The Writing Blog

It's What's Up Front that Counts!

2011-10-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

Just passing this along to my writer friends. Some great advice and food for thought in this article.

by Victoria Mixon

2011-09-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

Read about the inspiration for One Wolf Howls and follow Jenny Alexander's suggestions for bringing your own dreams to life!

Writing in the House of Dreams

When We Was Fab

2011-09-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, I totally stole the title of this blog post from a song written by George Harrison and Jeff Lynne. However, you can't copyright a song title, so I can use it without fear of reprisal. But why would I? I'm glad you asked.

First of all, George was arguably my favorite Beatle. I say arguably because Ringo was my first fave, but as I learned more about the group, I switched to John, and eventually I settled on George. Paul wasn't in the running because he was "the cute Beatle" and all the girls liked him, so I figured I wouldn't bother.

Second, the phrase "When We Was Fab" could just as easily refer to my friends, my brother, and me back in the day -- let's say 1965-1969. We was so fab, we appeared in a collection of roughly 20 excruciatingly long stories that also featured ... wait for it ... John, George, Paul, and Ringo!

Egads. Who would come up with such an idiotic idea as writing a bunch of stories starring The Beatles, my friends, my brother, and me? As John Lennon would say, "You Might Well Arsk." (Naturally, I have a copy of "You Might Well Arsk." Here are a couple of my favorite lines: "Why did Harrassed MacMillion go golphing mit Bob Hobe? You might well arsk. Why did Priceless Margarine unt Bony armstrove give Jamaika away?")

Way back in those oh-so-fab days, I was a writing machine. I wrote poetry, stories, novels, songs. . . and "The Scotti Stories." I don't know what possessed me to start writing them, but I remember reading the first paragraph of the first one to my brother, and I remember him laughing. Apparently that was all the encouragement I needed. I sat at my parents' Underwood typewriter day after day and tap-tap-tapped my way into the hearts and minds of . . . um. . . my best friends and maybe my brother.

So, without further ado, here is the now-famous (or not) opening paragraph for the work of art titled "Springfield Marks the Spot" (I was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois, in case you're wondering).

SPRINGFIELD MARKS THE SPOT

by Scotti

circa 1965

"Paul McCartney started to lay out another hand of solitaire that quiet Sunday afternoon and then stopped short. Gathering up the cards, he lay them neatly on the hotel desk. After all, he reasoned, there must be something better to do. He glanced out the window and at once retracted the thought, for before him, the streets of Springfield, Illinois, appeared to have passed away long ago. Sure, there were cars and pedestrians merging about, but otherwise. . . Paul wrinkled his nose in disgust. What a place!"

During the course of the story, Paul and the other Beatles encounter my character (Scotti), my brother's character (Robert), and characters representing several of my closest friends (Carole Lynne, Patience -- you know who you are). Mishaps and mayhem are the order of the day, especially when Scotti's Uncle Gerald (not his real name... Come to think of it, he was totally fictional. . . I think) cranks up a remarkable invention called the Speedier Than Alka-Seltzer Machine (STAM). Finally everyone arrives at the last paragraph, much the worse for wear:

"Paul McCartney shuffled the deck of cards that still lay on the desk and dealt out a hand of solitaire. Perhaps, he thought, he could make believe it all hadn't happened..."

The best thing about "The Scotti Stories" is that I didn't have to explain or defend them or convince an editor to publish them. It was the Sixties. WE WAS FAB. That is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. (Oh, be quiet, John Keats, your stuff is in the public domain.)

If I ever become famous, these stories may very well sell on eBay for a small fortune. I could give you a really good deal on them now, before that happens. Just let me know if you're interested.

Oh, and by the way, I was so fab in 1968 that I went to England with my family, where I literally ran into Paul McCartney. Click HERE to see the proof.

The Other Writing World

2011-09-08T08:15:00.000-07:00

I just came across an article that everyone who is considering self-publishing their work should read: Cory Doctorow: Why Should Anyone Care?

As you can probably tell from the title of the article, Doctorow wants us to understand that if you are a self-published author, your main job (once the book is in its final form) is to convince potential readers and sellers that they should *care* about your book -- care enough to buy it, to stock it, to tell others about it.

Granted, authors published by traditional, mainstream publishers also carry some of the responsibility for *convincing people to care.*

One Wolf Howls Book Launch

My two children's picture books -- One Wolf Howls and Big Cat, Little Kitty -- are not self-published. They are published by Sylvan Dell, a small, relatively young publishing house. When you sign with a small publishing house you quickly discover that you need to assume as much of the salesman's role as you possibly can. Small publishers do not have the staff to run about proclaiming the wonders of your book, pushing it at book sellers across the country (world), and splashing it across the pages of major magazines and newspapers.

If you are published by a major publishing house, you have more people working on your book's behalf. However, unless your book is *high on their list* you're still not going to be able to spend your days sitting quietly at your desk creating your next masterpiece. You're going to be *out there* convincing people to care.

Unfortunately, as Doctorow points out in his article, not many writers are extroverted social butterflies who love nothing better than to schmooze and meet and greet and sell sell sell.

Big Cat, Little Kitty Book Launch

After doing several signings at bookstores I realized that unless you are already famous, you can't sit at your table and expect people to come up to you. You can post large signs about who you are and what you're doing there, but they will walk right by you. They might smile or nod, but very few will actually come over and talk to you. No, you have to get up and approach people, book in hand, and convince them to care.

I was on my high school debate team, I acted in high school and college theater productions, and I have performed music before an audience on many occasions. I don't shrink from public contact. But the thought of trying to convince someone to buy what I'm selling quite frankly leaves me cold. I don't like it when people try to sell me things. It follows that I would not want to be the person doing the selling. However. . .

My thinking right now is this: If you love to write, then please write. Write, revise, learn, and immerse yourself in the writing world. Share your work with friends and other writers. Get all those great ideas on paper. I have lived in that particular *writing world* most of my life. But if you hope to share your work with large numbers of people and make money at it, you're going to have to enter a different writing world: a world ruled by personality, promotion, and pizzazz.

I suppose it's possible that you could be *discovered* while sitting quietly at your desk, and rise to great fame without effort. You could also win the lottery. The odds are about the same.

Now, let me tell you which of my books would be perfect for you...

2011-09-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

Today I'm taking a moment to invite all of you to check out my (relatively) new blog/website:

Wordsworth and the Dragon

Banner Design by Christina Wald

Like many writers, I have a number of manuscripts that I have submitted to all the publishers and agents I can find, without receiving an acceptance. The reasons for rejection are seldom spelled out or even expressed in any terms at all.

During the submission process for my chapter book Wordsworth and the Dragon, a few editors did request a "full" based on the first three chapters. One editor hung onto the whole manuscript for almost two years (as I continued to submit it elsewhere). She loved Wordsworth, but her publishing company was in the process of "changing direction" and she was eventually laid off. One agent I contacted also loved Wordsworth -- until she found out I had already sent it around to a bunch of publishers. She immediately lost interest.

I did some research on self-publishing and decided I wanted to take that route with Wordsworth and the Dragon. My enthusiasm for the project increased tenfold a few months ago when illustrator Christina Wald offered to do some illustrations for the book. There will be a cover illustration and probably one illustration per chapter.

My web site Wordsworth and the Dragon offers an opportunity for children and adults to witness a chapter book in the making. Christina is providing preliminary sketches, and I am posting chapters from the book, one at a time, with discussion questions. Several educators have expressed interest in having their students follow along, and I hope to start hearing from them soon.

I hope you'll join us on this publishing adventure! (And yes, I have already started on a sequel!)

Are You Under-Stressed?

2011-09-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

I came across this marvelous article that I thought many of you might find interesting: 19 Ways to Get More Readers for Your Author Blog

When I saw #4 on this list, I perked right up: "Do something different."

What follows may not be what those folks meant, but I already had it ready to post today, so I retro-fitted it to match their list. (What?)

It's a quiz that I crafted many years ago. I guarantee that it's every bit as useful now as it was then. Leave a comment and let us know your score!

Are You Under-Stressed?

The Quiz

Studies have shown that many people in our society today are under-stressed; that is, they do not receive enough stress in their day-to-day lives. Such a condition can render a person incapable of dealing with emergency situations when they arise. In fact, the under-stressed person may not even recognize a real emergency when he or she sees one! To determine whether you undergo sufficient stress in your life, take the following simple multiple-choice quiz.

(1) Awakening in the middle of the night, you think you hear a burglar in the house. You fumble for the phone. Intending to press 9-1-1, you accidentally press the keys you programmed as a shortcut to your Great Aunt Harriet's number. When Great Aunt Harriet answers, you:

(a) Tell her to bring the squad car around the back.
(b) Reply, "Sorry, I have the wrong number," hang up, and scream loudly to frighten the intruder away.
(c) Ask Great Aunt Harriet how much the china hutch she gave you weighs and how long she thinks it would take one or two men to carry it outside in the dark.
(d) Inquire after Great Uncle Mortrud's lumbago and promise to visit them when you are finished going over details of the theft with your insurance company.

(2) Your son's soccer coach calls, telling you that you need to provide all refreshments for the end-of-the-season cookout (the team will reimburse you for your expenses, of course). The cookout is day after tomorrow. Your commitments for the week already include helping your daughter with her science project, tilling your mother's garden, working overtime at the office, and visiting eight shut-ins for your church. You tell the coach:

(a) @*%&#)(*@_&#$*(#
(b) "No problem. How about radishes and half a pot of day-old coffee?"
(c) "I would be delighted" -- chuckling to yourself over the fact that neither you nor the food will appear at the cookout. That'll fix 'em.
(d) "Excuse me... [click click click] ... I think we have a bad connection... [click click click]... Can you hear me? [FAKE STATIC] [LOUD BUZZ -- followed by yanking cord out of wall and leaving it out for three days].

(3) Your boss has written a letter to an important client. You feel sure the client's name has been misspelled, but your boss insists you are wrong and tells you to mail the letter. The client calls, complaining that his name was misspelled. You hear your boss blaming "my crazy assistant." You:

(a) Quickly reprint all your boss's rolodex cards, deliberately misspelling every name and/or changing one digit in each phone number.
(b) Order a commemorative plaque for Boss of the Year (at company expense) -- misspelling your boss's name.
(c) Immediately prepare your letter of resignation (misspelling your name), stick a flaming arrow through it, and shoot it into your boss's office.
(d) Laugh silently to yourself for the rest of the day because you actually are crazy and it's a relief to have it acknowledged by someone in authority.

(4) You have been awakened at least once every night for the past week by your neighbor's barking dogs. The dogs (German Shepherds) also bark continually while you mow your lawn or work in your garden. Since you own a Bassett Hound (who barks when disturbed but settles down quickly), you try to be tolerant. However, the police have just called to inform you that your neighbor has filed a complaint about your dog's barking. You:

(a) Make midnight phone calls to your neighbor, panting and whining pitifully when he answers.
(b) Contact your neighbor and attempt to make peace, explaining that you have just acquired three Great Danes trained to leap the fence and jump on top of your neighbor's Porsche whenever they hear a German Shepherd bark.
(c) Invite your neighbor to a backyard barbecue, smiling sinisterly when he expresses concern that his dogs have been missing all day.
(d) Sit down with the German Shepherds over a bowl of kibble and sauerkraut and discuss the situation with them, emphasizing their responsibility to their close acquaintances and society as a whole.

(5) You have ten minutes to drive across town to the technical college you attend twice a week. A test is being given and if you are late, you will receive an automatic "F". As you pull onto Murphy Street, you find yourself in the right-hand lane behind a car going two miles an hour. The driver sticks his arm out his window, motioning you to come around. Since cars are zooming steadily by in the left-hand lane at 45 miles per hour, this does not seem like a viable option to you. The traffic does not decrease. The car ahead of you does not speed up. You:

(a) Flip on the loudspeaker connected to your radio and imitate a siren, hoping the driver will pull over.
(b) Get on your cell and call your best friend, who readily agrees to impersonate you at the exam (the friend strongly resembles you, lives a block from the school, and took the same class last year).
(c) Take a sharp right into a parking lot, zip through the lot and out the other side, running over two little old ladies and a kid on a bike before arriving in the middle of a major intersection, whereupon your authority is disrespected by a tractor-trailer with faulty brakes.
(d) Turn your car radio to the station that plays heavy metal, turn up the volume, roll up your windows, light a cigarette, close your eyes, and go to sleep.

SCORING

(1)
(a) 3 pts
(b) 1 pt
(c) 7 pts
(d) 5 pts

(2)
(a) 1 pt.
(b) 5 pts
(c) 7 pts
(d) 3 pts

(3)
(a) 3 pts
(b) 5 pts
(c) 1 pt
(d) 7 pts

(4)
(a) 3 pts
(b) 5 pts
(c) 1 pt
(d) 7pts

(5)
(a) 5 pts
(b) 7 pts
(c) 3 pts
(d) 1 pt

TOTAL YOUR SCORE:

35 points: You are definitely too calm and collected. There's nowhere near enough stress in your life. It is imperative that you begin drinking more coffee and soft drinks, start smoking, increase your work hours, decrease your salary, and -- above all -- START WORRYING as much as possible. If necessary, send for our complete "THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT" list, a comprehensive aid for people suffering from your condition.

25-35 points: Not bad, but you still exhibit some dangerous symptoms of peace-of-mind. Refer to instructions above.

10-25 points: Normal

5-10 points: Maybe a little too stressed. Take a chill pill, okay?

*~* HAVE A NICE DAY *~*

P.S. I scored a 2 on this quiz. Not possible, you say? Are you calling me a liar? Would you like to settle this outside?

Bad Romance? Bad Medicine? Bad Poetry?

2011-08-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

I know you've heard this saying:

Laugh, and the world laughs with you.

Weep, and you weep alone.

Did you know that these words are the beginning of a poem called "Solitude" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox? The poem was published in 1883. Here is the complete first stanza of that poem:

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;

Weep, and you weep alone.

For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,

But has trouble enough of its own.

The reason I bring this up is because I just finished reading a novel based on the life of Ella Wheeler Wilcox: Ella Moon by Ed Ifkovic (Waubesa Press, the quality fiction imprint of Badger Books Inc.)

I found this book while I was on my way home from a vacation recently. It was shelved with others at a Country Inn and Suites motel, where they often have collections of books that guests can borrow -- with the idea that we will return them (or some other book of our choice) to the next Country Inn and Suites motel we visit. I was almost done with the book I was reading at the time, and thought I might need another book to get me home.

The book jacket blurb drew me in:

She was one of the Victorian world's most popular poets. Her life was a tapistry [sic] of color and melodrama, an epic of rags to riches. This fictionalized account chronicles both the glittering heights of Ella Wheeler Wilcox's life and the nagging fears that accompanied her vast and cherished success.

Ifkovic notes that Ella Moon "is not literary biography: it is how I imagine her. . . In the process I wanted to find a different EWW, the one who existed outside her verse -- the one I carry in my mind."

Much of what is included in the novel comes from Mrs. Wilcox's autobiography: The Worlds and I (1919). Here is a link to a pdf file of that autobiography (available from Google books): http://scotti.cohn.tripod.com/The_worlds_and_I.pdf

I found the story of this woman's life and career utterly fascinating. Born in poverty on a farm in Wisconsin, she became a published poet at age 14 -- primarily because she simply refused to stop sending her work to publishers. To say that she was persistent would be an understatement. She was driven. By the age of 16 or 17, she was basically supporting her family on earnings from her poetry. The nickname "Ella Moon" was given to her by her father, who thought that he saw her pointing at the moon when she was a child. Ella corrected him, saying she was pointing toward Milwaukee, where she hoped to find fame and recognition, a beautiful life far removed from the farm.

I was captivated by the complex nature of Ella's relationship with her parents and siblings, her views of life, and her evolution from a Wisconsin farm girl to a famous poet known all over the world. I was mesmerized by her efforts to communicate with her deceased husband -- successful by her account -- and her journey to France during World War I, which she undertook because he told her to do it in messages delivered by her ouija board.

As for her poetry, it is quite overwrought in most cases (by modern standards, and even by the standards of her day). Yet there is value in exploring her choice of words, the structure of her verses, and the subject matter she covers. When I read her poetry, I feel transported back to my teenage years, when I used poetry as a way to express the depths of heart and soul. Melodramatic? Yes. Predictable rhythm and rhyme? Yes. But I have to ask, if Ella Wheeler Wilcox's poetry is so "bad" -- why does so much of it resonate, touch, delight, and inspire?

The summer is just in its grandest prime,

The earth is green and the skies are blue;

But where is the lilt of the olden time,

When life was a melody set to rhyme,

And dreams were so real they all seemed true?

~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Rebirth of the Blog!

2011-08-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, I'm supposed to be a writer (I've written 10 published books after all), and that means I'm supposed to do this blog thing. But I honestly don't know what to blog about. For a time, I tried to do this as a "Writing Tips, Tricks, and Tactics" blog because I was told that would generate followers. Except there is one problem: I don't have any tips, tricks, or tactics for you. Lots of other writers have those -- all over the internet. Everywhere. Just Google it. Enjoy.

This blog is going to have to be something other than that.

If I were a famous writer, people would follow this blog just to see what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, why I'm doing it, and so forth. As you may have noticed, I am not famous.

So I may post samples of my writing here -- old or new -- and I may share links to other sites that I think are worthwhile for writers to see. This blog, as noted above, will be "mostly about writing because I have other blogs for other things."

Follow this blog.
If you dare.

#amwriting

Why Do You Write?

2011-03-12T15:12:00.000-08:00

As writers, we get up close and personal with a lot of rules, a lot of DON'Ts, words to avoid, parts of speech to avoid, and so forth. We are told that our work is more likely to be rejected by editors and agents if we violate the "rules."

I just finished reading about 75 entries in a competition called Letters About Literature. For this competition, students in grades 4 through 12 are given the following instructions:

"Select a fiction or nonfiction book, a short story, poem, essay or speech (sorry, no song lyrics) you have read and about which you have strong feelings. Explore those feelings and why you reacted the way you did during or after reading the author’s work. . . Write a personal letter to an author, explaining how his or her work affected you."

In this blog entry I am going to share a little bit from various letters to various authors. My purpose is to show my fellow writers what matters most to the young people reading their work. Not one letter thanked an author for using active voice instead of passive. Nobody said he was inspired by the minimal use of adverbs. Not a single student wrote "Thank you for showing, not telling."

Here is what some of the letters said:

This book... made me feel more comfortable about myself, that maybe there really isn't anything wrong with me. It also showed me that a world where I can be accepted does exist.

Your book taught me that some people will forever be a part of us.

This book made me want to help the young teenagers that get bullied many times throughout their life.

Your poem has pushed me to become the best person I can be, not becoming someone else.

I was searching in those books for a real explanation of my emotions and fears. I at least wanted someone who understood how I felt, so confused.

I will shoot for the stars and beyond because you've taught me no matter how rough things get you can achieve anything.

Reading your book has changed my viewpoint of the world. It's as if someone has lifted a great storm cloud away from my eyes, and now I can see.

I now know that I need to cherish my childhood. I realize that having intuitiveness and a great imagination is very important in life, and that I don't have to let myself be judged.

Your book has given me an immense appreciation for human emotions, teaching me how we need to accept all of it in order to be truly happy, instead of selecting what we choose to feel.

One could argue that these books would not have had such an impact on readers if the author had written largely in passive voice, used a lot of adverbs, and relied primarily on "telling" rather than "showing." That may be the case. I don't recommend rejecting "the rules" out of hand. But it seems obvious to me from reading these Letters About Literature that young people bond with characters who reach out and touch them and stories that stay with them long after they close the book.

Mechanics and techniques have their place, but only when we write from the heart does our work have the potential to change lives for the better.

The Alfred Owle Experience

2010-09-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

Time for a little cross-blog promotion! Many of you know that I have been making jewelry and selling it on eBay and Etsy. I have a blog called Jewelry by Scotti. One of my latest pieces of homemade jewelry is the Alfred Owl Necklace (at left).

What does this have to do with writing? Prepare to be amazed (or bored or troubled).

"Alfred Owl" is a name that came from a distant time in my youth. My father took my brother and me to a professional baseball game in St. Louis. It was an exciting experience for us (we were fairly young, maybe ages 10 and 13?) We actually got to see Willie Mays play.

Anyway, all during the game, we kept hearing a vendor shout what sounded to us like: "Get your Alfred Owl buttons right here!" We kept looking at each other. Alfred Owl buttons? What's that? It became a joke between us. We never did find out what the vendor was really saying. There was no baseball player or anyone named Alfred Owl.

As a teenager, I wrote a long, very strange poem called "The Alfred Owle Experience." I am sharing it below. In those days, I just loved to play with words and plunk them down in the midst of things without worrying about how much sense they made together.

Many of my poems contained a "secret message." In this case, just take the first letter of the third word in each line (before you get to "All these are The Experience"). If you read the first letter of the third word in each line from top to bottom, you will see the message.

The Alfred Owle Experience

To be tangible -- in an imaginary, theoretical existence.
To be hollow -- where once there endured the pulsation of life.
To be eternal -- and part of an expansion that wavers but never runs its course.

To be wistful -- sighing at the futility of another endeavor.
To be obdurate -- belligerent in defense of total injustice.
To be romantic -- sentimental and genial, but only at twilight.
To be destined -- and yet without comprehension of a goal.

To be impoverished -- lacking even a sympathetic glance from an itinerant breeze.
To be sagacious -- aware of all eventualities except extinction.

To be loyal -- but betrayed by the subconscious dream.
To be obscure -- yet master of every indigo, emerald, amethyst, scarlet hue of the rainbow.
To be valiant -- even before the sedulous derision of acute grief.
To be enchanted -- possessed by a laughing leprechan of cognac.

All these are The Experience. The Now. The Creation.

But who

Is Alfred Owle?

Do you see the "secret message"? If you read the first letter of the third word in each line from top to bottom, you will see: the word is love. (This was the 1960s after all.)

Written Any Good Letters Lately?

2010-08-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. It's a marvelous book that beautifully blends the light and humorous with the dark and sobering. It's written in the form of letters being sent back and forth between the various characters in the novel. In this way, the author gives us various points of view and perspectives as we follow the story of Juliet, a writer from London who falls in love with the island of Guernsey and its inhabitants shortly after World War II.

Reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society made me want to write a novel made up of correspondence between characters. However, although it appears deceptively simple, the letter-writing format (like the diary format) can be difficult to execute well. I remember reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis way back in my youth and thinking I'd like to use that format for something. I ended up placing letters from a character periodically throughout a novel I was working on, but never actually finished that book.

Authors can have many different reasons for choosing the format their book takes. With my children's picture books, one key choice I have to make is whether to write the text in rhyme, blank-verse poetry, or prose. My first picture book, One Wolf Howls, basically wrote itself in rhyme. It flowed very naturally from the beginning.

My second picture book -- Big Cat, Little Kitty (Sylvan Dell Publishing, spring 2011) -- started out as blank-verse poetry. Editor Donna German liked it, but said she thought it might work better written in prose. I was willing to give that a try and quickly found out that she was right. The prose version evolved from the blank-verse stanzas I had written, and both Donna and I were very pleased with the result.

I am now working on a third picture book, and it *feels* like it needs to be in prose.

So -- fellow writers -- how and when do you decide what form your book will take? Have you tried writing a fictional diary or series of letters between characters? What other forms have you tried? Stream of consciousness perhaps?

What comes most naturally for you?

Which comes first: character or story?

2010-07-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

Most writers would agree that the first thing you have to have in order to write a story or novel is an IDEA. Something or someone appears in your mind, requesting that you write about it or him or her. Personally, I find that my ideas are usually about a story line. For example: There's a house that's rumored to be haunted. The house looks like a duplex I used to live in.

This idea spawns a number of questions such as: Does anyone live there now? If so, who? Who is supposedly haunting the house? Where (in what city, country) is the house located? Who are the neighbors? Has anyone investigated the rumors? What happened?

From there, I would probably start to hone in on a particular character from whose point of view I think I might like to write -- for example, someone who lives in the house, someone who lives nextdoor, someone who investigates paranormal activity, the ghost him/herself, the house itself.

I usually don't start with a character, but I can see how that could happen. Perhaps in your mind there's a tall, gangly boy with straw-colored hair who is running away from home. From there, you would try to discover who he is, why he's running away, where he plans to go, and so forth.

So what usually comes first for you? A character who insists on your attention or a story that wants to be told?

Literary Fiction or Genre Fiction?

2010-07-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, when I was in college, a creative writing professor read a draft of the first few chapters of a novel I was trying to write. One of his comments was that it seemed as though I wasn't sure whether I was writing literary fiction or commercial fiction. I got the sense that I needed to choose one or the other.

Fast forward too-many years and here I am, still working on my first novel (the first one I've brought anywhere close to submission status anyway). I'm still wondering about the whole literary fiction vs commercial/genre/popular fiction thing.

My novel is intended for a Young Adult (YA) audience, and I would categorize it as High Fantasy. So it must be genre fiction, right? Well. . . I don't know about that. The book is intended to get people thinking about a serious, complex issue from both a philosophical standpoint and a real-world standpoint. It's not meant to be an "easy read" during which the reader can turn off his mind and simply be entertained. The ending is satisfying, yet leaves a lot of questions (at a higher level) unanswered.

I feel that my writing style in this book is more compatible with literary fiction than commercial fiction, but maybe I'm kidding myself. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know. Do I need to be concerned that I may be combining literary and genre fiction rather than being firmly in one camp or the other?

I'd love to hear from anyone in the field on this issue. If you are writing or have written a novel, are you clear on whether it's genre (commercial) fiction or literary fiction? What makes this clear to you? How or when did this become clear? What criteria are you using?

Meanwhile, here's an interesting blog post on the subject: Writing YA Literary Fiction: What It Is and Why You Shouldn't Hate It.

How the Picture Book Gets Its Pictures

2010-06-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

I just got a sneak peek at color comps for the illustrations for my latest picture book -- Big Cat, Little Kitty (Sylvan Dell Publishing, 2011). I can't show the images here, but I thought I'd offer a few comments on the whole "children's picture book process." (I can show you a preliminary sketch of the cover art, which is also posted on Sylvan Dell's web site.)

When I do library and school visits, adults in the audience are usually surprised to learn that authors of picture books almost never choose their own illustrator, nor do we have any input into who is chosen or what the illustrations should show (other than what we provided in the manuscript itself). An editor at the publishing house that accepts the manuscript is responsible for choosing the illustrator and working with that illustrator to create a finished book.

Why is this?

Well, first of all, editors at publishing houses receive and are familiar with countless portfolios from illustrators. Although I suppose there are authors who have access to illustrator portfolios, I doubt many of them are acquainted with the styles of as many illustrators as the average editor. From this vast storehouse, an editor can choose an illustration style that fits his or her own vision for the book.

Secondly, an editor typically has more experience than the average author in the art of matching illustrations and text, working with illustrators, and keeping the bigger picture (or picture book) in mind.

An author-illustrator (one who both writes and illustrates a book) is in a different category, of course.

When I do book signings or author appearances with my picture book One Wolf Howls (Sylvan Dell Publishing, 2009) I hear a lot of comments on how perfectly the illustrations complement the text. People assume that Susan Detwiler, the illustrator, and I sat down right next to each other and put everything together.

Nope. But a great editor (like Donna German) and illustrator (like Susan Detwiler) can make it seem like that's what took place.

Thank you, Faith Hunter!

2010-06-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

Like most writers, I have had the "Show Don't Tell" mantra pulsing in my brain for as long as I can remember. Sometimes it intertwines with the lyrics to the song "Show Me" from the musical My Fair Lady.

I can't even read a published novel without periodically exclaiming (usually silently): "Hey, that's a lot of telling instead of showing! How come the author got away with that? Who published this book?!?!"

Recently I came across an article by fantasy author Faith Hunter called "Show, Don't Tell -- Conveying Emotion." It's one of the most useful articles I have seen so far on the subject, especially given that I'm writing a fantasy novel at the moment!

Faith points out that not only do we need to "show, not tell," we need to avoid using worn-out phrases or crutches to do so. She gives examples of crutches, including:

"She chewed her lips."
"He shuffled his feet."
"He sighed."

Faith then proceeds to give an example of a "Bad Scene with too much telling" and a "Better scene," after which she breaks down that "Better scene," explaining why it's better.

What I'm going to do here is quote a list that Faith provided in answer to one of the comments on the article. I will preface the list with the following quotes from Faith:

"Anything done to excess becomes a crutch."

"A good writer never uses just one device at a time, or one part of a scene for only one purpose. A good writer blends them to create a total that is much more than the sum of the parts."

And now, the list.

"Emotion can be demonstrated with:

Physical stage direction
Dialogue
Things happening in the same scene but which are not actually a part of the main action
Inner monologue
Narrative
Dialogue at cross purposes" *

* Two characters discuss two different things, but neither realizes that.

I encourage you to read the entire article HERE . And while you're at it, check out the whole Magical Words site!

What's in a Name?

2010-06-14T09:51:00.000-07:00

As a reader...

... I like a character's name to either be "fitting" (it suits the character somehow) or deliberately ill-fitting (for example, an ugly person named Beauty).

... I don't like characters with similar names (for example, Henry and Harry).

... I'm also getting pretty tired of female main characters being given traditionally male names. I guess this is supposed to suggest that they are in touch with their masculine side? Or maybe it's supposed to attract male readers?

Fellow Readers:

Do the names of the characters in books matter to you?

Do you have any pet peeves about the way authors name characters?

Should a character's name somehow reflect or relate to his or her personality or purpose in the book?

***********

As a writer...

... I use a lot of different sources for names, and I do try to choose "suitable" names.

... I also try to avoid using the same initial letter for more than two characters' names, especially if they are prominent characters.

Fellow Writers:

How do you name your characters?

What tips, tricks, or techniques have you learned about naming characters?

What sources do you use?

Warding off those evil vibes

2010-06-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

As writers, we are bombarded with reasons why our work won't/can't make it. Our heads become filled with so many "musts" and "shouldn'ts" that we second-guess ourselves at every turn. It isn't pretty.

Sometimes I just have to sit myself down (well, usually I'm already sitting down) and ask myself: "Do you WANT to write this, or not?" If yes, just do it. If not, don't. Write something else. Or don't write at all. Go find something else to do.

It's sort of a "tough love" approach I guess.

So, fellow writers, what do you do to ward off the evil vibes and banish the clouds of pessimism? Let me know!

Meanwhile, I'll be reading a bit of writing advice from George Orwell:
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/george-orwells-5-rules-for-effective-writing/

My Thoughts on Memorial Day

2010-05-31T06:42:00.000-07:00

Today is Memorial Day in the U.S., a day when we acknowledge and express appreciation for the sacrifices made by members of the armed forces and their families.

Every generation seems to have at least one war associated with it. For my parents, it was World War II. For my generation, it was Vietnam. I was twelve years old in 1963 when President Lyndon Johnson expanded U.S. participation in the Vietnam war. I remember feeling proud that our soldiers were fighting to keep people free. It was during that time that I began to write a lot of poetry, much of it in support of our involvement.

In high school I continued to write poetry. I learned to play the guitar and composed songs. I don't remember at what point I began to shift from defending U.S. actions in Vietnam to questioning and later opposing our continued participation. So many horrible things were happening. It wasn't simple to me anymore -- probably because I wasn't a child anymore.

I would like to share a poem I wrote in high school when the suffering and heartbreak caused by the Vietnam war weighed heavily on my mind. The poem is about a dying soldier. It is dedicated to all those who have given their lives in war and to the loved ones left behind. For the freedoms we enjoy because of your sacrifice, we are grateful.

At Last

In silence suspended you lie there and stare
At reflections of candlelight, soft on her hair,
Then you start from your dream as smoke fills the air,
For you know you're leaving at dawn.

The noise and the shouts beat a drum in your brain.
You remember the feeling of fear and of pain,
And an image of jungles, more jungles, and rain,
And you know you're leaving at dawn.

Your thoughts slip away once again to her side,
Through your feverish eyes and the slow-rising tide.
She's too far away. How can you confide
That you know you're leaving at dawn?

How can you tell her goodbye one last time,
That you're sorry you're leaving, you hope she won't cry.
But you see the tears that would soon fill her eyes
If she knew you were leaving at dawn.

Your mind is still throbbing. You feel far away.
You want to tell her; you're trembling with pain.
She must find someone new. She can't sit and wait,
For you know you're leaving at dawn.

Thunder -- then stillness -- then coldness -- then heat.
She's waiting, she's waiting, but she should be free.
Your eyes close in peace. No more will they see.
And how can you tell her you're gone?

Scotti Cohn
(c. 1967)

Plot A or Plot B?

2010-05-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

I'm reading the book 179 Ways to Save a Novel by Peter Selgin. Selgin writes, "Remember that there are really only two plots: Plot A, where a character is routinely unhappy and suddenly seizes an opportunity for happiness, and Plot B, where a character is routinely happy but some circumstance or irritant destroys or undermines his happiness, and he must act to reinstate his status quo. The solution to plot is to make sure you are dealing with one of these situations."

Just for grins, I took a look at my work in progress (the revision/rewrite of a finished novel). I feel Plot B is the closest because the story evolves out of something distressing that happens to turn the character's mostly acceptable life upside down. At the same time, the character was not entirely happy with her life before the upsetting incident, and is open to seizing a new opportunity for happiness. She wants to "reinstate the status quo" in some respects but also would welcome change.

What do you think of Selgin's two plots? Would you identify your current WIP as Plot A or Plot B? Why?

Behold the Well-Turned Phrase!

2010-05-17T09:16:00.000-07:00

For me, one thing that makes a piece of writing enjoyable to read is when the writer uses what I call "well-turned phrases" regularly throughout the piece. By "well-turned phrase" I mean a phrase that is succinct, evocative, effective, and contains an unusual or unexpected reference or association.

Once again, I'm going to refer to the book I'm currently reading, which is A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire. Maguire describes the terrain at one point as "scrappy farms worn grey with wind and regret."

When I read that phrase, I literally stopped (briefly, not long enough to take me out of the story) and smiled. Why? Because that eight-word phrase conveyed information in way that resonated with me, and in a way that I had not seen dozens of times before.

I am just one person and I'm not a professional writing instructor, but let me try to explain why the phrase works so well for me.

Let's start with "scrappy farms." The word scrappy gives me a sense of two qualities: fragmented or disjointed (composed of scraps) and contentious (or, perhaps in a more positive light, having a fighting spirit). Right away, my mind is filled with images of farms that are not in good shape but also refuse to succumb to defeat.

These farms are "worn grey" -- a color that makes me think of old age, ill health, and shabbiness. The word "worn" itself suggests "worn out" or "worn down" -- weak, struggling, aged.

Finally, the farms are worn grey "with wind and regret." What a difference the word "regret" makes when used in this context. Maguire could have said "with wind and dust" or "with wind and drought." Instead, he pairs a concrete, physical word (wind) with the more abstract term regret. This takes us into the minds and hearts of those who tilled the soil, sowed the seeds, and nurtured the plants. . . or those who failed to nurture the plants, as the case may be. These farms are just-barely-living testimonials to hard times and neglect.

Think about how much more effective "scrappy farms worn grey with wind and regret" is than a phrase such as "the desolate countryside" or "farms that had seen better days."

If you are a writer, perhaps you automatically use well-turned phrases in your writing. If not, take a moment when you're "finished" with a piece to wander back through it. Scout for places where you can replace a flat, colorless, or clunky phrase with one that is well-turned.

In the meantime, I hope you will share a well-turned phrase from your work or someone else's, and tell us briefly what you like about it!

What did you want to be. . . ?

2010-05-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

Interviewers often ask, "When did you know you wanted to be a writer?" My first instinct is to say that I can't remember when I didn't want to be a writer. It's true that writing became my favorite thing to do at a very early age. From about first grade on, when I wasn't doing schoolwork or other activities, I could usually be found in my bedroom writing a poem or story or "novel."

But the fact is, at one time (I think when I was in around 5th grade maybe) I thought I might like to be a pediatrician, and around that same time I also thought I would like to be a veterinarian.

Then I found out that in order to be a pediatrician or veterinarian, you had to be good at science. Who knew? I wasn't terribly interested in science, nor did I do all that well at it in school (in other words, I tended to struggle to bring home a B rather than a C, and sometimes did not succeed). I also discovered that in order to pursue those careers, I would probably have to dissect animals in school -- possibly even cats. That put me right off!

So perhaps it's no surprise that at this stage in my writerly life, I am enjoying writing books about animals (veterinarian) for young children (pediatrician). I find that these are the types of books that have the most meaning for me personally, the ones that make me feel the best inside.

It's funny how my earliest interests have stayed with me throughout my life, and how they influence my writing every day.

Do you see a connection between what you thought you wanted to be in your early years and what you write about? Do you tend to write about things that fascinated you or appealed to you during childhood?

Nine Items of Terror for Writers

2010-05-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

I recently attended a performance by The Flying Karamazov Brothers, a juggling and comedy troupe. They were fabulous!

At the end of the show, they performed their "Terror Trick." This involved juggling nine "items of terror" they had gradually introduced during the show. These items were a cleaver, a torch, a salt shaker, a ukelele, a skillet, a fish, an egg, a block of dry ice, and a bottle of champagne. They juggled all of these at once, then ended up "cooking" the fish and the egg in the skillet and drinking the champagne. So it all came together into a somewhat cohesive whole.

As I left the theater, I thought of a parallel to writing. I wondered what the "nine items of terror" would be for writers -- the disparate elements that writers must expertly juggle and interweave to create a "grand finale" (the completed work)?

Let's see. . . How about we start with Point of View (POV) as Item of Terror Number One. Should I use first person, second person, third person distant, third person close, multiple-person, omniscient, alternating. . . or should I just pour myself a stiff drink and call it a night?

The differences between third-distant and third-close drive me insane. I no sooner think I'm using one than I realize I'm using the other. Omniscient seems easiest, but detached. I think it's harder for the reader (especially a child or young adult) to "connect" with the main character when something is written in omniscient POV. First person POV requires a consistent, age-appropriate voice. You have to choose your vocabulary carefully if the narrator is a child or teen. Would they use that word? Would they perceive things differently? And when you're in first person, you can only comment on things the character sees, hears, knows about, etc.

Recently I came across a tip: If your third-person character is constantly talking out loud "to himself," you may want to switch to first person. That makes quite a lot of sense to me. I tend to stick with third person, but struggle with whether to "zoom in really close" or remain more objective.

I could go on, but I think that's enough for now from my POV.

What "item of terror" would you add and what is "terrifying" about it?

That first paragraph...

2010-04-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

I just started reading A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire. As I read the first paragraph, I was reminded of how important that paragraph can be when you're trying to hook the reader/agent/editor. Here is the first paragraph of A Lion Among Men:

"The time came for her to die, and she would not die; so perhaps she might waste away, they thought, and she did waste, but not away; and the time came for her to receive final absolution, so they set candles upon her clavicle, but this she would not allow. She blasphemed with gusto and she knocked the scented oils across the shroud they'd readied on a trestle nearby."

This paragraph accomplishes quite a lot. It begins in a serious tone but soon alerts us that there will probably be a dash of humor (albeit black humor) sprinkled into the mix. I wonder who "she" is? She's dying and wasting, but still has enough spunk to knock things around. A religious rite seems to be involved (she's receiving final absolution), but she blasphemes "with gusto."

I'm eager to read on, but I realize not everyone would be. Maguire already has a following, but if he didn't, the publisher who picked up this book would have to believe that a large group of people would find this opening paragraph compelling.

Do you have an opening paragraph from your own work that you would like to share? It can be published or unpublished, finished or unfinished.

Here is the first paragraph from one of the chapters in my book More Than Petticoats: Remarkable North Carolina Women, a nonfiction book containing mini-biographies of women whose lives had an impact on The Tarheel State.

"The young man on the makeshift operating table was in bad shape. Dr. Mary Sloop held her breath as her husband, Dr. Eustace Sloop, made an incision. She stifled a gasp of dismay. Angry red inflammation and signs of infection told her the patient's appendix had ruptured; his condition was even more serious than she had feared."

Come on, somebody, start us off!

Books on Writing: Who Needs 'Em?

2010-04-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

Like many writers, I have a shelf or two of “how to write” books in my vast library. I just ordered another one today: 179 Ways to Save a Novel: Matters of Vital Concern to Fiction Writers by Peter Selgin.

I have a writer-friend who has no use for “how to write” books. She feels that reading good writing is the best way to learn the craft. I can’t really argue with her. She has a literary agent, and her first novel will be published by a major publishing house in the near future. So her approach seems to have worked very well for her.

Although I do believe reading good writing is essential to becoming a good writer, I also find “how to write” books to be not only interesting reading but helpful to me. The topics mentioned in such books often cause me to look at aspects of my own writing that I might not have considered without being prompted.

Below are the titles of three books on writing that I have found particularly enlightening, encouraging, and engaging:

Write Away by Elizabeth George

On Writing by Stephen King

The Art of Fiction by John Gardner

How do you feel about “how to write” books? If you read such books, which one(s) have you found to be well worth the time and money you invested? Why?

Do you feel that there is a certain "stage" of a writer's career where such books are helpful, and that good writers eventually "outgrow" that stage?

Let the Search begin!

2010-04-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

In addition to being a writer, I have worked as a copy editor for fifteen years. I worked exclusively for one publisher, and they had a Style Manual that I consulted. For things that weren't in the style manual, they wanted me to use the Chicago Manual of Style.

When I first started working for them, I would receive hard copies of the text to copy edit. I had to mark changes in red and attach sticky notes to direct queries to the editor, design people, or author.

Once we moved into the digital age, I received text on disk or as an email attachment. At this point, it became much easier to catch the most common errors because I could do a Search for the wrong thing and replace it. For example, this particular publisher wanted to use contractions to impart a sense of informality. Instead of "you will" they wanted "you'll." Instead of "that is" they wanted "that's" and so forth. So I would search for the un-contracted forms and change them.

This is something we can all do as writers. There are words that we tend to over-use or misspell or misuse, and a search will point these out to us. Past perfect construction (using "had") is undesirable, so do a search for "had" and evaluate each case to make sure you really need to use it.

Do you have trouble with "its" versus "it's" or "there" versus "their"? Do a search for each of those and evaluate whether you have used them correctly (have the "rules" right next to you so you can consult them if you need to).

Search for the letters "ly" to see if you are using too many adverbs. (Not all adverbs end in "ly" of course, but it's a start.)

If you want to make the best possible impression on editors or agents when you submit your work, it pays to fine tune some of the "little things."

I'd love to hear what the rest of you writers search for (or realize you *should* search for) in your manuscripts!

Going Forward

2010-04-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

Although I enjoy my LiveJournal account and will continue to use it, I find their system for posting Comments to be unfriendly. If you don't have a LiveJournal account, you have to comment as "Anonymous" or log in with "Open ID." The reasons for this have been explained by LiveJournal and they are not planning to change.

I'm ready to make this blog -- Writing Tips, Tricks, and Tactics -- an active part of my life. I am hoping to hear from you!

To kick off the resurrection of this blog, I would love to hear from fellow writers on the subject:

What is the best tip (or one of the best) you have received on how to be a better writer?

Rejection

2009-03-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

As a writer, I have received rejection in many forms. The latest is a letter rejecting a manuscript I sent to this publisher nearly 2 years ago. That's right. It took them nearly 2 years to reject the manuscript. I submitted it on July 31, 2007, and received the rejection letter today.

Of course I had submitted the manuscript to several other publishers in the meantime, but still...

On another occasion, I waited more than a year for the rejection of a full manuscript that was requested by an editor based on the first three chapters. Again, I continued to submit the ms to other publishers during that time -- but still...

What's my point?

TIP, TRICK & TACTIC #1: Don't expect a quick response. Don't sit around waiting for a response from one publisher before sending the manuscript to another one. Just keep on keeping on. As a writer-friend of mine recently said: "This job definitely ain't for sissies."