By: Molly Blaisdell,
on 8/29/2009
Blog: Seize the Day (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: molly blaisdell, scream, basics of first chapters, be kind, otherside, petroglyphs, Add a tag
Hi folks, well, I guess you can tell that the writing has not been going so well this week.
Oh, my gosh, I want to toss all my work-in-progress books out the window right now. I'm not going to do it, but the feeling is there. I'd don't know if I can write a great first chapter. I can write a perfectly adequate first chapter, but a stupendous sizzling first chapter seems to be beyond my grasp.
A first chapter is really the last chapter of a book. It serves as the cornerstones. Most people create that last chapter after they have set a whole universe in motion. The first chapter makes the promise, hooks the reader, and sets the bar for what is to come. I can square up my books, but it's nothing fancy, like my house, a big brown box of a house. It's design is truly the "cardboard box." I want more, but it's all I can seem to achieve.
I have little advice for you this week. Howl at the moon. Kick against the pricks, ouch!. Hit the wall. But don't give up. One thing you might want to do to get past this is bump in the road is to envision what it's like on the other side of that wall. Remember that feelings are fickle, and next week, eh, this will be a forgotten memory. Last of all, be nice to yourself.
I copied this off a petroglyph at the Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico. Writing books is like this. I call my doodle, "Juggling Guy". 
Remember: ©Molly Blaisdell, all rights reserved. If you want to use my cool doodles, ask permission first. It is so wrong to take people's doodles without permission!
The playlist hit this week is Brendan James and "The Other Side". Yes, the journey makes us stronger.
And last, a quote to tuck in your heart for the week.
Hear the other side. St. Augustine
I've never heard of these before, they are incredible! We have similar mysterious carvings over here, I think they're called cup and ring designs - it would be so interesting to discover what they all meant.
I guess these are our versions of 'cave paintings' (although nowhere near as ancient). Cool, and mysterious. Probably part of their long-lasting appeal. And probably done for different reasons than the ones in your part of the world.