Remembering Your First Love

Back in my sophomore year I had an unusual English Teacher. If you’re anywhere near my age, you’ll remember the kind I’m referring to. They were the almost hippies types. With their hair hanging just over their collars, no tie, and yes, they actually wore those corduroy jackets with elbow patches. They got a kick out of ruffling the feathers of administration just enough to annoy them, but not enough to get fired. But it wasn't the way he dressed or picked on adminstration that made him unusual. It was the way he made writing come to life.

On the first day of class, this teacher set the tone for what would be he most exciting English class I had ever taken. He told us to open our books to a certain page. We did. Then he instructed us to place our right hands on that page. Again, we did. Then he said, “We have now met the state’s requirement for touching on the subject of grammar and punctuation. Please close your books and let’s learn something fun.”

That year, I learned what writing from the heart with creativity was. We had our choice of several novels to read. After reading the novel, the assignment was to get into a minor character head and rewrite it from their POV. I chose “One Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest.” It took the entire year to finish that assignment. We soon discovered how much work goes into writing a novel. What a great year it was. That teacher sparked something in me that has never faded. I love writing. It's as much a necessity to me as breathing.

Now before I get clunked over the head by the Grammar Gestapo let me clarify, I do believe grammar and punctuation are important. So important, that I’m taking a refresher course. Picture this, you're an editor with a slush pile a mile high. You come across two manuscripts both with equally great story lines but one is pristine while the other is riddle with grammar flaws. Which one would you choose? We may not like it, but editors will choose the one that shines every time.

Write from your heart and make it exciting. But if you are lacking the tools needed to deliver a clean package then go out and get them. There are plenty of refresher courses or if you are an ace at self learning pick up a book and learn the tools of the trade. After all, just as carpenter wouldn’t think of building a house with only a hammer and few nails. A writer mustn't construct a manuscript with only a pencil.

Happy Writings,
Laura

Conference Anyone?

There are often times in a busy life that we desire nothing more that to escape, to do something totally for ourselves. This weekend, I did just as I desired - I escaped to a sort of writer’s utopia. Where authors get to chat about writing, scene difficulties, book promotion, and favorite publishing markets.

Amidst the Terrebonne Parish Library rooms, I found a day of inspiration. There were many break out sessions on different aspects. I chose to attend one on strong dialogue. While the session was geared to screenplay or theater, the subject of improvisation proved to be invigorating. The presenter gave a few tips on how to do improvisation. I offer these for you to use in your fiction writing.

Do: take cues from your partner; play your scene from moment to moment; allow your intuition to be your guide; and be spontaneous in your actions. Don’t: deny anything your scene partner says about you or the situation; ask questions; or explain situations and feelings.

While these may not seem to fit to writing, think of it as guidelines for creating believable dialogue. Play out the conversations in your mind. I think the last Don’t is a major clue. When we are explaining situations and feelings in dialogue, we can most likely show it with actions or expressions.

Also at the conference, an editor from Harcourt really made an impression on me. Jenna Johnson presented some ideas on how to become a publisher’s dream so to speak. She shared tips on steps you can be taking now to make yourself more publishable. Several items caught my attention. Here’s a short list of those:

1. Be a member of associations (i.e., if your book is concerning psychology, what groups are you a member of? Show why you should be an expert in that field).
2. Create a readership platform and keep a list of potential readers (In other words, any place you have published, keep a record).
3. Be reading in the genre you write. You should know your genre extremely well and be versed in it.
4. You should be writing nonfiction articles on the research material that you have been using for your fiction.
5. Have a webpage, blog, myspace or any other means to market yourself and begin BEFORE are you are published.

These were just a few things that stuck out to me. I had to leave for my critique session before her workshop was finished. However, I still hear her words. READ in the genre you write. If you are writing a story that is set on a steamboat, then you should be a steamboat expert. It made me realize how little of an expert I am concerning my research and how much more I needed to perform. Also, it helped me to see that my association with StoryCrafters and its blog, plus any other writer’s associations or sites may not be wasted time.

Now, I have to add a few tasks to my platter to build my marketability.

Hitting a Strike

It didn't matter to me that the bowling ball I used in junior high school only weighed eleven pounds, or that I didn't throw it hard. What mattered to me, to my score, to my team, was where the ball hit the pins, and how many of them fell. Sometimes they fell very slowly. But a lot of times, most of them fell. When I would make one of those agonizingly slow strikes, I would turn and take a bow and say, "I'm not a power bowler -- I'm a finesse bowler."

Because I didn't have the strength to use the ball to overpower the pins, I worked on control. I could get the ball to go where I wanted it, with just enough speed and spin to knock things down.

Bowling was my only athletic effort in junior high and high school, and I did end up with a couple of trophies. Maybe my choice of sports shaped the way I approach work, and the kind of work I like to do, or maybe I chose my sport because it was a way to use a natural inclination. Either way, here I am some thirty years later still wanting to finesse whatever I do.

Webster's New World Dictionary gives this as the first definition of finesse: "adroitness; skill." And adroit is defined as skillful and clever, from a French word meaning "lay straight." Adroitly is how I tried to bowl.

So, you're wondering where the connection is between bowling and writing. Think about it. There are power writers, and there are finesse writers. From those I'm familiar with, I would use Stephen Jay Gould as an example of a power writer. He overwhelms a subject with a flood of words, but they are magnificent words and he uses them well. When I started reading Gould I had to keep a dictionary handy. The boundaries of my vocabulary have been expanded enormously as a result.

On the other hand, my personal favorite finesse writer has to be C. J. Cherryh. She uses an absolute minimum of words, with tremendous effect. But I'm sure neither of these writers started out with all that power, or all that finesse. When I started bowling, a lot of balls went in the gutters. And a lot of my writing still goes in the trash. But if I keep practicing, my score is bound to improve.

crazybasenji aka Grammar Gestapo

Back in the saddle again

I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again
I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again

Didn't Aerosmith have some great lyrics back then?

I just experienced the longest dry spell of my short-lived writing career. Sure wasn't any fun. But this week I started my next article for Writer2Writer--the monthly ezine that made me a staff member a couple months ago. I also began focusing on how to revise my short story set in Mexico so that I can work on it in earnest next week.

I reviewed my goals yesterday too. I can't tell you how great it feels to be setting goals and working towards completing items on my to-do list. Of course, if you've ever gone through a dry spell of your own, I'm sure I don't need to explain to you what it's like when the creative rains bless the dusty, parched soil of your brain and allow words to flow from your fingers onto the river of paper laying beside your nightstand.

Writers are such a diverse group of individuals. Some say they never go through periods of not being able to write. I am insanely jealous. It stinks to know you have so many ideas rattling around in your head but you have no will or desire to put them to paper--even knowing they could help you pay the bills. And then there are others who go through this kind of inability to write and manage to find a way around it. They force themselves to write, even when they don't want to. I wish I were that kind of writer. But, I'm one of those who has to wait out the dry spell and happily greet the replenishing rains when they come.

So, I am officially back in the saddle again. Setting goals and writing my way towards completing my to-do list. If I really had to tell you what it feels like, I would have to borrow more words from Aerosmith.

I'm calling all the shots tonight
I'm like a loaded gun...
I'm back in the saddle again
I'm back

Cheryl

On a personal note...

As writer's we are often thought to be sensitive to the world around us. To ourselves. Taking our experiences and mirroring them on paper. Using them to create works of art. Knowledge building articles to help others. Sometimes it's cathartic for us. Sometimes it brings more pain. It causes depression, it relieves depression.

Strangely enough, we're often introverts. We keep our pain to ourselves (meaning we don't publicize...we use it in our writing instead). We keep our lives to ourselves. We're the "shy" of the artists. We like having our work noticed, our abilities recognized, but we can be innately shy. Granted, this is a broad generalization, but it's also viewed as true by outsiders. It's very true for me.

Very recently I've gone through one personal turmoil after another. To look at the laundry list of events it would seem impossible to many to even be factual. Health, marriage and financial crises abounded, and continue to flaunt themselves in front of me.

I've always heard to take your experiences and use them for your art. I stare at the past few months and I still can't imagine how. I've only written about 3000 words in 4 months time. I have a novel that's already laid out before me and yet I can't seem to write. I certainly haven't written anything new based on anything that's happened.

So I'm giving it time. Perhaps I'll find a humor piece in it all when things are calmed down. I'm sure that there are several great non-fic pieces in there considering all the health woes. But for now I'm too deep into it. While I always used to write through the pain I haven't been able to do that this time.

One day the writing will come. I'm learning to give it time. I'm also learning to deal with the hardships life can throw at you.

One thing I can assure everyone of...they say bad things come in 3's...they lied...Right now I'm on about #7 in a 5 month period. But, I also know that this is helping me appreciate the good moments more intensely...like my girls 2nd and 1st bdays that are coming up in 2 weeks! A moment of celebration, a break from the craziness. Enjoy your good moments. Enjoy your children (even those of the furry variety). Enjoy your life...in between all the crap.

Balance Is The Key

Finding balance is a challenge for me. I’m an obsessive type and when I start something new, I go at like a monkey with a banana. Nothing stands in my way.

That worked well when I wanted to loose 50 pounds but I drove everyone else in my life nuts. It was a tremendous help when I walked the 3-day 60-mile walk for breast cancer. I spent every waking moment preparing for that walk and drove my loved ones nuts helping me to raise money for it.

Now with writing I find myself obsessing again. I cannot hold a normal conversation that doesn’t involve writing. While the other person is talking, I’m thinking of ways I can turn the topic to my current project. My brain screams stop; don’t say another word, but my mouth takes over and gabbers away. I see their eyes glaze over but I'm helpless to stop.

Just as good writing requires balance there needs to be balance in my life too. Writing is my work and I take it very serious but to continue to love it, I cannot work at it with my old obsessive ways. There is a whole world out there that I’m missing because I keep myself glued to this computer.

To find that balance I’m forcing myself to shut off the computer at a certain hour every evening to spend time with my husband, going for a walk, or watching a movie together. We’ve been married a long time so he knows it’s a struggle for me not to obsess but that doesn’t mean I want to take him for granted.

Someday, I hope writing is so natural that I don’t feel the need obsess, but I cannot count on that so I’m making strives to find balance now. Yesterday, I almost succeeded. I went to lunch with my sister and I listened to her talk about her family and other things going on in her life, I even responded with true interest. Sigh…I only brought up writing at the very end. Nobody gives up obsessing without a few setbacks.

If you’re obsessive like me, try to make time for the world around you and in the end I think we’ll find our writing is better for it. How can we write about the world and its characters if we never take the time to observe it?

Lori

Suffering for your art..

I wrote my first novel in 1997. It is still on the shelf in my office, yellowed with age, pages torn. I wrote it on a word processor. I was so proud of that machine and its thirteen-inch screen.

The novel was a sort of Max Lucado attempt. I was deeply involved in church back then and I wanted to write about the wisdom, knowledge and understanding I gained from studying the Bible. It was a joy to write. I dove deep into my subject matter, spending hours at the library and attending various churches. It was a very nice story for a nice Christian girl to write.

The writing of my current novel has not been much fun. Oh, the story is fun and the characters are written honestly. Which means of course, they do not always talk nice and they do all sorts of immoral things. Consequently, my church, and others in this town will want to stone me once this novel hits bookstore shelves. It is not a story a good Christian girl ought to write. Knowing all of this rather takes the fun out of writing it.

With every cuss word and love scene I create, I hear another rock whizzing by. I will be used by pastors around here as an example to the congregation of what is wrong with the world today. I will be a contributor to corruption. And I will be asked to leave my church. Yep, heartbreak ahead.

Steven King, of all people, is the proprietor of the words that are empowering me, helping me come to terms with the choice I had to make. He said in his book, “On Writing”, that polite society and what it thinks should be the “least of a writers concerns”. He says that “if we intend to write truthfully our days as members of polite society are numbered”.

There is a heaviness in my heart as I write the new novel, because I know that along with the joy of having a book published will come the pain of losing so many of the things I love. I know that my days in polite society are numbered.

Are you struggling with this? Playing tug of war with God, and/ or society on one end and your dream on the other? Talk it over with someone you love and get your fears out. You need someone to stand by you if you find yourself faced with retribution for your work. Also, take comfort in knowing that you are only one in a very long and distinguished line of writers who have paid a dear price for their art.

I think I now understand the dynamics behind the term ‘suffering for your art’. I can see the road ahead with clarity. I know that when I succeed I will also go through a time of heartbreak. So be it. I have made my choice.

Oh, and it helps me when I remind myself that Jesus wasn’t too fond of polite society either.

Sherry

Saying no...

Have you ever suffered from SYTT Sydrome? That's "Spreading Yourself Too Thin". I do this all the time. Thinking I need distraction from what's going on in real life, I offer myself up to a multitude of tasks; working on things for this person, that person, this person that I didn't know until they PM'd/emailed me. On top of my regular real life duties, 3 kids, a husband, my e-business, endless parades of bills, doctor's appointments, therapy appointments...so, where does my novel fit in?

Lately, it doesn't. For the first time in over 3 months I wrote 2 chapters last week. In two days. It was wonderful, it was freeing, it was satisfying. So why haven't I done it again? Because I can't say no.

Why is it we have such a problem saying no? Making obligations to people we've never met, and likely never will. To bring joy to others, when our own joy and release is the touch of a keyboard away.

I could blame writer's block, but I don't believe in that anymore. I know that if I sit down and force myself to write for 10 minutes I could write until 3AM...I know because I've done this many times. It's how the first draft of my novel was written.

I could blame my age-old "I want everyone to like me" defense. But, that's hypocritical...if you wanted everyone to like you, you'd be nice to them, not turn yourself into this insane monster trying to get everything done for everyone.

I could also blame my SAHM defense. I insanely believe I have all the time in the world...when I truly have none.

Maybe it's because, as a writer, I'm innately sensitive to "no". I expect rejections, I know what they feel like...I certainly don't want to bring them to others.

I don't know the reason, it could be all of these, it could be none. But I've realized just in the past few days that I have to say "no." To my online life. I'm hiding in it. I'm addicted to it. I don't want to disappear from it...but I have to stop taking responsibility for things that I really don't have time for. I'll be a more pleasant person for it. I'll have time for important things, like true conversation with my online friends. I'll also be forced to face the real life that is plaguing me, which if I faced it I could get MORE writing from. I might even have time for the most important venture outside of my family...my novel.

So today I'm saying "NO" to the extraneous stuff. I have spread myself too thin, and it's time to refocus.

Where in your life have you said yes, when you should have said no? Think seriously before every decision, don't dive headlong into it. Think about what's important, and if this thing is important enough to squeeze into your day.

And for once, just say "NO".

Managing your emotions

We writers are an emotional bunch. It is both a blessing and a curse. Our ability to tap into the deep emotions raging inside us is what allows us to create such believable characters. At the same time, we are prone to experiencing periods of self-doubt, insecurity, worthlessness, and in the worst case--depression.

I am reminded of Rose Wilder Lane's biography The Ghost in the Little House. Rose was considered an excellent writer in her time. She traveled to Albania, Vietnam, and Baghdad. She ghostwrote many books, in addition to her own books and the many articles she wrote for Country Gentlemen, Woman's Day, and the Saturday Evening Post.

Yet for all her success, Lane spent a lot of her adult years unable to write because of the depression that overtook her. She felt torn between living in Europe and the responsibility of caring for her parents in America. Not feeling loved as a child, she reached out to men whom she felt she could have loving relationships with, only to end them because she never found exactly what she was looking for. She always sought to write something more substantial than the books and articles she had already penned.

It has been over a month since I've been able to write anything other than blog entries. Like Lane, I am controlled by my emotions. I have two novels and a memoir waiting for me, not to mention the two short stories I wanted to finish this month. And yet, I feel absolutely no desire to write. I knew it was bad when I couldn't even write a fan fiction story--that has always been my key to kicking my imagination into gear.

In Joyce Meyer's book Managing Your Emotions, Meyer speaks of the importance of not being led by our emotions. Surely, I am one who is led by every emotion I feel. Whether or not you consider yourself a person of faith, this one sentence in Meyer's conclusion sums it all up:

Until we learn to manage them, our emotions can be our greatest enemy because Satan will try to use them to keep us from walking in the Spirit.

Can it not also be said then, that unless we learn to manage our emotions, they can be our greatest enemy because they keep us from reaching our full potential? This is where I am now. I am being led along by emotions, unable to write, because I can't manage what I am feeling.

I refuse to allow this to continue. I want to be a published writer. I want to see my books on the shelves of Barnes and Noble and Borders. I want people to interview me, instead of me interviewing them. And the only way for me to do this, is to manage my emotions. I'm not sure how to go about it yet. I will read Meyer's book, which I was never able to get through the first time. Maybe I just wasn't ready. I will keep forcing myself into my chair to write blog entries and even some words in one of the handful of writing projects I have going on. I will get through this, because I am a writer and nothing can keep me from reaching my full potential--unless I allow it.

Cheryl

More about dressing...

Speck’s dress-for-writing-success blog post reminded me of a humorous little game that I and some of my fellow conference buddies like to play.

Several years ago, I attended my first Harriette Austin Writers Conference, held on the beautiful campus of the University of Georgia in Athens Georgia.

As I rested between sessions in one of the many cozy niches watching our fellow scribes interact, I wondered if I could guess what genre a writer fancied by the type of clothing he or she wore.

Soon, I engaged my gaggle of new friends to play. The romance authors (the females, at least) tended to dress in flowery prints; some complete with beribboned hats. The mystery writers seemed to favor monochromatic attire, as did the science fiction group. The poets wore more eclectic outfits—flowing garments or bold colors. Each time we guessed successfully, we high-fived and laughed. Amazingly, we were correct more often than not, and the writers we approached enjoyed our game enough to join in.

One thing I consistently noted; the published authors and those serious about their writing were nicely attired. I saw no flip-flops, torn jeans, or slouchy clothing. First impressions stick. Who knows if the person you meet might be a future reader, agent, or editor? Shouldn’t you think enough of yourself to consider presentation in your appearance as much as in your manuscript?

All of this observation led me to wonder. As a southern fiction author with humorous undertones, how should I dress? Hmmm….

Rhett DeVane, the madhatter

Dress for Success

This was brought up at a blog I read often and I thought I'd share it here. Dress the part! No, this doesn't mean you have to wear a suit and tie or something formal and writerly to write. Jammies, sweats and barefeet are still just fine for writing.

But...when you go out in public, what impression are you sending out? I live in a very small town where practically everyone knows everything about everybody. It's very tempting to just run down to the local store in a tattered t-shirt, ragged jeans and flipflops. I try to remember when I start promoting locally they aren't going to see the professional writer me, they will see the neighbor down the road who has a lot of bad hair days. So, I'm trying to be a little less casual for those trips. Or I send the kids:--)

Another place to consider the impression you are creating is at conferences. Are you dressed as an up and coming star that everyone wants to know or do you look like the custodian and get mistaken for housekeeping? I'm not saying you should wear a business suit at conferences however you should look professional.

Websites are often the first impression a person has of us. Consider what your website says about you. Professional, approachable and fun loving or scatterbrained, stuck up and stick in the mud?

Now...I'm off to consider how to make the best first impression at the upcoming conference. I'm sure lots of chocolate will be involved:--)


Speck

Nifty use for bad poetry:--)

A few weeks ago, I talked about using everything. When we write we have to draw on everything about life that we know. Then we have to add the stuff we don’t know, but that’s another post. I was going through the junk on my desk this morning and I ran across several poems. I wrote them while I was sitting here, lost as to what to add next to my juicy novel.

I was trying to set a romantic tone in my story and needed a little help. I don’t know about you but I don’t feel too sexy in my husband’s sweats and my old black slippers. I don’t want to change my clothes, so instead I try to change the mood. Writing love poems helps set the mood I need to write believable love scenes.

Use everything, including your poetry.

It adds to the story…or it can. Weaving your own poetry into a story gives you one more way to express yourself. You might be working on a character who needs something, but you aren’t sure what. Make that character a poet. It can be the MC or a bit player, it doesn’t matter. Now, find a way to write in the poetry. Maybe the character keeps a journal or maybe he writes it on bathroom walls.

I recently read Garrison Kiellor’s Love Me. It was great fun; he’s a funny guy. One of his supporting cast is a poet. At least in her mind she is. She is trying to unlock the deeper meanings of life through her poetry. She spends most of her time in the story bordering on suicide. If I wrote the kind of crap she did, I would be suicidal too.

The point is that Mr. Keillor made up some bad, bad verse and used it to his advantage. The scraps of paper stacked beside my laptop are dripping with bad poetry. I know just what to do with them too. Her name is Kay and she writes bad poetry for her fantasy lover…or something like that


Sherry Heidelberger-Blackburn (aka) Gwanny

Titled and posted by Speck cause blogger gremlins have invaded Gwanny's puter.

Reading and Writing - Meet The Muse and The Mentor

I believe a writer’s life starts long before their desire to put words on paper. I think it starts when we fall in love with reading. My grandmother loved books and taught me to read when my teacher said I’d have to wait another year. In those days, left handed people were thought to be slow learners or dim witted. Grandma said that was bunch of hog wash and began teaching me herself. She instilled in me her honest belief that if I learned to read I could learn anything.

Each night before bed, she’d pull out one of her hardcover books and we’d start our slow progress thorough each and every word. Some books were medical journals, others were books written by philosophers dead long ago. Genre wasn’t important to her, she’d read anything she could get her hands on. Her books taught me more than words, they showed me about life, and took me to places I’d never heard of. I don’t remember the titles, characters or the even the places we visited. What I remember is that my Grandma believed in me.

I’ve been struggling for the last few weeks to write a historical fiction in which my main character is fashioned after Grandma. I had been moving right along at a steady pace when all of a sudden my muse took a nap and wouldn't help me write the ending. Right when I was frustrated and ready to hit the delete button, Grandma’s tenacity came back to me. I pictured her standing in front of me with her and on her hips. “Hog wash-- if you can learn to read, you can learn anything.” Of course I finished the first draft of that story yesterday.

We all need mentors. They don’t have to be someone you personally know. They need not be a national hero or a celebrity. Preferably your mentor is someone who shows fortitude and inspires you to strive forward even when you are about to hit the delete button. Grandma did that for me, actually she still does. She wasn’t a quitter and neither am I.

If she hadn’t taken the time to teach me, I don’t think I would have learned to love reading and later become a writer. She listened as I stuttered through each new word. In her last days Glaucoma took her eyesight and forced her to listen to books on tape but they weren’t the same. I think she was missed her first love, reading.

Find your mentor and every time you think of quitting think of how they might react. Would they simply quit or would they say something like-- “Hog wash.” Remember writing is hard work and sometimes we have to dig deep to find the determination to continue.

Lorib

Contests...to do or not to do

Most of you know of my recent contest experience but for those of you who don't, here's the short version.

A major publisher sponsored a contest in which three winners get an indepth editorial critique and possibly a request for partials. They required the first chapter and synopsis. Since this is a market I want to break into, I sent them all they asked for and began the very long wait. They were to announce winners last week. Naturally as the day approached I got a bit excited. My chapter and synopsis had been polished until you could practically see your reflection and the story fit the contest line. I was hopeful. Now, fast forward to "winner announcement day". No winners list on the website. No phone call or email of any sorta. I'm left hanging...did they not announce the winners yet? Did I not place? Did my email eat the notification of winning or possibly did they snail mail the winners and I just haven't received the letter yet?

As most of you know, I sulked about this for a day and most of another. But this reminded me of several things about contests. I thought I'd share them:--)

First...contests are subjective. In fact, very subjective. We can't really know for sure what the judges are looking for, even with their guidelines.

Second...judges sometimes wouldn't know good writing if it reached up and smacked them. Many times judges choose what they like instead of the best entry. I've seen major writing contests have the strangest, worst written winners. I don't enter many contests just for this reason.

Third...contests won't make or break your career. Sure, some contests carry more weight than others but most just aren't that important.

So...when choosing whether or not to enter a contest consider a couple things.

Is the contest one that will make a difference in the long run. The contest I entered would have given me a foot in the door so met this requirement. The Romance Writers of America have a great contest each year and making it to the final round is very respectable.

Who is judging the thing? Again, the judges were editors of the line I want to break into so it would have been nice to impress them.

What are the judges looking for? Get some guidelines and follow them. I read three books in the line then reworked my entry to meet the expectations of that line.

What is it going to cost to enter? Many contests have entry fees and that shouldn't be a problem. Unless the fee seems high for the amount given back as winnings. Some very good contests are free. Charging a fee isn't a sign of a good or bad contest, just something that should be taken into consideration when deciding to enter.

So, will I enter another major contest? Depends on lots of things. Right now I'm working on an entry for a flash fiction contest. The judge is very good, the entry fee is low, and there is a nice prize package. While not the most prestigious contest, I'm having fun writing the piece for it.

And we should enjoy our writing whenever we can:--)


Speck

Research once, write much

I am one of those crazy writers who loves research. I sometimes think I love it more than writing. We are constantly told to write what we know, but that doesn't mean we can't write about what we don't know--we just have to do some extra work. And once that work is done, it can be used over and over again, saving you time and increasing your productivity.

I began researching ovarian cancer after an annual visit to the OB/GYN. The lack of a reliable test for ovarian cancer got me interested in finding out more about the disease that has long been called a silent killer. I spent endless hours pouring over articles on the Internet and information from the American Cancer Society, the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, and the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (GCF).

Through GCF, I was put in touch with a woman whose sister died of ovarian cancer. Sheryl Silver, the Founder of Johanna's Law Alliance for Women's Cancer Awareness agreed to an interview. From the information I found and Ms. Silver's interview I was able to write two articles--one focused on raising awareness of the early warning signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer and the other on Silver's attempts to increase the instances of early detection.

I was also able to use my research in a novel I co-wrote with my sister where one of the main characters is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. We could not have provided the level of detail we needed to if we did not understand the early symptoms, treatment options, and the physical and pyschological effects of ovarian cancer.

In the fall of 2005, I queried an editor of an ezine to find out what topics she most wanted to bring her readers. She asked me to provide articles that offered time management tips for writers. I thought it was a great subject-- one that I struggled with, but knew little about how to fix. I purchased a handful of books about working from home and browsed the Internet to find what I was looking for.

This research turned into four articles focused on providing my fellow writers with ways to manage their time so they could have more productive days of writing. I continue to use this research in my current role as staff member for the monthly ezine Writer2Writer.

I even plan to reuse all the research I did for last year's National Novel Writing Month project. With what I've uncovered about daily life in the times of Jesus, I will write its sequels and possibly future articles.

If you are one of those writers--like me--who is constantly struggling to find ways to make the most out of your writing time, using research material to generate numerous articles and story ideas is a great way to save time and write more.

Cheryl

Writers, Read !

Writers, Read !


There seem to me to be an awful lot of aspiring writers who don’t read; or they don’t read much. It is beyond me how they think they will ever become a good writer when they don’t crack a book. Oh most of them have read in their lifetime; in school, as young people, as young adults, and they still read the occasional novel, but they think they have read all they really need to. They get it. They always wanted to be a writer and now that they have read all of Tom Clancy, they can write the next Great American Novel. Sorry to burst your bubble but it won’t happen. The one thing all good writers have in common is they read, and most of them, more than they write.

That is not to say that you can’t get your novel published. There are small publishing houses all over the world who make a living, albeit a small one, publishing mediocre writers. The writer assumes that if they can just get their book on a shelf somewhere, people will begin to read it. They will tell other readers how great the book is and before you know it, they have sold hundreds of thousands of books. I don’t want to make you mad, but if your writing is mediocre, people won’t mention the book. Other than to say it wasn’t well written.

If mediocre is all you’re working toward, then write on. However, if you want to be a good writer, then you need to start reading my friends. Stephen King says it best, "Reading is the creative center of a writers life." How, on earth will we know if we are good or bad, if we don’t compare our work to those who are both good and bad. I’ve read writers and thought, "Dang, I can do better than that. I am doing better than that." How will we know if we don’t read?

This second quote is part of SK’s theses and whether you are an SK fan or not, and I’m not really, the man has sold more books than I ever will. So it behooves me to listen.

"While it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible to make a good writer out of a merely competent one." Stephen King "On Writing" pg.136 par. 2.

I am a competent writer. If I will work hard, listen to those who know and learn from them, I may someday become a good writer. A great one? No. I am no Faulkner, or Shakespeare or Steinbeck. These folk are genius, and I sure ain’t one of them. Nevertheless, I can be good and I know I can. I read the good stuff and know that if I keep writing and reading I can attain the level of readership those writers have.

One more point and I’m done. I think it is audacious for a writer, who won’t spend money on someone else’s book to expect that anyone ought to lay down cash for theirs. Who do we think we are? Will I buy a book I don’t think is worth the money, one I’m not going to read? No; however, I do buy those written by good, hardworking, know their craft writers. You should too.

Reading and writing go hand in hand. If you don’t do the one, you won’t be very good at the other.

Sherry

Putting our best foot forward...

I learned how to read and write in the early 1960's, when phonics was part of the elementary school curriculum. My classmates and I learned to "sound out" the words. Then we learned how to spell the words correctly, use a dictionary to look up the meanings (and check those all-important spellings), and how to diagram a sentence to learn the rules of grammar. I learned to love to read and write perhaps in spite of all these lessons, since anymore it seems that these methods have fallen so out of favor that there is a stigma attached to them -- and to anyone who longs to see correct writing.

On a website and forum devoted to writers and writing, shouldn't we be putting our best written foot forward, as it were? "E-speak" is fine when e-mailing or text messaging friends, but, come on, we're in the public eye here. If professional agents, editors, and publishers visit this site, what do you want them to see? I want them to see my best writing -- even if the subject matter is trivial and the thought process is a little muddy. I at least want all the proper elements present and accounted for -- like complete sentences (or at least fragments that make sense), capital letters where called for, punctuation, and correct spelling. Or just call me the Grammar Gestapo.

I think I'll be leaving the country for a while now.

CrazyBasenji

Speck here... No need to leave the country. I say Amen to this post. Because we just don't know who migh show up at StoryCrafters and look around. Many of us have a link to StoryCrafters in our email signature. It is also in my blogger profile and when I post a comment at other blogs (which I do at times), anyone can come from those blogs to StoryCrafters. I bet some of y'all have the same thing going on.

Miss Snark and other agents say they do google the names of those who query them. You never can tell, but we may get agents at StoryCrafters occasionally. And while I'm not as "formal" as I could be, after all we are supposed to be having fun but I do try to make sure my words are spelled right and my posts for the most part make sense:--)

Make Every Sentence Count

I’ve been reading The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman who is a literary agent based in New York City. The book is full of insight into the world of agents and editors.

It was my naive impression that editors and agents read manuscripts with the hopes of finding one to publish. But, according to Noah, it’s the opposite. They have hundreds to plow through, so from the moment they pick yours up they are looking for a reason to reject it. Unless, of course, you are a well known author, then yours is read from start to finish and even if there are problems, they’ll find ways around them.

This book addresses more than just the first five pages. It covers everything from studying an agency and knowing why you are contacting them, to presentation, plot, pacing and progression. Each chapter has helpful examples and exercises. Lets look at hooks for instance; some writers treat them like a marketing tool to get the reader interested. That’s okay, but the rest of the book had better stand up to the hook. How many times have you felt cheated after reading the first few paragraphs of a story and just when you are getting comfy it goes flat. Not that you should keep the reader in a frenzied pace, but you must avoid the dreaded saggy middle. In his book, Noah suggests that not only each paragraph, but also every sentence should feel complete and leave the reader either satisfied or wanting more.

I did find some things that I didn’t agree with, such as, FedEx your query. The idea is that if the agent had to sign for it they'd be annoyed but would remember you. A year ago, this advice would have had me dashing to the nearest FedEx store. Now I’m more seasoned and no longer read books on writing as if they were written in stone.

If I were to FedEx my query it would most likely arrive at the agent’s door in the middle of happy hour and she’d have to stop socializing to scribble her name. Then after taking a sip of her apple martini, she’d giggle with her coworkers about the clueless newbie who had the nerve to interrupt her day. Next, she’d accidentally spill her drink on my query, shrug her shoulders, and ask for a refill. Annoying is not the first impression I want to make. If a good agent or editor receives a 1000 or more queries each month, do they want to have to sign for each of them? I think not. Writing a sensational query will get you noticed without being annoying.

I would recommend The First Five Pages as a good study aid. The exercises can help your manuscript shine and possibly get you out of the slush pile.

Check out the Scenery

When I sit down and crack open a new novel, one of the first things I want to know is where the story takes place. It's why I love To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Angry Housewives Eating Bon-Bons. They open by showing me the hot Louisiana bayou or the sub-freezing climate of northern Minnesota, or the dusty streets of Maycomb, Georgia. Once the characters come onto the scene I already have a pretty good idea of what kind of characters they will be.

Where we come from shapes us. Where our characters come from shapes them. But that's only true if the writer understands that place is a character and should be written as one.

Writers use various tools to construct, or create if you will, a character. We use index cards and checklists so we can keep up with whose eyes are green and whose hair is red. We don't want the blond at the bar to have been a redhead two chapters ago. That wouldn't do at all. But when it comes to place we novice writers tend to just tell our readers the novel takes place in Nashville, or Memphis, or Nevada and leave it at that. We do a fair job of showing our readers the interior of our setting, but we fail much of the time to give them a taste of our exterior setting. And, in my humble opinion, that's a big mistake.

I tend to write what I know, as most of us do. I know the western part of Kentucky pretty well, having lived here more than 25 years, so it is almost always the location of my stories. Hopefully my work will reach people who have never seen the state so I want to show them our pretty green, rolling hills. Tobacco barns full of hanging red -gold leaves, smoke seeping out of every crack in the wood. The early morning fog that kisses the hilltops and the verdant green forests full of life. I want to show them the beauty that shapes my not yet introduced character.

But I also need to show the poverty here. I want to show them hungry children living in un-kept shacks whose momma bore them at sixteen. I want to show them fifty year old men, unskilled laborers whose jobs have been taken by immigrants because they work for less money. My reader needs to smell the stale, dead air of a Kentucky coal mine.

Now I will introduce my character and when I do, you will know that what shaped her was growing up surrounded by beauty that she could not appreciate because she was un-learned, poverty stricken and beaten down by a life filled with babies she couldn't feed and books she couldn't read.

Keep in mind when you write that location is as important to your story as your main characters. Show me the heart and soul of your location and you show me the heart and soul of your characters.

Listening In - The Gentle Art of Eavesdropping

My grandmother was head of the little-ole-lady hotline. She lived by her own version of the Commandments, especially the one pertaining to loving thy neighbor as thyself. To her way of thinking, you couldn’t love your neighbor unless you knew what he or she was up to. She perfected the art of observing and listening, often to the extreme.

As a writer, I follow in my grandmother’s steps, only without a phone pressed to one ear. I watch people. How they move. How they dress. And, most important; how they speak. When I first started to construct dialogue, I made the newbie-writer mistake of stretching for English-composition-class perfection. One editor pointed out the error. People do not speak in complete sentences, nor do they speak in proper English. Her advice: go out into the world and practice listening to the way others express themselves. Rarely, did I hear someone say, “I am going to do this.” Instead, I heard, “I’m going to do this.” Real people use contractions to save effort. In my area, I hear tons of dropped “g’s”. People aren’t “going”, they are “goin’”. Children use different terms than their adult counterparts. Then, there is regional slang; another story all together. Especially here in the Deep South, language is a colorful and malleable thing. In my writing, I depend on the subtleties to flesh out the characters and differentiate them from each other.

My point? Yes, I do have one. Read over your dialogue – aloud, preferably. If it doesn’t sound real, make it so. Each time you venture into public, take the opportunity to eavesdrop. No, you don’t have to be obvious. In this day of cell phone mania, practically everybody around you is screeching one end of a conversation, oblivious to the surroundings. Turn off your mouth and open your eyes and ears. Then, go home and put what you learn into your writing.

Rhett DeVane…aka Madhatter

I am a writer!

That's right, I'm a writer. And so are you if you are writing, even if you aren't published yet.

But you know what? Sometimes I like the idea of being a writer better than doing the writing. Imagine with me...the fabulous parties, the very cool book signings and all the other "glory" that comes with being a published writer. How fun and exciting.

But darn it all...none of those things can possibly happen if I don't plant myself in front of the puter and work. And, writing really is work. Sure you can write just for yourself but for those of us wanting a career as a writer we have to take into consideration our readers.

We have to plan our writing. We must hook our readers from the start, keep them begging for more through those mushy middles and then leave them with an end that satisfies along with wanting to read your next story or novel. Not the easiest thing to do if you ask me.

Sure, I know the odds of fame and fortune as a writer are slim. I've heard it said many times if you are writing for money then you are in the wrong profession, better to be a plumber.

So why do I continue to sit here and peck away at the keyboard when I could be out enjoying the sun getting the flower beds ready for spring planting? It's actually very simple. I'm a writer, I have to write. Writing makes me happy...even on the days the words come slow and painful.

My challenge for you this month is to start to think like a writer. When someone asks what you do...tell them you are a writer. Make time each day to write. If you are wanting a career as a writer...treat writing like a job. Set realistic goals, deadlines and then work toward that career.

If you aren't after the career, that's cool too. Write what makes you happy, express yourself with your writing. Have fun with your words.

There's no telling where those words may take you.


Speck

The Moral of the Story

A week ago, my three-year-old daughter and I snuck under the covers for her afternoon nap. The phone rang within seconds of our settling in and thanks to caller ID I saw my husband's office number on the display.

We chatted a bit too long according to the little one laying next to me who started singing, "Shit, shit, shit."

Stifling laughter, I whispered into the phone, "Can you hear her?"

"No, what is she saying?" asked the hubby.

"S-h-i-t over and over again."

"What are you going to do?"

"Ignore her."

But the child would not be ignored so we decided to end our conversation until I got her to sleep. I explained to my tiny, curly headed daughter that the particular word she sang was not polite.

"But you use it," she said.

Well, she had me there, so we agreed to try and not use it anymore.

Here is where the writer in me steps in to explain why I shared this story. The words penned above speak of just one of the many comical incidents I experience as a mother. But the writer in me sees more than a mother trying to keep her child from saying a naughty word.

My creative side sees:

- An article about the importance of leading by example
- A humorous out of the mouths of babes story for a parenting magazine
- An article offering tips to parents on how to deal with a child who uses naughty words
- A funny story to share with the readers of my blog
- A fictional account where a child is verbally and physically abused by his father but overcomes it to give a better life to his own children
- The story of a person who tries to win every situation by striking a deal, until it leads him to a deal with the devil and he loses his soul

These were only a few of the ideas which popped into my head when I composed this entry. Perhaps you saw other ways in which to use it.

The moral of the story is: take what you know and turn it into an article or story that can inform and/or entertain your readers. When we write things that ring true for us it is likely they ring true for others. And isn't relating to our readers what this business is all about?

Cheryl

Writing by Numbers

Writers spend a great deal of time learning the craft of writing. I’ve been a student of writing craft for almost 3 years now. While it is true that we must master the craft to become good writers, we will never be published beyond our wildest dreams if we neglect the art of the written word.

When I think of art, I think of painters. You may think of art in terms of music, or dance but I think of painters. When Lee and I were on our honeymoon in beautiful downtown Louisville, we took the time to visit the Speed Museum. No, it’s not a place for racecar fans. It’s where Monet hangs from nearly every wall. We spent hours there, studying the great's and over and over we asked one another, “How did they do that?” Most of them did it by studying the craft from the masters who came before them and as writers we do the same thing. But, if all the masters did was copy the craft, their work would look much like one of those paint by numbers paintings we did as children. So how did Monet create paintings that are distinctly Monet?

Stanislavsky said it best…Use everything in your life to create your art. Monet used everything. What he knew of life in the real, and what he knew of life in the surreal. He took his craft and created art. As writers this is what we must strive for.

We cannot simply use the craft, or our work comes out reading like a write-by-numbers little book. We must take our craft and add to it our life. We must use every single thing we know about life and create characters and places that are as alive as we are. If we fail to do that, we may still be published but the dream of being a great author will forever elude us.

Sit down today and write. But don’t just write-by-numbers. Paint the words onto your paper, and let your life force flow.

Gwanny

Trade journals versus forums and newsletters

Recently I started a poll at the StoryCrafters forum. I asked how many of my fellow writers subscribed to trade journals. The results surprised me. Twenty-five percent of those who responded do not subscribe to any. They cited various other avenues to find trade news and helpful tips to improve their craft.

From forums, to websites, to online newsletters there is a wealth of information out there to help writers-- and much of it is free. So, I had to ask, why is it that I pay for three trade journals when I can get good information for no cost at all? Not that trade journals aren't helpful, but if I am struggling to keep expenses down wouldn't it be prudent to subscribe to free newletters and participate in forums. Then I could afford business cards, stationery, or maybe even a professional website to promote my work--which will certainly increase my exposure and hopefully lead to more sales.

Sure looks like 2007 will be the year I change the way I handle and promote my writing career.

Cheryl

No Brags, Just Facts

Here is another great entry from Gwanny. She asked me to post it for her while our favorite troll is recovering.

Cheryl

I spend a lot of time each day perusing the Storycrafters site. Not a lot of time in hours, but a lot of visits per day. It gives me a frequent and refreshing break from what can otherwise become a solitary, lonely existence.

Storycrafters is a lot of fun. There are jokes, posts by just published writers and talk of homelife. But while it’s enjoyable it is also very educational. And that’s what I love most about the site.

Here at SC you will find something for everyone. This is not a woman’s only club; this site has no agenda. Anyone who wishes can join. And that includes Aliens, Elf’s Troll’s and the like. No matter who you are, or what you write there is someone here who can either benefit from your knowledge, or can assist you as you aspire to become the best writer you can be.

Give this short list of published authors and their genre a look see and I bet you will find someone here you can relate to.

Speck…Romance, Mystery, S.F. Non-fiction and almost anything you need to know about anything in the great big publishing world. Query letters, cover letters, and summaries. She is amazing and we all run to her moat in search of writerly wisdom.

Madame Sassy…Romance, Specializes in Talking Head Syndrome. Critiquer Extraordinaire. Also a person you want to talk to if you need help navigating the biz. Sassy stays in trouble quite a bit in the Storytrain. Check her out.

Ccmal…We call her CC. Non-Fiction, Mainstream Fiction, Mystery, and Romance. And if that’s not enough, she will give one of the most professional critiques you will find anywhere. CC forever inspires us to be the best we can be.

Mad Hatter…Our Court Jester. Southern Fiction, Mainstream Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children’s Stories and giver of terrific advice. Mad knows the publishing world very well. She also gives us a laugh or two every day. Ask her what a Cathead Biscuit is.

Forest Elf…our wanderer. Y/A Novelist, Non-fiction, Romance and all around knower of interesting and helpful fact. Another great helper when it comes to the publishing world. She also happens to drive over the road long haul for a living. She has answers to things I didn’t know had questions.

I could go on but every one is so great that this post would wind up looking like an acceptance speech from an Academy Award recipient.

So come join us, I mean really join in. For those of you here every day, talk to us, help us, and let us help you if we can. For those of you who might be thinking of joining us, please do. The more the merrier.

Storycrafters is the best thing going for an aspiring writer, and I ought to know, cause I are one.

Sherry

Websites and Promoting Them

For the last couple days I've been working on my personal website. I changed hosts and it was inactive for a while. It is nice to have it back online but I have to wonder how valuable it really is. If no one ever sees it, then it does me no good.

Same thing for this blog. If no one knows it is here, then it does us no good. We have a wealth of info here that deserves to be read, we just have to let others know it is here.

So, how do we make our online presence known to the rest of the web? Here's a couple ideas.

Business cards. These are relatively inexpensive. You can even do them at home with a decent printer. But what do you put on them? Start with the obvious...your name and website. Maybe a brief blurb about your book. I'd not recommend putting your home address and phone number but maybe a special email just for the purpose instead.

Once you have them, what do you do with them? How about putting them in your bill payment or leaving on the restraurant table with your tip? Never can tell, they just might reach a reader. When I sold Avon, I always sent a book through the bank drive in when I was there and actually had quite a few sales from them. Many stores have a bulletin board too. Why not stick one there. Taking your car to the shop and waiting; leave a couple on the waiting room table.

Check with your insurance person, dentist, eye doc and any place you do business. Sometimes you can leave business cards in their office waiting areas. These are places filled with people who will read just about anything to avoid being bored. And again, who knows you just might connect with someone. Many writing conferences also have a table in some visible area where writers are encouraged to put out business cards and such. Be sure to take some with you.

I'm pretty sure all of us email. One way to get the word out is to add a personalized signature to all your emails. You can add a catchy saying, website or blog addy and a personal invite to stop by.

And what about our writing buddies? Why not add a "cool links" page to your website and add them. If we all link to each other, we can spread the word about our websites all over the web with very little effort.

These are just a couple ideas I have. Please share any promotion ideas you have in the comment section.

Speck

New addition to blog...

Hey all...scroll way down and check out our new counter:--) I guestimated visits since Jan. 1st so it isn't exact but thought it might be cool to keep up with how many visits we get.


Speck

The procrastinator in me

I put off writing this entry. I told myself over and over again that I had plenty of time. So, I played on the Internet last night, chatting with some friends and posting at a few forums. I figured I could post to the blog early this morning after getting the little one off to school. I don't even remember right now what my original topic was going to be.

But today, real life reared its interferring head and instead of typing away at my computer to meet my deadline, I was calling around to get my microwave serviced. After finding out it would cost more to repair the darn thing than to buy a new one, I cancelled the service call and began comparing models online. Then I drove to the local appliance stores. And then I stopped to have the passenger side rear tire repaired on my husband's truck because it had a slow leak. Needless to say, I had no time to compose my blog entry.

Now, I am finally home and am busy catching up on all that housework I would have done if I had been around all morning--washing dishes, doing laundry, making the bed, cleaning the house.

In between sprints from one end of the house to the other, I am rushing to get this entry done. And why, because I just haven't taught myself to sit down and write every day. I wander aimlessly around the World Wide Web looking for great sales instead of parking my posterior in my chair and working on my next project. There really is no excuse for it--I just like the pressure my procrastination creates.

But today, I am determined to change all that. As of this moment, I will procrastinate no more. My writing will be better because I am not rushed through a first draft and final edits. My thinking process will be clearer because my mind is not clouded by the looming deadlines hanging over my head. The inspiration will be there every day because I have told it to be ready and waiting. I will have more time for writing, reading, and playing because I am not in a panic to accomplish what needs to be done. I have the power and I will use it.

Who will join me?

Cheryl

Free Writing

Writer’s block is a term we all hear a lot and use ourselves when it’s fitting. I don’t know where the term came from or when it was first used but I know I detest it. It’s a cop out, pure and simple.

After many years of writing, and claiming writers block during the times I haven’t written, I have found that I use it as an excuse. ‘Well, I haven’t been able to write for the last many weeks because I have writers block’- or- ‘ Can someone please help me figure out this scene? I seem to have writer’s block.’ Nonsense.

I don’t have writer’s block, I don’t even believe in it anymore and I will never again use it as an excuse for not sitting down to write. I’ve done a lot of research on the subject (I had plenty of time to research while I suffered from writers block lol), and I discovered that the term, as well as the act is rubbish.

This is how it works. We sit down and pull up our word program. Then, nothing. We stare at our empty screen and nothing at all comes to mind. Now I ask you, is that even possible? For nothing to come to our mind? Of course it’s not possible. When was the last time your brain was as blank as the screen in front of you?

We are always, and I mean always thinking on something, even if it’s the fact our screen is blank. So start there…’My screen is blank’… now keep writing. This is called the act of free writing and it’s one of my favorite things to do. It doesn’t matter what you write, you simply write down the thoughts in your brain. They don’t have to mean anything; they don’t have to tell a story. They can and likely will go like this…

I wonder if that was the dryer going off…man that dog snores loud, wonder what I’ll fix for supper tonight…gotta clean the litterbox it’s awful…

When we free write, writing down what we think now and nothing else, we give ourselves permission to write. Once we begin, our brain is unclogged and before we know what’s happening, we are writing a story. Maybe not a good one but first drafts rarely are. See what I just said…first draft. That’s right. In the middle of our free write appears a first draft. We can then delete the free writing we did to get us started and we have the makings of a story.

Next time you allow yourself to tell yourself you have writer’s block, tell yourself that’s impossible. Sit down and free write and you will soon find that blocking the thoughts of a writer is as impossible as plugging a hole in a dam with your finger.


Sherry Heidelberger-Blackburn (aka) Gwanny

Why do you write?

When I first starting writing seriously, I had the mistaken belief that books were easy to write. That once I had the book written all I had to do was send it out to the agent of my choice, wait a few months and before I could even say bestseller, it would be book signings and the Oprah show. Money would come pouring in and in about a year I'd be living high on the hog.

But wow, did that idea crash and burn soon. I discovered writing well enough to connect with the readers is darn hard work. With a bit more study I learned how the publishing industry really works.

Writing well is a craft that has to be practiced and perfected. Agents are swamped with submissions and can pick and choose who they want to represent. Book signings aren't all they're cracked up to be and if I want to do them, I'll probably have to set them up myself and even then there is no guarantee of success. And as far as the Oprah show...well, I'm not going to hold my breath.

Yet, here I am. Four years later still working hard at learning my craft and studying the publishing industry.

Writing has given me an outlet to express myself. I can play with dragons, catch the bad guys, romance a hunky hero, visit the outer reaches of the universe or write something that will touch and inspire others.

I once read the statistics that many doctors, lawyers and professional people wanted to be able to quit their day jobs and become writers but only rarely did a writer want to change jobs and do something else. I can believe that. What other job lets us play with dragons, become heros and travel to lands far away all from the comfort of our homes. And sometimes we even get paid! How cool is that!!!

Speck

Back it Up

I feel like the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. I’m running around pulling my hair out and screaming, “I’m late, I’m late….for everything.” This drives me insane. I’m never late for anything. What’s worse, I put myself in this predicament.

The motherboard on my computer blew taking with it the processor and the hard drive. Did I listen to the wise people before me who shared their disastrous computer breakdowns? Well yes, I listened and felt empathy for them. However, I didn’t take it to heart, so I didn’t faithfully back up my work.

Thankfully, I do have a few items in hard copy. They’re mostly earlier versions and will need revisions. It’s a fitting punishment for my foolish folly.

I broke into a sweat thinking about how much worse it could have been. What if I'd had a brilliant partial sitting on some editor’s desk and he/she requested a full manuscript? That didn’t happen but what if it had?

Speck shared the clever way she saves her work. She emails it to herself. That’s simple enough to do. I was able to retrieve the e-mailed assignments I did with BIP course. Anything that wasn’t an assignment is just plain gone. I cringe when I look at my novel binder and knowing I’ll have to start over from the beginning.

Here are a few suggestions for busy the writer:

Back up often…once a week or bi-weekly or if you're a brave heart monthly

Email your stories and articles to yourself

Print hard copies

Don’t put off these important steps because a computer crash doesn’t give you fair warning.

On the bright side, lessons learned the hard way usually stay learned.

Lori

Fears...

Gwanny posted something at StoryCrafters today that caught my attention. And I think it is true for a lot of us.

Here's her comments...

"I admitted to Lee tonight that the fear of failure re this query letter has been eating at me since Friday.

...I am a coward and for some reason afraid of succeeding...make sense? Prolly not, but I know failure better than I know success. It's like an old friend."

Fear of failure is a biggie for probably all of us at one time or another. Why else do we edit, rewrite, edit and then rewrite and edit some more before we send out a piece. Sure, we want it the best we can get it but there are times we edit and rewrite to the point we are just changing things we changed three rewrites ago. That's a sure sign we have gone over the rewriting cliff.

Fear of failure is also the reason submissions sit on our desks so long the price of stamps go up and we have to redo the submission package.

But...the fear of succeeding, that seems to make no sense. Yet how many of us know we write well (at least well enough to sale) and still don't send out things?

Here's where the troll bares part of her soul:--) I'm dealing with this to a degree right now. I'm not afraid of being rejected with my nonfiction project. But what if he loves the first chapters I send? That means I have to write the rest of it even better. What if everyone who reads it loves it and recommends it to others who love it? That means the next project must even be better...and again I wonder if I'm able to live up to those expectations.

Most of you know I have Mary for my Long Ridge novel course instructor. Gosh how that scares me at times. Yeah, I insisted on her when I signed up. Because I knew she would be best able to teach me what I need to know but sending assignments to her really, really take nerve. Why you ask? Because I've seen so much improvement in my writing, I feel I'm expected to not make mistakes. She knows how much I've improved and expects me to write well...and I don't want to let her down. Yes, that is a personal issue I'm dealing with now and not something I've gotten from her but it still bothers me at times.

Also, what could success bring to us writers? Fame and fortune we hope. But what about fans who expect a great next book? Can we write books that people want to read again and again or is one good book all we have in us??? And that fame and fortune, what does it bring? Book signings, speaking engagement and more of the unknown future.

As Gwanny said, failure is an old friend. We've all gotten rejection letters. We are used to them. If truth be told, I bet we expect them more than we expect acceptance letters. I mean, why else do we have several places in mind for each piece we gather the nerve to send out?

So...I guess the thing to do is decide what we are going to do with our fear. I think I'll suck it up, gather my courage and get to work. Want to join me?


Speck

I Cannot Tell a Lie

Write what you know. How many times as writers have we heard that? I’ve heard it so much I never want to hear it again.

Okay, this is what I know. I know about communications both the art and the science thereof. I know about raising kids and what a joy it is to be a Granny. I know about people and dogs. I know about all kinds of things that most of the rest of you know too. We are a very smart society.

Okay, so I know stuff.

Now, what about the things I don’t know. This list will be much longer. I don’t know how to kill a guy. I don’t know much about romance, and what I do know would bore you to tears. I know nothing about outer space or what’s under the sea, and my lack of knowledge about warp drives and hard drives boggles the mind.

Suffice it to say that I don’t know more than I do know. So, what do I write about? How do I kill someone in a work of fiction? How do I lay a clue, or put together a couple of steaming bodies and create a love scene. Better yet, how can I take you into galaxies far, far away and make you believe it, when I don’t know Orion from the Big Dipper?

Writers do it all the time and I have finally figured out how. They write what they know. I am learning what I know best for example is people. So, let me stick with that. I will write about what makes them tick and I can write it honestly and from their point of view. I am going to stick to making the people the story. Then when I need to I’ll research how to effectively commit murder and I’ll kill off one of those people I know so well. I won’t get heavy into particulars because I don’t know enough about murder to make you, as my reader believe that I do. But I can learn enough to know that the way I do it is honest.

I can go on, but you get it, right? Writing what we know becomes the theme of our work. Writing the things we don’t know is what makes the things we do know more interesting. No matter which we are writing, we must be honest with our readers. They will know in a heartbeat if we are trying to lie to them about what we know, and they will never read us again.

Now, I’m off to research what I don’t know about baseball. I don’t need to research the guy holding the bat, him I know.

Gwanny

To Had or to Had Not

All writers have their favorite quotes. Most of them are quotes from writers we admire, those who have succeeded at their craft. We post them around our offices, on our bulletin boards and even at the edge of our computer screens. They encourage us, making us look deeper into ourselves and what we put down on paper.

My favorite is one I hate. I love to hate it, but I hate it. The first time I read it I thought, well this guy is a jerk. He obviously doesn’t read much.

It goes like this:‘Words are like leaves and where they most abound, much fruit beneath is rarely found.”*

After reading it a few times, all the while burying myself deeper into my craft, I began to get what he meant. Writers use one thing, words. It’s all we have. Words are the tools we use to create our art. What I am coming to realize is that we tend to think the more words we use, the better our creation. We can wow our readers with all of the words we know. This simply isn’t true.

Right now I am working to take the word ‘had’ out of my writing. It’s just a little word, doesn’t take up much space and adds nicely to our word count. I call it a ‘cheater’ word. It’s an empty meaningless word that all of us ought to strike from our writing, unless it is absolutely needed.

Here’s a quick example of what I mean.

He had not given her his answer.
He did not give her an answer.

She had never seen him before today.
She never saw him before today.

The word had takes the action right out of a sentence. An entire scene can be flattened by the small, meaningless little word.

Give it a try. Look over your latest story and see how many times you have deflated a sentence by using the word. Re-word your sentence, replacing had, and see what you wind up with. My guess is you will be much more pleased with the flow of your sentence, and your scene.

Sherry

*Essay on Criticism-Pope

Posted by Speck for Gwanny cause Blogger and her puter don't seem to be able to play nice together.

COURAGE

Hey all...

I have this posted on my office wall where I can see it. Thought I'd share with you.


COURAGE

Confronting the dragons
Overcoming the obstacles
Understanding the risks
Really living
Always believing
Going the distance
Expecting the best

I like this. It applies to a lot of things in life, including writing.

First, those dragons of doubt. How hard they are to deal with sometimes. Not only do we have to deal with dragons and shoulder vultures, sometimes our family and friends become obstacles. But, when we understand rejection letters and such are a normal part of the process we can write and enjoy it, really living so to speak. Success with our writing comes with always believing in ourselves and going the distance when we'd rather give up. Naturally, we should always expect the best from each submission.

I find this to be an almost daily process. Some days I'm not bothered so much by the dragons but other days they seem to arrive in a large numbers determined to have me for lunch. Life throws obstacles my way all the time but how I deal with them is my choice. By studying markets, learning my craft and becoming a better writer I can get rid of some of the risks but no matter what, I have to always believe in myself. I have to choose to not give up and to expect good things.

I hope you confront your dragons, believe in yourself and really live:--)


Speck

Working from home

When I decided to stay at home with my children and work on fulfilling my dream of becoming a writer it seemed liked paradise. Who could complain about shuffling out of bed to play with her little ones and then sauntering over to the computer in her pajamas to type out a few words?

But as the weeks turned into months I found myself upset a lot of the time. I snapped at the kids for no reason, I didn't feel like eating, and I wasted valuable writing time surfing the Internet. Life at home didn't end up being as peachy as I thought it would be. Feelings of isolation crept up on me. I didn't know how to change the way I felt, but I knew I couldn't put my girls into day care and return to working outside the house just to make me happy.

So what could I do?

Here are a few quick tips to help quell the feelings of isolation those who work from home can experience:

* Use email to chat with friends and colleagues
* Join chat rooms or forums
* Change the scenery by getting up and going out
* Attend professional conferences
* Volunteer in your community

I've used more than one of these tips over the past three years. That's how I stumbled across StoryCrafters. I find if I keep in touch with people and make a point to get out of the house at least once a week--even if it's just to the mall for lunch--I can cope with spending the majority of my time at home. There are still days when the kids are cranky and I don't feel like accomplishing much, but knowing how to push those feelings of isolation aside, helps me be in the right frame of mind to handle just about anything--like my girls getting into my craft supplies and pulling balls of yarn from one upstairs room to the other while I edited an article.

That sounds stupid!

Convince yourself that you are working in clay, not marble, on paper not eternal bronze: Let that first sentence be as stupid as it wishes.
— Jacques Barzun

I found this quote quite recently and it hit home. Which of us doesn't have days where we stare at our computer screen, or our paper, for hours without writing a word? Or, we do write, but delete everything we say within a few minutes of writing it because it's 'so horrible'?

For the past six weeks I have been away from writing anything of substance. I have edited. I 'changed it up' (as per my last post), and wrote mindless RPG. But, I have goals to meet. I have to get back to actual writing.

For the past three days I've tried to do just that. To buckle down and begin writing again. I pulled up to my desk with a certain level of excitement at knowing I was halfway done. The upcoming chapters promised so much in my head.

I haven't managed to write one word. Six weeks of time off has made my muse run for the hills at the very thought of trying to write something that doesn't sound stupid. I can't break past that first sentence.

So, once again procrastinating, I started surfing the web. I literally stumbled upon this quote and it fairly screamed at me. I need to JUST WRITE. If the first sentence sounds stupid, who cares? I'll be going back to edit anyway, I can fix that later.

At one point in time during NaNo I got stuck on a transition paragraph. Nothing I wrote worked. So, I 'skipped' it. Literally. I wrote this in its place:

Insert transition paragraph here because I have no clue what to write and I just want to get past this block. The best way to do that is to pretend I’ve written it and come back later with a more powerful statement then what I have in my head that sounds like fluff and filler and basic crap.

It got me through the block, I wrote almost 3000 words that day, and I went back and fixed it during editing this past month.

So, today I'm going to sit down. I'm going to write the first sentence of the rest of the book, no matter how stupid it sounds.

Write through the block. Allow a stupid sentence. You're going to edit half of them away, anyway!

Funding a Writing Career

Funding a Writing Career

I’m cheap, always have been. When the kids were little, I made the Hamburger Helper type meals from scratch. A little pasta, add some vegetables and meat; you’ve a complete meal that fills their little tummies.

A writing career is a home based business and therefore, requires a certain amount of funding. There are classes, seminars, office supplies, mailing supplies, books, market guides, promotion expenses and magazines. Like any start up business you initially put out more than you take in. That’s where being a thrifty type person comes in handy. It takes a little sacrificing but in the end…

This year I want to attend a writer’s conference so I’ve brain stormed a way to save some money for one. I like going out to eat and probably do that once or twice a week. I’m giving up one night a week and putting that money in a piggy bank. That’s about $30.00 a week or $120.00 a month!

As writers, we use tons of paper every week. At an average of $3.99 per package the costs adds up. I recycle my paper. I keep a box next to my computer and after editing a hard copy of a manuscript it goes into the box. Then I use the backside of that paper for character sketches, re-writes, notes, doodling and brainstorming.

Ink is another costly expense. When I started taking writing classes I took a serious look at the cost of things and realized that I needed to cut expenses. I do most of my editing on the computer screen. This saves on ink, but for me it’s not the same as a hard copy; when it’s as close to polished as possible, I print it out on my re-cycled paper. Then edit again. I also have a rule, no printing web pages that use color unless it’s a necessity. This way I’m buying black ink only.

Writers are avid readers too. I’ve spent a fortune in books. Now I’ve put some boundaries on my spending. The library is the cheapest way to study a new genre. If you’re like me, you like owning the books you read. This way if it gets a little wet while I’m soaking in the tub, it’s no one’s loss but my own. I save money by buying books for genre study at the second hand stores. One exception to this rule is when a writer friend has a book or article published I buy that brand new. After all, we need to support each other on the way up.

With a little sacrifice and creativity, you can save a dime here and there. Trust me, it adds up.

Lori

Stepping out...

Hey all...

Remember the last Indiana Jones movie where Indi has made it through all the hidden traps and is standing at the edge of the cliff? He has to continue on, but there is no visible means to cross the great chasm. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and stepped out. And his faith held him up and carried him to the other side. Good movie but what does this have to do with writing you ask?

Today I sent two applications to present workshops at a National Christian Writers Convention. Hitting that send button was like Indi stepping out from the ledge. Not only did I have second thoughts but I had to smack the shoulder vulture that kept whispering that I had nothing to say that anyone would want to listen to. But, I took that deep breath, wanted to close my eyes and hit the send button anyway. Naturally the shoulder vulture had to laugh and make a snide comment about how if they did like the idea I'd choke in front of a group of people. I smacked him again and now I have feathers all over my desk:-)

But each of us have to take that step if we want to be published. Yes, we will get rejection letters and they will hurt. That is just one of the realities we have to face as writers. Not every reader will love our writing and that is fine. Not every place we submit will want to publish our work. When that happens we just have to take a deep breath and send it right back out.

So...let's all take a deep breath and step out of our comfort zone. Try writing a different genre, you might like it. Got an idea for an article? Find a market and query or write it and then query. Either way, take that step and try something different. Got a story or article ready to go out but haven't gathered the nerve to send it? It's time to take that deep breath and send it out.

Yes, the shoulder vultures are going to make snide remarks and laugh. But who cares what they have to say...not us for sure. Smack them:--)


Speck

Dedication

Everyone has dedication to some thing in one form or another. For me, dedication means to carry through with my goals and dreams until they become a reality. My main goal is to write, second is to have a large press publish more than one of my novels. In other words, I want to succeed with my writing. Of course, when I first started, I did so not with the thought to become published. I assumed that was impossible for me. After all, the published authors were special.

Well, guess what? I’m special too. I may not write like other authors but that doesn’t make my work lesser than theirs, just different. What makes me special is the fact that I have persevered. I move forward. I no longer whisper that I am a writer. I tell everyone that will listen. I submit, receive rejections, and submit again, and I learn everything I can about my craft. Day after day, I practice to make my writing better. This is dedication.

To succeed, I have to set goals, stay focused on them and never give up on my abilities. That’s what being dedicated is all about.

Judy

Anxiety and Self-doubt

In Heather Sellers' book Page after Page she says in order to learn how to write every day, "writers have to gently embrace ambivalence, anxiety, not-sure-ness."

Usually, I have my blog entry planned a week in advance; not the words, but the idea is formed in my head enough where I can type it up with ease, edit it a couple times, and then hit "publish post." But not this week. I drew a blank. What did I have to offer of value to anyone? There are many members on StoryCrafters whose experience in the field of writing surpasses mine. These peers--can I even call them that since I am so lame compared to them--post in the Bragging Rights section about their latest sales, while I have struggled along for the past three years squeaking out only one sale, a finished novel that might never go anywhere, and another whose progress seems destined to stay at the 15,200 words I wrote for NaNo. And yet, here is Sellers telling me I have to embrace these feelings. What kinds of drugs is this woman doing, and where in the heck can I get some?

"Anyone can start writing," claims Sellers. "To keep on creating and grow as a writer, you also believe you suck." Ok, now I'm sitting here screaming, "She understands me!" but she says it's a good thing I feel this way.

What? How can that possibly be? I must read more.

Then Sellers tells me, I have to start looking at self-doubt and anxiety in a whole new way. "Being unsure," she says, "is one of the things that helps you steer in revision." So, there is a good reason to feel this way. Hmmm...

What do you know, experiencing self-doubt and anxiety doesn't make me a worse writer, it actually helps me. Who would have thought? Now, I'll have to think of self-doubt and anxiety as my friends instead of my enemies. I'll have to be careful they don't move in and take over my house, but without them hanging by my side, I wouldn't be pushed into making every article, every paragraph, every sentence, each word, the best it can be.

I guess, I could hope to be one of those writers whose first drafts are close to their published works. Maybe I would feel better if my resume had a long string of impressive writing credits. But that doesn't make me a writer. The actual art of sitting down and putting pen to paper or typing out words on a keyboard is what makes me a writer. No one can tell my articles or stories the same way I can. And that is the value behind them.

More on goals...

I've been doing a lot of reading about setting goals lately. One thing that caught my attention dealt with setting goals we have no control over. For example...I want to sell my dragon fantasy to Tor this year. Well, that is nice but it is something I have no control over. Someone else is in charge of buying for Tor. A better goal would be to submit my dragon fantasy to Tor this year. That is something I do have control over and a goal I can accomplish.

But we also need to break our goals down into bite size pieces we can chew easily. So, using my dragon fantasy novel for example, I have to look at it and decide what it needs before it can be sent to Tor. It most definitely needs some revision so if I revise just one chapter a week, it will take approximately 9 months.

I also need a synopsis, cover and query letter. That should be doable in a month. So, in ten months I should be able to accomplish the goal of sending dragon fantasy out.

By breaking down the "overall" goal into smaller pieces, I can see when I'm ahead of schedule, or behind and what I need to get done.

The most important thing about goals though...make them realistic. With my schedule I can't revise a chapter a day. Setting that as a goal is setting myself up for failure.

So, the point of my blog post is this: Take a look at the goals you set the first of the year. Are they something you have control over? Are they realistic for your situation? Do your goals need to be revised?

I posted a Writing Goal Workbook link at StoryCrafters today in the Potpourri section. It is a spreadsheet thing that is way over done for the way I work but maybe you can modify it or use bits and pieces. Check it out...check out your goals and get writing:--)


Speck

Changing it up...

Have you found yourself in a rut? You've been writing something for so long, perhaps it's the "Great American Novel," or maybe just an article that you've written, edited, and rewritten over a dozen times. You have reached a point where you can't even bear to open up word anymore.

What's a writer to do?

Change it up. Do something different for a day, a week, a month. Whatever it takes to come back with fresh eyes.

That's what this writer is doing now. For one month I've been laid up, not able to get to the computer much. I spent hours editing the first twenty chapters of my novel. I still have ten more to edit, plus plenty more to write but (and I never thought I'd say this), I'm sick of it. I open Word to write the next chapter, and everything sounds horrible to me. I pull out the chapters to keep on editing, and all I can think is I have to rewrite from the beginning. It's not that I lack confidence in the writing or the story. It's that I'm overloaded (or bored, if you must put it like that) with it. Keep in mind, this is my second draft. I've been writing this novel, or it's sequel, for nearly two years now.

So, I change it up. I work on mindless fanfiction, I work on my FTT article...or I RPG. RPG gives me an interactive element of meshing minds to come up with a plot line (which usually wind up totally crazy and convoluted...but that's half the fun). I don't care about how WELL I'm writing it, because it's a 200 word post at most, and if I'm an adverb whore, nobody cares. It gives me an excuse to let my imagination go insane without being too harsh on WHAT I'm writing. Then, when I get back to my novel's pages, I feel like I can focus on the 'proper' way to write, and do better at it.

So if you feel overloaded, bored, or ready to pull your hair out because you can't get something perfect...Change it up. Focus on something else, even something that has nothing to do with writing, for a while. Give your eyes, and your internal editor, a break for as long as you need to feel refreshed. Then go back. We all need a vacation...even our 'great works' deserve a break now and then.

Writing Classes

Are writing classes worth the time and effort? I’m on assignment 10 of the Long Ridge Writers Course and feel I can look back over the past year and say, yes, absolutely.

I’ve lived just long enough to be skeptical of anything that seems too easy. When I took the aptitude test and passed; well, I was my worst enemy. I allowed all those negative thoughts like; oh, they accept everyone, to dampen my joy. My husband tried to convince me otherwise. Then Student’s Services called and personally praised my essay. I must confess my ego took flight.

I sailed through the assignments until I hit number 8. The instructor wanted a rewrite! How could she possibly ask me for a rewrite? It’s funny, as a newbies, we want honest critiques of our work and on the other hand, we’re devastated when the person reading our work didn’t see the brilliance of our masterpiece. Even some seasoned writers have difficulties with this. I asked one instructor if she has a hard time letting an editor critique her work. She said she’s come to a place where she enjoys the challenge of working with the editor to make that piece the best it can be. This is the attitude I’m adopting, because it’s open and allows for the freedom of learning.

I took this course because writing is what I love. A year ago, I didn’t have a clue what show, don’t tell meant. I didn’t understand the art of writing tight. I’m still not a master, but at least now, I have a glimpse what the editors are looking for. I’ve had my share of bruising and my skin has thickening. I’m submitting more work so now the rejections will start and I’m glad I’ve had a few knocks to prepare for them.

Put your work out there for critiques and open your mind to accept them as a helpful tool. Story Crafters has many places for you to get this experience. Speck recently did a workshop on the art of critiquing, copy and print it out. When you get your manuscript back that has a line-by-line critique, full of marks, read through it quickly. Then put it away for a few days and let it simmer, pull it out and start the real work of writing… the rewrite. Story Crafters has every level of writer, there are bound to be critiques you agree with, and some you don’t. It’s the experience you owe yourself and your writing.

After a year of classes and hanging out at Story Crafters, I fully appreciate the idea of giving to other writers. Let’s help each other reach our goals. Pass it on. Study hard, good writing doesn’t just happen, it’s work and it’s a life long journey. Enjoy.

Laura A. Bethuy

Posted by Speck to get her started. Welcome to the StoryCrafters blog team:--)

Resolve to Resolution

I tried hard today to come up with something other than resolutions to write about. However, it’s New Years Day and resolution is on my mind, just not in the way you may think.

All over the world today people are jotting down their resolutions for the New Year. They are resolving to be better people, to give to the poor, to do their part to make the world a better place. Some resolutions are not so noble. Some folks are resolving to lose weight, exercise, eat better. There are those who will resolve to make 2007 the year they marry, go after that longed for promotion or pay off their credit cards. (good luck on that one) Regardless of what we resolve to accomplish in the upcoming year, or how vehement we are at this moment that we will succeed, there is a voice in the back of our brain whispering,

“It ain’t gonna happen kiddo…why put yourself through all this.”

I decided this morning before I got out my journal and began my yearly list of resolutions to first look into the formal definition of the word “resolution”. (by the way, I did not go back to see if what I had resolved to do in 06 had actually been accomplished), I got out my tattered old Webster’s and did a Wiktionary search on -line. Just as I suspected. Resolution is the act of resolving to accomplish a certain thing; bummer. I was hoping to find a definition that did not hold me to such a high standard. So I continued my online search of the word, hoping against hope that a definition of the word more suited to my personality might emerge… Eureka! A little research really can go a long way. Now this definition of resolution is one I can work with.

Resolution:

Refers to the sharpness and clarity of an image.

You know, as in the resolution of your computer screen or TV set.

I opened my journal and began to write. ‘On this New Year Day 2007, I resolve to bring into clarity the image I have always carried of myself. The image that I am a writer. I will spend this year sharpening my skills as a writer. I will not let the visual I have had of myself since childhood, that of a wordsmith, tapping out the next great American novel be muddied any longer. I will clear the snow from the screen, bring every dream of authorship I have ever had into perfect focus. I will bring that image to life.

”As soon as I closed my journal, my resolve set right, came that little voice.

“It ain’t gonna happen kiddo…why put yourself through all this”.

So I opened my journal and wrote,

“PS….turn the volume all the way down and rip the knob off.”

Here’s hoping that we all clarify and sharpen whatever resolution we may make today.

Happy New Year



Sherry (aka) Gwanny


Posted by Speck cause blogger is still giving Gwanny a hard time. I was supposed to do this yesterday but was lazy:-)