Tag Archives: revising

What Writing Letters Taught Me

Photo by Hans Isaacson on Unsplash

My mother hated writing letters, but she had three sisters who loved to communicate with her via writing. Mom was. however, an excellent problem-solver; using her exceptional negotiation skills, she convinced me to write letters to her sisters on her behalf.

For someone who didn’t like to write, she was a pretty good writing coach. From her coaching, I developed a passion for writing. This is what she taught me.

Brainstorming is Useful

When Mom asked me to write a letter, I first said, “I don’t know what to write.” Mom asked me to make a list of things I could write about, and she gave me some ideas: the weather, the garden, church, school. After a while, I started coming up with some of my own ideas in addition to these. My list included making cookies, going to the snow, and having my friends over to spend the night.

I still make lists before I write. Sometimes, I get ideas for a blog, like this one, while I’m sleeping. I get out of bed, go to the other room where I keep an arm chair and a pad of paper, and write down the ideas before I forget them.

If I get a dose of writer’s block, I jot down impressions that I want to include in a blog or chapter. I list as much information as I can and then leave it alone for a day or two. The notes help me get into the mood to write, and soon my writing juices are flowing.

How to Warm Up

“I don’t know how to start the letter,” was another refrain I often used. Mom said to start with “How are you? I am fine,” and then move onto another topic.

Asking about someone’s health seemed to be such a gracious opening, and it made me feel like a polite niece. Believe it or not, this introduction helped me warm up for the next subject.

How do I warm up for writing today? I have several methods that I’ve created to get me into the mood.

The first one is to take a walk in my garden where I have dozens of rose bushes that I’ve planted. Sometimes, I prune, other times I fertilize, but I always at least enjoy how beautiful they are. In my garden, I express my creativity, and enjoying it stimulates my creativity for writing.

Another thing I do to warm up is to read one of the affirmations that I’ve posted on my bulletin board to the right of my desk. Currently, I have three affirmations typed on 8 ½ by 11-inch paper to inspire me.

The first one says, “I lead with grace and ease.” When I read this, I see my writing as a way to lead the world to a better place. Thinking about being a leader dispels fear and encourages me to stand tall and feel calm.

The second one says, “I possess perfect self-expression.” I developed this affirmation when I started writing my first novel three years ago. I didn’t want writer’s block to inhibit my progress, so I thought of how I wanted to feel when I sat down to write.

The third affirmation on my bulletin board is, “The Midas Touch.” A few months ago, I was discussing my writing with a friend, and she said, “You possess The Midas Touch.” What she meant was that I was a brilliant and prolific writer. This gave my confidence such a boost that I decided to make it another affirmation for daily motivation.

Sentence Clarity

The letters I wrote on behalf of my mother taught me how to write clear sentences. As any serious writer knows, practice is the key to improvement. My mother had faith in my ability, so I was writing letters to her sisters at least once a month, and I started when I was six years old. Due to my mother’s coaching, my writing career and my writing practice started early in life. I’m sure, by now, I’ve written at least as much as The Beatles sang during their band years.

Paragraphing

Even though mother didn’t like to write or read, she was organized; therefore, she coached me to start a new paragraph every time I started to write about a new topic.

For example, I started each letter with “How are you. I am fine.” If the next topic was the weather, I’d start a new paragraph, which often turned into an interesting slice of my life. Here’s an example:

Today, the weather was sunny. We played outside all afternoon, and the bees were buzzing around the plums that had dropped to the ground. Since I was barefoot, I stepped on three bees and got stung three times. Luckily, Mom took out the stingers and I was fine.

Revising is Okay

If I made mistakes on my letters, my mother coached me to cross them out and to write the corrections after them. If I made too many mistakes, she convinced me to reprint the whole letter.

Maybe I was going to be a writer anyway, but knowing that I could make mistakes and fix them took off the pressure of being perfect the first time. For me, this was an important process to learn since, deep down, I hate making mistakes.

I also learned about revising from the letters I received from my Aunt Mary Ann. Today, Aunt Mary Ann is over 90 years old and still writes letters. If she makes a mistake, she crosses it out and rewrites what she meant to say. She demonstrates the perfect example of the writing process.

The Courage to Write

The other day, I told my five-year-old granddaughter that she could be a writer. Using one of her books, I showed her where her name would appear on the title page. She smiled at that, but then said, “I can’t write a story.”

For many people, writing is a daunting task. I know this since I taught writing at the college level for fifteen years.

Fortunately for me, I had a mother who didn’t take “no” for an answer. She had confidence that I could write.

Even now, when writer’s block stops my creative flow, I write letters: to Aunt Maryann, Aunt Dorothy, my friend in New Mexico, my sister-in-law in Florida.

Where did I get the courage to write? From a non-writer who believed in me.

Before Revising My Novel

I’ve written essays, newspaper articles, poems, short stories, and more, but never a novel. People who have written several novels impress me since I’m writing my first novel and learning so much in the process.

Since I retired as an English professor almost two years ago, I started a novel. Now, I have a first draft and it’s time for me to revise it. Here are the steps I’m taking before I proceed.

I Found a Good Critic

I asked a writer friend to read my novel and give me her criticism and suggestions. She was worried that our friendship would suffer if she gave me honest feedback, but I assured her that I was open to any constructive feedback. I’ll refer to her as Lila for this post.

The reason I chose Lila as a critic was because she has published numerous children’s books and one adult book. In other words, she has experience at doing what I want to do. She also taught high school Spanish, so her language skills are strong. Finally, Lila’s criticism is clear and she gives reasons for her comments.

Even though I reviewed and edited my novel before I gave it to Lila, I found that I didn’t catch all my errors and I needed a fresh brain to show me inconsistencies and mistakes. My mind was so overwhelmed at the daunting task of writing a whole book that I needed support to catch mistakes. Lila found places where I had changed my point of view, and she identified sentences that were unclear or out of place. She taught me that prose written in past tense must never include this; instead, I should use that. Lila even found a few spelling errors and typos.

Lila also gave me positive criticism. She identified the two most interesting sections of my novel. One was when my character goes to work in a winery and the other was when she hikes to Machu Picchu.

The most important advice she gave me, though, was a book about how to develop a plot. She recommended that I read Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting That You’ll Ever Need by Blake Snyder. This leads me to my next topic.

I Read a Good Book about How to Develop a Plot

I started reading Save the Cat! but then I found out that Jessica Brody had written another version of Save the Cat! titled Save the Cat! Writes A Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need.  I opened the paper version of Brody’s book and read it carefully. I learned about a plot planning tool called Beat Sheet and I confirmed that my novel belonged to the genre referred to as Rites of Passage. I also read about how to write attention-grabbing loglines and alluring synopses to pitch my novels to everyone, including people at the dinner table, agents, and prospective publishers.

Wow, I learned so much! The last chapter, however, that discussed common plotting problems was helpful all the way to the last word. Still, I wasn’t ready to begin revising my novel.

I Read Books in the Same Genre as my Own

I didn’t have enough courage to start revising my novel yet, so I decided to read books that had similar themes as my own to see how their authors developed their plots. Sarah Dessen wrote The Truth About Forever, a novel about Macy Queen whose father died while he was waiting for Macy to join him for a morning run. In my novel, my main character’s mother dies. As I read Dessen’s book, I tried to identify the 15 beats that Brody says every novel requires. For example, at the beginning of a novel, Brody insists that the opening scene must engage the reader. Dessen’s opening scene did get my attention. Brody also says that the themes of the novel must be included in the early chapters. Dessen’s theme of there are no accidents appears on page 27.

I Watched Movies to Practice Finding Save the Cat!’s 15 Beats

I love watching movies because they are stories, too. Since Brody’s book is actually based on a book about screenwriting, the 15 beats apply to movies as well. I watched Michael O. Sajbel’s The Ultimate Gift, a story about a spoiled adult grandson who must complete a series of tasks in order to earn his inheritance. I successfully identified one of the beats called the catalyst in the movie, which is when the grandfather dies and leaves his grandson specific instructions he must perform.

I’m still reading examples of my genre, but soon I’ll have to gather my courage, plot out my novel on a bulletin board, and start rewriting.

Whew. Wish me luck and stay tuned.