Category: Writing

Collaboration

I’ve been working on some song lyrics for a friend of mine. It’s not something I’ve done before, but she’s a singer and this poem-type thing started popping out of my head. I felt a tempo behind it and so I played with it enough to get a chorus and verses.

When I spoke to Michelle Tuesday about it, she was pretty excited. I let her read my draft last night. Turns out she wrote a song yesterday, too, but her efforts at lyrics might be revamped into something with a bit more of a message. (I got to read it – I can’t wait to actually hear it.)

I had to laugh because our original plan -yes, we had a plan- was to start collaborating in February when some of our other projects had died down a little, but I guess our imaginations just ran wild and when inspiration strikes, it must be captured. She’s very talented musically, and I’m trying to be patient to see what she comes up with.

I’m hoping it’s just the beginning, but I don’t have song ideas popping out of my head every day.

Listen to Michelle Tuesday:
Youtube: WDCBrandiwyn
MySpace: Brandiwyn

Posted on by ransomnoble 0

Honest Scrap Award

Honest Scrap Award
Honest Scrap Award

Wow. This award can make the rounds, but it’s about honesty in the telling. I’d hope everyone is all about telling it like it is, but the beauty of anonymity sometimes means people take advantage while others can express themselves better.

Part of the honor means sharing ten honest thing about myself, preferably interesting. Right, because the easy part about being honest is sharing the boring parts. The boring parts to one are sometimes the interesting parts to someone else.

So, the interesting facts:
1. Critters are cool. This includes spiders and snakes and all manner of creatures, fictional or not.
2. I found out what snow was when I was 8, and I’m still not happy about it.
3. I have a lot less trouble driving manual transmissions than automatics, which is one reason why my husband and I were thrilled to get our hands on a Cadillac with a stick shift.
4. One of my goals is to visit all 50 states before I turn 50. I’m currently 31 and have visited 37 – not to mention 5 foreign countries. I love to travel.
5. I’m learning to play guitar.
6. I practice yoga every day, and have for several years now.
7. My dream is to see my novels in bookstores and have people love my stories.
8. I realized recently that my protagonists had a nasty habit of all being closet artists, so I am broadening their horizons, and mine, by making them interested in other things.
9. My friends consider me something of an enigma, though I don’t understand why.
10. I’m expecting my first child on April Fool’s Day, 2009.

7 Blogs to Nominate:
Dawn Arkin (Can’t see her blog, but I know she has one.)
Crys Calderwood
Elysabeth Eldering
Jamie Eyeberg
Karina Fabian
Susan Smith Thompson

Part of the fun of this award is reading in other blogs what the winner thinks is interesting about herself. I had trouble coming up with the list, but a friend rattled off several ideas when I only had about two left.

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Feedback

Whenever I write a new piece, I want to share it if I think it’s good. I get really excited about some things as I finish them, and I eagerly await the time when my friends can read it.

Then they try to tell me what I want to know, which is how to make it better. Some of them do better than others. All of the things they say about it are valuable to me. I want to know how they felt about it and whether a certain part got confusing. A few even can get into the nitty grammar details that sometimes bog me down. (Do I use ‘s after first names ending in s for possessive? Answers may vary.)

I struggle with the proper questions so I can get the information I really want. Is it enough if someone likes it? Does the hook work? Is the main character likeable enough? Eventually I find a happy medium between what I want to say and how it comes across to others – then I submit it somewhere.

Sometimes this method even works.

Posted on by ransomnoble 3

On Blogging

I found out this morning about a few of my readers. I’m always amazed, though it’s delightful to see that little number of hits button go up. I think I still know many of my readers, but I’m surprised how many of them keep regular tabs on me and more surprised when people turn up that I don’t know.

Drop me a line and let me know who you are.

I also received an award for this blog, but I’ll have to think about it and post it later. The links to seven other blogs that also deserve the award require a lot of thought!

Posted on by ransomnoble 5

Screenwriting, continued…

A buddy of mine shared the link for Celtx, a free software to organize media projects. While it seems geared more toward scripts for plays or film, it also has a plain text editor, features for audio play, AV scripts like ads, music videos or documentaries, and even something for comic books.

It’s funny that it came up right after that conversation between my husband and I about screen writing. Another tool to try to tackle new challenges. It also has a community associated with it called Project Central that offers peer reviews and sneak previews for Celtx members.

I know in the book publishing world, if I can see it without logging in with a password it’s already considered ‘public’ and ‘published’ whether you got paid for it or not. If it’s the same for these other media, I think some of these users might not be happy that I can see it just by clicking. (I have not created an account there.) The only issue I saw with the software was it created a backup file on their secure server. I’d have to play more to see if it went public or if that was an option I set myself.

A year or two ago I wouldn’t have even considered that last option. Now it seems to be in the front of my mind anytime I share with someone. The best part of publishing, for me, is to share my stories with people I don’t even know.

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Endless Possibilities

My husband had the helpful suggestion I ought to write scripts last night. His suggestion is all about the money he thinks I’d receive from the slight change in focus.

I reminded him I’ve never written a script. I think I wrote a play-style piece, once, when I was in fifth grade. That doesn’t count. I think it’d be a different thing entirely than the novels I’m slowly churning out.

But every time someone talks about a different medium, I am curious to try it. There’s something about a new challenge that makes it more interesting.

The suggestion came amidst a conversation about famous Iowans, Ashton Kutcher and Shawn Johnson were on a replay of a wrestling match on the Big Ten Network. I don’t think I need to write screenplays to be a famous Iowan, though. I’m sure novels could get me there, with time and patience and maybe a little luck.

Posted on by ransomnoble 3

Writing Meetings

I attended my writer’s group this week. Usually my mother is there, too, but this time she didn’t make it because the weather kept her out of town an extra day.

These are wonderful tools for writers for many reasons. First, I get read something to the group and listen to their feedback. They started me on editing my latest project, the novel I finished last month with the working title Dreams. Second, I get to listen to all of their submissions and critique.

Listening to their writings requires a good ear. The first time I went, I was amazed how well they could do that. I’d never tried to offer opinions on something I’d heard aloud. I’d always been able to read the piece and then mark it up. Unfortunately, my brain still wants to mull things over and I often don’t catch things I might have if given more time. I have learned to add more to discussions and I’ve noticed it gets easier. I’m starting to hear things in my own pieces when I’m reading them, as well. It makes me understand why people tell you to read it aloud before sending it somewhere. I haven’t always done this, and I still struggle with reading aloud to myself at home.

I have learned it isn’t the same to stare at the writing on the paper and just say the words in your head. I think it’s something about actually speaking the words into the air and making your ear hear them. It’d be an interesting experiment to run if we had a way to see how the brain worked while doing both.

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Plot is a Verb

I read often. Professional or amateur writer – I always feel I can learn from their styles.

This phrase from Plot, “Plot is a verb,” sticks with me when I read some things. The plot must move. It goes somewhere. It generally changes the protagonist in some way. A lot of little snippets have events and don’t change the main character. While these snippets can be interesting, entertaining, or sometimes neither, they don’t always keep all the elements of a story.

Sometimes writers forget who the story is about, or the story they start telling isn’t the one they finish telling. It’s not easy to tell a good story, and it is worth the effort to keep trying.

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Attempt to Publish

I’m always both excited and nervous when it comes time to submit to a new market. I have a short story geared toward children I’m sending to a magazine that’s a bigger market than I’ve tried before. Usually I’ve been submitting adult articles to science fiction magazines, so it’s different that way, too.

I like the e-submit options that a lot of those magazines have. However, there’s something about actually printing the story that makes me keep reading it over. How good is good enough? When do you stop and just mail it? Where did I leave all my envelopes? (I moved a few months ago and I haven’t necessarily figured out where I put everything yet, though most things I ‘lose’ can be found within a few minutes searching.)

I promised myself it’d be ready to mail this week and Wednesday turned into Friday. I wasn’t planning to go to the post office today, but I’d better if I’m going to meet my goal!

The ‘good’ versus ‘good enough’ question gets a lot of writers, I think. I know several who don’t send things out, always tweaking just a little bit more. As we learn, yes, our stories improve, but if we never send anything out, what progress are we making? Isn’t the purpose to share?

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Editing Joy

Every time I write something, different things run through my mind. The story is the first part of the focus, but sentence structure intrudes most of the time at a secondary level.

The big things are sometimes the easiest to figure out, but some of them slip through the cracks. It was the final edit of my novel to be published where I found a mistake about who was in class with whom. (While I hope that was the last error, we shall see when it’s printed and everyone else gets to read it.)

In my current novel project I’m identifying all the places where the protagonists interacted with others and making sure it’s all consistent with their personalities. Later I’ll tweak my verbs and check for overall readability.

It may not sound like much fun, but digging into the story to bring it out more is enjoyable. It also means my characters get to live on in my head while longer!

Posted on by ransomnoble 1