Books

Last night I finished "Frozen in Time" by Mark Kulansky. It's the story of Clarence Birdseye and how frozen foods developed from an idea into a billion dollar enterprise. I thought it was very well-written - just the right amount of information with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor, too. 

I keep a "Books Read" list as a Google doc so I can easily add to my yearly list. I rate the books 1-5 and include a short summary. It's extremely helpful to scan when someone asks me what I've read that's great. 

At the moment I'm juggling 4-5 books because some of the books I had put on hold were available at the same time. I still need to finish these: 

The Other Family Doctor by Karen Fine, DVM

The Queen's Fortune by Allison Pataki

The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abe

And, there are three more that I haven't started yet...

PS - I raked those leaves above into a large pile last fall. I'm posting it because this week the temperatures have been chilly in the morning: high 50's - low 60's. It feels like fall is coming. (That and spring are my favorite seasons.)

What does "Don't Get It Right, Get It Written" really mean?

The title of this blog, Don't Get It Right, Get It Written, refers to my mindset when I start a project or am attempting to make progress on a writing project. It's a reminder that the most important task is to get the words down. I try not to let that soft (or sometimes loud) voice that can ask all kinds of questions, such as, "Why are you doing this? Will anyone really care about reading this? Is this really worth the effort? Would my time be better used for..." 

Anyone who has sat down to write anything is often plagued by doubt. But the best way to overcome this is through perseverance and determination. Just sit and write. Ignore those doubts, and get the words down. Once they're down, then the editing can begin. I can find myself very surprised after a morning of working on a chapter that I didn't think was going well only to be shocked when I reread the pages the next morning. Often, they will seem much better than I thought and show promise that will improve with editing.

I also use a writing calendar, which keeps me motivated. I note the number of words I wrote that day and then add them to the running total at the bottom of the daily box. I am usually surprised by how much progress I have made when I add up the words at the end of the week.

Here are the writing calendars for my second book in the Adventure USA series, MASSACHUSETTS! The Stolen Spyglass. As you can see, the progress was slow but steady.

(Additionally, when I skip a day, that stark empty box or a big "X," with no word number in it is a blaring reminder that I missed a day.)

I just finished reading The Magnificent Lives of Majorie Post by Allison Pataki. It was very interesting, with a great narrative voice. In the course of the book, Majorie explored the work of Clarence Birdseye, who founded Birdseye Frozen Foods, eventually recommending that the Post Company buy it.

This was very intriguing, so I looked for a book about Clarence Birdseye, who had been on my radar ever since I read a review of Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man by Mark Kurlansky. It was unavailable at my library, but I found Frozen in Time (Adapted for Young Readers): Clarence Birdseye's Outrageous Idea About Frozen Food by Mark Kurlansky. I plan to read it next.

Studying Creativity

Hello, and welcome to my blog! I hope to share my writing journey with you, favorite books, some photos (another passion of mine) and anything else that seems noteworthy. Please feel free to leave me a comment.

Several months ago, I responded to a request for writers to participate in a research project on creativity. (https://ninc.com/community/special-projects/case-western-creativity-process-study/) Last week, I had a 90-minute Zoom session with Kaleigh, a PhD student from Case Western studying the creative process. She asked me to speak out loud while I wrote.

 

I'm working on editing Book 2 of the Adventure USA series. It's called MASSACHUSETTS! The Stolen Spyglass. I wasn't sure how speaking out loud while I worked would be helpful, but I was more than willing to try. I quickly discovered that speaking about what I was thinking was immensely helpful.

 

Somehow, it fast-tracked the creative process. I had wanted to enrich Lizzie's emotional life in this book and had some ideas but hadn't really decided how to do it. As I spoke, I wrote, and in so doing, I found another whole aspect of Lizzie that I could easily incorporate into the story and make it so much richer.

 

I'll definitely make use of this technique in the future.

 

 

 

 

A blue monarch at the butterfly exhibit at the Franklin Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio.