The Devil is in the details: why paying attention is important

April 10, 2014beccakinla advice, writer, writing Tags: advice, allergies, change, editor, egg, egg free, food, ingredient label, ingredients, kosher for Passover, market, parenting, Passover, pay attention, Pesach, professional, take for granted, trends, watch, writer, writing Leave a comment

-sigh-

So there I was, patting myself on the back for having a completely kosher for Passover kitchen a full 5 days before the holiday, when I sat down to dinner with the kids for their first dinner cooked in that kitchen.

I’m not so into convenience foods at any time of year, let alone at Pesach, but this year, I decided to get on box of kosher for Passover fish-stick-thingies and one bag of frozen fries. Add some broccoli, and there’s a great pre-Passover dinner, right?

Dinner went over okay. But after dinner… Continue reading →

3 Reasons everyone needs sleep

April 9, 2014beccakinla advice, writer, writing, writing process Tags: all nighter, calm, deadlines, exhaustion, flow, focus, Lack of sleep, late night, mind, morning people, night owls, night people, pacing, Pesach, productivity, project, relaxed, sleep, sleep debt, writer, writing, writing process Leave a comment

While completing any major project — whether it’s a writing project or Pesach cleaning — it’s very tempting to burn the midnight oil. Sometimes it’s not the threat of missing the deadline that keeps you going until the wee hours; it’s the simple excitement of the flow state.

Just say no. The writing you do late at night is probably not your best, anyway. It reminds me of being around drunks or people high on marijuana: they think they’re being witty and hilarious, when really they just sound like idiots. Lack of sleep will leave you stoned.

You might insist that it’s worth it: you’re a night owl or you’re being courted by the muse. Okay. Maybe if you are truly a night owl, you can handle this. But then you better wake up after ten a.m.

Why? Here are 3 reasons for writers to hit the sack at a decent hour:

You will not be able to function well the next day. Remember, you will have work to do then, also. Small tasks will feel overwhelming and unmanageable. For example, if you write an extra hour tonight, you might loose two or three hours of writing the next day. Or you might miss errors when you proofread because of lack of focus.
Your dreaming mind may generate solutions to problems, creative ideas for your work, and gel previously distinct thoughts into a coherent whole. You don’t want to miss out on these gems.
You become negative when you suffer from sleep debt. You argue. You see things with a negative spin. Rejection letters are harder to take. You respond too quickly and harshly to emails. You turn positive stories on their heads. Writing will be frustrating rather than invigorating.

And now, I’m headed to bed. Feel free to share any deadline/all-nighter horror stories you may have experienced in the comments.

One week until seder night! How to keep focused and full of joy

April 7, 2014beccakinla advice, Jewish, Jewish writing, Judaism, passover, pesach Tags: advice, cleaning, focus, hard, I L Peretz, inspiration, joy, music, Passover, Pesach, pleasure, reading, recommended reading, work Leave a comment

Here’s today’s teeny post:

Getting through the long, hard slog with a smile on your face.

Passover is just a week away, but if you’re cleaning your house like me, scrubbing mysterious substances off of flatware and appliances you intend to use during the holiday, it can get hard to think beyond getting the house chometz-free. To get myself in the mood, I listen to lots of fun music while I clean (Jewish, classical, and jazz) and attend classes about Passover with local rabbis and teachers. I enjoy practicing singing the seder songs with my kids during carpool, and we usually read I.L. Peretz’s “The Conjuror” at some point during the week.

Writing can be hard work like that, too. What do you do — either while Pesach cleaning or while plugging away at the keyboard — to give you inspiration and focus?

New wacky Passover poetry

April 6, 2014April 8, 2014beccakinla advice, Jewish, jewish motherhood, Jewish writing, klempner, literature, passover, pesach, poetry Tags: chometz, jew, jewish, judaism, kooky, laugh, levity, limerick, Passover, passover cleaning, Pesach, pesach cleaning, poem, reading, share, silly, wacky Leave a comment

I’m not going to have much time to post in length before Pesach hits next week, but I’m going to try to share something small every day to make up for it.

So here’s your tiny morsel of Passover-related kookiness for today:

(throat-clearing)

You cleansed the windows of mud

And you scrubbed all the toys in your tub

But you still won’t be through

When Pesach is due

If you don’t clean chometz off the rug.

Free writing tip…don’t be afraid to write bad poetry. And if you’d like to share your own corny/hammy/couldn’t-hechsher-if-it-tried Pesach poetry, just add it in the comments.

Clean your file cabinets for Passover: Yet another piece of wacky advice from yours truly

March 30, 2014April 4, 2014beccakinla advice, authors, revision, submissions, submit, success, writer, writing, writing groups, writing process Tags: clean, discard, discover, discovery, file, file cabinet, finish, hunt, improve, lost, marketable, metzia, missing, Passover, passover cleaning, Pesach, pesach cleaning, purge, revise, revisit, sale, submission, success, writer, writing Leave a comment

So, in the Klempner household, preparations for Pesach — Passover — are in full swing. We’re vacuuming and scrubbing the house, the car, and the van like crazy. I’m muttering things like, “Why do I let them eat in carpool?” and “How do you get cookie crumbs in sock drawers?” under my breath.

Photo by Pptudela and available through Wikipedia Commons

One of my favorite parts of Pesach cleaning is finding things you’ve lost: the missing token from a game you’ve been wanting to play on rainy days, spare change, receipts for purchases you’ve been meaning to return, missing socks.

I’m not suggesting you pull out the 409 and start scrubbing down your file cabinets (although, if a toddler has access to its drawers, it might be a good idea). I’m suggesting that you flip through some old stories — ones you discarded incomplete, or complete but not yet ready for prime time viewing — and revisit them.

Continue reading →

Megillat Esther through the eyes of a 21st century writer, or It’s okay if G-d saves the day if there’s forshadowing

March 4, 2014March 6, 2014beccakinla advice, how to write, Jewish, Jewish writing, Judaism, literature, Orthodox, purim, writer, writing, writing process Tags: authentic, author, avoid, believer, book of esther, books, boring, deus ex machina, drama, esther, foreshadowing, G-d, Gd, God, how to write, jew, jewish, megillah, megillat esther, novel, orthodox, pitfall, purim, religion, religious, scroll, stories, strategies, suspense, The Book of Esther, Torah, worldview, writer, writing 4 Comments

This year, in preparation for Purim, I’ve been rereading the megillah at a class given by my LOR (local Orthodox rabbi). Of course, it’s not the first time I’ve read The Book of Esther, as it’s called in English. We do that every year on Purim–twice! And it’s also not the first time I’ve learned it with this particular rabbi. But it is the first time I’ve read it with commentary, guided by my rabbi, since I officially became an author (whatever that means). And boy, is there a difference.

The Big Literary No-No All Over the Megillah

A Purim Spiel in Poland. Photo shared in the Wikipedia Commons by Henryk Kotowski.

When you’re writing fiction, there is a big no-no that you’re told never to do: rely on deus ex machina. In short: don’t get your characters out of a tight corner by dropping a deity down from the sky to perform an instantaneous rescue. The audience will roll their eyes, at best.

The term originated with actors playing deities in the theaters of Greece. But for a religious writer of a different persuasion in the 21st century, it causes problems. Continue reading →

Rebecca Klempner

Author page of Rebecca Klempner

advice

The Devil is in the details: why paying attention is important

3 Reasons everyone needs sleep

Why? Here are 3 reasons for writers to hit the sack at a decent hour:

And now, I’m headed to bed. Feel free to share any deadline/all-nighter horror stories you may have experienced in the comments.

One week until seder night! How to keep focused and full of joy

Getting through the long, hard slog with a smile on your face.

Writing can be hard work like that, too. What do you do — either while Pesach cleaning or while plugging away at the keyboard — to give you inspiration and focus?

Clean your file cabinets for Passover: Yet another piece of wacky advice from yours truly

Megillat Esther through the eyes of a 21st century writer, or It’s okay if G-d saves the day if there’s forshadowing

The Big Literary No-No All Over the Megillah

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Why? Here are 3 reasons for writers to hit the sack at a decent hour:

And now, I’m headed to bed. Feel free to share any deadline/all-nighter horror stories you may have experienced in the comments.

Share this:

Getting through the long, hard slog with a smile on your face.

Writing can be hard work like that, too. What do you do — either while Pesach cleaning or while plugging away at the keyboard — to give you inspiration and focus?

Share this:

So here’s your tiny morsel of Passover-related kookiness for today:

Free writing tip…don’t be afraid to write bad poetry. And if you’d like to share your own corny/hammy/couldn’t-hechsher-if-it-tried Pesach poetry, just add it in the comments.

Share this:

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The Big Literary No-No All Over the Megillah

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