Of Chances and Challenges and New Beginnings

Here’s to the 365 chances this brand new year 2018 gifts us to honor and complete the challenges we’ve honestly and bravely identified!
[Note: Be sure to RE-read the above A Favorite Design, Inc. greeting card’s small print often: “Improvement not guaranteed, but achievable when used in conjunction with a positive attitude.”]

And here’s to our TeachingAuthors Book Giveaway of the 2018 CHILDREN’S WRITER’S AND ILLUSTRATOR’S MARKET! If you haven’t already entered, be sure to check out the instructions at the end of this post.

Thanks to all who’ve already shared their New Year’s challenges.  The oft-repeated verbs in the posted comments say it all:

• write
• revise
• design
• flesh out
• edit
• continue
• finish
• submit
• revisit
• push
• stretch
• try
• seek
• find
• begin

Verbs, E.B. White reminded us, drive the sentence, in much the same way our chosen verbs drive our Writer’s Plotlines. They get us up close, then through, then over, then past what’s standing in our way.

No matter the year, my teacher’s challenge, my Writing Coach challenge, is to keep my writers keepin’ on!
When it comes to protecting and sustaining the writer’s Spirit, resources, opportunities, possibilities abound.  Indeed, they’re limitless.
When it comes to the writer’s telling his story in words to young readers, however?
Identifying the “something” in a story that needs to work better – the format, the narrator viewpoint, the word choice, for example – that’s easy.
Figuring out the purposeful, concrete and doable Next Steps that offer a writer a way to address that “something” -  not so much.

So I’m always on the look-out, now and forever, for new exercises that help
ensure my students and writers tell their stories the best way possible.
Alice LaPlante’s THE MAKING OF A STORY (W.W. Norton, 2007), which came highly recommended by a Writing Coach who works with adult novelists, has grown my stash immeasurably.
Think: a 677-page one-stop guide to the art of fiction and nonfiction, covering “inspiration, craft, aesthetics and purpose” and offering expertise, exercises and examples aplenty.

The Exercises on Revision included in the chapter “Learning to Fail Better” offer all sorts of delicious Next Steps possibilities.
Some of the Analytical/Mechanical exercises are tried and true:  highlight all forms of “to have” and “to be,” then replace them with active verbs; retype your story so that each word might spark a new idea.
Many of the Creative Exercises were familiar: change the point of view and rewrite the story; change the tense (from past to present or vice versa).
I’ve used many of the Research-Based Exercises: research the kind of music that would have been playing on the radio at the time the piece is set; research five recipes that the people in the story or nonfiction piece were eating.

It was the Chance-Based Exercises that raised my eyebrows. Suddenly I was adding new Next Steps to my Bag of Tricks.

• Take a walk around the block.  Make whatever happens (or doesn’t happen), or whatever you observe, the basis for a free write that you can include in your piece.
• Make a list of all the things that happened to you this week that surprise you.  Do a free write on one of them that might be relevant to your piece.

                                                    (A Favorite Design, Inc.)

Hopefully the above exercises will serve as “helping verbs” of a sort, not in the true sense of the word, but instead in the sense they are helping you take a chance to ACTualize your own chosen challenge verbs.

Here’s to a year of Hope and New Beginnings and successful Next Steps on your Writer’s Journey!

Esther Hershenhorn
p.s.
I’ll be sharing my ever-growing stash of Next Steps with writers this July as I’m again honored to continue Barbara Seuling’s Manuscript Workshop in Landgrove, VT. 
……

And now, click HERE to read how easy it is to win a free copy of  the 2018 Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market.

3 Software Tools for the New Year

Today I'm wrapping up our series on people/places/tools that help our writing by sharing three software tools I like to use. I don't have a poem today, but at the end of this post, I've provided a link to this week's Poetry Friday roundup.

1. Scrivener 

Some time ago, I mentioned that I was giving Scrivener a try. Some call Scrivener (from Literature & Latte) a word-processing program, but it's so much more--it's a powerful software tool for drafting, editing, and organizing all types of writing, including fiction, nonfiction, scriptwriting, and poetry/song lyrics. After taking advantage of their very generous 30-day free trial (which counts only actual days of use and not calendar days), I went ahead and bought a copy. Scrivener has many terrific features, but my two favorites are the Outliner mode and the Corkboard. Here's a snapshot of a sample corkboard from the Scrivener website.

Gwen Hernandez, author of Scrivener for Dummies (Wiley & Sons), shares what she thinks are Scrivener's Top Ten Features here. She includes the ability to set and track writing targets on her list, and I definitely agree!

If, like me, you're on a tight budget, before purchasing, be sure to do a Google search for discounts on the regular price, which is currently $40 for the Windows version. You can often find a deal. For example, Literature & Latte often sponsors a special on Scrivener in conjunction with NaNoWriMo.

2. Timesheet Time Tracker 

I've kept logs of my time spent on writing-related tasks for years, usually recording the data in a table in a Microsoft Word doc. For some of my freelance assignments, I put the data into an Excel spreadsheet that allows me to total the time automatically. With the new year, I decided I'd like an app that would not only allow me to track my time but also give me statistics on the percentage of time I spent per day/week/month on different activities. I researched my options by reading online articles on the best free time-logging apps (like this piece) and online reviews, and then tested a few of the recommended apps. I'm currently using Timesheet Time Tracker by Florian Rauscha. I found it easy to learn and use. I especially like that you can color-code both projects and tags. Here's a sample screenshot from their Google Play page:

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the Timesheet app, but the labels on the statistics charts are sometimes difficult to read, even on a 5" smartphone screen. I'm thinking an app that I can also use on my Windows PC may be better, so I've just downloaded Toggl to give it a try. (I read about it in this article.) Do any of you readers have a time-tracking app to recommend?

3. Habitbull 

While downloading new phone apps, I searched for one that might help me track some goals I've set for the new year and came across Habitbull. You can use it not only to record whether or not you meet a goal, but also to specify the number of times you do something or, if you're a writer, the number of words written in a day. I like that Habitbull includes the option to set reminders. And it lets you color-code, too! Here's a screenshot I found posted in this article on how to use it. (Note: the article is from 2014, so the instructions might not all apply to the current version.) 

 

How about you, Readers? Do you have any software tools you can recommend to improve our writing productivity?

Here are links to the other posts in this series, in case you missed them:

Esther started by telling us about Shaun Levin’s My Writing Life.
April shared a great 49-second video tip that's part of a series from UCLA Extension Writer's Program.
Bobbi wrote about mentors and inspirational writers.
April gave us a writing workout tied to the video tips she'd mentioned in her previous post.
JoAnn posted about the "pep talk" she received from reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic.
And Carla discussed some of her research tools.

Although Esther will blog about something new on Monday, I'll be back on Wednesday, 1/27, with a Wednesday Writing Workout that follows-up on today's post.

Don't forget to check out this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at A Teaching Life.

Happy writing!
Carmela

49-Second Poetry Prompt Guaranteed to Change Your Writing

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Howdy, Campers--Happy New Year and Happy Poetry Friday! Today's host and my (very odd) poem are below.

To start the new year--and we hope yours is copacetic thus far--we, at the brand-ndew corporate headquarters of TeachingAuthors, will each be offering a book, a tip, a tool--something which helps us read / write /create. 

The new corporate offices of TeachingAuthors.com

Ready? Hang on for the wild ride (or better: a wild write): Esther started us off in her post telling us about Shaun Levin's Writing Map, MY WRITING LIFE. Fascinating concept, sure to set your teeth on fire.

Today, it's my turn. As regular readers know, I've been an instructor in UCLA Extenstion Writers' Program since the invention of goat cheese. Recently, UCLA Extension Writers' Program invited its instructors to offer a writing tip in under one minute. The videos that have been filmed so far can be viewed here; more will be added as they're filmed, including mine--coming soon.

What's so cool about these is that when you're feeling parched, dried-out, and California-drought-ish, wondering what in heaven's name to write, or why the heck you think you can write, simply watch one of these babies and try the tip.

I especially like this 49-second tip by poet Rick Bursky. Could you do me a favor and watch it right now? Because what comes next assumes you've listened to him.

Okay--you've watched Rick? Thank you kindly.

So today's poem is the third draft of a poem inspired by his tip. It may not be for kids, it may not be much, but I was grabbing things from all over the internet and deep in the darkest corners of my brain, and man was it fun to write!

CHANGES
by April Halprin Wayland

Once upon a time, there was
a train came down the track faster than it was supposed to
its feet shoulder-width apart, 90 degrees to the target
but Froggy didn't feel like getting
a lawyer for Teresa Giudice, who was freed at 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Ah, changes!
Ah, the ghastly smell of salmon which spoils so quickly in the refrigerator!
Ah, Old Dresser Redo, DIY Cloud Pillows, Easy Floating Shelves.
How we each, in our own little worlds,
carrot and stick,
the atmosphere of Mars,
water overflowing sidewalks of Hermosa Beach,
how we each change the world.

It's raining again
and there are mouse parts all over the house.
What has been your lollipop moment?
Have you thanked that person?
And they lived happily
A New, Easier Method To Use A Printer For Ink Image Transfers!
ever after

poem (c) 2016 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.

TeachingAuthors hope our tips and tools will jump-start your writing year, Dear Reader. 

May this be your Year of Yes!

Watch for a related post on our Wednesday Writers' Workout on January 13th ~

Thank you, Tabatha, for hosting PF today at The Opposite of Indifference ~

posted by April Halprin Wayland with help from Eli, who was tearing up Mouse as I wrote the poem.

Eli swears he didn't do it

Finding Our Way to Writing in the New Year

To welcome in 2016,  my fellow TeachingAuthors and I wish to gift our readers with singular items and opportunities meant to keep everyone writing.

My gift for this brand new year of endless possibilities?

Shaun Levin’s Writing Map MY WRITING LIFE.

I first discovered these handy, interactive, pocket-sized writing prompts and exercises inside my SCBWI Europolitan Conference folder last April in Amsterdam.

Since then, I’ve done my due diligence in checking out the complete series of WRITE AROUND TOWN MAPS,  thanks, fortuitously, to their U.S. availability at THE LOOKING GLASS  book store in Oak Park, Illinois. 

Themed by elements of narrative, settings, occasion and emotion, each of the 15 maps lives up to its billing – i.e. “portable, practical, inspiring.”

I’ve showcased MY WRITING LIFE because IMHO, it’s the perfect map to help you find your way to writing – as well as – keep you writing once you’ve learned what’s driving you.

Last January, in my post titled HAPPY DRIVING, I encouraged readers to discover their writing Wants and Needs.

We do the same for our characters, I shared, so we can tell their stories well.  We must do so for ourselves so we can keep on telling the writer’s story we’re living.

In truth, though, that wasn’t the whole picture; knowing the Want, and even better, the Need, doesn’t do the job for our characters or us.

If we’re to tell our stories true – either those we’re writing or the writer’s story we’re living, we need to know the WHY behind the WHAT.

MY WRITING LIFE can help all of us do just that, allowing a closer look at various elements of the writing life: commitment, community, setting, subject matter.

We’re to think of the map’s questions as coming from someone who loves us, someone who is interested in how and why we write.

What does writing mean to you?

Who are your writing friends and allies?

Who has encouraged you?

What kind of writer are you?

Maps provide information, all in the name of navigation.


 

Here’s to 2016 and again, Happy Driving! May MY WRITING LIFE help you write happily ever after!

Esther Hershenhorn

P.S.

Speaking of maps and writing, check out the Landgrove Inn in beautiful Landgrove, Vermont where I’m honored to be continuing Barbara Seuling’s Manuscript Workshop July 10-15.

A Writing Map will sit inside each writer’s workshop folder. :)