Showing posts with label Publication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Publication. Show all posts

Monday, July 30, 2012

My Little(Huge) Writing Gets Published

"There are no small parts, only small actors."

This phrase jumps into my mind today as my tiny poem "Fruit Sale Cinquain" hits Every Day Poets.

I often think of my poetry writing as my "little" writing.

It is really short, tiny even, compared to my novel writing that has yet to be published.

And yet my poetry and short stories have been my giant in my publishing life.

Just check out my publication page here.

What do you see?

Poetry and short stories.

So, if there are no small parts, only small actors - have I become a small minded writer by belittling my own publications just because they are limited in word count?

Hmm. I think it's something I need to remedy.

So I'm going to shout it from the rooftops today.

I'VE BEEN PUBLISHED!!!!!

The word count is tiny, but the part of my poetry in my writing life is HUGE.

Do you belittle your own writing?

And if so, do you think it's time to change and start shouting out your accomplishments?

 If you would like to read a poem in less than 30 seconds, check out Fruit Sale Cinquain at Every Day Poets.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

365 Days of Blessings, Day 158 and Thanksgiving!

Blessings and Thanksgiving! It's all good:

1. Walking in the bright sunshine of a warm November morning. It feels like we are having an extremely late summer.

2. Watching my daughters circle on their bicycles in the driveway.

3. The Trojan War by Olivia Coolidge - a shortened, slightly cleaned up version of The Iliad that we are reading for homeschooling.

4. Hearing the praises and prayers of our Joyful Giving class tonight.

5. Excitement for the next movie night . . . coming this Friday.

6. Peppermint sticks made with sugar and not corn syrup. Yay! Sweet tooth indulgence!

7. My Rhodesian Ridgeback gives hugs, and my Beagle leans in affection.

8. Over 5,000 words written for NaNoWriMO.

9. Characters living in my head for short periods of time . . . I love my plot outline, but they are having some arguments. A snotty character showed up on the page today when I was writing quickly and started an argument with my MC. Whoa, where did that come from?

10. My poem, "Black Diamonds" was accepted by Every Day Poets!!! Woohoo! And two other poems came back with requests for changes - they could still make the grade, with a bit of tweaking.

11. God is large and in charge.

Scripture Blessings:"I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:10-13 NRSV

Sunday, September 26, 2010

365 Days of Blessings - Day 120

365 Days of Blessings, Day 120 - a bunch of mostly unrelated but great blessings that I'm thankful for today -

1. The Lord is my shield.

2. I'm still reading some of the 198 posts from The Great Blogging Experiment!

3. Sweet, wonderful bloggers who have stopped to leave me encouraging comments about my "Writing Compelling Characters" post and my blog in general.

4. A good night's sleep.

5. Two baby gifts, unwrapped yet, waiting to be taken to their new, fresh from God, owners.

6. My day is planned to the fullest, but I'm still going to grab a few minutes here and there to write, relax, and hug my family.

7. Teaching about Hannah's prayer for a son this morning with 4th and 5th graders should be fun. We have the Bible story, a craft, and a game. I'm not sure if we'll have time for everything, but having more to do with 12 energetic kids is a good idea.

8. Looking forward to a Baby shower this afternoon. I've often wondered at that phrase "shower" . . . when did it come to be used for brides and babies?

9. Yesterday, I had some concern over my poem at Every Day Poets. Reading it yesterday morning made me see the mistakes I didn't see before when I submitted it. Turns out though, that the main concern anyone else had was over whether I knew correct composting procedures. As I told my husband last night, "I was prepared to take criticim of my poetic form, but don't you dis' my mom's compost!" LOL. The things I take seriously sometimes crack me up later.

10. Yesterday, I watched my two daughters dance at the mall, and they are so comfortable with tap dancing in front of crowds now that it amazes me. When they make mistakes, they just keep smiling and tapping.

Scripture Blessings:
"Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying 'Lord, save us! We're going to drown!'
He replied, 'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?' Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm."
Matthew 8:24-26

Saturday, September 25, 2010

365 Days of Blessings - Day 119

365 Days of Blessings, Day 119

1. God is beyond time, and yet give us the gift of time . . . like this moment.

2. The Great Blogging Experiment. I'm so glad I participated, and I'm loving the other 198 posts. Great reading material about writing compelling characters.

3. The perfect timing of the Great Blogging Experiment. I'm teaching a few lessons about character and characterization in the next few weeks to my Writers' Workshop Adventure class at our homeschool cooperative. Now, I have even more advice to share with the students . . . and I think just the idea of having 198 writers write about compelling characters is awesome.

4. Slow sunrises on what I thought was a grey morning. Now there is blue above the trees.

5. Dogs want out, dogs want in . . . and they keep me from sitting too long in one place when I'm writing, blogging, and goofing off too.

6. Watching The Legend of the Guardians last night with my family, and several friends. The 3-D was worth it, with great depth and clarity especially during the flight scenes.

7. Discussing the differences between the Ga'Hoole books and the Legend of the Guardians movie with my daughters for a half hour last night. I love book talks, and movie talks, and when we get to combine them, it's awesome.

8. I like happy endings in movies . . . even if it means they changed some of the book details. I just like that whole reunion with parents thing, and the fact that the MC didn't kill his evil brother but only killed the evil overlord in self-defense, and then with some regret.

9. I always hope for redemption for the bad guys . . . or justice that doesn't hurt the good guys very much . . . in other words, I don't want the "good guys" turning sour in the process of winning. Is that too Disney of me? Possibly, but it's still the way that I am.

10. Every Day Poets has my poem, MY MOTHER'S COMPOST, online today . . . I regret that I misinformed everyone with the wrong poem title yesterday, but "embers" will be coming out in Moon Drenched Fables' next issue. I'm just so excited I'm not keeping my publishing news straight. Picture me bubbling with happiness.

Scripture Blessings:

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he sho seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock."
Matthew 7:24-25

Friday, September 24, 2010

Writing Compelling Characters, And 365 Days of Blessings - Day 118

Interested in THE GREAT BLOGGING EXPERIMENT, I've made this post a bit different today. The top of the post will be for The Great Blogging Experiment, and the lower half of the post will continue my 365 Days of Blessing Project - Day 118.

Writing Compelling Characters

Writing compelling characters, I suspect, takes more than one formula, and more than one route. In a giant treasure hunt for living, breathing realistic characters, each of us as a writer has to make our own map that will guide us to our goals.
For me, in my quest to write compelling characters, I find that daily perseverance, daydreaming with my eyes wide open, and digging deep into the characters themselves gets me closer to my goal.

Each morning, I walk and I write. Each morning these tasks seem intertwined. My writing is like my daily walk, and my walking is like my writing. Whether I can take a 3 mile walk, or just a walk down my lengthy gravel driveway, I walk each day even when I’m sick with the flu. Whether I can write for two hours, or I can only write for ten minutes, I write each day even when I’m sick of my own writing. Daily walking on the same routes makes the sights on those routes familiar. Daily writing helps me become more familiar with my characters so that they seem more like old friends.

However, there is a danger with over-familiarity. We often take things we are familiar with for granted, or grow bored by them.

Hence, the second part of my route: daydreaming with my eyes wide open. When I walk, I may slow my speed or hasten it. I might even jog a little. Sometimes I get into a wrestling match with my overenthusiastic beagle, as he tries to play with other dogs, stray leaves being blown across the street, and trash left on the road by fast food lovers.

In my writing, I sometimes throw myself into a speed-writing contest . . .how much can I write in 10 minutes? Sometimes I stare out the window, and then back at my words, and then I meander through the story at a snail’s pace, trying to carefully choose each word. Sometimes I wrestle with a desire to write my character into situations that take the plot nowhere, or situations that add too much to an already overloaded story.

When I walk, I try to notice new things each day: the chattering of a squirrel, the stillness of a rabbit under a fern, the sound of rain against the leaves, the cold drip of water that splashes from my hood and onto my face.

When I write, I try to notice how my characters use their five senses as they interact with the world around them. Do they hear chattering squirrels or only the sound of rushing cars? Do they look for the stillness rabbit in the bracken or do they have their eyes only on their goal? Do they let the water splash on their face, or do they pull their hood lower and hide from the rain?

Digging deep into my characters means that I need to understand what motivates them, what they believe in, and what holds them back. I need to write scenes that may end up only mentioned in the main storyline as backstory. That’s hard for me, because I want to use everything. I don’t like waste. However, I think full, breathing characters live beyond their plots, bursting the seams of the beginning and ending of the story.

For me, writing compelling characters takes time, effort, and even a little daydreaming. If I’m not taking time to daydream over a cup of tea and envision my characters, I have undertaken a quest in vain. I will grow bored with characters who fail to capture my imagination. If my characters don’t compel me to think of them, then they simply aren’t compelling characters. At the same time, I write daily as I walk daily, even when it rains, even when I’m sick with the flu, even when I only have five minutes. The treasure of compelling characters is worth it.


365 Days of Blessings, Day 118

1. God gives us each unique talents.

2. My youngest daughter, who has been asking me for years to tell her what her God-given talent is, finally accepted the idea that one of her talents is a gift for clear speaking. She has received speaking parts a few times in the last year from the children's choir director at our church, because "she has such a clear, beautiful voice." I've been trying to show her that her gifts of creativity with beading, her ability to organize, her tap-dancing skills, and her passion for right and wrong are all gifts, but she needed to hear from another mentor on that subject.

3. I'm thankful for the amazing men and women who are positive mentors for my kids.

4. My youngest daughter's desire for knowing her talents and gifts are from the story of Samson. I find it amazing what we each take away from the Bible. I read that story as a warning about loving the wrong person. She hears only of Samson's amazing gift of strength, and has been hoping that God has given her a similar gift.

5. My oldest daughter told me that she missed being in children's choir, but she also loves singing with the MS/HS band, and being part of MS youth group. She is right at that turning point between girl and teenage young woman. It is a bittersweet, and yet beautiful time and I am finding it to be a treasure.

6. I walked for a mile and a half today - the longest walk I've taken all week since I started feeling flu-ish.

7. Seeing a bunny in the driveway last night, caught in the beam of our headlights for a moment. We stopped, and it hopped into the safety of the laurel.

8. Watching my daughters practice ballet in our basement last night. They are mainly tap dancers, but they are beautiful ballerinas too.

9. Tomorrow, my poem "embers" is slated to be published at Every Day Poets.

10. Looking forward to the bathroom re-model that will start taking place on Monday morning. We started the project, and made a mess. Now, professionals will come in and make it all pretty again.

Scripture Blessings:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

Thursday, August 12, 2010

365 Days of Blessings - Day 75

Shared Blessings are Awesome!

Shared Blessings for today:
1. Angie Lofthouse of Notes From the Writing Chair says, "going swimming with the kids, and enjoying the last few days of summer." Sounds wonderful Angie! I hope to swim with my kids today too.

2. Cathy Nelson, my first Sunday School teacher and mentor, is home from her mission trip and is thankful for her experiences. I'll probably be mentioning more stuff about her, and her trip in the days ahead. Cathy has an amazing heart for God, and God's children.

365 Days of Blessings, Day 75

1. God's Word is life changing! Let's Go! (VBS Bible Point, Day 4)

2. Having a talented, self-proclaimed "ham" actor join us for VBS Day 3, as Paul. He portrayed Paul's snake bite experience on the island of Malta with great enthusiasm, and had all the kids shrieking with laughter and excitement, and then he was able to slow them down and talk about God being the only true God, able to heal us.

3. Swimming into the Bible Voyage session with each crew of 25 gave my arms a good work out yesterday. We were only pretend swimming, but . . . I think swimming in air with great enthusiastic strokes is probably just as hard as actual swimming.

4. Planning to swim "for real" today after VBS.

5. Looking forward to VBS Sunday, when the whole congregation gets to experience some of the fun.

6. Reading Sunday School Curriculum ahead of time.

7. Resting in the afternoons during VBS week.

8. The VBS craft boat that really floats.

9. Reading the September line up for Every Day Poets, and seeing my poem in place for September 25th!

10. Looking forward to reading Brandon Barr's edit of one page of my story, "Chameleon" at Edit Me Thursday today, at his blog, Christian Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Suspense Thanks Brandon!!!

Website/Blog for the day: Christian Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Suspense

Scripture for the day: "Give me life through your word." Psalm 119:37 VBS Scripture for Day 4