Finding Something Friday on Austin Kleon and Stealing Like an Artist

So, I've been busy this month, working on the middle grade novel, catching up on serious reading, and (still) researching agents. But I've also been working on the Picture Book Idea Month and enjoying the daily blog posts going on over there. This week, amongst the posts, I came across a link to artist Austin Kleon (and thank you, Liz Garton Scanlon for pointing me in his direction).


Austin Kleon has a book coming out (March, 2012) called Steal Like an Artist. And if you zip over and read this WHOLE post on "How to Steal Like an Artist (and 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me)", you, the writer, will read something and think, Wow. That's exactly what I needed to read today.


Or maybe you'll be like me and find lots of somethings you needed to read. And when you read the last something, "Creativity is subtraction," you will sigh and think, Oh, yes, that's it exactly.

Letter to a New Writer

Dear New Writer,

I was so excited when I saw you at the writer's group today! I know you were probably a little nervous, and I know how hard it was for you to read aloud what you'd written. But you took that first step, and good for you! You're on your way! I'm feeling downright Seussical!

Look at you go! Off to start your journey--and you're just about to bust with all the excitement of this new passion for writing! You have so much to say, and you can't wait to get all your words out there! Right now, you're busy creating and imagining and the ideas flow so fast, you can barely get them all on the paper. That's a great beginning!

I want you to remember that joy. I want you to grab hold to all those wonderful feelings and store them away. I wish you could have heard yourself gushing when you talked about what you're working on. Or seen your face lighting up as you jumped from one thought to the next!

I was so glad I was there, to see your bright, shining face, to hear the excitement in your voice as you shared your writing dreams. Because in those few moments, I remembered. That's why I love writing.

Thank you, thank you, dear new writer.

On Being All Right On This, My First Post in May

This is my first post in May, and generally, what with May being all about Spring, and school days winding down, and my bare little toesies poking out of flip-flops, my thoughts turn to merriment and such.

However, I would be remiss if I did not address certain events which have recently transpired, namely the (sorta) sudden demise of Osama bin Laden.

Frankly, I'm not sure when the man died, as news reports vary on that fact. And if I'm being perfectly honest, I'm a tad confused as to why most networks spell it "Osama" and yet another network spells it "Usama." What I am certain about is that the person who orchestrated a heinous terrorist attack upon thousands of innocent American people has been stopped. And for that, I'm grateful. In fact, I'd like to thank every courageous man and woman in our military and varied services who show up for work each day to fight the good fight.



I show up for work almost every day, and I fight, too, if you count arguing with Sally the Crazy Dog. Somehow, it doesn't seem quite as...well, courageous. But still, I get to sit here at my desk, with my bare toesies wiggling, and laughing at Steve Martin's hilarious essay "Writing is Easy!" (from his book, Pure Drivel) until the Beneficent Mr. Hall comes upstairs to find out if I'm all right.

Yes, Mr. Hall, I'm all right. I'm better than all right on this, my first post in May. Because I live in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.

(Thanks to isafmedia for the photo!)

Finding Something Friday on Writing Awards and Tornado Tales

I'm sitting here, listening to birds outside my window. The sunlight throws a checkerboard pattern against the sheer curtains, and my spiderwort's dripping with indigo blooms. In short, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

It's hard to believe that many folks in my neighboring counties, in my neighboring states, aren't having such a beautiful day. The birds might be singing, but their notes may be closer to songs of distress at finding their treetop homes gone. The sun still shines through plaid shirts flapping from torn-in-two power line poles. And it always amazes me to see a flower bed, bursting with reds, blues and yellows, perfectly intact ten yards from a flattened house.

Nature is beautiful yet oh, so powerful, and my heart and prayers go out to all those affected by the recent tornadoes. I'm sure there are many stories, and perhaps one of these tales or essays will be told for the Whispering Prairie Press Writing Awards.

They're looking for poetry, flash fiction, and essays, and the entry fee is $5.00. Deadline's June 30, 2011. Maybe by then, it will be a beautiful day in the neighborhood for us all.

Finding Something (on a Good) Friday

When I was a kidder, Good Friday was...quiet. Around noon, a somberness would settle over the everyday activities, culminating in an evening service that left all spiritually bereft. Even children could sense the sadness of this sacred day.

These days, I'm not sure Good Friday is that much different from any other Friday. Kids have baseball games, adults have to work late into the evening, moms rush around with last minute shopping for Easter dinners. I mean, if aliens crash landed on Earth today, they might wonder why humans were making such a fuss about recycling (It's also Earth Day). But would they notice anything else?

Would they find the spiritual quiet of Good Friday?

Sisters of the Quill Unite!

As you may recall, I was recently awarded the illustrious Sisters of the Quill from the illustrious Donna, over at Donna's Book Pub. And if you do not recall the awarding of such, I'm here to remind you.

Apparently, I have been " deemed a quill-driver, a writer, a scribe, a schrivener, an author worthy of recognition." That's pretty swell, don't you think?

And furthermore, I am "welcome to share this award with deserving writer friends."

As you can imagine, I have a TON of deserving writer friends. But ever since I looked up The Highlander the other day, I've been on a "There can be only one" kick. Frankly, after perusing the pics of Adrian Paul (my favorite Highlander), I'm surprised I can think at all.

Bottom line: there shall be only one deserving writer, and she shall be...Tanya Valentine! Tanya is working on a couple of children's books and I'm sure that one day, we'll rush to grab her books off the the shelf. In the meantime, you can read her funny musings at her blog. She is one funny scribe.

And now, it is up to Tanya to pick up the Quill (Award, that is) and pass it on. All I ask is that you mention from whence it came before passing it on to the next deserving Sisters of the Quill (unite!).

Finding Something Friday: Books, Books, Books, Award!

When I typed in that post title, I thought of that childhood game "Duck, Duck, Goose." And in a way, I found a few spots all about books for you to zip over to, click on, and then run back to whatever it was that you were doing before you dropped in here. So off we go!

At first, I thought the Gwinnett Library's page over at Facebook wouldn't have much significance for anyone but us Gwinettians. But then I had one of those aha! moments when I realized that ALL of my friends, wherever they are, can like this page and help our library get over 1600 Dummies books.

I've picked up a few of the Dummies books for the not-so-scathingly-brilliant Halls so I know how helpful these books can be. (Okay, okay. I read the Dummies books, too. Brilliance like this doesn't grow on trees, you know.) And if your library is participating in the same promotion, let me know and I'll happily like your page, too. Dummies books for everyone!

Now, a quick reminder that you can still comment to win Nava Atlas' gem of a book, The Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life. I cannot guarantee that you will be a scathingly brilliant writer after reading this book, but I can say unequivocally that you will be the richer for the experience. Type your comment (with your fingers crossed) on this Hall of Fame post.

And now, for all of you poetry enthusiasts (and I'm including myself here), you still have time to dash over to Donna's Book Pub where she's giving away Tanka Moments: A Man's Journey by David Lee Kirkland. She's shared a few tanka (just in case you need a little refresher, and I'm including myself here, also, on what exactly a tanka is).

Speaking of the wise and witty Donna, she's bequeathed upon me one of the inaugural Sisters of the Quill Awards. As such, I have been recognized as a quill-driver, a writer, a scribe, and let's see...oh, yes! A schrivener and an author worthy of recognition. That's very humbling, isn't it? I had no idea I was all that. But on the other hand, who am I to argue with the wise and witty Donna? Stay tuned for whom I pass the award on to next.

As you can see, Gladys, my muse of a goose, popped in today because she thought we'd be playing games and talking about her. It's scathingly brilliant books, books, books, and an award, you silly goose. And now, isn't it time you dashed off yourself?

The Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life (Wheee!)

Ooooh! I’ve been excited about sharing The Literary Ladies from the moment I met them!

Technically, I’ve known the literary ladies from Nava Atlas’ wonderful book, The Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life, for many years. I met a few of them when I was just a gangly teenager with braces. Reading Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice made me feel quite elegant, and curling up with Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre introduced me to gothic romance (so much more exciting than skinny, pimply boys falling off surfboards at the beach).

Still, I didn’t know the literary ladies like this, their writerly and not-so-writerly whys, and whats and hows of the women behind the books. Nava Atlas did her homework to bring us an inside look at The Literary Ladies, and I’m thrilled to be able to share some of her insights today at this, Nava’s last stop of her WOW! blog tour. So on to the questions!


With the perspectives of all these literary ladies, your book is unlike most guide-to-writing books, and yet it contains an abundance of advice and guidance! So which came first—choosing the literary ladies or finding all that brilliant writing wisdom?
It was definitely finding the wisdom first, then narrowing it down to the twelve authors. I was looking not only for wisdom, but for writings about the universal concerns and obstacles inherent in the writing life, viewed through the experiences of authors who eventually surmounted these difficulties.

It took several years of occasional delving into diaries, collections of letters, interviews, and memoirs to amass enough material for a full-length book. I’m quite a library geek so I loved having an excuse to bury myself in dusty volumes and archives.

As you researched, did you find women writers you hated to leave out? Who didn’t make the final cut, and why?
Above all, I hated to leave out Zora Neale Hurston (ca. 1891-1960). She was not only a literary pioneer with a distinctive voice (best known for Their Eyes Were Watching God), but studied anthropology in the 1920s at Barnard College, where she was the sole black student.

She seemed to be such an exuberant, courageous spirit, but her efforts were always undercut by money troubles. She died alone and forgotten, but then Alice Walker helped resurrect her legacy. Now her books have sold in droves and she is studied widely. However, I just couldn’t find enough about her writing life (other than her money woes pertaining to such) to weave through the chapters.

I almost used Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896-1953), author of the children’s classic The Yearling, as she did leave a fair amount of writings on her life as a writer, but there was some indefinable thing about her that somehow didn’t resonate with me; she often seemed to have some axe to grind. Ultimately I thought that twelve was a better number than thirteen, and not just due to superstition!


So many interesting and surprising tidbits of these writers’ lives are included that I’d love to share all the secrets! But since my book efforts are in children’s literature, I’ll go with Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women. Can you divulge a shocker or two about sweet Louisa?
Louisa May Alcott was a hard-working, strong woman. The biggest surprise for me was that she wrote lots of anonymous thrillers and gothics before her classic Little Women was published. She did them because she needed the money to support her mother and sisters. She thought of Little Women as just another job, cranking it out to make a quick buck. Both she and her publisher were surprised at its immediate success. One of the anonymous thrillers she wrote, A Long Fatal Love Chase, was republished just a few years ago with her real name. I read about 90% of it; sorry to say I didn’t think it was very good, and LMA may well have agreed with that assessment.

What I like about Alcott was her determination to earn a living from writing and not being wimpy about demanding her due. It took decades of slow but steady progress, but she did finally earn not just a living, but a tidy sum from Little Women and the books that followed. Unfortunately, she only lived to the age of 55, and was pretty well worn out by overwork and illness by then.

If you could sit down and have tea and a chat with any of these women, with whom would you choose to share an afternoon? (Goodness, reading this book has already improved my literary skills!)
I notice lately that some women with whom (see that?) I have been in touch have revived the word “whilst.” So maybe there is a trend toward better grammar and classic vocabulary!

It would be hard to choose, of course. I would have loved to meet them all and do the things they enjoyed doing—go to the opera with Willa Cather (though I found her to be a bit intimidating); stroll with Edith Wharton in Paris, visit with George Sand and all her famous literary and musical cohorts at her lovely estate in central France; and see how Edna Ferber went about transforming her novels into movies and Broadway shows.

I’ve been asked who I would like to meet if I could choose but one, and that would be Charlotte Brontë. Her use of the English language was so exquisite that I imagine she’d be a good conversationalist. She also seemed so tough and determined in persevering not only on her own behalf, but that of her literary sisters, Emily and Anne. She sometimes invoked her small stature, and as another very petite woman I would enjoy looking her in the eye!

I’m sure it’s hard to pick a favorite piece of writerly (Oops! Maybe I’m not as improved as I thought.) advice or inspiration from these literary ladies, so I’ll just ask you to leave us with the quote that resonates with you today.
You know, the word “writerly” (and even “writery”) has come up several times in conversations about this book. My word processing program doesn’t highlight it as an error, so I think we can safely use it; it’s a great word!

Since you’re interested in children’s literature, I’ll leave you with a quote by Madeleine L’Engle (1818-2007), best known for the YA classic A Wrinkle in Time. As both a writer and visual artist, I remind myself that it’s important to take risks, even though it feels like I’m constantly trying to reinvent the wheel:

“Risk is essential. It’s scary. Every time I sit down and start the first page of a novel I am risking failure … We are encouraged only to do that which we can be successful in. But things are accomplished only by our risk of failure. Writers will never do anything beyond the first thing unless they risk growing.”

—From Madeleine L’Engle Herself, 2001


You. Will. Love. This. Book. If you’re lucky, you’ll win the copy I’ve pored over. Leave me a comment about your favorite literary lady, or if you have a question for Nava, she’ll be checking in today with answers. On Monday, I’ll draw a name.

If you’re not so lucky here, don’t despair. Nava has assured me that there are plenty of copies available of The Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life. So either way, make room on your shelf for this wonderful book. Seriously, you'll whee for excitement, too.

Um, you know what I mean.

(P.S. Just heard from Nava that she'll be making another WOW! blog stop, so we'll ask her to leave details in the comments. But that doesn't mean you can slack off here. A wheee in the hand is worth two wheee's in the future blog.)

It Feels Good to Win (For Japan)

It's the final day of the Masters here in Georgia...the sky is a clear blue, the azaleas are a riot of pinks, whites and reds, and the grass is a carpet of emerald green. I suppose for a handful of golfers, the pressure's on. But for the rest of us, watching, it's a glorious, carefree afternoon.

The Masters is thousands of miles away from Japan...and a world away from their daily struggles. Life is still difficult for the Japanese people, but you can lend a hand in their time of need with just the click of a button.

Kidlit 4 Japan still has plenty of items open for bidding. You can grab a critique or some swell children's books, as well as a ton of book swag. Even if you're not a children's book reader, I'll bet you know a library that would love a few autographed books for their juvenile collection.

Oh! And I finally won a bid for a really cool bookmark! It's not exactly a green jacket, but I feel as good as if I'd won the Masters.

Finding Something (On a Not-So Foolish) Friday: More Writer's First Aid

Once upon a time, there was a writer who sat about, bemoaning her writerly problems. “Oh, dear,” she said. “I’m stuck in a writer’s block!” Or, “Heavens to Betsy! How will I ever get any writing done with home, family and work responsibilities?” Until finally, she foolishly plopped down in the middle of the floor, putting off the whole writing thing altogether.




Fortunately, a wise friend (coincidentally, her name was Cathy) knew of Kristi Holl and her book, More Writer’s First Aid, a book jam-packed with answers to just about any writerly thing that ails you. She asked Kristi a few questions, to get her friend back on track. Let’s listen in, shall we?

So, Kristi, what’s the writing problem you most often hear about from struggling writers? And what’s one way to handle it?


The overall most common problem I hear about is how to juggle everything and still have time and/or energy for writing. Many new writers are starting at the same life stage that I began writing—with a houseful of small children. Your energy is low, your time to yourself is almost non-existent, yet you have this drive and burning desire to write stories and articles and books. (You wouldn’t mind some second income either.) Or your time/energy crunch might be for another reason: poor personal health, being a caregiver for an elderly relative, working a day job, marital problems or problems with teens that sap your energy, you name it. Lives today are so busy. This is why I started the “Rx for Writers” on the Institute of Children’s Literature website back in 1998, and why I wrote Writer’s First Aid and More Writer’s First Aid. My students—many of them very talented—weren’t quitting because they couldn’t figure out dialogue or description. They were quitting because life issues were sapping their energy and stealing their time.

One way to handle this? No matter what the issue, learn to write in tiny bits and pieces of time if you need to. Be ready, even if you only have ten minutes, to sit down and write. Have your story outlined so you know which piece to work on next. “Pre-write” or “pre-think” about the next part while doing those non-thinking activities (pushing kids on the swings, sweeping, pulling weeds, etc.) Then when you have ten or fifteen minutes free, dash to the keyboard (or keep a notebook and pen with you) and write like crazy. (I wrote my first five middle-grade novels this way.)


I know you’ve been writing for more than 30 years and published nearly 40 books! What do you know about writing and getting published that we don’t know?





Two things that experienced writers know that beginners usually don’t can make all the difference in whether you make it as a writer or not. (1) I know that persistence is more important than talent. That stick-to-it-iveness factor wins out every time. Talent is much more common, but talent won’t take you nearly as far as you might think. I’ve watched over the years which of my students went on to have books published by some of the biggest publishers. They were not the students I first predicted. Seldom were they the most talented, and occasionally I couldn’t see much hope in their work at all. But each of the students who went on to publish well—and repeatedly—simply didn’t give up. They studied and wrote and grew and wrote and read books and wrote and got critiqued and wrote and submitted and got rejected and kept writing. (2) The second bit of knowledge is this: every writer gets rejected, and the rejections don’t stop unless you stop submitting. Rejections are simply a part of the writing life. They’re a job hazard, like firemen who occasionally get burned. It just goes with the territory. If you don’t know this, you can erroneously believe your career is over when you get a string of rejections after several acceptances. Not true. Rejections happen to even the most famous writers—and they happen routinely and throughout your career. It won’t hurt that much after a while either—which is more good news!


What’s the writing obstacle that you most often deal with? And how do you deal with it?

It’s the same writing obstacle I’ve always had, I think. I have difficulty balancing everything and not feeling guilty about devoting so much time to writing and marketing and blogging. When my kids were little and I was writing, I was afraid I might neglect them. (They’re grown now, and they’ve turned out beautifully.) At this stage of my life, I’m afraid I’ll neglect my grandkids (they all live within ten minutes of me) and not give my grown daughters enough breaks. All my life it’s been a 90% needless worry. I’ve always been very involved with my kids and grandkids and some ministries at church. But sometimes I wish I could clone myself. One self would be the full-time writer who did nothing but write and read writing magazines and do writing exercises, etc. The other self would be on-call and involved full-time with family. I used to laugh that I prioritized according to guilt—but I was only half joking! One way I deal with it is to put things on the calendar and look ahead month by month. If it’s been longer than I like since I’ve seen the grandkids, I set up individual lunch dates with them or longer overnight stays. I don’t trust my memory.


Since this book is More Writer’s First Aid, there must have been a Writer’s First Aid. What’s the “more” in this book?

Some of the “more” is simply “more help” along the lines of the first book. Another “more” is more actual articles/short chapters (48 instead of 40). And the last “more” is because I’ve included a section this time on “Family Matters.” I think for most writers that juggling family and writing is a big issue, and it’s big whether you’re a single mom writer or a working dad writer or a grandma whose adult child and grandkids just moved back home and now “live” in her former writing office. Combining families and writing (successfully) is an ongoing challenge.


And finally, if you were a tree, what kind would you be? Hahaha! Just a little April Fool’s humor there. (Um, unless you really would like to be a tree…) But if you weren’t a tree, and you weren’t a writer, what do you think you’d be doing now?

If I were a tree, it would be a white pine Christmas tree—the kind with the long needles. When the kids were growing up, we grew our own white pines on the farm (in Iowa) and cut our own Christmas trees. Nothing ever smelled so good!

If I weren’t a tree or a writer, what would I be? I have no idea! It would have to be book related, I think…like work in a bookstore or library. But I might get fired the first week—once they found me curled up in a corner with a stack of books. I wouldn’t handle that kind of temptation well!


Thank goodness, Kristi is a wonderful writer. You can read her blog, Writer’s First Aid, for a daily dose of writing hope, and you can purchase her book for your Kindle, or get the paperback or the e-book. And because she’s extra swell (or maybe because I sorta begged), she’s giving away an e-book of More Writer’s First Aid for one of my lucky commenters. Make sure that I know where to get in touch with you, or Kristi won’t be able to send you the e-book!

So, friends, don’t make me write another story called “The Foolish Writer Who Plopped on the Floor and Turned Into a Big Giant Blob.” Because now there are no excuses—you know where to find all the answers to your writing problems—and coincidentally, I bet you’ll find your happy-ever-after writing ending, too!

After the Conference is Over...

Whew! I don't know about you, but when I get home from a really wonderful writing conference, my head feels like it's about to burst with an info overload. My synapses are firing away with renewed vigor and ideas are popping into my brain like those Pop Rocks candy. I can't wait to get to the keyboard, to put my splendiferous writing plans into action!

And then, after a few days, I begin to decompress and all that wonderful writing inspiration begins to drip, drip, drip out of me, perhaps landing on the kitchen floor, where I stand in front of the pantry, sneaking yet another Girl Scout cookie, and wondering what exactly I was so all-fired up about.

This time, I'm determined to keep the writing fire in my belly. It helps that the Southern Breeze SCBWI Springmingle Conference comes at the end of February, so now I can start March with my um, marching orders to myself. To wit:

Review my notes and apply all that learning and editor/agent wisdom to my manuscript. Honestly, I thought my manuscript sparkled with glittery brilliance, plus a dollop of awesome sauce on the top. Now I'm thinking it may need a splash of rewrites.

So, I'm going to need focus, discipline, my notes and maybe one of those books the presenters recommended. I'll be sharing specifics over at Finders & Keepers for the next few weeks, if you're in need of inspiration and marching orders.

And okay, I'm still going to need plenty of Girl Scout cookies. Don't give me that look... they're an excellent and tasty source of energy. (P.S. I'm not sharing the Thin Mints.)

And Heaven and Nature Sing!

Can you believe my backyard hawk let me get this close? I've seen him high in the sky, circling above the pines in the late afternoons, the screee-screee of his cry echoing around me.

But yesterday, he swooped down into my yard and I grabbed my camera and headed outside. Whoosh! He soared across the grass and landed on my fence. And there he perched, in his all his glory while I clicked away. I turned to find a spot on better footing. When I looked back to the fence, my hawk was gone. I hadn't heard so much as a flutter.

What a majestic creature! Inside again, I remembered Sigrid Undset's powerful Christmas message and wanted to share it with you.

"And when we give each other Christmas presents in His name, let us remember that he has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, the earth with all its forests and mountains and oceans--and all that lives and moves upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit--and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused--and to save us from our own foolishness, from all our sins He came down to earth and gave us Himself."

Tuesday Tip: Try, Try Again (Or Wasn't That A Lovely Rejection?)

The other day, I received the most lovely rejection from a UK publication. I mean, don't get me wrong. It wasn't all rainbows and puppies. But it was exceedingly polite.

Don't be discouraged, said the editor, for what may not work for us might be perfect for another publication. Honestly, I couldn't have said it better myself. But sending your story out to another publication is not the tip ('cause you already know that).

Here's the tip: When you see a call out for a short story or an essay or a sestina (hey, it could happen) and it makes you think of something you wrote, months, even years ago, pull out the piece. Chances are good that you'll see something (or a few somethings) that make you sorta, kinda squirm. In other words, welcome to that big old room of improvement. Take a seat and get to work. Maybe there's a better way to move your plot, a more interesting way to express your theme, or maybe your sestina was more like a rondeau (um, I don't pen sestinas or rondeaus. But that's not the point here, people). Bet you'll see all kinds of ways to make improvements.

And even if you know it's a long shot, sending your piece to a British publication, at least now, you're motivated and you have a much better piece than you did before. And then, if you get a lovely rejection, send out the piece somewhere else. Because there is a pot of gold at the end of one of those rainbows. Might as well be yours.

(Thanks to stock.xchng for the photo. And here's the short and sweet on types of poetry.)

Finding Something Friday : A Book Spine Poem on What Else? Writing

When I saw a blogger buddy of mine's book spine poem, I knew I had to try that idea out.

Madeline, over at The Shellshank Redemption (and P.S. I LOVE that name), got the idea from one of her writer buddies, who got it from...well, you get the point. April is National Poetry Month and using book spines to write a poem is a fun way for anyone to get in on the action. So, here's what I found this Friday morning. Read the book titles, disregarding any other words on the spine:

If at First You Don't Succeed (By Cathy C. Hall and other assorted authors)



Now, it's your turn, writer buddies. What poem is waiting on your book shelf? Surprise and delight me on this lovely April morning!

Finding Something Friday on the Creative Beast

A Southern Breezer (member of my SCBWI region) sent this little slide show along-and now I'm sharing it with you. Thanks to Betsy Streeter (at The Affluent Artist) who put pen to paper to draw this never-too-old reminder. (P.S. Okay, yes, it's an illustrator thing. But think outside the box, y'all!)

Let Out the Creative Beast

View more presentations from betsystreeter.

You know, this reminds me of something Linda Joy Meyers shared about "accidental" writing. She'll be here Tuesday, along with her new book, "The Power of Memoir." Come back to enjoy her words of wisdom and learn how you can win her book. Rrroooar! (That's my creative beast, getting ready!)

What Not To Do Wednesday on Taking Writing Chances

Oh, I know how it is, grasshopper. You see a writing opportunity that's swell, but still. You start talking to yourself. Saying things like "I'm not experienced enough," or "I'm not well-known enough," or I'm not cute enough." Um, maybe that's just me.

Anyway, it all comes down to this kind of thinking: "I'd never have a chance for something like that." So, you skip the writing opportunity until...until when, grasshopper? If you wait till you think you're experienced enough, or famous enough, or just plain good enough, then you may never break free from your writing ruts.

Don't do that, grasshopper. Take a chance and see where your writing can take you. And yeah, that's my name in the February Writer's Digest. Looking all cute as a button.

What Not to Do Wednesday on Waiting

Remember when you were a wee, little kid and the wait for Santa was a sweets-fueled, hand-wringing, will-I-get-a-Barbie-with-long-hair-instead-of-that-short-ugly-bob torture?

Or maybe that was just me. The point is, grasshopper, the wait seemed to last forever. Now that I'm ever so much older, the holidays zoom by with alarming rapidity. Then, snap! They're gone.

But here's a way to make your holidays last all year long: Give yourself a writing gift, something you need to get your writing to take off in 2010! Is it a specialized course? A conference? A membership to an organization, professional service or market list? An office chair, a techno-gizmo, a promise to put butt-in-chair every day? You've been wishing for something all year long...don't wait any longer, grasshopper. Because snap! Just like that, time passes.

And what if all you have to show for it is the Barbie with the short bob? (But I'm over that now, grasshopper. Ho, ho, ho from the Hall of Fame!)

Tooting My Horn Tuesday on the Old Goal-O-Meter

When I checked my old Goal-O-Meter last night, I realized that a. I've got just a few working months left for 2009 (Because let's be honest. We all know I'm not going to work in December.) And b. I've accomplished most of my goals!

Which is kinda amazing, considering my um, work ethic. Take, for example, today. I started out reading my email and saw a message about writer-ly quotes. Well, I had to check out Karen's post over at her blog, Musings of a Novelista, because you never know when you're going to need a nice, inspiring quote, right?

Thinking about writing quotes made me think of The Writer Mama Giveaway, so I had to scurry over there and check out what Christina Katz was giving away. And then I had to comment, 'cause you can't win if you don't comment. And just now, I had to check the url and ended up reading all the comments (already up to 20!)

Then, I had to find my camera, 'cause everybody likes a neat picture on a blog post...but would you believe I spent five whole minutes, trying to plug the wrong end of the cable into the computer? Eventually, it dawned on me to turn the dang cable around and try the other end, but time was a'wasting.

I suppose to the untrained eye, time-wasting would appear to be the essence of my work ethic. But think of all the interesting people and stuff I would have missed if I'd taken that direct path to my goals.

Which I've almost met-in September-thank you very much!

Finding Something Friday on Doing (That Sounded Better in My Head)

Since I shared Queen Cathy's Conference What Not to Do's, I thought it only fair to share what a writing conference does best. It makes you do. (Hmmm. That sounded better in my head, too.)

What I'm thinking about is that line from Jedi Master Yoda, "Do or do not. There is no try."

When you attend a writing conference, you talk to other writers, mostly about writing. You hear about their ups and downs, but mostly, you hear the success stories. And you listen to presenters tell their tales, and let's face it. They wouldn't be presenting if they hadn't succeeded in something writerly. Maybe you'll hear a long, winding tale of success. Or perhaps a tale of serendipitous success. But the moral of the story is the same: if you keep writing and working, you will succeed.

So, today I mailed a manuscript that I've been intending to send to an editor for months. Because when I stepped in to hear the conference presentation by Michelle Poploff (Random House Children's Books), I knew right then, the whole conference was worth those forty minutes or so. When I heard her tell her stories, of how other writers had found success, I thought that could be me. But only if I stopped thinking in terms of "try."

This Friday, I found something freeing, and a little scary. I found that it was time to do. So, I did.

Finding Something Friday Before the Fourth

I love alliteration, especially in my blog posts titles. I also love books. And I'm really quite fond of old tombstones and epitaphs. So, I suppose today is all about "Things I Love." I love the Fourth of July, too. But I'll get to that in just a tick.

I found Susan K. Hom's delightfully edited little book, R.I.P. Here Lie the Last Words, Morbid Musings, Epitaphs & Fond Farewells of the Famous and Not-So-Famous, in a local bookstore, on the "Ridiculously Marked Down" table. I also love a good deal, so I can never pass by this table without finding something. And since this ever-so-cheap little book combined several things I love (a good deal, books, and cemetery stuff), I plunked out my pennies and dug in for some deep reading (Okay, I'm kinda fond of puns, too).

Did you know that writer Noel Coward's epitaph reads, "A Talent to Amuse"? Or that writer George S. Kaufman's tombstone is inscribed, "Over My Dead Body"? My favorite writer epitaph, though, belongs to Billy Wilder: "I'm a Writer but then Nobody's Perfect."

Funny stuff, true, but poignant entries, too. In the Famous Leaders and Historical Figures section, I came across the inscription on the Lincoln Memorial: IN THIS TEMPLE, AS IN THE HEART OF THE PEOPLE FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION, THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN IS ENSHRINED FOREVER.

I also found Samuel Adam's epitaph. For those of you who think of beer when his name is mentioned, you might be interested to know that he was, first and foremost, a political leader in Boston, leading up to the American Revolution. He wrote newspaper articles and essays, rallying the colonists against the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act. You remember that "no taxation without representation" line? Old Samuel was all about that sentiment. Here's his epitaph: "Here Lies Buried Samuel Adams, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Governor of this Commonwealth, A Leader of Men and an ardent Patriot."

So, when you celebrate this weekend, think of Samuel Adams and all the patriots through the ages, who gave of themselves so that you could enjoy this fine, freedom-ringing, flag-waving, fireworks-glowing nation I love.