Laura Purdie Salas

Small Reads for Brighters Days

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Laura’s Books
  • Poetry
    • Poems Published Elsewhere
    • My Poetry–a Sampler
    • Poetry Videos
    • How To Write Poetry
      • Poetic Pursuits
  • For Teachers
  • Presentations
  • Freelancer
  • About
    • Press Kit
      • Short Bios
      • Awards & Honors
      • Author Photos
      • Book Covers
      • Book Reviews
      • In the Press
    • Who Am I?
    • How I Became a Writer
  • Blog
    • Review Policy
  • For Writers
You are here: Home / Writing for Children / Always Writing

Always Writing

June 30, 2008 By Laura

  

Our whole family spent the weekend with another family at their “up north” cabin. That means we drove 4 hours into northern Minnesota, where it seems that 1/3 of the suburbs’ population disappears to every summer weekend. We spent our time boating, swimming, tubing (that’s me having a great time above), playing Guesstures, and just hanging out (well, cooking and doing laundry figured prominently, too). It was lovely.

But, as usual, I was working in my head. I didn’t take any projects with me, and we had no computer for the weekend. But I was still working. Not in a bad way. Just in that way of constantly sifting through images and ideas and feeling a little ping when an idea seems like a good one. We were out in a boat Saturday morning, just the grown-ups, and we saw birds galore. Pelicans (I didn’t even know Minnesota had pelicans!), loons, a heron, some baby ducks of some kind, and a number of bald eagles.

I didn’t have my camera, so I didn’t take this shot (it’s from here). But we did get to see bald eagles circling and hunting, and one swooping down to grab a fish in its talons. Very cool!

And I think writers are like those bald eagles. We’re constantly circling over a world of words, looking for that spark of silver that tells us something good is just below the surface. And if we take the time to pause and dive into it, we’ll come up with something delicious. It might be a single word that’s been eluding us, or an idea for an entirely new project.

In my case, hearing 4 teenage girls interact all weekend (and by interact, I mean giggle, accuse, bicker, snicker, say random weird phrases in Bristish accents, whine, snore, heart each other, draw on each other, stage fights on their animal rafts, etc.) gave me loads of material for a project I’m working on. And the scenery helped me gather details for a project that is in the back of my mind and that I’ll hopefully have time to actually write next year. 

Hope you had a good weekend, too!

Tagged With: my writing process, personal

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Related

« Nonfiction Monday: Same Series, Different Experiences
How Much Money Do You Put Into Promotion? »

JANUARY NEWS

I loved the holidays! And I'm so glad they're over. A quiet, snowy January is just what I need. This month, I'm working on two board book manuscripts, and I'm making materials to go with my 3 spring 2023 books.

I'm also busy prepping for upcoming author visits and setting my goals and priorities for 2023. Wishing you a lovely start to your own new year!

Are You Looking For…?

  • Poems for the Classroom
  • Poetryactions
  • 15 Words or Less Poems
  • Poetry Activities for Teachers

Tags

15 Words or Less Poems 30 Painless Classroom Poems anthologies A Rock Can Be... BookSpeak! Can Be... books classroom connections conferences and conventions equation poems events free verse haiku imagepoems image poems J. Patrick Lewis Kidlit Combos Laura's books Laura's poems my writing process National Poetry Month 2014 (riddle-ku) National Poetry Month 2016 nifty news nonfiction books personal photopoetry poems poemsketch Poetry 7 poetryactions poetry books Poetry Friday Poetry Princesses poetry prompts poetry sisters Putrid rhyming nonfiction rhyming poems Riddle-ku school visits snowman-cold student poems teen/adult poems the business side videos Water Can Be...

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Laura’s Press Kit Components

Who Am I?
Short Bios
Awards & Honors
Author Photos
Book Covers
Book Reviews
In the Press
How I Became a Writer

Laura’s Author Visit Info

VISITS TO SCHOOLS
A Video Intro to Laura’s Author Visits
Virtual Visits with Laura
Small Writes: Write-Along Videos
Printable Flyer (print page 1 only)
Author Visit Programs
Typical Schedules
Author Visit Materials
Multi-Day Visits
Fees
Ordering Books for Events
Where Laura’s Been
Laura’s Report Card from Educators

OTHER PRESENTATIONS

For Libraries & Book Festivals
For Educators
For Writers

Post Categories

Copyright © 2009–2023 · Laura Purdie Salas · WordPress · Log in