All Things "New"

My good friend and blogger, Pam at 2 Encourage has a great post called Newness. Read it, then come back for a writing exercise.

Writing Exercise: Write about one of the following questions. 

1. What do you like that is "new"?

2. How does the word "new" fit with your faith?

3. What excites you about the upcoming "new" year?

4. Extreme Challenge: Try to tie questions 1-3 into one writing!

Please share in Comments Section. 

I was up for the Extreme Challenge! See mine is below.


Colored Pencils
by Dawn M. Hamsher

New colored pencils would brighten up my day.
Color all the world, on pages they would stay.
With my coloring book open, I'd carefully fill.
Once every nook was done, then I could be still.


For hours I would toil. Soft strokes of love.
Castles, landscapes, Snoopy, even a dove.
The accomplishment and joy it brought.
To color the world through pages, I thought.


And now, those pencils are from memory's haze.
Instead, I color the world in different ways.
I write and I teach and I share God's great love.
For it's his box of pencils I'm now to speak of.


The green is everlasting life and red is for the blood.
The white is for the newness, given from Jesus with love.
The blue is for his depths of care that he will never leave.
And orange is for the fiery passion he gives to those who believe.


He's given me many colors, of which I am to use.
What color is my favorite? Oh, I could never choose.
All I know is, colors can become dull locked inside their case.
So, use them in the new year and be filled with peace and grace.

Writing Fears - Part 2

Do you ever have writing fears and anxiety? I found this exercise in Page after Page by Heather Sellers and wanted to try it.

Writing Exercise Part 2: Yesterday you wrote down your writing fears. Today, you are going to fight them. In a court of law. Choose one of the fears and write your defense. My defense is below.

I've chosen this fear:

11. I'll give up on my book b/c revision is too hard.

My defense:

I will not give up on my book because revision is too hard. I spent 1.5 years of my life writing this book. It is my first book and therefore it is precious. It was blessed by God. He gave me the idea for it. He guided me through the entire book by leading me to scripture that inspired characters and plot. This book is bigger than me. It will happen. I will not stop it from being the best it can be. I will revise it. I just have to figure out how. And I will. 

My defense rests.


So, what about you? What's your defense?

Writing Fears - Part 1

Do you ever have writing fears and anxiety? I found this exercise in Page after Page by Heather Sellers and wanted to try it. 

Writing Exercise Part 1: Number your paper 1-15. In only three minutes (write fast), list 15 of your fears about writing. Share some of them in Comment Section. My response is below.

My Writing Fears:

1. Won't be good.

2. I'll make grammatical mistakes.

3. I won't be able to revise.

4. It will never get published.

5. I'm wasting time and not writing.

6. Afraid I don't know enough.

7. Taking time away from family.

8. Afraid I'll lose my electronic writing (crashed system, lost thumb drive, etc.).

9. Writer's block.

10. No ideas will come.

11. I'll give up on my book b/c revision is too hard.

12. A new book project is too hard.

13. Blogging and internet will capture my time instead of novel writing.

14. My characters are too flat and boring.

15. My story is not interesting enough.

As I was doing this exercise I was sinking lower and lower in a pit. Evil was creeping in. I was wondering why in the world I would do an exercise like this. It is not in my nature. I am a happy, Christ-seeking woman who stays positive. So, I opened Page after Page back up to see the reason behind the exercise.

Heather Sellers has students do this so they can recognize their fears, get used to them, and then send them packing. See tomorrow's post (Part 2) for an exercise on how to get rid of the fears.

It's true, the fears do come. How do you deal with writing fears and anxiety?

Side note: I am not promoting Heather Seller's book, but I did buy it and I want to see what I can learn from it. 

I have had to skip over much colorful language and topics that are offensive to me.

Name That in 5 Words

Our writing group was asked by our church to come up with 5 words that would represent "Salvation" to us. Talk about a challenge! I am passing this challenge on to you because it is always good to practice word choice.

Writing Exercise: Name "Salvation" in 5 words. What five words epitomize salvation?

.

.

.

.

.

My response will be in the Comments Section.

The Spark Blogfest - Post #4

Today's post will be a little different for Sparkfest. I'm turning it into a writing exercise!

Writing Exercise: Write about "a spark" for 10 minutes.  

My response is below.

The spark fluttered and sputtered in the darkness. The tiny pinpoint of glimmering light moved slowly through the forest, searching. It stopped occasionally to rest on tree branches, but only for a moment at a time. It was careful not to cause damage. If the wood started to smoke, the spark reluctantly moved on. No need to burn the whole forest down because of his failure.


How could he have lost her! He had the perfect disguise, a single, minute spark, not even the size of a flame. Perhaps that is why he did lose her. He had become bedazzled by the light of the roaring campfire as it crackled around him. When he looked to where she had been standing, he saw only the scruffy men, some drunk, some singing, some already snoring. The girl, who he was paid so richly to follow, was gone.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd love to have you join in! 

Continue the story in the Comment Section or write your own "spark" entry!

POV -- Who's on 1st and 3rd?

Writing Exercise: Try different Points of View (POV). Take a section of your writing and re-write it in a different POV. Which works better for the piece?
 

Before doing this exercise I read:

How to Choose a Point of View by Ginny Wiehardt

Point of view is the perspective from which a story is told. We may choose to tell our story in

• first person, using "I" or "we";
• third person ("he," "she," "it"), which can be limited or omniscient

As a writer, you must think strategically to choose the point of view that will allow you to most effectively develop your characters and tell your story.

How To Start Writing in the Third Person by Ginny Wiehardt

Here's my response.

First Person:

I stood out, way out, on the baseball field. I was one of those kids daydreaming out on left field. Our tee ball team was called the Yellow Jackets and we wore yellow baseball hats and yellow shirts with black lettering. The other kids were excited to be on the team. They shouted, “Sting like a bee!” I didn’t. Out on the field, I was more interested in dandelions than the ball. I prayed the ball would not come my way because I knew I would not catch it. I was afraid it might hit me.

Third Person:
Little Dawn Horner stood out in left field, where her coach told her go. She looked the part of tee ball player with her clean yellow shirt and cap. The front said Yellow Jackets in black lettering, but she wasn’t a Yellow Jacket. She was more like a honey bee. That’s where her mind was right now, down in the clover and dandelions at her feet. They were more interesting than this game. Occasionally she looked up and prayed that ball would not come her way. If it did, she knew she would duck, afraid it might hit her. She would not catch it.


Thoughts -- I like the Third Person better. It has more of a story-telling feel to it. I felt able to be more flexible and creative. 

What do you think? Do you have a POV preference in your writing?

 

Liar

This was inspired by Writercise's 100 Word Liar Exercise.

Writing Exercise: Write a short story with/about the word "liar". My response is below (approx. 200 words)


I don't have a title for this. Can you suggest one?
by Dawn M. Hamsher


Who told him?

"Brady Coons is a big fat liar!" I screamed across the lunch room. The stoplight on the wall was a yellow from the loud lunchroom noise, but with my announcemnt, the room fell silent and the light turned green.

With all eyes on me, I stalked over to Brady.

"Take it back!" I shouted.

"No way!"

"You will take it back or else."

The lunch lady, Mrs. Grubmacher was starting to make her way over. I'd have to do this quick.

"Or else what?"

I did the only thing I could think of that would really irk him. I kissed him full on the lips. He sputtered and began a sort of flailing dance to try to get the cootie girl germs off him. His friends had backed up. None of them wanted to be near him and risk Cooties.

Then to seal the deal forever I repeated the dreaded words, "Circle Circle Knife Knife, Now you got them all your life."

"No!"

***
I sat waiting outside Principal Jergin's office and smiled on the inside. How much trouble could I really be in? I didn't hit him after all. I just kissed him. And it was worth it. Now, no one would ever think that I "liked" Brady. My secret was safe; It was a brilliant plan.

What's the Tone?

I was reading A Writer's Point of View by Stacy Post. Her post Emotion from a Reader's Point of View deals with "tone" or the "emotional draw of a story". I was intrigued. I couldn't wait to do this writing exercise! 

Stacy's Writing Exercise: Read Emotion from a Reader's Point of View, which includes a list of tone descriptors. Then figure out the tone of your current manuscript. Share it in Comments Section. My response is below.

My Current Manuscript's Tone:

• energetic 
• adventurous
• suspenseful
• upbeat
• entertaining

Wow, I spent a lot of time coming up with these 5 words to describe the tone of my book. This exercise was great because it adds one more layer to my understanding! 
(Pam & Brianna, Do you think I hit the mark on the "tone descriptors" I chose? Would you suggest any others for my book?)

If you liked this exercise, you'll want to read the rest of Stacy's series on Point of View:

Pacing: The Race for Pace

Storyline: Storyline from the Reader's Point of View

Writing Style: Writing Style from the Reader's Point of View

What Matters...

Carla's Writing World is becoming a favorite blog stop for me. Today's post  

Writer, How well do you know your audience? made me want to drop everything 

and do her exercise. And, in fact I did! I'm sharing it below.

Carla's Writing Exercise: What is important to your audience? Think of 20 things that matter to your audience.  

My response is below.

What is important to my audience? Hmm... First, I need to think of the audience that will one day read my book (optimistic, aren't I?). Well, they will be like me and my daughter. People who love to read chapter books full of adventure and fantasy (books like Harry Potter and Peter and the Starcatchers). 

Here is what I think matters to them:

                                             Believability (in characters, story and setting)

                                           Adventure

                                            Fun

Photo by Capture Photography

Mythical creatures

Suspense

Quests

Good Vs. Evil

Short Chapters

Good battles

Magic

Details

Love for Main Character

Mysteries

Plot twists

Pets (yes, pets...are always good)

Good characters

Relationships between characters

  Satisfying ending

   Well-written

   Well Researched (if applicable)

Now, to keep this all in mind as I write! :0)

Capturing a Moment - Eternity Tea (UPDATED)

UPDATE TO THIS POST: Three from our writing group went to Eternity Tea. Brianna challenged us to each write a post about our experience there, so that we could compare our writing styles/voices. Mine, of course is below, but please check out Brianna's version A Real Tea Party and Pam's version A Taste of Eternity.

 

***

I seem to be stuck on the "Capturing a Moment" theme! 
I've been having some wonderful experiences lately and I have to write! 
This one is about a tea I went to last Saturday in Everett, PA called Eternity Tea Room.  

 

Eternity Tea
by Dawn M. Hamsher

China Blue cloth
With white lace on top
Painted pink roses
Adorn each tea cup

French Crème Brulee
Apple Harvest Crunch
Turtle Delight and
Chocolate Macadamia Nut

These four friends meet
Loving writing and God
Here they share a moment
But one day, eternity above

          

Capturing a Moment - Laurel Lake

Yesterday, we went swimming and canoeing at one of our local lakes. I decided to do
another "Capturing a Moment" entry. Here is the original writing prompt:

Writing Exercise: Capture a moment in time. Write about it in any way you wish. My response is below.
 

Capturing a Moment - Camping, Part 1

Writing Exercise: Capture a moment in time. Write about it in any way you wish. My response is below.

We went camping this weekend with two other families. I wrote several short segments about our great camping weekend. I'll post one segment a day.

Capturing a Moment - Camping, Part 1

 

Fire
Campfire crackles
Smoke and sparks
Peaceful night
Lost in thought
mesmerized by the flickering flames