Z is for Zeal: It's Not the Same as Commitment

It's Z day!

It's Z day, it's Z day...

It's Z DAY!

Ahem. Sorry for that. 

It's Z day, a day which has me excited to wrap up this challenge and get back to my usual sparse blogging habits. Kidding. I've enjoyed blogging more frequently, and I hope to kick things up to a moderate pace from here on out.

One of the most important things I've gleaned from the A to Z challenge is the understanding that while you generally need zeal to spark a commitment, you don't need zeal to keep a commitment. 

There were days during the challenge (cough - I day - cough - V day) when I felt like doing anything but following through to the end. The commitment to do so kept me moving forward, and that same commitment brought me a fresh sense of unexpected zeal at times. Like the day I woke up wondering, "What on earth am I going to write for W?" only to look at my sweet daughter and be flooded with words I couldn't wait to get out there. Commitment kept me focused, and resulted in gifts of renewed zeal when I needed it most.

I expect this relationship between zeal and commitment can be applied to any commitment we take on in this life. If you're feeling a lack of zeal today, it's not necessarily because something is broken. It's because commitment takes work.

Just a little encouragement from me today to stay steadfast in your commitments. Zeal will ebb and flow; commitment will move you forward.

Y is for Yesteryear: My (Slightly Scary) Time Travel Experiment

Growing up in Virginia, I got my driver's license the day I turned sixteen. I'm not saying it was the best idea ever, but I was itching to get behind the wheel of my Geo tracker and drive (or sputter, I should say) off into the sunset.

A few weeks after getting my license, I was handed a clunky rectangle-shaped object. It was rather large and if I'm remembering correctly, it had a retractable antenna. It was a cell phone, my parents said, and I was to keep it in my car in case of an emergency. I tossed it into my glove compartment and didn't give it a second thought. As I'm typing this, I'm realizing the battery probably died a couple days after I received it, so it wouldn't have been too helpful in an emergency anyway. Oh, well.

The point is, I didn't have it with me at all times. I didn't know my number. I'm not sure if I even knew how to turn it on. Perhaps I'm becoming a bit of a curmudgeon, but my heart has been feeling burdened recently by the fact that today's teens don't get to spend much time looking up at the world around them. They don't get to experience the awkward anxiousness that comes from having to ask a girl's parents if she can come to the phone. They don't get to do a lot of talking and listening, because they have to do a lot of typing and reading just to keep up with the status quo. They don't get an escape from the constant chatter; don't get to be alone with their thoughts - and they've never known things any other way.

This got me thinking about how I have known things another way. I remember what it was like to not be constantly connected, and yet I find myself forgetting to look up at the world around me. I find myself forgetting to listen; forgetting to study the faces of the people I love. I'm feeling drained by this lately, so I've issued myself a challenge:

I am committing to-

Hang on. It is a little scary to even put these words out there. Ok. Whew. I can do this.

I am committing to completely turning off my iPhone for an entire weekend. 

Deep breaths. It's going to be ok, Courtney.

I'm turning back the clock a few years. I don't have a specific reason for issuing this challenge, other than I have a feeling there's something to learn from this; something to be gained from unchaining myself in this way.

So there it is. I'm publicly committing to turning off my phone Friday at 5pm until whenever I wake up Monday morning. I'll check back in with a blog update next week on my strange journey to the past. If I come back at all, that is. ;)

X is for X-Key: Editing, the Backspace Key, and Me

It's X day today, a day I've been dreading since signing up for the A to Z Blogging Challenge.

I had absolutely no idea what this post would be about, and then it hit me! I've been staring at this little beauty for the better part of the past month:

(This is a photo of my actual keyboard, and yes, that is a coffee stain... and dust.)

X! Ha! The backspace key was my best friend during my recent round of edits. Today, I'm providing a quick glimpse into my editing process. I realize this is the authorly equivalent of blogging about my weight, but I'm going there anyway, because... A to Z Challenge.

I began with a 74,000 word manuscript. Characterization edits, additional descriptions, and a modified beginning brought my manuscript to over 77,000 words. Then, it was time to put the backspace key to work.

This statistic makes me want to cry, but it's fascinating: By cutting out unnecessary adverbs and superfluous words such as just, that, and now, I brought my manuscript down to 75,704 words. That's about 1,500 words, and not one of those words was cut out as part of a mass removal of content. I simply went through the manuscript and plucked them out, one by one. All 1,500 of them.

Shudder.

Much love to my amazing editor for seeing the beauty past the mess! Three more rounds of edits to go, and I'm sure I'll be spending more quality time with my friend the x-key.

W is for Wonderstruck: A Moment in Awe of the Great Author

I have a general aversion to being kicked in the face.

It is for this reason (and not because of any particular parenting philosophy) that I encourage my toddler to sleep in her crib. I try my best to keep her out of the bed, but sometimes it's inevitable. This week, we've been traveling, which means Little Miss has had to endure the uncomfortable confines of the portable crib. This would have been bad enough had she not come down with a cold. Just when we thought we had hit rock bottom, her two-year molars began to make their appearance. It's the toddler trifecta of sleeplessness, and conditions have been favorable for me being kicked in the face.

I awoke around 3:30 this morning to an especially rousing roundhouse kick.  

Unable to go back to sleep, I spent some time staring at my sweet little girl, who is really quite precious when she's not hurling her feet in my direction. Any mom can relate to this moment of pure awe; looking down at a perfect little human who once didn't exist and being wonderstruck by her presence.

I have been thinking a lot about characterization during my editing process, about what makes us who we are. In this early morning moment, I felt an indescribable reverence for the one who created this little girl. I have suffered loss and know full well that it is impossible for a heart to beat by man's will alone. I am certain this beautiful (and at times, spritely) person is the work of a great author. An author who has perfected the human character sketch in our DNA, and who adds His unique touch to each special creation. In a way I am thankful for being kicked in the face this morning, because it provided a welcome glimpse into this beautiful truth.

You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared    before I’d even lived one day. (From Psalm 139, The Message)

V is for Verruca: Win Words With Friends Using these 5 Uncommon V-Words

Isn't it funny how when you get to the end of a tube of toothpaste, there always seems to be one last drop left? You think to yourself, "This is it. The last squeeze of toothpaste." You've emotionally prepared yourself to say goodbye and open a new tube, and yet the next day there's just enough left for one more brushing session. This goes on for days, weeks even, depending on how efficient you are with your toothpaste. (Toothpaste efficiency experts are a special kind of hero in my book.)

I mention this toothpaste phenomenon because I AM that tube of toothpaste right now, but I'm not giving up the A to Z Challenge. I'm too close! Must... keep... blogging. Today (because this is seriously the best I can do) I'm listing 5 uncommon V-words you can use the next time you get in a jam while playing Words With Friends. Or Scrabble. Do people still play Scrabble? Or is that just me?

Your v-words await, blog friends! Links to Merrium Webster definitions and Scrabblefinder.com point values are below. And if you're going around using these words in your everyday speech, please leave a comment so I can give you a virtual high five for paying super-close attention in your SAT prep courses.

Vatu (noun)

1. the basic monetary unit of Vanuatu

9 points in Words with Friends

Verruca (noun)

1. a wart or warty skin lesion (Um... ew.)

2. a warty elevation on a plant or animal surface

Use the plural, "verrucae" for 16 Words with Friends points.

Vexillum (noun)

1. a square flag of the ancient Roman cavalry

2. the web or vane of a feather

25 points in Words with Friends.

Vilipend (verb)

1. to hold or treat as of little worth or account

2. to express a low opinion of

18 points in Words with Friends.

Vug (noun)

1. a small unfilled cavity in a lode or in rock

Use the plural, "vugs" for 11 Words with Friends points.

And there you have it. Take that, A to Z Challenge! See you tomorrow, when we'll see what's left in the old toothpaste tube for the letter W.

U is for Underwear: Why my Characters are a Little Clumsy

The year was 1996. The Macarena was catching on like an unstoppable dance virus, there were empire waist dresses as far as the eye could see, and I was sitting in my sixth grade math class with a set of gleaming purple braces and an overstuffed zippered binder.

I felt something brush against my shoe and peeked under the desk to investigate. At first glance, it appeared to be a dingy rag.

I gave it a kick.

The object moved slightly, and I could see it wasn't a rag, but a pair of underwear; an old, holey pair of underwear with a thick Jockey waistband.

I stifled a giggle. What was a pair of dingy underwear doing on the floor of my middle school classroom?

This was too weird. I couldn't keep it to myself. Our desks were arranged in pairs, so I elbowed the boy next to me and pointed out the underwear on the floor. He laughed. I laughed. It was an all-around humorous discovery, and a welcome distraction from the morning's rigorous set of word problems.

I was still chuckling to myself about it several minutes later when it hit me: There was something strangely familiar about that pair of underwear.

My pencil dropped to the floor as the sickening realization set in.

It was my underwear.

I was sure of it.

This was the part where I woke up and realized it was all a dream.

Right?

Right?

Wrong. I was not waking up. This was actually happening to me. My underwear was on the floor of my math class. It had gotten stuck in the leg of my jeans while in the dryer, and had just now decided to rear its ugly head.

And I, in a moment of pure naive oblivion, had pointed it out to the boy sitting next to me.

For a while, I considered leaving it there. But this was sixth grade. This kind of thing wouldn't go unnoticed. I imagined there would be some sort of investigation to determine the owner of the underwear, so the guilty party could be tortured for the duration of their middle school career. Maybe even the duration of their life.

I couldn't let that happen. The awkward preteen years were unkind enough to me. I couldn't risk adding the label of "Underwear Girl" to my already feeble resume.

I waited until the class was packing up to leave. Then, with the stealth of a cat burglar I snatched the underwear, stuffing it deep into my binder and yanking the zipper closed, all the while making forced small talk with my desk partner in an effort to distract him.

It worked! I made it out of math class alive, with the underwear tucked out of sight. That was first period. I went the rest of the day without opening my binder, even going so far as to tell my English teacher I had forgotten to do my homework. I couldn't open the binder and hand her my essay. It was too risky.

The underwear incident was the first in a long (ongoing) series of embarrassing mishaps for me. I'm what my husband calls "endearingly clumsy" - which is just a nice way of saying it's only a matter of time before I back the car into something... again. It seems everyone has that one friend who is always stumbling herself into crazy situations. I don't have that friend, because I am that friend. Growing up, my mother would often console me after such an incident by placing a sympathetic hand on my shoulder and saying in her sweet southern voice, "Well... I guess God just wants you to be a writer."

She was right; the awkward mishaps make for great character inspirations. They say you write what you know, and I find myself writing main characters whose clumsy tendencies get them into trouble. Perhaps one day, I'll branch out and write a graceful main character who is the picture of poise. But not for a while, because I have far too many ungraceful stories to tell.

T is for Twitter: 5 Great Writing Resources

I don't know how writers existed before Twitter. Besides being an amazing way to procrastinate when I'm panicking about a deadline, Twitter has opened up countless new opportunities for me (Tess in Boots was contracted as a result of a Twitter pitch party, for instance) and has helped me become a better writer in general.

Today, I've compiled a list of five great writing resources I found while searching the #writingtips hashtag:

1. Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling--Visualized - This one is especially poignant: "Trying for theme is important, but you won't see what the story is actually about until you're at the end of it. Now rewrite." (Thanks @laurenmagaziner  for tweeting.)

2. 30 things every writer must do before they turn 30 - Number one made me laugh, but it's so true! Take a look. (Thanks @MarkRaganCEO for tweeting.)

3. The moral of the story is... - This is a nice piece on remembering the importance of theme in your writing. (Thanks @LiaLondon1  for tweeting.)

4. Getting to the Heart of Character Development - This author shares an interesting method for writing believable characters. (Thanks @Weifarer for tweeting.)

5. 7 Ways to Create Conflict in Your Novel - If you're plotting, this is a great resource of ideas for developing conflict. (Thanks @DeeLeone3 for tweeting.)

Happy reading (and writing)!

Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/CourtneyRGager