writercises | Entries tagged with writing life

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 3 August 1994

[just for clarification--I started to write this about July 14th. I don't even remember what the point of the argument then was, but it may still be topical, current, and not totally out of date...]

Notes on Flame Bores...
or:
How to Waste Bandwidth and Irritate Everyone

On the networks, flame baiting (posting something deliberately provocative) and flame wars are often dismissed, ridiculed, and prohibited--and far too common.

There is an underlying cycle in these cataclysmic amusements that seems to occur here (also on other network groups, but we're mostly interested in this group). This cycle runs something like:

1. Many, many submissions, crits, and other "writerly" pieces flying (this seems to be a precondition)

2. Someone posts something--a bit provocative, a bit witless, or something. (Note that this often is a posting which would pass by without comment or with very little notice on any other day of the year)

3. For some reason (often inexplicable), someone else responds with a touch of acidity or bitterness. Not especially harsh, but perhaps a bit stronger than the provocation seems to require. Often the response is fired off rapidly after writing it, without much consideration to toning down the irritation.

4. The world goes nuts. Personal attacks, grandstanding, sweeping generalizations, and all the other fallacies and befuddlements come whooshing out of whatever closet they normally are locked in. This is the classic "flame bore" syndrome seen on so many lists.

[This is usually the point where we can really identify the original post as "flame bait." In many cases, it is really a pretty innocent posting--somehow the timing, situation, and other factors have turned a minor irritant into a major trigger.]

5. [patent-pending step found here on WRITERS] Humorous seltzer bottles, laborious sandtraps of illogical analogies, and other patent-pending methods of extinguishing the blazes (or at least burying them under words) are deployed by those members of the list who manage to avoid falling under the influence of the expanding whirlpool of emotive distress. This is relatively unique on the networks. It works surprisingly well--most of our blazes get damped down in a very short time compared to some of the hotheaded conflagrations visible on other lists. Typically avoids the worst of number 6...

6. [common result on many lists] At this point, there is often a slide into flaming exits, calls to "true writers" for some kind of crusade, and other diversionary hazards. Very dangerous, although sometimes the explosive effects do disperse the original minor flickers at the expense of more major damages. (There is a certain grim irony in this step, as step one almost ensures that the "flame bore" starts as a very minor part of current postings).

Not particularly amusing, but I do see this repeated cycle in postings on the list.

My advice to everyone: Hang on when you see one starting and (as far as possible) ignore the flaming bores. Do watch for the occasional sparkling bit of writing or other wonderful fireworks display touched off by the flaming bores, but be careful playing with the embers, as they may burn your fingers.

Current Mood: muddy

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 30 November 2007

Ha, ha, ho, ho, a meme indeed.

Over here at
http://jamesmaxey.blogspot.com/2007/11/five-things-ive-learned-about-writing.html James Maxey ponders the question of five things he's learned about writing.

And in a show of comradery, he's asked some friends to write up the same notion. One, Andy Remic, has posted his five points already over at http://andyremic.blogspot.com/2007/11/5-things-ive-learned-about-writing.html

Another, Lisa Shearin (with a new book at http://www.lisashearin.com/ ) seems to be doing it in five parts. Part one is up at http://www.lisashearin.com/2007/11/5-things-ive-learned-about-writing-part.html

It strikes me that this is an interesting exercise. Imagine, if you will, that you have been asked to formulate what you have learned about writing in five easy pieces (wasn't that a movie?). Or five steps to the novel? Or five somethings, leastwise.

Let me think - and you do the same, then we can compare notes!

write?
tink
(Let's see, five? That's one hand worth, eh? So the sound of one hand clapping?)

Current Mood: memed

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 19 November 2007

Quoting Ben:

[clip]
> How does one handle the enormous word counts?
[snip]

Hi, Ben.

I've been thinking about that question of how to handle lots of words.

I kind of think the real answer might be like the one about how to eat an elephant - one bite at a time. So then the question is how do you divvy up the pile?

There's some different answers to that one, and like Kipling's ways to sing the tribal lays, they are all right. So look for what works for you. Plenty of people find a deadline, a quota, a goal of some kind works for them. Show them the goal and stand back, because they're off and running. That's more or less what the nanowrimo challenge does unless you add a bit to it.

There are also plenty of people who are more regular nibblers. They may not be too comfortable with a huge overhanging goal, but ask them to do a short story every week, an exercise on Fridays, or some other regular task, and they'll get it out week after week without missing. Set up a blog or website to collect that stuff and before you know it, they've got a respectable pile of stuff.

Sometimes you can take one of these and translate it into the other. That's really why I think it's important to take the 50K in a month and look at it as 12.5K a week or a mere 1,666 words a day. They may be mathematically identical, but in terms of emotional commitment, they are often very different.

Or toss in the weekend breaks or whatever makes it fit your life. Or you may be more comfortable with a number of hours, a list of scenes or topics, or some other way of carving that old elephant into bites that fit your dentures. When I teach project management, I usually point out that one of the most important measures of a work breakdown structure is whether it makes sense to you, and that's really what we're talking about. Take one skewer of grilled meat a day, and that oliphaunt doesn't look nearly as scary!

In fact, I've recently pulled this trick on a student here who is writing a paper. See, he told me that the paper is due on February 7, so there was lots of time. I asked him to make a list of the steps that he needed to go through to have the paper ready. He looked a little puzzled, but fairly quickly had a list of nine or 10 things. And I suggested that we start at the deadline and work our way back. So final review by the companies might take - oh, say two weeks. And this would take a week or so. Oh, let's skip the New Year season, since that's when everyone will disappear. And . . . suddenly we were looking at needing to start last week in order to get the paper done in time (and we don't have slack in that schedule yet - I think we're going to be in trouble). Anyway, having those intermediate little inch-pebbles helps quite a few of us keep on track.

There's also a group of folks who do a fine job of planning, Might be note cards, character sheets, or one of the design-a-story programs, but they work through their outline/design in some detail first then get into filling out the structure they have drawn up.

I've recently seen Lois McMaster Bujold describing her approach. She says she keeps an outline from the beginning but it is very sketchy, and as she writes, she also fills in the outline and modifies it. She said she probably has as many words in the final outline as in the novel.

Incidentally, I think an important piece is learning how to change up. For example, I am way too likely to get stuck in the research part of articles I am writing - I love digging through the literature and doing little summary papers. I really have to cut myself off and go back to writing the paper, putting together a structure, filling it in, and then smoothing out the whole thing. I have trouble cutting out the extra neat stuff that is really irrelevant, too. Non sequitur is my Achilles heel. I have learned, to some extent, the usefulness of changing formats. Written text, power point slides, and for real brainstorming, I like a big white board. Shifting back and forth when working can help you see the big picture and all those little details, too.

(I also keep side notes, both on paper and in files, of those extra ideas and stuff. Somehow jotting those down gives me the freedom to set them aside for now, instead of having them chew up my attention. And sometimes I even remember later to look at them. Good fodder for quick little followup pieces!)

I guess what I'm saying is to start with an approach that feels comfortable for you, whether that's free writing or carefully laid out writing, but don't be afraid to shift gears as you go along. Maybe you find yourself a bit off track and need to do some surveying and map work before the next step, or maybe you hit an inspiration and want to take off and write while the words are flowing - do it!

Sorry, this isn't a nicely bundled short answer. I'm not sure there is a short answer. Maybe find a hint over in that song about "life's a dance that you learn as you go, as" and writing, the reflection of life in an inky pool, well,
it takes a dash of that spirit too?

Hope something in here helps.

Current Mood: nibbling

mbarker.livejournal.com

Just for the fun of it

Writer's Digest, August 2004, page 16, suggests that you might be a writer if:

You include an SASE with all correspondence -- even letters to your mother.
You can't resist pointing out grammatical errors in restaurant menus.
Your wife says she'll kill you if you whisper, "That was the end of the first act" during a movie one more time.
You can recite return postage rates for London, New York, Los Angeles and Guam.
In a house fire, you'd save your copy of Writer's Market, then your grandmother's jewelry.
During church sermons, you find yourself thinking, this could be tighter.
You couldn't balance a checkbook if your life depended on it, but your submission log is cross-referenced three different ways and goes back to 1986.
You decide four sentences into any novel that the author is inept.
You fall in love based on proper use of syntax.
When your family suggests a Disney World vacation, you say, "How about stopping on the way to see the farmhouse where Walt Whitman was born?"
You feel sex ranks a distant second to the sensation of holding a felt-tip pen in your hand.
Your answering machine says, "Hi, I'm not here right now. Please leave a query and a synopsis of your proposed message, and I'll let you know whether to call back."
When you nail a sentence, you're pretty sure you know how Moses felt parting the Red Sea.

So what's your favorite expression of the writing life? You might be a writer if . . .

Finish that phrase. Come on, you know you want to. You might be a writer if . . .

Current Mood: snark
Current Music: Silver Bells, Dean Martin

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 22:55:23 EDT

I think I'd call this a ramble? or maybe it's a bramble, a thicket of meaninglessness?

Since it is possible that some of you don't read the weekly FAQ, (I know that it may be hard to believe, but I'm sure there are a few who don't peruse every puerile pucker of that oft-repeated post) allow me to pull this out and post it for your pleasure.

I'm not sure quite what to make of this, but I do like it, I think.

Comments?

tink

+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=
The Springs of Writing

Sometimes, out tramping around on a mountainside, with the crack of a twig underfoot and all the other fine sensual awakening that seems to be part of celebrating the out-of-doors, you may come across a spring. A tiny ripple of water, perhaps not even that so much as a soaking, but a place where the earth lets go of the water again, and it begins.

I love to stop and think about where that little spring is going. The drops of water, seeping out, touching me, and then slowly passing on to...

Sometimes, of course, you'll find larger, clear springs, pushing up forcefully, and sweeping away obstructions.

But no matter where the springs start, after a while the tiny drips and great gushers join, form streams, laughing, chuckling along, feeding the bushes and trees, alive with insects and fish.

And rain falls, adding muddy roils and softer plink-plink-plink touches, criss-crossing, draining tastes of new growth and ancient mold into the mix, wandering here and there...

Sometimes snow melts, or ice CRACKS and shakes, spins, softens, and adds its weight to the rushing waters...

Here a pond collects the tastes of many streams, the runoff of the hills, the silt of fields growing, and provides a place for spirits to cool and calm, listening to the burp of frogs diving into the depths, the soft rustle of grass growing, the quiet of a summer evening...

Down centuries of time, across chasms of cultural division, from momentary leaves of today's crops, the waters roll. Fine streams, heavy flood waters, grinding, bursting, laving and washing the best and the worst...

When the shower touches you, you can put your head down and trudge through the mud, angry at the weather...

Or...

You can lift your face to the wonder, search for the promise of the rainbow, and laugh into the rain, into the thunder, into the lightning

as the waters mix again, meeting, parting, on their way to the ocean of life through the rivers and streams, the dams and meanders, the wandering and late-night tears...

all in the waters of writing.

Whether you want to just wash your hands, or maybe dip your head in and refresh yourself, or even dive in and be baptised into the depths of that life, feel free. And let your own springs gurgle forth, adding that fine clear flavor of yourself to the mix.

The waters will return, in time.

The gentle rains, the fierce riptides of the ocean, the hidden aquafers that wet the footing of all lands...the ebb and flow of waters, the ebb and flow of writing...

and the moon holding sway over all.

A muse of rain, perhaps...
+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=

Current Mood: morning

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 09:24:01 EST

From Organize Yourself by Ronni Eisenberg...
(p. 6) "Some of the reasons people procrastinate are the following:

They feel overwhelmed. This usually happens when there is an overload of information or too many details
They overestimate the time needed. They think the task is too time-consuming, that it will take _forever_. A variation of this is thinking that they have forever to finish something.
They'd rather be doing something else. Anything seems better than what awaits them.
They think that if they wait long enough, it will go away. The project will be cancelled; the appointment postponed, and so forth.
They want to do it perfectly. People often fear turning in a report or finishing a project because they worry about failing on 'judgment day.' They delay until the last minute, and then if it doesn't measure up, they say, "Oh, I would have done better if I'd had more time."
They don't want to assume responsibility. After all, if they never complete the project, no one will hold them responsible.
They fear success. If they complete something and succeed, whill they be able to continue to life up to that standard? How will others relate to them once they are successful?
They say they enjoy the last-minute adrenaline rush. Often people feel that they do their best work 'under pressure.' What they fail to remember are the times when they had a terrible cold or there was a family emergency during the time they had intended to devote to the project."

Eisenburg goes on to suggest that you identify your reasons for procrastinating.

1. Which situations generally cause you to procrastinate? What types of situations? What price do you pay for the delay? When you finally do the work, what gets you going (deadline? reward? outside pressure?)
2. When you find yourself procrastinating about something specific, consider: What about this causes conflict for you? What are you avoiding? If you delay, what will happen? If the question really is _when_ to do it, ask yourself if it is worth paying the price of the delay?

(whoops, that wasn't the right one...let's try this one...)

How to be organized: in spite of yourself by Sunny Schlenger and Roberta Roesch

(this might be the one?) They list ten (10!) operational styles, five time, five space:

Time: hopper, perfectionist plus, allergic to detail, fence sitter, cliff hanger
Space: everything out, nothing out, right angler, pack rat, total slob

(darn, that's a reasonably good one too, but it isn't the one I was thinking of...I don't think I'm going to find it right now, so let's just yackity-yack about it, okay?)

Somewhere, someone had the notion that various people work best with various kinds of goal setting. Some folks thrive with deadlines...keep their feet to the fire and they love it! (not me, but I have known people who really did work best that way) Others prefer the slow steady drop of water, timing the minutes, hours, and days of their appointed rounds...i.e., give them a time-based schedule to keep, and they are steady workers putting in their hours. Yet others prefer piece-work thumping: setting a quota (words, pages, scenes, etc.) per (day|week|month) works well for them.

There may have been more variations, but those are the ones I remember: deadline, scheduled time each day, production quota per day.

I recommend contemplating your navel (being honest with yourself, maybe experimenting a bit--oh, and get the fuzz out, too) as a way to decide which one works for you. Don't dive into it, just consider which one you think works best, and try it for a while...if it doesn't seem to be working, switch!

I also strongly recommend giving yourself room--you need to slow down sometimes. You need to leave yourself the "breathing" times when you put the current piece on the back shelf and let the umbilicus that ties you to it fade away...so that you can look at it afresh and clean up those embarrassing blotches, confusions, and tangles that slipped in when you were too close to see them. You need to allow for Murphy--you thought you were going to work on this over the last weekend before you needed it? And your favorite relative just flew into town...

(interjectively, while contemplating the umbilical knotting, the omphalos around which the generations churn, consider this--time can be considered in many ways, including the notions of being late, procrastinating, etc., but also including the notion that you can neither gain time nor lose it--you are always at the present, not one second sooner or later. I.e., you have 24 hours every day at your disposal--but you can't squeeze one extra second out of that allotment nor can you force one extra iota of time into it to do something extra. So use the now well, but accept that you can only do so much...and don't forget to watch the clouds sometimes, as they dance for you! consider the metaphors of time, and which ones you choose to honor and obey.)

Or, of course, you could try something like this...

Delay of the Land

Procrastination is the game,
Dilatory takes the blame,
But speed kills,
haste makes waste, and
Time fled when you were
n't
having fun.

Don't kill time,
embrace it.

[well, that's helped me avoid doing whatever I was supposed to be doing for a while... hope it helps you, too :]

Current Mood: procrastination
Current Music: What Might Have Been, Little Texas

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Sat, 15 Jan 1994 18:35:02 JST

From Writer's Digest, January 1994, p. 6 - an article about Thom Jones (1992 O. Henry award winner, etc.)

A couple of years ago, Jones says, he got "sick and tired" of being rejected. "I felt like, 'I've got nothing to lose. I'm just going to write what I want to write. I'm going to write a story that I'd like to read.' As soon as I did that, things changed."
...
Then, on a whim, he submitted it [his award winning story - rejected by the literary journals and small press] to _The New Yorker_. "I thought I might as well be rejected by them, too," he recalls. Instead, the magazine accepted the story, and Jone's career was launched.

[my note - he had been writing for 30 years without publication! with an 8 year "block" from despair!]

Moral (Let me pound that point home!): KEEP WRITING! NEVER ASSUME YOU CAN'T CRACK THOSE TOP MARKETS! It does happen.

(ya gotta believe!)
tink

Current Mood: focused
Current Music: The Race Is On, Sawyer Brown

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting: Fri, 29 Jan 1993 16:41:41 JST

Peter, jbutcher, and Karen Lowe (at least),

First for Peter and jbutcher...

- To be honest, I was hoping for that as well as information about
- potential occupational opportunites, the writing market, etc. Is this
- kind of thing normally discussed on here?
-
- I'm interested in the writing market and how to go about getting something
- published, or what the best approach to take is with publishers/magazines/
- newspapers...I don't think I've seen anything on this list yet that addresses

Jane said...
- All you need to do is ask, and I guarantee SOMEONE will
- respond (whether it's what you want to hear or not).

I guess I qualify as SOMEONE, so let me bend your eyes for awhile:-)

I'm fairly sure the serious folks have gotten back to you. I hope so, because I certainly am interested in these questions, and am (possibly) more out of touch with the markets than you are.

You may know all this, but I can suggest you visit your library or bookstore (cripes, you have easy access to both of those with LOTS of English language books *envy*) and look carefully at Writer's Digest books - there's a big hardcover each year (Writer's Market), plus recently a stack of paperbacks for specialties. Despite drawbacks that someone will likely point out, that's probably the best general reference. They also put out a monthly magazine "Writer's Digest", and there's "The Writer" and at least one more whose name I cannot recall which you can usually find in Walden's or B. Dalton's magazine racks.

If the serious folks have something they send by email in answer to questions like this and are on bitnet, could you send me a copy, too?

This next part isn't really answers, more a series of questions I've wrestled with in regard to my writing. I hope they might help you think about "the market".

Now, I'm going to start with a funny question - are you just interested in being published, or do you want money too? I think it makes a significant difference in the markets you're looking at as to how you answer that.

Let me add one more odd question - do you insist on your article (story, poem, etc.) being published exactly the way you wrote it or can the editor change the title, rewrite the lead-in paragraph, and otherwise fit your work to their needs? How you answer that question also affects your markets.

Let me give you an example - (blatant self-plug follows) - if you look at the January 1993 issue of IEEE Software in the book reviews, you'll find a piece with my name on it. I get "paid" with two copies and the book I review (actually, with computer book prices what they are, that's not bad pay:-). But - the editor wrote the lead-in using something I had in mine, and she's never used any of my titles. She also hacked it again, even after I'd seen the approval copy. Not that I'm objecting - we've done this before, and she knows I'm not a stickler about it. In fact, her headlines are much better than my proposals, and she's trying to juggle text, ads, and noisier writers into a product against a deadline, so I don't argue when she makes last-minute changes. In fact, she's told me that's one reason she likes to use my pieces - because I do understand the kind of work she's doing, and let her do it.

The editor also enjoyed that piece because I used an extended metaphor - I said the author reviewed the field of email, and then I talked about him showing us the flowers, cow patties, and other things. Not your ordinary boring technical review, and in the cover I carefully made sure she understood that if she didn't like it, I would redo the piece.

You might say - that's non-fiction, just a book review, that's different. You should read "Grumbles From the Grave" by Robert Heinlein. This is the collected history of an "established writer" trying to get fiction published - a fascinating insight.

And yet another question to help point your self-searching - do you insist on writing fiction or non-fiction? Do you have a specific genre or specialization that you just have to be published in, or is your drive more generous with you? Again, the answer affects how you look at and attack the market.

Oh, one other very off-beat question - do you insist on having your name on your writing? Suppose the editor puts your name on some things, but leaves it off some? Or suppose the editor puts someone else's name on pieces you've written? These are critical questions, especially if you get into some of the newspaper markets.

If you don't mind doing non-fiction (you shouldn't, it's a good field and helps pay the way for many other pursuits), here are some entryways I know that used to be fairly generous - book reviews in many professional magazines (it helps if you work in that field - and then they give you books to read!), small newspapers (weeklies, etc.), your local political office/church/other social group... During grad school, I also wrote a stack of press releases which the PR people happily distributed for me. No name, no pay, and the newspapers tended to rewrite or cut like crazy, but sometimes I could tell where my words had gone. Note that these are largely zero or negative in terms of pay, but they give you practice and help build your clip book. They are also almost entirely non-fiction.

OK, Karen. I've been following the other pieces, but I wanted to comment on this...

- I'm interested in the "Rinky-Dink" Society. Personally, I usually get a
- decent response from my poetry, but am unable to compete with current
- popular forms of poetry. You may have noticed my "Victorian Poetry". I've
- decided to go the Emily Dickinson route, write tons of stuff, publish a few
- and tell the "official" critics to take a flying leap, their grandchildren
- will love my stuff. ;-) Karen Lowe.

whoa! wait a minute. "unable to compete with current forms of poetry"? Karen, I'm the bloody fool around here, you certainly beat my doggerel hands down. You even know what Randy's caesurus are, apparently.

I suppose you mean you don't think you'll make Redbook, or whatever the main mass market pub's are now? I doubt very much if my stuff (poetry, story, or non-fiction) will ever hit that kind of market, but is it important?

I'm afraid I take a little different approach to writing. I don't think there are "winners" per se, in the sense that there is one champ, with everyone else ranked below them. As in certain martial arts and other fields, the question is whether you executed your art as well as you could or not, no matter how other people look at it. Do you really think that the vast majority of marathon racers compete to win? Or do they run against themselves, whether alone or in the midst of others?

Here, do me a favor, would you? Write yourself a poem on the theme of the runner (swimmer, writer, whatever you like) whose only purpose is their own pleasure, and the feelings they have when one day someone stops them and says "You came in first". The unconscious, surprised winner, shall we say? Then, if you like, I'd enjoy reading it.

Karen, I think poets perhaps more than any other branch of writing need to forget about the normal measures for societal accomplishment. You know the plot, at least for artists - starve in a garret, beg, borrow, and steal to let themselves produce their own art in their own way. The rare comedy goes that they are discovered in the nick of time and become rich and famous. The far more common tragedy is that discovery comes too late. And the even more common reality is that (a) they manage to support themselves relatively well, usually doing something else and (b) they make the time and do what they like and (c) they make their own "discovery".

Heck - take several of your poems, and make some copies of them. Go down to your supermarket and find the manager. Point out to him (or her) that bulk natural food cereals don't have a box for the customers to read in the morning, so you'd like to help him offer them a treat - poetry to eat by. Talk him (or her) into putting up a little box, and the explanation of what this is, right beside the bulk cereal. This first set of poems is free for the store. And you have now "been published." But be patient, it gets better.

Watch - those poems will be picked up. And when the stack is nearly gone, you can talk to the store owner about paying you for the next ones (let them suggest a payment, if possible. keep the charge low, but make sure you get paid.) Figure out whether you want to do the copying yourself (to control paper quality) or let them do it. If you want to, talk them into reproducing it themselves but pay you a larger fee (since they can now make as many copies as they want, they may consider it a bargain).

You think I'm kidding, don't you? I just recently (here in Japan) saw something about a guy who's printing his short stories on T-shirts. Apparently they are selling, too.

Maybe that's not the kind of publication and market you're looking for, but please don't tell me you can't compete. You can. Get out there and go for it!

Jane also said

- Please don't be. The majority of us (let me know if I'm wrong) are,
- as yet, unpublished, so have no proof that we are better or worse
- than you (and even then, it's not really proof!) - regardless of what
- certain egotists might think. Do be prepared for some criticism
- and/or some praise, however.
-
- ENJOY!!!!!

I'm not sure if Jane will let me talk (I've got a 20 year old clipbook of newspaper articles and there are other odd bits and pieces around that have my name on them - but they're almost all non-fiction, Jane, and I sure never got paid much:-) To tell you the truth, though, I'm usually looking at my next piece - and so far, that's unpublished.

I can also state categorically from the pieces I've seen printed (and done) that publication has relatively little to do with value - a lot to do with timing, blank empty pages around paid-for ads that the editor has to fill, and other oddities. Let you in on a secret, though. If you don't write it, and don't send it out, the odds of being published are very, very low. If you follow the reverse strategy (write, submit, and keep submitting), the odds increase dramatically! Which reminds me, now I've got to get back to writing.

Heinlein's "recipe" (abridged from memory, 'cause I can't find the book)

1. write
2. finish what you write
3. don't rewrite unless an editor tells you to
4. put it on the market
5. keep it on the market until it sells

(sorry, this isn't very well organized. I got excited, and wanted to get it out this week. I managed to find hideyholes for all my files here, too.)

hope this helps,
mike

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: If I Could Make a Living, Clay Walker

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting: Mon, 1 Aug 1994 18:35:02 JST

FAQ: Glimpses of A Writing Convention

"Yuiop!"

The cry starts small, then bounces and grows as they rally, and finally roars, echoing from storefronts and mountainsides, spacecraft and kneeling benches, and other curious locales.

The writers are in town.

And out of town.

And all around the town, wherever keyboard taps cyberspace into terminal networked delirium.

"Qwerty!"

Respond those who feel the earth move, the air flow, the water roll, and the fires glowing.

The muses muse, rationales bemuse, and sparkling wits amuse.

There is a party going on.

And Coven Mint of the party, by the party, and for the party, shall knot poor ice from dessert. Strange knots they be!

Words sluice, punctuation taps and scratches, and messages fly in the wilds of the list.

Oh say can you read, in the massed confusing messages, that our star is still shining, that lights our writing madness? Those broad metaphors and silly japes, through the parries and frustrations, give proof everyday, that writers like to write...

The cheers and jeers of the crowd may seem a bit hard to follow as the poetic brigade lays out its demands, the tale tellers recount their popularity polls, essayists pan for fool's gold and other precious flakes in the midst, and all the folderol fiddles wheee and far. But wait a bit, ask what you will, and lay your best out for the committee of the whole to ponder.

You may be surprised at the response.

For here there be writers. And in that jungle of words, burning bright, who will bind that fearful symmetry of writers and readers, the clawing need to communicate, to turn inner turmoil into measured prose and poem, ringing with the meat and blood of our humanity, burning in the night as a beacon for you...

And when you can, or when you must, put yourself in that arena with a dash of trust--lions and tygers and bears there may appear, but pussycats and teddy bears oft hide behind loud roars and raised claws. The verdict and judgment is--when all the sport is read and done--for life.

Welcome to the writers' convention! Our platform is a soapbox waiting for you to rise to the occasion, our smoke-filled backrooms are open for your breath of fresh air to sweep away the smog, and your word is always good here (even when fictional, faked, rhymed, or otherwise prepared for impersonation--we like characters!).

Have fun!

Have a cigar? How about kissing a few babies?

Hear ye, hear ye, the dishonorable Judge Crit is now reading submissions--get yours in soon.

And don't forget, every convention needs pros, amateurs, filksingers, balloons, razzle-dazzle peddlers and hawkers in the sales rooms, but mostly, quite especially, they need...

You.

So support your WRITERS convention.

Write!

Current Mood: rallying
Current Music: Anything Goes, Randy Houser

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Sat, 2 Apr 1994 18:35:02 JST

FAQ: Up, up, and Away!

Just before true sunrise, the air is still and the light is faint and tricky. The clanks and squeaking sounds of cloth and plastic and metal rubbing and sliding are clear in that pause before the world wakes. Colors jump from the overall grayness as vaguely seen figures bustle around, unrolling fragile skins, bolting odd skeletal frameworks together, yanking cords that make sudden flames roll, puffing shimmering life into the bulging strange mounds that wobble and bounce oddly, waiting for the sun to come.

Then the fleet flounders up, firming, rising suddenly into the sky with a bound as hot air balloons lift themselves into glory.

There a bright red one glistens in the sunshine for a brief moment, then sinks again. Here a dull brown one swells, riding serenely in majestic silent display amongst the flock. Some faster, some slower, some higher, some lower, but all scudding lightly in the morning air.

Perhaps today's ride will be bouncy. Cold air, raindrops, storm tossed currents, even lightning bolts from the blue, all may sometimes make one falter, or even go down despite all the friendly help and advice from other members of the flotilla. Some coast ahead, some lag, but when the evening comes, the talk isn't about who was first or fastest or highest, it's about being there, taking part, enjoying the ride wherever it may have taken us.

Welcome to WRITERS. The balloons are being prepared, the air is still right now, and the sun will rise again soon. If you can, we'd love to have you with us, as we rise again, and go up, up, and away on the winds of words into those places only readers and writers share...

Come take a trip with us? We've got sights to see and places to go, and words that flow and tickle and tease across the thin skins warm and high... to glory we must fly, and soon... come fly with me...

So breath softly in the early morning hush, and wrestle with your undercarriage, but tug the lanyard lustily and let the rising warmth of your own flames fill your fragile skin and lift you into the light, raising you to where the world is serene and wider than your dreams. Don't forget to tell your friends here on WRITERS how you liked the ride, okay, and point out any special sights or wonders you have found as you fly with us today and into the future, bright or dark, together.
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Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: Something More, SugarLand

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Sun, 7 Nov 1993 13:25:21 JST

FAQ: Unmasked on Blacklight Stage

Hello. May I see your ticket? Oh, yes, you've signed up for WRITERS. Well, if this is your first time with them, may I suggest you look at this? And your seat is just through these curtains...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Unmasked on Blacklight Stage
(A One-Act Play With An All-Star Cast of Bit Players)

[alone and a bit nervous, you push through the black felt curtains and feel your way to a seat in the darkness. you sit down quickly and peer into the darkness, wondering what will happen next. slowly your eyes adjust, and you get the impression there might be a stage somewhere in front of you. on one side, a spotlight flashes on an odd costumed figure...]

Hey! Look at this! Some really weird stuff happens when I stand on my head in the shower. Water gets down my nose.

[the light flicks off, and you shake your head. What does that have to do with... another spotlight flashes on the stage, hitting a white masked figure there.]

When I was sixteen, there were fires in the street and ghosts walking. Not fun, my fellow freaks, but bone-chilling horror for people without skin.

[the light fades again, and you are even more confused. Who are these... then many lights flash and fade, exposing and concealing various figures, faces, and costumes, all weaving a ballet of madness before your eyes...]

Send me a postcard, please?

It's that time of the month, and I WANTA SCREAM!!!!

Hemingway, clearly, is THE author of our times. Still, Melville's prose and Whitman's poetry cannot be ignored. Neither should we turn our noses up at the rich heritage of literature. Instead, we need to mine that ore for as much richness and variety of techniques as we can find. Then we can write true romances of stature.

Hey, has anyone heard from the Black Eye recently?

Here is the story I have been engraving in stone for the last twenty years. Do you have any comments?

[the verbose comments and the dancing lights continue, and you wonder what kind of asylum this is. they look like they're having fun, but it is so confusing and lonely sitting in the dark. Why don't they notice...

YOU!

<a spotlight flashes, then settles on your startled face, bringing tears>]

Hey, writer, this stage is open and waiting for you to put on an act of your own. We can't see you until you post, but don't let that hold you back. Spend a little time thinking about it, then join in.

Try starting with a little INTRO - let us know who is behind the words that will be coming.

Then, you should join in wherever you have something to add. Stories and poetry are always appreciated. Critiques (comments about someone else's writing, the style, the feelings they brought) also are good ways to contribute. You can also join in any of the little exercises, various cooperative forms of writing, and other exchanges of wittiness.

The "small" chatter, the talk of interests and memories and who we are, may not seem important, especially if you are used to classes or workshops where such discussion is frowned on as a "waste of time" or "off the subject." However, it is a good way to practice one style of writing and relax with the members of the list, gives everyone a little more feeling for the person behind the plays wherein to catch the conscience, and can provide critical sparks igniting the muses to a fiery dance. Besides, those small steps are sometimes easier to use to get up on the stage.

Lastly, ask questions. Tell us about your discoveries, from the wonderful new trick for plotting New York Time's Bestsellers to the funny red bugs eating your peppermint plants. And keep posting - it takes time to become known, and the care and feeding of friendships may take even longer.

So, join us in the 365 day a year masquerade ball. Your costume will be hand-crafted by you out of words and wonders that you post, and sometimes it helps to give us a peek behind the draperies (those fright masks and demon faces can be quite a shock!). But don't just sit in the cheap seats unless you want to, because while all the world's a stage, here you have an interested audience - your fellow writers.

[the spotlight fades, but now you know the magic for calling it up again whenever you want. Post. You smile in the darkness, knowing that you too have a place in the fake sun on the blacklight stage called WRITERS. Your email box will rarely be empty again...]

Don't wait for a gold-engraved invitation, the stage manager isn't that organized. This is an amateur, write-your-own-play effort, quite a bit off-Broadway, and we really need audience participation. Grab a mask, throw us a line, and help keep improvisational theatre off the streets and on the computers! This is the dawning of the Age of Escritier...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Current Mood: improvised
Current Music: Do You Believe Me Now, Jimmy Wayne

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Sat, 11 Sep 1993 18:00:06 JST

FAQ: The Joy of Fishing

The Joy of Fishing

On the Coast of Dreams, near the Bay of Profundity whose unplumbed depths have sucked many a brave soul out of mortal sight, moonbeams play across the beach where yawning crews and solitary drifters prepare for an early start. Lines slip through age-toughened and tender young hands, stiff with sleep or fumbling with eagerness. Gulls protest the early disturbance. Their cries sting ears pitched to hear the morning silence.

As night reluctantly pales and pastels slip faint shades across the black, the fleet slides into the waters. Waves chop and push, but each craft pulls slowly or quickly toward today's fishing spots. Sleek powerboats force their way along, foaming wakes shaking rowboats and cockleshells that creep softly across the water.

From time to time, and here and there, one casts a line, weighted sinker leading, baited hook flailing the air, spidery filament tying fisher to tackle. Splash! The offering sinks beneath the waves, and the fisher waits. Perhaps, impatient, they tug a time or two, then reel back the filament so fine, to check the line, inspect the hook, and make sure the bait is still fastened firm. Others, wise to the wiles of their prey, stolidly wait, patiently watching for a twitch or a tug, letting their soul slip out to the horizon and rock in the waves while they have some time.

Plugs, spoons, bright spinning tin, wavering veils of colored plastic - all manner of bait and of lure, both shining and rusty, stinking and clean, those fisherman try as they sail once again. Their lines sometimes tangle, some even break, but always they try again and again, for the thrill of the bite, the teasing work of the play, and the joy of landing.

Though the catch be quite big or ever so small, the fisherfolk smile and stand proud as they work at their trade. Some landlubbers may laugh, but the fisherfolk don't, for they've cast their lines again and again, determined to land their own.

Fresh flounder, fat tuna, swordfish arcing into the sky, shark's sullen muscular battle, even sardines that some might scorn as bait - ah, they all are fine sport.

Nothing beats fishing.

Was that a tug on my line? Gently, gently... YES!

Gotcha! A fine, fighting reader! How could any writer ask for more?

Try out the fishing for yourself, why don't you? Join the fleet, spend a while on stormy waters, and cast your own lines.

Your life may never be the same, once you've tried it.
-------------------------------

Current Mood: Hooked
Current Music: Crawdad Fishing, Mike Anderson

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting: January, 1995

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First Nut, 1995!

(Hey, glad you could join us here this year. Keep writing!!!!)

Once upon a time...

The page just sort of sits there, waiting for words. Or (since this is the year of our electronic savor 1995) the screen sits there, blank and dark, with the little blobby cursor blinking, winking, waiting for you to tap at the keys, except...

You don't know where to start.

Or perhaps you scribble, secretly, around the crack of midnight or over the yawns of sunrise? Five minutes every day in the bathroom, twenty minutes every noon, and now you've got boxes and boxes of words that no one has ever seen?

Make this your year on your list.

Write here. Write now. And...

(pardon me while I slip into something metaphorical?)

Plant an acorn.

Take that apple core out of the trash and plant a seed for Johnny.

(we'll ignore the fertilizer--there's usually plenty around, no need to hunt for it:-)

Add water, sunshine, and just a touch of exposure--then stand back!

Because you are about to plant a tree, that may grow into a copse, or even a grove, which could turn into a thicket of wildwords, and--in time--a veritable forest of giant red words leaping out of the icy tundra of cyberspace into the glistening future!

(with Firewords at midnight! and light zephyrs of poetic musing in the morn!)

But new beginnings can be worrisome. You may wonder about your plot.

"When should I plow?"
"Should I till it or turn it or what?"
"Does dancing in the light of the full moon with a neighbor really ensure a good harvest, or just a good fence?"
"Is dancing with beagles or butterflies or some other friendly animus necessary for happiness?"

And this is a great place to get some advice on your own little garden.

I know, I know, sometimes we get noisy and seem too wrapped up in patting each other on the back and confused about who's leading the band.

(hah! got you fooled! there isn't a conductor. Some of the folk are playing jazz while others prefer classical rhythm and boos. And the drummers all beat to different marches, ides, and rittles. Really! So sit down and add your own odd notes, grace tones and melodies as the band plays on...)

But when the keyboard hits the end of the cable or the mouse runs off the edge of its cute little pad or even when quill-dipped ink slips slickly across smooth pressed bond paper...

It's words, writing, putting together fiction and poetry--that craft of dreams and art of the blackest inkspots, that mystery of bemused inspiration, that wonder of the storytellers' way which ties these humble (and some not so humble:-) practitioners together. That's why...

When the lightning of fairy poems crackles and the hairs on the back of your neck prickle...

When the explosive crash of ice snapping resounds across ponds and lakes of frozen talents caught by an unreasonable thaw...

When wordy flows remind us of the slow grandeur of the avalanche, the glacier, and the iceberg advancing implacable and awful in all their white glory...

When the dry slither of sunbaked air draws mirages, dustdevils, and Englishmen out in the daylight...

We'll know that you've been here!

Look forward to reading you on the list!

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[Please feel free to print this FAQ and keep a copy for when you have questions! In fact, the author would be pleased if you did that.]

The meat in this sandwich - v. 13, Jan. 1, 1995

[removed to avoid spoilage]
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Should old plot engines be forgot...
And never poetry rhyme...
We'll make the words to ring again...
And sing of old plot lines!

Happy First Nut, 1995!

And look forward to many more words from you!
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Current Mood: auld
Current Music: All I Ever Wanted, Chuck Wicks

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting: Sat, 21 Aug 1993 18:00:06 JST

The Dare to Be Bad Challenge (thanks to Ken for the good words)

The Dare to be Bad challenge is a writing strategy designed to help beginners get published. It requires that you write a new story every week, and send them all out to magazines. When they come back, send them out again. And again, and again. In the meantime, keep writing.

The reason it's called Dare to be Bad is that some weeks your writing is going to be pretty awful, and you have to dare yourself to finish it, and mail it out, anyway.

Note that we aren't talking about spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors here. You must prepare your manuscript to the best of your ability each week; you just have to be willing to live with the fact that you aren't going to be writing Hugo-winning fiction for quite a while.

The original group of writers who started the Dare (among them is Kris Rusch, the editor of F&SF) claim that every person who has followed the Dare for over two years has become published. No exceptions.

Kousen's Corollary to the Dare to be Bad challenge: If you do decide to participate, for gosh sakes don't tell any other writers about it, except those already in the Dare. Otherwise you'll waste all your time defending yourself, and still be accused of being a "hack."

Current Mood: bad to the bone
Current Music: When I Said I Do, Clint Black

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 09:11:53 -0400

As the flock collects, let us pause for a moment of wordiness to let each other know...

Where were you?

What did you do? (not how, what!)

and other points of social exchange reflecting the summer wanderings and whiffleballs, the little triumphs of the season, the new stuffing on your sofa, or whatever.

(you got out to the inner circle of hell? And who did you meet there? Really? I never would have guessed!)

I.e., tell us, in 500 words (more or less), how you spent your summer vacation. What, you didn't spend one? Okay, tell us how someone else spent it, then.

Just put word A after word B and you'll have BA. Not too useful, although you could do a sheepish thing and go with BAH, darken it up and do BAH HUMBUGGERY, or even go for the gusto with BADINAGE. Or turn to your dictionary and look at all the BA words! Citing, isn't it?

Write a little!

Current Mood: spindizzy
Current Music: I Don't Have To Be Me ('Til Monday), Steve Azar

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Sat, 19 Aug 2000 22:41:04 -0400

Hi, all...

Suppose some of us (yes, you with the lazy fingers and the roving eye) were to go to http://www.steampunk.com/sfch/writing/ckilian/ (provided gratis by some wonderful folks on another writing list) and there peruse, investigate, and otherwise read one of the articles collected there, and then perhaps discuss the contents here?

Seems like it might make an interesting way of keeping the bits flowing, the words atilt, and otherwise instigating the exchange.

Personally, I found that the first article I could read ("Developing Efficient Work Habits" by Crawford Kilian at http://www.steampunk.com/sfch/writing/ckilian/#1 had some interesting thoughts. I mean, the contrast between the routine that feeds the habits and the efficient use of opportunity is an interesting little problem. And here is Crawford Kilian pointing out that having a writing time and place is important, but we can also do some thinking as we walk the dog or vacuum the fishtank. Avoid leaning on significant others for editorial advice -- that's unfair. Be your own editor instead, and use letters to yourself to keep yourself straight. Keep a log of what you're up to. Set up a "project bible." And be careful to avoid tying yourself too hard to all those routines (sometimes known as ruts) because part of being a writer means writing even when you aren't in the writing place or time, and getting the fine detail of the barroom fight down before you've decided who is going to be in the barroom may not work so well...

A bunch of tips and tricks and points, anyway. Let's see, can I pick out three key points from that article? How about:

1. To Thine Own Routine Be True, and Thou Wilt Habitually Writ
2. Synergize, Fit into Cracks, and otherwise take advantage of every opportunity to stretch those writing synapses and responses and wherever the muse may hide
3. Learn your own phases and pacing -- some people like to outline before detailing, others really find the straightjacket of the outline far too confining, and then there are those who prefer the wilds of Surrealism (and if that makes sense to you, please explain in 200 words or less how outlines, details, and surreals do unrelate, okay?:-)

What would you pick out as the three points of Crawford's article? Are there key points about efficient work habits that Crawford missed? For that matter, do you really think that writing requires efficient work habits or should it be less efficient work and more artistic license?

[by the way, in the phrase "artistic license," is the license issued by the state and if so what kind of a test and bureaucracy arises around the provision of these plastic identifiers? Or is the license that other form, referring to freedom from state regulation and control? And why is a driver's license (which shows I know how to obey the rules and have said I will follow them) so different from exercising artistic license, where I gleefully take exception to the rules?]

Current Mood: researchy
Current Music: Something To Be Proud Of, Montgomery Gentry

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 09:38:28 -0500

This may be a bit late, but if you happen to be headed for a ringside seat at a family table, or perhaps a couchside lounge in the family room with the television blasting football and the food crying "eat me" as the old frictions and fancies of the family and friends are rehearsed and remembered...

Or whatever you may happen to be doing this holiday.

Some quick writing exercises, suitable for mental stretching or even perhaps a quick note or three.

1. Look around!

Take a good, hard look at what is happening. Consider how you might relate this to a reader (in tale, poetry, or other wordy forum at your behest -- avoid the bark, get right down to the wordy heart). What details would you include to put the reader in the middle of the scene. What would you leave out? How would you have them enter, or leave?

What would help them understand Aunt Agnes? Or what about Odd Jack's little quirks?

Just consider wrapping this scene in words. What senses would you titillate, and how? What observations (dry or quite damp) would you pontificate?

(bonus points for translations across time, cultures, and places. E.g., what if your fine friends were celebrating at the Bastille? Or perhaps on Babylon 4?)

2. Add A Character

Consider a character. It may be one of your invention or one of the classics (Cervantes? A mythical model? Gods and goddesses, madonnas and dons, weavers and unwoven, take your pick of them all.

And think about what happens when they walk in, sit down, and start talking.

How does Uncle John deal with Aphrodite coming to call?

Do you really think Superman would be comfortable carving the turkey?

Go ahead, let your imagination run weird!

(bonus for realizing that Uncle John IS Aphrodite, in drag! and expanding on why this is...)

3. Now, Take Someone Out

Suppose that someone couldn't make it. What happens to the familiar exchanges when Grandfather isn't there to laugh at the punch lines?

And think about the various scenes as people realize that the expected one isn't coming. What do they start to imagine as reasons for the absence? Does the heart grow fonder, or is there some anger at this unexpected non-interaction?

Then, if you like, you can always close the imaginary scene up with the information that the absent member... had an accident? Won the Lottery and is celebrating as far away as possible? Was last seen wandering downtown, looking for flowers to put in their hair? Who knows, you make up a next step...

(my goodness, you want to make them disappear one by one into the basement? Who knows what horror lurks in the hallway closet? The writer do! :-)

4. Metamorphic Metaphors (not petit fours, meta-fors!)

Consider various and sundry parts of the holiday. The parade, the feast (or famine), the handshakes, the travel, presents, decorations...

Pick one and expand it. What do the little white booties on the turkey look like to you? Can you imagine trying to put them on that hot steaming meat? And when they are pulled off, sitting forlorn by the skeletal remains of the butchered bird, what do they remind you off then?

The "lifecycle" of the focus, its parts and processing, what does it remind you of -- consider these various questions, and see if you can splice a metaphor (or at least an analogy) out of this. Consider how it might relate to some abstraction (life, riches, happiness, plenty of generalities to go around, no pushing, just pick one off the queue and come back later if you want another one).

Look around, add a character, take someone out, and watch for metaphoric ambiguity...

Oh, and enjoy the holiday!

Current Mood: double pleasure
Current Music: Find out Who Your Friends Are, Tracy Lawrence

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 12:13:00 -0500

Let's take a look at some thoughts from Writing As a Lifelong Skill by Sanford Kaye, ISBN 0-534-22218-8

Up to Now: Your Writing History

And in case you would like some concrete questions to help you along, from page 15:

How did you learn to write in the first place? Who taught you? What kind of response did you get to your earliest efforts? How did you feel about writing then? Does that differ from the way you feel about writing now?
What has been your best writing experience?
What has been your worst? Why was it so bad?
What are your strengths and weaknesses now?
What do you hope to accomplish with your writing?

So, do you have your definition, your attitudes, and your history written out? At least some key points? Why not? You don't have to show them to anyone, but you might find it interesting to explore...

Current Mood: reflecting
Current Music: How Do You like Me Now?!, Toby Keith

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Sat, 27 Jan 2001 12:10:00 -0500

Let's take a look at some thoughts from Writing As a Lifelong Skill by Sanford Kaye, ISBN 0-534-22218-8

Up to Now: Your Writing History

(Page 14) "Try to reconstruct your own writing history. Begin with the best and worst of your writing experiences. The best times may revolve around writing for a school newspaper or magazine. The worst, perhaps because it is so clear in the memory of freshmen, might be the college application essay. Then link your past experiences as a writer with the way you write now and with the way you would like to write. This writing history gives you a sense of perspective, the basis for a fresh start...."

A writing history? Me? Sure, you know you have one...

Current Mood: historic
Current Music: Remember When, Alan Jackson

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 12:08:00 -0500

Let's take a look at some thoughts from Writing As a Lifelong Skill by Sanford Kaye, ISBN 0-534-22218-8

Up to Now: Your Writing History

(Page 13) Continuing, "Then try to put into words your attitude toward writing. For some people writing is an act of futility, while for others it plays a crucial role in personal development...."

And for the next slice, write down your attitude toward writing. What do you feel about writing? What do you feel while writing? How are your emotions tied to your writing?

Definition, attitude,...

Current Mood: attitude
Current Music: What Was I Thinkin', Dierks Bentley

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The Place For My Writers Notes

Entries tagged with writing life

Notes on Flame Bores...

EXERCISE: Five Things I've Learned about Writing

Fill: Words, words, words and yet more words ... alas not an ounce of absinthe

FILL: You might be a writer if . . .

FILLER: The Springs of Writing

TECH: Procrastination?

TECH: Hah!

TECH: Markets and Competing

FAQ: Glimpses of A Writing Convention

FAQ: Up, up, and Away!

FAQ: Unmasked on Blacklight Stage

FAQ: The Joy of Fishing

FAQ: First Nut, 1995!

The Dare To Be Bad Challenge

EXERCISE: So Where Were You?

EXERCISE: A Self-Improvement Program (in concert?)

EXERCISE: Four Quickies For the Holiday

EXERCISE: Writing As a Lifelong Skill (4)

EXERCISE: Writing As a Lifelong Skill (3)

EXERCISE: Writing As a Lifelong Skill (2)

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