Category: Writing

Speaking of Time

I’m sure it means I come from an overly technical background when I regularly have discussions and debates with my husband about how pregnant I am in months. It isn’t about whether or not the time is relative – 24 weeks is 24 weeks no matter what scale you use. [No, I’m not opening debate about how pregnant I am; I can be perfectly fine with the one the doctors use.]

But here’s where the debate lies: is 24 weeks equal to 6 months? My husband’s overly technical answer is no. He insists there are 4.3 weeks per month and that must be taken into account. I suppose he’s got a point, since there are 52 weeks in a year and 6 months is half a year, so 26 weeks, right? The issue there is that there are supposed to be 4 weeks in 1 month. Isn’t that what we learned when we were young? And 6 times 4 is 24. Feels like there ought to be wiggle room.

Then you add in the pregnancy thing being 40 weeks, give or take, and you get a messy tangle. Do you count that as ten months? Do you start the count from a different week to make things more confusing, but less difficult to say “I’m five months pregnant.” Do you ever wonder why we allow such discrepancies? Can’t it be fixed to say one month is so many days and so many weeks?

It’s probably just as easy as switching to the metric system. Something that is resisted in this country yet would make things easier once completed.

It also makes me think of time in books. Often I read science fiction and fantasy. Rarely is another time system used that isn’t based on Gregorian calendar. Many fantasy books turn months into moons, and it changes the pace and tone, but it’s a similar system. Science fiction often uses something along the same lines. Star Trek uses a stardate, but it’s simply a different way to state it.

One series I read by Gayle Greeno, The Ghatti’s Tale, had a system with eight days per week. At the time it made me wonder why more authors didn’t try something like that. Time and its passage isn’t a main focus in these novels or it might have become a problem. Like creating a new language and having to understand all the rules involved, time has its own issues. We think in terms of calendars we know. Once a reader has to convert all of the references into something that has no common point to the popular system of time measurement, it might give the reader a chance to check out and put the book down.

What do you think? Have you ever tried to create a time system for a book that didn’t have large similarities to the Gregorian calendar? Did it become a gargantuan task to keep everything straight in your head and your readers? How many books have you encountered that significantly altered the way time was measured for the story and did it change your opinion of the book?

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For the Love of Words

I’m a writer, so it makes sense I’m also a word lover. I have an interesting group of friends that also appreciates words. Some of them are writers, and most read voraciously. We regularly have conversations with words that don’t come up often otherwise.

So sometimes when I encounter a student that doesn’t know a certain word that seems like it should be beneath his level, I wonder. How many of these words did the people in my peer group pick up from their reading habits? There are many thousands of words in the English language. I’ll admit I don’t know a fair chunk of them. Only one visit to Save The Words convinced me that there are many words in danger of extinction because the majority of the populace doesn’t use them.

How does someone figure out what level a word is? Sure, a word like blue is in the vocabulary of most with a high degree of understanding, with the exception of the percentage of population who are blind or color-blind in the blue spectrum.

An interesting thing at Word Count is that it counts instances used in our language. While it may not be a good measure of the difficulty of a word, since some large words are used a lot in business settings or to make fun of manager-speak – it can give insight into the exposure a person might have to a certain word.

A somewhat random sampling of their ranking includes:
the – 1
and – 3
blue – 973
navy- 4252
cerulean – 69082 (For those who don’t know, it’s a shade of blue.)
conquistador – 86800 (And the last word listed at the moment.)

It kept me busy yesterday finding the approximate relation of all the rainbow colors. It also helped me understand why some people might have a common vocabulary in the beginning stages, but learn words sporadically as the rank increases.

What direction would you wander in to find the relative difficulty of a word? How do you choose which words to use for whatever level of reader you want to target in your writing? How often do you use some strange word because it’s exactly the one you need even if it requires someone to check in a dictionary? The word lover in me is poised on the edge of my chair to know.

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Home From the Reunion

It might seem odd to some, that I went to a high school reunion this weekend for a school from which I didn’t technically graduate. However, I moved there for the last bit of third grade and stayed to the end of tenth grade, and we were more well-known to each other than I could manage from any other school I attended K-12. (There were six others. It’s probably a wonder I managed to stay in one place so long.)

It was disappointing that more of my classmates couldn’t make it, but I was pleased to see some of our elementary school teachers. One fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teacher were in attendance, only one of them still a full-time teacher. I suppose that ought to remind me how long ago elementary school was. While I wasn’t in that particular fourth grade section, I had both the others.

When I saw them (and it took a little bit for us to recognize each other), I remembered how many stories I made them sit and read through in my journal at the time. I always wanted to be a writer. It wasn’t understood to me at the time that I was a writer – one who writes. I filled the journal even then at different paces, some days filling in pages with my messy scrawl and others barely the minimum requirement. I don’t think they watched me too much on the minimum. I’m glad I got the chance to thank them for reading all that stuff I was so intent on spinning out.

Have you thanked a teacher lately? Especially one who took the time to encourage you when you were younger and make sure you weren’t so overwhelmed or lost that you gave up entirely? I know a lot of people think about teachers not as people but as little units of things that ought to get done. Perhaps it just seems that way during union talks or when there are cuts or something like No Child Left Behind. (Don’t get me started on that one.) Are there teachers out there you remember who helped you out? Who gave you something interesting to look forward to?

They hadn’t heard I was a published author now. Sometimes word travels slow, even in the small towns where I once attended a school that only seems familiar to the locals. Perhaps they’ll carry the word onward to the others who might have taught me. My former classmates got to see The Art of Science, too. Some of them have kids that age already, which is hard for me to imagine, since mine are 2.5 and forthcoming.

I’m really glad I went to the reunion. Despite my missing classmates, I did get to catch up with a few I really wanted to see. And here’s to all the rest who perhaps missed me there, and maybe I’ll catch them in another five years or more.

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Blog like No One is Reading?

Seen on Twitter: “Dance like the photo’s not being tagged, Love like you’ve never been unfriended, Tweet like nobody’s following.” @postsecret from @bythebrooks (via @neilhimself).

Don’t you wonder what people have to say if they think no one will read it? Maybe that’s why some people quit blogging. If no one out there is responding, they’re not about to keep putting themselves out there. Blogs have great tracking features to tell you how many people read your post. Plus you can add feeds for subscribers to increase your readability.

But it doesn’t really bring in readers. What you write does. So is what you’re saying interesting enough to hold an audience? Only of people who personally know you? Not even then? Even if you have something interesting, humorous, or noteworthy, you might not capture the audience. Perhaps someone will repost one of your thoughts, but never come back again. [I am recently guilty of this.]

I just don’t read that many blogs. I haven’t yet found the time. It doesn’t mean I won’t find the time, especially if someone shares it directly with me, but my focus is toward writing: blogs slanted that way, books on the topic, books in genres I write, plus the writing and revision of my own work. It’s time consuming. I let it be that way.

Not that I don’t pay attention to my family. That’s where the rest of my time goes.

I’m not really under delusions about how many people read my blog. If I were WordPress would definitely burst my bubble. It’s not about what I’m trying to tell someone else, but it’s an expression of something I want to say. I think a blog ought to be something you want to do. I originally started one because it seemed like the thing writers do – they blog. Some do and some don’t. Some are successful and some aren’t. There is no one way to label a writer or a blog. The expert opinion is to do it if you like it, but that there are plenty of ways to reach an audience other than blogging if that’s the author’s preference.

It’s a long way to say: if you’re reading, thanks. It’s nice to know someone wants to read it. I’d probably still be blogging anyway – but it makes me happy.

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Pets

If you’re following me on Twitter or Facebook, you might have already seen these questions: What do you look for when you find a pet? What draws you to pick a certain one, like a cat vs a dog vs a turtle vs an ant farm vs a tarantula?

I found some interesting information on what your pet says about you. ABC reallyworks.org  Even the name can say something about the person who owns the pet. Jezebel

Most of that pertains to dogs and cats, probably because most people own one or the other, or both. I tend to disagree with the inherited name meaning the owner is too lazy to change it. Perhaps it’s better to let the pet retain its identity through a change of home. Of course, some people also rename children when adopting them, so perhaps we think of a lot of things as needing change when entering our home.

It’s something to take into account when fashioning a character who has a pet. Right now I am working with a teenager who has a pet cat. He doesn’t have a very unique name for her because that isn’t in his character. His best friend is constantly pushing her name for the cat – a Shakespearian character she thinks has a beautiful name.

Somehow it also reminds me of another story that pops into my memory here and there, an urban fantasy where some of the species kept humans as pets. What would that say about those types of people? Partly, they feel humans are less intelligent if they can be owned. They were also able to enforce their will through magic.

What is it about a pet that makes a human a good or bad one? I haven’t dug into that part yet – my focus centers on a character who is half-human and only has a peripheral view of the pets themselves. But now it makes me want to.

Drat. I didn’t need another distraction from my novel rewrite! That’s why I’m going to have to be prolific – I just keep getting great ideas.

 

 

 

 

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Writing about Writing

How many stories do you read about writers? About the writing process (but in a fictional setting)? About getting writer’s block?

All right, I’ll admit Misery is staring down at me from the top shelf, but other than that, how many of them do we read from big-name authors? Feel free to put them in my comments.

TV and movies admit there are blocked writers, but the conflict of the story line does not revolve around the writer and whatever tale is attempting to come out. They’re more often trying to understand something from life like relationships or another facet of work – like digging deeper when a report doesn’t make sense.

So why does it seem amateurs often write about writers writing? Is it the write what we know thing, where that’s all the writer has figured out? Or is it more about trying to explain away the obsession of writing to those unafflicted with the disease?

Sometimes a writer is a perfect choice of protagonist to find out certain stories and the things behind them, but if we get too bogged down in the actual writing we will miss the fun conflict of the real story.

A book I grew up with that had a writer at the core was Harriet the Spy. She was never lost for words, however, which ultimately got her into trouble when her notebook was taken and read by her classmates. Even though she wanted more than anything to be a writer and those notes were how she worked on her craft, I’m sure far fewer adolescents reading the book would turn the next page if she agonized over whether to use chartreuse, lime green, or that icky green from the crossing-guard’s jacket. I wanted to keep reading because Harriet kept getting in trouble and trying to do something and her observations provided me more information about the story as it unfolded.

Well, it might also have to do with liking writing and also conspicuously carrying around a notebook – but who knows?

Take another look at that drafted novel with the writer at the center who chews on his pencils or crosses out word after word in her notebooks. Are you giving the reader a plot point? Is that word going to be important later? Or are you filling space that could otherwise be used to tell a compelling story that will keep your reader turning page after page? Don’t be afraid to cut out the boring stuff, even if it means you don’t share with your reader the perfect torture of finding the correct word. If they’re writers, they already know. And if they’re not, they don’t care.

I know it’s heartless, but I’m a writer and I still don’t care about another writer’s search for the right words through writer’s block or whatever. I want a story with conflict and all the proper words thrown in without hearing about how the writer got there. I struggle enough with the correct thing to say on my own, thank you very much. Tell me how much you want to hear that here, too.

P.S. For anyone who is a blocked writer out there – the writer’s block links all point to fun links to help a writer beat the block.

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To Critique

Sometimes the deadlines just make whooshing sounds as they go by. I had a personal goal to try to get the notes made on a story for a critique partner today. I’m not sure I’m going to make it because my schedule keeps changing. [Seriously, who would drive 4 hours away for the weekend and not leave at naptime if given the choice with a rowdy toddler? However, naptime is generally when I catch up with all my personal goals.]

I read the story and enjoyed it. I marked a bunch of places where I want to make more comments. I’m close, but I’m also afraid if I don’t finish it before I leave for the weekend that I won’t work on it when I’m away, and it’s always good to give it back to someone on a weekend, especially if that other person has a day job.

On the other hand, I really don’t want to rush it. I want to take some good time to dig into the story and tear it apart the best I can to help the author make it awesome. That does take time. It really help that I’ve marked the places to comment, but on the overall I keep losing my train of thought. No excuses there – it’s an off week around my house and I’m doing good for what I’ve managed for the week.

Just don’t check it against my to-do list. That thing always spirals out of control with the number of things that need to be done. It’s like that old saying, “Man may work from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done.” Not that it’s necessarily man’s work versus woman’s work, but somehow the domestic chores are never completed.

Probably because they get in the way of the writing.

I’m sure that’s not true for every household. Not everyone is a writer tucked away masquerading as a housewife. (Or not, I have too many part-time jobs for that as discussed previously.) But there’s always something.

I’d much rather critique a story than do the dishes, which is why my sink is piled high again. And while I catch up with them, I’ll be trying to get my larger comments in order to type in before I leave, if I get a chance.

Sometimes it amazes me how many ways we try to critique stories. Most of the groups I have attended take the position of reading the piece aloud, or part of the piece during each meeting, and then taking notes or simply remembering the parts to critique. The turnaround is immediate and there is often little time to think. It took me a long time to get accustomed to the process, and listening actively for that amount of time can be a challenge.

I’ve also had trouble not grimacing when someone makes up a word like “scramblingly.”

Over time, I have learned a bit more from dealing with people online for critiques. Somehow the written word comes through very well and there is plenty of time to figure out exactly the parts that need to be tweaked. It’s also easier to take larger chunks at a time without worrying as much about the time requirement for the room.

There are groups out there who hand out pages each meeting, take them home, and discuss them at the next meeting. I haven’t been part of that to see how it works, except for the Summer Writing Festival, but I’d like to see more of that in action. The other issue with some of that is finding people who are good at your genre and also local in geography. The in-person group I attend now has very little experience in speculative fiction, as well as a few other things like poetry and children’s literature.

What do you do to critique? How do you manage to get around the daily obstacles to get it done? Is it in person? Is it a group? Do you find people online? How have you worked with others within your genre and outside it to make the best of the criticism you receive?

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Name Trends

Searching for a name for a person is a little different from deciding a name for a character. I suppose many of the principles are the same, but it still feels different.

A baby give the challenge of being an infant through an adult with the name chosen by the parents. Adding to the difficulty, they both have to agree. [I suppose there are ways around this, but we’re pretending to live in a world where we’d like peace among both parents.]

In a book, it’s nice to pick different names. Some stories have requirements – like historical fiction – where it’s better to choose a name that might have been heard of during that era. Example: A novel set in the 1940’s would not feature a Braeden. The name has become popular for many boys since 1995, however, so a contemporary children’s book could easily have a character with that name.

An author also might choose a name she didn’t like for a character she didn’t like, or to show how it didn’t suit the character if she did like the guy. The beauty of names is that the possibilities are infinite, and the importance behind choosing the correct one for the character depends entirely on what the author wants to say. Would Isabella Marie “Bella” Swan be the same person to us if we knew her as “Izzy” instead of “Bella”? What about “Marie”? How about if we changed her name entirely to Meredith Sue Peregrine?

Then would Meredith be the #1 name on the list for the Social Security Administration’s most popular baby names of 2010 instead of Isabella? Would Jacob be the top boy’s name? If you’re curious, one series of books – no matter how popular – can do all of this on its own. [Twilight was released in 2005, and the name Isabella had already inched into the top 10 in 2004.]

One thing that makes books so much easier to give the characters a name is that I usually don’t have to worry about a childhood nickname and a grown-up profession and all the time in between. An author can write in the cruel naming twists that kids in school somehow figure out that are much worse than the ones found in Don’t Name Your Baby. I’m not knocking the book; I own it. It’s really much more about humor than what to seriously not name your child. My husband often jokes about Harry Potter by calling him Harry Potty. Somehow these kinds of insults never come up at Hogwarts or the public schools he attended before that.

The other reason it’s so much easier to name a character in a book is that the last name can change if you want. If you find the name Parker and love it, you can find a last name to put with it. You can bend the rules of what to name boys or girls. Remember A Boy Named Beverly?

There are a lot of names on this unisex name list. There are trends where some go more toward female and or more toward male, more popular or less popular in general. Some names seem to morph from one category to another.

What do you name the children, then? Something you can stand to shout at the top of your lungs several times a day for years on end, something you think the kids won’t twist into a bad word, and something you hope the person your child grows into will fit and appreciate. Yeah, that’s easy. And it’s a bonus if every other kid in the class doesn’t have the same name, too.

Why is all this on the top of my head? If you noticed yesterday’s Silent Sunday post, you’ll notice my daughter is checking out a secret in the ultrasound.

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Writing Habits

A writer is one who writes. For many, it becomes an ingrained habit with practice. Somehow it starts with an innocent scrap of paper to overcome many notebooks and writing files. Even through the rest of the activities of writing and life, writers are encouraged to write every day. Sometimes they’re called morning pages, but not everyone manages to get them out every morning.

Do you write at a specific time every day? What do you write? Do you consider blogging writing? Do you just work it in when you can in your day, or do you allot specific time to do it? If you miss that time, does your day feel off? Under what circumstances can you not write and still consider yourself a writer? How many missed days before you feel like it’s too far out of your niche to pick up the pen again?

Morning pages happen in the beginning of the day. One big reason behind making them morning pages is the parts of your day that are prioritized are more likely to happen. For many it’s far too easy at night to say, oh, I’ll do it tomorrow. After work and family and all the other commitments, it can just be too much. If there are reasons you allot a different time of day to writing, it has to be a priority in order to make certain it gets completed. Since my toddler is much more of a morning person than I am, my pages tend to be during naptime.

I consider blogging separate from writing. I struggle to always turn out fiction, though. Sometimes I make it about fiction or my goals, especially if I’m deep into rewriting something and the distraction to write something new will carry me away from the project that needs to be finished. But I know I have trouble finishing projects. It’s why I have rough drafts lying around taunting me to polish them. One day I’m going to catch up – I swear…

All right. Not today or anytime soon.

I miss writing when I haven’t for a space of a few days. It doesn’t happen often. Rarely a few other priorities try to raise their ugly heads and get some attention. I hate it when that happens.

How sacred is your writing? Do you maintain morning pages or some other form of daily writing activity? I’d love to hear what you do to get back on track when the inevitable derailing occurs.

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Synopsis vs Outline

Writing the story is the fun part. All the rest can come later.

However, the time has come for later – and I find I really hate this synopsis. I hate the outline, too, but I can’t argue with them being valuable tools at some stage.

I wrote this novel draft piece by piece, knowing only what came a little farther ahead and where I wanted to the end. That means I kept writing until I got to the end, realized that I needed a little more wrap-up and I fixed that. Except I’m still not done.

Now’s where it gets tricky. I have an outline. It follows each chapter and the events that happen. Through the rewrite it is not completely up to date but it’s manageable. I keep making notes on where to change it and it’s slowly coming out in the novel rewrite. It’s also about three pages single-spaced, and growing, and too long for my word count to be directly funneled into a synopsis.

I took it to a writing conference some time ago, so I already wrote the synopsis. It handles only the major plot points from the beginning to the end and stands by itself at less than two pages double-spaced. All major characters, including the cat, are mentioned and show movement throughout.

The current issue between the two of them is that they’re not in agreement. Not completely. Sure, I can find every single point from the synopsis in the outline, but they’re not exactly in order. Is that a problem? I’m not sure, but it makes me want to rethink and reorganize both of them until they’re more in agreement.

That sort of brings me to the point where I’m at war with both of them. It’s ugly and it’s bloody (because I’m using a red pen, of course), and it’s only going to get worse when I scrap them both and start revisions on the manuscript with the pieces. I know it will work out eventually, but I hate this stage a little bit. I want to know if I have all my plot points nailed and if the book is saying what I want it to say: synopsis. However, I also need to keep the rest of it flowing well and honing in on the goal with the character development and the other events that foreshadow the big pieces: outline.

Send supplies in the form of finger foods and an energetic nanny. It wouldn’t hurt to clone me. Then one could go to my jobs and play with my toddler while the other one huddled in solitary and simply finished the stories. Wait – let’s make two clones. That toddler business is full-time.

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