Climbing the Writing Mountain

It's been a few weeks since I've jump started my writing again and while things are slow (well, compared to NANOWRIMO, slow), I can't help but feel invigorated.  I count myself lucky to be living in a city with a resource like San Diego Writers, Ink. and I'm now in week four of T. Greenwood's Novel II: Intermediate Novel Writing course. 

I've taken a number of classes and workshops previously and it did cross my mind 'am I taking a few steps back?'  But that idea was quickly wiped out as I immersed myself in the course and my writing.  Some of you may be in the same boat.  You may be asking yourself 'should I take another course when I've taken workshops before?' 

In my case, the answer was yes.  Having taken a break from writing, I needed to be reminded, to exercise my brain, and listening to others talk.  Reading John Truby's The Anatomy of Story and following the exercises and experiences of others in class helped me to think and build my own story in the process. It made me think about things that I wouldn't have thought about and in a way "forces" me to think.

Next week I submit the first four pages of my new manuscript.  Wish me luck!

In the meantime, I leave you with this great article about filter words by Suzannah Windsor that was forwarded to me by another great writer/editor Lorin Oberweger. 

"Filter words are those that unnecessarily filter the reader’s experience through a character’s point of view." 

It's one of the most useful articles I've come across in recent history.  How many of these can you find in your own work?