I Write Like . . .
20 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Aha!, Writers Write Tags: writers, writing
David Foster Wallace
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!
Seriously. If you haven’t seen this, take a peek. It analyses the style of the text you insert–sentence length, structure, punctuation–but not content. It’s just for fun.
Home: Road Trip, Day 8
19 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Aha!, Writers Write Tags: camping, family, vacation, writers, writing
Proof.
Home is sanctuary, but I’ve found meaning in the journey.
- Life is good. Enjoy.
- A great kiss can end an argument.
- Money isn’t a big deal, unless you don’t have any.
- I can write anywhere–anytime.
- It’s good to dream, to make plans.
- I’m capable.
- A change of venue is an excellent idea.
- The God of Thoreau and Whitman is everywhere. I have the photos to prove it.
- Don’t undervalue a soft bed.
- Be aware of the best moments. Know–this is it.
Sheet Cake
08 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Aha!, Housekeeping, Mouths of Babes, Writers Write Tags: perception, Trusting Your Instincts, writers, writing
Two nights ago, I couldn’t get the kids to sleep. Since I’m the mom, I don’t crash until they do. Bacon can nod off anywhere, anytime, through any form of natural disaster. Fortunately, he’s married to me. I wake at the sound of butterfly wings, spiderweb spinning, and a ten-year old’s insomnia.
That precise thing led to the eradication of box springs from our bedroom. What? You don’t rearrange the furniture when a family member can’t sleep? In a fit, I woke Bacon and demanded he remove the middle layer from our cake of a bed. I’ve written about my consternation over the Cake Bed before. I’m not sure why I didn’t see the solution earlier. It was always a pain to don climbing tackle just to get aboard each night. As an added bonus, the layerectomy completely feng shuied our bedroom. Now, the bed looks like it did twenty years ago in the furniture showroom. No matter how many different dressings I’ve applied, it never seemed right. Maybe, it was meant to be a platform and not a drum.
The next day, I searched the house looking for the girls. Their rooms were empty. The computer was off. The television was dark. I walked into my bedroom. Cherry reclined atop the fleece blanket reading a book. Beside her, Coco caught an afternoon nap.
Why are you in here?
It’s the most comfortable spot in the house.
Why now?
It’s the right size.
Wednesday Check-in
02 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in Aha!, Wednesday Check-in, Writers Write Tags: Donald Maass Workshop, walking, writers, writing, Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook
Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook: 53 tasks completed out of 591 possible, 0 since 5/26
Miles walked: 5 since 5/26
I finally have a draft of the synopsis I’m not ashamed of. Here’s the opening paragraph:
First year teacher and Harvard graduate, Annie Smart teaches at Kennedy Memorial High School, also known as K-Mart, a big box where the pinging triple tone of the tardy bell sounds like an alert for a blue light special. She views the place as a benevolent factory until Evelyn Bozono, the school’s principal, steals her master’s thesis, “A Comparison of the Paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe with the Novels of Charles Dickens.” If Annie fights for her work, she will lose her job.
I’m back to implementing Chapter 7: Defining Personal Stakes on pages 48 and 49. The good news is I have a real clue about the direction the book needs to take. The bad news is always the same; it’s hard work to make the changes. Yesterday, I printed another hard copy and tabbed twenty-five places where new plot threads need to be added. Without regard to time, I’ll dive in on the first page and work my way through.
Yesterday, while walking, I saw a doe with a tiny fawn. I’ve seen a deer with a baby before, but never as small and fuzzy as this one. The fawn’s spots were so clean and white–she looked like a cartoon Bambi.
Night Shift
08 Apr 2010 Leave a Comment
in Aha!, Goals, Housekeeping, Joined at the Heart, Writers Write Tags: family, garden, Trusting Your Instincts, writers, writing
The words have real meaning. Two weeks on days. Two weeks on nights. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. For a family, whose breadwinner finds work in the current economy, it’s a blip–barely an inconvenience, but still an adjustment. Here are ten things I’ve figured out:
- The trajectory of the job search coincides with the time I’ve been writing this book, two years and eight months. I’m not finished.
- I can live with the new schedule. I’m more confident every day.
- When I lose it because I’m lonely, overwhelmed, isolated or bored, working in the garden puts my head back on my shoulders.
- Writing at 5:45 a.m. keeps the self-loathing away. If Bacon can handle alternating shifts, I can get up early to write.
- Conversely, I have to go to sleep at 10:30 every night. Otherwise, 5:45 is impossible. I may not be on his schedule, but I still have to have one.
- The way I used to do housework is impossible. I can’t make a bed when he’s asleep in it, and cooking dinner at three in the afternoon is just dumb. No one will eat it. The learning curve is steep on domesticity.
- The flip side of the night shift is quiet. The kids go to bed, and I have time to think.
- Weekends are wonderful. They mean something again.
- Steady income.
- Two years and eight months ago, I wanted to write a book that would make readers think about what they believe. I get to do that every day.
crisp |krisp| adjective
