a good book.

I’ve become very frustrated with my writing lately. Well, the lack thereof to be more precise. I imagined having all this time to work on my book, living in a little bubble here with nothing else to distract me and coming home with a finished manuscript. But the reality is I’m just as lazy and come up with just as many excuses here as I do at home and I’ve not put in more than a couple of hours work on the book all told.

And then earlier this week I saw this book posted on Jessica Day George's Goodreads page. She’d praised it so highly I figured I’d give it a shot. It had a hold list on it but came up a lot faster than I’d expected and I was a little frustrated because I was already in the middle of two other library books. The problem with the Nook is you can’t keep them longer and pay a late fee or anything, they’re just sucked back into the ‘net when the due date comes and you’re out of luck. So I didn’t know if I’d get to it before the two week loan period was up. However, when I downloaded it I noticed it was only 43 pages and decided I’d glance through it…and proceeded to read nearly half of it in the first sitting. I’ve since read it straight through 3 times and skipped around re-reading favorite parts again and again.

It’s not that there’s anything really new in it, but it’s everything I needed to hear right now. Some parts are validation and encouragement while others are a swift kick in the pants. The author, Austin Kleon, touches on the struggles to create, the mindsets and expectations vs the realities. He gives practical advice for doing your best and learning when to ignore the critics and the outside world and when to ignore your own inner voice (which is often your worst critic!) And the crux of the book and the idea behind the title is in knowing the difference between stealing and plagiarism (plagiarism is trying to pass of someone else’s work as your own, stealing is being inspired by that work to create something new, improved or complimentary) and how to 'steal' effectively, encouraging you, as the reader, to surround yourself with examples of great work from your heroes and let that influence what you create.

Written as a set of simple instructions and ten ‘life lesson’ type mini-essays, he sets out to tell you what he’d wished someone had told him and what he’s learned along the way. His own words are heavily emphasized with examples and quotes from artists of all fields. While I found myself agreeing with nearly every word there were a few that particularly stood out. Here are a few of my favorite quotes.

Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something different. The good poets welds his theft into a while of feeling which is unique, utterly different from that from which it was torn.  ~T.S. Eliot

The question every young writer at some point asks is: "What should I write?" And the standard answer is, "Write what you know." This advice always leads to terrible stories in which nothing interesting happen...The best advice is not to write what you know, it's to write what you like.  ~Austin Kleon

In the digital age, don't forget to use your digits! ~Lynda Barry

Modern art = I could do that + Yeah, but you didn't.  ~Craig Damrauer

Figure out what time you can carve out, what time you can steal, and stick to your routine.  Do the work every day, no matter what...Work gets done in the time available.  ~Austin Kleon

Nothing is more paralyzing than the idea of limitless possibilities. The idea that you can do anything is absolutely terrifying...The way to get over [that] creative block is to simply place some constraints on yourself. It seems contradictory, but when it comes to creative work, limitations mean freedom.  ~Austin Kleon

And a few of the bits of advice 

• don't wait until you know who you are to get started
• step away from the screen/use your hands
• indulge in productive procrastination
• don't throw any of your stuff away
• start a swipe file
• build your own world
• keep a logbook
• know what to leave out

This little volume will be one of the first things I purchase when I’m back in the States so I can re-read it, highlight it, mark it up and keep it as a ready reference and inspiration for those times when I find myself blocked and stalled in my writing. I highly recommend it for anyone who considers themselves an artist or spends any time consistently (or sporadically) creating.

What have you been reading lately?

a video with jellybeans in it.

A friend had posted this on facebook and I thought I'd share it with all of you.

It's a rather startling visual when you think about it. How much time do we all really have left?  And what are we doing with it?

I've been reading this book recently and it talks about the idea of opportunity cost in relation to our time management.  (Not being a business major I wasn't super familiar with the concept, but basically when you make a choice to do one thing you automatically make choices to NOT do other things--ie, if you have $5 and spend it on candy bars you choose to NOT spend that $5 on rent--roughly.) And then introduced the idea of a "stop-doing" list.  As one who lives by my many "to-do" lists I was intrigued. In order to accomplish any goal or make progress toward something (particularly something new) in your life you have to choose to stop doing something else in order to make room/time for it. To start a new exercise program you have to get up 30 minutes earlier. To learn to paint you sign up for a class which means you have to cut back on the time you watch TV.  You get the idea. It's all about priorities and what you are willing to sacrifice in order to do/be something better. (This is a fabulous talk on the same subject.) 

I continually fall prey to this. There are so many things I want to do with my life that I dip my foot into as many pools as I can but I never actually go for a swim in any of them. My book is a prime example.  I tell myself I really want to write and I even go so far as to take a class every now and then, jot down a paragraph or two when the ideas strike and drag a notebook around with me wherever I go.  But I haven't taken the firm step yet of cutting something out of my life to make room for it. I'm still not truly making it a priority.

So, my goal over the next couple of weeks (I'm in the middle of a move right now and packing is the immediate priority no matter how much I want to do other things!) is to find 3 things I can put on my "stop-doing" list, be they big or small, that will carve out a chunk of time I can reclaim for some writing.

Lesson learned: You only have so many hours in a day and nothing you do will change that, therefore you can only change what you do with them. What are you doing with yours?

a poetry month wrap-up.

I had grand plans for poetry month; reading a daily poem, discovering new poets and favorites, writing several poems of my own and sharing them all with you. Oh, the best laid plans...

I hope you found time to soak up the beauty of a well-placed turn of phrase, a precisely chosen rhyme or ingenious metaphor.

I did want to share the one short verse I did manage to compose along with a vow to strive to be a bit more diligent about posting. (But no guarantees!) 

strength 
comes in tiny packages
little bits at a time
like strands of rope
breakable strings 
on their own
yet wound together
you find yourself bound
for greatness

c-Amy McMillan, 2013

making headway on a goal.

In an effort to kick my writing into gear (yes, I'm trying one more time!) I signed up for a writing class through the local community education office. Meeting with 5 strangers and baring your soul is an interesting way to spend a Thursday night. I'd hoped to have a bit of instruction and guidance but it's turned out to be more of a 'group' than a 'class'.  We take turns sharing what we've written and offering up critiques and criticisms as well as a sprinkling of praise.

While I've definitely found ways to improve my writing based on their feedback of my own work I think I've learned the most by listening to what others have written and listening to the ways that they offer feedback rather than from the feedback itself. Some people are natural writers. And some people have a gift for knowing what will and won't work in a written piece and knowing which questions to ask to help the writer improve.  I find I'm still a little stuck in the 'it's good' 'I really liked it' mode of critiquing. I can usually tell you if it works or not but not necessarily why it does or doesn't. As I've paid attention to the way others listen and respond I find it trickling into my own responses but amazingly, into my writing as well.  Re-reading a piece I try to read it with their eyes and ears, what will they notice, how can I fix it? And now even in my reading of books in general I've learned to watch for the same cues and responses.

It's amazing what a new reader and a worthwhile critique can produce. (And I've added 20 pages of new text...hooray!) It's a slow process but it's nice to be able to see some actual progress finally and feel as if I'm making some headway. Let's hope I can keep it up once the class ends!

submitting to a challenge.

I'm going to be taking a sort of hiatus here on the blog for the next month. I've been slowly chipping away at a book I've been writing for a couple of years now and recently it's been weighing on my mind more and more. With November being NaNoWriMo I've decided to focus my writing attention solely on my book and nothing else for those 30 days. I'm not sure how much I'll get done but even if it's just a few chapters it will hopefully be enough to get me out of the slump and on towards actually finishing it.

November is also the gateway to the holidays and as we begin to celebrate the gluttony and excesses of our society by shopping until we drop let us use November to remember all that we have and give thanks for the many blessings that enrich our lives. So, while I'll be verbally silent here for the next few weeks I'm still hoping to post a daily image following (sort of) this photo challenge. One image of gratitude daily throughout the month leading up to and ushering in the holiday season. Hopefully it will help get my heart and my priorities in the right place.

Wish me luck and I'll 'talk' to you all again in December!

Happiness is...a good book (Summer Reading edition #12)

So You Want To Be a Writer?
Author: Vicki Hambleton and Cathleen Greenwood
Published: 2012
Pages: 186
Age Range: 10-14
Genre: Non-Fiction
Cover Score: **
Overall Score: ***
Rating: G

First Sentence: You pull into the parking lot of your favorite bookstore, knowing that this time it’s not going to be jut to meet your buddies. Someone else is expecting you—YOUR FANS!

This is a starter how-to guide full of encouragement for young aspiring writers. It’s chock full of information to get you started including:

• short bios and sketches of famous/established authors telling how they got started and sharing their writing habits
• q&as with young authors
• tips on finding the time and space to dedicate to your writing
• establishing your style and voice
• a collection of resources for writers
• how to work with a writing group
• basic story archetypes and genres
• quizzes and exercises
• journaling and prompt ideas
• the publishing process (proposals, contracts, agents, publicity)

There’s not really anything new here but it is very accessible and user-friendly, and the tone is encouraging and empowering. It’s a great start-up for the target audience, full of tips and advice.

I even found a few great reminders for myself:

• You can’t be a writer if you’re not writing!
• Learn to trust your gut.
• Focus on the writing and expressing what you feel inside and don’t worry about the rest. (For now!)

Fiction and non-fiction, poetry, journalism, screenplays, and lyrics are all touched on so anyone who is interested in writing of any kind should find something to get them going!

Happiness is...a good book.

It's been a busy week, full of work and church commitments, dentist appointments and fillings, Mexican food and Real Steel (gotta love me some Hugh Jackman), writing (!) and books. I gave a short presentation in my women's church group all about the powers of reading and literacy and sharing some of my favorite reads and figured I'd better share a couple of my latest faves with you all. (All, I say that as if there are so many of you out there. Are we even up to 8 readers yet? I think my goal should be to make it to the double digits by the end of the year. That shouldn't be too hard, should it? Come on, recruit your friends!) Okay, back to the books.

First up is a clever little gem sure to please young and old alike. Notice the subtitle. It’s an alphabet story set in pre-historic times and uses just one word per letter to tell its story in halting caveman-esque speech. An unwitting caveman falls into a series of humorous (albeit life threatening) situations beginning with his quest for an acorn. He gets chased by a bear and a dinosaur, frees an unidentifiable animal from a block of ice, gets struck by lightning and eventually falls into a well-deserved sleep. Clever and full of slapstick humor, fans of Ice Age will eat it up.

Caveman: A B.C. Story
Author: Jane Trassler
Pages: 32
Age Range: 4-7
Published: 2011
Genre: Picture book/concept book (alphabet)
Cover Score: ****
Overall Score: ****
Rating: PG (some comic violence/peril)

Next: Told completely in dialogue and with richly simple illustrations this story is subtly subversive and wickedly irreverent, perfect for older readers who are honing their complex thinking skills. Bear has lost his hat. He goes calmly about the forest asking all of the creatures he meets if they’ve seen his hat but all deny any knowledge of it. (Though attentive readers will notice the rabbit is wearing a hat as he adamantly does so.) When questioned, the deer begins to ask questions of his own (what does it look like, where was it last seen) that spark the bear’s memory and he returns to question the rabbit again. The final spread shows the bear wearing his hat again while taking his own turn at being questioned. “Rabbit? I would never eat a rabbit,” he declares! Younger readers may not catch the implication of his final statement and more sensitive readers may cringe, but those who like a bit of dark reality will most likely be amused.




I Want My Hat Back
Author: Jon Klassen
Pages: 32
Age Range: 4-7
Published: 2011
Genre: Picture book
Cover Score: ***
Overall Score: ****
Rating: PG (allusions to violence)

And finally this is lovely little story. Ten year old Ha begins her new year in Saigon, her beloved homeland which is torn by vicious war. Her father has been missing in action for months and her older brothers and mother argue about whether it’s better to stay and remain true to their heritage and wait for their father or leave and try to make a new go at life. Eventually their uncle convinces them that life will be better in America and the family leaves nearly all of their posessions and makes the perilous journey out of Vietnam hidden in the hold of a ship and find safety with a sponsor family in Alabama. But here Ha finds cruelty and discrimination and a sea of unknowns where nothing at all is familiar. By the next new year she has come to understand herself, her family and the world around her just a little bit better and finds hope and friendship in unlikely places. Told in spare verse, the story focuses on Ha’s feelings and the emotions surrounding her circumstances more than the circumstances and events themselves, making it simple yet powerful and appropriate for a younger audience but still valid for older readers. And just a shout-out to the gorgeousness that is the cover, so beautiful! I would have picked this up based on that alone (and would not have been disappointed!)



Inside Out and Back Again
Author: Thanhha Lai
Pages: 262
Age Range: 10-12
Published: 2011
Genre: Historical Fiction/novels in verse
Cover Score: *****
Overall Score: ****
Rating: PG (violence and intense situations)


Give them all a try. They are definitely worth your time. (And then don't forget to tell me what you think!)

Now for a quick update on my WFMAD progress. Here are my contributions so far:

October 3: 15 min
October 4: 30 min
October 5: nothing
October 6: 25 min
October 7: 15 min
October 8: 45 min

Not too shabby if I do say so myself. I've gotten into the spirit of things and it's definitely easier to focus for a specified time period than to try and reach a goal of a specific word or page number. Which brings me to my moment of panic for next month. I decided to do the math and see how my efforts were comparing and preparing me for what was to come...in order to write 50,000 words in the month I'll need to get down an average of 1666 words/day, which comes down to about 2 1/2 pages of writing (Times New Roman 12, single spaced.) Today's efforts produced about 1/3 of that. Which means I'm looking at about 3 hours of writing a day! Yikes! So, trying not to psych myself out too much just yet I need to remember that there's not supposed to be a lot of pre-planning, editing or polishing going on. The goal is to get it on the paper. It also helps that my current WIP (work in progress) requires some background knowledge and historical research and that's where most of my snags come in...not having done the research yet. The idea I have mulling for next month is pure fantasy and will require very little of that sort of writing so hopefully I'll be able to just get the story out and worry about the technical details later. We'll see!

Anyone decide to join me for either challenge? I'd love to hear how your work is progressing this month. I'd also love to have a buddy to check in with every now and then next month. Let me know! Until then, keep reading, writing and finding happiness in all you do!

Happiness is...a goal to work towards.

Those of you who are familiar with the culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) will likely be familiar with the twice yearly tradition of General Conference.  In April and then again in October, the members of the church gather in Salt Lake City and in church buildings and in front of TVs and internet connections around the world to listen to our prophet and apostles share uplifting messages, guidance and information for how to live better lives, persevere in the face of adversity and prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

It's one of my favorite times of year.  I love being spiritually fed and reminded of the Lord's love for me and the blessings in my life I often take for granted or overlook.  I also really appreciate the opportunities to be reminded of things I should be doing.  Usually it's something I already know but have become lax in my follow through or let slide due to time constraints and the busy-ness of every day life. But sometimes you get a little nudging to try something new or stretch yourself in ways you hadn't thought to do before.

For anyone who is interested, you can find the full transcripts and audio streams at the church's website here, but here's a brief list of some of the things I noted that we were encouraged to try or improve upon or were reminded of.

• Increase your efforts for a more diligent scripture study-memorize scripture verses
• Obedience to the commandments brings protection and guidance from the Spirit
• No one is too young to do family history work, step up to the sacred duty and do your part
• Use your time wisely
• It's always better to look up! :)
• Remember the covenants we made at baptism and strive to more fully live them
• Wait on the Lord-hope, anticipate, trust and have faith
• Fathers have a sacred responsibility to teach, love and support their daughters
• Pray more often and more sincerely and be open to the revelation you will receive
• Do your beliefs affect your actions? Are they consistent with each other?
• Walk after the manner of the Spirit
• Choices=consequences, choose wisely
• All of our promised blessings and righteous heartfelt desires will be fulfilled eventually if we remain faithful

That's a pretty amazing list of guidance and teachings and it's hardly even the tip of the iceberg. What an incredibly fulfilling weekend!

I was really struck by the mention of family history work.  I have a bit of a guilty conscience that I don't do more in that regard. I justify it a bit by telling myself I'm working on my own personal history in the form of scrapbooks and journal entries and even this blog, but I know I need to be doing more for my ancestors.

My current writing project is a historical fiction combining some of the loose ends and random facts we know about my great-great grandfather into a possible scenario of his existence. He lived in London in the mid-1800s and I've done a bit of research but have a long way to go. I've been working on the actual writing part of it for over a year, though not very consistently, and it sort of gnaws at me but I've gotten pretty good at ignoring it and finding a million other things that of course, are far more important. But I think this was the kick in the pants I needed to make me re-focus and put forth a more consistent effort.

I also happened to be trawling author blogs the other day and came across Laurie Halse Anderson's through a series of links and references on other blogs. During the month of August she did a daily writing challenge she creatively named WFMAD (write fifteen minutes a day.) Each entry has a short message of encouragement or a writing tip followed by a writing prompt.  Her stance is that life will always throw 'more important' things at us.  If you wait for enough time to start writing you'll never start so you've got to make time. Rather than setting some horrendously discouraging goal of so many words or pages a day she decided to stick with a very manageable fifteen minutes. Keep a notebook with you in the car and you could total that up sitting in stoplights during your commute! I can easily tackle that at work or even right before bed. Doing it consistently will help make it a habit and hopefully some days I'll get the ideas flowing and the fifteen minutes will multiply and I'll make some serious progress on my book.

Since I enjoyed the book review a day challenge so much this summer I figured I could easily use this blog to help me keep some measure of accountability for a writing challenge as well.  I won't subject you all to my scribblings but I will try to check in a couple of times a week and post a short progress report at the end. Anderson has 31 entries which will take me through the month of October. Then I'm hoping to have enough material down to be able to take a bit of a break and let things simmer while I participate in NaNoWriMo in November.

NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month) is this great challenge to encourage writers to crank out an entire novel in one month. There are contests and serious stuff but I'll just sort of follow along on my own. The idea is to not use it to work on a current project but to start fresh and do the whole thing from start to finish (rough draft of course) in one fell swoop.  I have the idea for another project fermenting in my brain right now that I'd love to spend a little bit of time with and I figure this is the perfect way to get at it. When it's done I can let it settle while I go back to my original piece and when that rough draft is finished I can look at my NaNoWriMo piece with fresh eyes and give it some TLC and editing and all. Not having done any really serious writing like this I may be setting myself up for failure and discouragement but it will be a lesson learned if nothing else and hopefully I'll make some headway on at least one of the pieces.

So, I have a nice set of goals to work on and a bit of enthusiasm for them all at the moment. But we'll see what happens tomorrow morning when the alarm goes off and reality sets in!  Wish me luck!

WFMAD update: October 1, 25 min
October 2, 15 min

Happiness is...a good book. (Summer Reading edition #13)

Page by Paige
Author: Laura Lee Gulledge
Pages: 192
Age Range: 12+
Published: 2011
Genre: Graphic Novel/Realistic Fiction
Cover Score: ***
Overall Grade: ****
Rating: PG-13

Paige has been uprooted from her rural Virginia home and thrust into the thriving metropolis that is NYC when her writer parents get new jobs. She misses home and her friends but also looks on the change as an opportunity to reinvent herself and discover just who she really is. Armed with some advice given to her by her artist grandmother she sets out to explore her new surroundings.

Rule #1 Buy a sketchbook and draw a few pages each week.

Her sketchbook becomes a journal of sorts where she puts her feelings into images rather than words. Her frustrations with her parents, her loneliness, her self-doubts, her insecurities about her new friends and relationships, all become vivid images and help her navigate the waters of emerging adulthood.

She finds a group of friends who accept her for her strange tastes in music, her sci-fi interests and her vintage clothes. Together they support each other in their varying forays into writing and music composition and art. Slowly Paige begins to appreciate her strengths and opens herself (and her art) up to others in person, online and in the community.  She improves her relationship with her parents, finds gifts she didn't know she had, even gets a boyfriend but most importantly learns that her happiness and her future are dependent on her actions and attitudes.

Half of the story is told in typical graphic format, Paige's life and actions are displayed in panels with speech bubbles and the whole shebang but it's her responses to what happens to her and her sketchbook entries that make up the other half and give the book its oomph.  She talks herself through her feelings and gives a name and an image to everything she goes through making her experiences extremely relatable. Even as an adult I found myself having 'aha' moments and smiling inwardly as I knew exactly where she was coming from. 

Some examples: as she walks down the halls of her school she imagines that everyone is just watching and waiting for her to embarrass herself and draws an image of hundreds of telescopes zoomed in on her every move. When frustrated with her lack of ideas (writer's block anyone?) she sketches her head being wrung like a wet rag dripping into a puddle of nothingness labeled 'ideas'. And navigating the 'what ifs' of love she shows herself holding her gigantic heart in her arms trying to navigate a floor covered in banana peels.

I really loved the ideas here and the positive ways that she solved and worked through her issues and the fact that we could see and be a part of the process. I think it could give hope to kids going through the same things or help them find their own coping mechanisms. I love that she worked with what she had but didn't feel like she needed to make a huge overhaul of her life (there were no extreme makeovers or changing to fit in with other people's ideas of who she was or should be, instead she worked to improve her confidence and strengths she recognized in the moments when she felt like the best version of herself.) 

Plus, there's a soundtrack at the end. And I'm a sucker for any book that has its own soundtrack! I have a nice list of new artists to check out. Yippee!

I also found myself applying some of the rules/techniques to my own writer's quest.  Let's see if it helps!

An entertaining and thoughtful read, I highly recommend it!

Here are the rest of the rules for anyone who’s curious.

Rule #2 Draw what you know. If you feel it or see it...draw it!

Rule #3 Shhh...quiet...listen to what's going on in your head.

Rule #4 Let yourself fail. Don't take it all so personally.

Rule #5 Figure out what scares you and DO IT!

Rule #6 KISS: Keep it simple, stupid.

Rule #7 Live a lot to get better material. Let yourself feel everything.

Rule #8 Stay stimulated to avoid creative constipation.

Rule #9 Trust your gut instinct. Be honest with yourself.