Pep Talk Week #1: Finding Venus

Sentences. Those precious, precious sentences… I find myself thinking about sentences a lot, especially after I’ve written a bunch of questionable ones.

Oh, writers: those esoteric beings perched over a keyboard or a notebook, crafting stories one word at a time, one sentence at a time. And the writers who have written and/or published multiple books LOVE to remind us of the incredible importance of the finely tuned sentence, and the Herculean battle they embarked upon to get those lauded strings of words just. Exactly. Right. The lost sleep! The blood! The sweat! Etcetera!

When I started grad school, it had been twenty-plus years since I’d had to carefully contemplate things like sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, tone, beats… In my workaday world post-undergrad and pre-MFA program, sentences were purely utilitarian: say things to convey information, ideas, feelings, or make a friend laugh. Of course it was always important to me that my sentences, whether written or spoken, were soundly constructed and made sense, but understanding them to the degree that my program’s faculty discussed in workshops (and even in casual conversations I’d overhear while passing by) was overwhelming, to say the least. It had just been so long since I’d thought about that stuff, I was afraid I’d never be able to grasp it again. I remember scribbling “What have I done? I am in completely over my head.”

Realizing all that we don’t know, and haven’t even thought about when we start on a writing project is enough to make a person turn back before they really start. Maybe you’re there right now.

OK, so… I’m working on something now, too. It’s been in progress for what’s got to be two years now. I had a lot of ideas, and, in fits and starts, have written – as of today – 47,702 words. Most of the reason why I haven’t gotten more words and more story is: the sentence. The vast majority of sentences in this thing are garbage. I can practically see the comments by former mentors and editors about how messy this sentence/paragraph/chapter is. It’s like commentary during a baseball game, only it’s about this thing I’m still trying to make. I’m editing myself before I actually have enough to edit.

Sculptors make beautiful things. I always think of the Venus de Milo, with her luminous, pensive facial expression, the dropped shoulder, and the curve of her neck. And how she started as a block of stone – or maybe marble? I’m not sure. I’m not a literal sculptor. But that detail, that beauty, came out of an amorphous block. Think how strong the artist’s vision must have been to chisel away at that block to reveal that goddess of beauty that still evokes emotion and passion today.

That block is your first draft. And you don’t even get to buy it or have it given to you; you have to MAKE it. And a block is exactly what it needs to be: blocky (of course), heavy, bulky. In fact, the bigger the block, the more material there is to chisel away at. And if you make a mistake with that chisel, at least you’ll have enough marble or stone or whatever to chip away more and more until it looks exactly like you want it to.

If you spend too much time editing your sentences as you try to plow through your first draft, you will never get to play with that big, strong, solid block. So keep going, keep building that blocky word count until it’s so big, with so many sentences that will absolutely need chiseling, that you’ll have lots of room for mistakes and missteps – and then when you’re all the way through you can start obsessing about making your sentences fine and intricate. But until then, keep making those big, blocky ones. Your Venus will reveal herself to you in due time.

Shawna-Lee is a writer with a debut novel called Radio Waves, which is all about connecting to music in such a way that it can change the course of one’s life. In addition to music, she also loves stand-up comedy, proverbial rabbit holes, and desolate lighthouses. She’s a lifelong New Englander, and is currently working on a novel about Gen X-ers, friendship, and life’s unexpected turns.

Radio Waves is available anywhere you like to get your books, including your local indies, via Bookshop.org.

5 Inspirational Videos to Help You Gear Up to Write Your Book

Writing a book is no mean feat. If it were easy, everyone would do it, right? If you’re thinking of participating in JuNoWriMo 2021, that’s fantastic. It really is. Deciding to write a book is exciting, and making that decision is the biggest step because it’s the first. Most people don’t even decide to write a book.

That beautiful commitment to yourself and to your story can fuel you through the whole drafting process…but why go it alone? We’ve sourced five inspirational videos to help you gear up to write your book. Over the next [x weeks/days] we will share some additional resources to help you shake off the doldrums of the pandemic and prepare to launch into a month of storytelling.

No. 1: When You’re Seeking Creativity…

Watch Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) talk about creative genius.

No. 2: When You Need to Choose…

Writing a book is scary. But that doesn’t mean you have to let your brain keep you from trying.

No. 3: When You Need to Find Your Passion…

Do you love to write? If you’re feeling like you’ve lost your way a little, this video is for you!

No. 4: When You Need to Think Outside the Box…

If you’re feeling trapped by your ideas, by your story, watch this video to step outside of the norm and expand your creativity.

No. 5: When You Stumble or Others Put You Down…

When we strive, we inevitably experience setbacks and failures along the way. When you need to feel able to continue on despite feeling like everything is wrong, watch this video.

Final Thoughts

Not all inspiration has to be on the topic of writing. If these videos don’t help you feel inspired to write, watch an inspirational sports video. If that doesn’t help, look for videos by more people who have succeeded even though the odds were stacked against them. Look for the people who could have given up, who almost gave up, but who didn’t give up. 

Inspiration is everywhere. Hopefully this list of videos will get you started on your way to preparing to participate in JuNoWriMo. 

Author & Author Accelerator Certified book coach Margaret McNellis holds an MFA in fiction, an M.A. in English & creative writing, and a B.A. in art history. She writes historical fiction for adult and young adult readers. Her debut YA novel, THE RED FLETCH, will be released on 9/18/21. Margaret’s short fiction has been published in several markets, including Assignment Magazine, where she was the 2019 student fiction contest winner. Margaret loves the beach when it’s empty, the forest in the fall, blasting Mozart’s piano sonatas, and baking bread.