Ten Things About Short Fiction

I'm headed out on a fourteen hour drive from Texas to Illinois today, with Uno and Dos as my roadtrip buddies, so we can offer support to my mom as she goes in for surgery tomorrow.

Time for a post is scarce, so here is my slim 10 Things for Tuesday post of the week -- all about my most recent writing experience.

1. Writing short fiction is hard, you guys. I'm not sure I'm very good at it. This week's story had a goal of 2000 words, which I skipped right over, ending at 2,002. Not what I had intended.


2. Also, the story is not what I had intended. With a pretty tragic news article as my inspiration, and some specific thoughts about growing up in constant turmoil, I sought to tell the story of one character but ended telling the story of another.


3. Where did I stumble? I became so caught up in researching the culture of the girl I wanted to write about, that I panicked and felt my story would not be authentic enough since I don't actually know what it is like to grow up bi-racial.


4. I wrote five different versions of this story.


5. In the end, I began with a new perspective on a similar character that would still end in the same way. Because I could draw somewhat from my own past, I found this story much easier to envision. 
   


6. I'm still not completely happy with the way this story is organized. I needed to build reader compassion for my main character, and found it incredibly difficult to do in only 2,000 words. While I think I avoided the dread info dump, I'm not certain it's a completely balanced story.


7. Dialogue -- still not my thing. Not surprising, since I have sub-zero social skills, however I must find a way to work on this.


8. The Husband, as always, sat and listened and gave awesome feedback. I don't know how I would accomplish anything without him as my first and most trusted reader.


9. I also struggle in the little details -- how people move, what is happening around two people while they're immersed in conversation -- all those little things. While I've been told quite often that I paint a vivid story life that people can sink into, I notice so many holes that need filling.


10. Next week our 5,000 word story is due. I have my idea ready, and am hoping a little of what I learned in the last story will help guide me through this one with less struggles.

#IMWAYR - Stop! It's #BookADay Time!

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Summertime means extra time for reading, and joining in on Donalyn Miller's #bookaday challenge, in which I attempt to read a book a day throughout the summer. I know, you never would have gathered that from the hashtag title. I've been doing this since 2010, when I first read Miller's transformational book, The Book Whisperer. The best part is inviting my students to join in; we would make reading goals and book lists for each holiday break and then at the end of the year -- and there was something magical in the community we built around a common love of reading.

This year I didn't have my own class, and the multi-faced responsibilities of my job made it difficult to build a reading community. Next year, I aspire to be better about this. I have plans, my friends, solid plans. I'm hoping that next year at this time I'll be able to share what both my campus reading communities are eager to read over the summer.

For now, here's what I've read so far this summer:

All photos snagged from
Goodreads.com

 The Boy on the Porch, Sharon Creech
This magical story is told from the perspectives of John and Marta, a couple that find a small boy curled up on their porch one morning. Their entire lives are transformed by his appearance, even though he never says a word. It's a touching portrayal of how life changes once you find yourself responsible for a child. Best as a read aloud, I think, as young readers may struggle to connect with the story through the eyes of two adults, but a wondrous read for both the subject and Creech's as-always gorgeous writing style. So many of these sentences I wish I could claim as my own!

 The Miniature World of Marvin & James, Elise Broach, illustrated by Kelly Murphy
A fast, fun read for young readers ready for chapter books. I haven't read their original book, Masterpiece, but am adding it to my to-read list. In this book, James leaves for a vacation at the beach and Marvin is left behind and must find a way to pass the time. He ends up in a wacky little misadventure, worries that James may not miss him very much while he's gone, and learns a thing or two about friendship along the way.

Salt, Helen Frost
In Salt, Frost has created a story of friendship and the struggle that happens when cultural shifts threaten to tear those friendships apart. But more than that, she gives us a secret door into the world of pre-war 1812 in Indiana Territory, letting us glimpse a little of what life might have been like between Native Americans and the settlers that arrived there as traders and soldiers. An important book to add to any school or classroom library.

The Real Boy, Anne Ursu (currently reading)
This book was able to draw me in on the first few pages, something I've struggled with lately when reading fantasy. In The Real Boy, we find a world that is shifting, an orphan that seems destined for adventure, and magic running like a river through it all.
I'm eager to see where this story takes me.

#SelfieFreeSummer - My Unfiltered Life

So perhaps you remember way back in May when I posted my diatribe about selfies and the downfall of humanity. The rest of this post may seem particularly ironic, since it will be filled with selfies. But they are selfies with a purpose, y'all. They are, in truth, the end of my selfies.

In that post I also referenced this lovely selfie from Instagram, in which I pranced about au natural:

Said selfie was taken the morning of my backpacking trip (you know, the one were I almost died in the middle of the night), where I was fresh out the shower and headed out to the woods, so I had a makeup free face and hair full of ponytail frizz. 

This was a statement selfie, even though I didn't make a big deal about it at the time it was posted on Instagram. Okay, I may have hashtagged #nomakeup #nofilter, but I promise it was more to prove a point to myself than to declare any sort of pride over what I look like here.

Posting a pic of myself, of my real self, isn't something I typically ever do.

Because, let's be honest. In my selfie posting prime, this is what you could expect to see:

What is even going on in the lefthand pic? Am I an Anime cartoon? A Star Trek action figure?

Uh. I'm sorry. What? Let's do a little side by side comparison here:

Wow. Notice any striking differences? Is the girl on the left even the same person as those pics on the right? It sort of kills me that in my selfies (which, honestly, I took multiples of before posting the perfect pose), each pic was staged to highlight whatever my current idea of beauty happened to be. Skinny? Fit? Blonde? Heavily mascara'd? (it's a word, hush) Snarky? Sure. If it showed the most pleasing image of myself to the world, I posted it.

I'm not saying this is true for all selfie snapping girls and boys in the world. But it was true for me. I could blame it on many things. The thick purple scar that drew a heavy line across my right cheek as I was growing up. The endless bullying. Living through my twenties as "the fat one," and countless other things.

But the truth is, regardless of my past, my present need to be seen as somebody other than who I felt like I was on the inside is what dictated my selfie habit.

I can't really pinpoint when I decided to stop snapping and posting so many pics. At some point, it just felt silly. In part, a piece of what was broken on the inside healed after I spent six weeks in an intense round of almost daily group therapy after Dos moved out. But that's another story.

So why am I telling you all of this? It feels radically different than those filtered, make-up laden pics above. This is the real me, filter free. I'm starting my #selfiefreesummer this weekend, which includes as much time away from the mirror as possible also. I'll cover my bathroom mirror, and avoid obvious gazes into any other reflective surfaces as possible. Obviously, as my Seestah pointed out, I have to use mirrors when driving and I'll be in front of mirrors in public restrooms, and probably some other places I haven't really thought about yet. But perfection isn't what I'm looking for.

I think that's what my goal was in my selfie phase. Some perfect image of myself, some idolized idea of what I was supposed to look like.

This challenge is about being free of my outer self-image and focusing on inner-beauty and strength. It's about ignoring what I see with my eyes and listening to who I am on the inside. Along the way, I'll post pictures on Instagram of things that matter more than how much eyeliner I'm wearing, or what angle I have to hold my arms in to get the best shot of my face. Each photo will be tagged with #selfiefreesummer.

I'll be posting every Saturday through the summer with updates on how it's going and what I'm noticing. 90 days of being selfie and mirror free carries me right to my 40th birthday. A serendipitous realization made when looking at the calendar to decide when this little challenge should end. Maybe you'll join me, and post your own #selfiefreesummer pics on Instagram. I'd love to see what you're looking at that tells the story of your own unfiltered life. Feel free to grab the graphic in the sidebar and use it when posting on your own blog about your #selfiefreesummer challenge, or toss it in your sidebar. And leave me a comment, so I know to come check out your posts!

So. Let's begin, shall we?

The Idea Factory

The class I am taking this summer is about crafting the short story. I've never been a huge reader or writer of short stories, so I thought this would be a good way to step out of my comfort zone and focus on some elements of writing that I want to work on.

Also, in the one month that this summer session meets, we are expected to complete two short stories. Knowing this, I've been greedily gathering as many ideas as possible in the past month, so that I wouldn't end up staring at my blank page crying over my lack of creativity.

I love writing, but I often need a little push to get going. I let too many fears and distractions capsize my joy as a writer. This was another reason I signed up for this class.

The question of "where do you get your ideas?" has to be one of the most frequent questions I've seen asked of authors whenever they give an interview. As if we believe there is some magic formula, some perfect remedy to the quest for story.

I thought about this a lot on the way from class tonight, as I mulled over my story idea for our first assignment. This idea happened to come from a news article I read recently, one that I can't seem to let go of because the tragic end left me with so many questions. And for me, that's where many story ideas come from.

Questions.

Why did a person do the thing they did? Why did they react a certain way? What was the reason behind their actions? How does it feel to be in that situation?

I want to know more about the human condition, and so when I hear or read about something in the news that I can't quite wrap my head around -- I question it. I wonder. I make things up.

I've always been particularly good at making things up.

I have a file of news stories that grab my attention that I keep for future story writing. And when the news doesn't offer up anything enticing, I have the quirky lifelong pattern of wacky movie-style dreams that feed my stories. I can still remember dreams from my childhood that are as rich and vivid and detailed as any book or movie I've seen. It has created some strange moods upon waking, to be sure, but I almost always write them down and save them.

You never know when you're going to be fresh out of ideas and need to go back to the well to pull up something to sustain you.

And I think that's a big part of what it takes to be a storyteller. A questioning mind, a love of observing the human condition, a desire to find the truth, and perhaps a vivid dream life. And I believe I can use these came concepts to help my young writers mine for ideas. News stories, current events, and observation -- with a questioning mindset at the ready. What about you? Where do your story ideas come from?

Ten Adventures Calling My Name

Time for that Tuesday Ten again, hosted by Crystal over at Straight On Till Morning. Hop on over there to join up and show off your own ten!

Here are ten things I would drop everything and do for myself, given the means. This list could go on for days and days, as I want to know everything and be everywhere and live every moment in huge ways, so it's probably good that I can only include ten. I felt a little guilty while thinking about this list, since it is all about me, but perhaps that gives me ten things to tell you about that I'd love to do for other people... next time!

Ten Little Life Experiences I Yearn To Have

1. Sell everything, buy one of them new-fangled RV machines, and tour the continent. Like this family.

Photo Credit

2. Go away for a bit to a quiet writer's residency, like this one. Or perhaps this one in Ireland.

3. Hike the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine.

4. Quit my job and start up a non-profit organization to write with at-risk youth and women survivor's of domestic abuse. Like this amazing organization that works with at-risk teen girls in New York.

Photo Credit

5. Start my own school. No, seriously. That's another post, entirely. Because my school would be the bomb-diggity. You can trust me, even though I say things like bomb-diggity.

6. Buy a ridiculously large plot of land and build homes for all my peeps. Is this creepy? It's not like I would make them live there. I mean, probably not. Like, not all the time.

7. Buy a funky two-story building in a University town. Turn the downstairs into a bookstore and coffee shop with a space for open mic nights. Play only local music in the store, and have their music for sale, along with a case at the front of the store to sell local artist's jewelry and other miscellany. Feature local artist's painting and photography on the walls. Upstairs, create spaces for meeting rooms, gaming rooms, and let people rent out the space to teach artsy and other classes. This store is picture perfect in my mind, and has been for several years.

Maybe with sweet gondola like this store.

8. Write the two professional development books rattling around in my brain. One is a manifesto on teaching with kindness. The other, a book on using mentor text poems to teach grammar and the craft of writing.

9. Go to this 10-day meditation retreat in Kaufman, Texas. (Are we sensing a pattern, yet?)

10. And finally, as I've wanted to do since I was a weird and thoughtful little 13 year old me, travel to the Galapagos Islands and get lost for a bit. My heart is still a little broken that it's not the solitary wilderness wonderland it once was; I missed the time before hotels and tourists, but that doesn't strip away my desire to plant my own two feet on this magical little nook of our globe.

Land iguanas are sort of like punk chameleons. Can't you hear him calling my name?

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#IMWAYR - Past, Present, Future Reading

Hop on over to TeachMentorTexts.com for more great readerly posts today!

Past

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Chan's debut novel broke my heart into pieces and knit each bit back together again with careful attention. The prose is achingly beautiful, the characters written so true that you will forget you are reading as you ache through their loss and confusion and stumbling attempts at healing right along with each of them. This haunting and magical story of how one family spins out of control before they can slow down long enough to truly see one another again is one I am eager to share with readers, young and old. It's the kind of exquisitely told story that lives on, long after you've lingered over the last sentences, said goodbye to the characters, and closed the book.

Present

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The Husband showed up yesterday with this book in his hands, and was repaid by having to watch me jump up and down and squeal in delight when he handed it to me. I knew about The Art of Neil Gaiman by Hayley Campbell, but hadn't seen it on shelves yet, and had no idea that it is such an expansive and complete work of art in it's own right. Not only are there photos from Gaiman's life, but sketches he created as well as other artists works -- but none of this even compares to the outlines and manuscript pages and oodles of notes from his published work. And then of course, there is Campbell's witty and playful narration of the life of Neil. I'm happily gobbling it up, dancing from section to section like a bid being fed breadcrumbs. Hopping, chirping, greedily pecking away until I've devoured every last morsel of information.

Future

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My class on crafting the short story begins tomorrow, meeting every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for the next five weeks. The Art of the Short Story by Dana Gioia and R.S. Gwynn is one of three books we will use as we write, rewrite, workshop, and revise together. I've peeked inside the cover already, and am even more excited than I was before to get started with class!

The #SundayCurrently - Volume 2

I'm not quite as ready as I thought I would be to give up my daily blogging. Today it's time for another round of The Sunday Currently, hosted by Sidda Thornton.

Currently...

Reading Bird by Cystal Chan. With an opening that begins with, "Grandpa stopped speaking the day he killed my brother, John," I knew I would quickly fall in love with this little book. And I have. Chan's writing is filled with the type of sentences I wish I had written myself.

Writing Now that our round of #EveryDayinMay blogging is over, I'm busy pondering what June will look like. While I'm not sure this busy month will leave me time for daily blogging, I do want to remain somewhat consistent. I'm also taking a class in crafting the short story, so no matter where my writing happens, I know it will be happening and that makes for a very happy Kelly.

Listening This is a leaf-turning, path-choosing, decision-making time, and I'm doing my best to listen to that inner voice that whispers me forward in the right direction.

Thinking The dread fibromyalgia has really been taking its toll lately. I know I haven't been eating as well as I should. It'd be nice if all the research I've done was as effective in combatting the aches and pains as actual action is! So I'm thinking it's time for a total nutritional overhaul - an experiment in food, to see what differences seem to make the biggest difference. This month I'm going raw, people. I've been sliding toward this trend anyway, having quietly stopped eating meat about a month ago (yay, closet vegetarianism!). I'll definitely be posting throughout the month about my raw food adventures, and how it changes things -- or doesn't!

Smelling We had a sleepover last night, and although The Husband woke me this morning to a huge bowl of fruit for breakfast in bed, the savory smells of bacon and eggs and sausage that the boys feasted on this morning is still wafting through the house. Also, syrup. Since no pancakes were eaten at this gluten free feast, I think my brain is just mourning my wafflepalooza lifestyle and inventing scents to tease me!

Wishing If only big moments had faster answers, decisions were easier, and children remained in their mother's arms for much longer. If only.

Hoping I'd like very much to know with 100% accuracy where I am headed, and if my chosen path is one I won't regret. Oh, and my big hope for June is that I devote every spare moment alone to one of a few things: writing actual stories, practicing meditation, and moving my sluggish body!

Wearing When I went to Boston last fall, I grabbed a cute Harvard t-shirt to wear to school on our college days. I've only worn it once since then, but for some reason grabbed it this morning. I'm such a quirky little "everything has meaning" person, and this June 1st feels big and important and like a fresh start -- so I thought maybe my smart people shirt would help me brave the new month with a new perspective. (I know, right? But yes, this is how my brain works.)

Loving Having all the boys here (well, minus a few, actually) last night was a dream -- so many memories from when Uno y Dos were still children came washing over me! And I'm loving the fact that I went on an overnight backpacking trip and am planning a much longer one that will be here before we know it. I love that my mom will be here in less than two weeks and that I'll spend the month laughing with her and writing through my days. And I love, so very much, the care and concern The Husband surrounds me with, and how he supported my raw food experiment by cleaning and chopping and mixing a giant bowl of fruit for me this morning. There is so much in my life to love, right now. Maybe it really is time to start that jar of gratitude...

Wanting It's time to be less lackadaisical about my writing. About revising. About querying. It's embarrassing how melancholy and yes, jealous (so very ashamed of that!) when I am surrounded by piles of new books in the library. Oh, how I love those books. And oh, how I hate that I haven't made a true effort to have one of my own out there in the world.

Needing When I was in my undergrad program, I sat down each week and write out my to-do list and a schedule (a very, very ridiculously detailed schedule). I don't know that I would have been as successful at completing that degree without my dedication to this routine. I believe it is time to bring back the lists! Bring back the schedule. I need to somehow wrangle this full and happy life into something less like a tornado.

Feeling I'm tired of the hip pain, the brain fog, the burning skin. I'm tired of being tired. Having the aches and pains of an octogenarian colors everything else in life in shades of grey. I'm ready to find my own answers. This is my one wild and precious life, and I don't want to let go of any of it, not even for one second.

Clicking As I was looking for a link to explain the above mentioned gratitude journal, I found an actual  interactive Gratitude Jar site! How awesome is this? It reminds me of the PostSecret site (and books) but with a much happier spin. Yay!