Categories
Child's Craft

Wandering Aimlessly in Writing

Have you ever wandered aimlessly in your writing? A friend asked me the other day what I was working on. I usually am always working on something, usually several things in different stages. But, all I could say was, “Ummm, nothing in particular at the moment.” For some reason, that reality stung. I believe there are different seasons in writing, some abundant, some sparse, but to not have any project in the works made me feel like I was wandering aimlessly in my writing career.

And then God, in all His majesty, wisdom, and with humor and love put me in a situation in which I was literally wandering aimlessly.

I love the US National Whitewater Center which is just a few miles down the road. I took my house guest, Stan, with me to the center one morning. I wanted to go for a quick 30 min run on the trails with my dog, Poppie, and Stan planned to walk around the white water circle. We’d meet back in 45 min. I encouraged him to try some trails saying, “You can’t get lost on these trails. The signage is great.” With that I blew off to the trails with Poppie. I’d been on these familiar paths numerous times. I knew where to cut off and head back.

However, I missed the cutoff. Poppie and I wound back and forth but couldn’t find a way off of the main trail. I remembered the center was expanding the parking lot and when I heard construction sounds, I figured that was the parking lot direction. I stayed close to that sound. Finally, after 45 minutes of weaving around, I bee-lined to the construction sounds to bail out. I discovered that noise came from a manufacturing plant not the parking lot. What in the world? I had no idea where I was.

I headed to the power lines in the field. I knew those crossed through the parking lot. We ran up the trails on the field in the blazing sun, my faithful dog sticking close every step of the way. The power lines ran over rolling hills. In both directions. For miles. No parking lot in view.

I had to guess where I was, then popped back into the woods for shade for Poppie, which led to the Lake Loop. Perfect! I’d been here before! I circled the lake. Again. And again. And again. Seriously, I could not get off this stinkin’ Lake Loop. I didn’t even know which way was the way back to the center. Did I mention this whole time, I’d only seen 2 people on the trail and that was early on?

I could have pulled up my GPS to get my bearings, if I hadn’t inadvertently left my phone at home. We’d been running for an hour. We could be miles away. I cried out, “Lord. We’re lost and needing a little help now. You have GOT to get us out of here. Please send help!” Within a matter of minutes, I heard music and two bicycle dudes approached. Thank You, Jesus! Those angels led us back.

Lessons learned in trail running and writing…

  1. Don’t be overconfident.

Don’t assume you can’t get lost. Don’t assume you’re always gonna have projects to work on. There will be seasons of abundant inspiration, and seasons of quiet. Draw close to God in both.

  1. Don’t put your trust in the wrong voice.

That construction sound may not be what you think it is. Don’t listen to the voice saying you can’t do it, you’ll never get published, you’re going nowhere or that you’ll never have another inspiration. Those are lies from the deceiver. Focus on the Voice of Truth, the One who gave you the gift of writing, the One who believes in you, who says, “You can do it! You’ll write again.” Listen to the One who loves you and desires the best for you.

  1. Explore God’s World

God’s world is simply amazing. His world is full of inspiration! Take in the beauty, the fresh air, the sounds of nature. Many of my inspirations for stories have occurred on runs. Listen to others around you. What sparks an interest?

  1. Cry out to God

Why did I try to find my way out on my own? Why did I wait until I was exhausted and had exhausted all possibilities before pleading for help? Can’t find your way in writing? Plead to God for direction, cry out for inspiration, for a way out of your slump then trust He will answer.

  1. Let others help you

I would still be circling that lake if I hadn’t followed those dudes’ direction. I needed them. Connect with other writers. We need each other. Learn from them,  let them critique you, inspire you. Don’t think your writing doesn’t need help. All of ours does. Join a critique group, exchange your work with other writers, join an online critique group. Don’t try to go it alone. You might be the Godsend somebody else needs, as well.

  1. Be thankful for other writers

I was thankful to have had Poppie with me. She was a sense of support, a reminder that I wasn’t alone. Writers are a unique breed. Others may not understand us, nor understand what we’re going through. But other writers will. They know the struggles, the heartbreak, the loneliness, the fears we face because they’ve most likely experienced them as well. Depend on each other for accountability. Embrace each other with shoulders to cry on and hugs to share the joys.

  1. Enjoy the ride

I got much more of a work out than I’d planned. I experienced more of God’s nature than I’d anticipated. I became a stronger runner. God gave me an experience to write about. See what God has in store for you. Learn from your trials, depend deeper on God, stand amazed at His answers. Enjoy the swervy path and know that you can always use your experiences as fodder for your next project!

God bless you all on your trail runs and your writing! May you never get lost… and if you do, you know the One who knows the way out. Happy trails (and trials)!

Categories
The Writerly Cafe

What’s Your Favorite Summer Writing Place?

A HEARTYWELCOMEYesterday I decided to move to the back deck of our house to set up my “summer writing office”. I made several trips with computer, notebooks, pens and pencils, all balanced precariously in my arms. Of course I brought a tall glass of sweet tea and a small snack. Trust me, the snack idea lead to an unhappy writing event! Within fifteen minutes of getting organized I was fighting a small army of various bugs intent on having my fair skin as their snack.

After a quick move to the front porch I met the kith and kin of the back-deck killer bugs. I returned inside and called my neighbor who is blessed with a screened-in porch that overlooks a beautiful view of the Appalachian Mountains. I explained my dilemma and she graciously invited me to use her porch for my writing efforts. I gathered my writing paraphernalia and went to the neighbor’s house. An hour passed and I had not written a word, but had immensely enjoyed the nature I watched, and the conversation I had with my neighbor.

Feeling defeated I returned home and settled at my desk in front of an opened window that overlooks a peaceful pasture and delivers wonderful mountain breezes. Ah…this was the summer writing spot my soul needed. I wrote for two hours and feeling very proud of myself, I went to the back deck and announced my feat to the destroyer-bug population.

My question to you café members is…where do you prefer to write during the summer? D.H. Lawrence enjoyed writing beneath the shade of a tree. Jan Karon, author of the popular The Mitford series, writes in a cottage on the grounds of her plantation. Well known author Elin Hilderbrand rides her bike a mile to the beach each day and writes sitting in the sand. I realize not all of us have the beach close by or a writing cottage, but I feel sure some of you move out onto porches, decks and poolside.

I pray the start of summer is treating you with hot sunny days on which to write. I look forward to receiving your answers to this post’s summer question. Remember to stop by the café often and bring along your comments and questions.

 

“Every Summer has a story”-Unknown Author

 

 

 

 

Categories
The Efficiency Addict

Writing Opportunity or Distraction?

Writing Opportunity or Distraction? How to Know the Difference

How to know when to stray from your writing plans.

Do you ever have those times when your day is organized and your goals are set only to have some strange other option lurk into view? I say lurk because sometimes those options feel more like distractions than opportunities. How do we tell the difference? How do we know when to limit our writing focus and when to try something outside our goals?

Recently, I had my day planned. With several long-term projects in process, I had spent the morning prioritizing all the tasks that needed to be done. By early afternoon I was ready to charge into my work. Then it happened. Opportunity appeared in the form of an odd email.

In my inbox was a notice about a writing contest. The writing needed wasn’t my usual target, but the subject was interesting and entrants had the possibility of gaining future work even if they didn’t win. The problem was the deadline. The piece had to be submitted in four days. I debated about what to do since this was completely outside everything I had planned. I hesitated, then dove in.

Here’s how I made my decision: I asked four simple questions.

  • Does this type of writing interest me? It did, and I could see myself doing similar projects if the work was available.
  • Am I well equipped to do this type of writing or will it require a lot of additional time researching information? I was well equipped and the special details I needed were clearly provided in the information packet.
  • Am I doing this to avoid my other writing work? This was a tougher question. I hadn’t been meeting my writing goals, but I also hadn’t been wasting my time. This was simply a period when I had a lot of work in front of me. What swayed me in favor of taking this chance was the additional potential benefits of the contest—continuing work. As writers, we want our words to make a difference, and we’d like to get paid enough to keep working. This writing opportunity offered both.
  • Does this writing opportunity resonate with me? There are moments when, even though logic may tell us otherwise, we know we need to take a step. Sometimes this is a strong spiritual prod. Other times it’s just a feeling we can’t explain. Pay attention to these moments. I can look back through my life and count the times I was specifically prodded. When I acted on this directing, I was thankful. When I didn’t, I regretted it. Thankfully, logic and that strong pull were working together in this opportunity.

How do you decide when to take a chance on something unexpected? How do you look for writing direction in light of Proverbs 16:9?

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. Proverbs 16:9 (NLT)

Shareables—Because sharing is fun!

[bctt tweet=”Writing Opportunity or Distraction? How to know when to stray from your writing plans.” username=”@EfficiencyADict”]

Categories
The Creative Tool Kit

6 Must-Have Books On Creativity

Elizabeth Gilbert Creativity
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The subject of creativity has always fascinated me. Where does it originate? How can I access more of it? Am I born creative or can I develop into a creative person? It’s because of these questions (and many more) that I’ve collected quite a few books on the subject and look forward to purchasing more in the future.

Three Top Picks Currently on My Shelves:

  • Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s no surprise this was an instant #1 New York Bestseller. One thing I’m most enjoying about Big Magic is Liz’s intentional focus on incorporating creativity into our daily lives.
  • Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative, Austin Kleon. This is a fun, clever, and dare I say, creative, book. From cover to cover, you’ll be exposed to fresh ideas on the subject of creativity. Nothing boring here, folks!
  • The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron. This book was originally published in 2002 but the audience and appreciation for it has only increased with time. I will forever be grateful to Julia for introducing me to the concept of Morning Pages.

a3creativityThree Top Picks on My Wish List:

I hope these six selections will stir up your creativity as it has mine.

Do you have a favorite book on creativity? If not, is there a book mentioned in this post that sparks your interest? Please share!

 

 

Graphic courtesy of Penguin.com

 

If you enjoy the subject of creativity, I’d love for you to stop by Cathy Baker…Cultivating Creativity. 

 

 

Categories
Bestsellers

Best Selling Author Angela Ackerman

Angela Ackerman

Angela Ackerman

Your writing thesauruses are such a help to writers, how do you feel knowing that thousands of writers use these resources in their own writing?

It is pretty surreal, and something I may never quite get used to. But it feels wonderful to know that we are helping writers in a very concrete way, and that more are achieving their dreams as a result.

 Do you have any more thesaurus books in the works?

Becca and I are working on two volumes for The Setting Thesaurus. Like our Positive and Negative Trait books, the topic of setting is just too huge to fit in one book. We’re very excited about this collection and have researched the sights, smells, sounds, tastes and textures for nearly 250 different locations. It will be a great resource, I hope. We’re looking to release those in late spring of 2016.

How is it working with your co-writer?

When I think about working with Becca, I really need to use my Emotion Thesaurus because so many good feelings burst out of me. She is a terrific partner, both as a co-author and as a business owner (we own two companies together). We have strengths that really complement one another, which means we are an effective team with a unified vision. I think we make great writerly music together!

How long have you been writing? And how long did it take you to get your first major book contract?

I have been writing since 2007 in the middle grade and young adult area, and then in 2012, Becca and I self-published The Emotion Thesaurus. We followed that up with our Positive and Negative Trait Thesaurus books in 2014. Since choosing self-publishing we have turned down several traditional deals, finding there to be more advantages by remaining in control of our books. That said, we have sold foreign rights for The Emotion Thesaurus to publishers in Korea, Romania and are currently inking a deal with one in Japan.

How long does it take you to write a book?

I would say all told about a year, tip to toe, but it really depends on the content of the book. The Positive and Negative Trait Thesaurus books are deeply rooted in psychology, and so we had to spend a lot of time understanding human behavior and motivation in order to teach it as a character building principle. Likewise, the Setting Thesaurus books require a lot of travel, as Becca and I have tried to visit the locations featured whenever possible to ensure the details are authentic.

What’s your writing work schedule like?

Busy, so busy! I go full out from the morning to later in the evening, juggling book writing, teaching, marketing and getting new projects off the ground. Our most recent one was to take all of our thesaurus collections (the ones in book form and those found at our Writers Helping Writers blog) and create a website to house all the content. One Stop For Writers released October 7th, 2015, a joint collaboration between Becca, myself, and Lee Powell, the creator of Scrivener for Windows. We are so thrilled to see all our descriptive content enhanced and so well organized at our One Stop site, and know this will become a game-changing resource for many writers.

Do you have an interesting writing quirk? If so, what is it?

I write slow. It is such a pain because I have a lot to share, so many books I would love to write. Oh well, slow and steady wins the race, right?

What has been your greatest joy(s) in your writing career?

I absolutely love hearing from writers who have used our books or our site and being told the difference our resources have made in their writing. That will always be the biggest joy for me. But I would say being the international guest speaker this past August in Australia was pretty amazing as well. It was also really neat when foreign rights agents started contacting us. I’ve been lucky and have enjoyed many great moments, too many to name. But I am looking forward to the day when my time opens up a bit and I can get back to my fiction, because this is still my dream.

What has been your darkest moment(s)?

Probably the frustration of being so close to a traditional deal (with my fiction), and still not managing to get one. It is hard when you do everything right, you have an agent, your book is going to acquisitions, and you still don’t leave with a contract. However, that was the old Angela. The new one has realized that the need for that type of validation is really harmful, and I know that no matter what happens with my fiction moving forward, I’ll never end up in that same dark place again.

Which of your books is your favorite?

Such an unfair question, ha-ha. This is like asking a mother which child is her favorite. I think The Emotion Thesaurus will always be special because it was my first, but I know The Negative Trait Thesaurus holds the most value for elevating one’s writing craft. There is a lot of meaty content in that one. So I’m going to say it’s a tie between those two.

Who is your favorite author to read?

Again, I have many, but I really enjoy Martina Boone (Compulsion), Laini Taylor (Daughter of Smoke and Bone), and Rick Riordan (his Percy Jackson Series).

What advice can you give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you would have listened too?

Please don’t be in a rush to publish. There are so many books out there to compete with, so to succeed you need to really hone your writing first. Take the time to read, write, and study the craft so your first book shines on the shelf.

What is the single greatest tool you believe a writer should have in his or her toolbox?

One Stop For Writers, definitely. We’ve only just started adding to this online library, but already it is a powerhouse of writing information geared to help people elevate their storytelling. With so many resources in one place, writers will become stronger quicker, and spend less time trying to find the right details for a story and more time actually writing it.

Where do you get your ideas?

For fiction, it often starts with a sound, or a smell or something sensory. A plastic bag caught on a branch, flapping in the wind. The scrape of dead leaves being pushed across the sidewalk. The smell of cinnamon. For me these things will trigger a flash, an image of a scene to come, and there’s this feeling that there’s a great story there if I dig at it.

For our thesaurus books, I simply think about what writers need most, and what I need most! And then I seek to build it.

 

Bio:

Angela Ackerman is a writing coach, international speaker and co-author of several bestselling writing books, including The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression. She loves building communities, and her newest project, One Stop For Writers, is a powerhouse online library like no other, filled with description and brainstorming tools to help writers elevate their storytelling. You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook and at her website, Writers Helping Writers.

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http://writershelpingwriters.net/author/angela/

 

Categories
Genre Mastering Middle Grade

What is Middle Grade, Anyway?

What is Middle Grade, Anyway?

by Kelli McKinney

When I tell someone I write middle grade fantasy, usually their response is “That’s nice,” followed by a polite comment about the weather and/or the time.
But sometimes I meet a brave soul who asks, “What’s middle grade? Is that, like, C+? Are you saying you write passing-level fantasy books?”
To be fair, I didn’t know middle grade was a genre until a few years ago. So I’m not picking on anyone. I’m still learning as I go, reading everything I can, and going to writers’ conferences as much as my budget will allow.
As part of that learning, I had the opportunity to interview Nancy Lohr, Acquisitions Editor for Journey Forth press. She says that middle grade is best defined by its readers.
Middle grade is the reader space between fourth grade and eighth grade; readers ages eight to 12. It’s smack dab in the tween years. These are kids who are too old for early readers but not mature enough for young adult books.
I love middle grade. They’re explorers, seeking the world through stories. They’re reading to complete an assignment for school, but they’re also reading to be entertained. These little explorers are also known to occasionally curl up next to a parent and ask them about a phrase or word they don’t understand.
The most widely-read middle grade books might be a series about a boy wizard or a long-lost Greek hero, but fantastic middle grade stories have been around a long time. For example:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Charlotte’s Web by EB White
Holes by Louis Sachar
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Many of you might be thinking, “I read that when I was a kid. Those are middle grade?”
Yes. Here’s how you know:
1) The structure: There’s no “Jack sat on a mat” here. Word choice and sentence structure are more complex, because the middle grade reader is an independent reader.
2) The protagonist: Kids tend to read about slightly older kids. You’ll see protagonists from age 10-14 in middle grade books.
3) The problems: Middle graders are trying to figure out their place in the world. For most of them the world revolves around friendships and family. Puberty also wreaks havoc during this time.
Which brings me to why they’re so hard to write for. One of the most consistent things I’ve heard at writing conferences and read on other blogs is that for middle grade, content is key. We’re writing for readers who consider picture books ‘for babies’ and who are too young for mature themes.
How does a writer know what topics are too mature or too young for eight- to 12-year-olds? After all, every child is different, and there are so many things to learn in the world. As Ms. Lohr so gracefully put it, asking someone else what to write about is like asking them what you should have for dinner. Nobody else knows your pantry – not to mention your allergies – the way you do.
The best stories we write are ones that are ours to tell – those tales that spring from our souls. We risk trouble when we decide we’re going to teach a lesson. When we declare “XYZ topic is important. Kids need to know. I am the one to teach them.” This is where temptation deludes us into thinking that we can raise someone else’s child better than their own families.
If you want to write for middle grade, Ms. Lohr suggests, ask yourself this question:
“Where do we cross the line of Mark 9:42? And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.”
Middle grade readers, like all children, are precious readers. May the words we choose and the stories we tell be used to inspire, not offend.

Sources:
Alison Weiss, Sky Pony Press, presentation at SCBWI August, 2015: Ten Things to Know about Writing for Middle Grade
http://writeforkids.org/2014/01/the-difference-between-middle-grade-young-adult/
Nancy Lohr, Journey Forth Press, interview
Nancy Lohr, Journey Forth Press, continuing workshop at BRMCWC May, 2016

 

Kelli McKinney earned a B.A. in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and an M.S. in documentary studies from the University of North Texas. She’s a part-time marketer, double-time mom and wife, and spends every free minute writing for kids. Connect with her on Twitter @Kell_McK.

Categories
Polishing Your Message Uncategorized

Don’t Do Dat – or That

Today’s tip on Polishing Your Message is . . . Don’t Do That.

Do What?

Overuse the word that.

The overuse of  that is one of my pet peeves when grading college essays. (Did you hear me students?) And as expected, many editors feel the same way. So don’t be surprised when you read this in more than one place. Fellow A3 writer Lori Hatcher also shares the same advice in a recent blog about “How To Drive Editors Crazy – Part 2.”

stop that

Overuse of the word has become acclimated in our speech; thus, we easily overlook it when we write it. Most of the time that used in an essay, article, or blog can easily be removed without harm to the sentence or the message.  Simply read the sentence without it and see if it changes the meaning. If not, omit it. When used incorrectly, the word that is as useful as those empty modifiers we also try to avoid like very, really, totally, truly, etc.

Now I am not saying to remove the word that every time. Many sentences will need the word to show the reader important information will soon follow. Most of the time our ear will tell us if that is needed or not. The goal for this post is to suggest you be more aware when polishing your drafts and looking for unnecessary words which can be omitted.

If you would like to read a more thorough source on when to leave that in and when to leave that out, I’ll share with you Grammar Girl’s discussion for your reading pleasure. She has much more to say on the topic. You will be amazed how much there is to think about when considering that little four letter word.

So ,add that to your proofreading checklist, and have fun polishing your message.

[bctt tweet=”Add that to your proofreading checklist” username=”BobbiBushWriter”]

(Photo credits belong to Cat Branchman and Leonard Matthews)

 

 

 

 

Categories
Truth Be Told

Sober Judgment

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment. Romans 12:3

I love to watch people. Airports provide ample to feed my odd obsession.

passenger-silhouettes-at-airport

Recently on a cross country flight I observed people who travel a lot get preferential treatment. They get to board early and have first dibs on the best seats. Traveling many miles can earn you free tickets, or even the privilege of sitting up front in First Class.

I maybe travel twice a year. Usually it’s to fly to visit my mom in Arizona. I’ve never been in first class. I usually get stuck in the middle seat.

Contrary to what you might be thinking, I do not begrudge frequent flyers their perks. I might envy their obvious confidence while I stress over details they obviously take for granted. Maybe when I grow up…

Truth be told, there is something that does bug me. The arrogant attitude of those who look down on those of us stuck in Zone 2, 3, or 4. They roll past us with their fancy luggage, expecting us to part before them like the Red Sea.

As I sat there watching and waiting, I couldn’t help but think about a recent sermon I preached on this very topic. Part of me wished I had considered this image, but then I felt the Spirit nudge.

plank-n-speck

Before I decide to get all judgmental, I should probably check for the log in my own eye. Their condescension and arrogance is not a license for me to feel better about my simplicity and humility.

Thinking that made me chuckle out loud. I couldn’t help but remember how irritating it was when one of my children would misbehave and the other would get all cute and be sure to inform me how much better they were acting.

I was doing the same thing, and it didn’t feel good.

I picked up my phone and texted my husband: I think next time I travel I’m going to wear my covering.

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I am the pastor of a Church of the Brethren. Many of the women still wear a head covering, primarily at Love Feast. I wear mine whenever I lead in worship in recognition of whose authority I am under. (Mine isn’t traditional. It was made for me by a dear friend.)

Sitting in the airport I began to wonder if I needed to be more aware that I am under that same authority whether I am preaching or not.

The answer was and is a resounding: Yes!

To think of myself “with sober judgment” results in seeing me the way God sees me. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, but that isn’t reason to gloat—all His creatures and creation can claim the same thing.

So whether I’m in the back or the front of the plane, bus, church, or line at Walmart, I need to be sure I’m not thinking I’m better than anyone…or worse.

 

How about you? Any planks or arrogance cluttering up your judgment? Perhaps it’s time to sober up.

 

Categories
Specs: Speculative Fiction

Following Up After a Conference

Following Up After a Conference

Well hey! You made it to part three! O thou hast come far…
seriously the fact that you’ve made it through an entire conference is awesome.

But, because of reasons, you still have a little work to do…but if you like people, social media, and of coarse your stories, then this should be a piece of cake.

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Friend on social media:

Everybody sigh, because we have to trudge our butts on over to the computer. Not to watch a cute cat on YouTube—Nay! We have to go to the webpages dedicated to you. The walls that you’ve thrust your life upon. “Social media” Assuming you met a person that you hit it off with. Find that person on social media and friend them. Simple right.

Here’s the only rule, don’t pester them on social media. Think of your relationship to this person on the internet as someone who’s eating. Boom, that basically sets all the parameters you should need.

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Sending requested manuscripts:

Sometimes your connection is an editor, publisher, or an agent, and they think your pitch is great, and so they ask you to send them a manuscript. If they give instructions or limitations, such as they only want the first three chapters, please follow those to the letter.

For the most part this is a really simple task…Send them the manuscript. However, unless they’re an editor looking forward to doing a macro edit for you, don’t send them your first draft. Just make sure you’ve cleaned it up best you can before you’ve sent it, and then let it go. If you can’t do this quickly, just let them know. I have failed this area personally, so don’t feel bad if you’re bad at this your first time.

[bctt tweet=”Go with your gut. If YOU think your manuscript stinks, then there may be some editing that needs to happen.” via=”no”]

Thank you notes, and maintenance:

Now, even though we live in an advanced age, with technology and social media, sometimes an old fashioned thank you card, or email, is needed. If someone took time to talk with you and really helped you, a thank you note is an excellent gesture.

As far as relationships that you made over a conference go, it’s important to maintain them. Talk every once in a while. Check in. Comment on their posts and other such things.

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      A lot of these things I still have yet to master…But it’s coming together, and I hope this helps you in some way.

But this is only my perspective on the matter, tell me yours, and whether you think I missed something in the comments below.

Thanks to: Donald Tong for the edited picture of super swank glasses, and thanks to, ClkerFreeVectorImages, andrewlloydgordon, & Wikipedia, for the unedited images.

Categories
Craft Writing with Humor

Thou Shalt Commandments For Writing With Humor

Click to learn the two greatest commandments for writing with humor

Thou Shalt write with humor.

But how?

By following these two commandments from humor author James N. Watkins:

I. Thou Shalt Know Thy Audience

When you know your audience, you understand how far you can take your humor. You know the envelope.

Once you know the envelope, push it.

Humor that surprises — not horrifies — your audience works best.

Each audience has its nuances. 

What makes a group of writers chuckle might fall flat with a group of doctors.

What works in an article written for teenagers may leave a group of seniors scratching their 80-year old heads, or worse, wagging them in disdain.

II. Thou Shalt Not Be Ungracious

Turn on the news and opportunities to poke fun at someone will present itself in short order.

Someone in Somewhere, USA will have proved yet again a Murphy’s Law of the South which states,

Whenever a guy utters, “Hey y’all, watch this!” something stupid is about to happen that will end in a 911 call.

Watkins encourages writers to ridicule behavior, not people.

If you want to make fun of someone, make fun of yourself.

Watkins’ took his inspiration for this great commandment from the Bible. “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person” (Colossians 4:6).

Obey Watkins’ commandments for writing with humor and you’ll entertain your readers, not lose them.

[bctt tweet=”Follow The 2 Greatest Commandments For Writing With #Humor #AmWriting #Author” username=”JeanWilund”]

Check out James Watkins’ website Hope and Humor as well as his book Writing with Banana Peels.

Continue reading “Thou Shalt Commandments For Writing With Humor”
Categories
History in the Making

What I Learned from the Author of Charlotte’s Web – Part 1

by Sandra Merville Hart

 

I wanted to instill a love of reading in my daughter from a young age so we read at bedtime. One novel we both enjoyed during her elementary school years was Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.

When beginning my writing journey, I found a wonderful book originally self-published by one of White’s professors. An editor asked him to expand and revise it. Studying the end product, The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, inspired me.

The learning began in the introduction where White recalled his teacher omitting needless words eagerly from students’ papers as a demonstration to the class. Every writer cringes in sympathy to imagine being the one used as an example.

[bctt tweet=”#Write concisely but don’t avoid details. Instead make every word count. #Author” username=”@Sandra_M_Hart”]

Strunk taught his students to write vigorously. Such concise writing contains no unnecessary words. This doesn’t mean authors avoid details. Instead, make every word count.

The professor worried that readers flounder in murky waters. Authors must write in a way to “drain the swamp” and enable the reader to reach dry land. His main concern was the confusion the reader felt upon encountering unclear sentences and paragraphs.

This compassion for the reader struck me. Surely our most important job is to communicate a clear message. We fail when our audience puckers their brow and reads a sentence a second or third time.

I am a work-in-progress. If you write, you probably feel the same way. Rejections abound in our profession as in other creative careers. Silently listening while an editor or critique partner scratch out phrases or suggest a better way to portray an action challenges us. Like Strunk, some are very positive they’re right.

We owe it to future success to listen and mull over the suggestions after the sting of rejection wears off. Applying their suggestion may affect a later scene.  You know your story. Evaluate their comments and learn from them.

There are more gems to share from this writing book. This article is the first of a three-part series. Join me next month for part 2.

As much as White squirmed under his professor’s editing, he benefited from the wisdom.

May we do the same.

Categories
The Ministry of Writing

Ministering Through Writing Doesn’t Always Mean You Write

Labeled for reuse - https://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/iStock_000007963437_Full-2559x1061-1425609725.jpg

I am writing this article and you are reading it because we enjoy or at least are comfortable writing. Writing is a safe place for us. It may not have always been a safe place, but after time we become at home at our keyboard.

I also believe you are doing what you are called to do, but ministering through writing doesn’t always mean you write.

[bctt tweet=”To be a faithful writer we have to often do things that are not writing.” username=””] More than likely these things will take us out of our comfort zones and that is okay.

We often need to shut our lap tops and leave the coffee shop to perform tasks that are far different than writing.

Tasks like:

  • Go to a conference
  • Give a speech
  • Have a one-on-one conversation
  • Make a phone call
  • Ask difficult questions
  • Promote
  • Learn social media
  • Make a pitch
  • Go to school
  • Ask for favors
  • Create a website
  • Create business cards
  • Keep up relationship networks

 

And the list could go on. Now, we writers come in all shapes and sizes we are both introverts and extroverts, but I believe mostly introverts. If that is you, you may be fearless — but not me. I have phone-phobia, not much on promoting my own stuff, and find life easier if I can avoid having any contact with other humans. So living in a distant cabin with a Keurig and Pandora writing works for me, but as a Christian writer I am not called to just write — the calling is much, much bigger — it is to be an ambassador of the One True King. Therefore, the message I have been sent to write is important, and I must commit to do whatever it takes to further that message.

So please don’t just write — follow God.

In that He will lead you out of your study and into other tasks, but tackle them with the same fire in which you write. They are one in the same, all ebbing to the same goal. In the same way in which God empowers and sustains you to write He will do the same on the podium or on the phone.

Fulfill your calling — write — but also fulfill your calling by following wherever He leads.

 

 

 

Categories
Pleasant Rosebud - Romantic Suspense

WELCOME HOME (Thomas Garet series)

He snapped and got into real dark moods a lot, but at least he stayed. She had been irresistibly drawn to him from the beginning. He looked like a stray dog, one that needed food, shelter and a good cuddle. Lacy offered the first two, but dared not hint on the third.

Just as Aunt Ann had warned, he insisted on paying for the room, and food. Lacy obliged him. She stayed in a block of apartments and didn’t have much use for help, but he offered to work in the yard, take out the trash, do the small laundry, cook, clean, and give her a vacation in her own space till he was strong enough to hit the road.

Thomas Garet continued to stay in Ravena’s condo down the road. Her friend had more than three months left of her exchange program to Tanzania in East Africa, and allowed Lacy the use of it.

They settled into a routine, and he visited her every other day to cook and clean. The arrangement was ludicrous because she did not need his services.

“We have a guest minister coming over to my church, Thomas, I thought you might want to come with me?”

“Haven’t been in church since Molly’s burial.” He picked the trash and walked out.

Lacy swallowed. He’d given her all manner of short, sharp answers about his life before they met since she asked who Molly was. It was obvious he didn’t want to talk about his wife or the tragic circumstances around her demise. She let him be.

But how would she reach out to him? If she let him be every time he walked off on an attempt.

She followed him out. “Pastor Paul is a renowned international minister. He has the word.”

Thomas smirked. “He sure does now.” He brushed past her back into her space.

She followed him. “It’s rude to walk off when I’m trying to have a conversation with you.” She bit her lip.

“Then don’t have a conversation with me!” He glared, his blue eyes dead cold.

Her voice shook. “Thomas, please—”

He stepped back as if she threw him a punch. “Don’t try to win me!”

She clasped her hands. “Of course not. I—”

“I don’t want to go to your church. And I don’t want to be nice. To you or anyone.”

His words came out jerky, and for a moment, Lacy realized she had struck something in him. He never spoke this much. He stared her down for a second then turned to wash his hands.

Lacy touched his firm shoulder blade and squeezed before he stiffened. “Allow God to heal you, Thomas.”

He turned to her, his angry blue eyes blazing. “I—”

“Ssh.” She pulled him into her arms. “Allow God to come back.”

“He did nothing for me. I loved him with all my heart. Still he took everything from me.”

His sobs shocked her but she had prayed for him every single night since the day Charles Taylor shot him on the street. She needed to seize this moment.

Deep, throaty cries shook his body and she held his 200 pounds of toned muscles until they subsided.

She cupped his face and smoothed back his wild, blond hair. He might get a cut if she could convince him. “God loves you, Thomas, and he welcomes you. Home.”

He looked sideways for a moment and closed his eyes. She could almost taste his struggle. Thank God, she thought.

Her heart sang a song of healing and redemption. She prayed for courage to see him through. She whispered words of comfort and assurance, and he nodded intermittently. One day, she prayed he would return her gesture, and love her back the way she loved him from first sight.

For now, she was content to lead Thomas Garet on his way to finding love again.

 

Picture: https://pixabay.com/en/shoe-laces-leather-hiking-974564/

 

Author bio:

Sinmisola Ogúnyinka is a pastor’s wife, mother, writer and movie producer. She has a university degree in Economics, and is a Craftsman of Christian Writers’ Guild. She lives with her family in Pretoria, South Africa.

Blog: www.sinmisolao.wordpress.com

Twitter: @sinmisolaog

Categories
Grammar and Grace

Aid for Comma Splices

A writing acquaintance of mine recently posted about her disdain of the comma splice, more importantly, the proliferation of this punctuation error in today’s printed materials.

Here’s an easy definition of a comma splice: the misuse of a comma to join two independent clauses (two sentences).

I bought new yarn yesterday, I already have fifteen skeins waiting for me to crochet.

In the above sentence, the comma comes between the two sentences. Wrong!

Here are easy fixes.

I bought new yarn yesterday. I already have fifteen skeins waiting for me to crochet. (Break the two independent clauses into two sentences.)

I bought new yarn yesterday, but I already have fifteen skeins waiting for me to crochet. (The comma plus a coordinating conjunction—and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so—can correctly join two sentences with the comma placed before the conjunction.)

I bought new yarn yesterday; I already have fifteen skeins waiting for me to crochet. (The *semi-colon is a stronger than the comma and can separate two sentences by itself.)

I bought new yarn yesterday; however, I already have fifteen skeins waiting for me to crochet. (The semi-colon precedes a conjunctive adverb and then a comma.)

*Some fiction writers avoid using the semi-colon.

 

 

Categories
Writer Encouragement

A Time For Everything

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV

As I sit here with my handy walker next to me and my braced leg elevated to keep down the swelling in my knee, I think about all of my writer friends, acquaintances, and all the potential friends I had hoped to meet who are gathering in writers conferences around the country. I am tempted to feel sorry for myself because I was planning on attending a writer’s conference. Yet circumstances changed all of that.

I don’t pretend to understand why my knee surgery of a year ago became infected, but I am forced to deal with all the ramifications: Two surgeries this summer, lots of pain, and multiple physical therapy sessions. Then there’s that nagging thought: We had just paid off all of last year’s medical bills.

I must confess, though, that accepting the Lord’s “activity under heaven” that He wants me to do can be both humbling and, at times, depressing. But He has had some heart-to-heart discussions with my spirit concerning my will vs. His. His will trumps every time. (And no, this is definitely not a political statement…)

FullSizeRender-62

Scripture clearly tells us that “there is a time for everything,” and this summer is not my time. It is my time to rest in Him and perhaps—on a day when I am clear-headed with fewer pain pills in my system—I can spend some quality time researching and writing.

 

Why, I cry out to the Lord? And what can possibly be the benefit of any of this? Again, I don’t have clear answers. But occasionally, glimmers of heavenly light shine upon the faces of other patients who I meet at the infusion center where I go daily for my IV antibiotics. It gives me perspective about the patients who have fear-filled eyes who aren’t just dealing with infection, but are facing cancer.

God sees the bigger picture.

I know that no experience is wasted in God’s Kingdom, nor are there any mistakes wrought by the hand of the Creator. So when I think about the changes in my plans for this summer, I pray that I will remember to ask God how He wants to use me in His plan.

Have the dreams for your writing schedule taken an unexpected diversion from your well-plotted strategy? Maybe you are attending a writer’s conference but your hoped-for meeting with an editor or agent didn’t go as you imagined. Rather than feeling crushed and defeated, ask God what His strategy is in this season for your activity under heaven. It may not fulfill your dreams for this moment, but it will undoubtedly fulfill God’s agenda for you. And His timing is always perfect.

 

“What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:9-11 NIV

 

Image of green typewriter from Just2Shutter via freedigitalphotos.net

 

 

Categories
Platform and Branding

3 Tips to Grow Your Writer Platform When You Need a Break

Everyone needs a break from time to time. For a writer building a platform, taking a social media break might seem like you’re losing precious ground. If you’re willing to think outside the box and do a little planning, you can take a break and continue to grow your writer platform.

1. Recycle An Old Blog Post

In the spirit of “going green,” recycle an old post (or two or several). Go back in your archives and find an old post that didn’t get as much traffic as you hoped or one that wasn’t as well developed. Rewrite it and share some insights you’ve learned since the piece originally posted. You may even include some of your reader’s comments.

Be sure to optimize for SEO and include new shareable tweets and images.

2. Line Up Guest Posts

Ask writer friends if they’d like to write for you. If they’re busy or in need of a break themselves, look through their archives and find a post you liked, and ask if you can repost on your blog. (First be sure they’re not recycling it for their own site!)

Add click-to-tweets at the bottom of the post that mention the author. If you’re republishing an old posts, share an attribution such as, “This post first appeared on [friend’s site name with hyperlink to their site].”

Whether the post is new content or a republished post, always link back to the author’s site. Ask the author if there’s a particular page they’d like you to feature. They may ask you to direct readers to their About page. Another option is to link to their home page so your readers can see your friend’s most recent work.

3. Consider Hiring A Virtual Assistant

This may sound like a splurge, but VAs can help with many tasks. They can curate shareable content, research topics, or edit and schedule blog posts. They can respond to comments, coordinate editorial calendars, optimize posts for SEO, or even help with tips 1 & 2 – recycle old posts and line up guest posts!

VAs are unique and have different skill sets, so ask friends for recommendations. Some VAs prefer to work for a stretch of time (monthly or quarterly), but others are happy to do piecemeal work when needed.

Grow platform on break

Time away from writing and social media doesn’t necessarily mean your platform growth will suffer. With a little creative thinking and planning, you can enjoy a respite and still grow your writer platform when you need a break.

Anything to add to this list? Please share in the comments!

Shareables:

[bctt tweet=”Have old blog posts that didn’t get good traffic? Recycle! via @a3forme @susanrstilwell ” via=”no”]

[bctt tweet=”How can a #writer take a #sm break and not affect their platform? @a3forme @susanrstilwell” via=”no”]

[bctt tweet=”When should you find someone to guest post? @3forme @susanrstilwell have a suggestion ” via=”no”]

[bctt tweet=”How a virtual assistant can help when you need a #sm break, via @a3forme @susanrstilwell” via=”no”]

[bctt tweet=”3 Tips to Grow Your Writer Platform When You Need a Break, via @a3forme @susanrstilwell” via=”no”]

Helpful A3 links:

3 Ways a Virtual Assistant Can Help Your Writer Platform

3 Mistakes to Avoid With Your Social Media Strategy

4 Simple Rules For Guest Posting

Categories
Talking Character

Creating Villains

In order to really show his stuff, a protagonist needs challenges to overcome. The tougher the opposition, the more our heroes can shine.

In other words, to have awesome heroes, we need formidable villains.

Like any other important character, villains need to be constructed with care. Even if they aren’t given much screen time, they deserve a multi-layered personality and backstory that explains how they got to be so nasty.

Five keys for constructing villains

  1. Give the villain a face. Sometimes our hero is fighting a corrupt government, a corporation, or an epidemic. However, a vague, shadowy them will not make a satisfying antagonist. Create a single person that represents the larger entity, such as ambitious executive driven by greed, or a character whose own agenda is at cross purposes with those trying to control the spread of a disease.
  2. Make the villain hard to beat. Better yet, make the villain seem impossible to beat. The stronger and smarter the antagonist, the more satisfying the story. Nobody will be impressed if the hero outshines the villain in strength, resources, and smarts—because there was never any doubt the hero would win. But if the villain outclasses the hero, the result of their struggle is far from certain, and the reader must read to the end to find out how the hero manages to win despite the odds. Then you have a story!
  3. Don’t let them steal the show. (Because they’ll be happy to, given a chance—cads that they are). Be careful not to create a villain who is so eccentric and flashy that they are more interesting than the upright, do-gooder hero. Also, by the end of the story it should be clear to the reader that the villain’s motivations are flawed and that the protagonist’s choice is the better way.
  4. Remember, all humans are redeemable. Your villain may not budge from his twisted evil ways, but deep inside he must have a small piece of his character that is redeemable. All humans are made in the image of God, therefore no human can be pure evil. This may not be true for otherworldy characters such as demons or space aliens, however. Pure evil works in certain cases, but for most stories a villain who retains some aspects of humanity is the more believable choice.
  5. Make the villain believable. All well-developed characters have reasons they act the way they do. Your villain’s thinking may be twisted, but deep down she must believe she is doing what is right, even if everyone else thinks her actions are wrong. The more readers understand why the villain acts the way she does, the more they can relate. Be warned, however, not to create too much sympathy for the villain’s misery. You don’t want readers to identify with the villain’s pain or the justice of her cause to the point they root for her instead of the hero.

[bctt tweet=”Good villains are important. The tougher the opposition, the more our heroes can shine.” username=””]

Categories
Dear Young Scribes

How to Choose, Develop, & Research a Setting: Part 1

Setting is far more than the backdrop of a novel. It’s the environment that breathes life into a story. It can paint hues of emotion, provide necessary backstory, enhance characterization, and serve as a tool to unfold significant plot elements.

When a writer prepares to write a book, they should spend just as much time researching and developing a setting as they do with their characters. In fact, setting should be treated with much attention as if it were a character in itself.

Think of your favorite book. How would the plot differ if it were set in the snow-capped mountains of Colorado? Or in a dry desert of New Mexico?

When a writer accurately portrays a believable setting for their novel, the reader becomes sucked into the story. This should be done in a way so that the story would not be the same if it were set in another location.

For example: The setting is a crucial element in the movie The Titanic. It would be impossible to set that story in another location; the entire plot would unravel.

Readers fall in love with books that present well-developed settings and story worlds. What would The Chronicles of Narnia be without Narnia? Or Anne of Green Gables without Green Gables?

When choosing a setting, ask yourself:

  •  What is the mood and theme of this story? What kind of location—a small town, big city, etc.—would best portray this?
  •  How will the setting affect the plot of the story?
  •  Will I use a real town or invent one?
  •  What cities—including my hometown— am I familiar with? Out of those, which one am I most passionate about?
  •  How can I weave symbolism into this setting?
  •  How does the setting influence my protagonist? What is his/her attitude toward this location? 
(This is a great way to unravel backstory — through showing the memories tied to her surroundings.)

blue ridge mountains

I chose Lake Lure, NC for the setting of Purple Moon for the following reasons:

  1.  I realized I had yet to read a YA novel that was set in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina.
  2.  I knew I wanted to set the story in the south since I am from SC.
  3.  I came across a photograph of the mountains outlining a lake. This inspired me to do a Google search of lakes in North Carolina.
  4.  After I found a list, I chose Lake Lure because the name reflected a theme in the novel.
  5.  Since my protagonist is an artist, the mountains tucked into the lake keeps her inspired and reflects her personality.

If you want your readers to become swept away in your story, it’s crucial that you spend necessary time researching your setting before you begin to write.

It’s important to research your setting for the following reasons:

  • Believability
  •  Accuracy
  •  So your readers can feel as if they have stepped into 
the pages of your book. You want to give them the sense 
that they are living in the story.
  •  To prevent your story from unfolding in front of a “closed 
curtain”.

In the next post, we’ll discuss how to go about researching your setting and how to filter it through the eyes of your protagonist.

[bctt tweet=”How to Choose, Develop, & Research a Setting: Part 1 via @TessaEmilyHall #write” username=””]

What is your favorite story setting? How does it enhance the plot, theme, mood, and protagonist of the novel?

Categories
Guest post archive

Conquering Impatience On The Path To Publication

Angela Ackerman is our Best Selling Author for the month of July.  She has blessed us with some encouragement in the meantime.

Conquering Impatience on the path to publication

by Angela Ackerman
Recently some writing friends and I were discussing which virtues are the most important for those of us on the path to publication. We talked about the courage needed to write from the heart and to put ourselves out there, and how we must dig for internal fortitude to give us the strength to persevere. This led to realizing that one of the most important virtues is actually patience, and how it plays a vital role in staving off discouragement, depression, frustration, and doubt.
Patience. Boy, that is a tough one some days, isn’t it? Especially when it seems like everyone’s ship has come in but ours.
Writing is a long journey. Most of you are probably involved in writing sites, forums, critique groups, and the like, connecting with others on the writing path. You read blogs, encourage others, and keep tabs on those striving to get published just as you are. This is what it means to be a community. But the dark side to belonging to a community is that it can sometimes cause a crisis of faith. It can be a hard battle to stay patient and upbeat when other succeed but we have not (yet).
Don’t get me wrong, we cheer for every sale and piece of good news that comes to our writer friends! But, sometimes a sliver inside us feels something else. Frustration. Envy. Worry. Doubt. These emotions lead to a plague of questions: Why haven’t I succeeded? Why isn’t it my turn for good news? Why can’t this be me? Am I kidding myself for even trying?
It’s very easy to let these negative questions send us on a downward spiral, sucking away our energy, our creativity, and our strength to continue. Impatience will lead us down this dark road. So how do we fight it? How do we build up our resistance and stay optimistic?
The best way to conquer impatience is to take it out of the equation. Ask yourself, once my book is in an editor’s hands, is there anything I can do writing-wise to make them say yes? No, there isn’t. Can I make them read faster, get back to me faster? Again, no. So, why stress about it? These are things we have no control over.
Don’t Just Sit There, Though…Take Action
Being idle when waiting for something to happen isn’t the answer either. So think about what you do have control over, and what actions you can take. Here’s three to get you started:
• Create an impressive view for the editor or agent who may look you up online. When the writing is done, consider putting time and energy into building a stronger online platform.
• Continue to write and polish in case they want to see something else. Let go of the book that’s on submission and turn to the next project. There’s always more writing to be done.
• Adopt the learner mindset and grow your craft. Continue to hone your writing craft so a cleaner product reaches their desk. None of us know everything–we can always improve. Learning is growing.
Things like these are all within our control, so this is where our focus should be. Even if one chooses to self-publish, rushing will only lead to heartache. There is no substitute for taking your time and making sure your very best book is what makes it into the hands of readers.
One solid fact to remember, no matter where you’re at on the publishing trail is if you keep moving forward, you’ll get there. I believe this. I live it. So, the next time impatience and negativity cloud your head space, TAKE CONTROL. Fight by putting your energy into things that will lead to your success.Angela Ackerman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Angela Ackerman is a writing coach, international speaker and co-author of several bestselling writing books, including The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression. She loves building communities, and her newest project, One Stop For Writers, is a powerhouse online library like no other, filled with description and brainstorming tools to help writers elevate their storytelling. You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook and at her website, Writers Helping Writers.

https://www.onestopforwriters.com/

Categories
Tour Uncategorized

Blog Tour- Morgan L. Busse

morgan-busse-NLR-5

What is the title of your latest book, Morgan?

Tainted.

Please give us an overview.

What Happens When Your Soul Dies?
Kat Bloodmayne is one of the first women chosen to attend the Tower Academy of Sciences. But she carries a secret: she can twist the natural laws of life. She has no idea where this ability came from, only that every time she loses control and unleashes this power, it kills a part of her soul. If she doesn’t find a cure soon, her soul will die and she will become something else entirely.
After a devastating personal loss, Stephen Grey leaves the World City Police Force to become a bounty hunter. He believes in justice and will stop at nothing to ensure criminals are caught and locked up. However, when Kat Bloodmayne shows up in his office seeking his help, his world is turned upside down.
Together they search World City and beyond for a doctor who can cure Kat. But what they discover on the way goes beyond science and into the dark sphere of magic.
Book one of The Soul Chronicles series.

Why do you write what you do?: I love to tell stories and through those stories, I want to touch my readers’ hearts. I want to remind them that even though this world is broken, and sometimes it seems like the darkness around us is overwhelming, we are not alone. God is with us, and He will never leave us. That is why I write.

What are you currently working on?: I am working on the edits for Awakened, book 2 of my steampunk series, The Soul Chronicles.

How does your work differ from other work in its genre?: Well, considering there are few steampunk books to begin with, and even fewer Christian steampunk, there are not a lot of books to compare Tainted with. And now I can hear someone asking what exactly is steampunk?
Steampunk is a fusion of our history (usually the Victorian Era or the Wild West) and fantasy/science fiction/or both. Some examples of Steampunk would be Jules Vernes or the movie Wild West. A story with a historical and speculative feel where the technology is advanced for that period of time and runs on steam. That’s steampunk.
Now how my steampunk differs from others is that instead of the usual inventor character, my character is a scientist. But her problem has to do with her soul, and no amount of science can help her, only God can.


How does your writing process work?: I’m a plotter. I start planning my stories out years in advance, keeping all my ideas in a folder on my computer. Then, when I’m ready to start writing, I get out my storyboard (a large corkboard) and I plan out the story by writing down all the ideas I’ve collected on 3×5 cards. For about a week I think through my story and figure out how everything fits together, what are the major plot twists, and how does the story end.
After I am done, I have my entire story outlined on my storyboard, and this becomes my map once I start writing. For the most part, I stick to my plot.
As far as writing the story, it takes me 6-9 months to write the rough draft, writing 1k words every day, 4 days a week. But I finish with a pretty clean manuscript that just needs a little more deepening and then off it goes to my editor!  

 Morgan L. Busse writes fantasy and steampunk for the adult market. She is the author of the Follower of the Word series, including Daughter of Light, Christy, and Carol Award finalist. Morgan lives on the West Coast with her husband and four children. You can find out more about Morgan at www.morganlbusse.com

Social Media and Blog: Website: www.morganlbusse.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morganlbusseauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MorganLBusse (@MorganLBusse)
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/morganlbusse
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5827587.Morgan_L_Busse
My books: http://www.enclavepublishing.com/authors/morgan-busse/
tainted

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Tainted-Soul-Chronicles-Book-1/dp/1621840670/ref

 

Categories
The Blue Seal Awards

Blue Seal Awards – Writing Contest (Open for entries July 1st 2016)

Almost An Author (A3) is excited to announce its writing contest. The Blue Seal Awards for Internet Writing Excellence.

We are offering 2 contests:

1) Blogs

2) Internet Articles

About the Award:

The Blue Seal Award recognizes excellent internet-based writing. As one of the most popular forms of writing, Almost An Author desires to recognize important and powerful writing crafted by new and/or aspiring authors.

How To Enter:

To enter, please send:

1) A one-page cover letter with your blogs’s title, your name, and the focus/purpose of your blog.

3) A link to your blog and/or your article as an attachment.

4) If you have a Facebook and/or Twitter account “like” or “follow” Almost An Author’s accounts.

  1. https://www.facebook.com/AlmostAnAuthor
  2. www.twitter.com/a3forme

5) Send your entry to editor@almostanauthor.com with “Blue Seal Award – Blog” or  “Blue Seal Award – Article” in the subject line by September 1, 2016.

6) Pay your contest fee of $10/entry. Paypal button is located at the end of this post for your convenience.

All entries will be subscribed to our newsletter/subscriber lists, but you may unsubscribe at any time.

Any questions? Ask Editor at editor@almostanauthor.com

The Blue Seal Award for Blogs

Th Blue Seal Award for Blogs is given to a blogger that shows excellence in content and has a fresh and unique perspective on their chosen topic(s).

Rules and Guidelines:

  1. Any writer who has a blog that contains new content at least twice a month.
  2. Please submit your entry to editor@almostanauthor.com
  3. All entries must be accompanied by a one-page cover letter explaining the focus and purpose of your blog.
  4. Please include a link to your blog in your entry email, and also in your cover letter.
  5. Entries must be received by September 1, 2016.
  6. Finalists and Winners will be announced by October 1, 2016.
  7. Winners will be announced by October 1, 2016.
  8. Top entries will receive the Blue Seal Award for Blogs.
    1. Award will come as a .png/.jpeg wax seal which you may display on your blog.
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Categories
Storyworld

Education in Storyworlds

Education

Have you considered education? No, this isn’t an article about how to raise your kids, this is an article about how to tie your characters’ backgrounds to the storyworld in which they live. Because unless your characters are infants or going through schooling in the novel, by the time we meet them they’ve already received some form of learning and thus some shaping influences.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, education is more than just learning the three Rs. While the term usually means literacy and knowledge, it can also include survival skills and trades. Thus even people we don’t think of as “educated” have certainly received some amount of learning, even if only from the school of hard knocks. The type of education a character receives will be a huge part of his background and thus determine who he is as a person.

http://www.themarysue.com/john-boyega-finn-rey-romance/

Consider FN-2187 from the movie Star Wars, The Force Awakens. “Finn,” as he is called by his friends, received an imperial education where he was indoctrinated to follow the orders of his superiors. The goal of his training was to prepare him for construction and warfare. He is thus knowledgeable about those subjects, but lacks creativity because of the structure in which he was raised. Contrast this with the enigmatic Rey, who received some sort of training (maybe by Luke? Who knows at this point?), but primarily she taught herself how to make a living in the wastes. She possesses a deep degree of mechanical know-how because of her chosen method of survival. Also, because she’s been forced to figure life out on her own, she is very creative. But she lacks knowledge of anything outside of her little world because she’s not been taught about it.

video-the-gods-must-be-crazy-2-videoSixteenByNine310

Another contrast we can look at is from one of my favorite movies, The Gods Must Be Crazy. In one scene, a very educated South-African woman finds herself lost in the bushes of the Serengeti Desert, where she meets a tribal bushman. In his tongue-clicking language, the bushman tries to explain the animal prints on the ground and thus the suspected predator activity in the area. Having never learned to read animal tracks (or speak bushman), the woman is clueless. The bushman looks down on this educated woman because she is, from his perspective, uneducated. And based on their predicament at the time, her western, factory-model instruction was completely useless. Without having learned about the wilderness or gained an aptitude for critical thinking in foreign situations, she was at an utter loss. Unfortunate for her, but hilarious for the audience.

PIRATEHUNTER

Bold Ted from Tom Morrissey’s Pirate Hunter also displays a unique form of education. One not from survival or formal schooling, but from an apprenticeship. His first mentor, Vicar Bascombe, buys Ted as a slave in Africa, but raises him as his own son. He teaches him not only reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also Scripture, history, and philosophy. These skills become valuable to Ted’s next mentor, Captain Henry Thatch. When Thatch discovers Bold Ted’s level of education, he quickly takes him on to teach him navigation, tactics, and the trade of the seafaring thief – piracy.

All of these different forms of educational background help create rich characters, but they do more than that. By showing a person’s education, the authors (and movie writers) help create more vibrant and diverse storyworlds. Finn and Rey’s very different backgrounds help flesh out the Star Wars universe. The contrast of educations in the Gods Must Be Crazy helps highlight how different the two worlds are, despite being a short bus ride from each other. And Bold Ted’s education shows that despite the brutality of slavery, goodhearted individuals sometimes triumphed over evil.

So if you’re writing a fantasy or sci-fi novel, consider the educational systems your characters went through. And use those systems to liven up the storyworld they live in!

If you can think of any more examples of unique education experiences from books or movies, please let me know in the comments section below!

 

[Star Wars Picture from http://www.bustle.com/articles/131201-are-rey-finn-a-couple-in-the-force-awakens-fans-of-a-romance-should-have]

 

[Gods Must Be Crazy picture from http://www.nytimes.com/video/movies/100000003388038/the-gods-must-be-crazy-2.html (actually from the sequel, but they’re very similar)]

 

[Pirate Hunter image from http://www.tommorrisey.com/4436.html]

Categories
Uncategorized Write Justified

Confused No More

As an editor, I frequently encounter homonym errors. Someone writes whether when they intend weather. Or peek when the context calls for peak. Some are humorous. Others convey the opposite meaning of what the author intends.

I could write a post on the confused word uses I’ve corrected. But it might be more endearing if I come clean and ‘fess up to some pairs that confuse me.

Affect-Effect

This pair usually sends me to the dictionary to verify I’m using them correctly. It helps to remember that affect is a verb that means to make an impact on or cause a change.

The change in weather affected Fred’s arthritis.

Summer construction affects traffic patterns and travel times.

Effect can be used as both a noun and a verb. As a noun it means to bring about, or the result of an action. In this usage, it is usually followed by the preposition on.

The effect of divorce on children can be life-changing.

Scientists warn that the effects of climate change may be rising sea levels and greater temperature variations.

In the plural, effects, refers to belongings, possessions.

All the family’s personal effects were lost in the flood.

Used as a verb effect means to bring about, cause, or accomplish.

The new administrator wasted no time in effecting his own policies and procedures.

Lower interest rates effected stronger home sales.

If you remember that affect is a verb and effect a noun, you’ll be correct in most common usages.

Elicit – Illicit

I don’t recall the precise sentence, but its purpose was to encourage a response. What I actually wrote invited the reader to do something illegal. I had written illicit when I should have used elicit.

Elicit is a transitive verb meaning to draw out or bring forth. It requires a direct object.

Melanie’s antics elicited a reluctant smile from her grandmother.

Smile is the direct object of the verb elicited. Melanie’s actions drew a smile out of grandma.

Elicit also carries the meaning of bringing something hidden to light.

Brandon’s counseling sessions elicited his fear of failure.

Talking confidentially to someone can be a healthy way to discover and overcome such fears.

Illicit, on the other hand, is an adjective meaning illegal or unlawful. You will often see it used to describe the illegal use of drugs or sex. Dictionary.com also includes a second meaning: “disapproved or not permitted for moral or ethical reasons.” That may explain the frequent pairing with drugs and sex.

Compliment – complement

Only one vowel separates the spelling of these two, but that simple letter changes the meaning considerably.

I pay someone a compliment when I tell them their hair (or shoes, or dress) look good on them.

Although the Oxford English Dictionary suggests a compliment usually includes some hypocrisy, Merriam Webster defines a compliment as a formal expression of esteem, respect, affection, or admiration.

A compliment can also be an expression of good wishes or regards.

Give my compliments to your parents.

The adjective, complimentary, means a gift or gratuity.

The new president gave a complimentary paperweight to each guest at the inauguration.

A complement, however, is something (or someone) that completes or makes whole.

Allison’s pink scarf complements her green dress and red hair.

With the vice president’s arrival, the full complement of PTA officers was in attendance.

These three sets of homonyms hardly comprise the full complement of commonly confused homonyms, but I hope the effect of this post elicits greater understanding.

 

Categories
The Writer's PenCase

Plot Twists – Part IV

The Writer's PenCase

We’ve been looking at crafting plot twists. #amwriting #plottwists [bctt tweet=”Create a jaw-dropping plot twist by convincing your reader your story world is exactly how it should be” username=”@donnalhsmith @a3forme”].

Continue reading “Plot Twists – Part IV”
Categories
Uncategorized

It’s All Good in the ‘Hood

The meme says it all: “We still want to go to the Land of Make-Believe.”

It shows Mister Rogers holding King Friday.

Oh, how I want to go back there.

Mister Roger’s Neighborhood was my favorite television show in my preschool years, and I considered the host my friend—my “homie in the ‘hood,” if you will, an adult who talked to me on my level and cared about my dreams, my fears, and other aspects of my life. Mind you, I was raised by attentive, loving parents, but Mister Rogers was still an important part of my childhood.

I would get most excited about the Land of Make Believe segments, with Trolley whisking me off to another world. I looked at that setting through the innocent eyes of Daniel Tiger; I laughed at King Friday and his self-importance; I meow-meow-meowed with Henrietta Pussycat.

One thing I have to admit . . . I was often scared of Lady Elaine.

Don’t judge me—she could be a mean woman. Well, not really a woman, more like an unanimated puppet whose lips couldn’t even move. And I guess she was more mischievous than anything, but she still got to me at times. That was the power of Make-Believe.

When my sons were small, I got to revisit the program and to enjoy it on a different level, sharing a piece of my childhood with them. A few years ago they even bought me a t-shirt featuring Rogers’ picture with the phrase “It’s All Good in the ‘Hood.”

When I saw the aforementioned meme online recently, it hit me: Mister Rogers also helped develop my imagination. The Land of Make-Believe was a place where the possibilities were endless. As an only child, I spent a lot of time by myself, so I took the cue from Rogers and made up my own characters and worlds. On any given day I would be a superhero, a captain of a ship, or even a mischievous museum owner.

I owe at least some of my creativity (I know, you’re thinking, he has creativity?) to the show and to that time spent entertaining myself.

As writers, we get to play “make-believe” with our characters and our plots. We conjure up our own lands populated with interesting people and even some stinkers like Lady Elaine. A pretty good gig, if you ask me.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some more meow-meow-meow writing to do.