Thursday, October 31, 2019

Happy All Hallow’s Eve

As you can see, I did not get my monk story written for today. While the picture intrigues me, I can’t decide whether the monks were good or bad. So I will write the story . . . some day, just not today.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t just leave you hanging so I thought a little poetry might be in order. I wrote this poem a few years ago because I wanted to write something about the Wild Hunt, but I couldn’t come up with an idea for a story.

For those of you who care about these things, this poem is written in the Zejel form.



THE WILD HUNT

The Wild Hunt makes its ride tonight
underneath the pale moonlight
a rare and yet a chilling sight.

First the horn sounds loud and fey
Then the hounds begin to bay
And soon the riders are away
To seek a soul, as is their right.

I hear them as they thunder past
They take their freedom while it lasts
These hunters that are unsurpassed
The huntsmen on their quest this night.

Damned are these souls that come from hell
who, in dishonest battle, fell
and now condemned to ride the dell
in search of one more fallen knight.

Merciless, they seek their prey
or any soul that’s lead astray
They’re focused on the need to slay
to set the ancient wrongs aright.

Beware the Hunter’s moon, my friends
Take heed to what the sight portends
The Wild Hunt rides when it ascends
A rare and yet a chilling sight.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Back On A Whole New Track



Despite the lateness of this post today, I feel like I’m getting back on track, albeit a brand new track. Last week got really busy towards the end and it kind of got away from me. But I’m here now, right?

Alrighty then.

As you know, I was trying to put together an anthology of my darker flash stories in time for Christmas. It’s not that I didn’t have enough stories for at least a slim volume, but they all needed work (and my head’s just not in edit mode these days), and who wants to read horror at Christmas? Okay, well some people do, but not the majority of people the anthology is intended for.

So the dark anthology has been scrapped until the new year, and the new plan is to have it ready for next Halloween. This lets me take my time and perhaps it won’t be just flash stories, I have a few longer ones that would fit the bill too.

But I haven’t given up the idea of a book flood anthology. I have a number of lighter stories that will work, and they’re in much better shape than the darker ones. So cross your fingers for me.

Meanwhile, I promised to talk about NaNo for those of you who haven’t yet discovered the joys of writing in a pressure cooker.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or NaNo for short) takes place during the month of November. The goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days – that’s 1667 words per day. Now they’ve redesigned the website and I don’t find it as easy to navigate as it used to be, so if you’re looking for the full history of it, you might want to do a Google search.

In a nutshell, it started in July of 1999 with Chris Baty and consisted of 21 writers. They had such fun that in 2000 it was moved to the month of November (because it’s such a grey and dismal month and there’s nothing better to do) and they created an official website as well as a few ground rules: you had to use new words only, you couldn’t have a co-author, and your word count had to be verified by the end of the month. They had 140 people sign up – about 30 of them finished.

The next year, to Baty’s astonishment, 5,000 people signed up with 700 finishing, and it’s been growing steadily larger ever since. Last year there were 287,327 participants with 35,387 finishing.

I first attempted NaNo in 2006. I say attempted because I had no clue what I was doing and my story ended at 35,000 words. I missed the next year but in 2008 I completed the challenge, as I did for the next 6 years in a row. I did not participate in 2015, figuring I had enough un-finished books on my hard drive, but I got back in the saddle in 2016 and have been participating ever since. You might find it ironic that my 2017 novel is a sequel to my failed 2006 one.

NaNo is fun, NaNo is frustrating, NaNo is addictive. I totally regret the year I skipped it – I felt itchy the whole month and didn’t really get anything else accomplished. And I don’t know about anyone else, but it’s something that can’t be duplicated at any other time of the year. Under a deadline? Why not try a January NaNo? Nope. Doesn’t work. You have to do it at the same time as the other crazy people around the world.

If you’d like to learn more or sign up, visit their WEBSITE. As I mentioned, they redesigned the site so I’m finding it a little difficult to navigate these days, but I’m sure they’ll iron out all the wrinkles soon. And if you do sign up, look me up to be your buddy – I’m Carol R. Ward over there – and I’ll buddy you back.

Goals For The Week:

At least 3 more stories edited for the new anthology
Come up with a cover design for NaNo novel
Get my research done for NaNo novel
Come up with a game plan for NaNo novel

And since I won’t have an excerpt ready for Thursday, I’m hoping to have a monk story ready for you.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Got Cheese?



You know, to go with all that whining I’ve been doing lately. ;-)

Here’s the part where I confess that I’ve been working on this blog post for the last two three hours. I keep deleting what I’ve written because it also seems rather whiny.

“This year’s been a struggle” – whine, whine, whine.

“I suffer from depression” – whine, whine, whine.

“I also have seasonal affective disorder and it’s raining” – whine, whine, whine.

So then I tell myself I need to be more positive, and myself sits back with her feet on my desk, sticking her tongue out and shooting rubber bands at me.

Take a deep breath.

The best writing I’ve done this year is when I don’t stop to think about it, I just do it. I don’t know if that’ll work so well with the editing, but I’m going to give it a try this week. I have come to the conclusion that I will probably not have my anthology edited before the end of next week, but that’s okay. I have an alternate plan for it which might work out even better.

In the meantime, if you saw Saturday’s post then you also saw the picture I posted with the suggestion it be used for this week’s writing prompt (which is why I’m not ending this post with a prompt).

I’ve been posting here on Saturdays and Tuesdays to make it easier on myself because I post on my other blog on Mondays and Fridays. I was going to switch the writing prompt to the Saturday post, like I did this week, and Tuesdays I was going set my goals for the week (with the results showing the following week) but that just seems weird to start the week on Tuesday.

Hmm. Maybe I’ll start setting my goals on Sunday and go to Thursdays for sharing and prompts. Well, for sharing anyway. I’ll probably just forget about the prompts for the month of November while I’m busy with NaNo. And maybe I won’t make the switch until the first of November.

Confused yet? Yeah, me too. LOL

In a nutshell. This week I’m posting today and Saturday – here’s the LINK to that post if you want to give the monk story a try. Next week I’ll post my weekly goals on Tuesday (this week’s goal is simply to get myself organized and moving forward), but then my next post will be Sunday, which will also be a goals post and my strategy for NaNoWriMo.

What’s NaNo, you ask?”

Come back Saturday and I’ll tell you. :-D

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Monks



As you may have noticed, I’m not having much luck getting my days organized lately, which also means I’m not getting a whole lot of writing/editing done either. I have all these ideas and good intentions and plans in my head, but something goes seriously awry between the thinking stage and the execution stage.

It’s kind of like learning tai chi. It looks so easy when I watch others do it, one movement flows into another in a graceful ballet, but when I try it myself . . . my feet and my hands don’t like working independently of each other and if I focus on one I lose track of the other.

The stories I’ve been editing were written quickly, with little attention to detail, the focus being on the story itself. Most of them are 1,000 words which makes for good flash fiction but I’m not sure if it makes for a complete story.

So I’m facing a bit of a crisis of conscience with them. Should I add more detail to flesh them out, or would that just be padding them to make them longer? Should I just leave them alone?

No, seriously, I’m asking you – I don’t have the answers.

The more I practice tai chi the easier it gets, just like I’m sure the decisions I’m making on the stories for the anthology will get easier. The routine, however, keeps eluding me as I try and find the perfect spot to work. I’ve been moving from the living room, to my office, to the dining room to work. All of them have their benefits, but none of them are perfect. The living room is the most comfortable, the office is most professional, the dining room allows me to spread my stuff out.

The real problem is my lap top. It has a sucky battery life, which means I need to plug it in wherever I go. At night the lap top is plugged into the powerbar in the living room, which means I have to crawl over the cuddle chair to get to it. It’s a big enough pain in the butt that I tend to stay in the living room even when I know I’m not being as productive (because when I get too comfortable I tend to play a lot of games).

It seems pretty obvious to me that I need to pick a place to work and stick to it. And admit to myself that I get more editing done on a hard copy than an electronic copy of a story. And stop playing so many games. And if I can’t see a way to improve a story I should just leave it alone.

All things to work on this week.

And what has that to do with the monks in the picture? Well, nothing really I guess. I was looking some old writing files for something wondrous to post here and found the picture in a folder. I really wish I’d labelled it with some kind of detail because it’s made me curious. Where was this taken? Are the monks carved from the remnants of trees or from stone? Who were they? So many questions!

This week’s prompt is the picture above. See if you can find some of the answers for next Saturday. :-)

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Stitching the Words



Writing is like sewing – but just as I’d rather sew something from scratch than alter it, I’d rather write something fresh than edit something old.

Once upon a time I sewed for a living. No, I wasn’t a tailor, although I had tailoring skills. And yes, I made a bit of money at it (a very little bit). The problem was, most of what people wanted were the fiddly little things they were too unskilled (or lazy) to do themselves, like repairs, hemming, or alterations. Things that weren’t particularly difficult, but they were time-consuming.

With sewing, you need to learn how to use a pattern – pin it to the material, cut along the lines, transfer the markings to the fabric – you need to learn how to thread a needle and do the basic stitches, then you’re ready to use a sewing machine. The machine is intimidating at first, threading it, pressing gently on the presser foot to start it stitching, feeding the material through, learning to reverse stitch and turn corners . . .

With writing you need to know how to use words to make a sentence, string sentences to make paragraphs and pages. You need to learn the rules of grammar and punctuation, and when it’s okay to break those rules. Maybe you’ll start with pen and paper before graduating to a computer where you’ll have to learn to use writing software, maybe you’ll even have to learn how to type.

Just as there are finishing touches to sewing – reinforcing the seams, trimming the threads, adding lace or buttons or other embellishments – there are finishing touches to writing – rewriting, editing, proof reading.

The stories I’ve been editing for the anthology were mostly written from prompts with restricted word counts or made to fit within narrow parameters. Getting them into shape is a lot like altering a garment – letting a seam out here, taking a tuck in there, adding some embellishments.

Quite frankly, I’d rather be writing something new.


Prompt of the Week

Between working on Wandering Wizards and working on the anthology - I really want to get one of them done before Christmas - I’m not sure if I’ll have time to work on a prompt story or not this week. However, if you’d like to give one a try, here’s the list of prompt generators:

The Story Shack
The Plot Generator
Writing Exercises and Prompts
Springhole
Seventh Sanctum
RanGen

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Shipwrecked Romance

Surprise! I got the prompt story done this week.

Actually, no one is more surprised than me. LOL And I wrote it in longhand in my writing journal at that. Sometimes it’s just easier to write if I get away from the computer. Also, it’s about 150 words over the word count, but too bad. While I could have made it longer, I definitely didn’t want to make it shorter.

To remind you, here’s the prompt from The Story Shack that I used:

Word count: 350
Genre: Romance
Character: An expert gardener
Material: An onion
Sentence: "I'm sorry."
Bonus: Your character is shipwrecked.



“It was all so silly,” I said, leaning on the ship’s rail.

“Most lover’s quarrels are, dear,” replied the matronly woman beside me. “Don’t you agree sister?”

“Oh, indeed!” The matron’s much thinner shadow nodded vigorously. She would never think to disagree with her domineering sister. “How did it start, if you don’t mind my asking?” the sister added.

The matron shot her a disapproving glance, but I had no idea whether it was at her forwardness or because she didn’t care to know. Throwing caution to the wind, I continued my story.

“It started because of an onion.”

“An onion?” the matron repeated, startled.

I nodded. “That’s right, an onion. You see Geoffrey, that’s my fiancĂ©, fancies himself a chef, although he’s never had any training. And I was making a ratatouille for him. He wanted to add an extra onion but I disagreed.”

“Too much onion can ruin a ratatouille,” the sister murmured.

“We had a big fight over it and Geoffrey stormed off.”

“Just like a man,” the matron said with a sniff.

“We had booked this cruise months ago,” I said. “I was sure he’d be waiting for me on board.”

“But he wasn’t?” the sister suggested timidly.

I shook my head.

“Never mind, dear.” The matron patted me on the hand. “There are plenty of other fish in the sea.”

“But that’s just it,” I told her. I smiled as I pulled back from the rail and waved the telegram I was holding in front of her. “I received it just this morning.”

“What does it say?” the matron couldn’t help asking.

“It says he’s sorry for being such a boor and he’ll meet me at our next port of call.”

“How romantic!” the sister gushed, clasping her hands to her chest.

Just as the matron opened her mouth for a rebuttal, the ship lurched, and there was a grinding, scraping noise. The telegram I’d been holding fluttered away.

A klaxon sounded as people began screaming and running about.

“What is it? What’s happened?” the sister gasped, clutching at the rail as the ship lurched again and began to list to one side.

“Abandon ship!” The order came over the loudspeaker. “Everyone to the lifeboats. Abandon ship!”

The matron grabbed the arm of a passing sailor. “What’s happening?” she demanded, fingers digging into his arm.

“We’ve gone aground ma’am,” he gasped. “Run up on some rocks.” He pulled free. “You ladies best get to the lifeboats,” he called back over his shoulder as he hurried away.

* * * * *

“This is most inconvenient,” the matron stated, once we were settled in our boat.

“I think it’s rather exciting,” the sister replied. “Just look at that island we’re headed for. So verdant! I’ll finally be able to put my expert gardening skills to good use. But you, my dear.” She took my hand. “Just when you were to be reunited with your young man.”

I smiled wanly. “I just wish I'd had the chance to tell him I’m sorry.”

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Routine? Fate Laughs at Your Puny Routine



Well . . . I dodged a bullet, that’s for sure. Just when I thought it was safe to sort of have a routine, the education workers (CUPE) decided to strike. And this would mean Grammie would be back on babysitting duty – just when she was used to not babysitting – in the late morning/early afternoon.

I was already labouring under the lack of writing last week – the daughter was away for another conference. Babysitting last week wasn’t bad – for one thing it was later in the day, and we kind of missed the little rug rat. But the CUPE strike would be back to same old/same old, only with a bit of an overlap with things I have going on during the week now.

But as I said, I dodged that bullet. CUPE and the government came to an agreement and school continues as usual. Which also means, my friends, that I’m going to have to come up with some other excuse for my lack of writing.

I’d like to put it down to my regular pre-NaNo October dry spell, but this dry spell hit long before October. I’ve been suffering from a serious lack of motivation (as you’ve probably noticed).

But . . . it’s still only the beginning of the second week of October and I only have about 20,000 words left to go on Wandering Wizards. If I can write 50,000 words during the month of November while babysitting every week day, then surely I can write 20,000 in just under 4 weeks. Right? Right.

And I haven’t forgotten about the anthology. It’s inchworming along, giving me something to do when I get tired of my wizards. There’s still a chance I’ll have it done before Christmas – a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.

To paraphrase Nike, I just have to do it.

Prompt of the Week

Surprise! I have a prompt for you this week. I moseyed on over to The Story Shack and generated this:

Word count: 350
Genre: Romance
Character: An expert gardener
Material: An onion
Sentence: "I'm sorry."
Bonus: Your character is shipwrecked

The betting is now open as to whether I’ll actually get a story done for Saturday. :-)

Saturday, October 5, 2019

To Be Here



To Be Here: The Writing Place, run by poet Tanis MacDonald, was probably my favourite master class from last weekend. I even bought a couple of her books – one non-fiction and her latest volume of poetry.

She’s also a writing instructor and has her own class up in Waterloo, Ontario. I guess whatever she said sunk in because I don’t have a lot of notes from her class. However, I do have this poem:

The exercise was: “Here” is subject to your own definition: it can be either the ground upon which you stand right now, or your homeplace as you define it, but it should be a definite geographical place. “History” is your lived experience of a place with an emphasis on your (and possibly your family’s) place in it.


“Here” is only a memory
of home/not home
another city, another time
the house that Al built
for his beloved Florence
two thirds of the way down the hill
or one third up
depending on your point of view.
Black walnut trees
manned by squirrels
guarded the road and driveway
flagstone sunken patio above the rock garden
green, green, green: memories . . .
in front of me the steep green hillside
below me old growth maple, beech, and aspen.
Follow the green pathways
down to the sleepy river
or up to heaven’s cascade of colour.
Change catfoots in on the trail of loss
home/not home
the sentinels have fallen to
the axe and saw
stone has been restructured
like pieces of my heart
green is fading, dozed over
the river is somnolent and thirsty
there are houses in heaven now
childhood’s end, ploughed over.
“History” lives only in my memory.

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Writersfest 2019



Home again, home again, hot diggity dog, as my daughter used to say.

If you’re a writer, or have writing aspirations, and you live within travel distance of Kingston, Ontario, I strongly urge you to start saving now to attend the Kingston Writersfest in 2020.

There were two parts to the festival: onstage events such as literary talks, workshops, readings, literary dinners, and lectures; and a writing retreat filled with master classes. I took part in a two-day package which included an awesome room in the Residence Inn by Marriott, and six master classes.

The classes were two and a half hours each (with a break part way through). The first one was “Choosing Your Words,” run by poet Lorna Crozier. She talked about word origins and the difference between Latin based words and Anglo Saxon based words, and the appropriate uses of each. We heard about verbals versus verbs and how they applied to both poetry and prose.

The next class was “The Decisive Moment” by Voaden prize winner Damian Tarnopolsky. Using Shakespeare’s Richard III as an example, we discussed pivotal changes in character and why they’re important. We dissected Act I, Scene ii to discuss event, structure, pulse, and outcome. Then we applied what we learned to an exercise in improv.

The final class of the day was “Writing Character and Voice,” offered by Erika Behrisch Elce. We learned what exactly voice is and the little things that bring a character to life, how dialogue is not a character’s voice, but reveals a character’s voice.

Whew! What a long day!

The next day started with “To Be Here: The Writing Place” offered by poet and creative writing teacher Tanis MacDonald. I have to admit, of all of the classes it was the one that least interested me when I read about it, but it turned out to be my favourite. I think we did more writing – creative, not just note-taking – in this class, and although I came away with a poem I’m pretty happy with, much of what we learned can be applied to prose as well.

After this came “Beyond the First Draft: Polishing Your Work,” which was mostly a lecture by Rabindranath Maharaj. A lot of what he talked about was information I already knew, but there was enough new information to keep me happy. I couldn’t help thinking how useful a writing friend of mine would find this class, and just before the class ended I looked across the room and there she was, sitting at another table.

She was in the area for family reasons, and escaped just long enough to take in this one class. Talk about a coincidence! She had to rush back to her family, but we made a coffee date for when we got back home so we could talk some more about the class.

I was pretty much done for the day at this point and I chose to skip the last class, which was “Yoga and the Art of Relaxed Writing.” Instead I wandered around the city, stumbled across an outdoor fleamarket where I snapped up a couple of amazing finds, got myself a coffee and the most wonderful almond croissant ever, and took them down to a little park near the water. I tell you, I found that far more relaxing than any yoga would have been.

So yeah, I’ll definitely be going back next year. But next time I’m going for the whole thing.

Prompt of the Week

Once again instead of picking a prompt to work on this week, I’m going to list the generators and let you pick your own. I’m not sure if I’ll get to a prompt this week myself, but hopefully I still post something on Saturday. Maybe the poem I wrote at the retreat. :-)

The Story Shack
The Plot Generator
Writing Exercises and Prompts
Springhole
Seventh Sanctum
RanGen