Bloggy Brain Freezes

I read a lot about bloggers struggling for post ideas often. I'll admit there were a few times when I started mine that the ideas wouldn't come. When this happened the project manager in me reared its ugly head and dove in to figure out why.

(I know, I know…sickness, opposing polar of the writer's heart…it's just who I am, sorry folks.)

For me, the root cause of this stemmed from 2 main things:

1. Wanting the "perfect" post topic

2. Waiting until the night before post day to think and write up a post

I haven't gone all project manager Nazi on my blog writing…there is some free spirit aspects I like about the whole blogging thing that I do protect from my rigid side. I have come to a compromise, however, that seems to work for me.

Whenever I have a question, thought, idea, inspiration, or just general rambling day dream I note it down. Either I do a quick email, jot it on a post it, scribble it on my hand, or note it on a bill statement…whatever is handy quite frankly. Then, when the mood hits me or it's Saturday and I'm not all into a writing or editing timeline I'll pull one of these and make it a blog post.

How are you bloggers keeping inspired with topic ideas? What works or doesn't work for you?

The 5 Senses

All we have as writers are words. Yup...swear to you-know-who. We don't have the visual of painters, the movement of movie directors, the tastes of chefs, or the touch of fabric makers.

Nope. But, like any true artist, our medium of paper and words can evoke anything we want...if we do it right. Admit it, you've read that scene where your heart hitched from the pain, you cried for the loss, or you laughed because the imagery those words created. The emotion. It evoked something.

Writer's who understand what they have to mold their words from, can do amazing things. Those writers who truly infuse the human experience into their work create a world that the reader gets lost in. What makes up a large part of human experience? The 5 senses. Those senses need to back up the scene. Sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. You don't need all in every moment, but try to get at least 2 to 3.

Don't just have the break up and the feelings that go with it. Infuse the world he/she is in as they're breaking up. Example:

Uh...okay. That's sad. But...


Ah...now that is much better. You've got the sights of the lake, BBQ, and the kids. There's the sounds of the water and laughter. There the tangible touch of her biting her lip. I didn't overload the moment with too many senses, just zoned in on what surrounding pieces of Joan's world would help evoke the feelings I wanted between Joan and Davie's dynamic. For instance, I didn't falsify the moment with a touch between the two who'd just broken apart.

Just a little spice goes a long way. So, go through your draft and highlight areas that could be detailed out. You'd be surprised how 3 dimensional your story becomes and it give the reader a chance to really step into the role of your characters.

Good writing all!

The roughness in his voice - telling her he'd fallen out of love - rung with the truth of it. Her vision blurred with tears. She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling. The water lapped up on shore, out of rhythm with her breaking heart. Joan looked out, across the lake where the family BBQ continued. Her children ran along the muddy shore, laughing and hollering. How could she tell them? How could Davie tell her on this day, their anniversary?

Joan's heart broke when Davie told her he didn't love her
anymore.

Research

My first draft is almost done. I completed a couple more scenes, but found myself a little drained. To take a break, I started preparing for my next "layer" in the story writing process...in depth research.

Research. It can (is) daunting, especially when there are so many details to research and outline in science fiction.

This is where my project management hat comes in handy. I first break every subject and subtopic into categories, partial example (it's currently scribbled in, bubbled out, and smudged across white paper):

Society
Economic Status, diversity ratio, social hierarchy & roles, institutions, educational structure, etc.

Culture
Heritage, traditions, art & philosophical themes, dress, speech, protocols, etc.

Technology
Household, transportation (on planet/off planet, short distance/long distance), fuel sources (see transportation for subgroups), weapons, healthcare, etc.

My first step is to choose a main category and flit around my resources sites and books getting a broad scope of the subject. As I do this I highlight/tag those subtopics as they appear, sometimes jotting notes.

Once I've gotten at least a half dozen starter sources for my subtopics I'll delve into each topic in turn, fleshing out the concepts on a separate sheet. (Fleshing out includes jotting notes, exploring themes, and sketching out drawings based on ideas.)

The result will be an almost booklet thick folder that contains everything I need to reference when I go through my revisions/editing phases.

Sometimes I do this in depth research before I start the story, but usually the story is hitting me right in the face and I don't have time. It is one reason why I am a layering writer, because my primary objective when a story comes is to just get the basic idea/plot down so I don't loose bits and pieces.

Writing a Better Story

Yesterday L.J. Sellers offered a great article listing 10 Steps to a Better Story on the The Blood-Red Pencil. It was a very informative, so I wanted to share it with my blogger buddies here. The list is not preachy or overly subjective to personal taste (as all us writers know "expert lists" can be). Check it out if you have a chance.

Good writing all!

Holidays

It's 4th of July. For all you international friends, this is US of A's day to celebrate independence, freedom, and all the hot dogs and hamburgers we can shovel down our throats.

I love 4th of July, which only comes in second to Thanksgiving. Why? Who the hell really knows. I'm patriotic. I'm into things that go boom. Okay, those sound good.

This is a sci-fi blog, AR, what are you talking about the 4th for??

All right, I'll get right to the nitty-gritty of the post. What kind of holidays do you expect in the future? There we'll be, spread out all over the solar system, government systems completely changed, diversity mixed into new cultures, religion turned inside out and upside down.

Most likely, my 4th and Thanksgiving will be nullified. So, what's the core of holidays? Well, they're primarily religious points of reverence and government points of victory.

When you're building your story and outlining your religious and government framework, think about the holidays that will be involved. It might make for an awesome showdown scene (think Macy's Day and Mardi Gras parade police chases). Or a great revelation scene (think Church confession or monk temple sabbatical).

What it'll definitely do is give that extra bit of believability to your future world and a little more depth to your storyline.

Good writing all!

Cause and Effect

Drop a quarter into a mixing bowl full of water from a good height. What happens? Most would answer the water ripples out until it runs into the edge. Okay...that's a basic understanding of cause and effect. But, what happens to the quarter? It falls flat until it hits the water, swivels, spins, and then glides unevenly the bottom of the bowl.

There are two cause and effects happening. Like the quarter and the water, there are always going to be multiple causes and effects because there's multiple components, in this case with the quarter and the water.

Most can get the most obvious effect...just like in writing. A lot of writers flesh out scene after scene after scene based on obvious effects and completely overlook any other potential effects.

Are the resulting actions addressing all the effects of the causes? How are the compounding scenes altering the various effects?

I hope I'm not going round and round and making everyone dizzy. Just my thought for today. Take a look at your manuscript and make sure you've covered all your bases.

Check:

• Character cause to environment effect
• Environment cause to character effect
• Character cause to character effect
• Environment cause to environment effect
• Character cause to moral/ethical/value effect
• And the farther into the story you go, check how the effects are compounded and diversified by the stacking causes

Okay, good writing all!

Developing Creatures

You've just arrived to a new planet. Exiting your space vehicle...what do you see?

Don't be boring and lay out the drony E.T. or triangular-beady-eyed-abducting alien. No, no, no. Let's do an exercise to see what we can come up with.

Close your eyes...don't peek...I said don't peek!

Now, what do you see? Is it a tropical like world, desert world, water world, wetlands, or frozen tundra? Write it down.

Okay now that you have the land, decide if it's populated (alien, human, or diverse mix) and how "civilized" it is. Write it down.

'Kay, time to research the types of animals you'd find in that kind of habitat. Once you find them, list the individual features on either small pieces of paper or index cards. Take the stack and toss it on the table, shuffle them around. Pick up three to five.

That is your species.

It's a creative, unique, and spontaneous way to build creatures...and I'd doubt any other writer would end up with the same type of animal.

Good writing all!

Query Letters

I figured since I did submissions in the last post, I'd better follow up pretty quick with the querying process. It can be kinda confusing.

The query letter can be (is) the most daunting task of getting your novel published. I'm still learning how to perfect a query letter...and I only have 1 darn completed book. (I'm already stressing the query for my next sci-fi epic novel.)

Querying is a one page letter about your book you write to agents seeking representation of your novel. Some publishers also request querying first. The basic framework of a query letter:

Paragraph 1: The Intro/Hook (Keep this paragraph only 1 or 2 sentences...I know, I know, but it's important.)

Paragraph 2: Summary of story (It's good to keep this 1 paragraph, but I've seen 2 paragraph successfully done.)

Paragraph 3: Biography (Only those things that tie to the story or you as an author. Not about your life as a kitty wrangler if the story is not about kitty wrangling.)

Closing: Say thank you for time and consideration. ENTER. ENTER. Sincerely, Your name. (Keep it professional people; no begging or bribery here.)

Most importantly, make sure you put the name of your book, word count, and genre in the query letter. This can be either in the first paragraph or last. Tip for you, not in the middle. It'll get lost.

Sounds pretty simple, right? But trust me and thousands of other querying writers, it's very hard. No cliche sentences. Interesting without being corner. Professional without boredom. Courteous without brown nosing or "bowing down to them"...and the list of "eeks" goes on.

There are some great resources to help you get started putting a query letter AND see examples of not-so-good ones:

Agent Query's "How to Write a Query"
Query Shark
Guide to Literary Agents "Successful Queries" series

Good writing all!

Submissions

Submissions, submissions, submissions.

They can cause a writer to sweat, become addicted to the refresh button, and prevent them from leaving their PC station. The process of submitting can be very emotional, as I've talked about on my site before. Today, I want to look at submissions in the objective term.

What is submission, how do you decide where to submit, and how do you know you're ready to submit.

Submissions:
Basically, a submission in writer's term is the process of sending an editor your story. It is made up of a cover letter and the story either in the body of the email or as an attachment. This is very different then the querying process (what you mail to an agent and some publishers)...which I'll cover some other time.

The cover letter is a quick, professional email stating the story you want to submit and who you are. My most successful cover letters followed Strange Horizon's format. Again, this is very different than a query letter that you'd send to an agent and some publishers.

Where to Submit:
Well, that literally depends on the kind of story you have. Know your genre, word count, and theme and then try some of these sites from Science Fiction Writers of America's (SFWA) list.

My personal favorite is Duotrope. They have a great system for seeking out and tracking submissions. Another site, Ralan.com, is great too, but for me personally I use it more for the other market-specific information and links it contains.

How do you know when you're ready:
Canned response to this is, "Well, that's up to you really. Have you thoroughly edited it (just spell checking doesn't work)? Have you checked your story mechanics for clarity, consistency, and logic? And most importantly, have you let it sit a while before re-doing the previous tips? Sometimes a break will allow you to further clean up and prepare your manuscript."

The real response to this..."Have you built up enough courage to hit send?" That's the only way you know you're ready. Even then, you will have the normal symptoms of a new story submitter, see my previous post titled Submission Process From the Writer's Viewpoint.

Good writing all! (And build up that courage to submit...you'll have to face it sometime or another if you want to be published.)

Inspired to Inspire Inspiration

Heehee...I love a good wonky title. This title is truly the truth of my post today. I want to take a hot poker - er - funny bunny and help inspire you to inspire your creativity...you're inspiration.

'Kay...enough of the run around. On to the "serious business" of posting. *Sets aside water gun and clown nose.*

Generalization heading your way...Writer inspiration is, well, everywhere. Writers see ideas in everything. The angry man honking his horn at the stressed out soccer mom in front of him. The seemingly sedated check out girl and the bagger who can't seem to stop doing some weird jig.

The worst moment - another assumption here...and we know what happens with assumptions - is when the creativity well runs dry and the world seems an uninspiring dry cardboard society.

What we've done is drained our natural source of creativity, but training yourself as writers can be a lot like training yourself as any other artist of medium - we just sometimes snub our nose at these exercises.

*Pulls nose out of air*...let's get artistic people.

Okay, starting point: Cardboard land.

Pull out a blank piece of paper or blank word document. Now....write. Anything. DON'T THINK (I saw you). Just write. Whatever comes out, even if it's just a grocery list.

Alright - yes, I used it...catch me if you can - now take one element of your writing. Using the grocery list example, pick off an item or two if you're feeling crazy. I'll just choose bread and butter.

Now exand on that item(s) using at least two of your five senses. In case you forgot, here's a quick overview of the senses: Smell, sight, sound, taste, touch.

Remember, it doesn't have to have any point other than your brain popped it out. It doesn't have to be good, just words strung together.

Got it? Good. Now look around (either in real life or through a website or magazine) and pick out a person. Male, female...heck, even an animal. Visualize that person. Their tastes, personalities, characteristics, mannerisms.

Now write what that person would do with the item(s) you just wrote about using the five senses.

End point: a constructed quest for creativity.

Here's my example:

Item: Bread and butter
Person: Corporate woman sitting on park bench

Lucy used the back of her hand to dab the sweat off her neck. The navy suit was a bad choice for a July interview. Pulling out the bread, she spread herb butter and took a small bite. Crap, she thought, realizing she'd forgotton water. Crumbs stuck to the roof of her mouth. She swallowed hard, forcing the dry piece down her throat. Perfect, just perfect.

Exercises like this won't totally get you out of your block, but it'll start refilling the well. Go ahead, try it. And if you have any other good exercises, feel free to share them.

Good writing all!

Unbelievable Success

I've been subbing Duty and Devotion the last few months without the request for partials and fulls I'd like. It's been a little disappointing, so early last week I was reading through the new queries on Query Shark and came across QueryTest.com in one of the comments.

I knew that my query was not as good as it could be, but I couldn't pinpoint the issue. Hmmm...maybe QueryTest might be helpful. I looked through the site and decided to upload mine and see what happened. The site was very helpful with a good response volume (13 in total).

The summary...my query sucked. And not only did QueryTest help me out with that realization, readers gave the reason why.

I went back to the drawing board and after a major revision and resubmission through the site, I sent out a new batch of agent queries and a couple publisher submissions.

Eureka!

Within the first hour (not kidding you) I got a request for full. This morning I woke up with an email from another letting me know my submission was going from the slush pile to editorial review.

If you're looking to diagnose your query, try out this great new site. Totally worth the ego deflation...at least you'll understand where you're going wrong with it.

Good writing all!

The Many Faces of Editing

Well, I'm at home with a hiking injury so I'm devoting today to editing. (What the heck else am I going to do?) I'm not talking the first phase, where I just hit the Spellcheck button. No, I'm way beyond that phase...oh, wait. Have I talked to you all about my loosely defined phases of editing?

Muawahahahahaha! Okay, here we go. Come join the crazy world that is AR.

Phase 1: Denial Editing. "I just finished this wonderful masterpiece. All it needs is a quick spell check and it's off to the races of submission wars." (After this phase I put it away for a couple weeks to fight off the early-submission urge.)

Phase 2: Awareness Editing. "I know this is perfect, but just let me check to make sure...Uh, that didn't come out quite how I'd hoped...that either. What the Wisconsin?" (After this phase I am usually ego deflated and put the manuscript away in shame for a couple weeks.)

Phase 3: Revelation Editing. "Let's pull this work of crap out and see what I can make of it...oh, those changes did make this better. If I just change these little things...it'll be perfect again." (After this phase, I'm heading towards the happy part of writing again.)

Phase 4: Final Touches. "It's finished...but why can't I tell the difference between you're and your or there and their when I'm in full writing mode?"

So, there are my 4 loosely defined phases of editing. Usually phase 2 and 3 are rinsed and repeated several times before reaching phase 4.

Good writing all!

Know Your Worth

Know your worth as an aspiring writer, my friends. Yesterday evening I received an email from a publisher...or so called publisher. Thank goodness for the resources and networks I've built up in preparation for my novel submissions.

In just two weeks they read through my whole manuscript (or so they say) and deemed it "worthy of publication". Imagine how grateful I felt. They'd attached an agreement, marketing plan, and publication schedule, along with a FAQs page.

I read through the contract and other attachments and let me tell you, it was the best fiction I've ever read. Here's some highlights:

• I purchase all copyrights, but give up all rights to my story for ten years
• A whopping $25 advance
• Mandatory 100 copies purchase that I have to make
• No advertisement, promotion, or marketing budget/plan or obligation by them (the marketing plan was what I should do with the 100 copies I have to purchased from them)
• A "No Sue" clause
• They have absolute control over changes and edits with no approval needed by me
• No out clause for me if they do not hold up their end of the bargain
• 3% royalty for hardback, 10% for paperback, 25% for ebooks, but they then take out the costs of production and manufacturing from that and I get what's left
• And no actual payment schedule for royalties I earn

I laughed reading through this and my hubby joined in. I then crafted a very clear response and reported them to two sites that are invaluable to all writers.

• Preditors and Editors
• Writer Beware

Before you start any submission, make sure to read up and know what you're getting into, because snakes like this company are everywhere in the business. Research, research, research. Knowledge in powerful and helps you maintain cool and calm in what will be a long and interesting journey into the world of publication and authorship.

She did get one thing right in her offer email...my story is worthy of publication. However, it's worthy to be published by a house who will treat it and me with worth.

Adjectives and Adverbs Fettish

Tsk, tsk, tsk...it comes out. I love adjectives and adverbs. (Hides under 3rd grade glow in the dark space comforter).

I do. I can't help it. Blue can't be just blue. Smurf blue, baby sky blue, smoky blue of the dusty horizon. Okay. The last one is a joke (maybe...you'll never know). Let me tell you, starting out I was slapped with the harsh, cold anti adjective/adverb tornado of the writing industry.

To admit, I didn't *really* understand what they were scoffing at. Of course, now I do...and I want to share what I know and have grown to understand. It's an evolving thing here, so if you think something's way off base, feel free to flip the bird at me.

Here we go (interpreted from the Gregg Reference Manual, 8th Edition):

Adjective: Modifies a noun or pronoun. A word, phrase or clause that answers what kind, how many, or which one.

Examples:

1. Dismal Amazon rain (what kind)
2. Ten Amazon tribes (how many)
3. The other Amazon tribe (which one)

Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. A word, phrase or clause that answers when, where, why, in what manner, to what extent.

Examples:

1. In a timely manner (when)
2. I quickly rose (in what manner)
3. He occasionally visits (to what extent)

It's well known that the adjective/adverb angst ranges from frowned upon to outright lynching. Me, I think that moderation is the key. My first drafts are riddled, drowning, and splattered with adjectives and adverbs. Through my first editing pass, I focus on them, each on a case-by-case basis.

With each one I ask myself: Is there a better way to write this? And, am I using it as a tell instead of a show?

Example: Surpringly, Julie didn't expect the party.

Revision: Julie opened the door and dropped her keys in the bowl. Flipping on the light, the burst of "Happy Birthday!" scared her back against the wall. On a laugh, she smacked Tony's shoulder and said, "I didn't expect you to do this!"

The revision expands and gives three dimensions to the character, the secondary character, and their dynamic to each other. The first is dry as a saltine cracker.

Other times it's just about overload. My original work Flora Planet is a prime example of adjective overdose. (I'm only giving the first paragraph, as it's rather embarrassing in hindsight)

Example:

"Standing in the forest clearing, my crew the first to stand in a new planet without assistive gear, I felt humbled. Thick warm air enclosed around us. Tall, thick trees, lush green plants, bold beautiful flowers, and bright blue sky filled our eyes. Leaves so large they were bigger than the hand. So many variations of green: dark greens almost black, bright green vines, moss green growing on rocks, deep green leaves, and green brown tree needles."

Revision:

"Standing in the forest clearing, my crew the first to stand in a new planet without assistive gear, I felt humbled. Thick air enveloped us. Leaves, in varying shades of green from moss to almost black, were bigger than the hand."

See? Much tighter. Did the reader really need EVERY shade and to what part the shade was with? No, that can unfold throughout the story. Could you imagine a whole story of the original? EEK!

Okay, enough rambling for now.

Good writing all!

Point of View

A story concept has smacked you square in the face and you're excited to get started. You've laid out the idea in summary and/or outline form and have started your research. Now you have to decide what point of view it should be in.

There are four (arguably) points of view: first person, third person omniscient, third person limited omniscient, and third person objective. Each point of view has strength and weaknesses depending on the story.

First Person: The narrator is one of the characters. They cannot see what the other characters are thinking and feeling. Their interpretation is subjective.

Third Person Omniscient: Narrator is not a character in the story. They can see what they are all thinking and feeling and can interpret what they see.

Third Person Limited Omniscient: The most popular of the omniscient approach, this tactic ties the narrator to one character in the story. The narrator can see what that character is thinking and feeling and still interpret those aspects.

Third Person Objective: The narrator remains detached from the characters all together, only writing the action and dialogue. The narrator is only a spectator recording the story. Cannot see what characters thinking and feeling beyond the character's external actions/reactions.

Okay...now how do you figure out which POV to use? Well, I don't know how you should. I'm a newbie here, but I can list out how I decide what POV to use and you can see if it works for you.

Okey, dokey. I sit back and close my eyes to visualize my story. What view am I getting?

A) Is it like a television show where I see everything?

Yes: Do I see it sporadically from different character perspectives?

Yes: Do I feel detached from the characters?

Yes: POV is Third person objective

No: POV is Third person omniscient

No: Move to B

B) Is it like I’m walking through it?

Yes: Do I see it sporadically from different character perspectives?

Yes: Do I feel detached from the characters?

Yes: POV Third person objective

No: POV Third person omniscient

No: Do I see it from one character’s perspective?

Yes: Am I emotionally objective to the actions/plot?

Yes: POV Third person limited

No: First person

And that's how I figure out my POV.

Good writing all!

First Step, Remove the Ego

There are many resources available to improve your writing and your odds to getting published. I found one of the best resources I reached out to was an online writing group. Today I’d like to share this journey.

In 2008 I decided to take the next step and become a published author. The world would not know what hit them. My writing would rock the foundation of the publishing industry. I researched the general process, hurried through a query letter, and blasted the agents with my greatness.

The first rejection came pretty quick, 3 days. What?! How could they just deny my talent without seeing the manuscript of the century? What kind of political crap-conspiracy was this?

Several (numerous) rejections later my ego bubble was burst not with a needle but a samurai sword.

Okay, okay. I can fix this, I thought. Obviously my query is not representing my wonderful writing skills. I searched to find query help and came across the Critique Circle online writing group. I joined and the first thing I did was upload my query letter in the forum.

Not even a response. Well, geez, what the heck? Maybe they just wanted to see my work before they commented. I hurried to upload the first chapter and waited eagerly for the week I was up in the newbie queue.

The response was not what I expected, but not the worst it could be either. My basic summary, I was an okay writer and a horrible editor. What a reality moment for me, my pride, and my dreams.

At that moment I paused to reflect. I was a writer, albeit not a wonderful writer, and I wanted to be published. Did I just come to terms with this state and let the dream go?

Hell no.

I spent almost a decade scrapping up the ranks of my career with grit and determination. I learned what I didn’t know and enhanced what I did know. I could do the same with my dream career. No way were my current mediocre skills going to stop me.

So I worked, struggled, and found that each story was a little better. Each chapter of the novel had less technical mistakes and less weak writing. By my third short story, I got an acceptance.

Reality taught me – with a whip, baseball bat, and a gang of lethal ninjas in a dark foreboding alley – that with practice and focus I’m just as good as all the other thousands of writers out there and my odds are just as slim.

The critique group has become a haven to learn and commune with other great writers and aspiring authors. They’re honest to the point of brutal but always with the intention of making you work harder for your dream.

(I’ve also realized I’m no Isaac Asimov…but who wants the sideburns anyways?)

Flashbacks

I'm going to say it...I'm not a fan of the flashback. The word reminds me of cheesy thriller or mystery novels that involve stereotyped 1970-1980 detectives. Or the ex-cop facing off against the criminal who killed his wife and kid in revenge (overused plot alert).

Merriam describes a flashback as "an interruption of the chronological sequence (as of a film or literary work) of an event of earlier occurrence". This is probably why I don't like them. They are really just a mechanism for an info dump and I don't like info dumps. I want the information to flow out during the course of the story.

In my reading adventures - and I am a reader of vast material - info dumps side track you from the point and make it difficult to follow the storyline or keep engaged with the characters.

I know the pro argument for flashbacks. They provide pertinent information to the current situation, including character motivation, relationship dynamics, and conflict. My response is always, "Maybe you're starting the story at the wrong place then". Or maybe you're putting too much into the "pertinent information".

Now if there's parts of the characters "past life" (pre-novel) that is important, you can work those concepts in to the current storyline by their reaction to certain situations and dialogue. Take Under the Dome by Stephen King, since I just did the review and all. He worked the character's past life into the modern story without info dumping or flashback scenes. He did it with tasteful glimpses through thoughts and conversations in the moment.

Well, imagine my surprise when I realized that my Galileo dream sequences were actually flashbacks? Groan and curse...dang it! Then imagine my chagrin when I realized that my like of dream sequences have faded the more I learn my writing style.

Now dream sequences I've seen done really well in regards to the characters internal conflict and foreshadowing events to come. I just don't think that I am the kind of writer to do them well and all mine reference past events and relationships.

Argh!

Now I have these ugly things in my story and I have to find a way to work the core point of the content in better ways.

Time to be a dream killer...good writing all!

To Edit or Not to Edit

I sat staring at the PC, willing my brain to come up with a really snazzy post topic. I hope that I provide engaging content that is both thought triggering (provoking just seems so generic and over used) and helpful. I try to integrate the "tips" and "lessons learned" in with my current WIP.

There are millions of writing tips that can be given. Millions...yes, I can allow myself too hyperbole. I'm a writer after all.

*rubs hands*

Okay, of the million tips, which do I want to talk about today? Hmmm...editing. Or rather, not editing. With my recent frustrations of Sorcerer's Carnival and the editing of two short stories I think it's appropriate. Not to mention - which is a weird sentence introduction as I'm about to mention - my online writing circle had a forum discussion about this very topic.

Many writers, especially new writers, want to edit as they write out their first draft. My tip: don't worry about editing when your laying out the first draft of your story. By trying to edit as you unveil the story in your mind, you're limiting your creative juice from the gate.

Let your muse do his or her thing. Don't restrict them. Don't slow them down. Don't stop them. Your muse runs on an underlying level of thought that your conscious doesn't recognize or see. Basically, you don't know all the thoughts you're thinking. Your muse, however, can see everything and cruise all the avenues.

By definition your draft is suppose to suck. It's suppose to have grammar errors, sentence mayhem, and confusing paragraphs. The climax of the story will be in an odd spot and your characters will conflict with their core characteristics.

It's okay.

After your muse exhausts himself or herself and crawls into his or her mental bed to sleep off the creative hangover, your Nazi Editor can march out and straighten up the mess. They are systematic, organized, and ruthless.

I guess the core of what I'm saying? The Muse and the Editor don't play well on the playground, so don't have them out at the same time. You're just begging for the Muse to go all bitch on you and risking your Editor having a meltdown.

Then where will you be? Screwed, that's where.

That's my writing tip for the day. Good writing all (and editing too)!

Making it Your Own

I spent last night editing two short stories. In the background I'd started Syfy's latest mini-series Alice. Since I was just doing the most basic of editing chores, grammar, my brain kind of floated onto a parallel thought pattern.

I thought that their adaption of the story was brilliant. Their twists on the character, the world, and the storyline was absolutely unique and interesting. I, as the watcher, was treated to a grown up version of a childhood favorite.

I was so excited after the original airing that I hurried onto the Syfy forum to post a comment and was a little surprised. There was plenty of praise and lots of "I loved it", which was not the surprise. My surprise came from the negative. It was completely polar. I didn't expect such a dramatic gap of either loved it or hated it.

Why are you talking about a movie on a writing blog? I know you're asking it. Hang with me here, I'm heading to a writing point....well, meandering to it I guess.

I wondered if this reaction was from the viewpoint of Lewis loyalty or, in fact, they didn't like the story. Had they felt the original Looking Glass books were tarnished by this new approach? Stemming that question, did they feel the story should remain in its pure form?

At this point, my parallel thoughts could no longer remain focused on their individual tasks. I stopped my editing and wondered: how far can you take a traditional story and make it your own? I know there will always be naysayers, but can you judge the success of the masses and should you even try?

My latest story (still untitled...its own irky situation) stems off a Native American oral story of creation. That is, stems off by a very large margin. How will the response of this be when - yes, think positive with when, not if - this gets published? Will I offend the Navajo people? Native Americans in total? Or will they see it as the respect and admiration of their wonderful history, as I launched the idea with?

Here are two key boundaries I followed in writing the Navajo story. From my interpretation of the Alice movie, they seemed to have kept along this line too.

• Keep the core meaning of the story. Alice to a majority of readers is the need to stay grounded and face reality as it is. (I know it's a VERY generalized statement and there's arguments for and against it being this.)
• Try to keep the core of the characters purpose within the story. Alice's White Rabbit was to kick off the story and lead Alice to Wonderland and along her journey throughout the story.

Of course, I don't know how this will turn out for my short. Judging by Alice responses, there's always those who would keep it untouched. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Good writing all!

Depth and Breadth

Working in the business side of healthcare I’ve learned that the depth and breadth of your services is important to your patients (or potential patients). In looking at business development I have to see what services we have and how we can change, mold, and expand on them to realize our full potential as an organization.

This concept can be applied to your manuscript as well. ‘Cause let’s face it, all we have right now is a manuscript. It’s in the development stage and is not a novel quite yet. So how can we get that depth and breadth to our manuscript, thereby completing it to its full potential?

Here are some factors I’m looking at myself with my work. See if it helps you.

First and foremost – as with business – who is your customer, end user, or client? That is, who is the reader that you want or need to interest? Know your audience and what they want. You may be a great writer but if no ones interested in your work…well, you’ll never be a published author.

After you find that out, you need to compare it to your manuscript, outline, work in progress.

Focus and evolve your idea/purpose to match industry, genre, and audience trends. Don’t write a novel for the purpose of showcasing the potential of time travel when your readers are primarily into new life forms on other planets. Don’t write a story that pits adversaries fighting for oil on other planets 400 years in the future when human evolution is trending towards green alternatives. It won’t stand the test of time (not to mention it’s flashback to 1980).

Now that you have your audience and idea aligned, it’s time to write your story. But wait, now you have to worry about how you’re writing out your idea. Pesky little details like narrative voice, word choice, and transitions. Is the voice and word choice matching the tone and mood of your story? Are you writing more formal than the brash heroine calls for? Are the transitions between scenes too choppy for your romantic space opera?

When all these details are developed and integrated into your end product (your novel), you then have to go back through and check the mechanics. You have to put on your editor hat and make sure you grammar and structure are up to snuff.

Only when these things are cleaned out can you put your product out there to potential agents and publishers. At least you know that if you check through all these things you’ll have the highest potential pumped into your story.

Good writing all!