Wordle of the Week

You can make your own wordle here.

First thing in the morning

My dream morning grants me sleep until I awake on my own. Opening my eyes and grabbing my laptop without leaving my bed, I sit and write, uninterrupted. 

There's something about that moment. Ideas stir, sharp and fresh. The details of the day have yet to burrow into my brain. I've made no foolish choices that I need to regret. I have no sleepiness I need to suppress. 

Rare, this type of morning. Near fantasy. Reality finds me going to bed late and getting up with my family. They need socks and breakfast and homework papers signed, so I step away from my interior life and into the kitchen. Coffee it is. Order it is. We are packing lunches; we are preparing for the day; we are on schedule.

Once I'm up and going, I find it hard to resettle into the easy place of ideas. I walk through the house and shut off the lights; shut off the TV. I return to my room, or maybe sit on the couch with my laptop and a blanket, and in the first of ironies, work myself back to a relaxed state. Sometimes I forget that this is my goal and I check email and social media sites. The distractions worm their way into my work, and now I'm fighting not only the caffeine and the household chores, but the desire to connect with people. This is the second irony: in order to connect with people as a writer, I have to limit my time connecting in easier ways.

Some days I press. Other days I waste. So the day begins.

This is my third post about my favorite places to write. The list came first, then a discussion of my house, empty.

Well done blogs

May marks a record month of blog writing for me. Social pressure from complete strangers is an amazing thing. Thank you for the encouragement, Michelle Rafter.

It's also a record month of blog reading, and I've delighted in the people I've read so far. I plan to highlight some of my favorites over the summer. Three to get you started:

Intralingo Lisa Carter is a Spanish to English literary, legal and commercial  translator. She writes as well. Fascinating work, compelling questions, great voice.

Patient POV Laura Newman covers medical news in a way that's informative and personal. I especially appreciated her coverage and questions from the National Press Foundation’s Alzheimer’s Disease Issues 2011 Fellowship.

A Summer of 1961 Diary Barbara McDowell Whitt shares her diary entries from high school. Interesting little slices of life from Iowa in the early sixties.

Who have you enjoyed reading this month? Feel free to celebrate someone else's work in the comments.

My house, empty

I'm participating in WordCount Blogathon 2011 (you can see a list of all participants here). Yesterday those interested wrote in response to the theme, "What are your five favorite places to write?" I posted my list, but I'd like to take a little time over the next few days to discuss each place.

I type at this very moment in a full house. Sponge Bob and Patrick loudly help Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. My little one plays a game that is too much for her. My bigger kids avoid their homework. All this promises that I will be interrupted; I will need to interrupt. I have a moment, but only a moment. I will need to care for my family.

I love to care for my family, but trying to write at the same time doesn't work. I don't write well interrupted or interrupting. I don't care for my family well when I'm uninterruptible.

When empty, my house encases quiet itself. It does not interrupt. It has things that need to be done, but its voice is easily suppressed by a cup of coffee, the 'do not disturb' button on my phone, and dim lighting.

I've discovered that I am capable of ignoring the phone, happiest when the TV is off, love to soak in the quiet and comfort of my own space. My house, empty: it fills me.

Five Favorite Places to Write

For the Blogathon 2011, we were encouraged to share our top 5 places to write today. Here are mine, just under the wire:

1) My house, empty.
2) My bedroom, in the morning, with the door shut, before I get my coffee.
3) A conference room at my local library.
4) A coffee shop, headphones in, listening to my favorite instrumental playlist.
5) Late night in the big chair.

More on these later.

Morning and Marigolds

Yesterday, guest blogger tasmith1122 wrote about and shared haiku in a post titled "Capture the Simple Things." I thought I'd take her advice and attempt this form today.

The marigold opens,
lifting from leaf into light.
Every bird stirs.







As The Rascals would sing, it's a beautiful morning.

Capture the Simple Things

(Today's Blogathon theme is haiku. My friend and fellow writer's group member writes poetry, including this form. She graciously agreed to guest post for me. Check out her blog here.)


What is a haiku?

I’m not going to tell you. Well, to be more precise, I’m not going to tell you everything.  There are many sites (and I’ll list a few) where you can go to find out where haiku came from and what they are. Instead, I’d like to try to show you.

Have you ever taken a walk or gone on a trip and seen something that took your breath away? It might have been the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, an old barn, a wild animal, a tiny insect or even a single flower. Whatever it was, it made you stop. You forgot all about what you were doing and just looked in wonder or reflection. Perhaps you took a picture, trying to capture that image, that moment. Even simple things can make you want to capture them.

That desire to capture a single moment, but to capture it in just a very few words, that is haiku.

bleeding hearts
drip after rain, thrive
despite weeds

in our small orchard

many nights hard frost–apples

pears, peaches still bloom

How do I write haiku? 


If you want the specific rules, jump to Haiku for People link. If you just want to try your hand at it, then try this.

First, find something that you like—a favorite tree, flower, your kids, your dog, spring sounds, and smells.

Now use only a few words to describe it—budding tree; blushing magnolia blossoms; soft, silly bedtime child … you see?

Next choose another image. This does not have to relate to the first, and is often better if it doesn’t.

Again choose a few words to describe it.

When you put the two phrases together, you have the beginnings of a haiku.

Here are some of mine.

my only citrus
this morning — high, bright orange
in cold cloudless blue

not clutching swamp grass
but piercing cloudless blue sky–
one red-winged blackbird

among evergreens
tree frogs court, “creep, creep, creep”–love
song infestation

burning old branches
winter flickering to spring
welcome bliss blossoms

Links to Haiku Sites:

HAIKU for PEOPLE

Haiku - A Definition  Haiku, Haiga, Haibun and Other Art-Illustrations of modern English Haiku-type Poetry.

Haiku Poet's Hut Filled with haiku new and old, haiku info, and history

Blue Willow Haiku World (by Fay Aoyagi) Translations of modern Japanese poetry

Akita International Haiku Network Haiku, Haiga, Senryu, Tanka–All Beautiful

Top 5 books on writing

Today's theme for the 2011 Blogathon is your top 5 books on writing. Here's my list:

1) Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott. You can get a feel for her style by downloading an archived interview from this Writer's Digest link. (Caution: salty language.)
2) Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer, Roy Peter Clark
3) Keep It Real: Everything You Need to Know about Researching and Writing Creative Nonfiction, edited by Lee Gutkind
4) Writing Metrical Poetry: Contemporary Lessons for Mastering Traditional Forms, William Baer
5) The Craft of Lyric Writing, Sheila Davis

If you're looking to be a little depressed about your budget, but inspired by commitment, tenacity, and professionalism, check out this video interview of Gay Talese. Finally, if you are interested in writing creative nonfiction, consider an online class at creativenonfiction.org: a satisfying experience.

A post a day

I've signed up for the 4th Annual WordCount Blogathon. I'm looking forward to the challenge of posting every day in May, in the spirit of the following quote from the amazing screenwriter of Network:

Artists don't talk about art. Artists talk about work. If I have anything to say to young writers, it's stop thinking of writing as art. Think of it as work.

PADDY CHAYEFSKY

As quoted at Advice to Writers.

For more of my thoughts on Network, read my October 2010 article at Curator Magazine.