Summer

It's Summer and I have Spring fever.

I missed it.

I missed PWW2015 in Tucson this year. Pima Writers' Workshop has just concluded. It is my favorite and I hated to miss it. Meg Files and her group make this a wonderful learning experience every year.

Novel update

The last of ten agents queried has responded with a very nice rejection. But a rejection is a rejection is a rejection; it still isn't much fun.

Simner, Walker, and Yanique

Simner, Walker, and Yanique are potential PWW2015 writers that you could get to read your work. I've already posted on some others.

The mix of authors, poets, and agents is always very interesting. The choices sometimes are very difficult, but rest assured, you can't make a wrong choice.

My only advice is: Don't miss Nancy Mairs.

Simner has an interesting web site: www.simner.com

Writers

PWW2015 is coming up rapidly. If you want someone to comment one-on-one on your work, you don't have much time to get in. Just ten days or two weeks.

Meg Files and her team put on an excellent workshop. For more information on Pima Writers' Workshop 2015 to be held May 28-31 at Pima Community College in Tucson contact Meg Files.
520-206-6084              or           mfiles@pima.edu

3,054

Writing success isn't about how many books you sell. Still it is nice to sell a lot of books.
Amazon keeps track of their sales. Under details for a title, its best seller position is noted with #1 being the most sold.

Just for fun I checked a few. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins was number 8.
Liar by Nora Roberts, #115; Finders Keepers by Stephen King, #513; Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman, #34,370.

When checking out writers that may be at Pima Writers' Workshop 2015, the Writers Buffet lists Cynthia Bond. Ruby by Cynthia Bond is an Oprah's Book Club 2.0 pick.  Today Ruby has an Amazon best seller position of  #3,054. Wow!

Johanna Lane

Black Lake by Johanna Lane came out in 2014. She may be at Pima Writers' Workshop 2015.

More information on her and this novel can be found at www.johannalane.net

She can also be found on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

At amazon.com you'll find lots of praise for Lane. There is no doubt that she is very skilled.

Monica Drake

Still doing my homework for the Pima Writers' Workshop 2015.

Kenosha Public Library has Monica Drake's 2013 novel, The Stud Book.

As usual I get a book by the author, check out their web site, and check out Amazon.com (read the reviews, look at the ratings, visit the author page).  www.monicadrake.com

Read the first page of The Stud Book, you'll probably read the whole novel.
 

David Ellis Dickerson

Doing my homework for Pima Writers' Workshop 2015.

If you send in a manuscript to PWW 2015 for an author's comments, you'll list which authors you prefer to read your work.

David Ellis Dickerson was listed on Writers Buffet blog as a possible. I checked out from the Kenosha Library his 2009 House of Cards. It is a funny memoir.

I walked into a session with an author who had read my submission without ever reading any of her work nor without first attending her presentation at the conference. For me that was a big mistake. I missed a valuable opportunity. When she asked if I had any questions, I just mumbled a few really lame ones. Listening to her presentation and reading one of her books brought home how great a loss.

Dickerson is a good example. An excellent match for people with a sense of humor. An excellent match for those writing memoir. He has the skills, the talent, and the experience.

But before you choose him, check him out in his books, on his website ( www.davidellisdickerson.net ), and at www.amazon.com .

I first scan the author's books --- first pages and last page and then the middle. If interested, I read more. He hooked me on both his first page and last page in House of Cards.

Pima Writers' Workshop

JUST A REMINDER: Pima Writers' Workshop is coming up at the end of May, but if you want a writer or agent to read your work, the deadline is the early part of May.

For more information try Shaw Guides or Writers Buffet ( http://www.writersbuffet.org/news/2015/3/23/27th-annual-pima-writers-workshop-at-pima-community-college ).

Spring Fever

Three weeks and I haven't posted anything. It's true I have been caught up in Spring Fever. While I have submitted my novel to  agents and I have worked on another novel, it has been without a lot of drive, focus, and determination.

Submitting to agents is not fun for me. The major reason is that they don't write back, email, or call immediately recognizing the brilliance of my work. I did in fact get one immediate response but the agent instead of being blinded by my work was blind to it. Many agents in their guidelines say if they don't respond within three, four, or six weeks to assume they are not interested. Others, the kind I would like working for me, respond with a robo response that the submission has been received and get back with an acceptance or a they-are-not-right-for-the-work response within three weeks.

It is Spring and writing isn't the only thing in the world. But I have gone back to another novel that was bogged down in background. It is now moving along at a nice easy pace. I feel like the fisherman who never catches anything but just enjoys the side of the river and the clouds floating overhead.

Sign on the wall

A sign on the wall behind a co-worker's desk read: Plan your work. Work your plan.


For my novel I had written out a plan for finding it a home. Instead of putting it in the bottom drawer, I'll continue to follow the plan. That means it'll be submitted to more agents.

Like looking for a job, the right fit is more important than a rapid placement.

Agent Responded

The agent responded. I am impressed with the agent's response and disappointed in not capturing her interest. She responded that she was not enthusiastic enough about the work to represent it. I think that is a wonderful response. So often rejections make me feel the problem is innate to the work. She avoids that.

Even so I think this work goes into the drawer. Perhaps I am not yet good enough. It is my first novel. Now is the time for me to focus on becoming a better writer.

Query Sent

The search for a home for my novel continues. Following the agent's guidelines, I sent off a query  with synopsis and the first fifty pages in the body of the email.

Revision completed.

I enjoyed re-reading my action packed adventure of the sea, but revised only minor problems. The agent said too much sea and too little conversation. I failed to see those areas and feel like a beginning author without perspective on his own work, unable to see the most glaring errors even when highlighted.

All input is valuable. For each comment, I try to make changes that solve that problem the best way possible. After a rest, I make the choice between the original and the revision.

Sometimes negative comments point out the different, the new, or the unusual. The best parts receive the most comments, both good and bad. In this case, I think the agent looked for the literary and found an adventure which disappointed her.

Sunshine

Another bright cold February day in Wisconsin. To me this feels like one of the brightest winters I can remember. Somehow  I missed the long, dreary, overcast days that seem to run on forever. We've had cold and snow. And wind. Lots of slicing, cutting, dangerously cold wind.

Writing is just maintaining itself. Although lots of projects have formed in my mind, nothing creative has made the paper or computer screen. I just do not want to go back and look at the weak points of my novel. Revision is needed. Then it should be in the mail to see if I can find it a home.

Sports Guru

I guess my career as sports guru won't go far. My prediction missed wide of the mark for the Super Bowl.

My writing doesn't seem to be going anywhere either. But can't see myself stopping from wild guesses at football games or at giving up writing; I simply enjoy them both.

Superbowl Prediction

My prediction for the Superbowl: A close game going into overtime with a 21-21 tie. Finally the Seahawks will win 24-21.

Covert

More and more I notice interesting words. Covert is one of those. Every time I read or hear that word, covert operations come to mind. Somehow I never think of it as a noun. In an adventure story, the escaping hero found a covert.

Sayings

Looking at a list of some sayings in Spanish and their English translations, I see a couple that struggling writers might enjoy:

1. Where there is desire there is ability.

2. Who runs for pleasure, never tires.

3. From word to deed is a great distance.

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!

Wishing you all the very best in 2015.

Resolutions?  There are many I should make.  I have this habit of looking back each year to see if I kept them. Usually I don't keep them. The main reason isn't that they are too optimistic or unreachable. Changing priorities turn me off one road onto another.

What Resolutions for the New Year?

Starting to review the year for myself. Looking back before deciding  goals always adds a bit of reality.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Writing

My writing has taken a back seat for awhile, but still doing freewrites daily to keep the practice and habit. Five hundred words is my target. Some days it is very difficult to even write five hundred words -- even nonsense. I like to think that those days are the most helpful with keeping the ease of a daily write.

One Great Way to Write Short Stories

ONE GREAT WAY TO WRITE SHORT STORIES by Ben Nyberg shows a way to write a short story.

What interested me is his view on writers. Are writers made or are they born?  Perhaps a little of both. Here are a couple of quotes from that book:

• "...writing a story requires knowing technique. If you don't have that, no amount of heart or mind will make your stories work. If you do, you can write effective, even publishable stories, even if your creative gift isn't huge."
• "...what you are learning is the technical skill to make the most of whatever storytelling gift you have, to write the best stories you can."

Chromebook

I feel I have joined the computer age. Even though I have been using personal computers since my first Apple in 1979, the feeling that the computer age had left me behind overcame me with the purchase of a Chromebook.

Chromebooks are inexpensive laptops that run Chrome OS. They update automatically and are considered virus safe. They run almost everything through the cloud. I'm not really sure what the cloud is but it seems to me to be a virtual server. It is a place where documents and programs can be stored and used.

The Chromebook works well surfing the net. My problem arose when I wanted to print out a page. I couldn't do it. It prints only from the cloud. I may have been able to save the page to a memory chip and physically take it to another computer with a printer attached, but I didn't try that.

Today I started the set up of a home wireless network through a personal hotspot. After several hours yesterday with tech support, I managed to get the hotspot up and some data paid for. Today I connected another computer to it. It was a breeze to do.

Enjoying a post Thanksgiving mellow. The crazy shopping on Red/Green Friday is not for me.

With the last few warm days of the year catching up on the ends of the Fall projects. Writing continues but with less focus and more for fun and for myself. Is that another way of saying that I have realized that being a published author may be beyond my limit? Perhaps it is.

Thanksgiving

As a kid I didn't like turkey, stuffing, cranberry anything, pumpkin pie, mincemeat pie, squash, or sweet potatoes. Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday. For me it meant getting together with the cousins. The weather was warm enough to play outside -- sometimes with snow, often not.

Finished the moving

Finally emptied the storage garage, swept it out, and handed in the keys.

Monday most of my old computers go to the recycle. No longer any room for them and there doesn't seem to any good home for them. Some of them were clunkers that just got the job done. They lacked style, innovation, or mystique. Others like the Bondwell B310 portable from 1990  thrilled with  their design, capacity, blazing speed, portability, and tons of software.

My hoard goes back to my first typewriter, a graduation present from high school. I branched out into computers with the 1979 Apple II plus.

Cold

Not so cold but this year it really feels cold to me. We're somewhere around thirty degrees. Almost done with moving out of the storage garage. I can see all four walls now and have moved everything I'm keeping. Still have to move a couple of cubic yards of trash to the dump, take four or five old computers to the recycle, and donate a large piece of old furniture that had been quite good in its time (1920's or 30's?). Before that I need to take apart the last platform. I'm hoping that today it will be get warm enough for me. But whether it warms or not, after the laundry, I'm taking apart the platform.

Rockhome Garden

170 miles from Chicago, 30 miles from Champaign, IL, Rockhome Gardens is five miles west of Arcola. It is a unique garden with much unusual rockwork that caters to tourists and gives some insight into the 1800's life and the Amish. Throughout the garden are posted many 'amusing Amish Dutch' sayings. A pamphlet, "Rockhome Sayings", records many of them. Here are a few:

Suggested names for garden clubs: "Hoe and Hope", "Weeders Digest", "Plan and Ponder", and "Yard Birds".

There's no fool like an old fool. You just can't beat experience.

Criticism is the one thing most of us think is more blessed to give than to receive.

A smile always adds to your "face value". 

Rule 10

Found in storage a 1965 Elements of Style in which "Use the active voice." is number 10 not 14 as in my 2000 Fourth Edition.

What changed?

Elementary Rules of Usage forms Part I. Part II, Elementary Principles of Composition,  continues the numbering from Part I. Part I had four less rules in 1965. Life just keep getting more complicated.

Mark Twain

Still sorting, tossing, and giving away stuff from the storage garage. I'm about 35% cleared out;  the work left is daunting. Found an old poster with Mark Twain's profile sketch and a paddle wheeler. I hung it by my desk.

Mark Twain:  "I have known a great many troubles but most of them never happened."

Rule # 14

Rule # 14 in The Elements of Style by Strunk and White: "Use the active voice."

What does it take?

I can't resist library book sales or any group's used book sale. Recently I bought FREELANCE WRITING FOR MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS --BREAKING IN WITHOUT SELLING OUT -- BY MARCIA YUDKIN. This is a 1988 copyright.

Checking on Amazon.com you will find Marcia Yudkin has pages of books, many of them recent releases.

The book I bought has lots of good insights and advice for all writers, not just freelance ones.
In the chapter called  'Succeeding as a Writer', she says:
     "I have a short and a long answer to the question what it takes to break
      into print and keep on getting published. Briefly, it takes humility,
      confidence and persistence.  Humility, so that you can accept
      criticism and improve your writing to a professional level and beyond;
      confidence, so you don't crumple at rejection letters as proof of
      stupidity or ineptitude; and persistence, so you keep on sending out
      queries and submissions that eventually result in publications."

Junk

My writing has slipped a little as I try to close out a storage garage. The old and broken holds for me as much fascination as some people hold for the old in perfect condition. An old coin that shows its wear from the thousands of hands that it has passed through is much more interesting to me than the pristine mint proof sets. The stories that a coin could tell.

Each box of old games, broken cups, and the mementos of travel, becomes a treasure chest of memories and fantasies.

Writing Well

Louis L'Amour

 Yondering:

 

 "Yet to write well one must never cease from

  learning, absorbing, observing, and sensing."

Louis L'Amour

Perhaps my favorite author is Louis L'Amour.  In search of broadening my exposure to different types of writing I walked through the large print section of the library. Only the most popular writers make it to large print. If a writer had lots of books, I sampled one. L'Amour had a shelf full.

Those authors I liked I tried some more of their books and tried some of the books in their genre. L'Amour isn't just Westerns but he has written a lot of them. So I also tried Max Brand, Zane Grey, and several others.

L'Amour sounds to me like a name that should be writing romantic westerns and Zane Grey sounds to me like a western action writer. But the opposite seems to be true.

Something kept drawing me back to his books. His books seemed more than just westerns. They seem to handle the issues of young soldiers coming to grips with fear, weapons, and killing. Would they be able to do it? Would they like it too much? What would the gentle folks at home think? Could they possibly understand? Would they notice the change? Would they sense the hardness?

Yondering has a section called 'Author's Tea' that writers will find interesting.

Style

"Style ...is the ability to say in writing, with clarity and economy and grace, precisely what you want to say."
              ---- Lucile Vaughan Payne,  The Lively Art of Writing

Freewrites

For the last couple of weeks sitting down to write has been a chore. Even words for the freewrites didn't come easily. But each day or almost every day I wrote 500 words. Most of them not worth writing and not worth reading. Except there seems to be something in that process that liberates the brain or conditions it. Today six hundred and fifty words came out smooth and easy. Time to start another writing project.

The Elements of Style

About ten years ago, I entered a writing contest sponsored by SouthWest Writers. One of the options was to enter and get a critique. Critiques help me to better see my own work as others see it.

The reviewer added a piece of advice that he had found particularly useful: every year re-read Strunk and White's The Elements of Style.

I have tried to do that. This year I am focusing on five of the Elementary Principles of Composition. For examples, see the book. 

#14 Use the active voice.

 

#15 Put statements in positive form.

 

#16 Use definite, specific, concrete language.

 

#17 Omit useless words.

 

#20  Keep related words together.

 

 



William Zinsser

Thirty-eight years ago William Zinsser wrote On Writing Well. He wrote: "It's a question of using the English language in a way that will achieve the greatest clarity and strength." and "..the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components..."

Rain

I like rainy days. The cool breezes and overcast skies make sleeping-in easy. Less hurry, time for a book and another cup of coffee, and the soft gentleness of the light make rainy days great for reflection. After all, Mother Nature is watering the flowers and doing the yard work today.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU: "The world is but a canvas to our imagination."

GOETHE, FAUST: "A man can stand anything, except a succession of ordinary days."

Agent

What a great experience! At Pima Writer's Workshop in Tucson in May, an agent read the first chapter of my novel that I had sent in. She read it and commented on it, suggesting some re-write. Very helpful for not only did it give outside eyes on my work, but also gave me an insight into the thinking of agents. I was surprised that she zoomed right in on areas that other writers and editors had told me were weak.

Next she surprised me by giving me her card; I could send her the rewrite. Which I did. I had tried to rewrite that part before and never came up with anything that I liked. This time I stayed at it until it was something I liked and completed.

She wasn't thrilled with the rewrite but said, "It grew on her."  And she requested the whole novel.

I couldn't believe it! Wow! And then I waited.

But waiting was great. I made the most of it. "An agent is looking at my novel." A wonderful time.

Then came the email saying thanks and good luck. It was full of reasons why it fell short of her expectations -- all of them good, helpful comments that I can use to make a better story.

Did I feel bad? Not in the least. It was a wonderful, helpful experience that I smile upon every time I think of it. Can you believe an agent read my novel!

What next? I'll re-read the novel with her comments in front of me and do any sprucing or rewriting that I can do quickly. Then I'll seek out another agent.

Time

Mark Twain:  "Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been."

The New Writers Interface

Mary Rosenblum writes science fiction and under Mary Freeman writes mysteries. At her web site www.newwritersinterface.com you can sign up for her informative newsletter.

Another place where you can find many of her articles on the writing craft is
www.longridgewritersgroup.com . These and many by other writers are free and open to the public. I have read most of them many times. For awhile I would pick one a week to read and apply to my writing.

Direction

Still cleaning my desk.

"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving."

 

-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

Chance

"Chance favors the prepared mind."

--- Louis Pasteur

Cleaning up my work area

Post-its, taped newspaper items, and pinned pictures adorn my desk and cover its work area. I'm starting to clear them away to be ready to start again on another novel. Right now working on a variety of short story roughs.

Here are two quotes torn from magazines or newspapers without any other source reference and taped to my desk:

      "The best prize life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

--Theodore Roosevelt

 

 

"To weep is to make less the depth of grief."

-- Shakespeare

Nostalgia

When the roads were like today's back roads with countryside, cows, and curves, long trips were longer. Burma Shaves signs made good diversions.

OLD BURMA SHAVE SIGN

 

Is he lonesome

or just blind

this guy who drives

so close behind?

Burma Shave

Perspective

"W.H. Auden once suggested that to understand your own country you need to have lived in at least two others. One can say something similar for periods of time: to understand your own century you need to come to terms with at least two others."
   ---  from The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Jan Mortimer

Truth

" ' Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' --that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
--- from Ode on a Grecian Urn, Keats

Originality

C.S. Lewis:  "....in literature and art, no man who bothers with originality will ever be original; whereas, if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed."

Failure

C.S. Lewis: "Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement."

What happened?

Kazuo Ishiguro: "As a writer, I'm more interested in what people tell themselves happened rather than what actually happened."

Return to Paradise

The Atoll:  "To say men died in such places, engulfed in disillusion and despair, is merely to point out that on a lonely atoll, as in most cities, good men find loveliness, weak men find evil."
 -- James A. Michener, Return to Paradise, p.19

Imagination

"Imagination is the highest kite one can fly."  -- Lauren Bacall (actress born 1924)

Ideas

Where do writers get their stories?

Most stories have been told before in one way or another. Life and fiction repeat, but that doesn't make them any less interesting. Childhood fairy tales, family legends, classic fables, modern fiction, myths, and the newspapers all repeat stories of things that matter to people.

Any action viewed by several people will be described and reported uniquely by each person depending on what they saw and felt. Each author retells stories in his own way.

quote for today  

"From a little spark may burst a mighty flame." -- Dante

Planning

Planning

    

     In writing what is the role of planning?

    I don't know. Some writers seem to plan everything. They write out a detailed outline before starting. Others just start with a topic or an idea and start writing.
    Usually an idea bounces around in my head for quite awhile, off and on. Then one day I take part of it and try to put it down in words. It is always horrible. Somehow the words on paper do not fit the grand idea in my mind.
    Ambrose in Undaunted Courage writes Eisenhower's favorite saying was: "...in war, before the battle is joined, plans are everything, but once the shooting begins, plans are worthless."
    Perhaps that is also true in writing and life.

Carpe Diem

Seize the Day

Today is all that is allotted to us. There is no guarantee for tomorrow. If there is something you really want to do or write, begin it today.

Erle Stanley Gardner

Public Radio's Writer's Almanac of July 17, 2014 mentions that Erle Stanley Gardner while working as a lawyer wrote at night. They quote him as writing ".....my daily stint of 4,000 words minimum..."

Daily 500

Busy with summer -- home, yard, vacation, and holidays. But still writing my daily 500 -- often just a freewrite putting down anything to get that number of words down but more recently short story roughs.

Back Home

Back Home In Wisconsin

Pima Writers' Workshop in Tucson was wonderful again. Meg Files puts together great workshops. This one at Pima Community College is her 26th one there. Every one that I have attended has been great -- a mix of presentations and exercises, of authors and agents, of poets and novelists, of fiction and non-fiction writers, of children's books and literary books, and of experienced writers and beginners. A great extra is having an author or agent reading part of your work and having a short one-on-one with you. Have your manuscript ready by the beginning of May for that. Plan to attend it around Memorial Day at the end of May.

Each year there are tough choices to make between sessions. You really can't go wrong with your choices. Mine this year included sessions by Colleen J. McElroy, Thomas Cobb, Sarah Cortez, James M. Deem, Mark Doty, Terry Fillipowicz, Dara Hyde, Laura Strachan, Johanna Skibsrud,  Matt Mendez, and Diane Glancy. All were great.

But still I missed other sessions by William Boggess, Nancy Mairs, Bruce Fulton, and a second session with some of ones above. I have no doubt they were equally as good.

One of my favorite parts this year was the evening reading put on by Cortez, Deem, and Glancy.

Pima Writers' Workshop

Just a week before the Pima Writers' Workshop in Tucson. I'm looking forward to it. For encouragement, inspiration, skills development, and a wonderful learning experience, it is tops.

Pima Writers' Workshop 2014

PIMA WRITERS' WORKSHOP

At the end of May in Tucson is the Pima Writers' Workshop. Meg Files puts together every year a wonderful workshop for writers. This year it is May 29 through June 1.

For more information:    www.pima.edu

If you want a manuscript consultation you must register and get your manuscript there by May 15, 2014.  You can register on-line, by mail, in person, or by phone (520-206-6448).

Manuscripts (up to 15 double spaced pages) can be sent by mail or electronically but must be there by May 15.

A re-read

Just sitting here doing a re-read and realized that an important scene is written wrong. Somehow a carefully worked out battle scene isn't right. The orientations of the players couldn't be. The directions are all wrong. How could I make such a mistake? How could I miss it? At least I caught it and can correct it before it is sent out.

Still Editing

Still editing. Working backward through the chapters getting the individual characters into their proper places and doing some minor edits while looking for structural problems. It is clear that I need to do some voice work on the characters. One of the characters is supposed to speak with at least a suggestion of Irish wording and phrasing. That is turning out to be difficult for me.

Still Revising

After line edits and manuscript comments have been received, I am working changes into the novel. They all take time as I am mainly using them to strengthen my writing not just the novel. For each edit, I try to understand the why and develop an ear for hearing it or an eye for catching it.

My files marked RAC tell me the files are revisions after comments. So far most of the line edits repeat themselves. Breaking up blocks of dialogue with descriptive details and identification tags is something I need to do more often. Another frequent error of mine is the use of words like certainly, only, and just. Commas, lack of and too many, are also a problem.

The education continues. Finished chapter 15 and have ten more to go.

Finished

Finished revisions before comment on the complete novel and have sent it off for manuscript and line edits.

RBC

RBC Revised Before Comments

Have now completed RBC files for chapters 1-20. Only five more to go before I send them out for comments.

Word reduction is only part of editing and isn't the most important part but it may be an indication of how well done the edit. I don't really know. I may have been writing better in the later chapters or I may just be getting tired of editing and getting sloppy, but the first 16 chapters averaged about a 12% reduction in words while the next four only averaged around a 2% reduction.

Chapter 16

Just completed the editing for chapter 16.

Editing continues

Finished the revisions-before-comment for chapter twelve. The novel has twenty-five chapters. Also have been working on sets of three chapters to do the revisions. This allows me to do more. Sometimes it doesn't seem to be the time put in on a chapter but the time between looks at it that produces the most polish. With this in mind, I also have started the preliminary views of all the chapters.

It is probably a good idea for me to read again Elements of Style. In 2003, one of the reviewers for the Southwest Writers group suggested that I read it once a year. Good advice but I have been remiss, reading it only about once every three years.

Editing

For a great posting on editing go to www.nettiesramblings.blogspot.com to see Putting Those Pesky Edits to Bed.

Lynette Rees wrote  It Happened One Summer, Return to Winter, A Taste of Honey, and Watching You. She has written numerous articles and an excellent ebook Crafting the Romance Story. You can find out more about her at her blog or at the web site www.lynetterees.com .

The Fourteenth Pass

By the fourteenth pass through a story to edit or revise it, I find it very easy to cut out excess. By that time any love affair with cute phrasing or delicious words has expired or been replaced with hate.

Finished with the revisions before comment on chapters six and seven and getting close to finishing on chapter eight.

Sheer stubbornness keeps me going now as I am convinced that even at my very best, this novel will not make the market place.

Editing

Working on editing the novel. Anxious to get it done. At the rate I have been going I figured it would take me until June to get it finished. Tried doing three chapters at a time. Then worked all the way through every chapter opening up an edit file with the first pass edit. Story flow, repetition of back story, and name changes became easier to spot, but I didn't cut and change as well. 

Now I am putting in more work periods doing a pass of one chapter at each. Working in groups of three chapters to allow more time between passes of the same chapter. I expect at least ten passes and probably a dozen or more for each. It'll take me about the same time to finish one chapter but will finish three in that time. I hope.

Synopsis

Working on a synopsis. Much more difficult than I imagined. Either I get too few words or too many. Up to chapter five for the revisions. Not quite done with five although my word count chain is up to twenty. The last time through I looked for repeated words. One of my weaknesses is to grab hold of a word and use it many many times in a few sentences. Usually I do not notice this and do a special reading just for these repetitions.

Some of the revisions focus on: passive voice, too many words, repeated words, color words, use of senses, advancing the story line, the sound of the words, where I fall asleep on the re-reading, verbs verses adverbs, tense, person, and point of view.

Starting Point

Finished the rough for my first novel and have been diligently working on revising it. Revising teaches me the most. King mentioned in his book on writing that good things started to happen with his work when he started using a revision formula calling for deleting ten percent of the words.

To revise I start with a complete copy. That leaves the original untouched in case I go too far in cutting. Then I revise the copy. Each time through at the bottom of the page I keep a word count. When I get done after a dozen or more times through the chapter, at the bottom is a chain of word counts. At first it is difficult to cut words but my counts show that as I go along it gets easier.

Unlike many people, I had no burning desire to write a novel. No story in mind that I had been turning over in my mind for years. Although I am happy that the novel is done and take pride in having completed it, no amount of revising will make it anything more than a beginning. Right now with a little more research, I will be ready to tell the story, to start writing the novel. After revising all the chapters, will I start on writing it again? Not until it rests for awhile and I walk the ground of the story and ride its waters.

Every morning the creative writing is a short story rough, about one a week. Out of the best, one will be chosen to revise.

Refrigerator Novel

The rough for my refrigerator novel is done. 25 chapters. Four chapters are in final form. It'll take  time to revise the other 21.

Chapter 23 rough is done

Finished the rough for Chapter 23 today! I think Chapter 24 will finish the novel.

Finished 22 today

Rapidly pulling to a finish. Completed the rough for chapter 22 today.

Finished 21 today

Finished the rough for chapter 21 today. Another short chapter but seemed the right spot to end.

Chapter 20

I think chapter 20 closed today. Short, about two thirds of most other chapters, it seems to be at an end spot, but in the morning will decide to leave it and move on or add to it.

Finished 19

Just finished chapter 19 rough today.

Finished 18

The rough for chapter 18 finished today.

Revision

At some point, revision doesn't yield positive results.  Chapter four is as revised as I can get it, probably too much so.

Finished the rough for 16 and halfway through 17.

Halfway through 15

Finished fourteen and halfway through fifteen. Still editing four -- found several parts that need improvement but haven't found the improvement.

Finished the rough for 13

Today finished the rough for chapter 13. Writing a little more each morning and editing for a couple of short sessions each afternoon. Editing chapter four now.

Finished Chapter 11 rough

Finished chapter 11 rough and have moved on to 12. Aiming at 500 words a day -- made almost a thousand today.

Chapter 8

Almost finished with chapter 8 and find myself pushing to finish, rushing the writing. Book length would be about 30 of these chapters. Will take a couple of days off from the novel, but not from writing. For those days will work on a finishing a short story.

Still writing.

The novel continues to progress.

Background

The novel has gotten out of control. I find myself spending all day every day reading background, doing library searches, doing internet searches, checking out a particular point here or there. I go through stacks of books scanning the indexes to find the answer to background questions that I will probably never use. I go to bed thinking about the story and wake up in the middle of night with it on my mind. And I awake with it or some part of it rattling around in my head.

Besides computer files I have started a binder with pictures, notes, and calculations about ships. When I try to get away from it by leaving the house, I find myself at the lake watching sail boats, estimating distances to them, and wondering about the distance to the horizon.

The good rough for chapter one is done. It was about as polished as I could get it, but readers have found areas where improvements can be made. Now that they point it out, it is clear they are right and I wonder how did I let that slip by.

My plan will be to write chapter two up to my best level, then take a break from the story.

Research

The War of 1812 and its naval encounters play an important role in the novel. So I spent a great weekend in Sault Ste. Marie. They had an 1812 encampment and tall ships from that period. The Niagara, the Pride of Baltimore II, and the Lynx represented the sailing ships of that time. The Baltimore Clippers represented privateers and the Niagara represented a great lakes war ship.

Back to the novel

How's the novel coming?

Well, it is coming alone fine. Writing a little on each chapter was good. Among the benefits was to have something specific to write on each day. It also allowed me to pace my writing better. One of my big faults is a tendency to rush the action along. A defined chapter helped me to take the time to develop the story.

Writing on later chapters before the previous ones resulted in a lot of differences that I couldn't fix easily. So I started over. This time in the middle of some action, a much more interesting place.

The novel is coming along fine.

Pima Writers' Workshop

Pima Writers' Workshop 2013 encouraged me, inspired me, and increased my writing skills and understanding.

 

I hope my few notes have given you a hint of how great a learning experience this wonderful workshop can be. Often what I gained can't be crystallized into a few words. And what you gain would be different from what I gain; we each bring different experiences and skills with us and respond uniquely.

You'll just have to experience it yourself.

 

Sometimes my words simply can not capture the insights given by the emotional impact of the presenter's life. Time with Nancy Mairs will change your life. www.nancymairs.com

 

Robert Gover, Tanya Chernov (www.tanyachernov.com), and Debra Gwartney (www.debragwartney.com) also enriched the this year's workshop with their experiences.

 

A lot of writers like to talk to good agents because they are about as hard to find as a deer on the third day of deer season. This year Gordon Warnock, a founding partner of Foreword Literary, stood in the light. (forewordliterary.com)

 

Mark it on your calendar. It is always the Memorial Day weekend in May. Thursday night is the reception; Friday through Sunday, the lectures, readings, and exercises. It is a remarkable opportunity to have a short one-on-one with an author about up to twenty pages of your work. Be advised to have that work done and ready to send by the start of May.

 

As May approaches keep looking for information at www.pima.edu; if you do not find it, email Pima Writers' Workshop Director, Meg Files.  (mfiles@pima.edu)

 

 

Live Through This

DEBRA GWARTNEY   www.debragwartney.com

 

Live Through This is her memoir.

 

I attended her presentation (The Pitfalls of Memoir Writing) on the Friday of Pima Writers' Workshop 2013 and her writing exercise (Using Relevant Detail) on the Sunday morning. Both were excellent.

 

Let me only jot down a couple of things that stand out to me in my notes of these two sessions.

 

Memory changes with time. Its job is to keep us rooted to who we are. We need to ask of each memory: How is this memory taking care of me?

 

In writing keep irresolution and doubt in the air as long as possible.

 

Each scene has to have its own arc --- something has to happen. What did that scene gain for me and what did it lose?

 

Details need to take you somewhere. It is not enough just to have details. When using them involve as many senses as possible.

 

She used a writing exercise demonstrating narrowed perception. She put us in different situations and had us write what we saw. Coming home to someone to tell them good news. Telling them about a car accident. Coming home and finding them doing something you told them not to do. Vague, general details come first and then progress to the specific.

Scratching the Ghost

Scratching the Ghost by Dexter Booth will be coming out in November from Graywolf Press.  (www.amazon.com)

 

On Saturday of Pima Writers' Workshop 2013, his writing exercise, 'From Image to Poem', was great for writers as well as poets.

 

Describe one member of set. Why does that member stand out?

 

Write down any five words in one column. Then write down next to it the images that it brings to your mind. Then write using all the images.

 

Make a list with a body part, an animal, a fruit, an object, plus an image and an action. Write something using them all. Try to work in the size, shape, color, texture of each.

 

Now write something using one shape, color, and absence.

 

These are three methods of making images: set differentiaiton, abstraction, and parameter building.

 

Writing exercises are very dynamic with the participants writing, sometimes reading their work, and always questions are flying. My poor notes don't capture any them adequately.

 

His Sunday morning presentation was: 'From Slam to Crush: An Argument for 21st Century Poetics'. My intent was to attend it, but ended up in the wrong room at another good presentation. Can't see everything, but there are no wrong choices as all the presentations are valuable.

 

Also enjoyed his Saturday night reading. At lunch on Saturday, we  shared a courtyard picnic table. Wonderful experience!

Orlando White

Orlando White  www.orlandowhite.com

 

I only talked with Orlando White for a few moments outside of a classroom before class, but this meeting will stay with me. He is a man of presence.

 

He is the author of Bone Light , a teacher at Dine` College, and a recognized poet. He holds a BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts and an MFA from Brown University.

 

I missed both of his presentations:  'Functional White' and 'Poetics of Misspelling'.  If there were a prize for humor in presentation naming, I think he would win it.

 

I enjoyed his poetry reading on Friday night of the Pima Writers Workshop 2013.

 

The poet W. H. Auden is quoted to the effect that to understand your country, live in a foreign country, better still, live in two. Perhaps because I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay, my wish for Orlando is that he visits Paraguay. Not only Paraguay, but I hope he travels widely in Central and South America especially in Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia. Perhaps even living in one of those countries for awhile. Then I would suggest extended stays in Japan and Indonesia.

Ilie Ruby

Pima Writers' Workshop 2013

 

Saturday afternoon after a heavy lunch and when my eyes wanted sleep, I struggled with Ilie Ruby's writing exercise. She instructed us to go from distant to closer finishing the phrase: "If I loved you, I would tell you this...."

 

After a few minutes she told us to stop. A few students read theirs. Something in that prompt had touched something vital in them. They had written in a few minutes, powerful, emotion filled scenes.

 

Ilie Ruby (www.ilieruby.com) wrote The Salt God's Daughter and The Language of Trees.

 

On Friday morning her excellent presentation was: 'The Voice of Your Book: How to Create a Compelling Narrative Voice in Fiction'.

 

This presentation covered a lot from what voice is and how to distinguish it to how to choose it and use it. She gave solid examples. She had us writing first and other person for the prompt, "On the day everything changed ...."

 

She went from the basic to the advanced, from the theoretical to the practical -- a great presentation with something for all

Malin Alegria Ramirez

Malin Alegria Ramirez  ( www.malinalegria.com )

 

At the Thursday night reception for the Pima Writers' Workshop, Malin Alegria Ramirez read some of her work. She writes for the YA (Young Adult) market.

Writing aimed at teenage girls is not my interest. I had not planned on attending any of her presentations. Her reading was so full of energy and humor that Thursday night I changed my plans.

On Friday she gave a writing exercise: First Kiss -- Cultivating Your Young Adult Voice.
 
Some of my notes on that are:
 

Why do you write? Be clear to yourself why.

 

What drew you into your favorite books?

 

Readers look for strong characters that speak to them. Writers need just to speak to their own truth.

 

Get to know your characters. At first superficially like what they look like. Then take a walk in the park with them until you learn more, like their astrological sign, birth order, fears, schooling, friends, and favorite foods, colors, music, and activities.

 

To starting writers she advises us: to tell everyone you're a writer, reviews (good or bad) aren't too important, enjoy the ride (it's about the journey not the destination),  and turn off the ego.

 

On Saturday afternoon she gave a presentation called: Voz -My Journey as a YA Author.

This was aimed mainly at YA writers and like everything else she did was full of energy, encouragement, and inspiration. She found helpful the Society of YA & Children's Authors. She advised us: to know what we want and to own it; to remember authors are normal people; to remember life is a daring adventure or nothing at all.