Do you cherish words like I do? I hope so because I thrill when I find another who would rather nibble away at a fat sandwich of verbs than dine on lobster and all the trimmings. I measure my writing to how mentally hungry I am after reading over my lead sentence. If I yearn to pop open a sack of salty chips to comfort my despair, I hit delete. If I experience a range of budding emotions, wide and deep, I quickly write on, satisfied and hopeful. Is there always a feast of snappy notions for the rest of the piece? Often. Then when I return for the first edit, I have less to wrangle about with my smarty muse (who also happens to consider herself quite "wordful." She hangs over my right shoulder with her red Sharpie,wagging her dog-eared Thesaurus.
3. Create, carve out, invent and write the best 10 titles you can. These may be the colorful banners of all your fine and improved writing for fall and winter post writing. A few months ago, I wanted to say to readers that I didn't want to appear pompous when I wrote "How-to" type posts. So, I titled the piece, "I'm Not Smart, Just Old. That worked sort of. But when I titled the post, "Does This Blog Make Me Look Fat, people laughed, liked it, remembered it Use your divine imagination, think of ideas that spark new thought, renew spirits, arouse kind and powerful emotions. Entertain and thrill your readers or they might slip onto the next aspiring blogger. Most especially, enjoy and let that joy slip away to all the hearts of your readers. For it shall return to you in the most unexpected and marvelous ways.
Those of you who have read my pile of posts already know about my word addiction. I suppose the correct term for me might be, wordsmith, yet I prefer logos-bent. Sounds a bit more feminine, don't you think? Besides I've reserved "wordsmith" for others, like CS. Lewis and Charles Schultz. Yes, I'm may be famous for making up my own words and I'm not about to calm down in these golden-lit days of my life. I'm no literary genius but I am a word expander and plan to stay that way.
Summertime is a great time for writers to slip away for a time - a week or if you, like me, walk on the wild side, consider the whole sizzling summer. I'm really big on imagination and fanatical about reading to prepare for anything. Your "summer slip away" will relax the carpals,discard the writing jitters and refresh your mind for excellent writing this fall and winter. A hydrated mind makes for clean and clear manuscripts. So, here's three summertime post- penning tips to keep you cool and calm and deliciously capricious this summer:
1. Read, with highlighter in hand, at least three books designed to awaken your imagination, heighten your mental achievement level and bless deeply your soul. Suggestions: ASPIRE - Discovering Yurpose Through the Power of Words - by Kevin Hall, THE ART OF THE IDEA - And how it can change your life, by Hunt, and THE CHRISTIAN IMAGINATION, The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing edited , revised and expanded by Leland Ryken.
2. Begin or continue your journal writing by drawing bits and pieces of your life. Integrate them into your notes. No talent needed. This extra dimension expands and lengthens your writing muscles, giving your writing a leaner and stronger sense of purpose. For instance, if you write simply "today I shall write the opening sentence to my new post, "Slip Away With Me," out to side of the page leave room for scribbles. I I say, "a scribble a day keeps the devil away." (Oh, and by the way, reading a Proverb a day has similar results.) Writing this post I drew a tree with leaves and a stick girl under the tree reading with a pen in her hand. The sun shed a soft light across her bare shoulders - I did this with my eraser and smudgy pencils lines. The journal entry became quite messy and meaningful.
3. Create, carve out, invent and write the best 10 titles you can. These may be the colorful banners of all your fine and improved writing for fall and winter post writing. A few months ago, I wanted to say to readers that I didn't want to appear pompous when I wrote "How-to" type posts. So, I titled the piece, "I'm Not Smart, Just Old. That worked sort of. But when I titled the post, "Does This Blog Make Me Look Fat, people laughed, liked it, remembered it Use your divine imagination, think of ideas that spark new thought, renew spirits, arouse kind and powerful emotions. Entertain and thrill your readers or they might slip onto the next aspiring blogger. Most especially, enjoy and let that joy slip away to all the hearts of your readers. For it shall return to you in the most unexpected and marvelous ways.
