Laina Turner's Blog, page 123

Write, write, write and write some more

[image error]This week is spring break for the kiddos so I have only been able to write in about 3 minute increments without being interrupted. As much as I love having them home I have been frustrated by my inability to get anything done on my next novel. Especially considering it is a few weeks behind. What I have been able to do is catch up on blog writing, even writing some extra to keep back. I have found that in those 3 minute intervals I can focus on the blog writing but not my novel. It's a positive in my book and I wouldn't trade this time with the kids even if it meant getting my novel finished. It will still be there next week.

Here are a few interesting articles about time management when working from home.

How to work at home with kids.

How to have happy kids when you work from home.

10 tips for balancing work and motherhood.

 

Laina

 

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Ten rules for writing fiction from Elmore Leonard

I found this great article in The Guardian. I hope you enjoy! Read original article here

Elmore Leonard: Using adverbs is a mortal sin

1 Never open a book with weather. If it's only to create atmosphere, and not a charac­ter's reaction to the weather, you don't want to go on too long. The reader is apt to leaf ahead look­ing for people. There are exceptions. If you happen to be Barry Lopez, who has more ways than an Eskimo to describe ice and snow in his book Arctic Dreams, you can do all the weather reporting you want.

2 Avoid prologues: they can be ­annoying, especially a prologue ­following an introduction that comes after a foreword. But these are ordinarily found in non-fiction. A prologue in a novel is backstory, and you can drop it in anywhere you want. There is a prologue in John Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday, but it's OK because a character in the book makes the point of what my rules are all about. He says: "I like a lot of talk in a book and I don't like to have nobody tell me what the guy that's talking looks like. I want to figure out what he looks like from the way he talks."

3 Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But "said" is far less intrusive than "grumbled", "gasped", "cautioned", "lied". I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with "she asseverated" and had to stop reading and go to the dictionary.

4 Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said" … he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances "full of rape and adverbs".

5 Keep your exclamation points ­under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful.

6 Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose". This rule doesn't require an explanation. I have noticed that writers who use "suddenly" tend to exercise less control in the application of exclamation points.

7 Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly. Once you start spelling words in dialogue phonetically and loading the page with apos­trophes, you won't be able to stop. Notice the way Annie Proulx captures the flavour of Wyoming voices in her book of short stories Close Range.

8 Avoid detailed descriptions of characters, which Steinbeck covered. In Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants", what do the "Ameri­can and the girl with him" look like? "She had taken off her hat and put it on the table." That's the only reference to a physical description in the story.

9 Don't go into great detail describing places and things, unless you're ­Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language. You don't want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.

10 Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip. Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them.

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: if it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

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The people you meet

Yesterday I was hanging out at McAlisters Deli, home of the best ice tea ever, with my friend Stacey for lunch and we were getting some work done. I was working on my next Trixie Pristine novel which admittedly has been slow going. I've been very distracted and it's been more difficult than usually figuring out some of the plot twists and turns. I was stuck on a particular aspect when one of the McAlisters employees walked by to ask if we needed anything. I responded yes and proceed to ask him what he would do in my characters situation. I ended up taking about fifteen minutes of his time in getting ideas and because we were having so much fun I asked him if I could use his real name and ask him some personal questions to build the character profile around his as a real person. He said yes and I took even more of his time (sorry McAlisters) getting to know his favorite food, tv shows, colors etc. I wrote down his physical features to use and we had a ton of fun talking. He was excited to be a character in a book and I was excited that I was able to push through my writers block and have a blast at the same time.

When I left I got to thinking about how striking up a conversation with a complete stranger can give you another friend. And in this case a big boost creatively. So go out and meet a new friend today.

Thanks Stephen Westner!

Laina

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The voices in my head

I don't mean that in a crazy sense, though my ex-husband might disagree (kidding he's nice guy), what I mean is I'm a writer. I write mostly fiction and the characters interact in my head. In my mind as I am thinking about the scene I can picture who the people are, what they look like, their facial expressions, how they're reacting to the other characters…everything. The hard part is getting it on paper. If someone could somehow invent a device that could see what's in my brain and transcribe it on paper I would be golden. I would definitely be on my own private island sipping fruity drinks and laying on the beach. However, it's not that easy so while I enjoy it, it's definitely a lot of work.

I often have to talk things out which I guess could make me seem a little crazy. My kids will ask me who I'm talking to and I will say my characters. Until I just wrote that down it didn't seem so odd but now…..hmmmmm I may have to rethink that.

How does your story develop in your head?

Laina

~from business to frivolous and everything in between

The MS Project Volume 2 now available for Kindle – raise awareness for Multiple Sclerosis

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Purpose

The definition of purpose is – The reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists. Something I've been struggling with in terms of this blog, my other blogs/sites, my writing, and well just life in general. I used to think I had a purpose and then it mushroomed into many purposes until I became confused and wanted to get back to simple. I just have this irritating habit that I try and get back to simple and some how it just slips back into many. How have you defined your purpose and stayed true to it?

Laina

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What to blog about?

I have been blogging for about 4 years and almost the whole time I have wondered what to blog about. I mean I have a variety of tastes and interests. I'm an author, college professor, and business woman. I'm a mother, an ex-wife, a girlfriend, and a friend. I like fashion, reality TV, music, and wine. That's just to name a few. So I have struggled with trying to decide who I "mostly" was so that I could have this narrow focus for my blog. I've not been able to figure that out in four years but what I finally did figure out is I just needed to blog about what inspired me and if that changed from day to do so be it. None of us are one dimensional people. We all have a variety of interests which is what makes us the amazing people we are. So my blog will be about me, what I like, what I don't like, just what I'm moved by. I will write for myself and just hope others find it remotely interesting and possibly entertaining. If not I am ok with that. I think what matters most in the choices we make in life is we make choices for the right reasons. Not because we feel we should or because someone told us too but because we know it's what right. That's logic you can't argue with. Or can you? How do you decide what to blog about?

Laina

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Take one day at a time

[image error]I am not a patient person. I hating waiting and tend to live in the future and think about tomorrow rather than live in the moment and worry about just today. I'm also a bit of a control freak (or so I'm told) and so that makes it hard to just be fancy free and not worry about what the future might bring and feel compelled to plan it out. What I have learned over the years is you can plan for the future and in some cases it's important (college for the kids, retirement etc) but in others it is more important, and less stressful, to live for today. Do your best today and then your best tomorrow and not worry about what you will do a year from now. Where I'm at now isn't even close to where I thought I would be five years ago. It's not close to the "plan" I had for myself and that's ok. In fact, it's great. I just lost a lot of time and sleep obsessing over that five year plan and worrying every day that it might not work out. Now that it's been five years I realize it did work out. I'm happy, it just wasn't according to my master plan. So while I still have a master plan, it's not so rigid and I am open to whatever the day might bring. Life is fun…enjoy it!

Laina

 

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Top Reasons Women Start a Business

[image error]I came across this blog about the top reasons women start their own business. I liked it because it's right in line with why I prefer working for myself rather than for "the man" in a bog corporation. Here were the reasons they found:

Top 5 Reasons Why Women Start A Business: (read original post here)

1) Financial independence - For many women looking to attain the level of financial independence they crave, a business is the best way. Even for those women working their business part-time while still holding onto a full time job, financial freedom is the motivator.

2) Being in control of their own destiny - Things have come a long way for women in their careers, but in some industries and companies there are still low glass ceilings for women. Women are now operating their own 6-7-8-9 figure businesses and there are no glass ceilings insight!

3) Stay home to raise their family - Many women want to be able to stay home and raise their kids or at least have the flexibility to be more available for their kids. Becoming an entrepreneur is a much easier for women to consolidate the need to support their family financially and also be present for major milestones in their kids' lives.

4) Do work that has purpose and meaning- Purpose and passion are two words that are extremely important to women when deciding to launch their own business. Most want to feel like they what are doing matters and has a positive impact on the world.

5) Give into their creative-self - Most women operate more from a right brain perspective and use their creativity in their work. For many female entrepreneurs, the confinement of the corporate box wasn't allowing them to spread their wings creatively.

What are your reasons?

Laina

Find me at…..

A Mom Entrepreneur

Indie Pub Promos

But it's my Business

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The magic eight ball

Life would be much simpler if every time I had a decision to make I could ask the magic 8 ball and just take the path it set me on. I love the magic 8 ball app on my iPhone but life cannot be managed via an iPhone app (although I'm sure Apple is working on it). So when you don't know what to do how to you decide? Do you go with your gut? Do you write down all the pros/cons and make the choice that seems the strongest on paper? Do you ask your friends and then listen to the answer you like the best? What?

If you're like me at any given time depending on the decision you will use one or many of those methods. It's sometimes hard to know what's right today when the results of the decision won't occur until far in the future. How do you decide?

Laina

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How many WIP can one person have?

It's not uncommon for me to work on two books at a time. That way when I get stuck with the progress on one I can switch to the other. The last couple months I have been working (very slowly) just this way. I have the 4th book in the Presley Thurman series in progress and the 1st full length book in the Trixie Pristine series in progress. Both which I have committed to having done soon and I am waaaaaayyyy behind. Now I want to add a 3rd to the mix and I just know that isn't smart. But I oh so want to!! There is a book I have had an idea for since 2009 and just haven't got it all done in my head so haven't started it. This weekend it came to me. The whole thing. I feel like I could sit down and write it from start to finish in one setting it's that clear. But I can't in good conscience stat another book when I have 2 in progress and have deadlines. Or can I?

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