by Cathy Baker | Faith |
by Cathy Baker
Every December, Brian and I purchase a new Christmas puzzle. We set up my grandmother’s card table (great memories!), spread out the pieces, and work on it during the evenings.
So why I’d never considered purchasing an Autumn puzzle is beyond me.
Check out some of these I came across:
“Autumn Harvest” by Vermont Christmas Company, sold by Amazon. 1000 pieces, $15.95.
And because I’m a sucker for old country stores, Coke buttons, and vintage pick up trucks…Autumn Traditions by White Mountain Puzzles, 300 pieces, $11.91.
Pour the hot cocoa, turn off the TV, and hide the phones. Enjoy the conversation as you work together to put the pieces back together again.
Which of the three above is your favorite? Amazon has MANY to choose from!
Congratulations to Karla Cook! She won the Starbucks gift card from Monday’s post. Enjoy!
Stop by and visit Karla’s site
Roads to Everywhere.
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
“Discovery favors the well-prepared mind.” -Jerome Bruner
Thanks to an Amazon birthday gift card (thanks Mom & Steve!) I recently purchased Where Do You Get Your Ideas? A Writer’s Guide to Transforming Notions Into Narratives, by Fred White.
I’ve yet to dive in but admit I couldn’t resist dipping my toes into page 31. The subject? Capturing Ideas In Your Writer’s Notebook.
Writing down your thoughts, however amorphous, is important because the very effort to capture ideas in words helps to develop them. One of the most fascinating things about becoming an active idea hunter is that very act of hunting for ideas will sharpen both your observational skills and your imaginative skills. Work hard to cultivate the habit of writing down the ideas you’ve hunted down, even before you begin assessing their story potential.
One idea: Here’s an opportunity to practice idea recognition while simultaneously doing housework: Find a cluttered closet, junk drawer, or corner of your attic, basement, or garage and organize it. As you do so, see how many potential story ideas you can recognize in the items you come across. Here are two examples from a closet purging to get you going:
- Old musical audiotapes from a long-forgotten jazz quartet. Possible idea: What if a jazz enthusiast, recognizing the exceptional talent of this group, sets out to find the individual musicians and reunite them?
- A cache of holiday greetings from twenty years ago, some from friends and relatives you haven’t heard from since or have since fallen out of favor. Possible idea: What would happen if your main character attempted to reestablish a close friendship (implicit in one of the old greeting cards) that had gone sour for some reason?
How and where do YOU capture ideas?
I’ve much to learn but you’ll rarely find me without this in a nearby pocket. In it, you’ll find random ideas, quirky words/phrases, and mini notes from Marcia Moston’s devotions, given every month in our writer’s meeting.
Now to transform my notions into narratives!
