What's the time management secret that's sure to help us all get TONS more writing done? "Yes makes less." It's my new favorite motto.
If you've never heard of Steven Pressfield or Shawn Coyne, you're missing out on some amazing lessons. Pressfield wrote The War of Art (edited by Coyne) and they often blog about creativity.
Wipe away the magic and myth of creating and all that remains is work: the work of becoming expert through study and practice, the work of finding solutions to problems and problems with those solutions, the work of trial and error, the work of thinking and perfecting, the work of creating.
Creating consumes. It is all day, every day. It knows neither weekends nor vacations. It is not when we feel like it. It is habit, compulsion, obsession, vocation.
The common thread that links creators is how they spend their time. No matter what you read, no matter what they claim, nearly all creators spend nearly all their time on the work of creation. There are few overnight successes and many up-all-night successes.
Saying “no” has more creative power than ideas, insights and talent combined. No guards time, the thread from which we weave our creations. The math of time is simple: you have less than you think and need more than you know.
We are not taught to say “no.” We are taught not to say “no.” “No” is rude. “No” is a rebuff, a rebuttal, a minor act of verbal violence. “No” is for drugs and strangers with candy.
Creators do not ask how much time something takes but how much creation it costs. This interview, this letter, this trip to the movies, this dinner with friends, this party, this last day of summer. How much less will I create unless I say “no?” A sketch? A stanza? A paragraph? An experiment? Twenty lines of code?
The answer is always the same: “yes” makes less.
We do not have enough time as it is. There are groceries to buy, gas tanks to fill, families to love and day jobs to do.
~~~~~
Amen to that! I've put my "new favorite motto" on a big pink index card next to my computer, and taped another one to my bathroom mirror. (I'd love to hear where you put up your motivational quotes.)
Are you a "YES" person, a "NO" person, or somewhere in between? What helps you guard your creative time? Do you have any time management secrets to share??
Bonus: Laura Drake wrote a doozy of a post called Can’t We All Just Get Along? over at More Cowbell about some of the wild behavior happening online lately. I guarantee you, it’s worth your time. :-)
About Jenny
By day, Jenny provides training and social media marketing for an accounting firm. By night she writes humor, memoir, women’s fiction and short stories. After 15 years as a corporate software trainer, she’s delighted to sit down while she works.
When she’s not at her personal blog, More Cowbell, Jenny can be found on Twitter at JennyHansenCA or at Writers In The Storm. Jenny also writes the Risky Baby Business posts at More Cowbell, a series that focuses on babies, new parents and high-risk pregnancy.
I know what you are thinking, if you have read some of my earlier contributions to this award-winning blog. "Oh, no, he's going to make me get out a calculator and see if the midpoint of my novel is really a watershed, or make a big nasty chart that shows where all of my characters are in every chapter."
Nope. Last time I promised the end of deconstructionism and I will hold to that.
As I write this I'm surrounded by smoke and the sounds of slot machines. I'm in a Vegas casino, writing while my friend and my wife gamble. And I am asking a question that we all have asked at one time or another -- why am I doing this? Why am I here when I could be playing Texas Hold 'Em? I love the game and learned poker literally at my father's knee.
We all face those moments, where the story falls on its face and even you don't care what happens to the characters. You think, "I have to finish Chapter X tomorrow when I could be at the beach, or I could be watching House Hunters International or reading the new James Lee Burke or Eloisa James." (And I want to know why those times are so often at 2:00 am when the house is cold and dark and your characters have suddenly quit talking to you.)
I think the hardest thing about writing is . . . writing. Putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. It's more fun to read blogs, go to conventions, and think about good stories. Way more fun.
However, that road does not lead to The End.
For more than half my life I made my living writing training and documentation. I specialized in large systems, neat stuff like the Army's Tactical Computer System and the Navy's ASROC Loader Crane. I could tell you all about them except a) you would fall asleep and b) if you didn't fall asleep I'd have to kill you.
But I can tell you the single most important thing about training adults. It's the WIIFM -- what's in it for me? To learn something, adults have to see the value in the learning.
So, let's talk about what's in it for you. First, a basic assumption: there is value in writing, in telling a story. With that as a given, all we need to do is shine a light on that value.
To keep writing, you have to see the value of what you are doing. Try these rules, guides, or mantras; use them as stepping stones to identify why you write when the path gets muddy.
1. I write because I have things to say. I think about the world around me and relationships and want to speak out.
In my case, if I am pressed, I will admit that I write to talk about violence in society and a moral individual's response to it and, even more, the difficulty of finding, establishing, and maintaining a loving relationship with another individual. (Yikes! Did I say that? I write thrillers with girls and guns and fast cars.)
2. I want to entertain. Too much of life is unpleasant, or boring and I want to take my readers' minds off that, if even for a little while.
See parenthetical comment above.
3. I write because I started the novel, story, poem, whatever and I will finish it, come what may.
In poker, if you don't bet, you can't win. In writing, you can't sell/publish/attract an audience if you don't finish your manuscript.
4. I write because I have fallen in love with my characters and their stories demand to be told.
This one's tricky. I truly care about Heather Rubinsky and Katerina Kohl, two Las Vegas showgirls who showed up in one of my books. I probably hurt their feelings when I had to cut much of their backstory. (And you are the one audience to whom I can say that and who will understand that I think of them as real. When I say things like that on panel discussions, people tend to smile nervously and move away. On the other hand, you get it.)
5. I write because I like it. I like telling stories.
Works for me. I like storytelling.
Did I warn you there would be a quiz? No? Bummer! There's a quiz. Here it is:
6. I write because... (insert YOUR thoughts here, or down in comments.)
The hardest thing about writing is . . . writing.
As Michael Corleone said in The Godfather, “It’s all personal.” You have your own reasons for writing, and your own benefits from doing so.
I believe giving some thought to articulating what you are getting out of all this work, and time spent staring off into space thinking, "What happens next?", will help keep you going. And after you think about it -- or maybe you already have -- share your thoughts and help another writer. Please! Fill in Number Six and tell us about it. We're all in this together.
Think about WIIFM -- What's In It For Me. Articulate that benefit and remember it for those times when your heroine has fallen in love with the hero's wastrel brother and stamps her pretty little foot when you try to tell her otherwise. "I am doing this because . . . Her story deserves to be told, even if she is a foot-stamping little fllibertigibet. And I am the one to tell it."
My father taught me many important things. Once when we were in Vegas I complained (I really wasn't whining, at least not much and anyway he was my Dad and required to listen) that I had lost at blackjack. He said, "James, you're really not here to win. You're here to play!"
Let's be honest -- the vast majority of us will not show up in the New York Times Bestseller List. So what? Not all of the books on the list are good, and not all good books are on the list. Figuring out what's in it for you will help at those times when you wonder what on earth possessed you to think you could write. You can do it.
Trust me.
About James
James R. Preston is the author of the award-winning Surf City Mysteries. There are four books in the series so far: Leave a Good-Looking Corpse, Read 'Em And Weep, The Road to Hell, and Pennies For Her Eyes. The new Surf City Mystery is called Correction and will be launched later this year. James' next appearance will be November in Long Beach at Bouchercon, the national mystery convention. His work has been selected for inclusion in UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library Special Collection, California Detective Fiction.In Vegas during the completion of this blog he made the final table in one tournament and took first place in another. His father taught him well.
You all are getting another peek into my magic notebook. This time we're taking a page out of my 17 page section that covers hair, wigs and every description of body hair you can imagine (and probably some of you can't). Now that I've scared you, we're going to talk about the hair on your character's heads - the color, the length, the style . . . We're covering it all. But there are a few very important points we should chat about first.
The #1 thing about hair descriptions is Do Not overuse them. You do not want to be known as "hair girl "or "hair boy!"
#2 on the essential List: Hair descriptions are a part of the character so make them work harder by using them to describe the person “inside,” not just what the person looks like outside.
Examples:
A tomboy might have a very short, non-nonsense haircut. Then again, she might hide long tresses under a ball cap, because secretly she’d like to be noticed as the girl she really is.
A man who works as an executive might conform to a short, and very tailored look. Or, he wears expensive suits but he wears his hair a little too long because on the weekends he caters to his passion and joins his buddies for motorcycle road trips.
Okay, because I have so many descriptions and definitions, I’m going to cut to the chase.
Alternative Generic Names For Head Hair
Coiffure
Curls
Down
Fringe
Fuzz
Locks
Mane
Mop
Ringlets
Shock
Strands
Tresses
Tufts
Wig
Wool
Descriptive Hair Phrases
Bangs obscured her eyes like a sheepdog
Flaked with snowy dandruff
Bleached, bottle baby
Braid like a thick black rope
Bundled at the nape
Bun resembled a cow patty
Cascading down her back
Chemically damaged
Coiled in a top-knot
Crowning glory
Cupie curls
Curls foamed luxuriously
Tendrils danced on the breeze
Disheveled
Downy bond hair sprinkled her arms
Dramatic widow’s peak
Elaborately dressed with ribbons
Electrified
Smelled like burnt chicken feathers
Snow drifts of dandruff
Veiled her expression with
Greased into a ducktail
Flaming locks fluttered to the floor
Fluffy
Frizz job, bad perm
Glossy locks lifted on the wind
Grew like a thatch of straw on a roof
Grizzled, gray hair
Hair drooped around pale cheeks
Hair like Rapunzel
Hairy as a dog
Hung like a dark river
Kinky perm
Knotted
Left unbound to tumble
Like a clown wig, artificial red, plastic shine and fuzzy
Like a thatched roof
Like she put her finger in a light socket
Limp and lifeless
Long, shaggy hippy look
Lustrous as onyx stone
Marcelled into fingerwaves
Matted to the scalp
Perm fried
Prematurely gray
Puffed like a bubble around her head
Ragged bangs
Rat’s nest
Ringlets
Shock of hair stood straight up
Slapped her face like wet worms
Sleek and chic
Smooth honey dripped over her shoulders
Spiky Mohawk style of a punk rocker
Spilled out of the hat
Spread like feathers on a pillow
Standing on end
Stiff in front like a cockatoo
Straight as a wire
Streaked, highlighted
Stuck to her sweaty nape
Tangled mane
Tousled pixie
Two-toned dye job
Unconquered curls sprang loose
Unruly swirl
Old-lady blue rinsed hair
Vibrant color and shine
Wet with sweat
White Pigeon Wings at temples
Wispy ringlets
Wondered what rubble lay beneath that mess
Wreathed her face
Hair Texture Phrases
Baby fuzz
Bleached hair like mushy wet works
Blue feather hair of old lady
Bristle top
Broom chopped
Cat-fur fine
Cotton candy hair, fine
Cottony
Dandelion fuzz
Down
Gummy
Horsetail coarse
Moldy hay
Short-cropped and stiff
Soft and lush
Soft curls and waves
Yellow straw
Ash blond -- Lacks red or gold highlights (verges on green tones); light mousy blond, medium and dark blond, dishwater, beige
Ash brown -- Browns lacking warm/red tones tones; light mousy brown, medium and dark brown
Black -- Different shades of black vary according to the amount of highlighting or pigmentation shadings present in the hair; black lacking all highlighting will be duller, ash shade; black containing a lot of red may appear as deep burgundy
Red -- Warm shades; berry, russet, strawberry (red-blonde), rusty orange, wine, carrot top, etc.
Towhead -- Whitish blond; usually an ash blond lacking warm tones but not always
Warm blond -- Blond with touch of gold and red; whiskey, wheat, honey, strawberry, brassy, golden etc.
Warm brown -- Brunette, dark or light brown that contains red or gold tones; varies from light to nearly black; reddish brown, chestnut, dark amber, auburn etc.
Hair Styles Modern And Historical
It’s impossible to name all the hairstyles but the selection here should be a good start. Many listed here also are known by other names.
Afro -- Unisex style borrowed from the African Americans; short and very curly, forming a bowl shaped profile; a pick is used to pull the hair away from the head and shape it
Asymmetric -- Hair is cut long on side of the head and short on the other.
Bedhead -- Popularized in 1990s by starlet Meg Ryan; short to mid-length shaggy cut worn jelled or moussed in tossed fashion
Beehive -- A 60’s French twist coiled at the back of the head and rising above it to form a cone shape (see upsweep)
Bob -- Introduced in 1915 this short cropped hair style was popular during the 1920’s; also called the shingle bob, the shingle, the Eaton crop. It is often cropped at the jawline and aligned close to the face.
Bouffant -- Puffy hair style’ hair is backcombed or ratted then barely smoothed, resulting in a bubble affect
Bowl -- Most commonly worn by young boys. The bang area cut straight cross the forehead as if measured by turning a bowl upside down on the head. The top layers are longer and cut along the this bowl line around the head.
Braid -- Plaited hair
Bubble -- 60’s hairstyle, short to mid-length, ratted/backcombed to appear like a football helmet or bubble surrounding the head
Butch/flattop/crewcut -- A man’s style; usually cut with electric shears; very short and stands on end at the front of the head and his shaved close to the head on the sides; sometimes called a GI cut.
Buzz - Modern slang for a hair shaved close to the head
Chignon -- Bun, usually at the nape or top of head; topknot
Conk -- African American textured hair that is straightened
Cornrows -- Small tightly braided rows of hair that hug the scalp; most often worn by African Americans
Duck tail -- 50’s style worn by girls and boys alike; hair on either side of nape combed toward the center of the head; reminiscent of Elvis Presley, Fabian, Doris Day, Debbie Reynolds etc.
Farraha Fawcett -- Long layered hair flipped or feathered back off the face with a bang that feathers or rolls off the face as well; made popular by the TV star of the same name; late 70’s and early 80’s
Finger waved -- Usually short haircut in which a stylist uses lotion and her fingers to create deep waves that circle the head. Popular in the 1920s and 30s.
Flip -- Feminine hair style of the 50’s and 60’s; long hair usually shoulder length turned up at the ends, sometimes in a roll.
Fontange -- Worn 1690’s to 1710; a towering fountain of frills and complex, lacy intertwining shaped around a wire frame and considered the height of fashion; nicknamed by disdaining men, the “tower and the comet”
French twist/seam -- Hair swept back from both sides the head (front to back) and rolled down the center of the head into a roll or tucked to make a seam
Fringe -- Curly bangs worn in the 1880’s; in 1900’s worn straight; alternate name for bangs
Kiss curls -- Seen immediately after Civil War; ringlets of curls on the cheeks or forehead
London Cut -- Short female cut popular during the 1960s and early 70s. The hair was cut over the ears, leaving a fringe in front of the ears, often brushed toward the face or straight down. The nape hair was cut along the hairline like a boys but more rounded instead of squared off like a man’s neckline.
Mohawk -- Shaved head with a strip of hair growth down the center of the head from forehead to the nape
Pads -- Late 1830’s long coiled curls over the ears (looked like ear muffs); at the back of the head they were called a Grecian knot or psyche knot
Pageboy -- Introduced in late 1930s early 40’s; long, hair turned under, usually just touching the shoulders
Pigtails -- Same as pony tail only the hair is parted down middle and each section is cinched into its own tail above or below the ear
Pixie -- Female short cut; feathered around profile of face and onto cheek, short at the nape line; usually with full bang and combed forward onto face; also called an Italian cut; permed version called a poodle cut
Pompadour -- Style of wearing the hair high over the forehead usually in some type of rolled affect; in 1940’s women used rats (nylon mash) to roll the hair off the forehead and puff it; a version of this also worn during the 1700’s and early 1800’s by most and women; name comes from a lady of this era called Madame
Pompadour
Ponytail -- Hair gathered together and cinched with a rubber band or barrette to make a tail at the back of the head; worn high or low; worn low it’s sometimes called a George (referring to George Washington) or a Paul Revere
Poodle cut -- Short, curly haircut
Powdered hair/wigs -- Unisex style worn from about 1760’s to 1820; after 1740 men were wearing shorter, simpler wigs and began to powder their own hair
Punk -- Usually short on top and styled with lotion to stand up off the head; often a mohawk fashion from forehead to nape; sometimes dyed bright neon colors of pink, purple, blue, orange etc.
Queue -- Pigtail, esp. that of a Chinese. (Chinese queue was braided) Men of Colonial America wore these as well, usually tied back with a ribbon and in some cases men wore a periwig styled with a queue
Roach -- Hair brushed into a roll
Sausage curl -- Long tube-like coils of hair; popular in early 1800’s; in the early 1970’s these were piled on top of the head in a cluster, esp. for formal dress for teens.
Shag -- Like a pixie, only long at the nape. Lengths vary from short to long layered cut; popular during the early 70’s
Skin heads -- Group of radical racist youths, men and women alike, who shaved their heads
Spaniel’s curls -- Late 1840’s into the 50’s; long thick curls worn by the ear (as worn by Elizabeth Barrette Browning)
Spit curls -- First seen in 1831; flat curls on women in front of the ear
Tonsure -- Shaven part of a monk or cleric’s head
Updo/upsweep -- Generic term for long hair styled high on top of head; hair might petaled (layered curls), barrel curled, arranged in a chignon, backcombed into a beehive or styled in French roll etc.
Wedge cut -- Also called Dorothy Hamill cut; short cut worn mostly by women; sides feathered off the face, back cut longer from the drown to the occipital bone, where its layered into a wedge; nape is trimmed close the head and short; a late ‘70’s and early 80’s style.
Sharla has published three historical romances and her fourth, How to Fell a Timberman, is impatiently waiting to be formatted for Kindle.
When she’s not writing and researching ways to bedevil her book characters, Sharla enjoys collecting authentically costumed dolls from all over the world, traveling (to seek more dolls!), and reading tons of books. You can find Sharla here at Writers In The Storm, on Twitter at @SharlaWrites or on Facebook.
