Daily Poem & Photo

Twittering at my window
Angry eye pins me
Why is there no seed out here?

Chestnut-backed Chickadee glaring at me for letting the feeder get empty

All content (words or images) by Liza Lee Miller unless otherwise noted.
© 2012, Liza Lee Miller.
Poem form:  Haiku 

Daily Photo: Freya's Christmas

Freya watches from the sunroom on Christmas Day. 

Imagine an exuberant 120 lb puppy joining in with the Christmas fun. Each gleeful squeal would be seen as an invitation to leap and bound and join in the unwrapping fun!  Christmas is fun!  Puppies like fun!  Wheeeeee!

So, yes, Freya spent the day out in the sunroom.  Don't worry though.  She curled up on the green velvet sofa and watched us through the window.

Merry Christmas, Freya!  Maybe next year you'll be an indoor dog for Christmas!  We'll work on your down-stay so that you can be a good girl even when things are exciting!  Promise!

Daily Poem: The Ohm of Writing

The Ohm of Writing

Dark and cold.
Colorful Christmas lights.  Dogs curled near me.
Distractions pushed away.
I put my fingers to the keys and write.
It's like meditation.
When the distractions push at me, I just write.
Let them float by me . . .
and write.
Just write.

All content (words or images) by Liza Lee Miller unless otherwise noted.
© 2012, Liza Lee Miller.

Just do it! Just say no!

Just read a post about how to write 1000 high quality words in an hour by someone named Danny Iny.  I guess he's a name -- calls himself the Freddy Krueger of Blogging.  (Is that a good thing?  The visual is disturbing to say the least!).  Anyway, here's Danny's advice in a nutshell.  Sit down to write and be organized about it.  Know what you are going to write about, have an outline, have a hook and then write.

Good advice and a varient -- focused for blogging -- on what I teach my students to do.  Know your genre, know where you are going, and write.  Add in details, add in description, add in the things that good writers do (craft).  Revise.  Edit.  Publish.

I love it when my teaching matches real world expectations.  It makes me proud of what I do with kids.  I particularly love it when my teaching could be applied to myself.  So, what do you need to do to be a successful writer?  Write.

That's what everyone says.  Just bloody well write.  Everyday, even if you are just writing crap!

I've been warming up my writing skills again by writing poetry which is, I think, a good start but not sufficient.

So, here's my plan.

• write and post daily poems
• write blog posts 3 times a week
• take more photographs (blog fodder and creative juices)
• work on novel for 1 hour a day minimum

What was that old Nike slogan?  Just do it!

And why is that mentally tied to the Nancy Reagan slogan -- Just say no!  I think I'll apply that part of it to just saying no to distractions and excuses.

Write.  Every.  Damn.  Day.  Just do it.

Just say no to Facebook and  Pinterest and playing games and wasting time browsing the interwebs.  Just say no to quitting before you start.  Just say no to not trying.  Just say no to failure.

Being a writer has been my dream for as long as I can remember.  I have always seen myself as a writer.

I just don't do it. . . consistently, thoughtfully, with dedication.   I just haven't done it.

Writers write because they have to and I've been shoving that part of myself aside.

Enough is enough.

Today, I write.

Merry Christmas 2012

Today's thoughts

Grief weighs down on us
Pulling us to dark places
I insist on joy
Let light fill us up
Blasting away grimy muck
With super cleansing power


All content (words or images) by Liza Lee Miller unless otherwise noted.
© 2012, Liza Lee Miller.
Poem form:  Tanka 

Wordless Wednesday