The Writer's Strike is Over

About time. The results are mixed as to who won. All I know is, I'm going to have more episodes of House later this season. Need to know what's up with your favorite show? Hourly updates here.

Patry Francis Day

One of the coolest things about writing is the way the community jumps together in time of crisis. Patry Francis has some very serious health issues, so the writing community has banded together to promote her book today -- The Liar's Diary.

I read The Liar's Diary last year at the urging of a friend and loved it. There's lovely reviews at Writer Unboxed, The Refrigerator Door and The Lipstick Chronicles, among others. Pop over to one of them more information. Better yet, help Patry out and buy it.

Orphans

Michelle at Magical Musings has an excellent post about dealing with orphans -- not the parent*less child kind but the character that pops into your head and wants to play kind. I love it.

When I realized five x three chapters, while good writing practice, wasn’t actually getting me a completed manuscript, I made myself write a one to two page outline before I started writing any idea that came to me. If this idea could sustain a beginning, a middle and an end, then I gave it permission to take over my brain for 5 or so months.

So simple, yet such a "why didn't I think of that?" sort of thing.

Now I have a plan for those guys. And maybe I'll have a few less characters in my head for a change.

Story Telling

Last week, a co-worker was telling another co-worker about a disastrous trip the two of us had been on. Fun, but more than a little problematic with driving directions and what have you.

As she told the story, I struggled not to correct her, because, well, most of the details were wrong. Yes, we got lost, but not so that we could see the streets named with Shakespearean characters. That was a coincidence. We got lost because I took one street too soon and going around the block meant long detours on freeways and connection streets that were supposed to speed up traffic.

I didn't mind the mistelling, once I realized that my memory for details is what makes me good at my day job, first, and good at writing, second. Details are natural for me. Changing eye color or character names are obvious to me. I wonder why others don't notice them.

What part of your writing life trickles into your other life?

How we work by rodcorp

How we work is a series of posts that ask that question to a famous author, artist, or other creative type person. First posted in 2004, rodcorp updates each year.

There's a great selection, including Ray Bradbury, Paul Cezanne, Neil Gaiman, and Philip Pullman, author of the very controversial The Golden Compass. Over 104 names are on the charts. Very interesting to browse your day away.

I Love a Good Story

And so does Ira Glass. In fact, he has some great story telling tips at Redbook.

We live in a time when we're inundated with stories-- in ads, in songs, on the Internet-- and because they're all competing for our attention, they tend to have overbright characters and hyped-up plots; it's too much to take in, so it just sounds like noise. In the rare case when we do come across a story with human-scale characters that feel like you and me, and a way of unfolding that makes it possible to imagine what it would be like to be in that situation, we really notice it, and it speaks to our heart. In ways that news reports and debates can't, great stories help the world around us make sense to us.

You may recognize Ira from NPR's This American Life. Find out what else Ira has to say about good story telling at Redbook or hear it in practice at This American Life.

This, by-the-by, is one of my two favorite podcasts. There is alwasy an amazing story to listen to. It make me wishe I was starting over again as a broke college student. I'd persist until I was involved in some way.

Of course, I still could, I do realize. I just have more to consider now.

Christmas Generosity

I cannot get over Holly Lisle's generous pay-it-forward philosophy. If you are new to writing, you must run, immediately, over to her website. There's tons of content, all yours for the reading.

Then she does this:

396 Books & Other Resources Writers Recommend to Kickstart Your Writing, Stand Your Thinking On Its Head, and Vastly Increase Your Ability to WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW

Available for you to download in zip format here:

http://www.hollylisle.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/hollyupdates/h/20071208060303/hollylisle.com/pdf/396_books_writers_recommend.pdf/

Or in regular unzipped pdf format here:

http://www.hollylisle.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/hollyupdates/h/20071208060303/hollylisle.com/pdf/396_books_writers_recommend.pdf.zip/

You can do more than use this yourself. You can give this enormous checklist away on your website, burn it on disks and pass it around at writers' meetings, or sell it, if you're so inclined, alone or with other e-books and resources that permit bundled use.

Don't alter it in any way. Other than that, have fun.

It's a nice 50-page list with explanations and what have you. It's also a great example of the quality you get if you order any of Holly's ebooks from her shop.

Have fun and pay it forward to your writing friends.

The Editor Letter

Bob Mayer and Jennifer Crusie have an awesome online writing workshop that they have been contributing to all throughout 2007. They follow a "he said, she said" format that often, respectfully, disagrees with one another.

Jenny posted her rules for The Editoral Letter. While she means is THE EDITORIAL LETTER, I believe that they could apply to trusted Critique Partners as well.

• Wait twenty-four hours after you read it.
• Change everything that you don’t care about, that won’t impact the story as you need to tell it.
• Know exactly why you can’t make the other changes and explain your reasoning clearly to your editor.

While your CPs might hot have the 1000s of titles under their belts like editors at publishing houses do, they still want you to write the best story possible.

If you don't view their suggestions this way, why bother having CPs?

What will you do when it is The Editorial Letter on the side of those corrections?

How do you reaction to critiques?

Cross-posted at Starting Write Now.

My Favorite Day

When I was single, and had whole weekends to indulge in my own whims, instead of the whims of my family, I loved finding chocolate-covered cherries in the stores.

This Christmas favorite as signaled an afternoon of indulgence. BUy a box and a romance novel. Combine with some candles and whatever classic cd was my favorite. I'd lose myself in both the chocolates and the story.

Today, I couldn't imagine gonig more than 15, maybe 20, minutes without a problem to solve or a request to share the chocolates. And while I may miss the solitude, I won't miss the downside -- no bellies to tickle, no sticky hugs or kisses, no one to share with.

I find today, surrounded by memories and happenings, to be the best day.

***

Entered in Scribbit's Write-Away Contest for December 2007

Fast and Light

I'm going to direct you to a series of hilarious covers today, over at SBAshton, instead of providing you with quality content of my own. She's making me laugh out loud, and I can't not share.

Q&A with LaConnie Taylor-Jones

LaConnie Taylor-Jones holds advanced degrees in community public health and business administration and has written several scientific research publications for the past fifteen years. When not writing, she’s involved with the Contra Costa Alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the African American Community Health Advisory Committee, and Black Women Organized for Political. An active member of the San Francisco Area and Black Diamonds chapters of RWA since 2003, Ms. Taylor-Jones has combined her writing skills with a twenty-five-year passion for reading romance in the completion of two full-length multicultural romance novels, When I’m With You and When A Man Loves A Woman.

What led you to the idea of writing this book, and then to the actual writing of it? The thing that got me from reader to author was my husband. In the spring of ’03, I was in bed reading a novel that was horrible. It was pass midnight and I think my husband was tired of hearing me whine about the book because he said, “Honey, if you can write a better book, do it, but baby, turn out the lights.” I took him up on the challenged and I’ve never looked back. The inspiration for both When I’m With You and When A Man Loves A Woman came from my experience as a health educator. For the last fifteen years, I’ve taught health education primarily to African American women in community-based settings. Oftentimes, before I can lecture on the risk factors associated with chronic diseases disproportionally impacting African Americans, I have to deal with the soci-economic deterrents women face. Unfortunately, abusive relationships top the list.

What have you learned throughout the process of writing, pitching - and now, promoting your book? The one thing I’ve learned as an author is that two fundamental elements exist between all three entities - tenacity and perseverance. If an author loses sight of the interchangeable connection between writing, pitching, and promoting, they will not be successful.

When you write a story and subsequently pitch it, the target audiences are publishers and agents. However, once that story has sold, you’ve got to promote it, thus the focus shifts to readers. So, as an author, I must use the same diligence to convince readers that my story is worth buying, as I did to convince publishers it was worth printing.

Any exciting things happening before or during the time period while the book is releasing? Absolutely!! For me a couple of things occur. One, I begin outlining the next story bouncing around in my head. Secondly, I work hard to balance writing that new story while promoting the story that’s already sold.

What aspect of writing do you love the best, and which do you hate the most? I absolutely love sitting down in front of a blank computer screen and begin the process of bringing my characters and story plot to life. I’m very meticulous with this process because it’s important for me to give my readers a quality product. I want them to not only enjoy the story but understand the characters and their plight the way I do. Believe it or not, I also enjoy working on the revisions from my editor. She’s fantastic and so far, we’ve been able to work in total sync to take my writing to the next level.

Perhaps the one thing that I can live without is the tight turn-around deadlines I face once my book enters the production process. Sometimes, my revision deadlines come at a not-so-convenient time!!!

What do you feel is the key to writing convincing characters? An author must know every aspect of their characters. I don’t simply mean know their external characteristics (i.e. physical make-up), but an author must be intimately familiar with their internal characteristics - their thoughts, their likes, dislikes, and what they would and would not do in certain situations. Once this happens, it’s very easy to translate this on to paper to the point the characters become so vivid, readers momentarily have a hard time figuring out what’s real and what’s Memorex.

How did it feel to hold your first book? Holding that book in my hands for the first time was awesome!!! It was then that I realized how much had gone into turning a dream into reality.

What inspired you to become a romance writer? I’ve been an avid romance reader since I was a junior in college. In fact, I flunked an organic chemistry mid-term because I stayed up all night to finish reading my first romance novel. So, let it go on the record that the genre chose me!!

How do you feel about critique groups? I feel critique groups can be extremely beneficial to an author, but authors must be willing to accept the feedback that’s given — good, bad, or indifferent. All too often, an author only wants to hear the positive feedback relative to their stories and sometimes become testy when the group offers suggestions or recommendations for improvement. Conversely, critique groups should provided unbiased feedback, regardless to how well they know the author.

What one thing about writing do you wish other non-writers would understand? When an author says their characters are talking to them, they aren’t crazy nor or they ready to be hauled off to the nearest mental institution!!

What was the last book to keep you up at night reading it? The Hunted by L.A. Banks. It’s an awesome read and one I highly recommend!!!

What's your secret to balancing career and family? Learning to prioritize. Oftentimes, this means saying N-O to requests at the bottom of my meat chain and not feeling guilty for doing so.

What do you do to make time for yourself? Weekly visits to the beauty salon and monthly appointments to get the nails and toes pretty. Sometimes, I manage to treat myself to a ninety-minute deep tissue massage.

How can readers get in contact with you? (mail, email, website) I always enjoy hearing from readers. My website address is: www.laconnietaylorjones.com. Also, readers can follow the link on my contact page and drop me a note via e-mail at: lovestories@comcast.net. Plus, there’s also my snail mail address, which is 3377 Deer Valley Road – Antioch, CA 94531

Book: When I’m With You

Publisher: Genesis Press

ISBN: ISBN-10: 1585712507; ISBN-13: 978-1585712502

When your life has been terrorized by violence, how do you manage to go forward, looking over your shoulder at every turn? This is the daily question that haunts Caitlyn Thompson. She has been in hiding from an ex-boyfriend for three years, always careful not to slip up and allow him to find her again. Working for a neighborhood youth center, she has found her niche. This is something she believes in, having grown up in inner-city New Jersey herself. Submitting a grant request to a wealthy philanthropist foundation, Caitlyn is soon to meet the man who will make her want to stop running, want to trust and love again; Marcel Baptiste. It will take a will of iron and a courage she didn’t know she possessed to battle her fears and open up to the wealthy entrepreneur. But when violence comes knocking again, will she have the courage to face her biggest nightmare?

http://www.laconnietaylorjones.com/

Check out the trailer: http://www.laconnietaylorjones.com/WIMW_trailer.php

DECEMBER 12

Chat With Connie

8-9 pm eastern

contact sormag@yahoo.com for telephone chat reservations

Fly Fusion Pentop Computer

I was watching television the other day when somewhat dramatic commercial came on: A hip college student is writing on "air" (which is probably really a glass wall) with a pen that converts handwritten text to computer generated text. The Fly Pen also can do math calculations, play MP3 files and a plethora of other options.

It was fabulously cool and something that I wished had been available to me in college.

Then the lightening bolt struck: Word Nerd is probably wishing she had one of these when she was writing her current WIP in composition notebooks. She has three or four books worth of typing. Just think, with the Fly Pen, she'd be done.

It's probably on her Christmas list.

Instead

Instead of posting, I've been writing and editing during the tiny bit of free time I have. As a result, I've noticed that instead of my postings affecting the number of visitors, my numbers remain consistent from week to week.

This is being a tiny bit discouraging, as I am not sure of how to increase my readership based on these findings. Instead of letting it get me down, I'm going to tell myself that it is promising that my archives are being accessed regularly and I'm not loosing any ground either.

Oh, and the biggest issue I'm finding with my writing? My favorite segue is "instead."

Not Completely Abandoned

Er, hello, there. I'm still around, but am not blogging as much.

I'd love to go into details, but I can't. As much as I love details, I also love having a job. Since one aspect has changed there, this one must also change here. (No, I wasn't doing anything naughty or illegal or against company policy. I find my job to be more mental work lately and my brain is too fuzzy to produce reasonable posts.)

If you are interested in keeping up with me, I do promise irregular posts at least once a month or so. I'd recommend subscribing with your favorite RSS feeder. The post will, in all likelihood, concern my reading habits and book reviews. Cheers! And have a lovely summer.

Harry Potter Book 7 Predictions

Typically, I post a book review today. However, I re-read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in anticipation of this weekend's events. Instead of reviewing the books, I want to share my thoughts on the series finale.

At the end of Book 5, Sirius Black dies. I believe his death serves two purposes, both from a writer's point of view. One, it raises the stakes for Harry. When writing, an author constantly needs to think, "How can I make this worse? What other tragedy can I inflict on my characters?" Taking away a support system like Sirius is monumental to Harry. While the Weasleys are wonderful and love Harry to pieces, they aren't quite family. Sirius is both father and brother to Harry.

Two, it establishes that dead is dead. At the ending of Book 6, when Dumbledore is killed, no one wants to believe it: characters or readers. David Haber went as far as creating a website to document why he believed that Dumbledore lives. However, I believe that Sirius had to die in order for JK Rowling to establish that dead is dead. As a reader, I'm really hoping that Dumbledore finds a way to be in the book.

While the end of Book 6 established that Harry, Ron and Hermione won't be going back to Hogwarts, I predict that Ginny will try to find a way to join them. She's not the sort of girl to sit on the sidelines. If she does stay (or more likely is forced to stay) at Hogwarts, Harry will end up in some sort of adventure there at her request.

I also predict that the two characters that are going to die will be Ron and Hermione. Again, this is a raise the stakes, darkest hour before the dawn, etc. sort of thing. Those are the two most important people to Harry and have been throughout the series. I won't like it if it happens, but I predict it nonetheless.

Finally, I predict that Harry's defeat of Lord Voldemort will be the result of skill, not luck. In both Books Five and Six, much is made of Harry's luck by other characters. By Book Six, however, Harry's actions are deliberate, requiring advanced magic. I'm sure that this will be part of the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort's fatal error as they will underestimate Harry's skills.

I have some thoughts on other minor characters, like Neville Longbottom, Kreatcher, Luna Lovegood, but won't go into them here. Already, this post is longer than my typical offering.

What are your thoughts on the finale?

Cocaine Prices Around the World

Cocaine Prices around the world

You just never know what bit of trivia you'll need for that next writing assignment.

via Kottke.org

Fahrenheit 451 explained

LA Weekly got the scoop on the most mis-understood novel of the last century.

Bradbury still has a lot to say, especially about how people do not understand his most literary work, Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953. It is widely taught in junior high and high schools and is for many students the first time they learn the names Aristotle, Dickens and Tolstoy.

Now, Bradbury has decided to make news about the writing of his iconographic work and what he really meant. Fahrenheit 451 is not, he says firmly, a story about government censorship. Nor was it a response to Senator Joseph McCarthy, whose investigations had already instilled fear and stifled the creativity of thousands.

Two thoughts come to mind about the mis-understanding, as it is labeled. First, I read this independent of any class or group. It took me a minute to catch-up to the fact that people did think it was about the government. My impression was closer to the explanation that Bradbury provides. However, I abhor most television and probably brought my own experience to the reading (thank goodness I didn't rely on experts in this case.)

Second, Rodney Dangerfield is in a movie where he goes back to college. The name escapes me (it's "Back to School" isn't it, o internet? That just seems too easy for my brain.) He pays Kurt Vonnegut to write a term paper for Rodney's character. Rodney gets a low grade and fires Vonnegut for not understanding himself.

Check out the article. It's pretty interesting.

My Next House Will Be a Tree House

But I can't decide which one. TreeHouse Workshops has some really great ones. I'm leaning to this one, because of the staircase.

It would make a great writer's retreat. Now I just need a tree...

via J-Walk

Goals

A couple of writing friends and I have an informal group called "The Chocolate Cake Club." We are mostly a goal setting group with critiques upon request, discussion at random meetings, and cheerleaders at all times.

My goal last month was three hand written pages per day, or a total of 93 pages. As you can see by the progress bar below, I didn't meet that goal.

But those 93 pages weren't just to fill pages with words that would need to be edited out. No, those 93 pages were meant develop enough scenes that I would have a basic outline and direction of my book.

Typically, I write in a linear fashion; start at the beginning and continue to the end. But this time, the story was coming to me in scenes. I knew the chunks would work, and I could fill-in the missing bits after the scenes I knew about were complete.

It was a refreshing change. I enjoyed it. But I didn't accomplish my quantitative goal, but the story goal. Depending on how you count it, I either failed miserably or passed with flying colors.

Setting goals is good. I probably could have pounded out the other pages, and (most likely) tossed them out later. I achieved my goal, I believe, by using the three pages a day to motivate me to get my butt in the chair.

The good news is, The Chocolate Cake club agrees with me. Adjusting goals as you go is fine. The story goal should always take precedence over the quantitative goal. It's that quantitative goal that keeps your butt in the chair.

And when your butt is in the chair, your writing gets done.

Trends

Google has a new search feature -- Hot Trends.

(Really, imagine that. One more way for Google to integrate themselves into our daily life.)

One of the features is to list the top ten trends on the front page, with the option to see up to 100. This might be a good thing for writers. You'd be able to see what's popular, track it, chart it, etc.

While I appreciate my Gmail account and customized Home page, I'm leery using one company for everything. I love competition in the market place. Maybe I've read too many sci-fi books where the world is run by a corporation. Maybe I'm paranoid. But someone else needs to be innovative like Google is.