Think about this for a moment. When we write or talk about things do we use our past experiences during those times or do we just guess and hope what we say make sense to others. Personally, I think the best comes from the things we have personally experienced. For example, how could someone write about loss and how it feels if they have never been through any kind of loss. There are different types of loss. Losing a job. Losing a pet. Losing a friend or even just the friendship itself. … [Read more...]
Day 103: Closing the Gap
In our own world as we are learning to write down what has formed in our heads, whether a story idea or a journal entry, we all have a place where we start and somehow learn to close the gap to where we want to be. I still remember the first night I sat down to start writing the story idea that came to me. I wrote a little bit of it and then read it to my hubby. It was listening to his reader perspective and how in his experience of reading that he helped me to better the story I had come up … [Read more...]
Day 102: Five Things Writers Can Learn from Cats
1. Stay focused. As writers it's important to stay focused on our writing to make it the best we can. When we don't we end up with a mess and more likely than not have to go back and either do some major edits or to rewrite it all. No fun at all. So staying fucused is paramount to making the writing successful. 2. Retain mystery. It's important to keep the story a mystery so the reader will continue to keep the reader engrossed in the story otherwise they would lose interest. 3. Hunt … [Read more...]
Day 101: Waiting for the Train
We all have our ways of writing. Some write on a computer. Some write on paper. Some write in a journal. Some write on post-it notes. We each have our own unique way of doing things. When we do sit down to write do we allow ourselves to get into the moment to really take off like a freight train and everything flows smoothly out or are we trying to force something that may not be right for what is being written, especially writing a book. So far I'm the latter. If I'm feeling the story I'm … [Read more...]
Making it to 100
It's hard to believe I've been at this year-long quest of mine for 100 days already. I've been able to write about so many different things. Most of the time I'm either able to share about Mari or my writing experience so far. In a way it's like I'm bearing a part of my soul with all of you. Even if you never get to meet me in person you can start to get to know me as a person through my writing. And just think, five years ago I'd have never thought I'd have become a writer. It was the … [Read more...]
Day 100: Writing as Therapy
Since I can remember I have kept a diary. I think I was in the fourth grade when Grandma Patton sent me a diary for Christmas as well as a pen. I could write whatever was on my mind. Whether it was that I hated my mom for something I probably got in trouble for or that she wouldn't let me do whatever I wanted. If I'd only known then what I know now. I promised myself I'd never be like my mom, yet the honest truth is all kids can't stand their parents as kids but so appreciate all they have done … [Read more...]
Day 99: Writing Your Own Corner
I love this. Most of us only know the areas where we have lived or been surrounded by. For an Army brat they are constantly being moved around the country and sometimes even living in different countries. For another they may have lived in the same small town their entire life. Another might have been raised in the foster care system constantly being moved from one home to another. Think about it. We are all so different. No two people have lived the exact same life. Yes, many people have … [Read more...]
Day 98: Ideas in Limos and Planes
I love this quote in the book: "You can’t just dance or paint or write or sculpt. Those are just verbs. You need a tangible idea to get you going. The idea, however minuscule, is what turns the verb into a noun." —TWYLA THARP Think about that. As a writer, no matter how small the idea might be, we're able to turn that into a full length book. We can get ideas from any where. A little over two years ago I was told I needed to add fiction elements to my daughters book. The problem was I … [Read more...]
Day 97: Clear Language
When we write do we want to be vague or do we want to be as clear as possible? I hope your answer was the latter. When we write we should want to be as clear and straight forward so there is no confusion on the part of the reader. The clarity of our story needs to not make sense only in our heads but also the reader. If we didn't have readers there would be no need to write a story in the first place. This morning my niece and her friend that stayed the night were upstairs in her room … [Read more...]
Day 96: The Things We Keep
In life as each day goes by we create memories. For the most part most of those memories aren't that important so we forget about them. But the important ones sometimes feel like they embed themselves into our brains. When my daughter died I knew I couldn't go back and live in the house where all I had surrounding me were memories of her. Pictures on the wall. Her silly cups. Her food. Her bedroom. I was a stay at home mom of a child with severe autism whose life completely revolved around my … [Read more...]
