This week I was out walking and a character popped into my mind. I walk past this farm many times each week. It’s been showing up in my notebook a lot lately, and I’ve been thinking about the kinds of people who could live on a farm like the one I walk past. I’ve been asking myself What if…What if…What if… So I began to dream about the kinds of people who may live there. I walked and thought. Walked some more and said What if…some more. When I returned… Read more {discover.play.build.} take a walk. →
Being a writer is mostly about developing a habit. Talk to any writer and then another and you’ll find those habits are all different. Some write in the morning. Others write through the night. Some write daily. Others take breaks. But all writers have habits. Writing a slice on Tuesdays is one of my writing habits. There are occasional Tuesdays when it doesn’t happen…but those are usually for unpredictable reasons. On a regular Tuesday, I slice. Even if it’s not an official Slice of Life Tuesday. I’m excited to know there are… Read more i’ve gotta slice (soLs) →
Yesterday I spent time in my art room. I wish I could share good stuff I created with you. But, my time was spent putting away, throwing away, and creating… Read more tidying up →
Something that has been stirring inside of me for awhile now is the way research is an integral part of a writers life. It doesn’t matter the genre you are… Read more blending research →
B.I.C. I believe it is wise advice from Jane Yolen.B.I.C The way to become a writer.B.I.C. The focus of a minilesson in kindergarten last week.B.I.C. Much needed for me today. Bottom.In.Chair. If I don’t put B.I.C. in practice today and tomorrow and every other day in the upcoming week, a very bad thing will happen. I will miss the deadline for Christi’s and my book Celebrating Writers. (I might joke about missing deadlines. But when it comes right down to it, I don’t find it a laughing matter.) The thing… Read more bic (soLs) →
A month ago I shared my notebooks and a little about my process on Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s blog, Sharing Our Notebooks. (It is a must-read and should absolutely be added… Read more fierce wonderings (soLs) →
From my editor… Woo-hoo! On the right track! What you don’t see in this image is the response. The oodles of questions. The push to think deeper. What you don’t… Read more a little celebration… →
A gift from Mary Helen toeach member of our writinggroup. Last night, after the kitchen was cleaned and the kids were in bed and my workout was finished, you would… Read more i don’t wanna write (sols) →
You know, my writing process is a bit of a mess. It didn’t used to be. There was a point in my life when I could be given an assignment, make a plan, crank it out, reread it, make the deadline, and earn an A. The same is true when I started teaching. I wrote alongside my students, cranking out the assignments, jotting in my notebook, churning satisfactory pieces of writing out in time for deadlines. Writing has traditionally been easy for me. In fact, I would even go as… Read more what happened to my nice-neat writing process? →
Ruth Ayres Writes 