Mentor Monday | Harry Lorayne

In keeping with the spirit of Executive Orders – this appears to be the year of them, after all – I’m declaring the last Monday of every month Mentor Monday.  A post where I pay homage to someone who has made a dramatic impact on my writing.

Born in the Lower East Side of New York City in 1926, Harry Lorayne would become one of the most sought after memory consultants in history.  He authored over two dozen books, sold over seventeen million copies, and has made numerous appearances on the radio, television, and as a keynote speaker for major corporate events.  Aside from his memory skills, Mr. Lorayne is an accomplished magician.  He has often incorporated both into his  performances over the years.  If you find yourself with some extra time, you should check him out.  He has a wonderfully warm stage presence.  It’s a bit like spending time with an old friend.

Harry Lorayne

I stumbled up Mr. Lorayne back in 1990.  He made an appearance on the direct response program Amazing Discoveries.  I used to watch it each morning before school.  I pleaded with my parents to order to the Memory Power set and after some convincing, they finally did.  I still have my audio cassettes and workbook to this day.

How does this relate to my writing?  His methods force you to get back in touch with your creative side.

Without giving away the store, many of the techniques he uses are based on ridiculous (in a good way) associations.  Harkening back to my first post of the year, I touched upon adults losing that uninhibited thought process we all have as children that is inevitably squashed out of us as we get older.

Remember Miracle on 34^th Street?  As Kris and Susan spend some time talking before dinner…

"No…to me the imagination is a place all by itself. A very wonderful country.  You've heard of the British Nation and the French Nation?  Well, this is the Imagination.  And once you get there you can do almost anything you want.” 

Are his methods easy?  No.  Especially if you have let your imagination grow cold over the years.

Do they work?  Absolutely.

Imagine doing research for a book project and not having to take detailed notes because you’re able to remember the information that you need.

Think how impressed that agent or client will be when you know all the important stats at the drop of a hat.

All the different directions you can take your writing when you’ve tapped into that dormant section of your mind that is no longer confined to a rigid box of adult rules and expectations.

Those simple examples don’t even scratch the surface of how much Mr. Lorayne has made an impact on my life as a writer. 

To him I am forever grateful.

Mr. Lorayne now lives in Newburyport, Massachusetts.  In 2016, he celebrated his ninetieth birthday surround by fellow magicians in a New York City deli.

Have you read any of Harry Lorayne’s books?  Do you incorporate any memory techniques into your daily life?  Let me know if the comments section down below.

Reading to Write

If you want to be a better writer, you have to read.  Advice I have heard from nearly every mentor, training, and conference I have been a part of.  With that in mind, I offer up the 2017 selections of the Reading List courtesy of The Reading List Council.  It’s a best-of list across several fiction genres for the coming year.

In the mystery category, I’m looking forward to starting “Darktown” by Thomas Mullen.

Is anything on the list catching your attention?  Let me know in the comments section.

I had a lengthy discussion over the weekend on chapter titles.

During the conversation, I was told they were not needed and if it were to say anything more than ‘chapter eleven’ it was a distraction.  He followed up with them being amateurish and more suited to young adult novels.  I vehemently disagreed.  While they may be used (or not) at the discretion of the author (or agent or publisher), I do not feel they are amateurish nor should they be limited to young adult novels.  Side note - I downloaded an eBook this afternoon by one of my mentors, Elizabeth Sims.  She used chapter titles.  I felt vindicated.

I’ll admit that I’m smitten with them — but I never skim the table of contents when I begin a book.  I’m afraid they’ll give away too much.  Something along the lines of ‘Mr. Barnaby’s Funeral’ being chapter twenty.  Inevitably two pages in I’m reading about a Mr. Barnaby.  Well…no surprise how he ends up.

I think of them as mini-hooks or teasers.  I’ve spent many evenings reading along and in my head, I’ve told myself this will be the last chapter.  As I wrap up, I spy the title of the next one.  If it’s good, it will totally draw me in.  If there wasn’t one there, I’d be satisfied having met my pre-set chapter quota, put the book on the nightstand, and retire for the evening.

Take note!  The writing must be strong enough to pull the reader all the way through your work.  They shouldn’t want to put it down and you shouldn’t give them any reason to.  That said, life it what it is and it’s out of your control when the boss has scheduled a 7:00am meeting and the reader needs to get some sleep.  If I was wavering on reading further because I have to be up early the following morning, a clever chapter title may send me into the office with dark circles under my eyes.

Wine? I’m there.  Wine and chocolate?  Bonus!  That’s what book chapters are to me.  A nugget of enticing chocolate. 

In the first several drafts of The Stockings Were Hung, each chapter was named after the location in town where the action transpired.  Chapter one was titled The Train Station, chapter two Hope House, chapter three The Bed & Breakfast, and on down the line.  Efficient, but not terribly effective in pulling someone into one more chapter.

The Train Station was replaced with The Arrival.  Who (or what) is arriving?  How does it impact what we had just seen?

Hope House became The Discovery.  What are they about to discover?

The Bed and Breakfast morphed into The Division.  What (or who?!?) was being divided up?

Each chapter title should give you a little tinge of excitement and peek into the action, but it’s important not to make them a flat out spoiler (see example chapter twenty up above).

Do you use chapter titles in your own work?  Are they a distraction or do they draw you in?  Let me know in the comments section.

A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words

A few weeks back, I ventured to The Tipsy Paintbrush with Cliff.  It's a local paint a picture while you drink some wine establishment.  While not a painter, I was drawn to the offering that evening...

The instructors painting.

It was a winter night as seen through a window.  A full moon, a sky speckled with snowflakes, ice in the corners of the window panes.  It reminded me of something I would see back home in New York.  One of those nights where the air was completely still and the snow muffled all the sounds into an eerie quiet.

I went into the class with low expectations of how my painting would turn out.  I have no problems painting the walls of a room with a roller, but how would I be able to recreate that feeling her painting invoked in me with my own?

I struggled as the class began.  I wanted each and every brushstroke to be masterful!  The instructor let me know if I made a mistake, I could paint over it.  Paint over it?  Never!  My brush wouldn't touch the canvas if I wasn't 100% certain it would be perfect.  Needless to say, I spent a great deal of time over thinking and not a lot of time painting.

Wait.  A.  Minute.  I've been here before!

When I started writing my first novel, I felt the same way I did at the start of this painting class.  I wanted each and every sentence to be masterful!  I stared at the blank page the (like the canvas) wondering how I would ever fill it up with something meaningful.  I didn't want to write, rewrite, and possibly rewrite again.  I wanted it to be perfect from the start.  What good does it do to write, if you aren't writing anything good?  Quite a bit, actually.

You need that base - which may not be much of anything - in order to create that masterpiece.  Think back to art class in school.  You were given a giant lump of clay that you would shape, reshape, squish flat, start over and eventually turn into something kiln worthy.  Maybe something between the reshape and squish flat made it into the final product, but you wouldn't have had that if not for the initial shaping.

I tackled the painting bit by bit.  Some things I did ultimately paint over - see the missing star - and some things remained from the starting point until the very end.  Whether painting or writing, you can't get a finished project if you don't start.

I don't think it came out that bad...

My version.

How do you approach your writing sessions?  Full on with abandon or more reserved and meticulous?  Let me know in the comments section.

My Character Names are set in Stone

I always liken finding the right character name to buying a house or falling in love — you know it when you see it.  They can be fun, serious, or have a deliciously deep meaning.  Now...deep meaning does not equal Mr. Pennywise the spendthrift.  Ms. Vixen the town tramp.  Mr. Hunter the pursuer.  Thanks, but no thanks.  I’m not a fan of a names that either align or are the exact opposite of a characters personality in a silly, literal manner.  A good character name has to feel right and fit the story it’s in.  Think that comfortable pair of jeans that you love to slip into. 

Timing also plays a huge role.  Nothing ruins the moment more than some off the wall character name that suddenly appears out of nowhere.  It’s like running into a brick wall.

Side note:  I use Brick Wall (or his sister Brooke for a female)

as temporary character names if I haven’t settled on one yet. It makes them easy to 'Find & Replace' when I ultimately discover their true identity.

Let’s have a quick example, shall we?

“Trying to be equally quiet as fast, I maneuvered through the cluttered basement; my arms outstretched.  The batteries in my flashlight were dying and its beam fading.  A child’s nightlight would have provided more illumination. 

As my head snapped back towards the sound of the basement door opening behind me, I collided into a damp stack of cardboard boxes equally as tall as myself.  I lost my grip on the flashlight as I attempted to shield my face from the assortment of objects that tumbled out.  It fell to the floor and rolled in a circle as if I were playing spin the bottle with it.  Its last glimmer of light coming to rest on a bloodied face before going dark.  Seeing it for no more than what amounted to the flash of a photograph, a feeling of dread washed over me.  It was Eoghan!”

Who???

I stop reading.  I stare.  E-O-Ghan?  Eog-han?  Owen (silent “e” and “g”)?

Meanwhile, the feeling of being caught up in the story is suddenly washed away.  In these times of Facebook, Twitter, ten-thousand channels (and still nothing on) you have just given your reader an opportunity to put the book down.  The middle of a tense scene is no place to introduce an out of the norm character name.  If we had meet Eoghan before, were given the pronunciation, and now he’s occupying his time on the basement floor…fine.  I’m still not a fan of getting fancy with names, but at least it isn’t entirely brand new.

For sci-fi and alternate universe I expect (happily) to encounter some...well…out of this world names or ones it may take me a minute understand.  It’s part of being on a journey to the unknown.  Not every world uses English.  All personal taste, but I like my character names a bit more old fashioned.

The Social Security Administration has a section of their website dedicated to the top 200 male and female names from each decade going back to the 1880s.

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/

Its simple layout and easy navigation (imagine that for a government site!) can be useful for a quick hit of inspiration.

I spend a lot of time in the cemetery snapping photographs of headstones to find my character names.  Yes, I could do an internet search as suggested above, but the mystery writer in me enjoys the atmosphere.  Below are some shots of headstones and the thoughts/feelings they invoke to ME — not their proper family surname meanings.  

I'd be curious as to the types of first impressions the names make on you.  Let me know in the comments section.

Blackwelder - there's one!

I don't get a good guy/bad guy vibe.  I could use it either way.

Definitely a strong character, though.

Someone socially important or plot important.

Berryhill.

Simple.  Plain.

A spinster school teacher?

Middle class family name?

Lookabill.

Not one I'd personally use.

Something about this name just doesn't flow with me.

I snapped this to remind myself to try and venture into names I wouldn't normally use.

Abernethy.

Deeply religious.  Prude.

Barnhardt - this got me a twofer!

Zooming in...

Behind Barnhardt is Irwin.

And so Irwin Barnhardt was born.

Names I will not use.  Ever.

Swindells.

And then make them an embezzler or crook.

Do not do this.  I beg you.

See earlier note on Pennywise, Vixen, and Hunter.

I do, however, always pick one random name for fun.  I pseudo hide it though.  In my novel The Stockings Were Hung there is a character named Minnie Cooper (I drive a Mini).  

If you’re paying attention, you can spot it.  But not a single time in the novel do I use her first and last name together.  It’s Ms. Minnie (a southern greeting), Ms. Cooper, or Minnie.  There’s another character like that in the follow up Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.

Where do you find your names or inspiration for them?  Let me know in the comments section.

I Got a Rock

While finishing up my run along McAlpine Greenway this afternoon, I stumbled upon what is normally one large pile of rocks.  The DPW leaves them in various locations along the trail.  When the need arises - usually for drainage issues - it allows them ready access without having to continuously haul them in, albiet they are rarely used.  I've run past this particular area no less than one hundred times.  I've never seen anything other than exactly what it is - a pile of rocks to be used as drainage.

At some point over their holiday break, two children (entirely a guess) had been busy working.  The single pile of rocks had been re-imagined into something more...

Admittedly, had it been darker, it would have been slightly creepy in a Blair Witch sort of way.  Had I seen any weird stick figures hanging from the tree branches, I would have clocked my fastest mile to date running away from there.

The cardboard sign in back reads "Rock Hinge.  Tell your friends to come visit."  It also contains the names of the artists.

I snapped pictures of their work, yet none of them do any justice to the time they must have spent balancing and arranging each stone.

Taking it in, I began to wonder the point so many begin to loose that...spark.  That bit of imagination that lets you see a pile of rocks and transform it into a pseudo tourist destination for middle aged runners.

Don't color outside the lines.  Walk single file.  No pudding unless you eat your meat.  It's as if we are trained to be less and less creative as we get older.  Bogged down my rules, regulations, and little patience for those who don't abide.  I can't count the number of times during my career when I have asked why, someone has said "Because this is the way it has always been done."

I feel a great deal of my writing in 2016 was a lot like that pile of rocks.  Doing things by the book had become so ingrained I was building it into my writing.  Scenes were flat.  Dialogue stilted.   I wasn't able to see what it could be.  My spark had been extinguished by the responsibilities of adulthood and what I felt was a terribly negative year.

As I sat staring, their creativity began to fan my own flame.  I envisioned a story where two young children were rearranging those rocks, but found a body underneath.  Or a locked chest.  Or their missing (now dead) dog.  The rusty wheels began to turn once again.  

A man and woman walking the trail had now stopped to look, as well.

"It isn't named Rock Hinge - it's Stonehenge," the woman said.
"And it isn't laid out like this.  The stones are all wrong," the man added.

And there it was.  Everything that had been spinning around in my head personified.  To them, it either had to be Stonehenge - set up exactly as all the pictures you see - or it was wrong.

"Maybe it's not supposed to Stonehenge," I said as I stood back up.  "Maybe it's Rock Hinge and this is exactly how Rock Hinge looks."  I then continued on my way.

I have decided to adopt "Rock Hinge - tell your friends to come visit!" as my mantra for 2017.  Rock Hinge will be a  reminder to think deeper when it comes to my writing.  To take a scene I've crafted and treat it like those stones.  Stacking, re-stacking, and laying them out until I have found a Rock Hinge of my very own for you and your friends to come visit.

How do you keep from losing your creative spark?  Let me know in the comments section.