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My humorous thoughts about life.

"My Humorous and Helpful Thoughts About Teaching / Educational Resources for Your Classroom / Music and Random Fun"

Sunday, September 2, 2012

GUTGAA Meet and Greet

I am joining Deana Barnhart's week of fun. To get in on the action, hop over to her blog at GUTGAA. Now for the meet and greet I will give you the rare opportunity to get to know me by answering her questions.


-Where do you write?
Where don't I write? I like to sit at the dining room table, kitchen table, or curled on my love seat, preferably with a little love dog by my side. 

-Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?
I spy with my little eye a Millie dog stretch on the couch. That's right, she's not on my lap this time.

-Favorite time to write?

I like to write on week end mornings or at night. 

-Drink of choice while writing?

While writing, I'll occasionally sip a cup of coffee (mornings), water, or Crystal Light sweetened water. Currently I have nothing to drink and my mouth is a bit parched. Excuse me while I fetch a cup of water.
Ah. That's better, but now I have to–TMI. My Honey Bear dog likes to push the door open for a little toilet love. 
-When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?

I'm what you call adaptable. Sometimes I write in silence while at other times the TV drones in the background. If I'm in a serious writing mood or struggling to make progress, I'll dim the lights and wrap my head around a bit of classical music. 
-What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?
When I was a child, my mother told me to never eat anything unwrapped on Halloween. Being obedient to a fault, year after year I passed up Mrs. Zimmerman's amazing homemade donuts because, yeah, they weren't wrapped. 
This gave me the idea of a child strangled in a cocoon of mother trying to break free into a fun but daring life. Not that my mom was overly protective, she wasn't, but I've known helicopter parents who breed children who can't do a thing for themselves. These kids need a story about too much mother love. Furthermore, a third grader with a spiky Mohawk and lots of personality gave me my main character's mentor and thus MRS. ZIMMERMAN'S DONUTS was hatched.

-What's your most valuable writing tip?
Replace "be" verbs with action verbs. I know it's basic, but I've see many writers ignore this beginning writing tip. Those who learn to strengthen verbs blossom to a whole new level.



 

9 comments:

Dawn Allen said...

Hi, Joyce! Looking forward to the fun with GUTGAA this month. You must be a dog lover like me. :-)

Kelley Lynn said...

Ooo, active voice. GREAT advice. Something we all must be aware of.

SO nice to meet you!

Alleged Author said...

I definitely agree with replacing "be" verbs. Great advice!

Lauren said...

It's not just the helecopter parents, but also the cell phone parents ("My thirty year old child needs me" or "my six year old has to be able to call me if his teacher is mean") and the "I know my rights" parents and the calculator parents and and and

I think we're now dealing with the first generation of parents who were raised by helecopter parents. Freaky, and rather frightening. Interesting that they come in so many flavors, though.

Did you know you have three linky-lists?

Lauren

Stephsco said...

Be verbs are a good one; or rearrange the sentence to show it differently. Sometimes I find I'm struggling too much or the sentence sounds stilted, so I leave in the be verb. Sparingly, it's cool. Aw, Honey Bear is cute! <3 Pets :)

Catherine said...

Dear Joyce, It is always nice to get to know my blogging friends. Thank you for sharing. Blessings, Catherine

Jeannette said...

Nice inspiration! The young ones with the spunk and personality will grow up to be old ones with spunk and personality... something we should treasure!

Unknown said...

Hi, and great writing tip. I often write passive sentences and it's a lot of work to go back and fix it up. I should focus more on that when I'm actually writing. Also, your dogs are adorable. We have two golden retrievers who are a ton of fun. We love our dogs. Good luck with GUTGAA! If you have the time, stop by my blog! Jadziabrandli.blogspot.com

Creepy Query Girl said...

Love the inspiration for your story and I agree, a book like that should be out there! Great to meet you!