Robin Burrows's Blog, page 11

Blog: All’s Well That Ends Well

I have been sick all week. Ugh. One of those not-pleasant warm-weather colds. The fever has gone away and overall I feel better, but as of this writing my voice still sounds strange. Funny that the better I feel, the worse I sound.

Unfortunately, over the course of the week, I haven’t gotten anything writing-related done. I just haven’t felt altogether there. Too bad it should have been a busy week.

So this week, I set off to catch up on April poems and writing and editing ….and everything I’ve fallen behind on. If only I didn’t feel like such an invalid after a week in bed. For some reason the word atrophy keeps coming to mind.

Here’s hoping I’ll feel a lot better by the time this blog is posted on Monday. Don’t forget to check out my April poetry (link below).

Do you have any tips for catching up when you fall behind?

Read my #NaPoWriMo Poetry | Read my writing samples | Buy my poetry book | Follow me on FaceBook

Blog: Writing Techniques: Stone Sculpture vs Clay Sculpture

I've heard it over and over again. Writing is like sculpting a block of granite. And I believed it. I mean, why would another writer give me bad information? But it's all wrong. (At least for my writing technique.)

I have worked on my novel like it was a sculpture. First, I created the big bulky granite block of a manuscript. Then, a writer should chip away at that granite until the story takes shape. Right? Well, that's what I tried to do. But I came to realize that I was trying to polish granite bones. No one wants a statue of a skeleton – except maybe a necromancer. And if I chipped away any more words, the backbone of the story would break. Yet I felt like my story was missing something significant. Duh – the flesh.

First-hand experience counts for a lot. My experience has shown me that writing isn't like sculpting granite, but more like sculpting clay. First you create the bones and the general shape of your sculpture (story). Then you add flesh and move things around. That little extra bulge in the stomach become a nose. The leftovers of an ear become a toe. Everything is flexible, not set in stone.

Writing isn't about chipping pieces off a solid static block. It's about molding and reinventing and adding layers. What was my story missing? The sparks of magic that make a good story great. So that's where I am right now – back to adding layers to my story. Maybe all stories are really like writing mysteries. You write the story and then go back and add more details and foreshadowing after you know the whole story.

While my writing technique may not be the best one for you, the only way you learn yours is by writing. So go write this week!

Read my #NaPoWriMo Poetry | Read my writing samples | Buy my poetry book | Follow me on FaceBook

Blog: Writing Poems in April for National Poetry Month #NaPoWriMo

April is national poetry month, and lots of people are celebrating. Between blogging, adding layers to my novel, writing for the Arkansas Writers' Conference, and attending the AR SCBWI Conference, I think I might still be able to make a little time to write a few (short) poems this month for NaPoWriMo.

NaPoWriMo (short for National Poetry Writing Month) is the equivalent of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) except for poetry. The challenge is to write 30 poems during April. This blog post will be where I will be posting all of my terrible first rough drafts for this challenge, so bookmark this page and check back often for updates. I may not be able to post all of my poems on the day I write them, but I do hope to have 30 poems by the end of April.

If you need help with poetry idea or types of poetry, both the NaPoWriMo website and Robert Lee Brewer's Poetic Asides blog on the Writers' Digest website will have daily prompts.

Happy National Poetry Month and Happy Writing! Here are my poems for this month:

    

01- Ghost in the Drain (Haiku)

By Robin A. Burrows

Gurgle, splash, ker-plop

A little ghost in the drain

Plays Marco Polo.

 

02- Daffodils (Haiku)

By Robin A. Burrows

Daffodils awake,

turn their faces to the sun,

and wonder: where's God?

  

03- Whirlwind

By Robin A. Burrows

She came like a storm

with questions and insults

and stubborn attitudes.

A vortex of chaos.

A vortex of change.

Destroying all of the careful walls

Rhina had built in her tower.

Destroying all of the careful walls

she had built in her life.

Now with just a few moments

in the presence of the young girl

everything crumbled-

like pain.

         

04- One Day

By Robin A. Burrows

One day you will wake up

and the pain will be gone.

You loved one wouldn't want

you so saddened by their passing.

The hole will remain,

but like an extra finger-

awkward at first

then just another piece

of who you are.

It dissolves into the ether,

softened by acceptance -

contentment filling your soul.

Everything will be all right

one day.

Just wait and see.

  

05- Blossoms (Haiku)

By Robin A. Burrows

White petals rain down

showering the new born bride

in blessings of Spring.

  

06- Many-Faced

By Robin A. Burrows

He changed his face.

From priest to beggar.

Rags replacing the white robes.

Hair on his once-smooth face.

Dirt in the place of shine.

A cardboard sign instead

of a plastic cross.

Soft pleas replace the bull horn.

The same cars drive by.

The same people see the beggar face.

But how many will listen

          – to this face?

   

07- Starting Again

By Robin A. Burrows

Nokar ate alone

at the restaurant

once a week

to see her face.

She would walk past his table.

But she didn't know him anymore.

Time and Fate

and the great Veil

had erased

her life; her memories.

She was someone else now.

But he remembered.

every word,

every sigh,

every tear.

And the tragic accident that took her away.

But she didn't know hm anymore.

All he could do was

come to the restaurant

to be close

to be connected

though they were

a million lives apart.

  

08- The History-Mobile (Haiku)

By Robin A. Burrows

Vacuum tubes, cell phones

and calculators galore

- glued all over a truck.

  

09- Waltz of the Jellyfish (Haiku)

By Robin A. Burrows

Jellyfish sparkle

blue on the evening beaches

- romantic for all.

  

10- Dream Walker

By Robin A. Burrows

He's the face in her dreams.

The one snuggling close, nuzzling.

The one who re-enacts the books she reads.

The one who has lived a thousand lives.

But when she wakes,

Nokar is just a foggy dream.

  

11- A Cold

By Robin A. Burrows

The ache.

The chill.

The heat.

Constriction

Of the throat,

Nose, head, eyes.

The coughing.

The sneezes.

Throat on fire.

Oh for a hot spring

and some hot soup

to scare this cold away.

  

12- His Comet

By Robin A. Burrows

She was his comet.

His past. His future.

The land where all was right,

And everyone got to be themselves.

Her car sits through green.

And floors the red.

Expectations out the window.

Roads disappearing beneath the wheels.

Until all roads led home

Burning through the night.

Everything in flames.

Their world crashed to the ground

- in truth and pain.

   

Please check back often for more poetry updates this month. I may not be able to update this page daily, but I will have 30 poems by the end of the month.

Read my writing samples | Buy my poetry book | Follow me on FaceBook

Blog: Writing Poems in April for National Poetry Month

April is national poetry month, and lots of people are celebrating. Between blogging, adding layers to my novel, writing for the Arkansas Writers' Conference, and attending the AR SCBWI Conference, I think I might still be able to make a little time to write a few (short) poems this month for NaPoWriMo.

NaPoWriMo (short for National Poetry Writing Month) is the equivelent of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) except for poetry. The challenge is to write 30 poems during April. This blog post will be where I will be posting all of my terrible first rough drafts for this challenge, so bookmark this page and check back often for updates. I may not be able to post all of my poems on the day I write them, but I do hope to have 30 poems by the end of April.

If you need help with poetry idea or types of poetry, both the NaPoWriMo website and Robert Lee Brewer's Poetic Asides blog on the Writers' Digest website will have daily prompts.

Happy National Poetry Month and Happy Writing! Here are my poems for this month:

    

01- Ghost in the Drain (Haiku)

By Robin A. Burrows

Gurgle, splash, ker-plop

A little ghost in the drain

Plays Marco Polo.

 

02- Daffodils (Haiku)

By Robin A. Burrows

Daffodils awake,

turn their faces to the sun,

and wonder: where's God?

     

 Please check back often more more poetry updates this month.

Read my writing samples | Buy my poetry book | Follow me on FaceBook

Blog: Musings on Books in a Series

Most of the books I read tend to be part of one series or another. I become attached to characters. I like to read more about them. I must know how their story turns out. I have to see the transformation; the redemption; the union of the love interest (which we will know will happen, but not exactly how).

In a lot of cases, it is truly not the goal but the journey. If a story is good, we know that everyone will live happily ever after or be okay enough at the end to leave the reader with a sense of fulfillment from the culmination of the journey.

But there is very little that bugs me as much as a book that ends in the middle of an active plotline, and the reader doesn't get that fulfillment until the next book, or in the worst cases, the end of the series. Back in college I read a story about a side-character by a Wizards of the Coast author. The trilogy was basically one book chopped into three parts. There was no resolution until the end.

More recently, book 4 in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series ends very abruptly with very little resolved until the end of book 5. Don't get me wrong. I love the ASOIAF books. But I also have higher expectations of authors that I like.

The best example I've read of a series with a satisfying feeling of resolution at the end of each book is Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth series. There is a series plotline and a book plotline. Most of these books resolve the book's goal in the single book and move a little closer to wrapping up the hanging threads of the series plotline. I find this series unique in that each book begins right where the previous book ended. You could almost say the whole series is about the same thing. Yet the characters' goal in each individual book is quite clear and resolving that goal leaves the reader feeling satisfied at the end of the books.

Do you know of any series of books that have a good feeling of resolution or satisfaction at the end of each book in the series? What about books that chop a series in pieces and are really best read altogether because you will not reach any resolution by only reading one book in the series?

Read my writing samples | Buy my poetry book | Follow me on FaceBook

Blog: One of Life’s Secrets

The blog is directed at writers, but it could apply to anyone.

Everyone wants to know the secrets to a better life.

One of those secrets is acknowledgement. As writers, we need this more than most people.

Lots of people say they want to read your story, but only a small percentage of those people actually read it. And of the readers, only a small percent of them provide comments or feedback on your work.

Struggling in the void of creation to birth a masterpiece, is hard work. Often time, our golden eggs come out broken and we must piece them together bit by bit. No one is there to help carry the load. The writer alone must carve out their masterpiece.

Yet with the pressures of daily life and the inner critic telling us how bad our writing is, it can be easier to step away from the keyboard or lay down the pen.

Lots of things can make a difference. One of those things is acknowledgement. When someone acknowledges your efforts (even if you failed) it can make a difference. It can provide the motivation to get through the rough patch and keep going.

Everyone wants to be acknowledged.

And when you provide someone with positive feedback, comments, or acknowledgement in any form, it can make you feel good for making someone’s day!

Read my writing samples | Buy my poetry book | Follow me on FaceBook

Blog: One of Life's Secrets

The blog is directed at writers, but it could apply to anyone.

Everyone wants to know the secrets to a better life.

One of those secrets is acknowledgement. As writers, we need this more than most people.

Lots of people say they want to read your story, but only a small percentage of those people actually read it. And of the readers, only a small percent of them provide comments or feedback on your work.

Struggling in the void of creation to birth a masterpiece, is hard work. Often time, our golden eggs come out broken and we must piece them together bit by bit. No one is there to help carry the load. The writer alone must carve out their masterpiece.

Yet with the pressures of daily life and the inner critic telling us how bad our writing is, it can be easier to step away from the keyboard or lay down the pen.

Lots of things can make a difference. One of those things is acknowledgement. When someone acknowledges your efforts (even if you failed) it can make a difference. It can provide the motivation to get through the rough patch and keep going.

Everyone wants to be acknowledged.

And when you provide someone with positive feedback, comments, or acknowledgement in any form, it can make you feel good for making someone's day!

Read my writing samples | Buy my poetry book | Follow me on FaceBook

Story Excerpt: Dedwin’s Past from Kaylee Nevins and the Dragon Ring

I have a very special blog for you today. It is an excerpt from my fantasy novel, Kaylee Nevins and the Dragon Ring. This scene is told from the point-of-view of Dedwin, a side character that Kaylee meets on her journey through Azinia. Kaylee was looking for an inventor who could help her fix something. She was directed to Dedwin, but he couldn’t help her and told her of another inventor he once knew. After Kaylee leaves, his thoughts are still on the other inventor.

This scene does not have much to do with the main plot line, so I thought I would go ahead and share the scene here in case it does not make the final cut. I hope you enjoy! 

Dedwin’s Past - Excerpt (from Kaylee Nevins and the Dragon Ring)

She wasn’t like him. She hid from her problems by isolating herself from everyone and everything. He hid by surrounding himself with people to try to forget. She was the person who would be alone even in a crowd. He was the center of the crowd. But somehow that had never made him feel any less alone. The faces, the smiles, the forced laughter – it was all an act. It was all meaningless. Everyone wanted to entertain the eldest son of House Sewkoth; everyone except her.

His mother had named him Dedwin after some hero from the Age of Fire. He hadn’t really paid attention to the stories. He wasn’t that hero. Far from it. He couldn’t slay dragons, had any still existed, much less slay the dragons in his own life.

Attending The University had been his dream, but studies didn’t come to him easy. His inventions were the results of endless experimentation. He had to work hard for every piece. Now he didn’t even have that.

Airistan of House Voikar had been more right than he had known when he pronounced Dedwin’s name as Dead-win instead of Deed-win. Airistan had picked on all of the nobles but none of his other cruel nicknames so accurately described who the person had become. Deed-win had died long ago. Only the hollow, dead parts remained.

Dedwin shooed away the women gathered at his side. He would go for a stroll under the velvet night’s sky. That would make him feel better. That would help him forget all of the memories the girl had brought to the surface with her questions about the inventor.

But guilt was hard to swallow. He should have returned. Better yet, he never should have left. She had needed him and he’d failed her. But it was too late now.

Instead of stars, smoke filled his eyes as he stepped outside. His heart raced back to that night so many years ago when fire had rained down over Osage Grove. It was the night Deed-win had died.

Shouts rang out in the dark. The smoke was thicker now. Footsteps echoed down the cobblestone streets. People were fleeing. Osage Grove was burning again!

Copyright 2011 Robin A. Burrows

Read my writing samples | Buy my poetry book | Follow me on FaceBook

Story Excerpt: Dedwin's Past from Kaylee Nevins and the Dragon Ring

I have a very special blog for you today. It is an excerpt from my fantasy novel, Kaylee Nevins and the Dragon Ring. This scene is told from the point-of-view of Dedwin, a side character that Kaylee meets on her journey through Azinia. Kaylee was looking for an inventor who could help her fix something. She was directed to Dedwin, but he couldn't help her and told her of another inventor he once knew. After Kaylee leaves, his thoughts are still on the other inventor.

This scene does not have much to do with the main plot line, so I thought I would go ahead and share the scene here in case it does not make the final cut. I hope you enjoy! 

Dedwin's Past - Excerpt (from Kaylee Nevins and the Dragon Ring)

She wasn't like him. She hid from her problems by isolating herself from everyone and everything. He hid by surrounding himself with people to try to forget. She was the person who would be alone even in a crowd. He was the center of the crowd. But somehow that had never made him feel any less alone. The faces, the smiles, the forced laughter – it was all an act. It was all meaningless. Everyone wanted to entertain the eldest son of House Sewkoth; everyone except her.

His mother had named him Dedwin after some hero from the Age of Fire. He hadn't really paid attention to the stories. He wasn't that hero. Far from it. He couldn't slay dragons, had any still existed, much less slay the dragons in his own life.

Attending The University had been his dream, but studies didn't come to him easy. His inventions were the results of endless experimentation. He had to work hard for every piece. Now he didn't even have that.

Airistan of House Voikar had been more right than he had known when he pronounced Dedwin's name as Dead-win instead of Deed-win. Airistan had picked on all of the nobles but none of his other cruel nicknames so accurately described who the person had become. Deed-win had died long ago. Only the hollow, dead parts remained.

Dedwin shooed away the women gathered at his side. He would go for a stroll under the velvet night's sky. That would make him feel better. That would help him forget all of the memories the girl had brought to the surface with her questions about the inventor.

But guilt was hard to swallow. He should have returned. Better yet, he never should have left. She had needed him and he'd failed her. But it was too late now.

Instead of stars, smoke filled his eyes as he stepped outside. His heart raced back to that night so many years ago when fire had rained down over Osage Grove. It was the night Deed-win had died.

Shouts rang out in the dark. The smoke was thicker now. Footsteps echoed down the cobblestone streets. People were fleeing. Osage Grove was burning again!

Copyright 2011 Robin A. Burrows

Read my writing samples | Buy my poetry book | Follow me on FaceBook

Story Excerpt: The Fallen Noble from Kaylee Nevins and the Dragon Ring

I have a very special blog for you today. It is an excerpt from my fantasy novel, Kaylee Nevins and the Dragon Ring. This scene is told from the point-of-view of Dedwin, a side character that Kaylee meets on her journey through Azinia. Kaylee was looking for an inventor who could help her fix something. She was directed to Dedwin, but he couldn't help her and told her of another inventor he once knew. After Kaylee leaves, his thoughts are still on the other inventor.

This scene does not have much to do with the main plot line, so I thought I would go ahead and share the scene here in case it does not make the final cut. I hope you enjoy! 

The Fallen Noble Excerpt (from Kaylee Nevins and the Dragon Ring)

She wasn't like him. She hid from her problems by isolating herself from everyone and everything. He hid by surrounding himself with people to try to forget. She was the person who would be alone even in a crowd. He was the center of the crowd. But somehow that had never made him feel any less alone. The faces, the smiles, the forced laughter – it was all an act. It was all meaningless. Everyone wanted to entertain the eldest son of House Sewkoth; everyone except her.

His mother had named him Dedwin after some hero from the Age of Fire. He hadn't really paid attention to the stories. He wasn't that hero. Far from it. He couldn't slay dragons, had any still existed, much less slay the dragons in his own life.

Attending The University had been his dream, but studies didn't come to him easy. His inventions were the results of endless experimentation. He had to work hard for every piece. Now he didn't even have that.

Airistan of House Voikar had been more right than he had known when he pronounced Dedwin's name as Dead-win instead of Deed-win. Airistan had picked on all of the nobles but none of his other cruel nicknames so accurately described who the person had become. Deed-win had died long ago. Only the hollow, dead parts remained.

Dedwin shooed away the women gathered at his side. He would go for a stroll under the velvet night's sky. That would make him feel better. That would help him forget all of the memories the girl had brought to the surface with her questions about the inventor.

But guilt was hard to swallow. He should have returned. Better yet, he never should have left. She had needed him and he'd failed her. But it was too late now.

Instead of stars, smoke filled his eyes as he stepped outside. His heart raced back to that night so many years ago when fire had rained down over Osage Grove. It was the night Deed-win had died.

Shouts rang out in the dark. The smoke was thicker now. Footsteps echoed down the cobblestone streets. People were fleeing. Osage Grove was burning again!

Copyright 2011 Robin A. Burrows

Read my writing samples | Buy my poetry book | Follow me on FaceBook