Tag: Stories

Christmas Can’t Be Stopped

On By Sue AgauasIn Life LessonsLeave a comment

As Christmas fast approaches, three Christmas Eve stories come to mind.

In 1843 Charles Dickens wrote his classic, A Christmas Carol. Scrooge learns lessons from Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and  Yet to Come. These culminate in a changed life.

O. Henry wrote a short story in 1906 called, “The Gift of the Magi”. A young married couple, deeply in love, but poor, seek a gift to give to each other. Between them they have two treasures, her beautiful long hair and his watch, a family heirloom. Through their selfless love, each sacrifices their treasure to buy a gift for the other. She, selling her hair to buy a chain for his watch. He, selling his watch to buy beautiful combs for her hair. 

Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, written in 1957, recounts the escapades of the Grinch as he tries to stop Christmas from coming to the Whos down in Who-ville. As the Grinch waited to hear the “BOO-HOO” he was shocked.

“Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!”
“He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming!
IT CAME!”

“Mankind is my business.” Marley told Scrooge. 
Christmas is about gifts given in love. 
It is, as Grinch said, “Maybe Christmas…perhaps… means a little bit more!” 

Christmas can’t be stopped. 
I am thankful for the greatest gift given on the very first Christmas. 
A gift of love for all mankind.
I will try to do as Scrooge pledged to, “…honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

The Halfway Mark

On By Sue AgauasIn Picture Books, Writing1 Comment
Day thirteen of February is halfway to completing the 26 picture books in the Picture Book Marathon.

Hooray!

Thursday, February 13, is the official halfway point in the Picture Book Marathon. It’s always good to celebrate your accomplishments. If you actually ran thirteen miles, you would celebrate! So, too, writing thirteen picture books, or creating thirteen ideas for stories, is reason for celebration.

Celebrate your accomplishments!

You need thirteen more ideas to finish the Picture Book Marathon. Allow me to offer a few suggestions to help you finish the race.

Ideas are all around.

A photo, a saying or phrase, a memory from childhood, pets, fears, joys, foods, disappointments, overheard conversations, new twists on nursery rhymes, or fairy tales, ridiculous impossibilities, nature, friends, family, failures, successes, concept books, such as ABC’s, counting, opposites, or shapes.

The best advice I can give is to relax. Have fun. Try writing things you’ve never written before, like a new version of Hickory, Dickory, Dock. Make it wild. Make it touching. Try nonfiction, fantasy, or rhyming.

Make this Picture Book Marathon a race of exploration and fun. Remember, this is just the beginning of your creative projects that could turn into a wonderful picture book!

See you at the finish line!

Keep writing!

Picture Book Marathon

On By Sue AgauasIn Picture Books, Writing1 Comment

Yay! February has arrived! Today I begin writing for my traditional Picture Book Marathon.

In 2010 I stumbled upon a website that challenged picture book writers to create one picture book story, or at least the idea for one, for each of twenty-six days through February. I was looking for a new writing challenge since finishing my first NaNoWriMo novel in November 2009. That challenge was to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November.

Writing a picture book a day seemed like it would be a walk in the park, after the demanding quota of 1,667 words per day of the Nano novel challenge. Writing 500 to 800 words or less seemed like a cinch

A piece of cake, I thought. And, as icing on the cake, you only needed 26 stories to match the 26 miles of a marathon, leaving 2 whole days in February to relax! (Unless it was leap year, like this year, then you had 3 whole days off!)

But the Picture Book Marathon had its own tests of endurance, in store for me, unique to writing for young children.

Though sometimes gasping for air, or clutching cramped writing muscles, I have managed to cross the finish line for 9 of these last 10 years.

More, later, about that one year I went off course. Right now, the starter gun has fired and I’m off to start my second decade of picture book marathons!