The Handwriting of a First Grader and Other Random Thoughts from Unplugged Week

Yes, this is my actual handwriting and
 my actual notebook with my actual
rough draft drivel on it.

As some of you are aware I "unplugged" a few weeks ago so I could focus more time on my rough draft.  When I sat down to the computer all psyched and ready - can you guess what happened?  Nothing.  Nothing would come.  My fingers hovered above the keyboard twitching to type...something...anything, but nothing was all I got.  My head began to ache from the pressure building inside.  I tried to convince myself to stay calm - the words didn't need to be perfect.  The cold, pale computer screen loomed before me, daring me to type a word I knew it was primed to chew up and spit out.  

That's when I stepped away from my computer and grabbed a notebook and pen.  I normally don't like to freehand because as you can see - I have the handwriting of a first grader.  But I shoved past the embarrasing scribbles and began to write.  It was great.  The pressure I felt to write amazing and perfect prose left me and I allowed myself to just write.  The beautiful mess above is a sample of my creative abandon. I really need to get voice recognition software for my computer and do what Kristen Cashore author of Graceling does. Cashore also writes everything longhand and then she transcribes it into a Word document using the voice recognition software. Sounds cool, huh? To read more about Cashore's writing process go here -- it's informative and amusing.  I'm mostly pleased with the results:

Day one: 948 words Day two: 807 words Day three: 965 words Day four: 300 words and edited short story Day five: burned out - blogged about it here. Day six: edited short story. Day seven: I don't write on Sundays.

Since I wrote the words first and then typed them into the computer - does that count as double the words written?  I think it should. It's a great way to do a little bit of editing and clean-up as well - just don't go overboard.

I recommend the pen and paper method to anyone who is having a hard time letting themselves write because they're too busy trying to edit. This method also helped me stay unplugged.  I wasn't near the computer so I couldn't check out facebook or read other blogs during my writing time.  It was a win, win situation.

There's something else I discovered during unplugged week.  I'm not sure if I should admit this, but I'm going to risk being shunned and say it anyway -  I got bored of writing.  Maybe bored isn't the right word.  I don't think I'm the type of person who needs to write all the time to be happy.  I enjoy it for a little while and then I want to do something else.  I enjoy the creative process of brainstorming and researching, but when it comes to the actual writing part I get burned out.  Writing doesn't come easy for me.  My story is perfect in my head and it's so frustrating when I can't write the scene the way I picture it in my mind.  Probably all writers feel the same way.  If it was easy everyone would do it, right? Anyway I think I've decided that right now writing for me is nothing more than a creative outlet.  I don't need to do it all the time and if days go by where I don't write I'm not going to feel guilty about it. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Mine was nice after an emotional week.  Thank you so much to all of you who offered condolences and sympathy in regards to my dog.  I appreciate this new found blogging community so much.  You are all awesome!

A Grateful Heart Amidst Grief

“All happy people are grateful, and ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that it is being unhappy that leads people to complain, but it is truer to say that it is complaining that leads to people becoming unhappy. Become grateful and you will become a much happier person.” - Dennis Prager

I'm not always as grateful as I should be, but today I'm grateful for many things.

My husband is #1.  He loves, protects and works very hard for us.  I'm especially grateful right now for the way he rushed to my side at the emergency vets and took care of everything while I was a sobbing mess.

I'm very grateful for my children.  Three wild boys who push my patience to the edge, but are still the cutest, bestest boys ever.

My extended family and friends who are all supportive and wonderful.  

My beautiful dog has passed, but I'm grateful she was apart of our family for ten years. 

I'm grateful for the complete strangers who stopped and helped when my sweet dog was hit by a truck.

Another stranger drove us to the emergency care because I didn't have the car that day.  I'm extremely grateful to her.  

I'm grateful for kind neighbors and friends who have expressed their condolences and sympathy and are generally great all the time.

Especially grateful for the neighbor who took care of my children while I left to be with my dog. 

Again I'm grateful for my husband and father-in-law who dug a grave in the dark and cold and for the sweet prayer uttered over her body.

I'm grateful to know I'm a daughter of God and that I'll see my loved ones again someday.

Finally, I'm grateful for all of you - my blogging and writing friends.  Thank you for the wonderful advice and encouragement that you share with all of us everyday.  Thank you for taking time to comment on my blog.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Keeshka

"Tragedy strikes like a hungry lion, 
brutally

tearing at our hearts."

 Keeshka -- 1998-November 23, 2009

Beautiful. Sweet. Protector. Friend.

Flying and Thud

"I can't help flying up on the wings of anticipation. It's as glorious as soaring through a sunset... almost pays for the thud."
— Anne, from Anne of Green Gables

"I'd rather walk calmly along and do without the flying and the thud." - Marilla Cuthbert, from Anne of Green Gables

I didn't write today.  Two days ago I was flying high with my writing.  Now I've reached the thud.  This always happens to me.  I don't think I'm bipolar or anything, but I do experience glorious highs, where everything is clicking and life is good.  Inevitably, the high never lasts.  These highs and lows aren't tied to writing -- there are many things that can trigger the soaring.  I live for those moments.  But are they worth the thud?  I must think so, because very soon I hope to be flying again.  

DREAMDARK - An Evening With Faeries

Synopsis:

"It is the faeries' doom to forget what ought never be forgotten. Their wars have faded to legend. Their foes are naught but nursery tales. After thousands of years of peace the name Blackbringer inspires no fear. But it should. The Blackbringer is no nursery tale. He's the dark come to life. And he's back."



This month, book club was at my house and I chose the novel "Blackbringer" from the Faeries of Dreamdark Series - written by Laini Taylor. Before I became a fan of this series - I first became a fan of Laini Taylor. I enjoy reading her blog. She is so interesting, personable and fun. She and her husband are both artists and their life is very appealing. I also think it is way cool that she has pink hair. Her husband Jim created the artwork for this book and for her books that will be debuting soon. You can find her blog here. So, to get into the wild spirit of the book I had a theme party. We invite all of you to share in our fun.

All of these wonderful photos were taken by Anna Hale of Boololo Photography, located in Salt Lake City, Utah - check out her blog here.

Here There Be Faeries

Standing: Mary, Heidi, Wendy, Sue, Sue, Paige and Kristy
Kneeling: Jade and Jill
Missing: Kelli, Natalie, Corinne, Catherine and Tauna
All of these lovely ladies are apart of my wonderful neighborhood.

"Be willing to rewrite a scene a dozen times or more -- as many as it takes. Go above and beyond the call of duty. You’re striving for your best -- never be content with a scene or even a single line until you love it." - Laini Taylor from her blog - Not For Robots

There is a paragraph on page 145 where Laini uses the word "surreptitiously." I wasn't sure what that word meant so I looked up it's meaning. After that I reread the paragraph and it changed what I had envisioned was happening in the scene. As far as I'm concerned it was the perfect word. At that moment I realized how important it is to make sure we find the perfect word or sentence when writing. One word can make all the difference. Laini has a blog called "Not For Robots" where she shares the knowledge she has gleaned from writing novels. It has been extremely helpful to me. You can find that blog here.

Our Thoughts:
Heidi - "I picked up the book and couldn't put it down. Loved it!"
Paige - "Really fun, very engaging. I loved the world so much. It was beautiful and I wanted to live there or visit."
Wendy - "I enjoyed it - faerie stories are lovely and this one kept me turning the pages. I didn't like the name Magpie though. When I think of a magpie I think of a big noisy bird - thought she needed a more feminine name."
Kristy - "I liked the imagery. Her writing made it easy to visualize the world. Thought the pictures were to harsh - pictured Magpie and Poppy differently."
Sue - "I enjoyed how she changed Point of View throughout the book."

Of course I loved this book or I wouldn't have chosen it. I enjoyed the amazing world and the endearing, tough characters. I don't think that I have ever read a book about faeries in my life before reading this one. But now I have read a few others - so far this has been the best. It even inspired me to get crafty and I am not a crafty person. The only problem that I have with the book is that it implied that humans are a scourge on the earth and I don't care for that kind of thing - since I believe the earth was created for our use. I believe we are stewards of the earth and we definitely need to take care of it, but I dislike the idea that we shouldn't be here at all. But the imagery is fantastic and the prose is literary and lovely.

Indulgence

“Imagination without study is the self-indulgence of the intellect.” - David Lindsey

I love butter! Some people indulge in chocolate, I indulge with butter.  It is my comfort food.  Unfortunately my wasteline can't afford such indulgence anymore.  Now that I'm meeting my walking goal most weeks - I think it's time to add another goal.  Cut back on the butter.  This isn't going to be easy, but I've found in the past when I don't indulge in my butter fix, my waste line goes down.


I have another indulgence that is becoming a problem too.  I indulge in wild flights of my imagination.  Is this a bad thing? It is for me I'm afraid.  I think that this indulgence is what is keeping me from meeting my 5000 words a week goal.  I spend way too much time brainstorming and researching and not enough actual writing.  
When I first decided to start writing, my imagination was in a deep slumber.  I didn't have any writing ideas.  I chose to write anyway and my imagination woke up and now refuses to rest.  It's so exciting to have all these ideas now.  Everyday I get a new idea to write about.  I spend way too much time playing the what-if game.  So, my new goal is to spend less time fantasizing about what to write and spend more time actually writing.

 What about you - do you suffer from this indulgence?  How do you overcome it?

Can anyone give me some ideas on some less fattening, but still tasty substitutes for butter?

Some Thoughts On Mentoring and Awards

This past week my critique group (Literary Girls) was given the opportunity to judge a writing contest for a school program called "Reflections."  The kids ages ranged from 1st through 6th grade.  Some of the writing was not so great, but some was really good and some was fantastic.   It was so fun to read all the creative and different ways the kids interpreted the theme this year which was "Beauty Is."  There were poems, essays and short stories.  All of them unique and cool.  We managed to find something complimentary to say about each one and gave a little writing advice as well.  
If you are a writer, I believe it is important to remember there are others embarking on the same path.  Whether you are a published author or aspiring to be - try not to forget the many ways that you can help and encourage others along the same path. 

Her Is Me or Finding Depth In Ourselves and In Our Characters

Do any of you read the Nie Nie Dialogues?  If not then you really should.  Read today's posting - you can find it here.  Go ahead I'll wait...

Did you read it?  Heartbreaking, right?  What kind of a person would say such a thing?

If you don't already know, Stephanie Nielson is a young mother who kept up a charming blog about her family and life.  In 2008 Stephanie and her husband Christian (love that name, can you guess why?)  were in a plane crash.  They both suffered severe burns all over their body - Stephanie more than Christian.
Her blog postings are the most inspiring things I've read on the blogosphere.  I eat them up everyday. 

This is Stephanie before the accident.

Beautiful yes?  I think so.
Did she have depth? Probably

For a long time Stephanie would not post pictures of herself post burning.  Finally she was brave enough to do it.

This is the first picture that Stephanie posted of herself after the accident.

Beautiful yes? I absolutely think so.

Does she have depth?  Loads and Loads.

Now I have not been burned and my pitiful trials are no where near what Stephanie's are, but I too don't like to post pictures of myself.  I have struggled with weight all my life.  There have been times where I have been thin and I thought I looked pretty good.

This was me in college.

Beautiful, yes? Maybe.
Did I have depth? A bit.

Stephanie struggles everyday with how she looks.  So do I.   In my mind I still look like that picture above.   Then I look in the mirror or I catch a glimpse of myself reflected in a window as I pass by.  Everytime I'm shocked.  The image in my mind and the image reflected back at me don't match.  When I come face to face with the reality I want to run away and hide.   Today when I read Stephanie's post I realized what a coward I am.   She is putting her picture out there for everyone to see and she is praying hard every day to be happy with who she is now.  So, if Stephanie can do it,  so can I.

 This is me now.

Beautiful, yes? Umm.

Do I have depth? More now than before.

I don't like to give writing advice, because really - what do I know? But I do know what I like to read.  I like books with characters who inspire me.  The main character of the book I'm writing is a person who once was beautiful and her family was wealthy, but she had very little depth.  Later her family loses their fortune and she loses her beauty.  Do those trials give her depth?

I'm not trying to suggest that you or your characters need to become ugly to have depth.  But just like us, it's not the trials that our characters face that gives them depth.  It's the way they deal with those trials and everyone's trials are different.  Do your characters become better people because of their trials. Are they inspiring?


Depth and Inspiration.  This is what keeps me turning the pages.  It's what makes me want to read a book over and over again.


Do you feel the same way?  In what ways are you giving depth to your characters? 

Conversations With a Five Year Old

My five year old - we'll call him Mellow - announced that he learned about chefs today at school.


Here is our conversation:


Mellow:  Mom we learned about chefs today at my school.

Me:  Oh yeah, what is a chef?


Mellow:  Dad is a chef.


Me:  Dad huh, what about me?  I do most of the cooking around here - so what does that make me?


Mellow:  You're a chef's assistant.


Me: *flabbergasted* When was the last time you saw dad cook anything around here?  I think I deserve a better title than chef's assistant.


Mellow:  A chef's assistant is really good too.


Apparently cooking three meals a day does not qualify me as a chef in my own house.  The hubbie is a really great cook when he does it, but his talents lie more with fancy dishes, baked goods and making a huge mess.  We don't need baked goods (hence the name of this blog.)
My eight year old often says my cooking is disgusting, but his tastes lean toward - pizza, hotdogs, mac and cheese, cold cereal, etc.   He needs to broaden his closed-minded taste buds.


Do any of you have some tasty food ideas for picky children.  Healthy and Tasty is preferable.