Are We Done Here?

The girls and I haven’t written in a long time. And there has been no comments when we have written. The only two people who regularly responded here have passed away.

But

I can’t seem to quite give up on our little blog that no one reads.

There is so much good stuff in the back pages.

From this point on I’ll write as though this is a writing journal. If someone reads, cool. If not, well, no big deal.

So here goes.

After years of nurturing a little orange tree grown from a 6-inch twig, I HAVE orange blossoms. The lemon has yielded fruit and the lime tree has 6 or 7 limes. But the orange trees (I have three of them) have been so slow-growing.

And now this!

The blossoms are beautiful, with a stripe of pink on the fragile petals. And in Florida, back in the day, you could drive past huge groves, all in blossom, and the smell was out of this world.

I had a friend who couldn’t smell at all (I think it was because of abuse). One day when she was stoned, she rode on the back of a motorcycle down a dirt road in town. She was hit by . . . what? What was happening? Wave after wave of a taste in the air. As the two made a turn she saw the groves, acres of orange trees, all in bloom. She realized then she was experiencing her first (and last) smell ever.

I love that.

Those kinds of descriptions, those kinds of incidents, help readers know where they are, physically in your novel.

What smell do you remember? What something changed the way you look orange trees or pizzas or fresh almonds?

 

 

Three Things Thursday

Cheryl:

It’s been a long time since I have  attempted any writing exercises, so this past week I tried writing a “six word story.” Here are a few of my attempts:

“Sorry, no discount on child-sized coffins.”

Home from fighting, not from war.

Like a turtle, she sheltered herself.

They’re harder than you might imagine. I’ve found that the most difficult thing is that each can be interpreted in so many different ways. I feel I’m not effectively translating the story in my head to that of you, the reader. And after all, that transfer is what good writing is all about, right?

Try it! Post your results in the comments, I’d love to see what others came up with.

 

 

 

Brenda:

Trying to think of an idea for today’s blog, I looked at the oldest item in my “To Read” file — mostly old copies of Writers Digest Online saved for later inspiration. My oldest (which SHOULD have been a journal entry) included a note from Staci, real estate agent and friend, trying to sell my condo so I could move back to SLC. The memories it brought back made me laugh — besides, now it’s June!

Dec 12, 2009

Staci: I would like to show your home please at 10 am Tuesday . . . Let me know if this is ok. . . . Thanks!

Brenda: Tuesday would be fine EXCEPT. . . (then I listed details like):

. . . in my 4th day of frozen pipes — absolutely NO water

. . . unable to do laundry

. . . dishes (hidden in dishwasher — mostly eating out)

. . . run to the club house to use the bathroom

. . . signed up for a seven-day trial at a fitness place so I can take a shower

. . . cleaning lady scheduled Monday

. . . if water’s still frozen, I’ll tell her to wait

. . . guy from (condo) Management came tonight (thanks to neighbor)

. . . put a space heater up in garage ceiling where pipes are

. . . last time, I think it took a couple days to thaw out after space heater installed

. . . later, they added more insulation

. . . extreme cold this week: it evidently isn’t enough

. . . call me late tomorrow — I’ll possibly know more

. . . this would NOT be a good “selling point”

You MUST have similar “nightmare” memories? What are they? How could you put them into your novel? How would your characters react? Will it be an angst-ridden scene in your book, or will it be comic? Any one? AnnDee?

 

Me:

Change is afoot at Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers (www.wifyr.com). An announcement about Things To Come will occur on the last day of the conference. I’m overwhelmed. No, wait! I’m excited about what we’ll soon be offering with this conference to help people be better writers. And get published!

Shhh! Don’t say you heard it here! I’m letting the cat out of the bag a little early.

🙂

 

PS Yahoo for cliches!