The Fabulist Flash

Issue 63

2006 Fall Shapes

In This Issue:

1. This Week
2. A Few Short Minutes
3. What Bruce Springsteen Taught Me
4. Thanksgiving Fun
5. About The Fabulist Flash

1. This Week

Happy Thanksgiving!

A good friend in one of my writing groups reminded me to take a well deserved break and enjoy the holiday. That's excellent advice and I'll be brief here in the opening. I hope you enjoy the inspiration in this week's articles A Few Short Minutes and What Bruce Springsteen Taught Me About Writing. Also, I hope you enjoy the fun Turkey Day greeting card from AmericanGreetings.com (the link is below).

Make plans to join me in Las Vegas on Friday, December 2, 2005, for the official release of 50 Fabulous Gay-Friendly Places to Live at Las Vegas Paper Doll (The Holsum Lofts Building, 231 W. Charleston Blvd. #130, Las Vegas, NV) between 6-10 PM. This First Friday-Las Vegas event will include food, Champaign, special gifts, and more.

Until next week,

Gregory
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Gregory A. Kompes is a writer, photographer, professional speaker and author of 50 Fabulous Gay-Friendly Places to Live. Learn more about Gregory and his work at www.kompes.com

2. A Few Short Minutes

A Few Short Minutes
by Diane Sonntag

My dad loved football. As a little girl, I would do everything I could to gain his attention while he was watching the game. I’d stand in front of the television, offer to get him a snack, ask him questions about the game, anything to get him to glance my way. My dad would try to ignore me, and then call for my mother to come and get me. Finally, in desperation, he’d promise to take me for an ice cream cone if I’d just sit still and be quiet for the last six minutes of the game.

"Six minutes? What can happen in six minutes? Can’t we just get the ice cream now?" I’d ask. "The Dolphins are winning by 14 points. There’s no way the other guys can catch up in just six minutes."

My dad would just sigh and shake his head. "A few short minutes can change everything," was his answer.

I haven’t watched football with my father in more than a decade, but I’ve never forgotten his words.

A few short minutes can change everything.

Those words are true about more than just football.

A touchdown is nothing more than getting the ball across the field, yard by precious yard. A novel, or an article, or even a poem is nothing more than our thoughts and our research, written down one word at a time. Either can happen in tiny increments or in one long burst of energy. How it happens isn’t important, but only that it does.

A few short minutes can change everything.

A football game. Or your writing career.

Six minutes is enough time to write down a great idea. It’s enough time to research a new market or read an article in a writing magazine. You can write up a character sketch, start an outline or locate an interview source online. You can even type a paragraph or two.

Six minutes may not sound like a lot of time, but it’s too much time to waste. Most writers have to scrape for extra time; we grab it whenever and wherever we can. Just a few minutes a couple of times a day can add up to several extra hours of writing time each week.

A few short minutes can change everything.

Think about your daily schedule. How many minutes do you spend waiting for something or someone? We wait at the doctor’s office, we wait to pick up our children from school and sporting events, we wait in traffic; we even wait for water to boil. Don’t waste those short blocks of time. Instead, use waiting time as writing time. Keep a notebook or small tape recorder in your car and use those minutes to get down a few paragraphs. Even if you just spend your wait time thinking about your writing, rather than about how terrible traffic is, you’ll be more prepared to write the next time you have a few minutes. You’ll also feel a lot better.

What about your television watching habits? We all have our favorite shows, ones we’d feel deprived if we missed. But what about the shows before or after your favorite? Do you really need to sit and watch them too? Why not write during that time? See how much you can accomplish during the commercial breaks. You may surprise yourself.

A few short minutes can change everything.

In football, in writing, and in life, every big play starts with a decision. A decision to try. To work hard, no matter what happens. To keep trying, even when a 300-pound defensemen – or a less than tactful editor – tackle us to the ground. We get up and try again on the next play.

As many times as it takes.

We just keep plugging away, minute by minute, yard by yard, knowing that someday soon, we’re going to score. Big time.

So no matter how much time you have to write, use it wisely. Don’t waste those extra minutes. They can make a huge difference in your writing career.

Use those extra minutes in your life. Use them to change your life.

Remember…

A few short minutes can change everything.

About the Author
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Diane Sonntag is an elementary school teacher and freelance writer. Her work has appeared in print publications and on the web. She enjoys writing about parenting and family issues. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband and two young children. She can be reached at Rydeej@sbcglobal.net.

3. What Bruce Springsteen Taught Me

What Bruce Springsteen Taught Me About Writing
by Sophfronia Scott

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Bruce Springsteen's groundbreaking album Born to Run. Columbia Records is celebrating by re-releasing the disc with lots of audio and video goodies including interview material of Bruce discussing the writing of this seminal work. I'm a fan, so you can imagine I've been gobbling up this stuff like Thanksgiving came early! What's hitting home for me is hearing about how Springsteen's back was really up against the wall while he was creating this album. His record label was considering dropping him so he knew he had to make something happen. When people ask me "how do I know if my work is good enough?", I think of Springsteen because surely he wasn't asking that when he was trying to figure out what to write. The answer could have been "it's not" if he had asked someone at his record company. He had to work and learn for himself how to tell if his work was good enough. This is what I learned from how he did it.

1. Learn From the Great Ones

In the summer of 1974 Springsteen could have been lamenting the fact that his first two albums had not been successful and he was living in a tiny house in New Jersey while the country was in the throes of a severe economic depression. But he wasn't. He was focused on his songwriting. "I had a record player by the side of my bed," he wrote in his book, Songs. "At night I'd lie back and listen to records by Roy Orbison, the Ronettes, the Beach Boys, and the other great '60s artists. These were records whose full depth I'd missed the first time around. But now I was appreciating their craft and power." Notice he wasn't saying "There's no way I can create songs like that!" Instead he was considering "what can I add to the conversation?" He was getting inspired and educated at the same time.

2. Aspire to Be Great Yourself

In an interview about Born to Run, Springsteen says he knew his record company was about to drop him. He added, "I knew I had to write something great." Springsteen didn't have to write something great. He could have folded up his tent and said, "they don't like me, I'm just gonna stay in Asbury Park and play where people appreciate me and that's it." But he didn't do that. He also didn't ask whether he was good enough. He simply challenged himself to go beyond himself--to be great. Ask yourself: what are you writing right now and is it challenging you to be great? What would it take for you to start thinking this way?

3. Find Trusted Ears for Feedback

Yes, it is hard to know on your own whether you're on track with your writing. That's when you recruit your own inner circle of readers whose ears and eyes you trust. Jon Landau became one of those trusted pairs of ears for Springsteen. They became friends during the writing of Born to Run and Bruce often sent Jon, then a Boston music critic, tapes of the work as it progressed. When the work stalled, Landau was the one who came in and helped Bruce put it all together. Who can be those ears or eyes for you? Try to keep the inner circle small. If you have too many opinions showered on your work it may cloud your creative judgment.

4. Try Something Different

Most of the songs on Born to Run were written on piano--this from a guy known for his raucous Fender guitar. But writing on piano gave Springsteen new ideas and presented new opportunities for him to explore. It also gave the album an amazingly emotional and intimate vibe that I find intoxicating. What can you do differently that can inspire a leap to your next level? Set your novel in 1905 instead of 2005? Write from the point of view of the opposite sex? Be a little creative with your non-fiction? Take a chance. No effort is ever wasted even if you're writing badly--you can still learn from what you've done wrong.

5. Think Local, Write Global

One of the changes Springsteen made with Born to Run was that the characters in his songs were "less eccentric and less local" than the ones on his previous albums. The people in Born to Run "could have been anybody and everybody," he says. "When the screen door slams on 'Thunder Road', you're not necessarily on the Jersey Shore anymore. You could be anywhere in America." And it's true. Millions of people connected with--and bought-- Born to Run. I sought the same kind of connection for my novel. Though the family in All I Need to Get By is African-American, I've had readers of all races tell me how they have seen themselves in one or more of the characters and how they related strongly to the book's family issues. Touching people in this way is key to developing an attentive audience. How can you open up your work to a larger audience while still being true to your story?

If you still have doubts, think of this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires...courage." Be courageous for yourself and your writing. Your own Born to Run may be waiting to come out.

About the Author
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Author and Writing Coach Sophfronia Scott is "The Book Sistah" TM. Get her FREE REPORT, "The 5 Big Mistakes Most Writers Make When Trying to Get Published" and her FREE online writing and publishing tips at http://www.TheBookSistah.com The Book Sistah, 230 South Main St. Ste. 319, Newtown, CT 06470 203-426-2036, Info@TheBookSistah.com

4. Thanksgiving Fun

The link below is to an online American Greeting Card that's a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy the card and your holiday.

Thanksgiving Greeting

5. About The Fabulist Flash

ISSN: 1554-0804

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Make plans now to attend the 2006 Las Vegas Writer's Conference March 30-April 2, 2006, in Las Vegas, Nevada.