Writing Warm Up

I keep coming to my blog, opening up a new post, and then I sit here and stare at the screen. I am having blog-writers-block. Ironically, I can open Scrivener, switch to full screen mode (which blacks out everything but the "page" and off I go. I worry about it some, but I guess it's okay to have writer's block on my blog if things are working in my manuscript. (Well, sorta working . . . it is just a first draft after all!)

So my only idea for a blog post today is to tell you about Scrivener. I could go on and on, but I will just tell you my four favorite things and then send you to a link where they say it better.

1. Full-Screen Mode where all you see is the page on a black background (or any background you choose). It keeps me from surfing around on Itunes or checking my email.

2. Name Generator. Very cool feature that prevents me from getting on the internet or looking in magazines to find names. And I keep working.

3. The Cork Board. You can switch to a view where all your chapters show up looking like index cards on a cork board. Makes me feel very organized and it looks much, much better than the pile of sticky notes, papers, napkins, receipts, and crayons that are actually sitting next to me.

4. FREE Trial. That's how I ended up buying it. I tried it free and I loved it. They also offer a discount for teachers, makes me feel the love!

So go to Scrivener get your free trial copy and generate names. You won't regret it!

It's about the love.

I was five years old when Prince Charles married Diana. I don't think I watched when I was five, but well, I was five so I don't exactly remember. I do know that I have been fascinated and nostalgic as the 2011 Royal Wedding approached. I am not a die-hard fan who stayed up/got up in the wee hours to watch the nuptials, but I did record it. Yesterday as I watched and joined in on the spirit of the celebration, I kept thinking about why I enjoy moments like these so much.

1. It's all about the fairy tale. I love the idea of a story that makes little girls dream and dress up and wish for princes. They are out there.

2. It's all about the dresses (and hats). I shopped for wedding dresses for YEARS before I finally got to buy one of my own. There is nothing more beautiful than a bride (in any color) in a fancy dress and veil. An unexpected side-effect of this wedding was the sheer fascination with the hats. I know there is lots of criticism and mockery going on about the hats, but I found them intriguing. How do they keep some of them on their heads?

3. It's all about happiness. I know not all weddings have a happy ending, not even royal ones, but they seem so happy today and so many people seem so happy to share in this moment. There is so much in our world that is scary and dangerous and depressing, I love a moment of happiness.

4. It's all about London. So I have been to London once. I went to Westminster Abbey once. I actually walked up and down Whitehall like four times. But in comparison to most of the people around me, I feel I am practically an expert on London. I felt the need to tour-guide a lot of folks through the locations of the royal wedding. And it makes me want to go back.

5. It's all about love. And I love love. I love stories where two people fall in love, so much so, that I write them, I watch them, I tell them, and I encourage them. When we get a chance to share in the story of someone else's love, we fall in love a little more ourselves.

True Life

True Story:

My daughter has run away twice in the past two weeks.

Now "running away" might be a bit of a hyperbole, but I can't keep the dang girl in the yard. She's five and she thinks she's independent--it's a constant, epic battle of the wills around here. She met a little girl down the street and will pretty much do ANYTHING to try and go down to her house. This wouldn't be so bad, but she's got this damn scooter . . . and well, I swear she like flies when she gets on it.

Tonight, my son was going to walk his friend halfway home--it's like a block and he's almost nine. I think this is a reasonable thing for an almost-nine-year-old to get to do. He and his friend leave out the front door, and moments later, I hear that ominous click that the garage door makes. I head out the front door and spot a little pink shirt flying down the street, AND THEN SHE CROSSES THE STREET!!

At this point, I am mad and scared and a little more mad. I can see her, I know she is ok, but she is all the way down the dang street. So I jump in the car (there is no way I could have caught her without vehicular assistance) and drive down the street to get her. I roll down my window, yell her name in my meanest mommy voice, and get out to load her and her scooter into my car. There was a very docile-looking refugee family standing by their vehicle watching as all this is taking place. I'm sure they thought I was kidnapping her, but they did not call the police.

I drove her home while she cried in the backseat. I have hidden her scooter and she is grounded from dessert. (You have to take away what they love.) We are all safe and sound.

And I know this will not be the last of my battles with her. She is strong-willed, creative, unique, and passionate. She's better than any character I could ever create.

Back in action!

April seems to be the month when I catch the writing bug. In April 2008, I was on the fourth straight day of standardized testing, my best friend was sequestered at home while she endured chemo, and I couldn't grade papers due to testing rules. Locked in my classroom with kids I didn't know, I started my first book. I watched those teenagers and realized how much I liked telling their stories. I started to make up scenarios about the very students sitting in my room. It wasn't hard. I didn't know too much about them, so my ideas weren't terribly tainted with reality. It was all fiction in my head, and I loved it.

I came home from school that day and started scribbling the ideas on a legal pad. I think I wrote about 5,000 words those first couple of days. The story just came pouring out. My first two "real" characters, Anna and Daniel were born. Not nearly as messy as real babies. And I was hooked.

But eventually the ideas slow down. Eventually my family demands to be fed. All productivity slows or even stops.

Those characters are never far away. They talk to me in the shower. They show up in my dreams. I hear kids at the mall make comments, and I think "Anna would say that."

Last week I got to attend a conference in San Antonio and hear Will Hobbs speak. His stories are fun and adventuresome, very different from my teenage love drama, but he said a few things that really stuck with me.

One: He started writing and eight short years later, he was published. It's great to hear a real publishing story. Not the I-wrote-a-book-in-my-sleep-and-publishers-threw-money-at-me story.

Two: One of his characters is based on a former student, he even named her. I will keep making up stories for those kids I see in my room every day. I love them too much not to!

So, off I go. The ideas are here and I must be a good hostess.

Birthday Wishes

My facebook wall in ON FIRE with birthday wishes which just reminds me that I am one year older and still "under-published." I have been writing for about two and a half years, which I know is a mere minute in the publishing world, but I would sure like to speed things up a bit. Each passing year moves me a little farther away from my teenage sensibilities and angst and moves me one year closer to having more to do. What if I run out of time to write? What if this dang book never comes together? What if I do get published and a bunch of teenagers keep wondering who the old lady is who is signing books? I know, I know, I'm getting ahead of myself, but it just a reflective day. So for my birthday, I wish for these things for my writing life:

I wish to always love writing.

I wish to always love young adult books.

I wish to find time to write AND be a good mom.

I wish to write something that gets noticed.

I wish to create characters who mean as much to me as the teens I am writing for.

233 in the Library

I've been neglecting my blog. Sorry. The winter months are always hard for me. It is bitterly cold here in Texas, I am stuck in my house, my kids are stuck in the house, I am tired of wearing frumpy layers, yada, yada, yada . . .

So, I'm trying to snap out of my funk, and here goes.

I thought I would write about our recent trip to the school library. I try to take my classes every couple of weeks, but we hadn't been there in several weeks because of the Christmas break. I am happy to say that there were lots of books checked out that day.

Here are some of the more popular titles that students were asking about:

1. Hunger Games

2. Catching Fire

3. Mockingjay

4. Crank

5. Burned

6. A Child Called It

7. Dear John

8. Looking for Alaska

There were many other books that they talked about that day, but this is what I remember for now. I will get more info tomorrow to share. Happy reading.

I also opened a GoodReads account. Feel free to peruse my shelves!

It's almost time!

November is almost here and that means one thing--National Novel Writing Month! Let the madness begin!

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/312950