​When I began writing the manuscript for my third novel in January my first decision was to give myself an entire year just to write the first draft.  Last year I attended so many author events that by November my stamina was gone and my creativity depleted.  I gave myself the entire month of December off to focus again on family and my volunteer activities and to re-charge.
It was the first time since I began writing full time in 2010 that I gave myself time off.  I tire of those writers that insist a person must write every day and you must write every day.  If the only thing you have an interest in is writing, that’s fine.  However, that’s not me.  My hunch is that because I didn’t begin full time writing until 59 my perspective is different.  I view writing as my encore career, what I do to fulfill myself and reach my creative potential.  I don’t write for commercial success.  In addition, I have a number of other interests.  First, I have four grandchildren ages 1-5.  Enough said.  Second, I am a volunteer by nature having had excellent examples from both my parents and I’ve recently found my niche.  I am a member of the South Central Library Board of Trustees; the Sun Prairie Library Board of Trustees; and, the Chair of the Sun Prairie Library Strategic Planning Committee.  I am also completing a yearlong project to acquire public art for the Sun Prairie Public Library to create an outdoor programming space.
I gave myself a weekly word goal in writing my manuscript and as usual I find that the perfect motivator for me.  I’ve been humming along and am a good month ahead of my goal.  I’ve allowed myself to take off a week from writing, once in April and once in June.  In April I needed a break to consider the plot and arc of the story.  In June I needed a break because the next chapter to be written I knew would be emotionally draining for me.  I completed that chapter this week and I was a wet wash cloth afterward.
I feel that I’ve matured as a writer since 2010.  I know my purpose in writing and how writing fits into my life.  This year I have learned how to listen to my inner writer.
I’m thinking about taking a break from writing this blog for the entire month of July.  It could be interesting to see what happens to my readership.     

​Our local library has a very nice feature.  The entrance to the library is like a large hallway.  In the center of the hallway about twenty feet from the entrance is a set of special displays.  First there is a table with special books related to a program the library is having or an event in the community.  Behind the table are a series of four foot high shelves formed in a rectangle surrounding a round seating area.  In the rectangle area books and DVD’s are divided into different categories.
One set of shelves has staff pick books.  Another has staff pick DVD’s.  Yet another has recently published books.  One set of shelves is devoted to a specific theme each month.  For example, in March this year the theme was Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day.
I was browsing the books in the theme area this past March and was surprised and elated to find both Murphy’s Troubles and Out of Darkness.  The staff never mentioned to me that they had featured both my books.  I am at the library so frequently I think they suspected that I would find the display on my own and of course they were right.
I was so pleased that our Library had been so thoughtful and supportive.  I couldn’t resist, I had Lynette take a picture of me with my books.  One day we had our oldest grandson, Ross, with us at the Library.  Ross loves the library and even has his own library card.  I’ve taught him to use the self-check out machine when he borrows books or DVD’s.  I took Ross to the Ireland display and gave him one of my books.   He went to the nearest chair and sat down to look at the book.  He scanned the front cover then turned over to the back of the book blub.  “Papa O (his name for me) your picture is on the back of this book!”
“Yes, Ross, it is.”
His face scrunched into a question mark.  “Why is your picture on the back of this book, Papa O?”
“Because I wrote the book, Ross.”
He pulled his legs up and smiled broadly, looking at my picture.  I’ve image included the image with this post.
It just doesn’t get any better.    
 
 

​A humorous part of birding is how the creatures are actually identified.  The common birds are easy – bluebirds, robins, cardinals, crow, red wing black birds and so on.  It’s the birds you don’t see often based on where you live that are difficult to identify.
All of the birders carry a field guide.  The field guide will show a full color picture of both the female and male of the species, give information on type of nest, food, flight pattern, migration, type of egg, incubation, fledging, type of song or call and where they live in your state.  I have four bird guide books.  Two are specifically for birds in Wisconsin, one is for birds of North America and one is a songbird guide with recordings of the song for each bird.
Of course, you can’t haul four books around with you while tramping through the woods.  For field trips I choose the smallest, about 3” x 3” because it fits in my back pocket.  When out with a group I soon discovered that each of us had a different guide.  You would think there would be some standardization but that’s not the case.  Birders tend to be very individualistic.
The identification process was less than scientific.  Our guide would point in a direction and say – there is a bird, what is it.  We would use our new binocular skills and spot the creature in a tree about 40’ tall and 30 yards away.  Then the guessing begins.  Someone would call out a bird species wanting to be the first to call it right.  Our guide remained silent, which meant the first guess was wrong.  Then one or two other people would call out a guess, both wrong.  Then we would lower our binoculars and get out our field guides.  We stood in a circle examining our books trying to find the right bird.  Someone would find a bird in their field guide and show it to the rest of us.  Then each of us would locate that bird in our own field guide.
We would then compare our field guides and decide by consensus the bird we had just seen.  I laughed out loud and announced we were birding by consensus and everyone in the group agreed.
Selecting popular books is much the same process.  At the Writer’s Institute I attended in April the buzz was about fantasy thrillers like Game of Thrones and Hunger Games.  Everyone droned on and on about these remarkable books.  One of the features most admired was the creativity of creating fantasy worlds.  The consensus was that it was a remarkable accomplishment.  Next year the buzz will be something else.
My view is that it is much more of a challenge to create a fiction world that readers are familiar with.  I find Kent Haruf’s  Holt, Colorado and Richard Russo’s Empire Falls much more creative than any fantasy world.    The fantasy world is built only on imagination and everything can work exactly as the author wants.  Holt and Empire Falls are based in a reader’s experience so the world and characters that inhabit the town must ring true. 
No surprise, I don’t agree with the consensus.  No worry, next year’s book buzz will change – maybe it will be thrillers.
 
 

​I have been on several birding walks and no one had given instruction on how to spot birds, except the accidental one – flutter, flutter oh there’s a bird.  The technique I learned at the Chequamegon Birding and Nature Festival is straight forward and simple.  First listen.  Each species has a very distinct and unique call (no, it’s not a whistle).  With a trained ear many birders can tell you the bird just from the call.  Many of us can tell the call of a robin, a Baltimore oriel and a blue bird or even a phoebe.  A birder also uses the call to determine what direction the bird is in.  Often using sound to determine direction requires you to cup your ears, which makes you look funny walking in the woods with cupped ears.  Third look for distinctive color or markings.  A cardinal with bright red stands out as does an indigo bunting.  Other birds have distinctive markings like the red on a red wing black bird or the red headed woodpecker.  Many other birds have markings but are less distinct.  Finally you can look for certain bird behaviors or types of flight.  For example, a blue bird had a distinctive swooping flight pattern.  Many raptors, such as the eagle or turkey vulture appear to float in the sky as they ride the thermals.   The key is observation.
All writers are observers of both their environment and people.  We capture these moments and then re-create them in words to share with our readers.  We often translate the direct observation to showing the reader to help create a scene or a moment.  The most famous example is:  don’t say the moon was bright; say, moonlight bounced off the shimmering pavement. 
I will never forget the suggestion made by an editor of my first novel, Murphy’s Troubles.  I was told to “show me Ireland”.  I had not been successful in placing my characters in a physical place.  It was critical to my story that the reader be aware of the beauty and harshness of Ireland and how the geography has helped shape Irish history.  Showing Ireland required extensive re-writing but it improved the novel immensely.  I have actually had readers tell me that they feel like they have been in Ireland.
There is one aspect of birding that doesn’t affect writing – the stiff neck from constantly looking up and holding binoculars to your eyes.
Next week I’ll discuss birding by consensus.     

​In the past five years I have become fascinated by watching birds.  I know, it sounds as appealing as watching paint dry on a sunny Saturday afternoon.  Trust me, it’s not.  Recently I attended my first birding conference in Ashland, Wisconsin, the Chequamegon Bay Birding and Nature Festival hosted by the local chamber of conference.  This was their 10th year of the three day conference and 400 people attended.   With ten years’ experience this event is both a well oiled machine and an art form.
In previous years I have attended bird walks, primarily at Old World Wisconsin.  These events start at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning and are attended by about 60 people.  We divide into groups of no more than ten and a trained birder guides us through a 2-2 ½ hour hike.  It was at Old World Wisconsin that I was introduced to the art of identifying birds by their song.  As a result of that experience I learned two things about writing.
One fundamental of writing is to engage all five senses.  Before birding I had largely ignored sound in my writing.  When I re-read some of my own chapters I discovered that my characters lived in a world of silence, except human conversation.  This wasn’t natural.  All sorts of sounds surround us every day and helps create the dynamic fabric of our lives.  Adding sound in writing gives depth and adds to the reader’s experience of being in the scene.
Second, I learned the importance of listening.  Try an experiment.  Visit your local park some sunny afternoon.  Sit on a bench, maybe in the shade of an oak tree.  Close your eyes and just listen.  Then try to identify things going on around you just by their sound.  This perspective will open new worlds to you, trust me.
Anyone who wants to write needs to learn to be open to everything in the world around them.  By listening we also learn to express ourselves and use the craft of writing to share that with others.
Next week I’ll write about how birding techniques can be applied to writing both non-fiction and fiction.