from Carol:
Thank you all for your kind words after Monday’s post.
from Brenda:
One of the much-published women in our critique group, the Wasatch Mountain Fiction Writers [WMFW], writes massive and highly-researched historicals. She is amazing to me. She writes every word of research by hand, often on legal-sized, yellow tablets. She also writes her books out long hand before typing (or having them typed up). Attempting to learn her secrets of organization, I asked her once how she finds specific bits of needed information as she composes her story.
“Oh, when I get to a point where I need a specific fact, it just pops into my head.” She credited the having written it all by hand in the first place as the reason it “stuck”.
Tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 23, is supposed to “National Handwriting Day.” I have seen this “day” credited to John Henry, for his bold (possibly myopic) signature. And I’ve noted “National Writing Day,” as sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), but listed as Oct. 20, and so recognized by the U. S. Senate, 2009 through at least 2012.
Personally, I liked my friend’s idea that writing “by hand” contributed to her retention of information.
Suppose we all try writing something by hand tomorrow? Notice whether it helps cement ideas, facts, data in our minds. Maybe that can work for us, too.
Let us know how you do, and what you learn.
from Cheryl:
There used to be something in my house called writing time.
There used to be something called reading time.
There used to be something known as showers.
There used to be something known as sleep.
A month ago, all of these things were replaced by a baby boy.
To say my life is unbalanced is an understatement. I’m either taking care of my son, my daughter, or sleeping in those rare moments when their naps coincide.
But I know it’s temporary. I know, because I’m still jotting down notes about how to fix sections of my novel. I’m still waking up with inspiration for new stories. I’m still managing to sneak in a few minutes here and there of reading, studying the newest and best of my genre.
I’m a mother, but I haven’t given up on being a writer. I’m behind on my writing, but I’m not done.
And neither are any of you. If you’re behind, it’s okay. We can do this.
Throwing Up Words 