Announcements, Announcements, Ano-ou-oun-cements!

Did you ever sing that refrain at summer camp? We did. Every meal time, the camp director would have some sort of announcement for us. Crafts in the lodge this afternoon. Baseball on the meadow before dinner. That kind of thing. My post today consists of a few announcements for the writerly community.

1. No SCBWI meeting in Boise for the month of January, since it is a holiday (and my husband’s 50^th birthday!).  We will be sending out a survey to all members about wishes for 2012 meetings, so if you’d like to take part, let me know.
2. However, great SCBWI news. Debut author Sarah Tregay’s book in verse, Love and Leftovers, is now on sale in hard cover and e-book. A Book L[a]unch celebration will be held at Rediscovered Books in downtown Boise on January 6th. Sarah will be hosting a pizza party from noon to one, and a reading and signing event in the evening at 7 pm.
3. And if you want some motivation to get your writing jump started in the New Year, join Carol Lynch Williams and her friends for their writing version of Project Runway, which they’re calling Project Writeway. I know Carol, and everything she does has a sense of humor as well as a serious, get-better-as-a-writer attitude. Check her blog for more info: http://throwingupwords.wordpress.com.

 

Que Sera, Sera

Whatever will be, will be. The future’s not ours to see.

While my husband was having his sixtieth (or so) surgery on Tuesday, I was sitting in the waiting room. I picked up the December 19, 2011 copy of People magazine. There was an article featuring Doris Day. What could I take from the original girl next door, screen legend, Doris Day?

Plenty.

At age eighty-seven, Doris Day has released a new album, My Heart.

Yes, this woman has lived a life many wish they could claim. She was a big band singer, a movie star, and followed with a move to television in the sixties.

Life isn’t all highs.

As a teen, Ms. Day studied singing. This was after a car accident which forced her to have two years of bed rest. How bad was that accident? In further research, I discovered that accident changed her career path. She had wanted to be a dancer.

Ms. Day was married four times. Three of those marriages ended in divorce. The article didn’t go into details, but I recall at least one of those husbands was abusive.

Then there was the lawyer who squandered millions of her hard-earned dollars. Her third husband committed her to the television show as well as television specials without consulting her. She didn’t discover this until after his death. Did I mention that her third husband and his partner were her lawyers, the ones that squandered her money? The article didn’t mention that either. My research unearthed that information.

Her most devastating blow was the death of her son, Terry. I know how awful such an event is. Ms. Day said she keeps him with her.

How often have we heard that life is how you deal with the adversity thrown in your path?

Ms. Day ended the interview with these words. “Enjoy each day-it’s not coming back again.”

What does this have to do with writing?

Everything.

I know we struggle to tell our stories, but we need to enjoy the steps we take on our journey.

Whatever will be, will be.

 

Resolutions

The countdown has begun. Three more days to the new year. 2012.

There is still time to make good on at least one of those resolutions from 2011 that didn’t quite get done. Time to begin organizing that closet that you promised you’d do last year around this time. Time to run a mile and ease off a few of those Christmas cookies. Or at least do a fast walk. And time to start planning your resolutions for next year.

2012.

It’s still a bit shocking to me. It always is. It’s on every calendar and yet when the time rolls around I’m always still taken aback. Another year? Again? So soon?

I think back on the past year – accomplishments, joys, sad times and the things that didn’t quite get done. Some years I make an actual list, others it’s a mental one. This year I plan to write down my resolutions for 2012. I’ll have some of my old favorites on it: lose those 15 pounds and get published. They’ve been on my list for two years now, but I take the glass half full view and imagine that someday I’ll have them checked off.

I’ll also be adding a few new ones this year: getting my index finger fully functional and taking time to enjoy the journey, both with my family and my writing. My husband reminded me on Christmas to take a moment to enjoy this time. Our daughters are six and eight. We may not have another breathless anticipation of Santa’s arrival. We’re approaching the teenage years.

He was right and I enjoyed that moment – that sweetness of childhood innocence and wonder. And I realized that I should also take time periodically to enjoy the writing journey. Take stock of what I have accomplished and what goals I’m still striving for. These moments won’t last. We’ll reach that next stage – finishing that book, landing an agent, signing a contract – and we’ll be off on our next journey.

This year I wrote a totally different type of book, loved every minute of it and discovered new aspects of my writing that I didn’t know existed. I’m taking some time to enjoy that. And then I’m going to improve upon it.

What have you enjoyed this past year? What are your plans for the next?

 

Socially Maladjusted and Loving it

Every December since I can remember, I’ve watched Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, listened to Burl Ives, and wondered why anyone would want to leave the cozy bungalow pictured on the Island of Misfit Toys. Meeting other writers at this second stage of my life has been a kind of homecoming. A safe, logical island in a sea of homogeneous inanity.

These people make sense to me. They understand heroes and heroines becoming friends of sorts – imaginary ones, true. I start hanging around writers and get the sense I’m normal. Until, another December tradition rears up and bites my ass. The ‘holiday’ concert.

Technically, public schools are separate from religious practice, but the ‘holiday’ concert in my school district is a thinly veiled Christmas concert with a couple of Hanukah and Kwanza songs thrown into the mix. THAT bugs me because it would be nice to celebrate diversity all year long. BUT, I digress . . . the real problem with this December tradition is attending the concert with hordes of parents . . . these people don’t listen to the voices in their heads, buy paper and ink in bulk, or become giddy at a bag of office supplies.

These people are normal.

They chat about Sally Sue’s piano lessons and how sweet Bobby looked all dressed up for the prom. And, their kids are normal, too. (And I might add – bland and uninteresting.)

My kids – bless their hearts – will stage a murder scene using the gingerbread men I baked and left cooling on the counter as a way to help me with a plot point. Admittedly, they picked up the idea from Shrek where the evil Duke tortured the gingerbread man, but still, the little dears. Crumbs and tinted decorative sugars turn into blood splatter and bullet casings. Limbs can be tossed aside. Cookie carnage sustains the creative mind. And the pieces are now conveniently bite-sized (few calories per cookie!!).

Only my writer friends appreciate my retelling of this story. The ‘normals’ look at me in shock and revulsion. What!? The cookies still taste the same.

So, I seek out my writing friends as the psychosis of December wanes. I’ll thank them for their patience in seeing me through a difficult year and treasure them in the coming one.

As this year closes, thank you to everyone who participated in Gem State Writers (through blogs and comments). I’ve learned more about writing, met some wonderful kindred souls, and can’t wait to see what this next year brings . . . hopefully, a little less ‘normal’ and a whole lot more ‘misfit’!

 

What Homeschooling Taught Me About Being a Writer. . .

photo by Renata Osinska at www.dreamstime.com

I recently returned to homeschooling my daughter after taking a couple of years off to write full time. As I studied “teaching tips” from various homeschool groups, I realized that much of their advice would be helpful to writers trying to increase their word count or improve their craft.

Here are a few homeschool tips I found useful in my writing life:

You get more done if you start out with a plan.  I’m not talking about boring outlines or the dreaded synopsis here. In writing, I have always been a pantser. But it helps to start off the day with a realistic idea of what can be accomplished and the determination to reach that goal.

The same thing can be said for writing a scene. Writers often seem to write several unnecessary paragraphs “warming up” or setting the stage before they get to the heart of a scene. Since those paragraphs are almost always cut in editing, it’s worth taking a moment to think about scene goals before writing.

They’ll remember what stands out from the ordinary. It’s better to do hands-on research than to read a textbook. Take a field trip. Meet an expert. When writing, go for the big scenes, but pay attention to the telling details.

Tackle the important topics first. Things that are scheduled for late in the day don’t always get finished. Start with what’s hard or important, and save the easier tasks for when your brain is fried.

Persistence pays. Just as no new student learns an entire year’s curriculum in one day, no writer becomes a published author overnight. It’s recommended that homeschool students put in 900 hours per year. The average writer needs to make a similar time commitment in order to learn their craft.

Exercise is important. Get up. Run around. Go outside. You’ll feel energized and get more done.

Sometimes you need to take a reading day.  In writing, as in homeschooling, there are days when the plan just won’t work. Maybe the words aren’t flowing or you’re not feeling 100%. Don’t feel bad if all you can manage is a reading day. We all need down time to process what we’ve learned. Just make sure you get back to work as soon as you’re recharged.

Snuggle often. The joys of homeschooling and writing are remarkably similar. What other jobs can you do in your pajamas with your loved ones close at hand? As writers, it’s easy to get caught up in the work and neglect family time. Don’t miss out on the greatest perk in our chosen career, staying home with out families.

Keep in touch with your friends. Homeschoolers know the importance of avoiding social isolation. Buried under our manuscripts and rejections letters, writers need support too. A weekly coffee date with friends can be the perfect way to jumpstart your writing.

Does your day job teach you anything about writing? I would love to hear your stories of writing lessons learned in unexpected places.