Write Anywhere #39

by Kristin Nador/@KristinNador

Do you carry your notebook, camera or sketchbook with you all the time? Are you prepared to capture a scene or an idea when it reveals itself? You never know when a creative idea will pop up. Every experience is a potential revelation for your creative self. I found an active spot to get a little inspiration this week.

Write Anywhere #39: Community Festival

Rooster Days is the oldest festival in Oklahoma. In the 1930s it started as a way to help farmers market excess roosters to the community so they could have more fresh eggs available. Today Rooster Days has no roosters but is a fun small town community festival and carnival. All the families, couples, and groups gave lots of opportunities for people watching.

lots of action

The arts and crafts fair offered a myriad of interesting items. If you’re a pink-sequined hat, fudge, wine, and beef jerky lover it was heaven. Artist Daughter and I got a lot of exercise walking several blocks in the downtown area.

Red Dirt Rangers play Red Dirt music at Rooster Days, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

We rested at one of the music stages, where the Red Dirt Rangers put on a great show and I scribbled a few lines in my notebook.

Of course there were funnel cakes. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Where did you write this week?

Question: What’s your favorite carnival food?

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Sharpen Your Blogging Habits: 7 Keys To Blogging On A Consistent Basis

Reblogged from kristin nador writes anywhere:

image: Rock Garden, Chandigarh, India, Creative Commons

This is the second post in a series this month on sharpening your blogging habits. If you missed the first post you can catch it here:

Sharpen Your Blogging Habits: 4 Ways To Define Your Audience

I scrapbooked several years ago. When I first discovered scrapbooking, it was a fun, creative outlet. I learned dozens of ways to present a photograph.

Read more… 1,028 more words

This has been one of the most popular posts here on kristin nador writes anywhere, probably because it's a problem all bloggers face at one time or another: blogging consistently. If you've been having trouble with consistency in your blogging, I hope these tips inspire you to get back on track.

Write Anywhere #38

I love making time for creativity. Sometimes it is spur-of-the-moment and sometimes there’s an elaborate plan, but carving out space for creative pursuits always pays off for me. I hope you’re inspired by these weekly Write Anywhere venues as well. This week I went to one of my favorite places. If nature inspires you, I think you’ll like it, too.

Write Anywhere #38: Wichita Mountains

Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, near Lawton, Oklahoma

After the encouragement of a weekend with writers at the OWFI writers’ conference, I drove about 1 1/2 hours south of Oklahoma City to the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge to explore and write. People are surprised that there are mountains in Oklahoma. They aren’t huge, like the Rockies, but they are mountains nonetheless. Other mountain ranges in Oklahoma include the Kiamichis and the Arbuckles. The Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge became part of the National Refuge system by order of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905, two years before Oklahoma became a state.

I am writing what I hope will become a novella with the Wichitas as a setting, so I needed to do research in the area. It was the perfect time of year to visit. I took over 100 photographs, so I tried to pick the best ones to let you get an idea of what a beautiful place it is.

The mountains makes you think of ancient things

The drive to the top of Mt. Scott is scary in a tiny car that blows in the wind, and I was  impressed with the many motorcycles and bicyclists tackling the mountain.

Beautiful birds danced on the wind.

A wildfire in September of 2011 burned almost 50% of the refuge’s acreage.

The rocks in this creek continue to bear the scorch marks.

The wildflowers were at the peak of their bloom.

Off the beaten path…

Prickly Pear Cactus bloom

I think this is a Mississippi Kite. He watched me with wary eyes as I tried to get close to the tree he perched in.

This lone buffalo decided to entertain me.

A Prairie Sunset

Shot gold, maroon and violet, dazzling silver, emerald, fawn,
The earth’s whole amplitude and Nature’s multiform power consign’d
for once to colors;
The light, the general air possess’d by them–colors till now unknown,
No limit, confine–not the Western sky alone–the high meridian–
North, South, all,
Pure luminous color fighting the silent shadows to the last.

-Walt Whitman

The scenery inspired many notebook pages of writing. As I drove home at the end of the day, I felt at peace, satisfied, and productive.

Where did you write this week?

Question: Have you ever gone mountain climbing?

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Start Your Week Off Write: What Does Writing Mean To You?

 

Prickly Pear Cactus in bloom, Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma

I attended the OWFI Writers’ Conference this weekend. It impacted me in more ways than I can express. The workshops, the friendships, the encouragement I received went a long way in sparking my perseverance in this whole writing life thing. My brain and emotions are on overload, so this will be a short post while I decompress. I’m excited to share some things I learned with you in future posts.

I did a lot of reflecting, and I was reminded of a time someone asked me to write down what writing means to me. It’s a little cheesy, but here’s what I wrote:

To me, writing is a second chance to slay my dragons and win. Writing is the synergy of heart, mind and spirit. Writing is the movement of hand guiding pen over paper creating universes. Writing is a journey over time and space to bond with another human being with only a word or phrase. Writing is sometimes my lover, my cruel taskmaster, my funny little clown or my sensei. Writing is what I want to do and what I fight to keep from doing. Writing is my touchstone.

What does writing mean to you? Share in the comments.

Write Anywhere #37

Have you ever had a creative moment sneak up on you? I was driving home after a hectic day and I almost missed it. On the side of the road a female mallard waddled along in the grass. Behind her were 14 (!) tiny yellow balls of fluff scurrying as fast as they could in a perfect line. I would have gotten a photo but there was too much traffic to pull over. It took me back to one of my favorite childhood memories and this week’s Write Anywhere venue.

Write Anywhere #37: Duck Pond

Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

my favorite childhood book

Make Way For Ducklings is one of the first books I remember reading. I would check it out over and over from the library. I think that’s why I have such a soft spot for ducks.

I’d do almost anything for a duck. You can read about it in my short story Duck Tales, or The Ballad of Peeps (tissue required).

This day I took off the stress of the previous hours, grabbed my notebook and headed to our neighborhood duck pond.

There’s an inviting pond-side bench.

Duck demanding his Cheerios payment

This guy came running when I sat down. His frustration at my lack of bread/cheerios was obvious.

The tall guy is pretty cool, yes? We only ever see one of him. But he seems to like hanging out with the ducks.

This is a duck-friendly neighborhood. We are blessed to live here.

We love our ducks!

The pond is a nice place to get a little writing done.

Where did you write this week?

Question: What was your favorite childhood book?

Start Your Week Off Write: 7 Insider Tips To A Successful Writers’ Conference Experience

Nelson Mandela Lecture Theatre, Oxford, UK, image courtesy Winky

Next week I’m attending my first writers’ conference at the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc.  2012 Story Weavers Conference. My emotions are running the gamut: excitement, anxiety, fear. I know a lot of the writers’ conference experience involves interacting with writers, agents, and publishers. I wouldn’t call myself a great social butterfly. I have introvert mad skills. Extrovert skills, not so much. I want to enjoy the conference, to make the most of the opportunity, learn all I can and hopefully make a friend or two.

I was really psyched when my local writers group decided to host a panel addressing how to have a good writers’ conference experience. We got some veteran tips from some folks with with more than twenty years of conference attendance between them: authors Bob Avey, Jim Laughter and Gloria Teague. Please check out their sites to find all their book goodness.

Here are 7 of the great tips they shared:

1. Choose your workshops carefully.

You’ve paid money for this conference. You want to get your money’s worth. If you divide the total cost of the conference by the number of possible workshops/classes you can attend, you have your class cost.

Example: $200 conference 8 possible classes to take = $25 per class

If you’re spending $25 on a class, make sure it’s one that will benefit your writing goals, strengthen your core skills as well as genre focus. Take the time before all the excitement starts to pick your class choices from the schedule ahead of time.

2. Take advantage of off-hours buzz sessions or casual get-togethers built around writing topics.

An opportunity to pick the brain of an industry leader in an small group environment doesn’t come along everyday. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Most writers, agents and publishers are eager to share their wisdom. Listen as writers commiserate about their experiences, the state of publishing, etc. You’ll pick up a lot of information you won’t find in a book.

3. Take notes on everything you can.

Your note-taking gear is invaluable at a writers’ conference, whether your style is notebook or digital device. You may discover something important in your notes later. You won’t learn everything, but you will learn one, two or three important things that will impact your writing.

4. If you’re going to pitch to an agent, do your homework.

Agents specialize in genres, so make sure the agents you choose to pitch your work to will be interested in what you are offering. Agents only want to hear about finished products, not nebulous ideas. Take them a solid pitch/proposal. Find out about the agent. Most have websites or blogs where you can get a peek into their personality as well as their professional activities. You may be uncomfortable going one-on-one with a publishing professional, but you don’t have to be caught off guard if you do a little research ahead of time.

5. Be able to give a clear and concise summary of your book.

You want any pitch you make to an agent to be concise, clear and interesting. You also want to be able to share your latest project with anyone who asks. You don’t want an agent to start looking at their watch or checking their cell phone while you go on and on explaining your story. If you think nervousness will get in the way, use a formula to help you stay on track.

Example: Character Name wants to Character’s Goal but can’t because Obstacle = Simple Pitch

Be able to explain your book in one sentence. This is easier said than done. Give it your best effort. Then when people find your pitch intriguing, you can share more.

6. Network.

Networking is one of the most important things you’ll get out of a writing conference. It’s not necessarily the person you meet, but the person you’ll ‘meet’ through that person who will move your writing career forward. Networking is invaluable, you can make business contacts who may turn into lifelong friends. Where do you network? Everywhere. Meals, workshops, between workshops, waiting in lines, happy hours and after hours. How? See tip #7.

7. Be kind and friendly.

If you’re an introvert like me, it’s sometimes hard to push past your comfort zone to interact with those you don’t know. Or maybe you don’t have a problem meeting new people, but interacting with lots of people drains you of energy. Consider that a lot of the people there feel the same way. Take it a little bit at a time. Think about saying hello to the person sitting next to you in a class. Ask them what type of writing they are interested in. All of a sudden you have a conversation. Then take the next step and do the same thing with the person sitting on the other side of you. Before you know it, you’re getting to know people. Do it afraid. It will pay off. Throw off nerves and have fun with it.

Question: What are your best tips for surviving a writers’ conference? Social tips? Fashion tips? Happy hour tips?

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Write Anywhere #36

Did you try something different to jumpstart your creativity this week? Sometimes we wish we could get away from it all, go to one of those artists’ colonies, a cabin in the woods or a house on a lonely beach (that’s my choice!) to help us focus. But it doesn’t take a lot of time or money to adjust your perspective.

For this week’s Write Anywhere venue I set aside an hour one afternoon and walked five minutes to get a grasshopper’s view of life.

Write Anywhere # 36: In A Field

I took my camera, notebook and a seating mat to an empty field not far from my house where the wildflowers and prairie grasses still have a foothold. It was a perfect sunny afternoon to explore.

I took my carry-along cushion, stepped carefully around the flowers and through the grasses to find a pretty spot.

It was a windy day, and the field seemed to swell like the sea, moving in green waves.

Grasshoppers, butterflies and moths danced above the mini-prairie, as well as a few irritating little gnats. Though I’m not of an age that makes sitting on the ground comfortable, it was easy to sit and write in the middle of a field with only the soothing whisper of a southern wind.

I love to escape the constant hum of technology that seems to follow us wherever we go now. Wide-open expanses full of life helped me open my mind and empty it of the troubling distractions of the everyday.

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee, One clover and a bee, and revery. The revery alone will do, If bees are few. – Emily Dickinson

Is this how the prairies were before the concrete came and starting taking bites out of it?

This reminds me of Laura Ingalls skipping down the hill on the opening sequence of ‘Little House on the Prairie’.

It was fun taking a grasshopper’s perspective for a moment.

Where did you write this week?

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