Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 123
February 10, 2015
Pantry Maneuvers
I might not be the most organized person in the world (look at my office and be afraid. Be very afraid), but my mom's organization makes me crazy. While my parents were visiting, my mom decided to rearrange my entire pantry. Why? I don't know. This is the second time she's done this to me.
It's been the way my mom set it up for a while now, but I needed to make room and as I shifted things around, all I could do was shake my head.
I thought I only had two cans of broth. As it turns out, this is not true. In fact, I have so many cans of broth that I couldn't line them all up back to front on the shelf. I had to shift some of them in front of other soups. Why do I have so much broth? Because my mom put the cans in three different places on two different shelves and almost all of them had other stuff in front of them.
Jars were mixed up with cans and very few like items were together. I seriously do not get this. Why wouldn't my mom want all the chicken broth together, all the beef broth, all the soups, all the salsa?
Reorganizing everything is not a lot of fun, so I only did a little bit. It was just as much work for my mom, and while I do appreciate her wanting to help out, in this case, I wish she hadn't. I'm still trying to figure out why she didn't like my system.
It's been the way my mom set it up for a while now, but I needed to make room and as I shifted things around, all I could do was shake my head.
I thought I only had two cans of broth. As it turns out, this is not true. In fact, I have so many cans of broth that I couldn't line them all up back to front on the shelf. I had to shift some of them in front of other soups. Why do I have so much broth? Because my mom put the cans in three different places on two different shelves and almost all of them had other stuff in front of them.
Jars were mixed up with cans and very few like items were together. I seriously do not get this. Why wouldn't my mom want all the chicken broth together, all the beef broth, all the soups, all the salsa?
Reorganizing everything is not a lot of fun, so I only did a little bit. It was just as much work for my mom, and while I do appreciate her wanting to help out, in this case, I wish she hadn't. I'm still trying to figure out why she didn't like my system.
February 8, 2015
February 5, 2015
Frozen Revisited
The first time I blogged about Frozen I said I liked the movie, but I didn't think I'd watch it again. I'm beginning to think I might have been too hasty about that. To my surprise, I've discovered myself thinking about the movie at odd moments.
Part of my absorption has to do with the song Let It Go. I know that parents with small children are probably tired of the music by now, but this song has so much depth to it. From what I've read online, this is the song that made Disney change the entire story to make it so Elsa was not the villain and I totally understand why. This son gives her character so much depth, it's incredible.
It's not just Elsa embracing who she really is, although that's certainly a powerful driver. I also find myself thinking of the line about the cold not bothering her. There's a bravado there. She's isolated--partly done by her parents who fear what she might do, but continued on after they're gone by Elsa herself. I view the cold as her isolation and her saying it never bothered her? Of course it did. So while I find the song one of a woman embracing who she is, I also think that she has more distance to go. She needs to admit what her isolation did to her and that it hurt something deep inside her.
I confess that I voluntarily listen to Let It Go on loop at work. I know, parents everywhere are cringing, but there's just so much depth to this song, so many nuances, that I keep going back for more.
There's also parts of the movie that I find myself remembering and thinking about. Maybe over-thinking things that weren't intended, but this movie does seem to have more going on than what's on the surface and that intrigues me. So yeah, I'm thinking about buying my own copy of Frozen.
Part of my absorption has to do with the song Let It Go. I know that parents with small children are probably tired of the music by now, but this song has so much depth to it. From what I've read online, this is the song that made Disney change the entire story to make it so Elsa was not the villain and I totally understand why. This son gives her character so much depth, it's incredible.
It's not just Elsa embracing who she really is, although that's certainly a powerful driver. I also find myself thinking of the line about the cold not bothering her. There's a bravado there. She's isolated--partly done by her parents who fear what she might do, but continued on after they're gone by Elsa herself. I view the cold as her isolation and her saying it never bothered her? Of course it did. So while I find the song one of a woman embracing who she is, I also think that she has more distance to go. She needs to admit what her isolation did to her and that it hurt something deep inside her.
I confess that I voluntarily listen to Let It Go on loop at work. I know, parents everywhere are cringing, but there's just so much depth to this song, so many nuances, that I keep going back for more.
There's also parts of the movie that I find myself remembering and thinking about. Maybe over-thinking things that weren't intended, but this movie does seem to have more going on than what's on the surface and that intrigues me. So yeah, I'm thinking about buying my own copy of Frozen.
February 3, 2015
Another Reason Why Word Bugs Me
I'm not a huge fan of Microsoft's Word. The two biggest issues I have with it are 1) it doesn't show me exactly where the format codes are, and because of this, when there's a formatting issue, it's a pain to fix. WordPerfect, BTW, will not only show you exactly where the format codes are, it will allow you to edit them in a split screen so that the formatting can be fixed.
And 2) Word tries to take over and do too much. It makes assumptions that might work for a business person writing a short letter, but doesn't work for a writer. I ran into a new case of this recently and I had no clue this feature even existed! This is despite the fact that I use Word all the time at work and frequently at home because whether I like it or not, it is the de facto standard in the world of publishing.
What is this new helpful feature Microsoft thinks I need? It's the Do not capitalize the next word after this word (with a period, of course). This feature isn't bad. I mean no one wants Word to capitalize the word following an abbreviation, but writers don't use many abbreviations in their stories.
Here's what happened. I end a sentence with tea. But when I type the next sentence, Word chooses no to capitalize "the." This irks me. I have tendonitis and pushing the shift key aggravates it. I count on autocorrect to take care of most capitalization for me. I put in all my characters names and place names to be automatically capitalized and Word takes care of the first word in the sentence. Only it doesn't always do that. I was irritated enough to find out why.
It's because if Word has auto-capitalized a sentence for me in the past and I hit backspace, the program assumes I don't ever want that combination capitalized. I know, big WTF. As a writer, I do a lot of backspacing because I think of better ways to say things.
If you're having this problem, too, go into your autocorrect and click Exceptions. You can check the words that Word has chosen to add to this bypass list and delete as needed. Also, you'll want to uncheck the box at the bottom "automatically add words to list" to turn off Word deciding to add words to the Exceptions list without your permission.
And 2) Word tries to take over and do too much. It makes assumptions that might work for a business person writing a short letter, but doesn't work for a writer. I ran into a new case of this recently and I had no clue this feature even existed! This is despite the fact that I use Word all the time at work and frequently at home because whether I like it or not, it is the de facto standard in the world of publishing.
What is this new helpful feature Microsoft thinks I need? It's the Do not capitalize the next word after this word (with a period, of course). This feature isn't bad. I mean no one wants Word to capitalize the word following an abbreviation, but writers don't use many abbreviations in their stories.
Here's what happened. I end a sentence with tea. But when I type the next sentence, Word chooses no to capitalize "the." This irks me. I have tendonitis and pushing the shift key aggravates it. I count on autocorrect to take care of most capitalization for me. I put in all my characters names and place names to be automatically capitalized and Word takes care of the first word in the sentence. Only it doesn't always do that. I was irritated enough to find out why.
It's because if Word has auto-capitalized a sentence for me in the past and I hit backspace, the program assumes I don't ever want that combination capitalized. I know, big WTF. As a writer, I do a lot of backspacing because I think of better ways to say things.
If you're having this problem, too, go into your autocorrect and click Exceptions. You can check the words that Word has chosen to add to this bypass list and delete as needed. Also, you'll want to uncheck the box at the bottom "automatically add words to list" to turn off Word deciding to add words to the Exceptions list without your permission.
February 1, 2015
January 29, 2015
Starting Is One of the Hardest Parts
Starting a story is hard.
A lot of beginning writers info dump at the front of their stories, explaining everything and giving reams of back story. I can't tell you how many contests I judged where the opening pages had nothing but explanation. "And when she was five..."
Info dumping is not good and it's not entertaining. Go with the iceberg rule. The author should know about 90% more about the characters than what's mentioned in the book. That 10% you do get to share? That should be dribbled in a bit at a time, not tossed out there like mountain that has to be crossed before the story actually gets underway. I read somewhere that with most first books, the author can toss chapters 1-3 and start at chapter four--that's how much info dumping goes on.
Some beginning writers see the advice to start the story in the middle of action and do exactly that with no buildup, no explanation as to who the characters are and what's going on. This is not good either. If the reader doesn't care about the characters, the action is meaningless. There is no suspense if the heroine is in a shootout and we don't know anything about her.
But while it's easy to point out what not to do, finding the right place to begin is much more difficult. Often, there are so many options. Sometimes the characters take pity on me and show me what I think is the perfect opening only to have my editor tell me to start somewhere else.
I think my track record for being allowed to keep the opening I turned the story in with is about 50%.
Right now, I'm struggling with this very thing--where should this story start? I thought I had one really good opening, but decided no, it wasn't going to work. I probably over think this, but the opening is the ground onto which the story's foundation must be built. If I don't lay the right foundation, the whole book could end up leaning like a decrepit house.
But since my brain keeps circling back to a very similar place, I'm going to try starting there and then see what happens. I can always scrap it and try again.
A lot of beginning writers info dump at the front of their stories, explaining everything and giving reams of back story. I can't tell you how many contests I judged where the opening pages had nothing but explanation. "And when she was five..."
Info dumping is not good and it's not entertaining. Go with the iceberg rule. The author should know about 90% more about the characters than what's mentioned in the book. That 10% you do get to share? That should be dribbled in a bit at a time, not tossed out there like mountain that has to be crossed before the story actually gets underway. I read somewhere that with most first books, the author can toss chapters 1-3 and start at chapter four--that's how much info dumping goes on.
Some beginning writers see the advice to start the story in the middle of action and do exactly that with no buildup, no explanation as to who the characters are and what's going on. This is not good either. If the reader doesn't care about the characters, the action is meaningless. There is no suspense if the heroine is in a shootout and we don't know anything about her.
But while it's easy to point out what not to do, finding the right place to begin is much more difficult. Often, there are so many options. Sometimes the characters take pity on me and show me what I think is the perfect opening only to have my editor tell me to start somewhere else.
I think my track record for being allowed to keep the opening I turned the story in with is about 50%.
Right now, I'm struggling with this very thing--where should this story start? I thought I had one really good opening, but decided no, it wasn't going to work. I probably over think this, but the opening is the ground onto which the story's foundation must be built. If I don't lay the right foundation, the whole book could end up leaning like a decrepit house.
But since my brain keeps circling back to a very similar place, I'm going to try starting there and then see what happens. I can always scrap it and try again.
January 27, 2015
Remembering the Positive
One of my personal growth projects for the year is to remember to point out good things. What I mean by this is that while I will write an email of complaint when something irks me, I rarely do the opposite--write an email thanking someone for great service.
This past weekend I had to go grocery shopping--one of my least favorite chores. I started out early and hit my first grocery store. People were polite there, but no one was particularly friendly. Usually they are at this store, but not that day. I drove over to grocery store number 2. This one has nicer produce and I prefer the deli meats they carry over store 1.
I was looking for low-fat hamburger already in patties over in the meat department when one of the employees said hello. He asked me how I was and listened when I said good. I asked how he was and he said he was blessed and that it was a beautiful day. He asked if could help me and I asked about the hamburger.
Not earthshaking by any means, but his energy, his obvious pleasure in the day, his joy was just beautiful and it made my day brighter. It stood in stark contrast to the girl who was at the register and the kids who bagged my groceries. They could barely say hello.
Next was the credit union--the teller was pleasant enough--and then the post office. Not very friendly there. It made my encounter with the man working the grocery's meat department all that more awesome.
I started thinking about how I wish I could tell the store how great this one employee was. When someone is that friendly and helpful and just such a pleasure to interact with, it should be pointed out. Then I realized I had an app on my iPad for the store. Sure enough, they had a feedback button. It was for the app. Hmmm. I tried the customer service section and there it was--the form to send them a note. I realized I hadn't gotten the man's name--my bad. But I talked about how awesome he was anyway and gave them the day and time I was there.
I doubt there were two people working Saturday morning that are upbeat and joyful like this man was, so hopefully they'll know who it was.
We, as a society, seem to be so quick to find fault and complain about the service we receive. I'm the same way. I'll fire off an email of complaint when I'm unhappy, but I rarely even think about doing it when I have a good encounter. I decided this needs to change. The people out there who are positive and making an effort to be helpful need to get notes with feedback, too. Their bosses need to know how awesome that person is. That person should know somehow that their good service was appreciated with more than a thank you at the end of the interaction.
This was my first opportunity to put my resolution into practice. It felt good not only to point out the excellent service, but to remember how my entire day changed because of one upbeat encounter. I hope to do this many more times this year.
This past weekend I had to go grocery shopping--one of my least favorite chores. I started out early and hit my first grocery store. People were polite there, but no one was particularly friendly. Usually they are at this store, but not that day. I drove over to grocery store number 2. This one has nicer produce and I prefer the deli meats they carry over store 1.
I was looking for low-fat hamburger already in patties over in the meat department when one of the employees said hello. He asked me how I was and listened when I said good. I asked how he was and he said he was blessed and that it was a beautiful day. He asked if could help me and I asked about the hamburger.
Not earthshaking by any means, but his energy, his obvious pleasure in the day, his joy was just beautiful and it made my day brighter. It stood in stark contrast to the girl who was at the register and the kids who bagged my groceries. They could barely say hello.
Next was the credit union--the teller was pleasant enough--and then the post office. Not very friendly there. It made my encounter with the man working the grocery's meat department all that more awesome.
I started thinking about how I wish I could tell the store how great this one employee was. When someone is that friendly and helpful and just such a pleasure to interact with, it should be pointed out. Then I realized I had an app on my iPad for the store. Sure enough, they had a feedback button. It was for the app. Hmmm. I tried the customer service section and there it was--the form to send them a note. I realized I hadn't gotten the man's name--my bad. But I talked about how awesome he was anyway and gave them the day and time I was there.
I doubt there were two people working Saturday morning that are upbeat and joyful like this man was, so hopefully they'll know who it was.
We, as a society, seem to be so quick to find fault and complain about the service we receive. I'm the same way. I'll fire off an email of complaint when I'm unhappy, but I rarely even think about doing it when I have a good encounter. I decided this needs to change. The people out there who are positive and making an effort to be helpful need to get notes with feedback, too. Their bosses need to know how awesome that person is. That person should know somehow that their good service was appreciated with more than a thank you at the end of the interaction.
This was my first opportunity to put my resolution into practice. It felt good not only to point out the excellent service, but to remember how my entire day changed because of one upbeat encounter. I hope to do this many more times this year.
January 25, 2015
January 22, 2015
The Invisible Said
To paraphrase Mark Twain, The reports of Said's death have been greatly exaggerated.There are writers--newer writers--going through contortions to not use the word said in their stories. "Said is Dead" proclaims the graphic I see pinned on Pinterest over and over and over again. It also includes a list of words to use instead. But said is not dead, said isn't even ill.
The beauty of said is that it's an invisible word. Readers register it, of course, but they don't stop reading because of it. I humbly suggest that this is not the case with many of the contortion words.
"I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too," the witch cackled.
Writers aren't normal, I know that, but the word cackle stops me. Cackled? I try to picture someone cackling while talking. It's like reading a sentence that says, "That's funny," he laughed. I mean, I guess you could laugh and talk at the same time, but this isn't a smooth dialogue tag. This is a conspicuous flashing red tag.
His laugh started low and rumbled up his chest before escaping. "That's funny," Jack said.
See how said kind of disappears? See how the focus is on the character and his words, not on the writer's choice of dialogue tag?
The job of a writer is to get out of the way. The reader shouldn't be thinking about you, about your choice of words, about how you put a sentence together. If you're so hugely worried about using said too many times, write your story so that you don't need a dialogue tag every time someone talks.
Jack's laugh started low and rumbled up his chest before escaping. He gave his kid brother a light punch on the biceps before his expression sobered. "That's funny, but Mom and Dad won't feel that way. If I were you, I'd keep that information quiet."
We know it's Jack speaking because of the action in front of the dialogue. No tag necessary.
The next time you read a book, try to remain semi-aware of the dialogue tags. Did any of them make you hesitate even for a split second as you read? Were any of those the word said? I'm willing to bet it wasn't. I'm willing to bet that the reading stumble happened on she cackled, he laughed, she hissed, he shouted rather than on he said.
Plus, seriously, some of the dialogue tag substitutes for said are lazy writing. He shouted. Okay, so instead of showing me he was mad, you're telling me he's mad with that tag.
That's not to say that said is the only choice. It's not, of course. There are times you'll want to use something different and that's fine. There's nothing wrong with choosing to use he shouted if that's the best way to tell the story. It's not fine if you're thinking, well, I used said ten pages ago, I better not use it again, so let's see, what can I use instead?
There's a lot of pluses to the invisible said. Don't go through contortions to avoid using it.
January 20, 2015
The Tyranny of Machines
My microwave nags me. I hate that. It beeps three times when it's done, and if I don't open the door in a matter of seconds, it will beep another time. Like I can beam myself across the kitchen instantaneously. And heaven forbid I'm doing something and let whatever is in the microwave sit. The thing will begin beeping at regular intervals until I open the door.
The microwave I had in Minnesota did the same thing. I hated it then, too. Beep once and stay quiet. That's all I want. I won't forget there's something in there, and if I do, I can always warm it up again.
Right now, my coffee maker is flashing an evil red eye at me, kind of like a Cylon fighter. It wants to be cleaned, but it takes time and so I wait for the weekend. It nags me with every cup of coffee I pour, with every filter I fill with grounds. It's annoying, but unfortunately necessary in this case. I might not forget I heated something up in the microwave, but I know I won't remember to clean the coffee maker without the Cylon death stare.
When the filter in my refrigerator needs to be replaced, I get the red glare. It just stays on, judging me every time I pass by.
Don't even get me started about the smoke detectors and their batteries. Those things are the epitome of machine tyranny. They deliberately wait until 2am to start their shrill nagging. All evening long, quiet, not a peep out of them, but once I'm sound asleep...chirp. chirp. chirp.
This time I outsmarted them. I remembered to have the handyman change the batteries before they got low. Hah!
The microwave I had in Minnesota did the same thing. I hated it then, too. Beep once and stay quiet. That's all I want. I won't forget there's something in there, and if I do, I can always warm it up again.
Right now, my coffee maker is flashing an evil red eye at me, kind of like a Cylon fighter. It wants to be cleaned, but it takes time and so I wait for the weekend. It nags me with every cup of coffee I pour, with every filter I fill with grounds. It's annoying, but unfortunately necessary in this case. I might not forget I heated something up in the microwave, but I know I won't remember to clean the coffee maker without the Cylon death stare.
When the filter in my refrigerator needs to be replaced, I get the red glare. It just stays on, judging me every time I pass by.
Don't even get me started about the smoke detectors and their batteries. Those things are the epitome of machine tyranny. They deliberately wait until 2am to start their shrill nagging. All evening long, quiet, not a peep out of them, but once I'm sound asleep...chirp. chirp. chirp.
This time I outsmarted them. I remembered to have the handyman change the batteries before they got low. Hah!
