Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Another Writing Goal for 2013

How often in editing do we revise the sentences, the grammar and the flow of our story? This is important, but perhaps we overlook the obvious.

How often do we read our work to find those segments that are truly beautiful and worthy? How often do we simply toss away those that are not? In the process of revision we can overlook the most crucial portion that makes us better writers. That part is the beauty and worth of our words and sentences.

Hand in hand with that concept, we must become better readers. I will immerse myself in their work and set goals for reading that match or exceed my word count or editing goals.

In 2013, I vow to seek the beauty and worth. I vow to remove the mundane and, as always, I vow to excel at my writer's craft.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Crafting the Perfect Ending & Writing Goals for 2013

I was probably the last person with media access that hadn't seen the final episodes of the wonderful and brilliant television series House. Strange, I know, but I save endings to great shows and books like fine wines. I held one for over ten years! It is hard to avoid the spoilers in tweets, blogs and forum posts, but I manage.

Tonight, I watched them. I can only say, "In order to see the last two episodes you must close your eyes and listen to them." The music and interplay of the creative sound contributors was stunning. The overplay of the cafeteria normalcy sounds, the crackle and threat of the fire in the burning building, the scrape of chairs & fading footsteps along the halls and the haunting fading in and out of the background music added a texture few consciously realize.

In the best work a good ending plays on in echoes within the reader's mind for days and even years. I haven't studied endings, but I believe it is time to do so. I am making it my writing goal for 2013. By the end of a full year, I will have dissected, decoded, analyzed, agonized and hopefully found a source to provide me with a set of guidelines or rules on good endings. I hope that I can find some quality classes or lectures to take. I can't wait to begin.

In another example of a perfect ending, I want to thank SCBWI-IA for a wonderful and inspiring writing conference. It echoes on in my mind as well. My output and the quality of that work has been incredible as a result.