#lazyhazydaysofsummer

June 26, 2017:  

I heard back from my Editor! Eight weeks after the last email, a file dropped into Dropbox. It just magically appeared. I couldn’t wait to dig in; unfortunately, I had to. After work, I eagerly opened the document to find wonderful little suggestions from my Editor--sometimes a better choice of words, a clearer sentence, and even in one case, pointing out something that didn’t work. So I jumped into the deep end on my second revision. What kind of mistakes, you ask? Silly ones.

I used two different verb tenses--past and present--in same sentence. Going forward, during the proofing stage, I will circle every verb with a pen to check and double-check the tense.

 A couple of times, I slipped out of voice for one of my characters--my Editor pointed out a particular sentence sounded more like Mom; another time, he said it sounded more like me. Note to self: read each character’s dialog out loud, beginning to end, and ask: how would he/she say this? Is that the word he/she would use? Does this sound right for his/her age group?

Another time, I just allowed a character to vanish without telling the reader what happened to her. Here one minute, gone the next--which is what I had Mom say when she resurfaced. Then I let that particular character explain what had happened to her. Brilliant on my part! (We’ll see if my Editor agrees!!) Another rule to follow: at the end of the story, ask yourself three things about each character:

1.      What do they contribute to the story?

2.      Did I tie up his/her story line?

3.      Are all his/her scenes as believable as possible?

If any of those answers are “no,” you’ve got more work to do.

June 19, 2017:  Motive

Why do we want what we want when we want it? What makes people lust after what others have? Greed? Power? Jealousy? I’m doing an exercise in motive--trying to get inside my villain’s head in my current WIP (sequel to BLOOD MONEY, tentatively titled BLOOD MOON {another shout-out to my highly-talented critique partner, Nancy Allen for the excellent suggestion of a title.})

But back to motive. Monica wants everything Alex has: her money, her possessions, her life, it seems. Is Monica jealous because Alex inherited Aunt Ria’s wealth, while Monica had to work for everything she has? Raise your hand if you learned from your mother that you appreciate everything more if you have to work for it.

In order to better understand Monica, I came up with a plan. I “fleshed” out profiles for all my MCs (main characters). Profiles that will never make it into the story. Character sketches that guide me as a writer to know how the character thinks, acts, sits, dresses. Those keys are critical to form personalities--personalities that help the reader know when that person is speaking without even using their name.

 Below is an example of a character sketch for the often referred to, but already deceased (in books 1 and 2) Aunt Ria:  The oldest daughter of the Bakers of Boston, MA; Ria, (as she was known) grew up in splendor and wealth in the late 1930’s. She was a tall lady, of slender build and once dark auburn hair, (and later in life, slightly graying), which she wore up in a bun on the top of her head (wispy tendrils escaped around her face and back of her neck--curls that refused to be tamed). At the tender age of twenty-one, Ria’s beloved fiancé was killed in WWI. Ria never married. Well educated, well-traveled, and well-versed in finance, Ria Baker established trust funds for community service, historical landmarks and continuing education for deserving students. She wore trousers most of her adult life -- long before it was accepted. She felt equally comfortable working alongside her horse trainers, as she did the well-cultured members of the Ladies’ Guild. Other people’s opinions were of no matter and she surrounded herself with good books, good food and good wine.

Dang! Aunt Ria was actually Katherine Hepburn!!! Who knew????

 

June 12, 2017:

How NOT to sell your story: When my critique finally came back from the publisher, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. My excitement level was probably banking a hard turn upwards to 100 mph. Then I saw ugly little slashes throughout and comments in the margin. What? He doesn’t like my clever use of adverbs?

(Examples only) He looked at her lovingly. She tossed the bouquet gingerly. The falcon swept magnificently. The tree fell rapidly. The horn honked loudly. I must admit, when I studied the manuscript and tightened up my adverbs (or removed them totally), my writing improved. Example: He looked at her lovingly can be changed to: With tenderness oozing from every oracle of his body, John’s eyes caressed Olivia’s face. (That’s lovingly, right?)

Ok, maybe that’s a little over the top, but you get my drift. I’m also beginning to understand using adverbs after the word “said” only indicates I’m a lazy writer. Example: “Jump!” she said, excitedly.  Sure, spending more time equals more effort, more thought; but by digging a little deeper, the excitement can be shown--uh oh, there’s the old “show, don’t tell” rule popping up: Heart pounding, arms flailing, Erin screamed, “jump!” (Again, that’s pretty exciting, right?)

What exactly do the experts mean when they say “show, don’t tell?” Here’s a quick answer from Wikipedia: Show, don't tell is a technique often employed in various kinds of texts to enable the reader to experience the story through action, words, thoughts, senses, and feelings rather than through the author's exposition, summarization, and description. The goal is not to drown the reader in heavy-handed adjectives, but rather to allow readers to interpret significant details in the text.

Ernest Hemingway said it best: If a writer of prose knows enough of what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader… will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.

Thanks, Papa!

June 5, 2017

The Dreaded “WB” (writer’s block)

I mean, I want to write. I did an outline. I’m trying to follow it. I’m just not feeling it. I’ve written four chapters in my new story and, according to my outline, I’m supposed to be knee-deep in my first dramatic “pickle” by now. My story is no way near there. What to do? What to do? I can tell you what NOT to do. Staring at the computer screen doesn’t work. Something in the back of my mind tells me I cannot proceed with the outline, so my next writing session will be to throw out the outline and, hopefully, my characters will tell me what happens next. That has happened before.

In my New Adult Romantic Suspense BLOOD MONEY --that story took so many twists and turns, I couldn’t wait for it to be finished so I could see ‘who dunnit’. Does this always work? I don’t know. I haven’t written that many novels, so time will tell. In that same story, one of my secondary characters who was earmarked to be the bad guy at the beginning, turned out to be a hero and the new exciting dangerous love attraction turned out to be the bad guy. Cliché? Yep. Did I want my story to wind up like this? Nope. Does it work? I hope so. Time will tell.

Take away: Learning and honing the craft of writing is important. Get all the help you can. Read, read, and then read some more in the genre you want to write. But in the end, be flexible. Listen to your critique partner. Pray that some publisher will provide some feedback, and be prepared to rewrite until your story is the best it can be. I read somewhere writers are so in love with their words they find it hard parting with them--even when they don’t work. I guess it comes down to what your goal is for the story. Do you want to be published? I do.

As for my current writer’s block, I’ve read what others do to tame it. Drink hot chocolate, take long walks, find an activity that exercises the other side of your brain…for me, it’s back to the drawing board, or in this case, the keyboard. What will Erin do next? Here’s hoping she’ll tell me.

What do you do for the dreaded WB?