Elizabeth Gilbert

Friday Check-In and Kidlit Writing Contest

It’s been an up and down week with my writing. I’ve managed to slog through some pages, but haven’t felt ‘in the groove’ at all. Maybe when this thunderstormy heat wave passes and my propensity for migraines brought on by weird weather patterns is no longer challenged, I’ll get back in gear. Or maybe it’s just a slump, and as usual, things will get better if I just keep showing up. Probably the latter. Speaking of “just showing up” here’s a link to my oft-viewed TED Talk by Elizabeth Gilbert “Your elusive creative genius.” I highly recommend viewing this when the writing is at a standstill. I may be watching it today! Here’s  the TED Talk summary: Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses — and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius. It’s a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.

The following link to Kristi Holl’s Blog “Warning: Do You Know Where You Are?” takes a different slant on reaching your goals.

Here’s an excerpt:

“No matter what type of map you use (Google map, MapQuest, GPS or the old-fashioned paper kind), you first have to know where you are right now. Knowing your destination won’t help one iota if you don’t know your present location.

And why don’t we writers know where we are at this moment? Are we lost? Not really. More like deluded. We deceive ourselves about our true locations at the present time. (I do it too. We all do it.) And that’s one big reason why our “maps” don’t work and don’t get us to our destinations.”

I have soooo been there–and, no doubt, will be there again.

Finally, here is a link and some information about a kidlit writing contest, deadline July.

Current Contest at Children’s Writer: Kindergarten Story: Exploration!

http://www.thechildrenswriter.com/af627/

Specifications: Fiction about exploration for kindergarteners, up to 150 words. The story should be appropriate to children 5 to 7 learning to read on their own. The theme of exploration could be set at home, down the block, at school, on vacation, in books: Use your imagination! The story should be fun, colorful, use well-targeted words, and have special interest for the age group. Do not write too high for this readership. Know what a five- or seven-year-old can and cannot read. Originality and the overall quality of writing will also be considered. Publishability is the ultimate criterion.

Entries must be received by July 12, 2013. The first contest entry is free to Children’s Writer subscribers who include their account number on page one of their manuscript. All others pay an entry fee of $15, which includes an 8-month subscription. Winners will be announced in the October 2013 issue. Prizes: $500 for first place plus publication in Children’s Writer, $250 for second place, and $100 for third, fourth, and fifth places.

The contest rules are important. Please read them carefully.

Love to know what you think of the TED Talk or Kristi’s blog, or if you’re thinking of entering the contest. Have a great weekend!

Just Showing Up

 

From Manuscript to Print: The Evolution of the Medieval Book – Cornell University

A friend of mine has spent several months now sticking to her daily writing goal of ‘just showing up.’ Inspired by Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED Talk, she doesn’t set a daily word count or number of hours spent at the keyboard or journal that, once accomplished, means that she’s met her goal. Her goal is just to turn up ready to write and do the best she can. And it’s working. Stories are being written, ideas are flowing, and on the days when the stories aren’t written and the ideas don’t flow, she knows she’s done her part and showed up.Well, suddenly finding myself with time to write and actually having absolutely no ideas, I decided to do the same thing. I decided to “show up” in my own way. Several years ago I wrote a couple of children’s stories set in England around 1190. They were going to part of a mystery series, but I’d never been happy with how I’d constructed the mysteries. I liked the characters a lot, but the stories were clunky, so I decided to show up by doing my homework. I uploaded James N. Frey’s How to Write a Damn Good Mystery to my Kobo reader, freed a journal from my stash and started reading, taking notes and doing the exercises. This was becoming my (almost) daily writing routine, and being a born student, I was enjoying the work. Then—

I went to the last of three medieval history and art presentations at the local Joseph Schneider Haus Museum, and I found out why I was “showing up.” The final presentation was about medieval bookmaking and was presented by miniature painter and limner, Debbie Thompson-Wilson. By the time I’d driven home, I had started building the frame of my story. Lessons from the Frey book connected to the pieces I was assembling in my imagination, and the characters that I thought I already knew spoke with stronger voices.

Now I know there is a long way to go before what I have in my head and in my journal actually becomes a final product—but I wouldn’t be on a journey at all if I hadn’t followed my friend’s advice and just “showed up.”

Where and when do your stories come to you? Do you find that they appear more often when you have nothing to write or do they arrive when you’re engrossed in other projects? How to you prime the imagination well?

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