S stands for Sammy!! Caption Contest part four...

Happy Friday, all!  I'm sneaking in a few things today.  Friday's are generally my Find the Story Friday segment.  But, for the A-Z challenge I've been holding a Caption Contest every Friday, featuring pics of my dog, Sammy.  And since today is "S" day - Sammy it is!

Hit me with your best captions ~ I dare ya!  :)  And in case you didn't notice - I'm over the 300 follower hump!!  Woo Hoo!!!!  You know what that means, right?  $50 Amazon gc up for grabs!!  You can read the details of the contest HERE.

It's also the final challenge for Rachael Harrie's Second Crusade Platform.  The Crusade has been awesome!  And she's got another one coming up, if you missed out on this one.  You can read all about it AND the guidelines of today's challenge by clicking HERE.  Show don't Tell flash fic is the game today - here's mine:

Sammy was a simple pup.  A belly scratch, good food and a soft bed were about all he needed.  He did have a nagging fetish for fresh robin meat, though...  He loved the shimmer of the birds' wings as they flitted down to green grassy patches and pecked the ground for juicy worms.  He loved the smells of their feathers, that caught the scent of everything on the wind.  But, what he probably loved most was the saccadic movement of a bird's body when clenched in his sharp puppy teeth.  Their incessant chirping made him bite a little harder until it all stopped.  Substance.  That's what he liked about robins with their crested, russet breasts.  So much heartier than the bluejays... if only he could get his paws on a little salt, the meal would be perfection! 

Today, however, Sammy hid behind the big black bbq machine in the back yard.  Puppy drool leaked from his maw and his tummy rumbled.  A fat, particularly smelly robin hopped around in the grass a few feet away from him.  But, the bird was flanked on either side by four more robins.  Sammy couldn't be sure, but were they birdy bodyguards?  Their black pebble eyes darted in every direction and the fat one was the only one pecking around for worms.  A chill ran along Sammy's flank and his fur raised high on his back.  Did he dare it?

Hmmm.  Perhaps I'll tell you another time.  Hope you enjoyed.  Have a great weekend!!  And don't forget to add your best caption in the comments!  (for the record, the robin fetish is completely fictional.  My dog really is a sweet as he looks!  Mostly...)

Poor Fishy! A Crusader Challenge and a blurb on rejections...

Welcome to Writerly Wednesday at The QoP!  Now, I really do have a writing tip/life lesson for you.  But, I'm going to squeeze in a little flash fiction here.  Hope you don't mind? 

I'm part of Rachael Harrie's 2nd Crusade!  If you haven't heard about this awesome writing venture - it's a group of writers helping each other out, strengthening writing platforms and having some fun with challenges.  If you didn't get in on it this time, I believe Rachael has plans for another crusade soon.  You can read all about it "HERE".  *OH - and if you haven't checked out her AMAZING Write Hope blog, offering up some amazing prizes for auction and proceeds going to help the efforts in Japan, please click HERE!  :)

My challenge was to write a 100 word or less flash fic piece that starts, "The gold fish bowl teetered..."   So, here you go:

The gold fish bowl teetered on the edge of my nightstand before crashing to the ground.  I watched Fish Boy flounder, sloshing for a second in the wet carpet before the water soaked in.  My instinct was to scoop the poor fellow up and race him to the bathroom sink, fill it with water.  But, what did it matter?  In another minute a bigger tremor would hit.  This was it.  The radio still crackled the news, “Yellowstone Super Volcano has erupted.”  I watched Fish Boy’s gill splutter to a stop as I waited for my own end.

source

Ummm... yeah.  Not sure where that dark turn came from!  But, I got it down in only 97 words!!  Yay, me?  :p

On that chipper note...I came across another Writer's Digest article about rejections, by Sue Fliess.  It's about perseverance.  Writing is so subjective and your story might be rejected for a number of reasons.  How many of you keep your rejection letters?  Are they filed away as a sad reminder that someone thought your writing wasn't quite right?  I hope not!  Ms. Fliess suggests that they should spur you on to do better!  To keep at it!  She had a unique analogy about the subject, so feel free to read the entire article HERE.

And just one last thing today, lovely bloggers/readers/adoring fans ~ :)  Here's a few cool links to some awesome my fellow blogging friends are offering up:

-Visit Shelley Watters blog for a chance to win a MS critique from agent Suzie Townsend!!

--Michael at In Time is hosting a Harry Potter blogfest on the 30th!!

---And don't forget the A-Z challenge ~ coming April 1st!

This meager list probably doesn't even touch all the amazing events going on.  If I'm missing something REALLY cool - let me know?  Pretty please?

Have a GREAT day of writing out there!! 

Writerly Wednesday - The Grammar Divas!

Happy Wednesday, all!  And a BIG welcome to new crusading followers ~ woot!  I'll be by soon.  (*if you have no idea what I'm talking about - scroll to the bottom for some awesome!)

So, this past Saturday I was lucky enough to attend a (free!) Grammar seminar put on by The Grammar Divas!  Check out their fabulous website HERE.  Oh, I'm tellin' ya!  This is EXACTLY what I needed!  It was a wonderful refresher.  Especially when I was feeling a bit like this:

Yep.  Ready to toss the whole darn WiP OUT!  (I get like this sometimes...it's a thing..)  Sometimes I forget about the little things that are supposed to make my writing better.  I skip over that darned passive voice and "was" becomes invisible.  To be honest, as much as I LOVED this seminar, I did come away wanting to cry a little...knowing what I'd find when I opened up my WiP again.  Revisions are hard.  But, you know...I think they just might be worth it.  And if you've got some good grammar tips on the side?  BONUS!

I know what you're thinking..."She's going to share some of the awesome with us, right?  RIGHT?!"  No worries.  The answer is "Yes."

First - some advice on editing to get you into the right mind-set, (mostly) verbatim from my Grammar Divas handout:

-  You can't edit until you have something written.  Don't worry about the technical stuff until your first draft is finished.  (This one is targeted to you edit-as-you-go writers!  You know who you are...)

-  Editing as you go does not save time.  Give yourself permission to have cheese puffs in the first draft so you don't get hung up on potential problems.

-  (ok, this one really spoke to me)  Writing and editing are two different skills that require two different mindsets.  Writing - right brain; editing- left brain.  Get your story down first with your right brain, then edit with your left.  If possible, take some time out between typing "The End" on your first draft and beginning the editing process.  Plan your next novel or just relax.

They also suggest that you change typeface, size, or color before printing a hard copy of your novel to edit.  You read differently on screen versus a hard copy, they say.  So the change to what you've been looking at while typing will force your brain to see it differently on the page.

OH!  And don't forget to read your prose aloud and S-L-O-W-L-Y!  This should bring to light any pacing and grammar errors.  You'll know.

ALSO - as you mark up your printout, remember to fix issues LATER.  Don't stop editing to fix things on the computer.  REMEMBER - writing and editing are two different skills that require two different mindsets.  *And take a breather before you cut all the fat found from the hard-copy editing session.  You need to get away from that inner critic telling you "see, I told you you weren't a good writer."  (it's not remotely true, of course!)   Give yourself some distance to think about what needs fixing and what doesn't.

You're wondering where the actual grammar tip is, right?  Ok - don't get your panties/boxers/tightywhities in a twist!  I'll post ALL about that NEXT Wednesday?  (Yes, I'm well aware I'm a brat!)

This is just some advice (to take with a grain of salt, if you have a different process that works for you...), ALL from the Grammar Divas, to think about before you get started and actually need those grammar tips to fix what might need to be fixed.  Hope you find it helpful.  I did!

And - one last thing...If you haven't been by Rachael Harrie's blog lately - you need to go.  Like, NOW!  Pretty please?  :)  She's launched her 2nd Annual Writer's Platform-Building Crusade.  Pretty awesome!

Join the Crusade TODAY - Feb. thru April 30th!!

You can read all about it by clicking HERE!  Now go forth and write, my bloggy friends!  And have a spectacular day ~ :)