Bicycles – Einstein Quote
8
05, 2024
6
05, 2024
Kill the Darlings – Drama on every page
We all dislike negative, unhappy things happening in our lives.
Who wants to suffer and be unhappy? I sure don’t.
Reality is drama, disaster, and tragedy are what life is all about.
I don’t like drama in my life. I don’t like it when other people suffer and are unhappy. Unfortunately in fiction writing no drama makes for a dull, uninteresting plot.
A story without tension is flat and quickly put aside. That’s not what any author wants to happen to their books.
The BONI Intensive Seminars taught me how important suffering and drama are for fictional characters … if a writer wants to fully engage readers.
“Tension on every page” to quote Donald Maass.
“Throw another bear in the canoe,” JoAnn Ross advises.
Drama is an integral part of real life and a critical part of a fictional character’s story. Readers want to become emotionally involved with our characters. Drama builds suspense, anticipation, and uncertainty by creating conflict, and it’s that conflict that keeps readers turning the pages.
When drama and suffering are absent, readers do not connect with our characters and story. They don’t read our books. I’ve had to learn to “kill my darlings” and it hasn’t been easy.
If you need a nudge to add drama to your writing, let me suggest:
- The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass
- Breakout Novel Intensive Seminar
- One Stop for Writers where you’ll find loads of resources for adding conflict.
And keep an eye out for the 2nd edition of The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Stress and Volatility by Becca Puglisi, releasing on May 13th.
Writers, what suggestions would you add to my list?
3
05, 2024
My Grandfather’s Clock
A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
Many songs from my childhood are stored in my brain and happen to be much more accessible than the location of my cell phone at any given moment. One of these songs is “My Grandfather’s Clock.”
I only have the first part committed to memory.
My grandfather’s clock was too large for the shelf.
So it stood ninety years on the floor.
It was taller by half than the old man himself,
Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn’ of the day that he was born
And was always his treasure and pride
But it stopped, short never to go again
When the old man died
Ninety years without slumbering
His life seconds numbering
It stopped, short never to go again
When the old man died
My father-in-law had a grandfather clock in his home for as long as I remember. He built the case from a kit, and it ran efficiently for many years.
The chiming of the clock was something that Alex, our grandson, quickly noticed and enjoyed when we visited.
When Beekeeper Brian and I were there this past Spring Break, the clock was not working. His dad had pulled it away from the wall and opened the back to see if he could fix it. It still wasn’t working when we left.
The week after Spring Break, Brian’s father died.
I thought about that clock and wondered what would happen to it. Andy, Brian’s brother-in-law, decided to continue the work on the clock. The sound of its chime was something he also enjoyed. And it would remind him of the original owner.
RIP Theodore Miller.
1
05, 2024
29
04, 2024
Wind Chimes – Yea or Nay
Wind chimes are one of my favorite yard art forms. The high winds we’ve been having lately have my chimes whipping up lots of music.
Did you know wind chimes date from around 1100 BC in Ancient Rome? The first wind chime was an assemblage of bells on a pole called a tintinnabulum. It served to ward off evil and bring good fortune and prosperity. Tintinnabulum chimes were often found hanging in temples.
From Rome, “modern” wind chimes spread to countries like Japan and India eventually worldwide. Today, wind chimes have other uses besides warding off evil spirits.
Besides the obvious yard art, other uses include:
- Scare birds from farming lands.
- Feng Shui arrangements.
- Hung in memory of a loved one.
Most people use wind chimes like I do for decorative purposes and to listen to nice sounds.
It is true some wind chimes don’t make pleasant noise, but those constructed with tuned tubes make lovely soft tinkling sounds. You can even choose the musical key you want.
This article from Better Homes & Gardens suggests “The 13 Best Wind Chimes of 2024 to Create a Soothing Soundscape”
My newest wind chime is a glass chime with bluebonnets, a Christmas gift. The glass adds the perfect tingling sound to my collection.
What about you? Are you a fan of wind chimes or do you fall in the don’t-like-the-noise category?
26
04, 2024
Hanging On
A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
The stump our birdhouse sits on is starting to tilt. The base is rotting away. The birdhouse is nailed to the stump so it will not fall off. It will just fall over with the stump unless we remove it.
I can relate to this poor bird house as I am sure most teachers can right now.
We are securely attached to our jobs but feel like all of life is tilting. Everyone is tired, kids are grumpy, teachers are ready to quit.
We are all just barely hanging on.
I wonder if it is time for me to remove myself from my job before my whole life falls over. Or maybe everything will straighten back up during the summer…
24
04, 2024
22
04, 2024
Flowers, Showers, and Petrichor
The month of April means time to bring out rain boots and umbrellas and smell the scent of rain in the air.
That distinct scent has a name – petrichor. It’s the smell of the oil that’s released from the Earth into the air before rain begins to fall. Scientists suggest it’s familiar because we inherited an affection for the smell from our ancestors who relied on rainy weather for survival.
April also means hearing that age-old saying April Showers Bring May Flowers.
The poem originated in 1157 in a collection of Thomas Tusser’s writings titled, “A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry.” His version:
Sweet April showers Do spring May flowers
Tusser wasn’t the first writer to write about April showers. At the end of the Fourteenth Century, legendary poet Geoffrey Chaucer had his own say on April in “The Canterbury Tales.” His version goes:
“Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;”
Translated:
“When in April the sweet showers fall
That pierce March’s drought to the root and all
And bathed every vein in liquor that has power
To generate therein and sire the flower;”
Not exactly the same as our familiar poem, but close enough that we can call Geoffrey Chaucer the grandfather of our familiar saying.
As days grow warmer, genetically hard-wired plants begin to push through the thawing soil as frosts end. Those April rain showers help nutrients reach the roots faster and the ecosystem begins its activity anew.
Whether you sing in the rain or grumble inside on rainy days, think about what’s to come. Those dark days do bring beautiful flowers. So, while you’re gathering rain gear, dig out those flower vases for May’s flowers.
19
04, 2024
Favorite Book
A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
My current favorite children’s book is From Head to Toe by Eric Carle.
I heard about it at the Music Teacher Convention in February. I bought a copy on a recent trip to Barnes and Noble with our daughter. She bought several books of five hundred pages or more and I bought one children’s book. That’s how it usually goes.
As I read it to my classes last week, I realized what a marvelous book it is! Each page has an animal with a corresponding motion. Many of the motions are the same as the stretches I do.
There were head turns with the penguin.
Head nods with the giraffe
And back arches with the cat.
Now when I run out of time in the morning to do my stretches, I read my favorite book to my classes.
It is a great use of multitasking!
15
04, 2024
An Author’s Conundrum – Getting Book Reviews
I’m a writer and I’m a reader. When I finish reading a book, I write a review.
Why do I take the time? To help the author and other readers.
Independent epublishing has generated a flooded marketplace of book choices. That ocean of available works makes knowing which book to select difficult. With book-buying budgets limited, book reviews can help readers make decisions.
So when I read an enjoyable book, I share the news by writing a review.
As an author, I also recognize that reviews posted on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or iBooks are critical for sales whether you’re a new or established author.
Yes, I know some authors defraud the online review systems, and some reviewers use their power to target and destroy. Thank goodness, those types are in the minority and quickly dealt with.
I’m not saying don’t post a critical review if you don’t like a book. Most authors welcome an honest evaluation of their work if it’s in the form of constructive criticism, not trashing.
Finding reviewers is a major conundrum for authors. The validity of a review by family and friends can be questionable. You’ll find most retailers don’t allow family and friend review postings, if the bots catch the link between reviewer and author.
Reviewers who are paid to write book or movie reviews can be extremely expensive. Small publishing houses and indie authors can’t afford to use those services, instead, they rely on readers spreading the news.
Why is coaxing a reader to write a review so hard? Maybe because it brings back painful memories of those dreaded book reports we had to do when we were in school.
Whatever the reason readers don’t write reviews, I wish more readers understood how helpful reviews are for an author.
The process of posting a review is easy. Many Kindle books offer a link to review at the end. Reviews don’t have to be lengthy or formal. You can also leave star reviews.
Next time you finish a book, why not leave a review or stars?
