Do you have good intentions? Making good use of writing resources.

I don't know about you, but I have better intentions than actions. For example, I sign up for a lot of writing-related emails. I have an email account specifically for these emails, and I know that there is a wealth of good, solid information on the craft of writing in that email inbox. But some days, going through it is absolutely exhausting. Most days, I have 100 unread emails in my assorted email accounts, with most of those coming from my writing email. Every few weeks, I sit down and wade through the emails I've received, skimming over all of them and deleting the ones that don't contain useful information, while archiving or bookmarking ones that do. But still, it's a gigantic time-waster to have to go through so many emails.

Lately, I've been increasingly overwhelmed by writing resources at my fingertips. It's time that I take an honest look at myself and how I use these sources. I want to maximize my time and benefits, since social media and emails and the Internet can be such a drain on time. I need to get some good information and then get back to writing. So I've crafted some questions to ask myself before I unsubscribe to some mailing lists.

1. Does the email consistently send me information that applies to me?

This is going to be the main issue. In the information useful? Some emails, like the Writer's Digest email, can be hit or miss for me. Somehow, I'm on several email lists from them, and I'd like to narrow that down to the ones that pertain to me. There are often a lot of great, short articles that speak to an aspect of the craft I need, but there are often ones that don't. As a result, it's one of those emails that I want to keep receiving, but in moderation, and I have to be diligent about determining which ones apply to me.

2. Do I more often than not delete the email without opening it?

I confess. Sliding my finger across the iPhone to delete a message is easier than opening it, going to the link inside, and then returning to delete the email. There are some mailing lists I am on that I usually delete the emails from after only skimming the four-line preview. I think it's safe to say I can delete myself from these email lists.

3. Is it information that I will refer to in the future?

I subscribe to Publisher's Lunch, an email that contains daily information about book deals and agents who represent those authors. I may not always be at a querying place, however these are emails that I will absolutely refer to in the future when looking for an agent. If I were super organized, I would write down the names of agents that seem like a good match for me and books that seem similar to mine, and keep them in a file folder somewhere. If I were super organized. That'll be my next project.




Any of my subscriptions that don't pass these three questions, I will be unsubscribing from. My writing time is too valuable to waste.

And on that note, I return to my WIP!

Demanding the Muse's Presence

This past weekend I went "camping" with the hubby. I put "camping" in quotes because this was lightweight camping unfamiliar to this Alaskan. This was camping in a campsite with neighbors camping twenty feet away in their RVs and with running water and toilets. This was not real camping.

However, despite this Washington camping experience, I was hoping that it would jumpstart my Muse and reinvigorate my writing. Sadly, I am several days returned from "camping" and have found that not to be the case. So now comes the moment when I must demand my Muse's presence. 

Who was it that said, "I write when I am inspired, and I see to it that I am inspired at nine o'clock every morning?"* That is the point I am at this week. While there are a million things I could be doing and a million others that must be done, I intend to carve out 15-30 minutes for myself today and write. 

I am working on a new WIP, a short story, for a class I am currently taking, and I have a deadline for it. I've got to get about half of it written by that deadline. While this is a short story, I've made it more complex than some of my classmates', and I've got several thousand words to write before I meet that halfway mark. So I'll be powering through that soon, I am sure. I just need the time to sit down and write.

So instead of pretending that I don't have to write, or taking a break while my family is in town, or while we work on some projects around the house, or otherwise making excuses, I intend to demand my Muse's presence by sitting down to write and placing my fingers on the keyboard. 

Time to write.

*footnote: And after a quick Google search, that appears to be Peter De Vries.

A problem...

I am in the middle of cleaning out my office. I'm not quite sure if this is a distraction technique from my writing (entirely possible), or something else. It needs to be done, sure, as it's become a dumping ground for things that I don't want to deal with at the moment, receipts, boxes, chairs, blankets, etc. In beginning to clean it out, I've been slowly realizing that I am a book hoarder. My shelves have long since been full, with books stacks sideways upon books and doubled, sometimes tripled up on shelves.

There's just something about me that makes me reluctant to give up a book. I can always find some excuse to keep it. Oh, I loved it? Better not get rid of it; I like to reread favorites. Oh, it was only so-so? Well, its resale value is low, I'd better keep it. Oh, I liked it, a friend gave it to me? Better keep it. 

I have a problem. I'm reluctant to part with a book. Any book. Especially a favorite. I'm one of those who buys multiple copies of a favorite--one reading copy, one copy to keep pristine.

But I'm trying to change. In my office, I ruthlessly went through each shelf and removed books I didn't enjoy the first time around, but had purchased for a book club or other reason, and put them in a box. I filled up two boxes in this way. My plan is to sell them on Amazon or give them away if their resale value isn't worth the headache of selling.

It's a slow process to let go of books, but…it can be done.

(Note: I also hoard ebooks, but I'm denying that as a problem until my iPad fills up…) 

5 Commonly Misused Words in the English Language

The more I write, the more I become a grammar Nazi. I'm realizing one of my biggest pet peeves are misused words. To the point where if I'm not sure of a word myself, I look it up in a dictionary to confirm I'm using it correctly in speech. Wow. What a nerd I am. It's a good thing my husband loves me…although I don't think he loves it when I correct his speech…

Anyways, I've started to compile a list of words that drive me crazy. Feel free to add your own in the comments! (And look forward to more posts on incorrectly used words.)

1. anxious vs. eager

She was anxious that something could go wrong during her pregnancy.

I am eager to see my wife after six months' separation.

Anxious: 1 experiencing worry, unease, or nervousness, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome

• (of a period of time or situation) causing or characterized by worry or nervousness: there were some anxious moments.
2 wanting something very much, typically with a feeling of unease

Eager: (adjective) wanting to do or have something very much

• (of a person's expression or tone of voice) characterized by keen expectancy or interest

2. peak vs. pique

The novel piqued my interest so I bought it.

I climbed to the highest peak.

Peak: (noun) the pointed top of a mountain

• a mountain, esp. one with a pointed top

• a projecting pointed part or shape

• a point in a curve or on a graph, or a value of a physical quantity, higher than those around it

• the point of highest activity, quality, or achievement

Pique: (noun) a feeling of irritation or resentment resulting from a slight, esp. to one's pride

Pique: (verb) 1 stimulate (interest or curiosity)

2 (be piqued) feel irritated or resentful

3. their/they're/there

What grammarian isn't annoyed by this all-too-common slip-up?

That is their sleeping bag.

They're coming over today.

I'm going over there tomorrow.

their: possessive pronoun

they're: contraction for "they are"

there: a place

4. irony vs. coincidence

This can be a difficult one.

How ironic that Sarah moved from Texas to New York to get away from Texans and ends up marrying a Texan cowboy.

Coincidentally, I met my husband in New York and we are both from the same, small Texan town.

The difference is that irony is deliberately the opposite of what is expected or planned for, while a coincidence is an often similar event that appears unrelated to another.

Irony: noun ( pl. ironies )
the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect
• a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result
• (also dramatic or tragic irony) a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.

Coincidence: (noun) 1 a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection

2 correspondence in nature or in time of occurrence:

5. literally vs. figuratively

I literally ate five Double Stuf Oreos.

I figuratively could have eaten a whale.

Literally: (adverb) in a literal manner or sense; exactly
• informal used for emphasis or to express strong feeling while not being literally true: I have received literally thousands of letters.** 

Figuratively: (adjective) 1 departing from a literal use of words; metaphorical
2 (of an artist or work of art) representing forms that are recognizably derived from life.



*Definitions from New Oxford American Dictionary

**The fact that this definition is now included in the dictionary drives me figuratively insane.

What misused words figuratively drive you insane?

There Is Always Someone Better Than You (August IWSG)

I am never the best.

This isn't a new lesson. It's an old one. Quite old. Ancient, perhaps. There will always, always be someone better than you. Even if you're the world champion in the Track and Field 400m dash, there will always be someone to challenge you. More so, there may be someone who is better than you at the 200m, or the 100. Switch sports, and you may lose all your advantage. You are then no one special. I find this humbling. And rightfully so.

I think writers must be competitive at heart, or else it's too easy to give up and let go of your writing dreams. Even so, when you find yourself pitted against a near-equal, or someone who is obviously better than you, or even someone that you don't perceive as better than you yet beats you in a competition, jealousy is the natural emotion. 

I don't like to think of myself as a jealous person. I don't like to give in to envy. But is some of it useful? Does that envy teach me a lesson? Absolutely.

Writing is a subjective art. Just like painting, what one person considers a masterpiece, another considers a waste of space. In writing, what one person loves, another may hate.

I find that I am an atypical reader. I don't like commercial fiction very much. I prefer slower paced literary novels. In fact, I cannot remember the last best seller that I read and enjoyed like the masses (Hunger Games, maybe? Although I thought that could have been done better). Am I too critical? Maybe. But I like to think it's because I know what I like, and only a few people deliver that. I not only want a great plot, but above average (okay, excellent) writing and grammar. I want good structure and surprising plot twists, lovable characters and surprising depth. I want it all. If it doesn't check all the boxes, then I'm not a satisfied reader. But I'm like one of those first-time home buyers who goes in with a list a mile long, expecting not to compromise. And I won't compromise, darn it! 

So why should I compromise in my own writing? I am also one of those writers stuck in perpetual edits. It is never, ever good enough. I'm not a perfectionist in everything, but I am with writing. Because why, oh why?, would I put anything less than my best work out there? The only problem is that I am constantly learning and improving. It's almost like the newest iPhone (to use yet another metaphor). As soon as I finish one edit of a WIP, I know exactly how I could improve it--because the last edit taught me so much about writing, I can see new errors in old work. (You know, like as soon as you buy the new iPhone, the newer one comes out, showing you all the things you didn't know you needed?)

Yeah. That's me. So I guess I need to get okay with the fact that there will always be a book better than mine out there. There will always be readers that prefer someone else's writing over mine. There will always be improvements that I wish I could make to my novel. There will always, always, be someone better. That's not their fault. It's mine. Not only do I need to keep striving and keep writing, but I need to accept something as finished, even when I still think it's not "perfect." 

Using Character Bios to Deepen Your Writing

Often when I'm completely stuck in revising a novel, or when I'm in the depths of NaNoWriMo hell and have no words left in me, yet I have to pump out another 10K in order to "win," I will turn to character bios to help me flesh out my work-in-progress.

Usually I use these for my minor characters (mC), a non-lead, because those are the ones whom I am unsure about. Those are the characters I haven't spent enough time developing, and so I need to go the extra mile with them and make them real. I can't do that if I continue to ignore them to focus on my main character (MC). So a character bio is an invaluable tool for me.

What is a character bio?

I define a character bio as the protagonist's story from a mC's point-of-view. This may not be the "best" or the "correct" way to define it, but in keeping this definition in my mind, I can approach the mC as I need to. Although a mC's backstory will obviously influence them as much as a MC's backstory influences the MC, their story only concerns me in so much as it concerns the MC.

So with that definition in mind, I sit down to write my mC's bio. I'll begin where the MC begins--the beginning of the novel. I'll tell the story, trying to keep it brief, from the mC's POV, without worrying about whether I'm telling or showing or if this is coming out right. I'm only concerned with how this mC sees things. So I don't stop until I get to the end. This usually comes out as a far abbreviated version of the overall story--the mC can only tell the story as much as he/she knows it, and as he/she is a minor character, that's usually not much.

However, this tactic really allows me to make those minor characters much more real to myself and (hopefully) to the reader.

I always feel that a novel is at its most powerful when the mCs live and breathe as strongly as the MCs.

~I.E.

How do you make your minor characters come alive?

The Peaks and Valleys of the Writing Life--What Brings You Down? What Buoys You Up?

I find more often than ever, my life is marked by peaks and valleys. I would like to say that I'm a steady worker, one who rarely gets discouraged and simply plugs away no matter the circumstances.

That would be a lie. 

I am absolutely like most other people in the world: affected by life's circumstances. 

The thing is, I'm one of those lucky few writers who doesn't work. I don't have a day job. I don't freelance, I don't have deadlines. I'm one of those lucky aspiring writers who has all day to write. So why don't I?

Some days, I do spend the majority of my day pounding away on the keyboard. But to be honest, most days I don't. I do attempt to write every day--and if I don't, I feel guilty. But some days, I am my own worst enemy. There are inexplicable days where I want to burn all my WIPs and say "good riddance" to them forever. Those are the days where my perfectionist streak really grabs ahold of me and controls my writing life. Then there are other days where I think I know exactly what is happening in my WIP and I can't wait to get to my laptop and fill the white space with words that I'm certain are magical.

This week, I knew I had to prepare a blog for today. I procrastinated both days until last night, when I said, "I'll just do it in the morning." This morning, I had no brilliant stroke of inspiration. I had no desire to write a blog post. This, I tell myself, is why I do not freelance. Too much pressure to be brilliant. And when you're a struggling perfectionist, how can you constantly deliver brilliance? (And let's be honest--a perfectionist doesn't want mere brilliance, but glistening perfection.)

But this day has led me to think what it is about certain days and circumstances that buoy me up and tug me down. 

Downers: 
perfectionism
overwhelming/overlarge goals
unattainable goals (in regards to how much I can do by a certain time or how good I expect my work to be without thinking of my limitations, whether time or talent or knowledge)
unrealistic expectations (and disappointment when I fail)
bad critiques and arrogant critiquers
bad habits
laziness

Uppers:
a good critique
having a stroke of brilliance that I think will solve all my plot problems
reading a well written book
my husband's confidence in me (however ill-placed)
solitude and silence
small, attainable goals
attaining said goals
daily writing
new writing software
new writing friends
reading encouraging Twitter posts from writers with my same struggles

None of these uppers are a magic bullet for overcoming distraction and getting my writing done. No, there's no easy path to self-discipline. But on a day like this, I choose to focus on the positive, on the peaks, instead of on the valleys. And that can refocus my mind onto something worth pursuing, instead of giving me a lifetime of regrets.

~I.E.

So what about you? What creates a good writing day for you? What makes it a bad writing day?

Share in the comments section below--I love hearing from readers!

~~~ 

If you've found this useful, please give it a share!

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Five Rules for Using Pronouns in Fiction Writing (Part II of II)

A few weeks ago, I threw out some reasons for and against using pronouns in fiction. This week, I'd like to explain a bit about how these are pros and cons.

If you'll recall, there are five reasons I came up with to use or not use pronouns in fiction writing. This post will discuss them in a bit more detail (although there are links for each pro and con in last week's post).

1. Don't confuse the antecedent.

Typically, "he" or "she" refers to the person last mentioned.

Joni gulped from her cup. She lowered it and stared at Kim.

"Her" and "she" both refer to Joni.

If we rewrite the sentence to say:

Joni and Kim sipped their drinks. She put it down.

Then we get confusion. Who is "she?" Is it Joni? Kim? Neither? In a situation like this, reuse their name. Or, preferably, rephrase the sentence(s) to clarify.

2. Don't overuse "I" in first person POV.

In first person point-of-view, the page can be a minefield of "I." Not only does it make the book seem unreasonably self-centered on the protagonist, it can be distracting from even the best plot.

Consider the example below, taken from one of my recent WIPs, which I've referred to throughout my blog as "StM."

In retrospect, I was lucky I'd held on to my phone so I could dig out Mother's address from the depths of my contacts list. I hoped, as I begged directions from a stranger on the street, that she'd not moved in the two years since I'd seen her.

This is a rough draft of a scene where my main character is lost in London and has just been pick-pocketed. She's finally decided to seek out her estranged mother. But while the focus is on the main character, it could be written better. 

A revision trying to minimize "I":

In retrospect, holding onto my phone was a lucky break. In the dusty layers of my contact list lay Mother's phone and address. After accosting a stranger on the street for directions, I headed north, hoping Mother hadn't moved in the past two years.

This shows how many "I's" you can eliminate if you try. I got it down from six to one.

3. Make sure you know how to use pronouns correctly.

This is one of those cons which can be corrected by grammar lessons.

Remember: the pronoun should agree in number and person with its antecedent noun, as well as clearly refer to the prior noun(s).

E.g.

Incorrect:
She grabbed the violin off the stand and raised them to her shoulder.

Correct:
She grabbed the violin and bow off the stand and raised them to her shoulder.

Or:
She grabbed the violin off the stand and raised it to her shoulder.


E.g.
Correct:
The airlines had assigned Adrienne a middle seat—in cattle class. Which meant she was directly in the center of the aircraft, smashed between a generously proportioned woman who seemed to have poured a perfume bottle all over herself before the flight, and two boisterous talkers on Adrienne's left—one of whom was a middle-aged, lecherous flirt with a propensity for airsickness.

The Adrienne's is not "her" because it would create ambiguity to use "her."

Incorrect:
The airlines had assigned Adrienne a middle seat—in cattle class. Which meant she was directly in the center of the aircraft, smashed between a generously proportioned woman who seemed to have poured a perfume bottle all over herself before the flight, and two boisterous talkers on her left—one of whom was a middle-aged, lecherous flirt with a propensity for airsickness.

Whose left am I talking about in the incorrect version? Adrienne's or the woman with perfume?

I'm not even going to get into the grammar lesson aspect of this, but here are some great websites if you are confused about pronouns.

Grammar: Proper Pronoun Usage 101

Grammar Girl: Generic Singular Pronouns

Grammar Girl: Pronouns and Antecedents

Grammar Girl: How to Use "Myself" and Other Reflexive Pronouns
Purdue Owl: Pronouns, Using Pronouns Clearly
Purdue Owl: Using Appropriate Pronouns, Appropriate Pronoun Usage

Pros

Intimacy:

Only reflexive pronouns used--

The airlines had assigned Adrienne Talbot a middle seat—in cattle class. Which meant Adrienne was directly in the center of the aircraft, smashed between a generously proportioned woman who seemed to have poured a perfume bottle all over herself before the flight, and two boisterous talkers on Adrienne's left—one of whom was a middle-aged, lecherous flirt with a propensity for airsickness.

Sighing, Adrienne strapped herself into Adrienne's own personal ninth circle of Hell and winced at the screech of an infant behind Adrienne. Adrienne leaned Adrienne's head against the leather headrest, feeling the press of the woman next to Adrienne and the lech's broad shoulders on Adrienne's other side, reducing Adrienne's seat to the size of a postage stamp. These types of plane rides were the worst for people like Adrienne, who had personal bubbles the size of Alaska.

Yikes! Does anyone else's blood pressure rise at the second paragraph? Every repetition of her name grates on my nerves--I don't even want to repeat it here! Let's check out the example using pronouns properly.

Using pronouns--

The airlines had assigned Adrienne Talbot a middle seat—in cattle class. Which meant she was directly in the center of the aircraft, smashed between a generously proportioned woman who seemed to have poured a perfume bottle all over herself before the flight, and two boisterous talkers on Adrienne's left—one of whom was a middle-aged, lecherous flirt with a propensity for airsickness. 

Sighing, Adrienne strapped herself into her own personal ninth circle of Hell and winced at the screech of an infant behind her. She leaned her head against the leather headrest, feeling the press of the woman next to her and the lech's broad shoulders on her other side, reducing Adrienne's seat to the size of a postage stamp. These types of plane rides were the worst for people like her, who had personal bubbles the size of Alaska.

Aids suspension of disbelief:

According to Dictionary.com, the suspension of disbelief is: "a willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe the unbelievable; sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment." Similar to intimacy, when proper nouns are used repetitively in a passage, the reader is distracted from the story and removed from it. Like "said," "he," and "she" are nearly invisible. The reader's eye skims over them, and they can often be omitted from the story entirely. This is why the current fiction trend is to replace a tag (he/she said) with an action (E.g. "I've been waiting for this." He slid his finger under the flap of the envelope.)

The Verdict:

Pronouns go a long ways in creating intimacy between reader and protagonist. However, the danger is in creating ambiguity in the antecedent. 


~I.E.

I hope this has helped explain why pronouns are the better choice. If you've found this useful, please give it a share!

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The Curse of the Writer?

The beginning of this week has been even less productive than I had imagined. There's been a lot of high-emotion stuff going on, as well as lot of sightseeing and general running around with family in town, all of which has distracted from my goals. Still, I find that I cannot separate my writing self from the rest of me.

Sometimes I wonder, if the world were ending, would I stand back just to take a writerly glimpse of the scene and try to figure out how to write it? Would I see fire raining down from heaven and try to come up with the exact word to use so that it doesn't seem overwritten, but so that terror shivers down the reader's spine? Or so the reader can see the exact hue of the flames and the exact shape of brimstone?

Is not being able to separate the writer from the person the curse of the writer?

I don't have an answer for this question. I know that embracing my writing and learning more about writing has led me to constantly see the world from a writer's perspective. If I stopped writing, would that disappear? Probably. Over time. Do I want it to disappear? Not really.

In some ways, I find that being a writer helps me protect myself. I can witness the world from a distance without getting personally involved. It's like being a cameraman or a photographer, and, although I'm in the middle of a gritty scene--by all rights, a part of it--I'm really distanced from it through a lens. But in a writer's case, the lens is purely figurative. 

~I.E.

When to Use Pronouns in Writing Fiction, Part I

Pronouns in fiction are some of those "invisible" words that can create a lot of problems if not used correctly.

A lot of beginning writers seem uncertain when to use pronouns, and use them prolifically or rarely.  Before my overuse of proper nouns was pointed out to me, I'd never considered this subject. I didn't think I littered my manuscripts with unnecessary tags or names, and I tried to vary my sentences as much as I can, reducing such references to names.

However, since this had come up a couple of times, I decided it was time that I research the subject.

Here's some of the reasons I've dug up for and against using pronouns.

Pros:
Creates intimacy with the reader (link here)
Aids suspension of Disbelief (link here)

Cons:
Can create confusion concerning the antecedent (link here)
In first person POV (point of view), "I" can litter the page and distracting (link here)
Incorrect usage of pronouns (link here)

Since being told about this nasty little habit of mine, I've worked hard to eliminate as many proper nouns as I can. The pronoun, after all, is nearly invisible. As a writer, I want my reader's eyes to fly over the pages, devouring my text, not constantly stutter over my MC's name. 

Next week we'll go more in depth on the reasons to use pronouns. 

~I.E.

What do you think? Are there other pros and cons for using or not using pronouns? Feel free to share in the comments section!

Row 80 Check-In (Check-In #6)

Another week down. Crazy how fast time seems to go when you have actual goals to accomplish. Let's see how I did.

Last week's goals (week of 9-15 June): 
1. Must finish outlining/story-boarding StM. (40 scenes to go) 
2. Turn off the TV at least two days this week from 7-5. 
3. Post my next chapter in POS for feedback this week (which involves first polishing them). I hope to post them by Tuesday.
4. Continue writing 750 words a day.

Accomplished:

1. 24 scenes left to storyboard. (Much better than the stagnant 40 I've been at for weeks, but only halfway.)

2. 1.5/2 days. I've definitely been watching less TV, and that makes me feel great, much more accomplished.

3. I managed to post for POS and StM this week in my critique groups. Go me!

4. 7/7 days on 750 words. :-)

I'm very happy with my watching less TV. It's focused my "free" time on writing and reading. Since curbing the TV habit, I've been trying to read a lot more, and having 12 books checked out from the library helps... I'm currently finishing The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue, and need to start We, The Drowned before it's due. (Didn't realize that book was quite that long!)

This Saturday, my mom arrives from out of town, so I have to accomplish my weekly goals with that in mind. I really schedule my weekends off, so it shouldn't affect me too much until next week.

This week, my goals are as follows:

1. Finish storyboarding StM, all 24 scenes (that's only 4 scenes for 6 days).

2. Edit the next chapter on POS.

3. 7-5 blackout on TV for two days.

4. 750 words daily.

5. My writing lesson (F2K) and feedback for my classmates needs to be written and posted by Friday.

6. At least 3 critiques need to be written by Friday for my writing group.

~I. E.

How to Use Feedback Properly

While on a jog the other day, a biker passed me. Per the trail's rules, he called out, "On your left." But then he followed up with: "You've got a good pace." 

I'm not even sure if this second comment was directed at me, but I heard it as if it was. And instead of buoying me and making me run stronger, I spent the next five minutes of my jog mentally deconstructing my pace and trying to figure out if it was, indeed, a good pace.

This deconstruction of my pace and the ensuing distraction from my run led me to consider the following:

Feedback can be the best thing for your writing, and feedback can be the worst thing for your writing.

So in light of that epiphany, I came up with five ways to properly accept feedback.

1. Ask for feedback only when you are ready to hear it.

There have been times when a writing compliment has taken me by surprise. Sometimes, it has been exactly what I needed to drag me out of the Pit of Despair. Yet, there have also been times when a compliment has distracted me from my writing by giving me a "free pass" for ignoring a part of my writing that I have "right."

If I send a chapter I'm proud of to my critique group and it comes back with red ink all over it, I often find myself demoralized. Here's this chapter I thought was ready to go and looking good, and people tell me they can't understand the sentences I wrote? They must be wrong! No, instead I've realized that I am not ready to read feedback offered to me until I've checked my pride at the door. Sometimes it takes me awhile to look at comments after I've received them.

On the flip side, sometimes I send out a chapter which I'm insecure and uncertain about. Usually I do this when I don't know where else to go with the scene, sometimes because I've run out of time. But almost invariably, when I examine the feedback offered, I am encouraged and more accepting of the scene's faults.

2. Value good feedback.

Proper feedback requires that you check your pride and accept there may be something wrong with your work. If you think you're the sliced bread of the written word, you aren't going to listen to how you can improve the dough recipe or your slicing technique. You have to accept that something could be significantly wrong with your peice--and you have to be willing to make the changes.

If you ask for feedback with the attitude that your scene needs hardly any work, and that you know better than the other writers (or readers) examining your work, then chances are you won't be accepting the true value of the feedback offered to you.

3. Recognize poor feedback.

Undoubtedly, once you start asking for feedback, you will receive some comments that are invalid or inappropriate for your work (sometimes just plain incorrect). Because you are the author, you are the only one to know where you are going. You have the responsibility, as the author, to recognize the value or lack of value of the feedback you have received. A lot of this comes from experience, and from knowing what is true to your characters and your plot. While you must keep that in mind, you also must keep in mind that if one or two comments/questions pop up from each reader, you have an issue that probably needs to be addressed.

4. Give feedback. 

This may seem like an odd suggestion, but you learn a lot by picking apart your critique group's writing (in a constructive way, of course). Being able to recognize grammatical mistakes in another's writing is the first step in being able to see it in yours. This is true for other types of writing mistakes: plot holes, lack of characterization, overuse of certain words, etc. Some people like to dive into a new skill without a lesson, but those that study hard and build a foundation attain a higher level of skill faster. Giving feedback to other aspiring writers builds your writing foundation as you actively apply what you learn about writing.

5.  Read prolifically.

Reading has a direct effect on your writing. Next time you reread a favorite book, pay attention to more than your enjoyment of it. Why does it work so well? What are the turning points of the characters? How are the characters developed? How well does the language flow? What could that author have done better? If you were the author, how would you write the novel? 

Similar to giving feedback, it is easier to see faults in another's work, but when you read a published work, you are reading something that worked for at least one other person (if traditionally published). And if you never reread books, know that even bad books have something to teach you (usually bad books can teach you more). 

Allow yourself to be taught, and you will be surprised by how much you learn.

~I.E.

ISWG: Trying To Do Too Much (Or Weaving Too Many Threads in Your Novel)

When I posed my last chapter to my critique group, I really wasn't quite sure how it would be reviewed. I was pleased to receive mostly good comments on it, but then a recurring comment occurred: the scene did a lot--possibly too much.

I know this novel I'm working on has a lot of threads (i.e. subplots). So many so that I have deliberately removed some threads that are less important to the story I want to tell. But it's led me to an interesting line of thought, and that is: how many threads are too many?

Say the chapter is 3000 words, one setting, essentially one long scene or two medium-sized scenes. Does tackling three or four subplots in that chapter constitute as "too many threads?" I don't know if there's a right answer here, but it's something that I've been thinking about. The last thing I want to do is pull my reader in too many directions at once, and I've been working on having all my scenes pull double-duty. I don't want a scene in my novel to only do one thing--even if I love the way it's written, every scene must do at least two things or it ends up on the cutting table. 

So, a part of me was thinking (before receiving feedback), that I was really making these scenes work and I was kicking butt in making my scenes do double-, triple-, even quadruple-duty. Then the comments came back, and although they weren't negative in the sense that it was too difficult to follow or even that my scene was divided, they made me consider: where is the point when a scene tries to do too much?

Now I find myself reconsidering each scene, wondering if it's not doing enough or if it's doing too much. I certainly don't want my reader overwhelmed, but I also don't want them underwhelmed. In some ways, I feel overwhelming them is better than underwhelming them, but then again... It seems that this may be one of those things that requires a delicate balance best determined by experience.


~I.E.

How Writing A Novel is Like Running a Half Marathon

I was going to say "marathon," which is probably even more true, but I can't speak to experience, as the farthest I've ever run is a half marathon. Therefore, this post will liken writing a novel to a half marathon instead. 

1. There comes a point where you hit your stride. Every runner has reached it. Even when a run starts off difficult, there usually comes a point where things smooth out. Your breathing stabilizes, your stride becomes fluent, and your arms swing freely. If you're listening to music, you start to get in the zone, you tap a constant rhythm on the concrete. You stop worrying about how hard this is going to be, and focus instead on the here and now, the moment, and how awesome it is that you can kick butt like this. 

The same is true of a novel. The first words on the page may be ripped from you so hard, it leaves you gasping for air. You may not feel comfortable for a large part of your writing. But almost always, there comes a moment when you feel that you've finally hit your stride. You're doing well. You've got this beast under control.  

2. Then, you hit a brick wall. In running, this happens towards the end, when your body is exhausted, and the battle to finish becomes a mental one. You start to psych yourself out. There's no way I can finish this race. 13.1 miles? What on earth was I thinking? How could I ever run that far? Who told me I could do this? They must have been crazy! I can't even take another step, let alone run the next four miles! I should have paced myself slower earlier, now I have nothing left... And on and on it goes.

I find I do the exact same thing in writing a novel. After I get over the hurdle of the first couple chapters and get into stride, I start doubting. I begin to feel the burn and the questions begin to arise. Is the pace too slow, too fast? Should I have included that incident with the llama? Oh, there's so much to do when I get to draft two. If I get to draft two. Can I even get to draft one? I can't even get to the next scene. What's going to happen next? I shouldn't have wasted all my good stuff in the beginning, now I have nowhere to go! Then I begin to wail and gnash my teeth. (Actually, I just close the laptop and walk away.)

3. There comes a point in running where your feet feel like lead weights have been attached to them. It takes every last ounce of your determination to lift your foot and put it back on the ground. I find it helps to not think about what I'm doing, but just to pull my foot off the ground, and let gravity do the rest. Take it one step at a time. After that, there's just one more. And, pretty soon, you'll be flying under the finish line. (Well, certainly not flying in my case.)

In writing, it sometimes feels like your brain is being flattened by lead weights, or your fingertips each have a lead weight attached. This makes writing a coherent sentence next to impossible. But, like in running, where you think one step ahead, in writing, think one word ahead. You can always come up with one more word.

4. You've been pumping along for 12 miles, and then you realize it: there's only 1.1 miles left. You've gotten your second wind. In less than ten minutes, you waltz under the finish line like a bad-ass. And your first thought after passing that line is, "How did I do? How fast did I run?"

When you finish your half-marathon, you have a high which makes you want to immediately look back at your race times. You want to examine the splits and see if you pushed yourself as hard as you could have (because, ultimately, you never do). And, because there's nothing you can do at that moment other than criticize your time, that's what you do.

Likewise in a novel, when you type "The End," you immediately want to turn around and edit the novel. The flaws in timing and conflict, the gaping plot holes, they're all evident the moment you type those two final words. And, if you're anything like me, you want to immediately begin at chapter one and tear it apart with a fine tooth comb. Don't. See number 5.

5. After you complete your half-marathon, you need rest. This means time away from running. In the running world, this is probably a few days (don't quote me if you're marathon training, I'm no expert). Your body absolutely has to recover from this run, especially if it's the first time you've done it.

But when you finally finish writing your novel, whether it's taken you a month of madness like in NaNoWriMo, or if you've been working on it for six months more sporadically, you need a break. Minimum of a month. Put it aside, work on something else. A novella, a short story. Something to keep you from picking at it before you're ready.

You certainly don't have to be a runner to be a writer. But the more I run, the more similarities I see between training to be a better runner and training to be a better writer. They both require discipline and a commitment to succeed. If you want it bad enough, you can do it. I may never run with an Olympian, nor run a half-marathon in one-and-a-half-hours. Likewise, I may never write an award-winning book, nor be on the bestseller list. But I can train with others who challenge me--both in running, and in writing. When you train with others who are better than you, you rise to the challenge. And that is its own reward.

~I.E. 

Row 80 Sunday Check-In (Check-In #3)

This past week I have finally been getting back into the groove of things. With that, I finally feel as though I am accomplishing things.


My goals for this round were: 

WIP #1=POS
a) Storyboard, or outline, my novel and figure out what large picture items need to be edited
b) After I finish goal a, I will edit an average of 1000 words a day on this WIP

WIP #2=StM
c) Storyboard StM and get the main points of this novel figured out for draft two

Journal
d) Write 750 words a day in my freewriting journal

Status:

a) done!!

b) in progress.

c) began, about 1/3 way through

d) missed one day, but otherwise up to date

As a goal-oriented person, it's great to see my goals being attained. With that in mind, I want to set some solid goals for this week in the hopes of minimizing distractions and maximizing productivity. 

1. Finish storyboarding StM this week and examine what needs to be done in my revisions.
2. Brainstorm for a short story I've been digging my heels in about writing.
3. Work from home at least one day this week.
4. Turn off the TV from 7-5 at least one day this week.

~I.E.

Dialogue Tags-Part II of II

Last week I talked about basic dialogue tags. This week, I want to throw in a few more complex tags
and discuss the use of narration as a tag.

For our examples, I'll be revising last week's examples to fit this week's needs. I kept the tags in red, although it could be argued that some of the red highlights are not tags at all, but narration.

Complex dialogue tags:
A complex dialogue tag would be an added action or description accompanying dialogue.

Example A:

"Hello," Ralph said, grabbing Amy by the shoulders and staring her in the eye.

Example B:

"Hello," Ralph cried and seized Amy by the shoulders to stare directly into her brown eyes.

Replacing a tag with an action:

Nowadays tags are eliminated if at all possible. All that "Ralph said" tells us is who the speaker is. Instead of using the tag, we could eliminate it completely and still convey the information that Ralph is speaking.

Example C:

"Hello." Ralph seized Amy by the shoulders to stare directly into her brown eyes.

These are far from good examples, but I hope they do what I want, and that's show you how much more powerful a tag can be when joined, or even replaced by an action.

Example C could convey a need for Amy's attention or a desire to see if she was paying attention to him, or even that Amy is a youth and needs to focus on him. But adding "Ralph said" as in Examples A or B doesn't give us any additional information.


Rule of thumb: if it doesn't add anything, remove it.

Putting it to use:

Now let's go back to the examples from last week and make it more complicated.

Example 1a:

"How are you doing today? I heard you were sick," Rose said in greeting to her co-worker.

Amy looked up in surprise and said, "Fine, thanks."

Example 1b:

"How are you doing today? I heard you were sick." Rose grimaced at the pile of shirts she and her co-worker were supposed to price today.

Amy looked up in surprise. "Fine, thanks."

Example 2:

"I heard you were sick. How are you today?" Rose whispered, not wanting her boss to overhear.

Glancing in her direction, Amy murmured, "Fine, thanks."

Example 3:

"I heard you were sick. How are you today?" Rose said, pulling a shirt from the pile they were supposed to be tagging.

"Oh no," Amy said as she tossed a newly priced shirt into the pile, "everything's all better now, thanks."

"Really? I thought you were still sick this morning." She jabbed her pricing gun's needle into the cloth at the neck of the shirt and nearly got her finger in the process.

"No, I was better last night. I had a big breakfast this morning and feel fine now." Amy flashed a smile.

Example 4:

--

Example 5:

"I heard you were sick. How are you today?" Rose grimaced at the pile of shirts she and her co-worker were supposed to price today.

"Oh no." Amy tossed a newly priced shirt into the pile. "Everything's all better now, thanks."

"Really? I thought you were still sick this morning."

"No, I was better last night. I had a big breakfast this morning and feel fine now."


Okay, now let's talk about these examples.

Example 1a:
Both these tags work fine. There's nothing fantastic about them, they are merely nametags for the dialogue. In other words, I believe there are better ways to do things.

Example 1b:
This example removes the tags from the prior example. I like it better, personally, for it identifies the speakers only by their actions in proximity to the dialogue.

Example 3:
Establishes the speakers with one "said" each, then uses actions to progress the scene. In my opinion, this example gets a bit too heavy on the action. What is the focus, the menial job they have or the fact that Amy was sick? That I don't know.

Example 4:
n/a

Example 5:
I think I like this one best out of them all. It's clear-cut and moves the scene along, it doesn't bog us down with unnecessary tags or description. But notice that there is not one single tag in this example, rather that action is used to establish the speaker, and then we trade off dialogue with the two speakers.

Like everything in writing, the use of tags is somewhat subjective. However, if you salt and pepper your dialogue with unnecessary tags, the reader is bound to get bogged down. Be as concise as possible to establish the speaker, and try to add things to characterize them amidst their dialogue.

Remember the rule of thumb: if it doesn't add anything, remove it.

~I.E.

How do you feel about dialogue tags? Do you love them, hate them? Avoid them? Use them for every bit of dialogue?

Dialogue Tags-Part I of II

Beginning writers have a lot to learn. Even things such as dialogue tags and punctuation can be overwhelming and hold back someone from their writing. Therefore, I figure a post on the proper use of dialogue tags may be helpful for someone out there embarking on writing.

What is a dialogue tag?

A dialogue tag is a subject and verb combined to indicate the speaker of a line of dialogue. To put it more simply, it's the "he said" before or after a bit of dialogue. In the examples scattered throughout, I'm going to put all the dialogue tags in red font.

Example A:

"Hello," he said.

Example B:

He said, "Hello." 

Simple tag:

A simple tag is the simplest tag you could come up with, using the verb "to say."

Example C:

"He/She said."

Slightly more complex tags:

Anything like, "he/she interjected," or "he/she admitted," etc. Any verb which indicates speech. Note that "he/she grinned" would not be considered a dialogue tag, as someone does not "grin" words. Some other "tag" verbs: concede, yell, shout, whisper, murmur, state, lie (as in to tell a lie), add, reply, gasp, etc.

Note also that while I tend to put my examples in past tense, books that are written in present tense alter the verb tense: "he/she says," "I say," "he admits," "she concedes," etc.

Generally "said" is considered the safest tag, although dialogue tags themselves have become less desirable. (More on this next week.)

Invisible Tags:

An invisible tag is when a tag doesn't exist, but is implied by the character interaction or the exchange of conversation surrounding it. 

Example D:

"How are you today," Rose asked.

"Oh, I'm swell," Amy replied.

"Are you sure you aren't feeling sick?"

"Oh, no, I'm much better today."

In the third and fourth line, there is no tag for either speaker, but it's assumed that they trade off speaking. This assumption is made clearer by what is being said. If there is any doubt of who is saying a line, a simple tag should be added.

When do you use a dialogue tag?

The may go directly before or after a sentence of dialogue in order to identify the speaker of the sentence. When using a tag, pay attention to how I use both quotation marks and commas in the example below. Also, keep an eye out for those invisible tags. Although some examples appear very close to each other, there's a reason I chose to include each (see below for a quick explanation of each).

Example 1:

"How are you doing today? I heard you were sick," Rose said.

Amy said, "Fine, thanks."

Example 2:

"I heard you were sick. How are you today?" Rose whispered.

Amy murmured, "Fine, thanks."

Example 3*:

"I heard you were sick. How are you today?" Rose said.

"Oh no," Amy said, "everything's all better now, thanks."

"Really? I thought you were still sick this morning."

"No, I was better last night. I had a big breakfast this morning and feel fine now."

Example 4: 

"How are you doing today? I heard you were sick," Rose asked.

"Fine, thanks," Amy said.

Example 5*:

"I heard you were sick. How are you today?" Rose said.

"Oh no," Amy said. "Everything's all better now, thanks."

"Really? I thought you were still sick this morning."

"No, I was better last night. I had a big breakfast this morning and feel fine now."

*The difference between Examples 3 & 5 are discussed under the punctuation section below.

Each of the changes I made in these examples are subtle, made to emphasize the proper punctuation with tags, but read on for a further discussion of punctuation.

How do you punctuate dialogue? 

Source

Quotes should obviously enclose all the dialogue being spoken, and in British English, single quotes are used instead of double quotes. However, the punctuation varies depending on the placement of the tag.

Tag follows the dialogue:

The comma should go inside the closing quotation mark, to be immediately followed by the tag and a period.

Tag precedes the dialogue:

This is a touch more complicated because of capitalization. 

When a tag precedes the dialogue, there should be a comma following the tag, then a quotation mark and then a capital letter to indicate the beginning of the sentence of dialogue. 

Note that when it goes , " it is followed by a CAPITAL letter (See Example 5). This is because the first word of a sentence is capitalized, and the first word of a speaker's dialogue is likewise capitalized. The exception is if your dialogue tag interrupts the speaker's sentence (See Example 3). 

Example 3 and 5 only vary by two very small things. Did you find them? A sharp reader would pick up on them. Go look, I'll wait. Back? Good. If you'll notice in Example 5, there is a period where a comma was in Example 3, and then a capital "Everything's" in Example 5 instead of a lowercase "everything's" in Example 3. The single reason for this is that I decided to have Amy split her response into two sentences in Example 5. Instead of rushing through her response to Amy, she took her time. 

An alternate way to write each line would be:

Example 3a: "Oh no, everything's all better now, thanks," Amy said. 

Example 3b: Amy said, "Oh no, everything's all better now, thanks."

Example 5a: "Oh no. Everything's all better now, thanks," Amy said. 

Example 5b: Amy said, "Oh no. Everything's all better now, thanks."

Both are equally correct, neither one is better than the other. (Well, none of this dialogue is going to win me the Pulitzer…) 

The slight difference suggests merely that Amy took her time replying in Example 5, that's all. Punctuation is a writer's friend, and can create a fast-paced, angry denial or a lingering, relaxed conversation.

Example 1 is the most basic example, simple dialogue exchanged.

Example 2 shows how a question mark takes the place of a comma before a closing quotation mark, as well as using slightly more complex tags with different verb choices. These verbs suggest that Amy and Rose are in a location which requires quiet voices.

Example 3 gives you an example of dialogue interrupted by a tag, as well as invisible tags.

Example 4 gives you an example for dealing with commas and the verb "asked."

Example 5 offers a variation of Example 3, showing how punctuation can affect the reader's interpretation of the otherwise exact same sentence.

Wait, what about other types of tags?

There are other ways to use tags, as well as invisible tags, but I'm running out of room on this post. So I'm going to wait until next week to discuss more complex tags. Check back next Wednesday!