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Hi folks, I'm continuing my series on writer myths and that is coming up, but first, I've got to mention some egg action. You may remember that once upon a time I chatted about eggs.  It's been a while since I've had an opportunity to mention this fun part of my blog. This week we are near the hatching phase of "egg-dom." So, news is to come!

Now, back to myths. Last week, I chatted about the myth of bad reviews. This week I'm moving on to the myth of "kill your darlings." Okay, it is true that you must often kill your darlings. I mean, most of us remember some relationship that just wasn't moving us forward, and it had to go. Sometimes, we write bland, flat drivel that needs to find the nearest circular file, and that's fine.

But there are times when you need to put down the murder weapon. I mean, killing some of those darlings is a crime or  at least a crying shame.

Here is my story. Once upon a time I was collaborating with another author on a project. I would write an awesome line, and the other author would love it too. Then a few days later, I'd get into slasher mode and ditch my awesome line. Delete.

My collaborator was unhappy with the slashing of "awesome" lines.

I answered, "I can always do better." But certain things slowly became clear. I can't aways do better.

My collaborator was like, "I think you are killing our story, and please stop it."

I learned something I love about writing in that moment. Every story is about a kind of collaboration. You and the reader are sitting by a fire. You are the spell maker; they are the mesmerized.  If you have created magic the first time, just let it be.

Sometimes you will get it right without trying. Don't second guess yourself. Never leave genius on the cutting room floor.

See you next week with more about writer myths, and perhaps a reason to throw a party!

And now for a mythical doodle. This one is called "Pixie."

Hi folks, this is the last weekend to VOTE for THE BIG FUZZY COAT. I appreciate any and all support. :)

For golden advice, I'm going to recommend that you spend some time mining your material to help you create your best possible book. What does that mean? You may have created a book with thick veins of gold running through it, but if you don't mine the gold, your book will be one of those full of good ideas but never quite pulling any of them off.

Mining is about cutting through the layers of inessential that hide the gold. This is about embracing a story length that showcases your story. Yes, it often requires the tossing of reams of wonderful material, but the refinement makes the best parts shine. And that should be the goal of very writer.

Mining also is about making the most of the material available to you. Is there something in your current work-in-progress that is just not being utilized to its full potential? You need to make sure you are making the most of every opportunity. I find the mining often rises out of the quirks and desires of my main character.

Finally mining is about making pathways to the gold. Deep shafts lead to the mineral deposits mines. Other mines strip everything away, leaving minerals exposed and easy to access. One job of the novelist is to make the gold of your story accessible to your readers. There many different ways to make stories approachable: save the cat, make your characters suffer, make your main character lovable, clarify goals, up the stakes, and up them again and again, try pinning that point of no return to the novel's center,get to the story's core.

Dig deep this week! Seize the day! See you next week.

My doodle this week: "Teddy."




Here is a quote to think about.

Mining is like a search-and-destroy mission. Stewart Udall

Hello, friends. Another week has raced past. We are rolling toward Thanksgiving here in the States at amazing speed. I am working on a feast but I could use a really good recipe for Chocolate Cream Pie. So if you have one, post it here.

To my NANOWRIMO folks -- keep it up! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. You can do this!

I discussed with a friend this week the bonding that comes with sharing a recipe. I have a few that go way back. The cornbread my grandmother made, the kolaches from aunt's friend, my mom's sauteed green beans -- I think you can say a lot with food. I noticed that lots of writers just skip over the food in their stories, ignoring the bonding potential. I often write a scene with two characters making pancakes or sandwiches or something. It helps me explore surprising character connections. I don't always keep the scene in the work, but I do write it. Break some bread and see where it leads.

Thanks for dropping by. See you next week. Seize the day.\

Don't laugh at me. Here's another tip I use to make it real. I make covers of the books that I dream to publishing some day. Here is the cover of one the books I'm dreaming to see in print; my doodle this week is my dream cover of Fractals.



Writing is like walking in a deserted street. Out of the dust in the street you make a mud pie. John le Carre

Hi folks, I hope that you are taking time to write. I know it's hard work to put words on the page, and you may get discouraged sometimes. Here's a little secret I've learned. Some days I feel like my work is brilliant. Other days it's more like "at least I did something." Still others I actually feel like a two-bit hack who on her best day can write a grocery list. The secret is this: none of my feelings have any significance. The only thing important is that I show up.

I've met so many writers that feel desperation to create something good, something that will reach readers. Heck, I'm one of them. This morning the light of dawn nudged me out of my dreams. I was still sleepy, and I certainly was not about to pop out of bed. I was in the lazy place half-way between sleeping and waking. The whole sky was bathed in a rosy hue, softening the rough edges. Ah, then I understood what the universe was trying to say to me. I'm just like the birds singing at dawn. The sun has shown up. We have a new day to live, a new day to explore, it will all turn out in the end.

Wake up and let go of all the noise. While you have today, keep trying. Let hope speak to in rosy sunrises or three little birds singing out your door. In all bleakness that is the world, the evil sprung from Pandora's box, hope is here. Show up and spin out your stories. Your gift will make a place for you. No worries. See you next week.

This week's doodle is called "Three little birds."
'

Here is today's quote is also the inspiration for this post:

"Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin', "This is my message to you-ou-ou:"

Singin': "Don't worry about a thing, worry about a thing, oh!
Every little thing gonna be all right. Don't worry!"
Bob Marley

Hello, folks. Back the weekly posts. November is a marathon of creativity for many of us. We end it worn, ready to rest until spring. I pull back in December and slow down. I feel the rhythms of the Earth deeply. Winter has crept over the world. Grasses have turned a warm honey. The sky is often blinding blue. I even grab a jacket in the evenings when I go for a walk. The world sleeps, and I listen for the whispers in my soul of the new stories that are to come.

I hope you take time to be quiet, to wait, and to listen as we in the Northern climes march toward the winter solstice. Here's a little thought I jotted down earlier --

Quietly Listening

My life stands still
I breathe slowly
And enjoy the amber sunlight
Slanting through Chinaberry branches.
Golden leaves form a messy ring
around a slender white truck.
I’m not in a perfect place,
but I quietly listen.

I hope you hear the first whispers of some epic work today. Seize the day. See you next week.

Doodles are back. I call this one "Hug a Lion."



A friend is one before whom I may think aloud. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Click here to learn more about the Golden Coffee Cup.

Ah, the last day, as the Bard says, "Parting is such sweet sorrow." To the new folks, I try to pick some wondrous spirit that has departed to far shores for the last day of the Golden Coffee Cup. That said I have two this year.
The first "teen-aged magician's" high five comes from the incomparable Sid Fleishman.



I loved him as a girl. My copy of BULLWHIP GRIFFIN was dog-eared, worn out and read over and over over. BTW, this book was first called: BY THE GREAT HORN SPOON! just for FYI. Anyway, I had a full blown literary crush.

Fast forward a lot of years to 2000. You can imagine how surreal I felt as an adult to meet Sid and really have a chance to talk to him, to get to know him just a little. He was the best. I can't almost keep from crying when I think of what an encouraging soul he was, how welcomed into the fold of children's writer he made me feel, how he made me believe that I could do ever so much more as a children's writer than I had even let myself imagine...

Here's a great quote from Sid: I write what I am. I may become a yellow-haired boy, a prankish wizard's ghost, or even a dog with arrogant wolf's eyes. But beneath all the make-up, wigs, and putty noses -- that's me, off on a fresh adventure and having as much fun as I can. Go check out his writing tips.

I'm glad we can still pick up Sid's books and experience his magic. Thank you for tossing out so much!

I have another spirit I must mention too. Today’s second high five comes from the never –to-be-forgotten, “happy endings” freak -- Eva Ibbotson.


She wrote one of my favorite starts to a book -- from ISLAND OF THE AUNTS: “Kidnapping children is not a good idea. All the same, sometimes it has to be done.”

I was hooked.

What a promise. Here is article about Eva: article about Eva. I hope we all find a teacup worth of her success. I hope we write about as varied characters as wizards, ghosts, rain forests, ballet dancers, and mustached aunts. I hope we all find our happy endings. :)

Come back tomorrow when I announce this year’s winners of the piping hot Golden Coffee Cup. You have till midnight to post your goal stories! Keep going you are almost, almost there!

Here is a quote from Eva: The thing you have to do is keep writing, the habit is too ingrained, you can't stop.

Click here to learn more about the Golden Coffee Cup.

Today’s "signing a book" high five is from one Mary Pope Osborne, author of the Magic Tree House series.

I love folks who get their audience. They understand the purpose of creating content for children. They don’t write with hubris. They're not fancy -- "look how well I can write stuff" is not going on. The writing is invisible. I love an author who is about disappearing so that kids jump into world created by the author.

Hope the magic of disappearing helps. We are winding down now. I hope as you reach for your goal (you are almost, almost there!)you take time to be glad for the journey. Snap! Snap! Snap! I hope your stuff is as hot as Ms. Osborne’s.

See y’all tomorrow for another steaming hot cuppa.

Hey this is just a good thought and I believe it will help you on this journey:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
— Mark Twain

Click here to learn more about the Golden Coffee Cup.

Welcome! I hope you go for a walk today, then I hope you get to work. We've only got a few days left. Snap! Snap! Snap!

Stasia Kehoe is one of the most human, humble, fun folks I know. Here’s a link to her blog. If you don’t know about Writer on the Side, yes, you will thank me later. Her upcoming book AUDITION (Viking, Fall 2011) is going to flip your world. Her words reveal reality -- no easy feat. Here her secretary offers a furry high five!



Stasia brings today's hot java:

I am so happy to be sharing a few thoughts about writing during Molly's Golden Coffee Cup Challenge. I've been writing for many years (okay, decades) but just got an agent and book deal about six months age. It's been a process of great joy and discovery and, honestly, I wouldn't trade all those child-rearing, writing-on-the-side years for anything.

Along the way, an important discovery I made is that writing is about getting close to the bone: Connecting personally to the characters you write--telling their truths. And, most importantly, NOT SAVING ANYTHING.

What do I mean? If you find yourself thinking, "Oh, readers are going to be shocked when they discover what I'm going to write three chapters from now" or "I love this turn-of-phrase but I'd like to keep it in another manuscript I've got in the drawer--not use it for this one," then you are SAVING. Holding back. Staying a bit too far away from the raw edges, the breathless moments.

To use a sports metaphor, you've got to leave it all on the field--to run every race so that you're so tired you feel like you'll never run another. Sure, it can be scary to have something major happen to a character early in the novel, or to use up every great metaphor you've ever constructed in just one manuscript (trust me, you'll think of more).

To be clear, I'm not saying that pacing isn't important and that plot secrets can't be kept but there's also a way in which you've got to feel like you're giving everything over to your story in each moment.

For me, I have to let the story own me--to feel like I'm standing, blinking under a magnifying glass, a blinding light--and to allow myself to react without hesitation and worry about the consequences later.

So, seize every moment as you write, put your passion on the page, and don't save anything. Happy Writing!

Come back for more hot stuff tomorrow!

Today's quote: Only with absolute fearlessness can we slay the dragons of mediocrity that invade our gardens. George Lois

Click here to learn more about the Golden Coffee Cup.
Oh, I hope you are on track! If you have swerved off the path, get back on track now. If you are tired, take a deep breath, center and get going again. You can do this!

Today’s hot java comes from my friend Chris Eboch. Chris is a powerhouse author of several books, most recently, her HAUNTED series. Here she is with a "Resting on a big hike" high five.

Here's a note from Chris: Here I am in the Grand Canyon last June. The hike in was 14 miles, during a heat wave, with temps over 100°. Here, we are 3 miles from the top during the 10-mile, 5000 feet-elevation gain hike out. Do I look tired? I was beyond exhausted. Kind of like how you feel during your umteenth revision, when you know in theory you're getting closer but the end still seems too far to reach. And the key to success is the same with writing and with hiking. Take a break if you need one. Give yourself plenty of fuel. Give and receive encouragement to others slogging along the path.

Best advice ever, and I hop you listen to it. You are going to reach your goals. Keep going. I know what it is like to be weary, too. Be kind to yourself. Come back refreshed and ready for more piping hot java.

And a last thought to ponder as you go forward today.
Life always gets harder toward the summit - the cold increases, the responsibility increases. Friedrich Nietzsche

Click here to learn more about the Golden Coffee Cup.

Oooh, I am so proud of you for hanging in here.

Today, don’t be afraid to think big! How to Train Your Dragon author, Cressida Cowell. Here she is offering a-friend-of-a-dragons’ high five.



I hope that your work has just as cool a journey, that it inspires others, that it spawns all kinds of mayhem like movies and stuff. Dreamworks might come calling someday. Just go with the fun of writing. Be sarcastic, funny, and deadpan. Roll out a great yarn and make ‘em laugh. You might not win many awards but the favorite one of writers -- scads of readers all over the world.

I'm glad you are stretching so far and for such good purpose. Keep working and come back tomorrow for more hot java.


I was not a natural. . . . This is the story of becoming . . . the Hard Way.
— Cressida Cowell (How to Train Your Dragon)

Click here to learn more about the Golden Coffee Cup.

Today you are over halfway! Let me know how it is going! I will cheer, I will howl, I will jump, I will sing. Whoa, you are making progress! P.S. If things aren't going well, I promise to commiserate.

Today’s high five is in the form of some wonderful artwork. Gaston Bussiere offers a holy high five by channeling the spirit of a young gal called Joan of Arc.


This painting makes me want to write a whole book about some gal who hears voices and turns the world upside down. I’m nearsighted and the world has always been imbued with pastel wonderfulness. This painting really captures the way I like to connect with the world. It seems to glow with the sense of otherworldliness. I hope you try to connect with something like that today. Let it pull you along the path to creating.

Keep working. Keep believing. You gotta have faith. See you tomorrow for more of the hot stuff.

Beneath words and logic are emotional connections that largely direct how we use our words and logic.
Jane Roberts

Click here to learn more about the Golden Coffee Cup.

Hi, Golden Coffee Cuppers! We are one third of the way to our goals. We are so awesome. Today's "Live Long and Prosper" high five comes from author Holly Cupala, author of Tell Me a Secret. We are total Trekkie fan girls.


In Holly's words:

A couple of years ago for Molly’s Golden Coffee Cup, as I questioned my sanity for committing to write 25K words on my work-in-progress, I accidently hit on my best writing secret--actually, a couple of secrets—and had my first 5K day ever...

Cracking the Whip with Cherry Caramels.

Ok, so the caramels were great, but they weren't the secret. The secret is this:

I set the timer. For 15 minutes. With a modest goal, 300 words. I usually hit 400 or more, and within an hour, I had over 1500! By the end of the day, I'd hit 5K.

I've been singing the praises of this method ever since. I mentioned the strategy to a new Facebook friend, and here's what she had to say:

I did the egg timer thing and my goodness. It started slow with 96 words in my first 15. The second yielded 193 and so on and so on. My most recent in 15 minutes... 338 words! I was overjoyed.

My crit partner and I have started doing timed writing online at night and comparing counts before dueling again. It's fun for her and working wonders for me.

...Which leads to Secret #2: find a friend to crack the whip with you. For me, this happened accidentally. I posted about my 5k day, and the next day, writing friend Jolie decided to do it, too. The challenge was on!

Jolie is Better Than Bum Glue.
This is the exchange, by the way, that led to the Summer Revision Smackdown, where you will find all kinds of excellent revision tips from favorite authors.

The novel I started with those 25K words (and later revised during the Summer Revision Smackdown) will release Fall 2011, tentatively titled Don’t Breathe a Word. So I guess that would make Secret #3: Cultivate patience…
______

Thanks, Holly. Come back tomorrow for more sizzling stuff!

Here's a good quote: Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.H. Jackson Brown

Click here to learn more about the Golden Coffee Cup. Today my friend, the incomparable Linda Joy Singleton is here to cheer us on!



This is the best kind of high five. Linda offers a high five on a Caribbean cruise excursion train ride around the island of St. Kitts. In her words,

"I was touched by these school kids who seemed so interested in learning and excited by tourists passing by. There had also been a traveling Logos Hope ship docked next to our cruise ship. I asked about it about found out the ship is a traveling library from a Christian group that invite uniformed students aboard. Students lined up all day to come in to the library where they have the opportunity to enjoy books and take books home. I was impressed with their travels sharing a love of books.

I've always loved books. In 4th grade I came in 2nd for a contest to see who read the most books and I read about 30, mostly mysteries like Nancy Drew. This interest led to my writing a fan letter to a favorite author and amassing a collection of juvenile girl series that fills up an entire room. My dream at age 14, written down in a writing school application, was to have my own mystery series. And it happened with the 1995 publication of MY SISTER THE GHOST from Avon books. Then came CHEER SQUAD, REGENERATION, STRANGE ENCOUNTERS, THE SEER, DEAD GIRL and upcoming 2012 GOTH GIRL Mysteries.

When it comes to goal setting, I make writing a daily habit. I get up every morning, turn on my computer then check email to clear my head and then turn to my latest creative project. I take a break for lunch and exercise them come back and often stay at my computer all day.

Right now I'm going through an uncertain time. After having book contracts to work on for the last 6 years, I'm waiting to find out what my next project will sell. It's hard to wait on other people's decisions, so I work on the things I can control. And I can control my daily writing. So even though I'm not sure if I'll suddenly be offered a new contract, I've started a new project that may or may not ever sell or even be finished. But I've written a first chapter and I'm excited by this story. So I'll keep writing. It's what I do best.

Linda Joy Singleton's new book is out -- MAGICIAN'S MUSE/Flux. Check out her website or on Facebook or Twitter. And around the corner is her next book, GRAVE SECRETS - A Thorn Goth Girl Mystery coming 2012 (Flux)

I hope that you are as moved as I am by this. If this inspiration doesn't warm up your heart for the creative journey, I don't know what will.

Quote of the day:

If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun. Katherine Hepburn

Hello, friends, hope you had a creative week. I've been thinking a lot about honesty lately. Here is a thing I've learned -- if I am brave and write down the things that I'm afraid to write down, then I find that my writing stretches beyond me. Locked doors open inside me as I let the deep things I think live on the page. I find this whole bravery thing snowballs into my work. My vision clears. Writing what I think helps me. I see what is right and true. And if anything is wrong with what I am thinking that comes out to. Putting my thoughts on the page helps me get at heart of things.

I've also found all this honesty spills into my work. I am more willing to take risks. I don't feel the weight of censors or critics, and I get to the business of shaping my stories the way they want to be shaped. I'm able to make my way into the deepest water of understanding. Emily Dickinson wrote a little poem that sticks with me. "I never saw the moor. I never saw the sea. Yet know I how the heather looks and and what a wave must be. I never visited God, nor visited in heaven, but sure am I of the spot as if the chart were given." Her assurance of things unseen gives me boldness. Her truth changes me. I hope you are getting the sense of the absolute power of writing what needs to be written.

So this week, write down your secret, write down that thought you don't write down because you know it will offend others, write down your anger, your grief, write down something hidden. See what happens when you open wide the door of honesty. I'm just saying, try it. Seize the day. See you next week.

My doodle this week is a little collage. I call it "Sunrise".



The highest compact we can make with our fellow is - "Let there be truth between us two forevermore." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson