Ransom Noble's Blog, page 36

Odds and Ends

Funny, yesterday I said Dawn and I had trouble gettting our schedules to mesh. Then we managed the interview last night – so check it out here.

If you checked out Crys's blog yesterday, you saw a bunch of stuff about the struggles of self-published and small press authors. See Vivian's response and more information at her blog here. I learned something from both of those yesterday!

In other news, I've been turning over my last manuscript to see what's salvageable. There are good things and bad thi

A Word from My Friends

Jamie – This fellow writer has his blog detailing his works in progress with tidbits about his life and family. You've probably dropped by his blog before if you followed the blog tour for The Art of Science. When he gets a book out, I hope to return the favor.

Michelle - She's a singer/songwriter in Ohio. She plays her guitar and sings at a local restaurant, Pot Belly. One of the great parts of her blog is she posts a new song once a week.

Shawna – Here's a new one on my writer scene, for those w

Challenges

I'm one of those people who's always looking for a challenge. I like being able to accomplish things, and writing has its own to manage.

These challenges can stretch the writing abilities. I took a piece to my writing group today, and they thought I could make it into a picture book. Funny, I just hadn't looked at it that way. It would require a few changes, but it'd be cute.

I thought I'd never written anything like that, but it turns out I was wrong. And all of that from a prompt that said to ha

Word Choices

In writing, the words you choose are everything. Is it red, or scarlet, or mulberry? Some of them aren't as easy to choose between.

There are other choices. Deliberate mispellings, created words, and double entendres of all kinds are completely up to the author. Well, eventually editors will have a say in traditional publishing – but that isn't the only way to go.

Do you choose adverbs instead of adjectives? Do you choose to get rid of both? Do you use them as seasonings or as the main course?

An e

Book Club

I haven't been part of a real book club yet. I'm not sure if it's because of where I've lived recently or if I just don't know the people running them.

A friend of mine said it might be cool for my book to be part of a mother-daughter book club. It sounds like a fun idea, even though my daughter's too young yet, so sometimes my mind wanders to books that might be fun to put into that kind of thing.

It really makes me want to browse the bookstores and Amazon. (Amazon because I'm sure there are quit

Geek Appeal

What do children know of grammar? According to this article, perhaps more than you think.

It talks about innate knowledge of nouns and verbs by the time a child turns two. There is a brain response to incorrectly using the nouns and verbs.

Of course they're not sure what this will mean for language learning yet, but the implications could be interesting. It also says the toddlers aren't capable of using the words correctly as they know they're supposed to be used. What if that isn't true?

I suppose

Family Relationships, Pt 2

Unexpected changes in relationships can put stresses on all of them. Characters must be examined from each facet of the unique family dynamic to see how they're put together.

Deaths, births, marriages and divorces are all stressful events that change a character's family. They're not to be used lightly, and they show a character to his limits. Home and family are always things that define a person.

Add in a holiday or two, and things might be comedic, strained, or just plain ordinary. All angles c

Family Relationships

It might have been the introduction of The Speaker for the Dead where Orson Scott Card talked about how each character fits into a family and their relationships within.

One of the characters had six children, and he said each fit into the family in a unique way. It was hard for him because every time two people get together, whether it be in a story or in real life, their character is a little different.

It's these unique relationships that stretch writers as we try to show the stories that are i

Superstition

There are several superstitions floating around our culture. They're not always believed: "Step on a crack; break your mother's back." Others are more pervasive, like "knock on wood."

How many people remember where that one comes from? A long time ago, when the more common belief held spirits were everywhere, people wanted to be thankful when good luck hit them and remember the tree spirits so they wouldn't take their luck away.

Is there a good way to work in irrational beliefs into a character? S

Appearances

What do you look for when you listen to an author?

I read an edition of Toastmasters magazine about writing, authorship and book promotion from this spring. The author talked about having great success on a night when he danced "The Time Warp" from Rocky Horror Picture Show. His take on it was to show the audience who he was, let them establish a connection, and then the books sell.

I don't think I'll be dancing to "The Time Warp", since I never was a fan of RHPS, but it does make me think of what