Dreams that speak to us

I had the craziest dream the other night and I can’t seem to get it out of my head. I silently prayed while kneeling at the Communion rail. At the end of the church service, the pastor “found” a bundle of envelopes on the lectern. There was an envelope for each congregant. When I opened mine, I found the answer to my prayer. But how? I wondered. It’s not like the pastor heard my prayer (and everyone else’s) and scrambled to write these notes in the few minutes between Communion ending and the service concluding. Chatter erupted as each person opened their envelope and found just what they needed. One woman, tears streaming from her eyes, fell to her knees. A man clutched his heart and was visibly shaken. I scratched my head trying to make sense of it all but I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. So, there you have it. What do you think the dream meant?
Don't forget to share your inspirational moment here.

Quote of the day

"If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place." --Nora Roberts

What is it that you want most in life? Share your top three answers.

Some inspirational moments

I had dinner with former First Lady Laura Bush on Thursday. She was in town to speak at a Junior League event. What a gracious lady. First class all the way. When I introduced myself, she said, “Oh, what a cute name.” After her speech, I shook her hand (and gave her a half hug after telling her “I’m a hugger”) and she said, “Oh, I remember you because of your cute name.” I really enjoyed her speech. Like her book, "Spoken from the Heart" (which I received an autographed copy of), her speech was from the heart. Hearing her talk about the days following 9/11 brought tears to my eyes. And listening as she shared wonderful family moments made me laugh at times. I was so inspired that evening by her graciousness and thankful for the opportunity to meet her in person. What a wonderful memory for me.
...
I was golfing today with my husband when I realized that behind us were two guys. Nothing special about that, I know. But one of the men was missing an arm. And man could he hit that golf ball. I couldn’t help but be inspired by this man who didn’t let his disability keep him from doing something he so obviously loved.
...
Do you have any inspirational moments you'd like to share? I'd love to read them.

Harry Potter trailer

Can't wait!

Finding just the right word

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug." --Mark Twain

Whenever I'm editing one of my reporter's stories, I start with a wide angle lens. I start by ask big picture questions. Are there any holes in the story? Did the writer raise any questions for the reader that he/she doesn't answer? Is the story fair? Balanced? Are all sides represented? Does the story structure work? Does the beginning hook the reader? What about the rhythm? Is there variation in sentence and paragraph lengths? And it goes on and on.
Eventually, I look at each word. I'm looking for precision. Is the word the writer used the best word to convey the message or meaning? Using the right word at the right time helps determine how a story is interpreted. One of the things I always look at hard are verbs. Too often people use weak verbs figuring that adverbs will save them. But watch the adverbs and adjectives.
What about you? Do you look for precision in your own writing? Do you circle all of your verbs and then go back and see if you can make them stronger?

A minute list

Copy and paste the list below into comments and write a word or phrase to describe each thing. My answers are in ()’s. Have fun. Should take no more than a minute.
Eyebrows (bushy)
Eyelid (saggy)
Neck (thick)
Fingernails (chewed)
Fingers (stubby)
Morning (foggy)
Night (crisp)
Child’s book (smeared with peanut butter and jelly)
Pencil (metallic pink with gold specks)
Cup of coffee (luke warm)

New contest alert

Just what you've been waiting for: The Sixth "Dear Lucky Agent Contest" for paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Get all of the details  here.

Quote of the day

"Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally." --David Frost

A great story from someone who didn't give up.

Have you done the show, don't tell exercise yet? If not, try a sentence now. Go here.

Another new agent alert

From Dystel and Goderich Literary Management blog: John Rudolph is the newest agent at Dystel and Goderich Literary Management. Previously, John was Executive Editor at G. P. Putnam’s Son’s in their children’s and young adult imprints. Before that he was Associate Editor for Young Readers at Simon & Schuster. He graduated from Amherst College.
John will begin agenting in the categories of children’s, middle grade and young adult—both fiction and non-fiction—since these are categories with which he is familiar. He is hoping, however, to branch out into men’s fiction, pop culture, music, sports and humor.
Details here.
Also, other post on new agents here.

Quote of the day

"Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it." --Stephen King

I thought about this quote when I was reading the Hunger Games trilogy. I mean, the books are pretty outrageous. Kids who kill each other and the winner is the one who survives. I asked myself if I would have written Hunger Games if I had had the idea (I wish) or if I would have thought, "Nay. That's too far out there."
Then I remembered the middle-grade novel I wrote about four middle-schoolers who struggle to save their community from hideous sea snakes that control the brains of humans they inhabit. These are not ordinary sea snakes. They were genetically engineered by the U.S. government as a weapon of war. But the government’s plan failed when the ship carrying the sea snakes on a top secret mission sank.
And, you know, that's really out there, too, and I wrote it so I guess I can write pretty outrageous stuff.
How about you. Do you hold yourself back, thinking it's so outrageous or do you give it a whirl? I think that it doesn't matter how far-fetched an idea is, if you can make it believable, it works.

Thoughts anyone?

And don't forget to do the show, don't tell exercise.

Real Simple essay contest

Time is running out, but you still have a few days to enter Real Simple Magazine's Third Annual Life Lessons Essay Contest. Finish this sentence: “I never thought I’d. . .” Details here.

Show, don't tell writing exercise

We all hear it over and over: Show, don’t tell. And yet we often fail to do so. Usually we catch this while revising, but not always. I’m as guilty as anyone.

Here’s a fun exercise. I’ve written four sentences. I would like you to pick one (or all four if you’d like) and rewrite it showing instead of telling. I will do one as an example.
Example:
Carly was mad her mom wouldn’t let her go to the movies with her friends. (I told you she was mad)
Revised: Carly put her hands on her hips and stumped out of the room after her mom said she couldn’t go to the movies with her friends. (I showed you she was mad)
Now, your turn. Feel free to use dialogue "to show" as well. Here are the sentences. Have fun.
1. Max was happy when his parents brought home a puppy for his birthday.
2. After studying so hard, Willow was angry she hadn’t done well on the test.
3. Micah told Cassie he loved her.
4. Tom was disappointed that his favorite team lost the game.
Did you find this easy or difficult?