Keep it Clean Kids!

I think this post has the potential to not only help authors, but anyone who wants to do other activities in addition to keeping a pretty clean house. Keeping my house clean and working takes a ton of time, so anything to help make the process more efficient is fantastic. The faster the house is clean, the more time I have to write. I'm learning that maintenance is key!

My two kiddos are old enough now, that they can help. Yep, they actually help. A month or so ago, I created, and taped on a wall, a routine they can follow every day. They get to put a sticker on for each completed task. I'm a gold star kind of person, I think most people especially kids love a sticker reward! I posted my routine chart on Facebook today, and a couple friends wanted a copy. I figured if there are two people it could help, there are probably more people who need something like it!

Many parts of my routine come from the website flylady.net. You can check out swish and swipe there (bathroom maintenance, quick wipe of the counters and a swish in the toilet with a toilet brush.) She's got lots of great ideas, I do some of them. The form I use is in Excel on my Mac. Make it personal for you, or for your kids. I'll share what I have for myself another time. It started as a paper, now it's in my phone calendar. Anyway, here's my kiddos chart. I write their name on the top of their chart:

Daily Routine and Chores for Kids

Now, don't expect perfection from yourself or your kids! Keep a good attitude and make a game of it. "Let's see how many stickers we can get today!" After a month, my kids took action today to see how many they could get. They even worked ahead to the afternoon piano practice. Be patient and know that a little at a time creates good habits, which in the end produce a clean, or at least more clean home, and more time to write.

Toilet Monster is Written!

Yesterday, my boys and my hubby went camping. It was fantastically quiet for hours at my house! After my chores were done, I stuck to my plan and finished writing my toilet monster story!! I feel so accomplished!

It is now in the capable hands of a chosen few readers who are testing it out. I'm excited to hear the feedback! After reviews are in and a final editing, it will go to either illustrating with my fantastic sister, or on to an agent, publisher, or contest. I am thrilled at the thought!

I feel a strong desire to continue writing children's books. I have realised how much I truly enjoy seeing my stories come to life.  I've had more ideas for some illustrated books. Whenever I have an idea, I write in in a journal dedicated to writing inspirations. I mostly note ideas of characters, plots, and other inspirations that pop in my head. Otherwise, they may evaporate before they have a chance at life. I feel secure knowing I have a reserve of ideas. I'm not running out of ideas any time soon. I just need to decide which idea is next! Do you write down your inspirations?

Inspiration

  It seems inspiration is everywhere. Today while I was working on my toilet monster story, I looked out the window at a little squirrel scattering about on my neighbor's roof. Squirrels are funny little creatures, and this one was no exception. It looked nice and healthy; ready for a long winter. I wondered if it was the same squirrel who raided my sunflowers upside down a month ago, then I remembered a story idea I had written down involving a squirrel. Watching the squirrel spurred some thoughts about the possible characteristics of the squirrel in my story idea.

  Having my own children spurs ideas as well. Oh the things they do! What better way to get into the child's point of view than a 12 hour day, 365 days a year observation? Though, I'm not always looking for a story.

  I was on a bike ride with my son yesterday, and he wondered aloud why the lines coming down from the telephone pole to the ground were shaped the way they were. He noticed they weren't going at their normal angle to make a triangle between the pole, line and ground. At first I was surprised he even noticed something like that. I hadn't even noticed it was there, really, so I looked, and I saw from his perspective and asked in my own head why. The wires had been pushed out so it looked more like half of a house drawn by a child. It only took a fraction of a second in my adult mind to figure out why, but it was asking that I found significant. "Oh," he said, "It's so people can go under it on the sidewalk." And off he rode.

  I suppose what I'm getting at is, if you need an idea, or if you have writer's block, open your eyes. Look outside yourself. Look from a different perspective. I'm beginning to find that there's plenty of ideas out there, you just have to be paying attention in order to catch on to it. Sometimes we learn from participation, and sometimes we learn from being quiet. Be an observer. Be quiet for a while and just watch, listen, feel and be inspired.

So Sad...Or Not

I heard back from the greeting card publisher, and sadly they did not accept my card ideas. It's too bad. Hmmm. Maybe it's a good thing. I'm refocusing to the Toilet Monster and New King stories. I have limited amounts of time to dedicate to writing, so it's probably a good thing not to split it too many ways. When I need a break from stories, or when I feel inspired I'll still write my card ideas and submit them occasionally, but I've decided I don't want it to be a main focus. I'm excited to move forward with my stories, I'm excited with where they were going. I thought I was done with the Toilet Monster, but it told me otherwise. It's in a complete rewrite, and I'm loving where it's going. That's all for now friends. I'll let you know how it goes. ;)

And the Winner is?!

My last post was about the greeting card ideas I sent out to a publisher. I was told a final decision would be made by mid-June. Maybe their running late? Maybe my ideas were so hot that they called in their international greeting card gurus to clammer over them. Unlikely, but just maybe.

I e-mailed the editor today to find out the final decision. I have questions running in my mind like, have they not told me because my card ideas weren't accepted? Should I have e-mailed sooner? Would that have put me on their radar more? Maybe this whole thing is a scam and all greeting card companies take all the submissions and print them as their own idea. I mean, who would know? I'm not going to be scanning their shelves for my ideas just incase they stole them. Unlikely, but just maybe.

On another note, I've really got to start writing again. I've acheived much on the home front, and some things, like my piano playing has gotten so much better. The dedicated time for writing though is still a challenge. They say if  you want something enough, it's not so hard, you just get it done. I don't think that's quite true. There's some truth there, but not the whole truth, is it?

Toilet Monster...Still

And I thought I was done, ha!

I was happily typing along, doing what I thought were the last few changes to my Toilet Monster story,

An awesome illustration by my son. I figure it's
close to what I look like when happlily typing along. ;)

when during a conversation with my sister, I discovered that if I rearrange the storyline it would be so much better! Arg! Yeah!

Don't worry, the basic premise for my story about a giant is well noted and is contentedly waiting it's turn. I am going to finish my Toilet Monster story first. Once it is written, I'll hand it over for illustration.

While the story is out for illustration, I'll search and study how to e-publish. I'm so excited to learn how to e-publish, and I can't stop smiling about the thought of one of my stories being accessible to others to enjoy. I can sense the feeling of momentum and smell the coming accomplishment. The end result of the changes will be well worth the extra effort, and as I find out how to e-publish an illustrated children's book, I'll let you know.

Check out my handmade deadlines on the right. I'm incorporating time dedicated to writing into my daily routine to meet my deadlines. It seems if it's not on the schedule, it doesn't get done...so now it's on the schedule.

Jump on the Freight Train!

I've been wanting to work toward my NaNoWriMo goal, but  I freeze up when I feel overwhelmed, and dear oh dear I feel overwhelmed! I need to melt my nerves!

I thought I had my plot lined out and my characters sorted, but it seems to be a freight train riding off without me. I'm not sure if I should take back control (which my natural tendencies dictate), or if I should just hop on and see where it goes. The latter is likely to take me to a messy, but a more interesting story, so I feel more inclined to hop on the train. It sure is hard to let go of control though! Ah!

Ok, so the plan: Refocus. Turn off the editor voice. Let go and just write, write, write. Dedicate time to it each day. I really do have so much to do during the day as a mother and homemaker. I suppose I'll be getting lots of great practice at time-management and prioritizing. As much as I would love to super scrub my floor right now, I need to realize that some things can wait until my daily or weekly quota is met. After my story is completed with over 50,000 words by the end of November, I'll have lots of material to work with to make a fantastic novel that I will be proud to show to you all!

Any other suggestions?

Ready, Aim, Ugh!

The plan tonight was to put my kiddos in bed then write, write, write my plot and character worksheets for NaNoWriMo. Afterward, I would lie down in my bed for a restful nights sleep. It was a lovely plan! My kiddos thought differently.
Oh well, that's the beauty of working at home. I get to be with my angels at bedtime. I have a little time left tonight to figure out what worksheets are needed in order to be prepared to begin my NaNoWriMo novel on November 1. I'll begin/continue the actual worksheets tomorrow.

Lesson learned: Work during the day because the night runs out of room.

Setback

I had a bit of a setback this week. I injured, myself quite ridiculously actually. I pulled muscle(s) in my neck and back so much that it hurt to move much. I got behind in my family life and so of course, in my writing efforts too. Oh well, only a couple of days lost, but gratitude for my normal abilities was multiplied greatly.
I've been trying to figure out where to go with my New King story. The character who becomes king in the end, is he very young? Married? Children? Taking care of his parents?

The king's assistant has also been at the forefront of my mind. I think he will play a vital roll in the unfolding of events. I don't think he will be intentionally evil, but maybe he'll be jealous...or...

That's some of what I've been thinking about as my muscles are recovering. I'll keep you updated!

Vocabulary

I feel that my vocabulary has shrunk significantly. The words in my brain felt neglected, so the poor things slipped out my ears as I was sleeping these past years, and I haven't put any back in to replace them!

I'm excited to be reading more books lately, and that seems to be helping, but it's only as I happen upon them and look up their definition. I thought I might boost the progress a bit. I found my old Vocabulary for the College-Bound Student from my high school English class the other day. I'm going to start from the beginning of the workbook, and slowly but surely learn a heap of words. Good 'ol Mister Stott.  ;)

I believe the vocabulary workbook to be a better approach than darting at a dictionary. The words are grouped for the purpose of learning them. I'm hesitant though. I've had nightmares of not finishing the workbook pages and having to repeat high school because I failed English. I suppose I'll be able to see what I really accomplished. Maybe the nightmares will subside. With a smile on my face I begin!

First word: ameliorate (v.) become better; make better; improve (ant. worsen) Ha, what smart publishers.

Use in a sentence: I expect my vocabulary will ameliorate by leaps and bounds with consistent study in this three hundred page workbook!