by Cindy R. Williams
"You must stay drunk on writing so that reality cannot destroy you. --Ray Bradberry
'riting is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia --I.L. Doctorow
These two quotes have nothing to do with what this post is about other than as a writer, I think they are fun.
In my last ANWA Chapter meeting, Joyce Horstmann, had us fill in a "Deepen Your Character" sheet. Many of us have done numerous character lists in order to flesh out our characters. This list had two questions that I hadn't seen before; What is a "Known secret?" and what is an "Unknown secret?"
Hummmmm . . . interesting. I loved these two questions!
In my case, my dragon's known secret is that he is remarkable because he is the youngest dragon to earn his "Winders Warrant" which is akin to a human getting his drivers license. He is also great ancient dragon magic, something that is no longer common in dragons. This is not generally known, but I do make sure the reader knows this.
The unknown secret is one that I cannot share here. Not that it is racy or anything-- since I choose to write wholesome things--but if I share it, it will be like telling you the end of the movie and ruining it all.
There was a beauty to these two questions.They are not simple. I found that by being asked to think about the answers helped me clarify the entire plot of my book.
Give it a try.
What is your character's known secret?
What is your character's unknown secret?
Nov 22, 2014
Nov 19, 2014
The Wet-Sponge-Headed Marionette Rears Its Ugly Wet Head
by Andilyn Jenkins
Sometimes my brain feels like a saturated sponge. Tasks,
conversations, reminders, text messages, ideas pour over it and then pool
around it until they start dripping on the floor.
Sometimes my eyes close when I ask them not to, like the mall.
Drip. Drip.
Sometimes I feel like a string connects my jaw, neck, and
shoulders and throughout the day, the rope cinches tighter and tighter until I
can’t open my mouth and my shoulders are touching my ears.
Sometimes I feel like my hands can handle any abuse. They
endure washing, scraping, pulling, tickling, patting, carrying, typing,
texting, stirring, drumming, cracking, scratching, cleaning, clapping . . .
Sometimes my knees drip. feel like drop. achy knees.
. . . rubbing, wiping, sealing, folding, zipping, fixing, pushing, holding . . .
Sometimes my feet feel like cold Slinkys—the further I stretched them, the more knotted the muscles became.
* * *
Sometimes I feel like a wet-sponge-headed marionette with
diamonds for hands and a wonky spring in my step trying to go shopping at 9:01 p.m. in slippers.
Drop.
Nov 18, 2014
Life can change in an instant
by Terri Wagner
Big changes are in store for my family and me. Not sure just yet how they will affect my blogging time, we will have to see. Over 15 years ago, my father divorced his second wife in what must have been the most amicable divorce of all time excepting Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. We were all a bit sad as we loved her, and felt their divorce was more about stepping up to take care of children/grandchildren than a lessening of affection for one another. They both had children from first marriages that were stumbling into dark places that took their time and efforts away from each other. I was much older when they married, and soon moved off to Virginia. So I really did not know my stepmom as well as my other siblings.
Fast forward 15 years, and you have a great grandchild without a responsible mom or dad, and absentee grandparents. Epitomizing their generation, my father and this wife are stepping up to the plate, remarrying, and adopting this three year old. They will move into the house dad and I have been living in for the past three years. I will be moving out to the trailer on the property. So my Internet access may be limited. We live in a spotty access area, with an only and at best third-rate provider. Getting access through a long-range router from the house to the trailer has never worked well. Suffice it to say, I may only have access when I walk on over to the "big" house, LOL.
It will be a culture shock for me. I've been taking care of dad for so long now, I just assumed it would end when he moved on the "big" house in the sky. I salute this 81 and 78 year old for stepping up to care for this beautiful little girl. I hope she remains a part of my life for many years to come.
I should probably add this is proof no one should give up on marriage. It does mean I will be freer in different ways than before, and limited in other ways. I am grateful we have been frugal (that's thanks to my dad more than me), and can afford to not only provide assistance, but have extra to decorate. Finally, a place of my own that I can decorate totally and only for me. Well not so fast, to make this transition as financially painless as possible, we settled for a small trailer without any custom additions. So I'm kinda stuck with light brown walls, brown fake wood floors, brown/blue countertops made I'm sure out of some sort of plastic. So my cream and blue beachy decor may have to wait until I again take possession of the "big" house.
It hasn't all happened yet, but by next year, I will be in really weird place I never saw coming. Not to mention the dogs. Wonder how they will take to the pack sorta breaking up as it were. Still I am really excited to see my dad happy. Wives provide a companionship a daughter just can't. I'm happy for her because she needed help building a future for her little great granddaughter. And again they are providing a sterling example of what family does and is.
Big changes are in store for my family and me. Not sure just yet how they will affect my blogging time, we will have to see. Over 15 years ago, my father divorced his second wife in what must have been the most amicable divorce of all time excepting Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. We were all a bit sad as we loved her, and felt their divorce was more about stepping up to take care of children/grandchildren than a lessening of affection for one another. They both had children from first marriages that were stumbling into dark places that took their time and efforts away from each other. I was much older when they married, and soon moved off to Virginia. So I really did not know my stepmom as well as my other siblings.
Fast forward 15 years, and you have a great grandchild without a responsible mom or dad, and absentee grandparents. Epitomizing their generation, my father and this wife are stepping up to the plate, remarrying, and adopting this three year old. They will move into the house dad and I have been living in for the past three years. I will be moving out to the trailer on the property. So my Internet access may be limited. We live in a spotty access area, with an only and at best third-rate provider. Getting access through a long-range router from the house to the trailer has never worked well. Suffice it to say, I may only have access when I walk on over to the "big" house, LOL.
It will be a culture shock for me. I've been taking care of dad for so long now, I just assumed it would end when he moved on the "big" house in the sky. I salute this 81 and 78 year old for stepping up to care for this beautiful little girl. I hope she remains a part of my life for many years to come.
I should probably add this is proof no one should give up on marriage. It does mean I will be freer in different ways than before, and limited in other ways. I am grateful we have been frugal (that's thanks to my dad more than me), and can afford to not only provide assistance, but have extra to decorate. Finally, a place of my own that I can decorate totally and only for me. Well not so fast, to make this transition as financially painless as possible, we settled for a small trailer without any custom additions. So I'm kinda stuck with light brown walls, brown fake wood floors, brown/blue countertops made I'm sure out of some sort of plastic. So my cream and blue beachy decor may have to wait until I again take possession of the "big" house.
It hasn't all happened yet, but by next year, I will be in really weird place I never saw coming. Not to mention the dogs. Wonder how they will take to the pack sorta breaking up as it were. Still I am really excited to see my dad happy. Wives provide a companionship a daughter just can't. I'm happy for her because she needed help building a future for her little great granddaughter. And again they are providing a sterling example of what family does and is.
Nov 17, 2014
Writing and Beach Trips with Besties
By Claire Enos
Ahhhh the life of a young single adult! This weekend, I got to visit the Oregon Coast with a couple of my best friends. They are writers as well and we got to hang out and write and just be together which rarely happens. We didn't get much actual writing done (which was the whole reason for the weekend at the coast) but we did get to talk about writing, and get inspiration from the ocean, and do some role playing to help us get into writing again.
Because of this weekend, I now have a new goal for myself. My goal is to get into the habit of writing every single day no matter what. I read this quote somewhere: "Write until it becomes as natural as breathing. Write until not writing makes you anxious." I plan to use that as my inspiration for writing every day. It doesn't matter if I'm working on a blog or on a manuscript, as long as I write for at least twenty minutes a day.
I am so glad I got to spend this time with my besties and that we were able to have so much fun. And who knows, maybe one day we'll write the story we started together. If you might be interested in reading some awesome blog posts by the three of us, I will hopefully soon be debuting a new blog I call "Operation Tiger Stripes" featuring the creative and awe inspiring writings of Katie, Kiara, and ME!
Love you all!
<3Claire
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| The coast from behind the suites we were staying in. Those buildings are the other buildings at our resort. |
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| Top left: Katie, Kiara, and I Top right: Kiara and I pose on the beach Bottom left: Kiara and I kissing the whale statue! Bottom right: Kiara, Katie, and I on the beach |
I am so glad I got to spend this time with my besties and that we were able to have so much fun. And who knows, maybe one day we'll write the story we started together. If you might be interested in reading some awesome blog posts by the three of us, I will hopefully soon be debuting a new blog I call "Operation Tiger Stripes" featuring the creative and awe inspiring writings of Katie, Kiara, and ME!
Love you all!
<3Claire
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| This is my favorite from the weekend! |
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