Another Look-

Here’s another look at the journals I keep for each story. The photos show the journals for the Fairies of Carlow series.

I keep one journal for each book, with the pages divided into several sections: main characters, settings, events, chapter summaries.

They help keep continuity while I’m writing the book, and any books that may share characters or settings. (I’m a big fan of series’!).

By using a journal I can make sure the eye and hair colors of each character are consistent as I write. Sometimes, these things get lost inside my head and I can’t remember if I made someone a blonde, redhead, or a brunette. Also, I include height, preferences, things they hate/love, etc. Some characters get a full page, others get a half-page. It depends on how much I need to know about them.

For the Fairies of Carlow books, I found journals with covers that match each fairy’s signature color. (Confused? Now’s a good time to buy the books and find out what I’m talking about!)

I happen to love journals and tend to buy way too many of them. I have a stack of blank journals and a ton of pens that I need to find a use for. Did I mention my love of pens?

I have found that I don’t like gel pens… and try to find anything but those these days! I don’t know, the ink smears, it bleeds when you drip tea on it… But I love ballpoint pens and feel so posh when I use a fountain pen. I was given a Mont Blanc decades ago and feel so special when I use it. (But talk about wet ink and bleeding under drips of tea!)

Anyway, consistency is the key to good writing. Floor plans need to make sense. The barn needs to stay in the same place. And the sun needs to set in the same direction every evening.

Write on! Sonja

Make It a Habit

However you like to write–pen and paper, laptop, typewriter–make sure you write every day. Sometimes it’s terrible. Sometimes it’s golden. Just make sure it gets done.

Don’t worry about quality, especially when you’re starting out and it’s the first draft. That draft is always terrible, but it’s very important.

I like to say the first draft is the skeleton-when you get the general gist of the story down on paper. Subsequent drafts are when you add the muscles, skin, and features–to make it pretty.

And don’t worry about the beginning. That always changes as you write and get to know your story and your characters. What you think about one character can change drastically by the time you type ‘The End’ on the final page.

I like for my characters to surprise me so I leave plenty of wiggle room in my outlines to allow for surprises.

In the ‘Guinness the Therapy Dog’ series, Lucy (his older sister) surprised me by insisting on being in the books. She’s a great dog so I let her assert herself-which is new for her. The real Lucy is so emotionally damaged by abuse that she is afraid of everything. To have her stand her ground is something wonderful to see.

I hear people say all the time “I would never write a book”. I say, “Sure, you can!” There’s a story in everyone and I think if you sat down at whatever writing implement you choose, you can get the story down on paper. You may not like the result, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. You wrote a book!

Take your passion or your favorite family story, and flesh it out. Write every day. Make it something you miss if it’s not done. If you decide you hate to write, finish your story and never do it again.

At least you’ll have one book that you wrote and you won’t have to wonder if it’s in you ever again.

Take on the challenge! Sonja

#FridayNight

Friday night under ‘stay at home’ orders. Much different from ‘before’. Ew, that was a little Handmaid’s Tale. Okay, prior to the orders, Fridays were for friends and fun.

Now, the only friends we can see is the series Friends, which used to be on Netflix and is now on Warner’s streaming. Or you can catch one of the many reruns that are showing every day on other channels.

These days, Friday are for hobbies. Whatever your flavor: photography, reading, knitting or other needlework, binge-watching Netflix…. no judgement… lol.

I write (of course) and love having this time to steam through edits and creating new stories. I took a risk and entered a manuscript into a contest, #revpit. The results were announced this week.

I’ve also watched more classes on my favorite teaching website, masterclass.com, and found a lot of motivation from James Patterson and Margaret Atwood. Name dropping? Sure. Advertising the site? Probably, but I pay the annual subscription to watch any lesson.

I label myself a lifelong learner, and am trying to use this time at home to fulfill my desire to learn as much as possible. My interests are wide and varied, from improving my writing to learning ASL and adding to my high school French.

What are you doing?

I hope you enjoy whichever hobby brings you bliss. Sonja

Have You Tried-

Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash

Now is the time to fulfill your dreams and take an online class. My husband and I like to take online classes from MasterClass, which is a subscription.

Do you have any online class sources that you like? Leave them in the comments.

What has been your favorite online class?

Investigate. Learn. Enjoy. Sonja

Get Going Today

Photo by Ahmad Odeh on Unsplash

Today is the day to start. Start what? Whatever you desire. It’s the day to stop being limited by your thoughts, your personal demons, your own negative ideas–basically, whatever is making you doubt yourself.

Today is the day to think you CAN!

You CAN make that change, think differently, go against what you’re told. Because you are amazing. You are capable. You are YOU!

Don’t let what other think you can do hold you back. They don’t know what lives inside of you.

Don’t let what you were told hold you back. Think about those things differently. A new perspective can help make changes.

Don’t let your ‘life’s lessons’ make you doubt your capabilities. Use those experiences to make yourself better, not bully you into submission.

You are able.

I was just listening to a book by Jen Sincero and it is very motivating for me. Find what motivates you. Sonja

It’s National Pet Day

Today is the day to celebrate your furry friends and I’m so excited to have Guinness the Therapy Dog and Lucy the Wonder Dog in my life.

I write about them in the Guinness the Therapy Dog series, where you can read about Guinness’s adventures.

The relationship he has with Lucy in the books is the same in real life. She is his moral compass and keeps him in line, which can be hard. Sometimes, Guinness is a little too enthusiastic–about everything. Lucy lets him know, in no uncertain terms, that he needs to calm down.

It’s fun to write about their relationship and Guinness’s zest for life. He’s good to have around!

I hope you have a fur-friend. Sonja