Writer By the Sea By: Megan Easley-Walsh

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

2010-11-29T13:45:00.000Z

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

I first heard this poem Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost in fourth grade. I instantly liked it and it has stayed with me. This year, we have our own snowy evenings and days! The last lines of Robert Frost's poems speak of "miles to go before I sleep". If Christmas is thought of a grand and beautiful dream world then it can be related to sleep. The miles to go before that sleep, before Christmas, can be thought of as Advent. We're now in that time of journeying toward Christmas. It is a time of hope, joy and realization of what is longed and waited for. This year, it's coming complete with snow- beautiful and transforming snow, like the light of the glistening candles of Advent.

Thanks for Giving!

2010-11-15T16:53:00.003Z

Thanksgiving is approaching. My last post featured the mounds of food that Ichabod Crane devoured in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Plans are being made for families to gather and treasured recipes are being tested, or at least planned for. What if this year, you could share your meal- not only with your family, not only with your friends, but with people that really need it? While opening your door to the neighborhood may not be the most practical solution for most people, donating is a great alternative.

"But, I am trying to watch my money" you may say, "The holidays are approaching. I need cash."

Fear not! Your money, though appreciated by charities, is not needed to make a difference.

"Oh, so you're going to say I can give of my time, instead. Look, I'd like to help but I'm exhausted. I'm working hard and hardly have time for anything else. By the time I finish work it is already quite late. I even work on the weekends sometimes."

Fear not! I understand lack of time. Time is not even needed to make a difference. Ok, so a little time is but we're talking seconds, not hours spent in traditional volunteering.

So, how is it that you can help? Participate in clicks for giving.

"What is clicks for giving?"

Several websites now feature clicks for giving, where you only have to click. It's that easy and something any user of the internet is a pro at! The way these websites work is that advertisements are usually placed by companies and then they pay for the good that your click buys. Food, a great starting point at Thanksgiving, is what many of these sites offer. Other sites offer health care, books, and protection of land.

And when you have a few seconds more and want a little fun, you can take part in websites where games can pay for goods for others. Rather than a simple click "paying" for the food, books or health care, these websites work where correct trivia answers are exchanged for goods for others.

Here are a few that I've used.

Click to Give Sites:

http://www.thehungersite.com/
Be sure to click through all of the tabs on the top,for your click to be donated to each of the categories of Hunger, Breast Cancer, Child Health, Literary, Rain Forest and Animal Rescue.

http://clicktogive.com/
Again, be sure to click through all the tabs. This site allows your clicks to help through the categories of Animal Care, Feed the Poor, Stop Child Abuse, End Homelessness, Fight Cancer, and Sponsor Children.

http://www.care2.com/click-to-donate/

This website also features several click opportunities. The tab categories this time are children, rainforest, big cats, breast cancer, homeless pets, seals, oceans, primates, stop violence against women, and wolves.

http://www.oneclickonemeal.com/

A very simplistic site with only one button to click this time, this site provides one meal with each click through the World Food Program.

http://www.bhookh.com/
Another simple site with only one button to click, this website donates a cup of food to the starving in India with each click.

Game Sites:

http://www.givevaccines.org/home.php

Give vaccines through correctly defining words.

http://www.freepoverty.com/

Give cups of water for correctly identifying the locations of places. The closer you are to a location's correct place, the more cups of water you earn. If you locate the place perfectly, you get 10 cups of water. This can quickly add up!

http://www.freerice.com/

Each correct answer earns 10 grains of rice. Vocabulary, geography, math, Spanish, German, French, Italian and chemistry are all subjects that you can choose to answer questions about. One of my favorites is the painting identification under the art category. Correctly identifying the artist of the painting earns 10 grains of rice.

http://facebook.whereivebeen.com/trivia

Each correct travel trivia question earns 20 travel bucks. Even incorrect answers earn travel bucks at 1 buck per question. 100 travel bucks buys 1 square foot of rainforest. 300 bucks pays for clean water for a person in Mozambique for a month. 1000 bucks pays for food for a child in Mali for a week. For the very ambitious, 10,000 bucks pays for health care for girls and women in Afghanistan.

Happy approach to Thanksgiving and thanks for giving! Together we can change the world one click at a time.

Seasonal Reading

2010-11-03T10:43:00.003Z

When the winds of autumn swirl the vibrant leaves of late October around me, I am drawn to the yellowed pages of my thin volume of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Each year since I was twelve, I have read the short tale, full of adventure, spooks, and vivid description. I rarely reread books, because there are always so many new books I want to read, but I make an exception for my familiar friend that still thrills me. As the years have progressed, I have come to appreciate the story as an author as well as a reader. Washington Irving, often called the "Father of American literature" clearly befriends his characters. They exist in reality for him and he is their champion. I can identify with that. I feel the same for my characters.

These lines make me smile and convince me of what I have said,

"I want breath and time to discuss this banquet as it deserves, and am too eager to get on with my story. Happily, Ichabod Crane was not in so great a hurry as his historian, but did ample justice to every dainty."

It is no longer fashionable for authors to appear in their books. We are to stand outside and tell what has happened without alluding to our presence, but though we are now invisible, we still do fulfil the role of historian for our characters. In order to effectively write the characters we must acknowledge their reality. Characters must be more than figments of our imagination (I am cringing as I even write that!!) and they must be recognized as the real people they are.

I am fond of the quotation, "My characters write the story. I just try to keep up." I find this true and I believe that Washington Irving did too. Ichabod Crane pulled him on in his story, not wanting to spend too much time explaining the piles of food on the party's table. The acceleration and pull of characters is indeed thrilling! I have found that stories flow best when I allow my persistent friends their indulgences, even when they pull me in ways I had not previously anticipated.

Aside from being a writer for most of his career, Washington Irving also was a lawyer and a U.S. Minister to Spain. Being a lawyer to characters is not a foreign concept. As previously mentioned, we must champion their cause. In addition, authors are ambassadors between the world of reality and the world of fiction and for the characters to the public.

In addition to identifying with Washington Irving's sense for his characters, I return time and again for his supreme detail and description. I will leave you with this beautiful passage.

"It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day, the sky was clear and serene, and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance. The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tender kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet. Streaming files of wild ducks began to make their appearance high in the air; the bark of the squirrel might be heard from the groves of beech and hickory nuts, and the pensive whistle of the quail at intervals from the neighboring stubble field. ... Farther on he beheld great fields of Indian corn, with its golden ears peeping from their leafy coverts and holding out the promise of cakes and hasty pudding; and the yellow pumpkins lying beneath them, turning up their fair round bellies to the sun, and giving ample prospects of the luxurious of pies; and anon he passed the fragrant buckwheat fields, breathing the odor of the beehive, and as he beheld them, soft anticipations stole over his mind of dainty slapjacks, well buttered and garnished with honey or treacle, by the delicate little dimpled hand of Katrina Van Tassel."

Now, I must leave you there and return to my own persistent friends bound in the pages of my notebooks :)

From Jane Austen to James Blunt

2010-10-14T12:57:00.000+01:00

What could Jane Austen and James Blunt possibly have in common, aside from similar sounding first names, you might ask? First, they're both English. But second, and more importantly is that they both have the power of influence.

The influence of the media is something we hear a lot about. Granted there is a lot of negative influence, but as the general tone of this blog resides in positivity, I'd like to draw your attention to the positive influence of the media. Music, is perhaps most prevalent and easily digestible when it comes to media influence. We choose, aside from required school reading, what we read. We choose what movies we go to see at the theater. We choose what plays and productions we go to see. We choose what tv shows we watch. And yes, to an extent we choose what music we listen to- in private that is. But in public, music is often piped into grocery stores, department stores, offices, restaurants and even elevators.

Music thus has the ability to quickly offer some useful bit of information or a suggestion to us. Three examples off the top of my head of songs doing this in my life follow

1) Because of Oasis, I learned the definition of acquiesce

2) Because of the French songstress Alize, I learned the meaning of the Latin saying "Veni Verdi Vici"

I came. I saw. I conquered. These are very fitting words for an author. We observe, we write, we succeed!

3) Because of James Blunt's song "Tears and Rain" I was inspired to read The Picture of Dorian Gray

"Hides my true shape, like Dorian Gray."- I was intrigued. Just who was this Dorian Gray and what was his story?

Thus, James Blunt brought me to a piece of literature and provides a bridge to Jane Austen. She is held as the shining beacon of Regency English literature and as providing the ideals of romanticism for subsequent generations around the world. Her themes of true love and love conquering all are attractive but have become almost cliche. She is admired for her stories that are often thought of as very calm and sweet and classic.

But, the reason I admire her is because she was such a revolutionary. She was not writing cliches. She was writing something drastically different. From a world where money rather than love built a match, where family connections and lineage were more important than shared goals and passion, Miss Austen dared to offer another world. In her own refined way, she was standing up for the rights of women, demanding that their thoughts and hearts be more important than their social status. She got it right; love is not the deterrent to women's rights and freedom but rather in its rightful place a champion of them. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are so enduring because they were true partners. Their relationship defied convention, just as Miss Austen's writing did.

That is the genius of truly great literature. It takes the edges of our minds and pulls on them, until having read the work our mind can no longer return to its original size or shape. It is forever altered, expanded and bettered.

Autumnal Thoughts

2010-10-05T15:50:00.000+01:00

Autumn has come with its beautiful coat of red, orange, and yellow, its whispering winds, and that perfect thrill of excitement that belongs only to this time of year. With its special delights, its vibrancy speaks to new beginnings. Although I began writing each of my three novels in different seasons- autumn (the first), winter (the second), summer (the third), their stories all begin in autumn. It was an unintended decision made by the characters to begin their stories tucked among September. September, like the beginning of a novel, hints at what is to come. We are enticed with the show of color that crackles into greater being in the subsequent months of October and November.

Autumn, like the pumpkins in October's fields, is now ripening. Nature is burgeoning with its harvest delights and its hues have gloriously deepened. Moving beyond the first third of my book and with the halfway mark now on the horizon, the story is deepening as well. Every time I write a book it is like meeting all new friends and now my understanding of them, since I've spent a good portion of their story with them, is blooming into brighter, bolder, and more enchanting colors as well.

Enchantment is another feature of autumn. Yesterday I was thinking about how the story of Cinderella really could be a Halloween story. There are costumes, villains, magic, even a pumpkin. At the heart of the Cinderella story is the lesson that dreams can be more than dreamed, they can come true and become reality. Perhaps that is why the thrill of autumn, with all its glorious beginnings and variety of color is so exciting. The humble green leaf explodes into the most perfect masterpiece. All of nature reminds us that anything is possible and that our dreams can come true. We can be transformed like the leaf into wonderful new possibilities, enriching our lives.

May your life be beautifully colored this autumn!

A Picture Worth A Thousand Words

2010-10-02T23:27:00.000+01:00

The common phrase, "A picture is worth a thousand words" we often think of as relating to photographs or paintings being superior to writing. If someone shows us a picture of where they've been, we instantly get a better idea of their experience. So, what can an author learn from this adage?

Writing fiction means that an entire world exists that is only viewable by me- at least in the beginning that is. I must use words, phrases, metaphor and dialogue to craft the images until they are so real that the readers can see them too. The magic of writing though is that words can hold many more pictures than just one at a time. What I mean by this is that truly good writing exists not as a series of static images but as a moving picture- a continuous stream of live footage of the world that the author sees.

I have just passed the 30,000 word mark in my current novel I am writing and according to the familiar phrase, I should have created 30 pictures. But, the wonderful thing about writing is that I have seen so many hundreds of images, thousands even about my characters and the world they exist in from these 30,000 words. In books, I think it is more appropriate to determine how many scenes are created by words, rather than pictures. Fifty words may be used to describe the facial expression of a character receiving bad news- that is one pictoral scene. 500 words may be used to relate a conversation between two characters in which motivations are uncovered- this is another pictoral scene. Or a scene may be created using a single word ("blackness" or "silence" for example.) Thus, words, any number of them, can create pictures. They are the pigment with which we paint the page. Sometimes a thousand words may be required but a story exists most freshly when far fewer are used.

Aside from writing, I like to paint. They're both things that I have been doing since I was very young. Sometimes a story begins from a painting I've made. Then a painting is worth far more than a thousand words- it can be worth tens of thousands if it sparks a story.

And sometimes, a picture is just a picture and it speaks for itself without the need for any words.

Climbing the Mountain

2010-09-30T11:33:00.001+01:00

What is the most difficult part of writing?

Is it deciding upon what to write? No, the characters track me down and decide what I will write about. They are very persistent!

Is it the actual writing process? No, it's wonderful to get swirled into the excitement of a good story. It's the feeling that you get when reading a book, but with one major difference; only the author knows what the book is about. The story exists as a wonderful treasure to be discovered and then proudly share first with those closest to you and then ultimately with the public.

Is it the publication? Surprisingly not. A good publisher will recognize a good book in most cases. This can take as little as a month IF one thing is in place.

What then is the biggest challenge to being an author? Putting that one thing in place is and that one thing is an agent. It is said that now it is more difficult to find an agent than a publisher but an agent is essential, in most cases, to break into the big publication houses.

In 2006, The UK publication of the The Sunday Times, drew attention to this difficulty when it published an article stating that two novels, that were previously Booker Prize winners (and one of the authors had even won the Nobel Prize!!), were turned down when their books were queried. All that was changed were the authors' names, the titles of the books and the main characters' names.

Queries are the letter of introduction that authors write to agents introducing ourselves and our book. In it we must write a gripping opening line, a paragraph or two that summarizes the book in an engaging way and then the end of the query letter speaks about the particular merits or experience or background of the author. Queries are vital to the success of authors, because they are the bridge to the agent. From them, we're requested to send partials (part of our book- anywhere from the first three to fifteen chapters is what I've been requested in the past) and complete manuscripts which is, as it sounds, the entire book. When an agent requests the complete book it's both thrilling and causes a bazillion butterflies in the stomach while we wait to hear back.

Most people assume that if your book is turned down it means that something is wrong with the book. If a book is good, why wouldn't an agent want it right? But, this line of thinking overlooks a few important points. It's like a job interview. Someone might be perfectly qualified and be great for the job, but if there's only one position available then someone else may get the job. The rejection I received (Unfortunately being an author means facing lots of rejection. I read something recently that said "you know you're an author if..." and one of the reasons listed was that when you hear the word "rejection" you don't even think of men-- so true!!) but anyway... The rejection I received that I found most thought-changing was this...

"I pass on many interesting (and publishable!) projects due to time constraints (much like you choose only one or two books at a bookstore, even though there

are a lot of good ones.) Please do not read any more into this decision than "not the best fit for me." Of course, I urge you to query widely! What's not right for me can be exactly what another of my ilk is dying to get her claws into."

I love that allusion to the bookstore. How many times have I gone into a bookstore and liked the look of 20 or 30 books, but decided to only go with 1 or to wait until another day? It makes perfect sense.

I have decided that monks (I'm picturing those from the Middle Ages here) and authors have a lot in common--

manuscript writing

time spent in solitude

introspection

prayer- lots and lots of hoping for the right agent to say yes

So, do me a favor would you? Say a little prayer that the right agent picks up my book from the query bookstore and purchases it. I know it will happen and I'm ready for it to happen. I've accomplished harder things before. So here goes, one small step for books, one giant leap for me.

And now just for fun, I will leave you with my unofficial query letter- the one that I wrote for fun but that no true agents see.

Dear Ms. Agent,

You may or may not yet (depending on the mail delivery) now be acquainted with my friends. It's their first trip without me and I've protected them for over a year now, so please look after them for me. They're very persistent and they sometimes insist on interfering with sleeping, but they really are kind-hearted... most of the them anyway, but I won't spoil that for you. And so, Ms. Agent I request that you befriend them as well and allow them to carry the happy news back to me, so that other people will soon get to meet my friends as well and that they might continue in this traveling that they've embarked upon. They'd love a trip around the world if you'd be willing to furnish that for them. They don't take up too much space- just the span of the page and you don't have to bother with buying them a new wardrobe, they are already dressed in the pigment of ink. Thank you for watching over them for me.

With the very best of wishes,

Megan.. Friend and Spokesperson on the behalf of those assembled in Flight Before Dawn and Perspective of the Painted Lady

Verisimilitude

2010-09-27T13:21:00.001+01:00

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." ~ Ben Franklin

As I've mentioned before, I enjoy quotations. Today's quotation captures perfectly a key element of good writing: verisimilitude, that is the believability of the writing. The believability of writing does not depend on if it could exist as true in the real world. Rather, in the world of the book and in the personalities of the characters, do the actions, motives, and insights jive or do they jar? The hand jive, a dance with enthusiastic hand movements, is what a believable story feels like- it comes to life, not in a dull or mundane way but full of life, it literally dances off of the page. When a story isn't believable, when a character does something that seems not to fit or an action appears out of nowhere, not in a pleasant twist-turning way, but in an off-putting way that is counter to the rest of the story, then it is jarring.

It's a common adage that writers should write what they know. Many seem to think this means to write about a place that you know or a situation you've experienced. While fine literature is produced by following such advice, I think it means something more. Writing historical fiction necessitates that I write about an era that is foreign to me. I have not lived through either world war or the Renaissance or the American Revolution, but I have written about all of these. Although I had not been to these times, I had been to these places- across Europe and the United States and so I drew upon the knowledge of the location that was firsthand and drew upon the historical knowledge through research. Others, like Shakespeare, may write within their own time but tell stories of locations that they have never been to. While some debate that Shakespeare was able to write his great works when he had never been to Italy or to France, others say that he would have drawn from what he heard, essentially research Renaissance style.

Even deeper than this though, writers draw from their own experiences by constantly observing. In writing something worth reading, we must draw upon what we live. Writers constantly observe. Be it the way that the rain sounds as it falls on different surfaces or the precise coloration of leaves at any particular time of the year, writers gather these little details into their arsenal of verisimilitude to unleash in their stories. Not only the physical world, but the antics of people go into the observational recordings to better expand the story. Unlike traditional research done through books or the internet, this detail collection is largely involuntary. Sometimes, an event is lived as though one is reading it from a page- that is when writing and life become inexplicably linked. Thus, in line with Ben Franklin's quotation, we are always doing something worth writing; we are living. And what is more real than life?

Bringing History to Life

2010-08-27T20:57:00.000+01:00

I recently saw this photo gallery that fuses modern photographs with photographs from WWII that were taken in the same location and from the same perspective. Some of them had an eerie quality because that life seems so foreign; seeing storm troopers walking down the stairs between modern shiny cars is utterly different and apart from the life we live.

History, for all of its influence on the present day and staying power, feels foreign when cast into modern day life. As a historical fiction author, fusing history with the present day is exactly what I must do each day. I must make my readers feel that they are really there, that the story is authentic and that they are able to identify with the characters and themes so strongly that the setting is merely incidental to the action.

The way I think of writing good historical fiction, and what I aim to do, is to transform the black and white version of history that we view into the true life colors that we live each day. When the details are off then an effect similar to seeing colorized photos or television shows results- yes, there's color but it feels out of place and artificial. This happens in books when there is a lack of harmony between the modern reader and the setting of the story.

What's really delicious about reading a fantastic novel is when you become completely lost and forget that you are reading a book. That is my goal- to surround my readers in a world of colors, vibrant and alive and even stronger than the strength of the real world- a place where they can become lost in the action and the characters and find something deep and meaningful within themselves.

Shelf Life

2010-08-03T22:51:00.000+01:00

Radio stations have one mission it seems- to get songs stuck in your head. I must say, they're quite good at what they do. This constant barrage of songs locks songs into specific periods in our life. For this reason, a song's height has a relatively short shelf life. It is said that if a song doesn't immediately enter the charts then its likelihood of being a hit is slim. Conversely, a book has no obligation to be an immediate success. Some best selling books take quite awhile (even years) to reach the bestseller lists and yet, they are still a success. Music and fashion thus share the short life syndrome with a few exceptions that become timeless, while books, like art, can capture the essence of their era but remain (and often increase) in popularity with age.

If you hear a song that you've not heard for quite awhile, or better yet put on an entire album from a few years before, you are transported. Memories come in a flood from that time. You are in that time and because you have advanced into the present, it begins to feel foreign. If you pick up a book that you've not read in awhile, you may feel like you are greeting an old friend but there is not a foreign quality of another time in it. Why is this? I propose that it is because songs become a part of our world, while books create entirely new worlds for us. That is not to say that books trump music; music is a vital part of our lives. Rather, it is to say that music becomes the soundtrack of our lives while books offer possibilities of life expanding. New characters are encountered, new places are discovered, new causes are championed, new ideals are introduced. All of these are able to exist beyond the pages of the book, if we so choose.

Sometimes, books spark new dreams or directions for our lives and sometimes they encourage us in ones we already knew were there. What then is the shelf life of a dream or ambition? Do we outgrow those when they don't work out just right at the time we think they should? Recently, I saw a paper from 11 years ago where I said that in 10 years I wanted to "be an author and improve our world". In the business of high school, college, and life I had forgotten that I wrote that. The dream though had not forgotten me. Though some things have changed since then, that is still my ambition and I feel that it is being accomplished; I am an author and I hope that I am improving the world. And I am reminded of the song, "In His time, In His time. He makes all things beautiful in His time. Lord please show me everyday, as You're teaching me Your way that You do just what You say in Your time."

God's belief in us doesn't have a shelf life and neither should our belief in ourselves. May you dream bigger, encounter not only new worlds but new insights to yourself in books, and may the soundtrack of your life be only joyful.

Inception

2010-07-29T16:07:00.004+01:00

Last Friday we went to see Inception. Refreshingly it recognizes the intelligence of the audience and people seem to really be responding to that. At least all of those leaving the cinema remarked how good it was and one man behind me who I overheard say "I haven't enjoyed a movie that much in a long time" echoed my own sentiments. I'm a big fan of the old classics such as Casablanca and Singin' in the Rain. Even at Halloween it's the old classics: Frankenstein, Dracula, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, etc that I turn to and watch each year. It's not that I don't like new movies (I enjoyed Sherlock Holmes) but often when it's a new movie that I like it's still set in the past. Inception though is wholly modern. I won't spoil the story for you if you've not seen it, but I will say that it deals with the themes of dreams, thoughts, and outcomes. These are entirely transferable ideas into everyday life and I think that is precisely what makes the movie so enticing to so many people.

As mentioned in my post, Write Life, even the non-author has the ability to write his or her own life. The determinant of this life begins with a person's thoughts. It involves not only having a purpose in life but living on purpose. To live on purpose is to be conscious and participatory in all that is happening to one. It means deciding what will happen, living by design, rather than waiting to see what happens to you and living in reaction.

Abraham Lincoln's statement "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be" speaks to this. People cannot control everything that happens to them but they can control how they react to what has happened. People in difficult circumstances can still find reasons to smile and likewise people with seemingly the most to be happy about can still be upset. It is up to the individual.

Facing the world with a positive and grateful mindset improves one's health, disposition and relations to others. It also results in one having a fuller life, overflowing with the realization of dreams and achievements of goals.

Consider this quotation. "The more gratefully we fix our minds on the Supreme when good things come to us, the more good things we will receive, and the more rapidly they will come; and the reason simply is that the mental attitude of gratitude draws the mind into closer touch with the source from which the blessings come." - Wallace D Wattles

Essentially it is saying that when one is thankful for the good around him or her he or she will recognize more of the good and fill his or her life with more and more of those recognitions which means more and more good. Thus, the easiest and surest way to a fulfilled and happy life is through a thought- more specifically, through its positive or negative inception.

First Ezine Post- How do I begin writing?

2010-06-17T20:06:00.002+01:00

"How do I begin writing?" is the title of my first Ezine published article. I will paste the text below.

How do I begin? You have a writing assignment or a great idea for a story, but you are not sure how to begin. Does this sound familiar? Even the most experienced writers can sometimes become stuck and not know what to write or how to begin. There is no need to worry, though. With a few simple tips, you will never have to not know how to start again, or at least if you do become stuck you will quickly be able to recover with these easy steps.

1) Relax
Many people become worried, but this only intensifies the problem. The beginning is important but it is more important that something actually gets written.

2) Write what seems natural
Do not try to copy someone else's style. Writing is best when it begins naturally. The most natural way of communicating for most people is by talking. Think about how you would tell someone else about what you will be writing about or tell an actual person. What did you say to tell them about it? Now, write that down.

3) Interesting Beginnings
While you are developing your own style, here are a few good ways to begin writing which will make it more interesting.

A) a question- If you begin writing with a question you automatically engage the audience. They will want to keep reading to discover the answer.
B) a quotation- A witty, clever, or thought-provoking quotation can act as an icebreaker and set you up to explain more about the quotation and then introduce your own thoughts. Just be sure to give whoever first said or wrote the quotation the credit. Plagiarism is the biggest don't in writing!
C) an anecdote- Describing a short and relevant personal example of what is begin written about can be interesting to the audience. If the story is humorous or has an emotional pull it will be especially successful.
D) vivid description- Painting a clear image of a situation through words immediately draws in a reader. Engage their senses to heighten the sense of realism. "Torrential rains, that soaked through my old blue T-shirt, fell as I climbed the hill," is a much more interesting start than, "I climbed a hill yesterday."

4) The fourth and final step is to remember that the first lines can always be changed. After you have written the assignment or story, you may discover that the piece has gone in an unexpected direction or you may have been inspired by a great line that popped in your head.

In conclusion, the most important thing about writing the beginning is to get it written. If you are stuck, try to talk about what you are going to write to develop a natural flow of words. To make it more interesting, try using a question, a quotation, an anecdote, or vivid description. Remember that you can change the beginning when you are finished to better reflect what you have written.

Megan Easley-Walsh is a full-time author and qualified English as a second language teacher with a background in international relations and history. http://writerbythesea.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Megan_Easley-Walsh

Heroes and Villains Pond Style

2010-06-14T20:32:00.013+01:00

The creatures of the pond behind our house provide entertaining antics and a host of photo opportunities. Four weeks ago, four swan eggs hatched and the cygnets (swanlings) are nearly as big as the resident ducks now. Here's a couple photos of them when they had just hatched.

Aside from the regulars at the local watering hole, lately a beautiful heron has also taken up residence. Mostly he perches on a rock in the center of the pond, looking very grand but also very solitary. He remains apart from the rest of the group, flying from point to point with his long angular body and mighty wingspan. The other day I took this photo of Harry, as I've named him, when he had left the pond for an outing in the harbor.

Yesterday, Harry the Heron who minds his own business and remains uninvolved in pond affairs, was drawn into the events of the other birds. Seagulls, that I normally like and am awakened by their song in the morning and have written about in a few poems, repeatedly swooshed over Harry's head and dove for him, causing him to duck. Again and again, Harry's long graceful body, bopped down as the seagulls went after him. In the end, the seagulls gave up and Harry was left alone once again to watch over the others in the pond from his lone spot.

This change in behavior from esteemed noble bird to predator, made me think about literary heroes and villains. Often these roles are clear cut. In Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved detective stories, Sherlock Holmes (despite his flaws) is the clear hero and Professor Moriarty is undeniably the villain. There is no redeeming quality about Moriarty to make us feel any empathy for his behavior. He simply is bad. For all the intricacies of the stories, the role of hero and villain is clear cut- right and wrong- black and white.

In other instances, there is not so clear a distinction though. In Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie series, Nellie eventually grows up and outgrows her nasty ways. She evolves as a character. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, I would argue that the villain is no one particular person but rather the family's feud. The members of the families, however, are shown favorably and it is difficult to feel animosity toward them. Drawing from a television example, Lost was certainly fond of not only blurring lines between the hero and villain, but I would say scrambling lines. The characters of Ben and Widmore seemed both diabolically evil and also understandable at times. In the final scenes of each character, they could even be pitied. Even the Man in Black/Smoke Monster was shown in a positive light in his back story. He was just trying to find his way back to his people, although he went about it in the wrong manner.

So, does that mean that whether a character is a hero or a villain is how he or she goes about doing whatever it is, even if the motive or goal is the same? In other words- can the hero and the villain have the same desire but go about it in a different way and the way they go about it determines whether they are the hero or the villain?

I would say that this is the case, and what one's driving force or light is as I wrote about in The Light that Guides, determines the outcome of the character's motive: good or bad. Interestingly, the weakness of each character - hero or villain- often shows the other way that the character could have gone. The tragic flaw of the hero, championed in Greek tragedies such as Oedipus Rex, is the character's undoing, but because of the character's light it is also the character's means of recovery and salvation. The tragic flaw or weakness places the character into the position of influence opposite to what is normal for the character or in other words, the character is exposed to what could make him or her a villain. Conversely, the weakness of a villain is often something that causes the audience to feel empathy. Perhaps the villain is a bully who is mean to everyone except a sick classmate. This window into the good, a glimpse at another light, allows the character to experience life as a hero. It is up to the character (and the author) to decide what will happen. Will the villain be redeemed like Nellie Olsen? Will the hero succumb to the darkness like Romeo and Juliet?

A story can be vastly entertaining with clear cut heroes and villains but often the more complex stories that allow characters to travel along the expanse of road from hero to villain or villain to hero are the most inspiring. There is hope that bad can become good and there is a forewarning for how to prevent good from turning bad.

And sometimes, the story is even more complex and there are no villains. Those that seem to be mean might just be playing games, like the seagulls at the pond with Harry.

As we encounter literary heroes and villains we have the opportunity to be a hero to someone else everyday. One very worthwhile cause to support is Compassion International. And one villain to avoid is the toxic chemicals used in everyday products. Choose a safer future by taking a look at Skin Deep to see what your toiletries and cosmetics have in them and look here to find safer alternatives.

The Light that Guides

2010-06-12T19:19:00.005+01:00

It is that glorious time of the year as we near the summer solstice when there are hours and hours of daylight. The sun is now rising before 5 am and not setting until nearly 10 pm. Like plants, we flock to the light. The most obvious light of course is solar and, like Superman, we all obtain energy from the glow of the yellow sun. For thousands of years people have built monuments, such as the UNESCO world heritage site of Newgrange in Ireland, to harness the light of the sun and celebrate it.

Light can be not only physical but metaphorical as well though. Light can be described as the guiding force. In the literary world, what then is the light of a story?
As a reader, the light is that spark that draws us in making the pages fly as the words are absorbed at increasing speed. As a writer, the light is the excitement that presses us to continue writing, but it is also the glue that binds the story together and the anchor for the characters.

1) Light as the glue- This is what pushes the story forward, the momentum. It is not the plot, but rather the central theme that moves the action on. It connects seemingly unconnected events and allows the story to make sense. Essentially, it "sheds light" on the meaning of the story.

2) Light as the anchor for the character- These are the defining characteristics of the individuals within a story. Along the way the character will encounter challenges and conflicts and the light within him or her will often dim and strengthen under the circumstances they are a part of. There are a few major types of conflict in a story:
character versus self
character versus character
character versus society
character versus nature
character versus supernatural

In some way at least one of these conflicts will be present in a story, and often more than one of these conflicts will feature. I am a big fan of plot twists (both as a reader and a writer). When a big twist is revealed at the end, little drops of light will have led to this one spotlight event. Many times we're distracted by the clouds that can be present as character weaknesses, sub plots, or red herrings and so we miss these drops of light on the way and only retrospectively see them. Personally, I think this is one of the best things a reader can encounter and it is one of the most exciting things to experience as a writer.

Seeing the resolution for the characters, enables us to examine how the characters have grown or been affected and what has been the true guiding force or light for the character. Seeing the climax of the action and the resolution for the plot allows us to identify the theme, which often is much deeper than was first expected. An example of this is Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. What begins as a story of young Scout, soon becomes an enduring tale of deceptive appearances and the true compassion and humanity that can be present in one, even one victimized by society.

As I mentioned in my post Write Life, both the author and the non-author have an ability to write the pages of their lives. As you read and write not only on paper but also in flesh and blood, discern what your own light is and in the words of that familiar song "hide it under a bush, oh no. I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine."

And so it begins...

2010-06-11T13:59:00.008+01:00

Hearts around the world race.
Viewers lean in, edging dangerously closer to the end of their seats.
Memories are recalled of past triumphs and defeats.
Hopes rest in a ball on a field.
Or perhaps, more accurately, hope rests in the world coming together peacefully once again- in a celebration of skill, talent, and sportsmanship.

And so it begins...
The World Cup is here once again.

I watched the last World Cup anxiously not only for the football, but also for the locations. I graduated from Kaiserslautern and took pride in its stadium being used for some of the games. Location is a central element of this World Cup as well. For the first time, the eyes of the world turn to Africa.

Much as the Olympics bring the world together in a sporting United Nations, the World Cup speaks to more than just athleticism. The World Cup, though, is a single sport and so the world is drawn even closer than in the Olympics. We are all watching the same thing. Few watching the Olympics have the ability to skate a double luxe but many watching the World Cup would have engaged in football on a team or in the backyard (as I used to play with my dad), or on a dusty back road in some poor village.

Football is the game of the world that is accessible to most if not all. A ball is not even needed; an old discarded can will suffice. It is the common language of the world- the metaphor that can describe life. We all come together within families, groups of friends, communities, and countries to accomplish tasks and goals, to succeed, and sometimes fail. The individual is also necessary though and valued. Each player is not required to do the same work, but to draw upon his own skill to best support the success of the team. And so too it is with us; we are called upon to contribute our individual talents to society.

My background in history and international relations, draws me to examine the workings of cultures and to examine the world through different lenses. For an excellent book on cultural metaphors, I recommend Understanding Global Cultures: Metaphorical Journeys Through 28 Nations, Clusters of Nations, and Continents by Martin J. Gannon.

For as much as I enjoy the World Cup though- for the opportunities it provides for greater understanding and cooperation among countries, as well as for the actual football itself- I feel its potential is still unfulfilled.

The World Cup becomes the stage that all eyes turn to and as Shakespeare stated in As You Like It, "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players".

Ah, yes, that's what I'm getting at.

The stage is populated by the men. But where are the women?
Yes, I know that there is a separate Women's World Cup, but I see no need for that. "Separate but Equal" was rightly overturned in race, but why does it persist in gender? It is my dream to see the World Cup coed one day. Sportsmanship and international cooperation are already encouraged by the World Cup and it is my sincere hope that this stage will also one day support the potential for gender equality that something so influential the world over could provide.

I have always been a part of male-dominated fields- history, international relations, science, even writing. But, it never occurred to me that I couldn't participate, study and contribute to these areas. And while I never played on a team, outside of P.E. class, I participated alongside men in Alpine mountain climbing, ice climbing, walking, and rappelling. It has always been my belief and experience that the individual, not gender or race, determines what one can do- in sports, in work, in life.

This assertion is backed by the statement: "Physical differences among members of one sex are actually greater than the average difference between the two sexes.^vi This lack of substantial physical differences between the sexes means that girls and boys should be encouraged to compete with and against each other in sports whenever possible."

from the article http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Articles/Issues/Title-IX/C/Coed-Participation--Girls-Playing-on-Boys-Teams-and-Male-Versus-Female-Competition-The-Foundation-Po.aspx

and by the Harvard genetics department:

"Genetically men and women are 99.7% identical. So, why are we wasting so much time arguing over 0.3% differences? "

And so, as hopes rest in the destiny of countries and in the feet of men, my hope for "the beautiful game" is that the world really will be able to come together some day to recognize the best talent of all its citizens.

I don't think it's really such a crazy dream. Four World Cups ago, this year's host nation was just coming out of apartheid.

Write Life

2010-06-09T20:51:00.006+01:00

"Writing, I think, is not apart from living. Writing is a kind of double living. The writer experiences everything twice. Once in reality and once in that mirror which waits always before or behind."-- Catherine Drinker Bowen

In middle school, my English teacher put a quotation on the board each day for us to record in a notebook. Since then, I have been a fan of quotations and find them an excellent jumping point for philosophical musing. When I studied philosophy in college: "An Introduction to Philosophy" and "The Philosophy of Man" I felt I had found the glue that bound all other areas of interest and study. Philosophy, whether we realize it or not, really is ubiquitous in our lives. It permeates our thoughts and colors our experience. What one's philosophy is determines how one will feel about an event that has happened or a person that is encountered.

As an author, the individual philosophy seeps in to every character, at least in part. How could it not? The character is recorded through the tools of a particular individual who is equipped with beliefs, ideas, and experiences that shape the real world. In addition though, the characters (who may possess traits very different from the author's own or live through events that greatly diverge from the author's own life) may allow the author to vicariously live in another philosophy entirely. It is in situations such as these that the author may gain insight into the motives of the characters that populate their real world by meeting those characters that exist within the confines of pages.

And it is true that real events are experienced twice as a writer, as Catherine Drinker Bowen stated. Writing provides greater understanding of one's own thoughts and feelings related to a matter. Sometimes in moments of perfect clarity, a thought can be experienced as if it is being read from a page. It is then that the two lives of the author are most closely merged. Thus, writing is not merely an occupation. I have heard that it is the most tiring job because an author never has time off. There is no such thing as going home from work, when the characters and ideas populate one's very mind. Many jobs are chosen, but writing is something that is not consciously decided. It is something that seeks you out and claims you as its own. When that happens writing and life become inexplicably linked.

The writing of life, though, is not confined to those that write for their professions. Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten" comes to mind. It is true that "today is where your book begins and the rest is still unwritten." So, go out there and decide upon your dreams. Color your life with the rich experiences that best adhere to the embodiment of your philosophy. To me, life and writing always are bound for Life comes from the one great Author. I began with one quotation and I will leave you with another.

“God is a writer and we are both the heroes and the readers.”- I. B. Singer

Now, go out there and write some life!

Singin' in the Rain

2010-06-08T10:32:00.004+01:00

It is a perfect rainy day,the kind that throws extra kindling on my writer's fire. All the familiar favorites are present:

Rain falling softly against the window? Check
Cup of tea smelling tantalizingly delicious? Check
Notebook and pen at the ready for the next bit of writing? Check
Logged in and writing my blog? ... well, this is new!

Welcome to my first blog posting of Writer By the Sea!

Here you will find a glimpse into my world of writing, enjoying life beside the sea, traveling, painting, and musings on all else.

I have been writing since before I can remember and since then I've been remembering to write. Throughout high school and college my writing was squeezed into breaks and often a story begun at Christmas would lie in wait until Easter or even the summer. I really felt rather sorry for my characters when they were left stranded on a sinking ship or with a Luger pistol pressed to their backs. I would return to rescue them from their peril as quickly as I could, and I suppose they didn't mind too much, because just as soon as my life turned from student to career woman whole batches of characters traipsed into my office sent on by their friends from previous years.
They were persistent and insisted that I write their story. It is always the same. I am minding my own business when characters leap upon me, ambushing me, beginning to whisper compelling bits of their story to me and of course, I am hooked. I must know what happens next. I must listen to them. I must write their story. Presto. A book begins.

And now my persistent friends, clothed in the permanence of ink, have decided that I ought to write a blog to share their story and mine. Welcome to the journey and in the words of that wonderful song...
"I'm singin' in the rain. Just singin' in the rain. What a glorious feelin'. I'm happy again." I am happy and I think my characters are too... But you'll have to ask them about that. I'm just their spokesperson.