Inspiration Knocking

I hope you participated in the Challenge Post from last week and submitted a new piece of writing for publication. If you did (heck, even if you didn't), you probably need some new inspiration right about now.

Struggling to find a topic for your next poem? Don't have enough tension to sustain your short story? Stuck in the middle of your novel-in-progress?

Calling inspiration!

Image from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/476326098064397728/

Really, just as Oscar Wilde said, inspiration isn't as illusive as our writer brain makes us think.

There are poems about cats like Christopher Smart's "For I Will Consider My Cat Jeoffry". Poems about jobs (like pet sitting) in Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz's "things that happen during pet sitting...". Poems about standing in line like Robert Funge's "A Starbucks Romance". Poems about catalogs like Philip A. Waterhouse's "Castlekeep".

Really, anything in our daily lives, when seen through an artistic eye, can be made into something extraordinary.

Did you once have hiccups for three days straight? Write an essay about it.

Did you watch grazing deer out your window while washing dishes? Make it into a poem.

Did you hear a strange conversation while sitting in your cafe booth during breakfast? Use it in a novel chapter.

Anything - literally anything - can be the inspiration for your next writing project. Take it from Orson Scott Card...

Image From: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/476326098064894077/

I Wanna See You Write Brave (Challenge Post)

My schedule has been hectic, to say the least. It seems like everyday I have less and less time to do the essentials like washing dishes and taking care of my buns, let alone fit in adequate time for yoga and writing.

So, this week I want to post a challenge:

No matter who you are, where you are, and what you have going on, I want you to submit something for publication.

Dig out an old poem from your underwear drawer. Uncover a flash fiction file from your hard drive. Or ruffle up the final draft of your novel in progress.

Then, revise and edit it. It should have been sitting long enough by now that you can see it with fresh eyes. Reread, tweak, fix, and polish.

Finally, find a market for your work and submit it. Maybe it's a new startup lit mag. Maybe you decide to go for the magazine of your dreams or the agent you always admired. Maybe you shoot for inclusion in a friend's weekly fiction mailer. Whatever the market, get that manuscript out there.

Because, really, what's the worst that can happen? You get rejected? Pff! It's happened before and it'll happen again. You can take it.

Maybe, just maybe, this will be the time you get constructive feedback. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the time you're accepted.

Whether you take this challenge the week I post this blog entry, two months from now, or three years from now, make the commitment to submit. Because you'll never be a published writer if you don't put yourself out there.

Take the challenge. Be brave. Submit your writing.

The Modern Pronoun

I've noticed in many online profiles where it is asked you identify your gender, that the options are changing. Gone are the "he" and "she" of the past, replaced with more modern and understanding pronouns.

The one I especially want to talk about today is "they".

Much like the use of alright (if you missed it, check out this post to learn about my alright crusade), I've always had trouble attributing gender specific pronouns to anything.

Maybe it's because I was raised post-modernly. Maybe it's because I want to be politically correct. Maybe I want to respect everyone's life choices and lifestyles.

Maybe I was just never taught proper English. Who knows!

What I do know is this emergence of non-gender-specific pronouns has led me to start another crusade against the modern English language.

In my opinion, "they" should not only be allowed to replace a plural noun (like ducks). It should also be appropriate for "they" to replace a singular noun of unknown gender identity (like writer).

Let me throw out some examples:

In the sentence, "The protagonist has a major flaw", we should not have to choose between assigning "the protagonist" a male or female pronoun (He has a major flaw; She has a major flaw), but rather, it should be acceptable for "the protagonist" to be abbreviated as "They have a major flaw."

It's always bothered me having to choose one gender pronoun over the other, and so many times on this blog I've used the he-slash-she (he/she) cop-out or just gone with "they" as my pronoun, ignoring the previous lectures I've had from professors.

But no longer! Today I can say, "The protagonist has a major flaw. If it isn't corrected they will seem flimsy. The reader will see right through them", not because I don't know that "they" is traditionally only used for plural nouns, but because I simply won't prescribe to this notion anymore.

I'm wholeheartedly embracing the modern pronoun.

From now on, I will not be ashamed to use "they" in my blog posts - especially when talking about protagonists, artists, or writers of unknown gender. I'm taking off my tutu, throwing it to the wind, and running naked and wild through these posts. Who's going to join me?

The Witchdoctor Scenario

Sorry about the late night post this week, fellow scribes. All day, my rabbit was acting strange, then she stopped eating and stopped moving her bowels. As a mother to any type of living creature knows, no poop = a massive problem.

Rabbits especially are prone to something called GI Stasis, where the gut stops moving so food and waste sit inside the stomach/intestines. It's extremely painful and can lead to death in a matter of days or hours if left untreated.

So, most of my day was spent worrying myself to death, sitting quietly and talking sweetly to a grumpy bunny, and trying to coax food and water into her as much as possible.

It took almost all day, but right now she seems to be improving. She is eating voluntarily (mostly junk foods like seeds, alfalfa hay, cardboard, and a wicker basket - but she does sneak in some good baby kale and grass hay to keep mama happy), and she came out from her hiding place to run around (yes, run) and even do some bunny binkies! If you've never seen a bunny binkie, please look it up on YouTube. They are the best display of rabbit happiness ever and so dang cute.

She even produced a few, albeit minuscule, poops that were either rock solid or a little soft, but hey, that's improvement, people!

Today has definitely been a test on my nerves - a test I sincerely hope is over for now. But all this stress got me thinking: I would give anything for my bunny to get better.

Was it going to take all my money for her to not die? Done. All my time suddenly gone - no sleep before my early shift tomorrow morning? No problem. Would I have to drive two hours to the vet? In a heartbeat. Sell one of my own kidneys to a witchdoctor? Where do I sign?

This terrible, gut wrenching, I'll-do-anything-to-just-make-it-all-right-again feeling was what all of the characters in my stories should be feeling. If not, the stakes weren't high enough.

If their hands and feet didn't go numb with panic. If their vision didn't blacken with dread. If they didn't vomit with worry - the stake's simply weren't high enough. I wasn't putting their absolute most precious thing on the line, and of course, they wouldn't truly care (nor would the reader) unless the stakes were so high, they would do anything.

So, the next time you write an outline, revise a scene, or get an idea for a novel, I want you to ask yourself one simple question:


Would my protagonist sell his/her kidney to an evil witchdoctor - no questions asked - if it meant his/her situation improved or reversed?


Because, really, when it comes down to it, if it isn't really that important, then it's not enough to hang an entire story on.