March Madness Journal Challenge #10

I'm always reading articles on "10 thing" that are most popular, trendy, or rankings.

 Today, open up the next page in your journal and number it one to ten. You're going to make your own "ten list".

Today, list 10 nice things you can do for someone else by the end of the month and write them in your journal.  :)

Anniversary Book

From the website: Lovingyou.com. Under the "Romantic Ideas for Married Couples" I came along this post
submitted by a woman named Lina.

"For our first month anniversary, I made my husband an Anniversary Book. I bought a blank, red, hardcover journal from a bookstore, and decorated it with a "Happy Anniversary" sticker as the title and a heart on the back cover. Inside, I made a title page (not forgetting to add a mock copyright page) and instructions to the book: every month, he and I would write each other a one-page love letter expressing something wonderful about the other person, whether it was something special they did that month, or whatever. He absolutely loves it, and added his own twist to it: he sneaks the book away when I'm not looking, writes a letter, and leaves the book somewhere in an unexpected surprise location. It's a great way to remind ourselves at least once a month how much we love each other; needless to say, we always look forward to our monthly anniversaries!"

As my 10th Wedding Anniversary is coming up soon, I thought this was a great idea to share.

Many of you who are married with busy jobs, and/or kids would be able to appreciate a Anniversary Book as described by Lina.

Often, my days consist of playing taxi, chef, housekeeper, and mom. Alot of times, I forget I'm a wife. Especially, when my husband is gone all day and when he comes home still has work to do. Our main communication consist of little snippets of emails throughout the day - that is if I have time to read and reply.

I'm thinking, however, an anniversary book just might be the perfect gift to begin a new decade of marriage.

Journaling: Getting Started

When I was in eight grade, my teacher Mrs. Smith would hand us a folder and a piece of composition paper for the first ten minutes of my english class every morning.  At first, I'd sit at my desk and stare at a blank page.  I'd look over my shoulder and see my classmates either slumped and staring too, or those who were scribbling away at their pages.

Eventually, I began to write on those blank pages, maybe it was about last night's basketball game, or just a few sentences on how bored I was.  Then one day, I started writing a story, and for ten minutes every day, I'd continue the story.  Sometimes I'd draw a picture and illustarte what I was writing. 

I knew the only person who was reading my journal was Mrs. Smith.  As long as I had something on the page she gave me a grade.

I began looking forward to those ten minutes a day, and when eight grade english was over, I started journaling and writing in my notebooks.  Those stories eventually got passed around to my classmates who were amused about the futuristic scences I'd put them in and couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

Yet, none of those stories would have ever began without that first intial blank page from english class.

It's getting past that first initial blank page that enables us to start our journals.  So, if it helps, open up your journal and rip out that first page.  Yep, rip it out.

This does two things: One the journal isn't new anymore because you've ripped out the page, and second it's not as intimatidating now because the first page is gone.

A journal is anything you want it to be.  It's your creation, reference, and sometimes best friend.  It's a book reflecting you in a period of your life. 

So what are you waiting for, push past page one and get started!

Winding Up For The Pitch

As a writer, one of the hardest things can be preparing your book to pitch to an editor or agent. You slave away for hours, months, and even years until your polished and perfect.

Then it all comes down to putting 50,000, 70,000, or 100,000 and more words down into one summarized sentence.

How do you do that?

Any experienced writer will tell you it comes with time and practice, but the inexperienced writer to get started, it's not so easy and can become faustrating.

That's why I recommend anyone trying to write a pitch line for a novel or screenplay to read this article:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5161026_write-pitch-line-novel-screenplay.html

Got your pitch line, working on your own? Post it here, I'd love to read it. I'll share my own once I've perfected it.