TiGi's Windfalls for Writers: February 2014

Monday, February 10, 2014

Lists:

I love lists. Many of my entries in my writer’s journal are lists.

I have lists of words I love, words I use too often, words I don’t know the meaning of, new words, favorite words to say, to read…just favorite words, good words, bad words. (I love bad words, they’re so…descriptive.)

I keep lists of descriptive words, color words, action words, tag words, landscape words, plant words, texture words, scent words, emotion words.

I make lists of places to go, where I’ve been, stores to check out, character names, books to read, authors to check out, books I’ve read, books to buy and a favorite: lists of quotes. Lists of book quotes, writing quotes, garden quotes, encouragement quotes, pet quotes and just plain quotes.

Lists of wants, needs, wishes, to dos, dones, priorities, bills, titles or ideas for projects, projects, flowers and seeds to buy and grocery lists.

Memory lists, lists of things I need to include in each new writing project, lists that end up poems. All these lists end up in my journal in a nice vertical way with a bullet point at the beginning of each new line. The sight pleases me, eases my mind that I’m somewhat in control of all the chaos in my writer’s mind.

Lists organize my life, keep me straight on my tasks for the day, what I need to buy, what I need to write, research, things I need to think about, things I need to include in a piece I’m wirting. Lists help me push my mind to think of more, better, most important.

Lists jump starts my writing day, whether I use a list from my journal or make a new one.

I love to scratch off chores or groceries as I put them in my cart, titles I’ve used. No smart phone for me. I want the paper, the pencil, the line drawn across the page. I want simple, available, physical.

Lists are among my best writer’s tools and fit perfectly in my writer’s journal.

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My Favorite Sites for Writers

absolutewrite : has tons of info you can use, including places to submit
Fiction Factor : A good resource.
Kaki's Blog: Love Kaki's writing. Read her book Pieces of Sky and upcoming Open Country
Margie Lawson : Great workshops. I think everyone should take her EDITS and EDE workshop anyway they can. The EDITS should be required and the EDE(Empowering Characters Emotion) will make anyone's writing richer.
NaNoWriMo : The best place to kick start a novel. There is tons of help for writers here. I think everyone that wants to write a book ought to do this once
poet.org : another great site for the poet. Lots of info
Poetic Asides with Robert Lee Brewer : Geat Prompts, If you like to write poetry this blog is a little kick to the butt, a nudge, plus good practical ideas and info
The Writer: : I started reading this magazine when I was twelve. I found it in the middle of my bed. Put there by my father in a quiet encouragement for my writing. i've been reading it every since. I get so much every month from this magazine. I think it's essential.
Wow! Women On Writing: ; I just finally went to this site, though I've had the address for a while. I love it. It's chock full of information, links and resources. Check it out.

Other Interesting Sites

An UnOrthOdOx Halloween : If you're obsessed with Hallowen and not of the cutsie pumpkins and black-hatted witches type, check out this blog. Lots of ideas and info. Interesting, with a capitol I.
Lone Hand Western : If you love the west( I'm talking the old west), write about the west, need information about the west look here
OLD WEST SLANG : If you need old west slang, this is a great source.
Our Story...Day by Day : great vignette of an every day modern family
Quotes-Dictionary of qoutes : Need quotes?
Research Links for Romance Writers : Great resource and not just for romance writers
The Ups and Downs of Art Life : a great place for anyone interested in art of all kinds

My Favorite Writing Books And Tools

Post-it Notes: I literally couldn’t function without these, whether I’m writing or anything else.

Writing Out the Storm: Reading and Writing Your Way Through Serious Illness or Injury by Barbara Abercrombie: Because my brain was still foggy and unreliable and I had been wanting to take an online workshop for over a year(a workshop on poetry but while I was at my sickest I couldn’t begin to think of poetry. I couldn’t even put one word in front of the other to make sense. Memoir seemed a way though.) I didn’t trust my mind or even my health, so I decided to make up and ‘take’ a workshop of my own making. A workshop on memoirs. I thought this book would be a good fit along with Writing Life Stories(which they used as a textbook on WritersOnlineWorkshops.com). I was blown away by this book. It was perfect for me at the time. Perfect for my conflicting emotions and my writing. The snippets of other memoirs, Abercrombie’s observations and words, but best, most helpful, not just for my writing but for my emotions, was the questions. I only wished I’d read the book before I ever got sick. I highly recommend it for any writer.

On Writing by Stephen King: A Memoir of the Craft: I don’t read Stephen King. Only because I don’t like being scared, but after reading this book and the way he wrote I see his appeal. More than that, this book had so much help in it and a joy to read.

Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from the Writing Life by Terry Brooks: I read this many, many years ago. Took copious notes, still refer to it often, especially the last chapter. I read Brooks Final Thoughts often, when I’m down. Those two pages are worth the price.

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury: This book pumps up your passion and gives you the faith that the story will find you.

Poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Woolridge: A personal favorite. A feast of words and would-be words, even recipes to make your own.

A Crow Doesn’t Need A Shadow: A Guide to Writing Poetry From Nature by Lorraine Ferra: I love this book. It was intended for young writers and it is wonderful for that purpose, but I recommend it for the adult writer for we need to be children in the way we look at the world. Why wouldn’t we be anyway? Such a wonderful point of view.

Take Joy: A Book for Writers by Jane Yolen: There is wisdom in every chapter. Witness how many pages I’ve turned down, how many sentences I’ve underlined. Besides Take Joy-in your writing, in your life. You can grow old miserably or with joy. I take joy.

Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon: The best book I’ve read on revision and I’ve read a lot. My copy is already so dog-eared and worn from use I’ve had to tape the backing. It only came out this year. Now, that may be more a comment on my writing than on the book, but I think the book is worth the price and then some.

Page after Page by Heather Sellers: This book helped me so much when I was blocked, down in the dumps or just not motivated. The way Sellers writer is like having a writer friend at your elbow in a time of need.

Chapter after Chapter by Heather Sellers. Every bit as good as her first book. I keep both near my writing desk. I can open either anywhere and get just what I need to keep on writing.

Microsoft’s OneNote 2007: I love this program for gathering all my info together for just about everything. I’m still learning my way around it. It acts like a school notebook-a looseleaf that gathers the subject together. It’s great for your novels, your memoirs, poetry. It holds files, pictures, info, organizes everything in one place and has so many potential uses.

Courage & Craft, Writing Your Life Into Story: This book was the perfect thing to take with me on vacation. By the end of reading it bristled with flags and was painted with underlinings. No matter where you are in your writing career, this book will help.

TiGi's Windfalls for Writers

Why I Quit RWA

Monday, February 10, 2014

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