Tag Archives: writers

Recent Blog Posts That Inspire The Writer In Me

We writers all have those days when we wonder if what we’re writing is any good. I once thought that such huge, dark doubts

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only descended on newer, unpublished writers like me. But three blog posts that I read in the past week remind me that we all have doubts. Better yet, those posts have inspired me to keep going. You may want to read these posts, bookmark them, print them out, and have them on hand for days when you’ll need them.

This post struck a nerve. In it, Steven Pressfield discusses why he hates to talk about projects he’s working on and how recently, when he made an exception, the reaction of listeners was “snooze-o-rama.” I know that feeling. I have answered the question, What is your novel about?, and gotten an “oh (sorry I asked)” type of response. Well, Pressfield explains why a negative response does not make him consider giving up on the project and how he engages in self-reinforcement. I love what he says, basically that no one else has your idea and no one else can imagine how to carry it off.

Seeing a theme here? In this post, Jody Hedlund describes moments of self-doubt about her writing. She concludes that nothing pushes her to a high level of good work as much as discouragement does.

In this post, Rachelle Gardner reminds us that there are times when we need to take a break. She lives near Colorado Springs and her firefighter husband has been on the front lines of the devastating fires in that region. She discusses how humbling it is, but how necessary at times, to realize that you have limits.

My name in lights! (I mean in print)

This week, I wrote a guest post for Beyond the Margins entitled How Writing the Query Letter Helped Me Finish the Novel.

And The Rusty Nail published Rose Tattoo, a tiny excerpt from my novel in progress.

What inspires you to keep writing when the doubts settle in? Would love to hear from you!

How Rejections Are Like Being On American Idol

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Confession: I have submitted stories for publication and received rejections.

Confession: I love American Idol.

As Emily Dickinson noted, hope is the thing with feathers. At least, that’s what I think my two confessions have in common.

I love American Idol because it is all about hope. Hope and courage and talent. Every season, thousands of young people attend auditions all over the country and the best are selected to compete. Once the season begins, so do the eliminations. Each week, the finalists sing their hearts out and each week one is sent home. In front of millions of people. Now that is serious rejection.

By contrast, when I get a rejection on a story, no one needs to know. I can file it, toss it, or try to forget about it. The humiliation is all mine alone. Still, there is pain.

But rejection does not have to end there. Once a finalist on American Idol is rejected, he or she may still go on to have a successful career. Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar after leaving American Idol in seventh place. Chris Daughtry recorded the fastest selling debut rock album in history after he was voted out in fourth place. They never gave up. They knew they could sing and they kept trying and they succeeded.

That’s the message I take from American Idol whenever I get a rejection. I submit my story again and I keep submitting until successful. I am certainly not saying that I can write as well as Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughtry can sing, but I draw from them their passion for their art and their determination.

Another show that inspires me to stay with it is Britain’s Got Talent. It is very much like American Idol, but there are some differences. Britain’s Got Talent does not have age restrictions and it allows all kinds of talent. This can lead to interesting performances, to say the least.

(Does anyone – besides me – remember the Miss America finalist who, for her talent, demonstrated her skill in packing a suitcase?)

Anyway, we all remember Susan Boyle’s first appearance on Britain’s Got Talent. A plain, simple woman from the country, she had an amazing voice. It was jaw-dropping! This season we have Charlotte and Jonathan. Jonathan, who was bullied in school because of his weight and Charlotte, who never stopped believing in him. If you can watch this performance without shedding a tear, well, go for it!

What I love about Charlotte and Jonathan are not only their voices, but their loyalty to one another and their simple recognition of what’s really important. And that gets me back to my writing. Even in the face of rejection, I continually work to find my voice, to write what’s true. No one can stop me but me.

I am sure you all have someone or something that inspires you, keeps you going. Who or what is it? We’d all love to know!

Book Note

I recently finished reading Arcadia by Lauren Groff. I will admit that I wasn’t drawn to the book by its plot but I was totally pulled into it by the sheer beauty of the writing. You can land on any page of this book and see writing like this, a description of the boy, Bit, having a picnic with his parents, Abe and Hannah, during a difficult time in Arcadia:

Now they are together on a blanket spread under the copper beech, in the cool summer evening, and Bit feels the old happiness circling him, watches his mother’s hands flying like swallows to portion out the food, sees the way Abe looks at Hannah with his heart in his face.

This is the kind of writing that makes me want to write, that makes me wish that I could write just like this.

Why Police Don’t Always Make An Arrest

Recently, I had the privilege of publishing my very first blog post on Writer Unboxed, one of Writer’s Digest‘s 101 Best Websites for Writers since 2007. Many of you commented on my post or on Twitter that you would be interested in reading my then yet-to-be published blog. Well, this is it.

I’m calling my blog Book Ends and Odds because I plan to discuss odds and ends that affect my writing life (and life in general, for that matter):  books I am reading, movies, pop culture, criminal cases, legal issues, writing, cooking, sports, anything that piques my interest and that might generate story ideas. I also have a sentimental reason for choosing the title. In college, I helped develop and edit a literary magazine which I called Bookends. (Think Simon and Garfunkel.) So please, enjoy! Here’s my first post on my first site.

Why Police Don’t Always Make An Arrest

pair of handcuffs

When a criminal case is high profile, it becomes instant fodder for news outlets, pundits, writers, dinner party guests, and others. Many of their resulting comments will be on the mark. Others will fall short of understanding how the system really works. It is important for writers and others to make details sound authentic and plot points, realistic. So from time to time, I will address issues that seem to be a source of misunderstanding.

A criminal case often gets a lot of attention in the news when someone is arrested for the crime. We have all seen the infamous perp walk. But sometimes a case becomes high profile when police have a suspect but no arrest is made.

How can this happen?

Everyone knows that police need probable cause to make an arrest. That just means that it has to be more likely than not that the person arrested committed the crime. But even when probable cause exists, the facts can remain murky. Then it is up to a prosecutor, working with the police, to decide how best to proceed.

In the federal system, and in states that use the grand jury, it is possible to work a case as a grand jury original. Absent an arrest, the grand jury can subpoena witnesses, documents, and other evidence in an effort to determine the facts surrounding the commission of the crime. A grand jury indictment will lead to an arrest.

In states that don’t use the grand jury, or where proceeding by grand jury is optional, the prosecutor, with law enforcement personnel, can still interview witnesses and continue to investigate a case. Ultimately, a decision is made by the grand jury, or by the prosecutor without a grand jury, whether to file criminal charges.

It is common to proceed by way of grand jury original when there is a suspect in one crime but other crimes may be involved. If the grand jury is looking at a serial killer or a drug conspiracy or a terror plot, for instance, a premature arrest could tip the prosecution’s hand – or expose an informant or undercover agent – before all relevant evidence can be gathered.

It is also common to proceed without an arrest, for example, in a case where two individuals have shot at one another, an incident often referred to as a criss-cross. If one of the two is killed, the easy thing might be to charge the surviving shooter in the death of the other. But what if the deceased shooter initiated the conflict? What if the survivor acted in self defense? None of these facts may be clear at the time of the incident, but may be sorted out by giving the case a good, hard look.

I have been thinking about this lately because of Trayvon Martin, although this post is not about that case. At this point, a special prosecutor has been appointed to determine all the facts surrounding the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Regardless of whatever happened earlier in the case, it seems wise now to let that investigation run its course.

Proceeding in this way, in any case where the facts may not be fully known or understood at first, is judicious. The best outcome is always whatever would be a just result, a result based on thorough investigation and a fair evaluation of the evidence. A rush to judgment does not always lead to justice.

So, does this post help you understand why police don’t always make an arrest in a case, even when a suspect has been identified? Would you like to see more posts like this one? Do you have particular criminal case issues you would like me to discuss? I would love to hear from you. Thanks for landing on this page.