Authors – Page 15 – Rebekah Lyn Books

Writing Tip by Divoran~Pumpkin Soup

The holidays are on their way. We like to start planning early. This year we’re doing a de-construction menu. What you do is make different dishes from traditional recipes. For instance, you might make a turkey casserole with dressing and cranberries instead of a roasted turkey with stuffing inside. You can find recipes to use or you may make up your own. I think I’ll make pumpkin soup.

It’s the same way with writing. You can take things that have already been written, either your own, or someone else’s, and deconstruct and reconstruct them. Is that cheating. Is it unoriginal? No. The Bible says there’s nothing new under the sun and if anything is true that is! So how do you keep your work fresh and original? You use whatever you have as a launch pad for you’re thinking. I use cookbooks to get ideas for cooking and then change the recipes into something that suits me better. For writing, I use books, magazines, poems, paintings, people, and nature, what else is there…use that too.

Originality is not in saying something that has never been said before. How possible would that be? Originality is saying it the way you see it, understand it, and feel it. Try your best to write well and really communicate and you’ll have all the ideas for creative writing you could ever want.

One thing that’s fun for me is to know what’s supposed to be happening in a certain month. October is National Clock Month, Right Brainers Rule Month, and Dryer Vent Month. What? Dryer Vent, oh yeah, that’s what Jill Badonsky says in The Awe-Manac. Great. I have a story about a critter that got into our dryer vent. See how it works?

Now about the pumpkin soup. I’ve read some recipes and I have eaten about a ton of pumpkin pie in my lifetime, so let’s see, I’ll start with pumpkin. I may have to experiment a bit, toss some mistakes, or eat them in spite of their not being perfect. I’m not sure whether I’ll share the recipe or not. It’s too difficult for other people to follow exactly the way I do things. That’s originality, too.

Happy Writing

Love, DiVoran

Writing Tip~I Love Clichés

I almost called myself Daisy for this tip because I’m embarrassed to admit: I love clichés. They seem to go down like ice cream or cool water whichever you like best.

A cliché can be a word, a phrase, or an idea. Many clichés come from the Bible and Shakespeare’s writing. It’s called a cliché because it’s considered old, overused, hackneyed. All my writing teachers, whether in books or in classes, tell me clichés are not acceptable. Okay. I don’t want to use them all the time, or even hear them all the time. But, you have to admit; they make instant pictures in your mind and explain things that could take a lot more words to explain. Sometimes, they’re funny. Those are usually the ones that come from just plain folks, such as: busier than a one-armed paperhanger, slick as a whistle.

There are ways to get around the no clichés rule. For one, you may allow them to come from an appropriate character’s mouth. Jean used a cliché in my new novel, Clear Spring. In an email to her daughter, she says, “Forewarned is forearmed.” It means, if you know what’s coming, you might be able to protect yourself.

Other ways to use them is in casual writing such as emails and personal memoir…blogs, too, depending on the blog. A cliché may be useful as a launching pad by changing the words, but keeping the idea.

In English, we have something called idiom. I think of idiom as a certain way of conveying an idea. Don’t we usually say soldiers and sailors, or apples and oranges? If you switch them around, it’s going to interrupt your reader for a tick. You don’t want to do that if you can help it. Idiom and clichés are so much alike that I can’t tell the difference, but on www.mavenrandomhouse.com, The Maven says, “Words and phrases (idiom and cliché) become popular for a reason, and judicious use of them should not be entirely discouraged.” There. That takes a load off. Does it float your boat at all?

Happy writing,

Love,

DiVoran

Join Me at Booktoberfest~Authors in the Park

Join me and nineteen other author at Booktoberfest. Authors in the Park has put together this fantastic event. It will be held October 5, 2013 in Mt. Dora, Florida 2-5 pm. It’s a meet and greet that combines a Fall Festival with a Halloween theme, The authors will be dressed as one of their characters and you can choose a costume too! Visit Hidden Earth Series for all the details including a list of each authors characters and costume ideas.

Just in case the lure of books and authors is not enticing you, Mount Dora is renowned for its many antique shops. So make a day of it, come early to shop, have a lovely lunch in one of the restaurants then join the authors as we celebrate Booktoberfest. As for me, I can’t wait to visit Juliannes Coastal Cottage to get my all time favorite Kermits Key Lime Pie on a Stick.

Writing Tips~Silence and Thought

I come from a long line of worrywarts. I’m good at thinking about the past and the future. On the other hand, I’ve read a lot about love vs. fear, and hope vs. despair and I’ve come a long way, baby. I’ve also read a lot about meditation. At first, I was afraid of it, because I thought it was strictly an Eastern religious practice and I’d lose my will power, if I tried it..

But as time went on and I became less ignorant, I began to see something worthwhile in being still and meditating. Also, I understood that meditation is also a Christian practice. The best example is, “Be still and know that I am God.”

Now, for me, meditation goes into the box called possibility, and here’s why. A wise pastor once told me that if something is true, no matter who believes it, it’s still true. That means the idea of meditation rings true to me and I’m trying it out.

The trouble is my worrywart brain loves nothing better than to grab any quiet moment and head down into the miry clay with it. That’s what the Bible calls depression: the miry clay. There’s also the falling asleep thing. Anyhow, I’ve looked into it. I’ve decided everything goes better with Christ, and I’ve done some praying. I can’t sit empty minded, but lately there comes a time early in the morning when I’ve done some journaling, had a few lovely sips of coffee, and finally I actually hear the music I have playing on Pandora . I sigh. I have a feeling of wanting to let down. I put my pen down. I take a deep breath. I listen. I hear a flutter of wings and birdcalls. I feel a September breeze promising cooler weather. In a short time, I’m ready to go back to work. Suddenly an idea comes to me. I write it down, then another, and another. Good ideas. I develop them.

In an article in the Saturday Evening Post, September/October issue called, “Time Out,” the author, Mark Matousic says about meditation, “its like doing pushups for the brain.”

Richard Carlson says, “Have you ever noticed that when you are quiet and silent, calm and still you know exactly what to do? Being silent doesn’t shut down your mind; it only activates a deeper kind of intelligence. No one knows for sure where this deeper intelligence comes from, or what it’s called, but all wise cultures are certain that it exists. When we are silent, it’s as if we tap into a universal source of wisdom. It’s as if our thinking comes to us, rather than us actively having to pursue our thoughts. It’s as if we get the benefit of “universal thought, instead of having to rely on our own limited thinking.” Don’t Worry, Make Money

I know a middle school teacher and father that sometimes takes a day off and meditates all day. But I don’t aspire to anything like that. I think for now, I’ll stick to my own kind of meditation. I call it Sensory Meditation where I hear, see, feel. That works for me, and it’s good enough for now.

If you’d like to know more about meditation, look here

Happy writing,

Love,

DiVoran