In which I come up for air

It's been..well..a while since I've blogged. So this is a short and sweet post while in between life, kids, reading...and writing. Ive come to the point in my manuscript that I'm tearing it apart like an animal left without food for months. I'm being merciless and it's both gratifying and sobering. My outline, (which I believe has saved me numerous times from veering away from the story), and my synopsis are in the process of being completed. What a task......But worth every minute I spend doing it. I can picture my book on the shelf at the BAM store up the road. I can see myself signing it, talking about it to strangers..you know...be the ball and all that. So, that's the progress update. I have all the good intentions of paying more attention to my blog, but you know what they say about good intentions.....



Keep writing, its what your meant to do.

Crafting the flow of a story

I recently read a book that sat with me for days after I closed the cover. I realized that the flow of the story was so eloquent, so streamlined, that I was pulled in and followed along without any 'hesitation. I didn't even skim...(which I'm guilty of doing). I recall some great advice from Elmore Leonard, his "10 Rules For Good Writing."

1. Never open a book with weather.
2. Avoid prologues.
3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said”…he admonished gravely.
5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

"My most important rule is one that sums up the 10," he wrote. "If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."

*Excerpted from the New York Times article, “Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle”

So i sit at my keyboard today with that advice in mind. A story can only be as good as the writing allows. Allow it to flow, smooth and effortless to the reader, all the way to the end.

--SC

The art of preparation

The art of writing is not just sitting at the keyboard or writing in a journal. It's daydreaming, staring into an open sky, or your surroundings. Listening to music, watching a really really good movie. Its all these things. Inspiration has come to me while watching commercials on tv...yes, it has. So feed your brain, give it more and more. Look at everything in a different way, the trees around you, interactions of passersby. All of this observation and inner reflection is fuel for your writing muse.

What i find helps me is sitting outside in the evening, listening to the wrapping up of the day around me. And watching the light dim as the minutes tick past. Then the night comes, which brings the mind to a different and more introspective place. You'd be amazed what you can think of, and work out sitting alone and letting go of logical thought.

Try it, you might surprise yourself. :)

WRITE every day, READ just as much, WRITE more.

An excerpt..Sharing Sunday

I'm in the middle of revising...2nd time around. And thought I would let a snippet of a passage that still sits with me days after I read it. So, as I nibble on my tortured nail bed, I open my palm and let it fly into the world..thoughts and feedback are most certainly welcome.

The musty smell in my cage wafted around me like a thick smoke. Others had been held inside. I spotted hints of aged blood and hair in the crease of the window bars, someone had put up a fight, good for them. My eyes roamed the sizable cell and when they reached the corner to my left, a shadow of something took up the otherwise empty space. That's when I drew in a sharp breath and regretted making a sound.

      “Staring is rude, hasn't anyone ever told you that? Or has the orphanage fell short these last few years on teaching manner and etiquette?”

      The boys’ voice sounded amused, but held an underlying irritation to it. I was still shaky from the surprise of not being alone in the gypsy’s wagon, and a new concern sat with me, I was locked up inside the cell with him. I chose my words wisely.

      “I wouldn’t call it teaching. Obedience is the main subject there, the only subject. I’ve found that their beliefs on human treatment and mine don’t mesh, being that I’m not an animal. And as for manners, I’ve yet to meet someone who deserves the effort.”

     I'd never been good at filtering myself, I just spoke what I thought. Hence the scar gracing my neck. So I should have expected what came after. I heard the quick movement, the slide of fabric over the floorboard, but he was quicker and I hadn't the privilege of knowing my surroundings as well. The burn of a needle prick flooded my veins and I felt a moment of calm, a black shroud covered my vision and before I lost consciousness I swear I felt the brush of a delicate breath across my cheek.

So, that's my sharing for today, i hope you enjoy the excerpt. I'm in love with my story, and I believe that nothing out there has covered the premise. What  passages  in your manuscript send goosebumps across your skin? Im happy to say that i feel that often when reading what I still cant believe comes out of me sometimes.

I wish that for you writer, dreamer, temporary inhabitant of a fantastical world. Because if you don't love your story, most likely no one else will either. Get lost in silliness, playful childhood, that's where all the secret kingdoms lie waiting for you to return and discover their magic.

WRITE every day, READ just as much, then WRITE more.

And a funny on Tuesday

This, yes indeed.

The weekend seems so far away...

My take on Scrivener

A few months back I decided to try out Scrivener. My WIP was getting somewhat large and I thought maybe the software would organize things better than my gazillion post its and pages of notes.

And to my surprise it did. Now, don't get me wrong, it took about a week to get used to the program, but since then Ive worked with it exclusively, so i decided to purchase.

Pros:

Organization of characters, scenes, world building & background.

Research folder at my fingertips, I'm able to highlight something and refer to it instantly no matter where it is on the manuscript. Which I do a lot....

Cons:

I kind of have to be at my laptop to add new writing, i think there is a way to have the program on my usb drive,I've yet to figure out how. But im okay with that. Id be bringing it to work...and we know how that would go, I'd get no work done.

I haven't explored the whole of the program yet, and im sure there are many options available to me that I haven't explored, but as a whole, I like it. And I've written more words per day since Ive used it...i don't know if that's all in my head, but i feel good. And if I feel good, my writing takes on that mojo, and its clear skies.

So, in my opinion it is a good program and worth a look into at least. The price is fair ($40.00), but there are discounts available online if you search around. The 30 day trial gives you the chance to try it out. Now I by no means am trying to promote the program, it just works for me. And if something is working with your writing, its always a good thing.

Keep imagining, its our writing fuel.

 

 

New approach to writing

Most of last week i was in kind of a ho-hum writing mind state. I was putting the time in, but the quality wasn't there. So, after coming home mid-week to find that i couldn't use my laptop, (its purpose that day was to entertain the kids), which kind of threw a wrench in my writing schedule. But, I had to write, so what to do, what to do...Ah, yes!, I could actually WRITE....in my notebook. Funny how some simple things fade in time, due to our busy lives and electronic equipment. I hadn't written in my journal or used my notebooks for anything substantial other than note taking. But boy what a difference once I found a comfortable spot and put pen to page. The writing was intimate, completely different than typing away and hearing the click clack of the keyboard. (Which don't get me wrong, is a huge time saver), but parts of the story I hadn't even thought of yet were coming faster than I could write, and this was exhilarating!

To widdle this long-winded post down to a nugget of useful info, change things up now and then. It might surprise you what you've got stored in that creative head of yours. ;)