Shawn L. Bird

Original poetry, commentary, and fiction. All copyrights reserved.

poem- opportunity May 16, 2014

Filed under: Poetry,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 10:55 am
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

You need imagination

to grab opportunities.

You have to be open

to the unfamiliar.

You have to trust that

something new could be great

and that all learning

has worth.

You have to be willing

to be out of your comfort zone

to have faith in yourself

~alone~

that every experience

will enrich you.

You have to accept opportunities

to empower your imagination.

.

.

”

Risk for writers: “If it doesn’t kill me, it’ll make a great story!”

As teachers we wonder why our students don’t grab at the amazing opportunities that are available to them. I was just pondering this today.

 

poem- one word April 19, 2014

Filed under: Poetry,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 11:29 am
Tags: , , , , ,

My mentor says

there’s only one way to write:

one word at a time.

She’s right.

There’s only one way to finish

a project though,

and that’s to keep putting

one word at a time onto the page

until the page is full

and to keep doing that

day after day.

If you want to finish a

100,000 word novel

You can do it

in a year writing

just 274 words  day,

that’s not even 2000 words a week.

It’s about daily diligence.

You eat a banquet

one bite at a time.

Develop a habit,

commit a little each day.

30 minutes will do it

so long as you keep doing it,

writing one word

at a time.

.

.

.

(113 words)

(Or you can join NaNoWriMo next November 1st, write  1668 words every day, and have the 100,000 words done by the new year.  That’s a whole lot more stress, though!)  🙂

PS.

Writers Digest is on my wavelength today.  Here’s an article on Writing Routines.  #1 is ‘Write 500 words a day.’ How’s that for a coincidence?  http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/7-writing-routines-that-work

 

Camp NaNoWriMo WIN!

Filed under: Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:00 am
Tags: ,

YAY!  Celebrate with me!  Today I met my monthly word count goal of 15,000 words!

I shall continue working on my goal to write a minimum of 500 words a day.

Small steps still complete a journey!

I’ve won NaNo twice before, but always by the skin of my teeth, catching up desperately at the end.  This is the first time that I finished more than a week ahead of schedule.  It’s quite exciting! 🙂

 

.

500 words is a rather modest goal, but it’s more about the habit.  No excuses.  Write a little bit every day.  It worked.  When I was too tired to write, I’d think, “Well, it’s only 500 words.  I can do that.”  And I could.  So far, I only missed meeting the goal one day, though even that day I wrote something.  I averaged 800 words a day, some days barely over 500, some days nearly 2000 words.  The project is supposed to come out around 40,000 words, and I had 10,000 before I started CampNaNoWriMo, so I’m around 25,000 now.  I check the outline, and write a bit that fits in somewhere.  Lately the plot has turned in an intriguing direction.  It still fits within the parameters of the outline, but in unexpected ways.

Of course, I am also doing NaPoWriMo this month.  I can’t rush that, so every day a new poem (for better or worse) arrives on the page.

Chug. Chug.  Chugging away with assorted writing projects.

The most challenging projects at the moment are the academic ones.  I have a series of articles to write for a magazine to promote my school, and I have papers  to get written for a grad school class I’m taking.  I’m really glad to have this four day weekend, so I can write all day for a few days!

How about you?  What are you writing?

 

poem- mosquito poems April 2, 2014

Filed under: Poetry,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 10:17 am
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I lie

Poems buzzing

about my head

Like mosquitoes.

I wait

For them to land,

Pinch them carefully,

Drop them into a

preserving jar of ink,

seal them between

leaves and binding.

I lie,

Free to seek

the peace

of sleep.

 

snippet of the WIP March 18, 2014

Filed under: Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 1:34 pm
Tags: , , , , ,

I’ve been posting snippets on Facebook, rather than here on the blog, but I don’t want you to feel left out, so here is a bit of the current Work In Progress, working title While I Was Out:

.

Our yard was long and narrow with a small stand of trees in one corner, set behind the shed my mom had painted to look like a little cottage.  When my mom was in her gardening phase, she’d made paths and a gazebofacing the picturesque little copse, with a bench hanging from its ceiling.  It was a relaxing place to sit, swinging in the evenings, and it offered a bit of privacy from the house as well.  If I was on house arrest, I needed a bit of escape.

I stepped out onto the back porch and inhaled the scented breeze.  Mr. Hoskin’s lilacs were thick with scent.  It wafted past my nose with a declaration of spring and a promise of summer.

I headed down the steps toward the swing, and then caught sight of a movement in the trees behind the shed.  My heart sped up.

It was probably Mr. Hoskin’s ginger cat.

“Marmalade!  Pss-pss-pss!”  She was a friendly cat, and usually was content to join me on the swing if it meant a thorough patting.  She liked hunting in our copse, though.  If she had caught the scent of a mouse, she’d be less likely to come.  “Come on, Marmalade.”

A stick crunched with a snap.  There was no way that was Marmalade.  It was unlikely to have been anything much smaller than a bear.  The leaves rustled.

“Who’s there?” I asked, fighting to sound [aggressive, brave, confident, assured].  I leaned down to pick up a small brick from the border of the path.  Just in case.  “You’re on private property!  Come out of there!”

A figure stepped out of the trees.

My heart was pounding so fast I could hardly breathe.

He took another step forward and I recognized him.  “Carl?”

He stepped out of the shadows.  It seemed as if it had been ages since I’d last seen him.  At the party he was laughing and confident, like usual.  This evening, he looked drawn and slightly haggard.  His usually immaculate hair was tangled.  There were dark circles under his eyes.

“What are you doing hiding back there?  Is something wrong?”

He just looked at me.

“What?” glancing down at myself.  I didn’t think I looked so terrible.  My bruises were mostly covered, and the ones I could see were fading from their initial vivid purple into a sort of mottled blue-green.

His lips tightened and he looked at the ground.  I watched him scuff a foot on the grass as he avoided my gaze.  After an age, he blinked up at me.  His eyes were brimming with tears.  He muttered, “I’m sorry.”

 

poem- offering March 12, 2014

Filed under: Poetry,Teaching,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 6:06 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

You bring your words to me

an offering

held in your open palms

like a supplicant.

I meet your fearful eyes

and tell you of your strengths,

coach through your weaknesses,

and encourage your improvement,

as gently as I can.

You reward me with your laughter,

a sound so rare that I am still celebrating

hours later,

so thankful

to be your teacher,

and have the chance to watch

your talent turn you into the

accomplished person

you will be.

 

query-Whatcha workin’ on? March 10, 2014

Filed under: Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 9:29 pm
Tags: , ,

I seem to get this question a lot, so I thought I’d fill you in on the current Works In Progress.

1.  the blog.  Every day there’s a little something written just for you here, usually a poem.

2. my agent is currently pitching a YA novella about a teen boy called Kieran and his pregnant sister.  While I’m not doing anything with this, people are always asking what’s happening with this book, since it took me a long time to finish!

3. a companion novella about Kieran is completely drafted and ‘resting’

4. a companion novella about a friend of Kieran’s is completely drafted and ‘resting’

5. Book 3 in the Grace Awakening series is completely drafted, but is in need in revision.  It is ‘resting’ pending fresh eyes.

6. Book 4 in the Grace Awakening series is mostly drafted, but is in need of revision.  It is ‘resting’ as well.

7. I am actively working on a 40k word YA novel about date rape and cyber-bullying.

8. I have outlined a short YA novel about a drama class.

9. Grace Beguiling is sitting in the background ‘brewing.’  This is a prequel about one of Ben and Grace’s past lives together.

10. A novel about Finnish migrants in the Shuswap is also ‘brewing.

11. I have entered a couple of short story contests the last while.  Usually I just write something a couple of days before deadline, and hope for the best.  I don’t usually win these things, so that’s probably a sign I need to take a different tact! lol

An explanation of terms:

Brewing means I’m thinking about it.  I have some ideas and they come and go.  Sometimes it means I write out a scene or research something.  Very little is on paper in the brewing stage.

Outlining means I’ve planned out the bones of the whole story.  This strategy is new to me, and I’m not sure that I like it.  I find it spoils some of the fun of writing when I know what’s going to happen! On the other hand, I’m hoping there will be fewer scenes I need to cut because they don’t really fit, nor a need to re-work scenes to make them fit better.  Knowing the theme and being able to articulate each characters goals does keep things consistent and the writing focused.

Actively working means I’m writing a first draft, in the case of the current WIP, I’m following an very thorough outline.  (See outlining, above)

Draft means a completed  first (or possibly second, third, or fourth) version of a novel.  They’re always subject to massive amounts of revision.  Some people actively write one piece while they’re revising another piece (like Terry Brooks, who writes a new work in the morning and revises the last work in the afternoon).  I don’t.

Resting means the piece is finished, but on hiatus.  Or at least that I’m done with it for now.  Sometimes my wonderful editor has given me a list of revisions or challenging questions that I’m not quite ready to face.  If I’m too close in time to a project, it’s a little harder to see it critically, so I give it time while I work on something else.  When I come back to it, her  questions make perfect sense, and guide me to solutions.  Also, it can mean I wrote the draft, and my agent knows about it, and she’ll see if anyone is interested in it, and if so, I’ll polish it up.

And that’s what I’m up to these days!  (When I’m not reading or working at my day job, of course).

 

poem-exploding you March 4, 2014

Filed under: Poetry,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 5:20 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Oh, belligerent woman

at the gas station.

You know you are wrong.

You see the arrows.

Instead of backing up

You drive forward,

and make obnoxious remarks.

The other ten of us

can follow directions.

One of these things is not

like the others.

You’re embarrassed.

I get that.

So apologize, and back up.

Don’t yell at me.

I’m going the right way.

I am an author, though.

So while you rant,

I have the satisfaction

of seeing the bomb

the terrorists have set

that you accidentally trigger

by going the wrong way.

As your car explodes in a fiery

conflagration,

the ten cars that are secure

in our rule following

are protected by our bubble of sanctity.

We smile contentedly

knowing karma is at work,

as the litter of your dissatisfied life

rains from the sky,

bouncing off of us and

our aligned automobiles.

As you back out,

muttering a chastened,

“Sorry,”

I am glad that imagination

trumps aggravation

every time.

.

.

It’s a popular saying, “Don’t mess with authors.  They will put you in their novels, and kill you.”  Today, I discovered the poetic equivalent. 😉

 

poem-Newton’s first law of writing February 24, 2014

Filed under: Poetry,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 10:30 am
Tags: , , , , ,

It’s not about writer’s block

It’s about writer’s inertia

An object at rest, stays at rest;

A writer not writing, remains not writing.

Something must get it moving.

An object in motion, stays in motion;

A writer writing, remains writing,

Unless an outside force acts upon it.

Seek the energy to start the motion

And stay in motion

So the book gets written.

.

.

Diana Gabaldon once said that she tries to write every day, because if she doesn’t,  an inertia develops and it’s hard to get to it.  I have found this true!  Since the frenzy of drafting two novels in November, it’s been hard to do more than outline recently.  I know that if I just get into the rhythm of the writing, it will propel itself, but the novel writing rhythm is proving elusive these days.   I’ve been having no trouble keeping up the blog though, providing a poem for your daily reading.  That’s better than nothing!

 

poem- lit up February 10, 2014

Filed under: Poetry,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 10:20 pm
Tags: , , , ,

You read

lit up,

laughing.

You read

looking

into the depths.

You read

seeing beyond

what is

to what can be.

You read

lit up

and light me,

too.

.

.

.

(In praise of my wonderful editor, Vikki, who looks at the messes I get myself into, and asks all the right questions to help me find my way again).