Tag Archives: Word Smith Six

New Year, New Goals

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

New Year, New Goals

By Nandy Ekle

We are one week into the new year and I am just now getting around to thinking about my goals for this year.

This past year brought a lot of adventure and some frustrations. I struggled with decisions regarding my health, I lived through a wild midnight storm which ravaged my house (in the words of my grandson, “Nana, your house is broke”). Because of this we worked with insurances and contractors to repair the damage, and actually came out ahead with a lot of upgrades. A few family problems, the health issues, and the culmination of that right before the Christmas/New Year holidays. And, of course, Christmas and New Year found us traveling to visit our children and our parents.

Needless to say, my writing has suffered. Oh, that’s a vast understatement. My writing has nearly completely stopped. And that, my dear Word Smith Six followers, is the source of tons of frustration.

So. We are one week into the new year. The time has come to pack all that away in a box and hide it under the bed. The time has come to look ahead and find the inspiration and the voices begging to be converted to words.

And so, beloved followers, I will make this promise. I will write a new original blog each week. I will not allow a Freaky Friday to go by without new words appearing on this blog site.

And the other side of my promise is to write at least 1000 words a day. They might not necessarily be intelligible words, but they will be my words. And according to the experts, this should strike that flame again.

Comment below and tell me about your writing goals for the 2016 year. I am very interested to hear about them.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

Important Lesson

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Important Lesson

By Nandy Ekle

 

Writing courses. I’ve taken a few. Really and truly, I absolutely love writing courses. This girl begs for homework. Please, just give me an assignment, a work count limit, and a deadline. I guess that’s why I like prompts so much.

“Write a 50 word story it must be a formal gathering where a shocking announcement comes out.”

“Write a short story about a young man suffering from schizophrenia and he and his delusion are at war.”

“Start a story with this line: Looking back, he could not believe what had just happened.”

“Write a story in the form of a diary. Your main character, the diary writer, wakes up in a strange room with no idea how he/she got there.”

These are just a few I’ve used to help jumpstart myself when I get in a rut.

So now, I’m going to give you an assignment, and I really want to see your homework in the comments below. Ready?

Step 1:             Put your hands, palm side down, on the seat on which you sit.

Step 2:             Push yourself up to a standing position.

Step 3:             Walk across the room.

Step 4:             Raise your dominant hand and extend your pointer finger.

Step 5:             Take one or two steps forward.

Step 6:             Make contact with the on/off button on your television set.

Step 7:             Push that button.

Step 8:             Now listen to the silence that replaces the silliness of “the tube.”

Step 9:             Now, write what you hear.

 

Your characters don’t have to fight so hard for your attention without that blasted squawk box on.

And I write this with all the bravery in the world since I’m really aiming it toward myself.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

 

Independence Day

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Independence Day

By Nandy Ekle

The anniversary of the day this country declared its independence from England. The birthday of the United States of America, if you will. And history certainly shows how that turned out.

So I will take this opportunity to declare my independence from the writer’s block that has been crushing me for a while. My fans are calling for me and my stories are weeping for attention.

*raises right hand* I declare this day that I have returned to my passion. Taryn will learn her lesson. Gary and Gooley will come to an understanding. Mara will discover her past. And Suzie Carver will pay the price to get exactly what she wants.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

Taking Control

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Taking Control

By Nandy Ekle

 

I have the best day job in the world. I work for a major finance corporation in the correspondence department. So I read letters, analyze the letter, research the contract and write a letter in response. So I spend all day long in the bottomless pit of words. And when we’re behind, as we have been quite a bit for the last year or so, we work overtime, still swimming in that ocean.

I love this job because it utilized every part of me I always enjoyed using—analyzing, investigating, reading, and writing. However, one of the drawbacks is by the time I get home from work, the words have just given up. As a result, I have not written much during the past year. I had forgotten how good it felt to write.

This week I made myself a promise. Beginning this week, I will take my entire lunch hour for myself. I decided to spend my lunch HOUR writing.

I also bought some new music on my player. Now, by the time lunch comes around, I’m very excited to get the writing time.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

In the Cavern

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In the Cavern

By Nandy Ekle

 

My youngest son was about three or four years old when we went on a vacation. We decided we would go through a cave in another state.

The tour through this cave was a fairly new tour, and there were places where the walkway was not very well developed. My daughter and son were old enough to be thrilled with the challenge and adventure of the whole thing, but my younger son was a little timid by more scary spots. He clung to my leg like he was attached to me.

We saw beautiful stalactites and stalagmites, which the tour guide explained were formed by water dripping constantly, drip, drip, dripping, one drop at a time. And each time a drop of water travels the length of the protuberance, it leaves a deposit of mineral. After a length of time, the minerals clot up and a finger-like projection is born. If you’ve ever seen a cavern with the different stalactite and stalagmite formations, you know about their breath-taking beauty.

I’ve read a few books, that reminded me of this past adventure, and I think those are the books I love the most. I approach an opening in someone else’s imagination. The author, who is the tour guide, has set up a pathway through his world to make the trip safe enough so no harm comes to you, but there are still emotional dangers. Yet the idea of learning something is worth more than the danger could ever be.

The guide takes you deep into the cavern, just using a flashlight to start with. But you get to the point where he turns on a stronger light and you gasp with the beauty you are seeing. The words have continued to drip steadily until you have the most beautiful formations you have ever seen. And they are made of more layers than you could ever imagine. In fact, the deeper you look, the more layers you find.

This type of story is a masterpiece and your readers will read it over and over.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.