The Lesson Learned/Confirmed

BEWARE: I'm going personal with this post. LOL, it is my report on my goals from last week, but I did put several family pics in to show how I succeeded with some of them. The title for this post goes along with the What I Learned section. ;)

I am working my way through the murder fest scenes. So, if I haven't left a comment, I'll get there soon, I hope.

Last week's goals:
1. Survive Spring Break with all four kids home all day.





I enjoyed the week with my kids. We started by decorating eggs for Easter. We spent a lot of time in the wonderful outdoors. Friday was the best because my wonderful hubby took the day off for fun, games and hiking. On days that we had a picnic, I chopped the apples up really small so my brace face child could enjoy them. I think that earns me the Mommy of the Week Award. One night we had late night snacks under the kitchen table, and yes me too! I even let them build massive tents in the living room. So I think this goal was surpassed in the best possible ways!
























2. Write something whenever possible:

• continue working on murder scene (I finished it and wrote a second.)
• finish baking scene--it is started :)
• write body language scene--no verbal communication allowed (I am actually combining the body language and baking scene due to time constraints. It may be cheating, but I want to sign up for the Bad Girl Blogfest too, so I need to combine a few more things...)

Goals For This Week:

1. Make a plan for which days I will blog so my readers know the plan. I need to blog less and write/revise more.
2. Get back into the editing groove on my WIP--goal ten pages (the writing is super sloppy where I'm at!)
3. Work on Blogfest scenes--baking, body language, last line (see sidebar for links)
4. Survive Saturday--deliver baby shower cake, run another 10 miles (last week before 1/2 marathon), get kids to their activities, go to Church Prom with the 16-18 year old's (don't worry,  my hubby is my date). It is going to be a crazy day.
5. Get one more follower and work on dance video. :)

And now...
What I Learned:

When they say, "Write what you know" they really mean it! I had fun writing my murder scene and was pretty proud of it, even if I really have no experience in writing murders. A lot of time, thought and effort went into it, but the scene I sat down and wrote in 15 minutes is the one that everyone liked the best. That doesn't bother me. It confirmed that writing is always clearer, cleaner, more descriptive, and better when you write from your heart.

Writing prompts and exercises are good for us, but the real writing happens when you feel it. My hubby kind of let the cat out of the bag, but in case you missed it...the second murder scene was all metaphor. A few weeks ago I shared a quote from the Virginia Woolf book by Danell Jones in which she discusses killing the "angel of the house" so the writer can write. Those of us that always put others first really have to do this at times.

My second murder scene flipped that thought. The angel finally driven to murder the writer in favor of saving her family from neglect. Basically, I murdered myself, or a part of myself. There never were two bodies. I believe that answers one of the questions from yesterday's comments.

Does that make the scene creepier or not?

My struggles to find balance--be a mom and be a writer--tips back and forth. The last three months I gave in to the writer. My goal for the next month and a half is to learn to turn the writer off when it is family time. In order to do this, I have to set some more rules for myself and adjust my schedule that I set in February. Goodness, and my kids think we have a lot of rules for them! My next post will be my new rules.

My dear hubby fostering the love of books with our 3 year old. After reading the second murder scene he felt inspired to write one of his own. Perhaps he will let me share it with you. It was actually pretty good. See, reading and writing are contagious!