I was scouring through a blog of mine and found this piece of microfiction I wrote about five, six years ago:

Waiting

On the blue-reds. He said they were coming for me. Mom pitters through the house, cleaning. She doesn’t want them to see dishes piled up on the dining table. I sit at the table, fingers pounding on laptop keys. I, too, have cleaned. Washed my face. Threw a bra on. Socks and shoes. I wait. We wait. For the cops to come, to hear the whoop-whoop and see flashing blue-reds let the whole neighborhood know that there is trouble at our house again. I’m scared. Don’t show it. Everyone has hit him, at least once, except me. I’ve been away at school. Now I’m here and Father’s alcoholic, violent words scrap my brain. Hammer, he said as soon as he came home. We playing UNO. He walks in talking ‘bout hammers and putting one in my brother’s head. Go away, we say. I will kill every last one of you, he replies. He heads upstairs, screaming “Bring it!” Over and over. “Bring it!” he yells for the sixth time. So I did. All 18 years of anger, of remembered good times shadowed over by broken bad times. I brought it, to his bedroom, my fists clinging to his shirt as I shook him. My hand across his face. Twice. I felt liberated. Ashamed. The hits told him he didn’t have control over me anymore. Yet he is/was my father. Big me is glad I hit him, let him see the pain he’s caused me. Little me crawls in a corner and cries for what my father has become. For what, as a result, I have become. And so I wait on the blue-reds ‘cause I feel I deserve the punishment.

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Well, today ends the second Weekend Write of 2010. Right now, I am not focusing on storytelling. Over the last month, I realized that first and foremost in my agenda is school, so most of my major writing will be delegated to that. I was driving myself crazy, thinking I “lost my touch” because I wasn’t writing thousands of words a day. I am still being creative; I’m just using my talents to write my academic works–and that’s OK.

Having said that, I decided to use this weekend to get various writing projects done:

1. Article for my The Write Life for You series
2. Article for The Blood-Red Pencil
3. Finish and submit an article on letter writing that’s for possible publication
4. Write/finish site visit project for my Usability class

In total, approximately 5,000 words.

And I’m happy to report that I completed all the writing activities for this Weekend Write, and I’m already thinking about what I’ll do next month. Next month presents an interesting time for me. Spring break will have come and gone, and I’ll be moving into the last full month of the spring semester. April is ScriptFrenzy, and so I will want to make sure my outline is developed for the script because I do hope to at least TRY to work on a screenplay during April. Luckily, I have an outline on the back burner, so I won’t have to work on that, but I will have to reread it, get back into the characters’ minds so that I’m ready to write in April.

More than likely, I’ll do the same thing in March I did this month–work on articles to submit.

How is your writing going?

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Through my alma mater, McNeese State University, I will be offering my four-week Writers Boot Camp!

What is Writers Boot Camp?

Do you have an idea for a story but are unsure where to go now that you have this idea? Then you need Writers Boot Camp! From idea to outline in 28 Days – all you need is a valid e-mail address and the desire to pen YOUR story! WBC is a four-week intensive ONLINE program in which writers will work one-on-one with the instructor to develop story ideas into novel outlines, thus preparing you to finally write a first draft.

Every Monday, students will receive, via e-mail, a weekly assignment that will help them build upon their ideas, culminating into a completed story outline. On Sunday, students will e-mail their assignment to be read and critiqued by instructor and returned.

Upon completion of the class, instructor will help students develop a writing schedule to assist in completing a first draft!

Dates: March 8, 15, 22, 29

Registration Deadline: February 22

Through the school, the price for the four-week Writers Boot Camp course is only $69!

There are four (three if you’re not in Lake Charles, LA) ways to register for the course; check out this [LINK]!

Look forward to getting literary with you!

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Yes, it’s a little after three in the morning. I’m still up. But not for long.

Had a very slow start to my Saturday and was really not in the mood to do much of anything. In fact, I didn’t start making any significant moves until well after 6 p.m., and I didn’t start to do anything WW related until nearly 11 p.m.

But I did start, and I completed most of my Weekend Write tasks for Saturday, so that’s something.

Today, my goals were to write some articles and submit to online outlets I have columns with. Also, I wanted to break out the next novel project, look at it, and make a plan to see where to go with it next.

Well, I wrote the articles. In fact, I wrote two additional articles, so I was very pleased with that.

I didn’t, however, work on the next novel project.

SO, that will be my goal for Sunday. Tomorrow, I’ll talk a bit about the next novel project, and wrap up my first Weekend Write.

See you then.

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Leading up to my first Weekend Write, I have to admit I was nervous. All this month, I’ve been supposedly working on an outline for a novel I was to write and to gear myself up to work on it during the months of February and March.

There is no shame to my game, so I’ll tell the truth: I did nothing. Been dealing with school, getting back into the swing of things (still not there yet), and a big bout of depression. I barely could get my  mind around school-related issues, so doing anything creative was out of the question.

But I planned to use WW as a wake-up call. I told people about it, so they were expecting me to do something, and never being one to disappoint, I wrangled up the nerve and energy to do SOMETHING creative.

And I’m proud to report the first day has been successful.

And this is mostly the case because I had a deadline! I was asked if I’d like to contribute to an anthology and to be considered, I had to submit an outline for a story. The deadline? The 31st. I was supposed to have been done this, but yeah, well, not making excuses. I just didn’t do it.

So I used the vast majority of my waking hours today to develop a story description, my characters, a scene breakdown, and then an outline for the short story. As I type this, I have a sisterfriend-writer reading the outline before I ship it off. Crossing fingers the outline is accepted and I get put into the anthology. I’ll let you guys know what happens with it.

Also, while working on the outline today, I began to think about my writing life and what I want from it. Been so out of the loop with my own writing lately that I had begun to lose what defined me as a writer and thus what I was going to do to illustrate this definition storywise.

Well, I have a strategic plan now on where I plan to go, what I plan to do…with more on that coming soon.

Let’s just say that for the first time in a long time I feel like writing again. And THAT is awesome,

My goal for tomorrow’s WW? It’s two-fold. I have some articles that need to be written and submitted to online outlets I have columns with. Also, I want to break out the next novel project, look at it, and make a plan to see where to go with it next.

Will holler tomorrow.

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Well, as many know, I didn’t get a lot of writing done the second-half of 2009. With starting a doctoral program, most of my time was used reading, reading, reading and writing, writing, writing…PAPERS!

Toward the end of the semester and into Christmas break, I decided that I could add my creative writing back into my life if I managed my time better. I have done it in the past, and there is no reason why I can’t do it now.

Thus, Weekend Write was born. What is Weekend Write?

Well, I decided that one weekend out of the month, I will devote myself to creative endeavors – whether that’s working on a screenplay, writing a novel, or working on articles for my upcoming book on writing, The Write Life for You. Friday and Saturday of the weekend, I will write, and on Sunday, I will do either an audio or video podcast of what I’ve accomplished.

In addition to Weekend Write, I decided that I would incorporate writing during my school week, too. I will carve out 2 hours of writing time on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to work on projects, too.

Creative writing is my lifeline; without it, I’m pretty useless in all other facets of my life.

Tentatively, here are the weekends I plan to write and podcast if you’d like to get your write on and talk about it.

• January 29-31
• February 26-28
• March 19-21
• April 23-25
• May 28-30
• June 25-27
• July 23-25
• August 27-29
• September 24-26
• October 29-31
• November 26-28
• December 17-19

Once my first week of school is through and I have a better sense of project due dates, I will solidify these dates.

And I have my first project, too. Back in 2006, I started a novel titled The Loss of Weight, and for whatever reason, I stopped working on it. Over Christmas break, I read the 20,000 words I wrote and realized I really liked the story, so from January to end of March, I will be working on finishing this novel before Script Frenzy in April; I plan to work on a screenplay then.

I’m excited. I’m pumped.

We’ll see what happens.

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In the beginning, there was an image,
and it was good.

On day one, the image stirred you,
wrestled with your psyche, and evoked
emotions that had lain dormant. You
carried that image, like a baby
pic in a wallet, pulling it out to show
others as you smiled – the proud parent.

On day two, like a journalist, questions
flowed from your mind –
who this image,
what this image,
when this image,
where this image,
how this image,
why this image,
until whole humans formed in your mind,
their eyes vibrant blue or brooding brown,
their limbs movable,
their minds full of angst and yearning,
just the things good stories
are made of.

On day three, you retrieve the image and
see these humans walking about you,
their mouths moving, but nothing being heard
until your anxiety dissipates, then voices,
soft murmuring voices that tickle your ear
tell you that they are ready to be written.

On day four, image taped to side of laptop,
humans crowd around you, voices sing
a dissonant tune like a fork scraping a metal pan,
but you calm yourself, yet again, channel the
anxiety, eradicate the “is the idea good”,
eliminate the editor, and funnel your thoughts
into one question: “What’s the best way to
begin this thing?”

On day five, you stop, the dissonance so loud
you can taste it in your mouth, sour like curdled
milk. Before you, long stretches of nothing lie,
with only the tips of the ending seen just beyond
the horizon. You bang the desk, you stand, you
pace, you hear the footsteps of humans, hear
the voices of humans, and you wonder how you
will travel the width of your middle wasteland
and tell a story that’s worth reading. In the middle
of the night, as snores make their escape, you will
jolt from the bed, race to your laptop, smile because
it’s on and still warm, and you will write the conflict,
the tension that was always inside you, waiting for
its release.

On day six, you can barely catch your
breath as you and the humans you have birthed
take your time heading to the last page. You know,
on the smallest scale imaginable, what it’s like to
create a life – far beyond that of just being a mother
or father, for you have giving life, and you have set the
stage for that life, and now you must lay the life to rest.
Living, breathing, real, they touch you, pleading with
you, asking you, “Can there be a sequel,” but you know
this one is finished. The last period will be the last
period. And when that last period is placed, you sit
back, take a deep breath, shed a tear, and think, “I
think I’ve done them justice.”

On day seven, you rest, fingers sore, carpel tunnel
flaring, mind spent. You’re proud, for you have
taking that one image – the same image you hold
in your hand now – and created a world filled with
lives and scenarios and trials and grief and joy and
wonder and closure. As you close your eyes,
ready for the nap you haven’t allowed yourself to
have since the image burned into your memory,
you sit up with a start: “I need to go back and rework
the beginning. Doesn’t have enough punch.”

And…on the eighth day, the new beginning,
revisions.

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Recently, a fan of CLG Entertainment and The Write Life for You articles I write contacted me. The fan, a writer, asked, “How do you know if you have the talent to pursue writing? Words have always had a powerful pull on me, but I don’t know if I can actually write … Do you have medicine for my affliction?”

I wanted to share my response because I think it might be beneficial to those of you out there feeling, thinking the same thing.

You know, the need to pursue writing often comes before one even KNOWS if he or she has talent. It comes from a desire, a need to express something. The fact that you’re pulled to write is BIG. For me, writing was always a NEED. Started writing when I was 10, and it was all about looking at the world and writing what interest me, then what I didn’t understand, then what I hated, then what I wanted to be made right, and on and on.

That pull to write is important because it will warm your heart when you’re rejected, it will urge you on when you receive criticism, and it will move you to want to learn so that you can better your craft.

First and foremost, I think you need to KEEP the pull. Recognize it. Communicate with it. Nurture it.

Allow the pull to keep you writing.

As you write, think about what you seem “called” to write about. This calling isn’t set in stone, but it’s a great place to begin to think about who you are as a writer and what you hope to convey in your writing.

As you write, READ. Read works you deem “good,” and be able to illustrate to yourself why they are good and what you can glean from these findings for your own writing.

As you write, READ. Read works you deem “bad,” and be able to illustrate to yourself why they might be bad and what you can glean from these findings for your own writing.

As you write, READ. Read works about writing, especially those books that delve into the issues you find you make consistently in your work. You want as many tools in your writer’s toolbox as possible.

Connect with other writers, especially those willing to read and critique your work. It’s important to know what you want to get out of a critique group and what you can bring to that group; you do not just want to jump into a group and wallow within it. And be open to constructive criticism.

And almost as important as your writing these days is your platform – who you are, what you stand for, how your writing reflects this, who you connect with, network with, how you BRAND yourself.

But ultimately, I think it is about the PULL. If you don’t feel moved to write, who will be compelled to read WHAT you write?

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I have updated my [Loglines] page. I have revised loglines to short scripts on the page, and I have added loglines to longer works, too. In addition, I now have sample pages of the scripts available to read.

Take the time to check them out!

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Didn’t think it would happen.

Waited ’til the last minute to even participate and had no real idea what I would write about, but after completing NaNoWriMo the last four years, I just felt the need to do it this year. Would feel like a failure if I didn’t.

The first week was like gangbusters. Wrote a little over 21,000 words that first week. The second week, cleared 30k. The third week, I peter out a bit as school and stress weighed heavily on me. Fourth week, came back and hit that last hurdle and cleared 50k. Total, 50,043 was hit tonight.

Is the story good? Hell, it’s not even a story any more. By week three my interest in the story peter out, so I began jumping into various sections and just writing, so right now, I have a mess, and I probably won’t even go back to it. But it did get me to writing even during the stressful first semester of my doctoral work, so that at least tells me that if I’m more structured I can write something good during this time.

I’m proud of myself. Now, to finish the semester and get into a new project!

Want to hear an excerpt of NaNoWriMo project, Educating Sophia? There’s a new excerpt below! You can check out the first two excerpts at Shon Bacon @ PodBean!

Excerpt Three of Educating Sophia

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