dear world,
as of 10:11am on march 14th (pi day!), he’s here! all 8lbs, 6oz, 20.5 inches of him.
baby mac is officially a big sister.
congrats to the expanded family mac!
sincerely,
i’m an aunt x5!!!!!!
Month: March 2012
guest post: grandpa, round 3
my grandpa is dropping some knowledge. and more here. and even more below. are you picking it up?
I shall live badly if I do not write, and I shall write badly if I do not live. Francoise Sagan, playwright and novelist (1935-2004)
Never cut what you can untie (rewrite). Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
Every word was once a poem. Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
To read fast is as bad as to eat in a hurry. Vilhelm Ekelund, poet (1880-1949)
The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas. Linus Pauling, chemist, peace activist, author, educator; Nobel Prize in chemistry, Nobel Peace Prize (1901-1994)
We should not write so that it is possible for the reader to understand us, but so that it is impossible for him to misunderstand us. Quintilian (Marcus Fabius Quintilianus), rhetorician (c. 35-100)
p.s. speaking of guest posts, want even more of my mumblings? check out my very first guest post (ever!) on karla’s blog HERE.
blogging template
introduction — start off with a witty comment, a question, a concern, a thought, an interaction.
middle — use supporting arguments, pictures, explanations, situations to prove the point you previously introduced.
end — the closing KAPOW statement. circle back to the original point, and leave them wanting more.
and that’s how a blog post is written, more or less.
probably with a lot LESS simplicity and a lot MORE pulling out of hair, backspacing over words, refreshing, rewriting, revising, pondering, looking out the window, rereading, revising, rewriting, etc. etc. etc.
FWIS: inspiration
FWIS (from where i stand) is a monthly feature i’m doing with jessica corra and bria quinlan. all three of us are YA writers in different places in our journeys. (check out their links for this month’s FWIS from their points of view.)
today’s topic: inspiration
muses. light bulbs. facts. fiction. imagination. voices in your head. characters taking over your brain. sparks. licenses plates. conversations. tv shows. dreams. nightmares. myths. monsters. where does inspiration come from?
(despite the fact i chose this topic, it’s actually an uncomfortable question for me.)
i’m not one of those people who can’t quiet the voices in their head nor do i have one shiny idea after another begging me to write it nor do i just sit back and let the characters do all the work, and frankly, sometimes it frightens me that i don’t have an endless supply of stories to tell or characters yelling at me because all the other writers i know do.
i’m more like one of these people.
my first MS was based on a perception i had of myself growing up. my second MS (current WIP) has a familiar fairytale foundation. i don’t yet know what my third MS will cover because i haven’t had anything particularly interesting cross my mind, not to mention the work involved with writing has felt heavy lately because the words, characters, and ideas aren’t revealing themselves to me.
i know i’m not supposed to wait for lightning to strike because, well, not only would that fry my computer, it would short circuit my brain.
instead, i need to work with what i have: take charge, grab hold of that tiniest grain of an idea, place it in my brain, let it roll around in there, pulsing and polishing and pearlizing, and then write it out. it’s not the usual method of doing things, but then again, what is the usual method? does it always have to look like this?
or is it okay to look like this?
do you do anything differently than everyone else? do you walk backwards to work? do you talk in pig latin? are you short when everyone is tall? are you hot when everyone is cold? do you laugh instead of cry? do you drink tea instead of coffee? do you have a flip cell phone? do you wear sunglasses at night?
conversations with strangers #26
i’m talking to strangers… here’s the run down of why.
an early morning meeting shuffled me out the door earlier than normal but with enough time to heed the siren song of starbucks. (yes, even though i only drink decaf…)
me: can i have an iced decaf americano?
employee #1: size?
me: oh, tall, please.
i paid at the next available register and ambled over to wait by the drink counter.
employee #2: *plops drink onto the counter* iced tall americano.
me: *notes lack of decaf, hesitates in grabbing drink thinking it might not be mine*
employee #2: *studies my pause* *looks at cup* decaf. that’s a decaf iced tall americano.
me: *processes her skepticism regarding the decaf comment* *reaches for cup* thanks.
employee #2: *pulls cup back* actually, i’m not so sure about that decaf. i wish this *points to machine* had a memory recall button so it could tell me what i just made. *dumps out first americano* *prepares replacement* okay, this one is definitely decaf.
me: thank you so much. i really appreciate it.
employee #2: have a good day.
me: you as well.
for once, it appeared i wasn’t the one in dire need of caffeine.
Abigail Mumford 