Monthly Archives: October 2017
Celebrate the Small Things: Remember the Greatness of Today #FridayFeeling
Fridays are all about celebrating the Small Things thanks to a weekly blog hop created by author Lexa Cain. Joint co-hosts this week are authors L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog The mission coincides with what I’m hoping to do with my own writing, inspire and focus on the light when those slippery shadows creep around our shoes. Want to sign up? Click Lexa Cain’s link to find out more.
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I haven’t written a grateful post in sometime. But this week, I have a lot of smiley moments and I need the gentle reminder to believe in the small miracle of today. I need to remember that today, no matter what happens, we are still making progress of some kind. We are still doing something great for someone, no matter if we recognize that or not.
So what has happened this week and what can I celebrate?
Sunday night, my 5-year cat was clearly ill. He moped around the living room and wasn’t interested in dinner time. The biggest problem? He stopped using the litter box and invented a new strategy to use his personal facilities on top of my washing machine. Needless to say, my heart hit the floor. I knew I had to take him in to the vet the next morning. I also knew I needed to shift his current surroundings to keep him from using the same spot in my laundry room. But I always think of the hardest solution, and when my daughter gently said, “Mom. What if you scoot his box forward and close that door. He’ll still be in the bathroom mom. His food bowl could go right there.”
It was so easy. I couldn’t believe my 7-year old came up with such a perfect solution. I hugged her. I thanked her and mentioned what a brilliant solution to the problem she created, and I was proud of her. My cat was better off for the night too.
Monday, Reading several chapters out of the book Wonder to my two snuggle bunnies on the couch, my heart just beamed for the compassion my kids had for the character in the book. The narrator is a fifth grader with a disease impacting his physical appearance. My kids are such bright little souls and I feel so grateful every day I get to hold them and talk to them about what’s going on in their lives.
Tuesday is piano day. My son doesn’t like to practice, but he loves it when he succeeds. I think we sometimes always begin there, with a really great dream we are scared to act and commit to. What if we fail? But the question is, what if we don’t?
Wednesday, a stranger wants to pay it forward. I receive a phone call at my desk about paying off a student lunch balance. I ask her who, she says she has no one in mind. Just the most delinquent account in the school district where I work. WOW.
Thursday, My honey has dinner ready for me and the kids when I get home. He’s just given me back a good hour of my time. I love that. I love that he jumps in to help. On the writing side? I’ve been working hard on so many great new scenes for my star person book. I can’t wait. I am feeling so good about my characters and the direction it’s taking.
Lasty, today is Friday. My heart is full of small wonders and blessings. I want to hold on to that. I want to remember how lucky I am. I want to say thank you and blessings to you for who you are and what you are striving to do. Smile. Shine brightly.
Last great word of the day …
Writing Scenes In Unique Perspectives #AuthorToolboxBlogHop
The Author Toolbox Blog Hop is “a monthly blog hop on the theme of resources/learning for authors: posts related to the craft of writing, editing, querying, marketing, publishing, blogging tips for authors, reviews of author-related products, anything that an author would find helpful.” Want to jump into the writing tool box? Search #AuthorToolboxBlogHop or to join via blog, click here.
Thank you Raimey!
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Years ago, I attended a leadership communication course. I learned how to handle confrontations in the workplace. The key is to remember this formula: every action between two or more people contains an instance, a generated feeling, and a reaction or response. I also learned in the course of that workshop, the importance our backstories play in the generated feeling and the end result/response. We all tell a different story based on unique and different key findings from our pasts. We all need to realize we might not always be right.
As I’ve discovered, this formula is also true in writing.
Today, I’m sharing a great writing exercise to develop ultimate conflict and to also reflect on different points of view and character interest in telling the story. This exercise was something I encountered in 90 Days to Your Novel. Completing it changed the way I write my character voices and action scenes.
Here’s my gentle interpretation:
- Pick three to four characters in your book. I picked 4, 2 major and 2 minor characters.
- Put them all in the same scene. Write out their views based on their backgrounds and what you know is true about their character and their voices.
- Then, make something go wrong where they question the course of their life or the instance changes them in such a way they can’t go back.
- Next, reflect on each character and what they mean to your protagonist.
In my exercise, I wrote about a life changing death of an important character to two main characters and two minor characters. I hand wrote my ideas in a quad drawn graphic organizer with each character name in a box. I wrote out details of the where and the what for each character when the earth shattering news hit them. I wrote out the action, the thinking, and their unique and different reactions based on their backgrounds. Then I reflected on the differences.
The important part is to let the exercise sit for a day or two before you revisit it. After reading my reflection I learned more in that two-hour writing period than I had all year.
It taught me the values in flashback scenes, points of view, and the possibility of combining some of the reflections in present action scenes. It taught me something about life for my books.
My purpose for today’s post you might wonder? If you haven’t done something like this, try it. It’s a fun way to break out of the ordinary writing routine and dig into all of your characters.
Thank you for stopping in today. I hope I helped give you something new to think about 🙂
Personal Passions Contribute to Greater Joys #IWSG #amwriting
[I wrote this post as a member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group where we share our worries and also offer support and encouragement to each other on the first Wednesday of every month. If you’re a writer like me and you’re looking for a bit of support, you can click the link and sign up here]
This month’s awesome hosts are, Olga Godim, Chemist Ken, Jennifer Hawes, and Tamara Narayan.
Thank you so much! And thank you founder Alex J. Cavanaugh!
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I love writing. I love the worlds I create. People ask me all the time, it’s so much work, why do you keep doing it?
I began to write and explore thoughts as a lonely teen on a search for answers to the confusion I felt on the inside. I took my problems and I created worlds to deal with them.
I still do.
About to fill up another cup of IWSG 🙂
Currently, I love to study the strength of the human soul. I’ve learned the themes in life that strike me hard also make others cringe on the inside too. I’m good at imagination and living inside my head. I guess it’s been a strength of mine since the beginning. I see and feel problems. I’ve faced them whether successfully or not, and I want to share these battles with other young people who may feel them too.
So to answer this month’s IWSG question: “Have you ever slipped any of your personal information into your characters, either by accident or on purpose?”
Yes, I do. The people I love are characters in my stories. The people I have conflict with are characters in my stories. This world to me is about people, communication and how to live the life we truly mean and want to.
Fun Updates.
Writing Workshops. I put together a quick flash fiction workshop for middle school students and delivered it to three honors sections of 7th grade English Language Arts kiddos. I’m thrilled to be their first exposure into the creative writing world. November presents another workshop opportunity for teens. I’ll be working with a huge group of 8th grade English Language Arts Students on developing memorable characters in fiction. I can’t wait!
Great inspiring movies:
Wonder Woman. I finally rented the Redbox and watched Wonder Woman Sunday morning. Holy moly. It blew me away. I loved every aspect of the movie as it brought back so many amazing memories I loved about Wonder Woman as a kid. I did miss the invisible jet, but LOVED the lasso. 😉
Lastly, I leave you with this:
Cloud Nine Girl 