01/22/2015
0925
Headed to bed, but wanted to share my new endeavor-Fortify! http://fortifynow.blogspot.com/
Several things came together confirming the timing for a blog focusing on educating black kids. I had an opportunity to write a personal essay as the first post. Please check it out at the link above.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
See Jane Write
01/20/2015
2315
I joined a writing group last year, See Jane Write, but never went to any of the events until tonight. It was a talk about how to turn your Blog To Book, the speaker co-owner of Church St. Books & Coffee-Carrie Rollwagen was very funny & informative. Honestly, she made me feel that self-publishing is really possible. Especially if you are just really interested in sharing your writing & don't necessarily want to be the next best seller. Carrie talked about the changing attitudes of the big publishing houses, who used to snub anyone that self published. Now it is looked at as an achievement because of huge successes like the very popular Shades of Grey series. Also the printing technology is much better these days & the results don't look so home made. Carrie's blog was about buying from local small businesses- for a year she bought locally & blogged her experiences. Her book is called The Localist. The event was held at The Nest in Avondale on 41st St. I did a quick count -22 women, in every size, age & color were at the event. Included with the ticket was a light dinner- sandwich, side and drink. I'm on the Daniel Fast , so I requested sides only & I was very happy they accommodated me. I chatted with the ladies around me & was really glad I decided to come.
2315
I joined a writing group last year, See Jane Write, but never went to any of the events until tonight. It was a talk about how to turn your Blog To Book, the speaker co-owner of Church St. Books & Coffee-Carrie Rollwagen was very funny & informative. Honestly, she made me feel that self-publishing is really possible. Especially if you are just really interested in sharing your writing & don't necessarily want to be the next best seller. Carrie talked about the changing attitudes of the big publishing houses, who used to snub anyone that self published. Now it is looked at as an achievement because of huge successes like the very popular Shades of Grey series. Also the printing technology is much better these days & the results don't look so home made. Carrie's blog was about buying from local small businesses- for a year she bought locally & blogged her experiences. Her book is called The Localist. The event was held at The Nest in Avondale on 41st St. I did a quick count -22 women, in every size, age & color were at the event. Included with the ticket was a light dinner- sandwich, side and drink. I'm on the Daniel Fast , so I requested sides only & I was very happy they accommodated me. I chatted with the ladies around me & was really glad I decided to come.
The Black Middle Class
01/20/2015 2000
Today brought a whirlwind- starting last night after enjoying a visit with my good friend Brenda V.:) - I went to 2nd & Charles in Hoover. At the front of the store there are four large orange and tan rectangles, the size of an 11 x14 pictures tacked on the wall. Each one a letter with a box beneath it: F R E E - under the second E there was a book from my Amazon wish list. 100+ Educational Strategies to teach children of color by Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu. I bought a few craft books- one on self-editing and another creative non-fiction book. The rest where Scott O'Dell Award books, given for YA historical fiction. Most were only $2-$3- they are the type of book I am leaning toward writing from my families roots in East Texas.
The free book sparked an ember in me that I have buried for a while, so I got on-line and searched "the black middle class"- what I read troubled me. I read and read, finally @ 3:00 I laid down. Article after article chronicled the downward mobility of the black middle class-
"7 out of 10 of black kids raised in a middle class income family will experience downward mobility. They will be worse off than their parents & end up living in worse neighborhoods.."
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/social-mobility-memos/posts/2015/01/15-mlk-black-opportunity-reeves
That seemed impossible, until I started thinking about people I know & their kids. Out of 5 children my husband & his siblings- not one has a college education. James has a vocational certificate for cosmetology. Their father was a Lt. Colonel in the USAF & has a JD. Their mom was a SAHM. In my own family 5 out of 6 kids has a BA or BS & the 6th is an Electrician Journeyman. Why the disparities & what are we going to do? It feels like my problem too.
Today brought a whirlwind- starting last night after enjoying a visit with my good friend Brenda V.:) - I went to 2nd & Charles in Hoover. At the front of the store there are four large orange and tan rectangles, the size of an 11 x14 pictures tacked on the wall. Each one a letter with a box beneath it: F R E E - under the second E there was a book from my Amazon wish list. 100+ Educational Strategies to teach children of color by Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu. I bought a few craft books- one on self-editing and another creative non-fiction book. The rest where Scott O'Dell Award books, given for YA historical fiction. Most were only $2-$3- they are the type of book I am leaning toward writing from my families roots in East Texas.
The free book sparked an ember in me that I have buried for a while, so I got on-line and searched "the black middle class"- what I read troubled me. I read and read, finally @ 3:00 I laid down. Article after article chronicled the downward mobility of the black middle class-
"7 out of 10 of black kids raised in a middle class income family will experience downward mobility. They will be worse off than their parents & end up living in worse neighborhoods.."
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/social-mobility-memos/posts/2015/01/15-mlk-black-opportunity-reeves
That seemed impossible, until I started thinking about people I know & their kids. Out of 5 children my husband & his siblings- not one has a college education. James has a vocational certificate for cosmetology. Their father was a Lt. Colonel in the USAF & has a JD. Their mom was a SAHM. In my own family 5 out of 6 kids has a BA or BS & the 6th is an Electrician Journeyman. Why the disparities & what are we going to do? It feels like my problem too.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
The Writer's Devotional & Me!
Today is Saturday 1/17/2015 and I have not opened my Writer's Devotional in almost a week. Work & reality have kind of overwritten my earnest intentions. I just can't do anything daily- so I promise to share anything good I run across, just not every day. I feel better, I was really bummed about not being able to keep up. The reality has sunk in- this writing and the writer's life is not going to be a sprint. It is going to take time & perseverance. And a commitment to both.
I have been reading and writing in the last week. I finished "Monday, Monday "& it was not the ending I wanted, but it was really thematic, which showed me a little of the use of foreshadowing.
Reading-
Right now I am reading two anthologies:
The Best American Essays 2013 (Non-fiction)
The Best American Short Stories 2014
They are excellent and they give you a feel of how the structure for both genres are done. I have a lot to learn!!
I checked out three other books: they are supposed to be great
Olive Kitteridge
The Goon squad ( I think )
Thirteen days in September (NF)
"You can't make this stuff up"- non-fiction writing how to book
Writing-
I found a great couple of websites (I'll share in a second). As a result I have made a word count/time goal for writing:
40 minutes/ 4 days/week (more if I can)
At least 550 words
-Today I did an outline & a very rough draft of a personal essay.
-Going to start a Short story
Two sites to share:
1) The is www.diyMFA.com . A couple of weeks ago I said I was going to do a diy MFA- so it turns out I'm not alone. the site is awesome with lots of resources. MFA's are like MBA' s and are all the rage lately. Totally unnecessary though.
2) http://seejanewritebham.com/
This is a local book group -they put on workshops all the time. There is one Tuesday & I'm going. Got to do some networking.
I am at the Hoover Library working- not sure if it's good or not- did they get rid of the quiet rules in libraries? Keep writing- we all have something to say!!
I have been reading and writing in the last week. I finished "Monday, Monday "& it was not the ending I wanted, but it was really thematic, which showed me a little of the use of foreshadowing.
Reading-
Right now I am reading two anthologies:
The Best American Essays 2013 (Non-fiction)
The Best American Short Stories 2014
They are excellent and they give you a feel of how the structure for both genres are done. I have a lot to learn!!
I checked out three other books: they are supposed to be great
Olive Kitteridge
The Goon squad ( I think )
Thirteen days in September (NF)
"You can't make this stuff up"- non-fiction writing how to book
Writing-
I found a great couple of websites (I'll share in a second). As a result I have made a word count/time goal for writing:
40 minutes/ 4 days/week (more if I can)
At least 550 words
-Today I did an outline & a very rough draft of a personal essay.
-Going to start a Short story
Two sites to share:
1) The is www.diyMFA.com . A couple of weeks ago I said I was going to do a diy MFA- so it turns out I'm not alone. the site is awesome with lots of resources. MFA's are like MBA' s and are all the rage lately. Totally unnecessary though.
2) http://seejanewritebham.com/
This is a local book group -they put on workshops all the time. There is one Tuesday & I'm going. Got to do some networking.
I am at the Hoover Library working- not sure if it's good or not- did they get rid of the quiet rules in libraries? Keep writing- we all have something to say!!
Saturday, January 10, 2015
The Writer's Devotional
01/10/2010 Week 2
* My work schedule has changed to 12 hour shifts & has proved to be a challenge.
I was able to be pretty consistent with my devotional, but didn't have time to journal.
Honestly I read assignments & today I will get them done. Here is a brief summary of what I learned/
Tuesday/MOTIVATIONAL-Thought: Don't let the lack of Grammar mastery slow your writing down. Learn what you can & then remember there are copyeditors who can help in the end.
Wednesday/WRITING CLASS- Assignment: Write a book review for a book you didn't like. Now that is hard for me, because if I don't like it I put it down & get another book. Also you need to give examples of what you didn't like about it. I am not going to skip it, so I will think hard about a book & write review this weekend.
Thursday/EDITING-Assignment:
For even short pieces of writing you need to have certain things in place before you put one word on paper:
1-start with an OUTLINE.
2-write a brief SYNOPSIS with a beginning, middle & end.
3-write a MASTER PLOT LIST for each character-it substantiates why they are in story.
4-create a BACKSTORY for each character- flesh out who they are & how they are interconnected, identify motivations & how these affect the plot.
Then you are ready to write- compare final to these lists & ask the hard question if different-why & should it be.
Of all the days Thursday is the hardest, yet the best assignment. In my excitement about an idea- I just wanted start writing but ever piece is not worthy of writing. If all the above can't be done, then I should probably look for another story. I am doing this assignment with a short story I am working on. I am finding that as great as I thought the story was- it may not in fact be a writable story. On my next post I will go into detail about why not:).
* My work schedule has changed to 12 hour shifts & has proved to be a challenge.
I was able to be pretty consistent with my devotional, but didn't have time to journal.
Honestly I read assignments & today I will get them done. Here is a brief summary of what I learned/
Tuesday/MOTIVATIONAL-Thought: Don't let the lack of Grammar mastery slow your writing down. Learn what you can & then remember there are copyeditors who can help in the end.
Wednesday/WRITING CLASS- Assignment: Write a book review for a book you didn't like. Now that is hard for me, because if I don't like it I put it down & get another book. Also you need to give examples of what you didn't like about it. I am not going to skip it, so I will think hard about a book & write review this weekend.
Thursday/EDITING-Assignment:
For even short pieces of writing you need to have certain things in place before you put one word on paper:
1-start with an OUTLINE.
2-write a brief SYNOPSIS with a beginning, middle & end.
3-write a MASTER PLOT LIST for each character-it substantiates why they are in story.
4-create a BACKSTORY for each character- flesh out who they are & how they are interconnected, identify motivations & how these affect the plot.
Then you are ready to write- compare final to these lists & ask the hard question if different-why & should it be.
Of all the days Thursday is the hardest, yet the best assignment. In my excitement about an idea- I just wanted start writing but ever piece is not worthy of writing. If all the above can't be done, then I should probably look for another story. I am doing this assignment with a short story I am working on. I am finding that as great as I thought the story was- it may not in fact be a writable story. On my next post I will go into detail about why not:).
Monday, January 5, 2015
The Writer's Devotional
01/05/2015 Week 2
Monday/WRITERS ON WRITING
"We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are..."
-Ann Lamott
A study was one @ the University of Toronto- to determine whether humans were better able reading of understand and experience life through their reading of fiction? This belief goes back as far as Aristotle. The results were clear- participants who read fiction were better able to relate to their peers & engage in social interaction. Also they were able to show increased empathy, attributed to their increased understanding of human nature.
In this morning's devotion I was reminded that by writing about the world around us, we provide a vehicle to transport people to places they have never been. Introducing them to people they would have never meet.
I personally have grown tremendously through reading some great fiction books- 2 of my recent favorites were set in foreign countries, giving me a glimpse into worlds far from mine.
If you have time they were great reads-* Cutting for Stone-by Abraham Verghese
*Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichieca
* Not PG-13 but tasteful
Monday/WRITERS ON WRITING
"We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are..."
-Ann Lamott
A study was one @ the University of Toronto- to determine whether humans were better able reading of understand and experience life through their reading of fiction? This belief goes back as far as Aristotle. The results were clear- participants who read fiction were better able to relate to their peers & engage in social interaction. Also they were able to show increased empathy, attributed to their increased understanding of human nature.
In this morning's devotion I was reminded that by writing about the world around us, we provide a vehicle to transport people to places they have never been. Introducing them to people they would have never meet.
I personally have grown tremendously through reading some great fiction books- 2 of my recent favorites were set in foreign countries, giving me a glimpse into worlds far from mine.
If you have time they were great reads-* Cutting for Stone-by Abraham Verghese
*Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichieca
* Not PG-13 but tasteful
Sunday, January 4, 2015
The Writer's Devotional
01/04/2015 Week 1
Sunday/ WRITING PROMPT
If I could live anywhere in the world....
Today I am scrambling to get this post in before Sunday becomes Monday. I started 12 hour shifts today, so I had to leave my house around 1815 & Have been at work since 1900. Taking an opportunity to snatch a few minutes - in today's devotion I was introduced to Peter Mayle- author of "A year in Provence". It is said he writes about this region in such a way that it becomes a character. Assignment is to try a hand at writing about where I live or where I might want to live. I think I will use this as a time to start writing about a place I used to live & that I will be using as the setting in a series I'm writing. First, I want to check out this book:).
Sunday/ WRITING PROMPT
If I could live anywhere in the world....
Today I am scrambling to get this post in before Sunday becomes Monday. I started 12 hour shifts today, so I had to leave my house around 1815 & Have been at work since 1900. Taking an opportunity to snatch a few minutes - in today's devotion I was introduced to Peter Mayle- author of "A year in Provence". It is said he writes about this region in such a way that it becomes a character. Assignment is to try a hand at writing about where I live or where I might want to live. I think I will use this as a time to start writing about a place I used to live & that I will be using as the setting in a series I'm writing. First, I want to check out this book:).
Saturday, January 3, 2015
The Writer's Devotional
01/03/2015 Week 1
Saturday/ Books To Read
It would be unrealistic to believe that one book could bring a complete change.
- Rachel Carson
Silent Spring was written in 1962 by Rachel Carson & brought about a revolution all by it's self! It was about the insecticide DDT that had been used in the 1940's & 1950's. It touched President J.F.K. so deeply he ordered his Science Advisory Committee to investigate it & from there a widespread ban on DDT & insecticides resulted. One book, one voice.
I pray that my voice, our voices in the books we will soon write and publish will have impact & cause positive change.
Saturday/ Books To Read
It would be unrealistic to believe that one book could bring a complete change.
- Rachel Carson
Silent Spring was written in 1962 by Rachel Carson & brought about a revolution all by it's self! It was about the insecticide DDT that had been used in the 1940's & 1950's. It touched President J.F.K. so deeply he ordered his Science Advisory Committee to investigate it & from there a widespread ban on DDT & insecticides resulted. One book, one voice.
I pray that my voice, our voices in the books we will soon write and publish will have impact & cause positive change.
Friday, January 2, 2015
The Writer's Devotional
01/02/2015 Week 1
Friday/Biography
In time of universal deceit-telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
-George Orwell
Orwell was a journalist, and he touched on many hot political topics of his time (1903-1950).
Best known for two novels Animal Farm & 1984, he reminds me of the Quote on the 1st day: "The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say"-Anais Nin"
This excites me - my desire has been especially lately to speak out for those of us who have to passively sit by and listen to ourselves being described by people who do not even know us! I pray that I write truth & that I can learn to write it skillfully.
Friday/Biography
In time of universal deceit-telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
-George Orwell
Orwell was a journalist, and he touched on many hot political topics of his time (1903-1950).
Best known for two novels Animal Farm & 1984, he reminds me of the Quote on the 1st day: "The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say"-Anais Nin"
This excites me - my desire has been especially lately to speak out for those of us who have to passively sit by and listen to ourselves being described by people who do not even know us! I pray that I write truth & that I can learn to write it skillfully.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
The Writer's Devotional
01/01/2015 Week 1
Thursday/Editing
The key to revision is learning to look at your work with an editor's eye.
- The Writer's Digest Writing Clinic
Thursday/Editing
The key to revision is learning to look at your work with an editor's eye.
- The Writer's Digest Writing Clinic
Happy New Year!
This quote spoke to me & I'm considering incorporating it in my 2015 Goals:
Ray Bradbury said, "Write a short story every week. It's not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row."
Would it be crazy to aim for a story a week? How about a fiction one week & a true story the next? The only problem - still learning how to write a story :).
Ray Bradbury said, "Write a short story every week. It's not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row."
Would it be crazy to aim for a story a week? How about a fiction one week & a true story the next? The only problem - still learning how to write a story :).
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