Friday Favorites – Banned Books, Anniversaries, and Fun

Posted at Oct 5, 2012 11:57 am in August McLaughlin, banned books, banned books week, Chuck Wendig, creativity, Friday favorites, Jami Gold, Janet muffintopmommy, Kristen Lamb, Marcy Kennedy, Pat O'Dea Rosen, persistence, Pink Chocolate Break, publishing, Rachel Funk Heller, rejection, romance, Shannyn Schroeder, Sheila Seabrook, Tawna Fenske, The Bloggess, Tiffany White, TV, writing, writing advice

photo credit: Ozyman via photopin cc

This past week was Banned Books week. For those of you who might not be aware, Banned Books week celebrates openmindedness. As a teacher, I loved Banned Books week. I started the year with a whole unit on Banned Books. The great thing about it was that I taught kids who were amazed that books still get banned. Personally, I don’t really censor what my own kids read. That’s not to say that I don’t care or that I don’t pay attention, but I don’t want to discourage them from reading. No, I wouldn’t hand them my book to read, but if it falls under YA, have at it. 

Here are a couple of great posts for Banned Books week:

Pat O’Dea Rosan offers a post and video about banned books and Jenny, the Bloggess, tries to get her book listed as a banned book.

Writing links:

There was so much great advice about writing this week.

First up, August McLaughlin writes about having a teflon mind when it comes to rejection. If you’re a writer, rejection is part of the business. It’s a tough part of the business. I wouldn’t say that I’m as good as August, but I think I handle rejection pretty well. Some of the rejections I received stung, and I let them, but not for long. Then I pushed myself forward and moved on.

Marcy Kennedy talks about knowing when it’s time to quit. I don’t think I’ve ever given quitting much thought. I’ve set goals, and last summer, I told myself that if I didn’t have an agent and/or a book deal within a year, I would go back to teaching full-time. Notice, I didn’t say I would give up writing, but that it wouldn’t be my focus. For me, things aligned and within 8 months, I had both an agent and a 2-book deal.

Jami Gold talks about the writing process as compared to sculpting. Since I’m mostly a pantser (write by the seat of my pants with no outline), I do a little of both — I built the original story and then I chisel away at the parts that don’t fit. For me, the chiseling usually involves big giant parts, but you get what I mean. 

Tawna Fenske cautions us to stop the glorification of busy. I totally understand what Tawna means when she feels like she’s been slacking when she doesn’t meet her daily word count. Right now, I don’t have a daily word count, or a page edit count, or anything. I’m getting ready to start something new. I have done no writing for weeks. In my head, I know this is good. I’m letting the story develop in my head and I’m getting to know the characters. I have completed collages and a soundtrack for my new WIP. But I still feel like a slacker. I have those moments of panic, like “Oh my God, I haven’t written. What if I fall behind? What if I can’t produce something quick enough?” Even though, in my head, I know this discovery time is well-spent, it’s hard to stop myself from writing simply because I feel lazy. 

Chuck Wendig has a post for 25 things to do to get your writing groove back. As usual, he pulls no punches. Things like “Get out of the Goddamn House, you mumbling Shut-in,” and “Quit moaning and mount up, motherfucker” will surely offer you the right inspiration.

Anniversaries:

I didn’t even realize it until I got a message from Twitter earlier this week that I had been on Twitter for a whole year. For some of you that might not seem like much, but in 2 months time, I went from having zero presence on the Internet to being on Twitter and having a blog (I’m still avoiding Facebook, though). I felt good jumping in because I was taking a class with Kristen Lamb. She gave us each other so we had an instant following. My 1 year blog-aversary isn’t for a few weeks, but let me tell you, it was a great feeling sending out my first post and knowing that people would read it. I starting talking on Twitter and I had followers. It made social media much less frightening.

Rachel Funk Heller designed a graphic to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of our WANA class. And Sheila Seabrook also has a shout out for our class, but she also includes an infographic on creativity that fits in with my other writerly-type posts today.

Just for Fun:

Tiffany White talks about some upcoming new dramas this month. I have to say that Arrow looks good.

Janet, AKA muffintop mommy, made me laugh with the tale of her ill-fated phones. (and yes, that is plural -phones)

And finally, Pink Chocolate Break has a great post filled with inspiration quotes. Notice how many of them tell us to keep laughing.

What made you laugh this week?

photo credit: Norma Desmond via photopin cc

1 Comment

One Response to “Friday Favorites – Banned Books, Anniversaries, and Fun”

1. Jami Gold says:

   October 5, 2012 at 8:49 pm

   Thanks for linking to my blog, Shannyn! I’m honored to be mentioned among several of my favorite bloggers.

   I’m keeping an eye on that Arrow show too, but I liked the Smallville actor for that role. *sigh* I guess we can’t get everything.

   Reply