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I or Me: A Simple Way to Tell the Difference

3/21/2012

I can't stand it! I'm in the midst of reading an ebook and the author uses "I" where a "me" should go. Somewhere along the line, we got so used to hearing our mothers (or English teachers) say, "I" when we used a "me" that now we think we should always use "I" in place of a "me." Don't do it! Here's the easy way to remember if it should be a "me" or an "I". When creating a sentence, take out the other names surrounding "me" or "I" and see if it makes sense. For example:

Me, Chris and Hannah went to the zoo. Now take out "Chris and Hannah" and you have Me went to the zoo. That does not work. It's supposed to be I went to the zoo. So the correct sentence is Chris, Hannah and I went to the zoo. Try this:
Mom gave pudding to Kate, Lisa and I. Time to take out the extra names, so the sentence reads Mom gave pudding to I. Nope. It should be Mom gave pudding to me. Then the other sentence is correctly said, Mom gave pudding to Kate, Lisa and me. (I find that people don't try to tell me I should say "I" when I put the "me" first - Mom gave pudding to me, Kate and Lisa.)

Please, please, please do not fall into the trap of thinking that if there's an extra name thrown into a sentence, it must follow with an "I".

Now get back to writing because I love reading!

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Fear!

3/16/2012

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FDR said, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

I've decided I'm a coward. I have a manuscript that needs a bit of editing. The critiqued manuscripts, returned from my writer group friends, sit in a notebook on the shelf. I did take out the notebook for 5 hours on Saturday and edited my work but those pages have been sitting there for quite some time. What is my problem?!
Is it time? That's an excuse for sure. I can always set the alarm earlier (yuck).
Is it because I'm busy? Yes, I am. My theater company is getting geared up for summer camps. So?
Or is it just plain old fear? I think so. Fear of rejection. Fear of working long and hard only to find that no one wants to spend .99 on my ebook. Fear that no one will notice it's there. Fear of the wide world of critics (but will anyone be harder on myself than me? doubtful). Fear of what others might say if I go the ebook route instead of getting a traditional publisher.

Fear doesn't go away because someone tells us not to be afraid. But I love what FDR said: "...nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror..." Often, I "make" my theatre students do something that makes them uncomfortable (such as getting on a stage) but I KNOW that if I can get them to get up there, they will break through their fear and discover they can do something difficult, even when they're scared. So, I'm telling myself, it's time to face those fears and break through.

I pledge to face my fear and finish editing my book, White Fire, by March 30th, then within a week, I'll get it uploaded as an ebook!

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Success by Association

3/11/2012

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One of the members of my writer's critique group just got two of his books published! I am so excited for Gene! It's always been in my head that if I can just be near success, if I can touch it and see what it looks like, I can do it, too. My friend Kyle managed to get a business book published recently. Andrea, another member of my writer's group, has been the illustrator for numerous projects. I sound like an advertisement, don't I? I don't mean to, it's just I get excited for people who I knew before they were "successful." It means they DID IT--made a goal, put in the time, kept going when it wasn't easy, and then reached the goal. They get to wear the badge: I DID IT!! (And the badge ought to look like that as well: all bold caps with two exclamation marks.)

I've always learned by example. When I was 8, the fam was at the zoo and as we were eating our lunch in the lawn area near the pond, I saw two boys trying to catch a duck. "It must be possible," I thought to myself, "if they're trying to do it." Since my mind told me it was possible, I decided to catch a duck. I sat very still away from everyone with my back to a tree and held out a piece of bread towards a duck. The thing was very cautious. In fact, it hardly moved my direction. But still I sat and waited because obviously those boys knew what they were doing. My patience won out, the duck came to nibble the bread and I grabbed it. Mom took a picture. She was so excited and I couldn't figure out why because couldn't everyone catch a duck? (I'm glad I didn't try the boys' method of duck-catching, which was running as fast as they could after any duck out of the pond; they never did catch a duck, I realized as their family was walking away.) Perhaps everyone could catch a duck but the question is whether they believe they can and are they willing to put in the time and patience needed for it?

Back to Gene--I am going to sound like an advertisement because I'm so excited for him--Gene's books, so far, are The Pigeon Catcher and Henrietta H. House. The first one is a Young Adult thriller, similar in some ways to the movie Inception (funny, I was critiquing Gene's manuscript before the movie came out). And Henrietta H. House is a Middle Grade novel. (After having critiqued several of his other books, I'm looking forward to some more of Gene's good reads: his humorous Jamison Pond: The Spy Who Came Down with a Cold; his sci-fi The Spider Wars; and his amusing The Not-Witch. I hope he edits FAST!

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An Intense Experience with a Doughnut

3/9/2012

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It's quite the story. Head on over to Encounters in Writing and Theatre to read about The Krispy Kreme Doughnut that Lived.

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Validation? Yes, Please.

3/4/2012

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If you're a writer, or do anything that gets critiqued, judged or evaluated--and that's just about everyone, although some occupations get more publicly judged than others. Anyway...

Sometimes, you just need a little encouragement, right?
I came across this long YouTube production that I've now watched twice all the way through. It's worth all of its 16 minutes.
Validation

Thanks to all of you who worked on the piece. Loved it!

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The Nursery Rhyme Game (for adults to try to win against their children)

3/2/2012

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If our children spend more time in front of screens than in front of books, they may miss out. If our children are grown and gone, we may forget some of those folktales and nursery rhymes that delighted us when we were young. My daughter and I got into a competition with nursery rhymes while driving in the car several years ago. By the time we arrived home, we both wanted to be able to win the game and suddenly the nursery rhyme books sitting on the shelves were snatched up and studied. It's been a while since we've played, but we recorded the song game for you. I think I learned it in girl scouts or at a girl scout camp decades ago. The male voice is my husband who needs to practice if he wants to beat me and my daughter. To play the game, everyone sings the alphabet (listen to the recording) and immediately after it's sung, the first player sings a nursery rhyme to the tune of the song. Then it's everyone singing again, followed by the second player singing a different nursery rhyme. Each player gets a chance to sing a nursery rhyme and the game just continues without repeating any nursery rhyme. You're out if you can't think of one when it's your turn, or you repeat one, or you goof up. My husband would have been out on the first try but for the sake of the recording, we allowed him to stay in the game, until he couldn't think of a nursery rhyme on his second try. So, have fun...but study up before you have a go!

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I or Me: A Simple Way to Tell the Difference

Fear!

Success by Association

An Intense Experience with a Doughnut

Validation? Yes, Please.

The Nursery Rhyme Game (for adults to try to win against their children)

Marian, that's me!

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