Nitty Gritty of Writing

More September Writing Contests

2011-09-08T12:47:00.000-07:00

Picture Source

Short Story based on the prompt: Watching Paint Dry

The Next Big Writer

Prize = $150.00 plus publication

Deadline = September 29, 2011

Five Tips to a Successful Blog

2011-08-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

Following is a summary of an article from Daily Blog Tips. I thought the five “mistakes” presented in the article are worth reposting because, although we may know them, we no doubt make them over and over.

So here’s a reminder.

I’ve summarized them below as tips (to do) rather than mistakes.

Picture Source

Make Sure Your Posts have a POINT
Post Regularly and Consistently
Proofread! Proofread! Proofread!
Format With Diversity – use different size fonts, headings, white space, and pictures
. Promote Your Blog – Facebook, Twitter, email, talking with friends and family, business card, etc.

Click here to see the original post on Daily Blog Tips

September Writing Contests

2011-08-22T17:53:00.000-07:00

September Writing Contests

I found a couple of fun contests that I hope will inspire you to write and submit this month:

A 100 word story contest and a Humor contest.

100 Word Story

Doesn’t that sound like a fun challenge? Actually, it reminds me of the kind of prompts we might do in our journaling group. The website has a great tips list to prompt you even more.

So here’s my suggestion – get with some writing friends for an afternoon of writing to the prompt together and send in the results! Runner up prizes are $50, $100, and $150; the winner gets $500!

Humor

The Humor contest is accepting submissions now through September 30, 2011. Winners, finalists, semi-finalists and even honorable mentions will all be published in Humor Showcase, an online publication and the winner will receive $250.00!

Reading some of the stories in Humor Showcase had me laughing out loud and triggered some of my own stories. I hope you will be inspired to submit your funny stories to this contest!

Two More August Writing Contests

2011-08-15T16:44:00.000-07:00

Note to my readers: In order to keep up with my blogging schedule as I return now to the classroom, I'm going to be posting only on Mondays. There may periodically be additional posts, but at least you can count on me for Mondays. Thank you!

Here are a couple of more writing contests for August that I thought sounded promising:

Screenwriting

Writer’s Digest is offering a 12-week mentoring program for runners up of this prestigious contest: The Industry Insider Screenwriting Contest.

Page limit: 15 pages

Deadline: August 31, 2011

Fiction

Fiction International is rewarding the winner of this contest with $1,000.00 Prize!

Word limit: 2000

Theme: Blackness

Deadline: August 31, 2011

Think Ahead! Here’s one for September!

Fiction

Good Housekeeping is giving a $3,000.00 cash award to the grand prize winner!

Universal Theme: Women – any aspect of women’s lives today.

Deadline: September 1, 2011

What’s the Purpose of Your Blog?

2011-08-08T18:46:00.000-07:00

Let’s be clear about it – there is nothing wrong with writing a blog simply because you just like to write and you think it’s kind of fun to put some of your work out there on the World Wide Web.

But if you want people to be interested, i.e., care about what you are doing and actually read your blog, then you really need to take a close look at your purpose.

You need to identify your purpose and then you need to write in order to meet that purpose in every post. In other words, you need to connect with your audience (you may want to read or re-read my last post: Who is Your Audience?).

I’ll admit, I resist this because it all seems a little too structured; doesn’t this threaten my free-spirit style and my response to inspiration?

Yes and no. I’ve discovered that inspiration still grabs me even when I tailor my content to specific keywords and keep my audience in the forefront of my mind. And that “free-spirit” thing? Well, it just the way I am so really, it can’t be threatened!

OK. Back to purpose. You want to express yourself? OK – why? Answer that “why” question and consider how expressing yourself and doing it publically are connected and you’ll have your purpose. Keep in mind that the doing it publically part is the audience factor.

You want to improve your writing skills and develop better self-discipline? OK – again, consider how doing it publically helps you reach your goal.

Yes, posting regularly is a great way to develop your writing discipline and it’s true that the more you write, the better you get. But I’ll be honest with you – posting regularly on a blog that no one reads gets real old real fast. It also serves to chip away at your self-esteem. Do you really want to do that to yourself?

OK. So we are back to purpose and square one. Beyond these personal goals for blogging, you absolutely need to consider how expressing yourself and doing it publically are connected and you’ll have your purpose. Keep in mind that the doing it publically part is the audience factor.

Blog readers read because they want to get something for themselves. Whether it is inspiration, motivation, or entertainment, it all boils down to information in some form or another.

There you have it: TO INFORM is ultimately the purpose of your blog. Whether you are ready to confront this or not, I’m telling you that information is the foundation of any blog that has readers. Read a few of your favorites – go searching to explore some new blogs – no matter what their style is or their content, you will find that there is some form of INFORMATION there.

Challenge: Consider your writing style and the general content of the bulk of your work; consider your personal goals for writing a blog. Then brainstorm for ideas of “take-aways” for your reader. Finally, make a list of pieces of information you can offer that coincide with your style, content, and personal goals. And keep in mind that the doing it publically part is the audience factor.

Your list will become prompts for you as you progress forward with your blog. And the result? Well, you will gain more readers!

Resources

Writing Guide: Purpose

Writing with a Sense of Purpose

Can You Determine the Author’s Purpose For Writing?

Who Is Your Audience?

2011-08-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

Who Is Your Audience?

I cannot stress enough the importance of knowing your audience! While this may seem like a banal statement, let me assure you that it is not; most of us do not have a clear picture of our intended audience. (You may argue that you don’t need one, but I’ll address that in another post.)

Let’s first look at the question, Who are you? This is important because the chances that YOU are similar to your audience are extremely high.

Describe yourself as you would be described in a demographic report. Sounds impersonal, I know, but do it anyway:

1) gender;

2) age range (12-19? 20-something? 25-40? 35-50?);

3) income bracket;

4) level of education;

5) professional field;

6) interests and concerns (i.e., politically active? Community-minded? Religious/spiritual? Concerned about global issues? Concerned about environmental issues? And so on…).

Place yourself in the first five categories and then choose one topic from your fifth category that best describes what consumes the bulk of your time, energy, money, and thoughts. Do this because it will help you get an objective perspective of yourself as all the companies and organizations that flood your email and physical mail box with unsolicited information see you.

Why is this important? Keep reading:

As a writer, you want people to read your work who are beyond your immediate circle of family, friends, and acquaintances. In other words, if you want to be published, you are ultimately seeking strangers to read your work. So who are these potential readers?

If you are like me, you may not want to limit who might read (and like) your writing; I want to cast a great big net out there and just see what I get.

Seriously??

I thought this was fine for a very long time. Then I actually heard myself say it recently and finally realized how undirected this is! Am I really willing to just write to the breeze and see what happens? Apparently I am because that is exactly what I’ve been doing.

But that’s not what I do for my clients. My clients give me a demographic report of their target audience and I write specific tailored to that group of people. And guess what? My clients are getting far better results from my writing than I am.

To be precise, my clients are getting money from my writing. I am not.

The writing I do for myself gets lost in cyber space. I truly believe it just vanishes.

What happens to your writing? Has it moved you to where you want to be as a writer? Or does it sit in a notebook or on a barely-read blog?

I invite you to look at the question of audience with me for at least a couple of months. After describing yourself as a member of a demographic group on someone’s report, write up the description of your audience. Then write to that audience for a while. Be committed to it because that’s the only way this experiment will give you an accurate result.

I’m going to do that with this blog and my other blog, Forever My Momma. Then in a couple of months, I’ll report back here with the results. I hope you will report back, too.

Links

Determining Your Audience Type

How to Identify a Reading Audience

Find Your Audience: How to Identify a Niche Audience to Serve

August 2011 writing contests

2011-07-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

Five FREE Writing Contests!

Dear Readers,

I found some contests you can enter for FREE! Prizes range from $100.00 to $5,000.00! Deadlines and prize monies are listed below. Click on the links to get more information.

Good Luck!

Kalkion Science Fiction Short Story Contest

Deadline: now through August 25

Entry Fee: FREE

Prize: $140.00

Ourskirts Press Memoir Contest

Deadline: August 16

Entry Fee: FREE

Prize: $500.00

Linda Flowers Literary Award

Deadline: August 15

Entry Fee: FREE

Prize: $500.00 and a Residency in North Carolina

My Real Life Story Essay Contest

Deadline: August 15

Entry Fee: FREE

Prize: $5,000.00

Past Loves Contest

Deadline: August 16

Entry Fee: FREE

Prize: $100.00

Midwest Writer's Workshop

2011-07-21T06:59:00.000-07:00

Announcement

The Midwest Writer's Workshop

July 28-30

Muncie, Indiana

Look who's on the program!

Cathy Day — novelist

Patti Digh — nonfiction author

Libby Fischer Hellmann — crime writing novelist

Mike Lawson — political thriller novelist

J.T. (Jen) Dutton — young adult novelist

Dennis Hensley & Holly Miller — faculty for Manuscript Makeovers

Kathleen Ortiz — Nancy Coffey Literary and Media Representation

Jessica Sinsheimer — Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency

Roseanne Wells — Marianne Strong Literary Agency

Lois Winston — Ashley Grayson Literary Agency

Dana Kaye — Kaye Publicity

Jane Friedman — industry authority on commercial, literary and emerging forms of publishing

Gary Hensley — tax specialist

Matthew V. Clemens — novelist and publisher

David Slonim —banquet speaker, author and illustrator of children’s books

Additional Presenters: D.E. Johnson, Cathy Shouse, Karen Lenfestey

What Agents Want

2011-07-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a re-post of an interview with Kathleen Ortiz, Subrights Director and agent with the Nancy Coffey Literary and Media Representation company and Lois Winston of the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency which was published in the Midwest Writer's Workshop E-Pistle.

I hope the insights here are helpful!

Kathleen Ortiz

Q: If participants made an appointment with you, how should they prepare for their pitch session?

ALWAYS come prepared with a 2-3 sentence pitch and a hard copy of the query. I stress that the pitch is ONLY 2-3 sentences and the query is the actual query they would send. Since the MWW pitch sessions are ten minutes, the first 5 pages are handy, as well. Come prepared with questions in case the project isn't for me - I'm happy to spend the rest of the appointment giving advice/resources on how to pitch, send queries, do research, etc.

Q: What are you looking for?

I'm only looking for YA or paranormal/urban fantasy romance at this time. No women's fiction or other adult genres outside of romance. I like all YA, though the darker the better. I'd really like a YA horror, thriller, suspense, cyberpunk or intense mystery.

Q: What do you wish more writers knew?

Top three mistakes I see:

1. Reading the entire query to me (it's a pitch - 2-3 sentences)

2. Arguing with me if I kindly state it's not for me. You want someone who will be an advocate of your work - if it's not for me, respect my decision and use the extra time to ask questions about the industry. Someone else WILL be an advocate for your work.

3. Giving me a business card. I don't keep them. If I ask for pages, it's the author's job to contact me not the other way around.

Q: Will you accept someone pitching an uncompleted manuscript?

I prefer someone pitches me if the manuscript is completed.

Q: Finally, if you do not represent what a participant writes but someone else in your agency does, would you ever pass the person on to that agent?

If I'm pitched a Middle Grade, I will certainly refer it if it has potential. Otherwise, I prefer not to be pitched if it's not something I rep.

Lois Winston

Q: What should participants bring to their pitch sessions with you?

One page query letter and the first 2 pages (double-spaced) of their manuscript.

Q: What are you looking for?

The Ashley Grayson Literary Agency was established in 1976 and handles both literary and commercial fiction, children's fiction, and some nonfiction. I currently represent authors who write romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, women's fiction, mystery, young adult, and horror, but voice is more important to me than genre, and I love books that make me laugh out loud. I'm not interested in category romance, erotica, regencies, inspirationals, westerns, or paranormal books that feature vampires and shape-shifters.

Q: What mistakes do most writers make when approaching agents?

Three top mistakes I see:

1. Many writers query too soon. Polish your work until it's the best it can be before you submit, and you'll receive fewer rejections.

2. Know correct grammar and punctuation usage. Too many writers don't know the most basic of grammar and punctuation rules (and no, that's not what an editor is for.)

3. Don't take rejection personally. This is a business. If your work isn't right for me, it may be perfect for someone else. Or you may need to reread mistakes #2 and #3.

Q: Will you accept someone pitching an uncompleted manuscript?

I would prefer to see authors with completed manuscripts.

Q: Finally, if you do not represent what participants write but someone else in your agency does, would you ever pass the person on to that agent?

Yes, I do pass along manuscripts to our other agents if the manuscript is not right for me but might work for someone else at our agency.

August Writing Contests

2011-07-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

Writing contests are a great way to get your work out there for others to read. They also provide motivation and deadlines that will keep you cranking out those pages. Below are three contests that are coming up SOON. Check them out and ENTER! Then be sure to post a comment to let me know what you entered and ultimately, the results!

Short Story:

Gival Press Annual Short Story Award

Gival Press is offering their 8^th annual short story contest – deadline is august 8^th. Entry fee is $25.00 and the top prize is a whopping $1,000.00!

Poetry:

The University of Massachusetts Juniper Prize for Poetry

Only poets who have NOT previously published a book of poetry are eligible for this year’s event, so to all you who have been waiting for your right time – jump in! This is it! Entry fee is $25.00 and submissions must be received between August 1 and September 30, 2011.

Screenplay:

The American Zoetrope Screenplay contest is offering $5,000.00 for the best script! Although the actual deadline isn’t until September 6^th, I’m including it here because you get $15.00 off the registration fee if you submit it by August first.

Write on everyone!

The HOW-TO Template

2011-07-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

How-to articles are in great demand. There is even a whole website devoted just to how-to articles: eHow.com.

In today’s quick and easy availability to information and the DIY craze, people look online for directions to do literally – everything! I write for eHow.com and struggled at first to describe what seemed like really simple steps. With time and practice however, it has become much easier to envision the whole picture - from beginning to completion - of any number of tasks. I follow a simple template and you can, too.

Before I give you the template, however, let me give you a few tips:

Break the procedure into sections if there are more than 10 or so steps involved. For example, for most of the sewing articles I write, I present it in 2 parts: 1) preparation; and 2) assembly.
Begin each step with a verb.
Read your completed article out loud before you submit it so you can visualize the procedure based on the words; if the description doesn’t give you the picture, then it isn’t clear enough.
Even if you are an expert, include references and/or resources at the end of your article.

OK. Here’s the template:

Introduction

Tell the reader what the activity is and anything unusual or unique about your particular way of doing it. Include anything specific that you wouldn’t include in the steps.

Level of Difficulty

Is it so easy that anyone can do it? (EASY)

Is it fairly easy, but still requires some concentration and skill? (MODERATE)

Is it something that requires prior knowledge and skill? (DIFFICULT)

Things You Need

List the things needed to accomplish this task. Make your list of supplies clear and simple like a list of ingredients for a recipe. Do not describe the things needed in full sentences or with long descriptions.

Steps

Number your steps and write them in simple command form.

References / Resources

List your references and resources at the end of the article.

Examples of River's eHow articles:

Handmade Kotatsu Futon

How to Make a Kimono Obi

How to Sew a Prom Dress for a Dog

How to Make a Handmade Tutu

How to Make Egyptian Amulets

The “NEW” Nitty Gritty of Writing

2011-07-07T05:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

It is my aim to create a blog that is more user-friendly and reliable. This is one of the things I contemplated during my long absence from blogging and so I decided to make a schedule for posts. I hope this will help direct the focus of my blog, The Nitty Gritty of Writing, into two main categories: 1) tips and resources for writers; and 2) announcements of contests, events, conferences, etc. I will also continue to write my reflections in which I will include personal commentary, book reviews, and occasionally feature a guest blogger. I suppose this constitutes a third category, but I’m not going to promise when or how often these will be posted. (After all, there has to be some aspect left to whim and inspiration, right??)

Here’s the proposed schedule for the “NEW” Nitty Gritty of Writing:

Mondays = tips and resources for writers

Thursdays = announcements

Random days = reflections (can’t be too rigid, you know!)

This schedule will begin on Monday, July 11, 2011

As always, I welcome your feedback!

Lessons from Absence: Nothing is Wasted

2011-07-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

I’m writing articles again for Demand Studios after a six month plus absence. I’m happy to report that I’m writing faster and more efficiently than I was when I stopped mid-way through my teaching year. The articles are better now, too; my Demand Studios report card reflects higher ratings.

I thought it would be difficult to get back into the swing of writing online articles – I was lacking motivation, doubted my ability to manage time and self-discipline, and I expected to be discouraged by feeling I was starting all over again. To my pleasant surprise, I fell right back into it like it was second nature.

Here’s what I’ve learned (or remembered) about process:

NOTHING IS WASTED.

Things we do have purpose, whether we recognize that purpose or not. Our choices direct our lives and our experiences shape us. After any absence and subsequent return, we discover that although we have changed and the environment of our return has also changed, what we have gained and brought back with us is significant and meaningful.

photo source

I worried that I would have lost the two years of self-study that I invested prior to going back to teaching at the university; I truly believed it was gone when I first sat down to resume article writing. However, I soon realized that what I had learned during my intensive self-study was a firm foundation that I could return to and use as a starting point to move forward. Things in online writing and marketing changed in the year I was teaching; strategies and theories that were once “solid” were now defunct. But the essence of the practice and the personal benefits of self-discipline and resourcefulness had somehow multiplied in my absence. Indeed, my efforts had not been lost; nor were they wasted.

photo source

Likewise, my absence was a necessary reprieve that my soul required. Not writing is not particularly a good thing and I certainly do not advocate it, yet my absence from writing was NOT WASTED. For me, although I can write from a thinking state, inspiration comes from a free and wandering mind. Crowded, suffocated, and crippled from the reins of administrative policies, academic politics, NO as the most commonly heard response, lack of encouragement, trust and freedom, my mind was not free to wander. So I stopped, hibernated, and got recharged. When I awoke with a clear mind, I could pick up the pieces that mattered and sweep away those that had turned to dust. In so doing, I was blessed with the memory that NOTING IS WASTED.

My message to my readers today is that no matter where you are in life, find encouragement in this knowledge that what you are doing and experiencing right now is meaningful. There is purpose, even to the pain and frustrations you endure. Your choices will direct your movements - either forward and away, or into new strategies for staying put; and these experiences will shape who you are. You may not always enjoy the process, but keep in mind that it is NOT WASTED.

I'm Back!

2011-07-01T05:53:00.000-07:00

I thought I would be absent from writing this blog for just two months, but actually it took me six months to come back. Why? Winter blues, combined with job DIS-satisfaction, threatened to send me plummeting into depression. To combat this, I went into automatic survival mode which turns off the creative channels. Of course, denying creativity only compounds the threats to destroy me with depression, but the internal tape-recorder was already on auto-play by then, so negativity was sinking me and anything I might put on paper was not for the public eye.

Then, true to the spirit of the artist in my soul, I had to hibernate and wait for myself to buoy back up to the surface where I could think and feel again. Only then did I dare to open my notebook.

It’s summer now and I am once again unemployed. Am I bailing out to the fantasy of the starving artist, or is it true that financial worries are nothing compared to the soul-suffocating stress of the working world? I don’t know for sure, but it I’m telling you, I feel alive, even with no money to spend, and I was dying, even with a paycheck to buy plenty of food.

I have great callouses on my feet, but my heart remains tender and fragile. That’s a great combination for rising with the sun and hiking to the river’s edge to write poetry, play with words and listen to God, and reconnect with my purpose and value in earth life. it’s a terrible combination, however, for managing the subtle nuances of academia that deny authenticity and chisel away at personal value.

Nonetheless, that’s behind me now. The days are long and warm and I am once again awake. Bare feet on hard earth, birds and water ripples serenade me as my soul opens up and my pen scribbles quickly across the pages.

Ahhhh! The riverside writer is back!

Writing Break

2011-01-26T11:03:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

Please bear with me as I take a break from blogging for a few weeks. I'm going to focus my time and energies on reading and thinking for awhile.

I want to reevaluate this Nitty Gritty of Writing blog and where I want to take it in the future, so your feedback is definitely welcome! How can I better serve you? What kinds of posts would you like to read? What kinds of information would you like to receive regularly?

You may leave comments in the comment section below or send me an email.

Please check back in early April when I will resume regular writing.

Until then, Happy Writing to all of you!!!

Simply Writing

2011-01-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

The nitty gritty of writing is first and foremost about simply writing. that’s it in its most basic, essential core: WRITE.

The term “simply writing” may seem like an oxymoron because writing is comprised of so many steps, so much effort, so much mental energy, and so much time. And too often we get bogged down in all that we think writing is – the word choice, perspective, tenses, grammar, cohesion… We get overwhelmed by the potential of being read or the fear of not being read, the approval or disapproval of our work… We stop ourselves before we even get started!

Sure, all these things and more make up the nitty gritty details of producing a piece of writing, but first, you simply have to WRITE. Bring your mind to a screeching halt and silence all the crap that is clanging around in your head; strip yourself of all that burdensome baggage and just WRITE.

Go back to the phrase “simply writing” and notice that it is active.

Writing: n. “the act of a person or thing that writes” (dictionary.com)

Simply: adverb. “in a simple manner; clearly and easily… wholly, absolutely … sincerely” (dictionary.com)

Simply writing is the act of free-flowing pen on paper. Release yourself to the free-flowing pen because that is uncensored thought, ideas, images. It is the absolutely and sincerely of simply that gives life to the act of writing.

Simply writing is the essence of the nitty gritty of writing because the act of writing wholly, absolutely, and sincerely, is where you discover yourself and all your powers and limitations. And wish such self-discovery also comes the discovery of powers beyond yourself – powers without limitations. I’m talking about the inspiration and the unfolding of creating that surprises even you – the one who holds the pen. That free-flowing pen takes off and comes alive and you become both observer and participant in one.

You can’t plan or orchestrate this experience, you can only show up. And this is precisely what I mean when I say that the most basic aspect of the nitty gritty of writing is simply writing: you show up ready to engage; you take the pen and begin to dance. That’s it. You do this regularly and the stuff you want to write about multiplies over and over. Your skills get better, the dance picks up speed and before you know it, you are performing complex movements beyond your dreams.

You will eventually deal with all that other nitty gritty stuff later, but first and foremost, WRITE: get in the act of simply writing.

Finer Things Challenge: Carolyn

2011-01-05T10:28:00.000-08:00

Last month I posted a piece about the “finer things in life”, suggesting that such things are not necessarily expensive items, but rather “unassuming moments when you are caught by surprise and taken on a spirit-soar”.

I asked readers to free-fall back into memory to find their own “finer things” and to share them with me.

Friend Carolyn Shobe sent me the following piece

in response to this prompt:

As I read your entry on the finer things of life, I was taken back to the Pow-wows I sponsored at Hoke High School in the 1980s. Many of the Lumbee students were disinterested in school academic subjects, but they came alive when I was granted permission to have a Pow-wow for the whole school. Connie, a gorgeous, petite, young lady of 14 dressed in plain brown garb and performed the Lord’s Prayer in sign language. Never had those 1400 students been so quiet. We all sensed the presence of the Lord. Male students donned their fancy dancing garb and re-created out of their lost past dances and drumming which touched the soles of our feet. There is truly something special about the rumble of drums and the flash of dancing feet. The feathers floated gracefully as they bowed their heads imitating buffalo hunts long forgotten.

I think this affinity for drumbeats started when I was young and went to high school football games. I have never understood football nor have I wanted to. I went to feel the stadium bleachers shudder when the band started. Drums speak to something primal in each of us; those who are too shy to dance or drum reach out for the beat and live vicariously through the drummers.

Only once have I drummed in public. At Storer, the elementary home where I spent 9 years, we were visited by dancing, drumming African members of a troop. I was so mesmerized that I forgot about my size or my age and went forward with the young and old volunteers to pour my soul into the stretched rawhide and the hollow wood. The song and rhythm transcended my lack of talent and pulled me into the mystery of the moment.

These drums are truly part of the finer things you’ve touched on in Japan.

Beating Rice

2011-01-03T04:49:00.000-08:00

Note: the following post is an excerpt from my WIP, the Bath Tub Stories.

– It is taken from the chapter on New Year’s festivities.

Picture source: http://www.wabei-mono.com/blog/2007/12/

The entrance to the shrine grounds greeted us with steamy wafts of think sweet air coming from the over-sized iron pot dangling from its tripod over a large wooden fire contained in a metal barrel. Red bean soup with soft white balls of pounded rice simmered with long steady puffs of invitation calling the crowd to gather at the shrine.

“Later,” Aki told me at the hint I might venture on over to grab a bowl of soup. “We’ll have some azuki soup on our way out. It’ll settle well in our tummies while we’re soaking.”

“But…”

“No time now,” she barked, marching on ahead of me. Stuffed shopping bags were swinging at her side, powered by the pumping of her arms. I scampered to dodge people trying to catch up with her.

We found the mocha-making corner at the far end of the grounds. Three long tables with white cloths stretched out before us. The center table held wooden framed trays filled with flat, palm-sized powdery balls of doughy rice patties. The table to the left was covered with empty tray yet to be filled, and Jitsu and her friends were serving hot green tea at the table to the right. The pounding bowls, situated between and behind the tables, looked like deep birdbaths perched on cement pedestals. The men ruled the pounding bowls while the women orchestrated the activities at the tables.

“Mama! Angel-san! You are just in time!” Kenichi ran up to greet us, quickly taking the bags from Aki and handing me a large wooden mallet. He pulled me over to one of the pounding bowls. Three other men were anxiously ready to take over in explaining the process of mochi-making to me. Speaking all at once, I found it easier to watch the activities at other pounding bowls to get the idea.

“Yoosh! Yaroo!” I cried out, “I’m ready, Kenichi! Let’s do it!” Feet firmly planted, knees slightly bent, heavy mallet raised high over my head, I was primed, prepped, and biting at the bit.

“Aim for the center,” Kenichi yelled just as I swung. The mallet plunged into the thick, sticky wad and it stuck. It stuck there like it had been grabbed and clinched by the blob of dough. All the other swinging mallets at other pounding bowls slapped and sprang back out in a high energy kind of rhythmic dance. Mine was firmly stuck.

The men fell back away from the bowl laughing and marching in circles - knee-slapping, hand-clapping hilarity broke their concentration.

“Oh Angel-san, you are so funny!”

“You can’t stick it like that!”

“Woo-hooo- hooo!”

“Get Angel-san some sake! She needs to loosen her elbows.”

The women giggled, but no one moved to pour me a drink.

Kenichi grabbed the mallet from me and proceeded to demonstrate: mallet up, breath in, knees bending; exploding exhalation used to fuel the downward swing, body lifting, Whap! That’s the full thrust of the mallet into the big pile of sticky rice dough; then body lowers to power the reflex snap-up pull at the end of the exhale.

“Yank out of the swing at the exact moment of impact?” I asked.

“Un. Whap! Pull!”

“OK!”

I gathered my energy and lifted the mallet, this time more dramatically, more deliberately. Controlled breath guided my power. It landed hard into the lump of rice and indeed, snapped back out!

Picture source:

http://iamaviking.com/2006/12/18/making-mochi-%E9%A4%85%E6%90%97%E3%81%8D/

“Woa! Get in there,” Kenichi ordered.

The men swooped back into position. They reached into the pounding bowl and scooped up one side of the over-stuffed, pillow-like wad of the rice as if lugging the side of an inflatable swimming pool. They punched it hard in the middle and pulled back their fists just as I brought the mallet back into the center.

Whap! And pull; whap! And pull. Fists were flung into the white material each time I brought the mallet out and over my head – lift and punch. Down with the mallet – whap! And pull.

picture source:

http://iamaviking.com/2006/12/18/making-mochi-%E9%A4%85%E6%90%97%E3%81%8D/

I began to dance my role. Dip and such as I lifted; jump and slam and I beat. My partners were an integral part of the dance – lean inward, lift and punch in time with my jumps, then sway back from the bowl with grace and ease, a gentle receding with each powerful blow from the surprising strength of my arms.

The rhythm worked like cogs in antique machinery – clickity-clack; clickity-clack; on and on until the rice was smooth like taffy.

Picture source: http://kiroma.wordpress.com/

………………….........................….

We plucked mochi from the trays with disposable chopsticks and took them to the tea table where we wrapped them with dried, crispy strips of seaweed. Then we laid them on a grill over the nearby fire. Turning them with our chopsticks until they were drippy and gooey, I swallowed hard the saliva that pooled on my tongue in anticipation.

Jitsu appeared quietly at my side offering me a saucer with a soy and sugar mixture.

“Your mochi is done, Angel-san,” Aki told me. “Now dip and eat.”

I slathered the mochi into the sauce and slurped it into my mouth.

I moaned the savory satisfaction then passed the saucer to the woman next to me.

“Hurry up,” Aki said, “mine is ready next!”

Jitsu brought us each cups of hot green tea to help wash the thick sweet lumps down our throats. She retreated from the circle unnoticed, just as she had arrived.

“No more,” Aki told me as I gulped my third mochi. “You still want azuki soup, don’t you? It’s bad for your health to stuff your tummy before taking a bath.”

Drums: Finer Things

2010-12-30T13:56:00.000-08:00

The following is an excerpt from my WIP, The Bath Tub Stories. I am including it here because it describes, at least a little, why I consider drums one of the "finer things in life".

Photo credit: Flickr

Aki turned back to face me, taking her cloth from my hands.

“Thank you,” she said, and without breaking the movement of her body, she placed her rinse bucket at her feet, dropped her cloth into it, and turned on the faucet allowing the water to fill and spill over its curled lips, freeing the cloth of its dirt and foam. Wiping a clearing in the fog on the mirror in front of her with the heel of her hand, she continued, “So that was the first sunrise on earth. You see, it was the sound of God’s heartbeat that called light into the world. And that’s why the drums are so important.”

“Isn’t that the cave by the sea?” I asked.

“Of course, and there’s a shrine there now to mark the spot. Have you been there?”

I nodded.

Ei-san pulled herself out of the soaking tub, her skin glowing a soft red. “Tell her about the drought,” she told Aki. “Angel-san will like the drought story.”

“Yoosh.” Aki pressed her hands hard into the top of her knees, groaning as she teetered to standing. “Come on, Angel-san,” she muttered. “I’ll tell you about the drought while we soak.”

Our bodies vanished beneath the green sea kelp water, heads settled as independent buoys marking territories as if for night fishermen. I took in the bitter, salty aroma through my moist nostrils as I listened to Aki’s soothing, mesmerizing voice.

………. [drought story not included here] ……….

“You’re going to the festival on Saturday aren’t you?” Aki called to me as I gathered my belongings.

“Sure,” I said.

“The drums will be there, you know.”

I smiled, knowingly. Of course the drums would be there.

“Wait!” she called, as I slid open the door to the dressing room. I turned to look at her.

“Why don’t you come with me tonight to the drummers’ rehearsal? Come to my house at 7 and my son will drive us to the mountain where they are practicing.”

………. [scene at Aki’s house not included here] ……….

We finally arrived at our destination, a gold-roofed shrine placed oddly at the end of a stone footpath on a flat clearing amid radish fields. There was a bare earthen space to one side of the footpath where a small group of people were preparing for the commencement of the evening. Men were lighting torches from the miniature fire contained in a metal barrel; women were laying out blankets and setting out the sake and square bamboo drinking cups, plastic boxes of home-made pickles, chopsticks, and bagged snacks from the convenience store at the edge of town.

We parked at the side of the road and walked up to join them.

Aki took over as set-up boss and the other women conceded gracefully, as if part of a choreography designed by the temple spirit. Jitsu and I sat on the corner of the blanket closest to the front and began nibbling on pickles. There were soft brown and bright yellow daikon pickles, short strips of cucumber pickles covered in a barley and miso paste, pea-sized crunchy white pickled onions, chewy pickled carrots, and even pickled cloves of garlic. The sour salty taste was surprisingly delicious. And the sting of warm sake washing it down caused a pleasant sensation in my head.

Kenichi moved with ease into his role as leader of the men as they finished arranging the drums. A line of barrel drums on large bamboo tripods varying in size from two feet in diameter to nearly four feet in diameter was broken by a wide space, behind which stood the master drum, a magnificent instrument propped on its side so that the skin of the drum faced the small audience. Its base was less than a foot high, yet Kenichi’s head came only to just below its center. Its very presence was powerful and drew me like a magnet into the ancient stories Aki had told earlier. It is alive, she had said. I began to understand.

Soon it appeared the preparatory rituals were complete. Even Aki had settled herself on an embroidered bum cushion she had brought from home.

The bare-chested men performed their deep lunges and big arm circles. They took slow, deliberate breaths, exhaling with short, staccato growls. They cracked their knuckles and knees and they slapped each other on the backs. Then, at Kenichi’s signal, they gripped drumsticks the length of a forearm and some as big around as two inches in diameter. This then seemed to cue everyone into silence. Pickle munching ceased, chatter stopped abruptly, and the only movement was in the bodies of the drummers as they took their places behind their drums, moving as swiftly and quietly as ancestor Ninjas.

Not a breath could be heard. Excited by the anticipation, afraid of making a sound, my own inhalation was long, slow, controlled. I took in more air, then even more, fearful that my exhalation would ripple the space and disturb the intensity of the transformation that was taking over our little mountain gathering. Just when I thought I might float, Kenichi, strong, muscular back toward us, slowly raised his arms as if casting a net of trance-dust over us. Then he let out a cry – long, strong, and enduring; it resonated off the tightly bound skin of the master drum before him. Without fading in intensity, his cry suddenly came to an abrupt stop and the pounding began. Pounding! Pounding that shook the earth. Kenichi sprang up into the air through the balls of his feet, landing in a deep squat. The muscles in his back worked like machinery – bulging out, down, and up, controlling the penetrating rumble of the rhythmic ensemble. The men over the barrel drums did the same. Faces contorted with concentration, the sweat began to form on their brows and cast a glow over their bare, bronze, images.

I was pulled toward the sounds – sucked into them. The drums were calling and I had no choice but to follow, be taken, and enter. The deep, deafening vibrations of the huge instruments took over all my senses. I could feel them between my ears, in the crevices of my belly, pounding in my chest, and thundering along my spine. Close as I was, it wasn’t close enough; I wanted to be inside them. I was aware of nothing but the drums and the all-encompassing darkness of the night. The monstrous sounds went down inside me, down beyond all flesh and bone, and moved my entire being with profound greatness. Timelessness. Pounding! The drums possessed me. They took me away to an emptiness that somehow seemed comfortable and familiar.

It's alive, she had said.

Reverb 10

2010-12-28T20:24:00.000-08:00

Anyone looking for some really good writing prompts to close out the year 2010 should check out

Reverb 10.

Especially if you enjoy looking back and reflecting on the year past as a way to transition into the new one, you will really like this site. Reverb 10 is “an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. Use the end of your year as an opportunity to reflect on what's happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead. With Reverb 10 - and the 31 prompts our authors have created for you - you'll have support on your journey” (from the Reverb10 website).

There is a daily prompt (but you aren’t too late to get in on this) to help you reflect, process, and evaluate your 2010, each one written by a different author. For example, the prompt for December 15 (by Patti Digh) is called “5 Minutes” and reads like this:

Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.

Did anyone see 60 Minutes this week? There was a piece about memory. Dr. James McGaugh is doing a study on what he calls “Super Autobiographical Memory”. This is a condition in which the people who have this are able to remember everything about every day of their lives. Leslie Stahl who did the interview could pick any random day from even decades ago and the people could tell the day of the week and recall what they did as if it was only yesterday.

Can you imagine?

To date, Dr. McGaugh only has 6 subjects. It is no surprise that “Super Autobiographical Memory” is rare: most of us have to think really hard to recall most things, and even then, we can’t possibly remember everything.

I like this prompt because the act of going back in time to find the events that were most significant, and then recording them, is what helps to seal them in our memories. By doing this, not only do we capture and record meaningful moments to add to our legacy, we also place them more securely in our minds for future pleasure. I find such memories are like a treasure trove of defense tools when negative emotions rise up and threaten to dominate my interpretation of my life.

Anyway, check out Reverb 10 for this and 30 other great writing prompts!

Finer Things Challenge: Norma

2010-12-26T17:06:00.000-08:00

Several days ago I posted a piece about the “finer things in life”, suggesting that such things are not necessarily expensive items, but rather “unassuming moments when you are caught by surprise and taken on a spirit-soar”.

I asked readers to free-fall back into memory to find their own “finer things” and to share them with me.

Following is an excerpt from Norma’s blog,

Scrappy Grams, in response to this prompt:

Linen table cloths, fabric place mats and cloth napkins are some things I picture when I hear the phrase fine living, or the finer things of life. It connotes to me old movies (a fondness of mine) with the romantic couple sitting at a table covered with a fancy linen tablecloth, beautiful lacy napkins and crystal wine glasses filled with sweet red wine.

My uncle David got me started on using place mats and cloth napkins, even for everyday use, when he was a salesman of kitchen and bath items to retail stores in Texas and surrounding states. One year when my family visited him, he stocked me up on samples he no longer needed. I've used place mats and cloth napkins ever since then. No plastic mats and paper napkins for me or my guests. Using these things fits in with my "green" side too. No filling up the dumps with my napkins and mats!

Christmas Greetings 2010

2010-12-20T17:37:00.000-08:00

Note: This is also posted on Faithwalk

Christmas Greetings 2010

Oh Holy Night … when Christ was born.

And He shall reign forever and ever!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

The Holy Spirit catches our breath when we least expect it.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

In the midst of mundane tasks, God grabs our heart and squeezes it tight.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

We move through our days, one after another: bored, lonely, worried, exhausted.

And then we fall.

Fall on your knees.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Sleigh bells ring; are you listening?

Hallelujah!

Angels sing; snow is glistening.

Hallelujah!

Days are busy; I am dizzy.

Line up pills; pay the bills.

Lesson learned; cookies burned.

Gotta be nice.

Jesus Christ! What am I missing?

Is anybody listening?

Hallelujah?

Ohhhhh!

Hear the angels’ voices!

They will capture you for you are His.

Hallelujah!

He will get your attention; stop you in your tracks.

He will fill you with emotion, end the commotion, and delight in your devotion.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Dear Family and Friends,

I found a video on Youtube that portrays the profound magnificence of the Holy Spirit here among us.

Ohhhh! Hear the angels’ voices!

Indeed, the Holy Spirit moves among us! The Holy Spirit here – here with us: this is the original and ultimate Christmas gift. Emmanuel!

Oh Holy Night when Christ was born! Jesus brought to earth the eternal connection for us with our Creator. Because of that Holy Night when the stars were brightly shinning, we can recognize Emmanuel – God among us – and know that we are His.

This Christmas season may your breath be caught and your heart squeezed tight. May you fall on your knees and receive the Gift: God among us.

And He shall reign forever and ever!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Family Update:

Eliza is in her second year at IU. She was inducted into the Kelly School of Business in the fall and also became a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. She is hoping to do an internship in Japan this summer.

Isaiah is a senior at Muncie Central. He had a great year in tennis playing tennis one-singles and receiving the MVP award. He will join his sister at IU in the fall.

Mom is enjoying her new puppy, Rosebud. For more updates on her check out “Forever My Momma”.

River returned to the classroom in August teaching ESL at Ball State. My students are primarily from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and China. In addition, I continue to write.

The FINER Things: An Invitation

2010-12-18T05:32:00.000-08:00


	Photo Credit: www.leapfrog- entertainment.com

Once exposed to the “finer things in life” it becomes difficult to live without them. I put the phrase “the finer things in life” in quotations because I am well aware that what I define as “finer” others may not see it that way at all.

Photo credit: destination360.com

There are three “finer” things I crave on a regular basis: 1) a Japanese bath; 2) Negro Spirituals; and 3) drums.

Having been exposed to these things, feeling fully their tight grip on my soul, I feel a nostalgic longing to once again spirit-soar – that spontaneous flight that is gifted to me by these “finer things”.

When you think of the “finer things in life” you probably think first of decadence and expensive items like champagne and caviar; jaguars and diamonds.

But think again.

What indulgences do you enjoy that are hard-to-come-by and true one-of-a-kind gems? I’m talking about things that cost no money, but also cannot be created or attained by giving yourself an uninterrupted afternoon full of time.

Free-fall back into your memory and find unassuming moments when you were caught by surprise and taken on a spirit-soar. Those are the “finer things in life”.

Maybe now as we approach the closing of this year it is a good time to contemplate these things. Let me present this as a prompt and an invitation:

Describe one or more of your “finer things” and send it to me

with permission to post it here on the Nitty Gritty of Writing.

You’ll be a featured guest blogger!

The Pedestal Magazine

2010-12-15T04:20:00.000-08:00

Writer’s write. That’s true, but they also submit their work in the hopes that more people will read what they write.

I’ve recently found a high quality online magazine that I think is well worth your time. The Pedestal Magazine publishes 6 times a year accepts submissions regularly all year round. Both poetry and fiction are accepted and their pay rate is attractive. Don’t be intimidated by the quality of work they publish, rather let yourself be inspired by a high bar that you can aim to achieve.

In a review written by Suite 101 writer Rickey R. Mallory, ”The Pedestal Magazine is a professional rate ezine, one of the very few I've seen on the Internet. They have a polished, quality look, and the site is easy to navigate.” It is also impressive that they respond within 4-6 weeks to submissions.

Go through the archives to see what kinds of things they have published in the past. This is helpful just to know, not to use as a model to follow. In their submission guidelines they make it very clear that they are open to works that are not at all like what they have previously published. “We are always looking for the original piece, the piece that defies categorization and egregiously asserts its uniqueness.”

If that doesn’t motivate you, maybe their pay rate will. They pay $40.00 for each published poem and $.08 per word for fiction.

Here is what they are accepting for the next issue: “Re fiction for the February 2011 issue (reading cycle December 28-February 14): we will be accepting both longer works and flash fiction, literary and genre work. Writers may submit up to two (2) flash pieces but are asked to submit only one (1) longer work (piece over 1000 words).”

Writers Write.

They also submit their work.

Check out this online magazine!

The Pedestal Magazine

PATCH

2010-12-07T04:32:00.000-08:00

Check out PATCH! I first read a review of this online local news publication and then checked out their website. It’s quite impressive!

PATCH, created and sponsored by AOL, is a “hyper-local news initiative”. It started locally (I’m not sure where) and is quickly spreading all over the USA.

I found this publication because I was looking for paying writing jobs (outside my now familiar territory of article mills) and came across a really good resource that I also want to share here – it’s called The WM Freelance Writer’s Connection. This is also definitely worth your time.

But for now, let me tell you a little more about PATCH.

PATCH pays between $50 and $300 per article! Yeah, that sure beats the article mills! They also have a good reputation for both quality articles and respect for their writers. If you go to the PATCH site, you will learn about the company; if you go to one of their publications, you can see examples of their products. For example, I thought this edition of the Honolulu PATCH was really cool.

Unfortunately PATCH isn’t in all 50 states yet and it isn’t in Indiana where I live. Check out the PATCH map to see if there is one in your state. If there is, read some of the articles and decide how you can contribute. If there isn’t, well, you can a) keep your eyes peeled for this publication to arrive locally, or b) be proactive in getting PATCH in your neck of the woods. There is a link on their homepage to learn how to initiate PATCH in your state.

Either way, PATCH is well work looking in to.

So is The WM Freelancer Writer’s Connection!

Check them out and let me know what you think.

Writing Tools: Planning and Preparing

2010-12-01T07:59:00.000-08:00

I gave my blogging group homework at our last meeting: have a private brainstorm session with yourself and list as many potential blog post titles as you can (at least 15). My purpose was to motivate production and to give them tools to do that. I also wanted to help them find direction to more clearly define their blogs’ theme and their audience.

They joked about getting homework: YUCK! And some balked at the number 15, but in the end, they accepted it.

Later, as I was thinking about the assignment, I realized it is relevant to all writers and that my follow-up should be posted here on the Nitty Gritty of Writing:

Writing requires discipline and practice. Let’s be honest, those things aren’t fun. They run counter to human nature. I write best when I am ignited with inspiration. It feels as if I’ve been spewed from my own body and picked up by the muse on her magic carpet and we are speeding around the world. What a thrill! My pen dances frantically across the pages of my journal and my soul giggles like a child. The stuff I write on these magic adventures is usually pretty good because it comes as a gift from Inspiration; I am just the lucky one who gets to present it.

But it’s not always like that. Such Inspiration is like having a date with God; the rest of writing is the nitty gritty stuff like all the nitty gritty stuff in daily living. Whether you like it or not, for example, you have to do the laundry and vacuum the floor. Writing is the same. In order to write well, we have to do it regularly, whether inspired or not.

DISCIPLINE. STRUCTURE. REVISING. PLANNING. PRACTICE.

None of these things come naturally for me! But what I have discovered is that they result in better skills and a higher quality product. This summarized the nitty gritty of writing.

So here is my point: do the homework even if Inspiration hasn’t yet arrived. Write to your prompts even if what you write is crap. Ask for Inspiration again and write some more, even if Inspiration is still elusive. Why? Because it is the act of writing that fertilizes the ground and truly welcomes Inspiration. Writing is your part in preparing the landing strip for the muse to alight. Prove to her that you are worthy of her presence, not by creating great stuff, but by creating.

It’s vs. Its

2010-11-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

Its are a drag, aren’t they? At least for me, the use of an apostrophe between the word “it” and the “s” has always caused me problems. I mean, I get the contraction for “it is”; the apostrophe simply replaces the “i” in is. But in the case of the possessive, I always want to use an apostrophe there a well. Microsoft’s grammar check won’t allow it. Frustrated by blue line that Microsoft uses to draw attention to my mistake, I give in to the rule of technology and remove the apostrophe because I want the blue line to go away, not because I understand its reasoning.

But now I get it and it is so simple that I thought that if any of my readers ever struggle with this, you should be let in on the learning trick that worked for me.

The other day when I was web-surfing to find some fun ways to present grammar points for my students, I came across a blog with a post full of grammar tips. (I am so sorry that I didn’t bookmark that site and can’t find my way back to it now…). The author explained that when “it” owns something, just exchange the “it” with a different pronoun: his (note that “hers” works just as well).

Let’s look at a sentence I already used in this post: “… not because I understand its reasoning…” “It” is the owner of the reasoning, so it makes sense to me to use an apostrophe like you would if “it” had a name, i.e., Kathy’s reasoning. But “it” doesn’t have a name; it’s a pronoun! (Note the apostrophe I just used – that’s because in that case, “it” is a pronoun.) So it was like saying … her reasoning…

Duh!

So here’s the trick: just add a gender to any “it” and try out the pronoun for that gender; it becomes clear then that the apostrophe does not belong there: i.e., her reasoning; his reasoning.

All the technical grammar jargon used to explain these things in formal education assumes that we are all interested in why; we aren’t. Some of us just want to know usable tricks that help us remember how to get it right. This one worked for me and I hope it helps you, too. It’s simple! (Note the apostrophe = it is simple!)

A Lover of Words

2010-11-20T19:48:00.000-08:00

picture source:
http://psicommunications.typepad.com/

I have never thought of myself as a lover of words because 1) I am not a very good reader; and 2) I really don’t like grammar. OK – I hate grammar. But now that I am once again teaching English to speakers of other languages, I find myself energized and excited by the cacophony of sounds that surround me all day long and the association of those sounds to words. Yes, I do love sounds and I love the process of those sounds transforming into visions, solitary images that move into new images and the words that come to mind as a result. These images deserve description – some descriptions are provided by movement and others by words.

Words! Yes, words come alive when you hear them and produce them in the midst of diverse colors, mixed backgrounds, and the freshness of new understandings. I find myself hearing old words with brand new ears. I search regularly for new ways to express simple concepts.

And I play. I play with words in my head as the sounds I hear in my environment make me aware of nuances that distinguish both similarities and differences among sounds.

English vowels, for example, which I have taken for granted for so long, now rise to the forefront of my consciousness as I teach the pronunciation of cut, cot, cap, and “ket” - as in kettle, but my students hear them all as the same. Ending consonants also have their time in the spotlight with words like buy, bite, and bike – can’t you hear the differences in each of these words? Non-native English speakers generally cannot.

Word association runs rampant as I try to learn students’ names. Elham is the name of a young Saudi woman. She is tall and slender, completely covered but her face is exposed, an angular face with lots of sharp points, soft olive-colored skin and dark eyes. I cannot doubt that she is s direct descendant of Abraham as in the father of the Abrahamic religions.

Abraham? Yes! She also looks like she could be a descendant of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln. There is the “L” and “ham” is the end of Abraham – both Abrahams. Elham. I will never forget her name. Another student, a young man from Thailand with a round face dominated by a big man beard and a persistent smile that shows his teeth is named Wichok: Wee-choke. Wee-choke choke. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Now that’s funny. And hairy. Wichok. I will never forget his name either.

These thoughts are the collaboration of all my knowledge and life experiences colliding with foreign sounds that are strangely not foreign at all. The Arabic sounds are guttural and seem spring forth from somewhere behind the collar bone; Chinese sounds make me feel as if I am wearing a cape made of multimedia wind chimes; the Turkish sounds are rolling like percussion in my blood; the Korean sounds are like Japanese sounds backwards and upside down. All the sounds dance inside me arousing English words that make me want to sing. OK. So I am a lover of words after all!

Stuff Happens

2010-11-16T08:37:00.000-08:00

It has been my intent to post on this blog at least twice a week. I’ve done fairly well for the past year, but it had been 8 days between my last 2 posts. Stuff happens.

picture credit:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/content/image_galleries/
halloween_pumpkins.shtml?28

You see, the night after my November 5 post, I was attacked, whipped, and totally consumed by a violent monster: the stomach flu. I can now say that I know what it is to be demonically possessed.

Two days later, my 91-year-old mother got it, and two days after her defeat, my 17-year-old son got it. I went back to work on day 3 after my bout with the bug, but between overwhelming fatigue, the extra work I had to do to catch up, and the additional care-giving demands at home, I had nothing left in me to give to the writing call. Even if I had had posts already written, I didn’t’ have the mental energy to open the computer and click on the “publish” button.

image credit:

http://www.horsepowerandheels.com

/blog/2008_02_01_archive.html

My point is this: stuff happens that gets in the way of the pursuit of passions. We have to deal with it. But we also have to recover.

Recovery means no lamenting over lost time, no negative self-talk, and no succumbing to inactivity.

Creative thinking and production do not happen when I am sick, but the stories do not die. When health returns, we have to hone in on the sleeping stories and welcome them back into our conscious thinking. We have to honor those stories that flow in our blood and at least promise them our attention soon.

My spiral notebook sits under my left elbow as I grade papers and prepare for the end of this semester with most of my brain and the activity of my right hand. Images, events, and descriptions that pop into my head as I work on the day-job work all get jotted down as they present themselves so that I can meet the demands and deadlines of my day-job while still paying homage to the pulsating passions that feed my soul.

This is just the strategy that currently works for me. If it is helpful to my readers, then go for it – give it a try.

Stuff happens. That is a fact of life. It is also a fact that we have to deal with it. Just make sure that when you deal with your STUFF, you continue to honor the STUFF that MATTERS!

Write on!

Is it Good Enough?

2010-11-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

image from http://www.greythinking.com/

One of the problems that often hinders the work of creative people is perfectionism. Because of high (and usually unrealistic) self-expectations, we either don’t get started, or never finish. How many times have you shared a piece of work with friends, family, colleagues, or even harsh critics and, despite resounding praise and approval, put the work away never to show it again?

Not yet, we say to ourselves; it’s just not good enough.

Besides, perfectionists can’t be satisfied with “good enough” – we aim for the stars and anything less than that is absolutely NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!

Good enough?

Hogwash! That’s an insult to the mysterious and all-powerful muse! We’d rather die than merely be “good enough”.

And so we wallow around in the manic spurts of exhilarating production dissipated by abusive self-ranting. When the tides come and go rapidly, it’s exhausting; when they slow, it’s simply a life defined by manic depression.

And that sucks.

I can’t say I’ve overcome the curse of perfectionism, but during one of my seasons of psycho-therapy, I gained a useful tool: it’s good enough.

No, really! This is a great tool! Don’t stop reading yet – give me a chance to explain.

“Good enough” is BETTER than nothing, and while we are waiting for perfection (in other words, beating ourselves up at every step that leads to perfection ), we create NOTHING.

Now let me tell you, if you want cause for punishment, it’s NOTHING. You want to feel lousy about yourself? Try this one: I’m a creator who creates NOTHING.

Now, that’s shameful.

Roll that thought around in your head until it becomes your own. Swallow it so that you really get it in the depths of your being. Go ahead, think about it some more. When you own it, you can get to step 2.

Step 2: get started. Do what you can. Do the best you can do today even though that best isn’t anywhere near the best you believe you can do on some other, far-away fictitious day. Then say to yourself, “it’s good enough.”

Now, believe it.

Here’s a grain of truth: “Good enough” really is GOOD ENOUGH, and that is faaaaaar better than nothing.

What have you created today – GOOD ENOUGH, or NOTHING?

Spell, Caress, and Shine: Three prompts

2010-11-05T05:07:00.000-07:00

In our journaling group we recently did one of my favorite writing activities: single word prompts.

This is how it works. The leader chooses some random word and says it aloud. We all have just 3 minutes to write whatever comes to mind. Then after 3 minutes, the buzzer goes off and we are given another single word. We write spontaneously to that word for 3 minutes. Again the buzzer, and again a new word. We do not begin this activity knowing the 3 words; they are presented only one at a time.

Three minutes is not very long to write, so we know we don’t have time to think and ponder, and certainly no time to craft that perfect sentence/paragraph. The words are randomly chosen, so they may or may not have any connection to one another. It doesn’t matter. This activity is not a brainy thing, but rather a practice in spilling forth the words that lie tangled or dormant. When we did this last week, our words were spell, caress, and shine. Usually when I do this activity, I end up with 3 very different pieces of writing and there is no correlation at all between one and another. This last time however, I experienced the flow from one to the next in a way I’ve seen others do, but have never done before. I thought I’d share what emerged here on The Nitty Gritty of Writing.

Note – I do not claim these to be good pieces of writing, only fun ones.

Spell

Spell bound: B-O-U-N-D. No, not spell “bound”, spellbound! Spellbound for love, for passions, for manic drive. Spellbound by juicy spices that prick the soul and make it bleed beauty – spellbound, you fool! Spellbound to the glory place where blind begets vision and pain turns inside out and the raw becomes truth and the truth returns feeling to the place where pain had numbed the skin and layered it into thick, dead callouses….

Caress

Caressssss the callouses and tenderize them with pressure. Yes, pressure applied, then released, then reapplied with movement, a rhythm, a stroke, a pause, a gasp, a sigh. Ahhh! Caressssss

Shine

Shine on! Shine on, Harvest Moon! I ain’t had no lovin’ since… ah, the caress –

the caress that sets me spellbound. Spell caress:

C-A-R-E-SSSSsss.

Yes!

the caress that puts stars in my eyes and makes them sparkle and shine.

Shine. Shine!

Shine-o-mize. Shinomize me. Oh yeah, Shinomize me! Shino-licious!

Shine.

Passionate About Writing

2010-10-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

This passion to write is nothing new; it isn’t a sudden gust of inspiration or a sprinkling of Muse kisses – it’s just the way I was made. I am an introvert with a mad drive to express myself, an active thinker with ideas that spin one another into new and unexpected shapes, a visionary who sees and hears layers upon layers of images and sounds, an enthusiast for words and the process of assembling them into both structured forms and chaotic storms. Because of these qualities, I am first and foremost a writer. I have always known these things about myself, but only began to claim the truth after establishing myself in a career, only to opt out of it in the name of “saving my sanity”.

I believe that ultimately we all have to answer to the passions that are uniquely ours – those passions that make you hear your own heartbeat, the passions that keep your blood pumping. We all know this as children, though we may not know how to name them when we are so young. We are dreamers in the teen years and proclaim this wisdom to “follow your heart” with loud aplomb. Some of us keep that mantra close to our living even in our early adulthood, but little by little, the passions get relegated to the category of “hobby”; they get squelched down into our hearts where voices are silenced. Somehow we think such passions are merely childish dreams. Some of us learn to function quite well with passions packed away in bone marrow. We learn to manage because it seems to be the “right thing to do”. We are afraid of looking straight on at those passions because we can’t bear to face the pain of acknowledging that we have allowed them to dwindle so.

But I couldn’t look away. Insanity rose in strong defense of the soul when I ignored my passion. The passion to write keeps gripping me, pulling me away from the center of the world and forcing me into my own seclusion where I am compelled to write, driven to write, desperate to write. Feeding this passion welcomes the Muse who brings gifts. I know this now because I made a dramatic escape from my career and plummeted into depression where I was once again reunited with my voice.

When I found my voice I found myself, and when I found myself, I became honest. Honesty made me whole; not complete, but whole.

After two years of solitude and full time writing (it wasn’t all freedom because I wrote for others in order to make money), I have returned to the career. I can feel the hairs on my head popping and turning gray for the days are far too stressful. The circumstances of career demand conformity to a world where the passions are viewed as frivolous and childish. The voice of Satan rumbles in my head with a steady rise in intensity like an on-coming train: your passion must die; your passion must die. It threatens to drown out the sound of my own voice – the sound of truth.

The right thing to do is to draw a line at the end of each day and leave the work of the career in its own container. The right thing to do is to “follow my heart” and declare that truth with loud aplomb! The right thing to do is to feel the wind beneath my wings and say YES! to the shower of kisses from my Muse!

And so it is that I honor the truth that I know is right for me: the right thing to do is to write.

WRITE

Blogging Lesson – some techie stuff

2010-10-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

Last night my blogging group met at fellow blogger Sandi Baron’s house with her personal techie guy, Jason, to learn more about computer tricks. We are writers, after all, we write. Period. Generally speaking, we don’t do techie stuff. None of us really knows, no care to know, how the mysterious mechanics of the cyber world work. We only know that it all works and that it is important to the success of our blogging endeavors.

Oh, if only someone would take our words and feed them into the magical web of the internet stuff for us, we would be happy – oh, so happy!

But the truth is, we’ve got to do it ourselves.

So we asked Jason for help …

… after a delicious dinner and several glasses of wine …

Jason, a tall, young, quiet man with a gentle spirit and a logical mind was truly brave as he worked with four older, A-type women with quirky visions and scattered brains. As he demonstrated how to use all those buttons on blogger’s dashboard on Sandi’s desktop computer, we sat behind him with our laptops and tried to follow along. Adding pictures, changing the design and layout, linking, and understanding the purpose and value of linking were some of our lessons.

A couple of hours later we smiled complacently behind glassy eyes and said “yes, yes, we understand”.

I’m glad it’s a weekend now because I hope to spend some time practicing what we learned. Only then will we really know if we understood or not.

Thank you, Sandi and Jason for the lessons!

New Art

2010-10-18T18:47:00.000-07:00

This week I got two new painting done by local artist Phoebe Wantz, owner of a new gallery in town called Art and Soul.

I first saw the paintings in May of this year. It was one of those magical moments: I walked in and of all the paintings on the walls, those two jumped out at me and called my name. I had to have them! I made payments all through the summer and finally, this week, I could claim them.

The pictures are beautiful, whimsical, and fun. They describe elements of my own spirit. They now hang in my office adding to the creative essence of the space.

Two of my mantras, 1) support local artists; and 2) nurture the Creative Spirit, are made manifest by this purchase. Having these pictures is a validation of my own creativity. I have them because I spontaneously reacted to the authenticity of the Creative Spirit that lives in me.

The addition to my office décor is so much more than a choice of wall hangings: it is a growing pulse of self-knowledge, self-honoring, and self-confidence that I steadily gain by being true to who I am:

I am a writer.

Nurturing the Creative Spirit

2010-10-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

Several of my friends are working through Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way online. One of the underlying themes in Cameron’s book is total emersion in art – all kinds of art. She also promotes what she calls “artist’s dates”. These are things you do to nurture the Creative Spirit. I worked through Cameron’s book more than 15 years ago and am still changed by several of her strategies and ideas. Allowing yourself to be open to inspiration and moved by the creative energies of others is indeed as basic and necessary to your own Creative Spirit as the act of creating. Since reading The Artist’s Way I have made it a point to seek art and opportunities to be in the midst of art and its creators. Sometimes it isn’t easy to make the effort to go out; it is often too easy to get caught up in the details and demands of regular life and to think of nurturing the soul as a “luxury”. Luxury activities usually get pushed to the bottom of the “to do” list. I’ve made a conscious decision to try and keep them at the top and even better, to make them a part of life and not something on a list of things I gotta do.

On the first Thursday of every month, our downtown shops and galleries stay open until 9:00 pm. This past Thursday I was really too tired to go to the “Art Walk” and could easily have just gone home to veg out alone in front of the TV. Fortunately my friend Sandi was already planning to take me so I had an extra boost to compliment my personal commitment to fostering the blessings of art in my life. She picked me up at work. I hopped into her car, tossed my shoes into the back seat and off we went.

Plates of hot brie, flaky cheese bread, gourmet dips and salsas made from ingredients grown by local organic farmers awaited us in the middle of one art gallery after another. The walls of each venue pulsated with creative energy from works made with metals, fibers, paints, and more. the streets were filled with student artists and their works, vendors of all kinds of wares, musicians, and even our friend Sherita was set up reading Tarot cards. Wine-tasting complimented hugs from old friends who in turn, introduced us to new friends.

When I lived in southern Kyushu in Japan, there was an outdoor public bathing place high in the mountains where my best friend, Kyoko and I loved to go with our children. The bathing pools were built into the side of the mountain so that as we sat in the steamy waters, we had a front row seat to God’s art show. At one end of the largest pool there was a waterfall. Oh how I loved to sit beneath it and feel the shower of the natural spring beat down on my head and blanket my whole being with cleansing renewal.

The first Thursday Art Walk was a comparable shower of the Creative Spirit – an energy that stimulates all the senses, beating down into the cerebral center and then penetrating into the soul.

We writers must court the arts in all aspects of our lives for this deliberate intention is what nurtures the soul and opens the gate to free the stores we were born to tell.

Creating...

2010-10-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

You are Worth the Time!
Please watch this because you ARE worth the time. I am thinking a lot about the act of creating these days and this absolutely fits that thought.

Facebook: Important Connections

2010-10-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

I am still thinking about social media and its value for writers.

If you are already known by a broad audience, you can easily gain lots of followers (Twitter) or friends (Facebook). These are both fans and real life friends. They see what you post and are more likely to be proactive about it – they will read it first of all, and they will probably retweet it or repost it and talk about it in their own circles. This is a good example of free and good quality publicity. Patty Digh, author of 37 Days blog and Life is a Verb, with 1,700 friends is a great example. I don’t know the exact numbers, but I am willing to bet that they are significant. People read what she is doing on her facebook site and then they buy tickets for her presentations and lectures, they buy books, they write reviews, and they tell their friends. Such publicity has a life of its own – there is very little you need to do to make it work for you other than post and tweet.

But what if you aren’t already known by a broad audience? This situation requires a bit more work on your part, but it is just as possible to hone in on your key audience and build the right following. A great example of this is the barefooters. Nearly half my facebook friends are barefooters from around the world. I didn’t even actively seek them, but because barefooters long to know that they are not alone in this world, they have some incredible community-building skills. It all started with just a couple of barefoot friends. Their barefoot friends saw my comments on their facebook walls and friend-requested me. I accepted and left comments on my new friends’ walls and so the friends started collecting. Before long, I found myself with a significant following of barefooters.

Last week when I posted on this blog about barefooting, I simply posted a link to the Nitty Gritty on my facebook status. On that day alone I had more hits on the Nitty Gritty than I get on any average week!

So here is the point: translate that barefoot story to your own writing. Focus on the theme(s) of your writing and tap into the audience who wants to read that stuff. Although I wasn’t proactive in collecting the barefoot friends, I can certainly learn the lessons demonstrated by them. Seek friends and followers who fit into your niche and follow them. People will always look at their new followers and if they like what they see, they will share it. It’s like the old adage – jump on the bandwagon. If you mix with your intended audience and they like your stuff, it will snowball before your very eyes. Your message (i.e., your name and your writing) will show up in unexpected places beyond what you can imagine or manage all on your own.

The Benefits of Barefooting

2010-09-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

I have to write about the benefits of barefooting here on my Nitty Gritty of Writing blog because I feel that the very lifestyle of barefooting impacts my writing.

Yes, being barefoot is one of the Nitty Gritty facts of my own writing.

Being barefoot connects me with the earth, my surroundings, and therefore, with myself in terms of how I fit into this world. This, in turn, connects my writing to the most genuine core of my thoughts, ideas, ways of expression, and others – my readers and all the people in my life.

Now that I am back in the work world, i.e., the public sector, I feel the pressures of social “norms” to wear shoes and I am resisting it both practically and philosophically.

Following is a list of benefits and arguments to support them.

Safety: It is a myth that going barefoot is unsafe; shoes, on the other hand, are hazardous. Harm exists everywhere from a hot burner on the stove to jammed locks. Nearly all our daily activities pose potential for harm. Consider the use of a curling iron, a kitchen knife, a paper cutter, a razor; consider closing drawers and doors, driving a car, inserting contacts. Bare feet slip less than any kind of shoe on slick surfaces. Shoes can cause you to trip, stumble, wobble or tumble. Straps, buckles, heels and stings are all much more hazardous than bare feet. Finally, because of all the nerve endings on the soles of our feet, going barefoot allows you to make subtle and immediate adjustments on uneven ground, thereby making walking barefoot the safest way to go.

Health: Toe fungus and athletes foot require a warm, moist, dark environment to foster and grow; barefooters simply don’t have these ailments. Barefooting promotes health because without the restrictions of shoes, our feet are free to build up strength and maintain flexibility. This promotes strength in our joints and muscles in our ankles, legs, hips and on into our backs. Barefooting supports proper posture as well. Additionally, going barefoot has a therapeutic effect as walking on a variety of surfaces mirrors a foot massage. This not only promotes physical health, but mental and emotional health as well!

Cleanliness: Hands are significantly dirtier than feet. Even if you wash your hands several times throughout the day, hands touch unbelievably dirty things from public restroom door handles to hand railings and money. Then we touch other people. We even put our hands in our mouths, but we don’t tend to put our feet in our mouths. Why have we not all adopted fashion gloves like we have shoes? Bare feet do get dirty from walking, but they also get washed daily. What’s more, germs that our feet come into contact with are “cleaned” by the following steps we take. When is the last time you washed the bottoms of your shoes? Yet we wear our shoes in our homes and think that because we vacuum, our floors are clean. Think again. And one more thing – shoes harbor all the nasty stuff that grows from sweat and it all stays there for weeks, months, sometimes even years and we continue to put our feet into that environment over and over again.

Legalities: It is a myth that it is against the law to go barefoot in restaurants, stores, or when driving. There are no federal or state laws in the United States that ban bare feet in public places. This includes the health departments and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

Respect: Another point of contention is that it is disrespectful to go barefoot because it might offend others. Yes, but tattoos, wearing hats, cussing, showing cleavage, preaching religious or political views, overstaying your welcome, being late, talking too much….. all these things and more also considered disrespectful. Barefooters are not trying to be offensive, rather we tolerate all kinds of offensive behavior from others and think that we too, should simply be allowed to honor our own beliefs and convictions about health, safety, comfort, and lifestyle choice.

Balancing the day job with writing works in progress

2010-09-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

I started a new job in the working world 6 weeks ago – you know, a job outside the home. For 2 years, I’ve been a full-time writer, making money writing articles, reports, and documents for clients. Now I’m teaching English as a Second Language at the university. When I took the teaching job, I was worried about how I could keep up with my writing. I knew I would have to cut back, but I was determined not to give it up all together because I’d worked so hard to build my repertoire and establish myself with my clients.

I only had one week between the time when the position was offered to me and when the job actually started. I spent that week doing reflective assessments of my work, my clients, and my income during my morning time. Then I wrote like crazy in the afternoons to get ahead with some of the projects I wanted to keep. This helped to secure my mind on what I could realistically do and to let go of the things I no longer needed to do for the income.

Now, 6 weeks into my day job, I realize that in essence, nothing has changed: the bulk of my time is spent doing work for the sake of bringing in money; personal writing happens only because of time management and my commitment to it. In both cases, the work that provides income has to come first, but it’s the personal works in progress that drives my inner most passion to write.

When I was dependent on my writing for all my income, I was keenly aware that writing for myself was taking away from writing time that would be paid. Now the two are more clearly separated: I go to an office at the university and classrooms to make money; I fulfill my writing desires at home and outside by the river. This frees me up considerably and writing is once again my playground!

The day job is chaotic and stressful. Some days I think it’s OK; other days I wonder if I can survive. But my final conclusion is that at least for now, this is exactly where I need to be.

The past 2 years of writing for clients served to establish good writing habits, self-motivation and self-discipline, speed, accuracy, good research skills and quick assessment skills, it helped to build confidence and it provided an excellent training ground for online writing, technical stuff, how to be resourceful, and how to make money writing.

In this new chapter of my life, I am ready and able to focus on my dream projects – those works in progress that have been stacked on my desk for way too long. Inspiration is beginning to rumble beneath the surface. I know this because my works in progress are hanging around my consciousness like dancing spirits preparing for a feast.

You too, can revive those old works in progress: put your day job in perspective and don’t bring it home with you. Clear your mind when you leave and let the writing festivities begin!

An Online Presence

2010-09-18T04:59:00.000-07:00

At the Kentucky Women Writer’s Conference there was much discussion about a writer’s online presence. Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, and forums were the tools most talked about. I have also been at the edge of many conversations about article writing and article marketing, other online avenues for building repertoire as well as establishing your online presence. Then last night I attended a program at the university that featured a conversation between comedian David Letterman and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone. Twitter. I have an account but haven’t used it in months…. Well, now I am re-inspired to spend some time with it once again.

Little by little layers of the whole online trend of society are being revealed to me. And I do mean little by little. On the one hand, it is complicated and amazing; on the other, it is overwhelming and intimidating. And yet, every now and then, I step out of myself and release all the words about it that clog up my brain. It is then that I realize that establishing an online presence does not require mastery of any of it. It is a process and we just have to putter around in it and get some feel for it that fits on a personal level. We can’t freak out over the speed at which technology is growing because unless you are 20-something, you simply won’t catch up or keep up. So just putter a bit. That’s OK!

The bottom line is this: writers do need to have an online presence.

You have to be familiar with the various tools because editors and publishers use them and expect you to be able to use them as well. Your readers may like to linger in bookstores, but that alone isn’t enough. There is a dramatic shift in what, where, and how we read and that shift is going online. None of us can stop that. So you need to join in, at least on some level. Connect with established fans and potential readers through one or more of these tools. Maybe eventually you will use them all and even more, but for now, just start.

Finally, keep in mind that you need to find a balance between constantly learning and doing and just being where you are in it all at this moment. Push and glide; push and glide. You will get there.

Today is a push day for me, how about you?

Online Group Opportunity: The Artist’s Way

2010-09-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron: I love that book! Some of the things I gained from my own experience with the book are now a part of my creative rituals and soul-nurturing activities. “Cameron outlines a twelve week/twelve step program for unblocking your creativity. It involves morning pages, artists’ dates, and different exercises and practices” (Linda Johnson). The book really lends itself to group work, though you can certainly do it alone. Most people I know who have read this book always say that they wish they could have done it with other writers, painters, dancers, … artists. So here is your opportunity:

Thanks to my friend, Linda, for pointing me to this blog where a new on-line group is forming on October first. Just check out the link and leave a comment to sign yourself up. I think it will be well worth your time – one of the biggest gifts you can give to yourself.

Review: Kentucky Women Writer's Conference

2010-09-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

I attended the Kentucky Women Writer’s Conference this weekend – my first ever writer’s conference! Full of expectation and yet expecting nothing at all, I went with an open mind with my spontaneity sensors all tuned up and shiny.

I can’t tell you yet specifically what I learned because I’m still swallowing it; it isn’t yet mine. Only when it is truly mine can I give it away. I can, however, turn to what Heather Sellers refers to as “the decoy” – the story I can talk about.

1) 1) A two-part session with Heather Sellers titled Page After Page: Inspiration Meets Craft: 10 tips for finishing your book was serendipitously exactly what I needed to hear. Some of her tips are already a part of my writing ways and hearing them validated was both encouraging and energizing. I especially loved #3: “You won’t find time because Time isn’t hiding, you are”. In discussing this one, she commented that if you are creative enough to write, you can be creative enough to find time, or rather, use time creatively. Entertaining as well as relevant and real in a raw kind of way, Heather is an awesome presenter who made the conference well worth my hard-earned cash and precious time.

2) 2) Agent and publicist Erin Cox was the other great gem of the Kentucky Women Writer’s Conference for me. I was ready and ripe for words from the inside of the publishing world.

Kudos to the conference organizers and supporters! The Kentucky Women Writer’s Conference is a great conference – not too big; not too small; not too long and not over-packed. My first writer’s conference experience was tremendous and I would definitely recommend this one to other aspiring writers. Look forward to next year’s conference and be sure to register early so you can participate in small, specialized workshops because they fill up quickly!

Why Writers Need to be Organized

2010-09-07T18:19:00.000-07:00

We produce.

And we produce some more.

We get inspired and write;

some things get finished, most do not.

We set pieces aside with the intention to return to them,

but often,

when we try to go back, we can’t find them.

There are journals and stories and poems and growing piles of great ideas. Before we even realize what is happening, we suddenly find ourselves in a tangle of storylines, as if being choked by weeds.

Yes, weeds.

All those things we write, no matter how great they are, become weeds when they turn into piles that cannot be deciphered. Eventually they grow up around us like an untamed garden. The very life of our work can be choked by the sheer volume of our wonderful productions. Where is that masterpiece I was working on two years ago? Where are my roses??

Let’s run with this garden and weeds imagery here for a moment – would you ever plant a tomato and a rose seed in the same hole? No. And yet, we write grocery lists and poetry in the same notebook. That’s OK, but only for a short time being. We have to maintain our garden – pull out the weeds, throw them away, and prune our vines. We have to because that is the only way visitors will want to come. And let’s be honest, don’t we ultimately want to attract “visitors” (readers)?

So rip out those old “to do” lists and throw away the ramblings that once helped to clear your head. Put finished stories in labeled folders, works in progress in easy-to-reach files, works ready to submit on top of your desk to serve as nagging reminders to send them out. Put poetry in folders categorized by themes and ideas in a special “IDEA” container.

Spend the time to do this and keep up with it regularly so your mind can be supple and sponge-like to absorb new ideas. Free up your physical space so you can free up your mind because

a writer with a free mind is most productive!

Time Management = YES!

2010-09-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

Can I really do it all? Yes, I can! I know, we aren’t supposed to overload ourselves and I am always preaching the necessity to slow down and take time for peace, solitude and silence.

I started a new job.

The opportunity arose and I believed I should take it. But here’s the issue: I have worked hard to get to this point in my writing career and am therefore not at all willing to let go, even if the “real job” provides benefits and more than enough to pay for living expenses.

Four weeks ago I was peacefully sitting alone under trees writing – writing for myself and writing for others. My mind was free to explore the creative aspects of just about everything it encountered. Now it is dark under the trees when I get up and dark again when I return home. Now I walk (still barefooted) crowded hallways packed with college students and my mind is overloaded with details and logistics.

The job is overwhelming, the system chaotic, the demands greater than time allowed to meet them. Still, I am not willing to fore go my writing for the sake of the regular income. So I have to say yes, I CAN do it all!

Time Management – oh yeah! I remember that! Time management, realistic thinking, and compartmentalization skills have been thrown to the forefront of my priorities. I had already been practicing these things because my writing is literally all over the place – diversity in clients demanded compartmentalizing my thoughts and activities; deadlines required that I devote time to planning and scheduling my assignments, and the overall survival skill was to recognize my abilities and limitations and accept them: realistic thinking.

So now it is the same process, only magnified.

Before I started the job, I wrote two week’s worth of blog posts for my four regular blogs (pendants, bracelets, Forever My Momma and this one) in preparation. Other work would fall where it could.

Now, during the week I only have time to answer emails and take notes for the writing work to be done on the weekends. Each morning I have to fully and completely put my head in school – my body somehow follows. On the weekends, I rise early in the morning and go to the park. Settling under the trees, I enter my writing world where I write for myself and for others. The week’s notes fall into place and still, I believe, I CAN do it all.

When I accepted the job offer, I believed I could do it all. I couldn’t possibly have known how hard the job would be (had I known, I would have said “NO”). Nonetheless, I intend to maintain the belief that I can do it all. After all, isn’t half the challenge of making something rooted in the belief? Oh yes, faith is the driving force.

And so it is with faith that I balance all these new demands packed into short, intense hours, and maintain my commitment to my true passions and dreams: I write.

Time management, realistic thinking, and compartmentalization skills: years of cultivating these things are reaping rewards now when I need them the most.

Muse Online Writer’s Conference

2010-08-31T18:06:00.000-07:00

I just registered for the Muse Online Writer’s Conference! It is scheduled for October 11 – 17. Because it is online, you don’t have to pay for hotels, transportation, food, etc.

There are workshops, pitch-sessions, presenters, even a book store – all the things you get at a physical real-time conference. It looks pretty cool, so check it out. If you are planning on attending, let me know because it would be nice to connect with other writers before the start date.

Writing Accountability Partners

2010-08-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

When I was working at Miyazaki International College I had a wonderful accountability partner. Laurie was writing a collection of stories about powerful Scottish women from the 17^th century and I was writing about the Rwandan genocide. We wrote a chapter or story each week and left it on each other’s desks. Then a day or two later, we would meet at a small coffee shop framed by rice paddies to give feedback and share ideas. Both of us completed our projects and published our work in journals.

Without Laurie’s collaboration I seriously doubt I would have gotten the work done. We shared equal admiration for each other’s work. We liked each other and held one another in high esteem. I didn’t want to let Laurie down so I felt responsible both to produce and to provide meaningful feedback to her work. I am certain Laurie felt the same. We agreed to write regularly and promised to read each other’s work faithfully. This kept us both accountable.

Having a writing accountability partner keeps you writing through dry spells. It keeps you focused and keeps your “eye on the prize”. Accountability partners motivate one another, provide inspiration, and help you think and process. Accountability partners also aid in the things that don’t come naturally or that you don’t particularly like. For example, I don’t like to look for publications to submit my work to, but Laurie loved that, so she took leadership for that aspect of my work. My strength is in description and expansion, so that was one of my gifts to her.

Accountability partners play a vital role in keeping writers writing. I would love to hear about your accountability partners and/or how you have found one.

2010-08-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

I write two blogs for a jeweler in Israel – one focuses on bracelets and the other on necklaces. The client makes hand-blown glass bottle pendants with religious symbolism and enhanced with sterling silver and crystals. The bottles can be filled with holy water from the Jordan River or from a natural spring that is sacred to followers of Islam, or with a scroll with a favorite scripture written on it. They are really cool pendants and quite unique.

This week I was pleasantly surprised as the client sent me two necklaces as a gift (not instead of, but in addition to) my monthly fee. What a wonderful surprise! Below are pictures of the necklaces I received this week in the mail:

You can see more at the Holy Secret Jewelry website. Enjoy!

SEO = Findability

2010-08-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

I want to be found!

When I first started blogging about three years ago, it was more like a little secret I had with myself. I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it and I actually worried that someone I knew might somehow find out. I struggled with issues of ego and hid behind self incrimination:

Why am I doing this?

Who’s to say my words matter?

I’m nobody and only nobody cares.

My thoughts don’t matter, my opinions are irrelevant, and my experiences aren’t “cool” enough.

You FOOL!

But I did it anyway.

Then I let the secret out. First I told a few friends, then some people in my family. Before long, I was talking about it openly. After a year or so, I posted a few links to my blog on facebook. A few people were reading it, but most were not. By then, I didn’t care anymore – I didn’t care who read it and I didn’t care that most of the people who knew me and knew I was doing it didn’t read it. I just cared about fostering my own passion to write. Though not highly recognized and certainly not very well read, I knew my blog was public and therefore, it kept me aiming for quality work. It also kept me committed to my daily writing practice. That first blog was, and still is, purely personal.

The more I wrote and posted on my blog, the more I learned about blogging in general. As a result, themes emerged and I became anchored on a few specific areas of focus. Eventually I launched the Nitty Gritty of Writing blog to practice blogging professionally.

Now I am finally ready to be found!

SEO articles posted to article directories are my latest focus because the SEO keywords in those articles will bring more visitors to my blog. I want the traffic for three reasons:

When people leave comments it helps me to find them and I want to find others so I can learn from them and build community;
I do believe I have significant things to share and I want to help others to learn; and
I want to be found by people who can lead me to the next level in my work.

Yes, SEO = findability

and I want to be found.

Don’t you?

Propelling the Dream with Sacred Space

2010-08-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

Recently a fellow writer friend wrote about the process of dreaming and imagining and its power to transform and make manifest that which we do not yet have. She described her behavior as “pretending” as she is currently moving into a new venture with her art: Audrey is making some of the most beautiful hand-made greeting cards I have ever seen.

She set up a work studio in her home an das she works late into the night, she practices her “pretending”.

“Buried in all of my patterned paper, glitter and ribbon I pretend to be a successful stationary designer. I imagine that is my creative headquarters – just a satellite of my empire... I pretend that I am designing and creating cards for high profile clients. When the home phone rings during my creative process, sometimes I don’t answer it because I am ‘at the office’” (Crafty Cupcake).

We talked about the importance of her work studio – the space – not only to create the products, but to nurture the dream.

Workspace is sacred space!

So I decided again to post more pictures of my office because te space where I work provided the first surge of power in me to claim the title: WRITER. Declaring that I am a writer fueled the practice and the practice birthed new confidence. Confidence, in turn, provided the guts it took to start this blog, apply for writing jobs, submit to contests and various publications, and to justify my price. All these things happened in my sacred space and propelled the dream.

paintings by my daughter: age 7 and 8

Blogging Intensive: Concluding Review

2010-08-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful week we have had! Five of us shared in a total of 12 hours of intensive blogging lessons. As participatns set up new blogs, we learned about the Blogger platform – the dashboard, settings, design, how to compose, edit, save, and publish; how to follow, leave comments, and subscribe. We learned how to link and how to upload pictures and videos. We brainstormed for ideas and followed up by writing out drafts of posts, profiles, and bio-boxes. We learned about gadgets – whaqt they are, how to find them and how to put them on our blogs. As we learned about SEO, article writing, and how to build traffic, we explored various examples already on the web and various sites to upload and publish promotional articles. We talked about the value of online and blogging communities and participated in some as practice.

We stayed focused on our work making the most efficient use of our time. It was an amazing and energetic dynamic because we learned about each other as well, but never allowed personal interjections to stray us from the main focus of learning about blogging.

Thank you, Ladies, for a wonderful, productive week! Thank you for your meaningful input and questions and for all your enthusiasm. I am especially greatful that you have joined me in this endeavor.

I look forward to our monthly gatherings and continued learning. Until we meet again, blog on!

Comments I received from the workshop:

I am having fun with blogging, thanks for the help with it!!

Thank you so much, River, for teaching us during our blogging workshop. You did a fantastic job. Our group will be posting a lot and making links to others because of your efforts. You are the best.

Your blogging contributions are priceless. I look at my blog a new way thanks to you. I
got my book in the mail called: The Everything Blogging Book by Aliza
Risdahl. I will share it with you.

Participants' Blogs

Words from the Parsonage
Sandi's Impressions
Scrappy Grams
Crafty Cupcake

Writing Colleagues

2010-08-13T07:07:00.000-07:00

Writers need writer friends. We need to tell other writers what we are doing and hear what other writers have going on in their minds and lives. We need to ask questions to writers because only other writers know what it’s like to write. We need to listen to writers. We need to build one another up with words of encouragement and stories of our own persistence.

In most other professions people get colleagues simply by going to work. Writers however, have to make an extra effort to find colleagues and nurture the relationships alone because we go to work alone. We writers covet our alone time and are very hesitant to give any of it up, but we must have colleagues. The rewards of having quality writing colleagues are absolutely priceless.

Here are some tips to help you find writing colleagues

Join a local writing group
Participate in online writer’s forums
Attend conferences and workshops
Go to open-mic readings
Call/email an author you like and invite him/her to coffee
Start your own writing group
Give more than you take

Writers do need writing friends. Seek writing colleagues and honor them – their time, knowledge, and their craft.

Blog Posts Vs. Articles: What’s the Difference?

2010-08-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

When I am free writing from brainstorming and prompts I sometimes get confused as to whether I am writing a blog post or an article. They are similar, or can be, and the lines of definition are blurry and vague. I can’t answer the question exactly, but I do have a current option that I am using now as a guideline:

Blog posts are more personal; they center on personal experience, opinion; they are written in a style that is more interactive by engaging your readership. Blogs are chatty. Articles on the other hand, are informational, centered less on personal knowledge and more on legitimate research. Articles fit into established formulas and can be written to specific templates. Blog posts can have structure, but it isn’t required; articles need to be structured. You can get away with writing a blog post that lacks a main point and supporting points, but an article needs these things. Blog posts can be anything including pictures, links, video, text, or any combination. An article must have text and the other things have to be relevant in the supporting role. A blog post might be commentary on an article or someone else’s blog post whereas an article would be more of a critical review.

You will find your own definition as you write them both, but maybe this brief summary will help you determine where to post the stuff you are writing.

Blog Intensive in Progress

2010-08-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

Here we are! Blogfest participants in action. Check out their new blogs.

Andria's blog: Words From the Parsonage
Andria's blog is about her life outside the parsonage doors.

Sandi's blog: Sandi's Impressions
Sandi's blog is about life lessons and inspirations from God.

Audrey's blog: Crafty Cupcake
Audrey's blog is about handmade cards.

Norma's blog: Scrappy Grams
Norma's blog is about grandmothers reaching out.

Blogging Intensive

2010-08-09T06:25:00.000-07:00

I just started teaching an intensive blogging workshop. We met on Friday for 3 hours at Panera and began with brainstorming and planning, talked about promotion, and ended with everyone setting up their own blog. It was so exciting to see participants “get it” and to share in the joy and excitement as they created their visions. I’m going to eventually turn our work into worksheets and information to post here along with a comprehensive ebook about blogging.

Today we’ll have our next session and work more on blog designing including layout, widgets, etc., and what you can do with a blog. We will also learn about SEO writing. We’ll follow up at our third session with an emphasis on article writing.

I’ve learned a lot in the last 2 years of online writing, but I have so much more I want and need to learn. I’m at a point now that I need human interaction and feedback, so this workshop is aimed at sharing what I know and asking for help with what I hope to learn.

We are off to a great start: four committed and enthusiastic participants, each with a specific direction, all with similar dreams. The fourth session will be focused on tying up loose ends, follow-up and review. At that time we will also deal with questions regarding what we still want and need to learn. It is my hope that we will continue to meet regularly to continue our learning and to share with each other to foster the learning.

I would really like for us to each take responsibility for several of the questions generated by our meetings and research on our own with the promise to come back to the group to teach what we have learned.

Writing Prompts

2010-08-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

I found this link for some good writing prompts. This is a great place to get you started. Set your discipline and simply write for 15 - 20 every day ~ or even just 5 minutes will do. Start at the beginning of the list and see where these prompts take you.

Enjoy!

Creative Portal

Writers Write

2010-08-04T05:54:00.000-07:00

When introduced to a new acquaintance who exclaimed, “oh, are you a writer?” a friend recently commented that “writers write”. Her statement was a preface to her main point that no, because she hasn’t been writing much lately, she isn’t really a writer. I merely observed this exchange and rode along as the conversation move on to other things, but the phrase, “writers write” lingered in my mind for several days thereafter.

It’s true: writers do write. We are compelled to write. It seems we might suffocate and die of we don’t put voice to all those thoughts in our head and all those sensations that stir in our souls. We love the feel of pens between fingers that never seem to move fast enough, and our eyes pop wide with the trill ignited by the smell of a new notebook. We write when we should be listening (or cooking or cleaning or mowing the lawn…); we write when we can’t sleep. We write in the car with the light turns red; we write in our heads when no paper can be found. Yes, writers write.

But I have to say, there are times when writers don’t write. I call it incubation. It isn’t a conscious thinking of a project or an active searching for the right words; incubation is often silent, dark, and it may feel stale. Nonetheless, incubation is necessary for writers to eventually be able to write. Sometimes incubation is meditative and reflective and when incubation is in this stage, you can actually feel the tender life of your writing being silently nurtured. Most often however, incubation takes place in the unnoticed parts of your heart and brain when you are so busy doing life that your notebooks are closed and your pens are… where are they!? (Yes, this question stirs panic.)

Here’s the thing: writers will eventually return to these busy times in their memories and when life slows down then the epiphanies are revealed. When this happens, you realize you’ve been incubating and the muse alights on all the moments of your days and suddenly, you are again writing frantically.

My point here is not to give you permission to resolve yourself t the idea of writing as a fantasy or a luxury and therefore shy away from the identity that you are a writer, but rather to claim your title and simply the stale season in the writing life.

Know that you are in a stale season because you are busy incubating and anticipate the birth of beautiful new stories that will one day emerge from these busy, hectic days. Yes, writers write, but not always. My friend’s comment made me know that she isn’t a writer wannabe, but truly a writer in incubation.

Blogfest – 2nd Notice

2010-08-01T18:14:00.000-07:00

If you want to get your feet wet with online writing, check out ~~ blogfest! This is a great opportunity to:

Meet a deadline with your writing

Write for a specific purpose/audience

Follow some very general guidelines (500 word limit)

Submit something online

Have your work read by others

Connect with other writers

Enter cyberspace and the blog-o-sphere

Win some cool prizes!

Here’s the LINK

Scroll down to the Wednesday, July 14 post for details about the blogfest.

The Electronic Balancing Act

2010-07-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

Ever feel electronic-ed-OUT? I sure do! Cell phones, IM, texting, skype, facebook, email, online banking, iPhone apps, electronic calendars, maps, recipes, notetaking, software programs, websites full of information that leads me to other websites loaded with more information, manage this, manage that all electronically … It’s all so cool! And it all makes me crazy at the end of the day. And yet, I go into the next day, still intriqued, consistently striving for more, always moving toward more understanding and more skill. The more I learn however, the more I clutch fervently to my old-fashioned spiral notebook.

We need them both.

Yes, it’s all about balance.

I never thought of myself as a die-hard traditionalist, but perhaps I am – at least when it comes to pen and paper.

Pen and paper keep me from running so fast that I spill over myself

and tumble down the proverbial hill.

The grip on the pen is the connection between muse and mind;

the feel of the pen is the connection between nature and man.

The act of writing by hand is brainwork I am not willing to relinquish.

The flipping of page still excites me.

Pen and paper keep me grounded in the art of writing

– the spirit of creating –

the process of self-discovery.

Nonetheless, we cannot deny the onslaught of electroncis and their many, many benefits. The Demand Media blog recently had a post by Josh Writer highlighting 5 web/mobile apps that he uses frequently. I thought they were worth sharing:

EverNote

“… jot down story ideas or business plans on my computer or mobile phone … then automatically syncs the note across my account so I see the same thing whether I’m on my phone or sitting on my laptop…”

FreshBooks

“… timers that record how much time I spend writing for each of my clients … generate and send out invoices …”

Fring

“… chat and make free phone and video calls from a single interface …”

Mint

“… online budgeting tool … can also tag different deposits with custom categories, quickly allowing me to segregate my freelancing income…”

Find your own balance.

I step on the paper; I step on the electronics;

back to the paper;

back to the electronics.

Rooted in the paper,

flailing in the electronics,

a walk in the woods, …

thank God I’ve got my spiral notebook with me!

The Future of Writing: Predictions

2010-07-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

At our recent fiction writer’s meeting one member shared a list of predictions made by author Randy Ingermanson about the future of publishing. I thought they were very relevant to the theme of this blog which has to do with online writing. In particular, Randy predicted that 1) e-books will soon surpass books in print; 2) e-books will soon be the “minor leagues”, meaning that “writers will simply short-circuit the traditional route by e-publishing their first book”; and 3) beginning authors will e-publish first.

I couldn’t agree more based on what I read and hear in the writing and publishing field. This is precisely why I want to encourage you to increase your online writing! People need to know who you are and what your areas of expertise are. No matter what kind of writing you do, you can increase your online exposure in a variety of ways, in particular, through article writing and blogs.

Providing relevant information to a target audience establishes you in the field and that’s where you will be found by fans and publishers alike. To date, I have been published at least 400 times, not including any of my blogs or the work I did when I first got started and didn’t keep track of them. If I include those in my numbers, I have close to 1000 pieces of work out there on the internet. Many of those pieces of work were rewarded monetarily immediately, the rest of them have been rewarded in other ways including leads for more paid work. The other big reward for unpaid writing is promotional – the writing pieces are added to my repertoire and they serve to increase my overall online exposure.

If you don’t want to write articles, that’s fine. There are still many ways to write online to increase your reader base while practicing your art. Everybody is online these days – so that’s where you will find your readers, advocates, fans, and publishers. Blogging is one of the best tools because it is steady and consistent: you write and post regularly and as you do, you and your work get noticed.

The bottom line is this: if you are truly passionate about your writing, you will write. The more you write, the better you become. If you want to keep it all private, then that’s your choice, but when you are ready to be noticed, go online because what Randy Ingermanson says about the future of publishing is hot on the target: the future of publishing is definitely via the electronic avenues whether we want to believe it or not.

Thank you, Judy, for sharing this information with our group. I am happy to pass it on to readers of the Nitty Gritty of Writing.

Here is the link to Randy's website.

Here is the link to Randy's predictions.

The "About" Article

2010-07-23T05:54:00.000-07:00

The “about” article is similar to the “list” article in that it consists of several aspects of the same topic. The main difference is that in an “about” article, all sections or points are aimed at further describing, explaining, or informing about your topic. This can be done with any topic. Take, for example, spaghetti: the different sections might include 1) the history of spaghetti; 2) the ingredients and/or different kinds of spaghetti (i.e., white, wheat, whole grain, etc.); 3) nutritional value; 4) how it is made; and 5) how it is eaten. Some of the sections in an “about” article can be turned into other articles more easily than others. Back to the spaghetti example: from the how it is eaten section you could write articles that include recipes for spaghetti sauces; the nutritional value section however, is more limited.

“About” articles are easy to produce because you simply need to follow a basic formula: introduction, 3 – 5 sections in the body, and a conclusion. Do your research and collect information from at least 3 different sources. Then read through the information you have and mark possible headings or sections in the margins. Next, go back through the research and write out your different sections as individual paragraphs. Heading your sections is an attractive stylistic feature because it makes the article easier to read. It also helps you incorporate keywords for SEO purposes. Once you have the body written, write your introduction and finally, the conclusion.

It is best to include your sources in an “about: article, so between the conclusion and your bio box, list your references. If possible, sent an email or leave a common on the site of the authors you referenced so they know you’ve linked to their work in your article. Not only is this a courteous gesture, it invites them to check out your blog and/or website and potentially opens up their whole circle of influence to a connection to you and your services.

Following are some “about” articles that serve as good examples for you as you work on crafting your own.

Elegant Aging - Growing Deeper, Stronger And Wiser In Your Years

All About Thai Curry

Baking with Flaxseed