Comments for Kathleen Bittner Roth

Comment on I COLORED OUTSIDE THE LINES by Joan

Joan — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 00:53:23 +0000

I, too, colored within the lines. I don’t know if it was my strict Catholic upbringing or the fact that I was a people pleaser. This carried over into my adult life. Everything had to be perfect.

In college, I enjoyed writing very much and was known as a supreme “B-Ser” when it came to filling up those ‘blue books’. I could write convincingly about anything, it seemed– much to my professors’ chagrins. I remember one comment received from a professor declaring that I had a “fine flair for writing” but in the same sentence asked why I didn’t come to class. I guess I was finally trying to step out of that box.

When my son began kindergarten, his teachers complained to me that he refused to color within the lines and that his drawings had so many unusual colors. They feared, I think, that he didn’t have a good sense of reality, eye-hand coordination, or the like. When I questioned him about this, he promptly replied, “It’s okay, Mommy. I can just cut it out, anyway.” How perfectly delicious, I thought. I think I was a tad jealous!

Comment on I COLORED OUTSIDE THE LINES by Insurance

Insurance — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 08:56:30 +0000

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Comment on I COLORED OUTSIDE THE LINES by kathleen

kathleen — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 05:21:49 +0000

Hi Allison,

I wanted to be a ballet dancer too! I used to go to class in rain, sleet or hail (right behing the postman, I was. lol), and in Hibbing, Minnesota, there was plenty of sleet and snow! I was determned, bu that wasn’t practical…interesting. I love that you wrote stories early. I constantly told them, but for some odd reason, never thought to write them down! Never thought of that before. I’m learning a lot here from my own post! Thanks for stopping by, lovely comment.

Comment on I COLORED OUTSIDE THE LINES by kathleen

kathleen — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 05:17:47 +0000

Well, Ann, from where I’m sitting reading your post, I’d say there is a writer inside you! even though you didn’t color outside the lines, you still made it yours by doing the other things. It would be fun to take you on a series of “writing adventures” and help you find your muse! Thanks for stopping by and keep doing so!

Comment on I COLORED OUTSIDE THE LINES by Allison Chase

Allison Chase — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:08:59 +0000

Hi Kathleen. What a beautiful post! I’ve loved writing stories ever since the first grade, as soon as I learned how. I was always the last in the class to hand mine in because there was always more to tell. Besides a ballet dancer or an astronaut, lol, a writer is all I ever really wanted to be. Unfortunately, for many years I let myself be talked into the notion that it wasn’t “practical.” Well, maybe not, but becoming published taught me that we should NEVER tell a child that his or her dream is unreachable.

Comment on I COLORED OUTSIDE THE LINES by Ann Young

Ann Young — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:40:03 +0000

I, too, hate to admit that I had a compulsion to color within the lines. And colors had to be as close to what I considered “real” as possible. If I accidentally made a mark where it wasn’t “supposed” to be, I would often make a thick outline to cover it or draw something extra into the picture, like a bird on a tree, etc. I would also experiment with coloring techniques- light or heavy touch, mixing colors, adding my own inside lines, like apples in a tree, spots on a horse. But for some reason, I absolutely had to stay in the lines because it was what I “should” do!
I find it interesting that even though I encouraged my son to color outside the lines if he wanted, what he chose to do was the same thing I had done.
(I am clearly not a writer and am finding it very intimidating putting down even a single word on a blog where I see only really good writer’s comments. Maybe I’m finally learning to color outside the lines).

Comment on I COLORED OUTSIDE THE LINES by kathleen

kathleen — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:35:37 +0000

Ha,Wendy…Thanks to the discussion on stubble the other day on HHRW, I decided to include some stubble in my current wip The Seduction of Sarah Banks. Gotta get as much sensory perception in as possible. A Captain Crunch coloring contest? Hey, that triggered something for me. I once one a jingle contest for Thom McCann shoes in California and won shoes for the entire family. My first contest win. I secretly adored The Fonz, too.

Comment on I COLORED OUTSIDE THE LINES by Victoria Gray

Victoria Gray — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:21:11 +0000

I hate to admit this, but not only did I color within the lines, but I was very precise and even buffed my colors to a sheen – the first contest I ever won was a Captain Crunch coloring contest. Quite an honor…my prize was a Milton Bradley chess set. I’ve always been very precise in some ways, but very creative when it comes to the written word. I’ve been writing stories since I was a child, and wrote my first “romance” in Jr. High…the hero was named Henry, after the man I adored at that time, Henry Winkler, or as he was better known, The Fonz. Since then, my taste in men still runs to the bad boys (with stubble…ha..ha…Kathleen…wink…wink), at least on paper. Writing is my escape. I’d write even if I never published a word

Comment on I COLORED OUTSIDE THE LINES by kathleen

kathleen — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:38:28 +0000

Thank you, Lori. I know we need some rules, but I think it was Julia Quinn who said she breaks all the rules (one of her prologues is 18 pages long with several abrupt pov switches). I always want to break the rules when it comes to creativity. Who said we can’t do such and such? I love to watch children…left alone, they can create diamond dust out of sand, castles out of Dixie cups and pies out of mud! Don’t you love it?

Comment on I COLORED OUTSIDE THE LINES by Lori Brighton

Lori Brighton — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:01:41 +0000

I see this problem constantly with authors. They get so caught up in writing with “the rules” in mind, that they don’t write from their heart and it comes out in their books as stiff.

But what a great blog, you’ve given me something to think about with my own child and how I react to him.