Pages & Paws

Uncanny, isn’t it?  Try though I might to set aside an hour a day to write, the “interruptions” flood in like Hurricane Hugo.  The doorbell.  Phone.  Dog.  Kids. Laundry.  Raspberry white chocolate cheesecake.

The computer where I do most of my brilliant blogging is in the bedroom.  This works pretty well for that coveted “quiet spot” – until sibling rivalry in the living room breaks into a three-alarmer.  Or the dog wants to go out.  Or dinner is burning.  Or a sink full of dirty dishes awaits.

I’ve learned to stuff my pockets with 3 x 5-inch spiral bound notebooks.  They’re small, lightweight and portable.  They also don’t require an outlet or Wi-Fi, so I can readily jot down any inspiration that may strike on the hiking trail, in a canoe, at the beach or on a mountain top.  I scribble down my impressions and try to decipher the hieroglyphics at the keyboard later.  Sometimes it even works.

Here’s my question.  Are you deliberate about setting time aside in your day to write?  This may include journaling, jotting down notes or ideas for future development, outlining a short story or your next great work of fiction, or rewrites on a current writing project.

Do you discipline yourself to practice writing on a regular basis?  If so, how, when and where?  What obstacles or interruptions have you overcome?  Share it with us in the comments section.

Aw, phooey.

The envelope arrived in the mail with the self-addressed label I’d affixed some weeks prior.  Inside was a nice tri-folded typed note that read:

“Thank your for submitting your book proposal to ____ _____ (unnamed publisher).  We have reviewed the materials and have decided that the book is not quite right for our current publishing program.”

What does “not quite right” mean?  Is it within a millimeter of being “right,” or a mile and a half?  And if a publishing program isn’t “current,” what is it?  An antique?  In the future?

It’s okay

Alright.  So I’m in a bit of a blue funk.  Know what?  I’ve decided blue funks are okay.  For a time.

If you’ve poured heart and soul into a manuscript and slaved long weeks over just the “right” turn of a phrase, agonized over pacing and rhythm, polished dialogue and plot to a bright sheen only to have “The Editors’ reject your magnum opus, there’s a word for the experience: disappointment.  Aka: Aw, phooey.

And that’s okay.  It’s okay to admit that something hurts when it does.

What’s not okay is to let it take you out for the count.  To get so discouraged that you give up.

The territory

The truth?  If you’ve been writing for more than ten minutes or so, you know that rejection letters come with the territory.  Don’t take them personally. And don’t let them stop you from doing what you were born to do: write!

Now, if “the editors” have specified how or why your latest sparkling masterpiece isn’t “quite right” for their “current publishing program,” listen up and learn.  Avoid making the same mistakes twice.

More often than not, however, such letters offer little or no useful advice in the how or why departments.  When that happens, you might:

– Submit elsewhere

– Rewrite and re-submit

– Rework a current manuscript for a different publisher

– Pare down a manuscript into an article or an article series and sell it to a magazine

– Set aside the rejected mss. and start something new

– Treat yourself to another slice of raspberry white chocolate cheesecake with double hot fudge

– Pack your bags and head to Tibet.

A win-win

Before you dive into that last one, try offering your writing skills to a non-profit.  Volunteer to write for and/or edit their newsletter and other publications.  This can be a great opportunity to network.  It may even turn into a paying gig.  If it doesn’t, you’re still building relationships, polishing your skills and helping someone.  It’s a chance to turn an “aw, phooey” into a win-win.

Have you received a rejection letter?  How did you turn it into a “win-win”?

If you’re a blogger, you’re bound to hit The Wall sooner or later.  If you’re reading this, you know what I mean: the “blank screen” bloggers hit when they’re fresh out of ideas.

It’s not unusual.  Skim the blogosphere for any length of time and you’re bound to snag posts like, 20 topic suggestions for writing blog posts, or 10 ideas for awesome blog posts.  A lot of people spill considerable ink telling other people how to come up with fresh ink.

Keeping up a blog is hard work.  Let’s face it: sometimes the well runs dry.

So rather than regale you with more brilliant ideas or suggestions for writing winning blog posts, let me offer a suggestion you don’t hear much:

Take a break.

Take a Vacation

That’s right.  Take a blogging vacation.  Let your readers know that while you appreciate their loyalty, you need some time to recharge the ‘ole creative batteries.  You might let them know how long you plan to be away and when you plan to return.  Then disconnect.  Really.

Instead of blogging, go for a walk.  Play with your kids.  Eat a banana split.  Take up line-dancing, a watercolor class, or wood carving.  Find a new author.  Make a new friend.  Change the oil in your car.  Quit stressing about your next blog post or series.  There’s something therapeutic and bracing about shifting gears, trying something novel, exploring new territory.  Whatever it takes to replenish the well.

Productive ‘Down Time’

I know, I know.  This may seem counter-intuitive for some, especially you Type-A personalities.  Trust me on this.  You’d be surprised at how productive “down time” can be, or how a chance of pace, fresh perspective, or renewed energy pays off in the long run.  I’ve found then when a “rested” mind is a more creative mind.  Some of my best ideas and creative bursts have come after I’ve turned off the computer and gone “on vacation.”

How long should your blogging vacation last?  That’s up to you.  Running on fumes isn’t doing you or your readers any favors.  You’ll both be better off when you can hit the blogosphere fresh.  When you start feeling like blogging is fun again, you’re on the right track.

So turn off the computer and take Nike’s advice: Just do it.

How many times have you heard, What are you writing? … Working on? …  Have in the pipeline?

How many times are you asked, “Why?”  As in, Why are you a writer?  Why do you write?  Why do you invest so much time, energy and passion into word-smithing and story-spinning?

“Why?” isn’t a trivial question.  In fact, Why? may be a lot more important than what, where, how, or even who.

Possible response to “Why?” that I’ve heard:

• To make money
• I want to get my message out
• To become famous
• Because I have a story to tell

Notice a common thread?  These are all “me-isms.”  In other words, it’s all about me.

Part of what makes great writing great is that it moves us beyond ourselves.  Expands our horizons.  Draws new paradigms. Explores an old topic from a new angle.  Moves us to tears.  Sends us into gales of laughter.  Breaks the mold.  Challenges, educates, dares, inspires.  You know you’ve come across truly great writing when you happily skip a luscious plate of tiramisu to finish the next chapter.

Yes, I know we all find ourselves fascinating.  But if our writing consists solely and wholly of me-isms without connecting to something bigger – family, faith, nature, tiramisu – then we’re just cranking out a commercial.

We can do better.  Dig digger.  Fly higher.  Stretch.  Explore.  Grow. The tiramisu will wait.

Which of your favorite authors writes “bigger than yourself”?

This guest post is by Barbara Bassett:

One day, as I studied the scripture known as the Ten Commandments, I was so stunned with its harsh rigidity that I had to reread it, again-and-again-and-again, looking for the caring and protective Father I thought I knew. Where was He?

         Then as I reread—aloud—this moral code for Israel and for all who would become His, the words I heard lost their firm harshness as I realized how deeply He too suffers from our rejection of His protective guidance as well.

                        A DEVOTIONAL PLEA FROM OUR FATHER

If we honor other gods before Our Father,

We commit spiritual adultery and we knowingly violate Him.

If we make an idol of anyone else’s likeness and we worship it,

We cheapen His glory and sabotage our allegiance due to Him alone.

If we use His holy Name in vile utterances,

We flaunt our ignorant scorn of its splendid power.

If we commit murder,

We challenge His wisdom as our supreme Creator and Judge of all life.

If we commit adultery,

We violate His Holy Spirit, residing in the temples of our bodies.

If we steal,

We encroach upon His stewardship over the fate of all humans.

If we bear false witness against our neighbor,

We damage a defenseless member of His earthly family.

If we covet anything belonging to a neighbor,

We reject His promise to give to us the desires of our hearts.

In surrendering to His loving leadership, we find that:

As we choose to honor our parents, though they may fail us,

We still respect His right of stewardship over our lives.

As we remember and keep holy the Sabbath,

We accept His invitation to be in harmonious fellowships with Him.

As we confess our sins to be truly against Him,

He is faithful to forgive and to forget them.

As we repent,

He joyfully celebrates with all of heaven.

As we love Him and keep His commandments,

He warmly draws us unto Himself.

As we humbly choose to be His bondservants,

Our Father strengthens us to take up the Cross of His Son.

~~~

Barbara Bassett lives in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, where her long and storied life includes being part of both a Vineyard fellowship and a writers group. A loving mother and grandmother, at 93-years-young she confidently claims, “After more than eight decades of receiving My Father’s loving words of wisdom, I find his guidance to be new every day.”

So, how do you like my new header?  I was looking for something spiffy, sauve and sparkling that communicated my passion for the written word.  Whaddya think?

A quick heads up on some upcoming posts:

– Anyone Have a Spare Tylenol?

– A review of No Ordinary Day by Deborah Ellis

– How do You Know? (if you’re a real writer)

– ‘Just Do It’ (what to do when you hit a blogging wall)

–  So I Decided to Give Up.

Lots more. Thanks for joining me, and stay tuned!

It’s here!  The hiccups have (finally) been taken care of and the “hitches” in the get-along have been smoothed out.  The inaugural issue of Wreal 8 newsletter, “Where writers & readers relate,” has just flown the coop!

Designed to be a dialogue rather than a lecture, Wreal 8 invites readers to send in links to their writing-related blogs, story, winning writing contest entry, or favorite new book.  Also features an author interview, writer-friendly Tips & Tidbits, Resources & Recommends, and links to How to Write a Book When You’re Really, Really Busy and 10 Ways To Get More Facebook Fans This Week.

Wreal 8: Where Writers & Readers Relate!  Sign up here.

I’m old enough to remember Sunday nights with Walt.  Remember the old Wonderful World of Color series?  Hosted by Walt Disney, it came on right after Lassie.

What if I told you some folks had written a book about capturing the Disney magic every day of your life?  Would you dash out and pick up a copy?  Well, here’s your chance!

The following is an interview with writer, researcher, word fan, editor and wordsmith Peggy Matthews-Rose.  Read more about her part in the  fascinating “How to Be Like” series, particularly her role in How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life.

First things first:

*Tell us about your book (title, publisher, publication date, etc.)

Our book is called How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life. The authors are Pat Williams (Orlando Magic SVP) and Jim Denney. The book was published by HCI in 2004 and continues to sell well and inspire readers everywhere. It is part of a Williams/HCI “How to Be Like” series that profiles leaders like Michael Jordan, Amway founder Rich DeVos, baseball legend Jackie Robinson, Coach John Wooden, and even Jesus. My role in the book was that of researcher, contact-maker, and editing assistant, based on my longtime involvement with The Walt Disney Company. You won’t see my name on the cover, but I am listed on the dedication page and in the acknowledgments.

*Tell us about yourself. (Where are you from, what is your background, how long have you been writing or anything we might find interesting about you.)

While not a prolific writer, I’ve definitely been a word fan since childhood. Excelled at creative writing projects and began focusing on journalism classes in junior high. Continued with communications as an emphasis in college though my degree was ultimately in English literature. I found that reading great writing helped me improve my own. Grew up and still live on Orange County, California. My friends like to introduce me as, “This is Peg. She used to be Peter Pan at Disneyland.” So I guess that must be the most interesting thing about me! That debut was followed by many Disney years, about half of which were in communications roles. Today I freelance as a collaborative writer, editor, and general, all-around wordsmith.

Why did you write this book? My involvement in this book is what I call a “God-thing” and way too long a story for this blog. Suffice it to say that I met Pat Williams at a book show, he told me about this book he was writing about Walt, I told him I had every book written about Walt (at that time) as well as contact with many people who knew or were inspired by Walt – and the rest was publishing history.  We wrote the book as a tribute to Walt and to further inspire readers as Walt inspired so many who knew him. Walt was a one-of-a-kind, a true American original. No one can be Walt. Be we can all be like Walt by studying what drove the man. We can all keep his light in our window.

What obstacles did you encounter in getting this book published? How did you overcome them? Since the book was already under contract when I got involved, there were no real obstacles. We did encounter some curious resistance from some of the folks we interviewed and then, of course, minor issues when the publishers decided there was “too much soap in the box.” How do you cut anything from a book about Walt Disney? But we did.

How did you know you wanted to be a writer? How did you get started? As I hinted earlier, I knew I wanted to write the first time a grade school teacher read one of my stories out loud. I think that was first or second grade. My professional start came when I interned for a staff writer job at Disneyland and was hired fulltime shortly after that. I edited the “cast” newsletter and an internal magazine for several years, as well as at Walt Disney Studios later on.  A number of years later, I returned and worked in similar roles. When I left, I decided it was time to see if I could do this writing thing on my own. Answer: yes and no. I’m fortunate to no need a full-time employer, but I definitely need partners.

Did you learn anything from writing and publishing this book?  What? Where do I begin? This book was the launch of what I could easily call some of my greatest life adventures. Always a Waltphile, I learned more about the depth of this man’s soul than I ever could have in any other way. I reconnected with people I’d lost contact with, made new friends, and generally enriched my life in many ways. Beyond what I learned about Walt, I learned the ins and outs of the publishing world in working with Pat and Jim and HCI editors. In the process of working with Pat and Jim, I learned about the wonderful world of collaborative writing. Since this book’s publication, I’ve personally written five books with Pat and several with other collaborators. And beyond all that, this book brought me a great couple of friendships with Pat Williams and Jim Denney. Pat is an inspiration to everyone who knows him: a consummate sports professional, motivational speaker, father of nineteen, and now a cancer survivor. Whatever hurdle life throws in his way, Pat continues to knock it down and keep going. I am so grateful for his friendship and patient support over the years. Jim has likewise been an encouraging, wise, and helpful mentor. May blessings overflow to them both.

If you were doing it all over again, what would you do differently? Not in any way, except for maybe starting earlier. But I always was slow on the uptake.

What types of books do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors? Why? I’ve always lived in Fantasyland, literarily. Love children’s classics (especially Peter Pan J), C. S. Lewis’s Narnia books, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. These authors knew how to grab hearts and imaginations. They didn’t write down to the child but well understood and spoke to the child inside us all.

What other books have you written? With Pat Williams, I’ve written Read for Your Life: 11 Ways to Transform Your Life with Books (HCI 2007); Lincoln Speaks to Leaders: 20 Powerful Lessons for Today’s Leaders from America’s 16^th President (with Gene Griessman, Elevate Books 2009); The Take Away: 20 Unforgettable Life Lessons Every Father Should Pass On to His Child (with Karyn Williams, HCI 2009); Nail It: 10 Secrets for Winning the Job Interview (Advantage 2010); and Daly Wisdom: Life Lessons from Dream Team Coach and Hall of Famer Chuck Daly (Advantage 2010). With Saddleback Church pastor Erik Rees, I’ve assisted with S.H.A.P.E.: Finding and Fulfilling Your Purpose for Life (Zondervan 2006) and co-written Only You Can Be You: 21 Days to Making Your Life Count (Howard 2009). I’ve also co-written a children’s picture book with ministry partner Sandra Maddox called Tiffany and the Talking Frog in The Search for the Crown of Rye Chestnuts. This latter title was self-published by Ms. Maddox in 2008. The book and characters were inspired by her daughter, Tiffany, who was tragically killed in an automobile accident in 2003 at the age of 24.

Are you working on something now?  What? Got a couple irons in the fire. Not ready to share just yet. Always have a possible book of my own in the back of my mind, been there since my college days (just last year J), my own fantasyland tale. It seems to get stuck there, however. Who knows? It may resurface one day or always remain my book in a box somewhere.

What is the best advice you could give other writers about writing or publishing? 1) If you believe in your book and believe your message deserves to be heard, be ready and willing to do what it takes to self-publish. Besides the fact that the traditional publishing world isn’t kind to unknown writers, those who self-publish always stand to profit more from this avenue than any other. 2) Unless you are a highly skilled and confident communications professional, hire a wordsmith or editor! I see way too many self-published books (reading one right now) that have so much potential but are riddled with misspelled words, poor punctuation, badly constructed sentences, etc. These “little” details scream “unprofessional.” No matter how you seek publication, getting it right in manuscript is critical. Can’t emphasize that enough.

Where can readers learn more about you and your book?

http://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Like-Walt-Capturing/dp/0757302319/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334687850&sr=8-1. You can also find me on Facebook and/or LinkedIn (Peggy Matthews Rose).

Anything else to add? If you love to write, just do it. Writing really is its own reward. If you must have an audience, read to your friends, your kids or self-publish. Writers groups are hugely helpful. Can’t find one? Start one. Just make sure you’re all there to help one another. But if you want to sell what you’ve written, be ready to do a lot of work promoting it. Someone once wisely said, “Nobody loves your baby as much as you do.” Finally, I’d like to say thank you so much and forever to Pat Williams and Jim Denney. At this writing, I have no idea whether or not I’ll ever do another book. But for the time I’ve had so far, it’s been a real E-Ticket attraction.