Books--The Best Gift

If you're in the area, stop by. Dozens of vendors will be sharing their crafts. Author Bob Davis and I will be talking about our books. It's a great place to pick up gifts for all. Hope to see you there.

Write those thoughts while they're still hot

Yesterday I was walking with a friend who mentioned she had to write an essay. "As soon as my brain started thinking up ideas, I had to write them down." (Nevermind she was in the midst of a group of people.)
If we all were so attentive to our thoughts.
I used to wake up in the middle of the night, when hit by a scene or an image, tiptoe to my desktop, and release those thoughts onto the page.

These days getting those thoughts down requires a bit more persistence. For, while turning on the computer, I get distracted by my phone, catching up on the latest political fiasco or reading urgent mail. (Maybe even playing a few moves in 'words with friends.') By the time I sit down in front of the screen, the burning idea inside me has been diluted by thoughts of a foolish comment by a presidential nominee, concerns for parents who have lost children in a senseless shooting, worries about exactly how much time I have to finish editing stories just sent to me. That initial idea that had pulled me toward the computer in the first place--that fire--has dwindled to a few cold embers.

So, when your mind is churning--and your heart heats up--get those thoughts down while the feeling is still hot.

Tell Your Story First....Then Write It

My aunt told me a joke once. "This man walked into a bar and began swinging his dog around his head. Do you know why?"
"He was cruel?"
"No, no. It was a seeing-eye dog." She laughed. "And he was having a look around."
 I scratched my head. "Wait, it was a blind man?"
The next time she told that joke she remembered to describe the man as blind up front. The more times she told the joke --it was unfortunately an old favorite--the description was more and more embellished, with him feeling for the door handle of the entrance, etc. Although it was a pretty lame joke to begin with, the more practiced she became at telling it, the better it got. So, she wasn't the only one laughing at her joke.
As I watch my daughter worry over SAT writing tests and English essays, I tell her to practice by talking. Tell me a story a day. Take an event--no matter how trivial--and create a story from it, using important description, tension, a climax. Then, when faced with actually having to write something, the process will come with more ease. Give it a try.

To Not Take a Risk...

My daughter, a junior, is new to the 10-player-strong varsity basketball team. All of the players are talented. However, from a (relatively) objective viewpoint, the juniors--the newer recruits--bring more energy to the floor. Granted, I don't get to watch them often, because usually the coach plays her core group of seniors--the starting group plus one or two others. But when the juniors get out there, they tend to jump higher to block passes, circle more tightly to guard, race around with greater enthusiasm. This past week, they played a team they had beaten handily once before. Unfortunately, the starting group of players was having a bad day, missing their shots over and over, as if a hex had been put on them. Instead of putting in the rest of the talented team, the coach kept hoping the hex would lift. It never did. We lost by one basket--a basket I imagined one of those juniors easily making. My husband said, "The coach doesn't like to take risks. She doesn't know the newer players as well. But then to not take a risk...that's a risk in itself."
That thought resonated with me. We tend to go with what we know. To do the things we are comfortable with. To stay with what is safe. But to not branch out, to not try new ideas, to not give voice to our thoughts, to not take those risks....that's just as big a gamble.
So choose to take a risk.