Writing for Kids #1 Concoct a Character

Writing a character sketch is like drawing a picture – like painting a portrait of your character. If you are lucky enough, you may even be able to conjure up a movie of your character – seeing her frolic through your mind or, better yet, across the pages of your story. She may be digging a hole to the other side of the earth or stumbling lost in a forest with wild beasties in mad pursuit. She may be cowering in a closet, walking a tightrope in a circus, or fighting with a best friend over the color tutu they will wear in the ballet recital. The possibilities are infinite. Your character may be meek and shy, or she may be the belle of the ball – self-centered and oozing confidence. She may be a bully or a nerd, or perhaps she is the teacher’s pet. Your endless imagination is your only limit.

There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for developing a character, but there are some guidelines that may be helpful as you travel your journey from story idea to completed book.

The thing your character wants above all else will be the crucial point in driving your story. Through intense desire, your character will come alive. Her physical characteristics and attributes will develop as she becomes entangled in the plot. There is no need to name your character or supply her with physical attributes at the beginning. Be patient. Her personality will emerge as she wiggles her way through the story line. A name, hair color, or age may stifle your creativity about your character. Your unnecessary limitations on your imagination may limit the depth of her character. So let your character flow freely until she is ready to take on her physical being. Then unleash her and see where she takes you.

Still it never hurts to talk to your character – flesh her out.  Some people call it interviewing the character. Find out her greatest desire. Does she want to be best friends with the most popular girl in class – the one who scorns her? Does she want to get rid of her glasses because she is endlessly being teased? Does she wish her baby brother didn’t exist? It’s your character’s burning desire, no matter what it is, that will propel her through the story as she seeks her goal.

Life is not easy, and neither should it be for your character. Throw in some conflicts. Make it difficult for her to achieve her goal. What makes her shake in her boots? Is it the monster in the closet or under the bed? Is it the bully in the girls’ restroom? Is it the patches her mom sewed on her too-baggy jeans? Why does she need to get an A+ on her Science exam? Is it to impress the cutest boy in her class or because her parents promised her a trip to Disneyland? No matter! With problems peppering your story that your character must surmount, you will capture your audience. When she finally does reach her goal – and she must – by the end of the story, it will be sweet – and satisfying. And if you have done your job well, then your readers will easily relate to your character. They will gladly root for her to your very last word.

(Clip Art compliments of Bing.)

TidBits About Donna #57 Mother’s Day – What KInd of Mom Are You?

It’s Mother’s Day – the second since I lost my mother. So how do you celebrate Mother’s Day when you no longer have a mother? It’s a strange feeling. I won’t be sending her a card this year or a present  either.  It was never easy finding a present that my mother loved, but one Mother’s Day I really scored when I sent her a pair of shortie pajamas. (We used to call them baby doll pajamas when I was a young girl.) They were lemon yellow with flowers on them. She wore them all the time.  I used to call my mother, too, on Mother’s Day. (In addition to the regular Monday and Thursday calls that I wrote about in an earlier post called, TidBits About Donna #33 I Miss You Most On.) Several times today, I’ve thought about calling – only to have the idea dashed as the memory of my mother’s passing slips in. I’ll miss that call. But I did buy a bouquet of flowers to set at our fireplace to honor her memory.

I’m a mom too. So I guess I could celebrate that part of Mother’s Day. But when your kids are grown up and live a continent away, that’s a little hard. It’s almost like pretending. Thinking back through the years to the breakfasts in bed, the frozen orange juice cans covered in food-dyed macaroni transformed into beautiful vases filled with colorful paper flowers, or the sea shell-studded picture frames showing off school picture even now bring back happy memories from when Kiersten and Jared still called me “Mommy.” When did I evolve into “Mom?” How quickly my son, Jared, and my daughter, Kiersten, grew up. Now they have lives of their own.  I am still their mother – always will be – until I’m not. I was once central – the pivot point of their lives, their core, but I am on the fringes now. I guess that is the natural way of life. I wonder if my mother though that too. Kiersten is a mom now, too. Will she have these same thoughts as her two lovely daughters grow up and away.

Today, as I do each Mothers’s Day, I reflect on my own mothering. I wonder if I measured up to the high expectations of mothering or did I fall short. I wanted to be the best mother ever. That was my goal. I wanted my children to grow up strong and independent. They did! I wanted them to be kind and considerate. They are! I wanted them to be respectful and respected. Based on the number of devoted friends they have, I believe they have achieved this too.

So why do I still have misgivings? Could I have given them more? Could I have lowered my bar of expectations? Should I have allowed them to do anything they wanted regardless of safety or sanity? Maybe! I don’t know! I don’t think so! I do know that I gave my mothering career my all. But since after all these years, I still have doubts, I searched the web for a perfect mom test and I found this one. What Kind of Mom Are You? I took it and held my breath as I clicked the Submit button.

Here’s my result.
…………………………………………..Balanced Mom…………………………………………..
You have sound principles on how to raise your children and it confers you a natural authority. You do not always go with the “popular” or the “easy” choices, instead but you will take the time to balance to pros and the cons of each decision, including factoring what your kids want. But you also know that what they want is not always what is best for them. You have learned to find the right balance between being overprotective and being too permissive. Don’t change a thing!

Phewww! I can live with that!

And it all started here with my wonderful husband, David. This picture was taken at a good friend’s wedding. Check out David’s smug look. He just learned he was going to be a father.

(Clip Art compliments of Bing.)

(Photos compliments of ME.)

TidBits About Donna #56 What Color Am I?

What Color Am I?
(reprinted from my website – January 2010)

For this quiz  I had to choose a variety of characteristics that I believe apply to me, like … motivated, loyal, competitive, friendly, hard-working, compassionate, and dramatic. oh yes … dramatic. Those were just some of the attributes that I chose from the long, long list of more than 60 qualifications.

It turns out I am orchid. Funny … that has been my color of choice lately. I have several purple shirts and a purple bracelet and even my necklace has a lot of purple in it.

There must be some truth in this color quiz. AND .. there is a LOT that simply does not fit.

I am orchid!

Your dominant hues are red and blue. You’re confident and like showing people new ideas. You play well with others and can be very influential if you want to be.Your saturation level is lower than average – You don’t stress out over things and don’t understand people who do. Finishing projects may sometimes be a challenge, but you schedule time as you see fit and the important things all happen in the end, even if not everyone sees your grand master plan.Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

I agree most times I am confident and I love to share new and innovative ideas – especially teaching or classroom ideas; or ideas about writing and the publishing world. Sharing is fun. I do enjoy the company of many types of people. People have so many different things to offer. I am not sure about my influence, though – you tell me.

Talk about stress. I never stress over anything. I always take things in stride. I am about the most calm person I know. I never ever let things bother me. I don’t let fighting with insurance companies get to me. No sirree! Not ever! When someone cuts me off as I wait on the apron of the highway, I just laugh it off. When the bills pile up on my desk and I can’t find the time to rid them from my life, I just let them stack up. NO matter! I never let stress rule my life!

Oh drat! I hope David doesn’t read this. If he adds a comment down below, don’t, I repeat, DON’T believe a word he says. He’ll only tell you I am the most stressed out person he knows — and well, he’s probably right.

I do so finish projects I start! It just may take me a little longer since I have a million projects going on at once. I am NEVER bored.

An upbeat attitude towards life? Yep, that’s me. As they say – if life gives you lemons, make lemonade – just hold the sugar.

So, I guess you could say that I am shades of orchid with a little yellow and blue and red and green and orange dripped in. I bet we all are – shades of one color … or another – with a lot of other colors swirled in.

(Clip Art compliments of Bing.)

Musings by Donna #42 A Hankering for Okra

If y’all had asked me what okra was a few months ago, I reckon I may have said it was a vegetable and that it was green. I might have added that it is popular down South. I would have been right. But if y’all set it in front of me and asked me what it was, I would have had no clue. It wasn’t until my niece, Krystil, mentioned, on Facebook, that she was craving okra that it came to my attention.

Pickled okra is what she wanted. It did not sound appealing to me, but Krystil seemed to love it. She was searching her Mississippi neighborhood for it. So, I decided it couldn’t be all that bad. And … that’s when I developed a hankering for okra. I had to have it.

I reckon I was on a mission. I searched the grocery store aisles for pickled okra. I foraged through the produce department. I sifted through the condiment section pushing aside pickles, olives, capers, artichoke hearts, and hot, red pepper rings. Heck I was aimin’ to take any kind of okra, but there was none to be found.

After scouring several stores, I asked a store manager. “Pickled okra?” he said and looked totally flummoxed. He scratched his head and then said that it might be a “brother” thing. Now I was flummoxed. Whatever did that mean? “A brother thing?” I repeated. He glanced around furtively then in a whisper said, ” You know … black.”  “Ahhh,” I said and nodded my head as a “black” store employee approached. Who better to ask, I thought. I posed my question to him. He looked quizzical and then replied, “Isn’t that what they eat down South?”  “Yessss,” I said encouragingly. He went on. “Maybe they just boil them in vinegar.” He was no help.

One day when I was not looking for okra – there they were – right in the produce section of my regular market. OKRA $2.99 a pound. Of course, they weren’t pickled, but I didn’t care. I bought a pound and toted them home.

Then I pored over site after site on the internet for pickled okra recipes. They all included Mason jars and sealing wax. That’s more than I bargained for. I simply wanted a bottle of pickled okra to see why my niece loved them so much. I searched for another way to prepare okra and found a simple recipe for my okra. Roasted okra is yummy.

Check out this site to learn more than you ever wanted to know about okra. Vegetable of the Month: Okra

If y’all find okra to be pleasing to your palate and y’all are fixin’ to make it for your families, then here are a ton of recipes to try. Okra Recipes.

But, for me, I will have to hop a jet plane to my sister, San’s, house in Mississippi to experience pickled okra. And while I’m there I’ll be sure to have her fried green tomatoes. They are the best.

(Clip art compliments of Bing.)

TidBits About Donna #55 Phrogs Frogs Phrogs

Regis Amphibian & Kelly Rippit Rippit Rippit by Bernadette Bird & Downia Glass That's Kristin between Regis and Kelly.

Another State Street Frog

PHROGS Frogs PHROGS
I love frogs — all kinds of frogs. So when I recently went back to my hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, it was fun to see frogs all over the place. Here are some of the frogs I saw.

Tip Toad Through the Tulips by John DeAngelo

Just Walkin' in the Rain

Frog with NO Name by Anonymous

Patchwork Frog This frog is located outside the Erie Art Museum.

Hmmm . . . How did he get here? Looks like a A Fish Out of Water!

Paddy O'Day by Peggy Brace

Money Hungry Frog with the Golden Touch by Chuck Benson & Bill Lechner

This frog located near Dobbins Landing at the foot of State Street near the bay at Lake Erie looks like he ran into a fisherman's net. by Dan & Rachael Burke

Another visit to Erie. Just can’t keep away. This time I found a lot more frogs. They just kept leaping up all over the place. Some cars have signs that say, “CAUTION! I stop for garage sales.” But I need a sign to alert unsuspecting motorists that I STOP for FROGS!

My poor father-in-law kept saying, “Not again?” And I kept saying, “Ahh, just one more!” Then my friend, Kristin, would shout, “LOOK! Over there!

Here's another frog found in downtown Erie. Looks like he ran into some trouble

And . . . SCREECH!!!!!

And … I would hit the brakes, hop out of the car with my camera in tow, and begin to shoot.

There is even a radio station devoted to frogs. Erie is MY kind of town.

(Photos compliments of ME.)

If you want to see a lot more frogs go to Erie, PA Frog Statues.

TidBits About Donna #54 Strangest Yet! A Tattoo?

STRANGEST YET!       TATTOO??

                  You’ve Got To Be Kidding!
It’s just a little hummmmmmmmingbird.

Okay, so I added a few more holes to my ears. I now have a total of five. Thanks, Betty! And thanks for going with me, and for telling me that it was not cool to have an equal number of holes on each ear . . . thus the odd number of five.

Then I poked an extra hole in my nose. Thanks, Kiersten! I swear – I would never have thought of this on my own. Although I can come up with some pretty weird ideas without anyone prompting me; this idea is totally your responsibility. And thanks to Betty for holding my hand and saying, “You can do it! You can do it!” but who wouldn’t do it herself when I encouraged her to get her nose pierced, too.

Monique is totally responsible for the tattoo. Her friend, Sarah, called from Germany with the news that she got a tattoo. Hmmmm! That call changed both my and Monique’s lives permanently.

Soon Monique was talking about hummingbirds. She talked about it in the car. She talked about it sitting on the floor of my office. She talked about it at the dinner table and she talked and talked and talked. She asked me if I wanted to get a tattoo with her … a hummingbird. “No!” I assured her. But I offered to take her to get one if she wanted it. She wanted it! She wanted it right that minute! We hadn’t even cleared the dinner table yet. It was dark out and rain was gushing from the sky. It was a Friday night. I suggested we go the next day. I could see Monique’s face fall. I sensed her intensity. What’s a little rain? We quickly cleared the table, cleaned up the kitchen, and set off in search of the tattoo studio not far from my home.

Donna's

She thrust the picture of the hummingbird into the tattoo artist’s hand and asked if he could do it. He easily agreed. Monique relaxed into the chair as the artist sketched the hummingbird on her hip. I watched. She said it kind of pinched, but was not painful. When she was done, she needled me to do it too. Although her hummingbird was really cute, I refrained.

Monique's

The next morning I woke with a burning desire to have a hummingbird etched onto me too. I  have no idea what got into me – what made me feel that way, but with an overwhelming intensity, Monique and I hopped into the car and set off for the tattoo parlor again.

I wanted the same little hummingbird that Monique had. The only difference is that I added color to mine. It’s beautiful. It’s like a piece of jewelry – only it is permanent.

This little hummingbird ties Monique and me together for life. It is a constant, pleasant reminder of when she lived with David and me and we shared some months together.

(Clip Art compliments of Bing.)

(Pictures compliments of ME.)

(Reposted from my website at Strange Happenings.)

TidBits About Donna #53 Stranger Piercings!

STRANGER
PIERCINGS!
UPPER LIP FRENULUM! SCUMPER!
Whatever you want to call it.
It makes me SMILE!

One day I walked the streets of New York City with my friend, Monique. We found ourselves in the Village. Our steps took us to a storefront called Venus Modern Body Arts. We were drawn in. We stared at the counters filled with jewels and gems . . . opals, diamonds, sterling silver beads. Jewels for your ears, eyebrows, and tongues.

Gems for you navel, nose, and upper lip frenulum. UPPER LIP FRENULUM?? What’s that? I didn’t know what it was either. But after some research on the web, I learned that it is the tiny flap of skin that attaches your upper lip to your gums above your top teeth.

Well, anyhow Monique had this piercing done several years ago and her face lights up every time she smiles.

So, of course, I wanted one, too. If you look closely, you can see the little bead that rests on my teeth. Monique has a tiny diamond, which tips the top of her teeth, too. Unfortunately, as a starter, I can only get the stainless steel bead, until the piercing heals, but at least it matches my nose bead. Oh, the nose bead is another story . . . So some weeks passed and I finally got up the nerve to change my starter bead to a blue ice gem. I wanted my gem to match Monique’s . . . well almost. Hers is clear like a diamond, while mine is blue ice.. Monique searched the web and ordered mine from Germany. I couldn’t wait until it arrived.

Off to the piercers again for the change. I did not have enough courage to try to change it myself.

                                      

Unfortunately, I no longer wear my scrumper. I accidentally pulled it out in the Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. OUCH! And without Monique here to encourage me to have it replaced and knowing that it hurt – yes it did – a little, I haven’t had the nerve to re-pierce it.

Maybe I will some day. I miss it.

(Photos compliments of ME.)

TidBits About Donna #52 Strange Happenings

STRANGE!
PIERCINGS!
NOSE RING! NOSE BEAD! NOSE DOT!

They all amount to the same thing . . . a hole in your head … nose!

My daughter, Kiersten was visiting last April (2005) when she said, “Mom, I want to get my nose pierced.” I looked at her as if she were nuts . . . not an uncommon mother/daughter look. Then she told me she wanted to get her daughter’s nose pierced, too. “OK!” I thought. “I’ll call your bluff.” I told her if they were going to get their noses pierced, then I would, too. Now, she called mine and said, “Let’s go!” So I did!

I braced myself. I got up my nerve. I only had to keep it until I was seated in the piercer’s chair. Unfortunately, or maybe lucky for me, the piercing studio was closed. Our window of time was also closed, since Kiersten had to go back to New Mexico. “DARN!” Just when I thought I could really do this. But the seed was planted and it wiggled just beneath the surface of my mind.

Betty ... she made me do it! Well . . . she held my hand anyway.

Then, Betty, a friend of mine, came to visit and gave me frog earrings. They matched hers. But I didn’t have enough holes in my ears, so she persuaded me to pierce three more. So, when we went to Erie, we headed straight to Piercing Pagoda. Of course, getting my ears pierced reminded me of my desire to get my nose pierced. (Sounds a little like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie– doesn’t it?) The next evening Betty and I went to Buddha’s — a little nervous and a lot scared. (I could have gone to Ink Assassin or Mad Mike’s, but Buddha’s seemed a little more sane. Actually, another time I did go to Ink Assassin and spoke with the piercer, Missy, who was very knowledgeable about her craft.) Anyhow, thirty minutes later I walked out of Buddha’s with a hole in my nose, feeling a little woozy, and a lot like I must be out of my mind, but loving every minute of it.

It didn’t take Kiersten long after she got back home to find her own piercing studio. And now we have matching nose beads. We’re mirror images – mine on the left – hers on the right . . . mother/daughter style!

(Photos compliments of ME.)

(I still have my piercing. Kiersten does not.)

TidBits About Donna #51 Candy Cookie Mouse

“A mouse stopped by.” At least that is what my husband, David, told me as he clutched a Lindt milk chocolate truffle in his hand. He said he found it on his pillow this morning. Well, of course, he would find chocolate on his pillow. Doesn’t everyone? Doesn’t everyone have some sort of magical, chocolate mouse hanging around on Valentine’s Day?

David’s chocolate mouse was busy all day. Chocolates and cookies were popping up everywhere. Besides the chocolate truffle on his pillow, there was a really pretty pink-wrapped one in the bathroom sink. Then there was a package of coconut cookies sitting on his computer chair. Yummy! Another bag, chock full of Ghirardelli squares, was found on the table. More cookies – a roll imported from Spain.

Since David’s Valentine’s gift to his Candy Cookie Mouse was to set up her new computer, of course, he would find treats there too. A nice, plump bag of chocolate, animal crackers (I hope there are no mice in there.) was waiting for him on her computer desk. David’s gift of time was well appreciated. (His work keeps him too busy.)

But he was not so busy that we couldn’t go out for a nice dinner at Bensi at the end of the day. Gnocchi Chicken Cacciatore is David’s favorite meal there. I had the Penne Bensi. And by the size of the portion, I will be enjoying it for a couple more days. Every day is a day to celebrate love, to acknowledge the people we care about and those who care about us. But sometimes life gets in the way. Sometimes we just forget to just say thank you for sharing our life with our someone special. Valentine’s Day is that reminder day.

I’m so lucky that I spend my life with my best friend and spouse, David.

(Clip Art compliments of Bing.)

TidBits About Donna #50 It’s a Good Day!

It’s a Good Day!

“What makes a good day for you?” was a question I recently encountered as I read Growing Flowers, my daughter, Kiersten’s, blog. That unnerving question took me aback as I sat at my computer in my home office with the sun streaming in from the windows that surround me on this bright and cold Sunday morning. I stopped. I sat there.  I looked out the window and then looked around my office and wondered … what exactly is a good day for me.

Five minutes later I was still wondering. Is that sad – or is that sad??? I guess I can’t chunk a whole day together to deem it a “good day.” But maybe parts of it, isolated moments or hours would be easier.

So often it is easy to focus on the bad parts or the more difficult situations in life. I know when I was teaching I often spoke of the more challenging parts of my day – my angst over a child, who day in and day out, repeatedly refused to do his work as my concern grew on how to reach him; my worries over the six-year-old student who never did her ten-minutes-a-night HomeFun because of lack of parental supervision or cooperation.  (What were these parents thinking?) My utter frustration when a child with severe emotional needs demands all of my time and attention to the exclusion of the rest of the twenty-three children in the class – that makes for a really bad day – or year. It also makes for a lot of stress. Talking those situations through over dinner with my husband, David, released many of my frustrations, at least for that day, and it reset me to tackle the job of teaching the next morning.

On the home front, fighting with insurance companies over medical bills they should automatically pay, the toilet overflowing, or the water heater and humidifier leaking – needing repair or replacing – not good! Paying the bills and spending hours filing the paperwork does not make for a good day either. But that’s life, I guess.

So, no, I can’t recount “good days,” except for maybe carefree vacations in Puerto Peñasco when all time stops and the sun shines everlasting. But I can measure happy times as fleeting moments or hours  “good moments – good hours.” And every day has some of those.

I can cite lots of those “good moments – good hours” starting with the crystal blue sky hanging outside my windows as I type this post. Its deep, cobalt blueness makes me wonder how colorful our world is and it makes me smile. Then several hours later, as I finish the edit of this post, I glance out the window to see a full moon perched in the hazy, purple sky, peeking through the branches of the bare-naked trees outside my office window. Both … “good moments.”

The hot chocolate, cinnamon oatmeal chock full of roasted almonds and sunflower seeds with banana and grapes mixed in and topped with fat-free whipped cream – both chocolate and white – yummy – a “good moment.”

Lounging in my reclining, lawn chaise on a hot summer day, under the shade of Japanese maple trees, reading a fun book or treading water with a friend and neighbor in our complex pool as we exercise, talk, laugh, share recipes and make plans for shopping excursions – “good hours.”

Afternoon or late evening walk/talks with my friends to share our thoughts and slices of our lives – very “good hours.”

Closing the lid of my file box with a thwap after finishing the filing of the bill paperwork – definitely a “good moment.”

When a child says with all sincerity, “You are the ‘bestest’ teacher I ever had in my whole, entire life – in the whole, entire universe.” (I taught first grade and am only one in his not-so-long experience with teachers, but you’ve got to love it anyway.) – a very “good moment.”

Beating my sister, cousins, and friends in “Words With Friends. – a “good moment.”

Chatting and laughing on my cell phone with my best friend from Louisville, KY during a long, brisk walk – a “good hour.”

Stepping off of the stage to applause at the end of an eight-minute monologue – a very “good moment.”

Hanging out with my granddaughters in China Town NYC or the Peninsula on Lake Erie or at their home in New Mexico – “good hours.”

Completing Chapter 61 of my memoir about David and his Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) – a very “good moment” indeed! (I am almost done with the second edit of the book. YEAH!)

When I complete the whole book, sell it, and see it on the shelves of Barnes and Noble and on the bookshelves of every library in the United States – well, that would make a wonderful, amazing, unbelievable, very “good day.”

Having coffee and lots of chatter with friends and cousins. – “good hours.”

Waking up with my husband each morning, having him wrap his arms around me, and having him tell me he loves me “most-most” and I reply, “Well, of course you do … and we both laugh – a very happy “good moment.”

This is how is goes.

Donna to David:       I love you!

David to Donna:                I love you more!

Donna to David:        I love you more-more!

David to Donna:                           I love you most!

Donna to David:         I love you more-most!

David to Donna:                            I love you most-most!

Donna to David:        Of course, you do!

Meeting David when I was sweet-sixteen, marrying him when I was all-knowing twenty, and sharing our lives together adds up to – a very “good LIFE.”

My days are made up of many “good moments” and  “good hours” and maybe stringing all those moments and hours together is what makes up a “Good Day” a “Good Life.”

These are only a few random incidents that make a very good moment, good hour, or good life for me. I hope you will take some time now and think what makes you happy – what makes a “good moment, good hour, good day, or good life” for you.

I’d love to hear about yours, so please post your thoughts in the comment section of my blog. Just look below in the tag section. You will see the link for COMMENTS.

And celebrate your good moments.

(Clip Art compliments of Bing.)

(Photo compliments of ME.)