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Sherry Isaac

Debut author of

STORYTELLER

A Book of Short Stories

I'm proud to

feature Multi-Margie Grad, Sherry Isaac!

Sherry has taken all my writing craft courses and DSDB, several courses twice.

Plus, she's attended my Immersion Master Class in

Colorado, and an

Advanced Immersion Master Class in Dallas.

Sherry, a Toronto-based gal, gets around. Eh? ;-)

Read this local newspaper piece on Sherry:  http://bit.ly/SherryIssacInNews

Enjoy the opening (and my analysis!) of one of Sherry's stories in STORYTELLER, "A Simple Rendezvous."

Deep Edit Analysis from Margie:

Opening Sentence: Contrasts Wendy's adventure to her ordinary world. Excellent. I'm in.

Fresh Writing: . . . one ocean-eyed girl treading water in a sea of commuters. Beautiful.

Visceral Response: Amplified, used simile, strong cadence

One and a half sentences of backstory, set up the surprise.

Varied sentence structure: From average, to long, to a two-word sentence-frag-anchor that carried the punch.

Cadence: Read the paragraph out loud. Perfect cadence. You'll train your Cadence Ear.

Kudos to Sherry Isaac!

Enjoy Sherry's humor-punched piece on Time Management.

Margie Grads: You'll spot lots of rhetorical devices below.

When you comment, share your favorite one.

The alliterative line made me laugh so loud I woke up my puppy. :-)

CRAMMING THE SCHEDULE: AN UNREALISTIC WOMAN’S GUIDE

TO TIME MANAGEMENT

by Sherry Isaac

I didn’t not have time, but I didn’t use it well. Tick-tock, tick-tock. Like a bird needs air and a fish needs water and a worm needs mud, I needed time. I wanted time. I craved time. Time galloped from my grasp, galloped with the speed of a thoroughbred, galloped in a race against the hounds of hell.

Time. Time. Time.

Time to write, time to revise, time to read. Time to learn the craft, exercise my skill, go to the bathroom.

Time was always on my mind. I couldn’t manage time, I couldn’t schedule time, I couldn’t tell time. Like a loophole in a Lindsay Lohan legal battle, there had to be a way out.

I had lists and plans and schedules. How could I not have time? I could add a million hours to my day and still get nothing done. With a little more time, I could change my world. Time was everything. Time was the enemy. Time slurped and sucked and swallowed my will to live.

Time killed.

Until I met Margie Lawson in January 2010, with no idea that a month-long online class would have such an impact on my writing career, and my everyday life.

DSDB, Defeating Self-Defeating Behaviors, was so full of horse-sense that I had to carry it over to my diet, my exercise, my outlook. Naturally, after taking Margie’s course, I no longer procrastinate. I am master of my career. All my demons have been vaporized.

Snort.

Let me rephrase: Margie’s lessons have given me the tools and knowledge to kick my own behind. In other words, not only am I better at beating the behavior that stalled my progress into a corner to weep for mercy, I am more flexible, too.

Bruised, but flexible.

I started DSDB under the illusion that I was oh, so very organized with my lists and timetables. In truth, my schedule was a mess.

Time was the culprit.

Not that time was doing anything. Time was doing what it does: ticking along, minding it’s own business.

I was oblivious to time, ignorant of its existence, and totally, completely and unashamedly unrealistic in my goal-setting. I could put together a To-Do list with my laptop behind my back. And that was my undoing.

Paying attention to how much time tasks took, and investing in a timer, made all the difference. That, and scoldings from DSDB Change Coaches Carole St-Laurent and Gloria Richard.

I added exercise to my routine. Added it to the list, just like that. There it was, in black and white. Easy Peasy.

Getting it done was a whole other matter.

I’ve learned, through trial, error, and those gentle Change Coach suggestions, that it’s great to plan a 2-mile hike. I just can’t expect to get it done in ten minutes. It’s easy to put ‘write three new chapters’ on Monday’s list, but its a whole other thing to pull it off. A half-hour run for errands never takes a half-hour, no matter what I jot down on the schedule or key into my planner.

For years, deep editing meant looking at what is on the page and fixing it. Now, thanks to Margie’s classes, I look for what is not on the page, places where I can dig deeper and draw in the senses, visceral hits, setting, dialogue, tension, internalizations and yes, white space.

Places where I can make that crucial and coveted connection with the reader.

Margie has taught me how to write with a psychologist’s eye to the flickers of emotion that come through nuances in a character’s voice, facial expressions and movement. Like a sheep in love with Little Bo Peep, I’ve followed Margie through every lecture packet she has to offer.

Even old Daredevil Dachshunds can learn new tricks, so whether you’re a newbie or a published author, dive in to Lawson Writer’s Academy and watch your skill level soar!

*Margie Grad:

If you've taken at least one online class from Margie, or attended a full day Master Class that Margie presented, you're a Margie Grad.

If you're a Margie Grad and had a book recently released or have an upcoming release, CONTACT MARGIE, to get on the Margie Grad blog schedule.  Thank you!

Post a comment TODAY, August 19th, and you may win a copy of STORYTELLER!