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!

Pondering Charity

by Kari Diane Pike

One of my favorite children's hymns is "Love One Another." The topic of charity has been on my mind a great deal lately. Thomas S. Monson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said,

"Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down,...It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others.”¹

After I read this message, I followed a delightful scripture chain that gave me new insights into that divine attribute that the Savior exemplified so perfectly.

John 13: 34-35  "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

With the sound of children's voices singing those tender words echoing in my mind, I began to read 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 where the Apostle Paul expounds on charity. I don't think these passages have spoken to me so powerfully before. Charity - that pure love "exceeds and excels almost all else." Paul teaches me that I can have faith to move mountains, all knowledge and understanding of all mysteries - BUT - if I lack charity - none of that matters. Even the act of giving everything I own to "feed the poor" or "give my body to be burned"..."it profiteth me nothing."

Charity is more than spending hours preparing lessons or donating quilts to the homeless. Charity goes beyond fancy galas and fundraisers and Eagle Scout projects. Charity is more than taking a loaf of bread to a neighbor. Charity is the why - the motivation behind why I prepare the lesson, deliver the bread, ladle the soup or sew the quilt. Charity is the way I greet someone new and my decision to get to know them without judging their appearance. Charity is smiling at someone even though they are making choices I don't agree with. Charity is choosing to not be offended and to choose to be happy for others and with others in their success. Charity is helping others succeed and allowing them to choose their own path. Charity is to look for the best in myself and others and to encourage that best to come forward. Charity involves humility and faith and hope and most of all love. Charity requires self-mastery, temperance, and righteousness.

Romans 13:10 teaches that "love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." The Lord told the Pharisee lawyer that the greatest commandment in the law (meaning the Law of Moses) was to "love the Lord thy God with all thine heart" and to "love thy neighbor as thyself." Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses - through His great love for us. Making and keeping my covenants and showing my love for Him - by loving others around me fulfills my part.

1 Nephi 11: 21-23 describes the love of God as the most desirable "fruit" of all and the most joyous to the soul.

Alma 32: 41-43 shows me how to develop charity. Look forward with faith. Be diligent. Be patient. "Look forward to the fruit." FOCUS ON ETERNITY!

Everything else may fail, but Christ's love endures forever. He will always love me and always be there for me. People will let me down. Science will continue to change its mind about what is true and what is not true. Seasons change. Disappointments come - and so does joy! Charity will always get me through tight spots and shine light on dark days and make joyful moments even brighter. Being kind and giving the benefit of the doubt may not always result in "butterflies and rainbows" but it will never be the wrong thing to do.

There are so many things I don't know. I can see but a small part of the "big picture." But I am learning that as long as I exercise faith and hope and practice charity I can be assured that everything will work out.

Life is magnificent.

Trust the Process

by Marsha Ward @MarshaWard

For several years, I've been worried that I was not doing something all the books on writing said I was supposed to do in the process of writing my novels, but it seemed to work out okay anyway. Recently, I read a book about writing. Suddenly, lights flashed, bells and whistles blew, and I got a huge confirmation that I'm really okay with what I do. The book is Writing Into the Dark: How to Write a Novel Without an Outline, by Dean Wesley Smith. I'm a pantser, so I never outline anyway, but the truth is, I don't do extensive edits and rewrites, either. That latter fact is what had me so worried.

Smith explains the difference between Creative Voice and Critical Voice, and says we should not give in to the prompting to use the Critical Voice (editing) during our writing process. The job of our Critical Voice is to stop us cold from engaging in risky business, and writing is very risky business!

Instead, he holds to Heinlein's Business Rules:

Rule #1: You must write.
Rule #2: You must finish what you write.
Rule #3: You must refrain from rewriting unless to editorial demand.
Rule #4: You must put your work on the market.
Rule #5: You must keep your work on the market until it sells.

Smith gives tweaks of the rules if you are indie publishing. He also writes strange words like "practice," and "trust your process." That last one set off the bells and whistles for me.

I will say the book rambles a bit and could have been tightened, but despite its structural flaws, I found it very affirming to me. There is a bonus section in the back from another book, Killing the Top 10 Sacred Cows of Publishing. The chapter about rewriting was the whipped cream on top of the milkshake for me: his process is exactly what I've been doing all along. I write the first draft. The second draft is spell checking, then I send it to beta readers. For the third draft, I touch up the things the readers found. Then I'm done.

I know you're all crying "Heresy!" but it works for me.

Thoughts?

Should I Write a Book?

by Cindy R. Williams

Have your friends ever said, "You're a great story teller, you should write a book."?  So should you write a book?

If you have a great passion for writing, and are willing to learn the rules, you bet. If you are doing it because others think you should, don't.

Writing is like cleaning your house. Hard work, tedious at times, but what a great feeling when it is all done.

Writing is WORK. HARD WORK! You can't even do a decent job of writing well if you are too tired. It also takes a ton of stamina to stick with it long enough to finish the book. Then, the real work begins, the many drafts and editing. Don't forget the beta readers and critique groups. You best learn how to turn your thin skin into thick skin or let some of the suggestions just roll off your back as your baby is attacked. You, alone, have to put the hours and even days, weeks and months doing more work on your book. Is it ever done? Are you ever done?

Plus, what are you going to do with your little story that is now a book?

Do you want to publish? If so, are you going traditional or indie? Each has pros and cons. You can be successful at each, you can be a failure at each. You have to continue to work hard with marketing no matter which way you go.

This writing stuff . . . I don't know. My passion must be somewhere on my pillow, because I have run out of steam writing about writing. I think I shall retire to said pillow and consider this whole strange world of writing another day.

Hmmmmmm, should I write a book?