The best part of writing

The Artdog Quote(s) of the Week

Last week's quote(s) addressed my need (parallel with those who participated in NaNoWriMo) to revise the manuscript for A Bone to Pick, the second book (still very much in progress) of the XK9 "Bones" Trilogy. And I'm trying to cultivate Mabel Wetherbee's attitude that "the best part of writing is editing."

The beta-reading review
I've been reading through comments from my beta-readers who've read my first "finished" draft. I'm preparing notes and girding up my loins, because clearly, "finished" badly needed those quote-marks. I get it. No first draft is perfect (EVER). Every writer knows that, going in. And while writing a first draft is exciting and interesting and it definitely has its thrilling moments, I'm not sure I'd call it "the best part."

Reviewing betas' comments about where they connected and where it fell flat is both helpful and a little daunting. More helpful than daunting, because I'm an optimist with a high opinion of myself, and I like a writing challenge. But I would definitely say reading a critique is not "the best part of writing," either.

The best part of writing
No, the best part of writing, for me, is the feeling that "okay, this time I really nailed it" in the finished draft. This is the one that passes muster with the editor, and comes out on the other end of the long process of rewrites, reviews, corrections, and more rewrites. The refining process can be tedious and humbling, but it's worth it.

I'm still a fair stretch down the road from that goal, at present. There are still a lot of dead-wrongs, ho-hums, near-misses, and partial hits to work through. But I must go through all of them, no matter how challenging they are, to get to the best part of writing.

Fuel for the future 
As with any creative project, there are parallels between this editing project with how we live our lives. Unlike writing a story, it's not possible to go back and change the things we've done in real life. They're in the past. They're done. But we can learn from them. We can look back and think, "if I had done this one thing differently, what would have changed? How could I have inspired a better outcome?"

I think if we are self-reflective, we (a) are prepared to confront life "ahead of the game," and (b) are in a better position to learn from the past. It's not exactly "editing the past to suit ourselves," but more like interrogating the past to learn as much as possible from it.

In life, as in writing, the best part is how we mine the past for the materials with which to build a new and better future.

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to Authors Publish, for the quote from Mabel E. Wetherbee (whom I can't track down online! She's allegedly the author of Whisper of the Hare and The Illusionist's Pin, but I can't find a primary source); to AZ Quotes, for the quote from Marion Dane Bauer, and to QuotesGram, via Pinterest (note QuotesWarehouse no longer seems to exist), for the unattributed quote about not getting stuck in the past.

Editing brilliantly

The Artdog Quote(s) of the Week
Yes, it's been that kind of week, I'm afraid. We all have them from time to time, when "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get." First of the month is always awash in reports and analysis. It's my bad that I didn't manage to write enough blog posts ahead of time to carry me through this predictably busy week. But the quote I really need to live out most fully this week and month is this one about editing brilliantly.

Part of the reason I didn't get more blog posts written ahead is because I was working on two different fiction projects. Blog posts and fiction-writing use a lot of the same brain functions, and although I've often dreamed of it, I've so far never found a way to do both simultaneously.

Writing is not editing
I have a friend who's been known to show up at science fiction conventions in a T-shirt emblazoned "Write Drunk Edit Sober." This quote is often misattributed to Ernest Hemingway (he neither said it nor did it, as far as I can tell). And I don't think my friend actually does this either--he writes too many books, too well. Chrissy Van Meter's fun essay about an experiment with it strikes an appropriate cautionary note.

I bring it up because the two functions are radically different. Whether you're pantsing or writing from an outline (I'm a bit of a hybrid), writing original material is a hard slog sometimes (although other times you'll get into a flow and that's delightful). I can understand the "write drunk" impulse, if you think it loosens you up and lowers your inhibitions (It might, but not in a helpful way!)

But the one thing that is absolutely guaranteed is that no matter how well you write your first draft, it can always be improved. It should always be improved. As a craftsperson, you owe it to yourself. Even if it's not total garbage.

I did not participate in NaNoWriMo (because, November! Terrible timing in my household!), but I know many people did. And by happenstance, here I am at the start of December with a new draft, just as they are.

Editing is also an art
Lots of writers loathe editing. I've never been completely sure why. Editing brilliantly takes skill, but it's a skill a writer can learn, improve, hone, and then improve some more. It's a lifelong challenge, but the reward is a satisfaction-level that's well worth it.

Granted, it's no fun to go to your writers' group, your trusted circle of betas, or your editor and learn that they didn't get the point, didn't get the joke, or didn't become engaged. But writing is a communications project, and it's really valuable to know if your communication is actually communicating!

The only way to know that is to find someone else to look at what you wrote. Preferably a group of somebody elses, whose opinions you respect. Then stuff your ego into a stout bag, cinch it up tight, and sit on it. And listen.

NaNoWriMo writers and I are at that crossover point. Every experienced writer who finishes a first draft (or an interim draft) knows that editing brilliantly Is our only hope to take that mess of marvelous potential and turn it into a deeply satisfying reader experience.

So if you have a draft to edit (or any creative project to complete) going into December, take heart. Review your notes, clarify your vision, brush up on your techniques, or whatever you need to do. Then gird up your loins and wade into that next essential step.

May we all find our own paths to the goal of editing brilliantly.

IMAGE CREDITS
Many thanks to author Felicia Denise for the illustrated quote by C. J. Cherryh. To Trina Frederick via Pinterest for the illustrated quote from Louis L'Amour.  And to QuoteFancy for the illustrated quote from George Bernard Shaw.

Native American Heritage

Today is officially designated as Native American Heritage Day. That's right. Out of all the days in November, which also is supposed to be Native American Heritage Month, the day they designated as THE day to honor Native American heritage was Black Friday. Sure. Nobody's thinking about anything else today.

Shoppers compete for bargains on Black Friday (no photo credit listed).

They codified this into law not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES. H.J.Res. 62 was enacted and signed into law by President George W. Bush on Oct. 8, 2008. The following year, the same sponsor (Hispanic Congressman Joe Baca, a California Democrat) reintroduced it (with adjusted wording?) and H.J.Res. 40 was signed into law June 26, 2009. But it wasn't finalized (as far as I can tell) till August 20, 2010, with yet more adjusted wording.

And they say Congress never gets anything done.

They really worked hard to get this specific day codified into law as Native American Heritage Day. But I discovered I'm not alone in thinking the day after Thanksgiving is hardly the best day to single out for this recognition.

Problems with Thanksgiving

Many Native Americans already have enough trouble with Thanksgiving itself. There's been a movement afoot since 1970, to call it Native American Day of Mourning, or Native American Genocide Day, because in traditional US narratives "the focus is always on the Pilgrims."



Although many Americans really want to dispute it, the European invasion of the so-called "New World" was an unmitigated disaster for native people, and there's no other word for it but a slow-rolling, widespread, persistent, and extremely effective genocide. It was no accident. Even the Holcaust Museum calls it a holocaust, arguably perhaps the largest and longest in recorded human history--and unfortunately human history has a lot of genocides to compare.

Despite all of this, and despite the fact that some tribal groups indeed have gone extinct, Native American (or, in Canada, First Nations) people persist. It would be comforting to say that they are, at last, safe and fully valued today, but that would also be false. In nearly every arena, Native Americans' opportunities for wealth, education, and optimal health care are severely crippled.

The pernicious legacy of Indian Schools

Native American cultural traditions were nearly decimated by the "Indian Schools." These were boarding schools where people's kidnapped children were taken. The children often were abused for such misdeeds as speaking their own languages, or telling traditional stories. They were taught European religions and languages, made to dress like Europeans, and taught menial tasks.

Two of the main buildings at the Shawnee Indian Mission Historical Site in Fairway, KS (photo by Keith Stokes)

I live very close to one former such school, the Shawnee Indian Mission, which (in part) gave so many parts of the Kansas City metro area (at least on the Kansas side) their names. It inspired the name of my home church, Old Mission United Methodist Church, and it hosts an annual fall festival that draws people from all over the area. But the full, pernicious nature of the schooling that went on there still isn't clearly understood by the surrounding community. For many of the 40+ years I've lived here, I didn't fully get it either.

Oh, and lest you think that horrifying chapter ended in 1973, think again. It's being perpetuated, whether willfully or not, in the foster care system of today.

A challenge for all Americans

Native people still live among us. They are an important part of our nation, yet their important cultural sites, way of life, and sacred places still are under attack. Some have assimilated, but many others still feel ostracized, marginalized, and all-too-often erased.

But that erasure cannot--MUST NOT--stand. In a few, meaningful ways, native voices may start being heard (yes! Sharice Davids is my Congresswoman). But we need many, many more. In Congress, certainly. But also in our daily consciousness. In commerce and opportunity. In education. And in health care. It's not just their fight. If the rest of us can ever hope to right the scales of cosmic justice, the fight for Native American heritage and equity must be our fight, too.

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to Canyon News for the Black Friday photo, to Turn to 10 NBC News for the "Day of Mourning" video,  and to my longtime friend Keith Stokes for the photo of the Shawnee Indian Mission.

Blessings to count

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving in the USA this Thursday. Many nations, cultures, and religions through the ages and throughout the world have designated official days to give thanks. But seriously. No matter what day it is, there are always blessings to count.

If you don't think that 's true--or at least not for you--you're overlooking some important aspects of your life. Including that you have one.

What blessings?

It's a near-certainty that there are people who love you. Please note: companion animals count as "people" for the purpose of establishing this fact (it's never wise to discount companion animals, in any case). They are among the many blessings it's especially important to count.

But also please note that there really are people who care about your welfare . . . even if they don't personally know you. This means that you're actually not ideally suited to count all the people who care about you. This is because you can't read minds, and you don't know everyone.

This goes double if you're depressed. You may not believe it, but you DO have blessings to count.

There are politicians who will brag that the economy is booming, and that's true for a lot of people (particularly those in whose favor the system is biased). If you're not one of those people, however, that doesn't mean your life is all blight, unless you refuse to see it any other way. Even the least advantaged among us has blessings to count.

Beyond being blessed

The best way to count one's blessings, in my experience, is to pass blessings on to others. Best of all is to do it with all the generosity we can manage. If you have blessings to count (and I believe all of us do), then you have the means to not only enjoy blessings, but to be one to others.

Believe it or not, the act of giving--of being a blessing--multiplies our own feelings of joy and well-being. We humans are social creatures by nature. We are innately programmed to connect with others. Thus, it stands to reason that we feel most fulfilled, most right with the world, when we can do good things for others.

Evolution has dictated that people need to work together, especially in the face of challenges. It's the most effective survival tool we have. The "loneliness epidemic" of today is a direct result of people losing their connections to others, and thus their sense of purpose, their sense of worth.

Reaching out to others with a helping hand or even simply an encouraging word is essential to rebuilding a sense of connection. In general, the more connections you make the more blessings you'll be able to count.

The blessing of "thank you"

Never underestimate the power of an encouraging word. It's the most under-used and extraordinary gift you can give, sometimes. It costs no money at all, "only" a moment of thought and noticing.

Over the years, I've written several posts about saying "thank you." One of my very most popular posts is the one on ways to thank first responders. I recently reiterated thoughts on gratitude to veterans, and another one of my all-time most popular posts is the one on ways to thank veterans.

Honoring those who give of themselves to serve our community is always appropriate. But sometimes I like to challenge myself to find others who deserve thanks and rarely get it. If you're traveling this holiday, you'll have lots of opportunities. Consider a thank-you or a kind word to an airline or highway employee who's trying to make things work, in a challenging situation.

Do you thank wait staff, hotel employees, or sales clerks who smooth the way for you? Do you appreciate those skill or knowledge helps you? You might rationalize that they're only doing their job, but if you use that as an excuse to treat them like machines or tools, take warning: you're developing a crabbed and callous soul, and it sucks to be you.

Connect with people. Sow peace, not division. Be a blessing to others, and it's well-nigh guaranteed you'll have a generous bounty of your own blessings to count.

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to Vikayatskina via 123RF, for the "Give Thanks!" wreath design. I'm also grateful to Fight for Life via Mimipopa, for the "thousands of tiny miracles" quote, to Picture Quotes for the "take for granted" quote-image and  the "be the blessing other people count on" quote-image, and to Everyday Power, for the quotes from Camille Pissarro and Henry Ward Beecher. I appreciate all of you!

Into the homestretch for NaNoWriMo

The Artdog Quote(s) of the Week

We're closing in on the end of November, and also the end of NaNoWriMo (National Novel-Writing Month). All month I've posted things to encourage writers, whether or not they're specifically participating. But for all who are participating, this week you go into the homestretch.

The toll that project fatigue exacts

You're so close! But sometimes, as we near the end of a long project, exhaustion sets in. Especially if you've been extending yourself to make your goals, you may be short of sleep or creaky from bending over your keyboard too long (Take time to stretch!).

Remember, the most important thing you'll get out of NaNoWriMo or any sustained effort is not necessarily the draft you write (although acclaimed published works have originated from NaNoWriMo first-drafts).

The most important thing

No, the most important thing is developing the habit of persistence. And here in the homestretch is where it comes most fully into play.

More important than talent. More essential than a genius idea. More crucial than the classiest style. The secret to writing success is persistence. Keep trying. You've come into the homestretch for NaNoWriMo. Last-minute brain glitch and can't think what to write? Write anyway.

Formula for success

Create the habits that put your butt in the chair (or wherever you write) and your hands on the keyboard (or however you interface with your word processor) and the words being written.

Create and sustain those habits. Eventually, you'll succeed. Going into the homestretch and beyond, you'll have developed the most essential requirement for any successful writer. Simply don't let anything stop you.

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to BrainyQuotes, for the illustrated Dale Carnegie quote on fatigue. And my deepest gratitude to Early Bird Books and their feature "15 Inspiring Writing Quotes for NaNoWriMo." Their article is my source for the quotes by Octavia Butler, Philip Pullman, and Timothy Zahn.

Take time to stretch!

The Artdog Image of Interest

Here's a shout-out to all the diligent folks who are homing in on the end of NaNoWriMo, National Novel-Writing Month. If you're a serious participant, you've been putting in some long hours at the keyboard. But that means you also are courting repetitive stress injuries, if you aren't careful. Please take time to stretch! 

Stretch your hands
My son Tyrell Gephardt sent this graphic to me several months ago. I parked it on my desktop as a reminder. It helps me think of it, and also makes a handy cheat-sheet if I forget one. I try to stretch regularly. Why don't you try these stretches right now?

Didn't that feel good? Each time I do these I think, "I've got to remember these more often!" Then I get busy and don't think about it till I glance down at my desktop and spot this graphic again.

Stretch your lower back
To be ergonomically sound, there are other stretches you also may want to try. Here's a post that offers 12 stretches to ease or prevent lower back stress. The illustrations are clear, and the stretches are simple but effective. You can do them in your office, although be advised: some involve getting on the floor.

Lower back pain is common and widespread. The World Health Organization estimates 60-70% of adults in industrialized countries will experience lower back pain. Why not learn how to minimize that risk?

Stretch you shoulders and neck
Computer work, especially for prolonged periods, causes all kinds of issues, including shoulder stiffness and pain. Here's a link to an article that offers four simple shoulder stretches you can do at your desk.

Long hours of computer work can also be a literal pain in the neck. The Mayo Clinic has posted an article about neck pain. They included a video to show several stretches that can help you avoid or ease neck pain.

An ergonomic office
On this same theme, I posted an Image of Interest in 2018 that bears repeating. You might want to see my post about what makes a good ergonomic office design. Here are more tips, from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Now that you're all stretched out and limbered up, it's time to get back to work! Best of luck to all who take the NaNoWriMo challenge! And for anyone who spends time at a desk, I hope that you, too, will take time to stretch!

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to my son Tyrell Gephardt for sending me the "Make time to Stretch!" graphic. I did a reverse-image search via TinEye, and traced it back to Between the Pixels on Twitter. There's a nice large image available there.

Could it be love?

What's Bred in the Bone:
now available.

Does your dog love you? Or are you just projecting? Scientists try very hard to avoid anthropomorphizing their animal study subjects. Emotions are difficult to measure. But now we're finally getting closer to answering the question, "could it be love?"

This is the third and final (for now) post in a series about dog cognition. In case you missed them, click: "Dogs: verbal virtuosos?" and "How much does your dog understand?" I've also previously written about working dogs on this blog--a post that touched on dog cognition, but didn't go into as much depth.

This series started when I wrote a guest post on dog cognition for Booker T's Farm,  a blog devoted to books and dogs (a great combo!) Their format, however, didn't include the hyperlinks to sources that I'd suggested. (Note: Booker T's Farm also later posted a very nice review of What's Bred in the Bone).

Because science doesn't stand still, there's also some updated information to add. That (and the chance to share links to sources) is why I decided to expand on my August post with this series.

Anthropomorphism

Huckleberry Hound, Snoopy, and Scooby-Doo each created a humorous satire on certain human characteristics, but anthropomorphism gets in the way of scientists studying real dogs. (Images via Wikipedia)

When humans attribute human characteristics or emotions to non-human entities (weather conditions, animals, plants, gods or other things), they are anthropomorphizing. It's an impulse as old as human "behavioral modernity." In fact, one of our oldest artworks is anthropomorphic.

The so-called "Lion-Man of the Hohlenstein-Stadel," also called Löwenmensch figurine, is an ivory sculpture about a foot tall, that was found in Hohlenstein-Stadel cave in Germany. It's the oldest example of what everyone agrees is figurative art,  carbon-dated between 40,000 and 35,000 years old. You might recall dogs have probably been hanging out with humans somewhere in the neighborhood of 32,000 years.

So, yeah. We have an apparently-innate tendency to anthopomorphize all kinds of things (just for fun, run an image search with the keywords "faces on inanimate objects"). And while Huckleberry Hound, Snoopy, Scooby-Doo, and dozens of other anthropomorphic dogs might be fun ways to poke humor at certain types of human characteristics, but they do nothing to help scientists understand real dogs.

The right chemistry

A Golden Retriever who passes out hugs in New York City, a demonstrative rescued pit bull, and a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy who leans on his human and pulls him closer (Photos: varied sources/First for Women).

The human tendency to anthropomorphize may be hard to control for, but blood chemistry is entirely another matter, when we ask, "could it be love?"

Several studies have shown that oxytocin levels (the so-called “love hormone”) rise in both dogs and humans during interactions. When the human smiles, they look at each other, and when they snuggle, or when dogs are caressed, both release more oxytocin. Some researchers believe this mutual reaction is key to dog domestication.

In humans and other animals oxytocin is "correlated with the preferences of individuals to associate with members of their own group." Thus, it's not surprising that it's been found to be important in bonding between mates and mothers and their infants, as well as humans and companion animals.

Could it be love? Check the MRIs

At left, parallel brain structures in human and dog brains activated in response to stimuli (in this case words, but in other studies it's been smells) at Hungary’s Eötvös Loránd University. (image: Andics et al./Current Biology) Center: Border Collies and Golden Retrievers pose with the MRI in the Hungarian lab. (Photo: Borbala Ferenczy) At right, fMRI scans from Emory University show brain activity associated with decision-making. Similar studies using fMRI have demonstrated emotional reactions that parallel those of humans. (Photo: Berns et al./SSRN).

Oxytocin isn’t the only scientific proof that it could, indeed, be love. Studies of dogs in MRI scanners show the brain structure (caudate nucleus) associated with anticipation and positive feelings lights up in dogs when they smell the odor of a familiar person.

Other MRI-scan brain studies reconfirm the dogs' verbal recognition skills, and offer the beginnings of understanding how dogs make decisions.

And then there’s body language. How can you mistake the message of the facial expressions,  the wriggling body, the wagging tail? How can you mistake the hugs?

Could it be love? Watch this compilation of dogs greeting their returning soldiers home from deployment, then decide. What do you think?



Dog owners know: dogs “get” us, in a way few other animals do. After 30,000 years, even the scientists are beginning to agree.

IMAGE CREDITS: The cover art for What's Bred in the Bone is © 2019 by Jody A. Lee. Many thanks to Wikipedia for this images of Huckleberry Hound, Snoopy, and Scooby-Doo. Thanks and hugs to First For Women and their adorable photo feature, "12 Adorable Pics of Dogs Hugging their Humans for Valentine's Day," the source of the "Dog Hugs" composite. For the "Dog Brain Scans" composite, I wish to thank Wired Magazine, Attila Andics and Current Biology, photographer Borbala Ferenczy, and to Wired Magazine, Gregory Berns, and SSRN. Finally, many thanks to YouTube and FunnyPlox, for the video of dogs greeting their homecoming soldiers.