Writers Advance

Finding Our Niche: Writing for Healing--With Tongue in Cheek, sort of

2011-11-27T09:58:00.016-05:00

Is there someone in your life who drives you nuts? A writer friend told about an anonymous pastor's wife she knows who writes murder mysteries. Since this dear woman can't afford to unleash her frustations on offending parishioners, she kills them off in fiction.

If you plan to follow suit, don't forget to change the name and identifying characteristics of the person, the circumstance, and the setting. The driving force you want to maintain is the raw emotion you're feeling. You want to hook your readers and keep them engaged. They long to feel with you--to be moved to tears, shock, laughter. If you can somehow capture your feelings on paper, regardless of circumstance, your readers will stay with you. Make them cry. Make them double up with laughter.

It may be healthy to bump off a boss, a "friend" or a family member in fiction, but you don't want to open yourself up to a lawsuit if the person recognizes herself. You don't want to become a "person of interest" if the individual you've bumped off in print comes to an unexpected ending.

We all have negative feelings toward others from time to time. You can always journal negative feelings, but hide your journal. You don't want your mother-in-law discovering how you really feel about her control issues. After you get all your venting out on paper, have a bonfire and destroy the evidence. Feelings change, and you don't want to be embarassed by them later.

Prayer helps. Even though we don't like it, circumstances and offending people in our lives build our own character. Part of the "all things" that work together for good in Romans 8:28 may be people and circumstances that drive us to our knees and teach us patience.

Writing fiction is one way to defuse anger. Journaling also helps. If you choose to journal, spend time writing about your feelings about what happened rather than just the incident itself. Harbored negative feelings create ulcers, hampers our ability to love, and blocks creativity.

Like our anonymous pastor's wife, it may be in our best interest to stay sweet and put our best face forward. We don't want our negative attitudes to leak out through our words, tone of voice, facial expressions, or body punches. We don't want to be the character in a book the author kills off.

Though it would be hard for a lot of us to do since most writers are so nice, if you have a lot of irritating people in your life and you haven't considered writing murder mysteries, you may have found your niche.

Overcoming the Opinions of Others

2011-09-10T09:17:00.000-04:00

You know who the Statler Brothers are, right? Don Reid, retired lead singer for the Statler Brothers, tells this story in the September/October, 2011 issue of Homecoming Magazine.

As a kid, he loved Southern gospel groups like the Speer Family and the Statesmen and The Blackwood Brothers. When he grew up, he wanted to be "one of those guys."

His first stage appearance was at the age of 6 for a spring concert at his elementary school. The students practiced every day in class to get the songs just right.

A few days before the night of the performance, his teacher pulled him and three other students aside. She told them that during the concert she wanted them to just "mouth the words because [they didn't] really sing all that well."

Don Reid says this: "Such irony fills the memory and yet never scarred the dream. God bless you, Miss Carrier, wherever you are. This next song is for you."

I know a few writers so bruised by critique they put their pursuits aside. As a writer, has someone stepped on your dream? God bless them. Now write.

A Matter of Perspective

2011-09-04T05:38:00.023-04:00

In her August 29, 2011 newsletter for Ambitious Enterprises, Ally Peltier shared encouraging words about perspective. Ally E. Peltier is an editor, writer, and publishing consultant who loves using her insider knowledge of the publishing industry and more than a decade of writing experience to help others reach their publishing goals, whether it’s showing a writer how to improve his manuscript, get an agent, or self-publish, or ghostwriting a book to help an entrepreneur skyrocket her business platform to new levels. Grab Ally’s free white papers and learn more about her services at http://www.ambitiousenterprises.com/ and http://www.allypeltier.com/.

Here's Ally's excellent article, used by permission. The photo of Ally Peltier is from her August 29, 2011 newsletter.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I have a friend who often calls me asking, “What’s shakin’, bacon?” I never thought I’d be able to respond with, “My house, for starters!” On Tuesday we experienced a 5.9 earthquake on the East Coast. As it was based in Virginia, those of us in Maryland felt it pretty acutely, but I’ve heard people felt the tremors as far away as Toronto, New York, and Cincinnati, too. It was pretty strange to see my 1921 foursquare shimmy like a belly-dancer. My cats didn’t appreciate it much, either.

I didn’t get much work done Tuesday afternoon. Instead, I devoted a few hours to checking in with friends on Facebook. Some of them are former West Coasters who laughed at our distress. “You guys would never last in California,” they joked.

It occurred to me how different our perspectives are, and how much perspective can be affected by something as simple as geographic location. Our perspectives are also affected by our gender, age, occupations, education levels and types, and more. I imagined how a Mid-Atlantic native’s version of yesterday’s events would differ from a California-born transplant.

Similarly, earlier this week another friend got into an Internet squabble over the use of the term “sacrifice.” A former Air Force medic, he argued that missing a family breakfast or getting up extra early on a Sunday morning for a meeting are but mild inconveniences, and not appropriately deemed sacrifices insofar as that word is understood by him and other military members, firemen, policemen, etc. Clearly a difference in perspective even gives words different weight.

If you feel discouraged because you think you’re telling the same old story, or that your idea for a book has already been done, consider what your unique perspective can bring to the project. It’s been said that there are no new ideas—what’s fresh and interesting is the way in which those recycled ideas are presented. No one has your experiences, your voice, or your exact perspective. No one can write the same book you can.

The Power of Ten

2011-08-30T10:04:00.012-04:00

Are you stuck on a project? Is your stomach tied in knots because you're not doing what's on your "to-do" list? Have you heard of The Tolerable Ten?

On a post about overcoming procrastination, http://www.successfulacademic.com/ recommends we work at a task for ten minutes that we've been putting off. Is it something we need to start? We can do that in ten minutes. Is it a project we've bogged down in? We can tolerate a ten-minute tackle of a difficult spot. After staying with the venture for ten minutes, we can choose to continue working on the project or quit. Staying with a dreaded task for ten minutes builds our confidence. We can do it, even if we have to do it ten minutes at a time.

The important thing is just starting, or in many cases, starting again. I have an article I promised I'd rewrite the night before I left for the Philly writers' conference. After the conference, I had company for almost two weeks. Then I lost a week concerned with many things. When I finally sat down to do the rewrite, I discovered my notes were missing. I probably left them in Philly. So I've dreaded having to admit to the person I interviewed I haven't finished the profile rewrite.

I can do this. I really can. In perspective, it's not that big a deal. I've allowed myself to be sidetracked. All I have to do is sit down (half-way there--I'm sitting) and rewrite the article ten minutes at a time. I can pick up the phone and dial her number to ask for details if I need to. I can do that in ten minutes. I might be a little embarrassed, but I will survive.

So what have you been putting off? Writing? Editing? Cleaning? Calling? Confronting? Set a timer for ten minutes. Take a deep breath. Let's get unstuck. Let's get started. Let's begin and finish incomplete projects ten minutes at a time.

More Powerful Than the Written Word

2011-08-21T06:45:00.000-04:00

My friend Barbara flew up from Florida to attend the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers' Conference with me. After the conference during her visit, we had lunch with her friend Betty who told us about a doctor's appointment she had.

During extensive testing, her doctor discovered the blood pressure in one of her legs was lower than the pressure in the other. He told her he wanted her to walk an hour a day seven days a week. "You'd think he'd at least give me Sundays off," she said.

Betty doesn't walk the hour in one session. Some days she'll walk the length of the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk and back. That takes her 45 minutes. Then she'll walk the other 15 minutes at her home later in the day.

Last Christmas her kids bought her a treadmill so she didn't have to get out in the weather. She's not a TV watcher, she said, so she'd walk 30 minutes during the noon news broadcast and 30 minutes during the evening news. As she told her story, I felt a few pangs of guilt and shame.

I have a treadmill gathering dust in my living room. Sure, I was going to walk while I watched TV, too. "You need to get some kind of exercise," my husband has said. "Why don't you walk?" So we bought a used treadmill.

"You need to walk at least 30 minutes a day three days a week," more than one doctor has told me over the years. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I've read the articles. I really have. I know the benefits of exercise for physical and mental well-being.

Why did one woman's story over breakfast at IHOP motivate me to get moving? Picture this. Betty is 86. Can you see this dear lady walking along the boardwalk every day or on a treadmill in her living room when weather doesn't permit?

On the way home from our meeting with Betty, Barbara and I had a heart-to-heart. "My doctor thinks I walk every day," she said, "because I lied to him." Ah. My sister. "If Betty can do it, I can do it, too," she said. Barbara turned 82 on her last birthday.

More powerful than the words I read in all those articles on-line and in magazines and pamphlets, more motivational than hearing my husband's, my doctor's, and Dr. Oz's encouragement is the power of example. Who would have thought an 86-year-old woman would be strong enough to get my sedentary body up and moving?

We can't spend all our time in front of the computer. Let's get out there and motivate someone to be her best self. Do you have a motivational story to tell? Write it. Share it. But better than writing it is living it.

We Can't Do Everything -- But We Can Do Something

2011-08-14T05:13:00.020-04:00

I just returned from the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers' Conference. What a great (exhausting) four days! I met so many wonderful writers and came home with new focus.

Liz Babbs, one of the speakers, said Great Britain is a post-Christian nation and she sees America quickly following. She talked about darkness in Great Britain. A missionary/writer serving in Bulgaria talked about the darkness in Bulgaria and how difficult it was to share the gospel. The people are discouraged, without hope, she said. America as a post-Christian nation? What do those in darkness need but light?

Let's keep the ground fertile for the message of life. What can you write today to let your light shine? Jesus is not dead. Neither are we. As long as we have breath, our writing is important. Let's put God's love in writing.

Write a letter to someone struggling and remind them of your love. Write an article, a devotion, a brochure, a letter to an editor, an e-mail to offer hope, comfort, encouragement. Do a little thing today. The book can wait. Wrap your words in an envelope of prayer, stamp with love and send your message on its way.

Let's commit to being light, sharing light, through our writing. Remember the Motel 6 tag line, "We'll leave the light on for you"? Let's leave the light on for our children.

Keep On Keeping On

2011-08-07T11:24:00.008-04:00

I need about two more weeks to get ready for writers' conference. But instead, I have two days. I've been focused on preparation for more than a month.

Early on, I studied the list of authors, editors and agents coming to the conference. I requested meetings and pulled out articles I wanted to present. I had plenty of time, I thought, to get the writing done.

But this morning, I was still struggling with getting one article just right. How could I best say what I wanted to say in those worrisome paragraphs?

I needed some help. Then one of Oswald Chambers' devotions from My Utmost from His Highest came to mind. From December 15th, "Approved Unto God":

"If you cannot express yourself on any subject, struggle until you can. If you do not, someone will be the poorer all the days of his life. . . Always make a practice of provoking your own mind to think out what it accepts easily. . . . The author who benefits you most is not the one who tells you something you did not know before, but the one who gives expression to the truth that has been dumbly struggling in you for utterance."

This morning I wanted to quit. I didn't see how I could finish the article. But I know this: just when we want to quit, it's time to keep on.

All an editor at conference can do is say no. And if she does, then I have a completed article to send to another market when I get home.

An Encouraging Story

2011-07-27T12:55:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I caught part of an interview on the radio with author William Moss. He said he'd gotten an order for 1,000 copies of Finding Inner Peace During Troubled Times for distribution to inmates. He got a second order for 4,000 more. If you go on Amazon you'll see this book was published in 2009. Moss said he's gotten over 100 letters from inmates telling him how his book has changed their lives.

Here's the encouraging part of the story. Moss wrote the book after he became sober six years ago at the age of 85. That's not a typo.

So tell me again how you'll never be free from that thing that plagues you? How you've given up on yourself or on someone else, how you've given up hope? How you'll never get published? How you can't change? How you're too old?

Hmm. Okay. That's what I thought.

Unexpected Surprises

2011-07-05T08:53:00.016-04:00

A delightful new book in our public library collection is Tereasa Surratt's A Very Modest Cottage, a Country Living Book by Hearst Books, a division of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. Ms. Surrratt describes the process of moving a 1920's log cabin she'd dreamed about owning as a child across two states and renovating it. You'll appreciate the authors humor and the ample color photographs. One of Surratt's comments on page 32 made me close the book and smile. I had to think about her observation and mull over it.

She describes what she calls the beauty of low expectations. "You are never disappointed if you predict only disaster." She was talking about a weather forecast during the cottage's cross-country trip. But think about it if you're a reluctant writer. Isn't it true that you are never disappointed if you predict only doom and gloom?

What are your predictions of disaster regarding your writing? You'll never get published, right? You can't compete with all the talent out there? Your writing will never be good enough? The topic has already been covered?

If we don't write and submit what we write, then we'll never feel the sting of rejection. But rejection isn't that big a deal. It's just a little sting. We can face disappointment and still go about our daily business. We're tough.

Judging Our Work

2011-06-04T06:02:00.002-04:00

I'm taking a six week pottery class. Jessie is a very talented young woman in the class. Every piece she's made both by hand and on the wheel looks like it should be on display in a museum.

Jessie comes from a family of artists. Her grandmother was a water colorist. In going through her grandmother's things after her death, Jessie said she found some wonderful paintings that her grandmother evidently didn't like. Sometimes Jessie found paintings on both sides of the paper, and sometimes the paintings had been discarded for scrap. Jessie said she went through her grandmother's discards, and she framed paintings she loved to display in her house.

After someone else in class groaned about how pitiful his work was, our instructor, Kate, said she's noticed we often don't realize how good our work is. Everyone else's work looks better, we think, than ours. We're all guilty of comparing our work to others'.

In our last class, Kate asked us to get all our pieces together to glaze. I saw one vase I thought was so beautiful I consciously thought, "I wish this were mine." I picked it up, turned it over to see whose initials were carved into the bottom, and there they were -- JD, mine. Under pressure to crank out a piece the week or so before, I'd rolled out a slab, chosen a stamp for design, and attached a bottom. It was a simple piece I'd done quickly, and after it went through the fire, I loved it. Hopefully I'll still love it after the glaze is applied.

We are not in position to evaluate our own work. Just do it. Let it sit a week. When you go back to read your manuscript, you might be surprised.

originally written 10-15-10

From This Day Forward

2011-02-15T08:09:00.006-05:00

It's lucky I have any hair left on my head. This morning I yanked at handfuls in frustration.

Yesterday I spent time on the internet trying to locate Word files of something I'd submitted just two weeks ago. This morning, I hunted for articles I'd published in 2008 to include in a list of writing credits. I remembered a term that might describe me, at least where paperwork is concerned. Stacks of papers? Can't find what I'm looking for? Chronic disorganization -- that's me.

Peter Walsh, http://www.peterwalshdesign.com/, Business and Work, Tip #184:Conquer Your Paper Files, suggests handling current papers first. I could do that, if I only had a system.

"I have to find a way to organize my papers," I told my husband. "I don't know whether to file by publisher or title or date." This is the man I've been married to for 41 years.

"Why don't you have three files?" he asked. "You can make one for current projects, one for articles submitted, and one for manuscripts accepted for publication. You can file by date."

His system came together in a matter of minutes. Now I can make similar folders for my computer files.

I have a fair number of publishing credits, but I still struggle with organization. Never assume anyone knows anything. What's easy for you may be a mystery to someone else. If you have a system that works well for you, why not write about it? Someone needs your help.

To Do List

2010-11-19T10:07:00.008-05:00

It is 10 a.m. I've been on the computer for over two hours. I've uploaded photos to send to friends. I've written a very long e-mail I decided not to send. I've researched communities in another state.

When I first got up, my plan was to start the next chapter of the non-fiction book I've committed to writing. Here it is two hours later. I've been busy on the computer, but haven't moved forward with the manuscript. As I got out my notes for today's work, several distractions came to mind. The letter I intended to mail to my granddaughter yesterday still needs to be put in an envelope. I really need to call my friend, Lin. I promised my husband I'd play Frisbee with our dog.

I could handle these "to do's" in one of two ways. I could get the letter ready to mail, call Lin and take the dog out. Then I could block off two hours to write. OR I could begin a list of "to do's" that come to mind as I'm writing and tackle the list when I need a break. A pad of paper by the computer is helpful to record those necessary important things that can wait. I'm taking the dog out now to relieve myself of guilt. My husband asked me to do that as he left for work, and I could hardly hear him over the clatter of keys on the keyboard. I'll walk the letter out to the mail box and call Lin after I get a few pages complete.

Come, Annie, good dog. Oh, dear. Who left those dishes in the sink?

I'm not really putting off writing. I'm just allowing myself to be distracted.

Who am I kidding?

An Encouraging Word

2010-10-15T06:31:00.004-04:00

While talking to his secretary on the phone, my husband sat down at the computer. I heard him ask her, "Have you every heard of Guide Post?" Then he told her I'd just received notice that an article I'd submitted for "Mysterious Ways" had been picked up. I came into the room to see what he was talking about. I'd received an e-mail from an editor from Guide Post asking if I'd be willing for them to edit a short piece I'd submitted. Of course.

I first submitted the article November 9, 2009. This is October 15, 2010. So be encouraged.

The Same, But Different

2010-09-19T19:10:00.005-04:00

Every week I meet four friends for breakfast. Last week we met at Cracker Barrel. We each ordered something different from the menu, but all five breakfasts got rave reviews. We decided to meet at Cracker Barrel again today.

"I'm going to order the same thing I did last week," I told my husband before I left. "Except I'm not going to order a side of gravy. And instead of turkey sausage I plan to order bacon. And if they can give me toast instead of biscuits, I'd like that. But I'm still going to have eggs, grits, and baked apples." He laughed.

Last year I attended the Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference, and one of our presenters told us movie producers are looking for the same thing, only different. They want the same romantic comedy, the same adventure story, the same drama, but they want it to be different than all the others.

Okay. For inspiration, you might try Cracker Barrel. There are several new breakfast combos on the menu. ;-)

Come Again?

2010-06-28T08:16:00.010-04:00

In January I started on a piece with an August 1 deadline. The last time I worked on the manuscript, I thought it was probably ready to be submitted except for one thing. I've changed in the six months I've been working on the article. The anger I felt then is gone. The article, if accepted, will come out several months down the road. So what do I do with that?

I was struggling with six words -- to keep them or change them. Somehow "sorry rat a$$ of a man" didn't seem appropriate for me to be saying. After all, what if someone I know reads the article? I run with a straight group. You know, they don't chew, smoke, or cuss, or run with those who do. Then I saw an episode of World's Strictest Parents on TV. One of the teens participating kept saying he didn't give a rat's posterior. Oh. I don't want to sound like him. So I softened it, changing s-r-a-o-a-m to simply rat. But now, the issue is no longer an issue. I hold no hard feelings against the man I was having so much trouble forgiving six months ago. So do I toss the article? Change it?

This is a problem I have putting some things in print. People change. Circumstances change. Once it's in print, our words are chiseled in stone. I hope I can remember to hammer my words thoughtfully and not in a spirit of anger. I don't want to be more of an embarrassment than I sometimes am to my family.

Overcoming the Need to Please

2010-06-28T07:40:00.010-04:00

But what if someone doesn't like what I write? What if I hurt someone's feelings? It's going to happen whether it's our intent or not, so we just have to get over ourselves.

Years ago my husband and I read Dr. Wayne Dyer's Your Erroneous Zones. Dyer said whatever we do, half the people won't like it. James Patterson, interviewed in the July 5, 2010 issue of Time Magazine, page 8, said this: "There are thousands of people who don't like what I do. Fortunately, there are millions who do."

So don't let the possibility of criticism stand in your way of seeking publication. Criticism will come. We can count on it.

Stay Away From the Freezer

2010-05-31T07:12:00.006-04:00

I've been at the computer over an hour this morning making several false starts. It's one of those days I should probably be up steam cleaning my carpets for all the good I'm doing here. At least then I'd have something to show for my day.

When the ideas aren't flowing, we can do something creative and beneficial without guilt rather than eat our frustration away. Or at least that's what I'm telling my waistline. Besides, we're out of ice cream. I've checked. (A bit of fiction for humor).

How God Works, for Writers

2010-04-08T08:00:00.004-04:00

Do you ever write something--a letter to a friend or an article for publication--and then debate with yourself, "Send? Or sit on it?" I think something's wrong with my "send" button. My "sit-on-it" option usually wins.

This morning I was engaged in such a debate about something I'd written for a magazine for teens. When I got up from the computer to duke it out with myself while I made a pot of coffee, I left a forwarded e-mail on the screen unread. When I came back to the computer, my eyes fell on the last line. "If you pass this on, you could very well save someone a lot of pain and suffering." The article was on boiling water in the microwave, not about writing, but I got the message. Someone needed to hear what I had to say.

It's just a short piece. If accepted for publication, the pay is only $25, but publishing isn't always, or even often, about the money. Saving someone pain and suffering is reason to write and send.

Change

2010-04-06T06:40:00.005-04:00

Last spring I wrote a post about why I write in my pajamas. Who was that woman? Surely someone I used to know.

It is now 7:00 a.m. Dressed in jeans and a black long-sleeved polyester-blend blouse with white collar, no shoes, I've been at the computer for most of the past hour. I've proofed a manuscript I want to send off today and have searched Sally Stuart's Christian Writers' Market Guide for possible markets for a piece about the process of writing. I've had coffee with my husband, and we've talked about the day's plans and the morning headlines. Duke defeated Butler. Bummer.

I'm not sure when the change occurred, when I started dressing to write, but I made the change out of consideration for my husband. When he walks out the door for work, I'd like him to have a better image of me than sitting at the computer with pink plaid sleep pants topped with an ancient pink fuzzy shirt. Over the past few months, I got a new hair style. I bought a few new outfits. I've "spruced up." Maybe it's spring. Maybe I'm coming out of a depression. Maybe I no longer have reason or time to stay in my pajamas.

That, and I overheard a woman in the water color class I'm taking make a confession. Most days, she says, she stays in her pajamas until about an hour before her husband gets home, then she puts it in high gear, dresses, rips through the house picking up, starts supper, and probably meets him at the door with a drink in hand. She didn't mention the drink, but if she can get all that done in an hour, my hat is off to her. And she's not a writer.

The myth is shattered. Ordinary people can dress like writers? What is the world coming to? Are there no boundaries?

Reading Betty

2010-04-05T17:10:00.008-04:00

Recently when my writer friend Betty and I got together for lunch, I asked her read two articles I wanted to submit. The first piece of 250 words took her a very long time to read. Maybe she was searching for the words to tell me the article was a little off, in her opinion.

The second piece I wasn't too sure about, but Betty liked it. "Submit this one," she said. I did, and just got notice that it was accepted for publication in October, 2011. And the other piece? Well, let's just say I get a chance to find another editor who might like it better than the first one I sent it to.

Writing What I Need

2010-04-04T07:35:00.000-04:00

You've probably heard the encouragement to write what you like to read. What about write what you need to read?

Many of us have a calling. I know a man who preaches grace. Grace grace grace grace grace, the same message week after week after week. I've had one word that has motivated my life: love. Love love love love love in word and action.

The writing I've done has primarily been to encourage the church. I've written/published devotionals, inspirational stories/encouraging word tracts. By "church," I mean the body of Christ, not a particular group, denomination or building.

Encouragement must be my calling. I'm here on the side-lines cheering others on. You can do it! I know you can do it! I believe in you! Whoa, great pass! Go, team! Then, just a few weeks ago, I heard a pastor say, you know, what the church needs is more encouragers. More encouragers? That's something I can do. Here I am, ready for action, sir.

I do what I need, I think. I need a lot of encouragement. Sometimes I need someone to stand close to my right ear and scream, YOU CAN DO IT! I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT! YOU GET OUT THERE AND GO, GIRL! Encouraging others is a way to encourage myself.

You know the hell fire and brimstone preacher who rails against sexual impurity making the front pages because, well, you know. He hasn't been practicing what he preaches. I think his sermons are calls for help. Maybe my writing is a call for help. Help me! I need some encouragement here!

We all go through stuff. And in the muddle, we need something good to read, like a book on how-to-get-out-of-this-mess-I've-created, written by someone who's already been there. Who doesn't need a good laugh? Who doesn't really need to see themselves more realistically or see others more compassionately? I do. And who doesn't need to write a really bad book to inspire others to do it better? I saw a movie like that two nights ago. They call that a plot? I could do better. So . . . ?

If you are an encourager, a how-to-er, a make-'em-double-over-in-laughter-er, one who inspires, then somebody needs you. Don't just sit there. Write something brilliant.

The Big Why

2010-03-04T09:59:00.001-05:00

Why do we write? Many write because it's their job, their source of income. They have deadlines to meet, time pressures. And we're envious. Some write out of their passion. But there are many of us who may be tempted to think our words on the page aren't significant because we're not disciplined enough to write that novel or persistent enough to see what we've written gets in print. So why do we write?

Here are a few reasons I've come up with:

for our own pleasure
for our own health
for the enjoyment of others
to entertain
to tell a story
to share an opinion
to record history
to right a wrong
to make others laugh
to give an update
to be light in darkness
to teach
to leave a legacy
for the children
for our children
for our families
to comfort
to lift up
to encourage
to edify

Some of those reasons may not give you a ready market, but if the impulse to write reverberates in your heart, yield to it. You can have a reading audience of one --or two, or two thousand, and still be significant. Your words might be just what others are waiting for -- evidence that they matter, that there is a God who knows their need and meets that need through someone else's words.

Bridge the gap. Fulfill your destiny. Write, even if at times it's just for your own edification. I've been surprised to find my own words written for another purpose come back home to encourage me.

~ ~ ~

From an e-mail received this morning in response to a note written to comfort: "You know how God does things. I just happened to be sitting in front of our computer when your e-mail popped up. What a glorious revelation. There is a smile on my face even now as I type this. Thank you so much for sharing it." The memorial service for this man's son was a week ago.

first published 11/07/08

An Excellent Gift

2010-02-25T06:11:00.001-05:00

More than thirty years ago Marc and Gayle Bellomy gave my husband a little book for graduation that still has us turning pages. We've lost contact with the Bellomys, but we still have their gift. The spine of the book is broken, the red cloth is pulled away in places from the cardboard cover, and a few of the pages didn't survive the nine moves our family made since 1978. This 52nd printing of Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest, first published in 1935, with marginal notes in my handwriting, is one of the items I'd hope to be able to pull from a house fire if we ever had one. Though tattered, this bound copy is one of my treasures.

Consider this message appropriate for writers from the December 15th devotional, "Approved Unto God":

"If you cannot express yourself on any subject, struggle until you can. If you do not, someone will be the poorer all the days of his life. . . Always make a practice of provoking your own mind to think out what it accepts easily. . . . The author who benefits you most is not the one who tells you something you did not know before, but the one who gives expression to the truth that has been dumbly struggling in you for utterance."

Can you imagine your words making others rich, living on to encourage some person eighty years down the road?

What's Food Got to Do With It?

2009-11-24T13:43:00.002-05:00

I can be easily distracted. I searched foodnetwork.com for a chicken and rice dish and ended up drooling over a Paula Deen recipe promising to produce the best chocolate gooey butter cookies ever. Then I read the reviews from people who actually made the cookie. Some agreed it was the best chocolate cookie they'd ever eaten. They loved the rich chocolate flavor and the soft, gooey centers. Others claimed the cookie was too soft, too bland, too ordinary, a waste of cream cheese.

I'm going to give you the recipe, but I want you to keep the opposing cookie reviews in mind when you face publication. Some readers will give your absolutely delicious work rave reviews. Others may think your writing is flat, uninspired, ordinary.

To encourage yourself, go to Amazon.com and read customer reviews of your favorite books. It's amazing, isn't it, how some folks don't get what you get? They're just at a different place, and that's okay. Negative (and positive) reviews may have more to do with the reader's experience and personal tastes than with your writing. People are different, and it takes some of us a long time to come to that understanding.

Our family has traditional dishes we prepare for holidays. I could be offended because my son-in-law passes on my mother's ambrosia salad. He doesn't like coconut. But when my mother-in-law's coconut cream pie is served, I'm happy to know I'll get dibs on his slice. He's still the best of dads and a beloved elementary school principal. His dislike for that one food ingredient doesn't effect his job performance. Though I enjoy coconut in family recipes, you can have my Almond Joy. I don't like coconut that compact. Readers, like eaters, can also be fickle.

Our preferences determine what we read and write. Our readers have preferences. I once worked with a young woman who read horror, watched horror movies, and became very animated as she talked about what she'd read and the movie she'd just seen. She and I got along, even though I don't read or watch anything scary, vulgar, explicit, graphic, or violent. I prefer gentle reads. I like to see character development. But that's just me. That's my preference. Remember the movie, Good Will Hunting with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck? I saw the movie based on Oprah's rave reviews. She loved the movie, and I was disappointed. Why did every other word have to be the F word? Couldn't the story be told without profanity?

You don't have to please everybody with your writing, though you do have to please the person who wants to help you put your work in print. An editor who read a first chapter of a children's book for me as a paid critique said I couldn't say my main character's mother lit a cigarette. I could say she smelled like smoke, but showing someone in the act of lighting up wasn't something she wanted to see presented to impressionable young readers. One publishing house, one editor, one opinion. But if that one editor had shown interest in my whole manuscript, you'd better believe my main character's mother would have quit smoking or at least crushed her cigarette before the chapter began.

Say what you must, but stay within editorial guidelines. Also, try to stay away from too many of those best ever chocolate comforts that serve to both celebrate and console. You don't necessarily need to console yourself with chocolate, though it works for me.

~ ~ ~

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies
from http://www.foodnetwork.com/

1 8 oz. brick cream cheese, room temp.

1 stick butter, room temp.

1 egg

1 t. vanilla extract

1 18 0z. box moist chocolate cake mix

confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon-sized balls and then roll them in confectioner's sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.
~~~

Some reviewers of the recipe said they also used cake mixes other than chocolate. This recipe reminds me of a bar cookie I used to make. I don't bake much any more because my doctor has gotten a little snooty about my cholesterol.

Cream Cheese Cookies

Mix 1 pkg. lemon cake mix, 1 egg, and 1 stick butter and pat into a large rectangular cake pan. Top with the following filling: 1 pound box powdered sugar, 1 egg, and 8 oz. cream cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

~~~

When you get through drooling over the recipes, back to work. And it's okay to have your main character's mother eat something calorie-packed and gooey in the first chapter, I think. But in this age of health consciousness, I could be wrong.

Back in the Saddle

2009-10-31T07:09:00.006-04:00

This handsome reclining man is my husband. For years, he was an avid bicycle rider. He doesn't ride as often now, but this particular day when he came upstairs and got in this horizontal position, he confided, "I'm thinking about riding."

This, dear hearts, is the difference between thinking and doing. You know how sometimes we think about writing? I've been thinking about working on that young adult novel I started eons ago. And lately with a writers workshop a week away, I've been thinking about looking over the rough draft of a manuscript I want to take to get some help on. Will I think about or write, think about or edit? Hmm. I probably need to think about that. But I can guarantee which action is more profitable. By the way, the snoozing man did ride later that day, after cutting a few Z's.

What are you thinking about working on? And when will you do it? Take a nap if you must. Clears the head.

Team Work

2009-08-10T10:27:00.000-04:00

If you've had trouble writing by yourself--and it is such a lonely job, isn't it?--consider team writing. I've just finished Dixie Cash's I Gave You My Heart, but You Sold it Online. Dixie Cash is the pen name for sisters Pamela Cumbie and Jeffery McClanahan. http://www.dixie-cash.com/. Those girls know Texas!

One of the devotionals I turn to from time to time, God Calling, was edited by A. J. Russell but written anonymously by "two poor, brave women [who] were courageously fighting against sickness and penury. . .facing a hopeless future" when they heard God's encouraging promises spoken to their hearts. They wrote together and have blessed many. (Quote from the introduction, "The Two Listeners")

Brock and Bodie Thoene are a husband and wife team who write historical fiction (http://www.thoenebooks.com/). Dave and Neta Jackson publish historical novels for young readers (http://www.trailblazersbooks.com/). Albert Hackett and wife Frances Goodrich have been described as one of the top husband wife writing teams in cinema.

I like the description about writing alone Ashton Applewhite shares in "About Me" on her blog, http://www.sowhenareyougoingtoretire.com/: "In the past, I've banged my head against the keyboard in solitude. . ." Isn't that the truth? In her book in progress, Applewhite is networking. Sounds like a good idea.

Just a thought. If you can't stand the idea of someone else taking your characters down a road you never intended, then you might find a quiet place you can write together independently, you on your work in progress, she on hers. That might work. Then you can share your work with your partner for critique and brainstorming.
11/10/08

Reason Enough

2009-07-15T23:02:00.000-04:00

When I told my friend Barbara I'd just ordered Mary Pipher's book, Writing to Change the World, she asked, "You want to change the world?" Is there any better reason to write than to find some dark corner and turn on the light?

I turn to the written word for encouragement, comfort, education, advice. I am swayed by the words I read, so I know my words can sway others. I want to leave a little kindness when I'm gone -- and maybe a smile, maybe an "ah-ha" moment. I want others to know they are valuable, that their lives are purposeful. I can do that with the written word. And hugs. But those are best delivered in person.

I don't have to write volumes for my words to find their mark or to be effective. "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver" (Proverbs 25:11). This is true for words aptly written.

Mother Teresa said, "We can do no great things, only small things with great love." May my writing endeavors be from a heart of love.

11/29/08

Writers and Publishing, a Response to An Interview with Markus Zusak

2009-06-09T08:57:00.001-04:00

"Being a writer, I think, has nothing to do with being published--in a lot of ways." Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief

In the following clip, Markus Zusak discusses his motivation for writing The Book Thief and talks about the act of writing. He says if he knew he'd never publish or make a cent on his next work, he'd write anyway. Isn't that the truth? We write because we have to write. We can't help it. Give us a used envelope, a 3x5 card, the edge of a newspaper article, a napkin, a scrap of toilet paper. Where there is a pen and a fleeting thought, we'll find a way to record workable ideas to flesh out later. Now if we could only find a way to keep up with all those scraps of paper.

The Other Shack

2009-05-02T06:16:00.010-04:00

On a recent trip to the Ozarks, my husband and I took a walking trail along Mill Creek near Jasper, Arkansas, to visit a home built in the 1800's and rebuilt using the same wood in 1930.

It had rained recently and the not quite half-mile trail was muddy and sometimes slippery, but we enjoyed the walk to get there.

While visiting friends the day before in southeast Missouri, my friend Gayle asked if I'd read The Shack. No, I hadn't heard of it. Her Sunday School class had read the book together. She thought the book was "a little strange." She wanted me to take the book and let her know what I thought of it.

The first thing I did was read the reviews on the back cover. A well-known recording artist read the book with his wife, and cried. Another reviewer said, "If you read one work of fiction this year, let this be it."

I showed my husband the front cover. "Look at this. The #1 New York Times Bestseller. Over three million copies in print."

"This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good!" Eugene Peterson.

I must have missed it. The Shack was difficult for me to read. In fact, I couldn't get through it. I had trouble getting started. As a writer, I wondered how the book got published. If Wm.Paul Young had been in our writers group, someone would have suggested he cut much of the first matter, start in the middle of action with a good hook. Show, don't tell. I kept trying to read as we traveled. If my friend hadn't asked me what I thought of the book, I wouldn't have stayed with it as long as I did.

I found an interview with the author on Youtube. He wrote the book for his children, he said, as "a metaphor for the place we get hurt and stuck." Maybe I just don't get metaphors.

This week I visited my friend Betty and noticed a copy of The Shack open on the table by the sofa where we sat. "Oh, The Shack," I said. "What do you think?"

"Have you read this?" she asked. "Ive been trying to read it for about a month, and I'm on page 100. This is just so disturbing," she said.

I know. I made my way to page 122 before passing it on to my granddaughter, an avid reader, at her request. This child who read the Twilight series in record time is still working on getting through The Shack.

Not everyone will like what we write, but some will. This is an encouragement to keep writing.

Dressed for Success, in Flannel

2009-04-04T09:16:00.002-04:00

This morning I finally figured out why I do most of my writing in my pajamas. On my best writing days, I wake with a word or thought in my head that begs to be committed to paper. I know how fleeting good ideas are, so first things first. Whether I wake at 4 a.m. or sleep in till 7, I stumble to the computer to capture those words in print before they vanish. No trip by the bathroom or to the kitchen to make coffee.

I try to flesh out the idea as fully as possible. If I don't, what seemed so brilliant when I woke is a muddle by 8:30. Perhaps the fuzziness is because of my age or my hormones or the fact I drink too much caffeine or still eat sugar. As long as an idea is flowing, I keep writing. I'm usually through by 10:00 a.m. or 11:00 -- and still wearing my pajamas. Then I'll break, have something to eat during the transition, take a shower, tackle other things. I have been known to write till 3:00, then put myself in high gear to get myself and the house presentable before my husband comes home from work. I'm often trying to make it to the post office before they close at 4:30.

My writing days aren't always like this. I have been known to write in regular street clothes. But not often.

When my kids were young, there were no computers, just quills to write with and candles for light. (I hope you know I'm joking.) My mind worked better then, I think. I can't really remember. Single words and phrases jotted on paper made sense then. Now, when a brilliant idea strikes when I'm away from home, I'll jot a note or two on the back of a gasoline receipt or the edge of an envelope. When I find the notes buried in my purse days later, I generally have no idea what they mean. What seemed like the outline for an article on parenting jotted in the car now makes no sense. For example:

Preface: Diane.
young mom's in gr.
Siolder women. (Soilder women? Sc: older women? I can't read my own writing.)
HS teach you.
This is something.

When I jotted those notes, I was certain I had a best seller. Now, I'm not so certain. Hey, if you can get a book on parenting out of that, this outline is yours. But you might want to change back into your pajamas.

In Defense of Blogging

2009-03-28T21:46:00.008-04:00

A few weeks ago I had lunch with writer friends. While we were waiting for our orders, "Nancy" asked what I’d been writing.

"Blogs," I told her.

"Oh. Well, that’s nice," she said. Then later, half-way through her sandwich, she said she never had time to read blogs and certainly had no time to write them. How could she possibly write something every day? That would be too much pressure. Had my one-word answer put pressure on her?

Then this past week I attended a writers’ group meeting where the topic for discussion was blogging. One woman said, "I don’t see the point of blogs. Why spend time writing something that maybe only ten people might read when you could spend the same effort on an article for a magazine that might have a circulation of several thousands?"

Good questions. My thoughts, for what they’re worth:

I have a friend who writes romance novels. I know a man whose wife writes westerns. I watch made-for-TV movies. My husband prefers reruns of Seinfeld. Some people read blogs. Others don’t. Different strokes for different folks.

The rule for blogging is to make entries on a regular basis. Some people blog daily, some weekly. Some of us break that rule by writing when the Spirit moves us. I blog when I have something to say. I can do that because I’m over 50. You can get away with a lot if you’re ancient.

Writing regularly, like in a blog, is a good discipline. It’s evident I’m discipline-challenged, but I’m working on it. I love to write. Blogging gives opportunity for writing.

In Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg tells about one writing practice she followed. She’d set up a table, someone would give her a topic, and she’d write a page for a dollar. Some of what she wrote she thought was very good, but she let the writing go. There were more words, she said, where those came from. Blogging is good writing practice. Words held on to have little influence. The more practice we have in letting our words go, the easier it is to overcome self-consciousness and seek print publication.

I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but often when I get on the internet, I end up at sites and have no idea how I got there. Many of those sites are blogs. One blogger last posted in 2005. I didn’t even know about blogs in 2005. The photos on the site were beautiful, his words inspirational, words sitting in cyberspace four years waiting for someone to take a stroll down a side-street off the super highway. Surely I’m not the only person in the past four years who found his piece of the internet. If I write from my heart and ten people read it, if one is encouraged, then I’m gratified. I understand regular posts produce regular readers. I get that. But that’s not why I write. I write because I have to write. I’m a writer. A blog gives me a place to do that.

I have three blogs. The first I started because I attended some meetings where a leader was publicly criticized by people who weren’t even there. I felt the need to speak up to let those who were interested know what happened from the perspective of someone who had been there. I started this blog because I have a heart to encourage writers. My third blog is somewhat unfocused. I need to work on that.

The woman at the writers’ group who questioned the value of blogs made me consider I could have more influence if I sought publication in periodicals. I agree I need to more actively seek print publication. And I will, thanks to her encouragement.

The New Pup

2009-02-25T07:14:00.003-05:00

Having a dog is a distraction.

My husband called at 7:15 a.m. from India. Had I fed the dog?

The dog. Oh. I tiptoed past Annie's crate, peering in her direction while whispering into the phone. "She's still asleep." I knew once I let her out, that's all I'd get done.

Sure, maybe a person can write with a pup nipping at her ankles, eating her baby airplane plants, making a game of shredding her paper trash, but I find that distracting. I've been at the computer for a little over an hour, just like old times, and frankly, it feels good to be back in the saddle. I'm hesitant to leave the computer to take on my new business of dog sitting.

"She'll need to go out soon," my husband said.

"I'll go up and shower while she's sleeping, then take her out," I promised. And I will. But just let me write one more paragraph. It may be the only paragraph I'll get to finish today.

Sitting Still Long Enough to Read

2009-01-14T07:55:00.011-05:00

How do you choose a novel? By recommendation? By author? By genre? By cover?

During my last trip to the library, a book propped up at the end of shelf caught my eye. Our librarians tease patrons like that. I took Kelly Simmons' novel, Standing Still, off the shelf and flipped it over to read the back cover. That's my normal routine if I'm not looking for a particular title or author: spine, front cover, back cover, front inside blurb, info. about the author. Then I crack the book open and read a random paragraph or two somewhere from the middle of the book. If the plot seems intriguing and I haven't been offended by that point, I give the book a try. Unlike many readers who will complete a book regardless, if I see the story isn't going anywhere once I start reading, I'll abandon it and look for another good read.

Standing Still may be the first novel I've brought home without checking the inside cover or cracking the book open. Those few paragraphs on the back thoroughly hooked me. "There is a man in my daughter's room. . . I don't dare cast my eyes in my daughter's direction, don't want to point her out to him. . . He stares at me. I stare back. . . He scoops her up. . . 'Take me,' I say. 'Take me instead.' I'm ashamed to admit I wasn't completely relieved when he did."

I offered the book to my husband and asked him to read the back matter. "Wow," he said as he finished. My response, too. I knew I had a delicious few hours ahead when I finally made opportunity to read.

This morning when I moved the book to dust the table supporting it, I read the inside front cover. Whoa. Wait a minute. The main character is a woman? Where did I get the idea the first person story teller would be a man? I opened the book in the middle and read a paragraph or two. She is having conversations with someone she refers to as capital H "He." Oh. This is a Christian novel? She's dialoging with God?

I looked at the front cover again. How did I miss the drawing of a woman sitting on a sofa? (And as I read the book later, I wondered how the illustrator missed the color of the main character's night gown -- unless the illustrator is color blind and can't tell pink from green.) I flipped the book open again. On page 184, I read this dialog: "'I hate you,' I say. He laughs and gets off the bed. . . . The deadbolt locks and the Cutlass beckons. I don't see Him after that, but I imagine Him on the phone, talking to His boss, filling him in. . . " Oh. She has given her kidnapper the only name she has and honors him with a capitalization.

Compare the excerpt from the back matter above with the first few sentences of the inside blurb: "Journalist and suburban mom Claire Cooper suffers from panic disorder. Most of her anxieties seem irrational, nothing that can't be fixed with the help of some Xanax. But late one stormy summer night. . . " The first person excerpt is much more intriguing. If I had read "Claire Cooper suffers from panic disorder" as my introduction to the novel, my response would have been, "So?"

As a writer, I've been reminded of a few things.

Librarians are our friends. If they like a book, they'll let you know in some way that hey, this is a good read. Maybe they'll pull the book out so you can skip step 1, read the spine, and see the front cover.

A good first sentence is valuable. "There is a man in my daughter's room." I am a mother. I feel Claire's panic. I catch my breath. I can't exhale till I finish several paragraphs.

It is perfectly acceptable to bend the rules. Capital H He makes sense here just as putting some dialog in italics does in The Last Time They Met, by Anita Shreve. I loved the quirkiness of Shreve's book, and my writing partner hated it.

And of course, you can't tell a book by its cover or its back cover or its blurb or a few paragraphs mid-way through. To know what's in a book, you have to actually read it -- which I plan to do, as soon as I wash the dishes, pick up the mess I made last night when I decided to clean out a closet in the living room, write a few letters, finish this post, go to the grocery store, cook supper. You know, daily things.

Standing Still has given me reason to pause. Why did I assume the main character is a man? And why haven't I read the book yet if the excerpt seemed so intriguing? Pondering these questions with novel in hand, the answer to the last question surfaces. Ah. The back cover is the color of chocolate. That's what makes Claire Cooper's story a treat I want to savor.

Over Time, I've Learned A Thing or Two

2008-12-05T07:27:00.006-05:00

How has your writing evolved? When I was a teen, I wrote terrible poetry recording my feelings for the high school junior who was brave enough to ask me out and who is still with me after all these years. As a mom with young children, I wrote short stories. I sent a few off. When they came back accompanied by rejection slips, I thought that meant I couldn't write. When my kids were teens I went to a writers' workshop and learned that rejection of manuscripts are common, and the way to get published is to keep learning, polishing, and sending manuscripts out. As a result of that workshop, I found a writers' group in our area and attended meetings.

I shared poetry for critique. Like many unpublished writers, I wasn't very sure of my writing ability yet. I'll always be grateful for the kind, encouraging remarks members had. I self-published small booklets and gave them away. I decided to try my hand at devotionals for the challenge of completing a story with a "take-away" in 150-200 words. I had several devotionals published and in the process learned to write.

I found out about writing opportunities through contacts I'd made in the writers group and through conferences and had inspirational stories published as a result. At one point a friend and I met every week to critique each other's work in progress. We went to the post office together one year on her birthday to send our manuscripts off. Mine, a children's book, came back in four months with a rejection slip; her Christian romance took a year to find its way back to her. She sent her novel out once more and got it back. It's such a great story. Her characters are so real I used to look for the house where her "family" had 4th of July celebrations when I'd drive down a certain road in our county. I know the church where her fictional characters attend. I know their pastor. He used to be our neighbor. I'd like to see her novel published.

After my children's book came back, I asked a friend to read my 126 page manuscript to see if she could make suggestions before I sent it out again. My friend is an avid reader. I gave her my manuscript over two years ago. The fact that she hasn't finished reading it tells you a lot about what a page-turner the story is. My husband, a tough editor, thought the story was funny, poignant and brilliant, but then, he loves me. My friend loves me, too, but she's been really busy. ;-) I understand because I still have a copy of someone else's manuscript in my possession. I read it through it once, then the task of trying to track repetitions and make suggestions seemed overwhelming.

Whether the book I wrote ever gets published--and I do have to say here that I understand the correlation between sending a manuscript out and the chance for publication--I enjoyed the process of writing--the late nights up with the "baby." I didn't enjoy the dozens of times through, bleary-eyed, and the editing/re-editing. I loved the characters. They made me laugh and cry and rejoice at their victories. I felt for them deeply. Since I never could determine what I needed to do to "fix" the manuscript before sending it out again, I started another novel with the same characters, only setting the story a few years later. I used the novel I'd completed as back story -- their history to help me as I wrote about Sara at 14 rather than 11. A lot happened to that girl in the three years between stories. I learned a valuable lesson while writing the second novel. Always back up your work. You never know when lightening might strike and cause you to lose everything on your computer.

About that time I got busy with my Dad who lived alone in Texas when he fell and broke his arm. I live in Delaware. I'd make trips back and forth to stay with him during different hospitalizations and to take care of his house. We moved him to Delaware when he recovered. I made more trips to Texas to get his house ready to put on the market. Then my Dad died and I had to take care of "business" and got sidetracked from writing. But I know the community in Oklahoma where my characters are, and I wish them well. But I don't know if I'll ever tell their story again in writing. I might if I had a working copy.

If you're not in a writers group, let me encourage you to find one. Attend. Listen. Learn. Make friends. Go to workshops if you can afford to, but don't make a career of it. Read. Write. Polish. Submit. Encourage. Celebrate. Find a critique partner. And if you get discouraged along the way or bogged down by life, try it again. Just because you've been on the sideline for a year or two or decade or more, you've still got it. You are a writer. Write. Submit, submit, and submit again until you're published. And don't forget to backup your work. (Note to self.)

Identifying the Writer Within (Your Purse)

2008-12-01T12:05:00.006-05:00

I'm afraid this post might seem a little sexist. I don't have a clue how to identify men who write. But women? Ahh.

When Life Happens

2008-11-23T06:29:00.010-05:00

Thursday, November 13 was my last post. I know what you're thinking. I set out to climb Mount Everest and got stranded. (See "Inside Out Strategy" below). You probably thought I was buried in a landslide of debris and hopefully I had food and water with me while someone came to dig me out since it's been over a week. Hey, I live in a family so used to my stacks they wouldn't think to dig. Besides, where is that shovel?

You know how it is--you make your plans and God directs your steps. Life happens. Friday, Saturday and Sunday I was . . . Then Tuesday . . . On Wednesday, I . . . Thursday afternoon. . . Friday, Diana and I . . . Then yesterday. . . .

Okay. So I had a few things to do, but I obviously wasn't using my time most wisely. Surely I had five minutes to sit down and write. I got distracted. That happens sometimes to us stackers. I did find time to read a novel I really enjoyed, so my free time wasn't totally wasted. Some of it was wasted. I did manage to find the remote.

A new day is a new opportunity to do what I want until responsibility or love calls. No need for guilt. Life happens to all of us, and sometimes we can write about it.

Inside Out Strategy

2008-11-13T09:40:00.010-05:00

Do you have stacks in your house that look like this?

Or this?

Or this? (Photo missing. Please note I do have some pride left and am not admitting to bigger messes.)

Set the timer for ten or fifteen minutes. Tackle one or two stacks, then come back to the computer. You might write about your experience. You know, "How I Climbed Mount Everest."

Writing to Fill a Need

2008-11-08T11:57:00.003-05:00

Need reason to write? Though writing for pre-teens may not be your ideal, consider reading the following New York Times blog by Tara Parker-Pope about the Beacon Street Girls series. I had to read several reader responses to find comments from parents of girls who have actually read the series (comments 27, 31, 32). The reviews were positive. Comment #36 was from a young woman lamenting the fact she's found nothing suitable about health for the 17-19 age range.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/books-for-girls-with-a-health-message/

A Special Day for Writing

2008-11-05T18:16:00.000-05:00

I want to introduce you to some real encouragers. One of them is John Riddle, founder of I Love to Write Day.

Do you love to write? You probably do, or you wouldn't be here. Grab a pencil and circle a date on your calendar. November 15, I Love to Write Day, is officially recognized by nine state governors and more than 20,000 schools across the United States -- and all this from the influence of one writer promoting his craft.

Only ten more days! Let's get a plan. On your calendar, jot down your writing goal for that day. John Riddle encourages people of all ages to spend time November 15 writing. "They can write a poem, a love letter, a greeting card, an essay, a short story, start a novel, finish a novel…the possibilities are endless. I want people to take the time to put their thoughts down on paper. They will be amazed at the results," Riddle says.

For suggestions and ideas on how to hold special I Love to Write Day activities in your community, visit http://www.ilovetowriteday.org/. John also asks us to register on his web site so he can get an idea of how many people are participating.

A Lesson Remembered, A Card To Be Mailed

2008-10-31T09:00:00.000-04:00

This morning I thought we could brainstorm reasons why we aren't writing notes to friends, letters to editors, essays, articles, anything personal. Here's my list. I'm still working on writing notes.

What if I say it wrong?
What if I am wrong?
What if I'm misunderstood?
What if I'm rejected?
What if . . .

Wait. I see a pattern here, so let me change hats from writer to self-editor. If I go back and cut out the repetitious "what if" and question marks, then I can see more clearly. Sometimes I say it wrong. On rare occasion, perhaps, possibly, maybe, I am wrong. I have been misunderstood. And yes, (sniff, sniff) I know the pain of rejection.

Well, how about that? No need to fear being human and part of the human race. Now, if I can change hats just one more time and move from self-editor to teacher, let's conjugate some verbs. Remember conjugation?

I will say it wrong.
You will say it wrong.
He will say it wrong.
We will say it wrong.
You will say it wrong.
They will say it wrong.

See the universality of our phobias? Let's do another one.

I will be wrong on occasion.
You will be wrong on occasion.
She will be wrong on occasion.
We will be wrong on occasion.
You will be wrong on occasion.
They will be wrong on occasion.

I will be, you will be, he will be, she will be, we will be, they will be misunderstood, rejected. So if you've been feeling all alone in your misery, welcome to my world.

So what is holding you back from actually putting pen to paper (or seat to computer chair) today and writing, then placing what you've written in envelope or hitting "send"? You don't have time, you say? Oh. We can talk about that another day. Right now I'm, ah, out the door.

But first, just a quick report: I did mail two cards yesterday. I agonized over one, still on the dashboard of my car. I have another card to write today (and three letters that are nagging). Now that I've remembered how to conjugate verbs, I'm encouraged. I'll go ahead and mail that sympathy card. If I said it wrong, then I'll have to trust the family receiving the card is good at reading between the lines and will understand I care. I am so sorry for their loss, I'm speechless -- or feel that way.

Hug someone. We all need love.

Why Writers Advance?

2008-10-29T12:51:00.000-04:00

Many of us have been stuck for a very long time. We want to write. We think about writing. We talk about writing with our writer friends. But actually putting pen to paper or seat to computer chair seems too difficult. All the old fears come up, so rather than write, we busy ourselves alphabetizing the fears by name. Fear of Rejection goes behind Fear of Failure but in front of Fear of Success. We are so neat and tidy, so organized.

Let's not pull back any more. Let's advance. We're writers. Our voices in print are important. We don't have to write the next best seller for our words to be effective. Maybe someone is waiting to hear from us.

So today, if you don't have a pressing deadline for an editor, I invite you to write with me. I need to send out a sympathy card, a thinking-of-you card, a how-about-that-grandbaby note. I need to come up with maybe three or four sentences per card. For me, that's hard. Maybe you've been thinking about sending out a thank-you note or about writing your congressman or that letter to the editor.

If you are in the middle of a novel, go ahead. Write. But if you are a writer who is not writing, I challenge you to twelve sentences, more or less. Your written words are important.

Welcome to the Beach!

2008-10-27T10:37:00.000-04:00

For a long time I've wanted a place at the beach. I've finally found it right here on blogger -- my own piece of real estate. I want to invite you to join me.

What are your concerns, your hopes, your dreams? Write about it.