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Monday, June 23, 2008
Summer, Rains, and Floods
I have been neglectful with this blog lately. Spring rains have given
way to summer floods where I live--roughly ten miles from the mighty Mississippi! If you keep track of the news, you'll
know we're close to flood central. Which means sandbags, Salvation Army, and sandwiches by the hundreds. We
still remember it from '93! Thankfully, my great-grandfather had the foresight to buy a farm on a big hill, so we're
safe. But in never ceases to amaze me, growing up around so many rivers--the Cuivre, the Missouri, and the Mississippi--how
rivers behave. Which reminds me of that old adage concerning real estate--location, location, location. Or maybe
in this case I should say elevation, elevation, elevation.
About now you're probably expecting me to
somehow relate rivers and floods with the writing life. Tall order, but I'll give it a shot. . . It's good to write
about what's happening around you. Pay attention to your surroundings, particularly during extraordinary occurrences
like a flood. Listen to what people have to say. Notice life. The kindness of people, the resilience of those affected.
While writing can be cathartic, to help process what is happening to you personally, writing can also be a tool to help
others. Articles can bring attention to those who need help. Even something as simple as this blog helps spread the word there
are those in need.
Take your pen and use it mightily.
8:02 pm cdt
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Only 1 day left to enter our Amazing Story Fiction Contest with new, easy guidelines and longer word length. Only 45 entries received as of 7/31!
Results are in for our Novel Beginnings 1st Chapter Contest! Congratulations to the winners.
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"Two
saxophone cases sat on the table. I rushed over and ran my fingers over the case that was clearly the more expensive. When
I lifted the cover, I gasped and my mouth went dry. I'd never seen anything so beautiful. The gold-lacquered saxophone, nested
in a plush velvet lining, shimmered like a rare jewel. I ached to own it and to run my fingers over the mother-of-pearl finger
pads whenever I wanted to. It was a dream. Would it come true?" [...] Read "The Saxophone" by George Thomas, winner of our 2010 Dead of Winter Nonfiction Contest.
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So why get a critique?
Every day we pay for small, trivial things, like a soda out of the vending machine at work or
a candy bar in line at the grocery store. A magazine or a manicure. A cup of coffee through the drive-thru.
But how much do we invest in enriching our lives?
Developing a talent that's been dormant for a long time? Realizing a dream, like seeing our name in print?
Why
get a critique? I say, why not?
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