Category Archives: Writing

Curation Corner: In times of uncertainty…

how creativity can help.

Four key points from Diana’s citiesatdawn.com post.

  • Creativity is a way to work things out.
  • Creativity allows us a chance to see other possibilities.
  • Creativity brings calm to our minds and bodies.
  • Creativity opens the door to engaging our imaginations and going beyond ourselves.
get the creativity flowing--tim-mossholder-SZgVZPbQ7RE-unsplash
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Wisdom for Writers from Beaver Cleaver



When revision and editing process breaks down.
Beaver: “Sometimes things get so messed up, crying is the only thing you can do.”  

Romance writers take note:
Beaver: “Yeah, but there was too much kissin’ and not enough apes.”

On dealing with editors:
Beaver: “Do you like me a whole lot?”
Wally: “Look, don’t get sloppy on me. I might just slug you one.”

On complete transparency:
Wally: “Beaver — you got crumbs in the butter again. Boy, if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s crumbs in the butter.”
Beaver: “Sorry Wally. That must have happened when it fell on the floor.”

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Stuck on a writing project?

Here is one possible solution:

https://www.newyorker.com/cartoon/a24040-dailycartoonjpg

***

Oh, sure, you might actually be serious about writing. In that case, here are a few ideas:

  • The tangential method
  • The switching gears method
  • The backstory method
  • The undoing method

***

I generally resort to turning on the oven. Matter of fact, I’m overdue for another version of my olive oil dough tear-and-shares.

My process:

  • pre-seasoned the dough [oregano, basil, granulated garlic],
  • rolled it out
  • spread out generous portions of grated cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, and sausage
  • rolled it back up
  • cut out portions
  • dipped them in beaten egg
  • placed them in the pan
  • poured the rest of the beaten egg over the portions
  • gave them another 20 minutes of rising time [not sure if I should have let them rise first and then poured the egg. Shrug.]
  • baked them at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes

For lots more tear-and-share ideas:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/tear-share

An eye-for-details activity

Image by Marielou Lolilop from Pixabay 

I’m working on a mini-course, so I’ll be posting some of the activities here.

The activities are intended for a range of writers, though seasoned veterans may not be interested. Again, I’ll be using this site to park some of my works.

Here is the short, non-narrated activity.

Keeping daily expectations manageable

  • Walked dog. [Imperative in his world. By 7:30 AM, reaches state of ‘Urgent!’.]
  • Baked biscuits. [Imperative in my world.] Here’s the recipe.
  • Opened package containing aloe vera to complete my sanitizer ingredient list. Confession: Needed to review my Amazon orders to remind myself what was in the box.
  • Dodged 94.1% of the daily newspaper to read the comics.
  • Rendered my 3.2 readers comatose with above list.

I should be writing. Instead…bread pudding.

Sweet potato bread pudding, to be specific, inspired by an episode of George Hirsch Lifestyle

I had leftover monkey bread/pull apart from a local bakery–the parts lacking anything resembling sweet, syrupy, or nutty [i.e. the dry stuff that should have been drenched, but wasn’t. Okay, so I’m a hard-nose when it comes to unhealthy, but oh-so-good pastries.]

And I figured it would be a great springboard for a bread pudding.

Anyway, I steamed the sweet potatoes and worked in plenty of vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar. The resulting mash sat peacefully in the fridge for a couple of days and this morning mixed well with the sweetened custard, then the bread, chopped pecans, and rehydrated cranberries.

I can’t seem to track down the exact recipe, sorry. So, bakers, just mix it all together and keep an eye on it. At 350 degrees, the pudding–about 2.5 inches high– took about 70 minutes–foil-covered for the first 40 minutes, then crisping up the rest of the time.

L. convinced me that the sweet potatoes made this a health food. Worked for me.