L.C. Hamilton's Blog, page 3

RAMBLING: Shooting Your Darlings

I had a fantastic Creative Writing professor in college. Taking his class was by far one of the most helpful things I could have done to improve my writing. But one lesson that he taught me was a hard lesson to swallow.

Sometimes you have to shoot your darlings.

“Darlings” are the parts of your story that you absolutely love. A darling could be that perfectly crafted sentence that makes you smile. A darling could be that fight scene in Part Two that you are so proud of. A darling could be a character that is so well designed they feel like a real, living, breathing person to you.

But maybe, when you really look at it, that sentence describing the dust mote floating in the air is a little too on the purple prose side. Or maybe that fight scene just can’t belong in Part Two because Greg hasn’t learned to control his powers well enough yet. Or maybe that character that you love just doesn’t belong in your story.

My first novel had a lot of darlings. But one darling hurt more than any to shoot.

It was the week before my final manuscript of Fatal Heir was due to the printer for publishing. The cover art was complete. Every chapter heading was finally where I needed it to be. The formatting was done for both the print and kindle editions. I was ready to go! But there was a major problem. I had one more BIG DARLING and she needed to be shot.

We’ll call this darling “Anita.” Anita was a major character. She provided an opposing view for the main hero. She teased him, she enticed him, and she made him curious about a facet of his reality that he otherwise would have avoided. She was a catalyst for the plot, and a very important one at that.

Or so I thought.

I spent hours editing and revising each of her scenes, growing more and more frustrated that they just didn’t fit. I found myself cutting some of her most important appearances because I simply didn’t need them. The realization that I didn’t need Anita at all developed slowly like a bad cold.

But I needed Anita. Anita was in several scenes. Anita was a major player in the finale. Anita was very important.

But she wasn’t.

Actually, she was a major distraction, a huge spoiler for the ending, and there was nothing she could do that couldn’t be done by another character. She needed to go.

But Anita was so important (or so I thought) that she was prominently displayed ON THE BACK COVER.

I sent a desperate email to the artist to see if she could throw together some sort of abstract doodle I could use in place of Anita’s picture. To my great surprise, Fariza agreed to paint an entirely new background of another major character to replace Anita. She completed it in four days. Further proof that who you choose to work with is just as important as the work you do yourself. Fariza Dzatalin was a total life-saver on this project.

Meanwhile, I was desperately revising my whole novel. I had to completely rewrite entire chapters. The finale had to be changed because Anita was no longer there. I had to re-read the whole book to edit out any tiny reference to this character that I could find. I still lay awake at night thinking I might have missed a mention somewhere.

It was horrible, depressing, and desperate work. But in the end my novel was a much tighter, neater story. It was a good change. It hurt, but it truly helped my story to shoot my darling. And now as I begin work on the greatly anticipated sequel to Fatal Heir, I see that I definitely made the right choice. Because “Anita” will play a major role in this second book that she could never have filled if she remained where she was in the first one. I perk about shooting your darlings is the unique ability writers have to resurrect their shot darlings into other projects where they fit better.

“You Are Dead (Sign Here Please)” by Andrew Stanek

Overall Rating: 

I downloaded You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) on my Kindle Fire a couple months ago when it was temporarily free. It definitely isn’t my normal read, but I decided to give it a try because the premise amused me.

You are Dead (Sign Here Please) is a delightfully wonky comedy about a world in which heaven is run by bureaucrats who file paperwork for absolutely everything in existence. When Nathan, our protagonist, is murdered by a serial killer and sent to heaven, it is one of these same bureaucrats who asks him to sign his 21B. When Nathan refuses, he is sent back to life until the bureaucrats can find a way to trick him into signing his form – or prove he’s insane so they can sign it for him.

Nathan’s hometown of Dead Donkey is wild and bizarre. It’s such a terrible place to be that the local travel agencies make most of their money by luring tourists in and then charging more to get them out once they see what a terrible place it is. The mayor’s office is located in a urinal and something is always on fire.

Overall, I found this book amusing, light-hearted, bizarre, and fun – and sometimes alarming! If you enjoy books like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, then you will love this book.

Pros: You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) is written with a very tongue-in-cheek style that had me laughing out loud many times. One night I actually woke my husband up in the middle of the night to read quotes to him because they were just too funny not to share. The premise is clever and the writing was so absurd that I really had no idea what to expect by the end.

Cons: The characters in You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) are very one-dimensional. I didn’t really like any of the characters enough to actually care what happened to them. In fact, I found myself more often rooting for the bureaucrats than for Nathan. Maybe that says more about me than the book. But the characters felt either too bland or too ridiculous for any emotional connection. I know that this is a comedy, but I would have liked to believe the characters were actually characters, rather than plot devices. The writer went to such great pains to paint the city of Dead Donkey as this awful, wacky cesspool of violence that it was hard to understand why Nathan wanted to go back.

Favorite Quote: “For a moment, Ian stood there dumbstruck. He looked confused, like a dog that has just seen the cat it was chasing escape by helicopter.”

This book appears to have two sequels: You Are a Ghost (Sign Here Please), and You Are Doomed (Sign Here Please).

You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) can be purchased on Amazon.com. It is available in both ebook and paperback.

Leslie Colleen “L.C.” Ireland is an arts educator and writer. Her first novel, Fatal Heir, was published in Oct. 2015. She currently lives in Ogden, UT with her amazing husband.
















“The Spark” by Sylvie Stewart

Jan 17, 2017

The Spark by Sylvie Stewart is a light-hearted romantic comedy about moving past first impressions and overcoming your inner demons.

Writer, Beware! 4 Companies Indie Authors Should Avoid

Jan 10, 2017

Just like in any industry, there are some snakes indie authors need to be aware of.

5 Reasons Why You Should Self-Publish Your Book

Jan 9, 2017

Being an indie author is exciting and scary. When you become your own publisher, you have all of the control. You can read that last sentence with enthusiasm or dismay. It's true both ways. While it's great to have so much control and freedom to make your book match...

Shooting Your Darlings

Jan 7, 2017

Sometimes you have to sacrifice the parts of your story you love the most to craft a story you’ll love even more.

“You Are Dead (Sign Here Please)” by Andrew Stanek

Dec 29, 2016

You are Dead (Sign Here Please) is a delightfully wonky comedy about a world in which heaven is run by bureaucrats who file paperwork for absolutely everything in existence.

You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) by Andrew Stanek

Overall Rating: 

I downloaded You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) on my Kindle Fire a couple months ago when it was temporarily free. It definitely isn’t my normal read, but I decided to give it a try because the premise amused me.

You are Dead (Sign Here Please) is a delightfully wonky comedy about a world in which heaven is run by bureaucrats who file paperwork for absolutely everything in existence. When Nathan, our protagonist, is murdered by a serial killer and sent to heaven, it is one of these same bureaucrats who asks him to sign his 21B. When Nathan refuses, he is sent back to life until the bureaucrats can find a way to trick him into signing his form – or prove he’s insane so they can sign it for him.

Nathan’s hometown of Dead Donkey is wild and bizarre. It’s such a terrible place to be that the local travel agencies make most of their money by luring tourists in and then charging more to get them out once they see what a terrible place it is. The mayor’s office is located in a urinal and something is always on fire.

Overall, I found this book amusing, light-hearted, bizarre, and fun – and sometimes alarming! If you enjoy books like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, then you will love this book.

Pros: You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) is written with a very tongue-in-cheek style that had me laughing out loud many times. One night I actually woke my husband up in the middle of the night to read quotes to him because they were just too funny not to share. The premise is clever and the writing was so absurd that I really had no idea what to expect by the end.

Cons: The characters in You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) are very one-dimensional. I didn’t really like any of the characters enough to actually care what happened to them. In fact, I found myself more often rooting for the bureaucrats than for Nathan. Maybe that says more about me than the book. But the characters felt either too bland or too ridiculous for any emotional connection. I know that this is a comedy, but I would have liked to believe the characters were actually characters, rather than plot devices. The writer went to such great pains to paint the city of Dead Donkey as this awful, wacky cesspool of violence that it was hard to understand why Nathan wanted to go back.

Favorite Quote: “For a moment, Ian stood there dumbstruck. He looked confused, like a dog that has just seen the cat it was chasing escape by helicopter.”

This book appears to have two sequels: You Are a Ghost (Sign Here Please), and You Are Doomed (Sign Here Please).

You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) can be purchased on Amazon.com. It is available in both ebook and paperback.

Leslie Colleen “L.C.” Ireland is an arts educator and writer. Her first novel, Fatal Heir, was published in Oct. 2015. She currently lives in Ogden, UT with her amazing husband.
















Writer, Beware! 4 Companies Indie Authors Should Avoid

Jan 10, 2017

Just like in any industry, there are some snakes indie authors need to be aware of.

5 Reasons Why You Should Self-Publish Your Book

Jan 9, 2017

Being an indie author is exciting and scary. When you become your own publisher, you have all of the control. You can read that last sentence with enthusiasm or dismay. It's true both ways. While it's great to have so much control and freedom to make your book match...

Shooting Your Darlings

Jan 7, 2017

Sometimes you have to sacrifice the parts of your story you love the most to craft a story you’ll love even more.

You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) by Andrew Stanek

Dec 29, 2016

You are Dead (Sign Here Please) is a delightfully wonky comedy about a world in which heaven is run by bureaucrats who file paperwork for absolutely everything in existence.

REVIEW: You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) by Andrew Stanek

Overall Rating: 

I downloaded You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) on my Kindle Fire a couple months ago when it was temporarily free. It definitely isn’t my normal read, but I decided to give it a try because the premise amused me.

You are Dead (Sign Here Please) is a delightfully wonky comedy about a world in which heaven is run by bureaucrats who file paperwork for absolutely everything in existence. When Nathan, our protagonist, is murdered by a serial killer and sent to heaven, it is one of these same bureaucrats who asks him to sign his 21B. When Nathan refuses, he is sent back to life until the bureaucrats can find a way to trick him into signing his form – or prove he’s insane so they can sign it for him.

Nathan’s hometown of Dead Donkey is wild and bizarre. It’s such a terrible place to be that the local travel agencies make most of their money by luring tourists in and then charging more to get them out once they see what a terrible place it is. The mayor’s office is located in a urinal and something is always on fire.

Overall, I found this book amusing, light-hearted, bizarre, and fun – and sometimes alarming! If you enjoy books like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, then you will love this book.

Pros: You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) is written with a very tongue-in-cheek style that had me laughing out loud many times. One night I actually woke my husband up in the middle of the night to read quotes to him because they were just too funny not to share. The premise is clever and the writing was so absurd that I really had no idea what to expect by the end.

Cons: The characters in You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) are very one-dimensional. I didn’t really like any of the characters enough to actually care what happened to them. In fact, I found myself more often rooting for the bureaucrats than for Nathan. Maybe that says more about me than the book. But the characters felt either too bland or too ridiculous for any emotional connection. I know that this is a comedy, but I would have liked to believe the characters were actually characters, rather than plot devices. The writer went to such great pains to paint the city of Dead Donkey as this awful, wacky cesspool of violence that it was hard to understand why Nathan wanted to go back.

Favorite Quote: “For a moment, Ian stood there dumbstruck. He looked confused, like a dog that has just seen the cat it was chasing escape by helicopter.”

This book appears to have two sequels: You Are a Ghost (Sign Here Please), and You Are Doomed (Sign Here Please).

You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) can be purchased on Amazon.com. It is available in both ebook and paperback.

Leslie Colleen “L.C.” Ireland is an arts educator and writer. Her first novel, Fatal Heir, was published in Oct. 2015. She currently lives in Ogden, UT with her amazing husband.
















RAMBLING: Shooting Your Darlings

Jan 7, 2017

Sometimes you have to sacrifice the parts of your story you love the most to craft a story you’ll love even more.

REVIEW: You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) by Andrew Stanek

Dec 29, 2016

You are Dead (Sign Here Please) is a delightfully wonky comedy about a world in which heaven is run by bureaucrats who file paperwork for absolutely everything in existence.

Practice Post

Here is a practice post.

Shooting Your Darlings

I had a fantastic Creative Writing professor in college. Taking his class was by far one of the most helpful things I could have done to improve my writing.  One of the most powerful lessons he taught me was this one: Sometimes you have to shoot your darlings. Darlings are the parts of your story that you love. A darling could be that perfectly crafted sentence that makes you smile. A darling could be that fight scene in Part Two that you are so proud of. A darling could be a character.

My first novel had a lot of darlings.

It was the week before my final manuscript of Fatal Heir was due to the printer for publishing. The cover art was complete. Every chapter heading was finally where I needed it to be. The formatting was done for both the print and kindle editions. I was ready to go! But there was a major problem. I had one more BIG DARLING and she needed to be shot.

We’ll call this darling “Anita.” Anita was a major character. She provided an opposing view for the main hero. She teased him, she enticed him, and she made him curious about a facet of his reality that he otherwise would have avoided. She was a catalyst for the plot, and a very important one at that.

Or so I thought.

I spent hours editing and revising each of her scenes, growing more and more frustrated that they just didn’t fit. I found myself cutting some of her most important appearances because I simply didn’t need them. The realization that I didn’t need Anita at all developed slowly like a bad cold.

But I needed Anita. Anita was in several scenes. Anita was a major player in the finale. Anita was very important.

But she wasn’t.

Actually, she was a major distraction, a huge spoiler for the ending, and there was nothing she could do that couldn’t be done by another character. She needed to go.

But Anita was so important (or so I thought) that she was prominently displayed ON THE BACK COVER.

I sent a desperate email to the artist to see if she could throw together some sort of abstract cover I could use in place of Anita’s picture. To my great surprise, Fariza Dzatalin agreed to paint an entirely new background of another major character to replace Anita. She completed it in four days. Further proof that who you choose to work with is just as important as the work you do yourself. Fariza was a total life-saver on this project.

Meanwhile, I was desperately revising my whole novel. I had to completely rewrite entire chapters. The finale had to be changed because Anita was no longer there. I had to re-read the whole book to edit out any tiny reference to this character that I could find. I still lay awake at night thinking I might have missed a mention somewhere.

It was horrible, depressing, and desperate work. But in the end my novel was a much tighter, neater story. It was a good change. It hurt, but it truly helped my story to shoot my darling.

Fatal Heir Pre-Order and Teaser Chapter

After a year of hard work, I am thrilled to announce that my first novel, Fatal Heir, is available for pre-order! With stunning cover art by the talented Fariza Dzatalin, this novel is truly a treat in either paperback or Kindle e-reader editions. Watch out for future Kobi and Nook releases.

In a world plagued by the undead, Donald Baines is a common farmer with an uncommon gift: He sees spirits. When Don is arrested for crimes he didn’t commit – including treason – he learns that he is in fact the lost Prince Izayik Delaren, the rightful heir to the throne of Aldrin. Now he must use his otherworldly powers to uncover the dark secrets that led to the Rise of the Deadmen. Sporting a pitchfork and an uncanny ability to communicate with the dead, Izayik may just be the key to saving his people…or will he be their destruction?

Fatal Heir is a page-turning paranormal fantasy adventure recommended for ages 10 and up.

Pre-order a signed paperback copy HERE and receive a free promotional bookmark!

Pre-order the Kindle e-reader edition HERE.

As a special treat, you can download the first chapter for FREE right here:

FATAL HEIR Chapter 1 Teaser

Theatre Games: I’m an Egg

This simple theatre game teaches younger students about sequence and helps them identify animals that hatch from eggs. I developed this game at the request of a first-grade teacher who wanted help teaching her students about the life cycles of chickens.

Name: I’m an Egg

LC’s Rating: 

Recommended Ages: Kindergarten, 1st Grade

Focus: Character, Sequence, Life Cycles

How to Play: Teacher will identify the animal (for example, a chicken). Students will begin crouched or laying on the ground in a ball, pretending to be eggs. The teacher will coach the class; “The egg is hatching now! What does that look like?” Students will wiggle and peck their way out of their eggs. Then the teacher will coach them; “What comes after the egg? A chick? Act like a chick!” Students will act like chicks until the teacher says, “Now grow up all the way! What are you now? A chicken? Act like a chicken!” Students will act like chickens until the teacher instructs them to return to egg form. They will then repeat the process with a new animal.

Notes: Let students suggest the animals after the first couple rounds. You may suggest animals like frogs, butterflies, spiders, birds, and dinosaurs. If a student suggests a mammal or other non-egg-laying animal, take a minute to teach or review the difference and ask them to choose another animal.

Students love when the teacher plays with them.

Variations:  none

Theatre Games: Kitty Wants a Quarter

This high-energy game focuses on communication and spacial awareness and emphasizes being polite. If the space is available, this game is often one of the first ones requested by my students.

Name: Kitty Wants a Quarter, Kitty in the Corner, Kitty Wants a Corner

LC’s Rating: 

Recommended Ages: 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade

Focus: Movement, Communication, Peripheral Vision, Focus, Eye Contact

How to Play: You will need a wide open area, like the gym floor, a stage, or a large outside space. Arrange students in a large circle, facing inward. One student, the Kitty, stands in the middle of the circle. The Kitty’s job is to stand in front of each student and ask for a quarter. Each student must politely decline. If they are not polite, they are out of the game. The Kitty will then move to the next student and ask for a quarter. While the Kitty is making their way around the circle, the students behind them try to switch places across the circle. They will make eye contact with another student across the circle and then run to switch places. If the Kitty notices an empty space in the circle, the Kitty will try to beat the student to that space. If the Kitty takes the open space, the other student becomes the new Kitty.

Notes: This game gets crazy very quickly. The teacher will need to be the voice of authority on who is the current Kitty. You may want to try to limit the number of students who can try switching at the same time. I have had experiences where more than half the class attempts to run across the circle at the same time, causing a traffic jam and mass confusion. Usually I set the limit at three groups at a time. If it starts to get out of control, I will call for everyone to stop and stand still while I correct them, then have them reset and try again.

Since this game is about visual communication, be sure to tell your students that simply calling each other’s names is not allowed. They must make eye contact. Calling out names also tells the Kitty exactly who is going to switch.

I usually teach my students a hand gesture, like holding up their palm, as a sign that they are about to cross. This helps alleviate confusion if two students think one student is looking at both of them. If they both raise their palms, then the initiator knows to point to one so two students are not running for the same spot.

For some reason, the circle will get smaller and smaller as the game continues. You may have to give instructions for every student to take steps backward occasionally.

Sometimes I will play with the students, purposefully engaging the shyer students, or else I will walk around the outside of the outside of the circle and play matchmaker so that those with more shy tendencies will be actively involved.

Being polite to the Kitty is a big part of this game. How can you politely say “no?” You may want to have this discussion before you ever begin the game. Yelling at the Kitty is not allowed (students may try this, thinking they are being funny). Students also should not ignore the Kitty to watch what is happening in the circle. If you catch students being rude or simply ignoring the Kitty, you may want to pull them out of the game for a couple rounds or give them a warning.

Variations: You may decide to place colored circles on the floor for the students to stand on. This will help keep the circle at a consistent size and will make it more clear when a space is available so that the Kitty doesn’t simply join the circle between two students who are not standing very close together.

Theatre Games: The ‘Possum Game

Perhaps the most powerful and for sure the most popular theatre game in my arsenal is The ‘Possum Game. Students literally beg me to play this game before I even step into their classroom. This game is simple to learn and simple to play and my students love it.

Name: The ‘Possum Game, Playing ‘Possum

LC’s Rating: 

Recommended Ages: Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade

Focus: Movement, Self-Control, Stamina

How to Play: The teacher calls out “Play ‘Possum” and counts down from 5. Students find a place in the classroom to sit, stand, or lie. When the countdown hits 1, the students freeze. The teacher prowls around the room looking for any sign of movement. As the teacher catches students moving, she calls them out and they move to a designated “out” area (the carpet or their own desks usually works well). After 2 to 5 minutes, the teacher says, “If you’re still playing ‘Possum, give yourselves a round of applause.” The teacher then calls the students back to the carpet or their desks to start another round or move on to another activity.

Notes: Students in the “out” area can assist the teacher by quietly pointing to classmates that they see moving. I stress that they are not allowed to call out names or move from the “out” area, as this has caused lots of the bad kind of drama in my experience. I also make sure that students understand that it must be the teacher who catches a student moving in order for the student to be “out.”

I usually allow kindergartners to blink without penalty, but older ages even a blink will get them out. You may need to remind the students that breathing is okay.

I usually play at least 2 rounds, so the students who were “out” early don’t feel so bad.

The amount of time the game lasts really depends on the students. Ideally, you should have less than a third of the class still in the game when you end, but that isn’t always the case. If I have a lot of students “out” early who are getting antsy, I end the round fairly quickly. If they are very focused, I let the game go upwards of five minutes (which is an eternity to a kindergartner) so they can really enjoy their victory. If the entire class is doing very well, I will let them all win on rare occasions. They love the shared victory. Otherwise, I do not end the game until at least a third of the class is out.

Variations: Sneaky ‘Possum, in which students are encouraged to move (stealthily) behind the teacher’s back. Play this version with students who are already familiar with the original game and discuss how slow and steady movements are harder to spot than quick jerky movements. Demonstrate the difference. Remind them that making noise makes it easier to catch them. When prowling the room, deliberately turn your back to a large portion of the class and then suddenly turn around and see who freezes fast enough to avoid getting caught.

In my experience, students love to play ‘Possum and teachers love when they’re playing it because it provides a few moments of complete silence and stillness. Once I introduce this game, it is requested without fail every single time I enter the classroom. It has been a great tool to teach self-control, movement, and to get younger students used to the idea that losing a single round isn’t the end of the world.