Five Word Friday

Things change. Change is what makes the world keep spinning and not come to a stuck-in-the-mud-stop.

Today’s five words are about changes.

1. Joining – Joining a class or taking on a challenge makes things different. Last month, Mom became a ProMember at Rate Your Story. That means experts will look at her work and give her tips before she sends it out to a publisher.

2. Color – Mom’s friend gave her a color change umbrella. It’s white when it’s dry…

…and when it rains, this happens.

Colors make everything happier. It’s like when Mom edits a story. It’s plain when she starts, and comes alive when she adds colorful characters, interesting word choices, and unexpected plot twists.

3. Bowl Games – For SuperBowl Sunday, we started off watching the Puppy Bowl,

Yay, team!

but then we had to change to the Human SuperBowl.

Z-z-z-z-z….

4. Bravery – Bravery can change. I am afraid of a LOT of things. So when the little girl upstairs built a snowman on the front lawn, Mom was sure I would be terrified. But I suddenly became brave, and didn’t bat an eye when I saw the snowguy.

I even tried to eat his buttons which looked like cookies….

…but turned out to be rocks.

5. Point of View – Mom tries to see her work with a different eye, and make changes. She looks for an unusual point of view or a new spin. I help her see life from my point of view when she puts her GoPro camera onto my Fetch harness and we go walking in the snow. Maybe she should clip the camera to herself and then work on her stories.

 

 

Countdown Wednesday

Today, Mom and I are counting down about advice.

Advice I Get

3. Be Quiet – Mom says this word when the mailman comes. Ditto the FedEx and UPS guys. She clearly does not know these people are here to kill me. I must sound the alarm.

2. Don’t pull – Mom tells me this word when I am smelling delicious things outside, and checking my pee-mail. She clearly does not know that if I don’t quickly eat the goose candies in the grass, one of my dog friends might get them and I will miss out.

1. Fetch it – It took me a long time to understand this advice. I finally learned what it means. For any of my friends struggling with fetching, the secret to it is the bring-back. Do not get the ball, bring it on the couch, and try to hatch it like an egg.

Nailed it. Wait. What??

That is apparently not fetching. Bring it back to Mom and GET A TREAT. That’s fetching.

Advice Mom Gets

3. Add Conflict – People don’t like conflict. Especially Mom. But in a story, conflict is good. So are suspense, action, problems, unexpected obstacles, surprises, and other kinds of trouble. I like trouble.

I don’t think the monkey will pop out of the barrel and laugh at me anymore…. RIP laughing monkey.

2. Find Your Voice – Each time she starts a new story (at least once a month), Mom has to find her picture book voice. Voice helps the book sound unique and different from other books. Voice shows Mom’s characters looking at the world in their own special way.

1. Focus on Character – Mom usually writes stories that are plot, plot, plot. Lately, she is trying to take the advice she’s received about developing character, character, character. Susanna Hill’s Picture Book Magic class helped her a lot with that. Now Mom can get to know her characters before they start living in her story.

 

Speaking of living, two of my bloggy friends gave me the Sunshine Award, recently. I think it’s the perfect time of year for this award, since the snow is finally gone, and any minute now, the sun will shine and I will take a street nap.

A big, sunny thank you to Collies of the Meadow and The Squeak Life for sharing this prize with me. If you feel like you need a smile, visit them. They’re a guaranteed giggle. And if you want to celebrate the sunshine, take this award and post it to your own blog.

Point of View

I see everything from my own “special” (Mom calls it “twisted”) point of view. Three things I see very clearly are: 

1. Furniture is really FURniture. It’s supposed to be covered with my fur.

2. Old toys do not deserve my attention. New toys are the best.

3. Food found on the ground is delicious, even if it’s not really food. I should be allowed to eat all the goose poop, birdseed, orange peels, Doritos, and candy wrappers I find.

My point of view is crystal clear to me. 

Point of view is important in stories, too.  Mom brought her Dragon Sandwich story to her writing group named DavidLaurieandOtherDavid. Everyone liked it, but they were confused about the point of view. They said, “Is it the princess’s story, the  chef’s story, or the dragon’s story?” Mom said, “How should I know?” and “I’m just the author…” and “Who wants to see a picture of Cupcake in her sailor dress?” (Nice try, Mom….)

Now she is working on the dragon story again. She still isn’t sure whose story it is. She said, “I’m leaning toward Chef Edward.” (That sounds safer than leaning toward a scary dragon!) and “I need to think and mind-write for a while.” and then my favorite words of all, “Who wants to go to the park?” 

Park! Yay! I hope somebody spilled some Doritos!