Writer's Craft

I'm learning a lot about the craft... I will always be learning a lot about the craft... I vow to never stop learning about the craft...

1. When I get that vague feeling that something isn't fleshed out enough--it probably isn't, as my editor picks them out every single time.
2. I still have no control over my comma useage *grumble, grumble* but it is much better.
3. About 20% of flaws that the editor finds in plot and character, I would miss and I fear I might always miss. I'm hopeful with time and experience that I will learn to recognize them myself.
4. STOP personifying body parts! (LOL) But why not? It's so much fun!
5. Editors are infallible. What one editor changes, another will change right back to the original. This was maybe the hardest thing I've learned. Those rules that i would like to think are set in stone are just as wishy washy as life itself.

Also I now have an entire folder dedicated to allmy Anj-isms from my editor.

Miss Snark's First Victim Questions

In my heart, why do I write young adult? "Because I'm a Midwest nut who wants young adults to know that there are healthy loving sexual relationships, loving families, intelligent warrior girls who turn into amazing women, (and men who love them), faith (in whatever) gives you strength and power beyond the mere physical attributes we've genetically inherited, that you can disagree with those you love and still be loved, that there is hope that the world makes sense within the walls of our homes, that we can change what is wrong outside our walls--if we break them down, that religion diversity should unite our world--not tear it down, that sex, race, socio-economic status, handicaps, etc will never limit the human spirit.

Did I mention that I'm a Mom. Did you figure out my '2nd take'? (Last Lecture) That I'm writing for my new grand-daughter and future great-grand-children?

All disguised as a really great fun and exciting ride for me and for the reader.

May 31, 2009 1:50 AM

Me and the Ghost Hunters

I should be writing, I should be finishing my synopsis, instead I'm listening to Justin and Jason on Ghost Hunters. Some evenings you have to let it go...

Where commitment hits the concrete

My son called tonight to say that his bone marrow donation offer has a match. All the tests say that its a go. Further, his donation will not be the less evasive blood transfusion but the surgery type. My son is 25, he is in his second year of law school at the University of Iowa, he is married, and they wouldn't mind if his wife became pregnant.

For years, I have advocated for organ donation and for programs just like this one. Still when he called to ask if I'd come over for the surgery, my heart raced, my fears charged to the surface. This wasn't helped when I couldn't immediately find someone who could answer all my questions and concerns.

It wasn't until sometime later, I reminded myself that the risk is not that great and that someone and their family is thanking God that a donor had been located. My own prayers are that my son will be safe, that he won't be exposed to an infection while in surgery, that nothing will go wrong in that surgery, that the hospital won't make a foolish mistake, and the list went on.

God can find amusement in that, I suppose. We are always at risk in this life, but without risk others would find no answer to their prayers.

Contests and Queries

I joined a wild horse race this AM. I sat poised at my computer, finger itching, ready to hit the send button on an e-mail submission for a contest. Only 25 were being accepted... At 8 CTZ I hit the button. Pop up reads, "Unexpected delay, will post as soon as possible." I, non-tech geek guru, took that to mean there were several beans trying to slide through one tiny hole in the system. Bingo, it's gone!

24 were posted and accepted by 8:01CTZ and the 25th at 8:01. I made it. Feel like a winner!

Then I get the e-mail confirmation, post 19. Whoo hoo! Then below that is my post. My 250 words have been formatted into a sloppy, horrid mass--no paragraph separation, no double spacing, no paragraph first line indentation? *Hanging my head and slipping into oblivion*

Then the horrid thought... Is that what my e-mail queries and samples look like? Oh HORROR!

And how the cr** do I fix that?

Friday's bear in the room

After the death of Madeleine L'Engle (my life long hero), I decided to write beyond the confines of my room. First though, I needed to confront this bear (my self-confidence) that lived in the room with me. Sometimes it's tiny and cute, but other times it's ugly, mean, horrid, and is so big it shoves me out.

Published authors told me they had bears. "You need a bear in your room. It's keep you alert, active, agile. Just don't let it make you stop writing, or from sending in a query or entering a contest."

I've written for 35+ years, but I've been a writer for three--as in taking the craft seriously. Since then I've taken three mediabistro.com classes, worked with a writing coach, attended a writer's workshop at the Univ of IA and another in Tempe, AZ, took a linquistics class from Iowa State University, and have found a brilliant editor, who is a professional writer.

35 years into it and a contest looms... The bear is back and its ugly. It's easier to put that brilliant, fresh manuscript into the desk drawer.

Time to get out the whips and chains, so I can beat that bear away from the door... I guess...

Good morning muses...

Good morning muses...

Why can't summer just show up?
Why can't I figure out why I had to set up this blog,
simply to send someone congrats?
Why did I do it? What junk will I receive as a result?
Going with the law of averages, I figure I'll get 1 hit
every 10 million years, right?
How can a non-tech geek like me do this?

Finally, why am I 100% sure that I will never find this blog again?