Word for Wednesday

WORD: Procrastination.

What does it mean? I'll tell you about it later. ;-)

Come back at 3:00 p.m. to see the true definition.

Sitting Down to Pay Your Bills - What Could Be Worse?

Self-Editing

Writing is easy. The hard part comes with revising.

Writing is like daydreaming . . . on paper. Editing is like sitting down to pay your bills. It’s not fun or easy and a lot of the time we hate doing it.

Editing is like searching for lice in your kids’ hair. You have to use a fine-tooth comb. And be prepared for a little nitty-gritty work, which might seem a little distasteful and could even make you a little queasy. But, if you prepare for your editing session like you would prepare for an important date, you’ll be miles ahead of the game.

And, if you add these tips to your writing toolbox, editing just might be a little easier:

• Critique Partners:

Check over your manuscript—carefully—for typos, extra spaces, and grammatical errors before giving it to your critique partners to read.

If you don’t have critique partners, get them. If you write for the children’s market, your local SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) will help hook you up with other like-minded individuals and get you into a critique group. This is important because it is difficult to find your own errors. You know what you meant to say and you can read the words the way you meant them without ever noticing even the most blatant errors.

• Computer Software:

Your computer is only one tool in your writing toolbox. Common software such as Word, WordPerfect and others will scan your document for typos, extra spaces and grammatical errors for you, but this is only your first line of defense.

After you have scanned your document for the obvious red flags, provided by your software, you need to read over your manuscript very carefully and then hand it over to your critique partner(s) before you even think about sending it out for possible publication. .

• Critical Questions:

Ask yourself a couple of questions, after you have written your manuscript:

1) What is the topic?
2) What conclusion do you want your reader to draw?
3) What questions do you want the reader to think about, or respond to?

These ideas might help make editing a little easier but, if not, sit down and pay your bills. Then go back to editing, it might not seem so distasteful after that.

Scan Fair in Astoria, Oregon

Sunday was Father's Day. My husband was born in Denmark. He didn't become a U.S. Citizen until his senior year in high school. So, he wanted to go to the Scan Fair and, like I said, it was Father's Day. So off to Astoria we went.

David Strand from Silverton, Oregon was whittling wooden shoes for the crowd. He let me take a turn.


Then we moved on to find recycled pop cans made into garden art. These airplanes and roadrunners were made out of used soda cans. How cool is that?...




How did you spend Father's Day? (Add to comments)

Linda Zuckerman at the SCBWI Picnic

Dawn Prochovnic was the person who put together this amazing SCBWI Picnic Program.

She and Ellen Dodson started out by talking about the importance of critique groups and how to get "hooked-in" with other writers and become a part of the writing community.


After explaining the importance of being involved with other like-minded people, Dawn introduced Linda to the nearly sold-out audience.

This was actually a free event put on by the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). We wanna-be writers had an amazing opportunity to network, listen to Linda Zuckerman and then party at an in-door picnic.

Linda is also involved with the Annual Pacific Northwest Children's Book Conference, sponsored by PSU and started out by talking about the difficult economy and explaining that a debut book only has about 6 months to succeed or it will be swallowed up . . . into the black hole of nothing.

She said that writers should start each book by writing with a character in mind – not an idea. And don’t try to write a best seller to gets lots of money. Instead write your story. Don’t try to write for trends.

For example, don’t think “bears are the new dinosaurs” and then try to tell a story with bears in the book.

People might think fiction is easy to write but Linda explained that fiction requires an intelligent design. Every writer needs to get inside their characters.

She recommended asking yourself a couple of questions while you write:

1) What does the character want? Or, in other words,
2) What is the goal that the character is striving to reach?

When you know what the character's goal is, remember you will need to throw obstacles in the way. But in the end the main character must resolve the conflict him or herself and hopefully grow and change along the way.

She also explained that there are two plots to every story:

1) Action plot – such as a girl has to babysit her brother;
2) Emotional plot – The girl thinks her father hates her but loves the little brother she has to watch.

And these two plot lines must work together to create the story.

The part of the picnic I enjoyed the most was when she read first pages and gave some direct feedback. It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday.

Linda Zuckerman finished up her talk by promoting the SCBWI. She said the organization provides opportunities to connect with other writers while providing priceless information.

Grassoline

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Scientific American has an interesting article in their July issue. It talks about Scientists turning agricultural leftovers, wood and grass into biofuels.

I wonder why it wasn't a larger factor sooner - but "better late than never".

I think it's a great idea. Instead of subsidizing corn for food, we could subsidize a new source of fuel. Wouldn't it be great to be less dependent on foreign sources for oil while helping out farmers at the same time?

The article says that "once the total emissions of growing, harvesting and processing corn are factored into the ledger, it becomes clear that first-generation biofuels are not as environmentally friendly as we would like them to be."

However, second generation grassoline is a much better option. We just need to keep looking and working to develop and discover new options.

I love the direction we're heading.

Green Gardening: Earth-Friendly Friday

My son 'tooned another sustainable-superhero from www.ECOwomen.net, which is a group of earth-friendly gals who I blog with. My son is going to toon us all. Being Earth-friendly can be more than FUNctional.

Now on to more Earth-Friendly news:

My daughter and I used to own horses. Back then, being "green" was not a good thing. It meant the horse and "maybe" even the rider was a newbie and the horse wasn't ready to ride - at least with any measure of safety. When someone said, "She's green." It meant the horse wasn't trained and/or experienced. So, being "green" was a bad thing. But things change.

And it's Not so any more. Green is good!

More news:

IT’S OFFICIAL! Master Gardeners are back in the city!

They will be staffing a table at the Portland Farmers Market in the King Neighborhood,

Sundays from 10am to 2pm.

So this is your chance to enjoy a little free-advice. And, come on people, free is a very good price. Come prepared with all your hard horticulture questions.

And:

For all you green people out there in P.O.: The Portland/Vancouver Redirect Guide is a fun link to finding environmentally sound local businesses:

http://www.redirectguide.com/Portland_Vancouver/index.asp

So check 'em out and help support green businesses in Portland or wherever you are.

Thought for Thursday - Lifelong Learning

I want to be a continuous learner, to study a foreign language, learn a new craft, question, and always ask What if?

Leonardo was a continuous learner, "Just as iron rusts from disuse, and stagnant water putrefies, or when cold turns to ice, so our intellect wastes unless it is kept in use."

I don't want to let my brain rust or my thoughts putrefy.

One way to be a lifelong learner is to sharpen your question-asking skills. Leonardo believed in asking the simple questions that educated people might overlook.

He wrote, "I ask . . . Why is the sky blue?"

We should all follow in DaVinci's footsteps by keeping little notepads where we ask What? When? Why? How? and Where?

And one EZ way to keep learning is to acquire a new hobby. I'm making a list of hobbies and going to ask myself:

1) How much time can I devote to this?
2) What resources will it take?
3) What is my ultimate goal?
4) How will I benefit from this hobby?
5) What might get in the way?
6) Who do I know who can teach me, mentor me, help me?

QUESTION AND THOUGHT FOR YOU: What hobbies might you want to take up? (Please add them to the comments section)