Write Well Me

What I Got for My Birthday

While I didn't get any information or cool software that I asked for with such subtlety, I did receive some pretty cool gifts.  Along with a cool tea pot, tea cups, and sumptuous Earl Grey tea from Stacy, I also got a Borders gift certificate from Lee (she knows me and books!) and a customized "Best Friends" Zena Moon candle from my hot girls.

Cool!

One gift that really hit home, even deeper than the thoughtful, incredible, very Dawn-like gifts above was the Miss Suzy book Kathryn gave me.  In this strange quest I've embarked on to reread books from childhood, I've had to do some real searching.  Kathryn was with me when I asked our local librarian to help me remember this book about a squirrel and there were mean squirrels, and then this troop of toy soldiers helped her....  The librarian found it, I made a note of it, and Kathryn evidently filed her own note away.

When it came time to figure out what to get Mommy for her birthday, Chris and the girls did some Amazon shopping.  Chris actually found my wish list (I didn't even know that HE knew I had one), and there was Miss Suzy.   So, on my birthday, I sat down with my daughters and read to them a book I remember reading oh so many years ago. 

And now that it's nearing Thanksgiving, I've a hankering for Cranberry Thanksgiving, which, thankfully, I already own.  No long quest for this book.

While those other gifts I thought I wanted might have touched my mind and fed the writer in me, these birthday gifts touched my heart and fed my soul.

Verbal Sentence Diagramming in The Office

We were catching up on a couple of episodes of The Office, and lo and behold, there's a grammar discussion in "Money," aired on October 18.

In this episode, Ryan uses the word "whomever," and Michael laughs and says, "Whomever is actually never right." 

In a hilarious, 1-minute, 42-second scene, the entire office staff debates the legitimacy of "whomever."  Well, maybe it's only hilarious for grammar geeks like me.

Here's the link as long as it lasts:

Since, I'm a week and half late watching the episode, other people have brilliantly dissected the script and the comedic genius. Check them out here and here.  The Literal-Minded link gives a nice transcript of the scene for those of you who need words (or in case of the video link disappearing).

Red Sox and Business

A friend of mine told me about an article in the Washington Post.   "It reminded me immediately of you!"  she said.  (It's so nice that all my non-entrepreneur friends are looking out for me!)

The article, an excerpt from a blog, discussed the similarities between being a Red Sox fan and an entrepreneur.  It's a cute article that helps us entrepreneurs feel as if we're not quite so crazy after all.  :)

As a side note, Tammy said the article could also apply to Chris, just replace Red Sox with the Philadelphia Eagles, who, sadly, are playing very poorly.  Well, there's always next September!

And if you're interested in the original blog from Honest Tea, click here.  If you're not interested in their blog, you might be interested in how they got started.  It's a great story.

The Spoken Word

I recently joined Lonely Entrepreneur, an on-site community for entrepreneurs (lonely or otherwise, I suppose!).  I'm in a marketing phase with Write Well U, and one of my marketing activities includes networking, on-line and in person.  I can't remember how I heard about Judith and her Lonely Entrepreneur site (let me know if it was you!), but I've been a regular visitor since I joined several months ago.

Once you join (and right now it's free to join since it's new), you get access to group coaching calls, the Lonely Entrepreneur Forum, the expert teleclass archive, other tools, and interviews with members.  As a member, I signed up to participate in a monthly interview.  Other than having to get up at 5:45 a.m. for a 6:00 interview (Judith is in the UK), it was a great experience.

When I went back to listen (again, you can join for free - and then you can listen to me!), I was fairly happy with what I heard.  There was no preparation, and it was all off the cuff.  I was pleased that the audio recording wasn't peppered with a lot of "ums" and "uhs," and that I sounded fairly intelligent.  The one thing I did notice,though, was that I used the word "and" a LOT.  If I had been writing, I would have used periods and more connecting words.  Since I was talking, it turned out to be one long sentence.  Almost.  Thank goodness I don't write like that!

It occurred to me that when I'm speaking, "and" is an invisible word for me - one that I don't notice and don't consciously weed out.  We talk about invisible words in the Writing Essentials Program, but that's more from a reading and writing perspective (what words do your eyes just skip over?).  It was interesting to observe invisible words from a speaking point of view.  Next time I'll do better!

If you're in business for yourself, consider joining Lonely Entrepreneur.  If you do, check out my audio interview!

May we all write--and speak--well.

Update on The Historian

I'm reading The Historian and really enjoying it.  I wasn't sure if it was going to live up to the words on the back cover:  "Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written..."

It does.

Reading it is like being a foodie and eating a new dish.  You swirl a bite around your mouth, feeling the texture and marveling in the exquisite tastes.  You even find yourself trying to identify ingredients.  "Could that be basil?"  "I think I taste freshly grated Asiago cheese!"

The Historian really is beautifully written, and every now and then I'll come across a word that I pause and savor.  Obviously, I'm more likely to be sensitive to words and how they're used, but I think any reader would enjoy how Elizabeth Kostova blends them together to make a delicious dish.

Another thing that struck me is the fact that, at least in the beginning, it's a story within a story.  The novel I'm writing is also a story within a story, and I found myself today wondering if that structure worked.  Then it occurred to me that it does, as it does well in The Historian. 

Yay!  (Please forgive that very juvenile outburst from an otherwise professional and mature writer.)

Can't Do It With Words Alone

Last week I participated in an on-line writers' conference.  It had all the earmarks of a great thing:  it was free (yeah, yeah - I know the old adage about you get what you pay for), it was a conference all about writing, and there were several workshops that were right in line with what I wanted.

It started last Monday, the 8th, and lasted until Sunday, the 14th.

I, on the other hand, lasted two days.

I signed up for several workshops and real-time chats.  The workshops took place on a forum, and the real-time chats were just what they sound like, chats in a chat room.  The workshops could be done at any time, although the four I had signed up for had daily homework.  The chats had specific date and times.

I started out on Monday attending two events, and I was a little disappointed.  Now, I knew that they were in a chat format, so there would be no voice-to-voice conversation.  What I didn't realize was how little value they held for me.  Let me give you an example:

Presenter:  Hi, how are you all?  I can only type two lines at a time, so I won't really be presenting much information.  This is really a Q&A.  So, type a question mark by your name and I'll get to you in order.
JaneDoe: ?
JimSmith:?
BobSmall: ?
Presenter:  Now, when you write, you really just sit down and put your pen to paper and visualize.  The more you visualize, the better.
SallyJones: ?
KateBig: ?
Presenter:  Let's go with Jane Doe's question.  Jane?
JaneDoe: How do you actually write?
Presenter:  Well, it's a little like eating an elephant.  You take one bite at a time.  JimSmith?  Your turn.

Now, that's not an actual transcript from the chat, but it's not too far off.  In other words, not enough time or space to really give in-depth information.  And since it's only chat and not voice, we couldn't really interact.  It was too much for me to follow, even being a very visual person.  I was trying to follow several trains of thought, with the presenter answering a question in two-lines spurts, and the questioner trying to go deeper.  I just couldn't wrap my brain around it.

Then, I participated in the on-line workshops in the forums.  That was a really valuable experience, but I found myself getting very overwhelmed.  The idea is that you complete the exercise and post it.  Then, you read other people's submissions and comment.  And then people comment on yours.  And it keeps going. 

I couldn't handle it, and I quit after two days.

I was so overwhelmed that I just shut down.  Stacy explained to me that it was the medium.  It was a medium that didn't work for me, at least not in a learning environment.  I don't do chat rooms, and so I wasn't used to the quickness and the shallowness (meaning the inability to go really deep into something) that I found there.

I did gain a bit of useful information, and the exercises I did participate in were very valuable.  Maybe I could do ONE on-line workshop, but I still feel the constant checking in, reading, commenting... it would just be too much.

I'm looking forward to attending an in-person workshop/conference, but even there I'll have to be careful that I don't try to do much.

I'm proud of myself for recognizing (even if at first I didn't understand why) that this wasn't working for me and that it was causing me to shut down in the rest of my life.  I bowed out, and I didn't feel guilty at all.  Notice how when I'm feeling overwhelmed, I dive for the comfort of my books?  You can always tell when I'm feeling overwhelmed; I have a ton of "What Dawn Is Reading Today" posts in fairly short order.

What Dawn Is Reading Today - 10/14/07

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading.  :-)

I zoomed through Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair.  I really loved it!  After I finished it, I was in the need for comfort reading (more on why in the next day or so), so I read an old favorite, The Walker in the Shadows by Barbara Michaels.  I've been reading this book over and over for years.  (Funny, quick story - I first read this back when I was a teenager living in Texas.  This book is set in Poolesville, Maryland.  Well, 12 years ago when we moved to Maryland, we drove on I-270 to our sight-unseen apartment in Germantown, Maryland.  A few miles from our Germantown exit is the exit to Poolesville.  Cool!  Barbara Michaels lives in Frederick, Maryland, and my goal is to meet her someday!)

I finished The Walker in the Shadows so quickly I didn't even have time to post here. Now I'm on to an unknown (perish the thought - Dawn reading a book she's never read before?  No way!  The horror!), The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.  The plot sounds intriguing (woman with an ancient family secret that insinuates itself into her modern life), but it was this on the back cover that struck me tonight as I was picking my newest book:  "Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written..."

As I've been surrounded by words and writing and writing well, I'm wondering how I'll be approaching this book.  Simply as a reader wanting to be entertained?  Or as a teacher, writer, and lover of words who will be looking for evidence of the beautifully written piece?  Probably both.

Creative Space - We Keep Coming Back to That

I posted a while back about my journey to create a sanctuary/creative space in my bedroom.  A few weeks ago, the editor of Writer's Digest asked readers to post pictures of their writing spaces in the forum.  This has been a very active thread, and people are really getting into how others create their writing environment, everything from office buildings to roving RVs.  (You can see my post at the Writer's Digest forum with even more pictures!)

I bring this up because Sharon just wrote about virtual office spaces, and Sara commented on my old sanctuary post.  Creating a creative space was high on Laura's priority list when she came back from sabbatical.

Having a space that's ours, whether it's for creating or sanctuary or both, is becoming more and more important.  I'd love to hear your comments on why we need these spaces and if this is a new phenomenon.  Let's talk!

What Dawn Is Reading Today - 10/8/07

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading.  :-)

The Old Wine Shades was just what I needed to get back into the swing of things.  I was in the middle of reading it, which was a whole, like, three days, when I get an order from Amazon.  It's a book I preordered months ago, Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair: The True-Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After He Split.

I love Crazy Aunt Purl's blog, and so when I saw that she had a book coming out, I immediately preordered -and forgot about it.  (Now, just so that you remember what an Amazon ninny I'm turning out to be, I actually preordered twice.  Sigh.  Is it just me, or does Amazon hide the preorders from your account status?)

Anyway, the book comes, I unbox it, and it lies on my kitchen counter for a few days while I finish up The Old Wine Shades.  Once I'm done, before I can make it down to my basement to look for a book to read, I turn to Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair.   I fully expect to read but not be very engaged.  The exact opposite is true; I can't help but keep turning the pages, and I can't put it down.

I've always loved her writing on her blog, and the book is even better.  She has such a strong voice, and she does the whole "I'm Southern and a little wacky" thing beautifully.  It's truly better than much of the new chic lit you'll find at the bookstore.  And, chic lit label aside, I'm going to force my husband to read it because he'll get a kick out of reading about a woman who makes fun of herself the whole time.

Because I certainly don't do that.

Time Management Materials

I've received several comments, on-line and off, about my newest time management system.  People have implemented it, and I even went shopping with Antonette to get her set up.  If it's helpful, below is a list of the supplies I use:

• At-A-Glance wall calendar is 30"x20".  Each day is 5.25"x2.75".  I was fortunate enough to go searching when 18-month calendars were out.  Now that it's October, you can only get a 2008 calendar.  But you can always be prepared come January!
• Color sticky notes, 1 1/2"x2". 
• Fun, colorful Sharpie markers.  Life is just more fun when you can color!

If you play, be sure to let me know how it's working for you.

Blecch

Chris is actually a good writer.  I say "actually" because he used to be an engineer.  If you've known any engineers, they're usually not much of a literary lot.  My beloved engineer, however, reads the classics (in between Star Wars novels) and writes well with a strong voice.

He was working on his newsletter (which, by the way, is really great.  You, too, can partake of his written wisdom concerning computers here), and he wanted to use "blecch" (you know, meaning yucky, blah,boring).  He had spelled it "blech," but he thought he'd check just in case.

He looked it up, and he found that "blech" is a Yiddish word meaning "sheet metal," and it's used to cover stove top burners during the Jewish sabbath.  He found that a better spelling was "blecch" with two c's.

I have to say that it wouldn't have occurred to me to even check.  I would have happily used "blech." 

It's that dedication to good writing where you'll go the extra lengths just to make sure that you're using the right word.  It's that important.

Happy October and Happy Birthday To Me!

Happy birthday to me!  For the whole month!

Well, not really.  My birthday is October 21, but the minute the calendar changes to October 1, I start counting down.  I've always loved my birthday. It's in October, for one thing, and it's a beautiful time of year.  After living in Texas for fourteen years, I've spent the last twelve years in Maryland stunned by the autumn colors.  Then, there's Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving, and Christmas, sprinkled with the Maryland Renaissance Festival, Chris's birthday, and our anniversary.  I love fall!

I know what I want for my birthday this year.  The August issue of Writer's Digest discussed writers' software and included a nice little table of the various offerings.

I so want to explore and play!

It occurred to me that these software tools are a great source of procrastination, at least that exploration part.

I can easily see me spending hours on my writing Tuesday going to each website, doing demos, downloading free versions.... guess how much writing is going to get done.  Not much.

So, here are the ones that seem the most promising to me (by name and description).  If you have any experience with these, want to blow a couple of hours researching, or want to give them as a gift, tell me about them!  Are they worth it?  Are they fun?  Do they make your writing projects just zip along?  :-)

Dramatica pro - story development
BookWright - manuscript editing and formatting
Writer's Blocks - brainstorming and structuring
WriteItNow - story development and management
WriteWay - organization and help tools
StoryBase - story development
StoryView - story outlining and structuring
Power Structure - story development
Power Writer - story development and word processing
StoryCraftPro - story development and word processing
Character Pro - story development
Great Dialogue Software - dialogue development
A Zillion Kajillion Rhymes and Cliches - rhyming dictionary and phrase thesaurus

See how I could get overwhelmed?  I don't know where to start, and, more importantly, where to stop.  So I don't look at any of them.  Make my birthday a good one by giving me information!

May your birthdays be as informative!