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.