Michelle McLean's Blog, page 20
April 18, 2012
Make Believe Wednesdays
Today I'm over at fellow Entangled author Rachel Firasek's blog talking about all my favorite childhood make believe games :) Come visit me!
What were your favorite make believe games?
What were your favorite make believe games?
April 17, 2012
To Ode or Not to Ode...
So, I've been mostly focused on fiction lately and have completely neglected my poor poetry book :) But an email from the ever awesome Christine Fonseca has it on my mind again. She asked about odes, a poetic form I generally steer clear from because every source I've consulted lists a different set of "rules" for these babies. Which bugs me :D
However, in speaking with a few students and parents, it seems these are still regularly taught in language arts classes (though again, I'm not sure who is teaching what because other than saying that odes were "usually" written in praise of something, I've never come across two sources that give you the same set of instructions on them, and every class I've taken teaches them differently. If at all. The seminar I took in grad school barely touched on them).
But this has me curious - what are the main forms they are teaching in school these days? For which forms are you googling for help? I know my writing blog still regularly gets hits on the how-to write a sonnet and heroic couplets posts. All you teachers/parents/students - what forms have you googling for instructions?
My book, Poetry Pointers, so far contains chapters on two dozen different poetic forms. But I want to make sure I'm covering the ones everyone will need :)
However, in speaking with a few students and parents, it seems these are still regularly taught in language arts classes (though again, I'm not sure who is teaching what because other than saying that odes were "usually" written in praise of something, I've never come across two sources that give you the same set of instructions on them, and every class I've taken teaches them differently. If at all. The seminar I took in grad school barely touched on them).
But this has me curious - what are the main forms they are teaching in school these days? For which forms are you googling for help? I know my writing blog still regularly gets hits on the how-to write a sonnet and heroic couplets posts. All you teachers/parents/students - what forms have you googling for instructions?
My book, Poetry Pointers, so far contains chapters on two dozen different poetic forms. But I want to make sure I'm covering the ones everyone will need :)
April 13, 2012
Friday Funnies
(seriously, why do they do that?!)[image error]
(I probably shouldn't be laughing at this as hard as I am...especially since my dog is now edging away from me and eyeing me suspiciously LOL)
April 12, 2012
April 10, 2012
Tagged! Lucky Sevens Game :D
The lovely Christine Fonseca tagged me for the Lucky Sevens Game so I thought I'd play along :D
The rules for the Lucky Sevens Game are these:
1. Open the document for your current MS/WIP
2. Go to page 77 (or page 7, dependent on the post)
3. Go to line 7
4. Copy the next 7 lines (sentences or paragraphs) and post them exactly as they are written. No changing or cheating!
5. Tag 7 authors and let them know.
Fun! Well, since I'm just about finished with round one of edits on TREASURED LIES, I'll use that ms :) So...here is page 77 and 7 lines starting with line 7 - update: Page 77 is the end of a chapter and only has one line on the page LOL
So, I'm going to have to bend the rules a tad and go to page 76:
Shock ran in icy waves down her spine. Sympathy for the boy he was and fear of the man he'd become warred inside her. But Min bit her lip, knowing he wouldn't welcome her pity. And she refused to show her fear. She glanced at him. He stared right at her, tensed as if for a blow. One he must have endured a thousand times over.
And for my Lucky Seven Tags:
1. Kristal Shaff
2. Katrina Lantz
3. Amparo Ortiz
4. Cari Quinn
5. Lindsay/Isabella Morgan
6. Cole Gibsen
7. Bethany Wiggins
The rules for the Lucky Sevens Game are these:
1. Open the document for your current MS/WIP
2. Go to page 77 (or page 7, dependent on the post)
3. Go to line 7
4. Copy the next 7 lines (sentences or paragraphs) and post them exactly as they are written. No changing or cheating!
5. Tag 7 authors and let them know.
Fun! Well, since I'm just about finished with round one of edits on TREASURED LIES, I'll use that ms :) So...here is page 77 and 7 lines starting with line 7 - update: Page 77 is the end of a chapter and only has one line on the page LOL
So, I'm going to have to bend the rules a tad and go to page 76:
Shock ran in icy waves down her spine. Sympathy for the boy he was and fear of the man he'd become warred inside her. But Min bit her lip, knowing he wouldn't welcome her pity. And she refused to show her fear. She glanced at him. He stared right at her, tensed as if for a blow. One he must have endured a thousand times over.
And for my Lucky Seven Tags:
1. Kristal Shaff
2. Katrina Lantz
3. Amparo Ortiz
4. Cari Quinn
5. Lindsay/Isabella Morgan
6. Cole Gibsen
7. Bethany Wiggins
April 6, 2012
April 4, 2012
It's Revision Time :)
Well, I got my edit notes the other day and I was happy to see they weren't as bad as I'd feared :) I actually really enjoy revising. Major rewrites can be stressful (I'm in the middle of that for my current WIP) but just regular old revisions....love 'em :)
Maybe because they are less about getting the story out and more about polishing the story. I've got something to work with and I just need to go layer by layer to make sure everything is as it should be.
Right now I'm working on the little stuff - the line edits and minor tweaks. This is often something I'll save for the end, however I need to pare down the word count a bit, so I want all the new stuff in there so I can see exactly how much I need to cut.
So, little stuff up first. Then the big edit I need do do (some tweakage on the setting and background). And then...time to murder my darling a little bit and trim some wordage :) I think I've actually gotten pretty good at this. Oh, there are a few scenes I'd fight to the death to keep. But then again, those scenes are scenes that work well in the story, scenes that I made SURE worked well :)
For everything else...well, I've gotten good at loping anything from words to massive chunks of manuscript. I save it all in a file, just in case :) but it doesn't bother me so much anymore.
How do you edit? Do you go through the manuscript and do it all at once as you come to places that need work? Or do you do things one at a time (going through the ms with one edit in mind and changing everything pertaining to that particular edit before moving on to another one)? Is it hard for you to cut things?
Maybe because they are less about getting the story out and more about polishing the story. I've got something to work with and I just need to go layer by layer to make sure everything is as it should be.
Right now I'm working on the little stuff - the line edits and minor tweaks. This is often something I'll save for the end, however I need to pare down the word count a bit, so I want all the new stuff in there so I can see exactly how much I need to cut.
So, little stuff up first. Then the big edit I need do do (some tweakage on the setting and background). And then...time to murder my darling a little bit and trim some wordage :) I think I've actually gotten pretty good at this. Oh, there are a few scenes I'd fight to the death to keep. But then again, those scenes are scenes that work well in the story, scenes that I made SURE worked well :)
For everything else...well, I've gotten good at loping anything from words to massive chunks of manuscript. I save it all in a file, just in case :) but it doesn't bother me so much anymore.
How do you edit? Do you go through the manuscript and do it all at once as you come to places that need work? Or do you do things one at a time (going through the ms with one edit in mind and changing everything pertaining to that particular edit before moving on to another one)? Is it hard for you to cut things?
March 30, 2012
March 27, 2012
Cole Gibsen's BREATHLESS
Okay - I was so excited for today because I *thought* it was the book birthday of the awesome book BREATHLESS by my sweet friend Cole Gibsen. And I just realized the book released on the 21st. :(
So, this is a tad late, but I absolutely couldn't let it pass by without a huge shout out :) Here is all the juicy info:
BREATHLESS (Crescent Moon Press March 21 2012)
Obituary-reading emo girl Edith Small is broken - the end result of forcing herself inside a mold that doesn't fit. All she wants is to conform to her strict sergeant stepfather's rules long enough to make it to graduation day. But a boat accident threatens to unravel the life Edith has worked so hard to keep.
After waking up in a hospital with a lacerated shoulder, Edith fakes amnesia. Because admitting she received her injuries from a blue-haired girl who breathes underwater is all the reason Sir needs to send Edith on the first bus to military school. Safe at home, Edith struggles to put the nightmare behind her.
But the mysterious creatures that live in the ocean aren't about to let her forget. After meeting Bastin - a strange boy with silver hair and black eyes - on a secluded dock, Edith learns about the war raging undersea to end human existence. A war that Edith, unwittingly, has become the key to winning.
In a world where death is an ever-present shadow and motives are as dark as the bottom of the ocean, Edith must decide if her life is worth risking for a love that can't survive past the shore.
March has been a very busy month for Cole as her first novel, Katana, also released this month. If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Cole yet, definitely check her out.
You can pick up Breathless at Amazon, B&N, BAM, or wherever you enjoy buying books :)
CONGRATS COLE!!!!!
So, this is a tad late, but I absolutely couldn't let it pass by without a huge shout out :) Here is all the juicy info:
BREATHLESS (Crescent Moon Press March 21 2012)Obituary-reading emo girl Edith Small is broken - the end result of forcing herself inside a mold that doesn't fit. All she wants is to conform to her strict sergeant stepfather's rules long enough to make it to graduation day. But a boat accident threatens to unravel the life Edith has worked so hard to keep.
After waking up in a hospital with a lacerated shoulder, Edith fakes amnesia. Because admitting she received her injuries from a blue-haired girl who breathes underwater is all the reason Sir needs to send Edith on the first bus to military school. Safe at home, Edith struggles to put the nightmare behind her.
But the mysterious creatures that live in the ocean aren't about to let her forget. After meeting Bastin - a strange boy with silver hair and black eyes - on a secluded dock, Edith learns about the war raging undersea to end human existence. A war that Edith, unwittingly, has become the key to winning.
In a world where death is an ever-present shadow and motives are as dark as the bottom of the ocean, Edith must decide if her life is worth risking for a love that can't survive past the shore.
March has been a very busy month for Cole as her first novel, Katana, also released this month. If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Cole yet, definitely check her out.
You can pick up Breathless at Amazon, B&N, BAM, or wherever you enjoy buying books :)
CONGRATS COLE!!!!!
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