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My Journey as
a Writer

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When Writing Cannot Be A Priority

9/30/2017

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We make choices in life as to what is a priority and what is not. Sometimes those choices are difficult, and sometimes they are not. For me, the little girl in the picture at the left made my choice one of the easiest I have ever made. You see, right now my writing cannot be a priority because my granddaughter's education is.

Three years ago as many of you already know, we lost our daughter, Dawn. Dawn was a wonderful mother who believed the best education possible for her two beautiful daughters was a partnership between learning at home and attending a family-centered community school for two days a week. That gave her daughters the best of both worlds--socialization and education through the public school home school curriculum and a more in-depth education of various subjects at home. It worked well for her eldest daughter who just graduated high school and Clark College at the same time and with her Associates Degree at the ripe old age of 17. She enters WSU as a Junior in January. Can you tell how proud I am of her accomplishments in the face of tragedy? But back to why my writing is not a priority at the moment.

When my 9 year old granddaughter lost her mom, I became her home teacher. That decision meant that I spent two and a half days at school and two and a half days at home teaching grammar, reading comprehension, mathematics, health and fitness, spelling, and writing. Her time in school covered social studies, writing, math, and science. That first year was difficult for both of us, but it was also healing. This is going on my 4th year now, and I expect it to be as rewarding as the last three--for me and for her. However, even though writing is not a priority, here are three things I do to keep the creative juices flowing and the word count mounting.
  1. Decide on a writing project for the month--article, short story, a chapter in your new book. I find narrowing my vision to one particular project to be completed in 30 days keeps me from becoming overwhelmed or feeling like a failure.
  2. Set time aside. I know this sounds easy, but believe me it is not! There are numerous times that my brain is drained by the end of the school day. So setting a specific time or even an amount of time each day will help. During the school year, I know I can write for 25 minutes each and every day. If it is more, that's fantastic. But the 25 minutes is a hard and fast rule. Plus, it is amazing how much can be accomplished in that time.
  3. No revision! During the week, when I my 25 minutes comes, I don't spend it revising. I let the words flow. Sometimes, it's not words exactly, but ideas on how the chapter or the article or the short story needs to flow, what should come next, or how it should end. The point is to write whatever the imagination wants me to write on the project I chose for the month. I save the revision for Sunday evening. That's when I pull everything I've written all week together.
This may not work for everyone, but it is how I stay on top of writing when it cannot be the priority in my life for now. Besides, the way I see it is that all life is research, and someday this wonderful experience will become a future book that my granddaughter will write. Love you, Little Bit!

 

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Showing Your Character's Anger

9/18/2017

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Have you ever been angry? I mean red in the face, fists clenched, body tensed, and heart pounding mad? Have you tried to portray that feeling in your writing? I have, and believe me it is not easy!

Anger is an intense reactive emotion. Jealousy, frustration, confusion, loneliness, pain (real or imagined), fear, rejection, and even embarrassment can spark anger. The list of feelings that can lead to anger can go on and on. It can strike like lightening with a sharp, quick burst of words or punch in the face, or it can simmer slowly like the proverbial watched pot that never seems to boil until a human Mt. Vesuvius explodes.

All of us at one time or another have experienced anger. After all, we are all human. However, as writers it is our job to portray human emotions, like anger, in a way that our readers
feel what our characters are going through. That means we need to show and tell what is happening through our plotting to create the motivation behind the anger, then give it impact with a description of the action that happens as a result of the anger.

​For instance, in Search for the Red Ghost, Jake becomes angry when he learns that his father is leaving instead of searching for the creature that killed his mother. You can read his feeling through both his words and his body language.

“No choice?” Jake, his face red and his hands curled into fists, yelled. “Something kilt Ma, and you’re going to ride out like nothing happened? Well go ahead—go chase those Injuns. You never cared much for Ma, or you wouldn’t have left us here in this god-forsaken place.”

​

His father's response is much the same, but the words used to describe his physical response to Jake's outburst adds another visual dimension to his reaction.

Jake started to turn just as two strong hands grabbed his shoulders, and jerked him backward, and spun him around. “Now listen here boy!” Pa shouted, gripping the front of Jake’s shirt, and pulling his face close. “I’m your pa and don’t you never talk at me that way. Understand?”

Plotting is probably the most important aspect of writing about anger. That sounds almost laughable--plot your character's anger, but it is extremely important. Through plotting, you develop the events that drive the character forward. Those events determine the character's emotional responses and build the anticipation that keep the reader turning page after page. If effective plotting is in place, the reader knows that the character is either simmering silently and the reader can anticipate a blow up down the road, or the reader knows what motivates the character and how the character will react. Either way, showing your character's anger is challenging but what is a good story without a conflict?

​Happy Writing!




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    Photo bySamuel Ferrara on Unsplash

    Sherry Alexander

    Dreamer, believer, reader, writer

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