Sunday Thoughts

The Finest Church

by Janet F. Smart

The finest church you see

does not outshine the small.

What matters is His love

that dwells inside the walls.

Posted by Janet F. Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch

Writing Wednesday

Someone once asked me, "Why do you right?"
I sat there for a minute thinking about her question.
She said, "I think it is because you don't want people to forget about the past."

That is true for a lot of what I write. I write about the past. I am trying to write my family history, but I keep getting sidetracked. My first visit to a writing group was inspired by my wanting to get help with  a Picture Book manuscript I had written about my experiences of picking berries with my grandmother and cousin. I haven't got that story right. . .  yet. Maybe I should go back to that manuscript and try again.

When I write my poems and my stories, I put onto paper my memories, so they will not be forgotten.
I hope when I do this, I will write them in such a way that other people will also get enjoyment out of them also.

I guess that is the secret to writing --- we need to write our stories so interesting and unique that other people will enjoy them. 

What about you? Why do you write? What do you think the secret to writing is?

April is National Poetry Month, below is a poem I wrote about my past.
I hope you enjoy it.

Recipe for Warm Memories

Our ancestors taught us

To cook. They passed down

Their food customs

To their children.

Grandma rolled each thin layer

Of her applesauce stack cake.

She patted the left over dough

Into sweet cookies.

She creamed the peas

Just right, made holiday pies,

And baked bread to eat

With each meal.

Mom taught me how

To make soft, fluffy dumplings

And to beat the fudge

Until it was glossy.

My aunts fried skillets

Full of golden apples

And cooked welcoming

Sunday dinners.

They tilled the land and

Harvested the crops.

Their busy hands preserved

The food for the winter.

The kids washed the jars for

Green beans, tomatoes,

Pickles, chow chow,

And sausage balls.

Blackberry jams and jellies

Won blue ribbons and proudly

Stood by the apple butter

On the cool cellar shelves.

Our ancestors taught us

To cook. Their memories

Keep us warm on

Cold winter days.

Happy Writing!

Writing Wednesday

I have been so busy writing lately that I almost forgot about my Writing Wednesday Post.

The West Virginia Writers Writing Contest deadline is fast approaching and I have been fine tuning entries to send in to it.

In addition to children's stories, this year I am thinking about submitting a poem. I recently wrote one unlike any I have ever written before. It is very unique. I am not saying anything else about it, though, since I am submitting it to the contest. Keep your fingers crossed for me that the judges will like it.

I also came up with an idea for a short story for the War category. This is a new category in the contest this year and I really didn't think I could write anything that would qualify, but I think I have. I am still working on it, (with help from a special friend) and it has a ways to go before it is ready to submit. I might have to send in a late fee with it, but I hope not.

So, I am sending in some stories in a very familiar genre for me and two writings that are very different than what I usually write. I think a person needs to try something new every now and then, how about you?

Have any of you tried writing outside your genre before? 

I've seen a lot of poems on blogs lately. I've written a little one about the month of March.

If I Were a Month

Janet F. Smart

If I were a month

I would be March

With her roaring lions

And gentle lambs.

She is sassy, and

Her hills are covered

With green grass

And yellow daffodils.

Her spring winds

Sweep the earth

And wipes it clean

For hot summer days.

Happy Writing!

Writing Wednesday

I think I am going to start a Writing Wednesday.
I will  blog about writing on Wednesdays, and who knows, maybe on other days as well.
If you like to write, join me on Wednesdays and put up your own blog post about writing, too.

As many of you know, I like to write.
My grammar is not perfect. . .
my rhyme is sometimes off. . .
but as one of my favorite quotes proclaims "A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit."


I have been dabbling with poetry this morning. I have many poems on my hard drive. These are poems that I thought were good, but when I bring them up on the screen, after they have been out of sight and out of mind for many months, I see lots of room for improvement. That is one thing about writing, if you continue to write, you will improve. Practice makes perfect.  I will never be perfect. . .  but I don't want to be. Perfection takes out the challenge and fun out of writing and improving your craft.

My family sometimes wonder why I continue to change and edit my stories. They think the first draft is the way it should be. They think if you have to keep changing  it, that you must not be a good writer. How wrong that is. In my opinion, a good writer is one who knows how to edit and how to get it right. The first draft is sometimes just getting your idea down on paper, kind of like the appetizer for a meal. Then you go back and add the meat and potatoes and maybe discard the scraps that are not needed. That may sound like a funny way to put it, but I think it kind of tells how it is.

I have been editing my middle grade story this past week. AGAIN. I now have it ready to send out to publishers. AGAIN.

Writing and getting published is a slow process. It is very hard for people to comprehend that from start to finish it can be years before your story is seen by the eyes of the reading public. I am an impatient person and the waiting is the hardest part for me.

AN EMPTY BARN

by Janet F. Smart

An empty barn,  an opened door

Snowflakes scattered upon the floor.

An empty barn from times gone by

Sitting beneath the snowy sky.

If walls could talk, what would they say

Of those who toiled here yesterday,

and tarried in its loft at night,

Lit only by dim lantern light?

I leave you with a writing prompt. Find a favorite picture you have taken and write a short poem about it.