R.W. Richard's Blog, page 5

I'm so tensed up

 

Verb Tenses exerpted from Grammarly

Verbs come in three tenses: past, present, and future. The past is used to describe things that have already happened (e.g., earlier in the day, yesterday, last week, three years ago). The present tense is used to describe things that are happening right now, or things that are continuous. The future tense describes things that have yet to happen (e.g., later, tomorrow, next week, next year, three years from now).

The following table illustrates the proper use of verb tenses:

Simple Present

Simple Past

Simple Future

I read nearly every day.

Last night, I read an entire novel.

I will read as much as I can this year.

Present Continuous

Past Continuous

Future Continuous

I am reading Shakespeare at the moment.

I was reading Edgar Allan Poe last night.

I will be reading Nathaniel Hawthorne soon.

Present Perfect

Past Perfect

Future Perfect

I have read so many books I can’t keep count.

I had read at least 100 books by the time I was twelve.

I will have read at least 500 books by the end of the year.

Present Perfect Continuous

Past Perfect Continuous

Future Perfect Continuous

I have been reading since I was four years old.

I had been reading for at least a year before my sister learned to read.

I will have been reading for at least two hours before dinner tonight.

I’ve been writing for years and never knew there were so many variations on tense. Typical critique group comments go something like get rid of “was” in was drinking and write drank. Something always bothered me about it but I did not protest. The bother was in the feeling that I wanted to show continuous action. Was is alos associated with passive verbs. She was devastated can be mistakenly changed into She devastated. This changes the meaning and should be avoided. Perhaps I’m not saying anything you don’t know but if this helps just one of my friends then this post will have been worth it.

Love in the Afternoon

My wife and I found an incredible classic movie on TCM called Love in the Afternoon starring an aging Gary Cooper and a twenty-something Audrey Hepburn.

As a writer, I loved the witty dialogue, far better dialogue than anything I have seen or read recently.

As a man, I fell in love with Audrey all over again, and in this movie, it is especially easy to do. Also, Audrey is especially vulnerable here as she puts her inexperienced heart on the line for a playboy.

Me as one of the editors of my manuscripts, how could I not watch a Billy Wilder film? The story exudes charm, wit, fantastic dialogue, location (Paris), romance, intrigue, suspense, comedic moments.

The first time you hear Audrey speak, it is simple, “PaPa,” said with her famous lilt. She’s responding to her father’s call, Maurice Chevalier. He’s a private investigator who has Gary Cooper, a dissolute aging American industrialist, sighted in his binoculars.

Maurice reports to the jealous husband who decides he’ll shoot Gary.

Audrey is against violence and stops the attempted murder in a most hilarious way. Gary later said about her non-violence, “What are you, some sort of religious nut?” I possibly paraphrased.

The film is in black and white but that does not diminish the extreme beauty of our heroine. Funny thing about a film full of funny things. She won’t give her name to Gary, so he describes her as not his type by calling her, “thin girl.”

I won’t give away the plot. This you could do easily online. It is much better to just find it and watch it.

Disclaimer: This is not a review. I believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I’d love to hear how you felt about this movie.

Speaking of movies; For the fourth of July I recommend Yankee Doodle Dandy, which is being shown on TCM this afternoon.

The big if

 No, this is not about a plot point. I have been fortunate to land three author collaborators for my new novel, The Chess Master. Which is not out yet because I'm searching for a publisher. The Wild Rose Press does not do coming of age stories like mine.

Why am I fortunate because of the collaborators? Did you self publish and struggle to find an audience? I did? I even struggled with my traditionally published book, Cinnamon & Sugar. Okay so what's the secret?

1. If you have friends that are writers and are more advanced in success with sales than you than ask them if they'd like to collaborate for a percentage. Hint: try ten percent of your gross.

2. Put your ego aside. You have a great story but because of the flood of books people aren't finding you (me).

One collaborator of mine has written more than 50 chess books and is preeminent in his field.

Another, the best man at my wedding, was the former president of the U.S. Chess Federation and has written a few books. he refused the 10%, and suggested a gift if it does well. It will.

Third but not least is a non-fiction author who is also an editor. She has made suggestions as they all will.

You tell me if this is a recipe for success. Time will also tell.

Note: I know it is not easy to land a successful; author on your team but it is worth a try. After all some small percentage for little work helps anyone who is trying to write for pay.

Note: The Chess Master is like The Queen's Gambit, but contemporary and with a heroine from different circumstances.

A possible tagline or blurb: A little girl loses her daddy and is left with the chess he taught her to remember him by.

Rhapsody in Black and White

I sat through my grandson’s participation in band at Buena Vista High School last night and marveled at how the kids did such a great job with Rhapsody in Blue. I wondered if I could find an analogy to writing. Maybe?

Rhapsody in Blue evokes such strong emotions in me and yet there is no guide book, no words. I don’t know how it affects you but with its mix of jazz and Classical it shows me a story of life in New York City. A never ending, never sleeping, always competing, always yearning story of living in the big Apple. Of course this cacophony is completely subjective. Well, what about writing. The best I could do is notice that the best writing pulls on your soul, takes you somewhere beyond the black and white. It may be as simple as walking along with Sherlock Holmes as he solves a crime, or as joyous as Hamilton.

Our job as writers is not only to write concretely, but to engage the reader completely. Anything less is not a Rhapsody. It may be a jingle and that’s okay.

So how do I get from George Gershwin’s Rhapsody without words to writing? Maybe I don’t. The best I can do is say that even though the Rhapsody has no words, it is as clear to me as the writing of Hemmingway. Anybody want to construct a better analogy?

Unique mix of abilities

If you are wondering how to make it big in publishing you may have missed an intricacy that I only recently spotted. Each one of us has a unique set of talents. Ask yourself what do you have in a combination of talents that no one or not many have.

Then write the story.

I’ll offer myself as an example. I’m a United States Chess Master and I also write fiction, mainly romance. But I have written using magical realism, historical, pre-historical.

I often thought I should write a story about chess but I wasn’t focused on what direction the story should take and besides my romances were selling. I pictured a chess master so good in his deductive reasoning that he or she becomes a consultant to the police, but I have yet to write it. Busy.

Then, The Queen’s Gambit, was released by Netflix (it follows Walter Tevis’s book of the same name). This gave me an idea. In The Queen’s Gambit, the story stops before the heroine has a shot at becoming the world champion. What if I could write a contemporary story following a child and his or her damaged family (they lost their father) as he or she develops their chess talent. Then take the story to where he or she actually wins the championship.

This concept has captured the interest of an agent and may also be sellable by The Wild Rose Press under women’s fiction. I haven’t asked them yet. I am sure it will get a publisher so stay tuned.

So, how are you unique and what will you write for us?

10,000 words in a week

I was asked how I can write 10,000 words in a week.

Bear in mind at that pace editing will take up a substantial amount of time. Perhaps the average would end up being 5000 words a week. I can only write that fast if I know where the story is going and I love my characters.

Loving your characters is like giving birth and nurturing for a life time. Once you start to feel the empathy for the struggle your characters are going through, your readers will too. Once they become three-dimensional, they are alive in your mind and the readers. Think back. Pick any unforgettable character. You blink and they are real. How about Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca? Or any?

So loving your characters, creating them like Frankenstein did. You give them life. If they have life let them lead you through each chapter. They know best their needs. Your job is to make it harder for them to get what they want until you give it to them. So writing 10,000 words in a week is easy if you let go and let your characters do the driving, as long as you’re in that car with the map.

Who are those people?

Has your significant other ever told you, you have too many characters? Has your critique group ever asked you who are these people you are writing about?

This is a common syndrome that may or may not require you to fix something in your writing.

First, take the case of that person you love who puts your book down after chapter three. There is such a thing as the Jesus of Nazareth syndrome. Jesus had a hard time with the folks in his home town believing that he was the Messiah. Shouldn’t your significant other believe in you too, lol? In the case of the disinterested partner, count your blessings. She loves you but sees you as that young man she married. Just drop it, you still have a couple million readers, right?

The critique group problem is complicated:

Are they senile? No, they can’t be expected to remember completely the past chapters. Do you, theirs?

Some critters have a reminder at the top of the first page as to who’s who and what’s what.

I don’t because I believe in the perhaps old fashioned dictum: Every scene must stand on its own. I.e. have arcs, identifiable characters, hooks, sequel. After all, the reader won’t have those little reminders when your book is out. NOTE: readers read at a much quicker pace. Critters reading at best once a week causes problems you won’t meet in the real world.

So when I get that critter complaint I think about how to improve the text without writing little reminders. Even though in my present story it is only one POV, I will try to have the name of the POV character show up in the first paragraph along with the purpose of the scene if possible.

In the story I’m currently writing, the POV character has 1 brother and 2 sisters. Who are these people morphs into how old are they. Okay, I just reviewed the scene, the teenaged and older sister takes the 7 & 5 year old to a basketball court. I need to stress words that accentuate the age but I will not say, okay now, in this scene the POV 7 year old has a sister 5 and a sister 14. Sorry, at some point you just have to move on and realize that there might be a touch of the Jesus of Nazareth syndrome in some members of your group. Afterall Jesus is good company.

Of course, there are creative ways of letting the reader know ‘things.’ Just don’t let it slow down the story or read clunky.

How much time does it take to write a novel?

How do those people who write a book in a month do it?

IMO, they harness either consciously or unconsciously a technique used by professional writers who are always under deadline. They just write.

A professional writer under deadline is always setting goals and figuring out how to get to them. The Nano writer (writes without a publisher) takes the month, decides on the word count, divides by thirty and writes that amount per day. For instance if you have a 60,000 word goal then 30 divided into 60,000 equals 2000 words a day. Of course family, friends, lovers get in the way so let’s say you only have twenty days in a month. That’s 3000 per day. This is more realistic. But how to do it. Well, have a morning and then an afternoon session of 1500 each.

The Nano writer must have a goal for their characters, must have conflict in mind for every scene, must know the general direction and try to picture the path to get there. And most of all, the writer must have perseverance. Why? Because in the end she has no agent, publisher, or editor.

A professional writer has it all but still must perform. Their product will be more polished because they have and will go through the editing process with an experienced pro who had or will work for the publisher of their previous and present efforts.

So how can a Nano writer score? It is not a taboo if you have a favorite agent who has tried for you in the past or likes your idea and says the magic words, “let me see it when it is done,” you’re on your way. But it is so much better if you have an editor that can fit your timeframe. Hey, you could always take two or three months (or more). Many professionals do. Include time for a turnaround with an editor that you might hire.

The more you commit, Nano or not, to a writing speed and stick to it, the more professional you become and the more likely your story will get published.

On another note, some authors take a year or two but who has the time? Tighten it up. If you can’t now you will next time.

Correspondence between the sexes.

A female friend and writer has been having a discussion with me about The Bachelor Franchise and I thought you'd like to dive into the reality of our conversation, the other person to remain nameless.

HER: The show I was watching about "reality" tv also asked Jason & Molly if they made love in the FS [fantasy suite] and Molly had a coy look on her face and said something about not wanting to buy a car without a test drive. When asked if he and the one he dumped had sex, he declined to answer out of respect for her privacy. NOT like that's a big surprise to many of us, but it does seem a bit nasty IMO. Not nasty per se, but that he is having his cake and eating it too, just like during MYYYYY formative years. A few friends and I have often discussed how we allowed ourselves to be taken advantage of back in the day... Be thankful you weren't born with a P*****Y - all the boys were always after it!!!!

HIM: I remember a girl who on first sitting inside her dad's parked car, we necked. Then she stroked me without me asking. I didn't know to ask anyway and it was on the outside of my pants. Nothing came of it, lol. I wasn't ready yet.

Maybe they should change the name of the show to Having your Cake and Eating it too. Nah, too long.
I believe it is just human nature. If you hang with a girl or two or three for three months straight and visa versa you are going to have very strong feelings. For instance, pick a movie star or two, let's say you had to work everyday for three months with George Clooney and Denzel Washington or better yet you're stuck on an island hoping to be rescued (but maybe not too much) for three months. How would you feel and what would you do especially if the men told you they loved you?
I'd say you'd fall faster then Newton's apple.

Confirmation Bias

Noun: a particular tendency, trend, inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is preconceived or unreasoned:

illegal bias against older job applicants,

the magazine’s bias toward art rather than photography,

our strong bias in favor of the idea,

unreasonably hostile feelings or opinions about a social group prejudice.

Luckily, as writers we have a huge advantage. The reader is with us at least for the length of the book. They consider your story themes, or purpose because they are alone, have empathy for your characters who are making the main point which is factually based if during that time you are writing for good, not evil, or for truth not falsehood. The reader is likely to be mulling over the premise all the time, especially if the reader identifies with the protagonist(s) struggle.

Where do we see bias in everyday life. There are people who believe vaccines cause autism with overwhelming opposing scientific evidence. People don’t change, at least not quickly. This is why you have a unique chance to write a story of virtue. Write the next To Kill a Mockingbird. Just don’t be heavy handed. Heavy handed is telling whereas a great novel shows. It casts light on the path to truth. Is there any greater truth than true love and the mount of good it does for two people and those around them?