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Well, as has happened before, my “see you next week” line turned into a few weeks. Ah, this thing called “life.” So unpredictable, isn’t it? Does that stop the progress entirely on this story? Nope! Just because the timeline is interrupted, does that mean the writing stops completely? Uh-uh. Pick up where you left off and keep on writing! Some great novels took 30 years to write.

Okay. In the last post, I suggested roughing out a setting for your character, whether that is you or a fictional one. This can be whatever and wherever you wish. I chose to keep it close to reality so my character, me, will be set in rural Minnesota in the dead of winter for now. Here it goes:

   Before my heart beats its final lub dub, I want to find my purpose in life. Contemplation of this goal has, at times, consumed every minute my brain has paused to rest. With every creak of my rocking chair, I have reflected on past tasks, gazing out of the large picture window, my thoughts as silent as the falling snowflake. Ideas and possibilities for finding my purpose keep time with the motion of my chair, forward, back, forward, back like a metronome.

I have started describing the setting in general terms. You should be able to deduce I have a rocking chair in proximity to a large picture window. Outside of that window, there is snow. As I have said before, remember this is a draft! Additions, deletions, revisions, and other editing will take place but not now. Just write it down. Some people put an outline together of their storyline first. Feel free to do so. I kind of fly by the seat of my pants much of the time but have been known to use an outline, too:)

For next time, continue to work on a sentence or two of the setting. After you have this written down, start on developing your character’s history. I’ll explain more about this section next time. Until then, keep on writing those sentences! Don’t forget to share them with me, too. I’d love to read them!

So, you have your first sentence or two from last week’s prompt written. Now what? Depending on the number of heartbeats you have remaining will determine how to proceed with this week’s prompt. Need a reminder? Ready? Here it is: What do you want to do in the time you have left? If this is feeling too personal for you, create a character that will take your place in the story. Perfectly fine.

There are many avenues of thought you could travel down with this prompt. Do you have a bucket list to accomplish? Places to go? People to see? Someone you need to forgive or be forgiven by? Volunteer work you never got around to doing before? Drive a Ferrari 150 mph? Gather your friends and family around you every chance you get? So. Many. Options.

Here is what I wrote for last week’s prompt:

Since my mom is currently 97 years young, I figure I should have quite a while to live, yet. With that in mind, here is my first sentence.

Before my heart beats its final lub dub, I want to find my purpose in life.

Now, moving forward from this sentence, it seems logical to yours truly to create a setting in which this search will take place. Keep it simple. This is a rough draft. Editing, revising, deleting, editing, adding, deleting will take place later. Maybe much later. That’s okay! Most importantly, just write the first sentence so you can jump on to the next and the next and the next. I’ll be back next week with my next few sentences to this story. Don’t forget to have fun with this!

Okay…to start off on this adventure of writing one has access online to more writing prompts than a person would ever have time to write about. So, although this is a bit macabre it is thought provoking. Think non-ficition here.

Prompt: You have a limited number of heartbeats left. Truth. Maybe not a pleasant thought but certainly an accurate statement for all of us. With that sentence in mind, you decide how many heartbeats you have left starting from the day you read this. Divide it by the average number of heartbeats per minute, 72-ish, if you want days, months or years to work with. Got it? Great!

Now, here is the real writing prompt: What do you want to do with the rest of the time you have?

For those of you who are over-achievers and want to write a whole bunch more in different tangents, STOP!  We’ll do that in the next couple of weeks. Until then, write the first sentence, few sentences or paragraph!  I’ll do the same and post what I come up with on this blog.

I’d love to read what you have written! To share it, sent me an email at author@dmjohnsonauthor.net.

#writersworkshop #writersgroup #indiebookpublishing #writethefirstsentence #childrensbooks #kidlit #childrensscienceeducation #watercycle #learningpatience #hiddenpictures #readmeastory

Good evening. As I write this, the Christmas tree lights are twinkling at random. Yes, we like the old-fashioned light bulbs that have their own blinkers! Call me a rebel:) Would it surprise you if I told you I stare at the shadows they make on the ceiling. A story or two has been inspired by doing just this!
Enough of that. I wanted to write today about serious thinkers and how important it is not to exclude them from your stories, poems, memoirs or other forms of writing you do including social media. (I’ll expound on that aspect in another post.) Today, being a children’s book author, I will focus on the serious-thinking 7 year old.
I was blessed to spend a few days at a very good friend’s home recently. Honestly, the questions their 7 year old daughter asked astounded me! Deep questions. She didn’t settle for an answer that glossed over the topic at hand, She continued to ask questions to get to the root of the original question! I’ll say it, again. She is 7 years old. That is the young person I want to write for. Ask the “who, what, where, when and WHY”. Not just the ones who take everything at face value and move on. I want to educate the youth who actually not only play with the box their toy came in but take the toy apart to find out how it works, so to speak.
My message here is to write for all audiences but don’t write in such a way as to bore the serious thinkers. They are out there and younger than you might realize. Not only that,, but they like to be challenged! So, go ahead and write that first sentence!

Well, not exactly flowing. More often than not, putting words and thoughts together has been more like squeezing blood from a turnip. (Who ever thought of that saying, anyway?) Thank goodness for computers. I have been working on another children’s book for a couple of months now, actually two children’s books, and if it weren’t for the computer, this is what I’d be dealing with…

Or this……

Fortunately, revising and rewriting on my ‘puter saves a lot of trees when I’m squeezing blood out of a turnip not to mention plays my favorite tunes while I’m trying to get inspired! I just watched a movie about a children’s book writer, author of a very successful book series, who went dry. I mean so dry he couldn’t come up with an idea, plot, or energy to turn his laptop on. Desert dry. Been there, done that, now what? So, the inspirational solution was (drum roll)…he went outside, met and talked to new people (obviously COVID was not a pandemic in this show) and read his previously penned books.

Corny? Sure. Plausible solution. I think so. For any artist, one needs inspiration and most likely, you will have to go out and explore, seek, ask questions, observe, listen and maybe get out of your comfort zone. Most importantly, an artist needs to keep an open mind. Painters, authors, actors, dancers, photographers, calligraphers, poets, supervisors, employees. Everyone needs inspiration to do their job well. So, what will you do today to be inspired? Got it? Great!! Go out and create your masterpiece!

Meanwhile, the stories will be flowing from my fingertips.

Color me excited! Tomorrow is the BIG DAY for “Dewdrops to Raindrops” and this girl:) North Dakota bound I am to Ferguson’s Books and More, Grand Forks, ND, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. for my first ever, and previously only in my wildest dreams….well, maybe not THE wildest dreams but wild nonetheless book signing!!And following that, from 4-6 p.m., I’ll be at Ferguson’s Books and More in West Fargo, ND, signing more copies! I am so happy with my first venture into being a children’s book author. Come to one of these venues to enter into the life of a little red oak sapling who is very thirsty. Through the pages, this little tree learns about the water cycle, friendship, social skills and being patient and get your book copy (ies) signed by yours truly. Great Halloween, birthday, Christmas or just because I want to gift idea! Hope to see you there!

There are so many changes happening to the environment wherever you live. It could be a drought, like we have here in Minnesota. Or it may be unseasonably wet. Wildfire smoke in the air may be turning your bright, yellow sunshine to dim and orange.

The usual silence you experience may be pierced by cicadas buzzing or a cicada-like buzz from an airtanker carrying water or fire retardant to dump on one of those hard-to-put-out wildfires. You may be seeing a broader beach upon which your children can build sandcastles or a once-flowing creek now a nearly dry bed of grass. Yes, I guess one can watch this on the news and social media or hear about it on the radio but there is nothing, I repeat, nothing that can bring the true scope of the status of your natural environment than getting out and seeing it, feeling it, hearing it, smelling it, touching it. Nothing. It may be sad. How true for yours truly. I’d like to think it is another opportunity for education and problem-solving. We get very comfortable with the status quo in most areas of life. I challenge you to get out of your comfort zone and start being the change to your world. 

Check out my children’s book, “Dewdrops to Raindrops, A Drip’s Trip to Make Sappy Happy” to educate your children about the water cycle and what it takes for it to rain. Then, discuss it and come up with some ways to conserve our water, the most precious, life-sustaining resource we have.

Last night, I was catching up on Instagram. And what to my tired eyes did appear? A photo of five books on @fergusonbooks with “Dewdrops to Raindrops” front and center right next to Stephen King:) They have copies at their three stores in North Dakota, Grand Forks, West Fargo and Bismarck. Color me EXCITED!

Let me tell you what this one photo has done in my life as an author. Fired me up, that’s what. Made me feel like a “real” children’s book author. Gave me new energy to keep working on editing the second book and working on the story board and outline for the third in the series of Sappy, the red oak sapling. My fingertips are itching to tap the laptop keys. Zap, zap, zapping like the sparks from Merlin’s fingertips. (That’s fast:)

What else has this photo done for my author journey? It has given me confidence. Such a huge word that I have struggled with so many times during my earthly life, thus far. I can do this for the long haul. Small steps at a time, negotiating the slick muddy downslopes, rocky pathways, tripping over tree roots, forks in the trail, rain-dampened spirits, mosquito infested forests, and sand fly ridden beaches all the while calling out “Hey, Bear!” Small steps, one at a time. Forging my own path rather than staying inside the typical picture book box.

Check out Ferguson Books and More. You can order a copy from them or one from right here on this website.

#childrensbook #childrensbookauthor #readmeastory #learningsocialskillsage4to8 #journaling #writingastory #teachersaid #gradeKto2curriculum #watercycle #oaktree #sapling #raindrops #dewtorain #findthecritter #writingforeducationandfun #imagination #writingtypes #writingstyles #writinggenres #writingforspecificages #naturestory #momlife #teacherlife

Here is a simple method of deciding on the subject matter of your book. Write down what you enjoy, want to learn about yourself, what you already know and what you are good at in the darker crescent. In the lighter crescent, list the things you want your readers to learn when they read your story. In my first book, I chose to teach children ages 4-8 about the water cycle, being a good friend and how important it is to be patient! Those are items I would list in the golden spot.
This can be really helpful to keep you focused and on the right track as you write your story, paint your picture, plan a curriculum lesson or complete a journal entry. If your brain runs like mine, I can go off on way too many tangents and need a visual to bring me back to golden spot.
So, create your own Venn Diagram and write the first sentence!

As a follow up to my post on procrastinating yesterday, keep this in mind. “Life is too short to limit yourself.” I encourage you to not allow past failures keep you from doing something new. I encourage you to not let fear keep you from trying something new. I encourage not to allow excuses, your comfort zone, lack of formal education or your non-supportive friends or family members to quell the desire to write your book, try a new sport, paint your house the color YOU want to paint it, experience an activity outside of your usual box or norm. You can always say “I wish I would’ve” or you can say “I’m so glad I did it.” Your choice. I chose to write the book and I’m so glad I did! Go ahead, take the leap, write the first sentence!

#childrensbook #childrensbookauthor #readmeastory #learningsocialskillsage4to8 #journaling #writingastory #teachersaid #gradeKto2curriculum #watercycle #oaktree #sapling #raindrops #dewtorain #findthecritter #writingforeducationandfun #imagination #writingtypes #writingstyles #writinggenres #wrtiethefirstsentence #writingforspecificages #naturestory