Laurie Halse Anderson, one of my favorite authors, children's or otherwise, has started her wonderful "assignment" to writers again. WFMAD or "Write Fifteen Minutes A Day" is an August project that she takes you through on her blog which you can find on her website http://madwomanintheforest.com/ and also on Facebook, Live Journal and such. It is, simply, a charge to commit to writing for 15 minutes a day, but she gives great prompts and structure to the project as well through her blog posts. I did it last summer, and, naturally, am doing it again this summer. This was my comment to Laurie tonight, and, if you are AT ALL interested in writing, I would encourage you to check it out. If you aren't a writer, at least give her books a try! They are amazing!

Thank you, Laurie Halse Anderson!

"WHY not write? Well, because it is way more tempting to sit around, check the laundry, text a friend, check Facebook, read a bit, water the flowers. But then you sit down to write. You start and you realize that 15 minutes is nothing at all and you could write forever. That is until the kids need something, or the phone rings, or you get a ding from an email, and all those things that at once were your chosen distractions become your nemesis.

Thank you for this “school like” task of WFMAD. I think at times when we have an “assignment” we take things more seriously, and give ourselves the time to do what we want, and at heart, need, to do. I actually started a blog for my 39th year of life…I turn 40 in March…and I committed to writing on it each an every day. It is part journal, part memoir, part just my thoughts at times, on random topics, but making it an assignment has made me follow through. (what a teacher/student/life long learner I am…ack!) I set an attainable goal, and have been at it for 5 months now. WFMAD blends so nicely in with that, and perhaps, gives me the “assignment” that will allow me to stretch even more as a writer.

So, I want to take the time to thank you, Laurie. I am excited to see what the month of August produces."