I love the end of one year and the beginning of another. I suppose it’s because I’m a long time advocate of the aphorism “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” I’m not sure where that comes from–probably a twelve-step program–but regardless, I embrace second chances, new opportunities, jumping into new frames of mind. If there is one thing I’ve learned is that my past doesn’t have to be my future. I know who said that, at least on a self-help tape, Tony Robbins and it resonates with me.

There is almost always something one can do to make things better, or to shift from one path to another. I admit I’m not sure this works for people in dire straits, the homeless, the destitute, the hopelessly addicted and those who have the misfortune to live where war rages, but the rest of us, we have no excuses.

I only have a vague idea of what I want to accomplish this year. I haven’t taken the time to write it all down yet, but I do know that while some of my resolutions may fall by the wayside, most of the will not. This is the year I want to keep things simple, take each day as it comes, but be clear to myself what is really important. I want to take steps everyday–creeping aching steps if necessary, but steps toward making my life what I want it to be. Keeping my family and friends close, keep my fingers at the keyboard daily for strong productive segments of time, painting often, and painting only what I want to paint with no one’s rules drumming in my head, and beading too, even that, when I want something I can hold in my hand immediately, feel its weight, and give away. And I want to do something for others. Step out of my own world for a while each week and give away something of me.

I count myself lucky that these are the threads I can braid together into a thick uneven plait and lucky to be able to shake it out at the end of each year and start again.

This morning I read an article about Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, Outliers and his theory that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert. It’s confirmation of what I’ve told myself. Writing–good writing–is all about the seat of the pants in the seat of the chair. Thank you Mrs. Hawkins. So time spent becoming an expert means time spent in the process of doing.

I’m rereading Ron Carlson’s book, Ron Carlson Writes a Story, on process. I gave my original copy to Mr. Pierpont, a writer friend who lives in Seattle, and ordered a new one for myself. I love that book because Carlson lets me sit on his shoulder as he puts together his story.

When another friend shared with me this morning that she’s decided the best way for her to work is to begin by sitting down and letting it happen, it resonated. This is exactly what Carlson does. He says “process” is the key, finding your own, and I couldn’t agree more. Here’s mine.

1. I type or hand write everything I know about the idea in my head. I do what feels “right” as a first step, whether it’s a full-to-the-end draft, notes, outline, or brainstorm. This varies with the trigger, the dawning of an idea in my brain, what it is: a title, a plot, a character, an incident, a theme.

2. Whatever I end up with, I work from there.

If it’s mostly a plot, I make an informal outline, then I fill in the blanks, the who-what-where-why-how of each scene in the outline. I remind myself that scenes, scene-sequences, chapters, parts, the whole story, should have answers to all five questions somewhere in the text. I try to identify the possible theme here, but sometimes I have no idea.

If, instead of making an outline, I’ve written a draft to express what I know about my story, I search for the major scenes-segments-acts and ask myself what they mean thematically, what the spine might be etc. I also consider the order I’ve placed these scenes in. Does it make sense?

If I’ve come up with notes and brainstorming, and this is my most common way of proceeding, I write a quick draft. Sometimes I do a little research about the “where” or the “what” before I write that first draft, but often I just go.

3. If the story’s got something compelling, all the above converges and I have a working draft. Then it’s time for me to do some kind of analysis. These are the things I look at.

Character
Are characters clear, defined, and have their own problems and attitudes? Do they fulfill a purpose in the story? What is each one’s purpose?

Plot
Does the sequence of events set up an inevitable, yet unexpected ending? Are there set-ups and pay-offs throughout the story? Are the transitions from scene to scene clear? Does the plot support the emerging theme in the best way it can?

Time and place
Is the setting defined or purposefully undefined? Can the reader SEE what’s going on, like it’s up on the big screen?

Theme
Does this story have the ability to resonate with the reader on both a personal and universal level? Is it compelling? Have all the other elements been put into service to enhance and clarify the theme?

Language
Have all the cliches and stolen images been purged to the best of my ability? Do the sentences act as real sentences? (Tell the reader something specific) Have I said things twice that don’t need to be said or repeated enough things that bear repeating? Have I pared all useless language? Changed most of the general words like “it” to meaningful, concrete nouns that clarify and enhance?

4. At this point, I look for intelligent, kind, but honest readers to find flaws and reenforce the story’s strong qualities. I want them to tell me if it worked.

5. I rewrite. I let the comments of others guide me in decisions, but I’ve learned to trust the little voice in my head.

6. I read the story aloud, have a friend proof-read it, and proofread it myself.

7. Then I submit it to, hopefully, the right markets.

8. But most importantly of all, I start a new story.

The above process has evolved through well-over 20 years. Whether I’ve become one of Malcolm’s experts is highly debatable, but this I can say for sure: 20+ years of writing practice has enriched my life beyond measure. Striving to be good at something is its own reward.

Hubbub! What a great word. Too bad I don’t have much time to enjoy it. I see that most people are in my boat. Too busy to be surfing the net. I just want to wish everyone out there a wonderful holiday with family and friends.

Peace and Love.

Okay, I’m a little over the edge this morning. Just proof-read a new story to send out to various and sundry contests and feeling a little light-headed myself. The next two weeks are going to be nuts and when I scrolled through my blog roll, I noticed no one is blogging. Hey! An opportunity to gather mine readers to me!!!

So what can I blog about? Gretchen Wilson last night.

Lesson: Don’t show up to Club Nokia an hour early because you won’t see the star for at least two hours. That’s two hours of non-stop recordings of scratchy Johnny Cash while sipping your Oban. Could be worse. After a while, I took a nap.

Observation: Gretchen Wilson has a terrific voice, she’s got charisma, but in the words of AI’s Simon Cowell, she doesn’t really have a clear picture of who she wants to be. Half her set were covers of the venerable likes of Steve Perry, Ann Wilson, and Led Zeppelin.

Overall impression: Had a great time.

The Holidays.

Today and the rest of the next 13 days are about following holiday traditions like spending money on gifts people will want to return and so they “return” them to you to “return” to the store, eating See’s candies and Christmas cookies in order to satisfy friends who have your best interests in mind most of the time, but feel that just one calorie-laden sweet treat can’t possibly make you fat and not factoring in (even though they’ve known you for what 35 years?) the inevitability of you saying, “Please sir, I want some more,” AND putting an eight-foot fire hazard right in the middle of your beautiful living room, loading it down with kindling, ie. wooden ornaments, paper ribbon, cardboard Santa faces, etc, and stringing the whole thing with the equivelent of a thousand unlit matches soaked in gasoline and then putting said “fire-hazard” next to a blazing yule log.

So fellow headless chickens, rejoice and be sure to stock up on eggnog and rum.

The Best of Every Day Fiction 2008 (Anthology)

From the press release:

Flash fiction is generally recognized as being fiction under a thousand words – the perfect length for a coffee break – but despite its appeal as a quick read, it is not simplistic. Quite the opposite; it can and should be one of the most demanding literary forms, with a need for perfectly crafted prose, a complete story arc in a tight space, and an immediately engaging hook.

The Best of Every Day Fiction 2008 brings together one hundred flash fiction pieces selected from Every Day Fiction’s first year of publication. These stories cross boundaries of genre and geography, with tastes of science fiction, humour, romance, fantasy, horror, and surrealism alongside the more traditional literary pieces, from authors writing in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, India, Israel, Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The anthology features all three of my stories published in EDF’s first year, One Question, The Breach, and Spring Melt as well as 97 other wonderful stories. For before-Christmans shopping, shop at EDF, hard-back or soft-back available. Hurry, the time frame is slim.

Want to share some pix from our holiday with Hillary. We cooked an 18 pound turkey for five, mashed potatoes, the works. It was fun and different. I wrote a lot too, working on my Rose Metal Chapbook entry (shout out to Sarah for sticking with me to make the deadline). Actually, writing on a vacation is usually so hard for me. I want to play cards, hike, help with the jigsaw, but this time, I could focus. I don’t know if it’s because I’d just spent to concentrated weeks on jewelry-making and was still in that “get it done” state of mind or if it was Sarah’s faith in me that I could do it, but it all balanced out nicely. We went out into a meadow near McGee’s Creek with the dogs, Hill helped me with a couple stories, we watched football, it was very cool.
The weather too was balanced. Snow the day and night we arrived. Bright and sunny the rest of the time.
The morning after we arrived, I pulled the blinds and the sun, snow, and landscape sparkled right into the condo. Amazing.

I still can’t believe that someone out there in the ether read my story, Spring Melt and somehow put it together with these words, PUSHCART NOMINATION. I owe Every Day Fiction (and that means Jordan Lapp, Camille Gooderham Campbell, and that tech-whiz Steven Smethurst, the salty one) a huge hug of gratitude for submitting my story. And all my buds at EDF who’ve been so encouraging to me. I won’t list them for fear of leaving someone out in my own excitement, but you know who you are.

Oh, and CONGRATS TO MY FELLOW EDF NOMINEES. I’m honored to be among your number. Find links to their work at EDF:

ONE BRIGHT MOMENT • by Joel Willans
LARRY LEGEND • by Jason Stout
WITHOUT NAPIER • by Michael Ehart
WING MENDING • by Dave Macpherson
WITH LOVE FOREVER YOURS • by Alex Moisi

And if you’re thinking, what the hell’s a Pushcart? CLICK HERE.

Just dropped by Abunchofwords and found this link. Being the bookworm I am (see below) I stole the link: EW 1000: Books The New Classics: Books

A quick review reassures me there is some common ground here, but not necessarily in the same order:

The Road
Beloved
Mystic River
Cold Mountain
A Handmaiden’s Tale (I’d add Cat’s Eye)
On Writing
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
White Teeth instead of On Beauty
Lonesome Dove
Angela’s Ashes (I’d add The Woman Who Walked into Doors too)
Birds of America
I’d pick Tortilla Curtain rather than Drop City
Nickeled and Dimed (this is obviously not a fiction list)
Holes
Atonement
The Giver
Cathedral (do they mean this specific story or the collection? My copy of Cathedral is in a different book)
Kavalier and Clay (but only because there are 100 on the list. This would be in the 90s??? #99? Actually, maybe I like The Yiddish Policeman’s Union better. Either way Chabon should on the list. I have to think about this.)
Kite Runner (this should #100)
A Prayer for Owen Meaney and I’d add Cider House Rules
Remains of the Day
The Tipping Point (& Blink)
The Stone Diaries (This belongs way, way up on this list. Not here!!!)
High Fidelity
Close Range

Here’s what I’d add. This is just off the top of my head.

The Stand (how can you list The Road and not have The Stand on there somewhere? Or maybe since Cathedral is listed, what about The Shawshank Redemption?)
Middlesex
She’s Come Undone
We Were the Mulvaney’s
House of Sand and Fog (blew me away)
The Hours
I Know why the Caged Bird Sings
In the Electric Mist with the Confederate Dead (James Lee Burke)
McCullough’s Masters of Rome series

Pillars of the Earth (but not the other one)
Something by Michael Connelly but I have to think about it.

I’ve read all the above and would put them on my list. Now here’s what I’d take off the list:

The Corrections (yuck, puke! Sorry but I actually did throw this book across the room!)
The Da Vinci Code????? Are you kidding me? It ain’t Treasure Island.
Eat, Pray, Love. I liked this book, but a modern classic? NO.

And of course, there’s many on that list I haven’t read….

I am very excited to find out that the Salt River Review is going to publish “Listing Lisa” in their next issue.

Sent this by Michael of Lazy Thoughts from a Boomer. It’s a “Bookworm Award.” Have to admit I qualify.

“Open the closest book to you–not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment–to page 56. Write out the fifth sentence as well as the next two or three sentences. Pass this on to five blogging friends.”

The closest book to me at this moment is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I have it out because I have a story which uses some of the structure of that book. to give credit to the inspiration, I wanted to borrow certain names, like Madame DeFarge. Only my character is “Fargo.” And of course there is a Jack and a Chuck and Sid. I actually haven’t worked on this story in a couple of months, so that proves to you just how messy my desk really is. And how whack some of my ideas are.

I can’t follow this exactly because a sentence is carried over from the previous page so I’ll count from the first full sentence. It’s Dickens. So don’t blame me if it isn’t one of the most exciting parts of an extremely exciting book, but it is funny. Remember CD got paid by the word!

Whatever gloss the various spectators put upon the interest, according to their several arts and powers of self-deceit, the interest was, at the root of it, Ogreish.

Silence in the court! Charles Darney had yesterday pleaded Not Guilty to an indictment denouncing him (with infinite jingle and jangle) for that he was a false traitor to our serene, illustrious, excellent, and so forth, prince, our Lord the King, by reason of his having, on divers occasions, and by divers means and ways, assisted Lewis, the French King, in his wars against our said serene, illustrious, excellent, and so forth; and that was to say, by coming and going, between the dominions of our said serene, illustrious, excellent, and so forth, and those of the said French Lewis, and wickedly, falsely, traitorously, and otherwise evil-adverbiously, revealing to the said French Lewis what forces our said serene, illustrious, excellent and so forth, had in preparation to send to Canada and North America.

Sorry guys, this one is just too fun. I’m passing this bookworm award to the following and invite them to play (but only if it is their wish to):

Jane at Chasing in Circles
KC at Now Playing in Seattle
Kev at Shameless Creations
Katharine at People, Places, and Pasta