One Question Friday (on Thursday)

I’m going to be spotty posting over the next week and a half.

A mini blog hiatus for me.

Every Friday (Thursday, in this case) I’m going to ask a question. The questions I choose might be ambiguous on purpose. The goal is to have you answer the question according to your beliefs, where you’re at in life or a circumstance that might have recently impacted you. The only thing I ask is that you provide an explanation for why you answered the way you did.

It is my hope to understand you better through this and also to gain a greater understanding of humanity and how people make decisions.

And now for your Question:

Mercurial Release or Stolid Grasp?

*photos by flickr

What Happens When

I haven’t been shy about admitting that characters are one of key influencers for why I write. While other girls my age fussed with hair bows and those impossibly hard to fit on miniskirts with their Barbie dolls, I fussed over storylines. I knew I was different from most fourteen-year-olds (did I write fourteen? No. No. I meant eleven. Nine, maybe. Certainly not fourteen) playing with Barbie dolls. I needed drama. I needed my sock clad Suzy Barbie to undergo conflict and tension with Betsy Barbie. Although, I’d named mine Alexandria and Violet, names I found to hold more “depth”.

My point: I’m a grown up still finding a way to invent stories. The only difference is I play out the stories on the page and I’m hoping my stories have a little more maturity to them now.

That being said, I’m throwing the fun your way today. Tell me what happens when these two characters meet. I want dialogue. I want to care about what happens next. I want it to lead to story.

I’ll go first.

Juliette crouches down next to Bill on the rocks. “I heard you had a bright green bird on your shoulder last night,” Bill says.

Water laps at their feet. Bill scans his squinting eyes over the cove, searching, as if the water holds the power to erase all the ugly years between them. “What of it?”

“Were you out late again?” Bill casts the line in a beautiful arc, sky bound and then they both watch it sink gracefully into the water.

“Papa, when will your worry end?” Juliette ties her cascading black hair in a cinched knot behind her back. “How long have you been at this?” Juliette motions toward the fishing line.

Bill scratches his free hand under his gray cap and huffs out an agitated breath. “All morning. Somebody needs to feed my bird.”

~~~
If you don’t feel like writing about an interaction between the two, feel free to come up with a title to the scene I wrote.

*photos by flickr

Cheating To Post Link

I know. I know. I’m not supposed to be here on Tuesdays. Technically it’s my thoughts that are here, not me. And I didn’t do any work. Mary DeMuth did on her blog, So You Wanna Be Published. Many of you know I’m an avid fan of U2. I had the opportunity to go see them in concert in September. I waited twenty years for that. I parallel that to my writing. I’m so okay with waiting 20+ years to see this writing thing through.

As a side, I think you all might be interested in a dream I had several nights ago. It complements the link well. In the dream Steve (my husband) was seated right next to me, so don’t jump to romantic thoughts here. Bono came to sit near me at some point during an intimate private party. He leaned over and informed me that he loved me. Following that I could think of nothing better to tell him than, “I’ll see you in heaven.” Dreams are fantastic, aren’t they?!

Make my cheating and my boundary-busting away from my blog schedule worth it. Go read Writing Advice from U2 over at So You Wanna Be Published.

Printable stuff, eh?

*photo by flickr

When Writing & Driving Collide

Here’s a list of what driving has taught me about my life as a writer…

1. When it begins to get dark, turn your lights on and stay focused on the road in front of you. If you allow your eyes to wander to other streetlights, or car lights on the opposite side of the road, you’re more apt to swerve off the road. Focus on the road in front of YOU.
2. Remember to check the rearview mirror from time to time. You can learn a lot from where you’ve been.
3. You can’t drive on empty. I’ve you’re feeling depleted go ahead and write, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to do whatever needs to be done to fill up (eat, rest, have an engaging conversation with your spouse).
4. When it’s raining slow down by at least 5 MPH. When you’re bombarded with millions of daily interruptions and a handful of writing deadlines, it is okay to slow down and prioritize your life, including all writing projects.
5. Don’t talk on your cell phone while driving. This reminds me of editing one manuscript while writing another. I prefer tackling one project at a time. Distractions do nothing for focused intentions.
6. Stop at railroad crossings. It’s worth it to evaluate things from time to time. Forced stops can teach you to notice things you hadn’t before. It’s a great time to allow your imagination to go wild.
7. Watch your speed. Remember to pace yourself.
8. Use your turn signal. It’s nice to use subtle clues to alert readers that a change is coming.
9. Driving instructors have great idiosyncrasies to use for your characters. Material is everywhere. Every single person you meet has the potential to be flattened and put on the page.
10. Pump breaks while driving downhill. Drive fast over hills. Raise your hands up. Feel your stomach move into your chest. Enjoy the ride.

How have driving and writing collided for you and what have you learned?


*I’m over at Live Beautiful later today.
**I completed the first draft of my WIP. Woo. Hoo.

One Question Friday

Every Friday I’m going to ask a question. The questions I choose might be ambiguous on purpose. The goal is to have you answer the question according to your beliefs, where you’re at in life or a circumstance that might have recently impacted you. The only thing I ask is that you provide an explanation for why you answered the way you did.

It is my hope to understand you better through this and also to gain a greater understanding of humanity and how people make decisions.

Here it comes:

Just starting out or
Reaching the destination?

*photos by flickr
**I’m over at 5 Minutes for Faith today

Blogging Update

Ladies and Gentlemen,

My schedule is on a torture rack. And I’m the one guilty of putting it there. Remember my post last week about my old friend Boundaries? Well, I’ve invited him to the salt mine with me. I’ve invited him to read books to my children with me (you should hear his accent). And he wants me to go public with some news. It’s time for me to cinch the waistband of my blogging schedule. That’s right, perfect timing as we approach the Thanksgiving meal. Boundaries has kindly asked that I cut my posts back to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. After a knockdown drag out, I agreed.

Because we are roaming in my thoughts on this blog, I assure you I will continue to think on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please do not worry about that. There is no shortage of thoughts for this gal (We once had a pastor who called females of all ages gals. It cracked me up every time. I felt like I needed to be wearing a hoop skirt or listening to Jimmy Stewart talk about wanting to lasso the moon.)

On Mondays and Wednesdays we’ll walk around in the confines of my mind and if you’ve been reading/following All in a Day’s Thought for awhile, you know that means you’re in for some surprises. I’ll keep going with One Question Fridays. I’ve been highly fascinated reading your comments. I’m certain I learn by watching others grow.

Thanks for understanding as I begin to make concerted efforts to hoist my schedule off that antiquated smelly rack. I’m all for a good stretch, but honestly!

See you tomorrow for your question.

*photos by flickr
**Obviously I spoof when I mention my friend, “Boundaries”. The real inspiration and authority behind my decision is of course, my God.
***A special nod to friends and fellow bloggers who have been firm with boundaries, setting an example for me and who’ve encouraged me in this decision.

Two Reasons

Picture this: Editor turned agent and author of The Forest for the Trees, Betsy Lerner staring out at a sea of writers. Positioned carefully in her hands she holds a telescope, causing her vision to focus right at the core, the muse-igniters of the writing soul. I’m there. No, not there. I’m on the other side of the ocean. Do you see me with the jeans and the wool sweater? I’m holding something too. It’s shaped like a telescope, but it’s not a telescope. As I squint my eye to peer inside my handheld device I see twirling colors, spinning pinwheels and shapes and sheer mystery. My kaleidoscope is aimed back at the agents/editors conversing on the other side. I don’t have a clear view of what their lives entail—yet. Yet.

But in Betsy’s book her description of why a writer writes hits upon a proverbial goldmine.

Check this out:

“As far as I can tell people write for exactly two reasons: 1) They are compelled to, and 2) they want to be loved.”

Now if that ain’t some King Tutankhamen I don’t know what is?

She goes on to write later in the chapter, “Writers want love, and they hope that through their work, they will be recognized as special. And that is why most writers are so crazy. When a writer gives his editor the pages of his manuscript, he is, in essence, handing over his heart on a plate. And until he gets a response, his entire sense of himself is in limbo. It’s like waiting for the results of a biopsy.”

We know how accurately Betsy described the two reasons. Here’s your chance. Give me two reasons why you write.

*photos by flickr

**Blogging friend, Katie Ganshert got the call from her "dream" agent! Praise God.