BELIEVE

by Cassie Shiels

Believe has become my life mantra. It's simple and easy and can be applied in everything that I do. My sweet husband gave me a pink rubber bracelet that says "believe" on it. It came with a cute card that basically said women are amazing and that he believes I can do anything.

At first I thought it was kinda sweet but then I started applying it. Anything meant suddenly that he believed that I could raise our four little kids, and then I had more faith in myself too. Anything meant he believed in me as a writer and that meant it was possible. I wanted to be a writer, a mom, and teach childbirth classes and I was sorta, halfway being successful at it all, but after I looked at the fact that my husband believed in me, I felt like I could really do it, too.

Being a good mom was and still is priority #1 and teaching childbirth always beat out writing because it helps pay for things Writing always took a back seat. But when it hit me that he believed in me and that I believed in myself, I dedicated more of my time to it and fit it in. Since then, I tried nanowrimo for the first time and I won! I wrote my first two children's books and my second YA.

I want those of you who are struggling to believe in yourself! Just believe, then dream, then write. It can happen. You can find a way to fit it all in.

There is another quote which is quickly becoming my favorite mantra after believe and it really works well, I think, along side of believing. It's "If you really want to do something you'll find a way. If you don't you'll find an excuse." I want to do this. I want to write. So no more excuses, I will find a way, I will believe in myself and I can be a good wife, mother, author and educator.

I wear my pink bracelet often, but especially on days I know are going to be stressful or hard because I want to remember to believe in myself. Its a nice reminder and now I look at that simple gift as a huge blessing. And whatever your situation is, whatever you are trying to balance in your life, know that you can too! Just start with I believe.

Learned something new

by Cassie Shiels

I think we can always learn something new from every writing book, blog, or conference we attend. So I was reading a book on writing the other night and something hit me. She was talking about how a character should have a major flaw. Not just she has a lisp or she is shy... but something that will get in the way of her living a normal life that will make what she has to do during the book hard.

That got me thinking and I had to rethink what I have been working on, because I agree. Her flaw should be part of the big picture in the book. I thought through some of my favorite movies and I could see that in a lot of them.

For example, in Willow, he is small and short, and doubts himself. That affects the whole story. Only when he accepts himself for who he is and has faith in himself does he win.

Or how about a chick flick, Sweet Home Alabama. She is ashamed of her past, and is hiding from it. It's only when she realizes that she loves being a southern girl that things become clear to her and she chooses to have that as part of her life again.

This idea can be seen in many other books and movies. I know it might not be in all of them but I loved the idea once I realized it. I think I am going to try and do this. Write a story where the main character's flaw is vital to the story. Some of you, I am sure, have already figured this out, but for me it was a little bit of an eye opener, and I was glad that I learned something new.

Losing track of time

By Cassie Shiels
Have you all noticed that time seems to be getting faster? I remember as a little girl the year taking longer, the week lasting longer, and now it's like, what happened to April? That's what happened to this weekend. It was Friday and I said I have to write my post for Saturday before I forget, then the baby cried or something and before I knew it it's Monday and I'm wondering what happened to my weekend. Half of May is gone and deadlines for things are sneaking up.
Before I know it summer will be gone and School will be starting. Right now I'm looking at the last few weeks of school and cheering for summer time but the way this year is going, it's gonna go fast. I can feel it now.
What do you all do to keep up with time speeding by? How do you get your goals accomplished?
Are you a list maker? An "I have a general idea" kind of person? And how does that affect your writing?
All I can say is with life going by so fast, it helps to make sure that every day counts. On days where I get nothing done and maybe watch to much TV, I always feel a bit guilty and think I wasted a day. A whole day!
So what I am trying to do is make sure that every day has a purpose, that there are no wasted days. That might mean that I do some learning with my kids to make the day feel that way. I might get a lot of writing done, or presswork of my childbirth classes, or  a few loads of laundry. But one way or another I try to make the day count. I have noticed that I do a bit better with a list, it keeps me on track.
What do you do to make your days count? What is your definition of that? Its an interesting thing to figure out for sure.

Admitting you're wrong

By Cassie Shiels

We all have these grand story ideas. Admit it; I know you do. And we think we have them all figured out. Many times we do and it's all great, but sometimes we get it written and then look at it and say it's all wrong, or the ending isn't right. At that point we have two choices.

Do we #1 say oh well its good enough, or #2 pull up our big girl pants and hit the delete button?

YIKES! I know its never fun to lose words on a story. It's such fun thing to see that word count hit 20,000 or 50,00 or more. Who in their right mind would delete a handful of pages? Those who want to get it right.

I ran into this problem with my current WIP. I had it all written the way I had planned it, but then the ending wasn't right. It was fine, maybe no one else would feel like I did that it wasn't right. Maybe, others would like it how it was, but for me, it just didn't feel right. I had to decided something then. Keep it the way it was or hit delete.

Well I chose the right choice, I think. It's hard admitting you're wrong even if it means sacrificing some word count. I'll admit it hurt drawing a big X on 15 pages and even more when a few more went after that, but it's worth it. I am still working on the new ending but I already know I made the right choice. So even thought it was hard, it was worth it.

For those who are nervous about it, don't delete it forever, keep a copy to refer to if you need to, but do it if your story needs it. Your future self will thank you!

Writing mom

I Know that a lot of us are mothers and writers.  And sometimes it's rather hard balancing both.  I know since I had my new baby last month it is made it very hard for me to write. How do they do it I often wonder?  These great writers who I look up to who are also mothers. I know I'm still trying to figure it out. There are a couple things I've recently learned.
I may not always be able to sit at my desk and write for an hour or two in the evening if I want to  but I can write at my kitchen counter while the macaroni and cheese boils.  I can nurse my baby to sleep and very carefully pull my work in progress over and try to get a page or two.  And if I choose to do some editing while my children are running around and playing I might also end up traceing their hands on my paper, or give them a corner of my page to color on. And it's okay if it's like that for now. As mothers we have to find a way to make it work. To find the balance. I know I am still figuring it out and through trial and error I expect to figure it out.
Then I also have to keep in mind that as they grow older things will change. Later on I might be able to sit at my desk and write for an hour or two and that will be awesome! But I might miss drying little hands on my Works in progress.  I might be able to being evening writer right now, but when they become teenagers I might have to change that to the morning. Who knows! All I know is that if we want to be writers and mothers we will figure it out.

Hurray for general confrence

I had a great time Saturday watching General Conference. I hope many of you had an enjoyable conference weekend as well. Its a good thing to take a step back from the normal chaos of life to relax and work on our spiritual side of life. I have little kids so I don't get to hear as much as I would wish but I think its good we were all there.
I have wondered more then once what it would be like to write a talk like they do. How in the world do they handle that pressure? This is a major talk, something that will be said to millions not just on TV but also printed in the Engine. I know help for above and inspiration has to play a huge role, but also word choice. Every word is being scrutinized for deep meaning. It just amazes me. I don't think I could do it. But I like the idea of using this as a writing exercise.
So for those who want to try here is a suggestion. Write down what you feel would be a spiritual message you wish to share with others. It can include but doesn't have to the following. The story of the experience that taught you this message you wish to share, scriptures, quotes, and your testimony. You don't ever have to share this if you don't want to it can just be a journal entry, but search your mind for something that has deeply touched you or made a change in your life, and write about it.

Road Block

Fear is a great road block. It is excellent at stopping progress and holding you back.  Fear and no faith in myself is what got me to give up writing for two years. Its a good thing I got over that. :D But fear of messing it up or writing it wrong are also great road blocks. Sometimes you just have to go for it. I have a story that I love, that it so amazing to me, something I want to see on book store shelves and I have written it wrong twice. WHAT?! yes I know, twice. its maybe a little out of my writing ability right now, but I keep trying, and I keep working on other projects, and I know it will happen just not as fast as I thought it would. 

So I am here to tell you if you are afraid of writing it wrong, its okay. Write it wrong the first time. As soon as its written you will know if you got it right or not, but don't let the fear of writing it wrong stop you! Because if you do, will it ever get written? I know it stopped me and I almost gave up all together. But my dream was bigger and eventually, my dreams pushed the fear aside, and I am doing my best to keep it there.

Don't let fear stop you, don't let it set up a road block. Find a way to push past it or get out of your own head. You can do it! We belive in you. And if you are afraid or find the fear road bock is a little thick for you to break down by yourself, let us ANWA sisters help. We are here for you.

Anticipation

By Cassie Shiels

This is a word that I didn't think about much, until recently. I knew I didn't like the anticipation of things. I am someone who dosn't do well with it in real life. If I have to get a cavity filled it had better be tomorrow not in two weeks, or else I will freak out about it for the whole two weeks. But what I am realizing is that Anticipation plays a huge role in writing.

Why do we love to read? Could one reasion be, its the anticipation that we feel for the ending that we seek? In romance we all know he is going to end up with her, but its the how, that keeps us turning the pages. In action or adventure we know the hero is going to win, but how? We anticipate, we count on these things to happen, which is why we turn the pages.

When we write we need to try and make sure we are building the anticipation up. It builds more emotion, the reader invests more of themselves into the story. They become more attached to the characters the words, everything when we build the anticipation.

Alfred Hitchcock said: "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."

So true. The sound of a gun shot makes us jump but then its over. But the time it takes to read about the bad guy coming into the house, pulling out his gun, and tracking the hero into a cornner that we are not sure he can get out of, and then he pulles the trigger. Wow, that builds the emotion. We care about what happens next, we squirm as the bad guy comes up the stairs. We want to shout to the hero, "No don't go there, how will you get out!"

This works in any genra, but it was easy to use suspense here. Think about how you can use anticipation in your own writing, in your own way. Your readers will thank you! :D

Tell yourself the story

By: Cassie Shiels

Ever get in that, I am not telling this right mode, where the words are not pouring out, but are being dragged out of your brain. Like you have to push and shove them out, and then what you read isn't right. Ah its so frustrating when the characters or the descriptions will not cooperate with you. When it worked out so nicely when you were outlining but now is a completely different feeling. The moment where writing becomes harder then you want it to be. Not fun! Anyone who has ever felt this would agree. Some people call it a version of writers block, others just throw in the towel or muddle through it only to go back and rewrite it all later. It can be super frustrating! I know.

So what do you do?

How do you fix this?

Here are a few ideas. Take a moment to breathe. If you need to step back and do something else for a day or two to let go of the frustration do it. Then something I like to do when things haven't been working out right is I tell myself the story. Be prepared with a notebook just in case it suddenly all works out.

But one of the biggest reasons that I write is because I love to read. I love to get lost in the story and sometimes when writing we loose that. So stop and take a shower, go to bed a little early and tell yourself your story, your scene what ever it is that is bugging you.

Let go of all the writing advice, let go of this has to happen this way next. Let it all go and just tell yourself the story. Who knows? It might open up new thoughts, but it hopefully should help get rid of the frustration and the anxiety of trying to get this right. But I mean it, have a notebook near by, because if you don't, you know how it works, the ideas leave for good if you swear that you will remember it later. We all know this to be true.

I also tell myself to just tell myself the story the first time I write it, but I don't always follow my own advice. But if I can do that, it makes the first draft more fun in my opinion. You can go back later and add in the other stuff.

So tell yourself the story. Let it be just for you, the first time. Or if you get stuck, put the paper and keyboard away for a moment and have a moment with your characters.

Computer died

by Cassie Shiels

So I missed blogging on Saturday because the saddest thing happened. My computer crashed. For a writer that is especially devastating if we haven't been regularly backing up our computer. And I haven't done that in a long time, so I am dreading what I might have lost. I am hoping I can recover some things, but if not I learned the hard way.

So back up your computer.

If you work with google docs where all your stories are on he cloud, then that's nice because your stuff is accessible from any device but if not, back it all up.

You could:

1. Get an external hard drive and monthly or weekly back it up.
2. Email yourself your stories and put them in a special file.
3. Print it out regularly
4. Put your work on a thumb drive
5. Put your things on the cloud.

I am sure there are more, but the point is back it up. You do not want to feel the devastation I do, looking at potentially loosing everything I have been working on. Cross your fingers for me that I can get the info off my hard drive.

Post dated

Editing

by Cassie M. Shiels

Lately I have been doing a lot of editing. Thats what I get for writing I guess. :D We have to go back through and edit. The first thing that I have learned about editing that I wish I had known before was that it is so important to have someone else read through it. So Super important. They see things you don't! I know it is hard to find someone who has both your trust and will be honestly helpful. That is sometimes a hard balance to find, but seek that person out. They are invaluable!

I published my first book very wary of letting others read it and now I am paying that price. I am using beta readers to help me with a grammar edit after the book has been out almost a year, and I am having to go through the process now of fixing it, after going through the embarrassment of being told it was a fun story but full of quite a few errors. I knew grammar has always been my weakness but I let my fears keep me from getting help. Its okay though it will be better this second time around, but I learned that beta readers before a book is published vs. after is a much better idea.

The second thing that I think is so vital, is to put the book away for a while. I used to think this was a silly idea but honestly after it has sat for a week or more, things jump out at you that never would have before. You will read a sentence and think, what was I saying. You will start seeing mistakes that you would have glossed over before because you were so used to seeing those words. Put it away I know it is hard, but do a different project for a week or so and then come back. It is so helpful.

The third thing is to go through the whole thing again, after you think its pretty much at its best, with the sole purpose of taking out unnecessary words. I have started doing this recently and its making a huge difference to my writing. Everything is tighter, the sentences are neater, the story flows better.  You usually don't need  for example the word just, and that can also often be taken out. Cut the fluff, and it will make for a better book for sure.

There is a lot of writing and editing advice out there, but for me, in my writing life right now these are the big ones. The ones that are making a huge difference for me right now. I hope they will help you out with your writing too!

Doing Chores

Doing Chores

by: Cassie M. Shiels

Like any child I hated doing chores. I grumbled or groaned, but sluggishly got up and did them. I was very quick to get my jobs done however, when there was a book I wanted to read and I was told I could not read it until my chores were done. :D
As an adult, a mom, I end up doing a lot of things that I use to hate doing. Cleaning the bathroom, washing dishes, laundry etc. I could hate it but I don't. Its different when you are doing these things to take care of your family as a mom.
When I was a child doing chores at home, I did not like it but I found a way to make the time pass better. I would create a story while working. When scrubbing the shower, I was cinderella, and I would create a whole story around what I was doing. It was my start of talking to characters. As I grew I continued to do it. Occasionally I would have a story that I only told myself for weeks when I worked on tasks that didn't need much of my mind. I would hold conversations between characters in the shower, cleaning, mopping, ironing and things like that.
I remember being a janitor in collage and boy did I come up with some fun stories when I had to ride down the scary elevator, or vacuums a rug while being starred at by passerby's, while mopping under tables with music coming from the dance rooms near by.
Tasks where your mind can wander are awesome times to create stories. However its is hard when in the shower and you need paper right now before that awesome dialogue gets lost forever!!
If you are having a hard time figuring out a scene or figuring out how two characters would talk to each other maybe choose to do a chore. Choose for example to hand wash all the dishes instead of put them in the dishwasher and give your characters a chance to show you how they will act or what they may say. Its a good way to get over a bout of writers block. Its also a good way to get somethings around the house done. Two for one! :D

What I love about Christmas

By Cassie Shiels

I love Christmas time. I know it is the same for many people and I am sure their reasons are similar to my own. I love the lights, I like snow (most of the time) I love all the fun treats, I love the music and I love sharing the joy and excitement with my kids.

My favorite time during Christmas time is Christmas eve. That night when I was little we decided to make extra special. It's what we all look forward to the most. One year when we were small we decided that we wanted to do a special performance for my parents. It would be a present from all of us. So we found some funny song and preformed to it. The laughter and joy we saw on our parents faces made a tradition out of it, and for every year since then we have added to our night.

We now read Luke 2 and act out the Christmas nativity story and we perform our kids' program as we call it. It makes for a fun night that we plan and plot all year long. We may look goofy but the whole idea is to make our parents smile. We do something different every year, which is causing us to keep getting more and more creative. We are adding the grandkids in to perform with us and it just keeps getting better because of that.

Isn't that what Christmas time should be about more? Bringing a light, a smile, a gut full of joy and laughter?

I like all the presents and things too. We do put out cookies and hot cocoa for Santa and do all of those fun things too. But nothing is better for us then seeing our parents eyes light up.

We had a fun year this year and as usual we got our parents to laugh and smile, as we dressed up as elves and sang, "we are Santa's elves," in goofy costumes. It was awesome!

How was your Christmas?

What is your favorite part of Christmas time?

How do you find your smiles and laughter?

Respecting other Artists

By Cassie Shiels

As writers we are creative people and there are various forms of creative people, the song writers, the crafters, the poets, the painters, the drawers, sculptors… etc. There are so many of us who are artists.  Usually we understand "our own kind" as it were, but sometimes just because it isn't our particular talent we don't quite understand others talents all the way.

Well I have suddenly gotten a new perspective and a growing respect and new understanding for Illustrators. I get the writers process from the initial ideas, through the many, many edits, to a product we think is finished, to more edits etc. But I never quite understood how long of a process it was for illustrators.

I recently published a new Children's book where I took on the hat of both author and illustrator. WHAT? Yeah I know. Craziness! But I knew I wanted this story to be published and I knew it needed pictures and I knew I had zero in the budget to higher and illustrator. So I went for it. And wow what a insight it was for me. It made me think that every Children's Author should try to illustrate at least one book so that they can see what I did.

The process of creating the pictures, tweaking them, the process of drawing them, coloring them, and converting them into a document to be published. It was a lot of work and it took double the time I expected. SO I am here to say hats off to Illustrators. I now get it a little better. I get why their prices are what they are. I can see how much work it is, and how the pictures can really help or hinder a story depending on what they are.

I am in no way saying I am any sort of a great artist, so I can only imagine those illustrators taking triple the time I did especially if they are painting the pictures. WOW.

I have chatted with some Illustration friends in the past and talked prices for various projects and I admit to hearing their number and my eyes bulging. I get it now friends, I get it. And they are worth it. They like us writers do so much for so little. And those who don't write don't know the countless hours we put into creating a book. The same I am sure goes for anyone who is a creative person who works on creative projects.  I may not understand all artists, but for right now I have to say to illustrators, I so respect you!

Fun ways to be thankful

I like to think of ways to make November all about being thankful and helping my kids even thought they are young to think about behind thankful too. So I am sharing some of the fun things I try to do to keep thankfulness the theme for November at our house. If you like any of theses feel free to give them a try, they would be good for some older kids too!
1. Make a paper turkey and write things we are thankful for on the feathers. You could do this in one night or slowly add feathers throughout the month.
2. Thankful tree same basic idea as the turkey but with leaves on the tree instead of feathers on the turkey.
3. Take up the challenge of sharing on social media something you are thankful for everyday of November.
4. Start a gratitude journal.
5. Play the I am thankful for… game. Kind of like I spy with my little eye.
etc. Theses are just some of the fun ways we have tried keeping the spirit of thanksgiving all month long. What else have you all tried?

Continued learning

by Cassie Shiels

Our ANWA sister, Carol Anne Olsen Malone, posted an article the other day that changed how I see stories and movies. It was one of those things where you went "Oh" and now everything is different. I am writing differently, reading differently and looking at movies differently. Here is the article in case you want to check it out too.

There were a lot of great points in this article but the one that really has sat with me and changed me in the world of storytelling is the Yes/but as well as the No/and point. I find myself evaluating a scene and looking for it to be a yes/but or a no/and event. Of course every scene can't be this way but its starting to be super fun looking for the pattern. I am also trying to put these into my own writing and it is making a change for the good.

So the point to all of this is continue learning. Like a lot of us, I don't have all the money in the world to attend all the classes and conferences that I want, but sometimes a book or even a short article can truly improve our writing. So look for it where you can. I know that some things hit people differently. I have read many articles and I think good points but that's it. Those are good reminders but sometimes we get to read something that changes us forever more.

Tiny tidbits can increase our learning and improve our writing, so if you can't make it to a class or conference don't fret about not being able to learn the craft. There are other ways to learn.

Halloween

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!
I always have. I love to dress up! I love to make up characters, and I admit it they are usually on the dark side this time of year. I can't help it. Why be a cute thing when you can be a monster! I know my crazy silliness.
When I was 12 or 13 I decided I wanted to be dead, as in wear a white dress, white wig, paint my face white. But I couldn't just leave it there.  I had to be someone. So I came up with Filvia Flay. And I painted her a tombstone to put up in my yard. She of course died in a tragic way, and her story even if it was only in my head made halloween even more fun. I am usually a vampire or frankenstines girlfriend, or an evil queen, you get the idea. I love to do crazy make up and funny things with my hair. Its just to much fun!Those who know me are usually a little shocked because I am not a wicked person, by any means, I just love looking wicked one day a year.
When I was in 7th grade I came up with my vampire queen who (spoiler: who is in my nanowrimo book this year) So even if you end up being some crazy thing for halloween you never know when that idea can sneak into your writing. It might be a few years, and there might be a few tweaks but these fun characters can add to your skills.
I will admit it, usually every october I think of a scary story but I haven't attempted writing one yet. I just don't know if I could handle it. Its not my kind of writing. This year I even thought up a whole murder mystery, ohhhh, maybe I will write it one day. We will just have to see.
With my tinny kids I have ventured into the nice characters, a fairy or a nice queen… But this year they are being witches and they might as well be escorted by their vampire mother!  Right? Lets just say I am excited we can all have epic makeup!
Happy Halloween! I hope you all enjoy it and have fun coming up with some creepy characters!

Challenge yourself

By Cassie Shiels

Challenges can be scary. Do we attempt to push ourselves when we are so comfortable as we are? The answer is we should. Why? Because that is how we grow. For writers challenging ourselves could take many forms, like going to a conference, taking a writing course, blogging, entering a contest, working on our weakest writing skill. It could even be something like increasing our daily or weekly word count. We are all in different places in our writing, so we all may need different things to challenge ourselves.

Well I am going to put it publicly out there and admit I am going to do something that scares me. Something that is a major challenge, something that I have never done or even really thought about attempting before. I am going to accept the challenge of doing Nanowrimo. WOW! It took me 15 years to write my first book, and now I am saying I will do it in a month. Crazy sounding to me, but if I do it, it will be so worth it, because of the growth. Thats why do we do it right? To grow stronger, to learn to be better, to prove to ourselves that we can do hard things. So that is my challenge coming up next month. I will let you know if I am successful.

My challenge to you all is to find something that will push you a little bit to grow. It doesn't have to be huge. It can be simple. It could just be to write 5 more minutes this week then I did last week, but accept a challenge for yourself you feel you can do, but will also push you a little. I know you can do it! And I bet you will be so glad that you did.

General Conference

by Cassie Shiels

General Conference is a wonderful time. It's a time of reflection, learning, ah ha moments, growth, and peaceful feelings. For us with young kids, its also a time of trying to get our kids to listen, with often treats, little games, crayons, etc.  But it's worth it, even if we only get to hear a talk or two. Many of us look forward to this weekend and are very well spiritually fed. I know for me, it's a bit of a challenge with my young kids, but I look forward to it every 6 months, too.

I hope you all had a great time with conference!

READ!!!

by Cassie Shiels

To be good writers it is helpful to be good readers. Read books in your genre, read other peoples manuscripts, become a beta reader, read books in genres you are interested in but nervous to write, any of these will help you become a better writer. Reading helps us see how stories are put together, how they flow, how transitions are done, how characters interact in the written word, etc. And its just fun!

But don't just read, OBSERVE! Take time to look at the word choice for age groups (especially for children's books). Observe how much time passes in these books, how the author built up the tension (or didn't), how the author kept it a page turner (or didn't) etc.

 If you want sit and write down why you love your favorite books, what pulls you into them? What keep you up late reading at night? What element draws you in the most? What makes you put the book down?
After your observations, make a list of things you want to make sure you are writing in your own books. You could even write a list of things to make sure you don't include in your own books.

I know I always struggle with the limited time I have to write and read as a busy mother. The argument of what is more important is always there, but both are important. I might not read everyday (other then books to my kids) and I might not write everyday, but could I do one or the other every day,? Even if it was only for a few minutes?  Could I say, I am too tired to sit down and write tonight and pull out a book for ten minutes or so instead? I bet I could, and then I would be helping my writing skills either way.

Reading is awesome, and if we didn't think so I doubt we would be writers.

Happy reading and writing!