Will I Ever Learn? (November Lessons)

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2012-11-20 02.40.05Holy Tom Turkey–November already! And I’m sure lots of you are rockin’ National Novel Writing Month or Tara Lazar’s Picture Book Idea Month. Keep up the good work!

I’m doing something a little different this November: I’m taking off.

Not that I won’t be working. Quite the contrary. I just returned from a lovely writing retreat up in the North Georgia mountains where I started my next middle grade novel and I can’t wait to work on it. So I will be deep into novel-writing this month. And I have a couple other projects that I’ve been dragging my pen on–and I absolutely need to finish them.

See, the mistake I make (and honestly, not just in November) is over-committing to challenges. Sometimes, it’s a big and fancy challenge like NaNo and sometimes, it’s just me, setting one goal too many. When I impose too much, I fail to accomplish what really matters.

But here’s the great thing about mistakes: we can learn from them. Speaking of which, I wrote about New Writer Mistakes (That No Writer Can Afford To Make) over at The Muffin. The truth is, new writer or experienced writer, we can always learn from our mistakes and learn a lesson or two.

So, this November, I’ll be working alongside all of you, working on your challenges. And here’s to all of us, accomplishing what really matters!

 

Halloween Temptation

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halloween 002I am NOT going to write a story for Susanna Leonard Hill’s Halloweensie Contest.

I’m terribly behind in all kinds of work.

Then again, a wee break to read a couple Halloween stories, one hundred words or less…

I laughed, I sighed, I imagined all sorts of frightfully fun pictures. But I am not going to write a story.

Reading stories, though, that’s a different matter. So many friends I recognized. A few more chuckles, noting the clever use of the words “broomstick” and “pumpkin” and “creak” and how I might use those same words in my story and GET THEE BEHIND ME, HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST.

Aw, pfffft. Self-control (and work) is highly overrated.

 

 

My story for  Susanna Leonard Hill’s Halloweensie Contest:

 

The Scariest Thing Ever

 

Penelope Witch’s stomach growled.

She hitched up her broomstick. “I’ve got a craving for a wicked treat!”

“Be careful,” said Mother. “Those horrible monsters! The howling and screeching, the wailing and whining!”

“I’ll be extra careful,” said Penelope.

Penelope parked and shuddered. An eerie light loomed ahead.

A door opened with a creak, and a shiver tingled down her spine.

She tiptoed past terrors, large and small, trembling in her boots.

At last, she reached out her hand—and shrieked!

“What’s got into her?” asked the grocery store clerk.

The baker pointed to a sign: Pumpkin Pie—Sold Out!