We will open the book...

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

I thought this a perfect new years' quote for the writer. So far so good on my hour a day vow to write. Stared at a blank page alot but got a few sentences done on my WIP and I am trying to finish my sci-fi short story. I've been blocked on it so I converted it to first person, hoping it will lead to a middle and an end...though I do have the last sentence written.

My favorites for 2008
Book: The Heroines by Eileen Favorite
Movie: Mamma Mia
TV Show: Fringe
Destination: Pt. Pleasant, NJ
Sports Moment: Giants winning the Super Bowl.
Most Proud of: Completing Playing For Keeps and sending it to an editor.

Tomorrow I'll post what I'm looking forward to in 2009.

Starting Early

I'm not waiting until January 1st to begin my resolution to write for at least one hour a day. Each Sunday night I will set up a writing schedule for the week. So here it is:

Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Thursday (New Years Day) 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Friday 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Saturday 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Sunday: Meeting a writing friend for plotting.

I'll let you know how I do.

A Good Day

After being lazy around the house yesterday, I braved the mall today and scored some deals. went early so it wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be.

I also shopped on-line. My husband never knows what to get me so he gave me cash which is fine with me. Here's what I got (you know...since I didn't get Peace on Earth)

David Cook's cd
Enya - Wintertime - CD
Mamma Mia - DVD
Human Dark With Sugar - poetry by Brenda Shaughnessy
2 shirts from Macys

What did you get for Christmas?

Day 15 - 40 Discovering the Writer Within

I am NOT pleased. I quit this book.
Day 15 started off harmless enough. Write several leads for stories based on your journal entries. Fine. Wonderful. Then the second part of the assignment: Write leads to pieces you will probably never write. Write leads to tacky romances, lead to thrillers, leads to mysteries,... - WHAT? - back up nine words TACKY?
Maybe, they didn’t mean it that way, but that’s the way I’m took it.
While fun in parts this has been taking away from my work in progress so instead of these writing exercises I will work on my SO NOT tacky romance.

Day 15 - 40 Discovering the Writer Within

I am NOT pleased. I quit this book.
Day 15 started off harmless enough. Write several leads for stories based on your journal entries. Fine. Wonderful. Then the second part of the assignment: Write leads to pieces you will probably never write. Write leads to tacky romances, lead to thrillers, leads to mysteries,... - WHAT? - back up nine words TACKY?
Maybe, they didn’t mean it that way, but that’s the way I’m took it.
While fun in parts this has been taking away from my work in progress so instead of these writing exercises I will work on my SO NOT tacky romance.

Day 12 - 14 Discovering the Writer Within

Discovering the Writer Within by Ballenger & Lane. It’s a 40 day program to exercise your creativity and imagination. I’m giving a general feel for the assignment and a little bit of what I accomplished.

Day 12: Pick a dramatic experience that lasted only a few minutes or even seconds. Free write for 5 minutes describing the moment as vividly as you can.

Glass shattered
but lives still intact
Turning to the backseat
a mother’s voice laced with fear
My son’s head tuck under
his hands protecting his head
A drunk driver
nearly taking what I hold dear
If not for an angel
whispering in my son's ear

Okay got tears in my eyes. My son told me he heard someone say "watch out" just before we were hit. He denied it soon afterward probably because I made I big deal out of it.

Day 13: Look over the work you’ve done. Pick a entry that seems to be asking you questions and answer these by free writing for ten minutes .

Day 14: Write down all the reasons why you shouldn’t write - these are your Demons of Doubt. Now to combat you demon: 1) Seek out authors who feed your desire to write. 2) Make a list of all your best writing experiences. 3) Read interviews with other writers and copy down quotes that make you want to write. Refer to these when the demon of doubt strikes.

Here is a quote I recently fell in love with. I read it in Glimmer Train Guide to Writing Fiction. Elizabeth Cox keeps this quote above her text - it’s from theologian Niebuhr:

OFFER A LIFE, NOT A TEXT

This quote inspires to me write. It reminds me to explore a character - to make him/her real to myself and to the reader.

Day 10 and 11 - Discovering the Writer Within

Discovering the Writer Within by Ballenger & Lane. It’s a 40 day program to exercise your creativity and imagination. I’m giving a general feel for the assignment and a little bit of what I accomplished.

Day 10: A photograph is given, which makes me think of the book Grapes of Wrath. In Day 11 we learn the title is Migrant Mother by photographer Dorothea Lange from 1936. For Day 10 we take the place we wrote about yesterday and write it from the POV of the woman in the photograph.

Four whole dollars for a cup of coffee? I could feed my children for week.

Day 11: Examine the photo a make a list of details including thoughts and feelings. Compose a paragraph that would explain to someone else how you interpret Lange’s image.

The children burrrow into their mother like pups seeking comfort she is unable to provide.

Day 8 & 9 - Discovering the Writer Within

Discovering the Writer Within by Ballenger & Lane. It’s a 40 day program to exercise your creativity and imagination. I’m giving a general feel for the assignment and a little bit of what I accomplished.

Day 8: Take the list of observations/thoughts about the rock from day 7. Circle those you think are unusual and not the obvious. According to the authors I did a good job of this. I listed such things as moon rock, fossil, stone fence, skipping stones, and the Simon and Garfunkel song Island. Also, part of Day 8 was to go outside with a camera and shoot an inanimate object from different angles. Free write for ten minutes about the experience - save the images for Day 16.

Day 9:
Part 1: Go to a public place where you go often but never really notice. Brainstorm a list of details that describe the place (using physical descriptions, thoughts, feelings, ect-use all five senses). Circle the ones that go beyond the obvious. Using one of these write a brief description.

I choose a local Border with a Seattle coffee shop inside:
The iced brew shoots up the straw, hits my tongue and goes smoothly down my throat. I sigh like a drug addict as the heroin hits her vein.

Part 2: Brainstorm for ten minutes a list of details to complete a paragraph beginning with this sentence: He/she had a strange taste in clothes:

His goal was to start a new fashion trend: Salvation Army Chic. But it never caught on.
Or
He shopped at the same stores as Johnny Depp, but pulling off the artsy, cool look, is better left to those who weigh under two hundred pounds.

That was fun. See you on Day 10.

Picture

Here is a picture I took a day after the storm.

Day 7 - Discovering the Writer Within

Discovering the Writer Within by Ballenger & Lane. It’s a 40 day program to exercise your creativity and imagination. I’m giving a general feel for the assignment and a little bit of what I accomplished.

Day 7: Another cluster, but this time you had to pick a nucleus word from a list they gave. Evaluate how I cluster. Were my thought linear or all over the place. Then I was suppossed to go outside and get a rock and examine it then make a list of description and what I think of.

I say suppossed to because the ground is covered in ice from a storm we had two days ago. I'm going to need this for Day 8 so I'm hoping when I go to work (which is down two mountains - no ice) I'll be able to find a rock. Hopefully, my co-workers won't think I've lost it.

Day 6 - Discovering the Writer Within

Discovering the Writer Within by Ballenger & Lane. It’s a 40 day program to exercise your creativity and imagination. I’m giving a general feel for the assignment and a little bit of what I accomplished.

Day 6: Clustering: Put a word in the center of a blank page. Free associate branches of words fanning out from the center. If a word triggers it - branch off from that word. Evaluate. Pick a strand of thought and free write for 10 minutes. The purpose of these assignments is help you face a blank page and the dredge up memories, feelings, and details that you have forgotten.

I free associated from the word BEACH and chose funnel cakes to free write.
Here is a best of what I wrote:

Smell of fried dough
mingled with the
scents of salt and Coopertone

Ocean Breezes
an accessory to the
crime I was to commit

Perhaps the diet police
would take a bribe
and let me eat.

I had to push myself to do this assignment, but I’m glad I did. See you tomorrow for Day 7.

Day 5 - Discovering the Writer Within

Discovering the Writer Within by Ballenger & Lane. It’s a 40 day program to exercise your creativity and imagination. I’m giving a general feel for the assignment and a little bit of what I accomplished.

Day 5: Pick a room you remember from childhood. Picture it and list all the details you can remember for five minutes. Look at your list and pick one item that triggers more memories or filled with meaning. With that as your launch free write for seven minutes.

Here is a best of what I wrote:
Before Guitar Hero and even before the advent of Karaoke there was my stereo. In my room, with brush in hand, the music turned up as loud as my parents could bear, I became the star. Singing, dancing, and twirling about everything disappeared as I created my own world where I was awesome and cool. In reality I wasn’t cool and sadly I couldn’t sing.

I'm going to a holiday party Tuesday night so Day 6 will be posted on Wednesday.

Day 4 - Discovering the Writer Within

Discovering the Writer Within by Ballenger & Lane. It’s a 40 day program to exercise your creativity and imagination. I’m giving a general feel for the assignment and a little bit of what I accomplished.

Day 4: Think about the unforgettable place you wrote about yesterday. Zero in on a one person you remember. Free write for ten minutes about this person.
Here is a best of what I wrote (after revising it that is):

From the Polo Ralph Lauren Barn Jacket to the brand new boots, the silver haired man stuck out like a fully loaded pick-up truck would in the streets of New York City.

Day 5 will have to wait until Monday. I could tell you that Sunday is a day of rest but the real reason is...I left the book at work.

Day 3 - Discovering the Writer Within

Discovering the Writer Within by Ballenger & Lane. It’s a 40 day program to exercise your creativity and imagination. I’m giving a general feel for the assignment and a little bit of what I accomplished.

Day 3: Free write for ten minutes about an unforgettable place you’ve been (far away or close to home).

Here is a best of what I wrote (after revising it that is):
Annual Pilgrimage to the Bethel Farmers Market
With browsing done and purchases made, I make my way to the picnic benches set up haphazardly in front of the bandstand. A country tune filters through the air. I take a bite of my hero. The snap of the sausage casing sounds and sweet, tangy flavors fill my mouth with pure delight. I close my eyes and savor the moment. My eyes open and then I see it. I mean really see it. The rolling hills bursting with colors that seem so impossible. I live here, in this magical place. And realize no matter where I go, no place will be as beautiful as home.

This happen years ago, but I can still remember and feel the joy of this moment. See you tomorrow for Day 4.

Day 2 - Discovering the Writer Within

Discovering the Writer Within by Ballenger & Lane. It’s a 40 day program to exercise your creativity and imagination. I’m giving a general feel for the assignment and a little bit of what I accomplished.

Day 2: Write down 5 childhood memories (positive or negative), pick one that wants to be written about, and free write for ten minutes. Evaluate.

Here is a best of what I wrote (after revising it that is):

I wished for rain. Another sunny day. Another day my newly purchased rain gear would hang in the closet. Made of slick, glossy plastic, colored in stripes of pink, yellow, and green, my raincoat would be a beacon on a cloudy day. With the matching floppy hat, umbrella, and boots, I would be the envy of all.
Unable to resist, I pull the outfit from the closet to try it on. Again. I stroll through the house, twirling the umbrella like a Southern Belle. Then break into a rendition of Singing In the Rain.
I am five. And I wished for rain.

That was fun. See you tomorrow for Day 3.

Discovering the Writer Within - Day 1

Today I started Discovering the Writer Within by Ballenger & Lane. It’s a 40 day program to exercise your creativity and imagination. It’s been sitting on my writing shelf for quite some time (if the amount of dust is any indication since The Last Supper). I’m trying to pare down my belongings as my house has run amok with clutter (but that’s whole other story).

Paging through the book I decided to do the program and torture...I mean share...my journey with you. I’ll give you a general feel for the assignment and a little bit of what I accomplished.

Day 1: The first part of day one is to write ten minutes with this prompt: When I write, I... I did it, but won’t bore you with the details since there was nothing earth shattering.
The second part is to sound off in a letter to your inner critic or as the book called it The Watcher. So here is mine:

Dear Watcher:

Who are you
to stop me this day
Go Away
and let me play

With endless
doubts
You creep
about

This story
is mine
Not yours
to bind

Watcher
be gone
But leave
my muse

Hopefully, my meanderings will be more insightful, dare I say more elegant as the days go by. See you tomorrow for Day 2.