Let me interupt...

Hey people I know I was in the middle of writing another chain of writing relevant posts, but you know... ADD and all that.




The day started, and I had a confrontation with my Father about some money I loaned him... It was not pretty, and I was grumpy. I was dreading my day, I had a training to conduct at work and hadn't had any time to prep for it, family B.S.....

But then, magically things started to just fall into place, I decided.. I would do my best and if it wasn't good enough, oh-f-ing-well..

Back about a week ago I told you about my job interview, and how I thought the interview went well and everything had a very positive feel to it, glowing fluffy bunnies and all that.. Today, no joke I got a call from Maryland HR five minutes before my normal shift to officially offer me the job.

*Tosses confetti.*

Its not everyday you see someone happy about a 4.00/hour pay cut. But I am, sometimes its more about the job than the money. The more practical aspects like my budget can wait, I fully intend on not staying at a lower pay grade long, I'm not merely good at my job, I am GREAT at it, I just have to show that to the Leadership in MD.

Then the training I was going to conduct got pushed out until tomorrow so I had a chance to look over my notes..

Also, I am an Aunty again. This morning while I was getting my job in MD my older brother and his wife welcomed my nephew Devlin into the world.

I cannot begin to tell you what a fantastic day I had.

The mind to write? I

Hey folks, I read a really good article (I know shocking concept that I should read).. On mindset you can read the article yourself at What is Mindset? I strongly suggest it even if you don't think I am too random and don't communicate this well.

Changing your mindset does not mean you have to change your core beliefs, just your perspective. For a writer this is usually accomplished by making subtle changes to your environment or to your work area. Not that you have to become a Witch to write about a Magic User, but lighting a few candles might help. If you are writing about an Italian family you don't have to become Catholic. Writing about an alcoholic doesn't mean you have to get drunk, but a bottle of beer or glass of wine won't hurt.

Some writers are like athletes and follow the same course of actions, an athlete might wear the same socks, wrist bands, the same brands, the same food before a game. A writer will use the same pen, the same style notepad or set the scene the same way at their desk, a mascot, cigarettes, a glass of wine or a bottle of pellegrino.

This is done to set the mood or help you take on a specific mindset.

I like having flowers on my desk, even silk ones help. I light a candle, get a package of Fig-Newtons. I drink tea, hot chocolate spiked with schnapps, coffee... If I am working my way through a hard scene I'll drink apple wine and I always have a bottle of water on my desk, it sucks being in the middle of a scene to have to get up for something that mundane. I used to smoke while I was writing but that ended when I was diagnosed with asthma, now I stick to my Personal Vaporizer (e-cigarette), it doesn't have the same aesthetic but it works.

Now if you can recognize the mind set that you are usually in, you can use slight variations in that to work through writers block (Which I plan to discuss next week).

But This post is getting a little long, I'll finish my thought later.

The Interview

So I told you yesterday that I had an Interview for (my old) job in a different location.

Today while I was getting ready for work I get a call from an HR representative for the position I applied for in Maryland. The woman on the phone was very nice and calmly informed me that she was calling about my interview the previous day, she had a very soothing voice and that demeanor that implied she was going to give me some bad News.

Since I was packing my lunch I was casual and not ready to let my day be ruined yet.

Well this woman (you could tell had been in HR a while) very gently asked me if I knew I was coming from my current position, down 2 pay grades.

I appreciated her contacting me, so I confirmed that I knew that the position I applied for would mean a pay cut, I said that right now getting out of Utah was more important to me and I could always re-advance. She was much more relaxed when she said, they said "when could I start" and I said the end of September, they said I would hear back in 4 to 6 (business) days.

Things are looking optimistic for the first time since March.

Life Changes

Hello again! Time for another Trivii update.

I am so nervous I have a huge knot in my stomach and I have already hit on my inhaler twice. I am interviewing for my old job (same company) just giving up the promotion they gave, including the pay, which doesn't make me happy, so that I can change locations and get out of Utah.

It makes me sick to think about everything to do with the job change but I have tried every other imaginable option since February. What worse is knowing that if this doesn't pan out I'll be turning in my resignation and jobless in a new city, 200 miles from my nearest relative.

So I mailed a Poppet of myself to a friend that lives out there and made my offerings today. Any luck and I'll be in the North East at the end of September.

Wish me luck, all positive thoughts and prayers are welcome. (The Interviews in an hour.)

Muse Incense

Laugh, go ahead. I warned you my process might be erratic. I'm still writing. Just jumping back to an earlier topic. Back at the beginning of this Blog I said that I would be building an altar to my Creative Muse (It has a yellow candle burning on it as we speak) but I said that I would post more as it came to me. Today I'm thinking about my incense. It's my own recipe and I thought its so nice I should share it!

Aren't I generous? I know, I thought so too.

First a Mythology Lesson: The Muse are traditionally the daughters of Zeus (King of Olympus) and Mnemosyne (Titan/Goddess of Memory) there were nine of them (according to myth) and they became the sources of inspiration for humanity. Their temples are the museums, libraries and other centers of learning.

So in writing my recipe I wanted to capture that combined influence that went into the birth of the Muse.

Zeus was easy, being the King of Olympus he has hundreds of things documenting his scared existence. So I checked out my herbs and resins and grabbed an old favorite:

White/Manilla Copal - Ruled by the Planet Jupiter (Zeus). Like many Jupiter scents, this resin is frequently used in ritual purification of both objects and people. Perfect for an Altar.

Mnemosyne being lesser known, or at least lesser documented gave me a hard time, I scoured for hours. No exaggeration, and came back with nothing. So I searched for herbs and resins connected mystically and medicinally to Memory. Cardamom, Gingko Biloba, Nutmeg and Rosemary were what I came back with. I like Chai tea but have never added Cardamom to incense so that got put on the back burner to try later, Gingko smells like a grass fire so that is a no. I use Rosemary and Copal in my study incense and didn't want an exact repeat. So I opted for smaller measurements of both Nutmeg and Rosemary.

Nutmeg - Ruled again by Jupiter, added for luck in the sense of memory the oils are used to anoint the your temples.

Rosemary - Ruled by the Sun, the fragrance of Rosemary is said to be of benefit as far as emotional spirit, youthful outlook, and pleasant memories.

Creativity and Inspiration is something hard to pin down its been so highly sought after for centuries.So I found a half dozen that were connected to Inspiration that I didn't like the smell of and few more aromatics, what I chose was Ginger, its another old favorite of mine that I don't get to use often.

Ginger - Ruled by Mars, When you need to add a little heat (Inspiration) add Ginger.

Muse Incense Recipe

• 1 ounce Copal (Powdered)
• 1/2 whole Nutmeg (1/4 tsp Ground)
• 1 tsp Dried Rosemary (Finely Ground)
• 1/2 ounce Ginger (Finely Ground)

Note to Self: Try adding Candied Violets (Crushed) - The scent of violets is known to soothe, clear the mind and relax. OR Substitute Ginger with Candied Ginger... Candying process is supposed to make it burn more like resin and less like a plant. (small scale sample batch).

A Poem

Hey group, trying to record inspiration as it comes. Getting it down on paper so to say. Capture the process since I'm getting back to basics I've already discussed how my earliest writing was Poetry. This started out life while I was writing (of course) yet another small project, that I'll talk about later I'm sure. My thoughts were interrupted by an argument (not one I was participating in) and the words just flowed. 

Anna

It was another blue sky day, she couldn’t go out to play

A Princess alone in her tower, as hour passed into hour.

A voice raises, sharp and shrill, crystal shattered singing in peril.

A door closes, shaking and rattling, a man’s voice raises, mocking..

The atmosphere is heavy, the air gone as the hate became handy.

Above she twirls in her lace, with her dolls, in a place that is no place at all.

Hearing her Momma tell Pappa to die, Pappa shouting he was done with her lies….

It was another blue sky day, she couldn’t go out to play.

A Princess alone in her tower, as hour passed into hour….

~Written - 08/08/2012~

Links to help you Write

Creative writing does require a basis in fact to be convincing.

Creative Writing 101

Naming: Not as easy as you might think, not every hero can be named Jack and not every heroine can be named Elizabeth. And everyone deserves a name, don't fall subject to creating a character as a secondary character without naming them. Pay attention to your names, there is more than one book that I have read where a child was named David in book one and Micheal in book two. I pay attention and it sucks me right out of the story.

BabyNames.com
Name Generator

Describing; be consistent but not redundant. My favorite thing to argue is eye color, as the windows to the soul how you describe a characters eyes will say a lot about the character.

Eye Color List

A sensory experience; Scent, smell and texture, laying on the grass with your love, or on the concrete bleeding, the physical needs to be put into words. The sensual; what's in a kiss, in a touch? What sensations accompany heartbreak, how do you describe ecstasy?

The Sensual Life
Words
Exercises

Science of Writing V

"Show don't Tell."

Sound familiar? It should, as a writer you are using words to evoke a response from your reader, to paint a picture in their minds eye. As a reader would you rather see:

Terror washed over Jim's features, catatonic he stood still.

Or:

Jim's pupils dilated and he drew in a sharp shuddering breath as first the scents hit him then the terrible sight took form, something had lade waste to the valley. Taking in the carnage before him, pulse racing he couldn't force his limbs into motion.

This sort of description is referred to as Sensual. It paints a picture, it evokes a natural response from the reader, if you do this right then the reader will naturally feel for your character and you won't have to hold their hand and tell them everything.

Some great advice on writing emotion; Writing as a Sacred Path or eHow.

Writing and my Mother

Hello again!

So after having had some time to think about what I wrote on Grammar and the Mighty Thesaurus I wanted to share some personal examples.. err anecdotes? Whatever.

My Mother (yes I'm going there) is the probably the most intelligent person I can think of, creative in a way that is just unheard of, a little psychotic but in a way that makes my sibs and I grin. She would make up stories on the fly, really good ones and she is so witty and snarky if she ever put pen to paper with her writing she would be a best seller.

I asked her about a year ago why she never wrote her stories down, why she never tried to get published. She said, "I'm just not smart enough." Well I called her out on that, and she said, "I have terrible grammar." I personally have to admit that my punctuation sucks, and I couldn't tell you the difference between a verb and a noun but I know how to write a sentence... They usually start out as run-on and then get cleaned up while I'm proofing. So I paused and remembering a creative writing class I took I smiled and said to Mom, "Just write how you talk, you can get an editor to help you with grammar and I can help you proof."  Mom said she'll think about it... which in Mom-speak means 'No.' or 'I don't want to, lets procrastinate and see if they forget.'

Write how you talk. It gives your writing flavor.

I also wanted to mention, I am an avid reader, I read over 1500 words a minute and 300 pages will barely last me an hour so I read a lot of the little self published things on Amazon for Kindle. Last week I was reading this enchanting little romance novel (yes I know) the heroine was a fifth grade teacher and the hero was a billionaire (a little cliche but women like the fantasy of it) and two or three times a chapter the writer grabbed me by my sloppy ponytail and yanked me out of my reading by, only one mistake in the whole book but it was over and over again. She used 'meet' instead of 'met' its a tense issue and made me grit my teeth.

If you want to read it yourself it was a very good book, if you can get past wrong tense in a book that stars a teacher: The Teacher's Billionaire: The Sherbrookes of Newport Book 1

I confess I am a Grammar Nazi.

Science of Writing IV

I know you are here because you want to hear what I have to say about writing and the long and the short of it is, choose the right word at the right time, mind your grammar but be real. It could be some small slip that pulls your reader out of the story.

We joke about “Grammar Nazi’s” but there are easy assumptions that can be made about you that can be entirely incorrect if you make the right slip up.

Then or Than. Hale or Hail. Grate or Great. Steak or Stake. Steel or Steal. Rain or Reign. Ad nauseam.

I can go on but I expect you understand. We all know we should proofread, but sometimes… we slept through that class in High School. So I have resources for you! First is a Magical option that I suspect no-body knows how to use anymore, I have it on good authority that my adolescent nephew has never seen one.

The Mighty Thesaurus! No, its not a dinosaur. Yes it is so important as to get this many words.

A Thesaurus (Per Google) is "A book that lists words in groups of synonyms and related concepts" vaguely translated it is a book for writers that will tell them when they are using the wrong word or the right word in the wrong context. It also helps with correct pluralization and tense. The best thing my Sixth grade teacher did was give everyone in class a paperback Thesaurus, I still have mine.

If you are the type who scribbles at length long hand from park benches or while in bed you will want a physical Thesaurus. I recommend the best you can get your hands on, for me that is Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus. If you are a cyber junky the I suggest you bookmark Thesaurus.com and Merriam-Webster.

The reason for this, is not because you cannot tell a good story, it is because you pay editors by the word, so you want to avoid having to go through too many revisions. Editors don't fix your mistakes, they just tell you about them. A lot like your High School English teacher.

Science of Writing III

As a writer you need to choose your Point of View. You should use particular points of view in particular situations.

First Person: Indicates personal experience, evaluation, and/or opinion.

Second Person: Instructs or Addresses the reader.

Third Person: Generalizes the experience or situation.

With few exceptions it is a good idea to write in 3rd person whenever possible. This way, you avoid shifting points of view and confusing the reader. Some fiction authors have made a quite successful effort of capturing a story in the First Person namely Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton , if you follow either link it will take you to an example book on Amazon; and personally I find First person very enjoyable when used by Horror Genre writers.

Here are some examples of the same passage written in the three different points of view.  Read them to understand the difference in tone and purpose borrowed from another website a while back, I'm afraid I can't provide a cite.

First Person, indicating a personal experience - "I have found increasing my workload is taxing on both my physical and mental health. Unless I am in a physically-intensive profession, my body is wasting away while I work.  Additionally, my diet has also suffered as I have spent more time at work.  No longer do I have the time to prepare healthy meals at home or even worse; I sometimes do not have time to eat at all."

Second Person, instructing the reader - "Increasing your workload is taxing on both your physical and mental health. Unless you are in a physically-intensive profession, your body is wasting away while you are working.  Additionally, your diet also suffers as you spend more time at work.  No longer [do you] have the time to prepare healthy meals at home or even worse, you may not have time to eat at all."

Third Person, addressing a general situation - "Increasing workloads tax both physical and mental health.  Unless a person is in a physically-intensive profession, a body will waste away with inactivity.  Additionally, diet suffers as more time is spent at work as people do not have the time to prepare healthy meals or, even worse, may not have time to eat at all."

You can see the difference in tone for yourself.