Revelry Review: Will Write for Food

The first book I finished this year (and couldn't wait to tell you all about!) is Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir and More by Dianne Jacob.

A bible for all things food-writing, I highly recommend this for anyone that has any interest in the area at all. Written in a tone that seems like you are having a conversation with a friend, this is a must-read that you won't want to put down. Chapters include information on writing a food blog, developing a cookbook, the art of memoir, fiction that includes food, freelancing, writing restaurant reviews and getting published.

Jacob not only provides a wealth of information for the aspiring writer, she also includes writing exercises and book suggestions at the end of each chapter. Additionally, she interviewed many well-known foodies for the book and the advice and stories of people like Anthony Bourdain, Ree Drummond, Ruth Reichl, Julia Child, MFK Fisher, David Lebovitz, Molly Wizenberg and more appear scattered throughout the book. There isn't a single question I could think of that isn't addressed somewhere in the book.

One word of warning: reading this book will make you want to quit your job so that you can divide your time between creating in the kitchen and writing up a storm on the computer!

Reverb Catch-Up: Days 4 and 5

The prompt for day 4 of Reverb 10 was: How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year?

The honest answer is that I didn't do this enough, so I wanted to make a list of the small moments with the hope that 2011 will contain many more of them. Whenever I observe Shabbat, I feel a sense of wonder. There's nothing like lighting shabbat candles and having a meal with those you love. I wonder at how time seems to stop and relaxation sets in. The noise of day-to-day life seems quieter and I appreciate life so much more during this day.

I also feel a sense of wonder when traveling. Meeting new people, seeing new sights and experiencing new things broadens both my sense of self and my sense of connection to everything else in the world.

Lastly, I feel a sense of wonder when surrounded by close family or friends. This past weekend Jesse and I attended the wedding of someone that I have known since I was four years old. It was incredible. Over Thanksgiving, we spent time with his extended family and it was perfect. I wonder over how on earth I got to this amazing place in my life.


The prompt for day 5 of Reverb 10 was: What (or whom) did you let go of this year?

I let go of some of my basic requirements for self-care. With work, grad school, a long-distance boyfriend (till May) and settling into living with Jesse, I haven't made myself as much of a priority as I would like. I need more sleep, a LOT more yoga, more sweating, more veggies, more meditation and more writing. I am heading in that direction and I can't wait to for 2011 to safeguard these practices so that I can be a better me.

Reverb 10: Day 3

The prompt for today for Reverb 10 is: Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (textures, smells, voices, noises, colors).

I would have to say I felt most alive during my graduate school graduation ceremony. The ceremony itself was hot, especially under the weight of our dark blue gowns combined with the bright lights shining on us. It was also boring, since they let everyone and their mother add their two cents in about what it means to graduate and "head out into the real world". The sound system was squeaky and I was nearly blinded as everyone's family members snapped picture after picture. By all accounts, I probably should have hated it.

However, I remember having the sudden realization that I was done. And it was like a giant weight was lifted off of my shoulders. For the first time since I was 15 years old, I would now only have one full-time job instead of either two jobs or a full-time job and school. It nearly brought tears to my eyes to think that I would now be able to experience free time for the first time in 13 years (though I am still working at being able to just relax). I could read whatever books I wanted instead of those that were assigned. I could come home from work, cook dinner and watch television if I wanted to. I could sleep in on weekends and even take vacations. And after three years of class, I now had earned a master's degree.

It was an incredible feeling.

Reverb 10: Day 2

The prompt for day two of Reverb 10 is: What do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your writing--and how can you eliminate it?

I loved this prompt because the truthful answer came to the surface immediately: me. I get in my own way. I am the problem.

I don't make the time to write, which is often the case of so many people who want to be published authors. I have to make writing a priority or I will never advance in it. Unfortunately, when other obligations and procrastinations pop up, this is often one of the first things to go. Could I live my life without spending time watching competing chefs, the Kardashian sisters and a high school singing group on tv? Sure. I could also stop surfing the web for books and clothes I don't need at night. And get more sleep so that I am not too tired when I get home from work to do a little writing before bed. So I need to just do it.

One of my goals in 2011 is to eliminate the noise, clutter and distraction so that I can set aside dedicated time to write. If I make a date with myself and block off the time in my calendar, it will happen. A good first start is getting back into daily journal writing. So thanks, Prompt #2, for giving me goal #1 for this coming year.

Reverb 10: Day 1

I've very much wanted to get back into blogging on a regular basis, so with that in mind, I decided to participate in Reverb 10. The purpose of Reverb 10, in the creators' words, is "to reflect on your year and manifest what's next." Each day in December, a prompt with be posted and I will respond to it here. If you would like to participate, you can sign up here.

The prompt for today, December 1st, is:

One word. Encapsulate the year in one word. Explain why you are choosing that word. Now, imagine it is one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

The first word that came to mind for 2010 was completion. I completed my master's degree--after three years!-- in May. Jesse and I completed the long-distance portion of our relationship (hopefully forever!) when he moved down to DC in the spring. We moved in together and completed making a home together. I feel more settled and calm. While I know it is a never-ending process, in so many ways, I feel much more complete than I did at this time last year. It's a great feeling.

The word that resonates most for me for 2011 is movement. Both the literal and figurative kind. I'd like to find physical activity that I like and want to do often. I want to get back into a regular yoga practice. I need to move forward on figuring out what I want to do professionally, or at least the next couple of career steps. I want to learn to value micromovements , as well as the slow, gentle, be-good-to-your-body-and-soul-type movements, in all areas of my life and see the beauty in them instead of simply obssessing over the large ones that may produce quicker or more visible results.

Revelry Review: Great House

This was one of those novels that is so good, you need to wait some time before telling others about it. It requires a bit of internal processing before you can verbalize that way that it affected you. It is one of very few books that I ever wanted to go back and read more than once, if only to revisit the way the beautiful prose made you feel. This is a novel that I wish I had written myself, especially since I have always been interested in its main themes. I highly recommend that you read Great House by Nicole Krauss.

Not wanting to give anything away, I will say that Great House is a novel made up of several people's stories, all of which revolve around a single desk. The stories intertwine as the reader is carried along a journey through many years, many countries and many lives. It explores themes of loss and memory, as well as people's relationships with each other, with history and with time.

The prose is so beautiful that at times I found myself reading and rereading lines, each time having them take my breath away. One quote I liked in particular was, "We search for patterns, you see, only to find where the patterns break. And it's there, in that fissure, that we pitch our tents and wait." She also writes that the characters "bend...around the shape of what they lost, and let everything mirror its absent form."

Unlike The History of Love, which is another of Krauss' fantastic works, this novel is a not as optimistic and rather quietly reveals the tragic melancholy, longing and loneliness that each of its characters has lived. You can read reviews of Great House here from NPR or here from the New York Times. It is no wonder why the New Yorker named Krauss one of its "20 Under 40" writers to watch this past summer.

In Search of the Writing Life

I am indeed in search of the writing life.

Lately I have felt a strong pull towards writing more often, more regularly and more thoroughly. In order to get closer to this, I took a few action steps:

-I started blogging at the Summer Writing Inspiration Movement . The idea behind it is to create weekly goals and be supported (and held accountable, I hope!) by others in the group.

-I signed up for the SARK Juicy Journaling program, as well as this Get Paid to Write: Become a Freelance Writer e-course, which begins on August 10th.

-I purchased a few books on freelance writing: My So-Called Freelance Life, Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer: How to Win Top Writing Assignments, and The Street Smart Writer.

One of my other goals is to write longer and more focused entries here in this blog. So tell me, dear readers, what would you like to see appear on Everyday Revelry? What do you want to know more about or talk about with other like-minded souls? I have a few ideas brewing and there are things I love to write and talk about (ie yoga, nutrition, exercise, Latin America, cooking, books, writing, creativity, travel, etc.), but I also would love to know more about what you all are interested in too!

And I *love* this vintage typewriter (or visible writing machine, apparently) poster!


{Image credit: moni cam}

Juicy Journaling with SARK!

Join me as I do the Juicy Journaling with SARK program!

A big thank you to Carolyn of Hang on Little Tomato for tweeting about the program.

You can get all of the official details in the link above, but here is the run down:

Once a day for 30 days, you will receive an email from SARK containing Today's Journal Juice (artwork on that day's theme that can be printed out), Today's Juicy Droplets (writing prompts galore!), Today's Vitamin See (a downloadable SARK quote) and Today's Refreshing Recording (an mp3 of SARK talking about the writing experience). If you register before July 29th, you also get: a discounted rate, an mp3 of SARK talking about publishing, and an invitation to a phone-in open mic night to share your writing on July 29th at 9 pm EST (you will also be sent the recording in case you can't make it). At the end of the program, you will also receive a pdf of all of the emails with the artwork in an e-book form.

I am so excited to have daily inspiration for journal writing!

Words to Grow By.

"You are lucky to be one of those people who wishes to build sand castles with words, who is willing to create a place where your imagination can wander.  We build this place with the sand of memories; these castles are our memories and inventiveness made tangible.  So part of us believes that when the tide starts coming in, we won't really have lost anything, because actually only a symbol of it was there in the sand.  Another part of us thinks we'll figure out a way to divert the ocean.  This is what separates artists from ordinary people: the belief, deep in our hearts, that if we build our castles well enough, somehow the ocean won't wash them away.  I think that is a wonderful kind of person to be."

~Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

{Photo credit: Ramonah}

Creative destruction.

Two nights ago in my Survey of International Economics course we discussed the principle of creative destruction. While we discussed it in terms of what it means in a free market system, I started thinking about it in other ways, such as how sometimes what seems like ruin actually has benefits. There's also the fact that sometimes you have to (figuratively, of course) burn the whole house down before you can begin again.

I find that's often the case with writing. I would imagine it applies to other creative outlets as well. It takes a lot of courage to do away with something you've created, but it can be done in a way that doesn't hinder, and may actually help, the process itself.

It also made me think of this book, which I don't have but I have heard good things about.

I find creative destruction to be beautifully liberating when it is applied to life in general. I have a hard time letting go of something I've created or worked on, so this was a good reminder. There is definitely something to the "out of the ashes rises the phoenix" concept.


{Photo credit: kh2rac}

Five Rules for Life.

Hey, check me out! My "Five Rules for Life" were published here.

{Photo credit: clione}

Criticism.

Yesterday was one of those days were everything I touched seemed to fall apart and I felt like every person I came into contact with had it out for me.  It seemed that I was utterly incapable of doing anything right.  I wanted to crawl up into my bed and hide away for a bit. That, combined with reading Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, got me thinking about criticism--in writing, at work, at home and in life in general.  

I am the kind of person that remembers, down to the tiniest detail, criticism I received 20 years ago as well as I remember criticism I received yesterday. Occasionally I will hear myself playing something someone said over and over again in my head.  I have been working hard to not take things as personally as I once did and to take criticism as a chance to grow, but sometimes it is very difficult.  In terms of writing, that's a risk you take every time you put words on paper and share them.  But the sharing part is powerful and the risk is usually worth it.

One of my goals is to learn how to better deal with criticism.  If you have any ideas for good resources on the subject, please share.

How do you all handle criticism, wherever it might come from?  It is learning opportunity or does it fill you with self-doubt like it does to me?  Is there a way to every fully overcome this?

{Photo credit: itzshanon}

Journal Questions.

How often do you write in a paper journal? Is there a certain time of day or a certain place you prefer to write? Do you leave your journal at home or carry it with you? How many pages do you think you write per year? Do you have any other rituals surrounding writing in your journal?

{Picture credit: NG71}

Revelry Review.

The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life by Julia Cameron

A few months ago, when I thought I might need a creative outlet that was different from what I work on/go to graduate school for (Latin America-related stuff), I started thinking about carving out time in my week to write and read about the writing process.  I was an English/Spanish literature major with a women's studies minor in undergrad.  Sometimes I really miss that part of myself.  I hope to find a way to mix all the parts of myself together through writing.  Since I am a big fan of The Artist's Way, I picked up this book the second I saw it.

Each chapter is on a different topic related to writing, the writing life or finding the courage and inspiration to start.  Each chapter ends with an initiation tool--essentially ideas from Cameron to get the creative juices flowing.  There is some overlap here with her other books, but this one, organized in chapters that are relatively unrelated, makes a great morning or bedtime read.  Get inspired and move your writing life forward chapter by chapter.

Overall, I found this book helpful for motivating myself.  There were many times when her writing exercises helped me to get over, as Cameron calls it, the mythology that surrounds writing and writers.  It made me put the pen to the page and get started.  That, in and of itself, made this book worth it.

It also had several beautiful quotes.   I will leave you with one that I wrote in my journal:

"We should write because it is human nature to write.  Writing claims our world.  It makes it directly and specifically our own.  We should write because humans are spiritual beings and writing is a powerful form of prayer and meditation, connecting us both to our own insights and to a higher and deeper level of inner guidance as well.  We should write because writing brings clarity and passion to the act of living.  Writing is sensual, experiential, grounding.  We should write because it is good for the soul.  We should write because writing yields us a body of work, a felt path through the world we live in.  We should write, above all, because we are writers whether we call ourselves writers or not."