Online workshops

How is it Monday already?? How is it January 14th already?? Oy!

I'd like to pick your brains about online workshops. I've taken a few of them, I don't remember them all though. I do recall taking ones on self-editing, plotting, and I think dialogue or characterization. Wow, must have left an impression.

I often start out well. I respond to the e-mails and do the mini-assignments. But after a couple of days or a week, I fizzle out. Most of the time I've just saved all of the documents from the workshop for future reference, but not taken advantage of the discussion aspect of the course.

When I choose a workshop it's usually based on the topic. If it's a topic I like, then I'll look at who is teaching it. Oh! And the price, that's a biggie. I don't think I'd spend more than $30 for an online workshop, unless it's taught by someone I really want to interact with, or comes with lots of useful handouts, like if Michael Hauge taught an online one. Those handouts would be worth the $30. Related to price, the length of workshop makes a difference. Is it $30 for two weeks or a month?

I'm also a bit irrational about them. I like that the workshop presenters give out assignments like, 'write a two-sentence hook for your story' and they proceed to give feedback to each one, on the loop. It's great to see what other people write and it helps me to write them.

However, that's a TON of e-mail. If you have 30 people in a workshop, each one posts their hook. Then the presenter responds to each. That's at least 60 e-mails in a couple of days. Then there are always people who respond further and ask more questions - it is an interactive workshop, right? The e-mail quantity adds up.

So I'll eventually set the workshop to digest, particularly if it's a month-long workshop. The problem is - either I forget to read the digest, or I miss the important nuggets of info from the presenter.

I took one workshop where the presenter set all of her general posts (assignments, announcements, tips, lectures, etc) as 'special notice' in the Yahoo Group. Then workshop takers can go into their Yahoo Group interface and change it from individual e-mails or digest to special notice only. That way they only get e-mails from the presenter, and can manually go into Yahoo to read other posts if they like.

That setup worked great for me. I really liked that.

How about you all? Let's take a quick survey.
1) Do you, or have you, taken online workshops?
2) What topics have you taken, or would you like to take if it were offered?
3) What price range do you look for?
4) Do you prefer 2- or 4-week workshops?
5) Do you use Yahoo Groups or another interface for them?
6) Any other comments on online workshops would be appreciated. Things that bug you, things that work well.

CHALLENGE UPDATE

My husband took this photo a couple of years ago. The Pelicans remind me of us. You know, all on the same journey, traveling together for strength.

Anyway, how is everyone doing? We all know Chris has been writing up a storm, Paty is overachieving, Karen is lost somewhere in a spooky rewriting cave. How about the rest of us?

Our challenges are specialized this time, but accountability can keep even the most devout (or harried) writer on track at times, so lets all check in, restate our goals and reveal if we're happy with our progress and brainstorm on how to make it better if we're not. I know some haven't started yet as they had health issues to overcome or previous obligations to fulfill, but check in anyway! Keep in touch...

CHALLENGE UPDATE

My husband took this photo a couple of years ago. The Pelicans remind me of us. You know, all on the same journey, traveling together

CHALLENGE

My dh took this photo a year or two ago off the Northern California coast. We're like the pelicans, right? Winging our way to success, drawing strength from others making the same journey?

Anyway, I thought we could use the blog to check in on where we are with our specialized challenges! This will be an opportunity for us each to know who's doing what and who wants to accomplish what. Accountability sometimes keeps us on track, right?

We all heard from Chris Young that she's been writing up a storm. I'd be interested in hearing what her deadline is. Paty emailed from Alaska where she was writing 50 gazillion pages a minute in the middle of the night while listening to a PA system. Can you say "Overachiever?" And Karen is in a cave somewhere. How's it going in there, Karen?

Some people haven't started their challenges yet as they had other obligations or health issues to work out first. And some, at least one and that would be me, are plugging away slowly but surely.

So who are you, where are you at, what is your deadline (self imposed or otherwise, it doesn't matter.)

I'll account for myself on the blog!

Holiday Reads

I'm not usually one to do holiday books. Not that I have anything against them, I don't. It's just such a busy season with reading time spread thin. This year was different, for some reason. Maybe because I didn't write over Christmas and New Years. Whatever the reason, I rather enjoyed the three, no wait, make that four, holiday stories that I read.

I'll give you a brief run down:

A Simple Gift by Karyn Witmer.
This was a large-print edition hard back. The gigantic font made reading it quick work. I would label it as women's fiction. The romantic twist was between a long-time married couple. After their daughter leaves without warning and shows up back in thier home town more than a year later with a baby, but won't speak to them, it is a struggle for the couple to keep their marriage together and regain a sense of family. The horticulturist in me liked the "simple gift" theme of a Christmas cactus, whose cuttings had been passed down by the women of this family for generation after generation as a sort of passage of acceptance.

The Christmas Thief by Marry and Carol Higgins Clark.
A cozy, entertaining mystery. Also a zip to read. An elderly lottery-winner-turned-amateur-sleuth and an elderly P.I. join forces to help solve a case involving an 80-foot blue spruce and a hidden fortune in jewels. I would rate this book PG. I plan to pass it on to my grandma. I think she'd enjoy it too.

Holidays are Murder by Charlotte Douglas:
This is a Next trade paperback and a Maggie Skerritt mystery. I liked this 40-something detective, Maggie Skerritt. She seems real. She has problems at work, and issues with family, holidays and men. Of course she solves the Florida-based murder case, and in the end she gets her love life in order too. What more could a detective ask for? Or a reader for that matter. This book now lives on my keeper shelf.

Blackberry Winter:
Bummer here is, this was the first holiday story I read this season and I all ready passed it on to someone else, so I can't tell you right off hand who wrote it. It was also a Next trade paper back. It was about a daughter and her dying mother's relationship, a trip to the past, via a small mountain town, and secrets long buried finally revealed.

I enjoyed each of these books, and the fairly novel concept -- for me anyway -- of reading Christmas stories in December and January. Each was made a more special experience because my mom bought the books for me three years ago when I was having pregnancy difficulties. I couldn't get them read before January of that year -- Mom also gave me many books that weren't holiday themed -- so I shelved them for when the time was right. My mom passed away a year and a half ago. I missed her like crazy this Christmas, so the time was definitely right for me to peruse these stories.

How about you? Do you read holiday-themed books? If so, does it matter what time of year you read them? Did you read any this season? Care to share a brief review? Reading these stories made me think about someday writing a Christmas manuscript of my own. Have you ever written a holiday book or short story? Do you have any plans to write one in the future?

The Revision Cave

Bwahahaaha! Yep, that's me, spelunking through the cave, laptop strapped to my back as I dodge the stalactites and stalagmites of my first draft. It's dark in here, but I do see light at the end of the tunnel.

I think everyone approaches revision of a first draft in a different way. I know there are books on how to do it, and online workshops abound, plus plenty of articles on websites and in writers magazines. I've never taken a class, but I do own a book on revision that I haven't read yet, and I've revised off a few revision letters received from agents and editors on past projects. I'm currently in the middle of the "the first read through" phase and it's an eye-opening, but also exciting, experience.

I enjoy making revisions because it's like putting those finishing touches on a painting, adding that extra detail and dimension that will bring it to life. Or defining the features of a sculpture or carving or ceramic. It's that phase of a creative project that brings you closer to your work and makes you become one with it. It's the point when the book feels real.

As I'm writing a book, I don't blast through it in the white heat of creative frenzy. I'm a methodical pantser with a fairly good idea about my beginning, middle and end when I start. But as I write, there are some spots I know I'll have to fix later, and I make a mental note or a place holder of some kind that will tip me off when I reach that spot during revisions. Good grief, but I had a lot of those in this book. And some of them were kind of hidden. Note to self: In future books, remember to use different colored type in placeholders.

Though I revise as I go, I've been writing long enough to know that when I reach the end, it's not really the end for me. More work needs to be done. One of my favorite types of placeholders is narrative summary, which I use for two reasons: 1. To get me from point A to point B quickly so that I don't lose my creative rhythm, and I know I can expand on it later; 2. If the book ends up really long (rare for me), I can leave it as is with just minor tweaking.

Something else that happens as I write, since I have very little planned out beforehand, is that I experiment with new characters and plot points knowing I may or may not keep them. So when I go back through to revise, the character introduced in chapter eight started out duplicitous but ended up being a saint. Or in chapter five I revealed a secret that I decided to reveal in chapter thirteen instead. What I wanted a character to know in chapter two I'd forgotten about by chapter ten and have to fix. This kind of stuff is everywhere! But it's great fun because as I read through and flesh out and tweak and expand, my story is becoming a cohesive treasure for me. I can only hope the agents I query share the same view. 8^)

I've heard many of you lament over the revision process, and some of you dive into it with the same relish I do. If you don't share my enthusiasm for this phase of writing a novel, why not? And if you do, please share your reasons and offer tips if you have some. Hey, I'm in the middle of my revisions. Tips are most appreciated.

Fix It and Forget It

I've got a fun exercise for you today, but first a little bit of To-Do Tuesday news. Former chapter member Jennifer Grosse has sold her first book, Wedding War to The Wild Rose Press. She'll be publishing as Jenny Gilliam. I'm sure you all join me in wishing her the best of luck! Her fast rise from newbie to published author should inspire us all (and/or make us insanely jealous!)!

Anyone else have good news to share? How are all you challengers coming along? Is Alice cracking her whip hard enough?

Now, onto to today's exercise. I just had to set aside a mystery with a great premise, fun characters, and good voice. Why then is it currently keeping the dust bunnies company? Dialogue. Now, I know I've done at least two previous posts on dialogue, but bear with me. Danita has hooks, I've got dialogue. Nothing makes me loose interest faster than poor dialogue, and with limited reading time these days, I'm finding it way easier to chuck books against the wall and move onto the next contender.

This particular book suffered from the disease known as paragraphitis. This harrowing affliction shows up most frequently in contest submissions, but it's been known to plague more than a few published authors as well. Paragraphitis occurs when your characters are prone to speaking in monologues. Yes, I know it worked for Shakespeare. Trust me, you're no Shakespeare, and your readers certainly aren't Elizabethan peers of the realm. In order to capture the attention of modern readers, your dialogue needs to be short and snappy with plenty of give and take. Plus, we really need to understand what's going on behind the dialogue--emotions, facial expressions, body language, and inner thoughts.It needs to read like people really talk--pauses, interchanges, incomplete thoughts, and interruptions.

In fact, it needs to be BETTER than how we talk. No one really wants to read one of my husband's monologues on Linux or suffer through my aunt's cat stories. Let your characters come up for air. If you have to picture the other characters rolling their eyes or frantically waving their hand to get a word in edgewise, you too may be suffering from paragraphitis. Luckily, this is a pretty easy disorder to treat.

I thought about using the book I just tossed as today's example, but I know how painful it would be to have my novel serve as a teaching point, so I'm using an example of my own devising. What I want you to do is take this monologue and turn it into a true, snappy dialogue. You get to decide who's talking and what the context of the situation is. I always love seeing how each of us has a different take on the same prompt.

"Of course you're upset. I would be too. I mean anyone would. But we can't wallow in it. We just have to move on. I know just ticket. We need to get out of the house. First, we should head to Dutch Brothers, then we should hit the mall. A new dress is exactly what you need and Nordstrom's is having a sale. They have the best dressing rooms, and the saleswomen will make you feel like a queen. We'll gorge at the food court--I know how you love a gooey, buttery pretzel! Soon you'll forget he even existed."

"Ok."

"Great. Let's get our purses and head out. I'll bring the car around. But, would you rather freshen up first?

Now, fix it. And share your thoughts on paragraphitis.

Published = Writing talent + Perseverance + Attitude

In every job a person enters there are basic things that make a difference in their success.

One is being able to do the job; whether it is the ability to be a quick study or the fact you are willing to always be open to learning more. Another is working toward being the best you can be in that occupation if it’s flipping burgers or running a large company most people wish to improve their lot.

Two is being conscious of those around you. Making them feel comfortable in your presence and being thoughtful to their interests and listening.

In the publishing industry it isn’t very different. To get published in this day and age of easy access to writers at conferences, book signings, MySpace, blogs, and websites a writer needs to have three things going for them.

1) The ability to write stories that capture the readers attention and in the case of romance, their hearts.
2) The perseverance to keep at it and perfect their writing no matter how many rejection letters they receive.
3) A personality that is willing to work with editors and agents and draw readers in.

I remember attending RWA Nationals a few years ago and throughout the conference I found myself near a Golden Heart Finalist. But it wasn’t her first time as a finalist and she let everyone know that and the fact she had yet to sell. And lo and behold- she won again. In her acceptance speech she showed off all her Golden Hearts and went on to complain and whine about how none of these had done her any good. You could feel the crowd getting nervous and feeling embarrassed for her. You can bet if that is the way she’s reacted to each Golden Heart since the first one, the editors have all put her name on a list of writers they don’t want to work with.

I know of one publishing house that has a place where the editors make notes about writers. Any editor in that house can look at it and see the comments made. If a writer was a diva and hard to work with it is noted. I’m sure all the larger publishing houses have the same thing.

As in any job there are a whole lot of factors that can move you up in your job, but the main things you need to move up in the publishing world are writing talent, perseverance, and attitude.

Do you think this is true? Or are there other things that you think make the difference in getting published other than being at the right place at the right time, which has worked for many writers.

No Blog

Apologies for the no - or lame - blog. I'm sick with the flu, strep and some weird ear infection thing that has me hearing echoes. My brain isn't working well enough to come up with a pithy blog. If anyone has something they want to post today, by all means, jump in and go for it.

I'm going to leave you with a line from a book my CP sent me for Christmas: Craft & Technique by Paul Raymond Martin. I don't read a lot of craft books, but this one is pocket sized, and instead of pages and pages telling you what you should or shouldn't do, it has one-liners that make you think. The one that stuck out to me today deals with character:

"Every memorable character has a wart, of sorts."

Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves. ;)

THE BEST LAID PLANS ...

Well, it had been my plan to announce that my Web site has been revised -- which it has been. However, instead of that great new Web site showing up, I'm getting an error message. Sheesh! And there's a disclaimer on my hosting server that says it may take 24 hours for updated material to show up. Soooo... I have to wait until tomorrow to see if the server is being temperamental or if I messed up when I uploaded the files. Hopefully, my revised Web site will be up and running sometime Thursday. In the meantime, if you want to look at the error message, my url is: www.genenevalleau.com :)

Since my big announcement fell a bit flat, I'm riding on the coattails of Alice's blog. I designed my own cover and have drafts of my next two covers done -- as you will be able to see once my revised Web site is up and running. Alice asked how it felt to design your own covers. The control freak part of my personality likes it. One drawback is there's no one else to blame if it turns out ugly or doesn't sell a bazillion books. Kinda like the Web site that doesn't show up. I can't just call the designer and have her fix it. The designer is me! Another drawback is being too close to a project to see it objectively. Critique partners can be very helpful in pointing out places where our story doesn't work for them. Same with covers -- having someone take a "fresh eyes" look at a cover is very helpful for me.

Once my revised Web site shows up, I'd love to have your comments (as well as letting me know if there's something that's not working). If you're so inclined, enter my contest. I'll be doing several contests to celebrate the release of my first book, SONGS OF THE HEART, which will be released April 4, a month earlier than originally scheduled.

The revised Web site and contest are part of the promotion for this book. I'll also be attending more conferences than usual this year, with promotional materials in hand, which I will design. (One of the benefits of also being a Web and graphic designer.) Will this be effective in selling more copies of my book? I'll see when the royalty statements come in!

Once again, to expand on Alice's blog about covers influencing whether or not a reader buys your book -- what promotional efforts influence whether you buy a book? Any at all? Most of the books I buy are written by authors I know and I've liked their previous work. How about a new author or one you haven't read?

Karen said she chooses by referrals or reviews. Paty looks at the cover and back blurb. Yet I think we've all ended up with books that we'd like to throw against the wall. Did the story not live up to the packaging or the promotion? Does it truly boil down to whether or not you like the story?

On the other hand, did you ever wonder if there was a delightful story hidden behind a less-than-attractive cover? Do you take the time to read the first page or skim through the book? Or do you decide in ten seconds or less whether or not to buy a book?

I took one more peek and still no updated Web site showing up. So I guess I'll post this blog, call it a night, and check on the Web site tomorrow. Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions on promotional efforts. They will be helpful to me over the next few months -- and I'll bring freebies to offer up at our meetings!

By the way, Alice, I love the cover of your new book. I'll buy the book because you wrote it, not because of the cover. Once I start reading a book, I rarely go back and look at the cover unless someone points out something odd about the cover, as you did that the cover models have the wrong color hair. At least one of them doesn't have three arms as a now infamous cover did!

A PICTURE'S WORTH...

This is my new cover. I'm very happy with it. I like the action, I like the scenery, I like the horses. I like the way the sun shines from the corner as the name of the resort in the book is Puerta Del Sol, or door of the sun. I like the looks of the hero and heroine and the way they seem to be galloping right off the cover.

However, in the book, the hero and heroine are both light haired. She's very blond, he's described, I believe as "fair" or maybe "sandy." These people look dark haired to me. At first I was a little stunned and then I decided to be practical and reasonable and let's face it, there's nothing I can do about it anyway.

Then I decided to try to picture these people on this cover with light hair. Not good. They would disappear.

So, this is my cover and I am back to my first response which was, I love it. And I have to hope that it is the first response of the reader, as well, the response that has her lifting the book for a glance at the back cover where my editor hopefully wows them with a pitch they can't wait to explore...

This weekend in the Parade section of my newspaper there was a question in the people section asking the editors why the female leads of shows like CSI show so much cleavage. One actress was quoted as saying something along the lines of, "You don't honestly think we get to dress ourselves, do you? That's wardrobe's department." And that's what I thought as I pictured my readers reacting to the first description of my heroine, for instance. I can see her flipping the book and looking again at the cover and shaking her head. I hope she doesn't hold it against me.

How much does a cover influence you as a reader and if you have published, how have you felt about your covers? I know some of you are able to design your own covers. What's that like? If you are pre-published, how much say do you hope to have in the cover that graces your first novel? I have to say that I have been very pleased with almost all of my covers and this one especially -- wrong hair color or not. If my book doesn't sell, I don't think I can blame the artist.

A look back . . . .

In the next few days, a slew of writing-resolution posts will litter the blogosphere. Challenges, goals, and motivational pushes to make this THE year for you will abound, and I'm sure some of my fellow bloggers have some of these in store for you.

So, I'd like to do something a little different. I'd like to look at some of our chapter highlights from the last year, and I'd like you to contribute your high-points as well.

• Eli becomes chapter president! Filling the shoes of a dynamo like Paty Jager isn't an easy task, and this is a critical point for our chapter. Some members are moving on, old members are finding their way back, and new members are joining us. Transitions are hard on any group, and a change in leadership is often where a chapter either withers or perseveres to survive. Under Eli, our chapter will thrive. I can't think of a better person to take the helm and lead us in a new direction.
• Finalists pile up! Eli finaled in the Golden Heart, Terry McLaughlin finaled in the Rita, Barb Cool Lee finaled in a whole slew of contests, Paty Jager and Chris Young finaled in the Eppies. . . Each time I saw one of our chapter members on a finalist list, I swelled with pride. We're a small chapter with a BIG presence, and our chapter members are so talented.
  
• Genene presents her "Once Upon . . ." plotting talk. All of our speakers this year were terrific, but Genene's back-to-basics way of simplifying plot into a fairytale pushed me to find the core of my WIP, and the brainstorming session helped me see some critical weak points.
  
• Critique meeting breakthroughs. Similarly, our critique meetings are always fun, and our 2007 critique meetings were exceptionally spirited. I enjoyed the forays into Paty's, Eli's, Jen's, and Alice's works. I love watching other's creative processes at work.
  
• Blog moves forward! Our blog really took off this year, and there have been too many great posts to list, but feel free to revisit your favorites in the comments. Eli's challenge motivated us, Danita got us thinking about hooks in new ways, Alice motivates us, Paty and Piper educate us, and Lisa makes us laugh. Our audience grew, and we expanded our focus. I know To-Do Tuesdays has been on hiatus lately, but doing my Tuesday blog helped me feel productive and involved.

Now, we had a phenomenal year in 2007. What were your favorite moments? Who made a difference to the chapter? Did you have other RWA highlights this year (conference, awards, workshops, etc)? SHARE!! And Happy New Year!

Out With the Old

Hopefully, I am not stepping on Lisa's blogging toes. For heaven's sake, Lisa, if you are ready to post something after this goes up, please do so and accept my apologies!

I just packaged up my book and raced to the post office (which closed early!) Nevermind, in my head, this book is finally out of here and I am happy to see it go. I will toast it tonight, and wish it a safe journey, but meanwhile, starting tomorrow, it's on with the new, goodbye to the old.

How fitting, huh?

A few years ago, some friends had a really miserable year. Come to think of it, so did we. So on New Year's Eve, these friends came over and we all wrote the things that were troubling us on pieces of paper. Then we carefully, one at a time, put the papers into the fire and watched them go up in smoke.

I don't know why, exactly, but this little ritual worked and it's something my husband and I still do on occasion.

Now, since the things you stick on a piece of paper to destroy are sometimes very personal, I'm not asking you to write them down here on this blog (if you even happen to tiptoe --or stagger-- this way on New Years...) Remember, we're not talking about resolutions or things we want to strive for. We're talking about negative things that we want to let go. And the negative things that destroy writing opportunities are often seemingly unrelated to writing. Family trouble, health concerns, anger, disappointment, fear ... all of these things negatively impact creativity.

Try it, if not on a paper, then metaphorically, in your head. Write the words, fold the paper, hold it above the flame and drop it. Watch the paper blacken and curl, watch it catch fire. And let it go.

Happy New Years Everyone

Happy New Years

I think Lisa may have started celebrating early! Or maybe she's getting ready to post right this moment

A Few More Words of Zen

The Chinese are a wise people. We're not talking the government control-freak Chinese people here, those folks have some mental issues, but simple words put into complex thought make wise the everyday Joes. Or, in this case the everyday Lings, Pings and Taos.

Look at the examples below and you’ll see what I mean:

Enough shovels of earth -- a mountain.
Enough pails of water -- a river.

I love this. And, I think it easily translates not only to everyday life, but to writing as well:

Enough letters -- a paragraph.
Enough paragraphs -- a manuscript.

Although some of the beauty of the original passage is lost in my pathetic translation, you get my drift.

Here's another:

Before Zen -- cut wood, carry water.
After Zen -- cut wood, carry water.

I take this to mean keep on keeping on with life's everyday tasks. So, how does this relate to writing you ask? I'm so happy you asked! Let's replace the word Zen with the word publication, and make some other slight modifications. Ready? Okay.

Before publication -- sit butt in chair and write.
After publication -- sit butt in chair and write.

You could also replace the word Zen with the words fame or fortune.

Ah yes, such a wise race the Chinese people. And man do they make good dumplings too.

Rushing toward the finish line

I think it's my turn to blog, or it was yesterday. Anyway, since it's already after 1:00, I thought I'd post something since nothing has appeared here since Christmas Eve.

I have two more chapters to go before finishing this book. Yay! So I'm kind of savoring it, really putting a lot of thought into these last forty or fifty pages. And since it's the first book in a series, not everything will be wrapped up in the end except for the main story question. And yet it needs to be a standalone book. Very challenging. But fun. 8^) I hope to type "the end" by the first of the year. In other words, by next Tuesday or Wednesday.

So when you get closer to the end of a book, do you write slower, or faster? I know a lot of writers who pick up speed at the end because they're eager to be finished, or because the ending has played out in their mind for so long that they're excited to actually get the words down. So do you rush to get the end down? Do you plan to flesh it out more later so that it doesn't read so hurried, or are you confident it can stand as is? Or do you like to savor the last few pages, letting them slowly pour from your finger tips?

Believe

Last night I realized I blog today. Well, I soaked in the tub to get inspiration and nothing came, so I worked on gathering information about Prostitution in the 1800's in the West for a workshop I'm giving, and still nothing came to me. I was sure as soon as my head hit the pillow all kinds of things would start popping into my head. Nope, drifted off to dreamland without a hitch.

So, here it is morning and I'm still trying to figure out what to write. I don't want anything deep or anything people fill obligated to respond to, because heck, it's Christmas Eve and most probably won't even look at this.

I thought about doing one on respect, but that is too close to an unsolved issue at the moment to comment on. I'll wait. I thought about doing one about a writer's Christmas Wish list, but I think that was kind of hit on earlier. I could just write you all a poem, but Alice is far better at that than I am.

So my blog today is simply, a pep talk. Believe in your abilities as a writer and don't let rejection letters or nay-sayers sway you from your desire to write. If you can entertain, touch emotions, and coherently write about a subject- you are a writer and don't let anyone tell you any different! Believe in yourself and Believe in Dreams! They do come true if you believe and surround yourself with others who believe.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

An Ode to Writers

Online Workshops

I'm taking a non-scientific poll. Do you take online workshops? Find them helpful? A waste of time or money? Would you be more inclined to take one based on the speaker, the fee or the subject matter?

I've taken a few. One was from Lisa Gardner on her plotting method. This was during a phase when I thought I needed to plot my stories out in detail like other writers to be sure I was "doing it right". It was an interesting class, and I did learn a lot about my process by taking it - what works for me and what doesn't - but I'm more of a plantster than a plotter, so by the end I had notecards all over my living room and couldn't figure out what to do next. (That method got tossed.)

I took another one on writing synopses. Each week we added new info to our one page synopsis based on exercises designed by the speaker. Then we'd send them to the loop for critique. I hated this class. The speaker hated my synopsis (actually, she hated all of them), and I eventually stopped sending stuff in.

I took another one on PI's. At the time, I was planning to write a book about a PI. I skimmed all the lectures, didn't do the work, and saved all the emails in a file in my email account. I'd signed up for the class two months before it started, paid my fees, and by the time the class rolled around, my hero had gone from a PI to a thief and legal procedure was the last thing on my mind. But, that class was very interesting and who knows, someday I may just write about a PI and need all that info I've got saved.

My CP is big on online classes. She takes one nearly every month. It can get spendy, with 2 wk classes running $15/$20 (member vs. nonmember price) and month-long classes in the $20/$25 range. I'm not at a stage in my career where I want to take craft classes anymore, but there are a bunch of research classes I've seen lately (esp. on the KOD site) that sound interesting. I've also heard great things about Margie Lawson's classes, so I'm interested in possibly signing up for one of hers in '08.

Do online classes interest you? Have you taken them before or are there any that you'd like to take?

WHAT WILL YOU GIVE YOURSELF FOR CHRISTMAS?

Around the holidays last year, I wrote a blog about gifts for yourself. Not physical gifts, but gifts of the spirit. These were actually gifts that I started thinking about around Christmas that turned into New Year's resolutions. I guess they could be called giftolutions. Here are some of my giftolutions from last year: the gift of time to write, the gift of saying no to tasks that don't help me reach my goals, the gift of doing nothing for an afternoon instead of juggling a dozen different errands.

So how did I do? So-so.

I finished another manuscript, though taking much longer than I wanted to. I did pretty good at saying no to tasks that didn't help me reach my goals, although there were plenty of tasks connected to my goals that kept me busy. That meant my goal of doing nothing rarely happened.

However, I like the idea of giftolutions enough to do it again. So what's on my list this year?

-- The gift of dreams; ones that are a bit scary and a lot exciting.
-- The gift of time AND focused energy to pursue those dreams, writing-related and others.
-- That gift of saying no to tasks that don't help me reach my goals is a keeper for this year also.
-- The gift of a regular artist's date (as Julia Cameron would say) to refill the creative well.
-- New socks. (Hey, I need to have one practical gift!)

So my giftolutions are very similar to last year's, but refined a bit. How about you? What's the best gift you could give yourself?

TAP, TAP, TAP....PUNCH

A few weeks ago, I wrote a scene where the hero stands in a living room populated by pictures of a teenager he was forced to shoot a year before. He is talking to the boy's mother and the guilt and remorse he feels is overwhelming. He's responsible for the grief he sees in her eyes, for the droop of her shoulders. It's a painful scene.

Just before that came a scene where a house goes up in flames. The hero has to rescue his wife and infant son and isn't sure he can.

Then there's a scene where the hero comes across a room filled with pornographic pictures taken of youngsters and he is sickened by what he sees.

What these three scenes have in common is emotional impact. I remember being very bothered by the first one because it also occurred to me that the villain behind all this misery, who has touched all these life's, caused all this disruption and death and mayhem, is still out there causing trouble. I was really struck by the ripple effect of evil and it permeated my consciousness as I wrote.

As for the second scene, the fire, I wrote that scene very fast. When I went back to reread it, my typing was terrible. Half words and spaces and all sorts of mistakes I generally don't make. It was like that because I was so caught up in the terror and the need for haste that it moved into my hands and I raced, just like he raced, fingers flying, words falling to the side like dead soldiers.

The third scene is a nightmare for the hero. It's been rewritten so many times because it's pivotal. The first time through, it was very graphic. Since then it's been modified to get me where I need to go, but once again, it was my emotional response that shaped the scene and it stands out in my mind very clearly.

What I don't know, what I wonder about, is if that intensity I felt writing these scenes actually exists on paper so that the reader feels it, too. How can I know, because in rereading it a dozen or more times, the horror is diffused and domesticated to a certain extent, so that now I don't know if the scenes carry a punch or if the punch is in my memory bank from when I originally created the scene.

I've had writers tell me how touched they were when writing something and yet when I read what they wrote, I wasn't as touched. I thought maybe I was a bad reader. Now I wonder if the fantasy is so much more real for the writer. Afterall, only a portion of what a writer "sees" makes it into a scene, the rest of the picture is left in limbo.

Do you have tricks for handling this? Words of wisdom? Have you ever experienced what I'm talking about?

Fill In

Okay, it doesn't look like Bethany's going to post, so I'm going to slide in and take over.

There's a huge debate taking place on the RWA officer's loop about kids attending RWA meetings and conventions. Several chapters are reworking their bylaws, and the question has come up about whether a line should be put into the bylaws regarding children and meetings. While I'm not entirely sure it needs to be put into the bylaws, several chapters have a "...guests must be at least 18 years of age" written into their Policy & Procedures Manuals. (Paty, do we even have a P&M Manual?)

There are opinions on all sides of the issue, but the majority of officers responding are of the "kids don't belong at meetings and conferences" mindset. One officer responded with,

"It really is something best handled by policy and discussed frankly with members who wish to bring children to a meeting. That violates the professional spirit and learning atmosphere we strive to maintain as RWA chapters. It is important for members to recognize we are a professional organization and the presence of children (other than, perhaps, a nursing infant though that is a judgment call) is not appropriate."

Now, I know this may raise feathers with some, especially in our group, but I can see the point. We're a professional organization, with the goal of promoting writing. We have guest speakers who come in and we want to present a professional atmosphere not only to our speakers, but to our current members and potential new members. Kids - as much as I love them - tend to disrupt that atmosphere, even when they're being little angels.

There are some who may say I'm being hypocritical, and you're probably right. I brought my 4 wk old to a meeting once because I desperately missed the group and couldn't leave him because I was nursing. I took him to Paty's house at our first retreat when he was about five weeks. The difference here though is my bringing my son to the retreat was cleared with the members attending before I went, and Paty arranged for a babysitter to watch him while we all worked. I snuck out now and then to feed him and came back so he wouldn't be a disruption to the others. And, after that, when he was two months old and able to sit two hours without eating, I never took him to another meeting again. I know my kids (hellions that they are), and I know their antics. Even if they were the most angelic children on the planet, I would not take them to another meeting or to a conference. Not only for my sanity, but for the sanity of those around me.

I think we can all agree that nursing newborns are a different boat from toddlers and children and that babysitters are NOT always an option for newborns. We also happen to be a very small chapter and in Bethany's case at the November meeting, we all wanted to see that adorable bundle. But I was very proud of Bethany in that she not only asked if it was okay to bring the baby, but that she didn't plan to stay long and as soon as Tavy got upset, she left. That shows maturity and understanding of others' feelings and opinions, and it's extremely important in an organization like ours.

This is an issue that needs to be discussed not only among the officers, but among the members as well. While I understand the babysitting struggle (boy, do I), bringing kids with you to the meeting just because you don't have another option isn't something we want to encourage. One because it's disruptive to others, and two because we often discuss things (like sex), joke and make comments about things that aren't appropriate for little ears. I don't want to have to censure our discussions, and I don't want others to feel they have to censure anything either. In the same vein, I wouldn't feel comfortable allowing a teenager to attend our meetings either.

So...thoughts on this? Opinions either way? I'm not trying to ruffle feathers here. Honestly, this isn't even something I'd thought of discussing before, but as it's been a big brouhaha on the loop, I decided to see what you all think. I've missed meetings because I didn't have a babysitter, and it's not fun, but the alternative isn't something I'd willingly subject the rest of you to. ;) And just so you don't think I'm trying to be a naysayer here (or a shit-stirrer, as Alice would say), several officers on the chaplink loop have been coming up with solutions, like creating a babysitting chair in their group who organizes a babysitter on the night of the meetings for those members who don't have other options. So there are other options out there, we just have to think outside the box if it's a problem for certain members.

Writing reference books

Sorry I'm late! Still no computer at work (grrrr) and the work network/internet won't work on my personal laptop. Getting to the internet is a bit tough at the moment. I miss it!

I've been thinking a lot about nonfiction books lately. I'm on a bit of a book-buying kick. Used books (amazon.com and half.com specifically - GREAT prices). I've bought a number of archaeology, anthropology, human osteology, etc books. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Anyhoo - it got me thinking about the writing nonfiction and reference books I have. I've read bits and pieces of a number of them, and a couple of them have been read through once. One of those is Deb Dixon's "Goal, Motivation and Conflict."

She's giving a workshop in Portland next month, sponsored by our sister chapter to the north - Rose City RWA. I'm going to that workshop, which means I really should give Deb's book another read. It made sense the first time through, but it didn't quite sink in. I don't think I was in the right mindset and place in my writing for it to be as beneficial as it could for me.

But I know that book is a popular one for many writers. I've also heard great things about "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers." I haven't read it all myself, I suppose I need to finish a book to edit first :)

What are some writing books that have helped you out a lot? What are some that you thought looked great, but didn't turn out as helpful as you had hoped?

Well my time is up - coworker is back from lunch and wants her computer back :) Time to go back to studying the bones of the human body. Hopefully I'll get a computer today or tomorrow (I haven't had one for A WEEK!!!) so I can return e-mail, I'm sure I have a few unanswered. Sorry!

100 Day Challenge

It came. It went. The 100 days are done.

How did we do? I checked my total this morning. I ended up with 92,784 words in the 100 days. 7,216 words short of my goal. I'd hoped to get there as of last night, but I had too much going on this week to sit and pound out those last few words. I'm hoping to make it up before the end of the year though. How did everyone else do?

And out of curiosity...anyone interested in doing the 100 day challenge again? I was thinking we could start after New Year's...maybe Jan 2nd? If you're interested, let me know. Oh! And I got this great new daily "quote" calendar which I'm thinking of posting daily to inspire those of you who join in. ;) Maybe I can even talk the officers into springing for some kind of nice (read, not cheesy) gift for each person who makes the 100,000 word goal at the end of the thing. Like a gift card or restaurant certificate or something?

Thoughts?

Blogging Day, Blogging Day, Blogging All the Way

It's Christmas season. We're all busy. I still have my cards to get out and I need to squeeze in a workout today and get ready for another Christmas party tonight blah-blah-blah. We all know how it is, so I figured I'd do everyone a favor and keep this post, if not so sweet, at least short and simple.

As I was cleaning off my desk yesterday -- translation: As I was moving stacks of paper and notebooks from one side of the desk to the other -- I came across a slip of paper on which I'd scribbled the following words:

Every character is on their own journey. Where those journeys intersect is your story.

It's seems a wise two sentences. I'd happily take credit for writing it, but that wouldn't be right, since I didn't. I don't know who wrote it. I don't even remember where I copied it from. But no matter. I pinned the scrap of paper up on my bulletin board, where chances are good it will stay for at least several months, until I decide to rearrange piles of paper in my office again.

In the meantime, I think I'll reflect on the zen of these words, and hope for today they have strong enough meaning to some of the rest of you to open up a discussion.
Feel free to start. You. Yes you. Go ahead and open the discussion...ha!

I'm sifting through the fog that is my brain to see what I can possibly blog about today. Usually I'm struck by too many ideas, but a nasty head cold has inhibited my ability to think.

Since the WIP is forever on my mind, I'll pull something from that. I'll just take a sip of my hot cocoa and… Oh, oh! I know! Let's talk about stakes and when to up them, huh? Conflict is always good to blog about.

I write urban fantasy, but what I really write is action adventure stories with a paranormal twist. Therefore I come up against the same challenges as any genre writer, such as keeping the stakes high, or just throwing substantial obstacles at the characters to keep the story moving.

A problem I often have is coming up with an obstacle my character can believably overcome. I can think of the obstacles just fine, but I end up creating a problem so heinous that the real challenge is resolving it so the story can move on. That's the fun of writing fiction. I may lay awake at night trying to come up with the best way for my character to fix things, but I know that if I'm worried, the reader will be worried to. Which is the ultimate goal of writing a compelling story.

Just the other day I had a scene all planned out in my mind. The bad guys were holding a minor but important character against his will. In fact, he was being tortured into cooperating with the villain who needed him to perform a type of ritual magic that will summon a fallen angel that the villain wants to bargain with. Well, my heroine would really like to free this poor guy, especially since she feels partially responsible for his capture (which she is), so she lies to the villain and tells him she can perform the ritual herself. Let the innocent guy go.

There, on the page, right before my eyes, the villain says, "He's already dead." What the--? Oh, great. He can't be dead! I need him to help the heroine in a future scene! Yet as resistant as I am to this problematic outcome, it makes sense for it to happen. Elements of the story came together this way for a reason. And somehow I'll make it work. My heroine needs me to, or she's a goner. The fallen angel is, after all, her father.

I know we've blogged recently about how our characters take us by surprise, but it's never a boring subject. At least not to me. Has this happened to you recently? I'm guessing yes. 8^) Want to share?

In Honor Of Ditty Day

How about a warm up exercise to get us in the mood for cranking out those ditties? Remember, the white elephant ditty is optional, but c'mon...we're writers. I'm sure you can come up with something.

Just for fun, let's do a practice one here. I'll start it, you add to it in the comments. Let's see where this baby goes...

************

A MWV Writer's Christmas Ditty

'Twas the night before the big
Mid-Willamette Valley bash,
When all through the Internet
Writers were tossing words out like trash.

The white-elephant gifts were chosen
And wrapped like big gems,
In the hopes that no one would notice,
What crappy gifts lay within.

(your turn)

Tis the Season . . .

For diddies and newsletters! My mailbox is full with offerings of good cheer and tidings of joy, plus our RWA holiday party is Thursday, so I'm beginning to feel the season a little. Our chapter tradition of writing little poem/story/limerick/etc diddies to accompany white elephant gifts is always fun. Many families have similar traditions, and of course, many send out the annual newsletter. Tis the season for little bursts of writing for our most demanding audience--family and friends!

As we engage in these purely social acts of writing, how can what we've learned as romance writers help us? Should we try to elevate our writing beyond the bare minimum we need to slap that sucker in the mail? Of course we should! To ignore the challenge is to succumb to mediocrity--and that has lasting effects on the rest of our lives. Plus, just because they love us anyway, why subject your family and friends to another boring newsletter?

I now read these newsletters through the eyes of a writer and teacher. Misspellings jump out at me, as do run-on sentences, and misplaced modifers, but the real problem here is a lack of direction. The narrative is missing from most holiday writing.

What narrative you ask? You just have to report the family news. All you need to do is assemble, inflate, and invent and let these puffs of fluff land on the page as they will. To the contrary my friend! You won't need to resort to truth-stretching to hold the reader's interest if you follow some of the basics of good story telling:

Have a direction and a goal. Do you want to be funny? Touching? Sentimental? Pick the tone for your holiday communication and stick to it. What form will best accomplish your goal? A poem? A story? What type of story or poem? A silly format? What plays to your strengths? If you can't write rhyming poems to save your life, and hate even trying, don't feel obligated to attempt it.

Last year, I had a blast with my holiday letter and ditty because I played to my strength of narrative and dialogue. I challenged myself to use correct form, and to have a cohesive story that framed the necessary information. Think outside the box.

Who is the hero of your letter? Don't say all of us. So what if you have eight people to write about? There is still a hero of your story--you just have to find him/her and use them to frame your communication. "This year Grandma turned 75. We were so happy to have her with us to celebrate . . . " Keep returning to this person and use him/her as a touchstone for your communication.

Limit the backstory and information dumps. We all know that action keeps our WIPs moving, and the same is true for holiday writing. Keep things moving, and keep them clean. Don't overburden your holiday writing with flowery prose. It may be a season of reverence, but that's no reason to resort to Old English without good reason.

What writing do you have this season? Do you do a newsletter? Scrapbook? Other family traditions? Do you find your fiction writing influencing the social writing you do? Does your family expect more of you as you get more success with your writing? Do you feel obligated to show off your skills?

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To-Do Tuesday: Once the season is past, it's time to move onto the season of New Year's resolutions. Let one of yours be to register for the amazing Shirley Jump's online seminar with the Kiss of Death Mystery and Suspense RWA chapter. Click here for more information.

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How do you know…

Sorry this is late this morning! My wireless at home wasn't working. I put in several calls but the technician was unavailable, so I loaded the laptop and Tink into the car and headed to the coffee shop in town with wireless.

How do you know when your writing is boring? I mean if a writer writes a story and they are committed to the story and the characters, how do they know the story isn’t boring to someone else? They are living the story with the characters, going through what the characters are going through, but- maybe that life is more interesting than their own, but hardly something to write home about.

I read a story this weekend, that, while I enjoyed the historical information, the characters and story line were normal. Nothing that jumped out and grabbed me and made me want to continue reading the book other than to glean more historical information. I doubt the author of this story believes it is boring. So when does a writer know if they are boring their audience?

A book doesn’t have to have murder and mayhem all the way through to keep my attention, but the characters need to come to life. They can’t go about their day to day lives and keep me enthralled. Not unless there is a lot of emotional turmoil going on while they go about their daily routines.

A friend gave me Nora Robert’s “Angels Fall”. I’ve been reading it. It isn’t one I can’t put down, the characters have flaws, the secondary characters are characters, the setting is rural. She is doing less head hopping than in earlier books. But I’m not drawn to the characters as I’ve been in past books. And I’ve found myself skipping the brief paragraphs of setting. Which, I realize I don’t write much of in my own books. I don’t like to read sections of setting/scenery so I don’t write them. So, going back to my original question- since I also don’t like boring books, does that mean I don’t write boring books- or does it just mean I write what doesn’t bore me?

Thoughts on this?

The Right Stuff?

Take a look at these groups of words:

Word Group Choice Number One:
aptitude, faculty, feeling, funny feeling, gift, gut reaction, hang, hunch, idea, impulse, inclination, intuition, knack, know how, nose, predisposition, proclivity, savvy, sense, sentiment, sixth sense, talent, tendency, urge

Word Group Choice Number Two:
ability, accomplishment, acquirement, aptitude, aptness, attainment, attribute, bent, capability, capacity, endowment, faculty, flair, forte, genius, head, instinct, knack, leaning, nose, numen, power, propensity, set, specialty, turn

Word Group Choice Number Three:
adroitness, aptitude, aptness, bent, capability, capacity, cleverness, dexterity, facility, flair, forte, genius, gift, instinct, intelligence, knack, leaning, nose*, peculiarity, penchant, pistol, power, predilection, proclivity, propensity, property, quality, readiness, reason, right stuff, sense, skill, strength, talent, turn, wits

Which one of these three word groups describes you and your writing?

Now look at these definitions:

Choice One: a natural aptitude or gift

Choice Two: a capacity for achievement or success

Choice Three: competence in an activity or occupation because of one's skill, training, or other qualification

Does any one definition describe you as a writer? Now look back at the word groupings above and see if you can pick out which definition goes with which group of words. (Yes, there's a reason for this, don't worry.)

The other night I sat down to work on the wip after the kids went to bed like I always do. I'd thought about the scene I needed to write all day long. I knew the players, how it would start, where it would go and what would happen at the end. Usually, spending my day working through the scene makes it easier for me to write it in the evening because I don't waste a lot of time wondering, well, what should happen next? But this night, something strange happened.

The scene that started coming out of my fingers when I typed was not the scene I'd set out to write all day. It was in a different location, with different characters. In fact, the hero and heroine weren't even in this scene. It was a scene composed entirely of secondary characters, and as I was writing I had no clue what was happening, why or where it would go, but for some reason, the scene spilled out almost as quickly as if I'd spent the entire day pondering it.

Weird, right? I thought so, too.

When I was done, I read back over what I'd written. It wasn't bad, but I couldn't figure out why it was important or why it had to be written now. Instead of frustrating myself over it though, and because it was already so late, I closed the laptop and went to bed.

My brain had turned off by that point. I was exhausted from the day. So I pulled the covers up, snuggled down, closed my eyes and thought of nothing. And not more than twenty minutes later sat up and smacked my head when it all hit me like a mack truck barrelling at 90 mph toward me out of the dark. "Of course!"

Of course, my DH thought something bad had happened, and in his sleep-induced state bolted up with a, "What? What? What's wrong?" I'm sure he was envisioning a fire or screaming kids...or maybe just a scantily clad Heidi Klum from the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show - who knows how a guy's brain works. But at that moment, I didn't care. All I cared about was the AHA! moment I'd just had.

I'll admit, this isn't the first time this has happened to me - where I feel compelled to write a scene that doesn't seem to have anything to do with anything in my book and then later find out it's oh-so important. Almost like my subconscious knows where the story's going before my brain has time to catch up. I like to think it's some natural writers instinct coming out, leading me to the place I would have eventually gotten to on my own, but I'm not sure that's what it really is. Organic writing? An innate ability? How about good old fashioned magic?

I don't know. All I know is this scene - this one I wrote and couldn't see the importance of - is laying the groundwork for a character who is extremely important to the plot of the book. In a way I hadn't seen before. I knew he was an integral secondary character when I started writing, but I didn't know HOW much of an impact he would have until this scene was done. And maybe that's why this scene had to be written - to show me what I was missing.

I have friends who are intense plotters and I have friends who are complete pantsters. We all have different ways of getting from chapter one to the end. But no matter how you get there, there is an element of magic in the writing process that takes over when you least expect it. I've learned to stop fighting it. When these moments come, when these strange scenes pop out that make me scratch my head and want to hit the delete key, I wait and give my brain time to catch up. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't, but if there's one thing I've learned about "my" process along the way, it's that I will never be wrong if I let the story go where it needs to go. And in this case, it hasn't changed the path of my synopsis, it's simply made it better.

So I'll give you a hint. The definitions above are from the words ability, instinct and talent, and each group of words describes one of those. See if you can pick out which is which. And then tell me...what kind of writer are you? One with a strong ability, a natural instinct, or a well-developed talent? Or maybe you are a combination of several?

Also...just so I don't think I'm a total freak...have any of you ever had something like this happen to you...where you write a scene with no idea how it fits only to realize later it was extremely important?

WORDS OF WISDOM?

Chuckle of the day: I went out to the blog to see what words of wisdom awaited and saw no Thursday post yet. Then it clicked: it's my turn to blog today! Yikes! Well, I thought I was getting my little corner of the world under control. Obviously, I need to work on that some more.

OK, now for those words of wisdom. Wait, they'll be arriving any moment. While we're waiting for those wise words to arrive, I'm going to venture into Alice's area of expertise. (And, no, I'm not being facetious -- I love listening to Alice and always learn so much. So thank you, Alice, for sharing your wisdom and experiences with us. I very much appreciate it!) How about everyone else: what is the best advice you ever received?

I like these:

"If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with B.S." Or, "Fake it until you make it."

Is it working yet?

On the more serious side, I've tried to take these pieces of advice to heart:

"If you resist changing something about yourself, that's the thing you need to change the most."

"There's a lesson in every situation if we are open to it."

"Fake it until you make it," which was actually said in a different context than the same advice above by someone who was advocating visualization. She suggested seeing yourself as who you want to be and feeling the emotions of achieving your goals until you actually get there.

As for writing advice, I think my all-time favorite goes something like this: "This is MY way of writing. Use what works for you and don't worry about the rest..." followed by writing strategies, suggestions, and those golden gems of wisdom that bring aha moments.

And perhaps I should close with an appropriate bit of wisdom: "Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow!"

SPINNING WHEELS

My husband saved my life today.

Okay, maybe not technically, but it sure feels like he drug me out of the pounding surf or right out from under the clutches of a raging blizzard.

I am at the last of my WIP and for several days, have been spinning my wheels as I tried to put the events of the last two chapters in their proper place. I knew something was wrong. I knew I had too many people in too many places with too few pages to wrap things up the way I wanted. The false conclusion wasn't leading to the real conclusion in the way in which I wanted.

Forgive me here for two diversions:
#1.) I still, STILL, do not know the right way to phrase things. I am not sure if the black moment comes before the something else or after it or what it means -- I am hereby announcing my independence from this stuff. I know what is right for my books even if I can't remember what to call it. So, please, I'm tired of feeling inferior. I know how to do it, and that is going to have to be enough.
#2.) For those of you still waving the banner of "No Synopsis, Never Surrender!" I laugh. Ha, ha, ha. To think a synopsis is going to ruin things for you as a writer (as in suck your creativity) is so silly I must pause just for a second to laugh again. Ha, ha, ha. I have the most beautiful synopsis you can ever want and it made sense enough to sell the book with nary a change and yet the ending in the synopsis makes no real sense in the execution. It just sounded good. It hit the right emotional buttons and perhaps, by now, my editor has faith in me. (She doesn't read this blog, does she???) Repeat after me: The synopsis is a selling tool. And most of us are going to need to know how to do one if we are going to sell books without writing them first. Some of you may be so brilliant you will not need to acquire this skill. Good for you. The rest of us have to get real.

Back to the husband saving me. There I was, drowning in words, too much plot, too many people, not enough pages. My head was too full. I couldn't even articulate to myself (and I am a dandy listener) what was wrong.

Then, I remembered an old trick I taught myself a couple of years ago. I remembered to look at the whole thing from the villain's POV. In my book, I am not in the villain's POV, I am in the hero's and heroine's. So, I tend to see things as they unfold and reveal themselves to those two characters. But my little villain has his own goals and motivations and within his character arc, he is going to act with logic.

Diversion #3.) Okay, we're all on the same page when it comes to logic, right? It matters. Even if you have a twisted plot involving murder and kidnapped babies and foundering sailboats and trips halfway around the world and castles and kings, even if that sounds goofy, the people within this story are going to act with logic. You can't make something exciting happen for the pure pleasure of something exciting happening unless it fits. This is a depressing but true fact.

So, now I knew how to approach my problem but I was missing a vital element that I have discussed here before but which I believe deserves revisiting: I needed a sounding board. So the dh got home from his trip and almost immediately allowed me to sit him down and tell him the set up and the chain of events and how everyone within my story got to the boiling point. He offered a suggestion. I shot it down like a hunter after a duck in a November sky. I told him something else. He made another observation. This one wasn't so bad. I recalled my earlier commitment to think of things through the villain's POV and it all kind of started to make sense.

So, no more spinning. I know where I am going.

You need someone who will listen to you, someone you respect, someone who respects you. Someone not afraid to offer suggestions, even if he does include corny dialogue (sorry, honey). Someone who understands who's boss of this pretend world or otherwise they will pout when you shoot them down. And lastly, you need to LISTEN to them because they very well might see something you missed or give what you have a turn or twist. Spinning wheels can sling a lot of dust into the air and sometimes it's hard to see through it.

Time Flies . . .

This is going to have to be short. Tiny dictator seems to be going through some sort of growth spurt (Yes, rumors are true, I've become one of those photo happy mamas. If you would like to see her in the awesome x-mas outfit that our own Lisa Pulliam sent her, just click here, and if you missed the November RWA meeting, here she is in her going-to-RWA meeting outfit), and I've got back to back meetings in preparation for teaching next semester. AND . . . it's my 29th birthday.

Ye gods! When did I get to be 29? My mother and I were talking last night, and she said that it took her a very long time to realize that she wasn't 38 anymore. In her mind, she'll always be 38 and the mother of three school age children. This is the age she seems to identify with most, and her writing tends to reflect that. In my mind, I think I'll always be around 18--researching colleges, starting college, being away from home for the first time, falling in love with the totality only an 18 year old can demonstrate. In fact, if I'm honest, sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm not the babysitter or the nanny anymore--this is MY kid. I'm the MAMA. And even though it may feel like I'm a teen mother, I'm actually on the old side for having my first kid.

When did I get old? I think my "mental age" drives me to write YA. It's reflected in my voice, and it's why I struggle with writing characters in their 30's and 40's (I seem to have no problem with older people, surprisingly). I suppose I'd better get better at that in hurry--seeing as how I'm going to be in my 30's next year. Jesus Jumping Jellybeans, I never pictured 30. I was always thinking ahead to the next stage of my life--high school, then college, then graduate school, then work, then . . . I'm still not sure how to define this next stage in my life. I've got a year left in my twenties. What do I want to accomplish by 30? What's realistic?

A few years ago, I thought I'd be a failure with a capital F if I wasn't published by 30. But, that doesn't sting the way I thought it would. I know the drive will come back--I can feel it creeping in with every night of better sleep. (And yes, Eli, I mailed that request off!) However, right now, my main focus seems to be less on major life goals and more on enjoying each day. For someone who's spent her whole life living in the future, that's a major accomplishment. Living in the moment by 30? Check, check, check.

So, I'm curious. What age are YOU mentally? 18? 25? 40? 60? Is this reflected in your writing? Has this changed over time? And, where were you in your writing journey at 29? Was 30 a turning point for you or did that come later (or earlier)?

Challenge Check-In

No, I'm not stealing Lisa's post day, I'm sure she'll come up with something pithy shortly. In the meantime though, since Alice is in last-chapter mode and slowing to wrap it all up, I thought I'd post her usual weekend check-in and see how you all made out this week.

I totaled up my week - 7K words - which is pretty good considering I only wrote 3.5 days. I write in fits and starts - 2500 words one day, nothing the next depending on my schedule - I suppose so long as it all evens out, that's all the matters, huh? I still wish I could force myself to write every day though. Such is life, I suppose, when things like the Civil War game interfere (OMG...did you see the Beavs kick butt?????) *grin*

So I checked my running total...for the 100 day challenge I'm at 86,880 words. Eleven days left and I have 13,120 words to go to meet my goal. I think it's going to come right down to the wire. Alice and I were talking about deadlines last night, specifically how even with editor deadlines the author has a say in when they think they can get the work done. I suppose since this was MY self-imposed deadline, I should really bust my but and see if I can make it.

How's the challenge going for you? Make any progress this weekend?

Write On ... or Not to Write On

How do you choose?

After an earlier blog -- whose was that? -- and the discussion following about the number of books and short stories each of us have written, I've given it a lot of thought. Not a lot of thought about the numbers, but thought about writers such as Genene, who rework the same work until they come up with something saleable. Or at least something pleasing or satisfying.

I've thought about Shirley Karr (Man, I hope I spelled her name right). She labored away for more than 10 years on the same book, endlessly writing and rewriting until she finally sold it to Avon in a two-book deal.

It seems reworking the same book is more the exception than the rule. As someone said, take a look at the First Sales column in the RWA mag and count how many books most authors write before they finally sell. Usually many. Does that mean they write a book, try to interest an agent of editor with it, and if that doesn't work, the author moves on to another manuscript? Do you think a writer learns more by starting a new novel, fresh at the drawing board, or going back through an existing work, applying the tools they've learned since they first began writing the manuscript?

Shirley Jump thinks you learn more by starting fresh. When she was the guest author for Askanauthor, I wrote and mentioned my first ms. and rewrites I'd like to do. Her advice was to move on. She wrote six or seven books, I believe, before she sold. Her theory is that when I do sell, I will have a backlist to offer an editor.

But see, I'm not always so good at taking advice. I like to think for myself. Oh, I know, you find that hard to believe, but just ask my family. Ha! Anyway, I cannot let my first book go. Some of the characters in it won't leave me alone. I'm dying to go back, do major rewrites, and turn it into something saleable, like Genene and Shirley did with the books they believed in.

So, I'm curious. How many of you have gone back to an old manuscript or story and done major rewrites? Was it worth it? Did you learn a lot in the process? Or do you just leave finished, unsold work to gather dust in your computer files, chalk it up to experience, and move on to the exciting, fresh voices in your head of brand new characters?

Two chairs, a vase and a flat screen TV

I was going to blog about something deep and soulful, but the more I thought about it the more bored I got. Craft is always exciting so let's go there, shall we? 8^)

Description. I was recently involved in a discussion on another blog about description. One of the authors was saying how much she loathes writing it, and I thought, What? How can that be possible? Writing fiction is almost a hundred percent writing description.

I'm sure she was mostly talking about setting, but even that is integral to storytelling. You can't tell a good story without describing everything from place to dialogue to the emotions of the characters. And that's really my point for this blog about description: It's all about the characters.

We don't describe stuff just for the sake of giving the reader a visual aid. Description utilizes most all of the senses, this is true, but what it really does… its main purpose, as far as I'm concerned… is elicit an emotional response from your viewpoint character. And since story is all about the characters, well, you know where I'm going with this.

Description that doesn't serve to develop characters or move the plot forward does not belong in fiction. If all it says is there's a room with two chairs, a vase and a flat screen TV, who the hell cares? Even if those chairs are red and the vase is holding a bouquet of spring flowers, and there's a newscast on the TV, who the hell cares? It has to do more than that. It has to get an emotional reaction from the character whose viewpoint is used to describe the room, which should result in an emotional response from the reader.

Let's take our boring room with the two chairs in it. Red chairs, whatever. Word choice is important, too, but that's not what I'm talking about here. It's a scene where something will happen, yes. But what kind of emotions will it draw from… Susan, who just walked in after a hard day's work as a receptionist for her brother-in-law, who's a dentist. What does she feel when she's in this room? What does she see? And then what does her sister Marcia, the nurse just getting off a graveyard shift at the hospital, experience when in this room?

I want you to use one of these two characters to write a description of our lovely room with two chairs, a vase and a flat screen TV. What kind of emotion can you drag out of them here? How can you do more than set the stage for the action to come? Can you foreshadow with description? Can you create tension? Absolutely. Now have at it.

Susan dropped her purse on one of the two red chairs shoved so close together they nearly hid the tiny table sandwiched between them. Damn, this room was small. Either that or the chairs were too big. No, it was definitely the room, as evidenced by the growing stack of newspapers on the other chair. She should toss them, but she hadn't read them yet. Like she hadn't looked for a bigger apartment. Like she hadn't changed the long-ago-wilted flowers drooping in her grandmother's vintage vase on the table. The TV, however, was brand spanking new, and quite a space-saver. She should get points for that, right? Wrong. Her priorities were totally out of whack.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I have been very good this year. I barely yelled when my two-year old spilled red candle wax all over my beige carpet. I only screamed once when he took a marker to our fireplace stones. Each time the five-year old plugged up the toilet I bit my tongue and didn't mention Power Rangers aren't scuba divers. When the eight-year old tormented her brothers just to hear them scream, I may have yelled a little, but not nearly as loud as I could have. And I certainly didn't follow through on the threat to murder the DH in his sleep if he bothered me one more time while I was working.

In exchange for my year of angelic behavior, I'm requesting the following on my Christmas List:

1. For peace and prosperity and all that other crap.

2. For family harmony (I can request it. I know there's not a snowball's chance in hell of this actually happening.)

3. For the skinny aerobics instructors at the gym to each gain 5o lbs.

4. For my RWA chapter members to volunteer willingly for things without rolling their eyes and looking away (you know who you are).

5. For my computer to do what I want when I want it.

6. For days of peace and quiet where I can actually get some work done without hearing, "MOOOOOM!!!!" every five minutes.

7. For the death of my procrastination gene.

8. For an editor to love my writing enough to actually BUY something.

9. For a six figure deal (another pie-in-the-sky wish, but hey, why not add it to the list?)

10. And finally, for the start of a prosperous career (which, in case you can't read between the lines, Santa, means not just one sale, but many more as well).

That's it. Ten measly things. I think I've been good enough to get these. And seriously, none are things your little elves actually have to make up in your workshop, so it should be a piece of cake.

Happy Holidays,

Eli

***

What's on your Christmas List this year?

Before They Were Stars . . .

I'm at the dregs of my TBR pile. The long pregnancy wait, nonexistent library time, and a mother who'd much rather send cute baby clothes than books right now have dried up my incoming sources and sent me scourging my shelves. But, I'd still rather read (now that I have one free hand) than fry my brain with more HGTV, so I've found myself breaking into a stash I had of books written by my favorite authors, but from when they wrote category or before they broke out into the big time.

I found them at garage sales and library sales for a song (and a quarter or two). But, I tend not to read anything more than 10 years out of date if I can help it. But, I decided to put my bias aside and give some of these a shot. And what do you know, the 80's details didn't set me off.

Instead, poor writing has me tossing books aside right and left. If you're a longtime blog reader, you know that I can't STAND to not finish books. Even bad books. But, apparently all this RWA learnin' has paid off in an unexpected way: my standards have raised.

I can't stand backstory. Head hopping makes my stomach hurt. Dragging narrative makes me sleepy. Falling in love too soon makes me yawn. Nonexistent conflict makes 3 a.m. feedings physically painful and sends me wandering the halls with a baby attached for new reading materials.

But, back to my original point. These were written by NYT best-sellers. These aren't some random category or dated books. These are by the best of the best.

Only . . .

They weren't the best yet. They were still developing their voice, learning POV, honing their plot skills, suffering from poor editing, and limited by narrative gaffes. In short, they were making newbie mistakes.

It's easy to be intimidated when we pick up the latest best seller. "My work will never be this good," the green-eyed devil whispers. "They have some gift I lack." "They have the secret." But, they don't. What they have is a lot of hard work, and a pile of manuscripts that led them the to the one that catapulted them to the big time. And after that magical point, they had a backlist worthy of devouring. But, except in rare cases, it wasn't their first book. It wasn't the third. It was years into their journey.

What can we take away from this other than the usual lesson of perseverance?

Finishing a MS isn't enough. Publishing isn't enough. In fact, publishing your way to better writing might not be an option anymore unless we're talking about very small presses. There is a reason why the RWA first sale column bursts with writers selling their fifth manuscript. Their tenth. Their twentieth.

You don't get good right out of the gate. You don't get good when you let early success go to your head. So you won that contest, landed that first sale, got a good critique. It's not enough. You have to keep pushing, keep growing, and most importantly keep writing. You have to finish. One MS isn't enough. But your magic number is out there waiting.

Are you ready to go find it?

Best of luck to those of you finishing NaNoWriMo, Eli's challenge, and other challenges out there. Each MS you finish is one closer to the promised land.

Looking For Guidance

I'm hoping you can help me as we did Genene a few months back when she was looking for help for an upcoming talk she was giving.
Myself and another writer are going to give a talk to the local writer's group about critiquing. I have felt so bad for the people who come to the meetings, read their work, and then get so many differences of opinions about their work. Especially the writers who are just coming out, so to speak, and looking for guidance. They have some great stuff, but no one ever tells them it's great they just hammer on the bad. We want to talk about asking for the specific advice they want-i.e. tone, does it flow, I'm looking for grammar help, is the character sounding too ___ .

And to teach those critiquing not to harp on a word, when it is the writers voice. Not to nitpick the grammar unless it is asked. Some of the people who come to these meetings have little writing experience and some of the people are just writing these stories to be passed down to their children and grandchildren. I can't believe some of the things that others tell them when the story should be in their words and sound like them. I guess in a way you would have to be at one of these to understand where I'm coming from.

But from you today, I'd like you to tell me when has a critique thrown you totally off and why. Also what was something valuable you learned from a critique (if you did).

Eli's Challenge

Weekend Warrior here. I,607 and a bit of tweaking today. How is everyone else doing on this challenge , their self imposed challenge or any other writing schedule? Or just with a day of writing. It's fun to check in.

Honest.