Update: The Chick Is Out

This is a second post today, but I don't think anyone will care. The chick extricated itself from the shell while I was gone during lunch. Dwight got to see it. The kids got to see it. I did NOT get to see it. I'm trying not to be bitter, but somehow it just seems wrong. For example, I didn't miss even one of the births of my kids. Moms should be present at births. It may take extensive therapy including large quantities of twizzlers for me to come to grips with this.

In the mean time, I'll post pictures of the new arrival. It's snuggling with a small stuffed dog at present, having felt a little lonely when it popped out of the shell.

Birth Announcement: It's Official

I've been making blogs ahead and then setting them to post automatically, but this weekend I wasn't quite as organized as usual, so you get the late breaking news.

We are in the process of watching a chick hatch today.

Here's the lowdown. After ordering our chicks through the mail for the past few years, we finally got a chicken who actually wanted to set on her own eggs. This was very exciting for all of us, since it also meant that when the chicks hatched, the hen would take care of them herself. We knew from past experience that being the mother hen for a bunch of chicks was a lot of work, so we were pretty happy to pass this off on an unsuspecting chicken.

So after waiting breathlessly for 18 to 21 days, two little chicks appeared from the original four eggs. Just on the off chance that some of the eggs were not fertilized, we had belatedly added a couple extras to the nest about ten days later. Sure enough, when the first two hatched, we eventually discovered that three of the remaining four were not going to produce chicks. And unfortunately, as soon as the mother hen had to chase the new chicks around, she no longer wanted to set on the remaining egg that seemed to be a chick.

So we took a desk lamp and our chemistry thermometer, set up a little bowl with a towel, and put the egg in it. It has been a long ten days trying to keep it between 38º and 40º Celsius and flipping the egg several times a day. Talk about primitive conditions. But last night, all our work paid off.

Dwight heard the egg cheep.

Hearing an egg cheep is significant. It means that the chick is indeed alive and has broken through the inner membrane. This morning—more cheeps. And a tiny hole. Talk about a long labor. Once the first hole shows up, the chick usually sleeps for three to eight hours. We're still looking at another eight to 16 hours before it emerges completely at some point today.

So consider this an official birth announcement. Of the first two chicks, one is mostly barred rock, and the other is partial austrolorp. We are hoping that there is at least one rooster in the bunch, since ours is getting on in chicken years, and that the mommy will take over with this chick once it is old enough to hang out with it's siblings.

If any of you have little ones (or even big ones) who would like to stop by and see the chicks, try to soon. They grow quickly!

Realization and Retribution

Attention Laura and Beth. I am calling you on the originality of your story entries on our retreat.

Laura quote, "Her hair was bright green, and she lunged toward him, shaking her fist."

Beth quote, "'Look, Sal," he pleaded. "I didn't know that peddler was crooked. He said it'd make your hair black as a crow."'

I knew this sounded familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Ahhh Haaa! Your deep seeded plot to masquerade as classic novelists has been uncovered by yours truly. The secret is out, to be revealed for all the world to see. Your dastardly deeds are undone!

Here is the evidence, concrete and impenetrable.

Lucy Maud Montgomery penned this quote taken from, Anne of Green Gables, Chapter XXVII, Vanity and Vexation of Spirit.

'"But I didn't mean to dye it green, Marilla," protested Anne dejectedly. "If I was wicked I ment to be wicked to some purpose. He said it would turn my hair a beautiful raven black--he positively assured me that it would."'

I shall expect a written apology for this malicious, vindictive, threat against one of our beloved authoresses.

Now let us reflect on that skillful work of fiction Montgomery has bestowed upon the world with some memorable quotes.

"Overhead was one long canopy of snowy fragrant bloom. Below the boughs the air was full of a purple twilight and far ahead a glimpse of painted sunset sky shone like a great rose window at the end of a cathedral aisle."

'"Oh,, I don't like that name, either. I shall call it--let me see--the Lake of Shining Waters. Yes, that is the right name for it. I know because of the thrill. When I hit on a name that suits exactly it gives me a thrill. Do things ever give you a thrill?'"

"Anne's beauty-loving eyes lingered on it all, taking everything greedily in. She had looked on so many unlovely places in her life, poor child; but this was as lovely as anything she had ever dreamed."

Here's to the classics, may their words remain esteemed and cherished forevermore.

In the heat of battle

I am right in the middle of a sword fight on the frozen ice of Lake Incendia. So, I'll have to catch up with you all when I return....

More help for NaNoWriMo

I don't want you to think that I'm trying to press you to participate in the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), but I do want to make it as easy as possible for you to decide to participate in it. I'll wait until October to be truly pushy. So for this week, I'm going to direct you to the following sites to help you prepare.

NaNoWriMo web site — http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Young Writers' NaNoWriMo — http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/

Randy Ingermanson's site — http://www.Ingermanson.com/index.php

(Get his ezine monthly and it will be invaluable.)

Okay, now I've done all I can do, except for nagging you in October. Happy writing.

Research

I have been working on an assignment for my writing class. It's a non-fiction article and as much as I love my topic, I was struggling.

The reason, RESEARCH! I am coming off a summer of four children, a dog, a husband, and no fixed schedule. Now it's time to buckle down and get back to work.

I enjoy writing fiction. Usually a phrase or an idea will come to me out of nowhere and I'll race to get it on paper. That wasn't happening with this non-fiction article. I was dreading it.

I went to the library the other day and checked out some books on my topic. I got a notebook, pen. and a cup of tea. Then I got comfy and began researching one of my favorites subjects. I am now LOVING IT! My notebook is getting filled and I'm almost ready to start writing again.

Moral to my story? Procrastination is the enemy. Just jump in and have fun!

Telling a Story

How you tell a story is almost as important as the content. This is immediately apparent if a story is read aloud. I've heard it said that certain people could read the yellow pages out loud and have their audience in stitches.

Perhaps I could have made this post more interesting by beginning with: "Why can some people can read the yellow pages and entertain their audience? In this blog, I will reveal the secret to telling a great story."

Almost everybody always wants to know a secret or how to entertain an audience. Yes - that's it - a mystery!

Or perhaps, I could have begun more bluntly: "If you want to be a more effective story-teller/writer, then read this blog to learn how."

A good rule is to choose and use action verbs. "Is" just can't compete with "can" or "entertain" or "reveal"; or "want" and "read."

Writers can't use facial expressions or eye contact to engage their audience, so they have to use effective images. So, maybe I could have written: "Are you sitting alone at your computer night after night wishing for a larger audience? What you need is THE LAST DRAFT, the all new blog that punches up your writing to grab and hold your readers' attention!"

Ahhh.... If only it were true.... Okay, so exaggeration only works for advertising...

But, this I know to be true - use your own unique voice. Write like you would talk - except use action verbs and effective imagery. Create characters that speak authentically by writing from your own experiences. The more experiences you have, the more material you have to tap into. Or, observe others and write down their quirks and oddities, or interesting turns of phrase or vocabulary use.

And, don't be afraid to experiment. Write different paragraphs or sections that cover the same action, and then find someone who will read them and tell you what they liked best. Or, trap someone into listening to you read your different versions. You can get a live reaction. Spouses and children come in really handy for this.

Audience input is what helped shape classics such as the Odyssey and Beowulf. These stories developed as performers sang the tales and adapted or changed or remembered them differently over time. Some scholars even debate that Shakespeare may have been a group of writers under the direction of the Duke of Oxford, and that the plays were written and performed, then re-written and performed. And then you have the example of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, who read portions of their stories to their writer's group for reaction and criticism. That must have been some group!

That said, I am grateful to be a part of this writers' group!