inspiration

Write Every Day

Well, as usual, things don’t always work out the way you hoped–especially in the self-publishing world. What I thought would take a week, took a little longer. The journal is up and ready at Createspace and Amazon(more about that below) and the grammar book is still a work in progress. Of course. the delay was a result of my own distraction. Once I sorted out how to design a cover on Canva, I realized that I actually had two more journals just waiting to be created–so I did those, too. Now 201 Writing Prompts and Writing Prompts and More are journals, too! I’m just waiting for my next batch of ISBNs and then I can get those in print, too.

I wanted to get the Write Every Day journal out in time for writers who might like to get in training for NaNoWriMo, and I just squeaked under the wire. Goal accomplished–though the journal is really for any writer, any time.

The idea for the journal began after reading that it takes approximately 66 days to create a habit. That’s a long slog on your own, so Write Every Day: a journal for building your Daily Writing Habit (158 pages) gives you 66 writing prompts, some needed encouragement along the way, an extra 50 writing prompts in case you’re just not in the mood for the one assigned, plus a few coloring images that you can use to colour your way to creativity. I hope you check it out if  you need to work on a daily writing habit or if you know a writer who needs a creative boost.

I’m planning to enjoy my last two weeks of freedom before prep for school starts again. I hope you’ve been enjoying your summer. I’ve certainly been enjoying mine, but part of me is an autumn person. I like the changes and the idea of starting something new–new students, new challenges, new colours in the leaves, new freshness in the air. Maybe it’s because I was born in October, or maybe it’s just part of my DNA, but fall is when I like to start fresh–a bit like the New Year but a few months early. What about  you? Is the fall a time for new beginnings for you? Or do real changes happen after New Year’s Eve?

Whatever your timetable, I hope that writing and creating are still at the top of your to-do lists!

Oh, and here’s a sneak peek at the new journal covers.

Writing Prompts and More journal210 journal cover

August 2013 Writing Prompts

The end of the storm
The end of the storm

Wow! August already. And you know what? That’s okay. I had a busy July and got a lot of writing done–including some for which I’m getting paid! I’m looking forward to another month of writing, some during a family vacation, and some definitely next week to accommodate a couple of late (and thankfully short) assignments. I love sending out invoices before I go on vacation!

In my last blog I talked about getting the sequel to The Dragon’s Pearl  finished–and I did! I finished it last Saturday, but because of other writing tasks on my plate, I haven’t looked at it since. Today I printed it out, and I’m looking forward to my first, sticky-note run through. I love editing and revising!

Here are some prompts to get you writing in August.

1. Use one, some or all of these words in a story or poem.

  • jar, paperweight, cloth, key, white, grip
  • flashlight, stone, shelf, mark, camera, run

2. See where these opening sentences lead your imagination.

  • Mrs. Winthrop was peeking out of her window again.
  • Inside the apartment, the air smelled of cigarettes–and death.
  • Ducan raised his hands and tossed a ball of light into the darkness.
  • The last person I expected to see here was Luke
  • I always saw more clearly after dark.

3. Maybe these titles will suggest a story.

For the Record, Time’s Key, Heart and Hope, The Long Climb, Circles, First Vision, Silver Stars

4. Write a description of your favourite place. How does it look? Smell? What do you eat there? Describe the tastes. What do you hear? What’s the pace of this place? Does it inspire activity or do you just kick back? When you look back at your writing, does the pace of your writing match the pace of the location? Are your sentences long, and slow-moving or are they short and full of energy and action?

Hope your August gets off to a creative start!

Heat Wave and Changes Made

My Neighbour's Flowers
My Neighbour’s Flowers

The cicadas are singing outside my window as I write and the fan is full in my face. Today, thankfully, there is a breeze, too–something that was sadly missing as I ran errands yesterday (in a none AC car) and caught up with a house and garden from which I’d been absent for ten days. In between, I spent chunks of time in front of the fan doing basically nothing or soaking my feet in cool water in an effort to feel more human. My son and his friend kept cool recording music in the basement. In the evening, I went to my last PWAC meeting—for a year.

I’ve been a member of the Professional Writers’ Association of Canada for over eight years now. I’ve served on local executives and was president when a few of us started our own branch in Kitchener.  I’ve met amazing people and been able to grow my freelance business with their help and inspiration, but I’m taking a year off. This wasn’t an easy decision to make. Our monthly meetings are always energizing and the people in the group are just plain fun to hang out with. It was tough to say good-bye, but—

I’ve set some writing/publishing goals for myself this coming year, and I also want to take some time to do another thing that I love (take singing lessons) and, well, something had to go–for a year. I’ve set a time limit in order to keep pressure on the other things I want to do. I have one self-published middle readers book, and I know, from my reading, that for self-publishing to work you need several books out there. So, I need to finish the sequel to The Dragon’s Pearl and get back to work on a series of medieval mysteries for middle readers that I’ve been playing with for several years.  Also, this fall, I will have three new courses to teach—-a lot of challenges ahead and lots of time needed to make everything work.

And I’m looking forward to all of it. I stewed about leaving PWAC for a long time, but once I made the decision, I knew it was the right one. So onward to lots of writing, lots of school work—and hopefully a break in the weather very soon!

Wherever you are, I hope you are having a cool and creative day!

Pen in Hand

IMG-20130709-00210Yesterday at Kristen Lamb’s Blog, Kristen listed 5 traits of the successful writer: passion, self-discipline, humility, healthy relationship with failure, and persistence.  She states, “We can have all the talent in the world, but without these five ingredients, we will be hard-pressed to ever reach our dreams.”

Each of the five traits on the list can be a challenge for me at one time or another, but the most consistent challenge is self-discipline. I am constantly distracted by my laptop life: Facebook, email, checking my blog stats, Free Cell and Spider Solitaire, Ravelry (looking for my next knitting project), reading other people’s blog posts, etc.. The writing/working time slips away as I roam from one distraction to another. I’m not alone. People are actually writing about this phenomenon. Here are two links to articles about what is being called Internet ADD:  http://zenhabits.net/8-practical-tips-to-cure-your-internet-add-attention-deficit-disorder/ and  http://kristiholl.net/writers-blog/2013/01/internet-based-add-do-you-have-it/

I’ve decided that the only cure is abstinence. I have the luxury of a lot of writing time this week, and finally, yesterday, I figured out what I had to do to get anything accomplished–and did it. I closed the laptop, got out my journal, and worked my way through the next chapter of my book. Today I’m going to type up my notes–on my NEO (no internet, just a nice clicky keyboard and a small screen.) I have three more days to myself this week and a lot to accomplish. I’ll let you know how this strategy works.

Do you get distracted by your online life? How do you switch off and get the work done? What’s your biggest challenge among Kristen’s 5 traits? Love to hear your thoughts and solutions.

Hope you have a creative week and find your own way to carve out some creative time and make progress toward your writing goals.

 

Other People’s Gardens

From my neighbour's garden.
From my neighbour’s garden.

I’m grabbing a few days away in Southampton–a town that inspires walking and stopping to smell the roses. Though I still have some work to do on a paid gig, I plan to commit a lot of time to working on the sequel to The Dragon’s Pearl–and walking.

I love looking at other people’s gardens. I’m no gardener myself, so it’s not envy, just simple admiration at the time people commit to creating beauty around them. I’m strictly a 1-large-pot-by-the-front-porch kind of person, and a lot of hostas, day lilies, and (sorry) goutweed to fill in the bits I don’t want to weed.

I hear that gardening is relaxing, but to me it’s just a battle that I wage with weeds when they’ve taken over too much of my turf. Last year was easy. We had no rain for months, so things stayed pretty tidy. This year, however, we have been blessed with lots of rain, and my weeds are in their happy place.

When I get back from my break, I’ll be digging and yanking and spraying (only the eco-friendly stuff, I promise) and then be able to relax for a while. That, of course, is the problem. I don’t go out there every day and do a little bit. I wait until I’m facing a weeding marathon. Not the best approach, I know.

In a Southampton garden
In a Southampton garden

With my writing, I do a little better. Since March I’ve been trying to be a better gardener for my creative side–doing a little bit of writing every day instead of putting a lot of pressure on myself to clear a big chunk of time and then do a big push through a project. Even a few words a day means I’m making progress, and that’s my happy place.

How do you nurture your writing projects? A little bit every day or a massive write-a-thon?

A Little Encouragement Goes a Long Way

I’ve found the perfect way to bring my writing to a complete halt. Lose confidence.

It was the right time to hear the right words.
It was the right time to hear the right words.

I was working on the sequel to The Dragon’s Pearl, and I was about half way through the first draft when the gloom began. I started worrying about the first book. Was it really any good? Am I wasting my time writing another?  And of course, those questions led to … Is anything that I’ve ever written any good? Can I even call myself a writer? Where is the chocolate? Is it time for a nap?

Yeah, well, you get the idea.

So, last week I passed the manuscript along to a friend who has children the same ages for which the book was written. Her son “liked it a lot.” She said a couple of other nice things, too, but I was so thrilled to read just those four words, I didn’t really need any more.  A child liked my book. Wow. Could it get any better? Not for me. Not right now.

I’ve been working on some paid gigs this week, but this afternoon is set aside to get back to the manuscript. I hope that you find some creative time today, too, and that the right person at exactly the right time says that they like what you wrote.

The_Dragon's_Pearl_Cover_for_Kindle

Friday Wrap-Up and July 2013 Writing Prompts

A Tagxedo view of my website.
A Tagxedo view of my website.

It’s a long weekend here, and I don’t expect to be spending a lot of time with the laptop, so I thought I’d publish the July prompts a bit early.

The week’s been full of interviews for articles, very hot weather, lots of errands, and a draft of a short story for middle readers. Looking back there was a lot of sitting in front of a fan with a cold drink, too. We’re looking forward to a barbeque with family on the weekend, and maybe a game of golf, along with celebrating my mom’s 85th birthday. She gets teased that the main reason she immigrated to Canada was to get a holiday on her birthday.

Hope those of you who have some special holidays and events over the coming week have a fabulous time with family and friends.

Here are the July prompts.

1. Use one, some or all of the following words in a story, scene or poem:

Coffee, star, pen, match, envy
Park, window, fear, strand, frame

2. Try one of these sentences to begin a story.

a) Mud bubbled and spat.
b) Matt fell against the bars.
c) “Table for thirteen, please.”
d) Our call ended with a bang.
e) I loved flying.
f) Pat straightened another picture frame.

3. See what scenes these lines of dialogue suggest to you.

Do all dragons breathe fire?
Not all.
What about this one?

Why do you suppose we’re all here?
I only know what I’ve been told.
And what’s that?
Don’t ask questions.

The hard drive crashed.
I warned you.

It’s not like it is on TV is it?
Not much is, kid.

That’s not how you do that.
And you know better?
Yes.
Show me.

4. Create a story to go with one of these titles: Peter Piper Picked Me, Left Over, Wheel of Misfortune, On the Shelf, Search and Rescue, Call Me Never, Book Room, Full Plate, Brush-Off, Keeping Casey.

5. Do you ever want to write down your dreams so you can remember them, or are they the kind of dreams that you want to forget as soon as possible? How does your character feel about his or her dreams? Describe a nightmare that your character might have. Think about what that nightmare says about your character and his or her past or present.

Have a great weekend!

Writing Links: From Outlines to Submissions to Cursive Writing

A Shoreline View
A Shoreline View

I’ve found some interesting links in the past few days that I want to pass along.

The first is a blog by one of my favourite writers/bloggers Elizabeth S. Craig. In her post, “Chalk One Up for Outlining,” Craig explains that she is not an outliner by nature. “I despise outlining and I hate following outlines.” If you feel the same way, you might like to read how she found a way to make it work for her.

I loved Darcy Pattison’s blog post, “6 Ways Out of Writing Slump.” I could really identify with her reasons for letting writing fiction slide, and I could also see how her suggestions could make a difference.

If you’re getting a project ready to submit to a publisher, read about what seven agents say can stop editors and agents reading: “Seven Agents Talk About the Most Common Submission Mistakes.” Their comments cover the synopsis, the query and your first pages.

Finally if you love writing in journals or with pen/pencil and paper, you might be interested in this opinion piece by Andrew Coyne that was written in response to a report about the lack of teaching of cursive writing in school. “Words on paper – how we write affects what we write.” 

I’d love to hear your feedback on any of these links. Who do you follow for great writing advice?

Music and Work and School

Conductor's Baton and Sheet MusicJust had to pass this link along to CBC Radio. CBC has compiled a playlist for students to listen to while preparing for exams. There are also a couple of links to information about the connections between music and the brain. I’ve been listening to this playlist since Monday while I wrote a story and did some prep for my fall courses. I’m a classical music fan anyways, but this is a compilation that I’ve really been enjoying. http://music.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2013/6/Ace-your-exams-with-a-classical-music-playlist-for-studying
Do you listen to music when you work? If you do, what music do you prefer? Do you play music in your classroom while your students are working or do you ever let them listen to their own music during class work periods?

June 2013 Writing Prompts

Peonies - My favourite June flower
Peonies – My favourite June flower

I can’t believe it’s June already. We had every kind of weather in May from snow to a heat wave with thunderstorms, high winds and hail in between. I’m hoping that June calms down a little–and not just here, but for those other parts of North America that have already had enough destructive weather to last a lifetime.Here are the writing prompts for June. If you don’t find any of these inspiring, you can find lots to write about at the Writing Prompts tab above, too. Hope you have a creative month!

1. Use one, some, or all of these words in a story or poem.

a) music, heart, fear, jacket, flower, door

b) basket, park, jewel, mirror, thunder, hope

2. Here are some opening lines for your story.

a) Jenny smelled like cookies.

b) It was only 8:30, and already I knew I should have stayed in bed.

c) Red cars are best.

d) The wind moaned in the chimney.

e) Flat tires aren’t funny.

3. Some things I think of when I think of June. Maybe they’ll inspire a story or poem.

weddings, the longest day, summer solstice, “June is busting out all over,” June bride, D-Day, Juno, school’s out, June bug, report cards, graduation, Father’s Day, midsummer, taking off the first hay, fresh mown grass, bird song, gardens, planting, change.

4. Here are some lines of dialogue that you can use to create a story.

a) I’ve had enough

Enough what?

Enough you.

b) I’ve stepped in something

You’re right. Now, keep moving.

What is it?

You don’t want to know.

c) There’s a light flashing.

Don’t worry. It’s only a problem if it’s red.

It’s red.

5. The year is nearly half over. Where are you with the resolutions you made in January? Is it time to make some new ones? Are you making progress? Are New Year’s resolutions just dumb anyways?

Hope you have fun with these prompts and find some joywriting time for yourself in the next 30 days!

 

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