Keep a diary, but don't just list all the things you did during the day. Pick one incident and write it up as a brief vignette. Give it color, include quotes and dialogue, shape it like a story with a beginning, middle and end—as if it were a short story or an episode in a novel. It's great practice. Do this while figuring out what you want to write a book about. The book may even emerge from within this running diary.
JOHN BERENDT
I am constantly dreaming of my favorite city in the world Paris, France. There are so many moments when I wake up from my dream disappointed because I never actually made it there. My love of everything Paris came about three and a half years ago when I spent a summer semester abroad in France. Although we actually stayed in Cherbourg, I spent an absolute glorious weekend in Paris. I would have loved to have spent the entire month in Paris for I know I missed out on so much, but the little time I spent there with be with me a lifetime. Its like Ernest Hemingway once said, "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man (or in my case woman), then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a movable feast." It may not help that my bedroom is covered in everything Paris. On every wall there is a differnt picture capturing my beloved Paris. I have over 25 Eiffel Towers that line my bookcase. During Christmas I have a hot pink Eiffel Tower Christmas tree. (I am always on the lookout for Paris ornaments to add to my collection.) Here are just a few pictures of my room:
Just an upclose look at the tree.
My bookshelf and my beautiful Samantha doll
The pictures behind and beside my T.V. - my nephew even made me one at school, it's the green on eon the side of the bookself.
