Monday Motivation - Three Rs

Three Rs:

Read, Relax & Refuel

Perhaps it was the first picture book your mom read to you, an old leather bound version of The Secret Garden you found at your grandma’s or a copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe you borrowed from the library which sparked your desire to write. Every fiction writer has fallen in love with real hard copy books while growing up. From the scent of fresh ink and paper in a brand new book to the softness of well-worn pages and the musty scent of being on a shelf somewhere for a long time, books speak to our longing.

The stories within help us to fall in love with words again, the power they have to create pictures in our imaginations and take us away from the pressures or boredom of daily life. To pick up a good book and read it for an hour can be like a mini-vacation.

There are days when we are discouraged or stuck, when we might even sit and stare at a prewritten outline and find every word we write a chore. While we might able to force ourselves to produce words for a deadline, there are times when we might feel empty and need to put fuel in the tank of imagination and emotion before we can write.

One day a few weeks ago, I was at the local post office, which is around the corner from the public library. So often I’ve looked up books I wanted for research online, only to reserve them and pick them up quickly to be time efficient. That day I decided to give myself the luxury of looking around the library for the fun of it, picking up books to look at . . . just because.

I may have spent only an hour and a half there, but the time relaxing and reading and soaking in the atmosphere of being around books filled me up again with new ideas, more creativity and a renewed desire to handle real books! Yes, I must confess, that I have a Kindle app on my Google pad and it’s wonderful for taking with me and for reading at night, so as not to disturb my light sleeping husband. Stopping to peruse e-book volumes and downloading new books may have the same effect as going to the library. However, that special time at the library helped me remember how I first fell in love with words and stories and books. 

When I still had children at home, taking the time to treat myself to a mocha or a caramel latte at a cafe, while writing in a notebook often gave me the time off I needed. Or I might take a book with me to read. This gave me the chance to refuel as well.  I have often felt that I can’t or shouldn’t take the time to read, relax and refuel.

The reality is that if we don’t take that time, even occasionally, the emotional energy we need to write isn’t there. Taking those needed times out can help you to become a more productive writer when you get back to your laptop.

 

What helps you to relax and refuel for your writing? Please share.

Writing Prompt: He carried the bag of garbage into the alley. Sure he was being followed, he turned and found . . . .

Write a few paragraphs and enjoy the fun of it, incorporating as many senses as you can.

Monday Motivation - The Writing Diet

The Writing Diet

All right, now that I have your attention, let me explain. Unfortunately, I don’t have 

magic formula for helping writers lose weight or I would be wearing those too small clothes which I, ever hopeful, keep jammed in the closet! Now that I think of it, though, writers ought to be able to come up with a way to peddle or walk while they write. I supposed someone out there has already figured it out.  Hmm . . . if they haven’t, I could be thin and rich!

On a more serious note, though, the word “diet” comes, at its origin, from a Greek word which means “a way of life”. This evolved into a prescribed way of eating, which is how we think of a diet. When we do diet, we look at what we eat and add up the calories or perhaps just the value of the food, whether measured in glycemic index or nutrient density. We try to spend a certain amount of time in exercise to boost our metabolisms. As we get older, we have to be more patient to get results, but if we keep going, we find we’ve lost a pound or two and have to keep plugging away to lose more.

Definitely a favorite writing snack.

 In the same way, writing is a way of life. I’ve been adjusting to working outside the home again and likewise have to adjust my writing time. In addition to my blog writing, I have been trying to write something several days a week on my new work in progress. I decided to look back at last week and add up what I’d written on that wip. I had made it to over 2500 words. This week I’ve made a goal to reach at least 3500. Honestly, I would like to have written 2500 words a day, but right now I realize that having ten pages written in a week is better than no pages a week, because I thought I might fail at writing 50 in a week and didn't even try. It’s the long-term goal that helps us find that writing something every day or even every other day adds up to a whole book! Even at 10 pages a week, I would have over 500 pages in a year and that’s more than enough for a whole book. 

It's the big goal broken up into manageable pieces, which we can tackle, that count. 

Celebrate the small victories! Just like I should be happy to lose two pounds, I can celebrate that I am a writer making small steps toward the bigger goal. What small victory in writing do you have to share to encourage your fellow writers?

This week’s writing prompt: Broken shards of pottery were scattered in the field . . .

Monday Motivation - Creative Inspiration at Christmas

Creative Inspiration at Christmas

Inspiration for writing comes in many forms. This time of year we are surrounded by creative inspiration. During the busy and hectic days of the holiday season, it's good to take a break and absorb the wonderful Christmas movies and literature that abound. The following are just a few examples to get you started.

There aren’t many of us who haven’t seen the classic film It’s a Wonderful Life, where George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, learns from an angel named Clarence that the world would be a much worse place if he’d never been born. 

Miracle on 34^th Street appeals to the child in us all. When a kindly old man named Kris Kringle turns up and not only plays Santa at Macy’s, but asserts he is the real Santa Claus, he turns the world of a pragmatic single mom and her little daughter upside down.

Newer classics like Elf and the not so new Home Alone and its sequels continue to charm us. In A Christmas Story, we are treated to a nostalgic look at the early 1950s and laugh every time Ralphie’s desire for a Red Ryder BB gun are thwarted when each adult in his life repeats the well worn phrase, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.”

A Christmas made for TV special from the early 1970s was called The House without a Christmas Tree, about a little girl named Addie, who just wanted to celebrate a normal Christmas. However, her grim, grief-stricken father prohibited such activities since the loss of her mother during the holiday season when she was a baby. I had forgotten that the touching movie had been based on a book, written by Gail Rock and based on her childhood.

If you’re looking for a touching story for you or your children to read, here is a link with
more about the The House Without a Christmas Tree: The Children's Book Blog Christmas Countdown.

The dvd is also available at Amazon or Barnes and Noble, if you prefer to watch it.

But one of the earliest and perhaps the first time bending piece of literature written,  a classic penned by Charles Dickens and made into several film and animated versions, is of course, A Christmas Carol. Skinflint Ebeneezer Scrooge is visited by three spirits sent to teach him that all his money isn’t worth much in light of eternity, if he can’t share with others during his lifetime. The version of this we enjoyed watching the most with our kids was The Muppet Christmas Carol, which while it takes some liberties, stays pretty true to the message of other versions. I have yet to actually read the novella, though I have it on my Kindle app. One of these days . . .

So give yourself a break, sit back with a cup of hot chocolate or tea and curl up with a Christmas book or watch a Christmas movie to fill your imagination up and be inspired!
Maybe you'll be the one to write a classic Christmas story this year.

Enjoy this trailer for The Muppet Christmas Carol and don't forget to enter
December's drawing for a Christmas gift basket filled with books and
goodies. Leave a comment or follow the blog by Dec. 23rd to qualify.

WEDNESDAY WHIMSY

Cat in Captivity

Today is around day number 1,700 of my captivity. I can’t understand why Mom won’t let me run around outside. She always mumbles something about my being too little and there’s a busy road behind us. The chipmunk likes to sit on the back step, outside the door wall and taunt me. And, how I would love to get a run at the birds in the birdfeeder! After all, I can jump pretty high.

Last time Mom took me outside on a nice day a couple of weeks ago, she thought I was playing under a chair, but it gave me just enough leverage to release myself from that harness contraption she keeps me in. I just wanted to eat some grass, stick my nose down the chipmunk’s hole and run around to the front door and see if she would panic and chase me.  Instead, she quietly came through the house to the front door and rattled my food dish. Alas, I was undone by my craving for tiny fish filets in gravy. Mom is wising up. She promised to start that grass planter she brought home from the pet supply store, but she has been procrastinating. That should give me the right to escape outside and nibble on some of the green delicacy.

Does she know how lucky she is to have such a beautiful cat? I suppose I have her and Dad pretty well trained these days. When I jump on the stool by the counter and fuss, she knows I want a treat. And if I whine enough, she might give me my canned food a little early. Also, when I walk into the hall to the laundry room, making distressed noises, she knows I want my litter box scooped. Who cares if she just did it a couple of hours ago? I am awfully cute. Wait a minute—somebody just said something about being annoying. Obviously, they weren’t talking about me.

It seems I will need a nap after all this writing. It’s tough to get enough beauty sleep around here. I have to decide which soft spot to nap in. There are so many. After I get some rest, I’ll finish reading another book. I hope you’ll come back next week to hear about it.  

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, if you leave a comment or follow

the blog, you'll be entered in this month's drawing for a

Barnes and Noble gift card. Thanks for stopping by today.

WEDNESDAY WHIMSY

Lily reviews Miss Fishfly

With a name like Miss Fishfly, what’s not to like? I like eating fish and I like batting at insects. I helped Mom catch an ant the other day and I act like I am going to die of starvation when she opens a can of tuna and won’t share. However, Miss Fishfly is about neither of these things.

Miss Fishfly, a novella by Linda Glaz, is a sweet contemporary romance about two young people dealing with the baggage from their pasts, which they don’t want to carry into the future. Christy Hayes, a hard working nurse, was once deserted by her father and has been looking for love with the wrong kind of guys. Cole Keller, a war hero from a dysfunctional  background, has been betrayed by the one woman he thought he loved.

Both of them are struggling to find something more in their lives, but don’t think God is the answer. They are thrown together by the wedding of their best friends, Aleni and Brice, and again at the bedside of Cole’s dying grandpa. A friendship between Christie and Cole that begs to be more, and the gentle prodding of the God-fearing people in their lives, send the two on a quest for healing and a future that promises more than their pasts.

           

Miss Fishfly is a page-turning, quick read with strong (human) characters and real life situations. It’s a story of hope and healing. Both the hero and heroine have flawed pasts, but also have good qualities, like real people. Christie is caring and sensitive to other’s needs. Cole has a tender spot for children, especially Brice’s stepson, and respect for his Grandpa Hartway. Mom says we should all have a Grandpa Hartway in our lives—someone lovable who imparts the message of God’s grace with truth and wisdom. Personally, I don’t like it when children try to pet me all the time, because I’m so cute, but Mom says I have to play nice. Cole sounds super patient.

           

My only complaint is that this novella is too short! Mom and I would love to read more about Christie, Cole and their families. One other teensy thing—there are dogs in the story. But I will forgive the author this indiscretion at this time and still give Miss Fishfly four paws up. (Besides, don’t tell the other cats, but I kind of like dogs. I rode to Petsmart with one the day Mom and Dad came to adopt me.)

Please leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of Miss Fishfly!

MONDAY MOTIVATIONS

What is Writing, Whimsy and Devotion?

Simply a blog for readers, writers, people who enjoy literary reviews done by

cats and those who like a spiritual lift on the weekend. Your one stop for literature,

fun and faith!

Monday Motivations: Tips and commiseration for writers who need to get

the SOTP in the chair and get writing again. Whether you are stuck, in

need of inspiration or conquering fear to get your words onto the page,

you will find something here.

Wednesday Whimsy: My cat, Lilybits, will be happy to review books,

interview authors or comment on life--usually mine. Though I do reserve

the right to share my own humorous observations at times.

Saturday Spiritual Lift: Short devotional writing to help you look toward

the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ.

This week's Monday Motivation:

There are times when I’m really into my writing, joy flows through me as I place each word on the page and I can’t wait to sit down and write again. But there are some days I find it difficult to keep my derriere glued to the chair. I’m just sure the laundry pile can’t wait any longer and there are people I should call and the layer of dust on the dresser can be left no longer.

My inner editor is a difficult taskmaster, whispering in one ear that I need to write the perfect words. In the other ear she taunts me that I’ll never be great, followed by a sinister laugh. Okay, so I’ve exaggerated about the sinister laugh, but do you have any idea how many times I’ve already changed the previous sentence?

How do I combat that? By telling myself the truth: there’s no way I can write perfectly and that’s okay. I just need to write something—I can always spend time refining and rewriting later. There have been times I’ve used different books like, A Writer’s Book of Days, to help inspire me with ideas and writing prompts just to get things flowing. And prayer is an important element for the Christian writer. Focusing on the One who gives me strength and ideas takes the pressure off of little old me.

What about you? How do you get motivated and press on with your writing?

Okay, this week’s writing prompt picked from the folded papers in one of my currently unused bone china sugar bowls: Take 5-10 minutes to write about: Fresh-baked bread! Just do it! 

Please leave a comment and let me know if writing prompts such as the

one above help you to get started or if there are writing topics you'd

like to see covered.

When you leave a comment and/or follow my blog, you will be entered in

a drawing for an Amazon gift card! 

Thanks for stopping by!