In March we asked you to write the April Challenge. Beryl Hall Bray was our winner and this was her challenge: You're at your dying relative’s bedside and only have a few minutes to bridge the gap created by a dreadful argument. You have not seen or spoken to this person for ten years. What will you say?

Phil Irving sent this winning entry:

It seems silly now, looking back. You grow up with family, you respect them, you trust them absolutely, but then as soon as you really disagree with them it’s so easy to lose touch with them altogether. I remember you teaching me to read, to play football, to talk to girls and look for jobs. I remember thinking you’d be around forever. And to think all this, all this wasted time, was down to a disagreement over careers. I just wanted you to support me, that was all. To help me realise my dreams, even if they weren’t your own.

But that’s not what I came here to say. I think it’s time we buried that hatchet. I didn’t come here to resurrect past arguments, I came here to say one thing, and one thing only.

I love you, but I bet you wish I were a doctor now.

Phil Irving teaches English in the UK. When not correcting other people's misspellings he likes to make his own in short stories, novels and poetry.

Creativity can last 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But for some writers, creativity is at its pique during the early hours of the morning, right when they climb out of bed. Added benefits of morning writing, these writers found, include thriving in the peace and quiet of an otherwise busy home and feeling a true sense that they have accomplished something for the day.

“The early morning is my best writing time -- starting at the crack of dawn, before my mind is cluttered with anything else,” said writer and author Andrea Mack. “(It) leads to much more productive work than if I begin at any other time of the day. And I find that when writing is first, I spend the rest of the day generating ideas, something that just doesn't happen when I sit down to work in the afternoon or evening.” Another Jan Weeks, started her morning writing rituals after reading Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way. “Julia Cameron suggests doing 3 pages of freehand writing as soon as you get up and even though I've slacked some, the things I've written have inspired me, helped me plot novels, articles, and screenplays, and kept me pumped for the writing life,” she said. “I can spend the whole morning lost in prose and not surface until my husband wonders what the heck I've been doing all day.” Barbara J. Hunter is a writer who joins the list of those who are most creative during the early hours of the day. “Writing in morning helps me because my mind is free and clear to write,” she said. “There isn't a list of responsibilities or a bad day burdening my mind. At night, my mind is filled with everything that happened all day, and who to call, what I am needed to do. It's as if I am not free to write because of this. Like I am chained to the day, and only morning will release me.”

“I write in the morning because that's the only time I can take advantage of that unfettered, dreamlike state you're still in when you first wake up,” said writer Michelle Mellon. “I will usually write a page or two of the first ideas that come to mind, and leave them to mull over throughout the day. I have found from experience that trying to do other things first and then turning to writing doesn't work as well for me. I'm dealing with phone calls and errands and hairballs on the rug and what to fix for dinner. And saving my writing time for the evening? Forget it! By the end of the day I'm usually too tired to think about anything other than what I need to get ready for the next day.” Writer, author and EFT instructor Liana Metal is another writer who has found the mornings to be her most creative writing time. “When I write early in the morning, my mind is clear and ideas flow faster,” she said. “I sometimes remember things I had to write the previous day but somehow I missed them. I can write the next chapter of my book a lot easier, as, probably, during the night my brain has worked it out for me!”

Writer and newsletter publisher Patti hill has found morning writing to be a great time for her to write, too. “I find it is the best time for me,” she said. “I am at my peak of freshness and all my energy for the day can be devoted here. If I work at other things first I only give the 'leftovers' to my craft. Also the day tends to crowd out the main priority, which is writing!”

Writing first thing in the morning can be a great time-saver, as well. Getting the writing you need to put in every day finished and “out of your system” the minute you wake up leaves an opportunity for more to get done later on in the remaining hours of your day. In addition to being a writer, LuAnn Howe is also a college student, and writing in the morning not only saves her time but it frees up her creativity barriers. “I really enjoy writing poetry and song lyrics, and I do my best work early in the morning, around 6:30,” she said. “I'm up then, but not necessarily awake, i.e., I don't really care about what I write on the page. I just write whatever comes, like a freewrite, and later in the day, usually before lunch, I read through it and often find many wonderful ideas that I would have never thought of otherwise.”

The early hours of the morning are prime hours for another important factor: The peace and quiet to work in. “I have found that writing in the morning is best for me because it is quiet!” writer Roger Vizi said. “When I am in the process of writing a book, short story, or a screenplay, I start at 6:00 a.m. and write until the family is up and around, which can be anytime between 9 and 10.”

“I love writing in the morning,” said writer David Dallas. “I find that I'm less distracted. I'm usually up by 7a.m., have breakfast and off I go. I find all my ideas come to me ASAP. I find I write more pages and I find that I finish my script quicker. There is something about writing first thing that makes me geared up for the whole day.” Liana Metal agreed with this aspect. “No interruptions from kids or spouse, everyone is out and I can sit in peace and quiet.”

“I began using the early morning hours of the day to write when my children were still at home,” said writer and author Patricia Fry. “I'd write before the house became alive with activity. While I put in full days working on various writing/book promoting projects, I seemed to accomplish the most between the hours of 5 and 9 a.m. I'm alone during that time, except for visits from my 3 cats. There are no interruptions from the outside world. I believe that this is when I do my best work.”

Author Pam Lowell thinks writing first thing in the morning means more peace and quiet for her, too. “I LOVE writing in the morning,” she said. “The kids get off to school, and there I am, alone, finally.”

Above all else, writing first thing in the morning means you can leave your house feeling confident that, come what may, you’ve squeezed in some important time to write. “I'm a morning person, and writing early gives me a sense of accomplishment for the rest of the day,” Jan Weeks said. Writer Karen Kowalski Singer agreed. After her morning writing ritual, she said, “I feel as though I've done something I really wanted to do with my day.”

Dawn Colclasure is a freelance writer, poet, book reviewer and the author of the books BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL: How We Survive as Writing Parents and 365 TIPS FOR WRITERS: Inspiration, Writing Prompts and Beat The Block Tips to Turbo Charge Your Creativity. She is also a former poetry editor for Skyline E-Magazine, a contributor to the newspaper, SIGNews, and a staff writer for the Web site, The Shadowlands. She’s been published in magazines, newspapers and on the Web at sites such as Writing Etc., Write From Home, Absolute Write, CoolStuff4Writers, Worldwide Freelance Writer, The Writer Within, Writing World, Writing For DOLLARS! and Sell Writing Online. Her Web site is at: http://dmcwriter.tripod.com

Motive and emotion are a couple of key elements to any action scene.

One book series that immediately springs to mind when I think about action scenes is the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien. I think most of us will have read the books or seen the movies.

Envision the big battle at the end. Throughout the books the author made it clear why this battle had to be, which makes the reader feel involved in the story. There was a good build-up to the battle and as a reader I have chosen a side I want to win and care about the fate of the characters. This makes for good reading.

It is important for me to know why something is happening. Why are those armies fighting? If I don’t know then I don’t feel that same involvement nor do I really care about the outcome of it all.

The same goes for other action scenes. If I don’t know why person A is chasing person B, why should I care if person A will catch person B? I want to know if person A should catch person B, or if I want person B to escape...

Emotion is important as well. It is crucial to every story that the reader starts to care about the characters they are reading about. This does not mean a story needs to be dramatic, but offering insight into the characters is very important. How do they work? What are their responses to the situations you place them in? What is important to them? What makes them tick? And, too, what are their motives for their actions?

How does an action scene affect them? Portray their emotions. Are they scared? What goes through their minds? What are their physical reactions?

A classic example is a person walking through a dark alley. They hear footsteps behind them...what is their reaction?

If you just write it down as:

Sophie walked through the dark alley. Suddenly, she hears footsteps behind her. She is scared and starts walking a bit faster.

This will not really grip the reader.

Why is Sophie walking through the alley? Is she on her way home from work? Is she cold, taking the short-cut against better judgement? Perhaps she has had a long day at work and is very tired.

What are her responses to the dark alley? What is the dark alley like? Has it been raining, are there the usual litter bins?

Maybe she hears something, is startled and realises that it is just a cat. Only to then hear the sound of footfalls behind her.

It could be that she has good reason to fear those footsteps. It could trigger images in her mind of news articles she read, a past experience or something that happened to someone she knows.

What does she feel will happen?

Perhaps, even, Sophie is not supposed to be in that dark alley. Perhaps she is the person that is up to no good...which puts a whole different spin to that scene and a whole different set of possibilities about her emotions and feelings.

The best advice I can give any author is, ”Don’t just tell, show!”

Kit Marsters is an author on http://www.Writing.Com which is a site for Writers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kit_Marsters

Alana Morales, Author and Co-host of Mom Writers Talk Radio is excited to announce the May 2006 release of her new book, Domestically Challenged.

Domestically Challenged:

When you decided to stay at home, you probably thought about the quality time you’d spend with your kids and the wonderful meals you would cook. Maybe you even thought you would do some decorating or take up yoga.

Later you realized things would be different. Your house is messier. You still have days where the kids drive you crazy. And then you wonder – what did I get myself into?

Relax.

Domestically Challenged can help. Written as a humorous guidebook, this book will show new stay at home moms how to: • Keep the kids entertained without hiring a circus • Find ways to keep up with housework, short of hiring a housekeeper (though we’d like to!) • Deal with the emotional aspects of her new job (including boredom and every mom’s favorite – guilt) • And do such outlandish things such as finding time for herself.

You can learn more about Alana and her new book by going to:http://www.AlanaMorales.com. To check out Alana's blog, go to: http://www.dctheblog.com

Bobbie Christmas is the "Book Doctor" and Author of Write In Style, a triple-award-winning textbook for writers of fiction and nonfiction, available wherever books are sold.

Bobbie loves to receive questions from writers and offer her expert advice. If you have any questions you need answered, please e-mail her at: Bobbie@zebraeditor.com

You can also sign up for her Free newsletter for writers to get tips, answers, marketing information and news of interest to writers. Go to http://www.zebraeditor.com and click on "Free Newsletter."

If you have an announcement, please email me at: sandy@coolstuff4writers.com

If you have a First Sale!, an upcoming book release, a contest win or a conference you'd like to share with us, please let me know. I'd be more than happy to put it in the newsletter.

Thank You!

email: sandy@coolstuff4writers.com

phone: 732-364-3993

web: http://www.coolstuff4writers.com