Five Word Friday

Today’s five words are about communicating.

16. Kids – Kids can be great communicators. When Mom visited a couple of schools  this month, kids talked to her a lot. Sometimes they asked questions like, “How long does it take to write a story?” and “How many stories have you written?” and “On Sunday, my Uncle Peter’s toilet overflowed!”

2. Kids – Lots of the kids made Mom thank you notes to say “Thank you for coming to our school.” and “We loved your book.”

and “My baby brother has a car seat with bunnies on it.”

73. My Face – Mom says my face communicates NOTHING.

It’s blank.

All the time.

She says, “Are you hungry?” and “Do you need to go out?” and “What? What?!! WHAT???”

What?

6. Body Language – I sometimes communicate through body language. When I’m scared, I shiver and tuck my tail between my legs. When Mom tries to put my boots on, I play dead and flop down on my pillow.

Also, my feet turn as mushy as pudding. Mom calls me the name “PuddingPaws.”

5. Show Don’t Tell – Everybody who’s anybody says writers must SHOW what’s happening in a story. Don’t just TELL it. That helps the reader stay engaged and gets them to do a little work while they’re reading. They will also feel closer to the characters in the story and more invested in the plot. Sometimes I need to SHOW Mom that she has put my food bowl too high for me to reach.

What’s my dinner doing up here?

Then she TELLS me I have to wait.

Seriously??

 

Inspirational Quote of the Week

Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better.

~ Jim Rohn~

EASY!?? What’s easy these days? Walking nicely on my leash? No.  Not chasing squirrels or birds? No. Fetching??!  OMG! NO!!

But I AM getting better.  I’m mostly better when Mom is holding a treat.  Treats are yummy and not being naughty is tough.  If I focus on the treat, I can do anything …almost.

Mom’s writing is getting better, too.   When she reads really old stories that she wrote, she says, “Slow start.” and “Too much telling.” and “Stop barking at the squirrels. I can’t hear myself think.”  Then she works on the stories to make them start out snappier and puts lots of showing instead of telling in the action.

Mom is focused on the treat, like me. But her treat is getting “published”. Published sounds a lot like puppies. I’ll be fine if she gets published, but if she gets puppies, that could be trouble.  I don’t need any smarty-pants puppy competition in my world – and by my world, I mean MY WORLD.