Tia Silverthorne Bach's Blog, page 86

Creative Writing Classes: What's Holding Me Back

Writing Forward is one of my go-to blogs for tips on creative writing. It's a well of information, so please check it out. Today, I popped over to read Five Things I Learned in Creative Writing Class. You know you're inspired by a post when you leave such a long comment you might as well have written your own post.

Which brings me back here. My gut reaction after reading the post was to scour the Internet in search of a creative writing class. I've been feeling a bit uninspired lately. What better way to spark inspiration than a class, right?

Then I remembered why I've hesitated to take a creative writing class or pursue an MFA in Creative Writing. Subjectivity.

I've taken a few writing classes and many English courses in college. For the most part, teachers were impressed and encouraging. It's a big boost to your self-confidence to have a teacher who believes in you, nurtures your work. I've also had experience with critical teachers, but even then most of them thought I had potential and pushed me.

Enjoying a writing piece is very subjective. I review books for several sites and on my own review blog, Mom in Love with Fiction. I completely understand, and often note, that a lot of things play into how I rate a book. It could be my mood, my taste, or even the week I'm having. Reviews are opinions, and I don't pretend to have some exclusive formula for never being wrong.

My mother decided to pursue a college degree when my baby sister started school. Thanks to multiple moves and constantly losing credits, she ended up graduating a semester after I did. Toward the end, she had a teacher who hated her writing. No bones about it, he just didn't like her style. She was discouraged and asked for my help.

Mom and I have very different writing styles. It's one of the reasons we wrote a book together... we knew our voices were distinct. Mom asked me to write her next assignment. We both read the book and discussed themes, but I was going to write it. My style. I wrote the paper, Mom got an A.

As an aside, can I just tell you how rewarding it was to write a paper for my mom and get her an A? It was payback for all the times she helped me with science projects.

We are all going to come across someone who doesn't like our work. I'm okay with that. Actually, I believe you learn more from negative reviews than positive ones. I want to grow as a writer, so I want honesty.

But I don't want to take a class and have someone just hate my work. I'd like to think I could figure out the teacher's wants and comply, but is that helping me as a writer or preparing me for a career in psychology?

I do believe the advantages to taking a writing class outweigh the potential disadvantage of a teacher blinded by his/her own opinion. But it does make me hesitate.

Have you come across a teacher/mentor who didn't like your work? Did it discourage you from your desired goal?

In My Boot: ROW80 Check In

The other day I was volunteering at my daughter's school. I wanted to surprise her, so I came early to sit with her at lunch. As I was walking up to her table, I saw her tucking the heart-shaped note I had put in her lunchbox earlier that morning into her boot.

I gave her a hug and asked if she saw my note.

"Yes, it's in my boot."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because that's where I put special things so they stay close to me."

Guess what? I now put notes in her lunchbox every day. I know they mean something to her.

The same is true for people who leave comments here. On Sunday, I wrote a post about fear. It was very hard for me to write, to admit. It meant the world to me that people left encouraging and supportive comments. They are all close to me, in my boot so to speak. Thank you.

Plus, I've received several letters during A Month of Letters Challenge. I'm looking forward to going to my mailbox again.

Do you keep special notes/cards or just log them in your heart?

My ROW80 Update

Writing: I'm frustrated because I haven't made one #teamsprinty wordsprint this week. But I did get some writing done, finishing a chapter on my WIP. I need to finish one more chapter before Sunday to be on pace. I think I can do it.

Blogging: Every day here and once on Mom in Love with Fiction. Still behind on posting reviews. Thankfully I took good notes while I was reading.

Editing: Rocking it. I have edited approximately 40 pages since Sunday. I'm in the groove.

Social Media: Barely keeping up. ☑ ROW80 sponsor comments ☑Origins blog posts (5-6 a day) but I need to visit more campaigners!

Reading: I've been too tired at night, but I'm taking my Kindle with me to my daughter's two hour swim practice tonight!

Diet and Exercise: Did a weigh in today. Thrilled that the chocolate fondue only set me back half a pound. I'm back off the sugar and I've walked/run 8 miles in the last two days.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Check out some rocking writers here.

♥♥ Happy Valentine's Day ♥♥

Happy Valentine's Day! Since it's a day filled with love, I shared some favorite love stories on my Mom in Love with Fiction blog. Check it out here.


I hope everyone is surrounded by loved ones today, basking in the warm glow of affection. For my writer friends, I hope the Muse graces you. And for all those who love words, my wish is for you to find the perfect ones.

Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.  Henry Van Dyke

Just Under the Wire: My Writing Origins

I kept noticing this badge on writers' blogs. Go check it out, I kept telling myself. And I meant to do it before today, truly I did. But at least I finally did since today is the day.



This Blogfest is being hosted by none other than DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude 2.0, Alex J. Cavanuagh, Katie Mills at Creepy Query Girl, and Mathew MacNish at QQQE. It's all about the story of your writing origins.  My story begins with a lonely teenage girl and a notebook. Growing up, I was always new to an area (I moved 10 times by the time I was eighteen) and lacking in friends. I had a great family but craved peers, so I created them. If I didn't have my nose stuck in a book, I was writing my own stories in a notebook. Most of them were about teen angst... a subject I felt I knew well.  When I headed off to college, my father talked me into a practical degree. I listened, but waltzed into my college newspaper looking for a job. I got one and wrote for them all four years. My junior and senior years I wrote the corporate newsletter for a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM in the area. I was quite proud of myself. I had combined the practical with something I loved doing. As the daughter of a poet and an engineer, it seemed the best of both worlds. After college, I landed jobs in the financial industry. Once a company realized I liked writing/editing, they figured they had a two-for-one deal. I was asked to work on manuals, newsletters, marketing materials... you name it. I was so thrilled to be writing and getting paid. But I craved creative writing. I took a Short Story class at my local community college, and the desire to write intensified. In 2000, I gave birth to my first daughter and my creative writing career. Not wanting to lose myself in the role of being a mom, I approached my own mom about writing a novel together. The rest, as they say, is history. ***** I hope you enjoyed my "birth" story... the origins of my writing career. If you'd like to hear others' stories, please visit here.

What Makes a Good Blog Post: 6 Things I've Learned

My mission with each post is to write something people want to read. Otherwise, what's the point? Why have a blog? I could go back to pontificating to my husband and children without the added difficulty of rewrites and spell checkers.

I recently reviewed Stephen King's memoir, On Writing: On Stephen King. I could make dozens of posts out of his practical and motivating advice, but this sentence really stuck with me:

"Fiction writers, present company included, don't understand very much about what they do—not why it works when it's good, not why it doesn't when it's bad."

I would love to give the magic formula for writing a great post, or better yet a great novel. But, to be frank, I often don't understand it myself. There are times when I write a piece I'm so proud of and it gets very few page views. Other times, I write something off the cuff and people respond.



I can't tell you what works, but I can share some of what I have learned specifically about writing blog posts...

Be Honest. There are many blogs to choose from, make sure readers know that you will always be honest and not just say what you think they want to hear.

Be Timely. Keep up to date on your industry's news and post about it. Be sure to link to any relevant articles or other blog posts.

Give Tips. If you've learned something, chances are others have not and would like to. Plus, I've noticed people love a number in the title. If you have 5 tips, say you have 5. If you have a lot of advice, split it into a series of posts.

Ask for feedback. People might read and enjoy your posts, but not feel compelled to comment. Ask a question or request feedback to get the reader involved.

Highlight. Time is precious and most of us have many social media demands. I love reading blogs, but if the post is too long I end up skimming it. Make my job easier by highlighting important parts (bullets, short paragraphs, bold faced theme words) or breaking it into multiple posts.

Offer Value. Make your blog a valuable resource, not just a constant commercial for a product or service. People will be more apt to buy your product if they trust you.

What have you learned about writing a good blog post? Just as importantly, what is a major turn off?

Now I need to start gathering ideas for a post on writing a good novel. Wish me luck.

*****
Since I started posting to BlogHer daily back in November, five of my posts have been featured. I thought it would be interesting to list them here.

* On Stephen King
* The Art of No
* Eyes on the Prize (retitled for BlogHer: 5 Tips for Focusing on Resolutions)
* Left and Right Distractions
* 6 Ways to Best Use Time

A Confession: ROW80 Check In

I need to put some real energy into tackling my manuscript. I'm excited about writing it, but I can't seem to find that energy. It's a weak excuse, I'm fully aware. Yet the problem remains. I sit down to write and can't focus.

This was part of my original blog post, and it went on and on about why I couldn't focus lately or find time to devote to writing. I've erased it all, because the truth is I have a confession. I'm afraid.

I knew those words were true the minute I typed them. Tears started forming, my throat felt three times too big, and my hands were trembling. I wanted to retract those two words, pretend they didn't come out. But I can't. It's the truth.

My father had a favorite saying, one he repeated to me often growing up.

You have the audacityto doubt my veracityto insinuatethat I might prevaricate.
Thanks to my father, and for a lot more reasons than this saying, I don't look kindly on liars--it's the easy way out. There's nothing about easy that I want to be. And I'd never want something that took dishonesty to achieve.

But back to fear. I'm afraid of failing. I love to do something for the first time, because it's new. Nobody expects you to knock it out of the ballpark on your first try. There's little to lose. When I first met my husband, I told him I'd try anything once. Then I immediately asked him to remove the smirk off his face.

Thanks to moving to new places all my life, I was conditioned to do firsts well. What I don't do well, what I have no practice doing, is repeating successes. I even married my first love, the man I met at eighteen. No complaining here, it worked out really well. Maybe I'm just lucky. Or is it beginner's luck?

The crazy thing... I had no fear about putting my first novel out there. Seems silly now. I really should have been more afraid. Now, after a few awards and good reviews for Depression Cookies, I am absolutely terrified to write something else. The fear is keeping me from it. Am I a one-trick pony? Did all the writing in me come out in one piece?

I'm my own worst critic, and I'm afraid to put out a sophomore effort that doesn't live up to my first novel. What if I found the one four-leaf clover in a massive field?

I guess it's good that I've never been the give up sort of gal. I just need to figure out how to let my love of writing push down the fear that keeps rearing its ugly head.

Any other suggestions for conquering fear would be greatly appreciated.

My ROW80 Update

Writing: Fear sidelined me. I need to beat it back. Wordsprints really help me, I get lost in the energy and focus of them and forget to be afraid.

Blogging: Daily here, and I posted a new review on Mom in Love with Fiction on Friday. I have two more in the works, both quite overdue from when I intended to post them. Sometimes it's so much easier to gear up to write a post than to sit down with my manuscript. I know that's wrong, but there's something so rewarding about blog posts and flash fiction. They are complete. Anyone else feel that way?

Social Media: Thanks to Kait Nolan, I'm now exploring Triberr. Jenny Hansen, a true ROW80 cheerleader over at Cowbell, wrote a great post about it. I'm still wading my way through the learning curve! I just wish there were more hours in the day, because it's so easy to get sucked into social media outlets. Especially now, because I just rejoined Rachael Harrie's Writers' Platform-Building Campaign. There's still time if you want to join! The Linky closes February 15.

Reading: I started and finished a book yesterday. I haven't done that in a long time, so I'm really looking forward to posting about it! It was a nice reminder why I write... because I love a good book. But sometimes the really good ones are also a fear enhancer. There are some amazing writers out there. Several of which I've now had the opportunity to get to know through the writing community. I feel honored and a bit of a fish out of water at times.

Diet and Exercise: As far as exercise, I did well. Unfortunately, I had a week of horrific eating. I think this picture from my daughter's 10th birthday slumber party says it all.


I don't know what I'd do without the writers I've met since publishing. Writing in seclusion may have been a bit less daunting, but it was never as rewarding.

Letter Writing Continues

This month, I'm participating in A Month of Letters Challenge. I've written a letter each postal day in February, and I'm loving it. To be completely fair, I write a few letters a month normally and send thank you notes for even the smallest gestures.

Maybe it's because I move so much and am always separated from friends and loved ones. It's easy for me to think of someone I want to write to. I even mailed my daughter her birthday card instead of just handing it to her this year. She was impressed, no small feat with two tweens in the house.

My plan is to continue through March, probably because when I sat down and wrote my list of letter recipients, I had way too many for just February.

Now I just need to find some fun stationery. I was disappointed when I went to Target looking for some. Totally weak selection. I guess letter writing really is dying. I just hope I don't show up to Target one day to find the book section sized down or, gasp, gone.

It's not too late to join in. You don't even have to officially sign up. Just start writing letters. I bet you'll be surprised by the number of people you want to send a letter to and how much they will appreciate it.

This challenge got me thinking... who I would love to get a letter from? Although I would love to receive letters from many people, it was loved ones who are no longer with me that came to mind. I sure wish I could hear from my grandmother (Maezelle) and Great Aunt Mary (my first daughter is named after her). I'd like them to tell me how I'm doing and what they would have done differently.

If you could receive a letter from anyone, who would it be?

*****
Tonight is my middle daughter's 10 year old slumber party, so I had to share a picture of her (and the cupcakes we spent much of last night making).


Her birthday thank you notes are already bought. She can sit down with me and write letters tomorrow.

Family Bonding, Hunger Games style

I'm so excited for March 23, 2012 and the Hunger Games movie. Usually I go into movies based on books with a great sense of trepidation. Rarely do they live up to the movie playing in my head when I'm reading the book. I still haven't gone to see The Help, because I really loved the book (even though I've heard the movie is wonderful).

Movies are only a problem if I loved the book. If my feelings were so-so, the movie usually works out fine. I loved Hunger Games, but I must admit the previews are giving me hope that the book will be well represented.

Here's the latest trailer:


Jennifer Lawrence - Liam Hemsworth - Woody Harrelson - Elizabeth Banks - Josh Hutcherson - Stanley Tucci - Movie Trailers - Movies Blog
And I'm lucky because my tween daughter is as excited as I am to see it (she's read all three books, I've only read the first two). As a mom, it is my privilege responsibility to see the movie first and then her (so I get to see it twice!). She didn't get to see Breaking Dawn.

I'm so glad my daughter and I share a love of reading, because I know it's a bond that will last a lifetime.

Do you get excited about books turned into movies? What was the last one you saw that was done well?[image error]

Fate, Friends, & Family: Building Characters

Today's BlogHer NaBloPoMo prompt intrigued me: Talk about this quotation: "Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends."

Fate, if you believe in the force of predetermined events, chooses all. Where you end up living, who is in your class or work environment, who has a baby at the same time... so many fateful things determine your friends. Granted, you have the free will to walk away, to choose not to be someone's friend. But too often, in my humble opinion, people choose to walk away from their families, too.

As a writer, I'm intrigued by relationships. Discovering why people come together as friends or enemies is such an important component to building characters. Put a character in Hell, and they still need to find friends and enemies from the lot. Same for Heaven.

We all have friends who fulfill different needs. Friends we know can make us happy when we are sad, friends who can pick the best party dress, friends who will take your child even when they are puking, and friends who you can see once a year and love like family. We choose friends based on those needs in our lives.

Authors get to play the role of Fate. With any given choice, a character sets in motion a chain of events that affect every future outcome. Whatever path he/she chooses will bring with it more choices, different from any other path.

I'm not sure I believe in the idea that no matter what we do the outcome is predetermined. I'd like to think taking action and making choices gives you more power than the person who sits there and awaits Fate.

I don't think I'm going to figure out the answer to our control in one blog post. But as an author, I can put my characters through the ringer knowing all along where I want them to end up. I can edit and play with how they get there, but the there rarely changes.

All that to say, Fate plays a part in all our relationships. But, in the end, we choose the paths and who takes the journey with us. Or, at least I'd like to think so.

Do you believe we all have a predetermined path? As a writer, do you predetermine your characters' paths or let their choices lead you?

Reinvesting in my Goals: ROW80 Check In

Catching up is not easy. Life keeps coming at you with no regard for all the items building on the to-do list. I have 500 emails in one account and 9 pages of emails in another. All things I either need to get to, or would like to.

My January was not kind. I took a five-day vacation with girlfriends, something I've never done before, but it put me way behind. No problem, I thought at the time, I'll catch up. Life laughed as each one of my kids got Strep throat (plus Mom and Dad!) and then my baby girl was diagnosed with Lyme's disease. Still, I believed. Life laughed again.

I need a couple of days where I can get things done and no new responsibilities come in the door. Wait, now you are all laughing.

After weeks of being behind, I felt lost in a sea of what to do next. It was draining. Usually I'm high energy, bouncing around from one thing to another. But the last couple of days, I sat there staring at blank paper trying to prioritize everything I needed to do. The paper stayed blank.

Until a client did me the biggest favor. She was honest and kind when she asked if I needed to pass on any additional work. What a beautiful kick in the butt. No, I did not want to pass. First of all, I love her work! But I also hate letting life (or anything) get the better of me. I immediately responded and prioritized.

Sometimes all the running can't get you caught up, but that doesn't mean you should stop. I'm back to a nice jog, and I'm feeling less breathless.

My ROW80 Update

A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80) is "the writing challenge that knows you have a life." From the website: We are all different and we all have different demands on our time. Why should we all have the same goal? The simple answer is that we shouldn't. If you want to be a writer, then you have to be able to roll with the punches and adapt to your changing circumstances. If that means changing your goals when your life blows up, so be it. ROW80 is the challenge that champions the marriage of writing and real life. (I had to include this because my mom asked me what the "Row-thingy" was.)

Writing: A lovely blogger (and my overfull brain is spacing on the name, but I'm SO thankful) suggested I reread my WIP to get back in the groove. I started that and am feeling it. I can't control the editor in me, but that will only make it better. I hope to get back to my test mile (500 words a day) soon. Joining #teamsprinty #ROW80 wordsprints (2pm EST) more regularly will help.

Blogging: Still daily. I need to back off and embrace other projects, but I can't seem to help myself. It feels wrong not to pop over and write a post. I've only posted once on Mom in Love with Fiction since Sunday, but I have a review in the works.

Social Media: I'm keeping up with it, but barely. I have to give it limited time right now, but I am keeping up with my ROW80 sponsor commitments.

Reading: At night as long as my eyes remain open. I may have to abandon The Book Thief for a bit to read a couple of books for reviews. I like The Book Thief, but it's not a fast read. I want to give it more than I have right now. Do you ever come upon books like that: a wonderful, deserving read that your brain just isn't quite ready for?

Editing: Rocked it today, over 30 pages edited total. Now I need to go back and make notes to send to one author and finish another project. I'm hoping my clients will forgive a rough January, especially when they see my commitment to kick it back into high gear.

Exercise: If only I could find a way to combine exercise and sleeping, I'd be golden! I did fit in a five mile walk (ran half of it) on Tuesday. Eating is horrible. I need to get it back under control. Why is fast food never healthy? My life needs fast right now.

I hope everyone is meeting their goals or reassessing them as necessary. Let me know how you are doing!