“It’s like a dream you try to remember but it’s gone, then you try to scream but it only comes out as a yawn” —Barenaked LadiesDo people who aren’t writers/writers who don’t get most of their story ideas from dreams feel the same heartbreak I do when that happens?I often get my story ideas from whatContinueContinue reading “Phantasmagoriaphasiaphobia”
Author Archives: bethannacook
Spring ILC, Weeks 7-9: Being OK with it
Week 7I started mildly freaking out about how much work I had to do and how impossible it seemed to get it all done by the end of the quarter. I said as much to my faculty sponsor who replied, “Yeah, that’s ’cause you’re trying to do 24 credits’ worth of stuff.” For only 16ContinueContinue reading “Spring ILC, Weeks 7-9: Being OK with it”
Spring ILC, Week 6: Is it vacation yet?
Let’s see, how many of my goals did I accomplish this week?-Finish revising the opening scenes and send the revised draft to my contract sponsor: Check!-Write new meeting-Ampersand and meeting-Sinistra scenes: Half-check-Expand outline to include all possible quotes I might want to use: Nnnope-Homework for class: Check!-Make eye doctor appointment: Check!-Use my lunch breaks at work as actual breaksContinueContinue reading “Spring ILC, Week 6: Is it vacation yet?”
Spring ILC, Week 5: Panic
How is the quarter half over already? And why does that happen every single quarter?This week was another tough one. On Wednesday morning on my way to work, I had a panic attack on the bus and had to go home sick, losing all potential productivity for the day. I sometimes feel like I’m jugglingContinueContinue reading “Spring ILC, Week 5: Panic”
Spring ILC, Week 4: I have a really good excuse this week, I swear.
Most of my “free” time this week was used to update my resume and write a cover letter for a promotion at work. I had my interview on Friday and should hear back before the end of this week. Wish me luck!I did churn through 80-something pages in Writing Irresistible Kidlit and several more articles forContinueContinue reading “Spring ILC, Week 4: I have a really good excuse this week, I swear.”
Spring ILC, Week 3: Do the actual work
I did it again—I came to the end of another week without doing any actual revision. So I sat down on Sunday night and pushed out 3 1/2 new pages. (Afterwords my brain was done, so that’s why this reflection is a day late.)The thing is, I could do planning work all day long—worldbuilding, character-building,ContinueContinue reading “Spring ILC, Week 3: Do the actual work”
Spring ILC, Week 2: Planning for the unplanable
I’m such a planner when it comes to short-term stuff like this ILC, or stuff that doesn’t go anywhere without me like my novel. (This is the exact opposite of how I am with long-term life stuff.) It’s only Week 2 and already I’m thinking “I don’t have enough sources for my paper (that IContinueContinue reading “Spring ILC, Week 2: Planning for the unplanable”
Week 2 exercise: TRUCKS
Techniques of Revision Used by Cheryl Klein (TRUCKs) from Second SightTRUCK #1: Write out the story of your book in one sentence.Thirteen-year-old Gaudiloquence must use her gift of storytelling to recover the magical fire stolen from her village and revive her loved ones who have been frozen. Wow, that sounds long and awkward.TRUCK #2: List theContinueContinue reading “Week 2 exercise: TRUCKS”
Spring ILC, Week 1: What the heck is an ILC?
This quarter I’m doing an Independent Learning Project (ILC), Evergreen-speak for doing whatever you want (with faculty support) and getting credit for it. I’d been planning for a while to do an ILC this summer (my last quarter here) to learn about the world of publishing, make professional networking connections, and try to get oneContinueContinue reading “Spring ILC, Week 1: What the heck is an ILC?”
The time I met Kate DiCamillo and everything was wonderful forever
It was 2003 and I was a senior in high school when I first saw the newly published The Tale of Despereaux on a bookstore shelf. I remembered a quote from my high school English/Theatre/Creative Writing teacher: “‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ Bull$#!&! Judge it!” And I did. I looked at the illustrationContinueContinue reading “The time I met Kate DiCamillo and everything was wonderful forever”
Beth Anna Cook 