Tag Archives: Creativity
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Welcome to My New (Crazy) Blog!

26 Dec

Them: “Shari, you’re so weird.”

Me: “Yea, well … at least I’m not normal.”

Thus begins the journey of a rogue writer.

And the phrase that I’ve been hearing my whole FREAKIN’ life. I finally realized that I prefer weird. Weird is better. At least it’s not normal.

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Welcome to my new crazy blog, loyal followers! Where nothing is off-limits, and randomness is the doctrine. Yes, this is me, my quirky world straight from my weird mind. I hope you’re brave enough to stick around … and if you like what you see, share my posts with your friends.

If you’re reading this on email, please click through to my blog and visit the new layout. Check out the new “about” page, and tell me what you think (I’m really, really curious).

And do not fear!

I still plan to write about writing. It just won’t be a constant thing. Instead, get ready for:

  • Weird news
  • Occasional outbursts
  • Cat fiascoes
  • Thoughts about my fingernails
  • Seinfeld (I’m obssessed)
  • Anything else I deem relevant or important

So starting after this post, get ready for the new stuff. Get ready for the weirdness. Because I’m SO GLAD I’m not normal.

shari-lopatin

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Become a Better Writer with This Tip

13 Nov

WordsI can’t take credit for this; I saw it in a PR Daily article, “The 7 traits of great writers.” But what I read was absolutely ingenious.

Specifically, number two on the list:

2. You collect words.

Great writers collect words with the intent of using them later. I keep a running list of my favorite words in the notes feature on my cell phone.

In essence, make your own thesaurus.

Like seriously, how brilliant is that? Think about this for a moment. How many times have you read an article or short story, or heard a newscast, or listened to a friend … when you thought, “Wow, that’s a really great word.”

However, by the time you sit down to type your next masterpiece, the word has slipped from your mind.

Yet, developing a running list of these words—I can only imagine how much more lively, more engaging, this would make our writing.

Why don’t YOU help get this started? Comment and list your favorite 2-3 words. Let’s start a list right here!

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Special note: I am currently in the process of revamping the feel of my blog. I am awaiting a few things before launching a completely new platform, so this may still take a couple of more weeks. I’ll announce the new version after it’s officially launched. However, if you begin seeing small changes here or there, you’ll know why.  

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I’m Thinking of a Blog Makeover: Help Me!

7 Nov

So … up until today (and probably a few weeks from now), the focus of this blog has been writing. And media strategies. And publishing trends.

And it’s worked.

I have nearly 800 followers, between email, Facebook and Twitter.


BUT …

I read a mind-altering post today from Kristen Lamb’s Blog, “3 Social Media Myths That Can Cripple Our Author Platform.” And then the mind-change happened. Here are the exact words from Kristen’s blog, the ones that reached out and bitch-slapped me:

“Regular people (code for ‘readers’) love being entertained daily in small, manageable, bite-sized pieces. They often read them on their smart phones while in line or on the train or when stuck at an appointment. In fact, this is precisely why blogs are one of the most powerful tools for creating a dedicated readership … The Bloggess (Jenny Lawson) gets THREE MILLION UNIQUE VISITS A MONTH on her blog. She tried to hold a live book event, and her followers crashed Goodreads. Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond) is another favorite. MILLIONS of people follow these blogs. Any guess why? These bloggers (writers)…are you ready for this? These writers…don’t blog about writing.”

***BITCH SLAP***

But … but … my blog is about writing!

To see if Kristen was really, truly serious about the seriousness of her claims, I headed over to The Bloggess. EVERY post has more than 100 comments. She has more than 200,000 Twitter followers, and the same for Facebook. Oh yes, and her first book was a New York Times Bestseller!

Then I visited Pioneer Woman. Same friggin’ thing. Except she always had AT LEAST 200 comments per post.

Yea, I’d say Kristen Lamb is onto something.

I Need YOUR Help, Now

I’m writing my first novel. It’s fiction, and I want to begin building an audience that will read my book when it eventually publishes. I’m sure you understand.

You’ve all mostly been with me since the beginning of my blog, or at least for most of the past year.

I want to remain as a “Rogue Writer.” But I’m thinking of writing less about writing and media, and more about something everyday readers will enjoy.

I just can’t figure out what.

Here are some past posts I’ve written that were random, and successful:

  1. Burglars Beware! Why to NEVER Rob a Writer’s Home
  2. Colon Hydrotherapy in Your Backyard
  3. Be the Chicken Nugget in a Bag of Vegetables
  4. My Jewish Cat and the Art of Guilt
  5. Bananagrams: The New Age of American Consumerism

With that in mind, as a non-writer (just PRETEND) who likes reading blogs, what would you want to hear about … from me? And on the contrary, what do you want me to keep? In other words, what keeps you coming back?

Thank you for your help! A new (exciting) chapter awaits …

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Are You Being True to Your Writing?

17 Oct

As a writer, this is perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT question you need to ask yourself.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post entitled, “The Novel Dilemma: Story No Longer Relevant … Now What?” Many of you commented with empathetic remarks or great advice (thank you!). And now, I’m happy to report that I found the answer to my own question.

I am re-working my original plot line, but keeping the same two characters. I arrived, however, at this final conclusion by asking myself the question:

Be YourselfAm I being true to my writing?

Really, the props in this epiphany go to my boyfriend, Oscar—who, over chicken wings at Native New Yorker one night, said to me (as I complained how I can’t write anything great), “You’re stuck on your book, because you’re not being true to your writing.”

Whoa.

Just think about that for a moment—being true to your writing. What does that mean? Oscar spelled it out for me, plain and simple: “Shari, you’re trying to write about a girl who grew up without a father. But you never lost your father. So you can’t really understand what your character is going through.”

BINGO.

He then went on. “But you know what it feels like to be Jewish and in a relationship with someone who harbors anti-Semitic feelings.”

Are you seeing where I’m going with this yet?

It suddenly dawned on me that I was trying to be TOO CREATIVE with my writing. I was trying to write about things that I thought were exotic or conflicted, but that I didn’t really understand. I was trying to be J.D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald … all at the same time.

But I just had to be Shari Lopatin. And write about what Shari knows … with some exaggeration.

Suddenly, the book won’t stop flowing from my fingertips. I wrote 10 pages in two days. And I’m going like a train on fire. In addition, those who have read my first few (new) chapters said the story is MUCH more intriguing, now. Who would’ve thought?

Have you been feeling stuck in your writing?

Maybe you should do as I did. Take a hard look at your plot lines, and your themes. Are you being true to yourself, to what you know, and what you understand?

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High School Poetry … and Stuff

27 Aug

After three years of living in my house, I’m finally clearing out the stacks of boxes in my extra bedroom.

I know … tell me about it.

Shari's High School PoetryBut whilst rummaging through old envelopes filled with random cards, scribbles and photos, I found some old high school poetry. And it really made me kinda sad. Because I realized just how creative my writing was, back then. And how much more I need to work at it now.

My boyfriend says “don’t be sad.” Because back then, my mind had the luxury of letting itself run wild. Nonetheless, blogs and social media didn’t exist when I was in high school. So I decided to give High School Shari a special treat, and publish some of her poetry, here. Please be aware that I cannot edit my blog’s theme to correctly portray stanzas, but you’ll get the gist:

The Other Side

Dwelling in the psyche of my mind,

Swimming in the heart of my soul,

Confusion overtakes to make me blind.

I cannot find

The cure to my soul,

Never so bold,

To find its way to the other side.

Drowning in the depth of despair,

Choking from the grip of fate,

My being, overtaken by its fear,

It would not hear

My cry of hate;

For Heaven’s sake!

Dear God, where is the other side?

Lost in a maze of pure anxiety,

Falling through the hole of naked deceit,

I desperately search for true prosperity;

Instead find impurity.

And so I flee,

For I cannot see

The Truth in myself,

Leading toward the other side.

A Random Paragraph, Untitled

You can’t say you understand. How could you possibly know … know what it’s like, to stand up on that stage, you … alone—and pour your heart out to an auditorium of people that you’ve transformed, all with motion and music and passion. It’s like, it’s like my heart is part of the beat of the music, and it’s not inside me, but outside me, encompassing me, pulling me with it. And when you’re done, and the lights fade, the audience cheers. No, they don’t cheer; they stand, and scream, and clap, and whistle … all for you, only you, no one else BUT you. It’s your time, your true time. How could you possibly understand that, unless you’ve lived it, lived with it for thirteen-and-a-half years, then not had it anymore?

Sometimes, we don’t realize how much we love something, until we no longer have it. Sometimes, we don’t know how much passion we felt for something, ’till it’s gone. So how—how can you understand it, unless you’ve had it?

Deliverance

Black and blue,

He sits upon

Steps anew,

Shattered dreams,

Hopes withheld,

His time is due.

Lost black eyes,

Dead stars within,

Watch the sky,

Search for worth,

Pray to find

The loveless lie.

Tender hands,

Their touch is numb,

Forever damned

By such hate,

Slaps and kicks,

For help he ran.

But now he sits,

His soul deprived,

He knows of hits,

That loveless lie.

“Come forward son,”

A voice consoles.

“Your father’s gone,

Come meet Don,

And he will take you home.”

(© All works copyrighted by Shari Lopatin. All rights reserved.)

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The Novel Dilemma: Story No Longer Relevant … Now What?

6 Aug

Snoopy writingWhat happens if you discover your novel-in-progress is no longer relevant? Do you let it go and start a new project, or re-work your story and characters?

I ask because I’VE hit such a dilemma, and I’m turning to you for answers. I may be an experienced article-writer, journalist, and copywriter … but the world of novels is new to me.

Here’s the Deal

I began writing my work-in-progress about two years ago. It initially began as a way to vent certain life frustrations. I never took it seriously, because my “serious writing” was devoted to my journalism.

Yet, a year into sporadically writing this book, I began looking at my creative writing differently. I began getting SERIOUS. I stopped reading just for fun, and found myself re-reading certain classics and breaking them down, like my old high school days of AP English. I started this blog (Rogue Writer), and began reading other blogs of published authors willing to share a tip or two.

That’s when I realized just how much I still had to learn … at least when it came to creative writing.

Now, I’m Stuck

I’m stuck because, after two years of self-improvement and hardcore fictional short story writing, I realized my novel is no longer relevant. I can now stare at my work with a critical eye, and I realized it may not measure up. However, I’ve grown so close to my characters (I know that sounds kinda schizophrenic, but I’m sure you can relate), that I couldn’t imagine letting them go.

Their needs, their hopes are just too dang important.

Plus, what about all that time I’d dedicated to writing the current chapters? To brooding over the ins-and-outs of the characters’ quirks? The daydreaming of my novel becoming the next THE HELP or HUNGER GAMES, minus the trilogy?

I’ve Contemplated …

  • Re-working the central story; this would entail re-writing many of the chapters, and possibly taking out certain conflicts that were vital to the original story.
  • Shelving it and starting a new project (although, I’m not sure what that would be). Maybe later, I could return to this book after reaching success with another project.

Those are really the only two solutions I could muster.

What Would YOU Do?

Since many of you are serious writers (some published), maybe you could offer some advice. What would you do in my situation? Or perhaps … have you already dealt with this novel dilemma?

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Bring Back the Vinyl, Man!

18 Jul

Vinyl recordsI just bought this awesome new record player the other month, an all-in-one, where you can play C.D.s, tapes, iPods … and of course, those good ol’ vinyls. Continue reading 

Here’s to All the Outcasts!

9 May

All the “weirdos,” all the “stupids,” all the “oddballs.” I’m proud to walk among you, because my uniqueness is what makes my writing stand out.

Were you ever bullied as a kid? Forced to give up your milk money? Endured long hours of whispers or sly smirks, followed by giggles behind your back? Continue reading 

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Just F-ing Write, Already!

26 Apr

This is what my boyfriend recently yelled at me. And ever since, I’ve screamed those same words over and over into my head.

To force myself to stop obsessing over everyone else who’s been (super) successful, and why I’m not there yet.

We’re writers, right? So for the love of GOD—just do some dang writing already! And stop worrying about “making it.”

Success Obsessions Gone Wild

You know those cool, collected writers with 500,000 Twitter followers? Who’ve been published in The New Yorker and the Boston Review, all while running a blog that everyone drools over (didn’t you read Entertainment Weekly’s review on it last week)? They always seem to sport those geeky/chic wired glasses with a quirky beret.

Yea, I want to be that writer.

And since I’m not, I’ve spent time reading their success stories. And then I analyze: When did they start their blog? How did they word their entries? Who are their connections? How long did it take them? The list goes on and on, my friends …

But in the midst of this obsessing, I’m missing one key component. I’m not writing.

Just F-ing Do it, Man!

Perhaps understanding how the “big ones” made it can help the rest of us begging to just lick the bone. However, trying to craft our success strategy around their journey is only to our detriment.

As my boyfriend pointed out, I’m wasting all my energy on analyzing and planning. Meanwhile, I have no finished products to promote to an agent or editor, since I’m not writing.

Over the past week, I’ve finally forced myself to stop reading what everyone else is doing, and just start doing sh!t myself. And you know what? Stuff’s gettin’ done … finally.

Do you ever struggle with this curse of success obsession? If so, how do you overcome and just get back to your own writing again?

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Weight Watchers for Your Writing? Oh Yes …

2 Feb

For the first time in my life, I’m struggling with a weight problem. Not a bad one, but it’s enough.

I don’t mean to get all mushy on you; trust me, there’s a writing lesson here.

First of all, I’m sorry I missed a blog post last week. I suffered an Internet outage, and then life got crazy. Which leads me back to this whole weight thing. I was prepping for the big day this past Tuesday:

My first Weight Watchers meeting.

A Different Perspective

I’m going to take a risk and open up–just a little. I can trust you, right? Here’s the thing about me: I was always “that skinny girl.” I grew up dancing 15 hours a week: ballet, jazz, lyrical, tap, modern. I taught dance through college and ate whatever I wanted. And I never wore jeans larger than a size 4.

(Sigh)

That lasted until about age 25. I then found myself wearing a size 6. And last year a size 8. I’m not one of those tall, model-like girls either. I’m 5’3.

My point is, I always saw the world one way. I had a six-pack at age 5 (I kid you not. I have photos for proof), and ever since, I could wear cute clothes. I could model bikinis. And if I wanted, I could have picked on the girls struggling with their weight. I didn’t, I’m not like that. 

But I also never considered their world. Until now.

Are You Pushing Past Your Comfort Zone?

I attended a Weight Watchers meeting on Tuesday, excited to change my life. With about five women and one man. All were supportive, all wanted to lose weight.

And all were empathetic to my plight.

Although I never judged women for struggling with weight before, I never considered how walking in their shoes affected so much. Your self-esteem. Your clothing selection. Your energy. Your avoidance of little things like photos or reunions. But also the magic that happens when other women, friends and family rally around you.

And as a writer, how could I EVER have written a story about a girl struggling with weight?

Because I never pushed myself to see things from another perspective, I limited my creativity as a writer. I never avoided seeing things through these other eyes on purpose. Rather, it just never occurred to me.

I Challenge You …

Stop and think for a moment. I mean, really think.

What perspective have you either refused to consider, or accidentally overlooked? What pair of shoes have you never walked in? And how can you force yourself to understand that outlook?

Here are some aspects to consider:

  • A recovering drug addict
  • A woman in an abusive marriage (who refuses to leave)
  • An undocumented immigrant
  • A blind man or woman
  • A corporate lawyer
  • A trust fund baby
  • A high school or college dropout

Should you interview those living that life? Should you spend a week with them? How can you push yourself past your comfort zone?

Maybe it’s time to try Weight Watchers for your writing. And set yourself free.

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