Day 21 of the Golden Coffee Cup: Shhh

Day 21 of the Golden Coffee Cup! That's three weeks, folks. Only a little more to go. You can do this! Take time to imagine yourself completing your goal. See the end of your work. Keep working. No clue what a Golden Coffee Cup is? Click here.

Today we get a smoking-the-pipe high five from one of my favorite poets, Edgar Lee Masters.



Edgar was the first author that awakened me to the importance of silence and what it communicates to us. It is in this silence that we may find the chinks that let the light in, that we may hear the still small voice underneath the chatter of the world. Silence can also be white hot anger or a reflection of intense suffering. There are so many colors to silence.

I hope that you think about silence today. I hope you try it out. Empty your mind and just float. I often have such vivid flashes of imagery when I choose to be silent within.

See if you can inject some silence into your work. Search for what is not said. Can you make your reader pause? Can you still the heart of the observer of your work? I hope you find something surprising, unique, or, even better, profound as you explore the boundaries of silence.

Keep working and come back tomorrow for more of the java.

I have known the silence of the stars and of the sea,
And the silence of the city when it pauses,
And the silence of a man and a maid,
And the silence of the sick
When their eyes roam about the room.
And I ask: For the depths
Of what use is language?

from Silence by Edgar Lee Masters

Day 20 of the Golden Coffee Cup: Reveal

Welcome to another day of the Golden Coffee Cup. This is the two thirds mark. Snap! Snap! Snap! Are you feeling the euphoria?

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Today's hard working high five comes from the very talented David Small.



His book Stitches is an oh-so brave story about David's basically disastrous childhood. Things were deeply mucked up for him in those years.

I get that. I get it so deeply. I'm not sure if I can be as brave as David about my life. I can wholly imagine how intensely personal it is creating a book that reveals the inside of your broken life. Stitches is an autobiographical graphic novel. It's about redemption and the eternal power of hope, a sure testament that from the ashes will rise vibrant life. Yeah, evil sucks, but good will rise. It's also about the refuge of art and the salvation it can bring to our lives. You might want to get a hold of this book. And also, somebody slap some shiny stickers on this one.

The challenge today is to reveal the world, your world. Whatever you have been holding back, the stuff you keep under cover and don't tell people about, let it loose. Distill your sliver of the universe and douse your pages with it. It will be the most painful and wonderful thing that you have ever done. Why not do it today.

Come back tomorrow for more hot coffee. The java will be here. Hope to see you.

The highest revelation is that God is in every man. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 19 of the Golden Coffee Cup: A Toast, a Sneeze, a Nutshell, and some Faith

Day 19 of the Golden Coffee Cup. Whoo hoo! I can just feel the momentum. The euphoria is beginning. But if you're struggling, take a deep breath, wipe the slate clean, and remember again, this is yet another day with no mistakes. It's never too late to start a journey or get back on track.

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Today is comes a toast-with-your friends high five. Clockwise Conrad Wesselhoeft, Me, Megan Bilder, Cathy Benson, Susan Greenway and Louise Spiegler.



Conrad Wesselhoeft, author of upcoming ADIOS, NIRVANA from Houghton Mifflin, offers more piping hot stuff. I'm sure it will super charge your work.

First, Conrad connects plot and a sneeze:

The way I plot a novel pretty much parallels the way I sneeze. That's because a good story, like a good sneeze, both contain:

1. The "inciting moment" when you know something's going to happen and all other thoughts fly out of your head.
2. The mindful build-up that contains a sense--and hope--of inevitable culmination
3. The culmination itself--very cathartic and satisfying.
4. The mopping up.

Next, for all the storytellers on this journey, Conrad puts our journey in a nutshell:

It boils down to the importance of storytelling. Sentence-writing and paragraph-polishing are important, of course, but storytelling is the key. This is not too different from what our ancestors sitting on the river bank, around the smoky fire, were doing 25,000 years ago. Telling stories.

And last from Conrad, a special key to help you move forward.

Faith is another thing--faith in self. It can be hard to sustain, in this funny business of writing fiction. Specifically, faith that what we're doing is important. (It is!) And faith that the creative mists of the mind will ultimately crystallize--that we will have that breakthrough. (We can only hope.)

Have a little faith today, folks. I'm sure you will find magic on the page. See you tomorrow for the next cup of hot java.

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. Anton Chekhov.

A friend might well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Day 18 of the Golden Coffee Cup: Venti Java

Whoop for day 18 of the Golden Coffee Cup! You have got to feel pleased today. Take time today to flip through your pages. You rock!

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Today is another fist-bump. My friend and colleague, Conrad Wesselhoeft bumps fist with Seattle sports impresario and rock 'n' roll drummer Michael Kelly.



To me, Conrad W. is one of the best writers that I have ever read. He's got a book coming out next year called ADIOS, NIRVANA from Houghton Mifflin. I borrowed this from Publisher's Marketplace: ADIOS, NIRVANA is about a teenaged poet-musician who survives the first anniversary of his twin brother's death with the help of a dying blind man, the best group of thicks a guy could have, a demanding school principal who wants him to play the "pussiest song in the world," at graduation, and one very special guitar, for publication in fall 2010. Watch for it. This guy writes the bone -- sturdy, ageless stories that I'm so thankful that he's taken the time to craft.

He's bringing the java today and tomorrow. So Yay!!!!

First, Conrad offers some insight how to improve the structure of a novel, stressing the profitableness of revision. This should bring some peace and hope to you all, and help you press forward with your projects. Conrad writes:

The nice thing about the structure of a novel--as opposed to the structure of, say, a cathedral--is that the revision process lets you go back and add bolts and girders, without everything imploding. I'm finding with my book (ADIOS, NIRVANA), even this far into the revision, that adding one little bolt (just a phrase or sentence) in chapter three, for example, can definitely strengthen the rest of the book, in terms of plot. And yet I wasn't aware of the need for that bolt until now. So time, puzzling and pondering are great friends. They give answers, eventually.

I love this next bit about how to create a meaningful character. Here's another sip from Conrad:

I believe that the more a character "confesses," or shares, of his or her deep worries and feelings, the more interesting that character is, and the more the reader wants to get involved. A confessional tone can both relieve tension, and cause it. There's a fine line, though. Some writers are so agile, that their characters confess virtually nothing, but they imply much, through action. The challenge is to find the balance--how much to share.

Think about it? Are your characters confessing?

I know this is a venti java today. Thanks, Conrad. Come back manana for more, folks!

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. Edward Abbey.

Day 17 of the Golden Coffee Cup: Action

Welcome to day 17 of the Golden Coffee Cup. Whoa, we've worked a lot. Three cheers for us!

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Today we get a book signing high five from ratchet-up-the-action specialist, author Suzanne Collins.



Full throttle ahead. I read HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne; it's one of those books written to keep you up all night because, no, you can't put it down. I love a book that plunges into the action and keeps flying forward! It is about fearless action. Sudden violent action releases powerful chemicals into the blood steam: Epinephrine and Endorphins. This chemical cocktail dually floods your body with the flight and fight response and the pleasure response. HUNGER GAMES is a good read for if you are looking how to increase the tension and emotionally involve your reader.

Your goal for today is head toward the deep in, climb the diving tower, and plunge off of it head first. I remember as a child that feeling of jumping off the tower. I remember running and jumping into air, doing a flip and then slicing into the water. I hope that you will inject some action into your work today. Pour it on the page.

Come back tomorrow for more of the hot stuff. Keep working. Let me know how it is going. :)

I am scared easily, here is a list of my adrenaline - production: 1: small children, 2: policemen, 3: high places, 4: that my next movie will not be as good as the last one. Alfred Hitchcock