Word After Word

Clear eyes, pure heart.

I am under the influence of Friday Night Lights: Clear Eyes, Pure Hearts and Texas Football. I’m lonesome for

The writer often mistakes herself for a sole entity. No. No, no, no.

It’s confusing for us. We aren’t on the field, physically. There’s not a locker room, apparently. There’s not a coach with a chalk board and cool plays named “8 7 Trojan Horse” and “Twister 3 5 A Go.” There’s not a coach telling you how you are part of something and that you have to stay all connected to each other in order to Be Perfect. There’s not a timer, a score, the taste of blood in your mouth, fifteen thousand people in the stands, or finals that everyone—everyone—else is going to strive to be in. Shops do not close down and put signs in their windows Closed for Game Heather Is Writing. Go Heather! signs are nowhere to be found anywhere.

We can do our thing, writing, and no one knows.  This is verging into the Venn diagram titled Mental Illness.  There’s some overlap in the slough of despond called Alone With Paper.

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When I am stuck I try all my moves. My super plays. Plays I’ve practiced over and over and over just for times like these. You gotta know your moves. You must have a play book. If you do not have moves yet, you need to get them.

How?

Pretend you are an inspiring, pressurized coach who will lose his job if these pages don’t see the light of day by Friday. It’s crunch time. What would you do if you only had one day to write? How would you do it? Make a list. Call out the plays. Loud is good. There is a team in you; is it under-trained? does it mistakenly think we do not play football aka writing your ass off 365 days a year? (Yell.)

Your players will come. They will. They’ll get to it. They are dying for a coach with vision, who convinces them he knows what he is doing. (It’s fine if you do not really have any clue what you are doing. You are part of the team, okay? Get over yourself.  If you do not respond well to your inner coach, hire a new one one you can work well with.  If you aren’t creative enough to do that—make up characters in you to support your work, how on earth are you going to be creative enough to write a book?)

When I have the Structure Meltdown (like Art’s) I huddle myself up and start yelling and jumping around on the page–go go go go hustle up boys get your head in the game!

Problem Solution Listing!  (The book to read: Robert Ray Weekend Novelist)

Write the easiest part next! (The book to read: 100 Demons by Lynda Barry)

Write by hand! (If you are suffering under too many pages, you should be writing by hand—many structure problems will solve themselves using this method. Expect the team to hate it. Give them suicides for whining.)

Build it Build it Again!  (you can’t know the perfect structure in advance. You are going to have to write it, and then re do it after you see what you have.)

Stop Planning Write the Best  Hard Part You Can’t Write  Next!  (The book to read: From Where You Dream, Janet Burroway and Robert Olen Butler) 

Go team!