Know Yourself + Writing = Efficiency?

I’ve had an article by Rachel Aaron open in my browser for almost a month now. Why? Well, I’ve been meaning to talk about it. Here’s why. She went from writing 2,000 words a day to 10,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Yeah, I like to think of this article as: How to Write As If You Are Insanely Caffeinated. Or: How to Write Like You Are On Fire and Only Writing Like the Dickens Will Save Your Tushie.)

No, she didn’t just stay at her computer for longer hours and beat herself into submission. She took a good long look at how she was writing. She figured out when her most productive time of the day was, figured out beforehand where she wanted the scene to go and got herself enthusiastic about what she was about to write. As she said, “If I had scenes that were boring enough that I didn’t want to write them, then there was no way in hell anyone would want to read them. This was my novel, after all. If I didn’t love it, no one would.”

Is that smart or what?

How about you? Do you know when you are most productive? What do you do to jazz yourself up about what you are about to write?

Worst Cupcake Ever!

Have you ever coveted the most beautiful cupcake in the world only to have it be… well, yucky? (Yet another food fail!)

Have you ever had writers block or wondered how writers deal with that dreaded affliction?

Well guess what? Jacqueline Gardner is asking a bunch of writers (as part of her WAW–Writers Are We–series) all sorts of fabulous questions about inspiration, why people write, what a writer’s workspace looks like and… wait for it… cupcakes!

Jacqueline has me talking about the worst cupcake ever over on her blog and we’d really enjoy hearing your cupcake/cake stories or what you find inspiring. Best cupcake ever? Worst?

See you there!

Mud Vs. Finger Paints

Quick note: I’m over on Calista Taylor’s blog talking about It’s All Kid’s Play, the importance of play in childhood, and the crossover from fiction writing to nonfiction writing. We’d love to see you there–feel free to drop a comment and weigh in on mud vs. finger paints. That’s right. It’s on like Donkey Kong!

(And if you are wondering about this crazy Kid’s Play thing of mine and want a little crash course and missed Jemi Fraser’s mini tour of It’s All Kid’s Play, it’s still up on her blog.)
Thanks and happy Trails!

Ugly As All Get Out & Writing Fail

So last night I made some broccoli cheese soup that was a serious fail in the appearance sense of the word “edible.” We’re talking ugly as all get out. When my husband was being all lovely, polite, and upbeat and optimistic about it and taking his first bites he said, “Mmm. Did you make this with hate?” I just about fell off my chair laughing. Even though apparently he said, “Did you make this with potatoes?” Making it with hate is much more amusing, don’t you think?

Ugly doll. Don’t you love it?

Also last night I discovered that there is quite the crafting community on Twitter. I even joined my first Twitter ‘party.’ Not sure what made it ‘party.’ Maybe it was the prizes? Anyway, it was a ton of fun–oh, that probably made it a party! And I discovered that like other ‘fails’ on Twitter, there is a ‘craft fail.’ (I wonder if there is a ‘food fail?’ Probably! Just add soup.)

So I decided we need a writing fail. For those times when writing turns ugly. (Then after believing I was incredibly brilliant for thinking of this, I looked on Twitter and discovered there is in fact #writingfail. Of course.)

But what truly constitutes a ‘writing fail?’ Those times when you mean to sit down and write and social media sort of takes over the morning? (Darn! That video on Canada’s Hide and Seek Olympic Demonstration team was unreal. Those pictures my brother uploaded to SugarSync from Christmas were great. Oh… and did you hear about baby monkey riding on a pig?)

Where was I?

Oh, yes. Writing fail. How about those times when you sit down to write and you spill your tea and spend the next 15 minutes tackling the mess and then the baby wakes up and you are off on a new adventure? And then there is writing itself. Naming all your characters names that are almost the same and even you can’t tell them apart? Realizing that nurses don’t leave medications lying around willy nilly while dispensing them and a whole scene, chapter, and section of your story needs to be rewritten? Yeah, that says writing fail all over it.

How about you? Any writing fails? (It can be anything!)

Let’s Play for Real!

There’s this great video on The National (CBC) about slow parenting that’s got me pumped about how I’m parenting, and about my It’s all Kid’s Play website. It also makes me hopeful. Maybe allowing free play for kids will take hold again. Because what are we really doing to our kids and their development with this crazy shuttling around from activity to activity? Does the average kid get to learn who they really are? What they want? Do they get time to sit quietly and listen to themselves? In a lot of ways, as the video says, “We’re outsourcing childhood to adults because we think we can do it better and safer.” Yikes!

Anyway, it is a great video for parents, teachers, kids, and well, anyone who’s ever had a childhood or looked at family and said, “What the heck are you doing? You are parenting ALL wrong!”

This short video on play (Seriously: The Movie) is also really good. It’ll get you thinking about play, too.

As well, fabulous Jemi Fraser took a little tour of It’s All Kid’s Play and its blog the other day and shared it with her very lovely blog readers. You can check that out here.

I’m also tweeting kids activities, family activities, arts and crafts, links, and articles on parenting, play, free play, slow parenting, and so much more over on Twitter (@KidsPlay) as well. Come join me! (I’ll also be creating a Facebook page where I will share these tidbits for those of you who are not into Twitter, but are looking for activities to do with your children as well as interesting little parenting bits.)

P.S. Wondering what “slow parenting” is? Here is a quote from writer Carl Honore (featured on The National above):

“Slow parenting is about bringing a bit of balance back. It’s about giving children the time and space to explore the world on their own terms and their own pace. And to make mistakes and learn from them. To get bored, even, so they can learn how to create and to invent their own fun and work out who they are rather than who we want them to be.”