THE WINTER OF MY DISCONTENTMENT...

 

After two weeks of being buried under snow and ice...and having to deal with school closings spilling over into wall to wall kids at MY school, I'm happy to report the kiddies are back in class. That means I can catch my breath and enjoy the peaceful quiet of working in silence once again. But please don't think me content.

Because I'm not.

Maybe you think I should be thankful my debut picture book, THE STORY CATCHER, has finally been released. Or maybe I should be grateful I have eleven completed picture books and chapter books just waiting to find a new home. Or I should be happy over the fact I'm beginning to line up some author visits and interviews for the upcoming months.

Because I'm not.

You see, this is the winter of my discontentment. The winter I won't settle for simply resting on my laurels and waiting for the accolades to roll in. While I'm thankful Anaiah Press has given life to one of my stories, I hunger to give birth to the next one within the pages of another book with my name on the outside. I am not content to have almost a dozen completed, polished manuscripts under my belt, but wish to continue until I have no less than one hundred such treasures waiting to be read. And I will not rest until every child who could benefit from reading my book has a chance to do just that.

Mother Nature is a tricky one. She beguiles us with pretty snowflakes and sparkling ice, turning our thoughts to dreams of hibernating our days away until the Springtime. Winter is too frosty a time to be working so hard on our goals of becoming published authors. Colder temperatures chill our brains into thinking of nothing but cuddling under blankets and sipping hot cocoa until the birdies start singing again about the new flowers in our gardens.

But I won't be fooled. I won't be tricked into believing I have nothing else sneaking around in this imaginative mind of mine. I won't be hoodwinked into thinking the best of my writing isn't yet to come. I plan on turning my back on this winter of my discontentment and break through the icy cage in which I find myself. To burst through the barriers holding me back from creating a little magic in the dead of winter.

And when I'm done...when all the stories welling up within me spills out onto every piece of paper I own and I lay my pen down to catch my breath, I will take a moment to give thanks. To give thanks for the winter of my discontentment challenging me to do more. To strive for more. To BE more.

And like the beautiful rose, to never give in to the winter...

Stranded In The Wordless Desert...

 

 

 

 

Whoever said writing children's books is easy never actually tried to write one.

 

Sometimes I will sit in front of my computer, staring at the blank screen and wondering if I will ever form a coherent thought again. Experts call it writer's block. I call it being stranded in a wordless desert where hundreds of negative thoughts swirl around me and finding my next drink is a thousand times easier than that first sentence.

 

This feeling of emptiness...for I have no better way to describe it...doesn't happen often but enough for me to really appreciate those sweet words when they do return. There is such a rush of emotion when I am working on a story...watching the ebb and flow of characters interacting with each other and the world around them. Allowing my main character to almost reach their goal before I throw another monkey wrench into the mix. Then being just as surprised as my protagonist when the last page turns and there is a happy ending waiting for us both.

 

But if I've learned anything from a successful writing time it's the fact those empty word roadblocks WILL indeed happen so I need to be ready for them.  I may not be able to stop them from occurring but hopefully I can use some of the following tips to lessen the time I spend in that wordless desert...

 

TIPS TO OVERCOME WRITER'S BLOCK:

 

1. WRITE SOMETHING...ANYTHING DOWN. Write Mary Had a Little Lamb or the Lord's Prayer. WHAT you write down right now isn't as important as the fact you are breaking through the sterile curtain holding you back from adding more words to screen or paper.

 

2. READ OVER THE LAST THING YOU WROTE. I'm also in the middle of writing a young adult fantasy novel but I don't do it every day. To avoid drawing a blank the next time I work on it, I always go back and read the last chapter. It helps set the tone and draws me back into the world I'm creating so I can more easily follow the story moving forward.

 

3. READ SOMETHING SIMILAR. If I've started a new picture book and run into a brick wall, I start reading similar stories to see how other authors have handled their protagonist's problems. I don't want to mimic their work but enjoying the works of others will help fuel my own imagination.

 

4. VISIT THE INTERNET. You've heard me right. Now I don't mean hang out for hours playing Candy Crush or watching YouTube videos. But setting a kitchen timer for 30 minutes to connect with other writer friends and family allows you a chance to realize you're not all alone on this journey. Others have choked on the dust of a wordless desert and sometimes it helps to know that.

 

5. TAKE A BREAK. Take a walk. Work in the garden. Phone a friend. Do a crossword puzzle. Take a nap. Just like Paul Simon's song "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover", there are at least that many ways to shake things up and get those words flowing again.

 

I don't claim to know all the answers when it comes to writing but  I do know I'm a pretty good listener. I listen to those smarter than me and I follow the writerly wisdom of others who have been on this journey longer than I have. Oh yeah, and when I find myself out in that wordless desert I make sure to bring along some sun tan lotion cuz the sun's mighty bright out there...

 

 

 



 

 





I Didn't See It Coming...

 

 

 

In the martial arts style I train in, TaeKwonDo, we do something called free sparring or padded fighting.  It's a way of perfecting our skills in defending ourselves against an attacker.  Unlike these two, we wear protective gear and use light contact which takes far more control of mind or body than just slugging it out. But sometimes you don't see a punch or kick coming or you don't block in time and you get hit where you least expect it.

 

I remember early in my training when I was still working out with my son.  He always had superior skill to my own but I enjoyed sparring with him because it challenged me to think on my feet and deal with whatever came my way.  One day, however, we were sparring during class and I must not have been paying attention as well as I should because I let my guard down...I dropped my hands...as he was doing a roundhouse kick and I stopped his attack to my head...with my MOUTH.  Needless to say that was a lesson learned from the split lip and permanent scar I have from being able to say "I didn't see it coming".

 

Writing can be like sparring sometimes...

 

We try to arm ourselves with strong writing skills, workshops, and books on how to perfect our craft, but sometimes it's not enough.  Sometimes we don't see it coming and we are hit by those pesky writing demons hell-bent on trying to beat us down.  Things like rejection letters, writer's block, self-doubt, and others sneak in a punch or a kick until we feel like all we are doing is crouching in a corner, cowering. 

 

But we have got to remember we are stronger that that!  We come from a long line of champion authors who are in our corner.  Encouraging us.  Cheering us on.  Lifting us up and reminding us we chose this path for a reason.  Simply put...we have no choice but to write.  It's in our blood...in our very souls...and no silly, self-made demons can deter our focus on this path to publication.

 

So I say bring on the rejection letters...it only proves my work is making it's way in the real world and one day it WILL find a home.  Bring on the writer's block...it will challenge me to be more creative in how I look at my work and maybe it is a gentle message to take a few moments to renew my own spirit before carrying on.  And I refuse to be brought down by self-doubt when I can reach out to this wonderful writing community I am a member of...I KNOW my "sparring" partners have my back and will lift me up while encouraging me to step back into the ring.

 

The only thing I have to worry about is this guy...

 

 

 





Here's To The Mucky Muck

Did you ever play in the mud when you were a kid?  When I was much younger, I would walk barefoot along the ridge of the muddy levees which surrounded the rice fields outside my hometown and search for crawfish holes.  Sinking into the mud was simply part of the adventure.

Sometimes however, you find yourself up to your eyeballs in the mucky muck,  and you start to wonder when things got out of control.  What begins as just a little bit of extra weight on your shoulders...i.e. deadlines, writer's block, anxiety over a potential book sale, too many balls in the air at once...one day becomes this pile of sludge which threatens to pull you under and prevent you from reaching your goals.

Don't think that you have to do this alone.  You have friends.  Reach out one little paw and I promise there will be another paw out there to help lift you up and set you back on the path.  That's what this writer community is all about. We all have those mucky muck moments every now and again that pull us down, but that's when we need to look around, take a deep breath, plunge both feet in and just make a little mud art...

Who You Looking At?

I woke up this morning, eager to sit down at my computer and write today's post.  But there was a problem.  My muse was copping an attitude.  Staring back at me from the blank screen as if to say WHO YOU LOOKING AT?  He didn't feel like talking to me and I knew I might be in trouble.

So I argued with my muse.  He wanted to know why I'm always coming to him for the answers to my writer's questions?  Why did I always expect HIM to be the one to bring order to chaos?  Why can't I, for once, do this writing thing on my own?

Then my muse laughed at me.  Thought he was in control of my writer's fate.  I knew I had to teach him a lesson.  So I pulled out the big guns.  I told my muse that I had been working hard on learning how to be the best writer I can be.  That I had the wisdom of others who came before me and the support of writer friends all around me as I traveled this path to publication.  While I wanted my muse with me,  I was still willing to go this way all alone because I had faith in my own ability to stay true to my dreams.  I stood strong and let him know that I could do this!

Suddenly, my muse didn't feel so confident.  He knew he couldn't trick me into doubting myself.  There was even a risk that he would be kicked to the curb and some other muse might take his place.  As he looked at me with those big brown eyes I knew who was the victor.  We both had learned a lesson today, and there was only one more thing I had to say to him before I sat down to write.

Don't make me come over there...