Photo by Mutasim Billah Pritam via FlickrThere are few things more wonderful than finding a writing buddy while hobnobbing around the interwebs. One thing that's possibly, maybe, perhaps just a teeny bit more wonderful is when that writing buddy guest-posts on your site.

Shawndra Russell and I first met on Twitter and found we had a lot in common. I also found out that I was in incredible awe of her (and quite a bit jealous) for interviewing one of my favorite musicians, Abigail Washburn (you can read Shawndra's interview for SavannahNow.com here).

Shawndra has launched a Kickstarter to publish her first novel, Couple Friends. She's well on her way to reaching her goal, and if she's able to double her pledges, she can also publish her second novel, which is also finished. 

Today, Shawndra shares with us how she kicks butt at setting and meeting word-count goals, and how, with a little bit of writerly self-acceptance and a dose of discipline, you can, too. 

If you'd like to guest post here on Fresh Thoughts, scrawl an e-mail and fly it over to write2denice AT gmail DOT com. 

And now...

The Discipline of Writing and the Power of Adding Mega Production Days to Your Writing Schedule 

by Shawndra Russell

I won’t be the first to say it, and I won’t be the last: writer’s block isn’t a real thing. Before you get up in arms, hear me out. Writer’s block is just a mental block because we have done something wrong in our preparation. Perhaps you don’t have an outline, you haven’t brainstormed the scene enough, or you haven’t had a new, inspiring experience or an epic conversation recently. 

But the usual culprit? Being too critical. 

As a former English teacher, I watched as my students painstakingly tried to write “perfect” first drafts. They thought that it would be easier in the long run if they just wrote one draft. As a result, most of them hated to write because the experience was just so darn miserable. 

That’s the beauty of being a writer. No one has to see draft one, two, ten. We can screw up and then make it “pretty” later. That’s why the words "edit," "draft," and "revision" exist. Do you think any book worth reading was ever really a first draft that was never looked at again? And before you throw “stream of consciousness” or “Kerouac” around, read this: 

On the Road: The Original Scroll

Yes, Kerouac wrote his first draft in a crazy burst of creative energy in three weeks. But that’s not the novel that we see today. But we can ALL write in this matter—bursts of word counts that blow by any word count you have accomplished before because you allow yourself to make mistakes in your first draft. You don’t reread everything you’ve written—heck, you don’t reread ANYTHING you’ve written. You trust your outline, and you write, section by section, scene by scene.

Can your outline change? Sure. But what you’ve already written stays, and you don’t worry your pretty little head about fixing mistakes, plot confusion, or adding character depth until draft #2. Draft #1 is the skeleton, the time that you let your mind wander and play and just go where it wants to go, scene by scene. You set a daily word count you stick to that’s at least 2,000 words—I like 3,000 per day when I am in book-writing mode—because this will keep the story fresh in your head so you DON’T have to go back and reread and then start criticizing yourself (you know you will).

When you have your biggest production day to date, you will not feel spent or exhausted; you will feel like a bona fide superhero and totally energized. You will secretly mock people who say they have writer’s block or just don’t have time to write or whatever other excuses people like to say. You will feel ready to do it all over again tomorrow because you know you can.

Even better? You will want to see just how many words you can write in a day. 

My highest word count in a single day to date is 12,031 words. Now, I will admit that after a mega production day like that, I AM spent. I do not write the next day (well, not much). My back aches, my butt hurts, and I feel like crawling into bed and not coming out for two days except for ice cream and wine. But then, I come out of my coma ready to schedule my next massive word count day. 

Think about it: instead of toiling over your first draft for months, years, decades, you can get that story out of your head and release yourself from its tormenting power. You can stop daydreaming about it or having nightmares featuring characters suffocating in your brain. And you can have a finished first draft.

I wrote my first novel last year for NaNoWriMo, and I set my daily word count at 3,000 words per day. Since I am a freelance writer and social media strategist/manager, I decided to do my book writing in the mornings and my “day job” from about lunchtime until 7 or 8pm. I know not everyone can have this schedule, but as the cliché goes, we all have the same number of hours in the day.  

I wrote my first draft of Couple Friends in 17 days, but it only clocked in at 51,022 words—not enough for a women’s fiction title. So, I went back and added a second narrator, which was essential to the story anyway as it is now a husband and wife narrating team who takes turns telling the story from their first person POVs. I added a little over 20,000 words in about seven days (changing some of the original 50,000 words into Tyler’s perspective instead of Kieran’s), so the entire first draft only took 24 days—take that, November 30 NaNoWriMo deadline!

This gave me a respectable 71,317 words, and after five edits, it’s finally ready for the world. But I got to the final draft not by being perfect the first time around, but instead allowing myself to truly enjoy the process of making a messy first draft by not filtering my thoughts or succumbing to grammatical twitches.

And then I did it again with my second novel, Keepsakes. Except this time, I added in three mega production days of 10,010 and 10,211 and the 12, 031, so I was able to finish my first draft in 16 days. 

Take a cue from Kerouac. Stream of consciousness rocks for fiction.

You can pre-order Shawndra’s novel, Couple Friends, through Kickstarter, follow her on Twitter at @ShawndraRussell, and read her published work at www.shawndra-russell.com.  

Shawndra Russell is a social media strategist and content creator for hire. She has published more than 200 articles in magazines, newspapers, and websites, and is the sole manager of social media for five clients. She has finished two novels; the first, Couple Friends, will be published in the summer of 2012. She is not only a travel writer, but also writes a regular music column and specializes in writing about craft beers. She loves all things writing and research related and shares the best of what she finds, learns, and writes on her blog, Shawndra Russell's Courting Creativity. 

THE POESIES!

We're getting excited about The First Annual Poesies, Open Poetry Slam Competition, an all-ages, family-friendly open poetry competition coming up on May 5 from 7-10 pm! We have some great guest poets, including Rose M Smith and Rachel Wiley and some wonderful guest judges, like Leslie Crislip Nielsen, Nathan Moore, Peggy Gault-Gannon, and director of the Holmes County District Public Library, Bill Martino, all hosted by humor columnist John Lorson at the beautiful and spacious Jitters Coffee House in Millersburg, Ohio.

There will be cash prizes as well as fun and funky awards for the top three places, custom-made by Jan David Bowden of Bowden Bells & Garden Art, a gift basket for 1st place made by Bookworms Cafe and $5 gift certificates to Bookworms for all competitors. There's a cover charge of $5 ($3 for students) for all competitors and spectators, which will go toward the cash prizes. Check the Facebook event or www.thepoesies.com for more information.

The first 20 poets to register on the evening of the event will compete for cash prizes and awards. Each of the three rounds will provide a 3-minute slot for each poet in that round. Poets will be judged based on content, presentation, and adherence to the rules. All poetry must be original and the property of the performing poet. Poets should come with three prepared pieces, in case they advance to the final round. 

It's sure to be a fabulous and entertaining evening for all, so make plans now to visit Ohio's beautiful Amish Country for this unique, high-energy event!

Photo courtesy of Interconnected Productions

More Worse Than Birds: A Sermon in Four Parts

Part One: I Sing Because I'm Happy

"Do you not know that you are more worse than birds?"

That phrase, which might sound silly and nonsensical to you, holds very special meaning for me. For me, it's a reminder that God not only watches over me, but that God is also mindful of me. It's also a very strong reminder that I, that all of us, are given opportunities every day to speak life and hope to those around us. 

But before I tell you about my story, let me tell you about Caine Monroy. You might be able to relate to him. Caine lives in East L.A., and he, my friends, is more worse than birds. You see, Caine had this business idea, and he couldn't let it go. Sure, it was a little unconventional, but that didn't stop him. He spent every day last summer preparing, building, working, hoping. He imagined a lot, too, imagined how great it would be when he would open for business, welcome that first customer, make his first sale. Maybe you've been there, too. Maybe you've had a dream, or a business plan, or a ministry, or an idea that you were so excited about, you couldn't stop working on it or talking about it, and you stayed awake at night planning and worrying and imagining how great it could be. 

Well, that was Caine Monroy. 

Maybe I should tell you a little bit about Caine and his business. You see, Caine is just nine years old, and his passion is arcade games, things like foosball and mini-basketball and the claw, where you try to grab a prize by maneuvering a hook into a heap of toys.  

When Caine said he wanted to build his own arcade in Smart Auto Parts, his dad's car-parts store in Los Angeles, he started with what he had--cardboard boxes, shipping tape, his own toys. Then he invested what he had--his time, his imagination, money for prizes, and he spent every day, all summer, building these incredibly imaginative and challenging arcade games--out of cardboard.

And when it was all done, when the last game was finished, Caine flipped the hand painted "Open" sign and waited. 

And waited. 

And waited. 

Maybe you've been there, too. Maybe you've had a dream, or a business plan, or a ministry, or a relationship that you were so excited about, but after you'd done all the hard work, after you'd flipped the "Open" sign of your business, or maybe of your heart, it didn't turn out quite like you'd hoped it would. Maybe you, too, waited, and waited, and waited. Maybe you're still waiting right now. But let me assure you of something. You might not feel like it, but here's the truth. Just like Caine, you, my friend, are more worse than birds. 

Okay, let me explain what I mean. 

About six years ago, when we first came to this church, there was a message delivered from this very spot that has been a great comfort to me in my times of doubt. And the thing is, I don't remember the entire message. As a matter of fact, as many times as I've tried, I don't even remember who gave the message, though there's a good chance it was Ovidio Flores visiting from Honduras while he anticipated the birth of a grand baby. All I remember is that it was exactly the message I needed at that time, when I was dealing with what seemed like impossible obstacles in my life, when I was frustrated, defeated and incredibly insignificant. In that message, one phrase was repeated throughout the sermon over and over again, and I really felt like it was meant for me. That phrase, spoken by a spanish-speaking man delivering an english sermon that was sometimes difficult for me to understand, was this: 

(Imagine this in a Spanish accent) "Do you not know that you are more worse (worth) than birds?" 

He was talking about today's Scripture reading, and while the translation was a little fuzzy, the gist was this. God cares. God cares about the birds, and there's not a single one that falls to the ground without God's knowing about it. And that's pretty significant, if you ask me. I was at the Shreve Migration Sensation this year, and birder Kenn Kaufman, author of The Kingbird Highway and a half-dozen wildlife guides, took on the daunting task of trying to convince his audience that it's possible to look at a flock of little brown birds and identify the sparrows among them. He talked about the white-crowned sparrow and the rufous-crowned sparrow, the white throated sparrow and the black-throated sparrow. Then there are sparrows that aren't called sparrows, like the dark-eyed junco and the eastern towhee, and birds that are called sparrows, but aren't really sparrows at all, like the House Sparrow, which is actually an Old World Weaver Finch and is generally looked upon as a pest. Before Kaufman was half-finished, my head was spinning. 

But whether it's truly a sparrow or not isn't the point. The point is, God knows each of these birds, and throughout the world, there are hundreds of species of sparrows alone, yet the book of Matthew assures us that not a single one falls to the ground without God's knowledge. And look, here's the deal, the Word says, you're worth so much more than those birds! Remember that! God is mindful of you, even when you think you're just one of the many, unremarkable, unlovable, lost in a sea of so many other brown birds, God cares for you, and even has the very hairs on your head numbered. That phrase, Do you not know you are more worse than birds? was just unique enough that it settled itself into my soul, became a catch-phrase in our house. Sometimes, when someone is frustrated, defeated, insignificant, one of us will pull out that phrase, do you not know you are more worse than birds? and assure the other that God is mindful of them. 

Part Two: I sing because I'm free

Let's get back to our story about Caine Monroy, our little arcade developer. 

So, when we left Caine, he had flipped over his shingle and was waiting, day after day, for someone to visit his arcade, but no one came. He even had a t-shirt printed up that he wore every weekend when his arcade was open. But here's the thing: Caine didn't just wait. He improved his arcade. He built more games. He bought more prizes. He even devised a reward system. If someone were to venture in and play an arcade game, Caine would climb inside the cardboard box and, through a slot in the top, would push a stream of tickets, just like you'd see at Chuck E. Cheese, but instead of mechanized, it was boy-powered. Those tickets could be cashed in for any one of the dozens of real prizes he bought with his own money. He even came up with a fabulous pricing plan. For $1, you can get two turns at any game. But for $2, listen closely, you can get a fun pass, and that's worth five HUNDRED turns. 

You'd be a fool not to get the fun pass. 

But customer's of Caine's father's auto parts store passed by Caine's arcade every day. I guess to them, Caine looked like any other little brown sparrow. And, to be fair, when you're shopping for auto parts, you're not really interested in games of chance. 

But one day, along came film-maker Nirvan Mullick. Nirvan is also more worse than birds. Nirvan needed a door handle for his '96 Toyota Corolla, so he made a stop at Smart Auto Parts. When he saw Caine's amazing creations, he knew he had to play. When Caine told him his pricing structure, $1 for two plays or $2 for a fun pass, Nirvan didn't think twice. He's no fool. Of course he'd take the fun pass. 

So here's how I know about Caine and Nirvan. See, Nirvan created a surprise event on Facebook inviting everyone in L.A. to visit Caine's Arcade, to see what he had seen, not just a boring brown sparrow but a young genius with a name and a purpose and a passion. On the day of the event, Caine's dad took Caine out for pizza so the whole thing would be a surprise. On the way back to the shop, Caine's father asked him if he'd just like to go home. After all, he said, they hadn't had a single customer all day. In fact, that Nirvan guy had been Caine's only customer ever. No way, Caine said. He had to get back to business just in case someone wanted to play. When they arrived at Smart Auto Parts, try to imagine what Caine saw--a crowd--hundreds of people of all ages--holding banners, waving hands, smiling smiles, ready and eager to buy fun passes to play all day at Caine's Arcade. And throughout the day, Nirvan filmed the events, making the whole story available to the public. Just Google Caine's Arcade and you can see it, too. Since last Monday, that short film had nearly two million views. Caine told his father it was the best day of his life. 

Part Three: His eye is on the sparrow

It doesn't take much to make someone's day. While it was a huge surprise to have hundreds of customers, Caine had been pretty happy cranking out tickets when it was just Nirvan and his fun pass. Sometimes, when we're having a dark day, it doesn't take much to brighten it. Sometimes, God can send just one person with just the right word at just the right time for us to know that God is mindful of us. 

Shortly after the "worse than birds" sermon, I was working at a nearby business, a place I normally loved to be. But on that particular day, I wasn't all that thrilled to be there. I was worried. I'd just found out that my van needed some serious brake work which was going to set me back about $800. I was already behind on a couple of bills, had just enough money in my pocket for a loaf of bread, and payday wasn't for another week. I was feeling like an insignificant brown bird lost in a flock of other nondescript brown birds. I tried to keep my chin up, not let my worries affect my work, but I must not have been doing it very well. Throughout the day, one of the other employees, a sweet little Costa Rican woman named Rosa, would come bubbling past me, always a cheerful expression on her face. "You should smile, Dee Knees," she would say to me. "The Lord ees so good to us!" Ha, I thought. She doesn't know how the Lord has left me high and dry in the finance department this week. But I forced a grin and thanked her. Here she'd come again, whistling away while she swept the floor. "Dee Knees!" She would say, "The Lord ees so good! You should be so happy!" Again, I'd force a grin. "Yes, Rosa. Thank you. I'll do my best to be happy." Later in the day, she set her broom aside and called me to her. She looked up at me--she was a very tiny woman--and told me very seriously that the Lord had a message for me. I tried my best not to roll my eyes. Then she reached into her apron pocket, took my hand, and, into it, she pressed a $5 bill. I knew she, too, was struggling to make ends meet. "I can't take this," I said, handing it back to her. "No, no," she said, nodding and smiling, "the Lord told me to give it to you." The Lord kinda got the amount wrong, I thought.

But then, Rosa gave me what I really needed. She pulled me close and whispered in my ear, (Imagine this in a Spanish accent) "Do you not know that you are more worse than birds?" 

Tears immediately flooded my eyes, and in that moment, I knew. The Lord's message hadn't been that five dollar bill. That had been what Rosa needed to do, for whatever reason. The real message had been that, in spite of how I felt that day, God was mindful of me. I was not insignificant. I was not just one of the flock. I was, you are, important to God. God is mindful of me, of you. You, God wants you to know, are more worse than birds. 

Part Four: And I know He watches me. 

Nirvan the filmmaker didn't stop at making one day special for Caine. He didn't stop at making a film the rest of the world could enjoy. He went an extra step and set up a scholarship fund with a target goal of $60,000 for people to contribute to, so that he could make a difference in Caine's life, one that would have a ripple effect on everyone Caine comes into contact with throughout his life. As of this morning, that fund had reached $154,829.37.

Here's the takeaway for today. Yes, we are more worse than birds. Yes, God watches us. God is mindful of us. But what I believe is important for us to know is that, as God's people, we, too, are to be mindful of what God is mindful of. The poor. The downtrodden. The widowed. The orphaned. The ignored. The forgotten. The unattractive. Because if God's eye is on the sparrow, then our eye, too, should be on the sparrow, the little brown, nondescript bird that seems so easy to pass by in favor of the bright, the rare, the colorful, the exotic. 

And if God's eye is on the sparrow, then God's hands are at the ends of our arms. God's feet are at the ends of our legs. Yes, sometimes we are the lowly sparrow, sometimes we are the kid with the cardboard arcade, waiting with an "Open" sign and an open heart, but sometimes, too, we are the filmmaker buying a car handle. We are the Costa Rican woman with a message to share. It's important for us, no matter what we're doing, to keep our eyes open for the little brown birds, to be mindful of them, and, when we feel that tugging in our heart, the one we sometimes resist because it will be too silly or too complicated or too embarrassing, listen. Be mindful of it, stop and play the cardboard arcade games as often as you can, to remind those who are waiting that they are so much more worse than birds. And, remember, too, if you get the chance, if it's at all possible, if it's ever, even an option, to always buy the fun pass. 

If I could be anyone else in this world, I'd most likely be her. I love her energy, her heart, her drive, her spirt, and, of course, her incredible voice, thoughtful lyrics and lively banjo pickin'.

Check out Abigail's TED talk and then be sure to get your hands on some of her recordings, like City of Refuge, Song of the Traveling Daughter, or Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet.  

Anne Lamott

Aside from two birthdays (my daughter's and my own), my eldest daughter's graduation from college (with honors, I might add), and the general loveliness that comes with springtime, there are several other events I'd very much love to attend. I'm passing them along here because maybe you are independently wealthy but woefully lacking in news sources and wouldn't have otherwise know about these things. 

First comes the University of Akron Writers Workshop on Saturday, April 14 at The University of Akron Wayne College in Orrville. I'm excited to be a part of this event because not only is it a great place to meet other writers (the writers group that I now attend was born out of this event a year ago), but also because I have two pieces that are being given awards this year as part of the Regional Writing Awards. That's always a nice feeling. 

Then, Anne Lamott is coming to Cleveland's Ohio Theater on April 17. Lamott's books Bird by Bird, Traveling Mercies, Plan B and Grace (Eventually) provided many aha moments for me about my writing, my faith, and my life. 

Also coming to Ohio Theater on on April 29 is comedian and storyteller Mike Birbiglia. Birbiglia has told some of my favorite stories ever on The Moth, particularly this one where he talks about breaking off a relationship while vacationing on a remote island and this one about discovering a tumor in his bladder, or the one below, where he talks about his adventures in sleepwalking.

Another April happening is the release of Blue Like Jazz, the movie. The book, for me, was almost as important as Lamotts', showing me that being a writer and being a Christian didn't mean that everything I wrote had to be sanitized and safe, buttoned up and beautiful; it could be messy, real, angry, frustrated and honest. From the looks of it, the movie isn't playing anywhere in Ohio, so I guess I'll have to travel to Pittsburgh to see it, unless I can get lucky and happen upon a preview.

And, finally, the biggie--the Festival of Faith and Writing. This happens once every two years at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI, and is packed with powerhouse folks who write honestly about faith, like Shane Claiborne, Marilynne Robinson, and Li-Young Lee. This year, there is the added treat of a concert by Bruce Cockburn. 

If you're heading to any of these events, I'd love to hear about them. Drop me a line in the comments, and maybe I'll see you there!