Monthly Archives: February 2017

Sheriff BowWow

Flash Fiction Friday, Writing Life

The man who raised me is a complex individual. He didn’t give a rat’s ass for safety if it impeded his performance or his fun. He is the reason I don’t feel comfortable with anyone coming into my home to repair anything. He fixed everything, from delicate necklaces to furnaces and cars. He taught us to ride bikes before helmets were even considered for non-motorized two-wheelers. He drove fast before cars had seatbelts or airbags. We rode in the back of a pickup flying down country roads to go swimming in the lake. He was the Fun parent.

As a teenager, I found him awesome and only slightly embarrassing, but always hilarious. My friends loved him. He told the best dad joke groaners. He was cool with all my friends – black, Indian*, gay, and my weird, little, white girl friend, who just happened to be my best friend in high school. I joined her youth group, though I was rapidly becoming atheist via Paganism. She celebrated birthdays with us. She laughed along with us when my mom pranked my dad on his 40th birthday with a stuffed dog with the name Sheriff BowWow etched onto his gold Sheriff’s star.

From that birthday on, my dad carried that toy everywhere.

Everywhere.

He sat a place at the dinner table for him. Then at restaurants. Dad started dining alone. When going anywhere with him, the dog took priority, with dad seat-belting him into the front seat, while he continued to drive without using his, though the law had caught up to safety.

“Put on your seatbelts, girls!”

I could only shake my head at my weird, little friend that she better not say a word. She complied.

But she could only hold it so long, until we pulled up in front of the theater, “Sir, why is the toy dog in the front seat?”

“His name is Sheriff BowWow and he’s my friend.”

I didn’t mean to slam the door.

Dad had that dog for years. He may have it still. I doubt it’s ever been washed. We grew used to it, and ended up ignoring it. You can’t out-dad-joke a dad.

*I don’t use these terms indiscriminately. They are the words my friends used to describe themselves, and I respect their choices.

Be Yourself

Writing Life

Sometimes you don’t even realize that this timeless adage applies to you. I’ve spent too much time trying to follow the advice of those I believed to be experts in the craft of writing, not understanding that I was emulating what works for them, then concluding that I was lacking in discipline. Finally I believe those authors who say to find your own way. Read about successful authors. Read about their schedules, their protocols, their procedures, and their magical notions. Then develop your own using that information as guidance and motivation. Now I know that no writer, no matter how successful, should espouse anything in the craft beyond Neil Gaiman’s admonishment…

Write & Read Every Day!

Know yourself. Be honest. Ask yourself if you will really write at sunrise, or will you stare wistfully off into the distance while taking that extra hour to fully awaken. Ask yourself if you will really write 1,000 words each day if you’re not producing that now. There are many strategies that writers use to coax the words out of themselves. If you will write at the coffeeshop, instead of people watch and order another latte and another latte, that is your way. If you know you will do something, then you may still struggle a bit until it becomes a habit. Persist! Habits are harder to kick.

You can adjust your schedule for practicality. Let go of guilt. This is your life. Do it your way. I substitute teach part-time. When I tell my husband that I will write in the two hours between the end of my work day and his, I am lying. Kids are emotionally draining, so that my brain is not accessible for writing on a day I substitute. That’s okay. I am in the process of accepting that, and now I must find time to write in the evening. This is better for both of us, as he is teaching himself programming and cannot be disturbed. You can adjust your schedule accordingly, but keep writing.

Learn from others. You don’t have to do what they’re doing. There are nuances galore to stuff and fill any little gaps in your protocols or procedures. Writers are lifelong learners in tune with the nuances of the world. There’s a difference between knowing that someone does something and knowing why. Understanding the reasons for someone’s actions may give you insight into how you might do it more effectively in your own way. I’ve found excellent writing groups online for advice. On Facebook, Writers Helping Writers, Bad Writing, and The Write Life Community are a few that I follow. You can also follow other writers who are in various stages of a writing career.

Fill yourself and your environment with inspiration. Requiring inspiration made me feel needy, until I grasped that my favorite authors had tons of inspiration throughout their writing sanctuaries. Along with books on the craft of writing, read books that inspire you to move forward. Surround yourself with motivational ideas. Here are a few that inspire me: Robert Benson’s Dancing On the Head of a Pin, Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life, Stephen King’s On Writing, Sark’s A Creative Companion. Many authors interact with fans on Facebook and Twitter. Some of my favorite authors do: Diane Chamberlain, Lisa Scottoline, and Mary Kay Andrews.

Read and analyze books you love. It’s challenging to look at the words when a story is flowing through you. Go back and determine why that scene went so well. Look at the sentence structure. Note transitions and segues. Understanding why you love it will improve your own writing. Feel the story. Then analyze it to its core. Adapt what you learn to your style. Be the best writer that you can be.

 

My Little Introduction

Writing Life

I wrote and illustrated little books for my little brother when I was in grade school. I have written sporadically, in diaries and journals, short stories piling up first in notebooks, now in computer files, and finally, with the support of my husband, I finished a novel for which I now seek representation. This dear hubby of mine has worked his way up in his career, reaching a point where I need only work part-time. Since my time and energy went into assisting him, he is returning the favor, allowing me time to write and to focus on submitting my work. He even builds my website. I am blessed.