I have a work in progress and felt my plot had some gaping holes in it. So in January, I took a writing class on plots. One of the assignments was outlining along a very constructive plot point path. I used my WIP and found that the assignment helped. Then I got feedback from the instructor with further suggestions.
It took me until late March to mull over the suggestions and get to work on rewriting and revising.
After spending countless hours sitting at my laptop, I decided to mix in some simple exercises. (My former writing mentor Gerald Petievich once told me that writers need buns of steel.)
I began leg exercises for strength and balance. They are from my PT when I had knee surgery post ski accident. I’ve been reading that falling when we get older is not a good thing. Once elderly start falling, they usually don’t last long. So why wait? I break up my writing with those exercises.
Then I decided to do something about my flabby arms. I started with three pounds weights and now I’m at five. But I have a sharp pain in my neck and shoulders. I was on the phone with my daughter yesterday and she said, “You’re not doing the exercises correctly.”
“How do you know?” I asked. After all she isn’t here.
She said, “Because you sit with your shoulders around your ears. You aren’t engaging the correct muscles.”
I explained that my husband (her dad) showed me how to do them. She insists he doesn’t know how, either. Well, she is coming by for a short visit, dropping off Waffles the Pug while she goes to a destination wedding in Portugal. Maybe I can get some private instructions from her.
In the meantime, I’ve got a pain in the neck and shoulders. Maybe I should stick to legs?
Do you find you need to get up and move after sitting at the computer?
Some of my most embarrassing moments have happened with typos. I’ve been writing professionally since college graduation. I won’t mention exactly how many years that is. But, it’s plenty. Plenty of time to make a few mistakes.
1. I made a typo on SwimSwam. I left out a number on my tips.
My process began with a small idea. Then I’d write a rough sloppy draft. Then I’d hone it down into something tight and simple. Along the way, I cut out one tip that didn’t seem to fit. But, the story didn’t automatically renumber itself. Making a mistake like that on a busy forum like SwimSwam was decidedly embarrassing. The readers most definitely let me know in the comments section that I had made a typo.
You can read that story here. 12 Parent Tips on How to Behave at Practice.
On the bright side, I got a RT by Natalie Coughlin. I was super excited about that, so the story still worked even if it was not perfect.
Natalie Coughlin
2. My second worst typo was when I worked for a PR and advertising firm. I wrote eight newsletters a month, plus three or four press releases daily. It was a busy, intense job. I was in charge of a fundraiser for abused women which was held at a local country club. In my press release that ran just about everywhere — I mistakenly put in my own phone number instead of the club’s to RSVP! There was no taking that one back. I lived through it by hooking up an answering machine.
I felt humiliated though, when my co-workers relentlessly teased me.
3. My all-time worst typo was when I had my own PR and advertising business. I had some super-duper clients including the hospital’s cancer center and a local branch of a major Wall Street firm. When the boss at the Wall Street branch was promoted to corporate headquarters on Wall Street, he still used me for all of his work. I was SO excited! Then I made a typo on a Power Point presentation. It was on the new logo he had me create for the Western Region of the United States of America. Ugh.
He was so angry with me, because I made him look bad. I’ll never forgive myself for that one.
The thing with typos is your brain can trick you into seeing what you want to see.
My tips to catch typos are:
1. Read the piece from the bottom, sentence by sentence.
2. Read it out loud.
3. Put it away for a few days to get a fresh view.
4. Have other people proofread for you.
5. Don’t forget to proofread the title and headers. Numbers, too.
A flow chart my daughter made for me after she proofread an article I wrote for SwimSwam.
Shout out to Ally Bean of The Spectacled Bean for her post yesterday. It inspired me to write about where we get our blog ideas, plus reminded me of the flow chart above that I used in an article called “Does Your Child Want to Swim in College” for SwimSwam. Ally had a flow chart in her post called “Is it a penguin?”
I used to write a weekly sports parenting column for SwimSwam. I came up with an idea every week for five years from my personal experiences, parenting mistakes, plus observing other parents with their kids on the pool deck. I’d get ideas from coaches and interview Olympians and coaches. I even got emails from parents around the world asking me for advice, which started a Dear Abby-type column called “Ask Swim Mom.” I began swimming myself and would ask my coach for ideas while I was hanging onto the wall. I’d ask my daughter to read my columns before turning them in and she had great advice (like adding her flow chart).
Swimming is a sport that lasts 50 weeks a year with practice six days a week, with a couple two-a-day practices thrown in per week. You can imagine how obsessed and focused swimming families can become. My goal with my column was to let kids be kids and own their own sport. In other words, parents need to back off.
Now, that my kids have left the nest, I no longer have the desire to write about swimming or parenting. I began my blog writing financial advice for women. I realized within a few weeks that nobody wanted to read that. Then I moved on to swimming, parenting and things that were going on in my day-to-day life. I’m still writing about my daily life, but life has slowed down. Sometimes my posts are photos of birds from my Bird Buddy or sunrises and sunsets.
This is a photo of my daughter (center) swimming with two club teammates
I wrote this January 2015. There’s not much I’d change nine years later. As far as my New Year’s Resolution that year to swim with my kids’ club team in their Master’s program, it took me until April to get up my courage.But I did it. (Master’s is swimming with a coach for 18 year olds and older.)
Kick It up a Notch! Or How to Build on Last Year’s Resolutions
This year, I might start swimming Masters.
I sat down to write my New Year’s Resolutions story for my blog when I got distracted by checking out FaceBook. Just for a few mintues, mind you.
What did I see? An article written by a friend of mine, Susan Murphy, published in a local wellness and health publication, called Desert Health. She wrote about New Year’s Resolutions, too. You can read her article HERE. Susan’s a Ph.D., life coach, business advisor and author of several books.
I tried a couple of her tips last January. I made goals that were small. They weren’t overwhelming. And, they were specific.
Too many people fail at their resolutions. Last year, I managed to make four of my goals happen.
My successes: writing, exercising and reading the Bible every single day. I’m proud to say I did it! I also started bleuwater a year ago. I posted at least one story a week. It’s rewarding to look back on my work and know that I didn’t give up.
I also have a list of failures. But, I don’t care to discuss them right now.
So what am I going to try to do this year? As Emeril would say, “Kick it up a notch!”
I write my morning pages without fail. I have several writing projects I’m consumed with. But I want to do more. Make more progress.
My exercise is very consistent, but not challenging enough. I am getting stronger, but I need to kick it up. I walk several miles every morning and then in the evening with my husband. I am thinking about either joining a gym or swimming with masters.
What are your New Year’s goals?
How did you do with your resolutions last year?
A look at a goal for 2024:
FYI, I want to revise my rough draft of my NaNoWriMo project from two years ago. I struggled with it in 2023. I took a suggestion from LA from Waking up on the Wrong Side of 50 and signed up for an online writing class. It begins in two weeks. I’ll be off and going on one of my New Year’s resolutions.
Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors. I enjoyed her book “The Dutch House.”
I read an interview of Ann Patchett in the Wall Street Journal by Lane Florsheim called
“Ann Patchett Shares Her Reading Resolutions for 2024“
The author, most recently of ‘Tom Lake,’ talks about her to-be-read pile, running her beloved Nashville bookstore and when she gets her best writing done
I learned some interesting facts about this author including that she owns a bookstore in Nashville. She writes on a treadmill desk. (I never heard of that before). She also has a tip for writers to work during their most productive time of day. She said it’s different for everyone and we all know when it is. She doesn’t have a set number of words she must write each day or a set schedule.
Of her nine novels, two children’s books and five nonfiction books, I’m not a fan of all the ones I’ve read. I admire how she has such diversity in her writing. Her fiction books take on different tones, styles and subject matters. That’s probably why I absolutely love some — and others not so much. I’ve actually put down one or two and didn’t finish them. On the other hand, her writing speaks to me and I find some of her books are outstanding.
Another one of my favorites by Ann Patchett.
Here’s a snippet from the WSJ article:
Reporter: I read that you wrote “Tom Lake,” in its entirety, on a treadmill desk. How was that experience, and what were those hours like?
Ann Patchett: I loved it. I would go to work around 9 a.m. I would stay on the treadmill anywhere from two to three hours at 1.5 [miles per hour], which is slow. Usually, I would get off when my feet hurt, when I would just start to think, “Oh. I’m tired.” Then I would get off, and I would not go back to the book for the rest of the day.
I always think about Liz Gilbert. All great advice comes from Elizabeth Gilbert. That’s what I should say. She says in her book “Big Magic” that everybody has two hours a day in which you’re your best, and everybody knows when those hours are. She said, “Don’t spend those hours answering email.” One of the things that makes the treadmill desk so great is the fact that the two things that I want to do in the morning when I get up are write and exercise. I’m like, “Oh. Look. I’ve done them both. That’s great.”
I also learned that she used to write for Bridal Guide and wrote so many articles for issues that they changed her byline for some so it didn’t look like she wrote the entire magazine. In one article she asked for wedding advice and shared a tip from her stepmother:
“[She] told me that the brain naturally focuses on what is wrong, what it doesn’t like—towels on the floor, or somebody who interrupts, or somebody who’s late,” Patchett, 59, says. “And so then, every time your partner does that, it’s just like hitting a gong.” The good things, by contrast, often go unnoticed or forgotten, her stepmother told her. “She said, ‘It is possible, with practice and discipline, to flip the equation.’”
Are you an Ann Patchett fan? What are some of her books you like? Who are your favorite authors?
I noticed this large hawk in the tree outside our casita, after I saw Olive the cat crouched against the screen door fascinated. I’ve been looking for it online and in a bird book, but so far haven’t come up with a species. It had lodged something in a branch and spent an hour eating it. Then it stayed in the tree for hours.
Now on to the topic of today’s blog post. The other morning while asleep I dreamed I was invited “spur of the moment” to a neighbor’s house that I don’t know very well for dinner. I was supposed to bring lamb chops and scallops and I had about one hour. I woke up, and was so relieved that I didn’t have to do this “spur of the moment.” Whew!
Those words stuck with me because I enjoy idioms and finding out the etymology of words.
Spur of the moment — in great haste, referring to the use of spurs to urge a horse to move.
That one idiom had me look up other ones including above board, aftermath, ahead of the curve, baloney, haywire, make a clean sweep and pass the muster. The information I found on Idiom Origins was in more detail, but here are my “Cliff Notes:”
Above Board — a gambling term from the 17th century derived from card playing when cards had to be above the table in view.
Underhand — the opposite of above board.
Aftermath — from the 17th century it means the result or consequence of something. In the 1500s it was called aftermowth and meant the second mowing of summer grass.
Ahead of the curve — became popular in the 1980s in business circles referring to a graph and being ahead of trends or in the forefront.
Baloney — means rubbish or nonsense. Two theories are that it came from the Irish immigrants word blarney. Second, it’s Italian based on cheap bologna that is made of bits and pieces
Haywire — when things go wrong or out of control. In the early 1900s haywire was used to describe something poorly constructed. It was based on cheap wire that tangled easily and was used to bale hay.
Pass Muster — a military term from the 15 or 16th century where a soldier passes inspection. Now it means you undergo a review or examination successfully.
Make a clean sweep — now means to win everything but it originated with cleaning or sweeping in the 19th century.
One I couldn’t find was hornswoggle. There was an idea it came from Texas in the 1800s from lassoing a bull around the horns, but there is no evidence.
What are some of your favorite sayings and where did the words originate from?
Here’s a video of the hawk enjoying a meal in our tree.
This is Waffles, my daughter’s pug in an ugly Christmas sweater I bought him. This story isn’t about Waffles, but Doggin, who my husband had growing up. But I thought this cute photo of Waffles was worth posting, since this about a dog.
I wrote a children’s fiction story called Doggin, based loosely on my husband’s dog. It was published in the Los Angeles Times section for kids, which unfortunately, they got rid of along with the wonderful editor who put me on contract.
Here’s the story:
‘Doggin’
BY ELIZABETH WICKHAM
One day after school, Billy found an empty kennel.
“Doggin!” Billy called. He had to find Doggin before Granny did.
Billy ran to Mrs. Fixie’s house.
“That hound of yours was here,” Mrs. Fixie said. “Look at my flower garden!”
In real life, Doggin did catch a burglar. I don’t believe my husband and Doggin made it into the newspaper though. My husband said Doggin was a hound dog mix. I wish I had a photo of him to share.
What is your favorite breed of dog? Or do you prefer mutts or mixed? Or cats?
