DEAR TEENME

The Dear Teenme Blog was set by a group of authors: some famous – some up-and-comers. They put it together because they care about every teenager in the world. 

If the people around you are older than you it's because they've been where you are now... and survived.

The letters are addressed to ourselves but the messages are pretty universal.

Dear Teen Me

There are things I'm not going to make you live through now... because living through it once is enough.  I lived it with you... I'm me because of you. We don't do too bad: I am here and writing this (read it... see what I mean... before you go into panic-mode.) WORDS OF ADVICE BEFORE THE WORD OF ADVICE: PRE-ADVICE - things look darkest when you are on your own. Hands up if you've noticed that 6,000,000,000 people live on planet Earth. You married one of them and you are related to about half; you are not alone. Talking to others makes you realise you are handling things better than you think - you'd never have known if you hadn't talked to others who were going through the same experiences too.


Worry about the specifics only when you need too, here's the bigger picture:

Being born fifth of eight was always going to make us learn to listen well or shout louder. WORD OF ADVICE 1: we went the wrong way first time; learning to shout a little earlier would have been OK too.

Excellent work! You will go to university and everything you thought was highly unlikely – just remember getting there is not the end of the journey. WORD OF ADVICE 2: Do not coast during the first year – enjoy it less; it will give you more time for the work. The guy who asks you to dance the last dance at the Freshers's Ball is the ultimate-keeper.

Love the day job as much as you like but spot when it expandes to fourteen hours-a-day six days-a-week. WORD OF ADVICE 3:  I know you think it’s what you want but don’t take on the extra responsibilities at work - there will be enough additional responsibilities to keep you busy elsewhere. Your greatest challenges will not be at work, neither will your greatest joys and heartaches.

Food – Vegetarianism means you need to eat vegetables. WORD OF ADVICE 4: Don’t go there unless you are prepared to embrace the thing properly. Meat is murder is not a definitive fact; it's an opinion. I have to say, looking back from here, I am awed by how unhealthy you managed to make this life-style choice.

Experimenting with your hair was a great idea!

Colour review: orange, pink and purple were all great (very blond I recommend less, and as for black… just don’t do it: it’s a harsh look to rock.)

Style review: I know mid-length with its untidy half-curl and a tendency towards the frizz is irritating but long hair was a pain and perming just made the neighbours’ poodles excited. I still say wearing it prep-boy-short was never going to be the answer. WORD OF ADVICE 5 – buy products and invest in straighteners (camp outside ARGOS and wait - after that there’s no looking back… and wishing it would settle down and look half-way-decent.)

Size? F**k it! WORD OF ADVICE 6 – eat: not for-no-reason is it called comfort food . ADVICE 6 ½:  you bought an exercise bike – use it; it takes less co-ordination than getting out to the gym anyway.

You looked forward to writing with the kids in school far more than was necessary; if you were looking for signs from the cosmos, why didn’t that one register? When you had to take time off work to look after Sonshine, was that too subtle? When it hurt to read did that not register as  significant when you’d devoured up to six books a week, for years? WORD OF ADVICE 7 - Read. Then take time – make time - as much as you need - and write.

Everything else? Keep doing what you’re doing: you make good choices.

PS Why do we still only ever sing at home? Sing! Enjoy the ability to hold a tune; just remember free–style harmonising is going to drift into dodgy places sometimes – just go for it; have fun.

And write.

Elena Solodow's 100 words for $100 dollars Blogfest

Elena Solodow on her Blog: You're Write. Except when you're Rong has created a long Blogfest: January and 100 words long. 

100 Words for $100 Dollars Blogfest!

The idea that someone might pay me to write long instead of bending my ear over keeping it short made me happy dance -  a light-headed release from pressure   ;)

100 words on the button!

RANK NEGLECT

Carpet time (beloved of the grey-haired, myopically-challenged, elderly educationalist who’d been placed in charge of the class who were politely described as challenging)  was a form of brutal torture conducted without the need for physical or verbal communication for it was when the imaginary force-field generated by his peers made personal space as vast as the cosmos, for the kid whose mother thought liquid detergent and water were optional extras and the sweet smell of sweat and stale urine were natural bi-products of his going through a difficult stage of development and not what Social-workers would describe as rank neglect.

:(

I found I could enforce verbal civility and increase a positive attitude with strategic rewards but the force-field was impossible to eradicate until the school bought a washing machine.

I'M HOOKED ON GLEE - she had me at the little gold star

What is the hook?

What is the theme?

How does your story open?  

• what is the hero doing before the first plot point?
• what is your character’s backstory?
• what inner demons show up here that will come to bear on the hero later in the story?
• what is foreshadowed prior to the first plot point? 

When I want to write a story I think: is there anything I can write that is better than this.

SEASON 2 is about to air here in the UK. No spoilers now - or I might die... literally-ish ;)

NEW CREATIONS - an end and a beginning

Happy birthday Summer Ross (My Inner Fairy).  Summer is celebrating her birthday by hosting the New Creations Blogfest.   The rules for saying goodbye to the character you were during the last year, and inviting in a whole new year's worth of experiences - and growth - are very simple:

1)Pick one ending sentence from last year's stories, a favourite one you wrote:


I worked on re-writing NEAR EDGWARE last summer - I know more about how to write what I want to say, these days:

The conversation wound on but I wasn't awake enough to follow, I sank my fingers into holes in Caleb’s thick-knit jumper and drifted.

2) Write one brand new starting sentence for a story you have been thinking about, or something off the top of your head. But it must be your first sentence. 

SEALED WITH LOVE is an idea for a more adult novel than I usually write:

I'm not saying it was a rough night but you'd think I'd remember when caffeine-ing a pentagram in coffee granules seemed like a good idea.

My thanks to Summer for this great blogfest idea. I had a lot of fun. :)

DASH ACROSS THE PUNCTUATION MINEFIELD

A dash is a mark of separation stronger than a comma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses — William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White: The Elements of Style.  It indicates a break in the thought or structure of a sentence.

There are different conventions for spacing the dash. Leaving white space at both ends is more common — it is thought to be easier on the eye. The other style uses no white spaces at all, but writes the dash solid next to whatever goes before and follows it. Both conventions are in use:

Both parties want to reach an agreement — or so they say.

Both parties want to reach an agreement—or so they say.

How matters less than when — someone, if I’m lucky, will tell me how they want it done ;)

Dashes can be used:

·         Ironically — to show a change in the construction or sentiment:

An honest politician — if such a person exists — would never agree to this plan.

·         Counter-intuitively — to indicate a conclusion without expressing it:

Everyone said he was a good man but —

Goliath laughed, “They are desperate. That boy couldn’t reach higher than my kn—"

·         Unexpectedly — to indicate what is not expected or an unexpected outcome:

She took a shoe box from the bottom of the pile and, lifting the lid, pulled out — an old album and a crisp bundle of yellowing letters.

·         Explanatorily — instead of phrases such as: namely, that is etc:

She excelled in procrastination — blogging, tweeting and file reorganisation.

I do not leave the white space when I cut off mid-word.

I love dashes — I find them addictive — but they are a punctuation minefield. 

LENGTH AND SIZE? WITH WRITING YOU NEED TO MIX IT UP

Back to basics: sentences and paragraphs.

Professor Lawrence Lan gave advice about making academic writing interesting. His list made me smile, but it gave me pause for thought.

Have you looked at the pages of work?

Not read – just scanned over the page to see what it looks like?

The brain does it automatically; it registers the lay of the land then focuses on the specifics.

Writers need to mix it up:

·         Too many short sentences

·         Too many very long sentences

·         Too many sentences of the same length

·         Too many short paragraphs

·         Too many very long paragraphs

·         Too many paragraphs of the same length

and the readers’ eyes will glaze over.

Here's to breaking up patterns and making the ride interesting for the reader.

RAMBLE THROUGH HERTFORDSHIRE

Vicki Rocco is hosting The Eye Candy Blogfest on her blog: Rambles and Randomness. All you have to do is post a picture of something beautiful; words, of any sort, are optional. I love living in Hertfordshire so I have celebrated the beauty of this county by posting photographs of my favourite haunts, at different times of the year.

 

Spring in The Ashridge Estate, owned by the National Trust.

Summer near the chalk downs.

Autumn in Cassiobury Park, Watford.

Winter in Verulamium Park, St Albans. This is where I normally feed the ducks.

I hope you have enjoyed touring this beautiful place which, protected by The Green Belt, from London's outward sprawl, is a place with many unspoilt, natural beauties.