Writing is a craft

Margie Yee-Webb, Marsha Dowd, Lynn Tosello, Teresa LeYung-Ryan
March 2016 North State Writers meeting

A couple of years ago I had the privilege of listening to Teresa LeYung-Ryan and Margie Yee-Webb when they spoke at a meeting of North State Writers. They gave us a presentation on Teresa's book "Build Your Writers' Platform & Fanbase in 22 days". It brought home this blog post I wrote but hadn't posted yet so I decided to go ahead and post it.

How many times have you heard that writing is a craft? I'm not sure I truly understood this until I started writing myself. Like anything else in life, practice makes perfect. In other words, write, write, write, the more you write the more creative you become and the better the end result will be. I am loving the journey I've started. It helps to consult with the experts and I wanted to share a few books that have helped me.

There are so many books out there it's difficult to make a list of all of them but here are a few I've read over the years that I feel have helped me with life in general, business or the craft of writing:

Probably not complete and in no particular order:

• The Secret
• The E Myth, Michael E. Gerber
• 10 Things a Millionaire Taught Me, Richard Paul Evans
• Multiple Streams of Income, Robert G. Allen
• Between the Lines, Jessica Morrell
• Writing Subtext, Dr. Linda Seger
• The 3a.m. Epiphany, Brian Kiteley
• Book in A Month - Great tips on organizing your process and on creating characters. Once I retire I should be able to I can find the time to write one in a month. I'll have to try Nanowrimo someday.
• Anything in the genre you are writing in

If you have any other suggestions please share them, I am always looking for the next great read. Hope these help you on your own journey wherever you are headed, keep writing and reading.

Linda Sue Forrister

Author of  "The Poisoned Queen, A Joe Fish Adventure" (coming soon)

Powell's Books

Only half thinking it would be a different experience I walked into Powell's flagship store in Portland, Oregon and immediately knew it was unlike any other bookstore.

Lost in color coded rooms, it's much  more entertaining to explore them rather than asking directions. Except perhaps when you need to find the restroom, then ask for directions.

The Rose room on the first floor with light streaming thru the windows. Children are invited to just sit and read on the reading carpet. Tables and chairs just their size.

Floor to ceiling and shelf after shelf, volumes of books to escape in, travel to another world or another time.

The Gold Room has cookbooks, gardening, home repairs, music and more.

The Blue Room for Sci-Fi (my personal favorite for reading).

We all know people (including ourselves) who need help but who knew there were so many books on psychology in the Purple room.

Police procedures, murder mysteries, plot design, publishing guides, amazon marketing, character creation, it goes on and on. It was interesting to see that I already owned about five of the titles on writing.

I will make a trip back when I can spend more time browsing. The daughters and the grandchildren were patient but probably enjoyed the trip to Voodoo Donuts more than the one to
Powell's.

Bucket Lists and Zip Lines

Skamania Zip Lines - Washington

Bucket lists can include many things. It never occurred to me to put zip lining on my list and I never thought it was something I would actually do.

Peer pressure applied by grandchildren is a powerful motivator, along with the fact that the opportunity would most likely never arise again.

Hannah and Savannah, our zip line tour guides, were patient, kind and helpful to a Grandma with bad knees. It wasn't easy to climb up the steps to hook up to the line.  Let alone "zip-away" as our guides would say to each other.

"Let go of the rope" the son-in-law says.

"Easier said than done" I squeal in mid-zip.

The most difficult task was the transfer to the ground  after zipping to the first few platforms and letting go of those pesky control issues. Stepping off a perfectly good platform high above the ground and trusting that the tiny little rope would actually lower you gently to the ground. Turns out I was right, well at least half right, as I landed on my rear end instead of my feet. Fortunately, only my pride was injured but I was vindicated when the son-in-law had a similar landing. BOOM!

Seven platforms into our adventure I was able to open my eyes and at least let go of the rope with one arm for a few seconds and then we were done.

While zip lining is not for everyone, and I did enjoy the swinging bridges, however, I don't think I will repeat the experience. I'm glad I was able to finish the entire course and face some of my fears and let go just a little bit.

Pink

Pink is such a beautiful color for flowers (it happens to be my favorite) and May is the perfect time to “stop and smell the roses” as my husband is always telling our grandchildren. Try to find time to sit a garden. Close your eyes and use your senses. What do you hear? What do you smell?

You aren’t done yet, get out your pen and paper (or laptop/tablet) and write it out. Describe it as though you were telling someone who couldn’t see it, hear it or smell it. Good writing includes sensory descriptions to pull the reader into the scene and keep them engaged and interested.

Writing is an expression of both who we are and who we want to be.

Enjoy your month writing and work on those sensory descriptions.

Linda Sue Forrister

Co-author of "Those Meyerson Women" (a work in progress)

Raindrops

Have you ever thought how raindrops are like words? One raindrop joined with others can end a drought. One word alone can have a multitude of meanings, but tied together with others the meaning becomes richer and more fluid. The quest for just the right words in just the right order is one we are all pursuing.

The elation that results from completing the task cannot be duplicated, nor can the satisfaction that comes with seeing your name on the cover of a completed project.

The more you learn about the process of writing the better you are able to string the words together and the better the end result will be.

I continue on my quest.



Linda Sue Forrister

Co-Author of "Those Meyerson Women" (a work in progress)