The Pen of a Ready Writer

     Hello, delightful friends!       I am continuing my fun event.  It is called A Friday Quote, and I shall play this game every Friday from August through November.  Here's how it works: IN THE COMMENTS BELOW:       Post a quote of something YOU wrote THIS week. Or Something you edited this week (of something you previous wrote).     Don't make the quote too long because I don't want you to spoil your story.  Probably 5 sentences or so would be a good amount.  But that is a guideline and not a rule.      You don't have to participate every week.  But you can participate any week that you write.       And it will be so much fun to see everybody's quotes.      And, for me, it will be a reward for writing this week.  :D      Enjoy!

    The next scene in my story is meant to be an important one.  Readers get to meet the dwarves in their own evil lair.  My heroine is tormented for their selfish purposes.  Big scene.      But when I started writing it, it looked incredibly detached and boring.  "Yeah, look over there.  See those dwarves by the table?  They are tormenting our heroine.  Very sad.  The cottage is cute, though."  The scene just wasn't working.  And my story has been sitting in stasis awaiting inspiration.      Last night, I flopped on the floor to daydream and snuggle my dog.  For a while, I let my mind wander here and there.  But gradually I came to my senses and realized that the first thing I felt on "awaking" was the hard floor.      Suddenly, I was Moriah, regaining consciousness.  Hard floor.  Noises.  Light.  Hands on my hair.  And the scene came...

     I'm still pounding away at my draft for the Rooglewood contest.  And the deadline for submission is still 3 months away.  So I'm excited about nearer milestones...Savannah's flash fiction contest.  The deadline for entering is today, and she's announcing the winner on Saturday.      Maybe it's an unhealthy use of adrenaline, but I get excited about these contests.  They play in the back of my mind, even on humdrum days.  Like the old-timers, plodding away in poverty and dreaming of their ship coming in, I perform my routine tasks and go to work with this little secret tingling in the corners -- "I could win a contest on 9/30."      I haven't won a contest yet.  With the crash that follows such a high of anticipation, you might be surprised that I still enter them at all.  But the improvement in my writing skills each time makes it worth the effort, according to the logical side of my brain....

     Hello, delightful friends!       I am continuing my fun event.  It is called A Friday Quote, and I shall play this game every Friday from August through November.  Here's how it works: IN THE COMMENTS BELOW:       Post a quote of something YOU wrote THIS week. Or Something you edited this week (of something you previous wrote).     Don't make the quote too long because I don't want you to spoil your story.  Probably 5 sentences or so would be a good amount.  But that is a guideline and not a rule.      You don't have to participate every week.  But you can participate any week that you write.       And it will be so much fun to see everybody's quotes.      And, for me, it will be a reward for writing this week.  :D      Enjoy!

     I have a confession to make.      I was grumpy.      I was so excited about the opportunity to do a Word War.  It's something I have never done before.  But the idea of sitting down with a community of writers, pounding out material for your manuscript, and then sharing how far you got just sounded amazing.      And maybe it isn't amazing.  I used to want to ride a school bus.  And I wanted to ride it so bad that, when I finally got the chance, the smell of sweaty socks and stale kiddy perfume was sheer delight.  But I'm sure that people who HAVE to ride the bus are not nearly as enamored with it.     But, be that as it may, when I realized that I actually got the chance to do a real, live Word War, I was ecstatic.  The night of the War, I sat down and started typing.  Ready, set, here we go!      And then my husband called.     And he needed...

Hi, guys!  I have been sitting at my computer, checking on some of the blogs that I follow.  This one was such a perfect post that I wanted to share it with you.  It's not long.  It's called: Stories are Remembered .  Go read it!

     Hello, delightful friends!       I am continuing my fun event.  It is called A Friday Quote, and I shall play this game every Friday from August through November.  Here's how it works: IN THE COMMENTS BELOW:       Post a quote of something YOU wrote THIS week. Or Something you edited this week (of something you previous wrote).     Don't make the quote too long because I don't want you to spoil your story.  Probably 5 sentences or so would be a good amount.  But that is a guideline and not a rule.      You don't have to participate every week.  But you can participate any week that you write.       And it will be so much fun to see everybody's quotes.      And, for me, it will be a reward for writing this week.  :D      Enjoy!

(Encouragement for the writer in the editing phase)     No, no, no, no!  It's okay!      It just looks bad.  See these broken pieces?  They are supposed to be like that -- don't cry.     Do you know why this is good?      Because this is how you make it better.      It's a piece of art.  The broken pieces catch the light better.  And you can rearrange them into the most stunning visuals and thrilling patterns.  With the bits like this, we'll make a picture that will take people's breath away.      That's why we sent our story to the beta readers in the first place, remember?  Here.  Take the  pieces.  It's going to be amazing.  I can't wait to see!

     Hello, delightful friends!       I am continuing my fun event.  It is called A Friday Quote, and I shall play this game every Friday from August through November.  Here's how it works: IN THE COMMENTS BELOW:       Post a quote of something YOU wrote THIS week. Or Something you edited this week (of something you previous wrote).     Don't make the quote too long because I don't want you to spoil your story.  Probably 5 sentences or so would be a good amount.  But that is a guideline and not a rule.      You don't have to participate every week.  But you can participate any week that you write.       And it will be so much fun to see everybody's quotes.      And, for me, it will be a reward for writing this week.  :D      Enjoy!

      I stopped by Savannah's blog yesterday and found that she is celebrating her 1-year anniversary of blogging.  Hurray for her!  It's a grand accomplishment, and I feel like she has done better in her first year of blogging than I have in almost 4 years.  If you haven't been to see Scattered Scribblings , it is worth checking out.  I enjoy it.      As part of her celebration, she is hosting a writing contest.  The rules are simple.  The wordcount must be between 500 and 2,000 words, the word "ink" must be somewhere in the story, and you must submit it by September 26th.      As most of you know, I have been working on a Snow White retelling for the Rooglewood writing contest.  In fact, I worked on it for a while yesterday.  And then, yesterday evening, I saw Savannah's short story writing contest.  And I decided that it would be refreshing to write something different for a little while. ...

     Hello, delightful friends!       I am continuing my fun event.  It is called A Friday Quote, and I shall play this game every Friday from August through November.  Here's how it works: IN THE COMMENTS BELOW:       Post a quote of something YOU wrote THIS week. Or Something you edited this week (of something you previous wrote).     Don't make the quote too long because I don't want you to spoil your story.  Probably 5 sentences or so would be a good amount.  But that is a guideline and not a rule.      You don't have to participate every week.  But you can participate any week that you write.       And it will be so much fun to see everybody's quotes.      And, for me, it will be a reward for writing this week.  :D      Enjoy!