Category Archives: Writing

One Last Read

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Outtakes 158

 

One Last Read

By Cait Collins

 

My memoir, First Love; Forever Love is almost ready to go to my beta readers. While my critique group has read every chapter, the beta readers will read the entire work. These three ladies are as important as the critique group. And for that reason, I choose them carefully. They must be objective. I can’t afford readers who pat me on the head and tell me how wonderful I am. I need someone who will be honest and respectful in their reviews. Telling me where I’ve made mistakes is vital to presenting a finished product to agents and editors.

A final reader can more easily catch errors in the continuity. The hero may have brown eyes in chapter one, and blue eyes in chapter five. These inconsistencies are not as noticeable when critiquing individual chapters. However, when read as a complete work, they prompt a red flag.

When the work is read cover to cover, the reader can better judge the flow of the story. They can pick up on the pacing. Is chapter two slower and heavier than the other chapters? Are there too many short, choppy sentences, or are prepositional phrases over used?

Finally, does the story progress to a logical conclusion? Are scenes contrived to create the intended climax and end? Does author intervention skew the story line and ending?

A good beta reader may not fully understand why a scene doesn’t work; she just knows it is not right. By honestly conveying her unease, the author has a chance to take an objective look at the scene, and rework the chapter. With the beta readers’ final critique, the writer makes a last rewrite prior to writing the synopsis and the query letter.

The author’s final read is his assessment of his writing and the quality of the project. His reading must be just as objective as the critique group and beta readers’ perspectives. He must decide if the story is as good as he can make it. He must resist the temptation to over-write and as a result damage the project. Like a parent, the writer must now give wings to his creation. He must submit the work and move on to the next project.

Abracadabra

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

 

Abracadabra

By Nandy Ekle

And now for a bit of magic. If you watch close, you’ll see it happen before your very eyes. So pay attention, don’t talk, no breathing or blinking. Ready?

I’m going to take this blank page and paint a picture using only my imagination.

We start with a pure white screen. Notice, no hint of color anywhere. Suddenly, a frisky yellow ball appears at the top of the page. Besides the bright contrast of color on the white page, you also notice the temperature around you is going up. The warmth is friendly and comforting.

You are also beginning to notice the smells of hundreds of roses. As you breathe in the distinct smell, you can see the reds, pinks, yellows, whites, and even some exotic rose colors such as blue and purple. You walk closer to a bush standing almost directly under the sun and reach out to touch a velvety petal. That’s when you feel a sharp pain in your fingertip. You didn’t realize I put thorns on my rose bushes, did you. No matter. They aren’t poisonous.

But how about the bee hiding in the center of the flower?

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

 

 

 

 

Good Reads

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Outtakes 157

Release 7-9-2014

 

Good Reads

By Cait Collins

 

Some authors have a unique ability to create a series of books based on a core group of characters in magical locations. The characters are something very special. They are people who have made their mistakes, dealt with the fallout, and moved on with renewed strength and purpose. In some instances, they are the people who have been given a bad hand and turned the nightmares into good productive lives. The skilled hand of the writer keeps these people from becoming cardboard characters.

Robyn Carr, Sharon Sala, Jodi Thomas, Carla Neggers, Julie Garwood, and Nora Roberts are among my favorite series creators. These women write women’s fiction or romance, but the style and genre are different.

For example, Robyn Carr writes contemporary stores set in small towns. Her Virgin River series is comprised of 18 novels set in Virgin River in the mountains of northern California. The people are what my grandmother would have called the salt-of-the-earth. Even the poorest lend a hand in times of crisis. Everyone pulls together. The stories move seamlessly from beginning to end. Her newer series set in Thunder Point on the Oregon coast, begins with a visitor to Virgin River who travels to Thunder Point to check up on an old friend. Again there is an easy flow from one setting to the next. I recommend both series.

Sharon Sala’s work takes a darker turn into the romantic suspense side. While there is a love story, the romance never overshadows the search for the criminal element terrorizing the town. Her stories are set in the mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky. After reading the first novel in Rebel Ridge series, the Searchers and Storm Front, I anticipated the release of the next book. Her novels are great reads.

Jodi Thomas is not only a favorite author; she is a teacher and a mentor. She’s been a friend to many writers in the Texas Panhandle. Jodi writes both historical and contemporary novels. Her historical works are based on the settling of Texas. The Whispering Mountain series was my introduction to her writing. Then she released her first mainstream novel THE WIDOWS OF WICHITA COUNTY. The story of a group of women whose husbands were killed in an oil field accident was so well researched and told. Jodi keeps a tight hold on the identity of the lone survivor of the accident. This is one novel I would love to see on the big screen.

In future Outtakes we will explore Carla Neggers, Julie Garwood, and Nora Roberts. But if you are looking for good summer reads, may I recommend Robyn Carr’s Thunder Point Series, Sharon Sala’s The Searchers Series, and the Whispering Mountain Series by Jodi Thomas.

Submission Format

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Submission Format

By Rory C. Keel

 

When writing a novel or even short works, you will need to format your work.

There are many different format styles. When submitting your work, make a diligent effort to understand and follow any specific guidelines regarding formatting requests.

Below is a good standard format that will be accepted by most editors, agents, and publishers in the industry.

Page Information

  • Margins — 1.5 inches all the way around
  • Font — Courier, Courier New, or other clean monospace serif font from 10-12 pt.
  • Line spacing — Double-space
  • Paragraph indent — first line, 5 pt.
  • Header — right justified, contains the following information: Last name/ TITLE/ page#

A header does not belong on the cover page. Start headers on page one of the actual manuscript.

Cover page — depends on whether you’re agented or not.

      Unagented:

  • Contact information — Name and address, phone number and e-mail address in the top left corner of the page, single spaced, left-justified
  • Title — centered, just above the middle of the page
  • by — centered and one double-spaced line beneath the title
  • Name or pen name — centered and one double-spaced line beneath the word by
  • Word count — centered and rounded to the nearest thousand, one double-spaced line beneath your name or pen name

     Agented:

  • Title — centered, just above the middle of the page
  • by — centered and one double-spaced line beneath the title
  • Name or pen name — centered and one double-spaced line beneath the word by
  • Word count — centered and rounded to the nearest thousand, one double-spaced line beneath your name or pen name
  • Agent’s contact information — Name, business name, mailing address, phone number (e-mail address if you have the agent’s okay first), left justified, single spaced, bottom of the page

First page

Header — should be in the upper right-hand corner of the page, and page number should be 1.

  • Chapter header — can be anywhere from one to six double-spaced lines down from the top of the page, and can be centered or left justified. You can title your chapters, or just write Chapter One or Chapter 1.
  • Body text — drop down two double-spaced lines to begin your story.
  • Scene breaks — drop down two double-spaced lines, insert and center the # character, drop down two more double-spaced lines, and begin your new scene.

Subsequent chapters — start each chapter on a fresh page. Keep chapter formatting and titling consistent with your first chapter.

Happy submitting,

Roryckeel.com

 

Quotes on Writing

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Quotes on Writing

By Natalie Bright

You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
–JACK LONDON

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.
–THOMAS JEFFERSON

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
–W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM

Tears are words that need to be written.
–PAULA COELHO

Easy reading is damn hard writing.
–NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

Nataliebright.com

Take Your Vitamins

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

 

Take Your Vitamins

By Nandy Ekle

I believe in taking vitamins. I’ve taken tons of vitamins of all letters for lots of years and they have kept my body healthy.

But I’ve ben running low on vitamin “w” for a while. So I pulled out a certain book and began re-reading it. Sure enough, I found my spirit and inspiration returning.

So, what is that certain book, the one full of the vitamin I crave? It’s the book, On Writing, by Stephen King.

My admiration for Mr. King is no secret. In fact, I dream of actually being considered his peer some day. But in order for that to happen I have to write more than am right now. I have the desire, I have the stories, I think I even have a slight touch of the talent. The only thing I’m lacking is the energy. And this probably because of a lack of exercise, due to my extremely low levels of vitamin w.

And so, I turn to Mr. King to recharge me. And, of course, no one can ever read On Writing and NOT feel inspired to suddenly sit down and write a thousand page novel or two. Now that my w levels have returned to normal, I will begin to exercise—tomorrow.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

 

One Word

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Outtakes 156

One Word
By Cait Collins

Have you ever considered how many different sentences you can write around one word? For some unknown reason, I got to thinking about maple syrup and I started considering possibilities..

Maple syrup is derived from sap tapped from sugar maples.

Sap is the life blood of the tree. Like human blood, sap carries nutrients throughout the         plant.

A young tree not over four inches in diameter at chest height is a sapling.

Kids are sometimes referred to as saplings.

Amber is not a stone; it’s tree sap or fossil resin. At times, the sap would encase an insect, trapping it forever in the hardened resin.

Pitch is often a medicinal resin (sap) obtained from various conifers.

Heat saps my strength.

My computer battery life is sapped by prolonged usage.

That poor sap never stood a chance against a woman’s wiles.

What a sap!

The neighborhood kids’ antics are sapping my creative juices.

One base word is a noun and a verb depending on the way it is used in the sentence. There are many words in our language with multiple meanings. Taking the time to explore words not only increases a writer’s vocabulary, it provides opportunities to be more creative in your writing. Words are a game. Enjoy.

 

Cliché

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Cliché

Natalie Bright

 

Tired, worn out cliché’s that we see over and over can be made new again. An overused expression or idea can become unique by reviving it with your own personal style.

Pretty as a picture.

You say: Pretty as a _______________.

Dig deeper: Pretty as a flower. What kind of flower? What color? Size? Shape?

The red roan filly was as pretty as a bed of wildflowers and about as hard to tame.

Writing Exercise

Peaches and cream complexion.

In a wink of an eye.

Green-eyed monster.

Like the pot calling the kettle black.

Fell flat on his face.

Eyes in the back of her head.

Chip off the old block.

Time will tell.

As bright as a new penny.

Knee high to a grasshopper.

 

The Birth of a Muse

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

 

The Birth of a Muse

By Nandy Ekle

 

Once upon a time a little girl played with a thing called a glass thermometer. This was not a toy and she knew better to play with it because it could break and get glass everywhere. When she didn’t feel good her mother would put it under her tongue or in her armpit to see of she was sick. So if she broke it, her mother would have no way of knowing if she or her brother got sick.

But it was a very interesting thing. It was a glass tube with a bulb on the end that went in her mouth. The bulb had a bunch of silver stuff in it that would go up in the tube after it stayed in her mouth for a while. Her mom had shown her what it looked like and she thought it was pretty.

So on this day, her mother was busy cooking supper and her brother was asleep. She couldn’t think of anything at all to do so she just walked around the house looking at the ceiling in a mirror, pretending the ceiling was the floor and trying to walk from one room to the next without bumping into anything. As she walked by the open bathroom door she thought she saw the sparkle of something shiny. She turned on the light, proud that she was finally big enough to reach it by herself.

There on the counter was the glass thermometer. The little girl picked it up and tried to see if any of the silver stuff was up in the tube. It wasn’t, so she put it in her mouth, under her tongue just like her mother always made her do. She stood there for about two hours, then took it out of her mouth and checked to see if the silver had moved any. It hadn’t. So she did the next thing her mother always did, she started shaking it to make sure all the silver stuff was in the bulb.

And that’s when it happened. The thermometer flew out of her hand and hit the floor.

“Oh no,” she said. She knelt down on the floor carefully so she wouldn’t get stuck in and began picking up all the little pieces of glass. After dropping the shards in the trash can she noticed little silver balls on the floor. The looked like the silver beads on her mother’s favorite necklace. She knew she hadn’t played with Mom’s necklace, but she wanted to pick up the beads so Mom could fix her necklace.

She tried to pick one up but it rolled away. She tried again and the little ball split into two balls. She could see the little balls, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not put her finger on one.

Years later, after she grew up and discovered how fun it was to write stories, she realized that the little silver balls she could never quite pick up that day so long ago, each one was a new muse.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

 

 

Who Am I?

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Outtakes 155

 

Who Am I?

By Cait Collins

 

How well do you know your characters? Are they living, breathing people or a piece of cardboard? Do they dare to argue with you? Do you converse with them? If not, why not? Some of my best scenes were the result of a frank conversation with the protagonist.

Some of the best advice I’ve received regarding character development came from Pulitzer Prize winning author, Michael Cunningham. He assigned our creative writing seminar group to make a list of 20 physical characteristics of our protagonist. The basics were easy: tall, brown hair, blue eyes, medium build. But that’s not enough. Your list must be more descriptive. How tall; six foot or six foot four? His hair is what shade of brown? Are the eyes Paul Newman blue?

Use your senses in creating the list. “The scent of apple wood tobacco clings to his tweed jacket” creates a more vivid image than “he smokes a pipe.” She spoke with a faint Irish brogue not only describes the speaking voice, it also tells her birth origin. He had piano player’s hands indicates long, slender, manicured fingers.

When your list is complete, write the opening paragraph of your story using a minimum of six of the physical characteristics. Read the paragraph aloud. What do you know about the hero that you didn’t know before you made the list?

This suggestion is my addition to Michael’s list. Once the physical is established and we can visualize the character, let’s add his emotional attributes. Make a list of ten emotional attributes. Remember heroes are flawed human beings Do not try to make him perfect. He will not thank you. Now rewrite the paragraph using three of the emotional characteristics. Read the paragraph aloud. Is the character balanced? .How does he deal with his flaws. Are the two of you in communication with one another? If not, rewrite the paragraph.

Taking the time to define your characters before beginning the work creates a better relationship between the characters and the writer. It allows you to anticipate his reactions to situations and better craft the scenes. The more you know about each main actor in the story, the more believable the work.