Happy Labor Day Weekend!

There is precious little hope to be got out of whatever keeps us industrious, but there is a chance for us whenever we cease work and become stargazers. ~H.M. Tomlinson

What Don Freeman Taught Me About Story

In cleaning out the garage this month I found my copy of Corduroy by Don Freeman, published in 1968 it tells the story of Corduroy the bear and his adventure in a department store before he is bought by a young girl, Lisa. It was my favorite book when I was younger and reading it again I see why.

A great story begins with a unique character yes Corduroy is an ordinary teddy bear dressed in green corduroy overalls but what makes him unique is he is missing a button which presents a problem. A missing button means he is not complete, his strap falls down and no one will buy him...until...enter Lisa.

In introducing Lisa, the secondary character we now have a story. Lisa also has a problem, she wants to buy Corduroy but she doesn't have the money. Lisa's mother, the third character is used to move the story forward with dialogue by saying "he is missing a button". When Corduroy hears this his response is "a button I've always wanted a button" and sets off on an adventure at night in the department store (introduction of new descriptive setting to find the missing button).He didn't know he had a problem until another character pointed it out to him.

Corduroy's attempt to find the button by pulling it off a mattress results in him making so much noise that the night watchman finds him and sets him back in the toy department. Give your character an obstacle and don't let him succeed right away.

Just when Corduroy gives up bring Lisa in again to help him out. She solved her problem by saving money and purchasing the bear she solves Corduroy's problem by sewing on his button. Enter the perfect ending. Corduroy is complete and Lisa is his friend. "I've always wanted a friend" says Corduroy as Lisa hugs Corduroy.
A simple story but full of great lessons on how to move your story forward. Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

Chuckleheads?

The good writing of any age has always been the product of someone's neurosis, and we'd have a mighty dull literature if all the writers that came along were a bunch of happy chuckleheads. ~William Styron, interview, Writers at Work, 1958

Improving the silence

Don't talk unless you can improve the silence.

This proverb is attributed to Vermonters. It says a lot about not talking just to hear yourself speak, there is something wonderful about comfortable silence.

I just bought my tickets...in less than 3 weeks I'll be back in Vermont. I'm looking forward to spending 10 days at the most beautiful time of the year (in my opinion) in New England. If I had unlimited funds I would spend every September and October in New England. In At Home In Vermont Marguerite Hurrey Wolf writes "throughout the year I am drawn to little things, from the first tiny snowdrop bravely hunching its little bell, through the granular snow, to the last small red leaf clinging to the euonymus bush."

Today take a walk around the neighborhood and notice the little things...set the timer for 30 minutes and write about what you saw. Are there changes of season happening where you live? Did you notice anything unusual? Can you work your words into a poem or an essay? Now get back to work!


Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

Wild, Creative Delight

The maker of a sentence launches out into the infinite and builds a road into Chaos and old Night, and is followed by those who hear him with something of wild, creative delight. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I've been painting the last few days, the kitchen Hawthorne yellow, the dining room, Windham cream. Adding color changes the feeling of the house, the kitchen is much more cheerful and welcoming, the dining room serene and peaceful. Are you adding enough color to your writing? Or do your readers just skim the pages? Using the right word is like adding color to your page.

Today from the book The Words You Should Know, 1200 essential words every educated person should be able to use and define by David Olsen I randomly picked five words work them into a paragraph, a page or a short story.

bumptious
exonerate
aesthetic
umbrage
fortuitous

How many did you know without looking them up?

Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

Patience and Perseverance

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.

John Quincy Adams

It's hard to be patient in our instant gratification nation. Yet when it comes to creative writing patience and perseverance are key. For most writers it takes years to develop a daily writing practice, establish a writing schedule and keep at it in spite of the rejections. The successful writers I know count on the other writers giving up. It's difficult to daily face the blank page sit down at the keyboard and write. But like any positive habit if you take action for 21 days it will most likely become a permanent habit.

Today think about the times when you were ready to give up and instead sent out another query or another submission...what have you learned about patience and perseverance? If you haven't succeeded at daily writing why not try for the next 21 days...set an appointment with yourself, watch one less hour of television,challenge yourself to write 15 minutes every day for 21 days.

Thanks to Sandy at Cool Stuff for Writers last week I won a book at this inspirational writing website. Check it out for the monthly writing challenge and win $25 no submission fee. Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

A reality common to us all

"One demands two things of a poem. Firstly, it must be a well-made verbal object that does honor to the language in which it is written. Secondly, it must say something significant about a reality common to us all, but perceived from a unique perspective. What the poet says has never been said before, but, once he has said it, his readers recognize its validity for themselves."
W. H. Auden
English and American Poet (1907-1973)

I believe in all creative writing the writer tries to tap into the commonality of human experiences. When I read a poem I really like it's often because I've wanted to write about that subject but couldn't find a way in or I just love the language the writer chose to get their experience across to the reader. There is less than four weeks before I start the next semester so I have started to look at new books for study.

Poetry As Spiritual Practice by Robert McDowell just got added to my list. I have only skimmed in because I want to use the book and the exercises as jumping off points in my study plan. The author writes that "poetry makes us better listeners, wiser talkers". What do you think about this statement? As a beginning poet I don't feel like a wise talker yet but poetry has definitely helped me be a better listener.

Today based on one of Robert McDowell's ending exercises write a letter to a friend using any poetic form you choose. You never have to mail the poem/letter to the friend or if you're feeling brave you can mail it or share it with them. Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

Half a Loaf

Having imagination, it takes you an hour to write a paragraph that, if you were unimaginative, would take you only a minute. Or you might not write the paragraph at all. ~Franklin P. Adams, Half a Loaf, 1927

This week I've been reading Powerful Paragraphs by Bruce Ross-Larson,part of The Effective Writing Series.

Today write just one imaginative paragraph that sets the scene for the paragraph that will follow, try opening the descriptive paragraph with a quote or a compelling fact. Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

Finding Your Voice

"My goal in life is to be the exact same person to you, whether you've met me for the first time or the 21st time. Your knowledge of me is there from the beginning in an honest, brutal sort of way. Get your writings to be there...in an honest, brutal sort of way, and you'll have found your true voice."
--Joyce Jace

Growing Food on White House Lawn

I know this doesn't have anything to do with writing but it went along with my studies last semester.

WOOF Contest Results

WOOF Contest – Top 5 Picks:

About Writing - Writing Nag - “5 Ways to Face Down Rejection”

Poetry

Robert Bourne - “Hope”

Jennifer M Scott - “Waiting for September”

Fiction - Jenn H. - “The Birth Announcement”

Prose/Non-Fiction - Mike Fried - “There’s no business like law business”

Brought to you by PlotDog Press with "Shattered Heart (Richard's Backstory) First Draft Novel Intervention"

Presenting the finest of the writer’s blogs by the bloggers who write them. Highlighting the top 5 posts as chosen by the August 15, 2008 WOOF Contest participants. Want in to join the next WOOF? The next contest ends Augest 22. Submit a link to your best writing post of the last 2 weeks using the form at the bottom of this page. Participants, repost the winning link list within a week and you’re all set.

Other WOOF Contestants for 08/15/08

Poetry

Kayla - “Purification Party”

Charles Sapp II - “Why I Write”

exquisite corpse - “Midnight Shadows”

Jennifer M Scott - “Crude Canvas”

Jennifer M Scott - “Déjà Vu”

Jennifer M Scott - “Haiku Series #13”

Fiction

Shiva Nagri - “PRIME – Chapter 14”

Jennifer M Scott - “Kaylena”

Prose/Non-Fiction

Mike Fried - “I'm Drawing A Blank”

About Writing

Joelle Anthony - “Writing and Music - Part Two”

The Importance of Having a Mentor

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
Mark Twain

Yesterday was a really hard day. It was my mentor's memorial service. She passed away almost a month ago but yesterday was the public service for her friends and family. In a dusty windswept graveyard in eastern Colorado we honored a woman who had died much too young but had touched so many people with her warmth and joy and spirit. She had an unending support of higher education and how education can be life changing.

Mentor relationships seem to develop almost effortlessly; someone you admire or has had success in your field shows you how you too can do it. Our relationship started in a creative support group of women and grew into a deep friendship. My mentor told me weekly "you can do this" and when I faltered she reminded me how long I wanted this goal and how to break it up so I felt success at every turn. She sent me links for scholarships, books to read, encouraging words and quotes, met me for coffee when I needed to talk and most of all listened.

When she died she was going for her doctorate, her goal to help children with mental and physical disabilities. She loved to teach, to inspire, and to create art in any form be it a collage or a poem.

I wish I had one more day, one more conversation, one more hug, and one more minute to say "thank you".

Thank you Cyndi, I am honored to have known you.

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

Crowded on a velvet cushion...

“I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become a part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge.”

Willa Sibert Cather


“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion”

Henry David Thoreau

Yesterday my mom asked if the pumpkins in the early posting were mine...yes but from last year. Here are this years early pumpkins...they are ripening even before the tomatoes. Self sown from last years crop.

Need Writing Prompts Each Month?

What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery


This writing prompt calendar will help when you're staring at the blank screen.

Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

Autumn is Right Around the Corner

The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes


Last night I could feel it as we hiked...a cooler breeze, the rumblings of a storm system moving in. I woke to a rainy gray morning, the sunflowers are fading and now from my window I see the first pumpkins ripening. Autumn. My favorite season.

Today write about the end of summer through the eyes of a child. Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

Losing Your Words

If there is one cause every creative person should consider supporting it's the Alzheimer's Memory Walk. Many families have been touched by Alzheimer's and the numbers are growing at an alarming rate. Today there is no cure although progress is being made to help with symptoms. By participating it in the walk you are offering someone a chance that in the future we can defeat this disease.

At one of my first jobs the owner's mother had Alzheimer's disease. Her husband of 45 years faithfully visited her in the nursing home daily; it was heartbreaking to listen to his stories of the progressive disease. He would often take me for drives and tell me stories of their courtship and places they used to visit. He often talked about how he thought their last years would be together, he couldn't have imagined losing her little bits at a time.

If you can walk you can participate, click on the link for information on how to become a team captain and help raise needed funds and awareness for this cause.

The walk is easy, usually a 2-3 mile weekend walk in the fall. Today more than 600 communities are set up to participate, if you're in a community that isn't already involved see what you can do to start the process or support a friend by sponsoring their walk. Go to the national Alzheimer's Association website to read more about progress being made, early signs of Alzheimer's, and what you can do to help support the association.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Practice, practice, practice writing. Writing is a craft that requires both talent and acquired skills. You learn by doing, by making mistakes and then seeing where you went wrong.
Jeffrey A. Carver

On Education

Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, teachers. ~ Richard Bach

Part of my schools philosophy is that you continue to be a lifelong learner. Doing any kind of self study degree means that you are constantly learning "how to learn". You may start studying a book on creativity that leads you to an art class, that leads you to studying color or maybe working with poetry and color.It never seems to be a direct line of thinking which for me is quite different than traditional college. Even a mini vacation turns into a learning experience, I want to learn the names of the wildflowers, and the way foxes live and how to do the mixed media college I saw at the art fair. When you start thinking this way every day turns into a learning experience, there is no end to class or school or education.


Today, open yourself up to learning something new and write about the experience. Maybe you can study a new form of poetry or experiment with a new art form. It could be as simple as taking a walk or striking up a conversation with someone you work with that has a different background. All of these learning experiences can only enrich your writing. Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

Three Things A Writer Needs

A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others.
William Faulkner

We went to the mountains to escape the heat, Crested Butte was about 20 degrees cooler during the day, at night up to 40 degrees cooler. An art festival, The Rubber Duckie Race, hiking, wild flowers and good food made for a beautiful and relaxing weekend. Because of all the snow last season, wildflowers that have not bloomed for years bloomed this year.

One night we watched foxes play from our window in Mt. Crested Butte.

Just a Quote

When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen. But if you have not a pen, I suppose you must scratch any way you can. ~Samuel Lover, Handy Andy, 1842

I'll have to wait until this evening to write about my Crested Butte adventure, I have loads of photos to upload but work awaits.

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag

I travel for travels sake...

"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travels sake. The great affair is to move.”
Robert Louis Stevenson


Back from a fun unexpected trip to Crested Butte, Colorado...more tomorrow.
Lovingly,
The Writing Nag