The End and . . . The Other End

There is no real ending. It's just the place where you stop the story.
— Frank Herbert

Ends are not bad things, they just mean that something else is about to begin. And there are many things that don't really end, anyway, they just begin again in a new way. Ends are not bad and many ends aren't really an ending; some things are never-ending.
— C. JoyBell C.

The end of THE END is the best place to begin THE END, because if you read THE END from the beginning of the beginning of THE END to the end of the end of THE END, you will arrive at the end.
― Lemony Snicket, The End

I’m almost halfway through the latest rounds of edits on Magickal Mayhem, which means the end is nigh. One day (sooner rather than later, I hope) I’ll be able to close the file and count it as done.

Meanwhile, I posted the final installment of my on-line serial, The Cave, on Friday. Did you read it? What did you think? Were you satisfied or disappointed? I’ll tell you honestly, it was always going to end that way. I figured out the ending about halfway through, I just wasn’t sure how I was going to get there.

Right now it’s sitting at about 15,000 words, which is a good size for a novelette. If I can write three more about the same length, I can release them as an anthology. But in the meantime, The Cave needs a lot of work. LOL

If the beginning of a story is meant to draw the reader in, then the ending needs to leave the reader satisfied with what happened to the characters. The easiest way to do this (for me at least) is to know how the story is going to end before you start, that way you can leave clues as you go along.

Flash fiction aside, I try not to start a story unless I know how it’s going to end. I don’t need to know all the stuff in between, you have to have some fun with the journey, but I need to have a destination in mind. I have written strong beginnings in the past, but they fizzled out pretty quickly when I had no idea where they were going.

With The Cave, I didn’t even realize it was going to be a lengthy story and I cannot tell you the number of convoluted ideas I had for finishing it. It wasn’t until I settled on the idea that it was a fight between good and evil (an age old theme), that things fell into place. I knew the murals would be key, but I was also constrained by what I’d already written. So it wasn’t until I was working on the ending that I figured out the importance of the spirals.

Knowing your ending ahead of time allows you to build tension throughout the story, letting you throw in a plot twist or two. This is something I can work on during the rewrites. Although I think Eve pushing Sara off of the cliff was a nice plot twist. :-)

You can try different endings to see which one works the best. You can leave room for interpretation. Eve could just as easily beaten Sara and placed the keystone first, although I think if I was going that way I would have made the evil spirit more of a presence like I did the guardians.

You can have a happy ending, a sad ending, an ending with a twist, or one that’s open to interpretation. But whatever else, the ending needs to make sense, and it should resolve the storyline, unless you’re deliberately going for a cliff hanger to entice readers to buy the next book.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

WORDAGE REPORT

It was a busy week last week, and mostly busy with things other than writing. It was a holiday Monday and I spent it getting my gardens in (it being too rainy on the weekend to do so). The rest of the week was filled with group meetings and extended visits and a very messed up Friday.

I skipped Monday’s post because I just didn’t have anything to say. The rest of the posts were up, and on time, but it was a near thing with the final installment of my serial story. And now I have to come up with an idea for next Friday

NEW WORDS:
Blog Posts –
1,329+208+1,493=3,030
Poetry – 470 (not including post)
Other words – 434 (to finish serial story)

Total words: 3,934

Three-minute words –
112+113+94+121+138+115+117= 810

Goals For Next Week:
Write something other than my three-minute words and blog posts. Decide what I’m going to do for Fiction Fridays now that the serial is done.

EDITING:
49 pages
The further into the edits I get, the more work I realize this book needs. And also, that I’ve been working on flash fiction too long. *sigh* In other words, I’m kind of rushing this round and once I’m done I still have a lot of work to do. But the good news is, every time I go through it, it gets easier.

Goal For Next Week:
Keep up the good work on Magickal Mayhem.

MARKETING MONDAY:
I didn’t forget and I did want to, I even know which pieces I’m going to start with. I just wasn’t able to squeeze out the time for it. Did I mention what a busy week it was?

Goal For Next Week:
Submit two flash stories and one poem.

TECHNO TUESDAY:
Tuesday was one of the two busiest days for me last week. Even had I the urge to do something technical, I just didn’t have the time. I did learn something though, I learned there’s only so many hours in a day you have to sleep sometime.

Goal For Next Week:
Do something else technical or educational (like access one of my tutorials).

POETRY WEDNESDAY:
I had a meeting of the CPW (Cobourg Poetry Workshop), and I thought it would be fun to finally do all of the prompts we’re given on a monthly basis. So that meant I wrote five poems. Plus someone shared a form back on Pi Day (March 14) and it was so much fun I did six of them.

Goal For Next Week:
Share a new poetry form and new poem.

CRAFTING:
I started a new cross stich for a needle book during a meeting of my stitchery guild. Considering the amount of time I’ve spent on it, I didn’t get very far. But that was about the only time I had to spend on crafts during the week. Unless you count hemming another pair of pants for my father-in-law.

Goal For Next Week:
Work on cross stitch. Finish sansevieria.

WHAT I’M READING:
You know I had a busy week when I didn’t even have time to read. I finished The Bookshop of Second Chances, by Jackie Fraser, and I’m on the last of four stories in an anthology called Night Shift.

No reading on the Paperwhite.

Goal For Next Week:
Keep up the good work with the variety of books I’m reading. Stop ignoring the Paperwhite.

GOAL REVIEW:
Missed my Monday post, but the others were up, and all on time. I wrote some extra poetry, which was kind of nice, and I had to add some extra words to finish up the serial story. I suppose I could have just saved them to do one more installment, but I really wanted it wrapped up with Part 20.

I did not get anything sent out for publication, nor did I do anything technical on Tuesday.

I just didn’t have time to spend on crafts last week, and with all the crafts I already have on the go, of course I started something new. And just to add to the fun, I received a felting book I don’t remember ordering. Hopefully, that will be the last of the craft supplies for awhile.

So . . . once again last week was kind of three steps forward, two steps back. But I’m still moving in the right direction and next week should be even better. *knock on wood*

Happy writing.

The Cave – The End

To quickly recap: Friends Eve and Sara were rock climbing and stumbled across a large cave with primitive drawings on its walls. A rock slide traps them inside. Having little choice, they go deeper into the cave, hoping to find another exit. The cave system seems to be a mixture of natural and man-made and the further into it they go, the stranger Eve starts acting. Just as Sara thinks they’re getting close to a way out, Eve shoves her off of a ledge into a chasm. Now they must each find their way. But there's something else going on as well . . . and the battle is on between good and evil.

Sara had only taken a few steps down the passage when she experienced a sensation of vertigo. Touching the wall for support, she waited for it to pass.

“Whoa! What was that?”

There was no answer, but she didn’t really expect there to be one. Feeling steadier, she continued onwards. A few more steps brought her to the end of the tunnel where she stopped again, this time in shock. She was back at the beginning, in the chamber where the cave paintings were.

She stumbled a few steps forward in disbelief, then turned to look back the way she’d come. Somehow, she wasn’t surprised to see a blank wall behind her.

Hurry . . .

Sure, now the spirits talked to her. Sara shook off her resentment, filing her questions away for later. She had a job to do, and with any luck it would result in escape from this nightmare. Approaching the paintings, she studied them carefully, looking for clues.

Though crudely rendered, they weren’t the primitive examples of early man that she and Eve had first thought.

“It’s more symbolic,” she murmured. “Yes, here. And here.” She ran her hand over the rough rock. “It’s telling the story the guardians told me.”

Feeling like she was on the verge of something important, she went over the entire wall from start to finish.

Reaching the end of the last painting, Sara frowned. Something was missing. The story wasn’t complete. The answer she was hoping for wasn’t here. With a dispirited sigh, she stepped back from the paintings. Maybe the answer she was looking for was in one of the murals.

“Wait, wait,” Sara said aloud. “I just remembered something.”

She hurried to the back of the cave where the passage to the chamber with the mosaics was, but this time she took the right-hand passage. A few feet along she came to what she was looking for.

“Do you know what this says?” she asked the spirits, running her hand over the writing that had been left on the wall.

The spiral is the . . .

“The spiral is the what?” Sara asked impatiently.

That is all. The message is unfinished.

“Damnit! Okay, can you tell me who wrote it? Was it your leader, Maali?”

Yes . . .

“The spiral is the what?” Sara repeated, frustrated.

We do not know . . .

Unfinished paintings, unfinished messages, this just kept getting better and better. She could only hope that the answer lay with the murals. Filled with trepidation, she retraced her way back to the middle passage, and then on to the cave with the mosaics.

Eve was so focused on what she was doing she didn’t even notice Sara entering the mosaic chamber. Or maybe, Sara thought, Eve was just ignoring her. Well, two could play that game. Ignoring Eve repairing the abstract mural, Sara concentrated on the other one.

Like the paintings, it seemed to portray the story of the battle between good and evil, and the guardians trapping themselves in the cave system with the evil entity. At least she thought that’s what the cluster of black stones represented.

The bottom left corner wasn’t quite finished. Sara peered closer at it. Or was it? It showed work being done on both murals. There was the spiral, only it was different. She glanced upwards and almost gasped as she saw a spiral hidden within the mural. But there was a stone missing.

Keystone . . .

This voice was different from the other guardians.

“Who—Maali? Is that you?” Could the spirit of the guardian leader have survived? Sara almost snorted at herself. It would be no stranger than any of this.

Turn the key in the lock . . .

“I don’t—” Sara frowned, and then looked closer at what the figure in the mural was holding. “Of course,” she murmured.

With a glance at Eve to make sure she was still occupied, Sara began digging through the loose dirt at the base of the mural. She uncovered many stones, but none was the right one. Of course it couldn’t be that easy, she thought.

Slowly, trying not to draw attention to herself, she crossed over to the wall with the abstract mural. Eve’s head whipped around.

“Stay away!”

Sara held up her hands in a placating gesture. “I only want to look. Maybe you’d like some help with what you’re doing?”

“I will kill you if you touch my mural.”

“I swear,” Sara said. “No touching.”

Eve went back to what she was doing. It looked like she was almost finished. Sara moved as close as she dared and scanned the dirt at the base of this mural. She almost gave up, but then Eve shifted her position. Her foot scuffed the dirt and uncovered something that glinted in the light.

Sara held her breath, but Eve didn’t seem to notice what was right under her feet.

“Keystone, keystone, now I need a keystone,” Eve chanted in a sing-song voice. She turned to the pack a few feet away.

The second Eve moved away, Sara darted towards the keystone. Scooping it up, she ran back to her mural.

“No!” Eve shrieked. She tackled Sara from behind and they hit the ground hard. The stone flew from Sara’s hand.

Crawling over Sara, Eve reached for the stone. Sara rolled, taking her with her. Eve was like a wild thing – punching and clawing and biting. She managed a lucky punch to the side of Sara’s head and as Sara lay there, half-stunned, Eve grabbed up the keystone and scrambled towards the abstract mural.

Sara gained her feet, glancing around for a weapon of some kind. Grabbing up the pack still half filled with stones, she swung it with all her might, hitting Eve in the head just as she was about to fit the keystone into the center of her spiral.

Eve dropped, still clutching the stone. Sara pried it out of her hand and raced back to the spiral in the other mural.

“Here goes nothing,” she said, and fit the stone into the space in the center of the spiral. Nothing happened. Eve stirred behind her.

Turn the key . . .

“Of course!” Sara turned the stone. There was a peal, like a bell, and a brilliant flash of light.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Eve was the first to stir. She yawned and rubbed at her eyes, then checked her watch. “Holy crap! Hey, Sara. Wake up.”

“Ow! Did you just kick me?”

“We were only supposed to take a break, looks like we fell asleep.”

Sara struggled awake. She’d been slumped down beside a boulder. “We fell asleep?” she asked.

Eve laughed. “We sure did. It’s almost suppertime, we’d better start back before they send the forest rangers after us.”

Sara stretched, then froze as the memory of what they’d been through came flooding back. She glanced at Eve, who was standing now, stretching, perfectly normal. She glanced towards where the fissure had been in the rock, but there was no sign of it. It had felt so real, she couldn’t believe it had all been a dream.

As she started to get to her feet she realized she was holding something in her hand. She unclenched her fingers – it was the keystone.

Thank you . . .

The words were lost in the whisper of the wind.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Missed an installment? Catch up here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight,  Part Nine, Part Ten, Part Eleven, Part Twelve, Part Thirteen, Part Fourteen, Part Fifteen, Part Sixteen, Part Seventeen, Part Eighteen, Part Nineteen

Flamenca Poetry Form

The flamenca is another Spanish form, although not as complicated as the Ovillejo. This form is written in quatrains (five-line stanzas) with a staccato rhythm reminiscent of the flamenco dance. It can be any number of verses, constructed with a 6–6–5–6–6 syllable count. It does not rhyme, but lines 2 and 5 should share assonance.

Assonance isn’t precisely a rhyme, it is the repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds within words, phrases, or sentences.

Schematic:

x x x x x x
x x x x x x (assonance)
x x x x x
x x x x x x
x x x x x x (assonance)

I’m not sure I mastered the art of assonance, but I think my example works anyway.


Dancer

arms raised above the head
wrists loose, hands at rest
the music begins
staccato rhythm starts
feet move as though possessed

head held high showing pride
you move with fluid grace
dance the flamenco
desire comes alive
as feet keep up the pace

Show and Tell

Maybe there’s room for both, telling as well as showing. It’s something to think about.
― A.D. Aliwat, In Limbo

Most people say, "Show, don't tell," but I stand by Show and Tell, because when writers put their work out into the world, they're like kids bringing their broken unicorns and chewed-up teddy bears into class in the sad hope that someone else will love them as much as they do.
— Colson Whitehead

My job is to show and tell. If I get better at showing and telling then presumably I get hired more.
— Tom Hardy

Do you remember “show and tell” from your primary school days? Most schools don’t do that anymore, which I think is a shame. We had a lot of fun with it, and sometimes you could actually learn something from what the other kids brought in. Often, when you brought something in to “show” you also ended up having to “tell” the class something about it.

When it comes to writing, a lot of people have trouble showing instead of telling the story. Fiction is all about forging an emotional link between the author and the reader. You want to make your writing vivid enough to grab a reader’s attention and draw them into the story.

Good writing should evoke sensation in the reader and one of the best ways to do this is by creating vivid images that immerse readers in the world of the fiction. Do this by showing the readers what’s happening, not just telling them.

Don’t just say “it’s raining”, help the reader experience the storm. Involve the emotions. Take fear, for instance. Fear is a strong emotion with a great many ways to describe it - the stomach gets tied in knots, breaking out in a sweat, shivering, uncertainty in the eyes, huddling in a ball, a strong urge to run away. . .

Another way of doing this is by using the five senses. Have your character see what’s around them, taste the smooth silky flavor of the latte they’re drinking, feel the softness of the kitten’s fur beneath their hand, hear the wind shushing through the trees, and smell the ozone in the air from a storm.

You want your reader invested in the character. You want the reader inside the action. That's the sign of good writing . . . to pull the reader out of his ordinary life and put him in the middle of someplace else.

Many writers resort to telling because they believe the reader won't get the point if they don't. Often writers tell, then show, to make sure they get their point across, in effect treating their readers like morons. But the truth is that when you take out the telling, the showing remains.

But telling also has its place. Telling will slow things down. A story that’s non-stop action can be exhausting for the reader. After an extended, action-filled scene, narrative (telling) can give the reader a break. It also varies the story’s rhythm.

Telling can also be used to transition between scenes. A brief event can smooth the way between bits of action or character interaction, without leaving an illogical gap or a sudden, unintentional jump in time.

The mark of a good writer is the ability to use both showing and telling to their best advantage. A successful story is one that has a balance between the two, and only you, as the writer, can decide how much should be shown, and how much should be told.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

WORDAGE REPORT

Kind of a so-so week last week. I got my posts up, and on time, but didn’t do much beyond that (writing wise). My serial story is winding down so I’ve started thinking about what I’ll be doing next for Fiction Fridays.

NEW WORDS:
Blog Posts –
1,374+471+322+992=3,159
Poetry
322 (included in blog posts)

Total words: 3,159

Three-minute words –
130+88+129+91+114+118+104=774

Goals For Next Week:
Write something other than my three-minute words and blog posts. Decide what I’m going to do for Fiction Fridays once the serial is done.

EDITING:
The mediocrity of the week extended to my editing. I managed 50 more pages of Magickal Misfire, but it should have been a lot more. Unfortunately, one of the time slots I’d designated for editing got used for something else.

Goal For Next Week:
Keep up the good work on Magickal Mayhem.

MARKETING MONDAY:
This time I didn’t forget, I just didn’t wanna. My car was in the shop for an oil change and they decided the front brakes needed replacing, and it was a rainy, miserable day which tends to make me rainy and miserable.

Goal For Next Week:
Submit two flash stories and one poem.

TECHNO TUESDAY:
C’mon, I set up my Paperwhite, what more do you want from me? *sigh* I can only blame the weather for so much. It was a crappy week, weather-wise, which put me in a crappy mood, and I just wasn’t up to learning anything new.

Goal For Next Week:
Do something else technical or educational (like access one of my tutorials).

POETRY WEDNESDAY:
Two weeks in a row with a new form and a new poem! I think I’ve been away from doing the forms long enough that I’ve found a new interest in them.

Goal For Next Week:
Share a new poetry form and new poem.

CRAFTING:
Kind of a mediocre week for crafts too. I got one side of my canvas tote bag stamped, but just one side. I didn’t want the other side rubbing off while I was working on the first one. I also got the granddaughter’s dragon transferred onto some blue material for her pillow. Then I put the ironing board away so I could set up my sewing machine to work on some other stuff. LOL

Goal For Next Week:
Work on pillow. Finish sansevieria. Start embroidery on tote bag.

WHAT I’M READING:
Last week I read The Next Always, The Last Boyfriend, and The Perfect Hope, by (you guessed it!) Nora Roberts. I barely started Sea Swept, also by Nora Roberts, and just for variety started The Bookshop of Second Chances, by Jackie Fraser.

On the Paperwhite I read The Bear’s Chosen Mate, by Vivian Arend, which was perfectly yummy. ;-)

Goal For Next Week:
Finish the latest Nora Roberts if I must, and then put her away for awhile. I have many other books waiting to be read.

GOAL REVIEW:
My blog posts were up, and all on time. It’s so much easier when I stay on top of things. And I managed a new poetry form. However, that was the only writing I did, which is a little disappointing. I did get some editing done though.

I did not get anything sent out for publication, nor did I do anything technical on Tuesday.

I just couldn’t seem to settle on a craft, and ended up getting little done there. I got caught up looking at cross stitch patterns, and when I went online to order my father-in-law a pair of shoes, Amazon tempted me with these little metal charms that would be perfect for my appliqué work. No, I did not resist temptation. I ordered three different bags of them.

So . . . last week was kind of three steps forward, two steps back. But I’m sill moving in the right direction so let’s hope I can keep it up.

Happy writing.

The Cave – Part Nineteen

To quickly recap: Friends Eve and Sara were rock climbing and stumbled across a large cave with primitive drawings on its walls. A rock slide traps them inside. Having little choice, they go deeper into the cave, hoping to find another exit. The cave system seems to be a mixture of natural and man-made and the further into it they go, the stranger Eve starts acting. Just as Sara thinks they’re getting close to a way out, Eve shoves her off of a ledge into a chasm. Now they must each find their way. But there's something else going on as well . . . Sara knows part of what’s happening, but Eve is caught in a dangerous web.

The fungus was every bit as unpleasant as Eve remembered. She ate slowly, not to savor it but to keep from getting sick as she did before. Once the cramping in her stomach eased she stopped and broke off several large pieces for later. This time she had her empty pack with her and she stuffed it full of the fungus, then made her way back to the mosaic.

The pile of stones she’d gathered had diminished from the repairs she’d made. She needed more if she was to finish repairing the mosaic and complete the spiral. Sinking slowly to the ground she felt like weeping at the thought of returning to where she’d found the loose stones. It was so far, and she was so tired. Her eyes closed.

Above her, a ripple of light passed over the mosaic. It followed the pattern but when it got to the spiral it pulsed once and then disappeared. Eve woke with a start.

This wasn’t gathering new stones. She needed to go, she needed to hurry. Time was growing short. Scrambling to her feet, she dumped the fungus from her pack into a pile and stuffed her empty water bottles inside. She would be passing right by where she’d found the water, she might as well fill them up.

First things first though. She must get the stones. As an afterthought she stuffed a couple of pieces of the fungus in her pack as well, just in case she got hungry. Eve followed the shortcut passage, never stopping, never hesitating until she returned to the section of the cave system where she’d found the stones used in the mosaic.

This time she chose the stones more carefully, rejecting three for every one she put in the pack. She ate the fungus she’d brought with her absently; the empty bottles went back into the mesh. Her movements slowed. She was so thirsty. Why hadn’t she stopped for water? She could have brought it with her and got more on her return. The stones she’d been gathering began to glow.

Shaking her head, she continued with her task until her pack was full once more. It was all she could do to shoulder her pack. Stumbling, she almost fell. The stones began to pulse as she staggered back the way she’d come. She had to keep going, no matter the cost.

Eve had only a vague recollection of the cul-de-sac with the trickle of water. Her thinking was so muddled that she might have imagined it. She hoped not. Thirst was growing with every step she took back towards the split.

If she’d had the tears to spare, she would have wept when she found it. Her pack slid to the ground. Unable to wait, she plunged her face into the shallow bowl of water and drank deeply.

The water was cool and refreshing and she felt immeasurably better when she raised her head, gulping air instead. She filled the first two bottles but had to wait until the bowl filled again before filling the third.

She took a few moments to rest. The fog in her mind started to clear away. Suddenly, she realized she’d left her lantern in the cave with the mosaic, but she could see without it. How was this possible?

A shiver went up her spine. This wasn’t natural. There was something very strange going on. Grabbing up her water bottles she stuffed them into the mesh on her pack, then eyed the load of stones. There was no reason she had to lug all these stones so far. She could leave half of them here and come back for them later.

She reached out her hand to do just that but stopped just short of touching the flap. Trying again she felt a stir of panic when she wasn’t able touch the clasp that held her pack closed. Looked like she could either leave them behind or take all of them with her. The stones began to glow once more as she shouldered the pack.

By the time she made her way back to the cave with the mosaics, her thoughts were no longer her own again. She went directly over to the abstract mural and just stood there in front of it. Everything became clear to her again. She was here to finish the mural. It was her sole purpose.

Eve began placing the stones with care, slower this time, taking a break as needed for a bite of fungus or a sip of water. She must not fail. She would not fail. She would finish the mural and all would be right with the world. Freedom beckoned.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Missed an installment? Catch up here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight,  Part Nine, Part Ten, Part Eleven, Part Twelve, Part Thirteen, Part Fourteen, Part Fifteen, Part Sixteen, Part Seventeen, Part Eighteen 

Ovillejo

The Ovillejo is a somewhat complicated Spanish form, dating back to the 1600s. It consists of ten lines – three rhyming couplets and a quatrain written as a redondilla. There is also a strict syllable count.

The first line of each couplet is eight syllables long, and presents a question. The second line is three or four syllables, and presents an answer or an echo.

The first three lines of the quatrain have eight syllables, summarizing the couplets, while the final line consists of the repetition of lines two, four, and six. But wait! That’s not all. The first line of the quatrain rhymes with the last couplet, and the next two lines of the quatrain rhyme with each other.

Got it? Maybe this will make it a little easier:

x x x x x x x a
x x x a

x x x x x x x b
x x x b

x x x x x x x c
x x x c

x x x x x x x c
x x x x x x x d
x x x x x x x d
line 2, line 4, line 6

This was actually an interesting form to work in. The question and answer. Once I got my head wrapped around the question/answer thing, I found the long/short lines had an interesting rhythm. And I really liked the way the last line wrapped it all up.


Searching For Answers

Where have all of the answers gone;
conclusions drawn.

How many questions left unasked;
intrigue unmasked.

Who is keeping the answers true;
they have no clue.

I have questions with answers due,
I seek the truth, it eludes me.
The truth is meant to set us free.
Conclusions drawn. Intrigue unmasked. They have no clue.

Pacing Yourself

Life is a marathon, not a sprint; pace yourself accordingly.
— Amby Burfoot

Pace yourself, pace yourself, pace yourself. And take time to rest. I guess if you don't rest and rejuvenate, then you harden, and I don't want to harden.
— Haley Bennett

Pace yourself in your reading. A little bit every day really adds up. If you read during sporadic reading jags, the fits and starts will not get you anywhere close to the amount of reading you will need to do. It is far better to walk a mile a day than to run five miles every other month. Make time for reading, and make a daily habit of it, even if it is a relatively small daily habit.
— Douglas Wilson

So last week I was super late with this post. Normally I write it on Saturday night and schedule it to appear on Sunday, but I was super tired and figured I’d have plenty of time to do it in the morning. And I might have, if I hadn’t forgotten how time consuming the actual wordage report part of these posts can be.

Then it took me a while to come up with a topic for this section, and then I had to hunt up appropriate quotes for the topic. And then, of course, I had to do a little research so I’d sound like I knew what I was talking about.

So what does this have to do with pacing yourself, you ask? Well, nothing really, except that I started working on the wordage report of this post yesterday, and got to thinking about how one of the advantages of reading books I’ve read several times before is that it’s easier to read just one chapter and then do something else for a while rather than gorge on the whole thing at once, and in between chapters I could do other stuff – edit for a while, read a chapter, write for a while. I figured I was finally learning to pace myself, and voila! I found my blog topic.

Which is my segue into the importance of pacing in writing. Pacing is crucial to the flow of your story and keeping the reader interested. It affects the mood of the story, allowing your reader to connect with the characters.

There needs to be a balance. If your story is too fast paced, you’ll tire out your readers. Too slow and you’ll bore them. You’ll find the balance also depends on what kind of story you’re writing. Thrillers are faster paced than character driven stories.

Descriptive passages will slow things down while dialogue and action will speed things up. Slowing down the pacing of the action at key places can build suspense, while speeding it up will have your readers on the edge of their seats. The length of your sentences and paragraphs can help control the pace as well – long ones tend to slow things down, and short ones will speed things up.

Start with action to draw the reader in, and once you have them hooked you can start filling in the details. Break up long sections of description with a bit of action or dialogue so the story doesn’t become boring. Then break up long sections of action or dialogue with some well-placed description to give your reader a breather.

To build suspense, reveal your details in small doses. Showing speeds up the pace; telling slows it down. Read your scene out loud to see where you should speed the story up and where you should slow it down

And don’t forget to pace yourself.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

WORDAGE REPORT

Considering how busy my week was, I’m surprised I got so much done. But it’s a good feeling all the same, and I’m getting the urge to write again *knock on wood*. Who knows, maybe I’ll even start something new this week.

NEW WORDS:
Blog Posts –
1316+721+246+958=3,241
Poetry
246 (included in blog posts)

Total words: 3,241

Three-minute words –
110+106+95+116+87+125+100=739

Goals For Next Week:
Return to doing a three-minute word each day, rather than doing seven of them in one day. Write something other than my three-minute words and blog posts. Maybe even try my hand at the prompt Writers Digest sent me.

EDITING:
It was a good week for editing. I finished Beet Down by Jamie DeBree, and sent it back to her. It’s always so much more fun to edit someone else’s work, and even more so when it’s a writer who knows what they’re doing. :-)

And hold onto your socks, people. I actually got some editing done on Magickal Mayhem too. A total of 53 pages worth of editing. Woohoo!

Goal For Next Week:
Keep up the good work on Magickal Mayhem.

MARKETING MONDAY:
This time I did forget about sending anything out. I honestly don’t know what my problem is there, but I do know nobody is going to buy my work if I don’t start sending it out.

Goal For Next Week:
Submit two flash stories and one poem.

TECHNO TUESDAY:
Be still my heart! I finally set up my Kindle Paperwhite. It was both easier, and harder, than I expected. Easier, because pretty much all I had to do was connect it to my WiFi and sign into my Amazon account. Harder, because my books are all just sitting there in a big lump. Also, I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off – and then I discovered they don’t actually turn off, not completely. I’m sure once I get used to it, I’ll love it just as much as my old one.

Goal For Next Week:
Do something else technical or educational (like access one of my tutorials).

POETRY WEDNESDAY:
Not only did I get my poetry post up on time, I spotlighted a new form. AND I had fun doing it.

Goal For Next Week:
Share a new poetry form and new poem.

CRAFTING:
My stitchery guild had the second needle felting class, and I came home with a totally adorable mini cactus. I have since done a second one, and now I’m working on a sansevieria. Who knew stabbing sharp needles through yarn could be so much fun?

Before I could embroider something on my tote back, I had to remove the blurred design I ironed on a week ago. It wasn’t as easy to remove as I thought it would be, and while waiting for it to dry, I started a blue pillow for the granddaughter with the dragon she drew for me on it.

Goal For Next Week:
Finish pillow. Finish sansevieria. Start embroidery on tote bag.

WHAT I’M READING:
Last week I finished Blood Magic, and then read Jewels of the Sun, Tears of the Moon and Heart of the Sea, by Nora Roberts. I also read my carrot book - Immortal Rising, by Lynsay Sands, which I felt I was entitled to because I caught up on other stuff.

Goal For Next Week:
Find something other than Nora Roberts to read.

GOAL REVIEW:
My blog posts were up, and other than last Sunday they were all on time. It’s so much easier when I start working on them earlier on the day before they’re due.

It was mostly a good week. I got my writing done, I got my editing done, I even shared a new poetry form. I didn’t submit anything for publication, but I did set up my Paperwhite finally. I figured it was stupid to be reading the same books over and over when I had 2,000 unread books sitting in a cloud waiting for me to access them.

I feel like I’m finally making a few steps in the right direction, and I can only hope that next week will be even better.

Happy writing.

The Cave – Part Eighteen

To quickly recap: Friends Eve and Sara were rock climbing and stumbled across a large cave with primitive drawings on its walls. A rock slide traps them inside. Having little choice, they go deeper into the cave, hoping to find another exit. The cave system seems to be a mixture of natural and man-made and the further into it they go, the stranger Eve starts acting. Just as Sara thinks they’re getting close to a way out, Eve shoves her off of a ledge into a chasm. Now they must each find their way. But there's something else going on as well . . . and Sara has just started to figure out what it is.

Sara still wasn’t a hundred percent sure she wasn’t dreaming all this – the hike, the cave, the cave-in … But here she was, who knows how deep underground after having been pushed off a ledge by her best friend and then being swept away by a river.

“Maybe I inhaled some mushroom spores on our hike and I’m hallucinating this whole thing,” Sara muttered. The fact that she didn’t recall seeing any mushrooms didn’t really matter, it made more sense than the alternative.

You are the champion . . .

Was the voice a whisper in the air, or just in her mind? She decided that it didn’t really matter.

“I’m nobody’s champion,” Sara aloud. She was just a CPA who had gone hiking with a friend and fallen down a rabbit hole.

You must complete the seal and stop the evil . . .

“And how am I supposed to do that?” she asked in frustration.

You will find the way . . .

For guardian spirits they didn’t seem all that helpful, Sara decided. It would serve them right if she just stayed here and waited to be rescued. Her leg was fine now, she had food, she had water, she could last for several days, maybe even go back to following the river.

Sara let out a gusty sigh. whatever else was going on, she knew deep down in her soul that she had to finish this. Whatever this was. And that meant finding her way back to where the mosaics were and probably confronting Eve.

“Can I ask you a question?” Sara didn’t wait for a reply. “You said your leader created the mosaic with the great seal, but what about the paintings in the first cave. Did you, or she, do those as well?”

There was a long pause. We do not know . . .

It made her wonder. Maybe the paintings had been a first attempt at creating a seal. Or maybe they pre-dated the arrival of the guardians. It was an interesting puzzle, but not one she really needed to solve right now.

Her back pack, that she knew she’d left behind before jumping in the river, was lying beside her. Resigned, she stowed the remaining food in it as well as the stoppered bottle which, to her surprise, held some kind of juice, not water. With no idea how long she was going to have to make it last, she’d have to remember to eat and drink sparingly.

Climbing to her feet, she shouldered her pack.

“Okay,” she said. “I’m ready. How do I get back to where I need to be?”

This way . . .

There were three exits from the cave Sara had awoken in and she felt a tug towards the one on her left. Picking up her battered lantern, she entered the passage. A sudden thought occurred to her.

“I know this lantern was supposed to have an extra long battery life, but it’s been days. Have you somehow been recharging it?”

Yes . . .

“Oh. Well, thank you for that.” Another thought occurred to her. “And what about Eve? Has this evil entity been recharging hers for her? Never mind,” she added. “I guess it would only make sense.”

Sara shook her head slightly. She should be terrified, or at least freaked out by her situation. Maybe the guardian spirits were doing something to her that kept her calm. Maybe she really had gone crazy.

Hurry . . .

She caught the sense of urgency in the guardian’s voice, whisper, whatever, and quickened her steps. Did this mean Eve was getting close to finishing the mosaic that would let the evil out? And just how, exactly, was she supposed to stop her? It couldn’t hurt to ask.

“How am I supposed to stop Eve from completing her mural?”

You will find a way . . .

“Well that’s real helpful,” Sara muttered.

Finish the great seal . . .

“Oh, sure. Easy peasy.” She couldn’t seem to help the snark that crept into her voice. But then she was feeling a little snarky. If the guardians were to be believed, there was a lot riding on so little information. She had a feeling it was going to be a far more daunting task than she imagined. It was easy, they would have finished it themselves.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Missed an installment? Catch up here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight,  Part Nine, Part Ten, Part Eleven, Part Twelve, Part Thirteen, Part Fourteen, Part Fifteen, Part Sixteen, Part Seventeen 

Treochair Poetry Form

I’ve been reading a lot of books set in Ireland lately, so it just seemed natural to pick an Irish poetry form this week.

The Treochair seems to be a simple form at first, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to write. It can have as few or as many tercets (three-line stanzas) as you wish. There are three syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and seven in the third. The first and third lines rhyme.

Now, if you want to get really traditional about it, you should use as much alliteration as you can manage. It can also contain cywddydd (harmony of sound) and dunadh (where the beginning and ending of the poem have the same word). To be honest, I was so concerned about getting the rhyme and syllable count right that the rest completely slipped my mind.

Not much of a schematic for you, but here it is:

xxa
xxxxxxb
xxxxxxa

xxc
xxxxxxd
xxxxxxc

… and so forth

And here’s my example:


My Winter Soul

Shuttered eyes;
I escape into dreamtime
even though it is unwise

to hide from
the world instead of facing
what I fear, what makes me numb.

When I wake,
dissatisfaction still there
nothing solved, head and heart ache

for something
I cannot see or touch or feel –
my winter soul, never spring

Entitled

I think Hemingway's [book] titles should be awarded first prize in any contest. Each of them is a poem, and their mysterious power over readers contributes to Hemingway's success. His titles have a life of their own, and they have enriched the American vocabulary.
— Sylvia Beach

Sentimental titles are the last bastion of scoundrels, and can add significant barf to an already barfy work.
— Robert Genn

A good title holds magic, some cognitive dissonance, a little grit between the teeth, but above all it is the jumping-off place into wonder.
— Barbara Kingsolver

Those who don’t write may find this hard to believe, but coming up with a title for a story/book is one of the hardest parts of the whole thing. A title needs to hook your reader, draw him in. It needs to generate interest without giving away too much of the plot. And most of all, it needs to be memorable

Would Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell been as much of a success under its original title of Tomorrow Is Another Day? Would War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy, have become a classic had it been called All’s Well That Ends Well, as it almost was?

One of the names considered for The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires. Bram Stoker, at one time, had thought to call his novel, Dracula, The Dead Un-Dead. John Steinbeck was originally going to call his classic Of Mice and Men simply Something That Happened. And The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner, was almost called Twilight.

The book I’m currently working on, Magickal Mayhem, started out as Wandering Wizards, then became Blood Ties, before settling in as Magickal Mayhem. And even now, I’m kind of waffling on whether it should be that, or Magick and Mayhem. I guess I won’t really know until I start on the book cover design. And at the rate I’m doing the final edits, that’s going to be a while.

A good book title needs to be unique. It creates the first impression a potential reader has for a book. It sets the tone and hints at the genre, and most of all, draws the reader in.

A few things to keep in mind when trying to come up with a book/story title:
1. Make it memorable.
2. Make sure it’s appropriate for the genre.
3. Make sure it stirs the reader’s interest.
4. Use a subtitle for clarification.
5. Run it by a few friends/colleagues for feedback.
6. If it’s easy to pronounce, it’ll be easy to remember.
7. Try and make sure it won’t be confused with another book.

I say try with that last one because with the plethora of self publishing going on, sometimes it’s really hard to come up with something that hasn’t been already used. But even back when most publishing was done traditionally, there were still books published with the same title, but different authors. One that springs to mind is the science fiction book, Millennium. I read this book by Ben Bova in 1976, and then I read it by John Varley in 1983 – both excellent books by well known science fiction authors, both very different stories.

But as Shakespeare once said, “A rose by any other name . . .”

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

WORDAGE REPORT

I had another one of those weeks where I honestly don’t know what I did with my time. It’s kind of disconcerting to look back on the week and not know where it went. The blog posts were fairly easy, but I did not write any extra poetry, or anything beyond my three-minute words. Not a very writerly week, to be sure

NEW WORDS:
Blog Posts – 1,350+759+629+892=3,630

Poetry
80+48=128

Total words: 3,758 words

Three minute words – 87+95+96+105+102+106+119=710

Goals For Next Week:
Write a poem, write a story, get something done other than my three minute words and blog posts. Maybe even keep better track of what I’m doing.

EDITING:
I’m well over the halfway point in Beet Down by Jamie DeBree. I was hoping to finish it over the weekend, but I spent yesterday in Toronto with the daughter, which was a lot of fun but didn’t get any editing done.

Goal For Next Week:
Finish editing Beet Down, and get back to Magickal Mayhem.

MARKETING MONDAY:
I didn’t forget about Marketing Monday, exactly, but it was the one day of the week I remember being busy. I had an appointment in the morning, and the pleasure of the grand daughter’s company in the afternoon.

Goal For Next Week:
Submit two flash stories and one poem.

TECHNO TUESDAY:
I don’t even have a zoom meeting as an excuse for blowing off Techno Tuesday last week.

Goal For Next Week:
Do something technical.

POETRY WEDNESDAY:
I only managed to write two of the three poems I had left over from the PAD challenge, and that was pretty much it for poetry last week. But I like the idea of doing a weekly poetry form, so that’s what I’m going to do. Starting with this week, I’m going to offer a new poetry form.

Goal For Next Week:
Share a new poetry form and new poem.

CRAFTING:
I failed to start a new craft. But I have an excuse. I was considering which transfers to use on this unbleached cotton tote bag I have, but before I start that project I thought I’d whip up another cross-stitched name tag for my in-person stitchery meeting (which will be this Tuesday). The red thread on black aida cloth is okay, but it’s a little plain and I didn’t leave much room to embellish it. Plus, everybody else has white name tags (with colourful embellishments).

I thought it might be nice to have my full name, which meant I’d have to use smaller lettering. Unlike with embroidery, you can’t just shrink down cross stitch pattern because it’s on a grid. I wasted two evenings scouring the internet for a pattern to use, then finally gave up and ordered a couple of books from Amazon. They came Friday, but then I had to pick from over 100 alphabets, which also was rather time consuming. Hopefully I’ll get to it later today.

Goal For Next Week:
Cross stitch new name tag. Start embroidery on tote bag.

WHAT I’M READING:
Last week I finished Born in Shame, and then read The Dark Witch, and Shadow Spell, and I’m just about finished Blood Magick by Nora Roberts. After that I’d like to give Nora a rest for a while, but no promises.

Goal For Next Week:
Find something other than Nora Roberts to read.

GOAL REVIEW:
Once again my only claim to fame is that I got all my blog posts up, even if they weren’t all on time. I also got my three-minute words done, but I admit it’s not some of my best writing.

While I did write two of the three poems I had leftover from the PAD challenge, that was pretty much it. Just to keep an oar in the water, I’m going to go ahead and commit to a poetry post every Wednesday. Or maybe that means I should be committed. ;-)

Have not yet started any of those tutorials I paid for. And I didn’t even get any crafting done

Not a great week overall, but hopefully this week will be better.

Happy writing.

The Cave – Part Seventeen

To quickly recap: Friends Eve and Sara were rock climbing and stumbled across a large cave with primitive drawings on its walls. A rock slide traps them inside. Having little choice, they go deeper into the cave, hoping to find another exit. The cave system seems to be a mixture of natural and man-made and the further into it they go, the stranger Eve starts acting. Just as Sara thinks they’re getting close to a way out, Eve shoves her off of a ledge into a chasm. Now they must each find their way. But there's something else going on as well . . . and Sara has just started to figure out what it is.

Eve stood back to study the swirling colours of the mosaic. The sequence of colour was much more intricate than she first realized. There was a pattern to it, but every time she thought she figured it out, it seemed to . . . shift.

Repair . . .

Maybe if she replaced the missing stones it would make more sense. Yes, she decided, before she did anything else, she needed to repair the damage. It became imperative to her that she do so.

The small gap in the spiral, maybe she should start with that. Or maybe replace the missing stones in the rest of it. She swayed a bit on her feet. It was all so confusing. She glanced around uneasily. Something wasn’t right. Why was her thinking so muddled?

Her eyes glazed over as the stones in the mosaic began to pulse, almost like a heartbeat. Thump thump. Thump thump. The drumming came from all around her now, she could feel the pulse inside her. Her heart began to beat in time with it.

There was a brief surge of panic, but it was quickly subsumed by the pulsing beat. Her thoughts stilled. The essence that made her “Eve” shoved to the back of her mind. Her consciousness was overshadowed by the task at hand – repair the mosaic. Complete the mosaic.

She had an unshakable feeling that the spiral was crucial to the whole design. Perhaps with the spiral completed, she would be able to figure out the rest of the design. Mindlessly, she picked up one of the stones and pressed it to the slight indentation.

This time there was no blue light, and when she let go of the stone it fell to the ground. Eve frowned. Choosing another at random, she tried again, with the same result. Her breath came out in a huff. Nothing was more important that completing the mural, but how was she supposed to do so if she couldn’t figure out how to attach the stones to the rock of the cave?

How had she got the first one to stick?

with care . . .

She didn’t just pick a stone at random, did she? No, she’d chosen it with care.

Eve squatted down beside the pile of stones. Staring at them intently, she spread them out with her hand. Not just random, but each stone must have purpose. There was light coming from the stones she’d collected, but not from every stone.

She touched one, a little brighter than the rest, and felt a tingle. Her fingers curled around the stone and she rose to her feet. Studying the mural, she stepped forward and pressed the stone to one of the empty spots where a stone had been missing. The blue light flashed, and the stone adhered.

That was more like it. She carefully selected another stone, and placed it in another indentation. Again the blue light flashed and the stone stayed in place. Hours passed. Eve worked slowly and steadily. She felt neither fatigue nor hunger, and when she ran out of energy she simply collapsed where she was.

When she awoke her stomach was cramping. Was it hunger or thirst, she wondered. Did it really matter? With a groan, she pushed herself to her feet and stood swaying. She needed food, and water. But the fungus she’d harvested was gone. She must have eaten it without realizing it.

Her water bottles lay scattered on the ground, empty. How had that happened? She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a drink, but there lay the evidence she had.

“This isn’t right,” she whispered. Had she really become so obsessed with the mural that she’d couldn’t remember eating or drinking? Glancing up at it she was surprised at how much progress she’d made. How long had she been working in her trance?

She needed to get control of herself. This couldn’t happen again. Perhaps it was her weakened state that was responsible for this. She needed to refuel. Mural forgotten, she staggered down the passage that led to the fissure with the fungus.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Missed an installment? Catch up here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight,  Part Nine, Part Ten, Part Eleven, Part Twelve, Part Thirteen, Part Fourteen, Part Fifteen, Part Sixteen

The End of PAD

And here we are, April is over, which means the PAD Challenge is over. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for the prompts, it was kinda fun. And I ended up with 29 poems out of the deal and some of them aren’t half bad. Yes, I know April has 30 days, but there was one I just couldn’t come up with anything for. Yet.

At the very least, the challenge got me writing poetry again, which is a good thing because 2022 has been a bit of a wasteland for me as far as creativity goes. And I had just enough fun that I’m seriously considering making Wednesdays a poetry day. There are still a lot of forms out there I haven’t explored, and if I can’t manage a new one I’m sure I can find an old one to post. So we’ll have to wait and see what next Wednesday brings.

In any case, here are my final offerings from the challenge:


25. Write a response poem

this is a response to the kerfuffle at my poetry group meeting last Wednesday

There was a gathering of poets
in the church’s basement hall
and though we didn’t know it
it would end in a ne’er brawl.

A poem of old was read aloud
a question soon was asked,
was it once taped before a crowd?
The gauntlet down was cast

It seemed there was a question
of when there’s rights to shoot
and share a public session –
this was the great dispute.

A slippery slope this freedom
of the press ‘tis true
but what about my freedom
to stay out of public view?

There was no group agreement
to who was right or wrong
two members were quite vehement,
their argument wasn’t long.

Myself, I comprehended
both sides of the dispute
but what’s done is done and ended,
so the point was rather moot


27. Write a remix poem

For today's prompt, write a remix poem. Take one of your poems (preferably from this month) and remix it. Make free verse a traditional form or vice versa.

Remix of day #13 – Write a How to Blank poem

How to Make Me Lose Interest in a Challenge (which was written in free verse)

The challenge is presented
the point of PAD this is
a prompt each day invented
by a man who’s in the biz

Some are kind of boring
others kind of lame
some will set me snoring
and others look the same.

My enthusiasm’s shaky
I often fall behind
the words are often flakey
for this challenge so maligned.


28. Write a sight poem

Sea and sky will join as one,
the fog rolls in to veil the sun;
the silent shroud is closing in,
I hasten now, my steps begin.

The fog is such a joy to me
there’s magic everywhere I see,
a softness coating tree and grass
swirling everywhere I pass.

I take a step and disappear
with just my thoughts remaining clear.
Even when I lose my way
I love to see a foggy day.


30. Write a moving poem

Boxes packed, and neatly stacked
moving day has come
one last look in cupboard and nook –
to be sure that we’re all done.
One last glance, one last chance
before we turn to go
memories made, soon will fade
and join the afterglow.

Carrots Are Divine

Carrots are divine, you get a dozen for a dime, it’s magic.
— Bugs Bunny

The carrot and the stick are pervasive and persuasive motivators. But if you treat people like donkeys, they will perform like donkeys.
— John Whitmore

Someday Isle is not a dream vacation spot.
It is an imaginary destination to which you will never arrive.
It is the carrot on the stick perpetually in front of you.
So close you can see it, yet you will never reach it.
Don't vacation on Someday Isle.
— Frank F. Lunn

Do you use a reward system to help motivate you into getting things done? I find, sometimes, it can be very helpful. Like last week when I was trying to catch up on the PAD challenge, but I also really, really wanted to read a book. So I made a deal with myself – if I wrote a couple of poems, I could read a chapter of my book. If it was a long poem, I’d only have to write one.

The only problem with this is, you have to have the discipline to stick with it. And I don’t always. It worked for me last week, mostly, but reading a current book is an iffy situation for me usually. Sometimes it back fires. If I reach my goal late at night and there’s no time for the reward, I’ll start reading while I’m having breakfast the next morning, and I don’t stop until the book is finished.

That being said, I usually have a book as a reward for the end of NaNo. When I finish NaNo I can sit down and read the whole book. This works better because the reward is reading the whole thing at once instead of just doling out one chapter at a time.

The reward system is great for building good habits, but you have to find the right reward. I used to reward myself with time to play games. Write X number of words and then I could play something mindless for half an hour. But that was a really slippery slope. I’d get caught up and keep going, and before I’d know it hours would have passed and my eyes are ready to fall out of my head. And since I couldn’t focus enough anymore to write, I might as well keep playing.

I’ve been reading up on reward systems, and most of the articles I’ve read so far say that rewarding yourself is a good motivator for writing. One site said you should have big rewards for big accomplishments – like a day with friends for completing a draft of something – and smaller rewards for smaller accomplishments – an hour of TV for finishing that tough scene.

Better Writing Habits had a great article that I was going to quote from, but I think you might want to check it out for yourself. You can find it HERE. It not only tells you how to use a reward system, it gives you a list of ways to reward yourself.

I think the list, in particular, is a great idea. This is something I think I’m going to do – make myself a list of rewards, breaking it down into small, medium, and large rewards to correspond with my small, medium, and large blocks of writing.

The more I read about the reward system, the more it makes sense. Here are a couple of other helpful articles about rewarding yourself:
20 Ways Writers Can Reward Themselves Without Food  

Writing Rewards

Problem, Goal, Reward  

So what do you use for your carrot on the stick?

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

WORDAGE REPORT

It was a busy week last week, and writing-wise I spent a lot of it still catching up. But once again I managed to get all my blog posts done.

NEW WORDS:
Blog Posts – 1,088+924+477+989=3,478

Poetry
47+62+41+128+52+71+44+80+148+89+76=838

Total words: 4,316 words

Three minute words – 127+100+98+107+95+130+121=778

Goals For Next Week:
Finish catching up on my words, and forage ahead with new ones.

EDITING:
I got the first reading done on Beet Down by the fabulous Jamie DeBree and I’m just starting the serious editing. This is the latest in her Death By Veggies series, written under her Alex Westhaven personae. While you’re waiting for it to be published, you can check out the rest of the series HERE

Goal For Next Week:
Finish editing Beet Down, and get back to Magickal Mayhem.

MARKETING MONDAY:
To be honest, I forgot all about it. Again. Bad, bad writer!

Goal For Next Week:
Submit two flash stories and one poem.

TECHNO TUESDAY:
Half of Tuesday was taken up with a zoom meeting – I’m not sure what happened to the other half. I did purchase several online classes from Holly Lisle’s site, but there’s a glitch in the system and I haven’t been able to access them yet.

Goal For Next Week:
Do something technical.

POETRY WEDNESDAY:
So . . . I got caught up for the Wednesday post, but then I fell behind again. The last day of the challenge was yesterday, and I only have three poems to go. It was pointed out to me that the prompts weren’t really as bad as I thought, it was just my attitude towards them. And you know what? They were right. I’m going to end up with some half decent poems from the month.

Goal For Next Week:
Finish the PAD challenge. Maybe write a new poem.

CRAFTING:
I failed to start a new craft. I pulled out this stamped table cloth I was given, and even pulled out some thread to use on it. But I didn’t like the colour of the tablecloth, nor will I be able to use it because it’s a rectangle and my table is square. I did, however, buy a bunch of needle felting supplies off of Amazon. ;-)

Goal For Next Week:
Start a project in needle felting, or find something else to embroider.

WHAT I’M READING:
Last week I read The Valley of Silence, Born in Fire, and Born in Ice, by Nora Roberts. I’m about halfway through the third in the Irish Born Trilogy, Born in Shame. It looks like I’ve managed to slow down a little, but yesterday I was shopping and I spotted Immortal Rising, by Lynsay Sands. I didn’t even know it was out yet, so I’m chomping at the bit to dive into it.

But her books make great carrots. I’m going to save it until I finish catching up on the writing and editing. God help me.

Goal For Next Week:
Keep the reading under control

GOAL REVIEW:
Once again I got all my blog posts up, and once again they weren’t all on time (like this one) but they’re there.

I had an epiphany with the Cave serial when I was catching up on my three-minute words. I knew how it was going to end, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get there from where I was. But I came up with a way to handle it that may work even better.

I am still not caught up on the PAD challenge, but I’ve only got three poems to go (yes, I know the challenge is over). And I’m contemplating keeping Wednesdays as a poetry day. Lord knows if I don’t have time to come up with a new poetry form I have plenty of old ones to share.

And seeing as I paid for all those online workshops, I may have to change Techno Tuesday to Tutoring Tuesday.

Not a bad week overall, and hopefully this week will be even better.

Happy writing