The Notebooks

Since I write everything out by hand in a notebook, I want to have a notebook that I am excited to write in. So, I took one of my rare forays into the scrapbooking section to get stickers to decorate the front of my notebooks.
This is the Christmas Story notebook -- my first attempt at decorating a notebook. It looks pretty good, but some of the snowflakes peeled off on the the edges. Bummer. I wrote one Christmas Story in here, and I'm saving the rest of the notebook for future Christmas stories.

The short story/novella notebook. This is the one I am writing in now (notice the pen in the binding). I am sixteen pages into "Consecrated." I wasn't paying attention and I accidentally got a wide ruled notebook instead of college ruled, so I have to write a little more than 10 pages per week to reach my actual goal.
The novel notebook! This is my favorite one. I think it turned out really nice. The black squares at the top say Always Remember To... Very inspirational. I hope to be working on a novel in it as soon as I finish writing "Consecrated."

How I Got the Writing Chair

Tracy thought I should post about how I got my writing chair. Short version: found it on craigslist for $20, drove to Orem, and bought it.

Long version: Last summer at one of our Loafer Ladies Writing Club meetings, Suzette asked us all to describe our ideal writing spot. I said mine would be in one the rooms on our top floor. They are attic rooms, and the ceilings are sloped. I love the cozy cabin feel. I said that as soon as I could kick one of the boys out of their bedroom, I'd turn it into my writing room. Well, we did some bedroom rearranging before Xander was born, and one of the rooms became Tracy's office. My friend (and fellow Loafer Lady) Wendy pointed out that the room was big enough for him to share it with me. So, I claimed half of the office for myself. I wanted to get a comfy chair for writing in, but at the time, it just didn't seem worth spending money on. Besides, I was about to have a baby.

Fast forward to this past summer. Tracy and I had a conversation about what was stopping us from going after our dreams. Fear and self-doubt topped the list. We both decided that we shouldn't let fear stop us. I decided I was going to really dedicate myself to my writing, and that meant it was time to get the comfy chair. So, I did! It sits between the two desks in the office, where I have a lovely view of Mt. Loafer out the window. I love it, though sometimes, I have to admit, the writing chair is just a little bit too comfy! Now, nothing is stopping me from going after my dreams.

So, what's stopping you???

Unleash your creativity!

Today at our Loafer Ladies Writing Club meeting, we talked about fostering creativity. I used an article from Family Fun magazine about children's poet, Jack Prelutsky. His steps to fostering creativity in kids were:
1. Rubbish the rules! (Don't be afraid to take artistic risks)
2. Try something different. (Sing, paint a picture, write a poem, something you don't normally do)
3. Find the extraordinary in the ordinary (Ideas are all around us.)
4. Dive right in! (Go for it. Creating is fun!)

Though the article talked about fostering creativity in kids, I think it applies to us boring grown-ups, too. We all need to get into a childlike frame of mind to be truly creative.

To get your creative juices flowing, play with the Prelutsky Poetry Wheel. Here's a link:
http://familyfun.go.com/games/indoor-outdoor-games/feature/poetry-wheel

Let your imagination run wild.

From President Dieter F. Uchtdorf:

The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.

Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.

Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty—and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children.

So, what's next?

Well, this is the first time I've had this problem. Instead of finishing one project and being empty and idea-less for a while, I have too many things to choose from to work on.

1. I want to start a novel. That was my original plan. I have a vague idea I could work on OR I could start a sequel to my first novel, Zion Rising. Incidentally (Lindsay), I don't have a whole sequel in mind. Just a couple of intriguing situations. I've just been so excited about the characters ever since I started revisions. Frankly, though, I'm kind of terrified of the idea of writing a novel again.

2. I want to rewrite a story that I wrote many, many years ago called "Consecrated." It's the story that gave me the idea for the novel. It's probably one of the first things I ever wrote, and it's dreadful, but I think it's a good idea and I'd like to do it right this time.

3. I found another cool word seek list. A story I wrote this year, "Sofie and the Night Eagle" was created from the following list:

actress, airport attract, breakfast, bulletin, cashmere, center, country, delete, devote, disrupt, eaglet, essential, fascinate, fisherman, fountain, guardian, ivory, mileage, nectarine, newscast, parish, pizzeria, premiere, ruler, science, somewhat, teacher, timetable, trampoline, treasurer, trinket, union, uproot, wonder

Those of you who have read "Sofie and the Night Eagle" probably recognize those elements.

Well this week, I found this awesome list:

ammunition, arctic, beanpole, birth, brought, cabdriver, colonel, corridor, cuckoo, despite, detergent, dribble, emperor, evaporate, everyone, hitch, homemaker, homestead, layman, mermaid, muddle, noblemen, nonstick, orangeade, prospect, rosary, saucepan, silence, sincere, sodden, stowaway, stuck, tarantula, triple

That sparks all kinds of ideas for me. Maybe I could even turn it into a novel. Who knows?

At the moment, "Consecrated" is the front runner for what I want to think about and work on.