Great news! I absolutely KNOW where I'm going! Had a wonderful dream 2 nights ago about a short story I want to develop. It will be a Children's Book! I have a character, Freddie the Box Turtle and his keeper/best friend, Suzannah Rebeccah Cohen. The story takes place in NYC, and the Cohen's are an upper-class family living in the Penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park.
I've decided to make this book Jewish friendly, as well as for the rest who are non-Jewish! I have a complete outline, and I'm ready to begin writing. I wasn't even thinking of doing a Children's book, which is amazing. I think my God wanted me to start simply, using simple language, simple ideas, and allowing Him to show me that simple beginnings have great value.
I am SO NOT overwhelmed, but excited like ever to begin. Please send me an e-mail at my cox.net address if you want to be involved. I sense working my pages through this site might not be judicious - I have a hesitancy - don't know why, but I'll be cautious nonetheless. I will give updates and "segments" that will tantalize the senses, on this blog.
I've done my research on "Children and Box Turtles", and will weave in the story how children reading this "book" (in the future) will understand the care for, and pleasure of, having a little creature to care for.
So, I'm off and running like... A HERD OF TURTLES!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Day 3 - Reading "How-To's" Is SO Not Me
But recipe books are the exception! I muddled through most of Chapter I, Narrating, in the James Wood book. I can see Mr. Wood is a Genius! When he reads a book, I'm thinking he dissects each paragraph into categories of information. Hats Off, Mr. Wood. I'll continue through the book because I paid dearly for it, but it's written (in my humble opinion) for College Graduates going for their Doctorate in English Literature.
But here is what I've learned thus far: The HUGE Chapter on Narrating describes to me several ways of telling a story. Oh, how this takes me back to 12th Grade English, on a very small scale!
"First-person narration is generally more reliable than unreliable", Wood writes. So, this information plus a $5 bill will buy me a lovely latte' at Starbucks! There's not only First Person, but Third Person "Omniscient" narration. (Make that a double-shot Carmel Macchiato, skinny, extra Carmel!)
I can do "direct speech" or "indirect speech" or even "free indirect speech". I'm thinking I need to go back to college!
But I know darned well that Stephen King wrote his first book without any further education than what was required, and he was desperate for finances living in a teensy weensy, old trailer with his sweet, supportive wife, when he wrote his first thriller novel. He didn't even have a cloud of ambiance in which to write, yet he became published right off! Perhaps a dark and crowded trailer, old and not much of a view out those little windows was ambiance enough to write a scary book!
I am getting a sense of what I need to look at, but don't want to get trapped into thinking sentence structure and vernacular and styles of writing is what I need to obey (as such) to make a neat and tidy sentence! or paragraph! or chapter! I'd miss the gush of creativity that often floats like a raft surging down the raging Colorado river during spring runoff.
I think at this time I need to construct a theme. This project may be bigger than I imagined, so... like in the TV program, "You Want To Be A Millionaire?", I'm going to invite my audience to participate in this work. It won't be "my work", but "our work". If this ever gets published (a BIG if), it will be "our names" as contributing authors!
Ever read Choose Your Own Adventures? It was a series of books for older children and young teens. My boys LOVED this series. They could read just so far, and have to decide where their character went and what the outcome was. They'd see-saw all throughout the book, looking for the page number that began the next segment of their adventure.
If this has ever been done - writing a book from a Blog standpoint - I'd be amazed. But you, my fans, my friends and family, I am inviting you to participate.
Over a modest plate of enchiladas for our linner (lunch/dinner) today, I asked Jerry what he thought about my idea. He's game, and is intrigued over the fun that many participants could have over this project!
Here's how it works - and I'm guessing as I write:
1. I will write several paragraphs beginning a story. It will not be Stephen King-like, nor will it be Jane Austen-like. It will definitely be "me-like". I'll get started letting the creative juices froth, and begin penning a Chapter of... something!
2. At the end of what I write, I'll give 3 scenarios of which direction could possibly happen.
3. I'll wait for at least 3 answers within 3 days time before seeing which direction was most popular.
4. Then I will mush on for another segment of my story. You can suggest a character-type if you'd like, and I'll see how I can develop the story-line. I adored the movie, Romancing The Stone, where the writer (played by Kathleen Turner) herself became a character in the actual book, where adventure...romance... intrigue... and a happy ending were all realized.
I think Mr. Wood, Author of How Fiction Works, would probably fall in a dead faint to see my abruptly leaving his book to take this plunge! But mind you, I will try and make good use of what I've learned so far, if I possibly can. And I WILL pursue to finish the little red book, How Fiction Works!
But here is what I've learned thus far: The HUGE Chapter on Narrating describes to me several ways of telling a story. Oh, how this takes me back to 12th Grade English, on a very small scale!
"First-person narration is generally more reliable than unreliable", Wood writes. So, this information plus a $5 bill will buy me a lovely latte' at Starbucks! There's not only First Person, but Third Person "Omniscient" narration. (Make that a double-shot Carmel Macchiato, skinny, extra Carmel!)
I can do "direct speech" or "indirect speech" or even "free indirect speech". I'm thinking I need to go back to college!
But I know darned well that Stephen King wrote his first book without any further education than what was required, and he was desperate for finances living in a teensy weensy, old trailer with his sweet, supportive wife, when he wrote his first thriller novel. He didn't even have a cloud of ambiance in which to write, yet he became published right off! Perhaps a dark and crowded trailer, old and not much of a view out those little windows was ambiance enough to write a scary book!
I am getting a sense of what I need to look at, but don't want to get trapped into thinking sentence structure and vernacular and styles of writing is what I need to obey (as such) to make a neat and tidy sentence! or paragraph! or chapter! I'd miss the gush of creativity that often floats like a raft surging down the raging Colorado river during spring runoff.
I think at this time I need to construct a theme. This project may be bigger than I imagined, so... like in the TV program, "You Want To Be A Millionaire?", I'm going to invite my audience to participate in this work. It won't be "my work", but "our work". If this ever gets published (a BIG if), it will be "our names" as contributing authors!
Ever read Choose Your Own Adventures? It was a series of books for older children and young teens. My boys LOVED this series. They could read just so far, and have to decide where their character went and what the outcome was. They'd see-saw all throughout the book, looking for the page number that began the next segment of their adventure.
If this has ever been done - writing a book from a Blog standpoint - I'd be amazed. But you, my fans, my friends and family, I am inviting you to participate.
Over a modest plate of enchiladas for our linner (lunch/dinner) today, I asked Jerry what he thought about my idea. He's game, and is intrigued over the fun that many participants could have over this project!
Here's how it works - and I'm guessing as I write:
1. I will write several paragraphs beginning a story. It will not be Stephen King-like, nor will it be Jane Austen-like. It will definitely be "me-like". I'll get started letting the creative juices froth, and begin penning a Chapter of... something!
2. At the end of what I write, I'll give 3 scenarios of which direction could possibly happen.
3. I'll wait for at least 3 answers within 3 days time before seeing which direction was most popular.
4. Then I will mush on for another segment of my story. You can suggest a character-type if you'd like, and I'll see how I can develop the story-line. I adored the movie, Romancing The Stone, where the writer (played by Kathleen Turner) herself became a character in the actual book, where adventure...romance... intrigue... and a happy ending were all realized.
I think Mr. Wood, Author of How Fiction Works, would probably fall in a dead faint to see my abruptly leaving his book to take this plunge! But mind you, I will try and make good use of what I've learned so far, if I possibly can. And I WILL pursue to finish the little red book, How Fiction Works!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Day 2 - Ugh, Getting Started
This all began for me when, last week, I began reading my friend Isabel's Bucher's first published full-length book. She's been encouraging me over the years to write something more than a paragraph. Being totally undisciplined and hating to spend more than 1/2 hour at the computer, her suggestion seemed ludicrous. I LOVE putting words together and totally capturing the moment with letters, much like an artist would convey a moment in time with paint, but keeping at it and forming more than a paragraph...more like a page would be in order? or horrors, a Chapter? That was more than I could ever dream! I just plain don't know how to develop and maintain a key thought and execute enthusiasm and momentum in a project. Does this make any sense at all?
My Mom was a writer, unpublished, and had a flair for drama. I heard from her friends what a writer she was, although I don't remember myself reading anything she ever wrote. Also, our son Jon is a writer. He wrote some scathing things in High School that almost got him expelled, and he wrote for his College Newspaper and received lots of "high fives" from many students for that work. He's a word-meister, something I really respect and try to aim for. His humor is dry and deliciously wonderful; someday he'll write a famous book and pay for our nursing home expenses.
Jon has tried to encourage me by buying me books of where I can send my little articles to. Once I sent in a short story to Guideposts and got shot down, never to send in another story to anyone. But write I did anyway - especially writing about the foreign places we lived.
I wrote several humorous stories about living in Germany, and adapting to the "German Way", i.e., traipsing to the Dairy with my dairy bucket, paying Milsch Marken coins to buy my fresh milk. And about the German Farmer-lady, ancient as she was, who surely, in the privacy of her own acreage, struggled off her tractor, threw up the back side of her dress, squatted and did her business. And in Aqaba, Jordan - writing about the Ferrel cats I adopted; the way the women's hair-stylist painfully trimmed eyebrows; oh, and the Arabic neighbor in our apartment who spoke German to us because we knew some German and no Arabic. In New Zealand I wrote about my little chick, and personal friend, Henny Penny, and our adventures together. I also wrote about the beautiful plants in my garden that were actually weeds and didn't show their "true color" until I began cleaning them out of my garden and trying to tolerate the stench they created. I adored writing about these places, so much fun! But they only ever got on my e-mail list to my friends, my fans, who begged for more.
But what fun is there to write about living in Mesa, Arizona! The suffocating heat, the way one watches their prized flowers not only wilt, but die to the ground in short time. What fun is it writing about mowing the small patch of grass you have in your front yard, having buckets of sweat slither down your face? So, I've been frustrated at best. But thanks to Isabel and reading her book, and seeing how one weaves words into interesting paragraphs, and paragraphs turning into Chapters, I had to investigate what now to do!
So I order two books from Amazon.com. I could have purchased these books from the book store 3 miles away, but no... I felt this was good, and anyway postage is free if you order $25.00 worth of books. I did not know, however, that doing the "One-Click-Ordering" did not get you postage-free books, so I ended up paying for shipping which frosted my buns.
I looked at my options of "getting started"-type books, and decided on two (adding up to $25). I ordered How Fiction Works, by James Wood, and How Novels Work, by John Mullan. You can see by the titles that I wanted to see how something like writing "works"!
I chose the smaller of the two books to begin my odessey, the James Wood book. I always read the very first pages of every book. I want to know who the author thanks, the preface, and introduction if there is one. I like to check out the Contents to see how many chapters I'm in for. And then I began reading my first chapter, titled Narrating.
After reading the second page I get distracted. I'm noticing the really cool binding on this book! I guess being such a small book the publishers had to do something really cool, so they put rough edges on the pages! I got sidetracked really good... I had to go back and count the smooth-sided pages vs. the saw-tooth-sided pages that gave it the look that caught my eye!
See what I mean? Too easily distracted. I'm very visual and love textures and color and stuff like that. But now, that this distraction is over, I need to knuckle-down and truly begin my lessons, or for the rest of my natural life I'll just be writing paragraphs, and never get to my first chapter. More later.
My Mom was a writer, unpublished, and had a flair for drama. I heard from her friends what a writer she was, although I don't remember myself reading anything she ever wrote. Also, our son Jon is a writer. He wrote some scathing things in High School that almost got him expelled, and he wrote for his College Newspaper and received lots of "high fives" from many students for that work. He's a word-meister, something I really respect and try to aim for. His humor is dry and deliciously wonderful; someday he'll write a famous book and pay for our nursing home expenses.
Jon has tried to encourage me by buying me books of where I can send my little articles to. Once I sent in a short story to Guideposts and got shot down, never to send in another story to anyone. But write I did anyway - especially writing about the foreign places we lived.
I wrote several humorous stories about living in Germany, and adapting to the "German Way", i.e., traipsing to the Dairy with my dairy bucket, paying Milsch Marken coins to buy my fresh milk. And about the German Farmer-lady, ancient as she was, who surely, in the privacy of her own acreage, struggled off her tractor, threw up the back side of her dress, squatted and did her business. And in Aqaba, Jordan - writing about the Ferrel cats I adopted; the way the women's hair-stylist painfully trimmed eyebrows; oh, and the Arabic neighbor in our apartment who spoke German to us because we knew some German and no Arabic. In New Zealand I wrote about my little chick, and personal friend, Henny Penny, and our adventures together. I also wrote about the beautiful plants in my garden that were actually weeds and didn't show their "true color" until I began cleaning them out of my garden and trying to tolerate the stench they created. I adored writing about these places, so much fun! But they only ever got on my e-mail list to my friends, my fans, who begged for more.
But what fun is there to write about living in Mesa, Arizona! The suffocating heat, the way one watches their prized flowers not only wilt, but die to the ground in short time. What fun is it writing about mowing the small patch of grass you have in your front yard, having buckets of sweat slither down your face? So, I've been frustrated at best. But thanks to Isabel and reading her book, and seeing how one weaves words into interesting paragraphs, and paragraphs turning into Chapters, I had to investigate what now to do!
So I order two books from Amazon.com. I could have purchased these books from the book store 3 miles away, but no... I felt this was good, and anyway postage is free if you order $25.00 worth of books. I did not know, however, that doing the "One-Click-Ordering" did not get you postage-free books, so I ended up paying for shipping which frosted my buns.
I looked at my options of "getting started"-type books, and decided on two (adding up to $25). I ordered How Fiction Works, by James Wood, and How Novels Work, by John Mullan. You can see by the titles that I wanted to see how something like writing "works"!
I chose the smaller of the two books to begin my odessey, the James Wood book. I always read the very first pages of every book. I want to know who the author thanks, the preface, and introduction if there is one. I like to check out the Contents to see how many chapters I'm in for. And then I began reading my first chapter, titled Narrating.
After reading the second page I get distracted. I'm noticing the really cool binding on this book! I guess being such a small book the publishers had to do something really cool, so they put rough edges on the pages! I got sidetracked really good... I had to go back and count the smooth-sided pages vs. the saw-tooth-sided pages that gave it the look that caught my eye!
See what I mean? Too easily distracted. I'm very visual and love textures and color and stuff like that. But now, that this distraction is over, I need to knuckle-down and truly begin my lessons, or for the rest of my natural life I'll just be writing paragraphs, and never get to my first chapter. More later.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Day 1, Why am I doing this?
"Perish the thought I should look over your shoulder", my husband said. He's sitting to my left side, pretending to be working on his computer. He's helping me set up. Without him, I'd be totally lost. He's my best friend and occasionally, very occasionally, my worst enemy. He's my cheer-leader, and the one who keeps me on track, whether I ask for this favor or not.
My "mentor", if you will, is Julie and Julia, the movie. I adored this movie! Loving to cook, it was right up my alley, or kitchen. And as well, my love for writing, is why I am here beginning my very first words.
Too many of my friends have said, "You could, you should! write a book!" And I'd scratch my head not knowing where to begin. Paragraphs are easy, a page is easy, but a chapter I just can't seem to get to. So I do what I've never done before. I ordered How Fiction Works, by James Wood. I'm intimidated by it's size, the smallest book I've ever seen, yet won Nonfiction Book of the Year Award! But you gotta start somewhere, and this is my smallest beginning ever.
My "mentor", if you will, is Julie and Julia, the movie. I adored this movie! Loving to cook, it was right up my alley, or kitchen. And as well, my love for writing, is why I am here beginning my very first words.
Too many of my friends have said, "You could, you should! write a book!" And I'd scratch my head not knowing where to begin. Paragraphs are easy, a page is easy, but a chapter I just can't seem to get to. So I do what I've never done before. I ordered How Fiction Works, by James Wood. I'm intimidated by it's size, the smallest book I've ever seen, yet won Nonfiction Book of the Year Award! But you gotta start somewhere, and this is my smallest beginning ever.
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