Write Well Me

Word of the Day

I've been playing a game on Twitter where I come up with the word of the day and Tweet about it.  My Twitter friends play along and try to use the word in sentences.  We've had such words as "devastating," "personhood," "seething."

These playful words of the day are a bit like Power Words - words that just stick out and seem to define the day or define you - or on a lighter note, are just cool words you don't see every day.

As I've been busy integrating AuthorSmart into Write Well U (full sunshine and light of the day release on Friday!!!), there's been lots of creating - and lots of messages to me that creating is what I love to do, am fueled to do, and must do to fully live.

So as I was posting today's word of the day on Twitter ("create," in case you hadn't caught that yet), it occurred to me that there's a thought of the day to go along with it:  take time to create.

(And if you're on Twitter and want to play along, be sure to follow me.)

Flow in Writing

As I was reviewing one of my coaching client's documents, I noticed she was having trouble connecting the various paragraphs of her writing piece together.  We had been working with this material together for several months, so I could almost see the connection.  But that was only because I had been immersed in the material. Most readers don't have the benefit of seeing multiple drafts from the author or even discussing the material.

Here's how I explained connecting thoughts, in the form of paragraphs:

Connect this paragraph to the one before it. Imagine these as paragraphs as all connected together by lines – you have to put those lines in.  Otherwise, the paragraphs are just independent, floating islands.

Another metaphor is connecting the dots activities we did as children.  You have to be able to connect the dots in some manner in order to get the picture to appear.  If they can't connect, no picture.

Finishing Yet Another Journal

For someone who had never been a typical journaler (at least what I imagine a typical journaler to be), I'm almost surprised that I've filled up yet another journal.  This second one started July 28, 2007, and I wrote that entry when I was in Shenandoah during a work weekend. The journal ended on Aprili 2, 2009.

It's the pages in between those dates that really amaze me.  In July of 2007 I could have never predicted MOST of the stuff I wrote about during the next 20 or so months. 

So this new journal is the third, with two filled.  And this from the person who used to think that journaling, dedicated, "real" journaling, meant writing every night.  And from the person who started different journals for various purposes: dreams, self-empowering women, clearing my head after an argument. Not until the journals were just for me, for whatever I needed, to document or work through whatever I wanted or needed...

I wonder what journeys this one will chronicle.  What will this journal look like (no coincidence that "journal" and "journey" come from the same root)?  What new beginnings? What challenges? What joys? What lessons? What development? What discoveries? What tears? What endings? What beginnings?

I look forward to the journey this journal will chronicle.  I look forward to the companion it will become. I look forward to writing the last page and being amazed at all the pages that came before it.

The Next Step

With so much changing in my life, sometimes it's difficult to see what the next step is.  And I so love to know what the end destination is.  I know, I know.  It's the journey that's important, not the destination.  Yeah, I really believe that, but I get some solace in knowing what at least part of the journey looks like.

One thing that has brought me comfort is this:  I have this image of a path in front of me. I may or may not see the end destination. From Here to There (wherever "there" might be) is a series of different shaped cobblestones. (The different shape is important because it's not a set geometric pattern with a clear path.)  Although I can't figure out how to get from Here to There, I'm comforted by the thought that I'll take a step, and the next cobblestone will light up. Then, I'll take that step, and the next stone will light up. And so on.

Most of the time, that next step lights up right away.  Then there are times when I have no freaking idea what the next step is.  I'm standing on the cobblestone and looking for the next one to light up.  C'mon already!!!  Now!!!

Even if it's not lit up right now (Patience, grasshopper), I know that eventually it will. 

Values - More Than Words

A few weeks ago I signed up to be a charter member of a four-week teleclass series, Craving Balance.  (Boy, does that title say it all or what?)

In the first class we talked about values, and we were asked to list our values off the top of our heads.  Out of my mouth came the following:

• grace
• connection
• authenticity
• integrity

What makes them values? For me, it's that these words, and the meaning behind them, are what is most important to me.  What I live my life by.  What I look for in relationships, in my work, in the world around me.  It's how I find meaning in my life, and the people with whom I share my life.

And, of course, because it's me we're talking about, the words are powerful, too, not just the concepts. I can look at those four words and get shivers.  They're my guiding lights, what I can use to measure my success, and my litmus test for decisions.

It wasn't until I just wrote the last, that I realized how very powerful values - and knowing what your own are - can be.  Some things I've been struggling with recently feel a little clearer - just because I have a measuring stick.

Lost an Ovary; Gained a Short Story - Part II

"Hey, Tammy, how are you?  Me, oh, I'm fine.  I just had surgery a couple of weeks ago to remove a cyst and my left ovary."

Well, Tammy and I hadn't talked in a while, and she wasn't up on everything that was going on with me.  (Although, in truth, if you miss a couple of days in the saga that is Dawn's life, you could get really behind. I do tend to move at the speed of light.)

That's one way to start a conversation.  :)

Anyway, I filled her in on the synchronicity between my health issues and the book I had been writing.  She had some interesting insights on the connection.

• One might wonder why I had written the original container story if I was just going to cut it out and essentially throw it away.  As Tammy said, I had to own my own story.  Once I did that, then it was time, in this particular case, to get rid of it.  (I don't want anyone to think that I propose that all writers throw away all their stories.  Just some maybe. :)
• Tammy thought it was very telling that the piece that was cut out of me was essentially the center (or one of them) of new life.  The trauma in my childhood, which was the basis of the container story, prevented life taking place.
• That story was toxic.  And it affected the ovary as well.  Now the ovary (and the container story) is gone.  And I still have one good ovary.
• The container story was the story of Dawn (and that may have been a mistake - writing a fiction story that so closely mirrored my real life story - but maybe, as above, I had to own that story first).  Now that the ovary is gone, I can give birth to other stories.

Now here's a thought (and I depend on others who know more than I about female biology) - is there any significance in that it was the left ovary that was removed?

Tammy's insights were fascinating, from a personal standpoint as well as from a writer perspective.

What Dawn Is Reading Today - 4/12/09

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

I said I wouldn't do it again, but I did.  I said I wouldn't read other books and NOT put them on the blog.  It's just that I hadn't technically finished Shadowmarch yet. See, it's a long book, and I was only reading during breakfast and sometimes lunch.

And then Kathryn MADE me read the Twilight series after she got them for Christmas.  But as soon as I was done reading all four Twilight books, I went right back to Shadowmarch.  I didn't even read my newest Laurell K. Hamilton OR the Kim Harrison book.

It took me a while to get into Shadowmarch.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with my hiatus. Nothing at all.  The end was the best.  The plot moved long very quickly, and the characters seemed more alive.

Luckily, since I had Shadowplay on my unread bookshelf, I was able to close Shadowmarch and open Shadowplay.  The second volume picked right up where volume one left off, so that delicious suspense is still there.

One note: I don't like the cover art for volume two.  I liked Michael Whelan's art much better.  The cover for Shadowplay looks too futuristic, and it's fantasy, not sci-fi.  (I don't have anything against sci-fi.  It's just fantasy books should like fantasy books and vice versa.)

36 Questions

I wrote this morning on the next short story.  Of course, that implies that I wrote scenes and plot and characters.  Nope.  It was more of a brain dump of everything that's swirling in my head around this new story.  It seems a little odd to me, but maybe that's how the other one started three years ago.  It's been a while, so I don't rightly remember.

I know I had an outline and a document of notes (a brain dump), but as memory recalls, it seems as though I started writing the darn thing pretty quickly.  Write a scene or two and stop.  Write another scene or two and stop.  It didn't seem that there was this black hole of not knowing where to go next.

It's probably that it's just at the beginning.  And I'm not complaining, by the way.  After this morning's writing session I have a new character, Anton, and some different directions that popped up.

I also have 36 questions, courtesy of the brain dump.  And I guess I'll need more brain dumps in order to answer those questions.

Voluptuous vs. Curvy

In the next-to-last session of the Writing Essentials Program last Monday, we talked about tone, and how tone can be conveyed by just word choice.  For example, if you want to describe a woman who isn't a stick figure, you might use the word "curvy" to describe her.  (See Scarlett Johansson in He's Just Not That Into You.)

But if you were to use the word "voluptuous" instead, then a whole new world of meaning comes into play. 

As Robin said in class, "Curvy is a road.  Now voluptuous.  That's a woman.

Expanding

It's been in the works for several months, and it's been hard to keep quiet.  ('Cuz you know, the trick is getting Dawn to shut up.) 

It's interesting that Write Well U is expanding at the same time that my whole feels like it's expanding: new life, new opportunities, new, new, new.  I'm happy that Write Well U gets to experience some of the same development that I get to.

That all being said, I'm VERY excited about the changes coming Write Well U's way.  I get to build relationships with a whole new band of great instructors, offer some teaching opportunities to folks new to both AuthorSmart and Write Well U, and present a robust series of classes on both writing and publishing.

As I've changed my focus to helping women writers (as opposed to just anyone who wants to write well), it was kismet that Gail was looking for someone to take over AuthorSmart at the same time.  It just seems smart to offer a publishing aspect for my market of women writers.  Because if you want to write, you're probably going to want to publish.

So here's the release in all its glory.  While AuthorSmart may look "dark" from the outside, know that behind the scenes, we're working busily to unveil big changes for Write Well U on May 1.

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Writing & Publishing Programs Combine to Offer Full Spectrum of Training and Resources for Authors

(COLORADO SPRINGS, CO) March 25, 2009 - AuthorSmart.com, an online clearinghouse of publishing information, education, and resources for authors, announced today that on May 1, 2009, the company will become part of WriteWellU, a provider of writing programs and coaching.

The change will result in a one-stop source for authors seeking information and guidance throughout the entire publishing process from idea to finished book by bringing together subject matter experts to deliver training.

During the month of April 2009, at the close of its Winter Session classes, AuthorSmart will “go dark” as the transition takes place. On May 1st, WriteWellU will unveil a robust class schedule for the late spring and summer, which will include classes covering both writing and publishing topics.

AuthorSmart founder, Gail Richards, cited the reason for the transition as two-fold: a good match and good timing. “The majority of AuthorSmart clients are seeking help with writing in addition to learning about the publishing process, making WriteWellU a perfect complement. And the opportunity is well-timed professionally for me.”

Richards is leaving her role at AuthorSmart to focus on several private consulting contracts in her specialty of marketing communications. She shared, “When I decided to make this change, I wanted to find someone who would shepherd AuthorSmart’s programs with the same attention I have. I’m confident Dawn will do that, make this her own, and make it even better.”

WriteWellU founder, Dawn Goldberg is equally excited. “We can now provide a more comprehensive experience for clients of both AuthorSmart and WriteWellU. We’re taking two good things and combining them into something even better.”

Goldberg is recognized for coaching insight and expertise in working with writers. She herself is a writer, currently completing a collection of short stories.

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