Tag: inspiration

Motivational Moments for a Writer! #5

 

One of my most challenging skills, as a writer, was to understand and implement POV.  Point-of-view.  My editor pointed out a lot of ‘head hopping’ (the expression for telling your reader what everyone is thinking and feeling) when in each chapter the writer should try to stick to one point of view.   But, even very successful, best seller authors like Nora Roberts is guilty of this.

 Action, thoughts, & dialogue establishes the character’s POV.

I’ll be candid here….the jury is still out for me on strict POV writing. When I’m reading (and I do a lot of reading) and become aware of an author ‘head hopping’, it doesn’t distract or annoy me.  When I catch myself doing it, as I write, I don’t see where it detracts from my storytelling.  

‘The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.’ Dorothy Parker

‘The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.’ Charles Du Bos

 

‘I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.’  Michael J. Fox

 

 

 

‘As a writer, I marinate, speculate and hibernate.’  Trisha Sugarek

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Part 2 of my Interview with author, Michael Saad

Photo # 8 - Mike Sailing Along Queen Charlotte IslandsQ. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?

MS. When I’m working full time, especially with teaching, with all of the marking, lesson planning, and numerous ‘extra-curricular’ duties we have going on in our profession, it is very difficult to find the time and energy to write. As a married family man with small kids, my family has been very supportive of my ‘hobby time’ of writing, but it still can be an insurmountable task to balance work, family time, and writing. I want (and need) to spend time with my family, and I want (and need) to focus on teaching, so quite often writing will (and should) take a back seat to that.  That being said, I have gotten up at 3 or 4 AM some days to write, often during holidays, just so I can squeeze it in, and balance writing with my other responsibilities.  It is not an easy thing to do, but when you truly find a hobby you like – whatever it is, in my case it’s writing, you are willing to do that if it means being able to get that ‘hobby time.’

Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?

MS. There’s a number of things. The consistency of writing – that is, doing it every day – can certainly help you to build flow and enthusiasm in your work. However, most of us – certainly those of us who do not make writing our careers – are unable to have the advantage of being able to write every day.  So I think the key then is to have a piece or project you believe in, but also have definite parameters in place for the size and scope of your project.  Don’t try and write the great Canadian novel, for instance, if you truly don’t have the time to do so.  Work on a short story instead.  Continue reading “Part 2 of my Interview with author, Michael Saad”

Motivational Moments….for Writers! #4

2A.girl.write..mouse_1Writers! Jump-start your day with more Motivational Moments!

If you are a relatively new writer, start by writing about something you know.  Maybe a family story.  Talk to your grandparents about their life experiences.  My mother and her 12 siblings have been an endless reservoir of stories for me.  The length doesn’t matter when you first begin to write.  Be a good storyteller.


“A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a
good children’s story in the slightest.” ~C.S. Lewis

If I hear an adult chuckle when reading my children’s books, I know I’ve done a good job. 

 

 “I dream my paintings, then I paint my dreams.” ~ Van Gogh  Dream your story and then write it!

“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” ~ e  e cummings

 

‘As a writer, I marinate, speculate and hibernate.’  Trisha Sugarek
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Motivational Moments… for Writers! #1

2A.girl.write..mouse_1Writers!  Start your day with a little writer’s jump-start.  You can do it!

Procrastination is just a word.  Write one new word, one new sentence.  Breath!  That sentence should make you want to write another.

What?  Why? When? How? Where does that sentence lead you? Breathe. It doesn’t have to be perfect…it’s the first draft.  That’s what re-writes are for.

‘Writers aren’t exactly people, they’re a whole lot of people trying to be one person.’
– F. Scott Fitzgerald


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‘As a writer, I marinate, speculate and hibernate.’  Trisha Sugarek

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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS! In April, a long awaited interview with Kathleen Grissom (The Kitchen House) May’s author is Jordan Rosenfeld.  Michael Saad, Canadian author, will be June’s author. Robyn Carr is July’s author.

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Page 1 on Google! The Reward…After Four Years!

‘believe in what isn’t…as if it were…until it becomes…’

Four years ago my web site designer, Leon Adato, designed my web site and insisted that if I wanted to be any kind of viable force in cyber-space that I would have to write a blog. He said the results wouldn’t be over night and might take years, but my work would be noticed.  It seems silly now, as I write this, but my first reaction was:

‘No!  I don’t wanna!  It will take me away from my writing.  I have nothing to say.  What would I write about?’  I threw a tantrum, basically.  But it turned out that I had something to say….about the craft of writing.  And then I discovered chatting with other authors was a hoot and began interviewing them (some very famous ones).  And then I received requests to review books…and so it went.

The reward.   Continue reading “Page 1 on Google! The Reward…After Four Years!”

An Interview * Author, Kathleen Grissom

Grissom.studioTS. It took me awhile but, with a little perseverance, I finally caught Kathleen Grissom with a few free moments and she gave me the interview I have been nagging her for.  Grin!  Glory Over Everything, the sequel to The Kitchen House has just been released so this is perfect timing to visit Kathleen while she writes.

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?

KG. I have a writing room above my garage, separate from the house. It is a wonderful space with lots of light, desks and bulletin boards galore.Writing.Grissom.Desktop pic There, along with pertinent reminders, I post pictures of my research that shed light on my work in progress.

Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)

KG. For my first draft I always begin with a stack of fresh legal pads from Staples and a stash of Paper Mate mechanical pencils – my favorite. A glass of water is always at my side.

Q. Could you tell us something about yourself that we might not already know?

KG. I once raised Cashmere goats. I meant to spin the cashmere, but I had no idea how difficult and time consuming that was to do. After we sold the farm, the goats went to live on another farm with my goat mentor, a woman who knew more about goats than anyone else I have ever known. But I still have some fiber stored away in bags.

Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?

KG. I would not write a word if I waited for the creative spark to strike. Continue reading “An Interview * Author, Kathleen Grissom”

Edit Thyself, Writers!

char.analysisI just finished reviewing a poorly written book and it demonstrated the fact that writing a book is not all glory and self satisfaction at seeing your name on a book, as its author.

Far from it!  It’s grueling, damn hard work. Any one of you out there can write, the trick is writing well. It’s being willing to rewrite and rewrite some more. And then edit: does this word, sentence, chapter move my story forward?  Would my character say this? Sound like this? Behave like this?

Then there’s the delete anxnst.mousekey. Horrors!  Delete some of my brilliant writing?  Yes.  You better be willing to give up some of those self-proclaimed brilliant words and be happy about it.  Because when it’s said and done your book will be better for it.

How do you get from writing that first sentence to a finished book?  In my opinion, there is no right and wrong way to prepare.  I write my first draft from the seat of my pants; with just an idea that’s been rattling around in my head for days. No plot line, no story line, and in the case of my true crime series, I often don’t know who my killer is until later.  I will let my characters take me on their journey and the killer will always revel themselves to me.
I marinate, speculate and hibernate. Continue reading “Edit Thyself, Writers!”

New Poetry

This wrote itself.  Sometimes that happens, poets say.2A.girl.write..mouse_1

heart    ©

the heart
pumping, nourishing the body’s life
feeding life’s blood, glistening, pumping
pumping,

the heart
the largest vessel in the universe
it  holds as much love and grief
as its host fills it with
its capacity never replete,

the heart
still there is room for more
joy, pain, love, grief, ache
bleeding out with sorrow
surfeit with joyous wonder

and still there is room for
more
and more
and more

A.weep.WillowLeft behind   ©  (Renku)

Let me come with you
waking each morning forget
between sleep and wake

if I reach for you
across the lonely bed you
will be there warm with sleep

I hear your voice, feel
your foot fall, your presence there
I speak loud to you

Curse you for leaving
pleading with you to return,
begging fate turn back the clock

beseech events not
different, so at the last
moment, I save you
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What are Writers? Crazy?

……..to want, to need to be writers??  I am happy (and nostalgic) to report that the world of writers has not changed all that much…..I came across these quotes and laughed.  Writers of the World!  We are not alone!

john steinbeck, authors, writing, quotes from famous authorsJohn Steinbeck:  ‘The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business.’

 


Edna St. Vincent Millay:  ‘A person who publishes a book willfully appears before the populace with his (or her)authors, quotes from famous authors, writing, writers, bloggers pants down….if it is a good book nothing can hurt you.  If  it is a bad book nothing can help you.’

famous quotes, famous authors, writing, writers

 

Somerset Maugham:  ‘There are three rules for writing a novel.  Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.’

Trisha Sugarek:  ‘Writing is a lonely business.  You pour your heart and guts into the written famous quotes, authors, writers, writingword, often exposing what you’ve experienced in your own life.  You nurture it, feed it, trim its toe-nails, wash its hair, dress it up and send it out into traffic.’  Continue reading “What are Writers? Crazy?”

Time For More Bukowski

No matter how outrageous his life or his writings, I always feel better after I’ve read a few pages of thispoet, wisdom, Charles Bukowski genius’ poetry.  I came across a couple today that really spoke to me…when does he ever not speak to me?

this       by Charles Bukowski ©

being drunk at the typer beats being with any woman I’ve ever seen or known or heard about
like
Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, Garbo, Harlow M.M. or any
of the thousands that come and go on that celluloid screen
or the temporary girls I’ve seen so lovely
on park benches, on buses, at dances and parties, at
beauty contests, cafes, circuses, parades, department
stores, skeet shoots, balloon flys, author races, rodeos,
bull fights, mus wrestling, roller derbies, pie bakes,
churches, volleyball games, boat races, country fairs,
rock concerts, jails, laundromats or wherever

being drunk at this typer beats being with any woman
I’ve ever seen or
known.

this from a woman writer     by Trisha Sugarek ©

being sober at the keyboard beats being with any man
I’ve ever seen or known or heard about
like
Prince Charles, Donald Trump, Alan  Rickman, Liam Neisen, Edward Norton,
Anthony Hopkins, and yes, Hank Bukowski or
any temporary men like the sailor who drugged me with a sensual
world with no rules, the marine who I spent half my life with, the construction
man on the streets of NYC whose eyes
had a minute affaire with mine,
gone in an instant with much regret on
both our parts Continue reading “Time For More Bukowski”