Counting down to June 22nd!
June 22nd will start the Edmonton Public Library’s Summer Start Program, and I’m delighted to be telling stories as part of the celebration.
For full information on the program, head to epl.ca/SummerStarts.
In the meantime, check out these amazing facts 9(via the EPL):
- The program includes:
- A summer reading challenge:Kids track their reading activity and for every six hours of reading completed, they get to design their own button and receive a prize ballot for a chance to win awesome prizes including grand prize packs (with iPads, books, robots, a zoo encounter and more!), drones and Edmonton Eskimos prizes.
- Classes and events: Summer Starts at EPL features a variety of free drop-in classes and events. Kids can choose from classes led by EPL staff, external performers and even a few special visits from the Edmonton Eskimos. In total, there are more than 500 activities happening at all 21 branches to keep kids busy!
- Weekly contests: Kids can find Dwayne The Rock in each branch to receive a ballot for a chance to win a weekly book prize and Booster Juice prize pack filled with coupons and other goodies.
- In 2018, more than 17,000 kids across Edmonton registered for the summer reading challenge and we hope to welcome even more in 2019!
Summer Starts at EPL 2019 will launch on Saturday, June 22ndand end on Saturday, August 24th.
One Day at a Time
The past two weeks have been…decent. Instead of forcing myself into writing (or berating myself for not writing), I used the time to read”not for research or teaching”I read for fun.
And I realized I needed it. I needed to get back to the other side of the fence, where I shut down my editing brain, and the “how do they put the story together” brain, and just enjoy the ride of someone else’s story.
This week, I went back to the books I’d read and asked myself, why did I enjoy this story? And I got some intel on how certain writers weave in story clues, how they showcase description and character…I don’t know if I’ll use those techniques. After all, that is their voice & I have to see if their techniques match with my voice, but still…
It was encouraging to see how different people tell stories and a gentle reminder that part of being an author is owning not just the stories we tell, but how we tell them, as well.
Once more into the breach
Yikes. Looking at the date of my last post, it’s painfully obvious the writing has not been going well. When the writing is plodding along, I post. When I’m in the depths of writing despair…well, you can see the painful silence.
I’m using this week to get back into the reading, with the hope it will kick start the story writing process again. Not sure if it’ll work, but all I can do is try, right?
Coming full circle…
When I was a kid, I used to harass my parents *all the time* about taking over their stuff.
“Can I have your sweater?”
“Can I use your walkman?”
“Do you need the discman?”
Now, it’s my turn to show generosity”my mom *super* wants my iPad (“Hey, honey, you’re upgrading, soon, right?” “Hey, sweetie, did you say you were going to get a new iPad?”), so now I’m pondering how to do this for her…
It’s a funny thing, when the circle begins to close itself, when you’re the one worrying about your parents being out for the night, when you’re the one giving them the safety advice, but for me, it’s a blessed place to be.
My parents spent my entire existence trying to make my life the best it could be. I’m grateful to return the favour.
Marco? Marco?
My current Work In Progress (WIP) is…is less work and more trial and tribulation. Trying to hear my Main Character’s (MC) voice is like being in a dark cave and playing Marco-Polo. I’m yelling, “Marco! Marco!” and I’m getting “Polo! Polo!” **EXCEPT** my MC’s voice is ricocheting off the walls and creating echoes, so I’m constantly running to the wrong spot…I don’t know that I’ll eventually hear her properly, but I have to have faith that I will and trust that like the other novels, her voice will come through, but in the meantime, I’m doing nothing but stumbling in the dark, and wishing this process allowed for bringing a flashlight.
The sweet but smelly choice
Oof, you know, getting The Girl salmon snacks was a sweet thought ’cause my girl loves her fish, but dang, when you’re in a small office with that stuff, you **really** realize how strong (read: terrible) fish can smell!
Oh, well, at least she’s happy. ^_^
Embracing the bad review a.k.a who is your ideal reader?
Yesterday, Gilette released this ad to both positive and negative reviews. In the positives, people feel it’s embracing a new definition of masculinity and the ad is pro-human. In the negatives, folks feel it’s anti-man and assumes the worst in men.
I find this interesting because the ad is the ad, and it’s the individual viewer who brings their throughts and philosophies to the commercial. It’s a great reminder to me that when it comes to creative endeavours, as creators, our focus is to do the best we can to say what we need to say.
How people react, to a certain extent, will always be out of our control, and at the end of the day, the big question to ask isn’t “will they like it?” but “do I like it?”
Chug, Chug
Plugging along with the work in progress, and it’s funny how often I’m stopping because I’m worried about the edits to come. Will I need to dial back the character? Will the plot need to be tightened?
They’re all good questions, but they’re not relevant to the moment. Edits and shifts in the storyline can all come later, after the first draft, after I’ve sat with the story…
Part of me feels like I’m just being a good writer, I’m thinking ahead to what may need to happen. Part of me feels like this is one of the many ways we writers hamper ourselves. I still don’t know what the full story is or how these characters will evolve. Trying to edit them now feels like trying to paint a wall while the builders are still digging the foundation. In other words, a waste of time and productivity, and ultimately, leading to more work to undo the thing I’ve done.
So, it’s deep breaths when those moments arise (so many breaths, so many moments), then focusing back to the story, to the present, rather than fretting the future, and reminding myself to chug along, full steam ahead to the destination of First Draft (and not FINAL Draft).
Photo credit: Unsplash | @roland_löesslein
I’ll take “Questions that have no answer,” for $500, Alex
Unsplash | @akovacsa
And of course that question would be, “What is the correct way to write a book?”
I think this is the question that keeps writers up at night, whether we’re published or not. Is there a right way to write a book?
Sure, there are LOADS of How-To books out there that will say things like, “Don’t head hop,” “Stay away from adverbs,” “Don’t overdo your description,” which we all take as gospel truth…then we go to the library and promptly find that NYT best-selling novel (or novels) that set fire to all the rules.
I feel like maybe there are no rules, save be true to the story you’re trying to tell, and to the characters telling that story.
Which, as I stare at page 10 of my Work in Progress, I’m finding much harder to do than say. It would be ever so helpful if there were some hard and fast rules I could adhere to, but there aren’t any. Perhaps that’s why writing is so difficult and why only 15 out of 100 people who set out to write a book will do it, because the act of writing asks us to block out the world, the reviewers, the experts, the ones who came before, and to quiet ourselves to listen and follow the soft voice that only lives inside of us.
Petit a petit, l’oiseau fait son nid
Which translates to, “little by little, the bird builds its nest.” Okay, I’m relying on Google for the translation on this, but I think it’s a very good mantra for 2019.
Little by little, don’t rush, don’t fuss, it’s okay to take it slow, it’s okay not to drive yourself into the ground with goals and deadlines and all the other ways we find to grind ourselves into dust while masking it as “inspiration and determination to live our best lives.”
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