A Family Writing Affair

My daughters and I all like to read a lot and write even more. Somehow it is in our blood. My 23 year old likes to read Stephen King and writes a lot of his type of novels. I keep encouraging her to actually finish one of her stories so that she can actually submit it in a contest or do a query for it. She has a very creative mind and many good ideas. I think she is afraid of rejection and criticism. In all the time she has been writing, she has only shared one or two of her written stories with me. I will ask her to give me one or two excerpts from one of her novels to share on my blog.

My 14 year old likes to mostly write poetry, usually involving something she is feeling strongly about. She reads Young Adult novels dealing with current teenage issues, such as peer pressure, drugs, the opposite sex, as well as modern romance, nothing too mushy though. Recently, in her English class, the students were asked to write a poem using certain vocabulary words. I asked her if I could share what she wrote on my blog and she said yes. So here it is:

TEMPTATIONS
by Samantha-Anne

When temptations seem gaudy and glamorous
The voice in my head gets annoying and clamourous

I try to vanquish all that it said
But voices get louder and over crowd my head

They keep at it unitl it enters and beguiles my mind
That's when my beliefs and values are left behind

Now that I have done what I didn't want to do
It feels like I intered my heart

Now what I have to do
Is make sure temptations never again tear me apart


A family that writes together, sticks together, right? Is writing in your family too?

The Write Feelings

"Even psychologists tell us that verbalizing our problems, whether in writing or out loud, is a good way to bring clarity and definition to what are often very confusing feelings. Suddenly, as we put our feeling into words, we begin actually to see things more clearly ourselves". -- David Jeremiah

This quote hit the spot for me because it is one of the reasons why I write, especially when I am facing a problem or I am going through an emotional rollercoaster. Once I see the words on the paper, it is like a weight has been lifted and now the problem, issue, whatever, is on the piece of paper. I can now more objectively look at it, and hopefully come up with a solution and/or feel better, with less "clutter" in my head. Some questions to ask yourself: Does writing motivate you to take some action based on what you wrote? Does it help you resolve an issue, problem, something you had been putting off?

There are other things I feel after I write, and it may not always make me feel better. Sometimes writing about one thing, brings out other things. Writing makes me feel:

Relief
At peace
More confused
Less confused
Creative
Alive
Able to conquer the world
Sad
Happy
Motivated/Inspired
Problem solver

What feelings does writing invoke in you?

Poem by Maya Angelou

by Maya Angelou

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...
something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..

a youth she's content to leave behind....
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ........

a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..

a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....

how to fall in love without losing herself..
how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....

when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..
that her childhood may not have been perfect....but it's over....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she would and wouldn't do for love or more....
how to live alone.... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. .

whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a charming Inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

What she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...
something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..

a youth she's content to leave behind....
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ........

a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..

a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....

how to fall in love without losing herself..
how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....

when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..
that her childhood may not have been perfect....but it's over....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she would and wouldn't do for love or more....
how to live alone.... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. .

whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a charming Inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

What she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...
something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..

a youth she's content to leave behind....
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ........

a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..

a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....

how to fall in love without losing herself..
how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....

when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..
that her childhood may not have been perfect....but it's over....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she would and wouldn't do for love or more....
how to live alone.... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. .

whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a charming Inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

What she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...


What would you add as to what a woman should know and/or have?

FATS WALLER'S SECRET TO GETTING ON A WRITING ROLL

Daphne Gray-Grant is a writing and editing coach and the author of the popular book 8½ Steps to Writing Faster, Better. She offers a brief and free weekly newsletter on her website. Subscribe by going to the Publication Coach.

When you're undertaking a big writing project -- say a book, a large report or a website -- or even a medium-sized project, like a magazine article, it's easy to get overwhelmed. The usual advice, which I'm sure you've heard several million times before, is to break the work into small, manageable chunks.

Even Mark Twain was rather humourless on this point. "The secret of getting ahead is getting started," he wrote. "The secret of getting started," he continued, "is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one."

Efficiency guru Brian Tracy says much the same thing, but more colourfully, in his book titled Eat That Frog. (I'm going to trust that you get the metaphor.)

I love this "start small" concept, but I've noticed that, with writing, it sometimes falls apart. That's because you tend to forget the details of what you were doing the previous day (or week), and you lose your place. Worse still, you lose your momentum.

As I worked on my book, 8-1/2 Steps to Writing Faster, Better, I decided I really had to wrestle with this momentum problem. Each morning, sometimes starting as early as 5 a.m., I'd write for an hour or two. I'd be sleepy and disoriented and not feeling very motivated. My solution? I decided I need direction. So, at the end of each day's work, I sat down and wrote myself a letter that I could read the next morning.

It pleases me to call this the Fats Waller secret, after his famous song, I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter. (I know the music was written by Fred. E. Ahlert and the lyrics by Billy Williams but I stick by my title because Waller was the one who made the song a hit.)

In my letter to myself, I outline the specific writing tasks I need to do the next day. I might give myself instructions such as, "create a mindmap about XYZ." Or I might write, "perhaps a metaphor about "xx" would work in here." With experience, I also discovered that it's sometimes best to have a spectacularly easy task to begin my writing day, so, from time to time, I would assign myself the job of producing a simple sidebar or a list of bullets. The key thing is, I write these instructions to myself after a time of being thoroughly immersed in the project. Thus, when I come back to it, the letter brings me fully up to speed without wasting any time.

The Fats Waller secret works for more than just writing. Right now, I'm editing my books, which means I have to read each chapter many, many times. This involves a lot of stop and go. To keep track of my work, I write detailed notes to myself at the top of the document. If there are problem paragraphs or sections (especially ones pointed out to me by my trusted advance readers), I highlight the trouble spots in a different colour, so that I can find them quickly. I also write myself some notes directly in the text, again in a different coloured type, outlining the nature of the problems.

In this manner, I hope I can produce

...words oh so sweet

They're gonna knock me off my feet...

Thank you, Mr. Fats Waller.

Let The Writing Begin!

It is finally here...National Novel Writing Month! I have seen various blogs/websites post about this once a year event. I am psyched, anxious, nervous, excited about participating this year. I do not know if I can write 1,000 plus words on a daily basis. I guess I will find out soon enough. This event will definitely push my writing skills to the limit, since I have not timed myself or counted how many words I write before.

My other question to myself: What I am going to write about? I have been working on an outline to at least have something to go by, but will the words flow? Will I have total writer's block? I am going to write "junk" that does not make sense? I know this all deals with quantity over quality, but I do not want what I write about to be totally off. I am confident, that once I start writing, everything else will start to fall into place. Wishful thinking? I sure hope not!

To all my fellow writers who are participating along side me, I wish you the best of luck in this endeavor. May we all come out triumphant writers from this experience.

Have you participated in National Novel Writing Month before? What was your strategy in tackling a whole month of writing?