Tag: Darla

  • Emotion for the Masses

    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).

    –

  • Written into a Corner

    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!

    –

  • Creature Care

    Having finished evening pet care, busily scrubbing the sink until it shone, I came to realize that little time is spent on caring for myself.  It’s a common theme among peoples of all situations, but worth addressing.  After all, if we adults don’t care for ourselves, who will?

    And the first to suffer is my inner artist.  That’s something any reader of Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way” knows all too well to be a true shame.  All the same, I’ve succumbed to bad habits and failed to refuel my creative nature.  Time for that to change.

    Never a fan of New Year’s resolutions, for goal setting should never revolve around the calendar, I do intend to change this behavior as soon as possible.  So why not now?  There are plenty of fun projects at my fingertips; just a few minutes of letting my inner kid play would do wonders.

    First, of course, I need to feed the fish.  Oh, well, I hope you’ll join me in doing something fun today!

  • A Haiku for the Day

    New Year
    Robins, Cardinals
    Bright tones against melting snow
    Song brings the New Year
    –

  • Darla’s Recommended Read: The Sound of Many Waters

    Do you enjoy novels that take you on a mysterious, extraordinary journey?  If so, Sean Bloomfield’s first publication is one you definitely want to pick up.  While written in an intelligent way still easy enough to follow without causing brain freeze, this particular trip takes the reader over land and sea, back and forth in time, and even into the human soul.

    I must say it was known to me from the time of download that, unlike many of my Kindle e-books, this plot is not about romance.  Don’t expect to read some simple story about soul mates overcoming all odds to be together.  What you will find in this plot, however, is lots of heart.

    “The Sound of Many Waters” follows two stories through amazing twists and turns, ultimately converging in a way virtually impossible to foresee.  If anyone out there guessed the ending, you have my utmost respect.
    The two tales are intertwined by Spanish gold – one following a Spanish Conquistador who loses everything but begins reclaiming his humanity and the other tracking a modern day fellow with a good heart and extremely rotten luck.  Whether or not you particularly like these very human men, you cannot help being riveted by their ensuing trials, tribulations, and intermittent triumphs.  And the people they meet along the way are entirely tangible, however fantastic or humble his or her role might be.
    I implore you to check out “The Sound of Many Waters”, the first book in many months that I plan to re-read from start to finish.  There is so much delightful symbolism that I want to journey with these characters again, especially knowing what I know now.  And I hope to get friends and family hooked into the tale, with hope of sharing my experience.

    To read the author’s own synopsis, learn more about him, and find a link through which to purchase “The Sound of Many Waters,” please go to SeanBloomfield.com – The Sound of Many Watersand poke around.  You’ll be glad you did.  Happy reading!

  • NaNo; Now What?

    A few days ago, I succeeded in amassing a fifty thousand word rough draft to meet the National Novel Writing Month challenge.  I am grateful to NaNoWriMo creators at the non-profit Office of Letters & Light, as well as members of this blog, for the opportunity and the inspiration that made my creation possible.  With the closure of that November madness, I have relaxed from my frantic writing pace (a bit too much, truth be told – I don’t want to lapse back into a recent state in which I barely wrote at all).

    So, now what goal should I set?  Wise folk have told me it is best to step back from a new WIP, letting the creative mind take a break between the processes of writing and editing.  With that in mind, I incidentally plan to focus initially on writing for blog posts.  One particular endeavor is overdue for a new chapter on a serial story.
    Obviously, posting chapters requires a very different technique from the NaNo rush where no time can be spared to look back.  NaNo is simply a mad rush to produce new material.  Instead of just diving into writing for that blog, I first need to review the chapters so far posted, getting back into the mood of that tale.  I think the distinct change of pace will be most welcome.

    Please wish me luck.  And happy December, all.  May you create in abundance, however you proceed.

  • NaNo No No

    It’s no secret that I’m participating with National Novel Writing Month (NaNo for short).  Sadly, I find myself in a very different place from when I wrote my Writer Wednesday installment for this blog.

    Today I sit at the keyboard wondering why the house is so quiet at 1:30 in the afternoon instead of simply enjoying the fact.  Usually I hear talk radio wafting from the office next door where my husband works from home.  There’s no sound at all, though, and I realize he may be taking a rare nap.

    This realization should make me happy.  After all, he’s not going to disturb my writing if he’s asleep, right?  Instead, I found myself wishing he would knock on my door and ask me to come out to spend time with him and the cats.

    Why is this?  Sure, it’s nice to be wanted but, frankly, the inner critic is telling me to throw in the towel.  The dream sequence idea that so motivated me the other day seems to have taken over.  My most recent story additions consist of nothing more than aforementioned dream sequences, endless sex scenes, or worse yet, a puzzling combination of the two.

    The predicament is actually more funny than truly worrisome, I know.  And this bump in the road should motivate me to jump off in another direction, even if the new tangent makes no sense.  That’s what the motivational messages on the NaNo web page suggest.

    Instead I’m tempted to turn on the television and see what mindless drivel might distract me from my frustration.  And therein lies the “no no” from my blog post title.  Stopping now, just after 2:00 when possibly a crazily productive hour could lie ahead (I typically write until three on a good day), is a rotten idea.

    So, I’m going to wrap this up and jump back into my silly, meandering, but growing manuscript.  Trimming, editing, and overall refined plotting can wait.  There are words to write that have never seen the light of day.  That’s too big an opportunity, some might say even a responsibility, to quit now.

    I hope you’re having a productive day, whatever your endeavor.  Just keep moving forward and you’ll hopefully find yourself advancing to a better place with every step.  Even if your walk only seems to take you backward, I’m rooting for you from my own little path, so hang in there!

  • Darla’s Writer Wednesday – Keeping the Faith

    Today I find myself nearly smack in the middle of National Novel Writing Month.  If you’re a writer, I hope you’re with me.

    This, my third effort, started shakily.  With only a title thought up on a whim, one character that has starred in numerous unpublished short stories, and the vaguest of plot concepts, I fell prey to my biggest failing – editing instead of writing.  The word count floundered, the tale going nowhere as I painstakingly sought the perfect verb for a single sentence instead of pouring forth the paragraphs required to generate fifty thousand words for the month.
    Then yesterday happened.  Dreams from the night before woke me with vivid if nonsensical images.  I wrote what I remembered in my morning pages (like a journal, it’s an exercise recommended by Julia Cameron’s “Artist’s Way” creativity workshop), whether to purge them from mind or record them for posterity, I do not know.
    Still getting an early start after that, I sat at the keyboard with no clue how to continue.  The people on the page meandered through some dialogue when the notion of a dream sequence occurred to me.  I’m sure you know where this is going, but I’ll say it anyway.  Why not use the new material my sleeping mind generated?  I proceeded with my largest daily word count ever.
    The whole sequence might be throw-away material; I don’t know yet.  But knowing I’ve produced something that has never before existed has left me invigorated to keep going.  And as soon as I post this, I’m going to get back into that document and strive forth.

    I’ll say again, I hope you’re with me.

  • A Poem for the Day

    November Has Come
    Glorious autumn attire fades from the trees, greenish gold crisping to brown.
    Periodic cascades of leaves twist and turn their way to the ground, seeming to lose their grip in groups as if afraid to let go alone.
    Fall clouds are bolder, hanging separate from one another, still and aloof under blue infinity.

  • Friday Flash Fiction

    Click below for a quick read befitting the season.  Happy Halloween!

    Darla’s Sand Castles – White Squirrel