Tag Archives: Writing

MANUSCRIPT BASICS

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MANUSCRIPT BASICS

By Natalie Bright

A friend contacted me this past week with a question about her brother’s book. In a letter from a publisher, the editor requested a “single pane format”. I had never heard of the term. After some discussion, I finally pieced the puzzle together. He had submitted it in book format with two panes per page. Unfortunately, it’s a lengthy work and he has lots of cutting a pasting to do. There is good news–he has an editor willing to take another look!

Manuscripts should follow several simple formatting rules. Please share this blog with your newbie writer friends.

Here are the basic rules for formatting a manuscript to be followed when submitting your work to agents and editors:

Use a 1″ margin on both sides, top and bottom.
Double-space the entire text.
Indent fives spaces for each new paragraph.
Some agents/editors prefer a title page.
Don’t number the title page. Begin numbering with the first page of the text of the book, whether that be an introduction, prologue, or chapter one.
Place a header on each page, top right or left, which includes the following: title of your novel in all caps / your name / page number.
Start each new chapter on its own page, one-third of the way down the page. (control return for Word users)
The chapter number and chapter title should be in all caps, separated by two hyphens: CHAPTER 1—TITLE.
Begin the body of the chapter four to six lines below the chapter title.
Use a standard font, 12-point type. Times New Roman, Arial, or Courier is fine.
Follow me on Twitter: @natNKB

 

 

Uncomplicated

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Outtakes 186

Uncomplicated

by Cait Collins

 

Think back to when you were a kid. You didn’t worry about where you would live, buying groceries, paying bills, or finding a doctor. Your parents took care of those things All you had to do was play and have fun. A child’s life is so uncomplicated until it gets mucked up. With too many activities, to manage, too much pressure to succeed, and not enough time to be just a kid, life becomes a complex maze. . And sometimes this’s the way we write.

Our stories get complicated when we over think and over write the piece. Even though we have a plot line, we know the beginning and the end, and we have an idea of how to go from point a to point z , we’ll still bury the characters in back story, stifle them with orations, and baffle them with details. When the story is completed we have a ton of complicated plots, unnecessary information and complex phrases. The story is tedious, the pace slow, and the characters made of cardboard. What happened? Simply put, we made a simple story complicated.

I don’t spend tons of time researching every detail I think I might need. I cannot force myself to outline each scene and stick to the plan even when the plan is falling apart. I’m a “pantser”. I fly by the seat of my pants, and so do many of my writer friends. Pantsers have character sketches, jotted notes, and maybe a brief time line. We tend to allow our characters to act independently of our control. Believe me when I say some of my best work comes when I let the characters take over and lead me down the road. It may not be the route I had in mind, but often it is better. By stifling the character’s need to play, I complicate the story. Planners, on the other hand, need defined structure to keep the plot moving. Both ways work as long as we discipline ourselves to allow our opposing characteristic to have a say in the process.

There are simple steps we can take to keep the work in our respective voices. Don’t over-do the description. Sorry, but two pages of an ode on the rising sun becomes boring in a narrative. Don’t allow technical jargon to over-power the story. Do permit your character to play. Bored children give birth to mischief and a ruined plot line. Do allow your imagination to blossom. Refuse to force ideas to make the plot follow your directions. Do be prepared for rewrites. Think like a child and act accordingly. A little temper tantrum may be the best thing for the story.

SCENIC DRIVE & WHY I WRITE

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SCENIC DRIVE & WHY I WRITE

By Natalie Bright

The ‘Scenic” ranch road dissects our East Pasture. It takes a fairly steep grade towards the creek bottom, descending next to a tree lined canyon. At the lowest point you drive through a dense thicket of plum bushes, a china berry grove, and wild grape-vines. Towering cottonwood trees, decades old, casts shadows on the peaceful creek beds. The land remains as it was hundreds of years ago when Native Americans camped near the natural springs, leaving flecks of flint. If you take a rest on an uprooted tree, you’ll feel miles away from a modern world.

The Flood

Following a long drought, too much of a glorious rain caused two creeks to converge in the middle of the Scenic Drive road. The force of the water formed a whirlpool that washed out a five foot hole making it impassable. And now, just two years later, we’ve never graded the road to fill the hole and it is barely navigable by four-wheeler.

Our Scenic Drive is now covered in soft sand and cow prints, and if you look really close, tracks from deer, wild turkey, quail, and bobcat too. The steep grade is terraced in uneven ledges, while other places have deep trenches washed out by running water. There is a shadow of evidence that this was once a path for modern vehicles. The mighty forces of nature have a way of erasing human presence.

Finding What to Write

I wish I could take you all on a drive in the four-wheeler along our Scenic Road. Of course I can’t, but I can write about it. This place and these people, both past and present, ignites my brain with ideas.

Helpful friends are always making suggestions as to what I should write. It was pointed out to me at a writer’s conference that kids living in city apartments aren’t interested in reading stories about the Wild West. They can’t relate to such places. Do I create trendy stories based on what seems to be selling in the market, or do I write the stories in my head? By the time we can craft a story on what’s hot, that trend is usually over saturated. The answer, I think, is to write the story that burns inside of you.

Inspiration

Is there a particular place or time period that inspires your work?

Feed that fire in your gut and WRITE ON!

Twitter in the New Year

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Twitter in the New Year

By Natalie Bright

Take a look at this list of names:

Cynthia Leitich-Smith
David Morrell
Christine Taylor-Butler
Elizabeth Hoyt
John Kremer
McDonalds TX Panhandle

Can you tell me what this group has in common?

Give up yet?

All of these people, or place as in the McDonalds, are on Twitter and they followed me back. This is a big deal because they all have way more followers than I do. In all of these cases, I do buy their books, follow their blogs, and repost their tweets, except for McDonalds to which my teenager contributes. I believe that’s how social media works.

It’s not too late to make New Year’s Resolutions is it? I’ve decided to make an effort to be more friendly on Social Media. There’s really no reason to be snooty on Twitter. In my mind, we should all repost and retweet, and more importantly, follow back the people who follows us.

How do you determine who to follow back and who to skip over?

There are local people I know personally who did not follow me back on Twitter. If that’s you, out you go. I’ve had to unfollow a lot of you, so that I can follow back the people who are following me. It just good manners.

In 2015, I promise to be kinder, friendlier, and retweet all things bookish.

You can find Natalie on Twitter @natNKB.

Wedge of Writing

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After all, the world is not a stage—not to me: nor a theatre: nor a show-house of any sort. And art, especially novels, are not little theatres where the reader sits aloft and watches… and sighs, commiserates, condones, and smiles. That’s what you want a book to be: because it leaves you so safe and superior, with your two-dollar ticket to the show. And that’s what my books are NOT and never will be. Whoever reads me will be in the thick of the scrimmage, and if he doesn’t like it—if he wants a safe seat in the audience—let him read someone else.

–D. H. Lawrence

Wedge of Writing

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We love books!

The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man, nothing else that he builds ever lasts, monuments fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet live on. Still young, still as fresh as the day they were written, still telling men’s hearts, of the hearts of men centuries dead.

–Clarence Day

Write on, WordsmithSix friends, write on!

 

Cliché

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Cliché

By Natalie Bright

A worn-out and overused expression to convey a popular thought or idea.

I’ve blogged about cliché phrases before but I just love using them in new and interesting ways. It’s a fun exercise in word usage and can give your brain a real work out.

The cliché I wanted to use in my picture book manuscript was this:

If you love something, set it free; if it comes back, it’s yours. If it doesn’t, it never was.

—Richard Bach

The sentence I used in my story about a sister who gives something of great value to her little brother became this:

Now and then you might find something and keep it, or you can let somebody else love it more.

Types of Cliché

  • Piece of advice or proverb: Quit while you’re ahead.
  • An expression that does not relate to the literal meaning of the word: I am over the moon. (called an idiom)
  • Take a well-known term associated with a character or famous person and make that catchphrase part of your own character: Yabba-dabba-do – Fred Flinstone.
  • Compare one thing with another (simile): He drinks like a fish.
  • Create a metaphor which is a comparison in which one thing is said to be another: She’s a walking dictionary.

More Examples

The ball is in your court.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Think outside the box.

It’s raining cats and dogs.

This is the first day of the rest of your life.

The grass is always greener on the other side.

Bad to the bone.

He’s one in a million.

Like a duck out of water.

The general rule is to avoid cliché phrases like the plague, but as a creative writer you can turn those old, worn out sayings into something fresh and unique. Make it your own and add some color to your stories. Have fun!

 

The People Surrounding You

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The People Surrounding You

Rory C. Keel

For a writing exercise, take a few moments and make a list of your closest friends, relatives, your boss and co-workers.

Choose the person you like the most and the least; the person who has had the most positive and most negative influence on you; the person who has changed the most and the least since you’ve known them; and then write a write a brief paragraph on each of them explaining why you feel this way.

Notice any quirks they may exhibit such as, do they constantly jerk their head back to flip their the hair out of their eyes, or do they run their hand throughout their hair?

Do they chew their food quietly, or smack their lips loudly?

These are the kind of details that add life to your story characters.

roryckeel.com

Wedge of Writing

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Today’s Ponder:

 

what writers can accomplish is pretty amazing!

But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling like dew, upon a thought produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions think.

–Lord Byron


Happy writing and thanks for following WordsmithSix!

Plotting a Story

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Plotting a Story

 

Once upon a time there was: _____________________________________.

Every day, _________________________. (regular world)

One day, ___________________________. (normal world changes)

Because of that, ______________________. (conflict)

Hero/heroine reacts how, ________________________.

Because of that, ______________________. (conflict)

Finally, he/she ___________________________. (resolution)

What does your character want more than anything in the world?

You, as the writer, must do everything you can to prevent them from getting it.

Happy ending or not? You decide.

Happy writing in 2015!

Natalie Bright