Mike Befeler's Blog, page 72

Word Misusage

As I write more, I continue to learn new tips on word usage: correct and incorrect. Here are two I often catch in critique group manuscripts as well as in published books:
1. Blonde vs. blond – A person is a blonde but hair is blond.
2. Lectern vs. podium – I find this misused all the time. A podium is a platform you stand on to speak, but a lectern is the goodie you stand behind and put your notes on.

Brainstorming

Authors use many different methods to brainstorm ideas for their writing. Here are two techniques I use while I'm preparing to start a new manuscript or while writing it.

1. Before going to sleep, I review what notes I've made or where I left off in my manuscript. This gives me a chance to noodle on it over night. The subconscious often presents me with some excellent ideas this way.

2. I'm a morning writer. After I complete my work, I often take a walk around noon. In addition to my exercise, this is a good brainstorming time for me. I take a pad of paper and a pen, and when an idea strikes me. I stop and write it down.

Juggling Writing and Editing

I only work on one new writing manuscript at a time, but I may have multiple projects in various stages of editing. Right now, I'm writing the sixth book in the Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery series. At the same time, I have two other manuscripts being reviewed by my two online critique groups. As I get feedback from my critique partners, I go back and edit these novels. Then I've just completed the copy edits for the fourth book in the Paul Jacobson series, Cruising in Your Eighties Is Murder. This is scheduled for publication by Five Star in December of this year. Also, I have another novel for which I'm getting feedback from readers. As I get comments, I edit this one. And finally, I've recently signed a contract for book five in the Paul Jacobson series titled, Care Homes Are Murder. This manuscript is completed and has gone through my edits but next will be suggestions coming back from my developmental editor. Never a dull moment.

To Outline or Not To Outline

In my writing I have always done some amount of outlining. I've never been a seat-of-the-pants writer where I can just sit down and start writing. On some manuscripts I've done extensive outlining and for others I've developed only a basic outline. What I've evolved and what I'm using on my current manuscript is a scene outline where I briefly describe each scene. This gives me a framework for my novel but allows me to fill in a lot of detail and take diversions as the manuscript evolves.

Getting Writing Ideas

Getting Writing Ideas from NewspapersI find all kinds of interesting writing ideas in newspapers. Over the weekend we were in Los Angeles having a reunion with good friends from our UCLA days, and I happened to read an article in the Los Angeles Times about synesthesia. I had never seen this term before but now have done a little further reading about it. Synesthesia is a condition that affects one to four percent of the population where there is a cross link between different senses. In one common form called color synesthesia, numbers or letters are perceived as specific colors. Minds of synesthetes work differently than most people. It isn't a bad condition and is reported to be neutral or pleasant to those who have it. All I know is after reading about it, I have to have a character with synesthesia in a future novel.

Trying New Stuff

One of the aspects of writing I enjoy is trying new things. Right now I'm at writing a historical mystery, which I've never done before. There's a whole new dimension to writing about a time in history. Mine takes place in 1919. I've been reading old newspapers and learning about what was occurring in the world, in the US and in Boulder, Colorado (where my novel is set), at that time. Much like watching Super Bowl ads, I've become a junky of reading ads from 1919. Then there's the whole thing of word choice and idioms. I have to keep checking to see if a phrase I want to use is appropriate for that point in time. I'm doing a lot more research than I have for the contemporary mysteries I've written, but I've learned a lot and it's been a kick.

Bird Watching

I went on my second bird watching event yesterday, Gullapalooza in Boulder. My interest in bird watching has been inspired by fellow Colorado mystery author, Christine Goff, and her bird watching mystery series. The venue for Gullapalooza was the power plant and ponds which are ice free during the winter and therefore a home for water fowl. At dusk a large number of gulls returned after raiding food sources to the east. The attached picture is a swarm of gulls arriving.

Pet Words

When I write a manuscript for one of my mystery novels, I often, inadvertently, use a particular word over and over. My wife, my first reader, refers to this as a pet word. For some reason I get enamored with a particular word while writing, and it keeps popping up. While writing one novel, I kept using the word extract. Things were being extracted from a wallet, people were extracting themselves from a car . . . you get the picture. Rather than using a normal word, I got carried away. So, writers, review your manuscripts and extract any words that are artificial and have become pet words.

Research for Historical Mystery Novel

I'm writing my first historical mystery. I'm in edit mode and reworking my rough draft at the moment. The whole research world for a historical novel is fascinating. Since my novel takes place in June, 1919, I've been reading old newspapers at our local library. The daily paper is on microfilm, so I've learned to use the machine (with the patient assistance of the librarians). There was also a weekly newspaper at that time that is available in paper form in the archive. I've enjoyed reading about national events, local events, advertisements and reports about local people in the newspapers. I've used specific references but also a lot of the research entails becoming acquainted with that point in history, the words and phrases used, how people dressed, what they did for entertainment, etc. I've also perused a number of old photographs that are in the archives. Although this research could consume all my time, hopefully I've achieved a balance of finding what I need without going overboard.

Serendipity

I always get a kick out of unexpected coincidences. Today I went to the Carnegie Library in Boulder to do research on the Switzerland Trail. One of the books I used from the reference section was titled, The Mining Camps: Salina and Summerville by M. M. Anderson. After making some notes, I returned it to the librarian to be re-shelved. She said, "Did you know the author of this book is our other librarian, Marti, sitting right over there?" So I had a nice chat with Marti Anderson who showed me a web site to track further information about mines in Boulder County.