Karta - hjälp för större skrivprojekt

Författarcoachen Jurgen Wolff skriver här i 9 steg om hur man kan kartlägga sitt arbete som stöd medan man skriver på en roman, filmmanus eller fackbok.

Författarcoachen Ann Ljungberg visar i sin blogg hur hon arbetar med mindmapping. Hon använder MindJet Mindmanager (kostar en del) och rekommenderar även gratisprogrammet Xmind för de som är intresserade av mindmapping.

Ann tipsar om en artikel här om hur mindmapping fungerar.

Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow, science fictionförfattare, är innovativ när det gäller marknadsföringen av böckerna.
"He’s also trying out new ways to make the book interactive; if you find a typo in the Print on Demand version he will correct it and in the next edition (which starts with the next book) give you a footnote crediting you with the correction. Sounds distracting to me but I have to admit it’s creative." Läs mer i Wolffs blogg.

"Spark: How Creativity Works."

"´Our most difficult times shape who we are - embrace them.´
Burstein emphasizes that the painful moments ´often spark creativity,´ and that we must ´stop, look and remember´ that which hurts us most. While many frequently look away and shrug off pain, the truly gifted artists embrace pain.
Burstein told the stories of painter Bill Viola, who nearly drowned as a teenager and went on to create water imagery, as well as novelist Richard Ford's dyslexia that forced him to ardently study and analyze compositions, creating the foundation for his writing.
She also spoke of painter Chuck Close's prosopagnosia - an inability to recognize human faces - that drove him to creating a method for "breaking down" faces into components. He now uses that technique to create astonishing 8-foot-tall facial portraits."
Artikel i PhillyBurbs.com i om Julie Bursteins bok "Spark: How Creativity Works."
Källa: Jurgen Wolff

Börja skriva innan du är förberedd

Börja direkt, håll inte på att förbereda dig, var oförberedd! Förberedelse och research är bara ett sätt att förhala själva skrivstunden. Ungefär så säger Steven Pressfield i boken "Do the Work". Läs mer här i Jurgen Wolffs blogg.

Svårt att välja...

Jurgen Wollf tar här upp en sak som min lärare i kreativ coaching, Eric Maisel, skrivit en del om: det här med att välja. Oron det skapar och skrivkrampen det därmed kan bidra till.
"In writing, this includes choosing the protagonist through whom we will tell the story, choosing the opening scene, the various conflicts, and how to resolve the story.
Choosing is stressful because each time we make a choice we are leaving behind several other options. We begin to wonder whether we've made the right choice.
What if the crime story we're writing about how a detective solves a murder would have been fresher if we'd made the victim's sister the protagonist?" Läs mer här i Wolffs blogg.

Att sätta upp mål kan vara kontraproduktivt

"What does that mean for writers and other creative people? To give an example in the realm of books, the writer determined to get onto the New York Times best-seller list probably will spend more time chasing trends than writing what he or she is passionate about. And the listing may go to somebody who writes a book that is unique and was written without any concern for best-seller lists."
Den kloke Jurgen Wolff sätter ord på något som jag alltid känt men inte kunnat formulera: att ett alltför utstakat mål kan vara kontraproduktivt.
För min del handlar det om att nå målet på indirekt väg, genom att leka mig fram, hålla tyglarna lösa. Jag når (nästan) alltid mina mål men aldrig i tid och aldrig på raka vägar. Ett envetet strävsamt trampande mot mitt mål på en rak sträcka skulle ta död på all min lust i alla fall. Hur är det för dig?

Världens sämst skrivna bok?

Jurgen Wolff berättar om ett projekt: "Back in 2005, to prove that some so-called publishers would accept anything, a group of pros came up with the absolute worst book they could, each writing a disjointed chapter full of mistakes, illogical action, unbelievable characters. They sent it in and Publish American accepted it, wanting to ´give it the chance it deserves.´" Läs mer om boken (textutdrag m m) här.

Depression och kreativitet

"Over the years, I have treated many people who suffer from depression or anxiety. I learned that traditional treatments, psychotherapy, cognitive therapy and medication are not very effective for certain people. For some, the only thing that works is to be involved in a creative process."
Skrivcoachen Lisa Tener har intervjuat en läkare om depression och kreativitet. Jurgen Wolff kompletterar med tips på hur man kan göra om man lider av depressioner och kreativiteten går på sparlåga:
- Commit to a creative project that you can achieve in a relatively short period of time—not a novel or screenplay, but a short story, a film, an essay or article, even a haiku.
- Take away the pressure to come up with something that will impress people. You may even want to promise yourself that you won’t even show the finished project to anybody. You are doing it for yourself, to enjoy the process.
- Set time goals but give yourself some leeway. If you set hard deadlines and miss them, you have just given yourself another reason to beat yourself up.
- Follow any signs of joy. If you set out to write a short story but in the middle of the process get more excited about using some element of it to make a one-minute film or write a song, go ahead. Again, it’s not about the product, it’s about the process.
- Be kind to yourself. Tell your Inner Critic that he or she has the day off. Pretend that you are five years old again, playing with finger paints or building sand castles. Listen to music while you work, something that has good associations for you. Treat yourself to a candy bar or some expensive fresh berries. If it feels like the world is giving you a kicking, you don’t have to join them.

Är du tillfreds med att bara skriva?

"That approval has to come from inside, from ourselves: we have to believe we are enough, book or no book, best-seller or no best-seller. Writing is worth the time invested because we are expressing ourselves. If the rest of the world approves, that's gravy.

It could be interesting to spend some more time pondering why you are writing and how to get those feelings now, rather than later. It won't stop you from writing; in fact, it may transform your writing to something deeper and more satisfying."

Författarcoachen Jurgen Wolff är inspirerad denna vecka! Här är ytterligare en läsvärd bloggartikel.

Lita även på magkänslan när du skriver

"I wonder whether it's the crazy pace of change that freaks us out and makes us want an easy answer for predictable success. Of course the greater the pace of change, the less predictable anything is.

Getting to the practical, I just want to suggest that at least at the start of your writing project you give a bit of attention to your gut as well as your head. One technique for this is completing a sentence really fast--so fast that you don't have time to think it over. Blurting is what you're going for. Here are a few that might help you if you're writing a novel or screenplay or story:

What is most interesting about my protagonist is...
My protagonist's biggest secret is....
When people see or read what I've written, I want them to feel...
The thing that scares me about writing this story is...
This story will be better than anything else I've written if I..."

Jag vill verkligen rekommendera det här inlägget av Jurgen Wolff!

Citat

"Sometimes people say, ´Yes, but if I write a book and then nobody wants it, I will have wasted all that time! Well, what else will you do with the time? Cure cancer? Work as a volunteer in a hospice? Reconstructive surgery? If so, do that. If, on the other hand, you're going to spend that time watching TV or surfing the internet or cleaning compulsively, write instead.´" Jurgen Wolff. Läs mer här.

Välj några få detaljer

"He asked, ´How did you know it was like that?´ If you have the kind of imagination a novelist needs, you have a notion of why it was like that. You do not need to write endlessly about what kind of sidearms somebody takes when he goes on a night raid and that kind of thing. That creates boredom."
Det här tipset tycker jag var mycket uppmuntrande, då jag har tendens att researcha i åratal istället för att skriva.

Berättelsen bakom

Jurgen Wolff skriver här om berättelsen bakom. Bakom en produkt. Bakom ett författarskap.
"Rohit Bhargava looked at the ways the website Gilt.com has become successful (it offers luxury goods at a discount). One element they highlighted is that Gilt.com actually has a section of each product page called ´Backstory´."
"It's not about faking something--you'll be found out and be discredited (which can also become a story and some people come back from that one, too). But ideally it's about looking carefully at your background and experience and teasing out the elements that make a good authentic story."

Och han bjuder, om än smått generad, på bitar ur sitt eget liv, som påverkar honom bl a författarcoach, hur han arbetar och besluten han tar. Läs mer här.

För min del påverkar mitt liv och mina erfarenheter mig hur jag arbetar och vad jag arbetar med.
Min uppväxt, omgiven av författare och konstnärer av olika slag, invandrare (mamma var invandrarlärare), många flyttar, boende i Frankrike och vuxna inbegripna i politiska diskussioner och vänsterpolitiskt aktiva föräldrar. Att jag är uppvuxen i akademiker-Uppsala. Mina sju år som mer eller mindre sjukskriven, det faktum att jag varit ensamstående mamma och singel i alla år, att jag bor långt från släkten sedan 20 år, att jag väljer att bara arbeta med det jag trivs med och älskar att göra och därmed måste leva billigt och uppbåda styrkan och modet att avstå från allt som signalerar hög status - det är något jag drar nytta av bl a i arbetet som kreativitetscoach.
En dag kanske jag berättar mer om det, i syfte att bli ännu mer tydlig i min roll som skribent och coach.

Så jag frågar som Jurgen Wolff: "What´s YOUR story?"

Reklam i e-böcker?

"For authors, it's something to keep an eye on so it doesn't sneak up on us. It may be inevitable, but I think we need to fight to keep it from disrupting the reading experience; otherwise it'll go the way of American television, where you can barely blink before there's another ad break."
Jurgen Wolff.
Linda Skugge tog upp den här frågan om annonser i e-böcker, i en debatt 2009.

Tips från Jurgen

Författarcoachen Jurgen Wolff är en klippa. Har kommer han återigen med bra tips:

1. "Pursue what you love."

Write what you love to read. Don't try to follow trends or write in a genre that doesn't appeal to you just because it sells well.

2. "Do the hardest work first."

I think this is the hardest of his six suggestions, but it works. This also means finding a way to write when you have energy, not as an afterthought to your paying work and your other obligations. If you can't do that every day, at least do it once a week.

3. "Practice intensely."

Write. If possible, carve out 60 to 90 minutes of uninterrupted time so you can really focus.

4. "Seek expert feedback, in intermittent doses."

Get feedback on your writing. Options include attending a class, teaming up with somebody whose expertise you respect, or finding online sites where you post some of your writing and get feedback from other members. However, don't listen to every bit of advice or you'll constantly be in reactive mode.

5. "Take regular renewal breaks."

Feed your head. Go to movies, plays, travel to new places, talk to different people, read books and magazines read mythology and history and biographies as well as novels, and just chill out from time to time.

6. Ritualize practice.

Set aside regular times to write--anything becomes easier to do when you turn it into a habit.

Fråga din inre kritiker

"There is a way to engage with the inner critic and turn its input into something constructive. Here's how: Have an interview with the inner critic. Ask him/her/it what are the specific concerns about the story--´it doesn't work´ isn't a good enough answer. Insist on specifics, but without defending the current story. Make a list of all the specifics your IC comes up with."
Jurgen Wolff har idéer om hur man kan dra nytta av den inre kritikern.

Kaizenmetod

1. Each day spend 15 minutes reading an author you admire.

2. Each morning take 5 minutes to record any dreams you remember. (Often these reveal images or even sequences you can use in your writing.)

3. Once a day pick out one stranger you can see (out the window or in the coffee shop, for instance) and make up a 60-second story about them.

4. Choose a project you are working on or want to work on and once a day brainstorm for five minutes regarding characters, plot, description, dialogue, or any other aspect. Jot down your ideas and drop them into a folder.

5. When you read something--an article or essay, a book, even an ad--that affects you, take a couple of minutes to consider WHY it is effective. Is it the imagery, the choice of words, the fact that it makes you laugh?

6. Whenever your Inner Critic unreasonably undermines your confidence, replay what it says, but using the voice of Donald Duck.

Läs mer i Jurgen Wolffs blogg.

Att redigera sin text

kan kräva distans. Jurgen Wolff har tre förslag på hur. Distans genom att låta texten ligga några veckor först. Distans när det gäller miljön där man suttit och skrivit, och distansens som skapas när man läser texten högt (eller låter någon annan läsa den högt):

1) The distance of time. If possible, put it aside and start work on something else. Give it at least a week or two, ideally a month. Working on something else in the meantime is crucial, because that new project will help you cleanse your mind so that when you return to the first one you'll see it much more clearly.

2) The distance of space. When you critique your own material, don't do it in the same space where you composed it. In that space, you get into a creative trance. Now you want to snap out of that and be able to be analytical. Print out your project and take it at least into the next room or, ideally, a totally different location like a coffee shop.

3) The distance of a different sensory system. When you write, you hear it in your head. Now read it out loud and hear it that way. This is essential for material that is intended to be performed, like plays and films, but it's also helpful for novels and short stories. You may even want to get someone else to read it. If you find that too embarrassing in your presence, have them record it and listen to the recording in private.

Bara att börja på ny kula

"Maybe you were too ambitious. Maybe writing every day isn't realistic for you at the moment. Re-calibrate and decide you'll write twice a week or three times a week or whatever seems doable. Don't buy into the myth that ´real´ writers write every day. Some do, some don't. I've been a full-time writer for a long time, and I don't write every day."
Jurgen Wolff ger nytt hopp.

James Ellroys sömnlöshet

"I've suffered from insomnia; I know what it's like to be in a state of mental agitation. My books are often written in [this] state, which is why they are so assiduously plotted in outline and diagram--because I fear mental chaos. I make every conscious effort to slow down the pace of the book and it's still quite a piece of work to read."
James Ellroy citerad på Jurgen Wolffs blogg.