I did a lot of writing today. And some important reading (which I'll get to at the end).
First, I polished my weekly parenting article. (I'll link it next week on Tues when it gets published).
And I went through some of the next exercises in Writing Life Stories book.
Scenemaking Exercise two:
voice over patrol. examine your scenemaking piece and look for voice overs that interrupt the readers dream.
Done! I had no voice overs at all!
Scenemaking: Exercise three:
Cracking Open II - the Sequel. go back to your piece and see what's still there to crack. look for "next thing we knew" or "we" or "it" or "they" and look for surprises.
Scenemaking: Exercise four:
Day of the Week - try starting with a particular day of the week because the idea is to go from generic exposition to a specific day and time. this is vital because it can be vital to scene.
Scenemaking: Exercise five:
To the Movies. rent movies and think about scene. can you convert a scene into writing? think about my writing...how would a director film my scene?
Scenemaking: Exercise six:
Apology - start a vignette by confessing my inability to remember everything of the details. Apologize profusely, admit that you must make a few things up and set the scene and then attend to your drama.
Scenemaking: Exercise seven:
Tell the &$# Damn Truth for Once - look back to your map, pick a scene to dramatize with the truth.
Done! I've been trying to refresh my memory and be as honest as I can - as I remember it.
Secondly, remember that very important reading I mentioned?
From Don Miller's blog today entitled; Commit to the Work and not the Goal
"Instead of committing to lose weight this year or write that book, simply commit to do the work. Five days a week you are going to write, who cares whether a book comes of it or not."
it's not going to get done if I don't do it. I know that's the theme since I've begun this journey. Some days I say in jest "Where's that book?" ( I mostly say this when money is tight or I dream about a vacation or quitting my job). Like every other wanna-be blogger on the planet I secretly hope someone reads my article and thinks I'm brilliant or discovers my blog and publishes me immediately. Lofty, crazy goals eh? Unrealistic? Absolutely! A book with my name on it isn't going to fall out of the sky any more than dinner is going to be made by itself tonight (I gotta get out of this arm chair and feed the Tribe soon).
Did I mention I an having an allergy attack at this very moment? I can't stop sneezing and my right eye is swelling up. It itches like crazy and if this benedryl doesn't kick in I may just collapse of discomfort.
The odds are so stacked against me. I have complaining twins. Laundry up to my eyeballs. A husband who is home all day and can't wait for me to walk in the door. A teenager I am desperately trying to stay connected with and sons who think they are way cooler than me. (Well, with this swollen eye I can see why they'd think that!)
I'll end with this. A retired teacher stopped in school yesterday. I think she was assisting the kindergarten benchmark testing. She stopped to tell me she cuts out my articles and sends them to her daughter in law. She said they are great and wanted me to know that I'm "influencing people in other places". I thanked her profusely for taking the time to tell me that but in my heart I hoped this mother in law wasn't sending my articles in a bossy-I-told-you-so! kinda way. That certainly won't help ease the inlaw drama at the next family get together!
