C.V. Blaisdell's Blog

March-ing On

I went on a road trip in February, so my writing was more focused on blogging at Chapter 3.com than on picture books or poetry. But here we are in March, so let’s check in with this year’s writing goals…

I think that by March many of us have abandoned our New Year’s resolutions. But, if we think of them as goals instead of resolutions, we can allow ourselves to make course corrections and get back on track, rather than abandoning all efforts.

I did manage to scrape together one new pictu...

Checking In . . .

January is over and in its wake I’ve got a list of over thirty picture book ideas. Of course, they’re not all stellar ideas. Some are weird, dull, questionable, silly, and strange. But I’ve risen to the Storystorm challenge and survived…I mean, thrived!

I also managed my first new picture book draft of the year for the 12×12 Picture Book Challenge. Yay, me!

Now, here at the beginning of February, I met my third writing challenge of the year. I’ve submitted my entry for the PBParty spons...

Where the Writer Meets the Road…

Talking about writing, thinking about writing, planning to write, hoping to write is not the same as actually writing. There. I’ve said it. Now, I can’t pretend that my writing will magically get done without me. Can anyone else relate? I’m guessing the answer is yes.

Resistance rears its lazy head. But, I’ve found that doing even a little free-writing everyday unclogs the creative pipeline and gets the juices flowing again. It’s like picking up an old ballpoint pen, scribbling and scribbli...

The Beginning…

Here we are at the beginning of another new year. It’s always exciting to imagine what a new year can lead to. New projects, new experiences, new opportunities. What have you got in mind for 2025? It’s hard to reel in our expectations sometimes and make real actionable plans. But I’m going to try.

As I continue to participate in Julie Hedlund’s 12 Days of Christmas for Writers, I pause to begin this new year with gratitude. I’m thankful for last year’s writing successes and surprises. And ...

The End

of another year, I mean. But also, the beginning of the rest of our lives.

The end of a year is always a good time to pause and assess what has been. And to set our aim on what’s to come. Have you taken the time for an end-of-year reflection? Or perhaps made a few resolutions? One way I’ve decided to prepare for 2025 is to participate in Julie Hedlund’s 12 Days of Christmas for Writers.

In looking back at 2024, I’ve discovered some surprising writing successes. For example, I managed to ...

A Rose By Any Other Name…

This year has been a productive year for me, full of edits, revisions, second, and even third, drafts of several works in progress. In one children’s story I’m currently revising, ten-year-old Ruthie moves in next door to her favorite author, Rose. But Rose has stopped writing and claims that her imagination has been stolen. Ruthie is determined to do whatever it takes to help her get it back. Question: should the two main characters have names that begin with the same letter or is it too confu...

Happy New Year!

It’s Day 1 of 2023 — a shiny new year, full of hope and possibility. Can you feel it? Are you ready to forgive 2022 for all it’s shortcomings and move on? It’s a fresh new year.

On the other hand, it’s just another Sunday. Yesterday was another Saturday and tomorrow is another Monday. Whether or not we resolve to make significant changes or accomplish anything often boils down to how much meaning we assign to the labelling of days and months and years. If the turning of a calendar page m...

Winning & Moving On…

I did it!

I’m told I can call myself a winner now. I completed the StoryStorm challenge, creating a list of thirty new picture book ideas in January. It’s not a list of thirty great ideas, or even thirty good ideas, but I’m sure there’s an unpolished gem or two in the mix.

Next, comes the fun part. I can take that raw material and coax a story or two out of it. To make it even more fun, I’m attending my first SCBWI Winter Conference this coming weekend. Hearing other writers talk about their cha...

Hello, 2021!

At the beginning of 2020, I shared some thoughts about Writing Islands: projects floating around in the distance, calling for attention. I’m pleased to say that I actually gave a few of them some attention this past year and accomplished a few of my writing goals. I also attended my very first writer’s conference in 2020. Virtually, of course. And I’ve accumulated a respectable pile of rejection emails. (Sigh!)

Now, here comes 2021. New projects call to me: finish the second draft of a children’...

To Sing Again

Writing is one of a few creative interests of mine. Singing is another. I belong to our church choir, as well as a worship band for more contemporary church music. And I belong to an all-women’s barbershop (a cappella) chorus. This lousy pandemic has put the brakes on community singing of any kind.

The following poem is my response to the situation and to the conclusion of a panel discussion held with the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

 

To Sing Again

        —there is no safe way ...