%2BWriter's%2BCodebook%2BWhite.jpg)
“Don’t
squish the bread.”
All
you moms out there know exactly what
I’m talking about.
We’ve
conveyed those four words in all types of tones, though usually the command is
projected with emphatic, if not menacing undertones.
You’ll go without
lunch for a week or Can’t cut the crusts off of crushed bread, Kiddo.
I’m
afraid I can’t relate to the latter, nor can my children.
Who
in this blessed world has time for cutting
the crust off bread?
Besides,
there are starving people…
Grocery
shopping was notoriously a family event in our house, and “Don’t squish the
bread” was a weekly directive.
“Is
that like the eleventh commandment?” Fave once asked.
Squishing
the bread is akin to a cardinal sin; it’s like culinary sacrilege at its best.
So,
I know what you’re thinking: What on God’s green earth does squishing the bread
have to do with writing?
Well,
first of all it involves a story.
Second
of all, a writer’s words are her bread and butter, food for the soul, or any
other cliché you can think of.
And
today I realized that I have spent the past week squashing some of my most important
words, squeezed the very life out of them.
I’m
talking about the kind of crushing that leaves that slice of wholesomeness so
flattened it looks and feels like a gummy wad of nearly dried-up glue.
It’s
totally useless…
I
posted the links on Google and Pinterest and Facebook and Instagram and I asked
you to share and share and share.
AND
YOU DID! This post has one of my highest click rates of all time!
But
after a week of watching that count go up and up, I began to wonder why no one
was submitting nominations. Not one. Zilch.
NADA.
So
I did a bit of sleuthing today and realized my grave, grave mistakes.
1) I had not tested the bit-ly link for
the Facebook post.
2) As if that weren’t bad enough, I
discovered that the e-mail link on The Five Facets website was broken.
Heaven only
knows how many of you have submitted entries to this giveaway!
O…M…G… even
worse, how many of you have written for information in the six months since this blog went live?!
Talk about
EPIC FAIL.
Falling
flat on one’s face.
Suppressing
any enthusiasm I might have drummed up.
I squashed
those perfectly shaped writing resources and our connection with
Olympic-caliber and perfect form.
Ugh…
Fortunately
for me, we writers tend to be the forgiving kind, and fixing the little problem
is almost as easy as hitting a few delete buttons.
I can also turn
my little mishap into a post and offer a few gentle reminders for all of my
writing friends out there.
One of the
best ways to be successful is to pay attention to those habits and suggestions
of those people you deem successful.
Below are a
few of the tips I’ve culled from writers who seem to have made a place for
themselves in The Writer’s Kingdom.
Eleven
Commandments from The (Great) Writer’s Codebook
1) Write
because you love words
more than you need riches.
2) Write
about what you know;
it’s comfortable and it makes you look smart and savvy.
3) Write
about what you don’t know;
it’s a humble reminder that we don’t know everything and it makes everyone else
feel good about what they do know.
4) The
world is your oyster-ly muse.
You can write about anything from tampons to that cat who just stuck his paw in
your morning cup o’ joe.
5) Find
your voice, that
sweet spot that reflects your own cadence and flair and style. Personal style lends
credibility and sense when you write about feminine plugs and that favorite feline.
6) Use
your active voice; passive
voice puts your readers to sleep and begins to feel like a sharp stick poking her
in the eye.
7) Put
your ass in that seat
and your phone in another room.
8) Set
a timer everything from
showering and social media to writing.
9) Get
up and MOVE; your
fingers aren’t the only part of your body that needs exercise.
10) Patience
is your new best friend.
With it you won’t hit that Submit
button when there are errors awaiting your attention. Without it you just might
go stark raving mad before you receive that coveted acceptance letter.
And
the eleventh commandment?
It’s
actually one of the first things we learn and one of the last so many of us
heed.
It’s
so important that it’s worth amending The Writer’s Ten Commandments.
Here’s
hoping The Writer’s Eleventh Commandment will now stand out as the most
important
Are
you ready?
THE
ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT FROM THE (GREAT) WRITER’S CODEBOOK
PROOF. EVERYTHING.
If
you have to, pay your kids or the neighborhood’s five-year-old tech-genius to test your links.
There
ya have it, Folks.
Now
that you’ve sighed and winced and laughed a little, go proof that piece AND please, please, please get busy nominating your favorite teacher for our $500
pay-it-forward teacher supply giveaway!
Ten
lucky teachers will each receive $50 in much needed classroom supplies.
You’re
awesome.
Until
next time, yours in healing, hope, and happiness.
~AE
No comments:
Post a Comment