Happy Memorial Day!

Thank you to all who have served and are serving in our Armed Forces.

Every year this time of year, the poppies in the backyard bloom, and I recall the first lines of  "In Flanders Fields".  I remember listening to it in a Charlie Brown special I only saw once, but can only remember the first two lines.  In honor of the men and women who have sacrificed their lives in defense of our freedom, I share this poem with you today.








In Flander's Fields
by John McCrae


In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
 Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
 In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
 If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Time Flies

I can't believe it is almost June-- seems like just a few weeks ago it was Christmas!!!  Is time going just as fast for you?

I had hoped to be further along in my WIP at this time, but am pleased with where I am.  I had also hoped to be back to a regular exercise schedule, but that hasn't happened.  I find I have a hard time getting up earlier in the morning to do it then, and when I come home from work I feel I am missing time with my family if I do it then.  Maybe now that the sun has decided to make an appearance I can do the morning thing-- they say if you do it for 28 days it becomes a habit!

I read some interesting posts in the last week.  Lindsey Roth Culli (A Pinch of Panache) has a great post on Beta's, and Margo Berensden (Writing at High Altitude) has a post on extreme writing with a link at the end to suggestions for writing your synopsis.  Hop over here to check it out!

Juggling WIP's

When you are writing, do you focus on one WIP at a time, or do you have multiples going?  I've been trying to focus on one WIP, but my mind keeps dropping other stories into my mind to play with.

I am thinking of rotating between the two WIP's, so when I get stuck on one, I can work on the other while my subconscious works out the problems.

In the meantime, I have been beta reading from Graeme of The Fool and The Fair.  He has great humor (and a cool website with an awesome dragon!), so go check it out!!!!  And Graeme, thanks for all the help the last couple of weeks!

So- how many WIP's do you have going?  Pros and cons to working on more than one??

Unstuck!

Yesterday it felt like I had been struck by lightning when I finally realized the reason I was stuck in my current WIP.  I hadn't made a character do something they needed to do, and they were sulking.  To add further to my dilemma, I needed to change POV, and hadn't.

So, with my character doing what she needed to do, and my POV changed, I was able to get some writing done.

I probably should have realized this earlier, as these are the two most common reasons I get stuck. What have you found that gets you stuck in your writing?

Hope you all have a great weekend.  We are off to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Beethoven's Last Night Tour tonight.  And, maybe if it ever stops raining, we can have a meal out on the new deck (now fully stained and cured!)  See you all Monday!

Out of Order

The last few days I haven't felt like writing.  It isn't that I don't have an idea to work with, I do.  In fact I gave myself a deadline to get this idea down so it can rest while I get a few other ideas down.

I tried sitting and forcing myself through the scene-- not a good idea.  The writing read forced, because it was.  Yesterday I tried writing scenes out of order. This worked a bit better than I hoped.  I was able to get at least one scene down, in rough form.  Now, I just need to bridge to there.  I think I figured out how, by working out of order.

What do you do when the mood isn't there?  Do you push on, hoping to just get the idea out there?  Do you take a break?  What are your secrets?