SUITCASE

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SUITCASE

by Sharon Stevens

 In the movie, “Hope Springs” written by Vanessa Taylor, I was struck by the scene in the hotel room where Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep were packing to come home from their marriage retreat led by Steve Carell. They were having a very heated exchange as they disagreed on the purpose for coming. In anger Meryl folded her clothes into the new suitcases she had bought specially for the occasion.

What touched me more than anything is that it seemed her clothes were swallowed by the darkness inside that could never be filled. No matter how many clothes she had brought with her they would hardly cover the bottom of the bag.

After they returned home, she and her husband had reached an impasse and she was packing to leave. This time though there wasn’t enough space in her suitcase for all her memories and treasured moments from the marriage. She sat down on her bed and looked around the room at family pictures, the walls, the curtains, the windows, the carpet, and her dresser filled with the silly odds and ends all mothers and wives savor. Her face was terribly sad as she realized the suitcase wouldn’t close,…couldn’t close, with all the things she wanted to tuck inside. How do you choose what you leave behind?

What a wonderful image to explain going from an exciting adventure all the way through to horrific pain and distress.

I loved this movie for so many different reasons. Of course my husband and I saw this from totally different perspectives. I know that even the most perfect marriages have baggage dragging them down.  But what I saw from my side of the bed was thoughts not only about discord in everyone’s life, but about the writer who wrote the story, and the screenwriter who transferred it to the screen. I wondered what they packed in their suitcase to help them write their saga.

I have so much trouble packing my bags for any journey because I know I can’t stuff everything I treasure for the trip. In fact there will never be enough bags in the world, or big enough to handle the volume. And the weight charge would be greater than the national debt.

In “Hope Springs” there were only seconds in these two scenes to impact my psyche to store away in my soul for future reference. Powerful thoughts to help remind me when I get stranded somewhere down the road. I have no idea where, or why, or when these will reconnect, but I am quite sure they will be seen again when I reach my destination. Then I can unzip the bags, empty them onto the bed, unfold my clothes, and then either wear them or put them away.

As writers we sometimes ponder the big picture when our focus should be on the simple scenes in our life. We have a duty to break it down in smaller bags. We can’t pack it all in and expect the reader or the viewer to comprehend our innermost thoughts. I admit I am the world’s worst in trying to stuff every moment inside hoping at least one idea will be understood. I have to work on that not only with everything I write, but everything I say and do.

Terrible habit I have. I’ll work on that.

The most important mission we have as writers is that we need to know when we pen those wonderful scenes straight from the heart that someone out there will be touched enough to remember and relate.

And also we need to be aware that we should weave a story worthy of someday being good enough for our work to appear on the big screen, our words spoken by the greatest Hollywood stars, with direction from A-list directors.

After all, who by far is better than a writer to understand the meaning behind one egg over easy at the beginning of the movie, and TWO eggs cooking in the skillet in the final thoughts?

As I am finishing this, the Mitt Romney and Barack Obama presidential debate is playing in the background. I wonder not only what they packed in their bags to prepare them for their thoughts, but what their wives packed as well. After all, it is the anniversary of Barack and Michelle Obama.

Highlighters, Red Pens, Sticky Notes, and Flags

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Outtakes 62 Release

Highlighters, Red Pens, Sticky Notes, and Flags

By Cait Collins

There comes a time when every writer must step out of the author box and enter the editor arena. As difficult as creating the story might be, editing is, in my opinion, worse. As writers, we tend to become attached to work. We lose sight of the bigger picture. Every scene has special meaning, the characters are our children. Here’s the reality check. Failure to objectively review our stories and make critical edits lessens the chance of publication.

This is my formula for making the final edits on my novel. I print the entire work. Being a dinosaur, I work better with a printed copy than the computer screen. While the printer is cranking out the pages, I gather my supplies: yellow, blue, pink, and green highlighters, red pens, neon colored sticky notes, and sticky flags. I pour a glass of my favorite wine, gather up the pages of my novel, and curl up on the couch to read.

The first read is for the overall story. I highlight areas that might not contribute to the plot or storyline. Sticky notes are attached for research into customs, geology, history, legal issues, etc. Flags denote possible continuity issues such as name spellings, hair or eye color, time line problems. If the work has an awkward time frame or is too long, I will sketch a screenplay and treatment. These instruments help me to see where I can make cuts or adjustments in the novel. They also give me a second product to submit.

The next step is a chapter-by-chapter review of the notes from my critique group. I do not make corrections following each critique meeting. I’ve found I spend too much time editing the completed chapters and less time finishing the work. Once the novel is finished, I have a better idea of the necessary changes based on the notes. After reviewing a chapter, I will make the corrections in the computer work file. Finally, I do a final read for typo’s, grammar and punctuation errors, word echoes, and tense errors. Now I have a completed work ready for submission.

My method may seem tedious, but it works for me. It allows me to view the novel with an objective eye and submit a quality product. The point is that every writer must develop their own system for editing. There are no rights and wrongs. It’s simply a case of applying the seat to the chair and cutting, adjusting, and correcting. After all, editing is just another phase of the creative process.

What’s the Difference?

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What’s the Difference?

Blog

Is there really a difference in a website and a blog? A blog functions as a web log or online diary. Think of it as keeping a journal of Ideas or thoughts on a specific topic online.

Blogs are relatively inexpensive to generate and easy to produce. They are an excellent way to promote your work and yourself to an unlimited audience of readers.

Website

A web site should be considered your official address and location of your web-based business. This is the place people go to purchase products and find official information about you and your writing.

Benefits to the Writer

What are the benefits of blogs and websites to writers? Working together, they can generate worldwide exposure for you and your products. Unlike the past where publicity took months or years, now it can be done in minutes.

Rory C. Keel

MORE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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Middle Grade Mondays

MORE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

By Natalie Bright

At this year’s Oklahoma Writer’s Federation conference in Oklahoma City, I attended a very informative session by C.Hope Clark, blogger and author.

RECOGNIZING OPPORTUNITY

C. Hope Clark [fundsforwriters.com] encouraged us to take advantage of all opportunities. As a writer, you may want to establish brands in various venues. She said, “Become a person who is reachable; become a personality.” Her fundsforwriters blog has around 43,000 weekly visitors, which was not her first goal. She began with the idea of writing mystery novels, and by being receptive to the opportunities around her, she successfully developed an invaluable and popular resource for writers.

POLITCIS AND RELIGION

Social media reaches a world wide audience. If you’re an active blogger and tweeter, most likely you have followers from all socio backgrounds and everyone these days has a political opinion. Besides political leanings, more than likely, you have readers who are atheists, wiccans, Baptists, Methodists, and Catholics. As a personality, trying to sell your book to as many readers as possible, why would you want to offend anyone?

Clark does not want to offend anyone, politics and religion are prohibited topics on her blogs, and any controversial comments are deleted.

BIG, BAD and BOLD

On the other side of the issues, you may want the attention. Clark noted that if you do want to be deluged with controversial comments and the arguments don’t bother you, then you should declare your position loudly. If you’re going to say it, say it loud, say it bad, and say it bold. And don’t be offended at the results.

PASSIONATE ABOUT PLATFORM

Clark reiterated the need for consistency when using social media. The most important place to start is:

  1. blog
  2. twitter

The second next most important thing you can do is to include your full name in comments on other people’s blog. Remember why we’re doing this in the first place; “don’t rush the book”, she said. As we’re writing the best possible book ever, we can be quietly and consistently building our platform.

Ms. Clark said, “Don’t just be a writer like every other person that’s out there. Recognize opportunity when it knocks on the door.”

Natalie Bright

www.nataliebright.com

The Empty Room

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

The Empty Room

I stand here in this room listening for any sounds at all.  Nothing.  Dead silence.  I do hear echoes from past rants and raves, parties, fun, news casts, but all is quiet now.

The room is dark, but a little light comes in from the hallway where there are thousands of lesser doors.  The bit of light sneaking in behind me shows confetti, glitter, tissues, and even candy lying on the floor as a reminder of the phantom cheers and cries of the characters that are normally here.  There is a table near the podium in the corner covered with sheets of paper that contain words—happy words and lonely words, funny words and mad words, velvet words and loud words.

Where are the characters that inhabit this room?  There was someone in here not long ago, but they are all gone now and the silence is deafening.

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

Nandy Ekle

FISHHEADS

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FISHHEADS

by Sharon Stevens

 At critique group the other night I presented a story. The first part was good and the second part was good. Somewhere between the beginning and the end the connection was lost. My group couldn’t make the leap across the great divide I had created. They said I needed to cut off the fish head and use it in another story.

I believed in my thoughts, but even I could see where I missed the mark. This story would be understood by my target audience, but I wanted to reach so many more than just those who had a bull’s eye on their heart.

So back to the drawing board I went. I copied and pasted, revised and restored over and over again. I took myself out of the equation and found a way to link the first paragraph to the last sentence. I totally focused my direction to the best of my abilities. And believe me this is a very hard task.

When I read my words out loud as I started to rework the piece I was well aware of the message I wanted to convey, and knew it was IN the body of my work. I believed in myself and what I wanted to share very deeply. But if I couldn’t change it enough to make it readable the whole experience would be lost. You can take as many creative writing classes as you want and read as many books on writing as well. But at some point in time you have to get down to business, and just as importantly you also have to pay attention to the advice of those around you.

A critique group is valuable on so many levels. One, is that they understand you. Each story is unique, but the writer’s signature is the same whether writing of the horror persuasion or historical romance. Critique won’t change how you write the story, but instead will help to strengthen and clarify whatever is being written. Again, they know you, and your difficulties, but guide you past these roadblocks.

I thank my Wordsmith Six group for all they have done for me and my writing career. They helped me to believe in myself and stand beside my writing. But to see it through the eyes of others is priceless. I know that if anything is ever published that my group will have seen the foibles and problems and help me fix it before it goes out into the deep blue sea, fish heads and all.

Sharon Stevens

I Believe

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Outtakes 61

I Believe

I love television and the movies. I’m a big fan of drama, but sometimes I just can’t believe some of the scenarios. For example, many veteran police officers state they’ve never drawn their weapons. Yet nearly every cop show has the lead characters drawing their guns before they identify themselves. How about the doctor and nurse who make goo-goo eyes at each other across the gurney as they rush a critical patient into the emergency room? As soon as the patient is stable, they dash off to the nearest empty exam room for a little R&R.

Then there’s the court room. I loved the way Jack McCoy (Law and Order) would badger a witness until the poor fool fell apart. He’d twist words, made inspired observations and judgments in an effort to trip up the witness. Now I’ve served on civil juries, criminal trials, and municipal procedures and never witnessed such actions. In fact if we were to follow policemen, doctors, and court proceedings, we would describe their normal activities as Boring. There’s a lot of hurry up and wait in these professions. It’s no wonder writers jazz it up a bit. If we were true to the jobs, no one would tune in to the television show, buy the movie ticket, or buy the book.

Getting the reader to suspend disbelief is a challenge. It requires the writer to first convince himself that it could happen. Then he must make the viewer or reader believe it. Careful crafting of the characters goes a long way to making the never happen believable. If we identify with the sheriff, if we can feel his concern for the victim, then we will buy the drawn weapon. A sleazy defense attorney makes us root for the victim and the victim’s family. A tired, overburdened ER doctor just might seek some comfort after trying to save a child injured in an auto accident, only to lose the battle. By focusing on the character’s motivation and both the sterling qualities and the less than admiral characteristics, the writer creates dramatic scenes that allow us to overlook the unrealistic and become involved in the story and the action. Every writer must develop this skill.

As for me, I’ll tune in to CSI New York and watch Mac’s team solve the crime in an hour even though I know it really takes weeks to get test results back. Then I’ll catch a rerun of Law and Order just to hear Lenny Briscoe’s wise cracks and watch his violations of civil rights. After that, I’ll put my feet up and accept the courtroom performances of the gangster’s lawyers as they lie, steal, bribe, and murder their way to an acquittal. I’ll enjoy every minute of it because, maybe, just maybe, it could happen that way.

Cait Collins

Thesaurus – No, it’s not a dinosaur!

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Thesaurus – No, it’s not a dinosaur! 

Although it sounds like an animal from the Jurassic age, a Thesaurus is a book that lists words in groups of synonyms and related concepts. The book we know as a Thesaurus, gets it’s name from the Greek word thēsauros, which means “storehouse, treasure.”

A Thesaurus is often one of the most undervalued books in a writer’s library of tools. To communicate with our audience of readers, we need to use any legitimate aid to help improve our literary product.

Compile related terms

Compile a list of words that relate to your subject or theme before you begin writing. This will give you a good start and help prevent writers block.

Access words that move

You can also access slang items, Colloquialisms, foreign phrases that may move your writing along.

Use appropriate words

When using a Thesaurus, Slow down. Read the entire list of words slowly and out loud, replacing them one-by-one in your sentences. By doing this, you are more likely to pick the most appropriate word for your writing.

Rory C. Keel

GOOD NEWS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

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Middle Grade Mondays

GOOD NEWS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

By Natalie Bright

The Oklahoma Writer’s Federation Inc [owfi.org] sponsors a conference the first weekend of May every year, offering informative sessions for writers of all levels. Around 300+ people attended the conference in Oklahoma City this year. They also offered a contest with opportunity for cash prizes and helpful critiques.

My middle grade western took 2nd Place in this year’s OWFI Contest! The aggravating news is that I had a typo. On my manuscript I had the date 1887 and on my synopsis I had 1897. How many times did I read over that submission? It doesn’t matter how many times, obviously it wasn’t enough times.

The sessions were excellent and as always, I come back home armed with something new about story craft and inspired to work.

Update on SOCIAL MEDIA

The social media panel at OWFI 2012 this year included C. Hope Clark, Jan Nipps, Lela Davidson, and Adrian Carenza with a wonderful job moderating done by Amy Shojai.  Each of these writers have impressive numbers of blog fans and they shared some interesting, insightful facts about social media.

The most amazing aspect about social media, as pointed out by Clark, is that ten years ago authors didn’t have this medium to promote their work.  All agreed that it’s an exciting time to be a writer.

General Rule

The main misconception is clarified; it’s not about “me, me, me”.

The general rule is to use 1/3 of your posts on links to interesting articles, blogs, or things you’ve discovered (these can be automated), 1/3 can be retweets, as in do unto others and help them with promotion of their books or blogs, and 1/3 should be real-time conversation. Sprinkled within that mix would be posts about you and your work. The reader wants a “take-away”. Don’t waste a reader’s time with what’s in your crock-pot unless you include the recipe.

Sure, social media offers amazing and low cost opportunities to promote yourself and your work, but you don’t want to bash in everyone’s head with a hard sell of you. Be gentle, be kind, be aware of what you’re putting out there for potentially millions of people to see, FOREVER.

How to Offend

Each of the panelists were adamant on one point: they do not talk politics or religion. Everyone has an opinion today, and some topics definitely push people’s buttons and emotions run very high.

As authors, we’re trying to sell a body of work and create a fan base. We hope that people will buy our books or read our articles again and again for many years to come. In the world wide access of social media, you might have followers that are atheists, Wiccans, Baptists and you probably have followers that side with the Left, or the Right, or feel neutral on anything relating to politics.  Why would you want to create negative or hurtful feelings in your potential readers? Why would you want to offend anyone?

The exception would be if you have a political or religious blog. Then yes, you want to push buttons. You want to have those heated discussions with people who feel strongly enough to post comments.  Use your best judgment and consider that the ideal place to air your opinions for sensitive topics may not be your blog or Facebook or through snarky Tweets.

Design It for Your Target Audience

Design your social media promotion efforts based on your interests. Of note, Pinterest has become the second highest referral after Google and topped Twitter for outgoing links. All panelists agreed that at the very minimum you should start with a blog and twitter, but be consistent. The second best way to get involved is to leave intelligent comments on other people’s blog and leave your name in the comments.

Think about using Goodreads to connect with readers who enjoy the same genre you do. As an author, you can set-up boards on Pinterest to showcase your book covers, pictures of hobbies, and locations of settings relating to scenes in  your book.

THE BOOK OF THE FUTURE

I think the best comment came from Lela Davidson [leladavisdon.com], who reminded us that in today’s publishing environment having a book is not the be all, end all of a writing career, because who knows what the “book” is going to be in the future. A writing career today encompasses so much more. She encouraged us to be receptive to all forms of social media and pointed out that a directed, planned approach is the most effective in the long term.

It’s All Good

Authors were never able to reach the numbers of people we can today. Take advantage of all opportunities and become a person who is reachable. Know your target audience and connect with the people who will want to buy your books.

Natalie Bright

http://www.nataliebright.com

The Promise

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

The Promise

He stood in front of me with a sad look on his blotchy teenaged face. He didn’t speak at all, but I could see in his eyes he had plenty to say. I held his hand and promised that I would get his idea out to the world; in return, he allowed me to torture him.

I wrote my new character’s story. The point of view was unconventional but effective. His words were deeply ingrained in the sequence of events I put him through. Happy with the outcome, I allowed my character to rest from his troubles and pushed the “submit” button. What came back to me was a disappointment. THEY didn’t want the story of my thwarted young man. His story didn’t fit their needs.

I immediately felt a stinging in my eyes. I had made a bargain: his promise to allow me to put him through the fire and my promise to get him to the public.

I opened my computer browser, did a search and found another public place to send my story.

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

Nandy Ekle

 

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