Writing, Reading, and Smiling . . . It's Contagious.


Sunday, August 29, 2010

Seanachaí's News

 
On the last Sunday of each month, I compile "Seanachaí's News," a status report that assesses my work during the current month and also formulates my plans for the upcoming months. It will also give you a peek at my works in progress.


My Work During the Current Month

  1. Starting a new work of fiction? Name the Baby discusses the importance of naming your work before it's published.
  2. Are you talking at readers? Is your writing ambiguous? Keep It Simple!
  3. Stay the Course examines my latest ride on a runaway writer's train. Yeah, you've been there, too! It's that little town called Continuity Problems.
  4.  Excuses, excuses, excuses! Stop Cheating Yourself and WRITE!
 

My Plans for the Upcoming Months

  1. Writing, writing, writing and more writing on the new book.
  2. Have you found your way to Scribd yet? All of my short stories and poetry are now available at this interactive writer's network. You can download my work and subscribe to my feed by following this link. 
  3. Be sure to send your youngster to school with E. Michaels' great new book, Little Duck Gets Ready for School.




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As always, I love to hear from you.
If you’re in the cyber-neighborhood, drop me a line.

In the meantime, keep writing, reading, and smiling.
It’s contagious.
 

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Stop Cheating Yourself


Do you ever have those days when you can't think clearly? I had planned to present a new short-short for this week's blog, but the words I'm writing are garbage.

I could blame my focusing problem on the new computer chair my brother gave me for my birthday. Sitting in something other than a beat-up rocking chair is messing with my mind . . . or not.

Maybe it's because I've been busy uploading my work to Scribd this weekend and I'm having uploading overload. Nah, that's not, either. 

Could it be that the simplest of grammatical structures is making me look and feel foolish? Possibly.

Does it have something to do with feeling anxious about the direction of my new book? Probably.

Am I having a confidence problem? That's more than likely.

Should I stop being lazy and JUST WRITE, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD? Definitely!

Am I mad that I've wasted several days of writing opportunities? YOU BET I AM!

So, what am I saying? I'm saying that if you're good at making excuses so you don't have to write, you're cheating more than potential readers. You're cheating yourself.

Get to work. That's where I'll be, too.


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ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
The trailer for my latest book, Haunted Voices from My Past: True Narratives of an Ohio Family, is in the running for the YGRV August 2010 book trailer awards. If you like my trailer, please vote

Also, be sure to check out E. Michaels' latest book, Little Duck Gets Ready for School. It'll make that first day of school easier—and fun!—for your youngster.
 
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As always, I love to hear from you.
If you’re in the cyber-neighborhood, drop me a line.

In the meantime, keep writing, reading, and smiling.
It’s contagious.
 

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Stay the Course



I've recently disembarked from a runaway train I like to call "writer's binge." Writer's what? No, believe me, you've had it, too. It's that insane burst of creativity when the words are being generated so fast your fingers can't keep up. You give up sleep, food, and common sense and write until your aching, malnourished body drags itself to the engineer—your brain—and begs to be let off at the next stop. The train slows and you jump onto the platform, weary and haggard. You collect your bags and as the train pulls out of the depot you notice several of the rail ties are missing from the winding track. All breathing stops because now that you're free of the madness, you're able to see that you have an  issue with . . .

Continuity.

Whether you're writing poetry, short stories, or novels, continuity cannot be ignored. It must be regarded as the glue that binds your words to the characters, plot, and theme of the work in progress.

I'm suffering from a continuity issue myself as a result of the four-day writer's binge that took hold of me this week. I was writing like mad, getting very little sleep—about 4–5 hours each night—and creating thousands of new words in which my characters could develop and interact. 

How could that be a problem? 

One of my central characters—I have about three—is acting as he should be; however, somewhere along the way his personal development got out of order. Part of this can be blamed on the fact that I'm telling this story out of order—this story is  presented like the random pieces of colored glass in a  kaleidoscope—but the majority of the problem stems from my latest stint of reckless writing.

So, how am I solving continuity issues? I'm going to physically put the story in order and create a time line so I can see how my character needs to develop as the plot unfolds. I have quite a job ahead of me and it's going to set me a back a few days, but I know I'm going to have something great when I get back on track. Notice the pun? Yeah, that's my point. Without my latest epiphany I'd be without several thousand words of great scenes, characterization, and plot development.

So, what am I trying to say? 

Worry about making sense of the ride after the train reaches the depot. Stay the course and embrace those sudden bursts of creativity however and whenever they show up. Without them we'd be on the station platform empty-handed and waiting for a train that's never going to arrive.


***

As always, I love to hear from you.
If you’re in the cyber-neighborhood, drop me a line.

In the meantime, keep writing, reading, and smiling.
It’s contagious.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Keep It Simple


A SONG SPARROW lives in the giant pines trees on our farm. 

For the past six weeks it has bombarded us with a daily jumble of noisy trills and warbles beginning before six in the morning and lasting until the first star appears at twilight.

No, seriously. The constant jabber lasts from dawn to dusk. Without interruption. Without regard for etiquette and without regard for sanity. 

In the beginning I was hypnotized by its persistence. The insane mix of calls lasts for about four seconds with a two second pause before starting all over again. That's about 600 calls every hour and over 9,000 calls each day. My fascination turned to annoyance long before the 100th.

I've noticed the annoyance of other birds, as well. At first they tried to sing over it. That didn't work, so they tried knocking it from its perch on the spindly tip of a pine tree. That didn't work either, so they resorted to their last defense: running away. I haven't heard another bird on the farm for over four weeks.

You can label the sparrow's pervasiveness as determination, resource management, or loneliness, but among these possibilities is the underlying fact that each one leads to the same conclusion: in its attempt to gain territory it's losing ground.

Gain territory. Lose ground. Oxymoron? Not at all.

Have you been around people who remind you of my song sparrow? They talk and talk and talk and you never have to say a word. You nod during the short pauses—inserted for breathing only—and pretend to listen. After a while you make a believable excuse—if you can somehow manage to get a word in—and leave while your sanity and good manners are intact. 

I know this is a writing blog, so I'll ask a relevant question. Have you been around writers who remind you of my song sparrow? They tweet and yak, blog and write, and scream and shout of their wisdom and success. Without interruption. Without regard for etiquette and without regard for sanity. 

Here's another relevant question: Have you read writing so inflated with extravagance—whether it be through words, setting, or characterization—that you either couldn't get past the first paragraph or you had to skim it? The author uses flowery/scholarly words, indiscernible settings/symbols that are metaphors for something you'll never figure out, and bizarre characterizations that alienate rather than  entice. Without interruption. Without regard for etiquette and without regard for sanity. 

For fear of becoming a song sparrow myself, I'll leave you with this thought: If you're writing to engage, keep it witty, keep it understandable, and keep it simple. 

Oh, and if you're shouting, turn the volume down so the rest of us can get some sleep. :^)



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As always, I love to hear from you.
If you’re in the cyber-neighborhood, drop me a line.

In the meantime, keep writing, reading, and smiling.
It’s contagious.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Name the Baby



As you know, I've been busily writing my new novel and everything was going smoothly until. . . .

Hmmm . . . well, let me start from the beginning. 


Part I

With the exception of Dead Bird in the Weeds, every piece of fiction I've written has had a working title before the first word hit the page. Why? A piece of fiction without a title is like a newborn baby without a name. How are you going to point out your screeching bundle of joy to other parents (readers and writers), if it doesn't have a nametag on its crib? Will you say, "Oh, yeah, that's mine over there, 103 rows from the left, 500 cribs down"?  The reply will be "You mean the bald one with no name who's bawling and has its finger stuck in its mouth?"

Sound familiar? It shouldn't.

Without a title, your work is going to be lost in an imaginary garbage heap like the other million no-name works being written.  The time to interest readers is before the book is available. Give them time to wade in the waters of your creativity before asking them to cut off an appendage to read the work in its entirety. 

To clarify, consider the example below.


Which sounds better?
  1. The new book I'm working on is about a lost girl who finds her way home through the help of a stranger.
  2.  I'm writing a book about a lost girl named Marsha who finds her way home through the help of a ghost.
  3. Mystic Journey is about Marsha, a lost young woman who hitches a ride with a foul-mouthed supernatural being named Roger.


See what I mean? The more concrete you are with your description, the more interesting your idea becomes to readers.



Part II

Notice the name I've given this fictitious book: Mystic Journey. I created this title just now, but upon further investigation at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,¹ I've discovered that "Mystic Journey" is the name of a bookstore. OK, so now I need to change the name of my book before I get so attached to it that it becomes nearly impossible to think of something else. After Henry has been Henry (possibly for years) can you call him Henrietta without feeling as if you've damaged him in some way?

And that, folks, is the reason for my dilemma this weekend. I didn't check the availability of my working title until I had become so attached to it that I now feel as if I'm murdering my own child.

My advice: name that baby before it's born, but make sure that another prospective parent hasn't beaten you to mailing the Social Security application.



1. On the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office home page, click option 2 "Search Marks," then click "New User Form Search (Basic)." Type keywords in the "Search Term" box.


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As always, I love to hear from you.
If you’re in the cyber-neighborhood, drop me a line.

In the meantime, keep writing, reading, and smiling.
It’s contagious.