TWC workshop leader C.M. Mayo's new podcast is 10 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Writing Workshop.
Take a listen here.
Or, read the blog post about this podcast.
And hey, if you liked this one, check out more podcasts for writers.
Showing posts with label C.M. Mayo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label C.M. Mayo. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
"How to Break the Block" with C.M.Mayo
TWC workshop leader C.M. Mayo leads this free podcast entitled "How to Break the Block," including a timed 5-minute writing exercise. Bringing a little TWC magic to you, wherever you are!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Language Overlay: A Technique of Fiction
This article was originally posted on C.M Mayo's blog, Madame Mayo,on July 4, 2011. She will lead a Techniques of Fiction workshop at The Writer's Center on September 24.
One of the simplest and yet most effective techniques of fiction is "language overlay." I first learned about this from the Canadian novelist Douglas Glover. In his essay, "The Novel as Poem," (in Notes Home from a Prodigal Son, Glover talks about how he dramatically improved the original draft of his first novel with this technique:
My first person narrator was a newspaperman, he had printer's ink in his blood. [I went] through the novel, splicing in words and images, a discourse, in other words, that reflected my hero's passion for the newspaper world. So, for example, Precious now begins: "Jerry Menenga's bar hid like an overlooked misprint amid a block of jutting bank towers..." Or, in moments of excitement, the narrator will spout a series of headlines in lieu of thoughts.
The key word here is "passion." What is in your character's world that he or she would feel passionate about? There's not a linear formula to follow; just take a piece of paper and jot down any nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, phrases, concepts-- in short, whatever pops into your mind that might do.
For example, if your character is a doctor, perhaps her world might include:
stethoscope, Rx, nurse, pills, scalpel, sterile, billing, paperwork, white coat, bedside manner, cold corridors, patient, tubes, IV, tongue depresser, "Say 'ahhh!'"
If your character is a chef, perhaps:
skillet, toque, cooking school, spices, basil, aroma, seasoned, blisters on hands, oven mitt, scalloped potatoes, seared, grilled, boiled, steamed, souffle, sweating in a hot kitchen, hsssss of sausage hitting the oil, Salvadorean pot-washers, waiters, paté, fois gras, freshness, crispness, apron
And surely, with a few minutes and pencil you can add another 10 to 100 more items.
But to continue, let's say your character is a beekeeper:
Bees, hives, smoker, sunshine, blossoms, clover, lavender, moths, gnats, sting, hive tool , veil, gloves, seasons, orchards, Queen, drone, worker, nectar, pollen, propolis, furry, wings, extractor, candles, farmer's markets, bottles, pans, wax, comb, jars, raspberry, apple, recipes, candy, pesticides, "ouch!" mites, cold, wind, directions, forest, nature
Or a shaman:
drum, flutes, shells, spells, chimes, stones, nature, mmm-bb-mmmm-bb, animals, wolves, robes, chants, tent, walking, dancing, running, wind, rain, sun, moon, stars
A writing conference organizer (this went over with a few chuckles at the San Miguel Writers Conference last year): Internet, paper, books, authors, per diem, agents, writers, money, volunteers, hotel, telephone, e-mail, facebook, "what's he published?"
Of course you needn't incorporate everything on your list anymore than you would eat everything laid out on a smorgasboard. Browse, sniff, nibble, gorge, ignore-- as you please.
To give you an example from my own writing: one of the main characters in my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, is Maximilian von Habsburg, the Austrian archduke who became Mexico's ill-fated second emperor. One of the techniques I used to find my way into his point of view was, precisely, language overlay. Before coming to Mexico, Maximilian had served as an admiral in the Austrian Navy, so no doubt he would have used or oftentimes thought of such words as: starboard, deck, batten the hatches, gimbles, compass, bridge, wake...
In short, I made a long messy-looking list and kept it pinned to the bulletin board by my desk. I also used a Thesaurus, adding terms I didn't think of right away: "kedge" was one. So I had a scene where, in land-locked Mexico City of 1866, Maximilian informs his aide that they're going on a brief vacation to Cuernavaca. "We'll just kedge over there..." Ha! Kedge! One of those perfectly precise words that makes novelists unhunch from their laptops, raise both fists and shout, YEEEE-AH!!! Which, you can be sure, will startle the dog.
The exercise I always give my writing workshop students:
First make your language list for the doctor. Then, in 5 minutes (about a paragraph), have him take a cooking class.
Douglas Glover's essay "The Novel As Poem" is such an important one for any creative writer to read, I would recommend buying the collection, Notes Home from a Prodigal Son, for that alone-- but the collection does in fact include many other excellent and illuminating essays. Visit the publisher's website here.
UPDATE: I'm teaching "Techniques of Fiction" for the San Miguel Writers Workshop in San Miguel de Allende in February 2012. Read more about that here.
P.S. For a free copy of my e-book "C.M. Mayo on Creative Writing: The Best from the Blog," a fully formatted PDF download, which can be read in iBooks, click here. My workshop schedule can be found here. Most recent podcast for writers: Decluttering Your Writing: The Interior Decoration Analogy.
One of the simplest and yet most effective techniques of fiction is "language overlay." I first learned about this from the Canadian novelist Douglas Glover. In his essay, "The Novel as Poem," (in Notes Home from a Prodigal Son, Glover talks about how he dramatically improved the original draft of his first novel with this technique:
My first person narrator was a newspaperman, he had printer's ink in his blood. [I went] through the novel, splicing in words and images, a discourse, in other words, that reflected my hero's passion for the newspaper world. So, for example, Precious now begins: "Jerry Menenga's bar hid like an overlooked misprint amid a block of jutting bank towers..." Or, in moments of excitement, the narrator will spout a series of headlines in lieu of thoughts.
The key word here is "passion." What is in your character's world that he or she would feel passionate about? There's not a linear formula to follow; just take a piece of paper and jot down any nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, phrases, concepts-- in short, whatever pops into your mind that might do.
For example, if your character is a doctor, perhaps her world might include:
stethoscope, Rx, nurse, pills, scalpel, sterile, billing, paperwork, white coat, bedside manner, cold corridors, patient, tubes, IV, tongue depresser, "Say 'ahhh!'"
If your character is a chef, perhaps:
skillet, toque, cooking school, spices, basil, aroma, seasoned, blisters on hands, oven mitt, scalloped potatoes, seared, grilled, boiled, steamed, souffle, sweating in a hot kitchen, hsssss of sausage hitting the oil, Salvadorean pot-washers, waiters, paté, fois gras, freshness, crispness, apron
And surely, with a few minutes and pencil you can add another 10 to 100 more items.
But to continue, let's say your character is a beekeeper:
Bees, hives, smoker, sunshine, blossoms, clover, lavender, moths, gnats, sting, hive tool , veil, gloves, seasons, orchards, Queen, drone, worker, nectar, pollen, propolis, furry, wings, extractor, candles, farmer's markets, bottles, pans, wax, comb, jars, raspberry, apple, recipes, candy, pesticides, "ouch!" mites, cold, wind, directions, forest, nature
Or a shaman:
drum, flutes, shells, spells, chimes, stones, nature, mmm-bb-mmmm-bb, animals, wolves, robes, chants, tent, walking, dancing, running, wind, rain, sun, moon, stars
A writing conference organizer (this went over with a few chuckles at the San Miguel Writers Conference last year): Internet, paper, books, authors, per diem, agents, writers, money, volunteers, hotel, telephone, e-mail, facebook, "what's he published?"
Of course you needn't incorporate everything on your list anymore than you would eat everything laid out on a smorgasboard. Browse, sniff, nibble, gorge, ignore-- as you please.
To give you an example from my own writing: one of the main characters in my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, is Maximilian von Habsburg, the Austrian archduke who became Mexico's ill-fated second emperor. One of the techniques I used to find my way into his point of view was, precisely, language overlay. Before coming to Mexico, Maximilian had served as an admiral in the Austrian Navy, so no doubt he would have used or oftentimes thought of such words as: starboard, deck, batten the hatches, gimbles, compass, bridge, wake...
In short, I made a long messy-looking list and kept it pinned to the bulletin board by my desk. I also used a Thesaurus, adding terms I didn't think of right away: "kedge" was one. So I had a scene where, in land-locked Mexico City of 1866, Maximilian informs his aide that they're going on a brief vacation to Cuernavaca. "We'll just kedge over there..." Ha! Kedge! One of those perfectly precise words that makes novelists unhunch from their laptops, raise both fists and shout, YEEEE-AH!!! Which, you can be sure, will startle the dog.
The exercise I always give my writing workshop students:
First make your language list for the doctor. Then, in 5 minutes (about a paragraph), have him take a cooking class.
Douglas Glover's essay "The Novel As Poem" is such an important one for any creative writer to read, I would recommend buying the collection, Notes Home from a Prodigal Son, for that alone-- but the collection does in fact include many other excellent and illuminating essays. Visit the publisher's website here.
UPDATE: I'm teaching "Techniques of Fiction" for the San Miguel Writers Workshop in San Miguel de Allende in February 2012. Read more about that here.
P.S. For a free copy of my e-book "C.M. Mayo on Creative Writing: The Best from the Blog," a fully formatted PDF download, which can be read in iBooks, click here. My workshop schedule can be found here. Most recent podcast for writers: Decluttering Your Writing: The Interior Decoration Analogy.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
C.M. Mayo on The Techniques of Fiction
#1 OF THE TECHNIQUES OF FICTION
Guest blog post by C.M. Mayo
C.M. Mayo will be teaching the one day only "Techniques of Fiction" workshop this Sunday February 27 from 1 - 4 pm right here at The Writer's Center. In this post she gives us a little preview of what to expect.
For both beginning and experienced fiction writers, ""Techniques of Fiction"" focuses on generating new material with exercises addressing specificity, point of view, synesthesia, imagery, image patterning, plot, rhythm, and the use and misuse of dialogue. The goal is that by the end of the workshop, your writing will be of notably higher quality.
Date: February 27
Time: 1:00-4:00 P.M.
Days: 1 Sunday
Genre(s): Fiction
Level: All Levels
Location: Bethesda
C.M. Mayo is the author of the novel The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, which was named a Library Journal Best Book of 2009. She is also the author of Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles Through Baja California, the Other Mexico, a travel memoir of Mexico's Baja Califorinia peninsula; and Sky over El Nido, which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. She is editor of a collection of Mexican literature in translation, Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion. For more about C.M. Mayo and her work, visit www.cmmayo.com.
Learning to write fiction is a never-ending, ever-deepening process, and yet, because of the way the human brain is wired, the same very few but very powerful techniques have provided, provide, and-- barring bizarre genetic mutations-- will continue to provide the most effective instructions to the reader to form, in John Gardner's words, "a vivid dream" in his mind. That's what a novel is: instructions for a vivid dream. Sometimes I get all Californian and call it a "mandala of consciousness." But whatever you call it, a novel is about providing the experience of someone else's experience: Anna Karenina's, Madame Bovary's, Scarlet O'Hara's, Harry Potter's, [insert name of your main character here].
How do we, whether as readers, or as any human being (say, folding laundry, or maybe digging for worms with a stick) experience anything? Well, last I checked we are not free-floating blobs of consciousness (except maybe when we have out-of-body experiences and/ or when dead); we are in bodies. We experience what we experience through our bodily senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch-- and I would add a "gut" or intuitive sense as well. So any fiction that is going to be readable -- a successfully vivid dream--- needs to address the senses.
The reader responds to specific sensory detail such as the color of the sweater; the sound of the wind in the ficus; the droplet of honey on her tongue; the mustiness of the refrigerator that had been left unplugged in the basement; the cottony bulk of an armload of unfolded towels; the sudden twinge of tightness in his throat just before he picked up the telephone.
There are an infinite number of techniques, but this -- the use of specific sensory detail --- is paramount.
Compare:
He was sad.
vs
He sank his chin in his hand. With his other, he reached across the table for a Kleenex.
Poor people lived here.
vs
The hallway smelled of boiled cabbage and a bathroom that needed scubbing.
Rich people lived here.
vs
Everything gleamed and behind her, a pair of white gloves pulled the door shut with a gentle click.
She disliked him.
vs
The sight of him made her grit her teeth.
She ate too much at Mrs Ward's party.
vs
She didn't leave one crumb of Mrs Ward's crumbcake.
The neighbors were obnoxious.
vs
Though the Hip-Hop came from three houses down the block, she could feel it in her breakfast table when she put her hand on it.
Here's my favorite quote about detail, from a letter by Anton Chekhov:
In descriptions of nature one should seize upon minutiae, grouping them so that when, having read the passage, you close your eyes, a picture is formed. For example, you will evoke a moonlit night by writing that on the mill dam the glass fragments of a broken bottle flashed like a bright little star, and that the black shadow of a dog or a wolf rolled along like a ball. . .
In this Sunday's workshop we'll cover this technique, as well as several others, among them, imagery, dialogue, point of view, beginnings, and plot. I'll also address how to identify and cut clutter. I hope to see you then.
P.S. For some fun exercises to generate specific sensory detail, check out "Giant Golden Buddha" and 364 More 5 Minute Writing Exercises. See also my recommended reading list on craft.
And: many more resources for writers here.
Guest blog post by C.M. Mayo
C.M. Mayo will be teaching the one day only "Techniques of Fiction" workshop this Sunday February 27 from 1 - 4 pm right here at The Writer's Center. In this post she gives us a little preview of what to expect.
For both beginning and experienced fiction writers, ""Techniques of Fiction"" focuses on generating new material with exercises addressing specificity, point of view, synesthesia, imagery, image patterning, plot, rhythm, and the use and misuse of dialogue. The goal is that by the end of the workshop, your writing will be of notably higher quality.
Date: February 27
Time: 1:00-4:00 P.M.
Days: 1 Sunday
Genre(s): Fiction
Level: All Levels
Location: Bethesda
C.M. Mayo is the author of the novel The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, which was named a Library Journal Best Book of 2009. She is also the author of Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles Through Baja California, the Other Mexico, a travel memoir of Mexico's Baja Califorinia peninsula; and Sky over El Nido, which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. She is editor of a collection of Mexican literature in translation, Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion. For more about C.M. Mayo and her work, visit www.cmmayo.com.
Learning to write fiction is a never-ending, ever-deepening process, and yet, because of the way the human brain is wired, the same very few but very powerful techniques have provided, provide, and-- barring bizarre genetic mutations-- will continue to provide the most effective instructions to the reader to form, in John Gardner's words, "a vivid dream" in his mind. That's what a novel is: instructions for a vivid dream. Sometimes I get all Californian and call it a "mandala of consciousness." But whatever you call it, a novel is about providing the experience of someone else's experience: Anna Karenina's, Madame Bovary's, Scarlet O'Hara's, Harry Potter's, [insert name of your main character here].
How do we, whether as readers, or as any human being (say, folding laundry, or maybe digging for worms with a stick) experience anything? Well, last I checked we are not free-floating blobs of consciousness (except maybe when we have out-of-body experiences and/ or when dead); we are in bodies. We experience what we experience through our bodily senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch-- and I would add a "gut" or intuitive sense as well. So any fiction that is going to be readable -- a successfully vivid dream--- needs to address the senses.
The reader responds to specific sensory detail such as the color of the sweater; the sound of the wind in the ficus; the droplet of honey on her tongue; the mustiness of the refrigerator that had been left unplugged in the basement; the cottony bulk of an armload of unfolded towels; the sudden twinge of tightness in his throat just before he picked up the telephone.
There are an infinite number of techniques, but this -- the use of specific sensory detail --- is paramount.
Compare:
He was sad.
vs
He sank his chin in his hand. With his other, he reached across the table for a Kleenex.
Poor people lived here.
vs
The hallway smelled of boiled cabbage and a bathroom that needed scubbing.
Rich people lived here.
vs
Everything gleamed and behind her, a pair of white gloves pulled the door shut with a gentle click.
She disliked him.
vs
The sight of him made her grit her teeth.
She ate too much at Mrs Ward's party.
vs
She didn't leave one crumb of Mrs Ward's crumbcake.
The neighbors were obnoxious.
vs
Though the Hip-Hop came from three houses down the block, she could feel it in her breakfast table when she put her hand on it.
Here's my favorite quote about detail, from a letter by Anton Chekhov:
In descriptions of nature one should seize upon minutiae, grouping them so that when, having read the passage, you close your eyes, a picture is formed. For example, you will evoke a moonlit night by writing that on the mill dam the glass fragments of a broken bottle flashed like a bright little star, and that the black shadow of a dog or a wolf rolled along like a ball. . .
In this Sunday's workshop we'll cover this technique, as well as several others, among them, imagery, dialogue, point of view, beginnings, and plot. I'll also address how to identify and cut clutter. I hope to see you then.
P.S. For some fun exercises to generate specific sensory detail, check out "Giant Golden Buddha" and 364 More 5 Minute Writing Exercises. See also my recommended reading list on craft.
And: many more resources for writers here.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Dialogue Dos with Workshop Leader C.M. Mayo
In both fiction and creative nonfiction, dialogue, whether a single line spoken by a character to herself, or a page or three in a complex scene with multiple characters, is one of the most effective ways to show character, conflict, mood, and/ or relationship. In my one day workshop at the Writer's Center this Sunday March 7th, which is geared to both beginning and advanced writers, we'll be working with handouts, so everyone can easily follow the examples. Here's a snippet from one, of wonderfully effective dialogue, from Sandra Gulland's splendid historical novel, The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B:
Bonaparte has made a proposal of marriage. I told him I would consider.
"For how long?" He began pacing the room.
"I will give you my answer in two weeks."
"One week."
"Then the answer will be no."
He smiled. "You are stronger than you look, Josephine. I like that in a woman."
"My name is Rose."
We'll be looking at use of body language, sound and rhythm to re-enforce meaning, tags, use of appropriate (and vivid) detail and much more. And we'll examine at the most common mistakes--- so you can steer wide around them. The goal is that by the end of the workshop your dialogue writing will be of markedly higher quality.
"For how long?" He began pacing the room.
"I will give you my answer in two weeks."
"One week."
"Then the answer will be no."
He smiled. "You are stronger than you look, Josephine. I like that in a woman."
"My name is Rose."
We'll be looking at use of body language, sound and rhythm to re-enforce meaning, tags, use of appropriate (and vivid) detail and much more. And we'll examine at the most common mistakes--- so you can steer wide around them. The goal is that by the end of the workshop your dialogue writing will be of markedly higher quality.
P.S. To try some five minute dialogue writing exercises, check out the index at "'Giant Golden Buddha' and 364 More Five Minute Writing Exercises."
Dialogue Intensive with C.M. Mayo at The Writer's Center in Bethesda MD this Sunday March 7th 10 am - 5 pm. For more information and to regster on-line, go here.
She will also be offering a talk for the Leesburg First Friday series this Friday March 5th from 7:30 - 9:30 pm on "Staying Focused: Researching and Writing the Longer Book Project." For more information, go here.
***
C.M. Mayo is the author of the novel The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire (Unbridled Books); Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico (Milkweed Editions), and Sky Over El Nido (University of Georgia Press), which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. Her many other awards include three Lowell Thomas Awards for travel writing, three Washington Writing Prizes, and numerous fellowships, among them, to the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, MacDowell Colony, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and Yaddo. Her work has appeared in many outstanding literary journals, among them, Chelsea, Creative Nonfiction, Kenyon Review, North American Review, Massachusetts Review, Paris Review, and Tin House. An avid translator of contemporary Mexican literature, she is also founding editor of Tameme and editor of Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion. For more about C.M. Mayo and her work, visit www.cmmayo.com.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
C.M. Mayo One Day Dialogue Intensive
One of the most powerfully vivid ways to show character, relationship, conflict and/or mood is through the use of dialogue. In my one day only Dialogue Intensive on September 27 at The Writers Center, we'll focus on the use and misuse of dialogue with a series of mini-lectures interspersed with brief exercises. The goal is that by the end of the workshop, your dialogue will be of notably higher quality. The workshop is for both beginning and advanced fiction and nonfiction writers.Herewith, five five minute exercises, typical of some of the ones we'll be doing in the workshop. Use an egg-timer if you must.
#1. Sprinkle in ze French
An American who was resident in Paris for many years gives a tour of the local art museum to some friends who are mighty impressed (but do they admit it?). Write the scene with dialogue.
#2. Echoing in Dialogue
From Henry James's novel The Portrait of a Lady, here's an example of "echoing" in dialogue:
"She has offered to take her--- she's dying to have Isabel go. But what I want her to do when she gets her there is give her all the advantages. I'm sure all we've got to do," said Mrs. Ludlow, "is to give her a chance."
"A chance for what?"
"A chance to develop."
"Oh Moses!" Edmund Ludlow exclaimed. "I hope she isn't going to develop any more!"
In this example, echoing works well to show the two characters's easy going affection for one another. So, try writing a similar scene with echoing in the dialogue. If you need a prompt: a boss and his/ her ingratiating subordinate planning the new furniture arrangements for the office.
.
#3. Larry & Saul Bake a Cake
Larry and Saul are elderly brothers. Larry is jealous of Saul. Saul thinks Larry is full of himself. They are in Larry's kitchen making a cake. Write the scene with dialogue.
#4. The Control Freak, the Liar & the Narcissist
Three characters, all members of the same family, sit down to dinner. Show by the things they say to one another that one is a control freak, one a liar, and one a narcissist.
#5. Good Cat, Bad Cat
In a pet store: he wants a cat; she does not. Write 5 lines he could say; then, write 5 lines she could say. Briefly describe the cat in question. If you have time, write the scene.
Help yourself: Giant Golden Buddha & 364 More 5 Minute Writing Exercises are free online here.
P.S. I'll be reading from my new novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empre, at the Fall for the Book Festival on September 26 at 3 pm (with Pam Jenoff) at the Patrick Henry Library, 101 Maple Avenue East, Vienna, VA. Visit my events page
--- C.M. Mayo
C.M. Mayo is the author of the novel The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire (Unbridled Books); Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico (Milkweed Editions), and Sky Over El Nido (University of Georgia Press), which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. Her many other awards include three Lowell Thomas Awards for travel writing, three Washington Writing Prizes, and numerous fellowships, among them, to the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, MacDowell Colony, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and Yaddo. Her work has appeared in many outstanding literary journals, among them, Chelsea, Creative Nonfiction, Kenyon Review, North American Review, Massachusetts Review, Paris Review, and Tin House. An avid translator of contemporary Mexican literature, she is also founding editor of Tameme and editor of Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion. For more about C.M. Mayo and her work, visit www.cmmayo.com.
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