Psssssst...

Are you a writer?
Are you a writer who needs a community of writers to help you?
Are you a writer who needs a community of writers to help you stay focused?

*crickets*

Oh, so it's just me.
Man. That sucks.

The easiest part of writing for me is getting it started.
All the other parts are difficult.
You know the middle, more of the middle, and the end.
I've got two stories started...but where's the rest of it?

It's like the characters start talking to me
they are real persistant at the beginning about what I should say
and then they begin to whisper
and then they abandon me.

Meanie characters.

That's why I want to join a writer's group for:
inspiration
accountability
focus
feedback.

*sigh*

I joined one a short while ago, but they lost their organizer.
Somebody start one!
Okay, now maybe you are thinking I should start one myself.
Not such a good idea.

Would You Be My Muse?

Dear Sandra Cisneros,

Hello Ms. (uh, it is Ms., right?) Cisneros. Do you mind if I use you for inspiration? I love The House on Mango Street. It's the vignette style that draws me in. My mind-or maybe it's my fingertips-likes brevity and vignettes seem doable. Writing a novel seems...out of my reach. Vignettes though, a bunch of them about one main character, I can do that. I can at least wrap my mind around that, you know?

How long did it take you to write it? Did you submit it without the quotation marks and in double space? Did you listen to music when you would write?

I went to elementary school with a girl named Esperanza. She had a unique shape to her nose. There was this bone in it that ruined her chances of blending in. That bone (and her name) burnt her into my memory for ever. I wonder if she remembers me...?

I've wrote five entries for my main character before I figured out her name. I wanted her to tell me her name and not the other way around. Names are important for me. Are they for you?

I have to go wash the funk off before heading to the book club meeting. I will write you again later.

Thanks so much for what you do,

Nyesha

I finished The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips.
It was enjoyable.
Sistas Speak Literature Book Club meets this Sunday to discuss.
The book has it's own discussion questions...but I'm inclined to ask my own.

Like:

1. Why did the author select the title?

I assumed it was because the main character (Tangy Mae) was dark skinned, but the main character's mother...let me add, crazy mother, has about nine kids and more than one of them is dark skinned...and the darkest one, if memory serves died as a baby (Judy). I wonder if it was something her editor chose. The book does deal with dark skin vs light skin issues, but not enough for to warrent the title.

2. Do mother's like Rozelle Quinn really exist?

She was seriously off her rocker. Prostituting daughters. Murdering babies. Serious beat downs. Swatting imaginary bugs. Whew-wee.

3. Is the author trying to send a subtle message about lesbians via Tarabelle demise?

Just curious. She's the angriest child. Rozelle calls her a bulldyke often. The Rev says she's going to burn in hell. She tries to kill her mother. Instead she burns in a fire.

4. How long did it take for the author to write this book?

Another curiosity.

5. Why isn't this book considered young adult fiction?

Most of the characters are under 18...and Tangy Mae starts off at 13 or 14. Perhaps some of the subject matter is too racy?

Literary Device:Hyperbole

Hyperbole
is not one of the literary devices I use very often.
It's when you use an obvious exageration like:

"I'm so hungry, my stomach is in my back"

or

"We can't even get along for two hours without fighting"

Now, clearly your stomach is not really in your back.
It's in the same place it always is
The exageration places a special emphasis on the extent of your hunger.
You want the person reading/hearing the sentence to note that this hunger is extreme.
This hunger isn't just skipping breakfast. This hunger isn't having two shakes and a sensible dinner.
This hunger is more like fasting for a week. That kind of hunger. The kind that hurts. Physically and psychologically too.

Same goes for the second example.

let her have cake

Yeah, I probably went over my calorie limit
with that second slice of cake,
but at least I got a haiku out of the deal for Dawn:

Laughter and giggles
float in the sky overhead
close, but out of reach.

don't be so paranoid

When it comes to my writing

I need to relax more and:

shut the inner critic off

shut the inner critic up

shut the inner critic down.

Everything that I write doesn't have to be

brilliant, good, or even mediocre

it could be complete crap.

Maybe I have to write the crap

(or "sh*tty first drafts" as the author of bird by bird calls it)

before I get to the type of writing

I can be proud of

and be willing to share.

What is this...like the 8th blog that I've started.

Can I commit to you blog?

Will you be the one?

I hope so...