Category: Memes

Writing practice ~ Write on Wednesday

From Becca’s Write on Wednesday:

How about you? Do you have a writing practice? What’s it like? How has it helped you become a better writer? If you’re thinking about starting a writing practice, how do you envision it? What would work for you?

Over on the Write on Wednesday site, Becca has a great summary of what writing practice is, along with author Natalie Goldberg’s take on it.

I do writing practice or morning pages or whatever you want to call it every morning. Like Becca I really need that first cup of coffee to get going. It goes pretty much like this:

  • Start the coffee
  • Open up my notebook
  • Write down the date and a few words
  • Zone out for a bit
  • Get coffee
  • Write

After that, I work out (after three cups of coffee, I’m beyond ready to work out). Over the years, I’ve experimented with the best time for writing practice/coffee/exercise. Starting back in November 2007, I finally hit upon the combination that works (at least for now).

Back in the day, as a young lieutenant, I used to laugh at the “old” warrant officers and sergeants who’d show up at first formation with a large cup of coffee. They’d say, “Just you wait, ma’am. Just you wait.”

These days, I so need that cup (or three) in the morning–both to write and exercise. And I hereby extend an apology to Chief Warrant Officers F. and M. along with Master Sergeant D. You guys were right.

A friend of mine called morning pages/practice “the best therapy money can’t buy.” Julia Cameron recommends them for all artists, not just writers. I think, initially, it’s hard to get past not writing something of significance.

These days, I happily litter my morning pages with Internet shorthand (I seem to LOL to myself a lot) and litanies about how tired I am (generally written before that second cup).

So, writing practice. Like the swearing (see yesterday’s post), it’s something I highly recommend.

Booking literature

Booking Through Thursday: 

  • When somebody mentions “literature,” what’s the first thing you think of? (Dickens? Tolstoy? Shakespeare?)
  • Do you read “literature” (however you define it) for pleasure? Or is it something that you read only when you must?

Argh. I hate this literary vs. genre argument with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. I love Fitzgerald (Darcy and I have a serious thing for The Great Gatsby). Love “Shapespeare” as Andrew used to call him. Spent serious time with the Russians (Tolstoy, Pushkin, Chekhov).

I enjoy genre. I enjoy literary and literature. I think it’s important for writers to read outside their comfort zone. If, for no other reason, to understand what it is they don’t like about it and why.

But then, we love absolutes, don’t we? All genre is escapist fluff. All literary is pretentious, tragic, and obscure. All classics are boring. And sure, you could probably find plenty of evidence to support those statements.

And I don’t buy the: I’m busy, so when I read, I want to be entertained. Uh, same here. The way I see it, all fiction (and a great deal of nonfiction) is escapist. If it’s not my reality, then chances are I’m escaping.

Sometimes it is good to grab a comfort read, something you know will make you laugh, or has a guaranteed happy ending. And sometimes, those tougher reads help us make sense of the world, understand why the bad things happen.

As a reader, I need both of those. As a writer, I’d be negligent if I didn’t at least consider all types of writing.

I’ve been called a literary snob for not liking The Da Vinci Code. It wasn’t so much the writing (nothing to uh, write home about), but the topic. Conspiracy. Yawn. Whatev. If I’d been into the subject matter, then I probably would’ve been into the book.

On the flipside, it has also been suggested I’m somewhat less of a writer for choosing to write young adult fiction–that somehow fiction with teen characters aimed at a teen demographic is lacking in all the elements you’d find in adult fiction.

My response: whatev.

So, y’all go fight among yourselves. I’m going to go back to reading whatever happens to appeal to me, despite its label.

Booking Through Thursday: Format

Booking through Thursday this week:

All other things (like price and storage space) being equal, given a choice in a perfect world, would you rather have paperbacks in your library? Or hardcovers? And why?

I was surfing around some of the responses and was delighted to discover I’m not the only one who likes trade paperback. I like the size. Mass market feels claustrophobic to me and hardcovers are heavy.

And since we’re in recovery mode from The Jonas Brothers concert last night, that’s about all I have to say on the great hardcover/trade/mass market debate.

123 meme and One Love for Liv

I’ve been tagged (a really long time ago, well, a week, in any case)! Chris over at Book-a-Rama tagged me with the 1-2-3 meme (and a nice award as well):

1). Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages)
2). Open the book to page 123
3). Find the fifth sentence
4). Post the next three sentences
5). Tag five people

The closest book? The one in my inbox, which is One Love for Liv by Marianne Arkins. Here’s what’s five sentences in on page 123:

She set out two salmon steaks on sheets of foil, then seasoned them carefully according to the directions. She only hoped she got the right amount. Some of it called for a “pinch” or “to taste”.

Ha! Clearly a woman after my own heart. Yeah, what’s up with a pinch and taste? Sure, we can put a man on the moon, but we can’t figure out measurements for such things. Because let me tell you, salting to taste certainly means something different to you than it does to Andrew. Trust me on that one. 

I haven’t read the rest of the scene yet to find out how the salmon steaks turn out. Maybe Marianne will stop by and let us know.

I’m going to tag Anno, Jen, Judy, Marianne (yeah, I know you’re boycotting memes), and Mary. Totally voluntary, too. No meme-angst here.

Booking Through Thursday: When all the love is gone

Hey, I had to do this one today, since it comes from Chris over at Book-a-Rama. Go, Chris!

I had a post ready for today, but I liked this suggestion from Chris even better, so … thanks, Chris!

Here’s something for Valentine’s Day.

Have you ever fallen out of love with a favorite author? Was the last book you read by the author so bad, you broke up with them and haven’t read their work since? Could they ever lure you back?

For me, there are two issues. The fall out of love one and the burn out one. If I really love an author, and want to keep that loving feeling, I ration his/her books. I don’t glom. True, if it’s someone trying to establish a career, I’ll go out buy his/her book (release week sales can be crucial), but I might not read it for a while.  

Then there’s the fall out of love issue.

Exhibit A:

The Body Farmby Patricia Cornwell. I put this one down when I was about one third of the way through. Never went back. In fact, I’d say this was the start of not reading mysteries in general for me, and in particular, serial killers. Sorry, I’ve reached my lifetime quota for serial killers.

Exhibit B:

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. About the time Bella decided to jump off that cliff (highlight to see spoiler text), I decided I was done. Now, I’m into teenage and/or teenage vampire angst as much as the next person (or quite possibly more), but there’s angst, and then there’s angst.  Thing is, I really enjoyed the back-story and vampire lore in the series, but I don’t see myself reading the remaining books any time soon.

Booking Through Thursday

 Booking Through Thursday:

This week’s question is suggested by Puss Reboots:

How much do reviews (good and bad) affect your choice of reading? If you see a bad review of a book you wanted to read, do you still read it? If you see a good review of a book you’re sure you won’t like, do you change your mind and give the book a try?

The only advice, indeed, that one person can give another about reading is to take no advice, to follow your own instincts, to use your own reason, to come to your own conclusions. ~ Virginia Woolf

I do read reviews, book blogs (like Book-a-Rama), and librarian blogs all in search of new books to read. I don’t put a lot of store in Amazon reviews, although I might look cross-eyed at a book that doesn’t have a lower star rating. A book with a really strong voice is bound to piss someone off–and sure, that someone could be me. More often than not, the review reveals more about the reviewer than the book.

And I admit that sometimes reviews might keep me away from reading the third/fourth in a series I was feeling meh about anyway (*cough*Stephenie Meyer*cough*).

But with so many books and not enough time (even if all I did was read, there still wouldn’t be enough time), I need some way to sort through all the possibilities out there. Reviews are a starting point, but certainly not the end point.

Booking it a bit late: Highlights, 2007

Booking Through Thursday a bit late this week:

It’s an old question, but a good one . . . What were your favorite books this year?

List as many as you like … fiction, non-fiction, mystery, romance, science-fiction, business, travel, cookbooks … whatever the category. But, really, we’re all dying to know. What books were the highlight of your reading year in 2007?

My goal this year was to read 52 books. And I read … 52 books.

I read a lot of good books this year. Just about every book on my list below had something to offer. A few I was “meh” about. (If you’re thinking about reading one, email me, and I’ll let you know if it was a “meh” book–although, one person’s “meh” is another’s “wowza.”)

My wowza this year includes:

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

I Am the Messenger, also by Markus Zusak

Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl, which actually, I read twice. If you look on Amazon, you can see it’s truly one of those love/hate books. Did it have flaws? Yeah, it did. But I felt the good outweighed those. Plus, some of the “flaws” vanished on the second read. Or at least, they did for me.

All in all, it was a good reading year for me.

Books read in 2007 (in sort of alpha order):

A Certain Slant of Light (Whitcomb, Laura)
A Northern Light (Donnelly, Jennifer)
Amazing Grace (Shull, Megan)
Devilish (Johnson, Maureen)
Elsewhere (Zevin, Gabrielle)
Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature (Brande, Robin)
Fever 1793 (Anderson, Laurie Halse)
Girl at Sea (Johnson, Maureen)
Hacking Harvard (Wasserman, Robin)
How I Live Now (Rosoff, Meg)
How to Be Popular (Cabot, Meg)
I Am the Messenger (Zusak, Markus)
Just Listen (Dessen, Sarah)
Keturah And Lord Death (Leavitt, Martine)
King Dork (Portman, Frank)
Last Siege, The (Stroud, Jonathan)
Life As We Knew It (Pfeffer, Susan Beth)
London Calling (Bloor, Edward)
Lottery (Wood, Patricia)
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac (Zevin, Gabrielle)
Prom (Anderson, Laurie Halse)
Pygmalion (Shaw, George Bernard)
Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party (Compestine, Ying Chang)
Skylight Confessions: A Novel (Hoffman, Alice)
Speak (Anderson, Laurie Halse)
Special Topics in Calamity Physics (Pessl, Marisha)
Stargirl (Spinelli, Jerry)
The Alibi Club (Mathews, Francine)
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl (Lyga, Barry)
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party (Anderson, M.T.)
The Book of Lost Things: A Novel (Connolly, John)
The Book Thief (Zusak, Markus)
The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear (Keyes, Ralph)
The Gospel According to Larry (Tashjian, Janet)
The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family (Raddatz, Martha)
The Luxe (Godbersen, Anna)
The Nature of Jade (Caletti, Deb)
The Off Season (Murdock, Catherine)
The Probable Future (Hoffman, Alice)
The Queen of Everything (Caletti, Deb)
The Rest Falls Away: The Gardella Vampire Chronicles (Gleason, Colleen)
The Road (McCarthy, Cormac)
The Stolen Child (Donohue, Keith)
The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel (Setterfield, Diane)
The Virginia Woolf Writers’ Workshop: Seven Lessons to Inspire Great Writing (Jones, Danell)
Thirteen Reasons Why (Asher, Jay)
Tomorrow #1: When The War Began (Marsden, John)
Tomorrow #2: The Dead Of Night (Marsden, John)
Uninvited (Marrone, Amanda)
Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie (Black, Holly)
Vote For Larry (Tashjian, Janet)
Wild Roses (Caletti, Deb)

Booking it orderly

 Okay, I haven’t booked through Thursday for a while, so I thought I would.

Do you use any of the online book-cataloguing sites, like Library Thing or Shelfari? Why or why not? (Or . . . do you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking to?? (grin))

If not an online catalog, do you use any other method to catalog your book collection? Excel spreadsheets, index cards, a notebook, anything?

I use Library Thing, but it’s more of a reading log than a place where I catalog books. So there’s a mix of what I own and what I’ve read and I haven’t tagged which is which yet. I guess I should do that someday.

In other news, what my kids want for Christmas that they’re probably not going to get:

  • Andrew: a lizard
  • Kyra: a real magic wand

All I Want Is You

I found this one over at Book-a-Rama.

Here’s what you do:

Set your Mp3 player on shuffle and write the title of the first song that comes up as an answer to each question no matter how stupid it sounds…(savvy? Here we go.)

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY?” YOU SAY?
Angel of Harlem, by U2 (that’s a weird answer)

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
Temptation, by Tom Waits (honestly, I wouldn’t)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Extreme Ways, by Moby (ha, ha, this one actually makes sense)

HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW?
She’s So High, by Tal Bachman (no, I am not)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
 I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, by U2 (but apparently I’ve found every U2 song)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Take Me Out, by Franz Ferdinand (I have some demanding friends, no?)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
True, by Spandau Ballet (I think this is a good answer, it could be worse, no?)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN?
Walking on the Moon, by The Police (I’m not sure I’ve ever thought of that)

WHAT IS 1+1?
Don’t Leave Home, by Dido (It must be that new math)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle, by Cake (too funny)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Original of the Species, by U2 (When Charity isn’t being original, she’s clearly listening to U2)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LOVE?
Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money), by the Pet Shop Boys (Snort)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Longview, by Green Day (Whatever)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Black Coffee in Bed, by Squeeze (Caffeine is my life)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
The Other Side, by David Gray (Strangely appropriate, freakishly so, even)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, by The Police (Bet you didn’t know I was magic)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Tangled Up in Blue, by Bob Dylan (you guys are all tangled up)

WHAT IS THE THEME SONG TO YOUR LIFE?
Leaving New York, by R.E.M (I’ve only been there once)

WHAT DESCRIBES YOU?
Rio, by Duran Duran (I’ve got nothing for this)

WHAT WILL YOU NAME THIS POST?
All I Want is You, by U2 (I know. Again with the U2)

Booking Through Thursday: Wild Abandon

Booking Through Thursday:

Today’s suggestion is from Cereal Box Reader

I would enjoy reading a meme about people’s abandoned books. The books that you start but don’t finish say as much about you as the ones you actually read, sometimes because of the books themselves or because of the circumstances that prevent you from finishing. So . . . what books have you abandoned and why?

I am one of the few people who never made it through The Da Vinci Code. I put it down at page 79 and never picked it back up again. This has less to do with the writing than the subject matter. I’m also one of the few people in the western world who is “meh” on the subject matter. Yawn. Whatever.

If I were into the story, the prose wouldn’t have bothered me as much. Sure, the gold standard is excellent story/characterization + prose that matches. But I’ll hang in there with a book if there’s a two out of three combination. Characters I love, even if the story moves a little slowly, a pot boiler, even if the characters are a little flat. And so on.

I tend to be a mood reader. I also try to respect a book for what it is. If something’s a lighthearted romp full of camp, I’m not going to get upset when the characters don’t bleed their emotions on the page. Ditto something that’s angst-ridden and angry. It is what it is.  

I’m also an “aspiration” reader. I will read something because it was a NYT notable book, or won a Pulitzer, a National Book Award, A Newbery, and so on. I like to understand why something received that honor, even if I end up not really liking the book.

My (highly personal) bias is a writer should read outside her comfort zone once in a while.

Who knew there was so much to say about not reading.