WRITE. A verb, meaning to communicate.
"To write letters, words or symbols on a surface with an instrument."
Have you ever stopped to think what a sad state we humans would be living in were it not for the written word? "To assemble: connect part A to part B." No, no, I was thinking more in line with the Bible, history in general, Josephus (one of my favorites) and all the monks and clerics who toiled by candle light to make certain that information on the life of Jesus, and old Testament prophets, was preserved for future generations.
I'm a "hobby" genealogist. Letters and journals written by my ancestors are some of my most prized possessions. Journaling by both sexes was very popular in the mid-1800's. Somehow, in this age of technology, we have lost the ability to put words on paper. Some of my ancestors' stories date back to 1855 telling about their journey from Texas to Utah in a wagon train--disease, hardships. But it was their unfailing faith in God that kept them going. Have you ever thought about writing a story for your children and grandchildren? Tell them how you met their grandmother, and your trials and tribulations from youth to your golden years.
Your first response would be..."but I can't write." That's what I thought until 1989 when I had the crazy notion to write a novel. Friends said, "You can't write a book, you never went to college." My response was...who wrote that rule? It took me ten years to learn the craft of fiction and hone my skills, but since then I've written nine novels. No, I'm not Charles Dickens, Edgar Allen Poe or John Grisham, but I've written entertaining stories about fictional people and their fictional life events.
That's what you can do...write about your people, real people and your real life events. You have no idea the profound effect it will have on your descendants long after you're gone. Pick up a pencil or sit at your computer and start writing. Explain what's important in your life. Describe who has had the most influence in shaping who you are. Don't think about sentence structure, punctuation or spelling. Don't think about anyone judging you or laughing.
Write what's in your heart because that is exactly what will touch the hearts of others who come after you.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Monday, November 5, 2012
Why We Write
Writing is not a hobby. If you are afflicted with this strange condition, you would describe it as an "urgency", some unfathomable drive in the pit of your stomach that must be set free through putting your thoughts on paper. If you will pardon the comparison, it's much like my Christian beliefs. You can't see it, you can't touch it, but you know it's there.
I tried to quit once. After years of pounding my fists on the doors of New York brick-and-mortar publishing houses, I put everything I'd written in a box and stored it in the attic. I returned to my second favorite pastime...reading. This pursuit was not as successful in making me happy as I hoped, but I just kept reading.
Then something happened. I picked up a book by Fern Michaels. She's been around for a long, long time, but still offers her fans a good read with a touch of mystery and a touch of romance. Sadly, I cannot recall the title, but the content forever changed my life.
Without getting into the plot details or ending of the story, I raced upstairs to the attic and brought out all those finished and partially finished stories I had written. My first intent was to finish all of my books and re-hide them with the quiet prayer that some stranger would find them fifty, hundred years in the future and I could be published after my death. I would receive all sorts of awards posthumously.
So, with ten separate novels in various stages of development, I dug in and finished them all. Self-published on amazon.com, and also published them on Kindle and Nook.
During this time, I realized that I'm happier when I'm writing. The actual process of putting words on paper, ending a story with a satisfying conclusion seemed to release endorphins into my bloodstream. What a revelation. When I finish a novel, I feel like I can tackle the world.
This was not a swift journey, nor was it smooth sailing. I never went to college, I was never a stellar student in high school, but through trial and error, I learned the craft....punctuation, grammar, vocabulary, character development and plotting. More importantly, I learned the art of self-editing. When I finish a story, I print out a rough draft. Somehow, on this printed page, I'm able to see passed emotions, passed the plot, to see words, sentence structure. My errors seem to jump out at me. Over the years, the errors have decreased in numbers.
So, if you have something churning in the pit of your stomach, there is a cure. Write. Then write some more. Write when you think you don't have time. Write even when you think you don't want to. Write.
As the sneaker-maker says, "Just do it".
I tried to quit once. After years of pounding my fists on the doors of New York brick-and-mortar publishing houses, I put everything I'd written in a box and stored it in the attic. I returned to my second favorite pastime...reading. This pursuit was not as successful in making me happy as I hoped, but I just kept reading.
Then something happened. I picked up a book by Fern Michaels. She's been around for a long, long time, but still offers her fans a good read with a touch of mystery and a touch of romance. Sadly, I cannot recall the title, but the content forever changed my life.
Without getting into the plot details or ending of the story, I raced upstairs to the attic and brought out all those finished and partially finished stories I had written. My first intent was to finish all of my books and re-hide them with the quiet prayer that some stranger would find them fifty, hundred years in the future and I could be published after my death. I would receive all sorts of awards posthumously.
So, with ten separate novels in various stages of development, I dug in and finished them all. Self-published on amazon.com, and also published them on Kindle and Nook.
During this time, I realized that I'm happier when I'm writing. The actual process of putting words on paper, ending a story with a satisfying conclusion seemed to release endorphins into my bloodstream. What a revelation. When I finish a novel, I feel like I can tackle the world.
This was not a swift journey, nor was it smooth sailing. I never went to college, I was never a stellar student in high school, but through trial and error, I learned the craft....punctuation, grammar, vocabulary, character development and plotting. More importantly, I learned the art of self-editing. When I finish a story, I print out a rough draft. Somehow, on this printed page, I'm able to see passed emotions, passed the plot, to see words, sentence structure. My errors seem to jump out at me. Over the years, the errors have decreased in numbers.
So, if you have something churning in the pit of your stomach, there is a cure. Write. Then write some more. Write when you think you don't have time. Write even when you think you don't want to. Write.
As the sneaker-maker says, "Just do it".
Flaunting the Rules
When you self-publish, one of the perks is that you can flaunt the rules set by nearly all of the big New York publishers. Also, one of the reasons that the New York houses look down on self-published authors is because the majority of the writers are sloppy and guess what else? They flaunt the basic rules of grammar.
So, why should we care? As English-speaking Americans, we are rigidly taught and are exposed via TV to proper grammar from early childhood. By the time we reach adulthood our literary preferences dictate the genre of books we buy and read. When we--as readers--are really getting into an exciting plot, it can be a jarring experience for a misplaced comma to blur the meaning. Punctuation was "invented" to make the written word easier to comprehend. I thought it was invented by Shakespeare so the actors would know when to take a breath, but Google says it was an Italian printer. The earliest versions of the Bible, had no punctuation, no capital letters.
When I put one of my novels on Amazon and Kindle, I want it to be as PERFECT as possible. You could call it vanity, but I try to have proper grammar, spelling, punctuation and format, as well as creating a satisfying experience for the reader.
Writing a novel isn't a time to indulge in self-aggrandizement. "Hey, see how great I am. I've written a novel and broken every rule written or unwritten." No, this is a time to showcase your talents and give the paying public the good read they expect when spending their money.
Some of the basic, primary rules of fiction are written, some are unwritten. It's important to give the reader a sense of time and place, use all five--see, hear, feel, smell and taste. Is it summer or winter, is your drink too sweet or bitter? Too hot or too cold? What does fear feel like?
The rule of thumb is your novel should be 60% dialogue and 40% narrative. Don't overdo either one. Don't let one character get on a soapbox and rant for a couple of pages. The rule applying to big, cumbersome words or complicated character names is...anything that stops the reader from flowing through the sentence or paragraph is bad.
So, all you beginners (and even some seasoned writers), please take pride in the work you put on the public venue. It's got your name on it.
So, why should we care? As English-speaking Americans, we are rigidly taught and are exposed via TV to proper grammar from early childhood. By the time we reach adulthood our literary preferences dictate the genre of books we buy and read. When we--as readers--are really getting into an exciting plot, it can be a jarring experience for a misplaced comma to blur the meaning. Punctuation was "invented" to make the written word easier to comprehend. I thought it was invented by Shakespeare so the actors would know when to take a breath, but Google says it was an Italian printer. The earliest versions of the Bible, had no punctuation, no capital letters.
When I put one of my novels on Amazon and Kindle, I want it to be as PERFECT as possible. You could call it vanity, but I try to have proper grammar, spelling, punctuation and format, as well as creating a satisfying experience for the reader.
Writing a novel isn't a time to indulge in self-aggrandizement. "Hey, see how great I am. I've written a novel and broken every rule written or unwritten." No, this is a time to showcase your talents and give the paying public the good read they expect when spending their money.
Some of the basic, primary rules of fiction are written, some are unwritten. It's important to give the reader a sense of time and place, use all five--see, hear, feel, smell and taste. Is it summer or winter, is your drink too sweet or bitter? Too hot or too cold? What does fear feel like?
The rule of thumb is your novel should be 60% dialogue and 40% narrative. Don't overdo either one. Don't let one character get on a soapbox and rant for a couple of pages. The rule applying to big, cumbersome words or complicated character names is...anything that stops the reader from flowing through the sentence or paragraph is bad.
So, all you beginners (and even some seasoned writers), please take pride in the work you put on the public venue. It's got your name on it.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Writers' Conference Conclusions
Killer-Nashville Conference.
August 23, 2012, Thursday.
Arrived at Hutton Hotel in Nashville, Tn, about 4:30pm. Gotta tell you...this place knows how to treat their guests. Everything is first class. Conference doesn't open until 6. After I had a free glass of wine, then went to Ted's (as in Ted Turner) Montana Grill and had a bison burger. It was delicious. I heard there's one in Atlanta.
After dinner, we checked in with conference officials, I took 17 books to the book store and we retired to our room and had a good time talking writing.
August 24, 2012, Friday.
Session #1. Bill Bass of the Body Farm. Excellent speaker. Interesting subject matter. Retired, but still works 60 hrs a week. Slide show about explosion of barn where fireworks were made illegally in Polk County, TN. Photos very educational, not bloody, but a tad gory. Clothes blown off, people and their body parts, were scattered over wide area. The trees were draped with intestines.
Session #4. Cozy, humor and crime. Panel discussion. Time is 10am CST. Each author is reading from their own novel. Dull beyond words! Walked out.
Session #2 Steven Womack. Interesting speaker. Animated, great speaking voice. The Writers Journey by Vogel. Understanding the structure of your story/plot. Suck in your readers' brain. You can give it back to them later. "The man who went up the hill and came down from a mountain." The protagonist's journey, his/her call to adventure. Energy, obstacles, whatever to change his/her life. Physical need, emotional need. Arch-a-type. "Call to adventure." Flaws need to be redeemed. Whatever is broken, fix it. Refusal of the call. Next step is meeting with the mentor...powerful dynamic in the story w/the hero/heroine. The push to move forward. Mentor can be your own conscience. Speaker had great recall of old movies and books, even remembering the names of the main characters. He pointed out strong points as well as flaws in the plot structure and bad dialogue.
Session #8. John Jefferson (half of Jefferson Bass, author) moderator of 3 panelists. Scene descriptions. Be more vivid in your descriptions of scenes. Setting the scene is "monstrously" important. Setting is like seasoning in cooking. Too much leaves a bad taste in the mouth of your reader. A few words in a description could trigger the imagination in the reader. Good descriptions should trigger a movie in your mind. Create a visualization. It can even foreshadow an event. How long should your descriptions be? Not so long that you bore your reader, but enough to create the emotion that is to follow. Murders usually take place on a "dark and stormy night" not when it's sunny...I say...not necessarily. #2 speaker better than #1. #3 speaker is difficult to hear. She has written a novel in the Medici and Michelangelo era, circa 1530. Not a subject I'm interested in. She was boring and read way too much from herown novel.
Session #17. My panel was on murder and comedy in the Cozy Mystery. Had a good time. How can you talk about humor and murder and not have a good time? I found that getting an audience to laugh is quite exhilarating. I only read about 6 lines from my novel. When you say something and everyone picks up their pencil, I feel you've really made a good point. A quote from Wm. Faulkner: "The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself."
Session #21. Using the Social Media to sell your books. Beyond Facebook. Getting an ad on Facebook. Linked (spelling). #1 speaker promotes ads on Facebook. Aimed at only people who are interested in your content and genre. His example is "Irish, race horses, middle east conflict". #2 speaker isn't on social media but believes in personal contact...postcards and bookmarks. #3 speaker is difficult to hear. #4 speaker was talking but saying nothing. Just find what works and continue to press forward. The object is to drive an individual to the "buying point." My personal opinion is to incite the curiosity of a Facebook "friend". If someone is curious about my dog, cat, or even the Smoky Mountains, they will be prompted to buy my books. Although speaker thought it was effective, don't use Twitter if you don't like it. One author said it gives the impression that your book is popular. Personally, I've never tried it. Look at: mysteryscene.com. (this leads you to B&N) He believes web advertising is much more effective than paper. Lori's Reading Corner is another. (Note: she has 285 blogs if you want to wade through them). Targeted audience/groups....mystery buffs.
It's been a full day of workshops. My brain is overloaded with information. Gonna prop my feet up tonight and work on Smoky Mountain Miracle. Been going to conferences for ten years and Steve Womack's workshop (Session #2) was the best in recent memory. He was very passionate about the subject matter. His passion was contagious.
We got my car out and we drove south on West End Avenue to find a restaurant. We chose Italian. After dinner, we went back to the room and talked about writing until we fell asleep.
August 25, 2012, Saturday
Session #27. Philip Ciofari. Turning competent into compelling.
Keep reading. See what makes a novel or a scene work. Learn by osmosis. Read and re-read a good passage. Break a scene down that you think creates tension. Tight and focused. Be organized in keeping scenes in order to build tension.
Side note: People and their cell phones. So rude to have a loud ring breaking up your train of thought. If you're in a workshop, TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE!! "I didn't pay good money and drive nearly 200 miles to hear your phone ring."
This man is a also college professor. Great speaking voice. He's passionate about his subject manner. Also humorous. When writing, don't plan to go back and add tension. Learn to do it as you write.
He read first page of Postman Always Rings Twice as well as
3 o'clock. (by author of Rear Window).
These stories start with a big blast of tension.
A raving lunatic can be methodical. Don't repeat a word in same paragraph unless you are making a dramatic point.
"Where are you going, where have you been." (by Oates). Character struggle needs to be in 1st paragraph. You have no story w/o struggle. No struggle, no tension, no story.
You know what to do, you own the information, but articulating this knowledge into your mss is difficult. Words create the visual action.
"Liquid muscle of the river glistened in the moonlight."
Play up the moodiness of darkness. Visual tension.
Character action. What steps does he takes to get what he wants? If we don't want something, there is no life. Struggle is the main plot of your story. Even a drunk either struggles to get sober or struggles to get the money to buy his next bottle.
"Whose broad face was as blank as a cabbage."
Let's talk about voice. What is voice? Writing voice. Length of sentence, rhythm of sentence, arrangement of words.
The sound & the fury. Great American novel. By Faulkner.
4 parts. 3 brothers obsessed by sister in each of 1st 3 parts, then part 4 was omniscient. Housekeeper was moral character.
To create anger, leave out a words.
Language. Eliminate unnecessary words to create tension. Too many words create a softness. Words w/o pictures. More verbs. Tighten sentence by removing prepositional words. Word choice. Re-arrange words in a sentence. Hearing the chopper.....(description). Invert. (description)...then heard the chopper.
Try not to have a bad sentence in your mss.
Session #33. Talk is Cheap. Five panel members.
Dialogue should move your story forward. I strongly disagree w/panel member, Nell Dickerson, who says don't use dialect. My view is that dialect brings your minor and secondary characters alive...his education and where he's from, and even if he's excited, sad or frightened. Nell is a sour puss. She is a photographer and writes non-fiction coffee table books, but wants to write fiction. Two panel members disagreed w/Nell concerning dialect. Dialogue should sparkle. Mark Troy (excellent speaker) likes a lot of conversation. Especially with two people. Women use more words than men. Women use more complete sentences and men say what they want w/shorter sentences. (Note: Pay attention to this in my own novel.) Joseph Terrell doesn't like adverbs. Nell reads..."His speech was southern, but obviously North of Mississippi."(written by Shelby Foote, her cousin).
Hemingways' White Elephant is excellent example of symbolism. Story is abt pregnancy and abortions w/o ever using those 2 words. Back in the days of Hemingway, you couldn't talk about such things...impotence, homosexual, etc., etc. today anything goes. However, people don't buy a book for its profanity. Sex, but not profanity. Tony Soprano did it, but he was Mafioso.
"He said, she said" are invisible tag lines, especially when 2 people are speaking, you don't need as many tag lines.
Elmore Leonard. Master at dialogue using very few words. "Pronto".
New Yorkers interrupt each other and like to talk at the same time. It's called New Yorkese.
The main objective for spending the money and going to a conference is:
#1. create interest in my characters, Jack and Jill.
#2. sell books
#3. get your creative juices flowing
#4. improve my writing skills
#5. remind myself to check for those invisible errors.
The big question is "did I get my money's worth?" Yes, I did. Most of the workshops were entertaining and informative. I also figured out that just because you are a writer, doesn't mean that you can be an effective speaker.
August 23, 2012, Thursday.
Arrived at Hutton Hotel in Nashville, Tn, about 4:30pm. Gotta tell you...this place knows how to treat their guests. Everything is first class. Conference doesn't open until 6. After I had a free glass of wine, then went to Ted's (as in Ted Turner) Montana Grill and had a bison burger. It was delicious. I heard there's one in Atlanta.
After dinner, we checked in with conference officials, I took 17 books to the book store and we retired to our room and had a good time talking writing.
August 24, 2012, Friday.
Session #1. Bill Bass of the Body Farm. Excellent speaker. Interesting subject matter. Retired, but still works 60 hrs a week. Slide show about explosion of barn where fireworks were made illegally in Polk County, TN. Photos very educational, not bloody, but a tad gory. Clothes blown off, people and their body parts, were scattered over wide area. The trees were draped with intestines.
Session #4. Cozy, humor and crime. Panel discussion. Time is 10am CST. Each author is reading from their own novel. Dull beyond words! Walked out.
Session #2 Steven Womack. Interesting speaker. Animated, great speaking voice. The Writers Journey by Vogel. Understanding the structure of your story/plot. Suck in your readers' brain. You can give it back to them later. "The man who went up the hill and came down from a mountain." The protagonist's journey, his/her call to adventure. Energy, obstacles, whatever to change his/her life. Physical need, emotional need. Arch-a-type. "Call to adventure." Flaws need to be redeemed. Whatever is broken, fix it. Refusal of the call. Next step is meeting with the mentor...powerful dynamic in the story w/the hero/heroine. The push to move forward. Mentor can be your own conscience. Speaker had great recall of old movies and books, even remembering the names of the main characters. He pointed out strong points as well as flaws in the plot structure and bad dialogue.
Session #8. John Jefferson (half of Jefferson Bass, author) moderator of 3 panelists. Scene descriptions. Be more vivid in your descriptions of scenes. Setting the scene is "monstrously" important. Setting is like seasoning in cooking. Too much leaves a bad taste in the mouth of your reader. A few words in a description could trigger the imagination in the reader. Good descriptions should trigger a movie in your mind. Create a visualization. It can even foreshadow an event. How long should your descriptions be? Not so long that you bore your reader, but enough to create the emotion that is to follow. Murders usually take place on a "dark and stormy night" not when it's sunny...I say...not necessarily. #2 speaker better than #1. #3 speaker is difficult to hear. She has written a novel in the Medici and Michelangelo era, circa 1530. Not a subject I'm interested in. She was boring and read way too much from herown novel.
Session #17. My panel was on murder and comedy in the Cozy Mystery. Had a good time. How can you talk about humor and murder and not have a good time? I found that getting an audience to laugh is quite exhilarating. I only read about 6 lines from my novel. When you say something and everyone picks up their pencil, I feel you've really made a good point. A quote from Wm. Faulkner: "The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself."
Session #21. Using the Social Media to sell your books. Beyond Facebook. Getting an ad on Facebook. Linked (spelling). #1 speaker promotes ads on Facebook. Aimed at only people who are interested in your content and genre. His example is "Irish, race horses, middle east conflict". #2 speaker isn't on social media but believes in personal contact...postcards and bookmarks. #3 speaker is difficult to hear. #4 speaker was talking but saying nothing. Just find what works and continue to press forward. The object is to drive an individual to the "buying point." My personal opinion is to incite the curiosity of a Facebook "friend". If someone is curious about my dog, cat, or even the Smoky Mountains, they will be prompted to buy my books. Although speaker thought it was effective, don't use Twitter if you don't like it. One author said it gives the impression that your book is popular. Personally, I've never tried it. Look at: mysteryscene.com. (this leads you to B&N) He believes web advertising is much more effective than paper. Lori's Reading Corner is another. (Note: she has 285 blogs if you want to wade through them). Targeted audience/groups....mystery buffs.
It's been a full day of workshops. My brain is overloaded with information. Gonna prop my feet up tonight and work on Smoky Mountain Miracle. Been going to conferences for ten years and Steve Womack's workshop (Session #2) was the best in recent memory. He was very passionate about the subject matter. His passion was contagious.
We got my car out and we drove south on West End Avenue to find a restaurant. We chose Italian. After dinner, we went back to the room and talked about writing until we fell asleep.
August 25, 2012, Saturday
Session #27. Philip Ciofari. Turning competent into compelling.
Keep reading. See what makes a novel or a scene work. Learn by osmosis. Read and re-read a good passage. Break a scene down that you think creates tension. Tight and focused. Be organized in keeping scenes in order to build tension.
Side note: People and their cell phones. So rude to have a loud ring breaking up your train of thought. If you're in a workshop, TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE!! "I didn't pay good money and drive nearly 200 miles to hear your phone ring."
This man is a also college professor. Great speaking voice. He's passionate about his subject manner. Also humorous. When writing, don't plan to go back and add tension. Learn to do it as you write.
He read first page of Postman Always Rings Twice as well as
3 o'clock. (by author of Rear Window).
These stories start with a big blast of tension.
A raving lunatic can be methodical. Don't repeat a word in same paragraph unless you are making a dramatic point.
"Where are you going, where have you been." (by Oates). Character struggle needs to be in 1st paragraph. You have no story w/o struggle. No struggle, no tension, no story.
You know what to do, you own the information, but articulating this knowledge into your mss is difficult. Words create the visual action.
"Liquid muscle of the river glistened in the moonlight."
Play up the moodiness of darkness. Visual tension.
Character action. What steps does he takes to get what he wants? If we don't want something, there is no life. Struggle is the main plot of your story. Even a drunk either struggles to get sober or struggles to get the money to buy his next bottle.
"Whose broad face was as blank as a cabbage."
Let's talk about voice. What is voice? Writing voice. Length of sentence, rhythm of sentence, arrangement of words.
The sound & the fury. Great American novel. By Faulkner.
4 parts. 3 brothers obsessed by sister in each of 1st 3 parts, then part 4 was omniscient. Housekeeper was moral character.
To create anger, leave out a words.
Language. Eliminate unnecessary words to create tension. Too many words create a softness. Words w/o pictures. More verbs. Tighten sentence by removing prepositional words. Word choice. Re-arrange words in a sentence. Hearing the chopper.....(description). Invert. (description)...then heard the chopper.
Try not to have a bad sentence in your mss.
Session #33. Talk is Cheap. Five panel members.
Dialogue should move your story forward. I strongly disagree w/panel member, Nell Dickerson, who says don't use dialect. My view is that dialect brings your minor and secondary characters alive...his education and where he's from, and even if he's excited, sad or frightened. Nell is a sour puss. She is a photographer and writes non-fiction coffee table books, but wants to write fiction. Two panel members disagreed w/Nell concerning dialect. Dialogue should sparkle. Mark Troy (excellent speaker) likes a lot of conversation. Especially with two people. Women use more words than men. Women use more complete sentences and men say what they want w/shorter sentences. (Note: Pay attention to this in my own novel.) Joseph Terrell doesn't like adverbs. Nell reads..."His speech was southern, but obviously North of Mississippi."(written by Shelby Foote, her cousin).
Hemingways' White Elephant is excellent example of symbolism. Story is abt pregnancy and abortions w/o ever using those 2 words. Back in the days of Hemingway, you couldn't talk about such things...impotence, homosexual, etc., etc. today anything goes. However, people don't buy a book for its profanity. Sex, but not profanity. Tony Soprano did it, but he was Mafioso.
"He said, she said" are invisible tag lines, especially when 2 people are speaking, you don't need as many tag lines.
Elmore Leonard. Master at dialogue using very few words. "Pronto".
New Yorkers interrupt each other and like to talk at the same time. It's called New Yorkese.
The main objective for spending the money and going to a conference is:
#1. create interest in my characters, Jack and Jill.
#2. sell books
#3. get your creative juices flowing
#4. improve my writing skills
#5. remind myself to check for those invisible errors.
The big question is "did I get my money's worth?" Yes, I did. Most of the workshops were entertaining and informative. I also figured out that just because you are a writer, doesn't mean that you can be an effective speaker.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Blog Number Twenty-one
I have come to realize that I would make a very poor school teacher. When I run out of patience, I tend to get a wee bit testy. I have trouble with the idea that a student can read instructions and then ignore them completely.
Today's blog is titled: HOW TO PUBLISH WITH KINDLE (Nook has the same rules). If you read the "submission guidelines" for either Kindle or Nook, you will become so confused that you'll be tempted to run out and spend several hundred dollars on software that supposedly makes the process simple. Don't waste your money.
A very kind lady from British Columbia I met through my Facebook Fiction Writers Group simplified the entire process.
If you do all of your writing in the proper format to begin with, then the process of uploading will be hassle-free. I am a Mac-user and have been since 1989. I do all of my writing on an Apple program called "Pages." I have purchased "Microsoft Office for Mac" that I only use for the publishing process. First is your title page--Title of your book and author. Second page is "copyright by (your name) Month 2012. Next line: Kindle edition. You can add your personalized notation. For my Smoky Mtn Murder Series, mine says "Although Gatlinburg is a real city nestled in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, Old Towne and all the characters therein are fictional." On the last page of your novel insert a page break and add "About the Author." I give my website, Facebook and a gmail account that I've set up for this purpose. Once I've finished my novel, I cut and paste the entire manuscript from Pages to Word. Make certain that all your formatting has come through.
If you write on MS Word, here's what you should do: go into draft view, turn on view invisibles, set the margins (one inch all around), set automatic indent at five spaces, remove headers, footers and page numbers. Use Times New Roman (no fancy fonts), size at 10 (you can make title a little bigger), single space. At the end of each chapter, insert page break, go down two lines and type in "Chapter Heading". If you hit the "enter" key MORE than three times, it will result in a blank page in Kindle. Do not use underline. You can use BOLD, italics and you are allowed to use the "center" function. Do not hit the space bar multiple times, or the tab key. Unless you are writing non-fiction, do not use a table of contents. Once on Kindle, the page numbers will be all wrong.
Once all that is accomplished, go back into "layout" view and "Save as" html or web page.
If you do not have a Kindle (and it's free on my iPad), let me explain that the reader has the option to make the print large for the visually impaired, thus a 200 page novel will be 400 pages. The reader can also set the font size to their liking, also increasing or decreasing the number of pages. That's why you remove the headers, footers and page numbers.
Okay! Now you are ready for the uploading procedure. I create a file folder which I've titled "Ready for Kindle". You will need the following: Your html manuscript, your cover art in .jpeg (Use a thumbnail version. They will reject large files), your bio, your back-cover blurb, your photo (Kindle helps you create an author page for free).
One of the most important features is to select seven key words to help the readers find your book through a search engine. Readers know what they want to read: mystery, love story, ghost, paranormal, historical, Civil War, etc., etc. Help them find you with a wise choice of words. Don't try to be clever.
If you want to get paid, you'll have to give them your Social Security Number. You can also give them your bank routing number and every month they transfer earnings directly into your designated bank account. (that's my favorite feature).
Once you have gathered all the necessary data in your special folder, go to Kindle's website. https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help
You need to have a prior account with Amazon. (who doesn't have that?). Go to the left, under "Publish your book" and follow their instructions regarding "Add Title." They will assign you an ISBN number.
They also request that you download the Kindle Previewer. Don't argue. Just do it. You have the opportunity to glance through the finished product to make certain that all your formatting is correct. Select "enable" and they will protect your digital rights. One of my early books (back in the 1990's) is being sold in India and I don't get a penny in royalty.
Please send me an email if you don't understand any portion of this guideline and I will do my best to clarify. srhinock8@gmail.com
Today's blog is titled: HOW TO PUBLISH WITH KINDLE (Nook has the same rules). If you read the "submission guidelines" for either Kindle or Nook, you will become so confused that you'll be tempted to run out and spend several hundred dollars on software that supposedly makes the process simple. Don't waste your money.
A very kind lady from British Columbia I met through my Facebook Fiction Writers Group simplified the entire process.
If you do all of your writing in the proper format to begin with, then the process of uploading will be hassle-free. I am a Mac-user and have been since 1989. I do all of my writing on an Apple program called "Pages." I have purchased "Microsoft Office for Mac" that I only use for the publishing process. First is your title page--Title of your book and author. Second page is "copyright by (your name) Month 2012. Next line: Kindle edition. You can add your personalized notation. For my Smoky Mtn Murder Series, mine says "Although Gatlinburg is a real city nestled in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, Old Towne and all the characters therein are fictional." On the last page of your novel insert a page break and add "About the Author." I give my website, Facebook and a gmail account that I've set up for this purpose. Once I've finished my novel, I cut and paste the entire manuscript from Pages to Word. Make certain that all your formatting has come through.
If you write on MS Word, here's what you should do: go into draft view, turn on view invisibles, set the margins (one inch all around), set automatic indent at five spaces, remove headers, footers and page numbers. Use Times New Roman (no fancy fonts), size at 10 (you can make title a little bigger), single space. At the end of each chapter, insert page break, go down two lines and type in "Chapter Heading". If you hit the "enter" key MORE than three times, it will result in a blank page in Kindle. Do not use underline. You can use BOLD, italics and you are allowed to use the "center" function. Do not hit the space bar multiple times, or the tab key. Unless you are writing non-fiction, do not use a table of contents. Once on Kindle, the page numbers will be all wrong.
Once all that is accomplished, go back into "layout" view and "Save as" html or web page.
If you do not have a Kindle (and it's free on my iPad), let me explain that the reader has the option to make the print large for the visually impaired, thus a 200 page novel will be 400 pages. The reader can also set the font size to their liking, also increasing or decreasing the number of pages. That's why you remove the headers, footers and page numbers.
Okay! Now you are ready for the uploading procedure. I create a file folder which I've titled "Ready for Kindle". You will need the following: Your html manuscript, your cover art in .jpeg (Use a thumbnail version. They will reject large files), your bio, your back-cover blurb, your photo (Kindle helps you create an author page for free).
One of the most important features is to select seven key words to help the readers find your book through a search engine. Readers know what they want to read: mystery, love story, ghost, paranormal, historical, Civil War, etc., etc. Help them find you with a wise choice of words. Don't try to be clever.
If you want to get paid, you'll have to give them your Social Security Number. You can also give them your bank routing number and every month they transfer earnings directly into your designated bank account. (that's my favorite feature).
Once you have gathered all the necessary data in your special folder, go to Kindle's website. https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help
You need to have a prior account with Amazon. (who doesn't have that?). Go to the left, under "Publish your book" and follow their instructions regarding "Add Title." They will assign you an ISBN number.
They also request that you download the Kindle Previewer. Don't argue. Just do it. You have the opportunity to glance through the finished product to make certain that all your formatting is correct. Select "enable" and they will protect your digital rights. One of my early books (back in the 1990's) is being sold in India and I don't get a penny in royalty.
Please send me an email if you don't understand any portion of this guideline and I will do my best to clarify. srhinock8@gmail.com
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Blog Number Twenty
Haven't posted a blog in over a month. I've endured Thanksgiving, back surgery, a bad chest cold, and Christmas. I'm starting the New Year 2012 feeling hale, hearty and mentally refreshed.
I've come across a technical software problem facing many authors trying to get their manuscripts published with Kindle, Nook and Smashwords. Whereas www.createspace.com will accept your manuscript in "save as" PDF format, the e-readers will not. Createspace simply prints your document as you present it--even your mistakes. The e-readers requirements are entirely different.
As a Mac-person, I'm not technically proficient in Microsoft Word. I write in Mac's "Pages" and don't transfer to MS Word until I have finished a novel. However, if you will pull down the view menu, "Show invisibles" will allow to see the formatting mistakes you have made. "Hard tabs" (that is physically hitting the tab key for each paragraph indent) at the beginning of each paragraph are not acceptable. Unfortunately, you must remove each one individually. If Microsoft has a "one-step" remedy, please let me know. You must set the indent for the entire document and let it happen automatically. You have to be in "draft" format to make changes to your entire document. Formatting done to the entire document is reversible.
Also, you must insert a hard "page break" at the end of each chapter. That is, pulling down the “Insert” menu and choosing “Page Break.” Simply hitting the "enter" key multiple times to start a new chapter on a new page, will not be acceptable. They will not accept any overly fancy fonts, but will accept bold and italics.
Another must is to remove page numbers for Kindle and Nook. Because e-readers change from landscape to portrait and the print can be small or enlarged for the visually impaired, a 200-page novel can be squeezed to 100 pages or enlarged to 400 pages. My Kindle (which I downloaded for free to my iPad) has a bar at the bottom to let you know where you are. Every time you open a Kindle book, it automatically goes back where you left off.
So, here we are. Page one is your title and author name. I recommend researching Amazon to make certain your title is as unique as possible. You don't want to be number zillion on a common title. Using "alignment" for centering is acceptable. Page two is for your dedications, etc. Both Nook and Kindle will give you their own new ISBN numbers. Do not use any other numbers given by other publishers. "Kindle Edition published in 2012". On the last page of your novel, insert page break and add your bio, website address, Facebook address, and a list of your previous novels, if any.
I can't caution you enough about proof reading. Any thing put out in cyberspace will be there FOREVER. Once you have your error-free manuscript, open your document and pull down the file menu to "save as html."
This is what you will need organized before going to KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) website:
Manuscript in html.
Front page cover art in .jpeg
my son the photographer can do websites and cover art for a fee
mwooten54@comcast.net
Your complete bio with photo (for prospective buyers on Kindle website)
Back cover blurb
Choosing 5 key words to direct Amazon/Kindle surfers to your book
This is extremely important
Website address
Suggestions: weebly.com, wordpress, godaddy andGoogle
will help you do this on your own. Or call on a relative to do
the job.
Just received this information from Paula Petty:
Microsoft word (at least my version) has a tool (usually at the top of the screen) that by default has "normal spacing" highlighted. However, you can highlight your text and click "no spacing" and it takes away all line spacing, tabs, etc. I wonder if this would help--before you save as html.
I've come across a technical software problem facing many authors trying to get their manuscripts published with Kindle, Nook and Smashwords. Whereas www.createspace.com will accept your manuscript in "save as" PDF format, the e-readers will not. Createspace simply prints your document as you present it--even your mistakes. The e-readers requirements are entirely different.
As a Mac-person, I'm not technically proficient in Microsoft Word. I write in Mac's "Pages" and don't transfer to MS Word until I have finished a novel. However, if you will pull down the view menu, "Show invisibles" will allow to see the formatting mistakes you have made. "Hard tabs" (that is physically hitting the tab key for each paragraph indent) at the beginning of each paragraph are not acceptable. Unfortunately, you must remove each one individually. If Microsoft has a "one-step" remedy, please let me know. You must set the indent for the entire document and let it happen automatically. You have to be in "draft" format to make changes to your entire document. Formatting done to the entire document is reversible.
Also, you must insert a hard "page break" at the end of each chapter. That is, pulling down the “Insert” menu and choosing “Page Break.” Simply hitting the "enter" key multiple times to start a new chapter on a new page, will not be acceptable. They will not accept any overly fancy fonts, but will accept bold and italics.
Another must is to remove page numbers for Kindle and Nook. Because e-readers change from landscape to portrait and the print can be small or enlarged for the visually impaired, a 200-page novel can be squeezed to 100 pages or enlarged to 400 pages. My Kindle (which I downloaded for free to my iPad) has a bar at the bottom to let you know where you are. Every time you open a Kindle book, it automatically goes back where you left off.
So, here we are. Page one is your title and author name. I recommend researching Amazon to make certain your title is as unique as possible. You don't want to be number zillion on a common title. Using "alignment" for centering is acceptable. Page two is for your dedications, etc. Both Nook and Kindle will give you their own new ISBN numbers. Do not use any other numbers given by other publishers. "Kindle Edition published in 2012". On the last page of your novel, insert page break and add your bio, website address, Facebook address, and a list of your previous novels, if any.
I can't caution you enough about proof reading. Any thing put out in cyberspace will be there FOREVER. Once you have your error-free manuscript, open your document and pull down the file menu to "save as html."
This is what you will need organized before going to KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) website:
Manuscript in html.
Front page cover art in .jpeg
my son the photographer can do websites and cover art for a fee
mwooten54@comcast.net
Your complete bio with photo (for prospective buyers on Kindle website)
Back cover blurb
Choosing 5 key words to direct Amazon/Kindle surfers to your book
This is extremely important
Website address
Suggestions: weebly.com, wordpress, godaddy andGoogle
will help you do this on your own. Or call on a relative to do
the job.
Just received this information from Paula Petty:
Microsoft word (at least my version) has a tool (usually at the top of the screen) that by default has "normal spacing" highlighted. However, you can highlight your text and click "no spacing" and it takes away all line spacing, tabs, etc. I wonder if this would help--before you save as html.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Blog Number Nineteen
There's an eight hundred pound gorilla in the room. Every body knows he's there, but nobody wants to talk about him...except me. I'll talk.
I've written a lot of love scenes. But I ask you to stop and think. How many nice, pretty words are out there in our American vocabulary to describe an act as old as time? Darn few. And I figure I've used all of them more than once. Remember, I said nice, pretty words. Finally, I grew jaded, tired of my fruitless search for those illusive words.
Then it dawned on me...Cozy Mysteries. They kill people and they do it without sex. Oh wow! I could be the next Agatha Christie. After all these years, I've found my new niche.
So, I headed to Amazon (virtually speaking) and purchased a stack of cozy mysteries by many different authors. Several notable things kept popping up: a continuing character (female amateur sleuth), plus a super intelligent dog or cat helping the amateur human to solve mysteries.
Hey, I'm a big animal lover. I can do this. I used to raise and show Dandie Dinmont Terriers--a rare breed from Scotland. I was an instructor at the local Obedience Club (B.A. that's before arthritis). As I grew older, I decided on a smaller breed and switched to Norwich Terriers. After he died and I got even older (bone years are the same as dog years), we decided to switch to cats--they don't need to be walked or taken to obedience classes.
My monumental decision was made. I would start writing Cozy Mysteries.
I was giddy with excitement as I turned on my computer and stared at the blank screen. Hmm, I was going to have to think about this one for awhile.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Blog Number Eighteen
"Where do you get your ideas from?" is another question I'm often asked. It's a hard one to answer. I can get an idea from a newspaper article I've read or heard on the evening news. It might be a car passing me on the freeway driven by a hooded character, or a bum at the exit with a sign "will work for food." Even a TV show, documentary or movie can get my juices flowing.
Zap! This is where creativity gets launched. I start thinking..."what if?"
My best advice to you is to have pencil and paper handy, or if you're on the road a great deal, how about a hand-held recorder. Can the smart phones do that? Later, I type them up and put them in a file. When I'm in between novels, I can get out the file and thumb through my old ideas--some I had completely forgotten. One might tickle my fancy and launch my next journey.
Which of my ten novels is my favorite? That's like asking a mother which is her favorite child. Of course, I can answer that one with ease since I only had one son. Definitely, he is my favorite.
Historicals (and I would imagine that space and futuristic plots might fall in this category) are the most difficult to write. Your facts must be accurate. You can't kill someone with a firearm that had yet to be invented; or have mail delivered to your castle before the era of Benjamin Franklin; or mow the grass before the invention of the rotary lawn mower. You think....well, it's fiction, I can do whatever I want. Yes, you can, but the whole idea of writing a story is to make it believable. You want to take your reader on a journey and glaring errors snap them out of the mood that you've been trying to create.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Blog Number Seventeen
So, how do you write an entire novel when you only have small "snippets" of time? If you posed this same question to a dozen different writers (both published and unpublished) and you would hear about a dozen different systems. One system that seems popular is to use sticky notes with scenes written out and stuck on a bulletin board. This never worked for me.
One book that might give you some good ideas is "The Weekend Novelist", by Robert Ray. Whereas his system wouldn't work for me, I still enjoyed the book and especially liked the way he attacked the subject.
Next you should analyze your life. Figure out EXACTLY when and how much time you are able to devote to your writing. My personal experience is that you need at least one undisturbed hour. Some folks start at the beginning and just plow all the way through beginning to end and then go back and edit. No single method is better than another. I can only tell you what works for me and what works for some of my writer friends. You must find (through trial and error) what works for you.
So here's my system--first, I get the plot idea. Second, I write a narrative or synopsis of my story. Third, I create my cast of characters. Fourth, I create a few chapter headings and write a sentence or two as a guide to some of the pivotal scenes. Last, but certainly not least, I begin to write. Of course, nothing is set in stone. An old saying that is sometimes true... "there's many a slip twix the cup and the lip." Yes, sometimes I do wander from my original plot. As the characters develop their personalities, I might change my mind as to the identity of the murderer. The character originally chosen to be the bad guy, might turn out to be good. You just never know what will happen as the word count grows.
One book that might give you some good ideas is "The Weekend Novelist", by Robert Ray. Whereas his system wouldn't work for me, I still enjoyed the book and especially liked the way he attacked the subject.
Next you should analyze your life. Figure out EXACTLY when and how much time you are able to devote to your writing. My personal experience is that you need at least one undisturbed hour. Some folks start at the beginning and just plow all the way through beginning to end and then go back and edit. No single method is better than another. I can only tell you what works for me and what works for some of my writer friends. You must find (through trial and error) what works for you.
So here's my system--first, I get the plot idea. Second, I write a narrative or synopsis of my story. Third, I create my cast of characters. Fourth, I create a few chapter headings and write a sentence or two as a guide to some of the pivotal scenes. Last, but certainly not least, I begin to write. Of course, nothing is set in stone. An old saying that is sometimes true... "there's many a slip twix the cup and the lip." Yes, sometimes I do wander from my original plot. As the characters develop their personalities, I might change my mind as to the identity of the murderer. The character originally chosen to be the bad guy, might turn out to be good. You just never know what will happen as the word count grows.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Blog Number Sixteen
PROCRASTINATION IS LETHAL!
If time is both the enemy and the best friend of the writer, then procrastination is lethal. If you're a woman, first, you tell yourself that when your toddlers start school, THEN you'll have time to write, but you get busy and keep putting it off. Then you tell yourself when the kids go off to college, you'll have time to write. But you have to take a second job to afford their tuition.
If that's the abbreviated story for a female writer, the male of the species have another set of obstacles. Writing wouldn't be "cool" if you tried to find time as a teenager. Besides, anyone who tries to write at a young age, doesn't have "life experiences" to draw on. In college there's pressure to keep your grades up, then a guy gets married, has kids, car payments and a hefty mortgage. Their career consumes them and they simply don't have time to write.
Get the picture?
It's all about time.
Just as you budget your money, you must learn to budget your time. Of course, this article is being written by a female born under the sign of Capricorn. It's written in the stars for me to be well-organized and it comes easy to me.
My mantra is "do what I have to do so I can do what I want to do."
My advice is to go look in the mirror and be totally honest with yourself. How great, how deep, how urgent is your drive to write and create. If your answer is all three (great, deep and urgent), then FIND the time to write.
Don't do what I did...I looked in the mirror when I was sixty years old and realized that I had wasted many, many productive years.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Blog Number Fifteen
Back when I was a member of East Tennessee Romance Writers (a chapter of RWA), I did a workshop on "Great Beginnings." I bought several books (all fiction) in various genres--mystery, romance, romantic suspense and historical. Some by famous, time-tested authors, some by newcomers. We dissected the first three pages of each novel. It was an education in what not to do.
The worst example opens the scene with a young woman walking up the steps of a typical San Francisco row house to knock on the door of her birth mother for whom she had been searching about ten years. Instead of concentrating on the inner turmoil and nervousness of this young woman, the author launches into the history of San Francisco row houses. Three pages later, she gets back to the young woman and her turmoil.
One historical we tore apart began with a love scene. Okay, I can live with that. However, the author stops right in the middle and describes the invention of the button and button loop. Talk about a buzz-killer.
Several years ago, I read Peeling the Onion--avoiding the Too-Much Too-Soon Syndrome by Diana Whitney Hinz. The basic tenet was don't release too much information too quickly. Instead, create your hook, the exciting scene that draws readers into your story...THEN, get into the background little by little.
Example. "A flash of movement caused the attractive, divorced mother of two to slam on the breaks, sending the vehicle into an uncontrolled slide."
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Blog Number Fourteen
Sometimes you must read a book or see a movie and tear it apart as a student rather than read or watch for pure enjoyment.
STILL WATERS
This novel by Tami Hoag is the classic model for romantic suspense. As you read, study construction and plotting. The author pulled me in on the very first page and made me care about the central figure. This author got her start with Harlequin and Silhouette, then made a successful switch to main stream. As her career progressed, she had two books made into Hallmark TV movies w/Valerie Bertinelli (Dust to Dust and Ashes to Ashes). The push and shove to produce a book a year finally got to her and the quality of her novels suffered. These days, while giving her creativity a rest, her publisher is re-issuing all her category titles.
LADYHAWKE,
This movie was made from the screen play by Joan D. Vinge, who also did COWBOYS & ALIENS. Whereas both books left me cold, Ladyhawke is my very favorite movie. It's an excellent example of lovers overcoming a huge obstacle to be together. A text book plot.
THE ROCK
This movie is another great example of how the author has made you care whether Nicolas Cage survives. If this story was nothing more than an action movie with Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage getting off Alcatraz, it would not be nearly as good. However, the story starts with a scene between Cage and his girlfriend: "I'm Catholic, I'm single and I'm pregnant." Throughout the movie, you know that she and his unborn child are the motivations as to why he wants to survive.
COLD MOUNTAIN
Don't know how some authors get away with using an em dash instead of quotation marks to indicate dialogue, but they do. Sometimes it's called innovation, but I called it laziness. When reading this book, I never could keep track of who was speaking or whether the written word was internal dialogue. It was made into a movie. The novel starts off on a sour note for me as this southern man is in a Yankee Civil War hospital bed being kept awake by the sound of a lawn mover. Okay folks, the history of the push mower begins in England and has a rocky beginning. The most popular method for "cropping grass-plots and pleasure grounds" was the hand-held sickle. The push mower as we know it, wasn't used in this country until the early nineteen hundreds. My brother (the retired college English professor) states "this book didn't contain a single cliché." My theory is that any string of words used repetitively is a cliche.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Blog Number Thirteen
.........The .author is unknown on this bit of wisdom. I keep it taped to my desk, just above my computer screen. I find these words very inspirational.
"Writing with appealing rhythm includes searching for just the right words, and not giving up until you find them. When you do, use them to reconstruct each sentence, trimming or stretching, moving words and phrases around until each sentence flows, rather than plods, sings instead of mutters. This is your task as a professional writer: to select each word, to craft each sentence, meticulously and with pride."
"Writing with appealing rhythm includes searching for just the right words, and not giving up until you find them. When you do, use them to reconstruct each sentence, trimming or stretching, moving words and phrases around until each sentence flows, rather than plods, sings instead of mutters. This is your task as a professional writer: to select each word, to craft each sentence, meticulously and with pride."
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Blog Number Twelve
"I want to write a book, but I don't know how to get started."
That's something I hear quite often. Everyone's style of writing is different. If you put a dozen writers in a room with pencil and paper, you will come up with a dozen different writing styles.
There has been much written about the differences between male and female authors. One person thinks males want to save a country, whereas females want to save a relationship. I definitely fall into the latter category. I think there's something magical about those few precious, golden moments when a man and a woman first meet. I'm a sucker for a good love story as well as a sprinkling of "blood-and-guts."
First, you have to have an idea--the seed of a plot or character in a situation.
The first thing is to write the "dreaded" synopsis. I don't know why some writers are so consumed with fear concerning the synopsis. Maybe changing the name to "Outline" would help. I want to get my idea on paper as quickly as possible. At my age, I've gotten a little forgetful. I even keep paper and pencil beside my bed, beside the sofa when I'm watching TV and in my handbag when I'm out-and-about. You never know when that fantastic plot twist will strike.
Write the basics of your story as if you were explaining it to your best buddy. You shouldn't care about grammar or punctuation. Just get it down on paper. Of course, it isn't written in stone. It's your story, you can change it as the plot unfolds. You really need this guideline to keep you from wandering.
Next, make up a "cast of characters" in line with your new idea. To me, this is the fun part--creating new people. Pick a name, age, physical description, family back ground--parents and siblings, marital history, education, job history, pets, even the make of car they drive. Even if none of this is mentioned in your story, you need the info.
How a person reacts in any given situation is usually based on past experience. Are they stable or will they fall to pieces? How will your characters react in a sexual situation or in the face of mortal danger? Believe me, it matters.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Blog Number Eleven
A couple of punctuation rules won't hurt. Honest. These are some rules and observations that will help you in your every day pursuit of the perfect story. In fiction, we take "literary" license with punctuation, but still there are some hard and fast rules.
1. THE ELEMENTS OF GRAMMAR, by Margaret Shertzer, states that "use a dash (double dash or em dash) to indicate a sudden break in a sentence. When you end a sentence in a dash, no punctuation is needed."
2. THE ELEMENTS OF GRAMMAR (regarding ellipsis dots) states that you should use three dots in the middle of a sentence, four dots at the end of a sentence. Ellipsis dots can indicate the passage of time, that a statement is left unfinished, or can be used to indicate hesitation or a kind of "dying away" of a thought or action. Whether to put a space between the dots is a matter of individual style.
3. PUNCTUATE IT RIGHT by Harry Shaw states "a dash lends a certain air of surprise or emotional tone on occasion."
A favorite saying to help me remember the rule regarding commas:
A cat has claws at the end of its paws
A comma's a pause at the end of a clause.
The following is my argument with an editor concerning the use of hyphens.
I wrote: "Dear Lee, Regarding "soft-hearted father." I thought the rule concerning adjectives was if neither word could stand alone, then they should be hyphenated. For example: it's not her "soft father" or her "hearted father," but her "soft-hearted father." You used this rule with "back-stair gossip," stating in one place that it should have been hyphenated, but in another instance you didn't.
"Regarding " ill-at-ease" I deleted the hyphens as you requested. But, I thought that when two or three words are used as one, that the hyphens were called for. However, I can't seem to find a rule of grammar for that."
Lee's response: Touché.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Blog Number Ten
I was at a writers' retreat in the mountains a few years back when a woman asked me to read the first few pages of her manuscript and tell her what I thought. I'm not easily shocked. At my age, I've been there, done that, heard that, seen that! However, those first few pages did indeed shock me. Just because you have an overwhelming urge to write porn or erotica, doesn't mean that someone else will pay to read it. If you write in this genre, the avenues leading to publication of your work are narrow, but with Google, I guess nothing is impossible.
Readers usually know what they want--romance, suspense, fantasy, true crime, action, the list is endless. When they go to a brick-and-mortar-book store, they head for their favorite section. And if they surf through online bookstores, they nearly always put a key word in a search engine.
Before embarking on your journey into the world of fiction, you need to know your specific genre and try to stay within those boundaries. "Joe Blow Best Selling Author" can get away with just about anything because he or she has name recognition. A newcomer doesn't. So, hold off on that time-traveling vampire cowboy. Make it easy for a prospective reader to find your book.
So...truly, it doesn't matter what your genre is (zombies, vampires, time travel, SciFi, shape-shifting, ghost stories or talking animals), lifting the veil of believability takes a delicate hand. Write your stories--but don’t slap your reader in the face. Stay true and don't wander.
Guide your reader, lead them gently by the hand. Make them a promise in the first few chapters and keep your promises or you'll have a disappointed reader. They want to care, want to worry and want a satisfying conclusion. If you give them a book with too many characters swimming in an outlandish plot, you won’t win any followers. Make them cry. Make them laugh. Make their hearts beat faster. Give ‘em what they want.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Blog Number Nine
Oh dear, I missed a week. Last weekend Hurricane Lee managed to push inland as far as Chattanooga, TN., dumping nearly 9 inches of rain on my back yard. Since there was a great deal of lightning with it, I decided not to turn on my computer.
This week, I would like to mention some "how to" titles. These books are to be read for educational purposes. If you put fifty writers in a room with pencil and paper, you would end up with fifty methods on how to write a book.
Robert Ray. THE WEEKEND NOVELIST
Even though his method isn't my method, I still found his book extremely helpful and informative. His lyrical style makes the book very readable.
Dwight Swain. TECHNIQUES OF A SELLING WRITER.
When this book was first recommended to me, I thought "how can a book published in 1967 possibly be relevant in today's market." I was so wrong. Some advice withstands the test of time. His recommendation of "Begin in violence, end in hope," has been my mantra for many years.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Blog Number Eight
MURDER, INCORPORATED. I've just spent three days learning just about everything there is to know about murder and catching the culprits who think they can get away with it.
I (along with two of my fellow authors) attended the Killer-Nashville (TN) Writers' Conference. I went to six workshops and listened to a speech by Dr. Bill Bass, founder of the University of Tennessee (Knoxville) Body Farm. For those of us who are a bit ghoulish, it was great fun.
If you don't know what the "Body Farm" is...well, hmm, let's see if I can word this politely. It's a place where they expose dead people to outdoor environments to see how long it takes to decay.
It was interesting to learn that werewolves and zombies are fading from popularity, while murder in any genre continues to fascinate the reading public. It's also good to know that "cozy mysteries" (my genre) have never faded, but continue to be consistent sellers. Continuing characters in a series are also well accepted.
Another interesting observation spanning the twenty years I've been going to writers' conferences is that in the early years, you never saw anyone who would admit to being self-published. Nowadays, about half of the speakers and panel members were. Hooray for our side!
When I arrived home, I was "pumped" full of new ideas and plot twists for my current (WIP) Work In Progress.
My advice for today...find a conference near your hometown.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Blog Number Seven
Okay, you've finished your book. Now what? The worst thing you can do is to continue working on it. Don't second guess yourself. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Find someone (not related) to critique your novel. Get an honest opinion, even if it hurts. If a reader who knows nothing about your characters and plot and gets lost or confused, possibly your novel needs more work.
If it's okay, stay in your genre and start another book. Editors don't want a "one book wonder." They want someone with several story ideas in the pipeline. What they want is one book a year so no matter how long it takes to get published, keep writing. That way you'll have several books in YOUR pipeline.
Another thing...DO NOT put your work on social media networks. NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! give it away. Why would a publisher want to give you a contract to SELL your book if you've already given it away for free? They won't.
Yes, I remember the story of how Diana Gabaldon got her shot at publication back in 2001. That was a decade ago in the infancy of the Internet when she posted her novel "The Outlander."
The old rules no longer apply.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Blog Number Six
BLOG Number Six. The number one biggest misconception new writers have is to think "Mistakes don't matter. An editor will fix it."
"Not true, grasshopper." Editors don't edit. They acquire. In most cases, they don't even read your book. There are housewives in New York City who earn a good living as a "professional reader." They are paid per manuscript to read through an editor's slush pile and sift the wheat from the chaff. This is the person who will decide your Fate. She's usually a stay-at-home mom with a couple of screaming kids begging for her attention. If you don't catch her interest in the first three pages, all your hard work is shredded for recycle or returned in your SASE.
That acquisitions editor you've been "courting" for the last few months only reads the books that make it through Level One. Unless, of course, you've been to a conference and met with an editor. Conferences are an invaluable tool. Do not discount them as fluff.
If the editor gives you his/her business card and tells you how to "flag" your envelope to get attention, lordy, you have climbed from the gutter onto the curb. You've made that first step.
Editors usually acquire for only one line which is their specialty. They need to find possibly four titles each month and already have their calendar booked about a year in advance.
For Heaven's sake....don't make your book a 250,000 word, 600 page epic. Believe it or not, because of the high price of paper these days, and the number of trees they have to cut down to make the pulp to make the paper, editors cannot AFFORD to invest a great amount of money into a new author.
You are unproven and unknown.
They will not let you forget it.
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