Changes

Posted on by
5
The first Wednesday of the month I normally dedicate to a post from #IWSG. This month the question posed is, “What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey?” I have not gone through publication so I am looking forward to learning from others. Click here to join the blog hop.

 

Instead, I am sharing some good news! Over the past few years I have been a Contributing Editor for the Pikes Peak Writers blog, Writing From the Peak. My main contributions were posts celebrating the successes of our members through Sweet Success. I still have the pleasure of sharing the good news when a member publishes a book, has a short story picked up by an anthology, has a book signing, or been honored with an award. Now I have accepted to step up to Managing Editor.

 

Deadlines are best met early.

 

It has only been a week since I jumped into the hot seat, and it has been great. Thankfully my learning curve is not the size of the Grand Canyon. I already have two blogs I keep up with. Both are WordPress –PPW’s as well–so I have that part pretty well figured out. Scheduling has been a little bit of a trick, but the further ahead I schedule the less stress I have. Deadlines are best met early.

 

My favorite part, so far, is getting to know everyone. I have met several contributors in person, and have virtually met others. Reading their submissions has been wonderful. There are so many ways a single subject can be presented. Just take a look at the different posts that are generated through #IWSG’s blog hop. Fantastic!

 

After adventuring through #IWSG’s blogs, hop over to PPW’s site too. There is a plethora of posts on everything writing.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Today’s post inspired by :

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

The awesome co-hosts for the August 1 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe,Sandra Hoover, Susan Gourley, and Lee Lowery!
….and by:

Writing Goals

Posted on by
5

Over the past few years I have read a lot about the importance of setting goals. Not just personal goals, but for writing as well. One challenge many writers face (including myself) is procrastination. Goal setting helps stave this off which allows us to postpone those things in life that can wait a few hours while we write.

There are two kinds of goals: long term and short term.  It is through many sets of short term goals that the long term goals are reached. Take writing for example. I my case, in order to write a book (my ultimate goal) I had to set about achieving some smaller goals first. In order to show you my process let’s go back a few years.

It was about five or six years ago I decided my career needed a change from MLMs to something that, at the very least, wouldn’t cost me any money. My MLM businesses were resounding failures and I wasn’t getting any younger. Back then, my daughter was talking non-stop about writing and studying creative writing in college so I thought that I could too. Well, not study in college, but to find other avenues that would achieve the same thing.

My first small goal was to learn everything I could about writing fiction, specifically fantasy/sci-fi. A friend recommended I attend a writer’s conference (Pikes Peak Writers) to get started. It was also recommended to read what I wanted to write. I already read a lot (I still go through about 80-90 books a year), but now I read as writer. Today, I am still learning to write. I don’t think anyone who writes ever stops learning, but I think I have taken a major chunk out of the beast. 

My next smallish goal was to start writing. I knew I could write, after all I did write for a local mountain newspaper and a few articles were accepted online that actually paid real money. Even though they were short, journalistic pieces, I was still a published writer. Someone liked what I wrote, so I should be able to write a book too (my ultimate goal).

Another small goal I set was to write on a regular basis. This one has been a little hit or miss, but I do work at it. Every February I do the 28 Days of Writing Challenge and in April I started the Blogging A to Z Challenge. Both of these challenges fit my relaxed style. I also do a monthly post with the #IWSG. I did try NaNoWriMo once and I was so stressed out it nearly made me sick. I work on my book, at the very least, once per week, write book reviews as I finish a book (I don’t have time to write a review on every book, but some do get written), and poke a stick at around writing short stories. One day I’ll write everyday (another ultimate goal), but for now I am happy where I’m at.

My ultimate writing goal has not changed over the past five or six years: finish writing a novel of at least 80,000 words. I don’t have a specific time frame, but if it is done before I die then that will be a good thing. It is through the accomplishment of many smaller goals, done over and over again, that it will be written. I look forward to writing, THE END.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today’s blog post is inspired by:

 

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

 

July 3 question of the month- What are your ultimate writing goals, and how have they changed over time (if at all)?

The awesome co-hosts for the July 3 posting of the IWSG are Nicki Elson, Juneta Key, Tamara Narayan, and Patricia Lynne!

 

****IT’S A BLOG HOP!!****
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

 

Write Like a Photographer

Posted on by
Reply

I am a writer with a background in photography.  In creating a photograph, I consider every corner of the frame, along with every item within that frame. I look to see if there are any annoying objects, or things that detract from my final product. Is there a tossed away cup in the background? If so, does it contribute to the whole, or is it just a trashy distraction? If it is just a distraction, then the cup is removed, the shot tossed, and the scene re-photographed.

When you write a scene, visualize it like a photograph. Be sure all the pieces contribute to the whole. Look at every character, smell, and sound. Let’s say your protagonist is walking through a village square where there is a cacophony of activity. A mason toils over a piece of granite. You might be tempted to go into great detail. After all, this mason is sweaty, dirty, and a detailed description of him is a metaphor of the square. Ask yourself why is the mason there? Does the mason support the scene by adding to the mood or is the hammering just an annoyance like the discarded cup in the background?

Now, take the mason and widen the scene out and up. There is a window above him. What do you see? On your first draft you may have missed the window because you distracted by the mason. Is there a shadowed figure at the window? The mason is a good tool to help your reader visualize the scene as a whole, but don’t spend too much time on him. After all, the mason was a small tool to add flavor to a scene and draw the reader to the point that is most important, the figure in the window. A scene should have color that brings your story to life, but don’t over paint it.

View your book in a series of still photographs. Check each one to be sure there are no discarded cups hiding in the background. Look for anything that doesn’t fit and crop it out. These small (and sometimes large) changes will make the difference between a so-so manuscript and a dynamic one. When a photographer shoots, there are thousands of images that fall into a scrap heap. The same is true in writing. Thousands of words will spill into the trash and overflow onto the floor. That is OK. Keep taking words out, and putting words in. Write and re-write until you get that feeling; that giddy feeling when you know that you have written something amazing.

The Page Turners by Deanna Knippling

Posted on by
Reply

page-tunrers-coverI normally do not read novelettes, but this one intrigued me. Mention the words magic, grimoire, or sorcerer, and you have my interest. Deanna Knipplings‘ The Page Turners, has a lot packed into forty six pages. I very much enjoyed the story although I didn’t care for the second person perspective. I was lost as to which book belonged to who’s story, but this is short enough that I can easily pick it back up for a second read through. I highly recommend The Page Turners. It is a unique concept that is worth the time it takes to read forty six pages.

Sometimes a book comes out of your soul

You’re taking a train ride from Alabama to the Chinatown in San Francisco to be with your mother, who is dying of cancer. The year is sometime in the 1920s. A white man walks by, carrying a book that slips away from him. He can’t find it…it’s after midnight and the train is dark.

The book calls to you.

It says its name is Jimmy O’Toole and the man who dropped it is a sorcerer. You’re holding a grimoire…although it used to be more than that.

It used to be a person.

You know your mom should be able to work this out. She’s always been into magic.

You just have to live long enough to get the book home to her…

 

Question of the Month – #IWSG

Posted on by
3

It is that time of month when I address a question from IWSG. June sixth’s question is: What’s harder for you to come up with, book titles or character names? I can easily say that character names are harder.

Titles for my stories and books have come organically. As I write, something just triggers in my mind and there it is. This doesn’t mean I don’t go back and change it ever. Originally I titled one short story, Bob. I liked the simplicity of it, but as I was writing I found it didn’t capture the depth of it so it became, Bob, An Ordinary Man. In the final edits, I still wasn’t satisfied with it. The final? Ordinary Man. Even though the title changed with my restless dissatisfaction with it, it was never stressful. It just flowed from what I wrote.

Names for characters, on the other hand, make me crazy. In April of 2018 I wrote a blog post addressing this very issue. That particular post addressed the difficulties I had with finding character names in The Manx. For any of my characters, I agonize over them. It feels like naming my children. At least when we named them, it was only for two kids rather than the populations filling my novels.

I have links to websites that list bay/girl names, Welsh, Manx, Irish, German, Polish, and on and on. I do rely on ancestry in many cases. It is fun to discover the rainbow of names. When I’m developing a character I have a list of traits that I want to match to a name. For instance, if I have a shy, mousy, female character who is so quiet people don’t know she’s even in the room, I would resonate with a name like Anne, Chris, or Sarah. The opposite character traits bring names like Debra, Monica, or Sheryl to mind.

There are many ways I drive myself nuts coming up with a character’s name. I really need to try and not be so possessive of their names. Just let all the Franks, Marys, Ethels, and Bernieces be who they are. Not every person is defined by their name. Just like anything in writing it all can be changed or deleted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post inspired by:

Every month, IWSG announces a question that we, the members, can answer in our IWSG post. These questions may prompt us to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story.

The awesome co-hosts for the June 6 posting of the IWSG are Beverly Stowe McClure,Tyrean Martinson,Tonja Drecker, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!

 

It's a Blog Hop!

 

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

 

 

Wildmane by Todd Fahnestock

Posted on by
Reply

Wildmane - Cover

Wildmane; Threadweavers is a fabulous epic fantasy, with an emphasis on epic. Todd Fahnestock’s wordsmithing painted a world that I could touch and smell. I was captivated from the first page to the last.

Mirolah wants a quiet life, but the villagers in her town will kill her if they discover the truth. She is a magical threadweaver, the first to surface in three hundred years.

Long bereft of magic, the human lands are dying. Humans are devolving, and their culture is crumbling. Their legendary protector, the demigod Wildmane, has given up on them.

When a monster sent for Mirolah slays her adopted sister instead, Mirolah is pulled into a quest to bring Wildmane out of his self-imposed exile and restore magic to the lands. Undead threadweavers rise to stop her and cage Wildmane. To beat them, she must learn more about herself and threadweaving than she thought possible, more than the greatest threadweavers of a bygone age. And she must do it quickly…

There was one small exception that I had trouble with….

****Possible spoiler alert!!! STOP READING if you don’t want to know******

Wldmane is a great character. He is a man lost in black despair over losing the love of his life, but it reached a point of being too whiny. As a result I had less respect for this character through the rest of the story. Not every reader will have this hang-up, but it stayed with me and took away from the power of the book.

With that said, I still highly recommend this book. If you are an epic fantasy fan, this will definitely satisfy. Fahnestock has invented a world you will want to revisit, and when Book 2 comes out, June 19, 2018, I will be one of the first in line to purchase it.

Writer’s Block?

Posted on by
4

Imagine yourself with a clean sheet of paper in front of you. You have to write a short story about something, but no matter how long you stare at that crisp white piece of paper you have nothing. Zip. Ziltch. Not one word comes to mind.  What do you do? How do you get over the initial panic that comes with every new moment that a story won’t come to mind? You could throw your computer out the window and swear off writing, or maybe just get comfortable with yourself and do some brainstorming.

This morning, I met with several fellow writers and we talked about brainstorming and the techniques we each use to get or mojo flowing.  It was interesting that each of the five people had their own unique way to brainstorm.  Therefore, you too should look at each of these as an idea for you to mull over and in the end come up with a formula that works for you.

  • Look for intense moments from your life (or someone else’s): This can be a tough one depending on the situation. Some events in life are better left in the past, but some of them can make for a great scene, short story, or book.
  • Ask questions: Get out a sheet of paper and a pencil. I like pencils because they seem to be more connected with the paper. Plus, pens are too permanent – you can erase pencil. Getting back to your paper…. When a question pops into your mind write it down. Don’t take the time to answer it, yet. Keep writing them down until your mind feels empty of them. Now, go back and answer them.
  • Play with your attractions: What sort of things attract you? Do you love wine, bookstores, plants, hiking, rock climbing, or knitting? Any one of these are potential subjects.
  • Use pre-printed idea cards: Let’s say you are listening to the news and you hear a n odd story that you think would be interesting to write about. Jot it down on a note pad or an index card. These will become your idea cards.
  • Online themes: there are plenty of websites and social media that provide writing prompts, contests, and games. Writers Digest, Penguin Random House, and Creative Writing Prompts are just a few that I use when I’m stuck.
  • Word dumps: sit down and just write nonsense words. Keep writing them until you feel the flood gates open. Put them on index cards. This turns your word dumps into idea cards.

One of the keys to be successful in these exercises is to stay away from your computer. Handwritten words are powerful. There is a connection between your hand and your brain that isn’t present between the computer and your brain. According to an article in Time, “… creative people have greater connectivity between these brain networks that tend to work in opposition in most people. This messiness of creativity at the neurological level mirrors its real-life complexity.”

Creative minds like a little bit of disorganization. Handwriting is one way to provide it. Scribbling up the margins, scratching out mistakes, flipping the page over to write upside-down all contribute to a wonderfully, messy, creative mind. Next time you’re stumped for words, grab a piece of paper, napkin, or the palm of your hand and start writing. Your mind will do the rest.