Write It Down!

Yesterday’s Mother’s Day Brunch seemed to spawn an array of great book ideas! They came one right after the other: characters names, titles, and plots. Every two seconds I was saying, “That’s a great idea for a book!” much to the amusement of my family. Today, I am ashamed to say I only remember one of the things we talked about. I didn’t write anything down and now all those lovely ideas and images have wafted off to settle in someone else’s head. I truly believe that, you know. If you don’t seize an idea and run with it – someone else will. So don’t be like me – write everything down, make a computer file, store those snippets on your Kindle or your Ipad but record them SOMEWHERE! Don’t allow all those wonderful, creative inspirations to end up in someone else’s resume! Oh good, I just remembered a plot from yesterday – see, even blogging is therapeutic!

Friends and Neighbors

I have decided there are subtle differences in the way friends and neighbors are received at my house. My closest neighbor used to drop in a moment’s notice. She didn’t mind stepping over the dog’s dish or sitting beside the clean laundry that was being sorted on the kitchen island. If the cat peered into her coffee cup, it was okay.  I had witnessed the disturbance of daily life at her house, too, been slobbered on by her Doberman and had her horse snort all over me while we talked by the fence. Her children had learned to walk hanging on to my jeans with sticky fingers and my daughters had learned to ride on her horses. We were more than friends, we were neighbors.

Now, I love my friends, too, but I usually have advance notice of their visits. The event is planned – a Friday night movie or Saturday night dinner. There are picnics and antique shopping and going out to lunch. All occasions I look forward to and enjoy. BUT, I make sure the dishes are done and put away before my friends come. I vacuum the rug and dust. If there is time, I put a fresh flower arrangement on the table. The message I am sending is that my house looks this neat all the time. It doesn’t – but I like to pretend that it does for my friends. I suspect they pretend sometimes with me, too.

So, it comes down to this: we need both our friends and our neighbors. Each of them fills a need, giving companionship and comfort in subtly different ways. But if  there is an emergency at midnight, it is my neighbor that I feel free to call. I’ll wait until after 8 am to deliver the news to my friends!

First Impressions

First impressions are everything! How often have you heard it said that if you can’t grab an editor’s attention on the first page, the rest of your manuscript won’t be read. This isn’t just true of editors either. How often have you, personally, read the first page of a book at the library or a bookstore and then put it back on the shelf in disappointment? I used to be committed to finishing every book I started. I was certain that each writer had some small gem of wisdom to impart if I searched hard enough. Either those gems don’t really exist or my time seems more precious to me now. There are so many excellent books waiting to be read that I don’t want to waste my time on the mundane and mediocre. So, wow me, enthrall me, mystify and mesmerize me, but do it on the first page, please, before I lose interest!

2012 First Annual Bloggers Read Across the Globe (BRAG) Project

On March 20, Jo Ann Kairys’ BRAG Project is featuring me along with three other children’s authors. Please head over to storyquestbooks.com for more information and SPECIAL BONUSES!

 Jo Ann Kairys is co-author and co-illustrator of the children’s picture book, Sunbelievable, winner of the Mom’s Choice Gold Medal 2012 Award.  Jo Ann is also Founder of the 2012 First Annual Bloggers Read Across the Globe (BRAG) Project, Promoting Children’s Reading and Literacy, one enthusiastic blogger at a time.

Writing More, Blogging Less

Most writers have full-time jobs as well as writing, emailing, maintaining websites,  blogging, tweeting, pinning, Facebooking, linking, and whatever else social networking throws at us! It’s tough trying to make time for friends and family. It’s harder yet to find any downtime. Sometimes, my mind feels like a overtaxed computer with insufficient memory and an outdated version of Windows. I can’t do everything. It’s not humanly possible. And when I try to do everything, I don’t do anything well. So, my weekly blog has turned into a monthly blog, if I’m lucky. Facebook is a low priority and my tweeting has dwindled to occasional chirps.  I have to meet my writing deadlines and I want to spend time with my family. If cutting back on cyber-interaction is the tradeoff, then I can live with that!

 

Writing in the Check Out Line

Details enrich writing. Fortunately, they aren’t hard to find. Material is constantly available, ready to be mixed into whatever literary concoction you are working on. Gather characters and images while you stand in line at the grocery store: That sobbing baby who pats his mother’s shoulder with every plantive wail, the shuffling old man who holds the door for his wife even though she is much more mobile than he is,  gritty rock salt in pools of melting snow, or the lone red M&M tumbling down the conveyor belt to the check out register. Enjoy the wait and jot down the details  in the car before you forget them. All those little gems will make your readers feel as though they are standing right there with you!

Winter Evenings

Dark  winter evenings draw us inexorably inward, just as people used to gather to hear stories around a crackling fire. We may think times have changed but we still crave the warmth and comfort of the metaphorical hearth when the wind moans and snow piles up around the doorstep.  We still yearn for stories even though the vehicles that deliver them have changed dramatically.

Maybe you stumble across your daily dose of storytelling in the newspaper or the internet. Or do you settle down to watch your favorite TV show or rent a movie to pass these long winter nights? There is nothing like a good story, whether we want the indefinable lift that a happy ending brings, the thrill of an unexpected play by our favorite team, or the momentary terror of an urban legend! Whether you chose TV, or movies, a book, a Kindle, or a Nook you are continuing to satisfy an ancient need to define yourself and your life through storytelling.  Fortunately, some things never change!