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Cynthia Kraack

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Tag Archives: #MyWritingProcess

Resiliency Faces Resistance

Cynthia Kraack Posted on September 2, 2021 by Cynthia KraackSeptember 2, 2021

During the heart of COVID lock down a new book project forced its way beyond a planned longish short story. With competition in the fiction market so difficult, my 2020 and 2021 work goals did not include a novel length work. But after months of keeping control within a tightly defined setting, one character began disintegrating. Old pain leaked into the new life she was learning and speckled soft-color sunny days with deep splotches of rusty and black stains. A short story about resiliency faced a wall of resistance.

My nice character abused all my plans and won the upper hand as the original plot imploded. Someone had to suffer, maybe even die, to let character, plot, and setting strings roll into a ball worth throwing from one hand to another.  Loss, betrayal, discovery, and forgiveness don’t develop over autumn days differentiated by the nothing more significant that the choice of jam on tomorrow’s sandwich. There must be days when the cupboard is empty, or the bread is moldy, or someone has switched raspberry jam with despised jalapeno jelly that must be eaten. Because this is life.

My tormented character may be demanding to create her fictional life with a streak of realism in this interim pandemic world where historic fires, floods and power players’ disregard for regular people deny the magic of rainbows and predictable endings. Perhaps spending years in the world of 40 Thieves on Saipan, I’m more open to a character who chooses to walk the world carrying pain, fresh socks, blank notebooks, and a sandwich with any jam in a backpack instead of watching the world through others’ windows.

Posted in Blog, Pandemic | Tagged #MyWritingProcess, 40 Thieves on Saipan, fiction writing, Pandemic, resiliency | Leave a reply

Revisionism II

Cynthia Kraack Posted on September 25, 2017 by Cynthia KraackSeptember 25, 2017

The Autumn Equinox began in Door County with high temperatures. One month ago eighty-five degrees would have lured us to a beach, a farmers’ market, a family outing. Sunday I carried cold water and a first draft of the new book to the deck and began reading and making notes. Revision launched.

I like my protagonist. A new working title is needed, but her name is fine. With that done there is no reason to delete subtle references that generated the existing title. A new working title is brewing.

The read through is going well and the next steps are coming into vision. By end of today clean manuscript needs to be produced with prior revisions inserted, a few sections moved and basic fixes handled like correcting names or locations. When that is done, a twenty-word blurb about why this book is important is the next key assignment.

Heading back to the deck. As the last day of heat makes work outside possible that is where I’ll be. What’s the big deal about working outside? For many years I felt tethered to my desk. I couldn’t write without music, without a footrest, without a whole lot of false comforts. It’s great to be beyond that set of restrictions.

Leaves are falling, the breeze is increasing and wasps come out in the afternoon. No time to goof off. Four days remaining in solo time.

Posted in Blog | Tagged #MyWritingProcess, Door County, writing work | Leave a reply

Redemption

Cynthia Kraack Posted on August 8, 2017 by Cynthia KraackAugust 8, 2017

I’ve been revising a story about a military drone designer’s gradual decision to leave his job. Themes of redemption play through the second half of the narrative.


Rē’ dem(p)SH(e)n/  noun
  1. the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.
  2. the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt.

On a spectacular summer morning redemption at many levels could be possible. The country will come back from the brink of constitutional mayhem and inexcusable narcissism. I’ll reconnect a relationship that has faltered. The dog will stop chewing his toenails. Kiss and make up. A gift to right a slight. A hug to heal separation. A simple prayer of thanksgiving.

Every student attending Marquette University was required to take a course called “God and Man” when I was a student. The Jesuits demanded we think about the bigger question of why we exist as well as complete a degree. I don’t remember a lot of guidelines in pushing beyond vacation bible school or confirmation preparation. The course was tough.

In an increasingly secular country we shy away from mention of believing in a force more powerful than those created by people. I believe that there is some central spiritual source that provides me with freedom and responsibility to make decisions. I am a complex human being, far more than a Social Security number or data point

The character in this short story does not exist by my terms. For three years his existential crisis has not had found a sound fictional answer that I am willing to accept. So I’ve given myself a deadline to finish the relationship and call the story complete. No kiss and make up. More of a figure it out buddy or kiss off. This character may not experience sweet redemption, but he has been interesting to have in my fictional neighborhood.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Blog | Tagged #MyWritingProcess, Redemption, The Human Condition, U.S. in mess | Leave a reply

Sunday Mornings

Cynthia Kraack Posted on August 7, 2016 by Cynthia KraackAugust 7, 2016

IMG_3514Sunday mornings have their own vibe, a crazy mash-up of past traditions, leisure, family time, friends time, me time, maybe spiritual time. It is a day important enough to spawn memories of Sunday clothes, Sunday funnies, Sunday dinner, a Sunday drive.

The Catholic Church broke my parents’ routine dressing up and attending Sunday Mass as a family with the introduction of Saturday evening service. No more riding together in a car smelling of aftershave and hairspray, listening to the adults talk about important stuff then the reward after church of stopping for donuts. We scattered attendance, began to lie about attendance, ceased attendance. Started going when our kids were of the age, pushed until confirmation, lost faith in the Church, gave up the struggle. Pray at any time in any place sometimes with, sometimes without an intermediary or community.

Writing fills the quiet time where church going existed. In this time, other issues and questions are left IMG_2537outside the office door. I wrestle with characters, locations, plot, what to share and what to keep private. The years of priests preaching, nuns praying and parents dressing us up and attending Sunday Mass are layered in the writing like bedrock under ground, top soil and leaves of grass.

Sunday dinner, Sunday visitors, Sunday baseball or football games come later. After my workweek is launched.

 

Posted in Blog | Tagged #MyWritingProcess, American culture, Family, Spirituality | Leave a reply

A Fiction Writer’s Social Media Plan

Cynthia Kraack Posted on November 21, 2015 by Cynthia KraackNovember 21, 2015

An author with five published novels and three book awards sounds like a safe choice when looking for something to read now that winter is at hand. How can an author supplement a publisher’s efforts to get that message to readers?

The pros say discoverability is key to an author’s success and active social media is a must. author-kraack-speakingI’d like to believe that social media can also open two-way communications. Late this summer I wrote two blogs about pushing social media beyond Twitter and Facebook. A skeletal marketing/communication plan is the final entry in that series:

Since my publisher manages @c_kraack, I have opened a new Twitter account for personal use. Follow me @cmkraack and I’ll return the favor. @cmkraack is the Twitter handle to share observations about the world, vacation stories, friends’ achievements, and, because I am a writer, a few tweets about writing. I’ll continue originating more general daily personal tweets related to writing on @c_kraack.

There are many sites where authors can interact with readers. I hope to offer readers reason to visit more frequently by developing unique content weekly for my Facebook author page (Cynthia Kraack, Writer) and monthly for my Amazon author and Goodreads pages. I’m also exploring other book websites are more intimate and might offer more opportunity to connect with readers while doing my own search for new books and authors.

IMG_0855My blog began as a place to share my views on the writer’s life versus concentrating on the writing industry. I’d like to return to that strategy with new blogs every other week. If I have the time, I’d like to develop a new blog introducing people from the broader art world.

With video and visual content drawing high social media user attention, I have begun development of a small number of projects to enrich my website early in 2016 including one or two that will be posted on YouTube in late 2016. The Pinterest Book Community looks like a flowers-cover-200different way to participate in a more visual community. The High Cost of Flowers already has a presence on Pinterest thanks to a wonderful reader.

How to do all this is tricky. My most immediate project is developing an editorial calendar. Twitter is a daily activity. Setting aside one day a week for blog writing and refreshing other media is a heavy investment as well as an interesting journey.

These are the bare bones of a social media plan. Readings, speeches, guest blogs, blog tours, teaching and traditional marketing haven’t been addressed. Any advice?

Posted in Blog | Tagged #MyWritingProcess, author social networking, blogging, Finding readers, Indie publisher lessons, Planning, social network marketing, The High Cost of Flowers, writing work | 2 Replies

Writing from The Ledge #2

Cynthia Kraack Posted on September 22, 2014 by Cynthia KraackSeptember 22, 2014

Three weeks. Gone.

For you working in regular jobs or chasing kids, three weeks with a small dog and your laptop in a house on The Ledge might sound questionable. You’d rather spend three weeks of free time on Cape Cod or touring Europe or driving the California Coast. If you’re a writer trying to squeeze time with your creative work around other work, you understand the value of three weeks in a quiet house with a rocky front yard.

The LedgeThe house on the Ledge is built on the Niagara Escarpment. During huge storms these weeks, I wondered if the thunder that deeply rocked my office shook the entire stony structure from Watertown, New York through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and the tip of Illinois. Under cities and countryside, harbors, orchards and vineyards, the Ledge that formed the basins of four Great Lakes remains fairly unchanged through centuries except for human interference. There’s a story to be written form those facts.

Saffron and orange leaves now stand out in bands of green. Temperatures have been in the forties more mornings. Packing to leave, the sundress and sandals return to the suitcase never worn. A red sweater, jeans, t-shirts, socks and sneakers simplified morning selection of what to wear. Local grown raspberries, sweet corn and tomatoes are gone from farm stands where apples are piled high.

One book off to the publisher, one manuscript truly finished and revised, future projects thought through, peace of mind restored. Packing to leave the shores of my beloved Lake Michigan for the hard working Mississippi River’s bluffs. Wish I could be in two places at once.

Posted in Blog | Tagged #MyWritingProcess, Door County, Niagara Escarpment, Travel, writing work | 1 Reply

Writing on The Ledge

Cynthia Kraack Posted on September 19, 2014 by Cynthia KraackSeptember 19, 2014

When should new writing trump working on an almost complete work? When should new writing trump completing a blog? How many novels can one writer be writing simultaneously?

DC Stone wallSummer disappeared this week and with cooler weather and rainy days a creative trigger continues to snap two sentences through my mind while I’m trying to stay focused on a real task. “In the space between two bubbles, a glimmering thread formed. ‘Not again,’ she mumbled.”

A list of questions for a subject matter expert is at my right side; the manuscript with an army of sticky notes and additional text clipped to pages is on my left. Purposefully my laptop is in another room as I examine the book’s dramatic arc, pulling apart a plot wobble near the middle.

What to do? Other opening paragraphs of future work wait in a file so I know two sentences don’t equate to anything concrete. Curious about who says “Not again”, I also know I could spend the next two days writing a slamming good short story and lose the time dedicated to taking this book to an important next step. This novel, which I like, has already waited a year in an actual drawer.

My new publisher is expecting me to return with their writer’s profile work completed. My social media presence has good spots and very weak spots. I promised to bring that to more even ground. There are readings this week for Leaving Ashwood, a board meeting for Write On, Door County, and only ten days until this writing retreat is over.

When should new writing trump everything else? Does discipline squelch creativity or will that anonymous voice wait its turn? This time I stay disciplined. And hope I made the right choice.

Posted in Blog | Tagged #MyWritingProcess, writing work | Leave a reply

Writing Retreat #1

Cynthia Kraack Posted on September 6, 2014 by Cynthia KraackSeptember 6, 2014

For most of my adult life packing a suitcase, briefcase and computer bag for a business trip would be called work. So why is it easier to characterize packing a suitcase, briefcase and computer bag to go work on an unfinished novel a writing retreat?

There are obvious differences: This is my schedule and my decision.011 There will be no paycheck arriving while I am away. Except for revisions on a different manuscript sent to my publisher on the second day and a few meetings, no one is waiting somewhere for this piece of work.

The real issue may be that in American culture there is discomfort sharing the label of work with purely artistic efforts. If I were completing scripts for a client’s videos, others would say I went away to concentrate on a work project. If I planned to develop new curriculum for a college course that would be understandable. But to the majority of Americans who work regular hours doing tasks people recognize, finishing a novel that might not find a publisher or be published is different. In fact,it is necessary time away to catch up on work that has become increasingly more disorganized while satisfying other demands. Some might say it is a bit indulgent. More a retreat than a work trip.

It’s all semantics. Embracing the retreat concept, I’m building in IMG_0855time to read, visit with other writers, take walks, and get some extra rest. I’ll miss the daily presence of family and friends, a few social events, the convenience of my regular home and routine. Unlike vacation time, I have an assignment to return home with a three hundred page manuscript ready to market to agents and publishers. And that sounds like work. Work I’m thrilled to have this time to complete.

 

Posted in Blog | Tagged #MyWritingProcess, American culture, Nature of Work, Planning, Thinking Out Loud, writing work | Leave a reply

Blog Touring

Cynthia Kraack Posted on August 5, 2014 by Cynthia KraackAugust 5, 2014

Writers are told to build their brand through social media. On top of finishing a book, they should create a website, start a blog, be present on Facebook, tweet multiple times each day. While losing popularity, blogs remain one place where writers can reveal their personality and talents. Blog tours help spread writers’ names through using our time and talents versus costing lots of money. I thank Carolyn Boehlke for inviting me to join this tour. You can find her at http://carolynkboehlke.weebly.com/blog. We share a publisher.

When blogs were sizzling, Technorati served as the place to find topbook pile 100 listings of blogs by subject matter. In June, Technorati stopped providing that information to the public and reconfigured as a slightly different business.

The top 100 list of writing-related blogs was my information shopping destination with new sites always replacing those that fell off in readers or shut down. Spending about a half hour today researching top blogs by subject matter produced lots of ads for services willing to build my blog traffic or apply analytics to a market. Access is now commercial and no longer free.

Business Week announced Technorati’s change in business model with a broad statement about blogging “… the inhabitants of the blogosphere started emptying out, lured away by the new crop of social media networks. Somewhere between the rise of Friendster and MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, people stopped updating their blogs and then abandoned them altogether en masse.” Many writers have adopted Tumblr preferring the microblogging approach.

In July Leaving Ashwood, my fourth speculative fiction novel, was leaving-ashwood-fb-200released by North Star Press. I’ve been blogging off and on since Minnesota Cold, my first novel, was released in 2009 and enjoy writing in a more immediate and informal format.

Because I’ve participated in other blogs about my writing process, I thought I’d talk about my blogging process. There are two ways my blogs develop. I keep a list of topics to provide prompts. That’s my planned self. The second approach relies on spontaneous entries sparked in places like airports, hospital rooms, or the back deck.

Once I decide to write on a topic I develop an opening and an ending. I spend time researching the topic to find links that might be of interest to a reader. Then I start writing. Often I’ll finish, print the entry, come back in an hour, read the text and revise. I read the text out loud once it is in WordPress. When the writing is finished, I find a graphic to lure a reader’s eye.

I’d like to hand you next to Ellen Shriner who produces WordSisters with Elizabeth di Grazia. They are two strong bloggers who work together to produce http://wordsisters.wordpress.com , a blog about their writing, families and the world in general. Ellen writes creative nonfiction and has received recognition for her work as marketing communications professional.

Posted in Blog | Tagged #MyWritingProcess, blogging, Leaving Ashwood, Writers, writing work | 3 Replies

#MyWritingProcess

Cynthia Kraack Posted on July 9, 2014 by Cynthia KraackJuly 10, 2014

A funny thing happens when your new book is released—suddenly there is no time to write. This Fourth of July weekend my family found other sources of entertainment and I divided my hours into segments for writing, book release activities and relaxation. Overall, the decision was right.

Ellen Shriner (wordsisters.wordpress.com) invited me to become part of the #MyWriting Process blog tour. Ellen is serious about writing. Her main work is creative nonfiction. Her professional work is in communications. She has taught writing. She and Elizabeth de Grazia explore a wide variety of topics.

If you’re interested in how other writers manage their creativity, or just curious about writers, click on #MyWritingProcess and enjoy reading.

My published books are speculative fiction. I also write contemporary fiction. Leaving Ashwood completed the Ashwood trilogy that follows a family for 25 years after a global economic collapse. My first novel, Minnesota Cold, won the 2009 NEMBA in Fiction. I have had a number of short stories published as well. In 2010 I completed a M.F.A. at the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast Program in Creative Writing.

What is my writing process? Here are today’s best answers to the four questions.

#1: What am I working on?   Aside from marketing Leaving Ashwood, I am revising a contemporary novel for an indie press. Unfortunately we don’t have a working title to share. I wish I were revising a second contemporary novel. When I am short on time, I write small inserts for that novel. Some of the text will remain backstory; some might be included in the next version.

At any time I am also producing new short stories. I usually have one new story in development. In the past year I assembled a submission calendar and send out a handful of stories each month. I am working on pulling together a short story collection. Last, I have a memoir project about my great-grandmother in an early research stage. Like many writers I teach and do presentations.

#2: How does my work differ from others of its genre? Most speculative fiction has a strong socio-political bend. The genre has also developed a taste for thriller pacing and action. My writing also explores relationship challenges in a future world—what makes a family, gender roles in times of change, the fate of vulnerable populations. The Ashwood trilogy is a family saga as well as all those things speculative fiction must be. I create strong female protagonists whose influence is often intellectual and emotional.

#3: Why do I write what I do? I write fiction because I love fiction. I’ve been a newspaper reporter, a corporate communications professional and a freelancer. While many writers talk about their work being cathartic, my writing may be a way for me to push through concerns about the future. Both of my contemporary novels are about losing a parent. Both were started while my parents were alive. My speculative fiction deals with surviving in a time of infrastructure collapse, about a global depression, about staying relevant regardless of age.

#4: How does your writing process work?  “Where do you get your ideas?” and “Do you write every day?” are the two most common questions I am asked. Truthfully, my stories are often spontaneous.

The second part of that question is thorny. For many years I wrote about six days a week. If nothing flowed, I would use Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way Morning Pages Journal and write three pages. Because of significant family events, that time has shrunk to about four mornings and a few afternoons including time working on my blog, marketing activities and true writing. My typical working times have always been early morning or late evening.

I wrote Minnesota Cold without any planning. I knew the main character and had written a short story about her life. Then I wrote until the book was done. Then I rewrote the book in a different voice. Then I got serious. It was a tremendously inefficient way to write a book. For the Ashwood trilogy I created the dramatic arc of the three books then wrote a few paragraphs for each book about the main character, the family and the world in which the story would happen. I outlined one of the books and found that didn’t work for me. I created a storyboard for the other two books with a few paragraphs about critical events or changes and found this approach clicked. I’ve used the storyboard technique for my second contemporary novel.

It is critical for me to be able to create a “What is this story about” page which will hopefully be distilled to a one sentence description later. A writing group of established writers continues to be important. Their input often drives significant rewriting or subtle changes.

When a large piece is complete I like to set it aside for a few months then read it from start to finish with a highlighter and colored paper flags nearby. From this read I draft questions, study characters, develop revision direction. I also assemble a set of fact sheets at this time to keep track of simple facts and plot points. Then I tackle rewriting. And tackle it again. And again. When I feel the project is nearly complete I ask a very small group of readers to read the manuscript. Then I rewrite.

The process is always a work in change. I learn with each project what worked or needs improvement.

Next Writer: Gary Lindberg has agreed to grab the baton and join the #MyWritingProcess blog tour.

I’ll use his own words to introduce Gary: “I am a recovering filmmaker with over 100 national and international awards, including writing and producing “That Was Then, This Is Now”, starring Morgan Freeman and Emilio Estevez, for Paramount. Since turning to writing novels, chiefly thrillers and historical fiction, I have published an unbroken string of four bestsellers, the first of which was The Shekinah Legacy, which was the #1 bestselling thriller on Amazon in 2012. In late 2012 I founded a publishing company called Calumet Editions, which has now published about a dozen talented authors in many genres—mostly fiction, but also non-fiction.”

Gary is a fascinating person…and writer. It’s hard to believe that this gentle soul manages to kill off so many characters in every thriller. His writing process description must be interesting.

Thanks for reading. Please come back to visit. My posts are always much shorter.

Posted in Blog | Tagged #MyWritingProcess, Ashwood Trilogy, blogging, Writers, writing work | Leave a reply

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