing! Don’t let anyone or anything stop you. And I can keep this promise: if you keep writing, you will get better.

“Writing is a lonely business. You pour your heart and guts into the written word, often exposing what you’ve experienced in your own life. You nurture it, feed it, trim its toe-nails, wash its hair, dress it up and send it out into traffic.” Trisha Sugarek

“Planning to write is not writing. Outlining a book is not writing. Researching is not writing. Talking to people about what you’re doing is not writing. None of that is writing. Writing is writing.” ~~ E.L. Doctorow

Did you miss other Motivational Moments? Go to my blog and scroll down.
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More Motivational Moments…For Writers! #9

Jump Start your Writing Day with Motivational Moments

Plot: I am currently finishing my newest novel and I have to tell you; the loosely built plot that I had envisioned when I began is gone by the way-side. Way, way off and into the forest, in fact. About half way through the characters took me on a journey, making their own decisions, loving who they wanted to love, building their homesteads their way. When this happens to me I welcome their story line in…they know better than I do at that point. My characters write a better story than I ever could.

“The last thing I want to do is spoil a book with plot. I think a plot is the last resort of bad writers. I’m a lot more interested in characters and situations; following where it goes. In Cujo I was as surprised as my readers when the little kid died at the end.” Stephen King

“A poem begins with a lump in the throat; a homesickness or a love-sickness. It is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment. A complete poem is one where an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” Robert Frost

Sign up for my blog and receive your ‘Motivational Moments‘ twice a week! Simple: type your email address in the box on my Home page (top/right). Click on ‘subscribe’.

‘As a writer, I marinate, speculate and hibernate.’ Trisha Sugarek

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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! A long awaited interview with Kathleen Grissom (The Kitchen House) Best selling author, Robyn Carr is July’s author. Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers! on YouTube!

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Interview (part 2) with Author, Robyn Carr

Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters?

RC. I begin with a vague idea of who they are but I have to write about them, put them in scenes, watch them interact with other characters for at least 100 pages before they become real to me. Sometimes it’s longer. Once I know them I can go back and revise and rewrite. I love revision. When the editor says it looks great and we can move right to the line edit and make changes there, I’m almost disappointed! I love weighing the pros and cons of each suggestion in the revision letter; I love taking that first draft (which is never a real first draft but usually a tenth draft!) and making it better.

Q. What first inspired you to write your stories?

RC. Reading. That feeling of not being able to close my eyes on a good book was so awesome I wondered if it would be even more awesome if I were creating the book. It was. I thought about the story while I was falling asleep and woke up anxious to get back to it.

Q. When your characters are nestled in a small town like Virgin River; what comes first to you? The Characters or the Town?

RC. Always the characters. The town is not only harder to envision, it has to play the best possible supporting role. With Virgin River not only did I visit the actual place – Humboldt County in Northern CA – but I realized very quickly that the best town to support my story would have to be rugged. Not cute, not quaint but rough, rural, remote – a place that would demand something of the characters. When I was there researching a local said to me, “If you last here for three years you’ll never leave.” What does that say about a place? It’s not an easy place and it’s worth the effort.

Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing?

RC. Oh yeah, embarrassingly so. Once I forgot a speaking engagement. At least it was local and at least I’d already showered and dressed. I got a phone call asking me if I was coming! I threw on better clothes and shot out the door! I was twenty minutes late, but I made it! I’d been in Virgin River and lost all sense of time and place.

Q. Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment?

RC. You mean I have a muse? Really? Whoever it is, she’s slacking. I have to rely on myself and my discipline combined with my love of storytelling. Some days are harder than others.

Q. When did you begin to write seriously?

RC. Forty years ago. I was very nearly a kid. I was, in fact, a very young Air Force wife with two babies and no car, the closest thing to a shut-in. I’d never imagined I’d aspire to writing novels and was probably too dumb to know it’s an overwhelming goal. I sold my first book in 1978 and I was only twenty-seven years old. When the agent called me and said we’d had an offer from Little, Brown I said, “Little Who?” I knew nothing. I just knew I wanted to write this story. It was only my third completed manuscript but it was historical romance at a time when historical romance was hot.

Q. How long after that were you published?

RC. I think it was only three years after I began. It took longer to write books then – we didn’t have computers. There was no Google – I had to go to the library, babies in tow, and research. I wrote my first several books on a typewriter and being young and poor, it seemed to cost the earth.

Q. What makes a writer great?

RC. It’s unknown, actually. It’s a kind of magic that happens between the book and the reader. It’s unpredictable and undefinable. In fact there are many great writers who are completely overlooked and many terrible writers who, for whatever reason, rise to bestsellerdom and fame. And you might not know if you’ve achieved that magic that has readers talking (and talking and talking) for quite a while after the books have been published. No matter how hard we work or how much PR and advertising we do, at the end of the day it boils down to word of mouth. It always does. It’s readers telling other readers who tell other readers. You might be able to trick them into buying the book with a lot of press or chatter, but you won’t twice and you won’t for long. Readers, who we don’t really know, have to have that amazing emotional connection and response – and then they won’t shut up.

Q…..and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like for you?

Tune in for Part 3 of this wonderful Interview July 30th ~~~ Did you miss Part 1? Click here
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! A long awaited interview with Kathleen Grissom (The Kitchen House) Michael Saad, Canadian author, was June’s author. Robyn Carr is July’s author. Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers!

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