Halloweensie

Susanna Leonard Hill is having a little Halloween fun on her blog and this is my contribution for it. The challege was to write a story, only 100 words in length, and to include: Jack O-Lanter, Candied Apples, and Boo. It needed to be age appropriate for 10 year olds.

http://susannahill.blogspot.com/

Here is mine.


Someone knocked.

Chad answered the door. It was his good friend Jack O’Lantern.

“Ready for Halloween?” Chad asked.

“I’m not going.” Jack seemed sad.

    
“Why not? I know how much you like candied apples.”
       
“People are afraid of me because I have a pumpkin for a head.”

“Not if we put a costume on you.”

They tried a cowboy outfit. – Jack looked like a pumpkin with a hat.

They tried a clown outfit. – That made him even scarier.

Then they put him in a space suit. – Perfect.

They had fun all night. Jack even said “boo” and didn’t scare anyone.

Interview with Ali Cross - Part II

Here is more of Ali Cross on being part of a writing community.

Randy: If more than one community exists, should an author participate in several of them or focus on just one?

Ali: That’s a good question! I think timing and an author’s own personal journey answers this question.

For instance, when you’re just starting out, just starting to stick that nametag to your shirt that says “Hi, my name is … and I am a WRITER,” you’re joining the large, world-wide community of writers. For a while, it’s good to just check things out. Learn the lingo, pick up the basic skills.

As you associate in the global community, you’ll start to find writers you gravitate toward, and these will become your extended family, or dojo. Probably some of them will want to work with you in a more intimate crit group-type setting.

So it’s a process, but one I think all writers should engage in—it’ll be good for their writing and for their souls.

Randy: What does an author need to do to get the most out of their participation in the writing community?

Ali: There’s an African proverb that states, “The fool speaks, the wise man listens.” I think this thought applies to your question—that in order to get the most our of their participation in a writing community, a writer must be willing to learn from others.

That means putting aside their own need to talk, talk, talk about their stories, and to listen to what others have to say. If all we’re doing is talking about ourselves, our projects, our roadblocks, our accomplishments, then we’re only going to know what we know. The only way to learn what others know (which is the best way to improve your own writing) is to listen. Ask questions. Seek the wisdom of others who are further down the road than you.

At my dojo, we have a belt system—a ranking of skill and expertise on our journey to publication. An important element to any belt rank is the willingness to mentor someone less-experienced than you. The give-and-take of growth and advancement is necessary for general success and exists at all levels of writing.

Randy: What’s the first step in getting involved?

Ali: In general terms, I think the first step to getting involved in the writing community is simply to seek out writers, hang out where they hang out. Everyone can find groups of authors meeting online—a simple google search will turn up Query Tracker, YA Lit Chat or any number of other excellent writing forums. Or, you could start in the real world, at a small writers conference or a meeting of your local writers league chapter.

Specifically, I invite anyone to visit my blog, become a writing ninja, join in on our thrice-weekly #ninjachats, or join us on Twitter using #ninjachat or #ninowrimo.

Whatever approach you take to finding and building your own writing community, the key is to DO IT. You won’t regret it. J

Randy: Do unpublished authors benefit from being part of a community more than published writers? Less than published writers? The same?

Ali: Oh, I think it’s the same, no matter where you are on the path. I think published authors tend to have more well-established connections than unpublished authors, so I think there might be greater need for the unpublished. But we all benefit from our association with each other—we all have a need to connect, to be needed, to be appreciated, and to be taught and guided, no matter where we are in our journey.

Randy: How does participation in a writing community differ for published and unpublished authors?

Ali: I think a published author is looking for ways to connect and expand their reach, ideas for better marketing, and the opportunity to serve and help less-experienced writers.

An unpublished author is looking to stay motivated, to be a part of something, to be guided and to be encouraged.

Randy: What is your number one tip for all of us authors in training in regards to participation in the writing community?

Ali: My biggest advice would be to not let fear restrain you from participating. All of us started at the beginning and there’s no shame in it. Just open your heart and mind and allow yourself to learn from others.

Interview with Ali Cross - Part I

            The prospect of interviewing a ninja is exciting all on its own. However, this is not an ordinary ninja interview it is a Narley Ninja interview, which makes it about ten times better. And on top of that, it’s the wonderful Ali Cross who discussed being part of a writing community.

            Ali’s first book, Become, is being released next month and is part of the Dark C.A.R.M.A. tour. You can find out about both of them on her blog:

http://www.alicross.com/

            And the Dark C.A.R.M.A. blog:

http://darkcarmatour.blogspot.com/

            Sensei Ali is the creator of writer’s dojo, where authors can work together to develop their writing skills. The dojo has training rooms for writing drafts, rewriting, and submitting/queries. You can even earn belted ranks as a writing ninja. They even have Ninja Chat three times a week. You really should check out the dojo.

http://www.ninjaswrite.com

            It’s pretty easy to see why I picked Ali for this topic.

 

Randy: How did the Narley Ninja thing come about?

Ali: The more time I spent with other writers, the more I realized that everyone has something awesome to share. A technique, an approach, an attitude toward writing that is just so cool that everyone deserves to hear it. So I devised a regular feature that would allow writing ninjas to share their knowledge—and get a little pat-on-the-back in the process. J

 

Randy: As a writing ninja, what special skills and traits are needed?

Ali: The only trait needed is dedication. As for skills—we all have ’em. It’s the ninja-ing part that will help us hone them.

 

Randy: Traditionally, the nemesis of the ninja was the samurai. Is there an equivalent for them for the narley ones? Or for writers in general?

Ali: Heck yes. The samurai to the writing ninja is SELF-DOUBT. Ninjas can’t afford to doubt themselves. No matter the sticky situation they find themselves in, you never see them stop short and ask, “I don’t know. That jump’s awful far. Maybe I can’t do it.” NO! The ninja doesn’t stop and think, he just goes for it.

So should we, as writing ninjas, ignore that taunting samurai trying to make us doubt, and just go for it. Write another chapter, query another agent, start another book. Writing ninjas never give up and never surrender!

 

Randy: Being the head of the dojo seems like a lot of work. Why do you do it? And is it worth it?

Ali: My initial reaction is to say, nah, it’s not a lot of work! But yeah, lol, it kind of is. But the reason for my initial reaction is because associating with all the amazing writers I’ve met through the dojo has been such a blessing to me, that I just wouldn’t have it any other way. It is 100% worth it. I’ve made friends, been inspired, been helped and guided by all the writing ninjas—in my dojo, the student often becomes the master and I’m the better for it!

 

Randy: How important is it for an author to be part of a writing community?

Ali: Having tried both approaches—alone, and with friends—I can honestly say it’s unbelievably important for a writer to be a part of a writing community. Writing is a brutal activity. It’s arduous and challenging, demanding and sometimes demeaning. Associating with others who know where you’re coming from is essential for survival. Well, essential for happiness, anyway.

 

Randy: What is the biggest benefit from being part of a writing community?

Ali: Knowing you’re not alone. Knowing that someone else has been exactly where you are and they managed to come through (relatively) unscathed. The writing community grants the lone writing ninja courage—something we all need an extra dose of now and then.

 

Randy: Is the “writing community” a conglomerate of all authors, or can the term apply to smaller groups of writers?

Ali: Whoa, this is deep. I’ve never really thought about it before, but I think you can equate the writing community to humanity in general. All writers, published or otherwise, are like the global human population.

We’re not all islands floating around bumping into each other from time to time, we belong to smaller groups, typically, like a dojo or an extended family. There can be many members of your particular writing community, and while you belong to the larger one as a whole, you have closer relationships with your smaller training group—friends online that you tweet with, or always visit each other’s blogs, or whatever.

But we can go smaller from there too, like your immediately family. This would be your critique group, your close writing friends.

So while there is a general writing community, a conglomerate of all authors, there are also smaller and smaller groups that all fill a particular need in the individual writer.