Talking too much, not listening enough

     Have you ever had a conversation and immediately regretted everything you said, and wished you could go back and start the whole conversation over?  That happened to me last weekend.  I met a nice old couple, and we were introducing ourselves to each other, and I mentioned that I was a writer.  They said that they were writers, as well, and asked me about my work.

     Now, let me preface this next part with the fact that I don't get out much.  I'm like a stay-at-home mom.  I don't get to interact a lot with adults, so I get a little over-zealous when I actually get to have an intelligent conversation, especially when it's about writing because there aren't a lot of writers in the world.

     So, back to my little encounter.

     I was so excited about talking about what I do, I vomited all sorts of "me" info all over this nice old couple.  Now, I'm by no measure an accomplished author.  In other words, I don't have a lot to brag about.  I wouldn't say I was trying to brag, but I was so excited to talk about what I've been trying to do, that I kind of just took over the whole conversation.  At any rate, we had to do some stuff, and weren't able to talk again for a while after I just spewed my life story to this nice, long-suffering old couple.

     When we got done with our meeting, I came to my senses, a bit, and asked them what they wrote.  This nice old couple were George D. Durrant and Susan Easton Black.  Mr. Durrant was a BYU college professor, and has published over 50 books.  Mrs. Black was also a BYU college professor who has published over 20 books.

     I missed a huge opportunity.  Here were two well established, knowledgeable authors who could have told me all sorts of useful wisdom, and I talked about me...  I can't tell you how dumb I feel.

     First of all, I'm embarrassed that I've become a "Me Monster" as Brian Regan calls it.

     And second, I missed a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn something from people who actually know.

     So this week, for Thursday Truths Day, I have a humbled man's word of advice:  Listen first, then speak, and then listen again.  

Quotes from the greats

     I wanted to share a few quotes from some of the greatest writers out there.

    "I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide." -- Harper Lee

     "You can't wait for inspiration.  you have to go after it with a club." -- Jack London

     "Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand." -- George Orwell

     "There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." -- W. Somerset Maugham

     "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time - or the tools - to write. Simple as that." -- Stephen King

     "Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong." -- Neil Gaiman

     "Imagine that you are dying. If you had a terminal disease would you finish this book? Why not? The thing that annoys this 10-weeks-to-live self is the thing that is wrong with the book.  So change it. Stop arguing with yourself. Change it. See? Easy. And no one had to die." -- Anne Enright

     "Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." -- Mark Twain

Henry Ford

     "Whether you think you can or can't... You're right."  Henry Ford.

     Among his many other incredible life achievements, Henry Ford was an author.  He didn't invent the automobile, nor the assembly line, but he saw the two and meshed them together to create an automobile most families could afford.  By industrializing assembly lines, he could pay employees more, and charge less for the finished product all while amassing a fat pocketbook.  He became a person of global interest, and wrote about his life in My Life and Work.  He was also a pacifist, and used his world fame to speak his mind about WWI.  Some of his work (The International Jew) was ill-received, and probably rightfully so, but he wrote his mind.  His work is standard reading in most business schools today.

     We all have the chance to be a "Henry Ford", but imagine what the world would be like if Ford had given in to that negative voice which plagues us all at one point or another saying, "You can't do that because..."?  How many other incredible ideas, inventions, etc. has the world been robbed of because of the, "I can't's"?  Are you a Henry Ford, or just another person who will only accomplish a small percentage of their dreams.  

     Whether you think you can or you can't you're right.  Push for what you want.  Don't let your hopeful inner child die because of the "real world".

Self-Motivating

     I got this from Top achievement.  It's a good site to visit if you need a pick-me-up, or direction in life.  It's not author-specific, just motivation for life.

No one can motivate anyone to do anything. All a person can do for another is

provide them with incentives to motivate themselves. Here are ten very effective

strategies to help you get up and get moving toward actualizing your enormous,

untapped potential.

* Be willing to leave your comfort zone. The greatest barrier to achieving your

potential is your comfort zone. Great things happen when you make friends with your discomfort zone.

* Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Wisdom helps us avoid making mistakes and comes from making a million of them.

* Don’t indulge in self-limiting thinking. Think empowering, expansive thoughts.

*Choose to be happy. Happy people are easily motivated. Happiness is your

birthright so don’t settle for anything else.

* Spend at least one hour a day in self-development. Read good books or listen to inspiring tapes. Driving to and from work provides an excellent opportunity to listen to self-improvement tapes.

* Train yourself to finish what you start. So many of us become scattered as we

try to accomplish a task. Finish one task before you begin another.

* Live fully in the present moment. When you live in the past or the future you

aren’t able to make things happen in the present.

* Commit yourself to joy. C.S. Lewis once said, “Joy is the serious business of

heaven.”

* Never quit when you experience a setback or frustration. Success could be just

around the corner.

* Dare to dream big dreams. If there is anything to the law of expectation then we are moving in the direction of our dreams, goals and expectations.

The real tragedy in life is not in how much we suffer, but rather in how much we

miss, so don’t miss a thing.

Charles Dubois once said, “We must be prepared, at any moment, to sacrifice who we are for who we are capable of becoming.”

20 tips for writing fiction

     These tips were taken from IUniverse a self-publishing company.

Writing success boils down to hard work, imagination and passion—and then some more hard work. iUniverse Publishing fires up your creative spirit with 20 writing tips from 12 bestselling fiction authors.

Use these tips as an inspirational guide—or better yet, print a copy to put on your desk, home office, refrigerator door, or somewhere else noticeable so you can be constantly reminded not to let your story ideas wither away by putting off your writing.

Tip1: "My first rule was given to me by TH White, author of The Sword in the Stone and other Arthurian fantasies and was: Read. Read everything you can lay hands on. I always advise people who want to write a fantasy or science fiction or romance to stop reading everything in those genres and start reading everything else from Bunyan to Byatt." — Michael Moorcock

Tip 2: "Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you." — Zadie Smith

Tip 3: "Introduce your main characters and themes in the first third of your novel. If you are writing a plot-driven genre novel make sure all your major themes/plot elements are introduced in the first third, which you can call the introduction. Develop your themes and characters in your second third, the development. Resolve your themes, mysteries and so on in the final third, the resolution." — Michael Moorcock

Tip 4: "In the planning stage of a book, don't plan the ending. It has to be earned by all that will go before it." — Rose Tremain

Tip 5: "Always carry a note-book. And I mean always. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes; unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea for ever." — Will Self

Tip 6: "It's doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction." — Jonathan Franzen

"Work on a computer that is disconnected from the internet." — Zadie Smith

Tip 7: "Interesting verbs are seldom very interesting." — Jonathan Franzen

Tip 8: "Read it aloud to yourself because that's the only way to be sure the rhythms of the sentences are OK (prose rhythms are too complex and subtle to be thought out—they can be got right only by ear)." — Diana Athill

Tip 9: "Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." – Anton Chekhov

Tip 10: "Listen to the criticisms and preferences of your trusted 'first readers.'" — Rose Tremain

Tip 11: "Fiction that isn't an author's personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn't worth writing for anything but money." —Jonathan Franzen

Tip 12: "Don't panic. Midway through writing a novel, I have regularly experienced moments of bowel-curdling terror, as I contemplate the drivel on the screen before me and see beyond it, in quick succession, the derisive reviews, the friends' embarrassment, the failing career, the dwindling income, the repossessed house, the divorce . . . Working doggedly on through crises like these, however, has always got me there in the end. Leaving the desk for a while can help. Talking the problem through can help me recall what I was trying to achieve before I got stuck. Going for a long walk almost always gets me thinking about my manuscript in a slightly new way. And if all else fails, there's prayer. St Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers, has often helped me out in a crisis. If you want to spread your net more widely, you could try appealing to Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, too." — Sarah Waters

Tip 13: "The writing life is essentially one of solitary confinement – if you can't deal with this you needn't apply." — Will Self

Tip 14: "Be your own editor/critic. Sympathetic but merciless!" — Joyce Carol Oates

Tip 15: "The reader is a friend, not an adversary, not a spectator." —Jonathan Franzen

Tip 16: "Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful." — Elmore Leonard

Tip 17: "Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong." — Neil Gaiman

Tip 18: "You know that sickening feeling of inadequacy and over-exposure you feel when you look upon your own empurpled prose? Relax into the awareness that this ghastly sensation will never, ever leave you, no matter how successful and publicly lauded you become. It is intrinsic to the real business of writing and should be cherished." — Will Self

Tip 19: "The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you're allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it's definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter." —Neil Gaiman

Tip 20: "The nearest I have to a rule is a Post-it on the wall in front of my desk saying ‘Faire et se taire’ (Flaubert), which I translate for myself as ‘Shut up and get on with it.’" — Helen Simpson

Even famous authors sometimes have a tough time with writing; they also go through periods of self-doubt. Despite this, they always manage to come up with the goods. So take a lesson from them and stop putting off your writing plans and get started on your publishing journey today.

There has never been a better time than now to realize your dream of becoming a published author. Let your voice be heard and let your story be told. Never let your passion for writing wane.

Goals... Again

     Okay, so I know I posted about goal setting last week, but I've still been working on goals for 2015.  I came across this syllabus from a college professor about goal setting.  It was awesome, so I'm posting it here.  This is not my work, and I'm not going to filter it into my own words because I really liked the things he emphasized.

Tips for Writing Goals and Objectives

Although many different courses will cover in depth writing goals and objectives for health promotion programs, grants, and organizations, we have compiled a few tips to help write your goals and objectives early in your career.

What are goals and objectives?

A goal is an overarching principle that guides decision making. Objectives are specific, measurable steps that can be taken to meet the goal.
For example:
Goal - Develop an increased understanding of careers in health education by the end of the Fall 2015 semester
Objectives - Find five job descriptions for health education related jobs by the beginning of December
 Interview two current health education professionals by the end of November
 Identify three organizations that employ health educators by the end of September

A common way of describing goals and objectives is to say that :
Goals are broad Objectives are narrow
Goals are general intentions Objectives are precise
Goals are intangible Objectives are tangible.
Goals are abstract Objectives are concrete.
Goals are generally difficult to measure Objectives are measurable

These are not the only definitions of goals and objectives. Goals and objectives are used in different ways for different purposes and several of your classes will offer you greater insight into using goals and objectives.

Throughout your master programs, you will come to appreciate the importance of measurable goals. Measurable goals and objectives are essential for evaluating progress. Your personal goals are no different. A useful way of making goals and objectives more powerful and measurable is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants, SMART usually stands for:

S Specific
M Measurable
A Attainable
R Relevant
T Time-bound

For example, instead of saying “I will talk to people about health education” say “I will interview three current health educators including questions about their position and career development by December 1, 2016”.

Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives

Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive objectives, originated by Benjamin Bloom and collaborators in the 1950's, describes several categories of cognitive learning. These stages can be useful when writing your goals and objectives.

 Knowledge - Ability to recall previously learned material.
 Comprehension - Ability to grasp meaning, explain, restate ideas.
 Application - Ability to use learned material in new situations.
 Analysis - Ability to separate material into component parts and show
relationships between parts.
 Synthesis - Ability to put together the separate ideas to form new whole,
establish new relationships.
 Evaluation - Ability to judge the worth of material against stated criteria.

Useful Verbs for Writing Goals and Objectives

Define
Identify
List
Name
Recall
Recognize
Record
Relate
Repeat
Underline
Choose
Cite examples of
Demonstrate use of
Describe
Determine
Differentiate
between
Discriminate
Discuss
Explain
Express
Give in own words
Identify
Interpret
Locate
Pick
Report
Restate
Review
Recognize
Select
Tell
Translate
Respond
Practice
Simulates
Apply
Demonstrate
Dramatize
Employ
Generalize
Illustrate
Interpret
Operate
Operationalize
Practice
Relate
Schedule
Shop
Use
Utilize
Initiate
Analyze
Appraise
Calculate
Categorize
Compare
Conclude
Contrast
Correlate
Criticize
Deduce
Debate
Detect
Determine
Develop
Diagram
Differentiate
Distinguish
Draw conclusions
Estimate
Evaluate
Examine
Experiment
Identify
Infer
Inspect
Inventory
Predict
Question
Relate
Solve
Test
Diagnose
Arrange
Assemble
Collect
Compose
Construct
Create
Design
Develop
Formulate
Manage
Modify
Organize
Plan
Prepare
Produce
Propose
Predict
Reconstruct
Set-up
Synthesize
Systematize
Devise
Appraise
Assess
Choose
Compare
Critique
Estimate
Evaluate
Judge
Measure
Rate
Revise
Score
Select
Validate
Value
Test

Real Goal Setting

     I hope everyone had a merry Christmas (or insert your celebration of choice here).  Now that the New Year is coming I thought I'd look up some good ways to set realistic goals.  New Year's goals don't have to be a joke.  It's a great time to reflect and find a new path in life - a fresh beginning for the fresh year.  So here are a few pointers.

The 6 Characteristics of Effective Goals Challenging: Your goals should be realistic and suited to your present capabilities. You can’t go from habitual couch potato to world-class athlete overnight, or recover the “look” you had in your 20's if you’re pushing 60 right now. Small, progressive steps toward reasonable, long-term goals are crucial to success. But your goals should also push you to extend yourself beyond where you already are.Otherwise you will get bored and quit the game. Example: It's great to work on drinking those eight cups of water everyday, but people do not lose weight from water drinking alone. Get thee off thy butt and go do something that makes you sweat. Then you'll need the water and it won't be so hard to drink.   Attainable: Don't take the challenging characteristic (above) too far. Make sure you can actually achieve what you're setting out to do. Otherwise, you will get frustrated and quit the game. Example: Sixty minutes of aerobic exercise may be better than 30 minutes, but two hours may not be—especially if you're so worn out afterward that you have to stop exercising completely for a while. You can always build up the time and intensity of your workouts as your fitness level improves over time.   Specific: Trying to "do your best" or "do better" is like trying to eat the hole in a donut. There's nothing there to chew on or digest. You need to define some very specific, concrete, and measurable action-steps that tell you what your goal looks like in real-life terms. Include how you will measure your results so you can tell whether you are getting anywhere. Example: If you want to get a handle on emotional eating and you've decided that keeping a journal may help, set aside scheduled time to do your writing each day; set up some specific changes in your behavior that you want this work to produce (like not eating after your last scheduled snack); and create a time interval and/or method to figure out whether your journaling is helping you reach that goal or not.   Time-limited: Goals need to come with deadlines, due dates, and payoff schedules. Otherwise, they'll fade into the background with your daily hubbub, and you'll quit playing the game. If your long-term goal is going to take a while to reach, create some intermediate- and short-term goals. These will make your larger goal seem less daunting and keep you focused on what you can do here and now to help yourself get there. Example: If your overall goal is to have the weight off in one year, make sure you set up some intermediate weight goals to serve as check points along the way. Otherwise, those small things you need to do every day, and the small successes you achieve, can seem so insignificant compared to how much further you still have to go that you may lose interest.   Positive: Goals should always be framed in positive terms. Humans are not designed to white-knuckle their way through life, always trying to not do things or to avoid certain thoughts, feelings, actions or circumstances. We are much better at approaching what we DO want than avoiding what we don't want. Example: If you want to reduce the amount of “junk” food you eat, frame that goal in positive words likeincreasing the amount of calories you eat from healthy foods, and identifying which healthy foods you want to eat more. Instead of trying to eliminate chocolate treats, for example, plan a low-fat yogurt with fruit for your sweet snack. If you do this for a few weeks, your brain will disconnect the habitual association between treat and chocolate and make a new one with the yogurt and fruit. And you’ll be just as happy with this new treat!   Flexible: Good strategies and goals are always flexible, because nothing in this world stays the same for very long, and staying alive and on course means being able to adapt to changing circumstances. Example: You are always going to run into circumstances that make it difficult to stick to your diet or exercise plan—special occasions, unexpected schedule conflicts, even just a really hard day where you need a break from the routine for your mental health. Your goals should include some contingency plans for dealing with these problems so that you don’t fall into that all-or-nothing thinking that lets one difficult situation become an excuse for ditching your whole plan. And remember, meeting your goals is 90% attitude. No one is perfect, and you’re going to have days where you just don’t do what you set out to. Make sure you build up some good stress management habits and tools to help you deal with those days without losing sight of your long-term goals, or losing your motivation.

I Am Superman

I Am Superman

I can fly off a soaring cliff (once, and only straight down)

I can jump higher than a building in a single bound (buildings don't jump)

I can stop a speeding bullet (again, just once, unless a couple were shot one after another)

I can go from state to state in a blink of an eye (seriously, four corners isn't too far from my home)

I'm strong enough to lift 10 men (underwater)

I absorb radiation from the sun (ignore the burnt red skin)

I can move at the speed of light (you can see me moving can't you?)

So you can see, I am Superman.

     When we are young, and a few of us who never grew out of it, we think we can do anything.  The possibilities for the future are endless.  We become teenagers and our interests change, limiting those possibilities.  As we first enter into adulthood, we get a lot more responsibilities, and we often realized that we won't be able to do everything we wanted, or at least we cross off the more "frivolous" endeavors from our list.  As we start college we are forced to choose one or two things.  It takes so much to become educated in those fields that we decide that it wouldn't be worth trying something else.  Most stop there with their progression.  We meet our spouses, and have to fuse two lives together; this often means we must let go of more of our "childish dreams" to accommodate "reality".  Then... we have kids...  We give up almost everything we wanted to make their lives "better".  We get to visit those old care-free days when we play with our little ones, but we "know" that we have to let those dreams go.  When kids move out, we're alone (hopefully still with our spouses) and we wonder, "what happened to my life?"

     J.K. Rowling didn't publish her first book until she was 32, which took about 5 years to become truly popular.

     Stan Lee didn't create his first successful comic book until he was 39.

     Gary Heavin didn't open his first Curves Fitness Ctr. until he was 40.

     Samuel Jackson didn't get his first award-winning role until he was 43.

     Henry Ford didn't create the Model T until he was 45.

     Momofuku Ando didn't create instant ramen noodles until he was 48.

     Julia Child didn't get her first cookbook published until she was 50.

     Ray Kroc didn't buy McDonald's until he was 52, where he grew it into the largest fast food restaurant in the world.  

     Harland Sanders (Better known as Colonel Sanders) didn't franchise Kentucky Fried Chicken until he was 62.

     Anna Mary Roberson Moses (better known as grandma Moses) didn't start painting until she was 78.

     The list goes on and on, and their are gaps with thousands of names between the names I've given here.

     We are all "Superman/Superwoman".  There is something you can do which will forever change the world.  It will touch the lives of millions.  Inspire small children.  Change politics.  Who knows?  It's in you.  You can either let your "adult" kill that idea, or nurture and grow it until it becomes a revolutionary thing.  Don't let a silly thing like age, financial circumstances, religion, race, up-bringing, or education stop you.  And especially don't let those around you tell you no.  It's your life, and your dream.  Make it come true.

Stephen King's top 20 rules for writing

   

     On Dec. 1st I was feeling pretty depressed because I didn't complete the NaNoWriMo challenge.  I wrote an angry post, but then changed it after I read Stephen King's advice.  I now know I need to stay truer to me.  Thank you Mr. King.

1. First write for yourself, and then worry about the audience. “When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that arenot the story.”

2. Don’t use passive voice. “Timid writers like passive verbs for the same reason that timid lovers like passive partners. The passive voice is safe.”

3. Avoid adverbs. “The adverb is not your friend.”

4. Avoid adverbs, especially after “he said” and “she said.”

5. But don’t obsess over perfect grammar. “The object of fiction isn’t grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story.”

6. The magic is in you. “I’m convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing.”

7. Read, read, read. ”If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.”

8. Don’t worry about making other people happy. “If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered, anyway.”

9. Turn off the TV. “TV—while working out or anywhere else—really is about the last thing an aspiring writer needs.”

10. You have three months. “The first draft of a book—even a long one—should take no more than three months, the length of a season.”

11. There are two secrets to success. “I stayed physical healthy, and I stayed married.”

12. Write one word at a time. “Whether it’s a vignette of a single page or an epic trilogy like ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ the work is always accomplished one word at a time.”

13. Eliminate distraction. “There’s should be no telephone in your writing room, certainly no TV or videogames for you to fool around with.”

14. Stick to your own style. “One cannot imitate a writer’s approach to a particular genre, no matter how simple what that writer is doing may seem.”

15. Dig. “Stories are relics, part of an undiscovered pre-existing world. The writer’s job is to use the tools in his or her toolbox to get as much of each one out of the ground intact as possible.”

16. Take a break. “You’ll find reading your book over after a six-week layoff to be a strange, often exhilarating experience.”

17. Leave out the boring parts and kill your darlings. “(kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.)”

18. The research shouldn’t overshadow the story. “Remember that word back. That’s where the research belongs: as far in the background and the back story as you can get it.”

19. You become a writer simply by reading and writing. “You learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot, and the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself.”

20. Writing is about getting happy. “Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid or making friends. Writing is magic, as much as the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink.”

Beautiful Words

Beautiful words to liven up your writing.

Assemblage: A gathering

Becoming: Attractive

Beleaguer: To exhaust with attacks

Brood: To think alone

Bucolic: In a lovely rural setting

Bungalow: A small, cozy cottage

Chatoyant: Like a cat's eye

Comely: Attractive

Conflate: To blend together

Cynosure: A focal point of admiration

Dalliance: A brief love affair

Demesne: Dominion, or territory

Demure: Shy and reserved

Denouement: The resolution of a mystery

Desuetude: Disuse

Desultory: Slow, sluggish

Diaphanous: Filmy

Dissemble: Deceive

Dulcet: Sweet, sugary

Ebullience: Bubbling enthusiasm

Effervescent: Bubbly

Efflorescence: Flowering, blooming

Elixir: A high-quality potion

Eloquence: Beauty and persuasion in speech

Embrocation: Rubbing on a lotion

Emollient: A softener

Ephemeral: Short-lived

Epiphany: A sudden revelation

Erstwhile: At one time, for a time

Ethereal: Gaseous, invisible but detectable

Evanescent: Vanishing quickly, or short-lived

Evocative: Suggestive

Fetching: Pretty/handsome

Felicity: Pleasantness

Forbearance: Withholding response

Fugacious: Fleeting

Furtive: Shifty/sneaky

Gambol: Skip or leap about joyfully

Glamour: beauty

Gossamer: Finest piece of thread, or spider's silk

Halcyon: Happy, care-free

Harbinger: Messenger for future events

Imbrication: overlapping and forming a regular pattern

Imbroglio: An altercation or complicated situation

Imbue: infuse, instill

Incipient: Beginning, or early stage

Ineffable: Unutterable

Ingenue: A naive young woman

Inglenook: A cozy nook by the hearth

Insouciance: Blithe nonchalance

Inure: to become jaded

Labyrinthine: Twisting and turning

Lagniappe: A special kind of gift

Lagoon: A small gulf or inlet

Languor: Listlessness, inactive

Lassitude: Weariness

Leisure: free time

Lilt: To move musically or lively

Lissome: slender and graceful

Lithe: Slender and flexible

Mellifluous: Sweet sounding

Moiety: One of two equal parts

Mondegreen: A slip of the ear

Murmurous: Murmuring

Nemesis: An unconquerable archenemy

Offing: The sea between the horizon and the shore

Onomatopoeia: A word which sounds like its meaning

Opulent: lush, luxurious

Palimpsest: A manuscript written over earlier ones

Panacea: A solution for all problems

Panoply: A complete set

Pastiche: An art work combining materials from various sources

Penumbra: half-shadow

Petrichor: The smell of earth after the rain

Plethora: a large quantity

Propinquity: an inclination

Pyrrhic: successful with heavy losses

Quintessential: Most essential

Ravel: To Knit or unknit

Redolent: Fragrant

Riparian: By the bank of a stream

Ripple: a small wave

Scintilla: A spark or very small thing

Sempiternal: Eternal

Serendipity: finding something nice while looking for something else

Summery: light, delicate or warm and sunny

Sumptuous: lush, yummy

Surreptitious: Secretive

Susurrous: Whispering, hissing

Talisman: good luck charm

Tintinnabulation: Tinkling

Untoward: Unseemly, inappropriate

Vestigial: In trace amounts

Wafture: waving

Wherewithal: the means

Woebegone: sorrowful, downcast

     These words can liven up your writing, but use them sparingly, lest you sound presumptuous. 

English is Hard

     No matter how well you spell, how much you've written, how much you've read, how much you've studied grammar, or how much you've edited other people's work you are going to make mistakes.  English is a tough language.  It's hard to rank it compared to other languages because the difficulty will vary depending on what your native language is, but English is always ranked among the hardest languages to learn for non-English speakers.  It's because of rules like the I before E rule, homonyms, homophones, homographs, and the inconsistencies of word meanings (there's no ham in hamburgers, no apple in pineapple, etc.)  And all of that doesn't even touch the evil monster... grammar.  How, where, and why you say something completely alters the meaning of a sentence, not to mention punctuation.  English is just plain hard.

     This is a concept I'm oh so familiar with.  I am horrible at grammar.  I'm not the best speller either, but that's what auto-correct and spell check are for.  I am more of a creative, conceptual type of guy.  I think I have great ideas, and I love to spin a yarn.  Problems come when other people have to read those yarns, and can't decipher my hieroglyphics which have way too many commas.  That is why I need help.  We all do.

   

     I've been told time and time again that I need an editor.  When I finished my first book I thought I was done with the hard part.  Boy was I wrong.  The whole writing world was new and intimidating to me, and I had no idea where to start.  I first tried a few query letters with no success.  Then I wrote a second book in the series and tried querying that one... No luck.  I felt discouraged.  I'm sure some of you have felt the same way.

     There are already 130 million books in print, so book stores have a lot to consider when stocking their shelves.  Of course, some of the classics have to be available for students studying them in school and whatnot.  There are also the well established authors whom the bookstores know will sell, so they must stock any new book they write.  So, what are your actual chances of being picked to take up those other spots?  A lot of it is simply luck, but luck is just when preparation meets opportunity.  I guess the real question is not so much how good your book is, but how do you prepare for that time when opportunity knocks?

     In 2013, in the U.S. alone, there were almost 300,000 new titles published.  Literary agents get over 5,000 query letters per year, that's almost 14 a day.  And the agents have existing clients to maintain because just getting your book on paper doesn't get it on the shelves.  

     You need to make an impression.

     I made the classic mistake of going it alone.  I never had anyone beta-read my books, let alone edit them.  I never had anyone beta-read my query letters.  Quite frankly, what I sent the agents was crap.  When you are writing a story, you know what you are trying to say.  That does not translate into the reader knowing what you are trying to say.  A content editor/copy editor needs to help you to make sure your story flows and makes sense.  This starts with beta-readers.  Make friends who like to read and write, and do trades where you read each other's work.  It's best to do this with people in your same genre.  So you need to network.  This is something I'm working on now.  I have two books self-published, but I'm almost embarrassed to advertise them because they are not edited.  (I just learned all of this recently.)  

     The second step is to clean up your work.  You can have a beautiful story, but there are a lot of "grammar nazis" out there, and I can guarantee that those agents you are querying are among the ranks of those "grammar nazis".  They read hundreds, thousands even, of books, and have seen it all.  If there is a mistake, they will likely be put off immediately.  Some may look past it, but if there are 2, or 3, or heaven forbid... 4... They simply will not read your work.  It needs to be clean.  You need a "grammar nazi" on your side.  You will likely have to pay for this service.  It doesn't matter if you want to self-publish or publish traditionally, you need clean work.  You need an editor.  You may not be able to afford one.  I know that was a big concern for me.  But if you don't believe in yourself enough to spend a couple hundred dollars to edit your own book, how will someone else believe in you enough to publish you?  There are ways around this.  Go to a college and get an English student to help.  They have assignments for this type of thing, and you can even offer them acclaims for their resumes for after they graduate.  Some English professors will do this to get their name out there.  Some writers, who are also editors, will do trade work for you.  Be creative, but get it done.

     You need help.  Don't try to do it alone like I did.  You will regret it, trust me.  Now, I'm trying to clean up the mess I made, but my mistakes have already been released to the public. 

The pep-talk from NaNoWriMo this week

Okay. You’re at the point that marathon runners call “the wall.” It’s the one where you’ve run smack out of inspiration and your start-up excitement. It’s quit or finish and you’d really rather quit, but you have all these words, and friends, family, and those nasty people at school or the office are waiting to see if you’ll finish.

So let’s talk about the commonplace: something you may not have considered when you got all swept up in the Characters and the Splendor and the Idea.

Try adding something short.

Show your main character doing something. They’re walking down a woodsy trail—unless they’re in space, in which case, maybe they’re jogging around the station, or coming in from fixing something outside. They aren’t really thinking about much, or if the end of their travels are in view, they’re thinking about news from home, a good person or a bad one, or a sudden summons from the boss.

They trip.

Do it inside the airlock. Over and over they go, hearing yells through their communication system and the sound of the lock pressurizing. Then their foot gets caught in an open metal grip, twisting.

In the forest, they tumble down a hill, twisting an arm. Climbing out of a swimming pool, they slip on the rim; there’s a loud whack as they strike their knee on the pool’s edge. On the sidewalk, they catch a foot on a tree root and go down.

Try something surprising, painful, or frightening to jolt your character into behaving violently.

Are they exhausted beyond all reason, given everything you’ve put them through? Have they no resources of strength, health, common sense, or good humor left? This is what they called, during the American Civil War, “middle of the night courage.” If your character has it. Maybe they don’t. That could be what we need to know, that this person has to lick the remains of their courage off of the floor to be able to continue on. And trying something you hadn’t planned with this character to find this last, possibly stupid bit of self may be what you need to get moving.

What happens next? Does your character pitch a fit of rage? Do they throw things, or yell for help? Do they ask someone to take them to the doctor, not knowing that the other person isn’t to be trusted? Is their rescuer someone they didn’t know cared about them? What does your character do now? Maybe your character doesn't trust this person, but his or her companions do. What do they do?

Try something small.

Your character finds a box (think of those medical researchers who found a box tucked away in storage and opened it to find six little vials of smallpox), a book, a message, a painting. It fascinates them until they have tracked down its history and meaning. These things can lead to a talisman for good or ill, wealth, something that carries you into your planned climax, something that helps your character meet a person they need to know for that climax to happen, something perilous that brings them to the climactic action wounded and full of doubt.

With luck, you put this letter aside halfway through because you thought of something that you had to write, and you’re on your way again. If you read this far for my immortal prose, don’t be silly! You can read after you’ve finished NaNoWriMo! Now go git 'em!

Tammy

Thank you Tammy, I needed that.

Traditional vs. Self-publishing

Ok, Full disclosure, this is not my work.  I'm part of a writing group called "Indie Author Group" on Facebook.  It's a great group, and I recommend it to any authors out there who are seriously looking to get help with their work.  This is a document from one of the admins of the page.  She's a well established author, and really knows what she's talking about.

To traditionally publish or to self publish, that is the question! 

In many ways it's the difference between delayed gratification (traditional or legacy publishing) and instant gratification (self-publishing), between the security of having a large organization behind you or standing on your own and between the possibility of having your book on a bestseller or award lists. 

There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but if you believe that promotion/marketing is the advantage to traditional publishing, think again. Even the best known writers have their own Facebook pages and/or blogs to keep in touch with their fans - and to market. Their publisher expects it, especially of a new writer. Search for any of your favorite writers, and you'll find some way to reach them.

Far too many writers view self-publishing as the easier path, because you decide when and where to post your books. It's not. In self-publishing, it's all on you. And once again, far too many writers do see it as the easier way. They don't see the need to be edited, or have a proper cover artist and formatter to set up their manuscript.

However, there are definite advantages - a traditional publisher will want you to stick to one genre, and they have definite views about Points of View from omniscient (which they hate) to first person (ditto) to third person.

If you decide that traditional publishing is the path you want to take an agent can help you find the right publisher, although you can submit directly. Use a program called Querytracker to find an agent, or research to see which publisher deals with books like yours. 

Traditional Publishing Before submitting either to an agent or a publisher, complete your novel. Polish your manuscript using the Editing 101 document here and a book like The Elements of Style. Then, if you're wise, get it edited by a qualified editor. BTW, the publisher will still do their own editing. Even so, you still want to submit a professional product.

Write a query letter. See Query shark - http://queryshark.blogspot.com/ for how to write a good one.

That query letter should be one page, detailing the genre of book and the length, contain a short description or blurb, and an introduction to the writer. No cheating by changing font size to fit - should be TNR 11 or 12 or a variation thereof. Then wait. Write book two if you haven't already. If you have, write book three. Some publishers can take up to 90 days to respond to your submission. (One took over a year to send a rejection notice to me. By then I'd already sold the book to someone else.) Wait for a rejection letter or a request for partial or full before submitting elsewhere - especially if they request that you don't do multiple submissions. If they request a partial or full, send EXACTLY what they request. Consider it a test - they're testing you to see if you follow instructions.

Wait for a rejection letter, acceptance, or request for revise and resubmit.

If accepted, an agent will negotiate the best deal they can for both the writer and the publisher. Anyone who thinks that an agent works for them is naive. They are part of the gatekeeping process - finding a manuscript that they think will sell in the market that exists at that moment. If you don't have an agent, have the contract reviewed by a contract attorney. You want to understand who owns the rights to everything from the overseas contracts to any possible film contracts.Prepare for the editorial process. Most editors are on your side, but their job is to make your manuscript fit their publisher and to make your work shine. That's not just spelling and grammar but repetition or unnecessary detail. That being said, be ready to kill your darlings. If that perfect sentence doesn't advance the story, it will be cut. And you may be asked to make major changes. Remember, the editor works for the publisher, not you.

Once the editing process is complete, a release date will be announced and a cover created. You may have some input into the cover but not much. Don't expect the cover artist to recreate a scene in your head on the cover - the publisher will make it fit their covers.

It can take as much as a year to two years before you get that contract. (Not including the amount of time spent sending in submissions.)That contract? You'll be offered anywhere from 15% to 30% of the proceeds from your book (unless you're a big name writer where you might receive 42%). Out of your proceeds, you'll pay your agent, if you have one.  

Market, market, market. It's up to you to make your first book matter to readers. The publisher will expect it. They'll also expect you to create and maintain a web page, Facebook author page and Twitter account. Use them. Announce release dates. Arrange promotion via FB and other promotional sites. 

Self Publishing

Technically, you can create a document in Word and a cover yourself, and put it up on Amazon or Smashwords. Don't do this. A poorly prepared, unedited book with an unprofessional cover is an announcement that you're an amateur, and a rank amateur at that. At the very least, use Editing 101 and the Manual of Style to polish it as much as possible.

If you haven't already, write book two, and then book three.

Meanwhile, before releasing book one find beta readers, an editor, formatter and cover artist. Polish your manuscript as above. Beta readers are readers willing to look at your manuscript for free to catch basic errors in grammar and continuity. Send to the editor of your choice. Here is where self-publishing has the advantage - the editor works for you, not the agent, and not the publisher. However, the job remains the same, to make your manuscript shine. Ignore their advice at your peril.

Choose a cover artist - look at the samples on their web page, find examples you like from books in Amazon or Smashwords and tell your cover artist what it is you like about them. Don't expect a cover artist to recreate a scene in your head for the cover - they aren't mindreaders, and it will be prohibitively expensive to purchase the rights to all those images. Most will ask for the blurb (short description) of the book, and details of main characters. Have no expectations. Consider using premade covers for the short term.

Send edited manuscript and cover to formatter (or learn to DIY). Create and maintain a web page, Facebook author page and Twitter account. Use them. Announce release dates. Arrange promotion via FB sites. Do a cover reveal to attract readers.When release date arrives, promote but don't spam. The best marketing for book one is book two, etc. Depending on the vendor, you'll receive anywhere from 30% to 70%.