Silver Linings

Welcome back, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.

I'm a silver linings kind of gal, and I've blogged about it before, but I hope you'll indulge me while I do it again.

During our sons' two week vacation, we'd planned on camping among enormous sand dunes in Glamis, CA. My husband and sons like riding ATVs & dirt bikes, and I enjoy chillin' at camp with my sisters and friends. It's a family favorite of ours.

This year, we had to cancel our trip. My firefighter hubby was scheduled to work New Year's Eve, and couldn't get the day off. (What? Emergencies don't take holidays? Psh) All of us were very disappointed, but our kids handled the news much better than expected.

We started a game. There were silver linings to canceling our trip, and we challenged each other to find them. I began the game with, "Silver lining! Our new kitties don't have to be alone." From there, the boys picked up on the game. After spending a simple day doing simple things, one of them would say...

Silver lining! We got to have friends over today.

Silver lining! We got to go to the movies.

Silver lining! We went bowling.

Silver lining! We went to a friend's New Year's Eve party.

On and on it went. Yes, we were sad about the trip, but Plan B was a lot of fun. And sometimes Plan B works best in writing and publishing as well.

Your Best Manuscript Ever was soundly rejected? Silver lining! It was a great learning experience.

Dream Agent rejected your manuscript? Silver lining! The perfect agent will fall in love with it.

Big Publisher rejected your manuscript? Silver lining! Small Publisher is your strongest advocate.

Tired of hearing no, or simply want more control? Silver lining! Self-publishing thrives.

Things don't always go the way we want, in regular life and in the writing life. But silver linings are there, we just have to look for them.

Tell me, did your writing path swerve, but Plan B turned out to be better? Are you able to find silver linings when your best laid plans go wrong?

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Writers on Vacation

Used with permission from Debbie Ridpath Ohi at Inkygirl.com.

Raise your hand if you can relate to the above comic...

*raises hand*

I laughed out loud when I first saw it, because yes, our writer brains rarely shut off.

On Monday, my family and I will set sail on a cruise. While I won't officially be writing, I have a feeling my write-brained self might have other plans. I'll place zero pressure on myself, but I'll bring a pencil and an empty notebook just in case I want to do the following:

• Character sketches--Hairy dude in a Speedo doing the Limbo; whiney, tired children wearing floaties on their arms; teens flirting by the pool; multi-cultural cruise staff. We never know when we'll feature these characters in our books. Might as well take notes.
• Scenery details--Cruise ship amenities; sandy beaches; bright blue water. Even if we never use them, it's helpful to jot down location details while they're fresh in our minds.
• Sensory details--Coconut scented oil; reggae music; mariachi band; crusty salt on the rim of a margarita glass; sweaty neck while wearing the lifejacket during the emergency drill. If we're using location details from our vacation spots, we can't forget the senses.
• Lessons learned from vacation reading--As usual, I will have a blank sheet of notebook paper slipped between the pages of my summer reading. If valuable lessons stand out, it's helpful to write them down.

If I do absolutely none of these things, will I feel guilty? Nope. We must remember to not only write about life, but to live it. 

What are your summer plans? Any vacations? Staycations? Do you write at all when you're gone, or do you leave it all behind?

Note: I'll skip my next two regular posting days, July 10th and 14th, and be back on the 17th. See you then!

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5 ways to keep our writing brains active

My family is preparing for a camping & water skiing trip, and even though I'll be gone, my writer hat will still be firmly planted on my head. Writers have a difficult time shutting off their writer brains, and here are some ways we can remain engaged in writing, even though we're on a trip:

1. Add words to a current w.i.p.--if writers have a laptop, they can continue plugging away on their manuscript. And if they don't have a laptop, they can continue writing by longhand and transcribe those words when they return home.
2. Plotting--writers can bring spiral notebooks or index cards and plot during down times. I plan on bringing a notebook, along with my favorite craft book, and will continue with plot ideas.
3. Character study--as I wrote in this post, when we're out and about we can collect character details from unsuspecting vacationers. Perhaps the hunky lifeguard with the "mom" tattoo or the hairy guy wearing the yellow Speedo deserves a spot in a book.
4. Audio books--if the vacation includes lots of driving, audio books are a great way to pass the time. My son has to read FEED this summer, and his teacher gave us the green light to use the audio version. I've never read this book, and look forward to joining my son as he listens to it on the long drive to our destination.
5. Read a print book--there's nothing quite like opening a print book and turning the dampened, worn pages. Even though reading great books is relaxing entertainment, it still keeps our writing brains engaged.

When all else fails, writers can just let it all go and enjoy the trip. Sometimes our over-active minds deserve a break!

Is there anything you'd like to add to the list? And do you use vacation time to accomplish writerly tasks, or do you stop the presses and push writing to the back of your mind?

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