Wednesday's Writing Workout!

Christine "Peng Peng" Lee
(Canada)

On the weekends, prompts keep my creativity warmed up so I don’t “pull a muscle” on Monday morning. During the week, prompts jump-start my writing routine. Consider using your own characters and settings for these prompts. You might come up with dazzling new ideas for your WiP! All you’ll need for these exercises is your writing materials and an open mind. Remember to drink lots of water and stretch!

Start it up!

Exercise 1

Do you remember the first next-door neighbor who made an impression on you? Where do you think he or she is now? Turn those memories into a story or character.

Ramp it up! 

Exercise 2

What if your wip’s main character had entered a funniest home videos contest? What is on that video that’s so funny? Write it and maybe make it a scene in your wip!

Burn it up!

Exercise 3

Summer is here and you’ve decided to spend as much time as possible in your new inground pool! But when you step out to the backyard, all of the water has been drained from your pool. Laying on the dry bottom is a note with a Mitch Hedberg quote: “I drank some boiling water because I wanted to whistle.” What’s going on? Write it.

Every Wednesday I post prompts and exercises for your “writing workout” so keep checking back! Happy writing!!!

Monday Quote Day!

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life.

{Anne Lamott}

There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.

{Willa Cather}

To work magic is to weave the unseen forces into form; to soar beyond sight; to explore the uncharted dream realm of the hidden reality.

{Starhawk}

Dreams are illustrations…from the book your soul is writing about you.

{Marsha Norman}

Maybe one of these days I’ll be able to give myself a gold star for being ordinary, and maybe one of these days I’ll give myself a gold star for being extraordinary–for Persisting. And maybe one day I won’t need to have a star at all.

{Sue Bender}  

I am a part of all I have read.

{John Kieran}

I am incomplete without my work. I am so closely bound to it, so much identified by it, that without it I think I would crumble into dust and drift away.

{Terry Brooks}

You know, Francie, a lot of people would think that these stories that you’re making up all the time were terrible lies because they are not the truth as people see the truth. In the future, when something comes up, you tell exactly what happened but write down for yourself the way you think it should have happened. Tell the truth and write the story. Then you won’t get mixed up.

{Betty Smith, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN}

Happy Monday and happy writing, Zigzaggers! 

Happy Memorial Day, USA!!! 

THANK YOU to all of our nation’s incredible troops: those who are retired, those who are currently serving, those who are injured, those who have died. Your courage, strength, and sacrifices to keep us safe are remembered always and greatly appreciated. Also, to the families and friends whose loved ones are far from home: I admire your courage, strength, and sacrifices, too! My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Poetic Book Titles!

I’ve seen some of your posts like this, and I always think they’re fascinating! I especially like it because I marvel at clever, imaginative, and witty book titles. When I’m browsing a bookstore or library, a book title is the first thing I look at and the first thing that grabs my attention. Then I flip it over and read the summary. Only when I’m in line buying the book or borrowing it do I remember the cover is something to look at, too! It’s the title that is most important to me. Book titles may be naming prose, but together they are poetry: 

On Kingdom Mountain,

The woman in the wall

(Dreamdark: Blackbringer)

Catching fire

When Heaven and Earth changed places.

Impossible.

In sunlight, in a beautiful garden,

Dream lives of butterflies.

The heart is a lonely hunter, forever… 

Because it is bitter, and because it is my heart.

The wanderer, huntress:

Out of the dust,

Walk two moons

By the shores of silver lake

Where the red fern grows.

When you reach me,

Lips touch three times–

A ring of endless light.

Two of these book titles were inspired by poems and one was inspired by a song. Do you know which books, the poems, and the poets? (See answer at the end of this post.)

Have you discovered a poem among some of your book titles? Have you ever been inspired to title your novel or stories from lines in a poem? 

Have a lovely weekend, Zigzaggers, and happy Memorial Day weekend to my USA buddies!!! Take time to remember and thank our fallen troops who sacrificed their lives so we could keep ours.

For your reading pleasure:

On Kingdom Mountain by Howard Frank Mosher 

The Woman in the Wall by Patrice Kindl 

Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor 

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 

When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip 

Impossible by Nancy Werlin 

In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden by Kathleen Cambor 

Dream Lives of Butterflies by Jaimee Wriston Colbert 

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers 

Forever… by Judy Blume 

Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart by Joyce Carol Oates  

The Wanderer by Sharon Creech 

Huntress by Andrew Joseph 

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse 

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech 

By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder 

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls 

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead 

Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor 

A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle 

Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart by Joyce Carol Oates

Because it is bitter, and because it is my heart is a line from the poem “In the Desert” by Stephen Crane. Read it here: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175754

A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle

A great ring of pure and endless light is a line from the poem “The World” by Henry Vaughan. Read it here: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174701

Impossible by Nancy Werlin 

The ballad “Scarborough Fair” by Simon & Garfunkel inspired Nancy Werlin to write a novel about it. Read more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_Fair_(ballad)

Wednesday's Writing Workout!

Gabrielle Douglas (USA)

On the weekends, prompts keep my creativity warmed up so I don’t “pull a muscle” on Monday morning. During the week, prompts jump-start my writing routine. Consider using your own characters and settings for these prompts. You might come up with dazzling new ideas for your WiP! All you’ll need for these exercises is your writing materials and an open mind. Remember to drink lots of water and stretch!

Start it up!

Exercise 1

Does your wip have an enemy/villain/frenemy who might be misunderstood? Or is he/she exactly as the reader perceives? Write a page or two from this character’s diary and find out more.

Ramp it up! 

Exercise 2

What is the one thing or type of person you are most critical/judgmental about? Write a scene or story as if you are the one being criticized or judged in that way. 

Burn it up!

Exercise 3

If your character was an inventor, would he or she invent something practical or something frivolous? What would it be and how would it work?

Every Wednesday I post prompts and exercises for your “writing workout” so keep checking back! Happy writing!!!

Monday Quote Day!

Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own. 

{Carol Burnett}

There is so much advice out there that I’d suggest always remembering that your path is your own. There is no one single route to publication. No one else’s journey mimics another, so don’t fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others or worrying that you have to do something someone else’s way. Go your own way. Run all advice through your own internal filter of experience and common sense and come up with a game plan that works for you.

{Lucienne Diver}

Put your preconceptions of what should and shouldn’t go together away–do exactly the opposite of what your old sense would tell you and you will find yourself in a whole new creative landscape.

{Judyth van Amringe}

The great advantage of being a writer is that you can spy on people. You're there, listening to every word, but part of you is observing. Everything is useful to a writer, you see–every scrap, even the longest and most boring of luncheon parties.

{Graham Greene}

Authentic success is discovering and calling forth your gifts and offering them to the world to help heal its ravaged heart. Authentic success is reaching the point where being is as important as doing. It’s the steady pursuit of a dream. It’s realizing that no matter how much time it takes for a dream to come true in the physical world, no day is ever wasted.

{Sarah Ban Breathnach}

The human voice is the organ of the soul.

{Henry Wadsworth Longfellow}

Don’t worry about having enough talent. Hard work trumps talent. Always.

{Rochelle Melander}

I have decided, on reflection, it is best just to remember that sometimes the magic really works.

{Terry Brooks}

Happy Monday and happy writing, Zigzaggers!!!

Audience vs. Genre in MG and YA

Don't classify me, read me. I'm a writer, not a genre.

{Carlos Fuentes} 

we heart it

During the A to Z Blogging Challenge, I made a survey for my Q post with questions about what you read and what you write. I think some people chose other for the question “What more specific genre do you write?” because middle grade and young adult were not listed. Ooops! I hadn’t thought of the potential confusion at the time because the question after that one, “What age and gender do you write for?” is where I included the selection for MG and YA ages.

I think of middle grade and young adult as audience, not genre. Though all audiences enjoy reading MG and YA, there is certainly a target audience the author is writing for. If you write middle grade I know your novels are intended for children between the ages of 8 and 12,* and if you write young adult I know your intended audience is teenagers.** Then I wonder what genre of MG or YA you write: contemporary, fantasy, mystery, science fiction, supernatural, thriller, etc. And if you've written something exceptional, and perhaps have a bit of good luck, your novels will transcend your intended audience and appeal to everyone!

So what about you? Do you think MG and YA is audience or genre?

I hope you have a fabulous weekend, Zigzaggers!!!

*Give or take a year or two.

**Just to be clear, I think all ages and genders can–and should!–enjoy every kind of book, no matter the intended audience.