Coronavirus: Three Ways to Handle Fear

Hello everyone!

Right now, it seems like you can’t turn on the news or open a web browser without seeing something about coronavirus. And it’s easy to feel afraid.

These are three things that help me when I feel afraid:

1. Jesus: I ask for God’s help and perspective by praying and reading the Bible. Psalm 91 and Isaiah 41:10 are especially comforting when sickness or physical violence are the fears.
2. Emotional Release: I find a way to get out my strong, negative emotions, so I can return to a calmer state. Sometimes I do this through dancing or running short distances, but usually I talk to someone I trust and/or journal about my feelings and the cause of those feelings. As Fred Rodgers says in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019), “Anything mentionable is manageable.”
3. Happy Place: I practice self care by doing things I enjoy. Going on walks, watching a favorite TV show, playing games with my family, and laughing at my parakeets’ antics are a few of those activities.

My challenge to you during this time of unknown is to take what you’re feeling and find a positive release for it.

From a writing standpoint, it might look like one of these ideas:

• Journaling
• Finding the humor in the situation and writing jokes or anecdotes about what’s going on (Laughter is good medicine, but please be sensitive about who you share these with.)
• Writing about events from a fictional standpoint so that you can process your emotions from a distance (I’ve used fictional characters to work through difficult situations and feelings.)
• Researching what’s going on and writing an essay or informative posts about it

However you choose to express yourself, be honest. I also challenge you to try to be positive. Fear and panic are contagious, but so is hope.

One final thought: be wise and take preventative measures, like handwashing, but don’t be afraid. “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4 NIV).

Happy writing and stay healthy!

Katie

P.S.

If you’re looking for information about coronavirus, including prevention and what to do if you get sick, check out the CDC and World Health Organization’s websites.

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History Becomes Legend

Hello everyone!

What do you think of when you hear the name Johnny Appleseed? How about Pocahontas or St. Nicholas? They were real people, but what they are most known for has been exaggerated or altered so much that it is more legend than reality.

Writing Prompt: Your writing challenge is to legendize a historical figure.

1. Choose a historical figure and write a legend about him/her.
2. Create a holiday celebrating that person or his/her legendary deed. What traditions mark this holiday? What are typical foods and decorations?
3. Commercialize the celebration. How does commercialization affect the celebration and meaning of the holiday?

Happy writing!

Katie

Presidents’ Day: Controversial Decisions in Hindsight

Hello everyone and happy Presidents’ Day!

In our society, criticizing leadership has become the norm.  Maybe it always was.  If we look at any U.S. President, we will see that he had his share of critics and flaws.  It can be easy to say that we would have done a better job.  But is that really the case?

When I was in college, I took a wonderful history class about the Vietnam War.  The professor knew that most of us didn’t know anything about that war (I certainly didn’t), and he started off the semester by asking us not to read ahead or look up anything about the Vietnam War.  Then, whenever we reached a turning point in the history of the war, he gave us the information which would have been available to the population at that time and asked us to choose what we thought should happen.  We each kept a record of our choices.  Then, he told us what actually happened and the consequences.  It was humbling to see that without the gift of hindsight, I made a lot of the same mistakes as the people who actually made the decisions.

Writing Challenge

1. Choose a president (it can be one you know well or one you didn’t even realize was a president) and research his time in office.
2. Choose one of the big and/or controversial decisions he made and do a little research about the events surrounding that decision.
3. Write a journal entry as that president about the decision he made and his reasons for making it.  (Remember to limit yourself to the knowledge which the president had available to him at the time.)

Kindness Month Challenge

Write an e-mail to the president, your congressman/woman, representative, or a state or local official, and thank him/her for a decision they made that you approved of.  Remember, they hear plenty of requests and complaints, so why not make their day by saying “thank you”?

Happy writing!

Katie

What Can Happen at a Tea Party?

Hello everyone!

What can happen at a tea party?  Lewis Carroll already took a crack at answering this question.  A tea party can be bizarre, romantic, tragic, comedic…It all depends on three things: characters, situation, and setting.

Characters

Who is at this tea party?  The guests will shape the events.  For example, a tea party where Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty are both attendees will have a very different feel, and level of dialogue complexity, from one hosted by Pollyanna for her friends.

Situation

Something has to happen.  For any scene to be interesting, the protagonist must have a goal that he/she can succeed or fail at.  The goal could be as simple as hosting a tea party that goes off without a hitch (anyone who’s planned a party will tell you that’s not so simple) or as complicated as charming a malicious ruler into sparing a loved one’s life.

Setting

Where is the tea party, in an English garden or on a spaceship 1,000 years in the future?  At what time of day does the tea party take place?  How many guests are in attendance?  The setting needs to affect the protagonist in some way (e.g. he/she grew up here, he/she thinks this place is haunted, he/she has always wanted to see inside of this location).  Descriptions of the setting should be given through the five senses and enhance the emotions stirred up by the situation.  One way to do this is to compare and/or contrast the description of the location to the protagonist’s or antagonist’s physical appearance, emotions, or personal preferences.

Example Scenario

The day before her rehearsal dinner, the bride-to-be is invited to a formal tea at her fiancé’s family’s country club.  It is a tradition in her fiancé’s family for the mother of the groom to give the family heirloom, a diamond bracelet, to the bride before the wedding rehearsal, but his mother does not think the bride is good enough for her son and has announced that she won’t give her the bracelet.  The groom is very upset and the bride is worried that he might be having second thoughts about marrying her.  This tea party is her last chance to earn his mother’s approval, get the bracelet, and save her wedding.

Prompt

Your writing challenge is to write a scene or short story that answers the question “What can happen at a tea party?”

Have fun, drink tea, and happy writing!

Katie

Seven Books that Shaped Who I Am

Hello everyone!

The other day I had a conversation with sci-fi and fantasy author Olivia Berrier about the seven books that have had the greatest impact on us.  I was able to come up with two lists of seven books: seven that shaped who I am as a writer and seven that influenced who I am as a person.

Your challenge is to come up with a list of the seven books that have had the greatest impact on you.  Think about how and why they influenced you.  Then, send each author a short message letting them know what their book meant to you.  You will make their day!

To help you get started, I have included my list of the seven books that helped shape who I am as a writer.  (I cheated a little – If the series as a whole influenced me rather than a specific book from the series, I listed the title of the series.)

The Lion, the Witch, and the Waredrobe by C.S. Lewis – This was the first story I ever fangirled over.  It established my love for allegories and fantasy worlds.

The Seven Sleepers Series by Gilbert Morris – It built upon the foundation Narnia had laid.  My love of allegories and fantasy worlds was solidified.

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini – The Inheritance Cycle showed me how to explore different belief systems in a fictional setting and introduced me to the idea that magic can have rules.  From a technical standpoint, I learned a trick for minimizing use of the auxiliary verb “had” when relating something that had happened before the story began.  (This only applies to books that are narrated in the past tense.)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – This book was my introduction to first-person narration.  It is my favorite go-to example for how to set your reader firmly in a world without having an info dump and for what information to include in the first chapter of a novel.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson – This book showed me that children’s books can cover difficult, real-life situations which young people sadly face but society often considers too mature to discuss with children.

Main Street Series by Ann M. Martin – This series showed me how to grow characters over the course of several books.  It also demonstrated how to write about real-life, too-mature-to-discuss-with-children situations in a tasteful way.

A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy – This series showed me how to structure a chapter book mystery series.

Happy writing!

Katie

Tedious Tasks

Hello everyone!

What is that one thing that your protagonist dreads doing because it is mind-numbingly boring or gag-inducingly disgusting?  This task can reveal a lot about your character and/or your world.  It is also a good way to make your protagonist relatable, because, let’s face it, we all have something we dread doing for one of those reasons.Your writing prompt for the next two weeks is to write two scenes in which your protagonist is required to do a distasteful task.

• The first scene is where your protagonist is faced with this task for the first time in the book. This is your base line.  Establish the character’s feelings about the task (through showing, not telling) and/or dialogue.  Remember, your character does not have to succeed at the task.  Low baselines leave more room for growth.
• The second scene is when your protagonist is faced with the task again after something big has happened. The character’s view of or appreciation for the task might have changed.  Or maybe this time there are consequences if the character fails to do the task (quickly, correctly, calmly, etc.).

*Remember to have some sort of believable tension in at least one of the scenes.  If the second scene is a wrap-up for the book or character arc, nostalgia or growth are acceptable emotions to aim for in place of tension; however, wrap-up scenes needs to be short.

Happy writing!

Katie

Happy Mother’s Day!

Hello everyone!  Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day can be a complicated holiday.  Hopefully, your mother is as wonderful as mine.  But maybe, you don’t have the best relationship with your mother.  Or perhaps, your mother passed away.  Regardless of the situation, we all have a mother, and Mother’s Day can stir up some very strong emotions.

This writing challenge is personal, and will hopefully help you to release those emotions.  Choose the variation that best fits your relationship with your mother.

Variation 1: Positive Relationship with Mother

1. Write down all the good things about your mother.
2. Write a poem about your mother or write her a letter telling her why she’s wonderful and/or what you appreciate about her.
3. Send the letter or poem to your mother.

Variation 2: Strained or Difficult Relationship with Mother

Write an honest poem or letter examining why the relationship is the way it is.  (Use this writing exercise as a way to get those feelings off your chest.)

*I would recommend not sending this poem or letter to your mother.

Variation 3: Mother Is No Longer Alive

1. Write your mother the poem or letter you would give her if she were here.  (Use this writing exercise as a way to get your feelings about your mother out.)
2. Symbolically send the poem or letter.  (This could be tying the message to a balloon and releasing it into the air, burning it, putting it in a memory box, etc.)

I hope you have an amazing Mother’s Day!

Happy Writing!

Katie

Sensational Settings

Hello everyone!

Have you ever read a story and had trouble visualizing where it took place? Did you ever skip a paragraph because it was just description and you didn’t care enough to read it? As a writer, you must walk the fine line between setting the scene for your reader and giving too much detail.

This three-part exercise is to help you learn what details about your setting are essential to share and how to seamlessly work them into your story.

Part 1: Observation

1. Go outside. Close your eyes. What do you feel? What do you hear? What do you smell?
2. Now open your eyes. What do you see? Walk around. Is the terrain uneven or level? Touch a tree, the grass, the side of a building. What is the texture like?
3. Now shout. Whisper. Speak at your normal volume. Sing. Does your voice echo or disappear?
4. Write down your observations. Try to write a minimum of three for each sense.

Part 2: Write a Scene

• Write a short scene that takes place in the location you observed in Part 1. Use sensory details to describe the setting. Be careful to work the details into your story instead of dumping them on the reader in one or two description paragraphs. If someone wanted to read paragraphs about trees, they’d study forestry.

Example of a well-set scene:

Stephany walked onto the front porch and looked across the street to where Mrs. McGuire was putting her flower beds to rest for winter. A gentle breeze chased dried leaves across the sidewalk and played with the stray wisps of hair that had escaped Stephany’s messy bun. She wrapped her hands around her mug and smiled. As she sipped her coffee, the delicious steam warmed her nose.

(The action begins in the next paragraph.)

In that paragraph, the reader has been given basic information about the neighborhood, time of year, and even a little about Mrs. McGuire and Stephany.  The reader can picture where he/she is and is ready for the action to begin.

Part 3: Use the Setting to Enhance the Mood

1. Choose a problem for a story.
2. Write three crucial scenes in the location you observed. Use the details you share about the setting to help set the mood for each scene.

• Beginning: introduce key characters and the baseline for their lives
• Middle: the problem has been introduced and the protagonist is dealing with it
• End: how it ends and how the characters have changed

Example:

Problem – The protagonist’s spouse is cheating on him/her.

Beginning – The protagonist doesn’t know his/her spouse is having an affair. The weather is good, and I only mention beautiful or pleasing things about the setting.

Middle – The protagonist knows about the affair and is trying to decide whether to ignore it or confront his/her spouse. I draw the reader’s attention to things that need fixing or to weeds in the yard or flower beds. The sky is cloudy.

End – The protagonist has just signed the divorce papers and is moving out of the house. It is cool and partly cloudy. The house is barely mentioned, and when it is, the stated features are either imperfect ones or ones that make the protagonist feel nostalgic. The focus is on the road, especially the point where trees block the protagonist’s view of it.

*Remember, this is an exercise. You do not need to write the entire story unless you want to.

Happy writing!

Katie

Character Interrogation

Hello everyone!

Have you ever mixed up the pieces from multiple games or multiple puzzles?  The result is a mess!  However, mixing up characters can be the key to getting out of a writing conundrum.

Occasionally, I will have a character who absolutely refuses to do what I want him/her to do.  No matter how hard I try, he/she will not do or say what I envisioned in a way that feels believable.  The reason is usually that he/she is underdeveloped.  In most cases, I am able to get to know the character better by asking and answering a series of questions.  In other cases, though, I am too focused on the story’s needs to be able to honestly answer the questions for the character.

Your writing prompt for the next two weeks is to learn about your characters by taking them out of their world.

1. Choose two characters from different pieces you’ve written and put them together in a scene that takes place outside both of their stories.

2. Choose one of the following situations to start the scene:

• Put them in an interrogation room together. (One could interrogate the other or they could both be interrogating a third character.)
• Have them go on a blind date. (Be sure to give some thought to the setting.)
• Give them a task to accomplish. (It’s best if the task requires two people.)
• Give them a problem to solve. (There must be consequences if they fail.)
• Have the characters tell their stories to each other. (I did this with one of my villains from “The Four Crystals.”  Wow, the story was different from that point of view.)

3. Write the scene keeping both characters true to their personalities.

4. Read through the scene and note some of the following:

• How did the two characters interact? (Were they friendly, civil, or hostile?  Could they work together?  Etc.)
• Who took the lead?
• Did either of them dominate the conversation?
• Did either character have a key mannerism or phrase?
• What was each character’s primary goal in the scene (i.e. what was most important to each character)?
• Did either character have a predominant emotion?
• What did your characters do or say that surprised you? (For example, when I did this exercise, I discovered that one of my supporting characters was oblivious to her leader’s flaws.  Going into the exercise, I knew that she was a very loyal follower.  When she was talking to another character about her leader, I realized that she believed her leader to be infallible.)

Happy writing!

Katie

*I would like to thank sci-fi and fantasy author Olivia Berrier for sharing this writing exercise with me and for walking me through how to do it.

Much Ado about March

Hello everyone!

Did you know that Dr. Seuss, Albert Einstein, Harry Houdini, Big Bird, and Barbie were all born in March?

Both Coca-Cola and the rubber band were invented in March.

Uranus was discovered in March, and the first spacewalk happened in March.

From a holiday standpoint, March hosts St. Patrick’s Day, Purim, and sometimes Easter.

And best of all, March is the month in which spring returns to the northern hemisphere.

March is a pretty exciting month.

You’re writing challenge for the next two weeks is to take one or more March related people, things, or events and write a story.

Happy writing!

Katie