The little one is starting school tomorrow. A whole new chapter of my life will open up. I will be free to write in the mornings. I am focusing on being adamant about this. Send her off, sit down and write, pick her up. She'll only be gone for two and a half hours, but that's much more time than I have now for my craft.
I took her to an educator's supply/book/gadgets store today and, while she was enjoying the cornucopia of toys/games/things, I was reading a teacher study guide for Fifth Grade writing.
I didn't know half of what these children are learning today. I had to laugh because many of the teaching tools in the book are the very same that I have been hearing at conferences.
Now, don't get me wrong, I think conferences are great, but this book was under $10 US. I pay a lot more than that for conferences.
The gist of the matter was: set yourself a time everyday for writing; find yourself a place to write; be firm with yourself and write.
The book also taught about voice and story arc and all sorts of wondrous information. I bought it for myself. I never learned about voice or story arc or POV, even though I took college writing classes. Never, in the years prior to college, did my other schools teach anything about writing. We read and discussed what the writer was getting at. None of the tools to do it myself.
Glad children are learning now. Needless to say, my little one will definitely know these things. I'm learning them and am going to pass them along.
PS - I finally figured out how to get the stuff in my footer to appear. :)
When I entered my WIP in a contest both judges complained about my POV. They were right. I had not figured it out on my own, but the comments made it very clear. I've done some studying up since, and my POV is heaps better. :-) I'm actually finding it fun, deciding who has the most to lose in the scene.
ReplyDeleteLOL. I think a lot of us had the same problem. My first book had at least SIX points of view, all within sentences of each other. Insane, but fun!
ReplyDeleteThat, though, is why I started writing 'Blue.' It was an exercise in learning POV - I focused on one character and kept it that way. After I got into the story, and the main character and I became friends, I couldn't stop writing. There was a message that had to be shared.
Writing it well will get the message out, hopefully!