Friday, July 6, 2012
Nebraska Novel Retreats & the SCBWI
Even the most solitary of writers need renewal, but where to go can be perplexing. Here is one amazing Midwest destination. Please contact me if you would like additional information. The website is at http://nebraskanovelretreats.com/upcoming-retreats/
I attended Nancy's 2nd retreat with Jill Santopolo - editor and Stephen Barbara - agent. The workshop was amazing with lots of useful information coming from people in the business who know the business.
The site is a fantastic and beautiful modern monastery where you can write in solitude, laugh with good company, learn with intensity, and center your writing muse for the upcoming year by sitting near or walking around the calming lake. Did I mention that the food was excellent? It is!
It was through this retreat that I discovered the membership joys gained through the SCBWI (Society of Children Book Writers and Book Illustrators.) This organization's website is http://www.scbwi.org/. Great information and retreats/workshops from fellow writers, editors, and agents who offer support, knowledge and encouragement.
Feed the muse!
Monday, July 2, 2012
Mish, Mash, & Late Night Musings
Notification of great offer!
http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/ (July 2nd) has a 24 hour offer for finding critique dating partners. Check it out. I hope she does this again. Right now, I'm in the great swampy middle of my current WiP. Anyone who hopes to tread with me would surely die from sucking in mud.
Pursuing the Writer's Craft:
Love those little sections called: "Tell us who you are." Yes, immediate gag reflex. So, who am I and what is my learning goal for my recent online class?
I'm a successful business owner in the Midwest, but I have given into my passion for writing. As Noel Coward wrote in Waiting in the Wings, "My mind is a sieve." My goal is to keep those sieve holes as tiny as possible as I pursue the writer's craft. I work with young adult.
I seek confidence, consistency, and competence—all of which seem too often in short supply. I promise to keep my Collins COBUILD English Grammar close to hand; unfortunately, it is falling apart and I still don’t have this down. I blame it on President Kennedy. He called for us to learn science and, thereafter, grammar teachers became unimportant apparently and I ended up with a useless chemistry minor in college. I especially look forward to proofreading tips and have a great fear of lie, lay, lain, lying (see my assignment 1), lay, laid, laid, laying, and collective noun/verb agreement gives me nightmares. Also, I am not a purist—where the *#%^* is spell check?
http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/ (July 2nd) has a 24 hour offer for finding critique dating partners. Check it out. I hope she does this again. Right now, I'm in the great swampy middle of my current WiP. Anyone who hopes to tread with me would surely die from sucking in mud.
Pursuing the Writer's Craft:
Love those little sections called: "Tell us who you are." Yes, immediate gag reflex. So, who am I and what is my learning goal for my recent online class?
I'm a successful business owner in the Midwest, but I have given into my passion for writing. As Noel Coward wrote in Waiting in the Wings, "My mind is a sieve." My goal is to keep those sieve holes as tiny as possible as I pursue the writer's craft. I work with young adult.
I seek confidence, consistency, and competence—all of which seem too often in short supply. I promise to keep my Collins COBUILD English Grammar close to hand; unfortunately, it is falling apart and I still don’t have this down. I blame it on President Kennedy. He called for us to learn science and, thereafter, grammar teachers became unimportant apparently and I ended up with a useless chemistry minor in college. I especially look forward to proofreading tips and have a great fear of lie, lay, lain, lying (see my assignment 1), lay, laid, laid, laying, and collective noun/verb agreement gives me nightmares. Also, I am not a purist—where the *#%^* is spell check?
My profile was woefully outdated. Here is my update.
Greetings from the heartland. I'm a successful business owner, but have
given into my passion of writing the last six years. I am presently writing for
young adults. I'm 58, but was thrilled when several fellow online students
assumed that I was in my twenties.
I've taken several classes through mediabistro, through
University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival, and once though the Piper Center in
Tempe, AZ. I've had opportunities to travel for research and to meet some great
editors and authors. My last jaunt was a trip to North Carolina for the
Writer's Police Academy. It was a blast, although I happily skipped the murder
crime scene when one sweet lady offered to let me dab some of her crest tooth
paste up my nose to cover the smell. That night, I sat at a large banquet table
with a huge grin, amazed that all these dressed up people were actually
discussing how far the body liquids would travel over different lengths of
times! Yes, I'm going to write about
that one day...
I religiously write from six to eight every morning, but rarely on my blog. I'm not
sure what would frighten me more--being offered a publishing contract or no one
wanting to read my work again! Thankfully, people have been kind and gracious.
This pursuit of the writer's craft is a marvelous journey.
If anyone is out there that actually reads this? Feed my fish? They have been zombies now for months and need love-- As you can tell from my infrequent posts, I ain't giving it to them.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Short Version on Characters
On characters, short version
Give them motivation that arrives from backstory.
Give them a secret.
Give them connections with as many of the other characters as possible.
Read jim-butcher.com's blog about writing. It's one of the tabs.
Visit writingexcuses.com.
Take a course on creating characters on line or in person.
Top down or Down up development--the end result is the same. Think of a coloring book--they are boring as hell for an adult. Now, take that and put it into an artist's hands and it turns 3D and beautiful or terrifying or compelling--just maybe all three. You want to make sure that your end result has maximum impact on your reader. You can't end up with your first thoughts and motivations for these characters; they have to be ten steps beyond your first ideas. Strive for depth, but always logical, realistic and often simple characteristics. If your character isn't speaking to your heart, then she will not speak to the reader. If she can't make you cry, the reader won't either.
Give them motivation that arrives from backstory.
Give them a secret.
Give them connections with as many of the other characters as possible.
Read jim-butcher.com's blog about writing. It's one of the tabs.
Visit writingexcuses.com.
Take a course on creating characters on line or in person.
Top down or Down up development--the end result is the same. Think of a coloring book--they are boring as hell for an adult. Now, take that and put it into an artist's hands and it turns 3D and beautiful or terrifying or compelling--just maybe all three. You want to make sure that your end result has maximum impact on your reader. You can't end up with your first thoughts and motivations for these characters; they have to be ten steps beyond your first ideas. Strive for depth, but always logical, realistic and often simple characteristics. If your character isn't speaking to your heart, then she will not speak to the reader. If she can't make you cry, the reader won't either.
Monday, March 12, 2012
On Getting Stuck in Rewrite... Advice to a Friend.
Ach... Rewrites can be horrors, but they are the vital part of professional writing. I now love them--perhaps too much! For years, I completed novel after novel for my own enjoyment, and I let NO ONE read them. Yet when you strive for professionalism and want others to read your work, rewriting tools in your writer's craft are essential. Your knowledge and skill to rewrite is as important as the initial creation segment of your craft.
As to your specific situation on being stuck on a crucial point, I would stick the whole thing in the drawer for a few months and play with something else. You might find that the perfect solution comes out of the blue or in a re-read later realize that yet another major rewrite needs to be done. In fact, you may never come back to this story and end up canabalizing it to incorporate sections and scenes into another work. That isn't a bad option either.
Several times I start a work thinking I have the most unique and fascinating premise, but, in the details, it just implodes on me. Luckily, after experiencing this the hard way several times, it happens less and less.
Keep your hopper full and your head above water. Putting it away in that drawer to 'ripen' or to 'spoil' is far better than investing countless hours in something that simply refuses to work effectively. Not all stories are meant to be told at this point in time.
Best wishes and a virtual hug to this writing friend and to others in search of stuffing their writer's toolbox.
As to your specific situation on being stuck on a crucial point, I would stick the whole thing in the drawer for a few months and play with something else. You might find that the perfect solution comes out of the blue or in a re-read later realize that yet another major rewrite needs to be done. In fact, you may never come back to this story and end up canabalizing it to incorporate sections and scenes into another work. That isn't a bad option either.
Several times I start a work thinking I have the most unique and fascinating premise, but, in the details, it just implodes on me. Luckily, after experiencing this the hard way several times, it happens less and less.
Keep your hopper full and your head above water. Putting it away in that drawer to 'ripen' or to 'spoil' is far better than investing countless hours in something that simply refuses to work effectively. Not all stories are meant to be told at this point in time.
Best wishes and a virtual hug to this writing friend and to others in search of stuffing their writer's toolbox.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
When the Muse Turns Her Back
One of my favorite web sites has an author section. This was my contribution for when the muse turns her back:
1. Become accountable to someone. Or use #amwriting on twitter. Both can give you a sense that you are NOT ALONE at your laptop.
2. Take a writing class. Try mediabistro.com. You'll be forced to come up with 10 pages every week, plus you'll crit 15 of your fellow writer's work of 10 pages each. That'll keep you focused.
3. Edit the words or scene you wrote the day before, then move onto a fresh scene.
4. Play white noise or listen to zen type music that masks city sounds, then fades as you write. I 'awoke' from my best and longest writing session to find myself listening to the DVD repetitious episode selection music for Gray's Anatomy. I write with old tv series on the screen. Old stuff--so you aren't riveted to it.
5. Find several that work and rotate them. Anything that jiggles the writing genes helps.
6. Love your characters. Make them your friends, although you'll need to kill some of them off...so make it a prostitute relationship. *smiling*
7. There are a lot of google sites you can explore, but this one tickled my own creative muse. http://clicks.robertgenn.com/find-your-muse.php Now, I'm off to strip and then eat some extra gorgeous raspberries. You'll never know if I'm serious or not.
Whatever and however you find your muse, write. Even if the muse hides, write about her/his absence.
1. Become accountable to someone. Or use #amwriting on twitter. Both can give you a sense that you are NOT ALONE at your laptop.
2. Take a writing class. Try mediabistro.com. You'll be forced to come up with 10 pages every week, plus you'll crit 15 of your fellow writer's work of 10 pages each. That'll keep you focused.
3. Edit the words or scene you wrote the day before, then move onto a fresh scene.
4. Play white noise or listen to zen type music that masks city sounds, then fades as you write. I 'awoke' from my best and longest writing session to find myself listening to the DVD repetitious episode selection music for Gray's Anatomy. I write with old tv series on the screen. Old stuff--so you aren't riveted to it.
5. Find several that work and rotate them. Anything that jiggles the writing genes helps.
6. Love your characters. Make them your friends, although you'll need to kill some of them off...so make it a prostitute relationship. *smiling*
7. There are a lot of google sites you can explore, but this one tickled my own creative muse. http://clicks.robertgenn.com/find-your-muse.php Now, I'm off to strip and then eat some extra gorgeous raspberries. You'll never know if I'm serious or not.
Whatever and however you find your muse, write. Even if the muse hides, write about her/his absence.
Yes, I'm a Book Whore follower...
Lynn Rush's new cover.... And thus I receive 25 points toward an ecopy. If I ever get published, I am going to camp out on the BookWhore's web page until she shows me how to do all those cool things she does on her blog post!
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