Making Changes in Writing and in Life

It's been made clear to me, especially lately, that making changes in writing and in life is the name of the game.

And change isn't always easy.


But it's exciting!

Who wouldn't want to make their writing better, more coherent, more exciting to read? Who wouldn't want to take their own life out of the pit of boredom, sameness? Who wouldn't want to take the next grand opportunity for growth when presented?

I know I would.

Still, change can be pretty scary, too, though I'm one for moving through it anyway. Who knows what will be on the other side of it?

A better book?

A better life?

Here's hoping you make today better than yesterday.

Kathryn

Growing Zones for Your Next Novel

Something happens to me in the middle of winter. I begin to consider what things are going to look like in the spring.

Perhaps we're all like that. Already tired of piles of snow, wind chill factors, bundling up, trying not to slide on the ice, we're ready for bright blooms, green grass and a walk in the air without being worried about getting too cold.

Growing zones are a bit like that. Sure, there are places in your home that you may still be able to grow a plant, but you'd rather be planting your garden. You may even be able to take a vacation to a warm zone. You can take pictures to remember the sights and the smells, though you probably won't be bringing a plant back.

The best you can do is to enjoy the zone you are in when you're in it rather than complaining about the zone that's there. If you forget like me, the complaining escalates until the enjoyment of the season has diminished to nothing.

Photo by: Smabs Sputzer, courtesy of Flickr

Writing can be a bit like that. We may have a new short story but get hung up on the season we should be writing about. Consider writing about winter the way you are experiencing it right now rather than searching for a fond memory of the past. Not only will you begin to feel some joy, your thoughts will be where they probably need to be to make you the most happy--in the current moment.



Photo by Capt' Courageous, courtesy of
Flickr

I don't know about you, but my growing zone right now includes piles of white snow, icicles dripping almost to the ground, and trees and trellises filled with crusty, white icy cubes. Just yesterday, all this joy made its way into my new novel and I could feel it.

For this moment at least I'm happy for the growing zone I am experiencing, though not much plant growing is taking place; if you consider plant growing in the literal sense. I have a poinsettia in the living room, still burning red though losing a few of its leaves, but I do have my growing grandchildren to fill in the growing zone gaps.

Believe it or not.

Change

I know it's not Christmas yet, but I have been feeling it. Have you?

The weather is cooler, the leaves in my back yard sprinkled across the grass like granola. I have no other way to describe it. I am amazed at the changes that have occurred in only a few short weeks.

Just last month I was in Texas, where the air was heavy with heat and I was expected to drink more water just so I could keep going. Two weeks after I'd returned I began to notice the changes in weather. I called my daughter in Texas. She'd noticed it, too. Instead of over 100 degrees, they were at 92.

Change. All we really know about it is that it will continue to occur. And as the seasons change and fall turns to winter and winter to spring and spring to summer, we'll finish writing that book and start another. We may decide to take a class on writing or to attend a conference.

 

In a nutshell, we'll grow.

I look with wondering awe at some of my earliest work, wondering when the change happened. When awkwardly constructed phrases turned into something worth reading.

And I am glad for change.

Book Reviews that Teach

Book reviews. I've been getting a few of them lately for my new book, "Conquering Your Goliaths: A Parable of the Five Stones" and a few things have remained consistent.

• Wanting to read the book--again.
• Taking notes in the margins.
• Wanting to gather their own stones to remember what they have learned.

My second book

• Desiring to use what they have read for their current struggles.

Yes, all writers need a little pat on the back and I'm happy for those I have recently been given. I am also grateful for those reviewers who have struggled with certain aspects of my book and haven't been afraid to share their feelings. These views help me too. For I will be writing and publishing again, you can be sure of that.

I'd like to think that all writers are continually learning, growing and perfecting their craft. Now that winter is over and the spring buds are peeking through the soil, I am thinking again of the growth and learning I have received through the years by writing and by getting reviewed and critiqued.

Sometimes it's hard to hear, but I am grateful for the challenge to improve my next work.