Recently a friend and I met for lunch. The conversation drifted to our childhoods. She shared that her daddy died when she was seven. I asked a few questions and the conversation moved on to other subjects. One detail stayed with me, though. His hands were scrubbed clean. She insisted they weren’t her daddy’s hands at all. Visual Inspiration That powerful image of a seven-year-old staring at her daddy’s hands in the hospital stuck with me. I slipped into the mind of a seven-year-old and committed the story to paper. But was it my story to tell? Elizabeth Gilbert writes in Big Magic that stories live in the ether, waiting…
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Thanksgiving Blessings
Thanksgiving week is a time to show gratitude and reflect on all our blessings. The past couple of years have been challenging to say the least. In addition to pandemic restrictions that we all endured, I lost my mother and took a hiatus from writing. My husband has stood by my side throughout these years of turmoil. For that I am grateful. Family My first blessing is family. In Mom’s final days she was surrounded by her children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. We had casual conversations, reliving childhood exploits and sharing long-held secrets all as Mom listened from her bed. We took turns holding her hand, stroking her hair,…
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Memorial Day
This Memorial Day I want to take a moment to reflect on those who served our country and paid the ultimate price. Fathers, brothers, uncles, neighbors, and friends laid down their lives a generation ago in World War II and for generations before them dating back to the American Revolution. Women have joined the ranks of the fallen in the Global War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Syria. We honor all those who served. What prompts a civilian to place themselves in danger, to stand for their country against an armed adversary? As one who has never served in a military context I can only speculate. Democratic Ideals…
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Disinfect Your Desk!
Why disinfect your desk? Covid-19, of course! Let’s recap CDC guidelines: wash your hands for twenty seconds in hot soapy water; Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth; Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash; Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces. It’s this last one I want to bring to your attention today. Frequently Touched Objects Writers write. I hope you’re keeping your sanity during this Covid-19 craziness. We’ve all heard the recommendation to wash hands frequently. But think about all the things writers touch. The keyboard. Mouse. The stapler. Paper clips. Pens. Pencils. A stylus. Tablets, phones, remote controls.…
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Family Stories: Oral History to Written Record
Why write family stories? Family stories shape our impression of the world. Some cultures revere storytelling so much, they have designated storytellers–keepers of stories. The Icelanders have their Eddas, the Norse, their Sagas. In Western societies we have outsourced this position to TV and film makers. But there is something special about the cadence of words falling from the lips of someone who lived the tale. Listen No matter your age, ask your parents, your aunts, your uncles about their youth. If you are lucky enough to still have grandparents ask them to tell you their stories too. Someone said ‘every time an elder dies, a library burns down.’ In…
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Fifty Thousand Words
Here it is the final day of NaNoWriMo and I’m a few words short of the fifty thousand word goal. Did you see what I did there? Fifty thousand is two words and 50,000 counts as one! Bumps in the Road I’ve been plugging away on my novel and even earned my 25 day badge for writing twenty five days in a row. (see picture above) But on day twenty seven I ran into a few bumps. There were the five hours spent shoveling after a snowstorm, then a holiday, followed by an unexpected family crisis (they’re always unexpected, aren’t they?), and a car stuck in the snow! Playing Catch…
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Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the blessings in our lives. In today’s post I want to focus on family, friends, and purpose. Family Family shapes us in so many ways. I am the youngest of three children. Both parents were college educated. Dad grew up an only child and followed his father into the family business after he contracted polio which put an end to his dreams of working outdoors in the forestry industry. Mom married young, had a son and was a widow by the age of 20. She attended college, received her teaching certificate and supported herself and young son on a teacher’s salary until she…
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Procrastination
Procrastination plagues my family. It’s a character trait handed from one generation to the next. So naturally, there’s nothing I can do about it, right? Well . . . if that’s your approach I’m here to change your mind. Causes So why procrastinate? It’s easy to say it’s hereditary. But is it? Really? I don’t know if it’s the rush I feel when working under a deadline, overfilling my plate, or simply poor time management, but procrastination must fill a role for me otherwise I wouldn’t do it. Always a conscientious student, I did my math homework and history reading as assigned. It was those longer projects that hung over…
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Propaganda
Propaganda is a dirty word. As a writer you have a responsibility to recognize it. As a reader your future may depend on whether you recognize it or not. I’ve been away visiting family and wasn’t sure I’d post this week. But something I saw on Facebook prompted this post. Twisted Truth Let’s start with a definition. Click here. We rarely think of propaganda as the truth. Surprisingly, propaganda can be the truth repackaged. Let me explain. In seventh grade Mrs. Tucker taught a unit on advertising and propaganda. I find it interesting how these topics are linked, but I digress. At the height of the Cold War, she presented…
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Writers Read
Reading can take you places without ever leaving the comfort of your home. You can travel forward or backward in time, sail the oceans, cross deserts, and scale mountains. Writers read with intention. We notice language, story, mechanics, and tone. Language The language used in science fiction is very different from the language used in romance novels. Get to know your genre by reading. A lot. No, I really mean it. The more you consume in your genre, the more natural the language becomes. Some books are written in a flowery style while others are lean and sparse. Some use similes, metaphors, or analogies where others use simple, plain language…
