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Using Prompts To Expand Your Repetoire

Writer Zen Garden Posted on April 8, 2013 by a.catherine.noonApril 8, 2013

During the month of April, join me at Coffee Time Romance for a free workshop, “Using Prompts to Expand Your Repertoire” and experiment with getting onto the page. Whether you’re a seasoned author or a brand new writer, you’re bound to find something that will spark your creativity.

I have found over the years that it’s fairly easy to find critics. Writing groups full of people who will tear apart what you’ve written are a dime a dozen – and worth about that much. Anyone can tear something apart and it’s always easier to edit than it is to create from scratch. Bullies in sheep’s clothing abound at groups like that and it never ceases to amaze me how new victims seem to fall into their net without much of a struggle.

Harder to find, by far, are the groups whose mission is to catapult people onto the page. Most writing problems are solved by practice. It’s like the old saying goes: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice!” Prompts are one way to do that. We can experiment with story ideas, scene concepts, new ways of describing things, all in short spaces without pressure. Writing prompts are generally short and not meant to be used for anything “real” – though it’s been my experience that one can be surprised by a diamond in the rough if one is open to trying new things.

If you’ve been wanting to get back onto the page, or don’t have any clue what a prompt is but are intrigued, I hope you’ll join me over at Coffee Time Romance this month. It’s free and all you have to lose is your writing block.

Write on!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A. Catherine Noon, Coffee Time Romance, Writing

Writer Wednesday – Using Prompts to Expand Your Repertoire

Writer Zen Garden Posted on April 3, 2013 by a.catherine.noonApril 3, 2013

In celebration of Spring, I am teaching a free workshop on “Using Prompts to Expand Your Repertoire” at Coffee Time Romance this month.  All during the month of April we will play with new and tried-and-true tools for getting, and staying, on the page.  I hope you’ll join me!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A. Catherine Noon, Coffee Time Romance, Rachel Wilder

Can You Spare Some Change?

Writer Zen Garden Posted on March 19, 2013 by a.catherine.noonMarch 19, 2013
I’m writing this post two days late because I forgot when it was due.  Unfortunately, the online calendar I relied upon to keep track has been dismantled, the domain name now up for grabs.  It’s just a modern example of the inevitability of change.

Change and I have never been friends.  I tend to stick in ruts rather than forging a new path.  My life would probably be very different but for simple events that led me here, plodding along in their wake.

Oh, I make cosmetic changes, for sure.  I’ve gone through various phases, from conservative to goth in dress and attitude; exchanging talk shows for alternative rock on the radio.  The important matters, however, such as where to work and live, have been dictated by chance.

There have been no big dreams I took a chance on trying, just jobs found through temporary agencies and a house that limited the resulting commute.  Even my pets, whom I love dearly, have been virtually (in one case, literally!) dropped in my lap as strays.  It’s pretty sad, in retrospect.

But, on the bright side, I’m not dead yet.  Maybe there is a butterfly inside this shell, waiting for the right time to break free from its cocoon.  And despite temperatures in my boring, landlocked suburban neighborhood, the old fashioned wall calendar I’m looking at announces Wednesday as the first day of spring.

What better time to spread my wings?  Now if I can only figure out in which direction to fly.  I’ve never been a migratory creature.  Wish me luck.

–

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Darla, Goals, Motivation, Reflections

1.00am

Writer Zen Garden Posted on March 8, 2013 by a.catherine.noonMarch 8, 2013

drawn to the edge of specific gravity
from which liquid mystery
emanates exotic fragrance
known to call a man down
to the deep of depths
beyond the wilderness of loneliness
past the advance of caring –
lest you be drowned in desire
for want of love.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Poetry

Writer Wednesday – Pluggin’ Along

Writer Zen Garden Posted on March 7, 2013 by a.catherine.noonMarch 7, 2013

Yes, for those more astute among you, today is not Wednesday.  That was yesterday.

This should maybe give you a clue as to my week, eh?

So.  Lessee.  Today’s topic is Writer Wednesday, wherein we share our ideas and thoughts about writing.  I wanted to post today to make the point that sometimes, when we drop a ball, just picking it up and throwing it anyway has merit.  There’s a lot to be said for pluggin’ along.

If you’re not familiar with the phrase, here’s a definition at the Free Dictionary.  Simply put, it means doing satisfactorily; but I also take it to mean plugging away like a slow but steady steamship, chugging up a river.  Just point the nose and let the engine run.

This has served me well in several large marathon-like projects, such as writing a novel or weight loss. Anything where we are prone to fall off the wagon and throw in the towel.  Rather than give up, just get up and keep going – even if you’re a day late.  Sometimes, winning the race isn’t about who gets there first.  It’s about getting up one more time than you fell down.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A. Catherine Noon, Writer Wednesday

A Haiku for the Day

Writer Zen Garden Posted on March 5, 2013 by a.catherine.noonMarch 5, 2013

Aftermath

Bright white, blinding light
Drifting, clinging, bending boughs
March snows dress the earth
–

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Darla, Haiku, Poetry

Emotion for the Masses

Writer Zen Garden Posted on February 19, 2013 by a.catherine.noonFebruary 19, 2013

It’s common knowledge that emotions show unconsciously in our body language.  In jurisdictions practicing wise policy, police officers and their ilk receive training to translate this instantly, enabling life saving reactions to armed suspects about to shoot – or not.  Human beings transmit these signals from our faces to our very feet depending upon the circumstance.

So ingrained, these reactions show even when there is no one present to read them.  I realized this in a unique way yesterday.  A mild skin irritation between my eyes would hurt whenever I made certain expressions, and this happened frequently while reading a newly purchased book.
This author drew me to experience the various highs and lows, the shock or joy or sorrow, right along with her characters.  That immersion, this ultimate escapism, is what draws me to fiction.  Hence I’m reminded why I enjoy writing.
I want to pull others out of their reality.  Heck, even when penning something private I gleefully submit myself to the sentiments and passions within the words.
These are, of course, the same reasons we listen to music and look at works of art.  I sincerely thank those who’ve moved humankind through the ages and look forward to what comes in the future.
Meanwhile, may you discover something today that transcends your spirit from the daily grind.  Or, perhaps you will craft it yourself!  Now, time to dust off my muse and get busy, right after I search out another book by this particular author (and leave praise of her craft while I’m at it).

–

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Darla, Motivation, Reflections, Writing

Written into a Corner

Writer Zen Garden Posted on February 5, 2013 by a.catherine.noonFebruary 5, 2013
I have several stories that have never been completed.  As the title of this post suggests, I essentially wrote myself into a corner.  The problem returned to mind when I completed the following word game with my partner:

We ended up with this interesting corner-to-corner design but were unable to play all the tiles availed to us for the game.  I found it uniquely frustrating, as well as reminiscent of the backlog of tales languishing on my hard drive.  It even escapes me as to who won this round of the game.  I’d prefer to play to the bitter end, either ending up with unused tiles or leaving my partner with them, ultimately using every letter rather than hitting the “pass” button again and again.

So how do I work toward that goal in writing?  How do I complete these unfinished stories?  If I really don’t mind a bitter end as mentioned above rather than “happily ever after”, the sky’s the limit.  Right?

The first step is to quit beating myself up.  To look at the whole catalog and mark each unfinished title as a failure will only freeze my willingness to fix any of them.  Instead, I intend to pick one example and pinpoint what caused me to stop writing.

I know one of my weaknesses is in action sequences.  One story in particular comes to mind where the hero and heroine are about to meet their latest nemesis.  Then everything just stopped for fear I would only ruin what came before.

Perhaps it’s time to find help in that regard by seeking out writing exercises or even just reading a good action scene I admire.  The important thing is to try.  And for some months I’ve been too intimidated by the inner critic to begin.  I’ve been paralyzed from even reading these works in progress.

Maybe I should ignore what came before, thereby avoiding my inevitable edit mode, and pick up where things left off.  The results might bring a surprising success.

I hope you are not like me and aren’t letting anything hold your creativity back.  Let’s go make art!

–

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Darla, Goals, Writing

Up in the Air

Writer Zen Garden Posted on January 29, 2013 by a.catherine.noonJanuary 29, 2013

I wanted to share with you some recent photographs I took while flying across the country to visit Rachel.  Many of the pictures don’t seem like pictures of land, more like textures or maybe even baked cookies on a sheet.  What do you see?

I am thinking of sending this one in to Southwest, actually.  I love the way it came out.  You can see the horizon-line starting the sunrise.  The sun is over the plane on the right, as though it’s over my shoulder.

I love this.  It looks like waves or something.

Somewhere between Colorado/Utah.  Looks like the moon.

Fuzzy horizon (actually think this goes with the first shot, just without the airplane wing).

I’ve always wondered, do the squares down there form by roads, or just natural contours of the land?

Clouds or landforms?

Clouds?  Snow?  Water?  All of the above?

This looks unlike land, to me; maybe a map?  Frosted cookies?

More sugar-frosted brownies.  You can see those lines I mentioned above much more clearly in this image.  Map lines?  Aliens?  Roads?  Elephants?

I have always loved planes.  This is the back-end of the jets on the wing.

More mountains.  Haze in the air as the sun cuts across it.

Much less snow here.  Utah, methinks.  The plane wing is more shadowed, I think we changed direction and are headed a little more northwest.

Forest with the line of snow.

There’s just almost a rainbow in the right side of the picture.  Weird how the camera interacts with the double-pane glass of the airplane window.

Almost looks like clouds, but I think that’s actually snow.  Interesting, since the snow indicates elevation but the whole ground looks like it’s mountains of the same height.

This looks like meringue, no?

My knitting project with my notes.  (You know I had to get knitting in here SOMEwhere, right?)

This is me playing around with the “effects” on my phone.  This one is the vignette setting.

Looks like cloud froth, but is actually snow.

This looks like ocean waves, but is actually mountains, valleys, and some cloud formation.

This is the “negative” effect on my phone.  (Who knew negativity could look so cool, eh?)

More meringue.  Anyone getting hungry for pie?

What do you see?

—
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
– E.E. Cummings

My links: Blog | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | LinkedIn | Pandora
Knoontime Knitting: Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Ravelry
Noon and Wilder links: Blog | Website | Facebook
The Writer Zen Garden: The Writers Retreat Blog | Forum | Facebook | Twitter
Team Blogs: Nightlight | Nightlight FB Page | Beyond the Veil | BtV FB Page | LGBT Fantasy Fans and Writers | LGBTFFW FB Page
Publishers: Samhain Publishing | Torquere Press

Check out BURNING BRIGHT, available from Samhain Publishing.
Check out EMERALD FIRE, available from Torquere Books.
Check out “Taking a Chance“, part of the Charity Sips 2012 to benefit NOH8, available from Torquere Books.
Watch for COOK LIKE A WRITER, coming February 2013 from the Guerrilla Chicks.
Watch for TIGER TIGER, coming July, 2013, from Samhain Publishing.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A. Catherine Noon, Art, Noon and Wilder, Photography, Rachel Wilder

Spot the difference

Writer Zen Garden Posted on January 20, 2013 by a.catherine.noonJanuary 20, 2013
This post is in response to Ways of Seeing.

#1 taken Saturday 19th early afternoon
 
#2 taken Sunday 20th 8.15am
 
#3 taken Sunday 20th 5.45pm

The request is for mundane photos, and these sure do fit. I decided on these because of some interesting photographic possibilities and that gorgeous Peppercorn tree is right opposite our driveway! 

Let me know what you see, if anything.  🙂

love,
Eaton

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Photography, Ways of Seeing

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