Flyspecks and Pygmies

“They have their ghastly origins in the rank miasma of the tarn.” –Unknown. Creepy, isn’t it? I can hear witches chanting and see a ghost-like being holding a skull dripping with blood.

The next time you have nothing prepared for your critique meeting, (it happens to all of us at times) cancel your thoughts about the poem you planned to perfect or chapter you wanted to finish. If you’re under pressure from outside sources, take a break from serious writing. Think fun instead. For example, play Flyspecks.

A Creative Writing Activity:

Flyspecks, Briefs, Minis, Midges, Pygmies, or whatever you want to name yours, are prompts in a file or notebook you’ve set up. When squeezed for writing time, select three or less and write no more than 150 words inspired by the prompt. Have fun devising your own prompts. But, just in case you need something quick today, here are ideas to start with.

• List words you've met in reading, but rarely use yourself. Pick one. Check the definition if you need to. Use it in a sentence or short paragraph. Remember this is a creative writing activity, not middle school vocabulary homework. Don’t try to identify the meaning of the word as you write. Simply use it.
• Here are words to consider if you haven’t started your own list yet. Do you recognize the words miasma and tarn? The following words are listed in one of the “Cat in the Corner” blogs: burnishing, cantilevered, duvet, encomium, harridan, incipient, irascible, maladroit, mullion, oriel, pneumatic, proffer, rheumy, simper, unguent.
• Write a brief character sketch about a person who simpers or is irascible.
• Oscar married a harridan. Why? 
• Mr. Blurry can’t bring himself to kill a furry little mouse. Write a 4-line verse about it.
• Write a few lines about a story, TV show or movie you saw lately.
• Describe a facial expression.
• Disagree with something you read or heard recently.
• What's a nob?
• Disagree using humor or sarcasm. Or make a shocking statement cushioned with humor. For example, do you wonder if someone eats their children?
• Describe a place—anything from a scenic wonder to a hoarder’s garage.
• Is anything growing in your refrigerator?
• Pretend you're learning English as a foreign language. Mention something that seems completely nonsensical to you.
• What about your pet (and that could be your significant other) makes you smile, melts your heart, or invites your fury?

You have the idea, right? A good reason to commit to writing something every week: like veggies, creativity is healthful. (See my blog, Creative Thinking: Eight Great Benefits.) What that means to you is you can give yourself permission to prioritize your writing activities, even if it's a hobby. It's good for you. So go ahead and have fun.

(c) 2012, Bernice Simpson

Meet Luis Alberto Urrea

On Saturday, September 15, author Brian A. Hopkins “will teach us [Panhandle Professional Writers] how to build a world our sci-fi, fantasy and horror characters can feel at home within.” – The PPW Window

On Thursday, September 20^th, acclaimed author Luis Alberto Urrea will talk about the real thing, known as the Devil’s Highway. It’s not a highway—not even a road, but a region in the Arizona desert. In his book, The Devil’s Highway Mr. Urrea says “It’s a naturalist’s dreamscape. For the illegals, it’s a litany of doom.”

If you’re prone to nightmares, The Devil’s Highway is not good bedtime reading. You won’t see much of the dreamscape. You’ll see the horror of that parched wasteland twenty-six men faced in 2001. Lost and out of water, the coyotes paid to guide the group, abandoned them, leaving them to die in a hostile desert. Twelve survived.

Luis Urrea will speak at the Civic Center next week. You have time to read the true story of the men, their dreams to rise from poverty, their desires for things we take for granted, like education for our children. You’ll follow the Mexicans from their homes through the arrangements and travel to the Mexican/United States border. Then you’ll learn details of the unimaginable trek in horrendous heat in possibly the most inhospitable region of the country.

Then you’ll have the opportunity to Meet Luis Alberto Urrea in person. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, he has won multiple awards. Mr. Urrea writes poetry and graphic novels in addition to regular fiction and nonfiction. No time to read? Go to www.luisurrea.com to find about his audio books, and watch videos featuring the author.

Get event and ticket information about Mr. Urrea’s presentation in Amarillo from The Wesley Community Center: 806-372-7960.   

Less is Better -- by KittyCat

It’s crazy. Seems like humans can never make up their minds—do they want more or less?

Like, Mom tells writers how less is better. “Write tight,” she says. But then she says ya gotta learn lots of words. If it’s not smart to use them, why learn them? I don’t use lots of big words (unless my tabby friend Snook is here to spell them), and know what? People read my blogs more than Mom’s stuff.

Thinking about stuff, it looks like people always want more of it, and if they’re just getting married, they want it to match. Then, after they’re married a few years, people look around and say something about the year a certain color got popular. Result? –Garage sale time. They gotta get rid of those out-of-style red dishes and get purple ones. I don’t get it.

I’d marry Snookie if I could, and that’s all I’d want—just her—just the two of us living together. We could share a dish and it could be any color. I think that’s how it is with my human cousin, Turner, cuz his face gets a happy look when the name Destinie comes up. That’s his pretty wife and my new human cousin since they got married one year ago today.

I’ll have to get into Mom’s card basket and send them a card. Mom has tons of cards, but they don’t take much space like dishes or clothes in closets. It’s plain nutty to hear women talk about clothes. Like a flowery top’s gotta have the exact same color in it as a skirt or pair of pants, or the outfit’s all wrong.

Dad doesn’t care about all that color matching. He mostly likes jeans, and everything goes with jeans. If he doesn’t use something very often, he keeps it for years until it wears out (or Mom throws it out.) A couple of winters ago, some kid offered to finish shoveling a whole lot of snow in a trade for Dad’s snow boots. Ha, ha—not cuz the kid needed to keep his feet dry, but cuz Dad’s boots are so old, they’re cool. “Original moon boots,” the boy said. 

"Guess I'll keep them, at least till the snow melts," Dad said.

Mom’s got three pair of black snowboots, looking pretty new. She’s got three pairs of black pants, too, all kinds of white tops, and even two black and white ones. She’d have lots more room in her closets if she got rid of all but the black and white. When the colored shoes went to the thrift store they’d have shoes to match all the handbags Mom got rid of last spring.

Black and white. That’s me—a handsome tuxedo cat.

Less is better. Who needs bunches of anything when a wee bit of the right stuff works just fine.

© 2012, Bernice W. Simpson  

Visiting Plainview

“Delightful." I told my husband when he asked about my day.

But that answer only partially describes the writers’ event I attended on Saturday, Sept 8^th in Plainview, Texas. The Witness Writers, who hosted a workshop by author Jennifer Mersberger, did a first-rate job of organizing the meeting. Well publicized, it drew participants from Amarillo and Lubbock.

Jennifer Mersberger’s entertaining presentation evoked plenty of laughs. And that would be expected with a title of Lighten Up. But the program’s title is actually an acronym for the nine main points of Mrs. Mersberger’s talk, and not a tickler for a how-to on writing humor.

I checked Jennifer’s website, www.lamplightministry.com, for pictures of her ornaments called “writer’s blocks,” but didn’t see them. Neither drilled with holes to hold pencils or affixed with magnets to keep paperclips handy, the beautifully decorated blocks serve a higher purpose: they are something to stare at while a writer’s muse catches up with the worker’s need to meet a deadline. Clever. And at $5.00 each, the writer’s blocks make an affordable gift. I hope Jennifer will post a photo of them soon.

A photograph on my FaceBook page, taken after lunch before the last of us dispersed, was copied from one of Carole Bell’s sites: www.facebook.com/parentingfromthesource. In a short interview today, Carole briefed me on the Witness Writers. Members write in various genera and not exclusively on Christian topics. The group is affiliated with North Texas Christian Writers. “Their conference held in June in Fort Worth is one of the best bargains for Christian writers,” said Carole.

According to their website, The North Texas Christian Writers hold a number of events in addition to an annual conference. The events list includes a writer’s contest, free to anyone buying a $15 ticket to their Christmas party. First prize: $50.00. Sounds like a deal for writers in the Fort Worth area.

For writers in the Amarillo area, a one-hour trek on I-27 takes you to Plainview. The Witness Writers meet on the second Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 12 noon. Their meeting format: a mini lesson followed by critique sharing. They welcome visitors. It’s a gratifying getaway, and even as days shorten, you can still be home before dark.

© 2012, Bernice W. Simpson

Mentor Sarah Allman

“Bill,” said Sarah, her voice strong and enthusiastic, “I’m glad you’re here today.” Our writing group, including Bill Sorenson, exploded in laughter.

A few weeks before, we had discussed guidelines for our newly-formed critique group. Sarah suggested we begin each critique with a positive comment. In response to a query for suggestions, she offered several. “If nothing else,” she quipped, “say I’m glad you’re here.”

With Sarah Allman present, we always enjoyed an upbeat meeting and worthwhile learning experience. A retired teacher, she mentored all of us, including WW II Navy pilot Bill Sorenson, a few years her senior. Sarah had been working with him to use active verbs and write shorter sentences. That particular day she had counted and circled the number of words in his lengthy sentences. She cut one of his shorter sentences (twenty-eight words) to two.

You haven’t read The Bear? Bill tried to look serious, but it was too much for the rest of the group.

Sarah held her response until our laughter died down. “Your name?” Sarah enjoyed banter.

Knowing what she meant he feigned a sigh of disappointment, “Okay, it’s not Faulkner.”

As a result of Sarah’s patient tutelage, Bill gradually steered his work away from a dated style. A publisher finally accepted one of Bill’s articles. At his bedside, Bill’s daughter read it to him from the magazine that arrived a week before Bill died.

Our critique group changed throughout the years. Members joined and left, including Sarah. She and her husband Herb experienced health problems. Later Herb died. Sarah moved to Lawton, Oklahoma to be near her daughter.

On May 7, 2012, at age 87, Sarah died.

But even now, when I facilitate a critique group or prepare a Topics on Cue presentation on the subject of critique, Sarah remains a nurturing force. She was the friend and teacher who shared her writing knowledge while imparting leadership skills.

Thank you, Sarah.

(c) 2012, Bernice W. Simpson

Fleshing Characters

Character lists. They’re handy when we write or edit fiction or biographies. Your sketch of every character, before you start to write, is as important as planned plot twists. It helps you remain consistent with character details, and prevents errors your readers are apt to catch after the book is printed. For example, with the reference sketch file open, you won’t say Jill, at 5’ 9” looked up at Jack (5’ 7”) when they spoke, unless he’d gained an extra step up the hill.

It’s not enough to visualize and outline Jill’s appearance: 5’ 9”, weight: 130, beautiful with sloe eyes and wavy brown hair. It’s not sufficient to list her personality traits: ambitious and cunning, but usually pleasant, and so forth. Listing facts traps you into writing narrative description instead of revealing Jill’s character which turns her into a real person, whose choices today are rooted in her past whether remembered or not.

Starting out, you may not plan to bring Jill’s family members into your story, but you should know who they are. Flesh them out until you are as familiar with them as you are your best friend’s family. Often you can use once-mentioned characters to introduce concepts or transitions.

For example: The author wants her protagonist, Jack, to gently move against the current. In a scene, Jack quietly disagreed with his friends, but said nothing. Jill’s grandfather shot a comment toward the group’s gripe session as he took a beer from the cooler, “Men condemn because they do not understand. –Cicero.”

Can you see how the grandfather’s statement provides an easy transition? But if the grandfather is mentioned again, whatever he says or does must be consistent with his previous statement.

A link to a group on Diane Mowery’s Facebook page turns character sketching to a game. The basic idea is to write a fully fleshed-out character sketch, then submit it for random exchange. That done, each member writes a short story based on someone else’s character. For details on how a particular group works, go to http://the.characterremix.com.

(c) 2012, Bernice W. Simpson

Find Resources at FirebornChronicles.com

My future website was to have a writers’ resource list. I started it, but I’ve since met Mary Andrews. My list is like a paper glider; Mary’s—a space ship. You’ll find that space ship at www.firebornchronicles.com.

She lists some of my favorites:

• www.nanowrino.org. If you’re not familiar with it, look it over. It’s the site that turns writing into a game with hundreds of participants. The idea is to create a novel in one month—specifically November 1^st to 30^th.
• Dictionary.com will give you a definition and list of synonyms in a snap. My problem with the site is its fun factor. I always want to explore enticing activities when I cannot afford distractions. If word games and recreation are synonymous with you, don’t wait until you need a definition or synonym before you put it in your search box.
• Onelook.com deserves exploration, too. Click on “Browse” to find rhyming dictionaries, glossaries on numerous subjects, a visual dictionary, and more. I particularly like its flip dictionary. Often, when you have a fuzzy concept, One Look’s reverse dictionary will supply you with the specifics you need. For example, suppose you want the name of the doll similar to Mattel’s Barbie, but designed for Muslim girls. “Muslim Barbie style doll” in the search box brings up 100 terms, most not remotely close to dolls for young girls. The very first one, though, is right on target.

Mary lists search terms for common problems. “Show Not Tell Writing,” “Active Verb Lists,” “Active VS Passive Writing,” “Grammar,” “Writing Action Scenes.” Each of those searches will net you thousands of sites. Certainly they are not equal in content or teaching clarity, and are too numerous for one person to evaluate. But the numbers tell you help is out there.

A couple of entries in the space ship intrigued me simply because of their titles. Look What I Found in My Brain is a blog site that contains hundreds of articles about writing. Lee Lofland’s, The Graveyard Shift, described in 2008 as one of the best blogs for suspense and crime writers, covers more police procedures than I knew existed. Titles can be deceiving, but in this case, both blogs are first-rate resources.

The two main aspects of business are production and marketing. It makes little sense to produce what you cannot sell. Mary’s space ship is so stuffed with the business aspects of writing, there may not be room for its pilot. Included are instructions for the short elevator speech to creation of web pages and trailers.

Bottom line—if you have a great writing idea, produce it. If you need help, now you know where to find it. Then check out the social media marketing sites, and learn how to make a bundle.

© 2012, Bernice W. Simpson