The Circus Ringmaster - a 10 minute exercise

My writing exercise today is to write something using the following information: a ringmaster from the circus is knocking on my front door, I am a small town cop looking through my peephole. I must start the exercise with the cop saying "If you know what's good for you..."

"If you know what's good for you," I said immediately throwing my door open, "You'll go back to your circus, pack it up and head out of town."

"My dear lady, let me introduce myself," he said with a grand bow. "My name is Arnold Puffenfleffer. I am the ringmaster of the Puffenfleffer Jabberwalky Circus. I have free tickets for you and your family to attend my show this weekend."

There was nothing I hated more than a circus -- a place with creepy clowns and abused animals. It reminded me of when I worked at a New York City precinct.

"Mr. Puffenfleffer, this town doesn't want your circus. I'm sure me and my boys can find plenty of laws you're company is breaking, and we might just be bored enough to look. So, my advice to you is to move it along."

Mr. Puffenfleffer's eyes became wide. He shuffled backwards and... 

Contest at Market my Words

Agent, Mary Kole from ABLit is reading through 140 character pitch submissions on Market my Words. Here is what I submitted for the contest on my YA novel WIP.

Renna’s mauled by a lion in Africa. His venom gives her body cat-abilities. Renna must lie, kill and die in order to find value in her life.

Warpagram - Ten Minute Exercise

I bought a book last week called "Take Ten for Writers," by Bonnie Neubauer. It is well designed, meaning it's pretty to look at, and super duper fun! So I thought I'd do at least one 10 min. writing exercise per week.

This week's challenge, that I randomly chose, was to write a 10 word message describing my mission on a planet called Warpagram incorporating the two words "slightly radioactive." I had 10 min. and here's what I came up with...

My slightly radioactive lips brought the Warpagram boy to life.

Note about my experience: Last time I did this, I took what first came to my mind. With this one, I put a lot more thought into it and challenged my brain. I wanted to capture an interesting event that would make a person ask, "and then what?"

WriteOnCon.com

I have to take a break and share with anyone out there that is listening, how much I'm enjoying WriteOnCon.com. It is a FREE conference, yes I did say the F word, and the speakers are wonderful. It is running from August 10-12. I can't wait to tune in tomorrow.

I have read so many great speakers today, I had to stop and link to at least one of my favorites. I am linking this more so that I can refer back to it one day than anything. The blog article is by Jodi Meadows about writing query letters.

Why do we need sleep again? Ugh it gets in the way.

Ten minute writing exercise

I am sure most writers who have been writing for a while and have been to countless classes and workshops have done a thousand writing exercises. I have not.

So I went online to find some and stumbled upon several at About.com. So, I thought I'd give one a try.

I am putting my timer on for 10 minutes. And the only requirements are: it needs to be ten lines, using and modifying a phrase, I chose 'a needle in a haystack,' and using these five words...cliff, blackberry, needle, cloud, voice, mother, whir, lick. Here I go...


A Needle in a Haystack
I was going to check my blackberry to locate the needle,
but my phone had fallen off a cliff
I called in the loudest voice I could to my mother,
but her head was in a cloud.
I'm sure my voice was nothing but a whir to her,
and she couldn't care a lick about
finding my cell among thousands of rocks.

Get it? The phone has become the needle in the haystack-- I mean rocks. I know sophomoric, but a fun exercise.

Now, I'm off to paint my daughter some artwork for her bedroom walls.

Inspired by my Past

I'm writing a kissing scene in my young adult novel, and being as old as I am, needed some reminders of how it felt to be a teen kissing. And what a better resource than myself. Confused yet?

I have been a prolific journaler since I was twelve and I've saved them all. Interestingly, I didn't write much about my family life, but I did write about the boys I had crushes on.

I spent over an hour reading some of my high school journals last night and learned a lot about myself back then. I was horribly insecure. The only way I felt good about myself was through a boy. Maybe this is why I can't stand Bella's character in Twilight-- it rings home. I did read some good kissing stuff though to help me with my character.

A surprise for me as I read, was how much poetry I wrote. I knew that was a part of how I expressed my emotions, but forgot how many I wrote and how intense they were. I thought I would post one of the poems I wrote when I was 17. Me and my best friend in the world stopped being friends.

Lost Treasure

I wish to write something of gold.
A treasure found warm and bright.
A treasure, something like a friendship.
You see gold in the sky, in the sun, in the stars.
It is of the rarest kind, so when you lose it,
it will be forever difficult to find.
It is valuable, so nothing will ever be good enough
to replace it.
You are gold Lisa, of the rarest beauty,
and quality there is.
You are valuable to the heart,
a lost treasure.

Impressive for a kid, I must say.

Reflection

I just returned from my first writer's workshop. It was held by SCBWI, a great organization, on the beautiful campus of Dominican University, San Rafael, CA.

The four faculty members were, Jill Corcoran from the Herman Agency; Andrea Welch, editor for Beach Lane Books; Kathleen Duey, author of Skin Hunger; and a wonderful woman, Martha Alderson, author of Blockbuster Plots. After we were barraged with information to help us improve our craft, the faculty hung out at night and simply talked with those of us that stayed for the weekend.

No matter where we were on the totem pole: writer wishing to be author, author wanting to publish next book, agent wanting to find talent and help their clients reach the esteemed editor, or editor wanting to find a fresh voice, we all had one thing in common - to add something to a child's life by providing them with good literature.

I noticed things around me I sometimes miss because I'm distracted. Thus the photo I have included above was one of those giggly moments when we walked by this tree at night and it looked like a bunny had hid easter eggs on it's limbs.

I also heard the most wonderful children's book, written by my friend Pat, that was so good we had to hear it twice in a row and then we talked about it the morning after. I can't wait for the published piece. I also hope my friend Pat, will write a book that made us laugh about her Border collie with Attendion Deficit - squirrel? - Disorder.

It was hard to be ripped apart by critique, but I believe I'll be a better writer for it.