I have an analogy that I use in life called “The Edge.” It’s the barometer that I use to gauge how I’m handling things.

When I’m far from The Edge, things are going great. My writing sessions rock and the revision catches fire and I make progress. Love it.

When I hit a snag and get stuck or write a scene that doesn’t make sense or even worse when I’m trying to figure out something that eludes me, I’m close to The Edge.

When doubt starts to creep in and I get that sinking feeling in my stomach that this writing thing is just a waste of time, the freak out begins and I have tumbled over The Edge.

I went over The Edge Friday night.

I was working on my novel project and getting a submission ready for a conference. There was pressure to make this submission the *best* it can be. That’s when the doubt started to creep in. Those little voices.

You know how it goes:

Why is it taking you *so* long to finish this novel? What’s your problem?

Maybe this is the *wrong* novel? Maybe you’ve been wasting time and you should write something else.

By the time you finish this novel, no one is going to want it. You need to write faster already!

Blah, blah, blah.

Times like this you have to just blank out the voices and yes even shut down the laptop or put away the pen and paper. It’s no use trying to fight it.

But you always come back the next day.

On Saturday, I faced what I needed to do. Worked through the submission, brainstormed solutions to my problems, and clawed my way out of the dark ravine.

Today, I’m still close to The Edge but instead of looking over into the darkness, I’m looking over my shoulder at a bright horizon. I know that this is the place where my success lives.

Far from The Edge.

It’s the August edition of Flashback Friday where I share events from my own life during my kid and teen years.

Down here in the Atlanta area, school started on Monday. The bus stop is right in front of my house and it was mixture of happy kids running in circles and angry kids kicking at rocks.

So I decided to find a diary entry about a first day of school, and I found one when I was in third grade. And believe me, my 8-year old self was *not* impressed with the first day of school:

“It’s doomsday for me.

I’m not liking 3rd grade at all. I want to be in 2nd again. I liked it very much. This new school gives me the creeps.

3rd grade is all messed up.

I thought everybody in 2nd grade would be in my class this year. I thought when I talked to Frisky that he would make sure all my friends were in my class.

[Diary Flashback Note: Frisky was my dead dog who I believed was psychic and therefore even more powerful in the afterlife].

Stupid dog can’t take directions.

Paul [S...] gave me his Hersey kisses for my barbecue potato chips at lunch. Don’t worry diary, those kisses were candy. Not real kisses. I don’t kiss boys. Boys have germs and germs are yuck-nasty. Paul [S...] is germy. I still remember when he ate that dirt behind the playscape in 1st grade. Gross-out.

It’s been just one day and 3rd grade sucks.”

Reading more entries from that year, 3rd grade turned out to be okay in the end.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Get some writing done or read a good book — still one of the best ways to learn good writing.

I’m reading the last chapters of the fabulous craft book, A Writer’s Guide to Fiction by Elizabeth Lyon. I’ve already shared some gems with you from this book and I highly recommend it to include in your writer library.

One of the things that has stood out for me while reading this book is the phrase “power positions.” The author defines it as the following:

“Power positions include the first words of any piece of writing (which is why the narrative hook has such power), including first words or sentences in a paragraph, section, or chapter, and last words or sentences in the same, including a scene.”

My writer mentor has always emphasized the placement of words, especially at the end of a sentence. It’s what makes readers keep reading, especially when you have a strong power position sentence at the end of a chapter.

Author Suzanne Collins does a great job of this in the opening paragraph of The Hunger Games:

“When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course she did. This is the day of the reaping.”

As a reader, how can you not continue to read on? Why is little sister Prim having bad dreams? What is the reaping? It doesn’t sound good at all. The reader will continue to read to find the answers to these questions.

Author Laini Taylor also captures the reader’s attention with “Goblin Fruit,” the first short story in Lips Touch Three Times:

“There is a certain kind of a girl the goblins crave. You could walk across a high school campus and point them out: not her, not her, her. The pert, lovely ones with butterfly tattoos in secret places, sitting on their boyfriends’ laps? No, not them. The girls watching the lovely ones sitting on their boyfriends’ laps? Yes.”

As a reader, you’re wondering why does the goblin *not* want the lovely ones? And most of all, who is going to be this “certain” girl? Does she know that the goblin has its eye on her? What’s going to happen? Readers will keep reading to find out.

During the revision phase is when you can really use the power positions to your advantage. You can ask yourself, how can I end this scene well? What kind of drama, twist, or complication can I give this paragraph, chapter or sentence to give it more depth?

If you can do this, your readers will be rewarded with a dynamic story that they will not be able to put down. As writers, this is always the goal of good storytelling.

One of the biggest conferences for writers is having its closing ceremony today — The Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators 39th Annual Summer Conference.

I’ve been trying to follow the Official SCBWI Conference blog between assembling bookcases and rearranging office furniture but I’m sure I’ll catch up later this week.

I’ve only been to this conference once and to say that it was a LOT of information is an understatement. I think my mind buzzed for a few days afterward.

This was one of my first writing conferences and I met a lot of writer friends that I still keep in contact.

What I loved about this conference is that everyone there had one thing in common: a passion for writing and illustrating for kids and teens.

Traveling from Atlanta made the trip expensive but I’m glad that I got a chance to go.

So I must say I have a teeny bit of conference envy for everyone that went to LA this weekend. Ha.

I hope to go to at least three more conferences this year. I’ve got my eye on the Big Sur Children’s Writing Workshop in December and two more regional conferences.

Do any of you plan on going to any more writing conferences this year? Do you go to meet other writers? Learn about craft? Or do you go to find an agent or a editor that may have interest in your work?

Wow, what a CRAZY week it’s been!

My weekend is going to be great because I’m FINALLY getting furniture delivered my house this afternoon. For those of you who have been following the blog, you may remember when I donated most of my furniture to a single mother and her family in February.

So now after four months, I’m going to be able to start writing in my brand new office. I can’t wait! I’ll be sure to post some pictures soon.

Did any of you get a chance to watch Master Chef on Fox this Tuesday? The premise is to take the best home cooks in America and through elimination competition, turn one of them into a culinary master.

It was an emotional show.

First, most of these people have other lives, other jobs but cooking is their passion. It is what they love to do more than anything.

I thought about us as writers how it’s almost like the same thing. A lot of us do other things in our lives but we all are passionate about writing. We love it more than anything.

Watching the qualification rounds on Master Chef, it was easy to spot which ones were ready to take it to the next level and learn more to become a culinary expert.

I started to think about cooking and writing. It’s the kind of thing where it seems *so* simple. Cooking? It’s just taking some spices and mixing it all together right? Same with writing. It’s just pages and pages of words.

Anyone can do it.

But we know that it’s not that simple. A dish cooked with passion and made from the heart tastes totally different than a dish cooked from a box with instructions. The same with writing. Simple words on the page read flat if they don’t have the passion of storytelling behind them.

It takes more than just writing words on the page. It also takes dedication and perseverance to learn the craft. To make the words on the page transport the reader to another place physically and emotionally.

It takes a lot to be a Master Writer.

I hope that all of you have a great weekend! I’ll be spending some of my time working with my new furniture and enjoying my new office. And I’ll get some writing done as well.