Tag Archives: Writing

Authors Reviewing Authors

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Middle Grade Mondays

Authors Reviewing Authors

by Natalie Bright

Writers write and writers read. And most successful writers I know read a lot, which brings me to the question of book reviews.

Should authors be reviewing other authors? The messages are mixed.

Some say no because if you’re going to do a book review, you need to be honest. If you have to give a bad review, why would you want to jeopardize relationships with other authors?  There are professional reviewers who can give honest, unbiased reviews of books. That is their job. The point being, do you want to write novels or post reviews?

The other side argues why wouldn’t you want to help a local author or friend? The gesture will be returned in kind, and everyone wins with the additional promotion. One author told me she only gives blurbs or reviews if she is absolutely blown away by the story and by the writing talent. Most authors post reviews for their friends and the question remains if they’ve taken the time to even read it.

Goodreads

I am beginning to rely on Goodreads more and more. It’s like a humongous book club where everyone loves stories and books, and those that don’t like a book aren’t afraid to say so. I read a lot, and I usually post reviews for stories that I absolutely love. For every book I love there are probably two or three that I couldn’t get past the first chapter, which makes me sad. Does that give me license to trash that author’s work? I don’t think so.

Most certainly eBooks have become an impulse buy and in my opinion, GoodReads offers varied and honest opinions to guide me in my purchases. My eReader is running over and that’s a good thing. It’s a wonderful time to be a book junky.

Subjective Opinions

The shocking realization that publishing is such a highly subjective business and that people are so varied in their personal tastes came to light for me through a contest which is why I’ve learned to take book reviews with a grain of salt. One of my very first middle grade manuscripts was submitted to two different contests with varying results many, many years ago.

The first had a $50 contest fee, and came back with scathing comments. This judge did not like my characters, the setting, with the added notation that this should NEVER be in print even as a manuscript. Seriously, one entire page, single-spaced, of why and how much he detested this story. My investment to learn about story craft came back as hate mail.

The second entry had a $20 fee and won honorable mention! The judge provided solid feedback and even included a copy of her edit checklist sheet. Because of this successful author’s gracious and helpful critique, I kept writing. This particular story is stashed away somewhere, and thank goodness I didn’t obsess over the other contest results too long. Negative energy only distracts me from reaching my goals and stops my writing in its tracks. Don’t let those subjective opinions get you off track to achieving your dreams.

Everything you write makes you an even better writer the next day, week, month, and into years. You’ll be amazed at how your writing changes from just over a months time. Some readers will like your work and some readers may hate it.

Keep writing, keep improving. There are never enough good stories out there, in my opinion.

Thanks for Following our Blog

Good luck and Happy New Years, and thanks to all of you who have followed this blog, WordsmithSix, during the past year. We really appreciate you. Sending out our best wishes that you achieve your writing goals in 2013!

www.nataliebright.com

Goal Setting for Writers

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Goal Setting for Writers

By Natalie Bright

Why Set Goals?

For writers, I think visuals are important. Keeping daily logs on the words you crank out is certainly a necessary target. Other than putting pen to paper, there is so much more to this writing business. And if you want success, you have to take an active part in the entire process. (In a future blog, I’ll talk about ways to measure your progress.)

Be establishing long term goals, you are able to consider the big picture of what you hope to achieve. Will you be working on that same novel five, even ten, years from now?

Goal Setting Worksheet

Our critique group uses a worksheet. Make your goals simple and specific, things that you can actually visualize yourself achieving. Making the New York Times Bestselling list is probably not realistic if you’re a beginning writer.

3 in 24:

Identify 3 times in a 24-hour period to Write.

For example:

1. Wake-up one hour early and write.

2. Skip lunch with coworkers and write only new words on WIP Monday-Thursday.

3. Stay up late at least one hour on Friday, Sat., and Sun. to work on edits or blogs.

Study your list. Can you visualize yourself actually accomplishing these tasks? Can you see yourself with pen in hand or typing at the keyboard at the times and places you’ve chosen? Setting achievable goals equals success.

Realistic Attainable Goals:

Make a list of at least four goals you hope to accomplish within the next year.

Achievable goals would be defined as something you can definitely complete, to measure your progress and give you a sense of accomplishment that your writing career is moving forward. This could be things like writing and polishing an entry for a contest, or completing a submission for an anthology. Be specific; what contest? Don’t know of any? Find one and list it on your goals sheet.

How about a notation to subscribe to a market listing for magazines?  Your goal will be to actively study submission opportunities and submit X number of freelance articles during 2013.

What about your goals in social media and promotion? These are difficult to measure because the connections you make this year may not reap benefits for months, even years from now. I’ve had invitations to speak come from a contacts I made years before at a chance meeting.

You can define specific activities, for example, actively participating on twitter during the next year, setting up a Facebook fan page, or uploading your inspiration to a Pinterest page. Authors are utilizing Pinterest in unique ways and it’s loads of fun.

Dreaming Big

Add to your worksheet one “dream big” goal. List something you hope to achieve that seems totally impossible. Go ahead and put the “NYT Bestselling list” here if that’s what you want more than anything.

I’m excited to announce that my dream big goal from way back in 2010 was realized this past year in 2012: I signed with a literary agent. Don’t be shy or doubt your abilities. Dream away.

Best wishes on reaching your writing goals in 2013, and thanks for following WordsmithSix Blog.

http://www.nataliebright.com

 

TUMBLEWEEDS

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TUMBLEWEEDS

By Sharon Stevens

 

Tonight I watch as tumbleweed after tumbleweed blows across my path. Hundreds, no thousands seemed to tear themselves away from their earthly home desperately seeking a place to grab onto. Sadly they only found themselves buried against barbed wire fences with countless others of their species. The wind continues to howl and moan around me, pounding and pelting me with grit and dirt every which way I turn.

My first thought was that the world was coming to an end, but I knew this wasn’t supposed to happen until Friday. What a relief to realize that until then I am apparently safe. My second thought is that with so much darkness and desperation I would have never been able to live during the “dirty thirties” of Ken Burn’s Dust Bowl days. And I very much doubt that I could have survived as a pioneer woman living in a dugout out on the desolate plains hundreds of miles away from any neighbor.

All other thoughts turned to the tumbleweeds themselves. Several years ago I read a Louis L’Amour story about a lonely widow out on the plains that would tie notes to tumbleweeds just to try to connect to another human being. She never knew if anyone would ever see her notes. It was enough that she could put her thoughts down into something tangible, and send them on their way. “Conagher” found one of these with the writing attached, and looked for more clues to try to find the writer.

So many people predict that books are on their last legs, believing that technology will take their place.  And we are faced with the belief of the Mayans predicting that the world will be destroyed on December 21, 2012. Just like the horrific tragedy in Connecticut there will always be those who seek to drain our dreams and extinguish our passion, destroying our way of life, along with everything we believe in. Personally I prefer to hold in my heart a future that includes all that is wonderful and passionate. My thoughts are that even if we…humankind…blast to eternity in a ball of fire our ashes will remain behind to be reconstituted at a later date. There is no doubt in my mind that the message will still be there, readable and clear for future generations to follow. Like the sweet cockroach in “Wall E” I think that tumbleweeds, as books will survive any holocaust.

As writers we have to write as though our thoughts and desires will continue to survive. If we believed that our stories would never reach outside the ideas we hold in our hearts, or if we fail to find our “spark” as in Natalie Bright’s blog post, then we should never begin in the first place.

So just in case the Mayan’s are correct I want to get my Wordsmith six blog out of this plastic computer box as soon as possible. Hopefully I can get it printed onto a medium even if it is something as simple as copy paper. I hope and pray from the very bottom of my heart and soul all my words can come alive again. I so want to be reassured that it will be there for others to share for the future. At that time, how wonderful would it be if whoever controls the universe, whether it is the Good Lord or any other Higher Power, that He will see fit to rebuild a world with Hanukah as well as Christmas, and tumbleweeds as well as books.

As God and John Wayne are my witness, I know the message will be perfectly clear.

The Gift of Story

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The Gift of Story

by Natalie Bright

Conversations from the Past

“I can’t believe she bought everyone a present,” my mother said, as Dad eased our car out of my grandparent’s driveway.

My father shook his head in agreement. “She’ll be paying for gifts through next summer.”

So began the conversation my parents had every year following our family’s Christmas. My grandmother bought presents for everybody. The gift list included her four kids and their spouses, plus nine grandchildren. She bought and baked goodies for her mail carrier, her beautician, the pastor and his family, and most of the neighbors on her rural country road.

Giving to Others

My parents never understood why my grandmother worked so hard and spent so much money at Christmas. I think she wanted to make special holiday memories for all of us, and more importantly, I think it made her  happy.

How Do You Give?

A lighted tree, decorations hung everywhere, and seeing my children’s faces when they open their gifts makes me happy. It is indeed a thankful time of joy and giving, which got me to thinking how people give in so many different ways.

You might cook a fantastic meal for loved ones, knit or sew, or donate money to a worthy cause. If you don’t have  extra funds, you probably donate your time. Most of you simply show up: at work and at home again, because someone is depending on you to be there. It’s all giving in one way or another and hopefully, you’re happy in doing it.

As for Writers, We Write.

Writers give by writing. It may sound trite compared to some of the things I’ve mentioned above, but it’s not insignificant to us. In reality, as words fill the blank page, we don’t expect anything in return, although with fingers-crossed we sincerely hope that you’ll buy the book, love the story, post a great review and become a devoted fan. That would make us very happy.

With words we bestow our innermost sadness, hurts, happiness, and fears to you, our dear readers, throughout the year. It’s hard work and we rip our guts out for you. The written word is a powerful gift. Words can change your world view, touch your heart in ways you never imagined, make you laugh out loud, or make you cry.

Sometimes, the gift of a story will remain with you your whole life.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everybody!

http://www.nataliebright.com

ADDRESS UNKNOWN

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ADDRESS UNKNOWN

By Sharon Stevens

I was putting the finishing touches on my husband’s Santa coat for his performance as Cowboy Santa for The Hide Out. Earlier in the day I had read the Canyon News article about Gene Vaughn Morrison and Bill Anderson and the musical drama TEXAS. This instantly brought me back to another time and place years ago.

The Canyon High School drama department was performing “Becket” as their one-act play, and Kathy Gist and I were working on the costumes. The art teacher, Charlotte Brantley, had bought all the material and we were sewing the final pieces. I will never forget Gene standing beside me while I hand stitched the final button on his cape for his role as the Bishop.

On the spur of the moment Kathy and I decided to take the opportunity to ride the Greyhound bus to see their performance in Odessa. We got off the bus and caught a cab and gave the cab driver the address of where we needed to go at the college where the one-acts were being performed. This driver meandered through the campus and drove into this entrance and that, taking the scenic tour on our dime. We had no clue where we were going, but we thought he did. He truly knew where he was headed, but was hesitant about getting us there.

When we finally pulled up to the theatre entrance he told us the charge was twenty dollars. In 1971 this was good money, especially for me as I was living on my own, paying all my expenses while working part time at the nursing home. This money represented probably a week’s worth, no maybe a month’s worth of groceries for me. We had no choice. Kathy and I divvied up our dollars and gave it to the cabbie. Even worse than losing so much money was that we were so late we missed the performance, which meant we didn’t get to see all our hard work come to life onstage.

Kathy Gist sat beside me again at the Panhandle Professional Writers Frontiers in Writing Conference as she won Best of Show for her story. The judges stood in front of all of us gathered and excitedly told Kathy to send her story to several different magazines. They even listed the addresses of where to write for writer’s guidelines as well as where to submit her stories. Kathy went on to have this story published with Guidepost Magazine and her award was to attend the Guidepost Short Story conference in New York.

As writers we have so many opportunities to send out our stories. And with the Internet the possibilities are absolutely endless. But we can never forget to research our destination to make sure we go in the right direction. We may think we know EXACTLY where our thoughts need to go, but in all honesty we ourselves are missing the point. This is not saying we shouldn’t stray from our intended path now and again, but it is very important for us to weigh our options before embarking down what appears to be a promising road. At all times we have to be mindful of the correct address in case our bread crumbs are eaten before we can retrace our steps. We can’t expect the post office to deliver our message if we don’t have the write destination. They are not Santa whose only address is the North Pole!

I came across “The 1941 Reader’s Digest 20th Anniversary Anthology” at our Buffalo Bookstore. In it was the most wonderful story called, “ADDRESS UNKNOWN” by Kathleen Kressmann Taylor. The story involves a time before World War II and the rise of Nazi power. This powerful message revolves around both sides of the horror and tragedy of this time, and totally reverses the meaning of the address of the soul.

I will always miss Kathy. She was so kind to me over the last several years with our heritage project in Canyon, and our storytelling at The Fountain on the courthouse square. I don’t have her correct address in Heaven, but I have no doubt this message will be delivered without any problems. I was very careful as I wrote where I thought my words needed to go.

Reasons to Write

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Reasons to Write

Rory C. Keel 

Why do I write? Is it because throngs of fans demand it anticipating every word of my next masterpiece? Is it because I honestly expect to make millions of dollars on a bestseller, or desire to be famous? No.

Over the next few weeks I will share with you a few of the reasons I write.

Reason #1

I write to tell a story. Everyone loves a good story. Children drift off to sleep with their heads cradled gently in downy pillows, and their minds full of colorful images from fairytales. Young adults turn the pages of books filled with adventure, loyalty, and sometimes tragedy. They experience a spectrum of emotions as they learn the meaning of dedication, true love, and even loss. Adults feel alive with the thrill of a great suspense novel. As we grow older, we can gain a sense of who we are, and where we came from by reading of our youthful yesterdays.

For a few brief moments in time, a story affords the reader the opportunity to escape reality. Traveling through time into other dimensions, we can explore the far reaches of the future, or a place in history. A story allows the reader to become someone else, able to triumph over evil, or transform into the bad guy. The words of a story can inspire us to overcome the odds stacked against us, and we can experience the exhilaration of victory.

Everyone has a story–write yours.

Rory C. Keel        

NOVEMBER IS DONE! YOU HAVE A NOVEL! Now What?

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NOVEMBER IS DONE! YOU HAVE A NOVEL!

Now What?

by Natalie Bright

November is done, and what a great month it is for writers: National Novel Writing Month. It’s a thrilling time to be a writer because of the endless opportunities.

Switching Gears

Did you participate this year? I tried, but had to stop mid-way and switch projects because I could not stay focused on the time period at hand. Another character popped into my head and I just had to give her some attention. That’s when the word count flew. I got more done in the last part of the month than I’ve ever thought possible.

Yay for You!

Many of you blogged about or shared your progress on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for that, and cheers to those of you who stuck with the work at hand. It’s so hard to power through that first draft and you should congratulate yourself. Writing an entire book is an amazing accomplishment.

One post, however, gave me pause for concern. The word count was impressive for this author’s NaNo November 2012, and it was followed by a listed publishing date of ‘December 2012’.  My heart hurts for this person.

You want your book out there more than anything in the world. I understand. Don’t do it.  Don’t jeopardize your writing career. That first power draft is not ready for publication. You need to make several more passes through your novel, and I’ve found it’s impossible to analyze these key components at the same time. Each aspect must be looked at separately.

You’re Not Done Yet!

Here’s your editing checklist.

Add sensory elements. The rule is you want at least two to three (or more) senses in every scene. Show me what your character hears, tastes, smells, feels, and can see. And then there’s the whole list of internal senses to consider.

Dialogue. Does the dialogue ring true for each character? Are there plot elements or information the reader needs which can be clarified through dialogue?

Helping Verbs. Best advice I’ve ever had is to search and highlight the word ‘was’. As you power through the first draft, it’s easy to type ‘was’ and keep going. Sometimes when you stop to consider a better word, you might loose the image of that scene. Press on, but always replace those helping verbs with active verbs later.

Chapter Hooks. It’s so important to end each chapter with a hook. Give the reader a reason to keep turning those pages. Make a pass through your novel, reading out loud the first sentence and the last sentence of every chapter.

Critique Groups are next. You need an unbiased opinion from a group or a reader who understand story craft. Even though your mother is proud as punch that you’re holding 60,000 words which you typed all by yourself, she might not be the best one to give you a valuable critique.

Leave it alone. You read this right; shove your baby in a drawer. Go back to your life for a few days, weeks, even months, and then come back to that novel with refreshed eyes.

Grammar check. Read your novel out loud. Not just some parts, the whole thing. Awkward sentences and grammatical errors and strange word substitutions compliments of your computer will be revealed during this pass. Typos are a no brainer–don’t have any.  Also consider over-used clichés, point of view, shifts in verb tense, word echoes, and varied sentence length. No one ever said this writing business is easy. This is hard work people so get back to it.

Finally, publish away!

It took me forever to realize that our creative brains don’t work in a linear manner –1, 2, 3.  I think our subconscious muse is always working on our stories but the images may come in fragments, never in perfect chapter order and sometimes not even on the work in progress. Don’t stress over it. Just make notes of the scene as it comes to you. You can fix everything during the editing process – that’s when the real work begins.

It’s a thrilling time to be a reader. There are so many great stories out there–keep up the good work everybody!

http://www.nataliebright.com

STYLE

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STYLE

By Rory C. Keel

Style is the quality that makes your writing easy to understand and pleasant to read. Style is different from punctuation and grammar which rarely factor in a writer’s style because they are generally standardized. For example, you could write a grammatically correct piece of work using large amounts of passive verbs with few active verbs and have poor style.

Practice

Good writing style is developed with practice. The more you write the better your style gets. Here are a few helpful suggestions to work on:

  1. Save the most interesting or important words for the end of the sentence.
  2. Use parallel structure in your writing. In other words, use consistency in sentence structure.
  3. Avoid echoes. This is a repetition of a word multiple times in a sentence or paragraph.

As you write and revise, your own personal style will develop over time.

 

Libraries: the Future is Now

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Libraries: the Future is Now

by Natalie Bright

Friends of the Cornette Library, WTA&M University, Fall Luncheon featured Gillian McCombs as the keynote speaker. McCombs is Dean and Director of Central University Libraries at Southern Methodist Unviersity in Dallas, soon to be home of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, making Texasthe only state with three presidential libraries.

Card Catalogs

She reminded us about libraries of old. Who remembers the card catalog, with hand-written reference notes on actual index cards? Times have certainly changed and as McCombs points out, “Librarians are doing so much more than saying Shh.”

“Librarians have always believed in open access, and Google certainly unlocked the store,” McCombs says. With an estimated 4.7 billion searches in any given day, we’re a part of a democratization of information. Everybody can contribute as writers and bloggers, and information is readily available. We have the unvalidated Wikipedia, book reviews on Amazon, and we see newspapers struggling to find the best method to deliver their content ‘now’.

The Physical Place

The question asked today is do we need physical libraries?  McCombs believes we do now more than ever. Even with information at our fingertips, students and communities still choose the library. “Think of the library as place,” says McCombs.  ” For most people, #1 place is home, #2 is work, and the library meets the need as #3. A place to go outside of work or home, similar to the coffee houses or pubs.” Cafes and gourmet coffee shops are appearing in libraries all across the country offering internet access and sponsoring community events making them an essential part of neighborhoods.

It’s a New Day

Southern Methodist University library offers mobile apps for students. Have a question? You don’t have to go downstairs and find the librarian. You can send a text.

SMU is also making great strides to digitize special collections making rare documents available on a world wide level. A few to mention is The Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, provides online digital resources related to theology and religious studies. Highlights include images of rare books, Bibles, manuscript codices and fragments. The Underwood Law Library, part of the Dedman School of Law, featuring an online archive of litigation pertaining to the desegregation of Dallas schools.

McCombs reminded us that kids today have not lived in a world without digital access, and to meet their needs many libraries will be conducting continual assessments of who they serve. I for one, am anxious to see how our libraries will evolve for the future.

www.nataliebright.com

BOGGLE

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BOGGLE 

“Gather all the witnesses you can…”
Twilight  Breaking Dawn Part 2
 
By Sharon Stevens
 
Years ago our family used to play a word game called “Boggle”. The object was to shake the box with the letter squares, and then turn over the hourglass timer and to try to make words out of the letters. The more letters you formed into words the more points you gained. To our family this was a fun game, noisy but fun.
 
Isn’t it a wonderful thing that we have a trillion or more words right at our fingertips?
 
If we are writing a story we can pluck thoughts and ideas out of our hearts, our soul, our minds and our very being. We can take these bits and pieces and shape them into anything we choose. Every genre starts with something this simple.
 
Think of this…pick a word, any word and turn it into horror, romance, fiction, non-fiction, laughter, darkness, pain, or joy. See how easy it is to twist and turn groupings of letters into ideas and dreams.
 
At the end right before the credits of Twilight- Breaking Dawn 2 I witnessed certain words highlighted out of Stephanie Myers book. Words like “forever” came to light and it struck me how these same letters could be linked together in so many ways to convey every feeling humanly possible.
 
And this is my Thanksgiving wish for all. I am most thankful that there are so very many ways to turn the alphabet into wonderful memories. Not only that, to know how great it is to be able to read and write and share with the blessings of our American freedom. To me this is the symbol of a true Thanksgiving.
 
One word at a time!