praying for patience to find forgiveness listening really listening responding erase rephrase showing interest being interested grace no trace redefine brave alone uphold the ideal while not feeling its appeal while praying for forgiveness finding patience
The Witches’ Graveyard Under the Full Moon by Maria L. Berg 2021
NaNoWriMo Prep
I followed through and made my book cover yesterday. I had fun printing some of my photographs, cutting and layering them then taking photographs of my arrangements. After I made the book cover, I also made a background for my other NaNoWriMo fun.
Once I type my goals into my Bingo card, the important prep will be done and I can get back to the silly fun stuff like characters and plot points, and outlines. 😋
For Tourmaline .’s Halloween Challenge, “leaves,” I left the creating to nature and she came through. It stopped raining and the lake was still and reflective. The soft light through the clouds was beautiful.
Every year the leaves betray the branches baring them to face the dead-cold winter naked and shivering in the unforgiving wind
Even the lake betrays the shore receding, revealing the garbage carelessly thrown from docks and boats by the carefree warm bodies of summer
out of sight out of mind but some days the lake is clear and reveals its secrets
When I found the watch, I was shocked that it waited until after he parted to find its way to my hands
I can imagine so clearly the satisfying plop after he hurled it –with a might of hurt behind it–from this balcony in grief and anger, the union broken a union symbolized by the clasped band the promise of forever in the turning hands of its face, marking a joint delusion of shared moments, each second named and tracked
but the band is broken the face is clouded orange and cracked time flew and tumbled drowned and dropped to the mud in the shadow of the stones and was gone.
The inscription, though worn turned in the right light still reads: To Lenny Love, Sharon 8-4-73
A Splash of Color by Maria L. Berg 2021
NaNoWriMo Prep
Last year I found putting stickers on Bingo cards and wordcount trackers very motivating. Silly, but whatever works. I used Cass Cutting’s fun blank bingo cards and typed my goals on my old typewriter. Typing them up was as fun as putting stickers on them.
Today I think I’ll have some fun and design my book-cover, then use my design as the backdrop for a bingo card and wordcount tracker. I think I’ll play with Cass’s NaNopoly game this year. I just discovered a roll of contact paper in my cupboard, so things will be getting a clear plastic coating 😁.
For Tourmaline .’s Halloween Challenge, “decor,” I thought it would be a great inspiration to put up my decorations early, but it’s supposed to rain for a week, so I thought I might make some decor inside instead. Decor makes me think of lamps and wallpaper and carpets, but once I got started appreciating the things my friends and I have made over the years, I was exhausted. I definitely need to appreciate my decor more.
Our Cabin in the Woods Fell on the Witch by Maria L. Berg 2021
Things brought out from corners, corners created by entertainment “systems” or pianos Things covered in dust and cobwebs gathered, brought into communion, become a community of treasured objects, electrified, let, no longer in shadow, creating their own shadows, playing together in foreground, in background, circling, layering, finding their place so I will see them like I have seen them with love before and as I arrange them, the dust scatters, the webs break the bulbs warm and they glow, wax flows, and surprises me with unexpected beauty of planned destruction. If I had saved that candle, left it contained and whole; I would have ignored its purpose and plan. These days of creating are expanding, building one on the next, finding ways to combine find each other, another word inspires connections, overnight multiplying into multitudes, overlapping concepts grow and spark searches in more dark corners.
The Witch’s Grasp by Maria L. Berg 2021 sculpture by ES3Creative
For Tourmaline .’s Halloween Challenge, “desserts,” I looked at some fun Halloween desserts and found a vegan “white chocolate” recipe. I also loved the idea of putting raspberry filling in the center of my chocolates as blood, so I gave both ideas a try with my Halloween candy mold. The photos tell a Halloween horror story.
Mr. Skeleton offers us candy.
One pumpkin has cute little eyes.The horror!There’s blood everywhere.
It’s a plate of cute pumpkins and skulls.
Oh no! Watch out little pumpkin!Here’s a happy little skull.Why, Mr. Skeleton, why?
flickering fire gathering filling our mouths with sweets after dinner treats while dark encroaches and dreamtime closes firelight fading stages for frightening storytelling fiction milling, smoke smelling manipulator spinning lore, remaking before, and later, savor thrills and chills from tales of killing shivering because we fear taboos breaking rules even nightmares beware
in the dark
beware nightmares even rules breaking taboos fear we because shivering killing of tales from chills and thrills savor later and before remaking lore spinning manipulator smelling fear milling fiction storytelling frightening for stages fading firelight closes dreamtime and encroaches dark while treats dinner after sweets with mouths our filling gathering fire flickering
Zombie Kitty Eats Dessert Maria L. Berg 2021
Tasty Brain by Maria L. Berg 2021
NaNo Prep
Yesterday’s obligatory scenes brainstorm was fun. It led me to starting the exercises in The Breakout Novel Workbook (affiliate link) by Donald Maass. I took a look at the novel’s public stakes and making them worse.
Then I took a look at the worksheets from Writing &Selling your Mystery Novel (affiliate link) by Hallie Ephron. Today I’m going to make a second copy of the protagonist worksheets and fill them out for both my detective and my MC. Once I’ve done that deep-dive into my main characters, I’m going to explore their internal and external conflicts as I continue through the Plotting chapters of The Breakout Novel Workbook.
I just remembered that I bought a copy of The Emotional Craft of Fiction (affiliate link) by Donald Maass this summer. I turned to chapter 5: The Emotional Plot and read:
Many authors motivate their characters with external circumstances. I must do this, because if I don’t, that will happen. The stakes in such stories are also external. Things need to come out right or, gosh, life will be terrible for everyone. There’s nothing wrong with what I call public stakes; they just don’t have automatic emotional effect. Personal stakes are the more reliable way to make a story matter to readers. Personal stakes are why protagonists must act for themselves. It’s the drive that comes from inner need and yearning. It’s what would propel a protagonist toward change, even if the events of the novel weren’t happening.
Maass, Donald. The Emotional Craft of Fiction (pp. 82-83). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
And just last night I started plotting in my workbook with exploring public stakes. 😉 So today, I’ll be adding personal stakes to my plot brainstorming.
Happy Reading and Writing!
I Always Thought He Was Planning to Eat Me by Maria L. Berg 2021
Today’s prompt is an empty pot. The suggested form is Double Exposure. I like this type of poem-within-a-poem form. It provides the opportunity for more than one speaker, or combining two different related images (like vampires and empty pots 😉). The 2018 prompt was “Once Upon a Time.”
A Bite Out of Life
I wake before the dawn this once and make
looks sharp like stakes that pierce upon the lake
some fangs to bite the day and suck its ache
the thirsty smiles of dreamlike life to take
I wander filtered searching out my foes
blue blood filled veins that pulse my presence known
and find them lurking everywhere I go
I am but juice a lifeforce to consume
there was a time I had a foggy view
Nocturnal beasts eternal feast infer-
no light to guide this urge of daybreak to-
nal damned immortal aortal portal
Monster House Across the Lake by Maria L. Berg 2021
Blue-head is a Vampire! by Maria L. Berg 2021
NaNo Prep
Today I’m going to have some fun exploring possible plot points. First, I’ll skim through the scenes from the 2019 draft. If I find any scenes that I want to keep and re-write in the new draft, I’ll fill in a scene card for that scene. Then I’ll look at the Story Grid obligatory scenes for a thriller:
Inciting Crime indicative of a master Villain
Point of no return
Protagonist’s initial strategy to outmaneuver the antagonist fails
Protagonist discovers and understands the antagonist’s external object of desire
Protagonist becomes the victim
Hero is at the Mercy of the Villain / All is lost
False Ending
For each scene, I’ll quickly list 25 possible ideas then choose my favorites. Then I’ll fill in scene cards for each of my chosen plot points.
For Tourmaline .’s Halloween Challenge, “spider,” all I had to do was step outside to find plenty of spiders. There was I giant wolf spider on the ceiling in the shop too. But I wanted to do something more creative. Though I really like creating scenes in the space in my bookshelf, I found there isn’t enough space to also do the bokeh the way I want, so today I cleaned off the area in front of the fireplace and began exploring its potential. Inspired by Tourmaline .’s witch fingers yesterday, I pulled out my witch fingers and some other craft supplies and made this little beauty.
Creation by Maria L. Berg 2021
Stream of Consciousness Saturday
Today’s stream of consciousness is to start with “If.” I like that it’s “if” and not “what if.” “If” gets me thinking about action, “if/then” instead of maybes. Here’s an excerpt from my journal:
. . . if they actually cared not to disturb the fine wonder of the perfect beauty of this day: A hummingbird zooming to blow the pink trumpet flower then off again, the bee spider sprinting to bat at the air to my left then back to the shadows. If I filmed it all, and could produce the light, warmth, smells, sounds, taste of the vodka-lemonade everything the same, somehow immerse myself in the depth, trick myself to believe, would I be able to relive this whenever I wanted? Would I want to? Very often? Or is it really the unexpected surprise of it when it as equally could have snowed? Isn’t it the unexpected chance of this warm, sunny, quiet, joy of alone yet shared moment that makes it so wonderfilled?
Maria L. Berg 2021
OctPoWriMo
Today’s prompt is Sonnet which made me think of John Peale Bishop’s modernist sonnet “A Recollection” that we studied in the fourth week of ModPo (hint: it’s an acrostic 😁). The 2018 prompt was “Catch Me When I Fall.” The suggested form was the Terzanelle which has some interesting repetition.
Catch
When I fall, remember not if, then the catch me When I fall, remember
we are a spinning species despite gravity’s writer releases not if, then the catch me
describer I tell you these teases because a rebel’s treble has legs despite gravity’s writer releases
enough web will hold the dregs but not catch me when I fall because a rebel’s treble has legs
let my catcher quiver tall with a finely spackled spine but not catch me when I fall
the rind lined and intertwined with a finely spackled spine when I fall, remember when I fall, remember
Screen in the Screen by Maria L. Berg 2021
NaNo Prep
Last night I got through my first skimming of the draft and listing all the characters. Wow that was a shitty first draft! Good for me, but I’m also glad I’m coming at this work as a complete re-write. Today I discovered the one thing I do not do enough in my work: sitting still with my eyes closed in the sun. I needed and wanted new names for my characters. I wanted to see what they look like and get to know them. It only took trying to sit still in a chair on a surprisingly warm sunny day to come up with all sorts of ideas and have to get up and write them down. I have always been bad at sun bathing. If the sun stays out, I might have my new writing technique: force myself to sit in a lounge chair and try to relax!
over a dark wood spooky, haunting look there, be aware near fear’s edge jump scares come– banging cupboards footsteps creek floorboards weeping moaning whispers stale cigars linger something scrapes the panes incomprehensible sound movement unfounded unseen forces pushing and pulling the ethereal– even when expected make shudder quiver shiver spine tingling gut clenching skin-jumping scares eerie dreary swampy fear clings wavering on wheezy breezes leaves leave dried and dreary bleary and weary tree-cast shadow cover me, from feelings of hostility vague doubts bouts of suspicion of foliage affording shade, colors vainly display a crisp mockery of time
Ghosts on the Wind by Maria L. Berg 2021
NaNo Prep
I think I’m done with Writober for this year. I’m going to focus in NaNoWriMo prep instead. I started reading through my 2019 draft yesterday and I’m getting excited for my complete re-write. I’m already planning big changes including the names of the main characters and the POV of the opening scene.
I’m looking forward to joining my first NaNoWriMo write-in of this year this afternoon. I usually enjoy them and get some good work done.
Experience Writing 