Mental Zoning--Controlling a Valuable Asset

One of the great things about associating with other writers is we learn many of our idiosyncrasies are "normal," for writers, that is. For instance, in a recent newsletter post by David Farland, he talked about the writing zone. I know exactly what he's talking about, only my family "lovingly" refers to it as "spacing out." So many, inappropriate times, I find my mind wandering toward whatever writing project I'm working on. Like while my family's watching a movie or commercial on television and say, "Mom, did you see that?" and I have to tell them "no." I was staring right at it, but I didn't see it. Or even hear it. I was in "the zone."

In truth, I'm soooooo pitiful when it comes to zoning out, and though I'm really trying to learn to control it, especially when my family and friends are talking to me, I still do it far more often than non-writers understand. One of my favorite, anonymous quotes is: "I will not live like a normal person. I am a writer." I bet Mr. Anonymous was another "spacey."

This zone has its good points, however. Because my stories/characters/settings etc. seem to hover over everything I do, my mind is constantly gathering facts and truths that enrich my writing. For example, one of my favorite scenes in my current WIP was inspired by an event that happened with my family during a thunderstorm when the power went out. And then last night, I had a vivid dream of a beautiful, "hidden" place that I knew, as soon as I woke, I wanted to use in my next book.

What I'm trying to say is that a writer's mental "zone" is a vital strength, but it's also connected to an obsessive-like weakness. Our challenge? To harness it. Some of the ways I try to do this so I don't have to keep focusing on ideas that come to me are:

1. Keeping a file box of 3x5 cards where I keep "truths" I read/hear/come to understand.
2. Keeping a notebook next to my bed to record vivid dreams and sudden thoughts that often come just before I fall asleep.
3. Always keeping paper and a pen nearby so I can write ideas and even phrases that come while I'm doing dishes or sweeping the floor.
4. Finding ways to not only be fully awake but also completely alone when I'm actually writing.

As far as trying to control the "weakness" side of it? I haven't yet reached the point where I can say I've gained control over it; but the one main thing I'm currently trying to implement is to fully listen and concentrate on what others are saying to me. If that means looking away from the computer, then so be it. As I've implied, this is not easy for me, especially when I'm in the middle of writing a suddenly flowing scene, but I'm trying.

Please don't misunderstand me. Some writers have encouraged others to help their families realize they need time to be alone and to "zone out" in order to fully utilize their mental, writing capacities, and I agree with this; but for me, I'm at a point where I must make sure my family and friends know they are more important to me than my stories.

This is where I'm at in the writing zone process. Where are you?

Young Writers Contest

Calling youth writers, ages 18 and younger!

Is it your goal to become a professional writer? This is your chance to use your creativity and win your own, autographed, unedited, ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of J. Scott Savage's, not-yet-released, fantasy novel, FARWORLD.

On AUGUST 4, 2008, I will host an interview with author J. Scott Savage right here at TheWriteBlocks. Well, not quite right here. Actually, we'll be sitting atop two, white, talking horses smack dab in the center of Main Street Oz. Why there? Let's just say it has something to do with FARWORLD'S imaginative characters.

Which brings us to the contest:

Farworld, as the name suggests, is a distant planet which has been magically linked with earth. The trouble is, Farworld's "life as they know it" will be overthrown by an evil villain unless two kids, one from earth and one from Farworld, can first find then convince the "Elementals" to join forces and destroy the villain. In Farworld, the children successfully find the Water Elementals. In the future, they must find the Air, Land, and Fire Elementals.

So now that you know that . . .

Suppose you were the author, and you wanted to create a Queen of one of the other elementals. What would she be like? What would her world be like? Her name? Her likes, her fears, her goals? Send me an e-mail, describing her in detail no later than August 5, and you could be the first youth in your neighborhood to own and read FARWORLD!

Other important but not quite so interesting contest requirements:

1)-Entrants must include in their submission e-mail the following information: name (first name will do for now), age (must be 18 or younger), a statement from your parent or guardian indicating you have permission to participate in this contest, and an e-mail address I can use to contact you if you win.

2) Entries must be submitted to me, Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen, via e-mail, at storywriter@rondagibbhinrichsen.com by AUGUST 5, 2008.

Good luck and happy writing!

Christmas Gifts

In keeping with the coming holiday, and realizing most of us have "what should I give . . . ?" on our minds, I thought I'd let this blog be a simple "idea catcher" of homemade gifts. I recently read a newspaper article about gifts--who to gift, how much to spend, etc., and it suggested homemade gifts were often the most meaningful; and I have to agree.

One of my neighbors has a very large family and extended family, yet every Christmas they have a party where they one, draw names for who they will give a gift to next year, and two, present their homemade gifts to the person they had all year to think about. What a great, family togetherness idea! Even little kids can be involved in their tradition.

Another one of my favorite, homemade gift ideas, came from a dear friend. She gathered all her favorite recipes together and put it into a recipe book. But that's not all. The best part is she also wrote a little story with each recipe--where or from who she got the recipe and events surrounding it (like a description of how every time she went to grandma's house they had . . ." You get the idea.

One year, my father made my young boys a barn and several animals out of wood. It was a great present. Not only did my children love it, but I still cherish it--you know, the heirloom thing.

These are a few of the great, homemade Christmas gifts I've received or known of, and one of them even incorporated writing! What are some of your favorite, homemade gifts?

A Block of Horror

Today I decided to make a list in honor of Halloween, or more appropriately named, the Horror market. While I don't generally like this genre, I recently came across an article written by Stephen King way back in 1973. It's titled "The Horror Market Writer and the Ten Bears." While there was way too much in his article to cover in this blog, I thought I'd share his "Top Ten Bears"--fears people have--that he has used and encourages other horror writers to use when forming their stories.

1. Fear of the dark
2. Fear of squishy things
3. Fear of deformity
4. Fear of snakes
5. Fear of rats
6. Fear of closed-in places
7. Fear of insects (especially spiders, flies, beetles)
8. Fear of death
9. Fear of others (paranoia)
10. Fear for someone else.

"The bears can be combined, too," King said, but one of his comments that most caught my eye was his opinion about using vampires, werewolves, and mummies. "My humble advice," he said, "is to leave these bears to their well-deserved rest. They've been done to death."

Perhaps that was true back then, but the recent hoopla created by the Twilight series tells me it's resurrection day. Or is it just that the undead have reawakened?

Anyway, back to the bears. While King used this list to illustrate points he made later in his article, he also made it very clear that the above fears are not the only terrors we can use. Most often, writers have their own closeted skeletons they could use to scare the begeebees out of readers. How about you? Do you have any skeletons you'd like to share? I do. Did you know, for instance, I once had a ghost--I'm not kidding--creep up my leg?