Thursday's This & That

Need practical advice to help make money? Carol Tice points us in the right direction in this post, Top Ten Articles for Writers - August 2011.

Doe Branch Ink offers writer's retreats and workshops in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Check out their fall 2011 offerings here.

The Tenth Annual Funds for Writers' Essay Contest offers a first prize of $400. Not too shabby, huh? Deadline to enter is October 31, 2011. Click here for details.

Blogging friend Maria Morgan is part of a group of writers who have launched a new Facebook page called Living by Grace. They're calling it a "modern day meeting at the well kind of experience to foster relationship building while encouraging a closer walk with the Savior." Features include discussions and daily devotionals.

Did you know that Linda Formichelli of The Renegade Writer is also a Personal Fitness Trainer? She is, and she's offering a free one hour personal training session. There is no obligation; Linda just wants honest feedback about the session. Space is limited, so contact her asap. Click here for more details.

Got any new tidbits to share?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Karen

Photo credit: Stock Exchange

Questions, Challenges, & Conferences

In Monday's post, I asked you to share questions that you'd like to ask your favorite author. As always, you came through splendidly, offering fun and unique questions. Here they are:

Wendy wanted to know who their favorite character to write was, and why.

Jennifer S. is interested in writing routines and time frames - how long did the book take to write?

Susan W. wonders about their favorite kind of writing.

Jules asked, "Does the toilet paper roll go over the top or...?" (This really can tell a lot about someone, you know.)

Joylene brings another important one to the table. How does one maintain their faith and keep going after many rejections?

Arlee wants to know, "When is it time to give up on an idea, if there ever is a time?" Robyn voices a similar thought, particularly if the project has years invested in it.

Marja wonders what the biggest struggle in the writing process is.

"What do they do to relax?" Hilary asked something I was wondering too.

Here's another good one. Jennifer B. asks,"If your life could be summed up in a book title, what would it be?"

Warren says, "What do you read? How do you research? How do you keep track of your ideas, thoughts, notes?"

Time management is on Cecelia's mind. She wants to know how they manage to keep it together in this way.

Lisa and Donna are curious about the best writing advice this author has ever received.

"I always like to know what motivates an author to write, as well as their process," says Susan R.

Lydia posed this question, "What writing habit do you have that you think others would benefit in their own writing?"

Carla's curious about how writers balance a small business and their writing.

Cheryl wants to know, "What is the most unusual thing you've done in the name of research?

Terri's looking to find insight on this one. "Did you want to give up often?

Rhonda's thoughts are similar. She wonders how they stay encouraged and fresh, how they hang in there and don't give up.

Angela offered this thought, "A question I'd ask is how much their life changed once they went from writer to author, both how they looked at the industry and their part in it, and how it affected their personal life."

"How much money did you have in the bank when you quit your day job and decided to write full time? Or, did you just take a leap of faith out over the gaping chasm of tomorrow, and trust the Lord?" Good thinking, Jeanette!

Lynn says, "I always like to know how many books the author has written (and in a special place in her closet) before they were published."

What a wonderful list of questions. Thank you all so much! Perhaps this will inspire someone to do an interview...:)


A to Z Challenge

April is the featured month for the A to Z Challenge sponsored by some of my blogging friends. To jump into the fun, stop by the blog of Arlee Bird, Alex Cavanaugh, Jen Daiker, or Stephen Tremp. Challenge begins April 1; it should be a great adventure!

Conference Info                                               

Write to Publish Conference, Wheaton, IL, June  8- 11, 2011

Romance Writers of America, NY, NY,  June 28 - July 7, 2011

American Christian Fiction Writers, St. Louis, MO, September 22 - 25, 2011

Thank You

It's been a great Blogoversary month; thanks for celebrating with me! This week's winner will be posted on Saturday, and then I will be taking a break for a bit. See you on or around April 11.

With all these great questions floating around, are you tempted to contact your favorite author for an interview? If you could interview anyone, living or deceased, who would it be?

Happy weekend,

Karen

Need Ideas? A Conference? A Challenge?

The following is from the Coffeehouse for Writers blog, where I regularly share reviews for the On Our Bookshelves page.  In addition to book reviews, writing advice and other goodies can be found at the Coffeehouse blog. I invite you to check it out. :)

The Writer’s Idea Book

By Jack Heffron

Need ideas? Jack Heffron, former senior editor at Writer’s Digest Books, has a few to share. Four hundred to be exact, if you count each one of the prompts included here. I purchased this book because I wanted prompt ideas to use with writing classes. Its claim, “How to develop great ideas for fiction, nonfiction, poetry and screenplays” far exceeded my expectations. Heffron doesn’t just list a bunch of prompts; he encourages us to think and explore to stretch our skills. Having fun is key, and he further elaborates by sharing the things that help make our writing shine. His philosophy consists of general writing truths that keep those creative juices flowing.

What are these truths? First, we must “show up”. In other words, make time to write. Second, acknowledge the difficulty. Yes, “showing up” on a consistent basis can be hard. Next, joy and gratitude play a part in this equation, and these are a result of the first two truths. Heffron continues by explaining what the enemies of creativity are and talks us through those as well.

The book consists of four parts: Bending and Stretching, Exploring, Finding Form, and Assessing and Developing. Each part’s chapters cover steps to guide us on the creative path, with a liberal sprinkling of prompts. Chapter Eighteen, entitled Of Sonnets and Toasters, for example, discusses “appliance fiction”. Never heard of “appliance fiction”? I hadn’t either, but it’s an interesting way to tie fiction and technology together. Add in related exercises, and you’ve got a great start to fresh writing ideas.

This book is helpful and informative from start to finish, but ideas and prompts can also be sampled and used whenever you like. I’ve used this for teaching creative writing to teens and adults, and for my own writing adventures. It’s a great resource for all genres and levels; I plan on keeping this one around for a long time.


More Conferences


The Inland Northwest Christian Writers conference in Spokane, Washington is scheduled for March 19, 2011. Keynote speaker is Jim Rubart, author of Rooms. Other speakers include Jan Cline and Terri Tiffany. Click here for details.


The "Just Write" conference sponsored by the Missouri Writer's Guild will be held in St. Louis on April 8-10. Love the title!

A Challenge

The ladies over at BooKrushed have issued a challenge. Read 11 books published in 2011, now through December 31, 2011. They invite you to join...And, there are prizes...(I said that in a sing-song voice, could you tell?) For more info, visit the BooKrushed site.

What writing books do you recommend? Which one is your all time favorite?

Happy writing,

Karen

Photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1187357

The Inner Editor

Winner!

Congratulations to Lisa Ricard Claro, the winner of  A Path Less Traveled by Cathy Bryant.  Thanks to all who participated!


The Inner Editor

I was planning an upcoming post to discuss our internal editor, and to see how my writing friends write and edit. Lo and behold, Monday's post, Straight Furrows, generated a few comments along those lines. We're so in tune, you anticipated my next series of questions! No actually, the topic of straight furrows tied in well. Here are a few of your thoughts:

Jennifer Shirk likes to "do editing as I write. Every time I start a new day of writing I go back and re-read what I wrote the day before and usually will end up chopping a lot or tightening sentences."

I like how Linda O'Connell brings nature into play. " I am now at a point where I edit as I go, then once again when I reread. Think of your writing as a flowering bush that requires pruning."

"When I start out on a project I try and make it as clear and polished as I can," says Lindsey Edwards. "Of course I always straighten it out in the end."

So, About That Editor

Does the inner editor hinder us from getting the good words out and letting things flow? If it does, how do we shut it down? Or wait, do we want this sometimes tyrannical, annoying editor to spout off ideas?

Malinda Lo offers suggestions in this post when she defines the difference between the inner editor and the inner critic. Ah, so maybe we're getting it all wrong, and our critic is disguising as an editor. Or vice versa.

Jon Morrow, Associate Editor of Copyblogger, suggests writing a letter to your internal editor. By confronting it, he says, we might shut it down. Well, if not, it makes a good writing prompt...

Wordplay's K.M. Weiland says that we battle this editor because we don't know how to utilize him/her properly. Her post, Embrace Your Inner Editor, explains that we need to turn the "diatribes into lessons for improvement." So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em?

Sometimes I arm wrestle with my inner editor. And sometimes she's off somewhere taking a nap (and I'm totally jealous). It depends on what I am writing. I would however, prefer to call a peaceful truce and work with her, utilizing the benefits and meeting the challenges of the grouchy moments. I am interested in more of your input. Anyone else arm wrestling? Or napping?

 Awards

Rachna Chhabria, of Rachna's Scriptorium kindly passed along the Helping Hand award. Thank you, Rachna! I appreciate it. Rachna's blog offers her insight on writing. She's always got a great conversation going.

At Trying to Get Over the Rainbow, Jules is spreading love and appreciation for her followers with the Pass The Love 2011 Award. Jules and I both live in KY, and connected through blogging. I enjoy her perspective on writing and life. Thanks, Jules!

I'm going to do as Rachna and Jules did, and pass these along to you. Thanks to all of you for lending me a hand, and for being a wonderful and friendly support system!

Contest at Lisa's

Lisa Ricard Claro is having a February Giveaway over at Writing in the Buff. She's celebrating followers and other fun stuff, complete with three great prizes. If you head over and follow, please tell her I sent you. We both gain more entries that way. :)

So tell me, how do you deal with your inner editor? Is it a problem? Does he/she rest quietly while you write, or chatter and fuss until you listen?

Happy weekend,
Karen

Photo credit: Dsoons http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1319321