B is for BREATHE DEEP #AtoZChallenge

For this year's challenge, my theme is The Fun in Writing. Each of my 26 posts for April is aimed at illustrating fun parts of an author's day. A writer doesn't only write. Creating a story or an essay requires research, revision, editing, and lots and lots of coffee and chocolate.


B is for BREATHE DEEP

 

If you've ever gotten into a bind with your story line and wondered why you ever chose to write novels in the first place, you are in good company. Most writers, at one time or other, walk away from the computer to take a few deep breaths to clear their mind.

 

A fun writing experience I encountered was totally unplanned until the idea popped full-blown into my head. If you need a change of pace from writing your latest story, why not breathe deep, and switch gears? I took a break from writing murder mysteries to create a series of poems. Once the poetry was written and edited (very lightly), I formatted the collection and published the little book as a birthday gift to myself.

How's that for discovering

The Fun in Writing?

 

With the project completed, I was eager to return to my mystery writing!

 

 

One of the more fun, and light-hearted poems in ANOTHER NEW BEGINNING is:

 

#27

Breathe Deep

 

Apple pie

baking in the oven;
 

Lilacs

in bloom;

It only takes a moment to breathe deep.
 

Ocean breezes;

L’air du Temps;

Fresh bread cooling on the rack;

Baby’s powdered skin.
 

Breathe even deeper.

Spring

after another hard winter.


*****  *****  *****
 

 

The following is the next entry in my series of Sunday posts

 

Beginning October 18, 2015, and each succeeding Sunday for 70 weeks, my internet blogsite will feature a poem from

ANOTHER NEW BEGINNING. A short observation, sometimes informative, other times humorous, will accompany the poem, along with a complementary photograph.

 

 

The sense of smell is a strong trigger for memories. Who doesn’t get a warm feeling when reminded of a special food cooking on the stove or apple pie baking in the oven as you walked in the door after school? But how did you feel about the guy in the next cubicle at the office who wore too much aftershave? Did you need an alarm clock to wake you when bacon was frying in the kitchen?

 

When someone says, “The nose knows,” everyone nods an acknowledgement. Not all “bad” odors are bad, evidenced by a newborn baby’s soiled diaper. You’re just glad the baby is so healthy! Bed wetting, on the other hand, may conjure up completely different emotions.

 

Fragrant flowers (such as: Lilacs in bloom) recall a wide variety of memories ranging from weddings and birthdays to funerals. There is the carnation fragrance of a wrist corsage from your favorite prom date; the Hawaiian plumeria lei tossed in the ocean at the end a fantastic second-honeymoon vacation; the flowers for your son’s bar mitzvah; the table bouquets at your daughter’s baby shower.

 

During the editing process of writing a story, the writer is urged to embellish scenes with greater use of the senses for description. When the reader is drawn into the scene with their senses, they become much more emotionally involved in the story rather than being a mere observer.

 

With food, smell and taste often go hand in hand. What non-food odors, aromas, or fragrances are readily recognized and generate an immediate emotional reaction in you?