A "Just for Fun" Post, and now I shall hide.

This is the first time I am posting an identical post on this blog and on my personal blog: Savanvleck’s Weblog

Master’s daughter always gives the greatest gifts. I have received a Japanese tea set, a miniature Stonehenge (we’re still waiting for a Scottish fellow to time travel through), a circular knitting sock kit, complete with a neat bag, and “The Aspiring Writer’s Journal.”

Too bad she can’t give me a better memory, because I know there are more neat gifts, but I cannot remember them at this moment. They are always a delight and a complete surprise, and will be again when I find what I have done with them.

So, my inspiration for today, (“Ahem! Ahem!” She cleared her throat, commanding attention.) is a page in the Writer’s Journal, she gave me.

The assignment is:— Make up a story beginning with the following quotation-
“When Sleeping Beauty wakes up, she is almost fifty years old.”

I have changed the opening line, but the premise is there.

(Okay, I cannot believe I am going to embarrass myself this way, but what the heck? Here it is, complete with errors in punctuation and dangling participles.)
~~~~~~~~~~~

Sleeping Beauty woke from her near eternal sleep and gasped for air. My, how tight my corset doth feel. Hands above her head, she stretched—and screamed.

“Spots! What are these spots! There are brown spots on my hands and arms?”

Blankets flew as she surged to the mirror, her body half bent over.

“Kricky!” she said, being a fan of British blogs. “Oh my aching back! Heads will roll for not removing the peas under my mattress and, speaking of pees, I do believeth I am damp. What, in blazes, goeth on?”

Lines stared back from the mirror. These were the final insult as Sleeping Beauty, who was all of eighteen when she fell into her near eternal sleep, ‘twas now fifty. She lay sobbing into her pillow, for no handsome Prince would search for a wrinkled Sleeping Beauty, she feared.

In a far distant land by the sea, gallant Lord Viggo, some years younger but no longer a youth, lived. He could feel her sorrow and confusion.

“Hark!” He called. “I shall scry for the sound of sorrow I hear.”

And, scry, he did.

“She ‘tis a vision of loveliness to me.” He said as he peered into the water. “A woman of wisdom and experience. No petulant youth need I put up with. And, her smile sets my heart free.”

‘Twas but a journey half way cross the land, to the woods where the beauty lay sleeping and where he dried her tears and they lay on the swing of her porch and watched the stars for a near eternal life.
THE END

I shall go and hideth my head under the pillow now.

Of Dark and Stormy Night

I believe it was the winter of 1995, that I attended Of Dark and Stormy Nights, mystery writers conference in Chicago. It was a great experience, but I was lost. These are the situations that bring out the introvert side of me.

I planned ahead of time, what events I would sit in on and I was given a critique with Eleanor Taylor Bland, a published Mystery writer. I was in heaven when she said, “Submit it.” And “Would you like the name of my agent.” As I’ve written before, I did submit it, but I did everything wrong.

Since then, I have learned how the process works and I have learned to edit more thoroughly, and, the most important thing I have learned is to follow your instincts.

The process includes submitting a properly formatted query letter, to the right agent/editor and with a really dynamic part about your protagonist’s character featured. Don’t “tell” them about the world or the mechanics or how long it took you to write it. Write it as if you are a published author, assume they know writing a book takes time, and feature your protagonist. I am not covering more here, because there are a ton of agents/editors out there who cover it in detail.

For querying see two of my favorites: Brooklyn Arden: Manifesto and Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent

As far as for editing, just as with writing, you will have to do through trial and error to find what works best for you. There are no hard and fast rules and you can go crazy trying to follow everyone’s advice. For plotting: I tried small index cards, large index cards, two different rolls of paper, and charts up the wazoo (just what is a wazoo anyway?). I tried a ton of methods before I found out what would work for me and, with the internet, it is so easy (but still time consuming) to read all that advice and decide for yourself.

Following your instincts is my final point on this sunny (in Indiana) day. Because, I knew my book was not ready to submit and I did it anyway, thus proving to one agent out there that I was an amateur. My novel was not completed yet and it needed some work on editing, as well as making my protagonist a stronger person.

I may not have found an agent at that conference, but it gave me the self-confidence to know that someday I would. And, the corner to turn is in sight.

A new mantra "I can do better."

It’s is important to have a goal in writing, as well as in life.

They say everyone should have a five year plan written down. It keeps you on a straight path and helps rid all the flotsam and jetsam that stumbles around the folds of our brains.

Your goal for writing should not be just “publish” oriented. The main goal should be “constant improvement,” which, in the end, just might lead you to the check that comes with being published. This means that you get up in the morning and say, “I can do better.”

With that in mind, sit back and look at the problems you have with your writing and start researching how to improve . Everyone learns in a different way. I learn best by reading so the internet is a great source of knowledge for me. If you are an auditory learner, take a course at your local community college, attend a conference and learn from an author you admire, or join a writer’s group and pick someone’s brain who you feel has expertise in the area you need to improve.

And, write, and write, and write again. And, if you lose it all one day, say hard drive failure, know that you wrote it once, you can write it again, and better.

Text to Speech reads my book

When no one is home, I will often read my story out loud to myself. It is really one of the best ways to test your writing. However, there are still those times when I will read what I am expecting to read and not catch the little mistakes that are there. Text to Speech, on your computer helps catch it all.

When others are here and the tv is blaring, I use Text to Speech in my Windows XP, to read my story to me. And, I know those of you with VISTA have this feature also as it is about the only thing in VISTA that actually works. JRockGuitarMan, youngest boy, has a writing disability and uses it to dictate his papers. You can go into Control Panel and set the speed at which he reads, and sometimes it is spooky.

I swear I have caught Text to Speech putting emotion in that was not accounted for by the punctuation. It has also, I swear, added a Scottish accent to one of my characters. Now, I did use “ye be going” type of speech but I only alter a few of the words because I do not like it when a lot of foreign speech is inserted in a book, but this little machine voice started speaking this characters work with an accent. Okay, so maybe it was late at night, but I swear it's true.

In any event, hearing your writing read aloud should be part of your final line edit. You need to listen to each sentence and analyze whether you have written the most visual sentence you can or is there a better way to say it; to keep your reader in your world. Remember, each and every sentence counts.

Eggs or Live Birth?

I belong to several on-line groups of artists. I was once involved in a “fairy wing” discussion on a sculptor’s site. The discussion was about where fairies wings were located anatomically. It seemed to me the correct answer would be, “Anywhere you want them. It’s your fantasy.” But, then they got into how a fairy has babies: eggs or live birth and was it like a sea horse?

They could totally suspend belief to accept little flying people, in our world, but they drew the line at where the wings went and live birth or eggs. Everyone had their own idea of what was “correct” and good, logical reasons why. I began to take the whole issue a bit more seriously.
I, for one, feel that a fairie's wings need to be between the shoulder blade to balance the body weight. Maybe I’m just a klutz, but if I was hanging by a harness and it wasn’t at shoulder blade level, I would probably be upside down most of the time.

I’m not too far into Terry Pratchett’s, Color of Magic, but I want to totally believe in a world that resides on the back of a turtle. By page one hundred and twelve, I'm not sure what the laws are, but I'm pretty sure he has them. This may be the worse example I could give, but hey it's a really fun book.

Readers will suspend their belief for your world, as long as you make your rules and stick to them; or make the world so wild they just don't care anymore. These rules do not have to be complicated, just logical.

Think of all the things we need in our world and how would your magical world handle it?

EXAMPLE:

Food: In Harry Potter’s world, J. K. Rowling does now allow food made out of thin air. Her characters are, however, allowed to take food and enlarge/multiply it. That is but one of her rules.

So, start with your world, from brushing teeth in the morning to getting into bed at night, and decide the rules you need to create to make your magical world believable and stick to them.

A discussion of Eggs or Live Birth anyone?

Two sides to every writer; this one at least.

I am a loner and an introvert, like a lot of writer’s. This side of me is mute in social gatherings. I am working on my camouflage skills to I can fade into the wallpaper. This “social” me, has no idea what to say.

But the other side of me, almost like a split personality, is adept at speaking to large groups of people. This is the side that has taught art classes, both to college classes and in private situations of one sort or another, for twenty years.

I am not afraid to stand in a hall of one thousand people or before a group of four, or even at a reception with a glass of wine in my hand, as long as it is my subject; meaning, my art or my writing, or just the teaching of any of these.

So, the professional me is comfortable and knowledgeable and can even be funny and entertaining.

Now, if I could just get that professional me to teach the personal, introvert me how to talk in a personal setting, I can quit blending into the wall.

What makes a 'book' person

I am not usually a person to do what is “in” but anyone remember Rod McKuen? He was a popular poet some time ago, in my youth, I was in love with his poetry and had several of his books. I read and reread that book that was my favorite until the binding was broken and in sections. It was even one of the books that I 'defaced' by writing in it.

Many, many years ago, a new 'sort of'' boyfriend borrowed it. He wanted to share. Then, sometime later, he wanted to do something nice for me and he returned it.

Only, it was not my book he returned. It was a sterile, brand new book; in one piece without any dog ears, or spiffy little notes in my handwriting. He was most proud of giving me this pristine new book; thus improving my ife. He really thought he had done me a favor. Needless to say…

I never went out with him again.

He had no understanding of what a favorite book can mean to a person.

Are there real people in your book?

I am sorry, that I have been gone so long from blogging. I have had a touch of the flu here, as well as working with my camera (it is fairly new). I need to really have it down as I am taking wedding pictures, for my niece, in two weeks. I did her mother's wedding photos, oh so long ago.

But, back to the book, I wonder how you 'see' your characters.

Are your characters based on real people?

My book is set in a fantasy world but I definitely use real people for inspiration. Sometimes it’s just a face in a magazine, sometimes an actor and occasionally, I am inspired by someone I know.

As a portrait artist and some-time doll maker, I have always collected photos of interesting faces. I search through this file for faces that say they belong to my character. Usually, already have a good solid description of their character first and use the picture to make them come alive for me. I am a visual person.

One character in my Middle Grade novel, was giving me trouble. I had a description, but for some reason I just could not “see” him. He was a wooden character; without a personality. I decided it was time to find his face.

Nothing in my file fit, nothing spoke to me. It was a voice that finally did it. And, readers of my personal blog Savanvleck’s Weblog have my permission to start laughing, but this is how it happened.

I was watching that extra disc of information that they put in the Lord of the Rings I and III, and other, movies. I was making some notes and not watching it really, just listening and I heard my character speak. I looked up to see they were interviewing Viggo Mortensen. His every day, non-acting voice, was the voice was my character. It was the first time I had heard his calming tone and my charcter came alive and said, "This is who I am." I finally found “the” face.

The really odd thing was that when I went into my character charts to see if I needed to update his description, the only thing I had to change was his eye color.

I almost always have a picture for my character, even if it is a sketch, and a lot of the personality quirks of my three protagonists fit the three boys in my house; obviously real people. Which, is not surprising as they were the inspiration for the story and, in some ways, it is their story.

Is it good enough to make me cry?

Actually, the answer to my title is, "It doesn't take much." But, good paintings move people’s emotions. I have always been fascinated with Picasso’s Guernica and it’s agony of war. Good books have the same effect. They move me to experience their world.

I wish I did not cry so easily. It can get darn embarrassing actually. I cry over books and movies, parades and flags, babies and old people. I can see a little old stooped guy with saggy pants and my eyes fill with tears. Of course, it usually reminds me of my dad. I had to turn the Cancer telethon off last night because I was bawling too hard to watch it. Which was perhaps not the effect they hoped for? But then again, I have lost seven relatives and several friends to cancer, so there is that too.

And, that is the thing with a good book or a good movie or a good painting; they are all something to touch memories we have. They should open up our hearts, even if it is to some past pain. We need to identify with the protagonist and live the experience, feeling their emotions and let our own emotions out.

I have heard people who comment that they cannot feel what other people experience and I am sorry for them. The one person I know who has stated this a few times is an avid reader. I think he must miss an awful lot of the essence of a book when he cannot feel the emotion. I know he is a bear to watch a movie with as he likes to point out all the “things” that are not possible. I so want to say, “For crying out loud, this is fantasy. It’s a movie. It’s not life, just shut up and get lost in it, or just pretend.”

I may not be enjoying the made up words so much in Terry Pratchett’s “The Color of Magic”, but I sure do enjoy his world. It has its laws too but they do not intrude on the wonderful story. He takes you off on an adventure, where chests have legs and run away, cameras have little painters in them and giant turtles “with geological slowness” and "hydrogen frost on his ponderous limbs” and “sea-sized eyes…crusted with reum and asteroid dust” live. Yes, I am wearing those lines out but I love them.

These are the items that move my emotions and memories. They help me visualize his world with things I can see, and even though I cannot see sea-sized eyes, I can see what they would look like.

Looking at Guernica, I can see the agony of a people being bombed out. Just as I can see the Star studded night sky dancing in VanGogh’s Starry Night. And, cry my eyes out when Dumbledore dies or when Harry is so bravely walking to his death. And, cry over the Ghost and Mrs. Muir, even though I have seen this movie more times than I can count.

I think of this each day as I do my final edit and go over each sentence. Is it good enough to make someone visualize this world? Is it good enough to make someone laugh, or cry? If not, is it necessary? If yes, reword it. If no, cut it.

Submitting my novel to Master's Daughter

I am one third of the way through my line edit. Since the first chapter has been edited a gazillion times, and the last two chapters are not complete, it will get slower as I go. I thought though that you might like to see my instructions to Master’s Daughter, who is doing an edit of my book. She is a teacher, mother of three (four, counting her bear of a husband), and a knitter with a busy life. I decided to send her installments so she can edit them at her leisure and not open her email and go, “OH NO!!” She did know it was coming eventually.

Dear loving and patient daughter, who is doing me an enormous favor:

I am attaching my completed chapters 1 through 7.

I am basically doing my final edit (till the very last two chapters) and have completed the attached, so rather than flooding you will all of it at once, I thought submitting it in installments might be better.

Believe me, I know you are busy and this is low on your list. So, don't panic. "Oh, no. I have to grade papers, feed children, knit, enjoy life and here's this thing." Don't worry. Just grab it when you are in the mood.

Mainly, I need checks on punctuation, grammar, tense, etc.
Second, IF YOU WANT, mark up anything else that needs help.

I want honesty. Total honesty. Because if you think it's crap, and you have read a lot of sixth grade novels, then there is a good chance editors/agents will agree. I would rather turn around and start something new and "hopefully not crap", or fix this (if there are just minor problems) than waste time on something that is going nowhere. I will not be heartbroken, perhaps bent a bit, but not broken.

One thing they say is , it is good to have editors put their first gut feeling in places that are either like "Wow, awesome scene." "Really tense" "Boring and slow" "What the hell is this about?" "Don't understand" "You are the second coming of ***" or "Go take a course in advertising copy. Maybe you can write that."

If you catch anything wrong, please mark it. Like not wrapping up plot points or "What the heck is the Plot supposed to be."

Love you.
Mom

Don't make it harder than it has to be

I am a person who tends to make things harder than they should be. I am rather easy going but hard on myself, I guess. Not hard enough in some areas. I am still not back to my Body for Life program, which I know works for me, and yet my weights sit there staring at me and making me feel guilty. But, what I am talking about today is my book and the ways I deal with things I need to do.

A while ago, I posted about a method I was using to keep track of facts. Since I am envisioning this novel as a five part series, I need to make sure I have laid a foundation in book one for things that happen in other books. That is in addition, to the plot and subplot of book one and wrapping those items up in that book.

It was not working as it was just too complicated. So, I started over and am working with three files open in Word. First, is my book. I have it all formatted now to send, as a Word document, to my Master’s daughter for her edit. She is in charge of catching those things you can read over and over, and since you know what it is supposed to say, you don’t catch the mistake it happens to have in it. That is in addition to: punctuation, tense, and just anything wrong. A big job, I’m sure, for someone who has a full time teaching job. And, she’s not even getting paid for editing either.

Second, I have a document open called outline. In this I place just one liners of the chapter I am editing/reviewing. I will need this when I send in Query letters and am asked for an outline. When Master’s daughter is doing her edit, I will be polishing this outline so it is ready to go out to agent/editor.

The third and final document I have open is titled “Follow up and List-Magic words.” In this I have items I need to remember to reuse/wrap up/etc. This is for this book and the whole series. It includes a list of Magic words used, which are very nominal actually for a fantasy. The reason for that is probably because I am not a “word” person. I do not delight in words for words sake. I love them only when they are put together and form a great story.

Knowing my propensity for charts, I will most likely go back and chart this file also so that I know what I need to put into book two, three, four and five from this book. It's all rather in my head but I really do not trust my memory.

So, while you need to do what works for you. You also need to find out what isn’t working for you and let go of it. Happy Labor Day!