Writers can play, too

Charlie was delighted with the wind-up chickie. As it hopped all over his ABC paper, he soon discovered that as much as he tried to get it to go to a particular letter, it often veered. 

Writing is sometimes that way. You intend to go in one direction and your story goes off in another. And what do you do? Well, you probably go with it, and in doing so, you discover something else.

Alex is mechanically inclined, enjoys building and balancing blocks and desinging things. I made a game I call The Jelly Bean Drop. I used a box, three doll rods, and six ketchup cups I got from Wendy's when we ate there a couple weeks ago. Added a bunny, glued the cups to the sticks top and bottom and in various positions. Sort of like Foos Ball standing on end, he had to maneuver the cups of jelly beans to drop to the next level, and eventually fill the jelly bean tray on the bottom. This is the face of excitement at being successful. Many times he was not. He did not give up. He tried again and again. Hard work!

Writers attempt new genres, themes,  feel overwhelmed when things don't go as planned. The secret to success is to keep trying. 

I found a Jell-O jelly bean mold tray at Goodwill for 50 cents. But anything would do. Being able to improvise, think out of the box, and try something new can be its own reward. Take a short essay, condense it to as few words as possible and you will have a poem. As you tinker with it, you will discover new ways to rephrase with fewer words. Like finding a hidden colored egg!

    Charlie's hands are not as well developed as Alex's because he is a year younger. He thinks he is just feeding the bunny (paper bunny cut-out taped to a plastic bottle). 

Printing and coloring require small hand and finger muscles. He is getting there, but being a lefty is an added frustration for him. He is unaware that he is strengthening those little hands as he drops jelly beans into the bunny's "mouth".

 Writers must develop their skills, too. Learning the fundamentals is the groundwork for improvement. Every little thing you write, tweak, or try, helps strengthen your writing. 

Wishing you a happy spring, happy Easter, happy day! 

Happy writing.