Hi, Everyone!

Las­­­­­­­­­t month, I gave up.

Seriously. The kids were rambunctious, work was calling and I put the dogs in the garage hoping they wouldn’t find anything there to bark about.

On this day I wasn’t conquering writing in the midst of all of the noise and happenings of a family.

All the teenagers, their friends, several nieces and nephews and the family friends were at my house.  Unplanned.  They brought all the fun, noise and interruptions that go along with so many kids in one place.  When I did an actual count there were twelve kids at my house.

So I was in a quandary.  What could I accomplish today? Aha!  I could read to learn.

Through the years I’ve found I can read and block out distractions!

So that’s what I chose to do.  I picked up a new release from one of my favorite authors, Lakeside Family by Lisa Jordan.

I was going to read to learn.  What’s the difference between reading and reading to learn? I planned to learn from the author.

Before I began reading, I got some supplies by raiding my kids’ stock of colored pencils. I selected yellow, blue and red.

Once I was settled in my comfy black recliner, which incidentally allowed me to keep an eye on the kids, I picked up my colored pencils and began to read.

When Lisa showed the character’s emotion by actions, instead of telling, I used the yellow pencil to highlight the example.

When Lisa used a metaphor or an analogy, I used the blue pencil to highlight the example.

My favorite is when I get to use the red pencil because I use it whenever I discover a spiritual thread.

At the end of the book I had examples of great writing. It took a little bit of discipline to “read to learn” because I would get wrapped up in the plot. But each time I’ve tried it, it has gotten easier.

I don’t want to give the impression that I was able to read the book the whole way through.  Trust me, there were many interruptions from the kids quarreling to the teenage boys rough-housing upstairs, but I did finish it.

Despite the crowd in my house, I did accomplish something that day. On this journey to become a published author, I’ve learned another step: to be flexible.  My original goal that day was to write two chapters. When they all showed up at my house I realized it wasn’t going to happen.

I did what I could accomplish that day, got some great examples of writing and thoroughly enjoyed the book.  I highly recommend Lakeside Family.

You can use whatever color or method you want to highlight examples.  The point is, when your writing goals get wrecked, don’t throw your hands up in despair.  Do what you can when you can.  Reading to learn allowed me to get to the next step on my writing journey.

Blessings!

Alena Tauriainen

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A romance novel addict, Alena juggles life in the family business while mothering four zany kids. She ponders the beginning aspects of a writer’s life while enjoying real life with her family.