I’ve never been good at keeping a journal. It all boils down to consistency. There are days when I skip making an entry. Life can crowd out the time I need to write down my thoughts about a day’s events. I’ve also been reluctant to pose as an expert on the writing process. If I knew anything of value about writing, my work would already be in print. I went out on a skinny limb in 2022 when I shared my 365 days of thankfulness. The exercise forced me to put myself out there with my soft belly exposed. Thank you for joining me on my journey in the written word. Therefore, I plan to keep a journal in 2023 to document my progress. I will call this post Entry 153: Keep the Action Moving.
Note: I consider editing an important part of the writing process. Editing is where all the artistry happens.
My morning writing before I started Entry 153: Keep the Action Moving
Okay, so I spent the morning editing Amazing Buchanan and the Beast. It was a good time. One of the things Elizabeth Lyon emphasized in Manuscript Makeover is that every scene had to have movement. A writer would bore a reader if something didn’t happen that moved the story forward. The interesting balance is to draw a reader into a character’s mind, create a world in which he exists, and keep the story moving like a raging river. That is where the artistry lives.
I wrote my first Free Verse poem. I used this style when I created my Black Out Poems. It was the easiest way for me to select words from a page and construct a poem with a different meaning than the original author of the words. Doing it from scratch with nothing but a blank page is much more difficult. Word Daddy, where are you now? I could use a little help here.
The book I am currently reading right now and Entry 153: Keep the Action Moving
I am near the end of Willow Rose’s Say You Love Me. A hurricane is coming, and she thinks she has a suspect. Her ex-husband shows up with her kids, which complicates things. Her boyfriend arrives and saves her and her grandmother. The ending should be exciting.
What I’m listening to right now and Entry 153: Keep the Action Moving
I put Counting Crow’s album ‘August and Everything After’ on the stereo this afternoon. They can capture the perfect amount of angst to express how I am feeling right now. I may hang out with these guys for a couple of days. Rooster and I have some big decisions and are not too fond of the pressure.
The adventure Rooster and I took yesterday while Entry 153: Keep the Action Moving
Rooster and I left life behind and rode the motorcycle to a city Wy from here to eat dinner. We’ve decided we need a vacation. The big question is if we want to take the car or the bike. Before COVID happened, that would be an easy question to answer.
Who is Molly Shea?
Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh. To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.
Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter!