Cheap Trick or Ironing?

Writers gotta clean.

NO! 

Writers gotta write. 

Many of them are so dedicated to and passionate about their craft, they hate reality in every way. That was how I could describe yesterday around noon, if not every day of my life. 

The beginning of this past week was off to a rough, slow start. I was a little under the weather, combatting allergy and sinus symptoms. My husband and I thought it was more than likely due to the blooming Bradford Pears (or the bloomin' Bradford Pears, however you want to put it). Therefore, instead of making the most of my mornings in writing as much as I could until lunchtime, I rested. I hate doing that because I love writing so much and hate wasting my spare time. Writers gotta rest at times, too.

As the week unfolded, I was able to get past my achy head, runny nose, and tiredness and to resume writing. And I did better than I expected. Yesterday was especially like that, which, I've noticed is different from the way I used to have it. 

For a long time, I would be so tired by Friday afternoon, I'd be depleted of creative juices. The converse seems to be the case these days. But I had errands to run and a few things to do around the house. No matter what I did, I couldn't easily pry myself away from my desk. 

I eventually did. Once I got into a flow of activity, mostly ironing and cooking dinner for the week to come, I put on some music. What was I going to choose? Paul McCartney & the Wings? Beasto Blanco? Stryper?...Whose music did I really crave after a week of hard work in spite of seasonal sniffles? Whose music would be ideal in getting my mind off of the drudgery of Friday afternoon tasks?

With the raw melodies of "Hello There" and "Big Eyes" coming out of my laptop speakers, I continued alternating between cooking dinner and ironing the weekly load of permanent press.

Then, it hit me...

How about I have occasional parts in Writing Soulmates with Brian Eastman's point of view? Someone had suggested it, but I didn't realize the beauty it would add to the storyline until I was doing my least favorite weekly task, ironing, while listening to one of my favorite albums.

The question now is: Was this epiphany brought to my mind when I was ironing or listening to Cheap Trick, or both?

Flourish Writers Conference

A free conference!

"I think I'll pass on that," said no one ever.

That includes me, too! Therefore, I jumped at the chance to watch the Flourish Writers Conference, a  six-day virtual conference, from right here in my house, on my laptop. I delighted in wearing my jammies and eating a pint of ice cream. While chillin' out (for a lack of better words) and feeding my sweet tooth, I got fed spiritually and mentally.

And I learned so much!

Below are the names of the featured authors and a little bit of what I learned from them. The lines in italics are the ones that are more personal to me

Joanna Weaver

• Include outtakes of works in progress. They just might be used for future work.
• Do it simple; get fancy later.
• Do not fall in love with your words.

Havilah Cunnington

• Everyone relates to pain.
• What about the pain do you want people to know?
• You don't need to be profound.
• It's okay to be in a process.

Lucretia Berry

• There is much freedom in self-publishing. Lucretia, you are my self-publishing soulmate.
• Do not despise small beginnings.

Andi Cumbo-Floyd

• Write for the joy of writing.

Renee Fisher

This is an example of brainstorming a story with sticky notes. The pictures below show the brainstorming I did for Kill the Locust, my next work in progress.

Need I say more?

Arabah Joy

• Micro-writing is small chunks of writing, done in one sitting (eg. social media posts, journal entries, blog posts).
• People have short attention spans.
• I need to improve on this style of writing.

Tiara Cloud

• Discover your "why".
• In her book, Cracked Mirrors, people have been able to identify with the fiction parts of this book. I now feel more motivated to, as the voiceover for the introduction to these videos says, write the story inside of me.

Bonnie Gray

• No matter what you write, point to hope.
• Writing can be healing just as much for you as for your readers.
• Nurture your soul. Exercise, listen to music.
• Do artistic things that inspire you.
• Spend time with people who encourage you.
• Don't clean up your story.

Tisha Martin

• "Insignificant dialogue" can kill the story sometimes. However, it is good for when the character is nervous.
• Get rid of "overdressed dialogue," taking out adverbs and inserting character action. This is one of the things I am working on right now for Writing Soulmates.

Patrice Gopo

• Essay (verb): to try to make sense of a personal experience
• Journal (verb): a raw verbal dump on paper
• Journaling is a pathway, a stepping stone, to an essay.
• Since I have written in tons of journals, I think there may be an essayist in me. This avenue of writing has piqued my curiosity.

Katherine Reay

• There are stories of victories and defeats behind every successful author.
• Bleed on the page.

Mindy Kiker

• Devotionals should be less than or equal to 1000 words.
• Let the Scripture shine.
• Make it a message of hope.
• This is a form of micro-writing I'm now longing even more to start doing.

Kate Montaung

• When making a writing platform, elevate God, not me.
• Interact online and be a blessing to others.

Kaitlyn Bouchillon

• I can't always hide behind writing.
• What social media actions are draining me?
• What form of social media do my readers frequent?
• I should take a picture of some part of my book from time to time.

Lindsey Hartz

• What kinds of readers am I trying to help?
• Where do my readers hang out?
• If I want to know them, they will find my passion.
• Think of marketing while working on a book.

Shauna Letellier

• No one cares about your book the way you do.
• I plan to make more live videos.
• I'd like to include a discussion guide at the end of my books.
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