Getting Lost Again

My latest, favorite toy: superimposing text on photos. Was introduced to the site picmonkey.com today while helping work on our church's website. Up to this time I haven't had a photoshop-type program on my computer to do this, so this is quite a bonus--free and everything.

I'm certainly still a novice, but the above is an example of the potential for more.

Hubby worries that sometimes I'm married to the computer, the amount of time I spend on it. Shhh, don't tell him but I've got another "project" area that will draw me here like a magnet!

Any "fun" sites you get lost in?

(And do we even have to discuss how distracting these things can be from our writing???)

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On Beginnings, Hope, and a Journey Down the Stairs

photo courtesy of sxc.hu

The old year has only a couple of hours to go as I sit down to post, and 2014 is just about here. We all wonder what the new year will bring, don't we? For sure there's probably change ahead. That goes with the territory. Maybe challenges. Choices. And celebrations. We can't forget celebrations.

As writers we often add more to our question list. What goals should I set for 2014? Should I concentrate on word count, or keep record of writing hours? How many submissions do I want circulating in any one given week/month? How many acceptances should I aim for? What concrete goals should I set toward publication? What about those with young families where daily life is already packed with details--will catching a word here, a word there suffice?

In past years I've chosen a word or words to set a theme for the new year. In my first year of blogging I posted about targets (and repeated it here). In the second year (2011), my word was potential (here). The third year? Relax, write, create. This past year I went with the p's--potential, permission, pattern, pace, priorities. One trick I've used to stay productive yet not succumb to unreasonable pressure is to list my weekly/yearly goals and then tell myself if I hit 75% of those goals, I'll be happy. I've tallied this year and have come in at 77%. Yay!

Thus, thinking of a new year, I thought it might be fun to open writing books (I have so many on my shelves) and peek into the introductory inspiration laid out at the beginning from seasoned writers. I discovered three themes--and I'm adopting them as my themes for 2014. Take a peek:

1. Beginnings. From One Writer's Beginnings, by Eudora Welty: "In our house on North Congress Street in Jackson, Mississippi, where I was born, the oldest of three children, in 1901, we grew up to the striking of clocks. There was a mission-style oak grandfather clock standing int he hall, which sent its gong-like strokes through the livingroom, diningroom, kitchen, and pantry, and up the sounding board of the stairwell. Through the night, it could find its way into our ears; sometimes, even on the sleeping porch, midnight could wake us up. My parents' bedroom had a smaller striking clock that answered it. Though the kitchen clock did nothing but show the time, the diningroom clock was a cuckoo clock with weights on long chains, on one of which my baby brother, after climbing on a chair to the top of the china closet, once succeeded in suspending the cat for a moment. I don't know whether or not my father's Ohio family, in having been Swiss back in the 1700s before the first three Welty brothers came to America, had anything to do with this; but we all of us have been time-minded all our lives. This was good at least for future fiction writer, being able to learn so penetratingly, and almost first of all, about chronology. It was one of a good many things I learned almost without knowing it; it would be there when I needed it."

2. Hope. From The Writer's Book of Hope, Getting from Frustration to Publication, by Ralph Keyes: "Sit at desk. Examine blank computer screen. Cursor blinks impatiently. Small fan hums within. Neighbor fires up leaf blower. Mail truck rumbles by. Kid's voice pierces closed door: 'Matthew hit me!' Spouse opens door, mail in hand. Hands over two manila envelopes addressed to you in your own handwriting. Spouse wonders when you'll be ready to quit. When indeed?"

3. A Journey Down the Stairs. From Finding Your Voice, How to Put Personality in Your Writing, by Les Edgerton: "A final word before we begin seeing exactly how to get to our own voices, lurking within. Relax. Yep, That's the word. Relax. Even though there are lots of exercises and examples and other nifty ways to get to your voice in the following pages, what we'll be involved in isn't thermonuclear physics or household plumbing or anything like those two incredibly complicated sciences. This is all about the voice you already own and have the owner's manual for. What we'll be trying to do here is have you simply remember stuff you already know to a T but have just misplaced in the basement of your mind. So...sit back and enjoy the trip down the stairs. You won't even need a flashlight. I've already switched on the light for you. Just use the handrail."

The things we need are there--our beginnings, hope, and a journey of exploration.

I think it sounds like a year of fun, don't you? What words/themes would you add?

Happy New Year to all who might happen to drop in!

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Inspiration: A Weekend in the Smokies

"Truly it may be said that the outside of a mountain is good for the inside of a man." 

--George Wherry, Alpine Notes and the Climbing Foot, 1896

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world." --John Muir

"The poetry of the earth is never dead." --John Keats

"After all, I don't see why I am always asking for private, individual, selfish miracles 
when every year there are miracles like white dogwood." --Anne Morrow Lindbergh

"Great things are done when men and mountains meet. 

This is not done by jostling in the street." --William Blake

"Climb up on some hill at sunrise. Everybody needs perspective once in 

a while, and you'll find it there." --Robb Sagendorph

"Nature is a writer's best friend." --Agave Powers

We were privileged to spend this past weekend in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains with good friends. What a relaxing, peaceful, regrouping time. Oh, that there be some carryover into work this week!

Just thought I'd share a bit of the view before getting back to work :-) What view are you looking at this week?

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On Contradictions

"When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, 

but bend them with gentleness and time." --St. Francis de Sales

The last week and a half has been filled with a few contradictions around here. On one hand there have been great ups--including an evening at the circus in which we took our 4-year old granddaughter for the first time. What fun. Her vocabulary through most of the evening consisted of the words "oh, wow!" at everything she saw. (That is, until she fell asleep during the second half, slumbering even through the roar of nine motorcycles in a cage. Now that's a real contradiction.) On the other hand, there have been a few downs. Like a computer that died. 

Not unexpected since we'd been having problems, and most of the important stuff had been backed up so that's a plus. And the new computer is a beauty--oh, wow!--but the learning curve is steep. Oh, my. More contradictions.

Contradiction: 1. the act of denying what has been said, saying the opposite; 2. a contrary condition, disagreement, opposition; 3. an inconsistency.

Joy and frustration, laughter and gritted teeth, play and work, smiles and frowns, successes and missed goals. The experience of the last few days led me to wonder what others have said about the subject of contradictions. A few gems for the writer in us:

"One of the things I constantly think about as a writer is the way in which people are full of contradictions--there's all this contradictory information inside a human personality." --Justin Cronin

"As human beings, of course, we're all compromised and complex and contradictory, and if a screenplay can express those contradictions within a character and if there's room for me to express them, that's a part I'd love to play, so much more than a character who is heroic and one-dimensional." --Hugo Weaving

"As a novelist, you could say that I am dreaming while I am awake, and every day I can continue yesterday's dream. Because it is a dream, there are so many contradictions and I have to adjust them to make the story work. But, in principle, the original dream does not change." --Haruki Murakami

"Biography--a system in which the contradictions of a human life are unified." --Jose Ortega y Gasset

"The contradictions are what make human behavior so maddening and yet so fascinating, all at the same time." --Joan D. Vinge

"I'm fascinated by the ways in which people express themselves, because their responses are often counter to what they're actually feeling. Like when they're frightened, they tend to freeze. When they're angry, it doesn't always come out as volume. There are wonderful contradictions in the way that people express their emotions." --Edward Norton

"Only by learning to live in harmony with your contradictions can you keep it all afloat." --Audre Lorde

Contradictions. What ones have you been living with, and how are you handling them?

Seems like "being plugged in" to the internet, social networking, and all the bells and whistles carries its own set of contradictions. We love the connections but find ourselves frustrated by the black hole of time and distractions that take us away from our work. Discussions on the subject have been popping up in various places recently. One brave soul has unplugged from it all and lives to tell about it. See Marissa Burt's post, "Unplugged," here at Project Mayhem. Is there hope for harmony after all?

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Words, For the Fun of It

My friend here showed up one day tacked on the side of a tree that stands at the foot of the hill along my walking route. I feel like I've got a companion watching over me as I go now. What fun.

And speaking of fun, here are some quotes on the subject of words. Just for the fun of it.

"Words--so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them." --Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Words are but the vague shadows of the volumes we mean. Little audible links, they are, chaining together great inaudible feelings and purposes." --Theodore Dreiser

"Words set things in motion. I've seen them doing it. Words set up atmospheres, electrical fields, charges." --Toni Cade Bambara

"The words! I collected them in all shapes and sizes and hung them like bangles in my mind." --Hortense Calisher

"Words fascinate me. They always have. For me, browsing in a dictionary is like being turned loose in a bank." --Eddie Cantor

"Wrestling with words gave me my moments of greatest meaning." --Richard Wright

Any *words of wisdom* you might you have to share about words?

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Photo-A-Day: July

"Character is story." --Elizabeth George

July's photo-a-day project came with a twist, an historical twist that is. My WIP, a middle-grade historical fiction, is set in mid-1800s Ohio. The challenge? Step back in time and attempt to capture images of things my character might have seen, smelled, tasted, touched, or heard. Such an exercise held out the promise of getting to know my character better.

And help bring her to life...

"It takes a long time (to write YA)...I have to let the characters live inside my head awhile. You have to know what's on your character's walls and what's in their closet--even if you're not going to use that in your book. It's a way of bringing your characters to life before they're on paper." --Paula Danzinger

"When characters are really alive, before their author, the latter does nothing but follow them in action." --Luigi Pirandello

"Once we have begun it, we continue reading a novel largely because we care about what happens to the characters. But for us actually to care about these actors in the drama on those printed pages, they must become real people to us. An event alone cannot hold a story together. Nor can a series of events. Only characters effecting events and events effecting characters can do that." --Elizabeth George, Write Away

So without further ado, here's July's photo gallery, sample images of what a young girl might have encountered in a similar month 150 years ago--except that they were captured through the lens of a 21st century camera!

Of course I'd loved to have snapped a slew of others. A mule for instance. A hand-crafted checkerboard. A pontoon bridge and a hollyhock doll or two. But I'll leave that for the imagination--and the finished book :-)

Enjoy.

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Photo-A-Day: May

"Particularize (v.): to mention particularly or individually; treat in detail; specify; give details."

Here we are, the completion of another month, and I have May's gallery of a photo-a-day to share. Funny how each month seems to zero in on a different "focus."

I tied this month into the word particularize. For one, I've always liked the way that word sounds. (We all have our favorite word, don't we?) And also because I decided to look for a specific detail--particularize if you will--as I went along. And you'll see what that detail is below.

But first, a little glimpse into why detail, or particularizing, is important in writing:

"If those who have studied the art of writing are in accord on one point it is on this: the surest way to arouse and hold the reader is to be specific, definite, and concrete. The greatest writers...are effective largely because they deal in particulars and report the details that matter." --Strunk and White, The Elements of Style

"Fictional reality requires strong specification, rendering, dramatization. The basis of all this is detail, and the best of detail is implicative, in motion, and appealing to the senses." --Oakley Hall, The Art and Craft of Novel Writing.

"The writer of fiction--and I include in this all the works of the imagination, poetry,plays, realistic novels, fantasy--may never tell; he must show, and show through the five senses...The beginning writer finds this difficult. I have to repeat and repeat: fiction is built on the concrete...One must particularize; show do not tell." --Madeleine L'Engle, A Circle of Quiet

"A scene will not be vivid if the writer gives too few details to stir and guide the reader's imagination; neither will it be vivid if the language the writer uses is abstract instead of concrete." --John Gardner, The Art of Fiction

"In stories, as in life, we must sometimes stop everything that's going on. Stop and observe. For storytellers this represents a kind of crossover into visual art because here we paint word pictures, or snap photographs in phrases. --Steven Taylor Goldsberry, The Writer's Book of Wisdom

(Of course there's a caveat here, as Goldsberry adds, "By all means, include description, but never allow it to slow your narrative." But that's a topic for another time...)

With all that said, I decided to look at a specific detail this time around, and the detail was...color. As you scroll down and take a peek at the gallery, you'll see that each row of four pictures focuses on the same color. The color was determined by what photo I snapped in the first of the row. Imagine limiting yourself to finding the next three photos in the same color family. It was a challenge, but a fun challenge--it forced me to be more observant each day.

Themes: Lemon, Cherry, Blueberry, Butterscotch,Vanilla, Pinkalicious, Persimmon, Aquamarine Ice. Can you find the corresponding row?

Thanks for stopping by and viewing my gallery this month!

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Book Metaphors: Six Ideas and Counting

What is a book to you, metaphorically speaking?

Others have weighed in on the subject, as evidenced by the following six quotes:

1. "Books are the compasses and telescopes and sextants and charts which other men have prepared to help us navigate the dangerous seas of human life." --Jesse Lee Bennett

2. "Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time." --E.P. Whipple

3. "A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of  counselors." --Henry Ward Beecher

4. "Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind."--James Russell Lowell

5. "Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers." --Charles W. Eliot

6. "Books are a uniquely portable magic." --Stephen King

Six quotes turn into fifteen metaphors: compass, telescope, sextant, chart, lighthouse, garden, orchard, storehouse, party, company, counselor, bee, friend, teacher, magic.

But we don't have to stop there. We're writers--how about making up a few of our own?

Photos courtesy of sxc.hu

My contribution: "a book is a ticket." A ticket to worlds and stories, places and things, ideas, insights, and imagination. A ticket to colors and wonder, images and emotions, mystery, heart tugs and promise. A ticket to the tapestries and threads of history and humanity--and to hope.

Would love to hear your ideas. How would you describe a book, metaphorically speaking?

October Morning Gallery

We took a walk this morning, hubby and I, to the top of the hill beyond our house. We do this a couple of times a year, different times, different seasons. Thought I'd share pocket-sized views of October from over this way. It's been a beautiful day.

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The poetry of the earth is never dead." --John Keats

"To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more

welcome than the most luxurious Persian carpet." --Helen Keller

"Climb up on some hill at sunrise. Everybody needs perspective

once in a while, and you'll find it there." --Robb Sagendorph

"The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful." --e.e. cummings

"Truly it may be said that the outside of a mountain is good for the inside of a man."

--George Wherry, Alpine Notes and the Climbing Foot, 1896

"Nature is the art of God." --Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, 1635

"Nature is a writer's best friend." --Agave Powers

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Have a great rest of the weekend! Hope your pockets are filled with beauty, too.

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On Voice, A Quote

"Writing without voice is wooden or dead because it lacks sound, rhythm, energy, and individuality...Writing with voice is writing into which someone has breathed. It
has fluency, rhythm, and liveliness that exist naturally in the speech of most people when they are enjoying a conversation." --Peter Elbow, Writing with Power

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I've found this definition on voice to be very helpful--hope it inspires you, too. And now that October is here, my goal for the month is to breathe more life into writing. How about you?

Winged Words Caught on the Hop

We took a break yesterday--a beauty break--when we visited the "Butterflies of Brazil" exhibit at Cincinnati's Krohn Conservatory. Sharing some of the sights, along with accompanying quotes--wings of beauty, wings of words. Hope you enjoy!

"Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead

you to the sunny side of life. And everyone deserves a little sunshine." --Jeffrey Glassberg

"What would a butterfly quote, on looking in the mirror? It would say, the adventure was worth it!"

                                                                                                                   --Manali Oak

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly,

"one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."--Hans Christian Anderson

"Butterflies...flowers that fly and all but sing." --Robert Frost

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes

it has gone through to achieve that beauty." --Author Unknown

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." --Nathaniel Hawthorne

(*this one perched on hubby's shoulder for at least 20 minutes!)

"It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten...That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop."

                                                                                                                             --Vita Sackville-West

Happy rest of the weekend with wishes for a great new week ahead--filled with sunshine, adventure, flowers, beauty, and a few winged words caught on the hop!

Treasure

"The secret of a happy life isn't buried in a treasure chest--it lies within your heart."--Author Unknown

We went on a treasure hunt yesterday--and ended the evening with far more treasure than a chest could ever hold.

Our granddaughter turned three (where has the time gone??) and to celebrate her birthday, we planned a treasure hunt complete with a treasure chest full of prizes--including bubbles, stickers, and books--for the little guests who had been invited along with the birthday girl. The chest was made out of a styrofoam cooler decorated with shiny yellow paper, ribbon, stickers and fake jewels purchased at the local craft store. Pretty cool, huh?

Since the tiny treasure hunters can't read yet, we printed out photos of the locations where they would find each successive clue--under the watering can, on the front steps, by Grandpa's truck. All led to the final hiding place, under the Colorado blue spruce. Lots of fun--we've probably set a new family tradition, although the idea originated with an activity we did years ago when Angelica's mommy (and my beautiful daughter) was a child, and we organized a treasure hunt for one of her slumber parties. And we wonder where traditions start!

Anyway, watching the children search for the prize made me stop and think about those things in life we celebrate as treasures. My hunt turned up the following quotes:

Home. "The home should be the treasure chest of living." --Le Corbusier

Family and Friends. "Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their riches." Wanda Hope Carter

Kind words. "Many a treasure besides Ali Baba's is unlocked with a verbal key."--Henry Van Dyke

Children. "When you have a child, your previous life seems like someone else's. It's like living in a house and suddenly finding a room you didn't know was there, full of treasure and light." --Carol Ann Duffy

And, of course:

Books. "There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." --Walt Disney

This is just a sampling. Add to that the joy of writing, the blogging community, and all those helpful writing tips so abundantly available. What treasures would you add to the box?

Making Progress

"I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers done." --Steven Wright

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Looks like a busy week ahead, but at least I've made this much progress in my newest project!

How about you?

*photo: sxc.hu/

For Clod, Who Taught Me Something About Writing

"We writers are like horsemen. Some of us climb on one horse and walk it to the finish line. Some of us

trot. Some of us gallop. Some of us are pony express riders, starting on one horse, changing to a fresh one on the way...There are even some who manage three horses. Me, I'm a mule train driver. I hitch twenty-four of those little suckers up to my wagon, crack the whip, and if one dies along the way,

I cut it out of the traces and move on. What matters is the finish line." --Jane Yolen

In college one year, I elected to take horseback riding for a physical education credit. Because I'd had little experience with horses, the grad student in charge that first day paired me up with a horse appropriately named Clod. "Clod," he said, "is the gentlest horse in the stable."

Yeah, right. He failed to mention that the only thing Clod didn't like was to be saddled. The day I was supposed to do that solo, it took three guys to saddle him, he got so agitated. Things only went downhill from there. Almost literally, since it was winter quarter and, where I went to school, there were a lot of  hills on which to slip and slide, and snow and ice to go along with them.

Another thing. "Don't let him wander into the creek," they said. "You'll never get him out." He was stubborn that way.

Oh, dear--what had I gotten myself into?

Well, we managed, Clod and I, to finish the quarter together, even after the day I failed to cinch his saddle tight enough, and it began to slip to the side. And we did it all without galloping--something I told Clod I did not want to do. Ever. Others might think it fun, but not me. But Clod had a mind of his own and on the last day of class, when another rider sped past us, he took off in pursuit. And so...I galloped.

And, once I got over the initial shock, I actually found myself rather enjoying the ride.

When I came across the above quote, the memories came flooding back, and I realized that Clod is an apt metaphor for my writing life. All the elements are there--the idea of trying something new, the up-and-down struggles, the stubbornness and perseverance, the wild ride of it all. I have a little more respect for Clod now. Maybe, in an odd sort of way, our shared experience helped equip me as a writer. You think?

All I know is that I'm holding on to the writing life, and don't want to let go--slipping saddle and all.

Still, don't ask me to gallop!

Is your writing life like managing a horse or two? If so, what kind?

*photo courtesy of sxc.hu/

Three Rules for Writing a Novel

(photo courtesy of sxc.hu/)

"There are three rules for writing a novel.

Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."

                                                                                                            --William Somerset Maugham

Ha, gotcha'! And you thought, 1...2...3, you were going to get a simple answer?

If it were only that easy!

Maybe this will help?

"Do not put statements in the negative form.

And don't start sentences with a conjunction.

If you reread your work, you will find on reading that a

great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.

Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.

De-accession euphemisms.

If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.

Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.

Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague."

                                                                                                       --William Safire, "Great Rules of Writing"

Hmmm. Maybe we're getting closer, but still...

How about this one?

"The big secret is the ability to stay in the room." --Ron Carlson

Ahhh, maybe we're finally getting somewhere. And then again:

"Successful writers are not the ones who write the best sentences. They are the ones who keep writing. They are the ones who discover what is most important and strangest and most pleasurable in themselves, and keep believing in the value of their work, despite the difficulties." --Bonnie Friedman

There you go. Rule #1, 2, 3--all rules--come back to the one that trumps all: Write, and keep writing. And keep believing in the value of your work, despite the difficulties.

Oh, maybe there is one more. A clincher that can only be said of today's day and age (at least for me):

"Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the Internet." --Anonymous

Good luck!

What's the best "rule" in your book for writing, and for getting it done?

Taking the Time

"In a way--nobody sees a flower--really--it is so small--we haven't time--and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time." --Georgia O'Keefe, Painter

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Just a writerly thought about taking time to see as we head into the last weekend in March. And not only for the purpose of aiming to become better writers--but also in our journeys to become better friends. 

What will you take time to do this weekend?

Have a good one.

*This photo was taken last spring at Sycamore Park, Clermont County, Ohio.

A Mom's Story, With Love

"The world is a book. Those who do not travel read only a page." --St. Augustine

We've just returned from a trip to California, a trip with special meaning. Please forgive me for having a nostalgic moment here, but the following are thoughts I came home with. You'll see the purpose of this latest trip as you read along. All of this has little to do with the subject of writing except to say, run with your imagination where ever you go. You'll see what I mean...

Once upon a time there was a little boy who loved to fish, wander the creeks, and chase butterflies. He wasn't Christopher Robin, but like the boy in A.A. Milne's The House at Pooh Corner, he had his array of childhood friends, including Bert, Ernie, and a black cat named Tootsie-Too. He entertained himself for hours by building cars--on his bed. A bowl served as a steering wheel, various toys as engine parts, and a box covered in brown paper was decorated to look like a battery. The best of the best was when someone dragged in a real radiator for him. This child spent countless preschool-aged hours driving hundreds of imaginary miles to all kinds of imaginary places.

He was a little boy who loved to take items from the pantry and stock his own playtime store on the screened-in porch, pretending to sell his stock back to mommy for a penny here and a penny there. Once he even sold groceries to the neighbor lady, who played along with his game so convincingly that mommy didn't know the box of baking soda had sold until she went looking for it.

The little boy grew to enjoy basketball, the electric guitar, and a family tradition of Friday night international meals. On those nights, recipes from a different country were prepared, facts about the featured country were shared, and a well-worn globe was pulled out in order to locate the country's position in the world.

The boy grew up to become, not a builder of cars, but an engineer in his own right. He accepted a job offer and moved to California right after college. He married a lovely young lady and, as time went on, opened his heart to his own little boy, Nicholas. And then...the day came when imagination became reality. He no longer chased butterflies, but he chased, caught, and ran with a dream he had dreamed for a long time--a dream to live in another country.

The day has arrived. He is about to embark on a journey that will take, not a car built on a bed, but a whole range of modern day marvels to make his dream a realilty. He has sold, not groceries from mom's pantry, but personal belongings like cars, furniture and appliances. This time next week all the preparations will have been completed, and he and his family will fly to...Spain. There they will begin their new lives.

And so, where proud parents (that's us by the way!) once stood back and marveled at a child's imagination, they now step back and wave to a grown-up son who is living out the dreams of that imagination. Birds once sang their songs outside his bedroom window. They've sung their songs outside of nine month-old Nicholas' room in California as well. The mural that Nicholas' mommy painted on his bedroom wall stands as a testimony of songs waiting to be sung in their new home far away.

We wish them smooth travels, bright-eyed wonders, and all kinds of good things ahead. And who knows what adventures will open up for those of us who cheer them on. The fun has only begun.

Keith, Suzan and Nicholas--we love you. Let your imaginations soar. We'll anticipate all the many stories that will only be yours to tell.

And don't forget to skype!

"People travel because it teaches them things they could learn no other way." --Lance Morrow

Writer's Block: True or False?

(photo courtesy of photobucket.com)

I recently came across this quote, and I'd like your opinion on it:

"All writing is difficult. The most you can hope for is a day when it goes reasonably easily. Plumbers don't get plumber's block, and doctors don't get doctor's block; why should writers be the only profession that gives a special name to the difficulty of working, and then expects sympathy from it?" --Philip Pullman

So is writer's block for real? Or is it simply a term that's used to mask something else? What would that something else be --fear, doubt, insecurity? Procrastination? Trouble with BIC (Jane Yolen's famous term, butt in chair)? Ahhhh, I really want to know!

Plumbers don't get blocked. Doctors don't get blocked. Writers? What do you think?

10 Tips on Voice--and a Beary Good Giveaway!

A writer's voice is not character alone, it is not style alone; it is far more. A writer's voice--like the stroke of an artist's brush--is the thumbprint of his or her whole person--his or her idea, wit, humor, passions, rhythms. --Patricia Lee Gauch

Bear Snores On, by Karma Wilson, has fast become one of my picture book favorites. I love to read it with Angelica, and anticipate reading it to the newest family member Adrian--unless, of course, his big sister beats me to it. And, not surprisingly, it has found it's way cross-country to little Nicholas, too.

Recently, after yet another reading, a whimsical  thought hit me. The story is also a metaphor for that elusive quality writers look for in their writing: "voice." After all, Bear SNORES ON until (without giving anything away) a series of events come along and he WAKES UP--and uses his voice as only he can. Which is what we writers are trying to do: wake up the voice that is only ours to speak.

Voice. A variety of definitions exist for voice.  Chip MacGreagor calls it your personality on the page. Laura Backes says voice is the way each author approaches the art of writing. Voice is "you," according to Graham Salisbury. Others say it is the identity of the writing, the way words flow, what makes the piece unique. I personally like Linda Fraustino's definition: "voice is attitude with rhythm."

Personality. Uniqueness. Attitude. Rhythm. The way words move and flow. The writer's thumbprint. Who you are. In other words, the life that a writer breathes into words.

The past year's been good for me in exploring the idea of voice--in writing and in blogging. Along the way, I picked up some tips that have been beneficial. I list them here in hopes they will help you as well.

1. Practice. Write. Write to your word count goals. Write character sketches. Free write. Journal. Write, as Backes says, simply for the pleasure of writing and not always necessarily with an eye toward publication. "Over time, with lots of practice," she says, "your voice will emerge, if you let it."

2. Let Go. I recently read an article in which Patricia Lee Gauch related how, as a young writer working for a local newspaper, she had an experience that helped her understand voice. A story she had submitted came back with these words from the editor: "This piece has no energy, no pizzazz...I want to hear your Voice." She said he looked at her to make sure she was listening. "You are going to have to let go when you write." Helpful words to us all. Let go. Self-conscious, "trying-to-get-it-right" writing will come across in just that way. Relax. Let the words flow.

3. Close Your Eyes--and Write Like You Talk. Again from Backes: " The best voices appear when authors write as they speak. (So) try typing your writing exercise with your eyes closed so you can't see the computer screen. Closing your eyes also helps you focus inward where the story is conceived. Then you'll be guided by how the words sound and feel, and that's the closest thing to your true voice."

4. Give it Time--and Be Patient. Allowing your voice to develop is a process--and it will be hampered if you try too hard. Backes: "Give it time, and remember that each of you already possesses your destined writing fingerprint. If you're patient, you can place that fingerprint on your work."

5. Expect to Write a Million Bad Words First. This comes from agent and kidlit.com's Mary Kole, in a guest post at Guide to Literary Agents (11/23/10). Daunting, but so true. "In order to get published or anywhere near publishable," Mary says, "you've got to write about a million bad words. That's right. A million of 'em. Only after you write a whole bargeload of BS will you: a) start to recognize what's good, and b) start getting a handle on the craft. Writing is a thing to be practiced, just like everything else. Write every day. Do it diligently and without ego until those milion bad words are behind you."

6. Be Persistent. I especially love this piece of advice. "To understand voice," according to Salisbury, "you must invest long hours of hard work. You can eat an elephant a bite at a time, and that's how we improve--a bite at a time." I don't know about you, but I'm determined to eat the elephant!

7. Be Yourself. Les Edgerton, in Finding Your Voice, says it this way: "Your mama was right: just be yourself, honey, and eveyone will love you, pimples, bad haircut, gap teeth and all. Just be yourself, compassionate or ironic, flirtatious or embarrassed, imperfect and real; with your style, your tone, and your sense of humor...Loosen up, improvise...Your words, your language. Not language borrowed."

8. Listen, and READ. Listen to others. Listen to the way you talk. Listen to other writers by reading--and read alot. "Really listen to people talk. Listen to yourself. Read all kinds of writing, from comic novels to journalistic essays, and think about how the voice works," says Editor Amy Flynn.

9. Read Your Work Outloud. "Read your work out loud to yourself and to audiences and clean up all areas that falter." This from Wendy Lamb, Editor.

10. Play with Words. "Play with words. Play the same scene from multiple perspectives...Practice the possibilities and know where your best writing flows."--Linda Fraustino

So voice comes down to this: write, write, write; read, read, read; practice; play. Repeat. To paraphrase a line from the movie Field of Dreams: if you write it, voice will come.

Now to a giveaway! I have a copy of Bear Snores On I'd love to give away. All you have to do is post a comment here by Tuesday, December 21. The winner will be announced the next day, Dec. 22. Two chances if you are a follower. You and/or the one to whom you read it are in for a real treat.

"...Ultimately if we are to succeed, we must discover and disclose our own voice...sense of style...particular embrace of language and information. Consider by way of explanation these words: authentic, nonformulaic, rhythmic, properly detailed, nuanced, musical, magical, bone-and-sinew touching...Consider writing that pulses with a heartbeat of the writer--his soul, her personality--something that connot be duplicated because it comes from within someone." --Peter Jacobi