As I arrived at the festival Saturday morning, a Cherokee man was telling one of the great stories of his tribe. Lessons of compassion and violence and justice and tradition. A little while later, a family raised in the Aztec tradition danced a welcome to the day. Among them, two little girls who shook their rattles and blew the wind whistle right along with their parents.
Perfect. We often forget that children teach us. If we listen, if we watch closely, we can learn volumes from them. As a writer of fiction for young readers, I often struggle to remember what it felt like at their age. I try to draw on my own experiences and relive those tangled emotions. At best, success comes sporadically. If I watch my son and daughter, however, I read the emotions in every word, every little gesture, every exasperated sigh and crazy riff of laughter. Even those moments of conflict can teach us if we remember to look at with the eye of a student rather than a dictator.
We often think they just don't get the world as it is. This is just a phase that will pass and we all just have to survive it.
It is so much more. I hope that I am awake enough and thoughtful enough to keep learning from them, to see the world as they see it. To see the world as it is and give them what they need.
So how about it, Wipsters? How are your April goals going? Any epiphanies or fabulous diversions that got you back on the writing track this week?
You have left me speechless...well...almost :) Profound words and something resonated deep within me. I am the student. That makes so much sense.
ReplyDeleteApril is going well, lots of submissions out there and taking some good leaps into the unknown. Heading to a conference on Thursday, then Friday in a novel revision workshop. Really looking forward to it.
Good luck this week wipsters!
Wow, Deb! You have an awesome week ahead of you. Enjoy every minute of it!
DeleteI think of myself as a student of life. I can't count the times I have learned something profound from my son. This is a good reminder, though, to go through life with my eyes open.
ReplyDeleteApril goals are still all over the place for me. I'm working each day, but I seem to be jumping around on projects that "need" doing, so I'm not making much headway. This week my goal is to FOCUS!
I can relate to that "all over the place" feeling. Hang in there, Denise. Focus will come. :-)
DeleteI'm still working on revisions, hacking away scenes and words I don't need. I'm about halfway through (my April goal!) and have cut almost 14k words. Sometimes killing darlings is painful, but it's felt good this time. I'm taking that as a good sign :)
ReplyDeleteIt sounds as though you are right on schedule, Jennifer. Way to go! Be ruthless and fearless...
DeleteWasn't it Einstein who said, “Once you stop learning, you start dying?” There is so much inspiration all around us if we'll just look. As a teacher, I often said I learned more in the classroom than I ever imparted. It's true as a parent, too. And now that my children are grown I realize I'm still learning things from them.
ReplyDeleteAs for my writing goals... I'm still putzing along with them, not doing a lot, but still doing. I hope everyone is moving into this new week with renewed enthusiasm, determined to make it to the desired destination by the week's end. "Take a risk; make a start!" (Cheeky me! That's an sneaky plug for my blog post today!)
Any forward motion is progress, Carol. Keep putzing along :-)
DeleteI'm about the same as Denise, my goals are all over the place. I finally finished the line edits I was doing so am ready to continue querying once I get the letter back from a CP.
ReplyDeleteNext up should be my plotless and themeless fake memoire. No idea where it is going and that's kind of scary because the individual scenes are cute and funny but ultimately pointless. Pointless doesn't sell. :( No idea what to do to fix this. Suggestions gratefully accepted!
In the meantime, I got a bunch of rejections on shorts last month and only have a few still out so will take the plunge and send them all back out.
I've been in that formless boat, too, Carolyn. Memoire's always have a sort of overarching epiphany, some realization or encapsulation of growth. Where would each scene come together emotionally? Have fun with it. Try some different roads and see where they lead. Hang in there!
DeleteMy vacation has begun. I am mostly practising the 3 r's: resting, reading, and revising. I am frustrated because I asked my DH to help me clean up the house *before* my vacation so that I would not be spending time working on it, and not much happened. So I spent 3 hours cleaning the house, since the coffee shop's meeting room was booked and the write-in tonight is here at my house. I am ready to get to work now, though. Please and thank you.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE those 3 r's! Rock on, girl!
DeleteI was rolling along with my revision goals and then I got a new job, which means more adjustments. I had to get a summer job since the subbing job comes to an end in May. I'm now cooking at my favorite European Bakery Café three early mornings a week. In the meantime, I received and finished the last of the line edits from my copy editor, so that is done. I'm still not in my writing groove, but I keep reminding myself to be gentle. I'm not over the trauma, just a different stage of grieving. The one I'm dealing with now is the hardest yet. I cry a lot. Hard to revise when you're crying. ^_^ Thanks for all the kindness and support, Wipsters. We can do this!
ReplyDelete((HUGS)) and more ((HUGS)) I worked at a Jewish bakery when I was in college. Mmmmm...cheesecake (which I can't do anymore because of allergies). Way to keep rolling through the changes, girl. This stuff will pass and you will find your feet again. In the meantime, feel free to lean on some crazy writer buddies!
DeleteBig hugs, Angelina.
DeleteWow, that was a beautiful and thought-provoking post, Mary Ann. I agree. We can learn so much from the young. With my youngest daughter (15 yrs), I swear she was sent to me for many reasons. One in particular, she never ever lets me put myself down. She's the first one to call me out on it. By her loving me and respecting me, she's taught me how to love and respect myself. On a different note, I love observing young children when they're outside. Their sense of wonderment and appreciation for nature is inspiring.
ReplyDeleteRevisions are still my #1 goal this month. I've just about worked myself crazy trying to rewrite this ms. But I keep plugging away trying to make it work.
Hope everyone else is having a great week. :)
Thank you, Candi! I'm in the revision boat with you and getting a whole new perspective...literally! Switching from 3rd person to 1st is not easy.
DeleteI totally agree. I'm proud of my Mexican heritage and learned so much from this.
ReplyDeleteThis week's been crazy with scoring standardized tests. Plus, I have to get son ready for his own Star testing next week! My goal is to include some writing every day on my new project. We'll see how that goes.
Even if it's only a paragraph a day, Kim, you'll rock!
DeleteAck! I knew there was one thing I didn't do yesterday.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you for the post and what beautiful photos!
I've always said how inspired I am by the kids around me, especially the keysmashing tots at home.
Let's see. Goal round up:
I did #NaNoThon this weekend. 13.5K words on Saturday and my digits are still attached. As of yesterday, I also surpassed my word count totals for both Camp NaNo and Savvy Boot Camp. I wrote 9.5K yesterday over seven word sprints, some 50mins, others 30mins. I think I might take it easy today, but with so much story left for both novels, I'll try and wrap it up this week and get a head start some anthology submissions this coming weekend.
I still can't believe I wrote 80K in fifteen days. My original plan was 100K in two weeks but there's always July. :) I'm excited that I'll be able to triple my draft output this year (with two more double doses of NaNo and Boot Camps) and revise drafts in the months in between. It's been an exciting first quarter and the second quarter is shaping up to be a real productive one, as well.
My blog is going strong having posted letters A through N for the Blogging Challenge. #ROW80 is also keeping me accountable with check-ins twice a week.
I hope everyone's enjoying the sunshine and in good writing spirits, despite recent tragedies in this continent and others.
Hugs to everyone. Happy writing!
Tonette
Thanks, Tonette! I can't help but imagine tiny little ice packs on each of your fingers. That's some serious wipmadness! ((HUGS)) all around!
DeleteI'm late checking in. Nightshifts robbed me of my Monday, lol. But now here I am--always so great to read all the comments and see how my fellow WIPsters are doing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this wonderful post, Mary Ann. Loved it! :) Never stop learning...
I didn't make a lot of progress toward my goal, but did get some other writing done this week--a bit of poetry, and a short story for tonight's critique group meeting. Tomorrow it's back to the WIP!
Oh, poetry! I love poetry, but I haven't written any in ages...and I won't write any for public consumption. That's a whole other talent and I don't possess it. Now...crack that WIP! (I couldn't resist...)
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