We need less space!

I took a lot of keyboarding classes in junior high and high school. Do you know what they taught me?

Put two spaces after each sentence.

Apparently that's wrong! It changed years ago, and I NEVER KNEW. Until a year ago or so, that is. (Are you doing it wrong, too? Read this article.) Here's the quote in the article that really got me:

"I talk about 'type crimes' often, and in terms of what you can do wrong, this one deserves life imprisonment. It's a pure sign of amateur typography."

I don't know about you, but I pride myself on being a law-abiding typist. LIFE IMPRISONMENT doesn't sound all that fun, so I re-trained myself. It wasn't easy, but now I sleep better at night without that crushing guilt weighing me down.

What about you?

Were you taught right the first time? Or did you have to reteach yourself as well? Or are you still doing it wrong but you never knew and now that I told you that crushing guilt is going to keep you awake at night and curse me(!) for ever bringing it up?

And this, just because it's funny: My son typed a report for school, and wanted me to look at it before he printed it out. It looked a little something like this:

I looked at it and said, "It's good... except for all these extra spaces everywhere! What the Sam Hill is up with that?"

To which my son replied, "Oh, it's supposed to be that way. My teacher told us to double-space it."

Have I mentioned how much I love my kids?

Happy spacing, everyone.




P.S. Go enter in the DIVERGENT Giveaway if you haven't yet and still want a chance.

Quotes and Cookies: Courage to Begin

I wrote a post a couple of days ago about how you knew when you had the guts to be a writer. I was surprised how many people were unsure if they did have the guts! Because do you know what? I THINK YOU DO. Even if you haven't realized it yet, you do. How do I know? Because you ARE doing it! You're showing you have the guts to do this with every single thing you do.

"If you could get up the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed."

~David Viscott

See? You've already mustered that courage! All you have to do now is follow through. Piece of cake, right? Or... you know... piece of cookie. Hey! Speaking of cookies-- let's have one! We can celebrate having all that courage and all.

realmomkitchen.com

Happy 11/11/11, everyone! Have a FABULOUS weekend!




P.S. If you don't already own DIVERGENT (and you totally should), scroll down just a bit and enter in the giveaway!

DIVERGENT Giveaway!

I interrupt the regularly scheduled post to bring you A GIVEAWAY!

Holy cow. I just finished reading Divergent last night. It's the first book I've read in a while that sucked me in so fully that for the last 150 pages or so, I was incapable of getting anything else done. (Seriously. I was sitting at the kitchen table, dying of thirst, and couldn't seem to tear my eyes off the page long enough to walk to the sink.) It was intense. Like HUNGER GAMES intense.

And by a happy twist of fate, I happen to have two copies of the book! One I've read and loved. One I want to give away. You know how, when you open a hardback book for the very first time, it makes that sound? You know the one-- it's a crack! like the sound of words escaping. The book I'm giving away STILL HAS THAT SOUND INTACT. See how selfless I am? It's sitting right here next to me, calling me to open it so I can hear that sound, but I'M NOT. The sound is part of my gift to you if you win.

So, what do you have to do to win? Just leave me a comment saying you want it. That's it! No other steps needed. (Although someday, I'm going to design a giveaway with 50 steps. It'll be epic.) You can spread the word through the usual channels if you feel compelled to do so, but it's definitely not necessary. I just want this baby to go to a nice, loving home.

Ooo! But you get extra credit if you use the words holy frijole!, blue 42, snowplow, kablam, and/or meerkat in your comment. And no, the extra credit doesn't actually earn you anything.

I'll let a random number generator pick the winner at 10:00 pm MST on next Wednesday, November 16th. May luck smile down on you. :)

The Way We Are: You can handle it

Okay, so there was that moment when you first got the SPARK to be a writer.

And then there was that moment when you decided what you were going to DO with that spark. Where you were going to work to have it take you. You might have decided that you only want your posterity to read what you write. Or maybe you decided you want as big of an audience as you could get through Indie publishing. Or through a regional press. Or through a traditional publisher. Maybe you want everyone in the world to read what you write!

And let's face it. If you are going to have people read your stuff, it takes guts. So... my question this week is:

When did you realize that you had the guts to handle being a writer?

For me, it was realizing I could handle the critiques that came with being a writer. It happened about 3 1/2 years ago. I took a college creative writing class from a teacher who, quite frankly, scared me. I had only been writing for a few months, and was still about six months from meeting my writing group. My teacher announced that we were going to do in-class critiques, and we were going to start with me. My very first critique. I showed up with copies of my story for everyone the next class, the teacher passed them out, and then the class went silent as everyone read.

I sat at the back of the classroom, watching everyone read what I wrote. I didn't have butterflies in my stomach-- I had them flapping around my heart. The excitement built and built in my chest until I tingled everywhere from the thrill of people reading my stuff. Something I created. By the time they finished reading and drew that last breath before giving me their critiques, there was no nervousness-- only intense anticipation that I hungered for like nothing else. I knew then that I wouldn't ever cringe from a critique-- I'd crave it. I left that class knowing that I could take any critique I got thrown at me.

So there's mine. Now let's hear yours!

What was the moment that told you that you could handle it? (Or the moment that let you know you could at least handle a part of it.) Was it when you first made a blog and put your thoughts out there for strangers to read? When you figured out how to reorganize your life to fit writing in? When you stared at books in a bookstore and knew that you'd handle whatever came your way whenever to get yours there, too? When you realized you could reach "the end" in the novel you started? When you realized you had more than one book idea in you?

We want to hear about it!

I've Got a Theory: The End is Near

Okay, so I have this theory that if you don't expend creative energy, chaos will ensue. (Seriously. Do it. Bad things will happen if you don't. I stand by my theory.)

Well, I also have this sister theory to my use-creative-energy-to-quell-the-maniacal-monster theory that goes a little something like this:

Witnessing OTHER PEOPLE'S creative energy expenditures can increase yours.

Have you ever been in a creative slump, then you looked at an amazing piece of artwork or photography or a creation of some sort or listened to an amazing song, and suddenly you want nothing more than to go create something incredible yourself?

Yes? See?! It totally works!

Even the simplest of creative expenditures in others can fuel you. My husband and I went to the mall to eat at P.F. Changs. When we walked outside the restaurant, we saw two men in their lower twenties, holding signs written on pieces of cardboard. Their backs were to us, so we couldn't read the signs, but they were well enough dressed that I didn't think they were there to ask for our doggie bags (one was dressed hobo-ish, but it was obvious that it was by choice, not by necessity). Plus, not in an area where people tend to hold cardboard signs. So that left what? Religious zealot preaching the end of the world? We had to find out.

We got in our car and drove around to see them. And that's when I giggled. Or... you know... let out a very un-ladylike guffaw-- depending on who you ask. And then I cursed the fact that I don't take my camera with me every where I go. Nope. Not religious zealots. Just a couple of guys expending creative energy for our benefit.

And do you know what? Their creative expenditure fueled my creativity. I wanted it to fuel yours, too, so I've attempted to re-create the scene.

I hope not too much got lost in the translation.

Here's to hoping we all run into random bits of creativeness that fuel our creativeness! (Because that monster that runs lose in your brain when you don't isn't nearly as cute as he looks.)

The book I'm most grateful for

Crazy thanks to Angela Brown at In a pursuit of publishness for awarding me the Stylish Blogger Award! I love it.

So have you guys heard about this?




Beth Revis is doing an incredible giveaway on her blog. She collected 19 SIGNED BOOKS from the people who really helped her on her journey, along with a whole lotta swag. So what does Beth Revis want?

She wants people to share a book they are grateful for. How awesome is that? During this month of gratitude, sharing a book I'm grateful for sounds pretty much perfect. (Want to share yours? Click on the picture above, and it'll take you to her post.)

Without a doubt, the book I'm most grateful for is MISTBORN by Brandon Sanderson. I don't read a ton of fantasy, but I do love it almost every time. A friend HIGHLY recommended this book, and so I read it.

I can't express how much this book BLEW ME AWAY. I finished reading it, and just sat there, not moving, completely in awe. I couldn't even imagine how many hours... days... years this book had to percolate to become what it was. It was definitely one of those books that stay with you long after you read it. I'm talking LONG after. (Plus: kick-butt female protag, plot where tons of stuff happens. Me=love.)

And the thing is, Brandon Sanderson writes A LOT. It doesn't take him three years to put out a masterpiece like this. He writes a book in like three minutes. Okay, maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration. But the guy is definitely prolific.

Brandon is amazing, and one of the most efficient people I've ever met. Even his thinking process is efficient! Man, I'd love to live in his brain for a day just to see how he does it.

My gratitude for Mistborn started with the book, but it didn't end with it. I read Mistborn about six months after I decided I wanted to pursue writing professionally. I got to the end of the book, and found out that Brandon taught creative writing at a university half an hour from my home. I knew-- knew-- that if I could learn from someone like him, it would make all the difference. The thing about Brandon is, he's a REALLY nice guy. And he likes nothing more than to help aspiring authors on their way. He and a few friends do a weekly podcast called Writing Excuses just to help us out.

I owe Brandon a lot. I owe him for my writing group. I owe him for teaching me more about writing than any other person, by far. And I owe him for writing a darn good book that still makes me wistful whenever I think about it.

Quotes and Cookies: Read Without Effort

Because so many people are either working so hard at writing or working so hard at editing right now, possibly wondering if all the really hard work is worth it, this quote is for you:

"When something can be read without effort,
great effort has gone into its writing."

~Enrique Jardiel Poncela

I think it's a great reminder that not only does really great writing take A LOT of work, but it definitely is worth it to every person who will read it.

And as you're putting such great effort into your writing, have a cookie! These remind me of both the blue skies we had here yesterday, the snow we're supposed to have tomorrow. Plus, someone put great effort into making these! They're like the culinary equivalent of a really great scene.

TheSweetJoyOfBaking.Blogspot.Com

So what about you? Have you been putting great effort into your writing this week? Or have you read a book lately that could be read without effort? I'd love to hear about it!

Happy NaNo-ing, writing, revising, playing, relaxing, to-do listing, quality-timing, or whatever else you have planned this weekend!

Five Things

Five random things that are exciting me right now:

1. The water here is REALLY TASTY. Straight out of the tap. I've lived by really good tasting water all my life, though, so it's not something that usually excites me. But this time of the year? Definitely does. The ground the water pipes go through gets all cold, so when you turn on the tap, it comes out tasting like a mountain stream. It's bliss, I tell you.

2. Flag football season is OVER! Now don't get me wrong. I love watching my daughter tear it up on the field each week in a league filled with only boys and all, but let's just say that it's a darn good thing that sports come in seasons. Especially since it overlapped with soccer season, and it's a 3 DAY A WEEK sport. Whew! Plus, now that there aren't five camp chairs claiwming my trunk, I can use it for groceries again.

3. The tree we planted in our front yard two years ago looks like this. And when I walk in and out of my house 57 times a day, I get to walk right past it.

4. Revising. Have I mentioned lately how much I love revising? Drafting is like framing a house and putting up the plywood. Revising is like turning that into a show home, with all the details finished and sparkling. Revising is a thing of beauty. Plus, I've had a blast doing it with a group of people! (See this post if you don't know what I'm talking about. And it's never too late to join in the loads of fun we're having!) Tara Tyler even made us this awesome button. How cool is she?



5. M.I.S. Haven. Because there's nothing that can possibly get you more excited to work on your WIP than committing to revise something different. :) Plus, without even realizing it, NaNoWriMoers send out writing vibes. Great job NaNoers! I'm feeling the waves of writing awesomeness hit me clear over here.

The Way We Are: Name Inspiration

One of, hands down, THE greatest / hardest thing about being a writer is being able to name people other than your own children.  I mean, seriously! How many people get that opportunity? And let's face it: it's a pretty hefty responsibility. The perfect name can make such a difference. Which prompts the Way We Are question of the week:

Where do you get your inspiration for character names?

Baby name websites? Street signs? The credits at the end of a movie? People from your childhood / your life now? A box of crayons? Maps? A distortion of a quality that character possesses?

Do you go for names that are bizarre? Different? Common? A combination of common and uncommon for first and last names? Do you look at the sound, initials, or nick-name potential? Do you look for words that AREN'T typically names?

Let us know! I think I speak for everyone when I say that we're all dying to find out.

I've Got a Theory: That Spark is Your Super Strength

Okay, so you know how everyone has one method of learning that works better than others?  Seeing, hearing, or touching, right? You may learn best by, say, by seeing, but you can still learn by hearing or touch-- it's just takes a bit more work.

And you know how there's three basic elements to every story-- Plot (including conflict), Characters, and Setting?

Well, I have a theory that sort of combines the two concepts:

Out of the three main story elements, everyone has one area of super strength that they are a natural at.

About about your current work in progress, think back to the very, very beginnings of it when that first spark of an idea came to you. That thing you built the entire story around. Was it a character that inspired the story? A place where the story would happen? An idea for a general concept or a fabulous conflict? When you get a new story idea, that initial spark-- character, setting, or plot-- generally comes in the form of the thing out of those three you are best at.

So... if I'm a natural at writing characters that feel real, does that mean my plot and setting are going to stink?

No. It just means that you are going to have to try harder on your plot and setting than you had to do on characters. That those things probably aren't going to be strong enough in the first draft, and it will take a few rounds of revisions to get them up to the same level as the thing you've got super powers at.

Okay, so a few examples. I would dare say that Stephenie Meyer's and J.K. Rowling's strengths are in characters. Stephenie said that her characters came to her fully-formed (a huge hint that characters are her strength). And in both of those series, wasn't it amazing how real the characters-- even the minor ones-- felt? And I think than Dan Brown's, John Grisham's, and James Patterson's strengths lie in plot. And that pretty much every high fantasy book's strengths are in setting.

So what do you think? Do you have one area of super strength and other areas that you have to work really hard at to get to the same level?