Kat Duncan's Blog, page 16

Stalking the Saber-toothed Tiger

My friend EW the ghostwriter is back. I made the mistake of lending him a copy of the latest RWR and he had this to say about motivation.

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In this month's (May, 2011) Romance Writers Report, Shirley Jump discusses ways to overcome procrastination. She gives a number of practical ideas for avoiding distracting behaviors. To me, they sound more like a weight watchers program than something truly applicable to writers.

There is a big difference between writing and dieting. Dieters don't want to diet. They want to have dieted, now be slim, and stop dieting. Writers want to write. And never stop writing. A person who doesn't want to write, but to have written is not a writer. They are writtens. The word is not in the dictionary because they don't exist. Writers actually want to write. Why? I don't know. To paraphrase Louis Armstrong, "If you have to ask, you'll never know." It just is. If you love to write, then you will write. If you love to surf the web more than write, then you will surf.  However, that means you are a surfer, not a writer.

But Shirley is right. Writers often procrastinate. Especially newbies. There is always a reason, kids are screaming, dog wants to go out, husband wants a beer. (BTW, throwing the beer at just the right angle will silence him for about an hour, enough for a couple of hundred words.) Fortunately, my kids don't scream. They screech. The dog doesn't want to go out. He just conveniently poops where I will step in it. And I'm the guy. And I don't like beer, or my wife's aim. Fortunately, my friend Jack sits quietly next to my keyboard, which solves the kids and dog problem. Let's save the wife for another blog, okay?

The problem with writing is that it is a solitary endeavor. It is best done aloooone. What can the kids do to help? Go away. How about hubby? He can be useful by asking for another beer. (One 6-pack = 1200 words, but YMMV.) Problem: being alone isn't fun. Sometimes our imaginary friends (our characters) won't talk to us, the setting won't materialize. That creative bubble won't quite pop. So we procrastinate. Even if we had a beach house all to ourselves, with gentle waves tickling the pebble beach, and birds flying overhead (not directly overhead, remember what the dog did) we would still procrastinate.

Fortunately, when an imaginary friend won't talk, a real one usually will. The answer to procrastination of every flavor and design is an editor, or agent, or if you haven't yet got one or both of those, how about a good critique partner? Having a critique partner is absolutely the best thing for a writer. It allows a person to be alone, but not all alone. When the creativity bubble won't pop, the answer is often an e-mail away. This leads to success. And nothing else succeeds like success.

Shirely says the problem with critique partners is that, with few exceptions, they will not hold your feet to the fire. Of course not. A good critique partner will help you write better. And that is whole point. No one should scold you for not hitting your word count goal. There shouldn't even be a word count goal. Only a love of writing.

The problem lies in finding a good critique partner. A good critique partner is very difficult to find. The reason is that most writers don't know how to critique. (BTW, Kat wrote a great blog for teaching critiquing.) A good critique partner will never say "you can't use adverbs" or "you should write like I do."

We guys have an edge on you women when it comes to critique partners, or team work in general. When we need to go out and kill that Saber-tooth Tiger, we gather together a whole bunch a guys, head out to the forest or plains, and have at it. It takes a lot of guys, especially to carry back the bodies. We don't say, "Oh, your writing was wonderful." We say "Let me teach you how to hunt. You go first." Not only does this result in more dead Saber-tooth Tigers, but larger portions for the happy survivors.

So, next time you find yourself lolling about instead of writing, go out and find a bunch of gals to critique with. Make sure they go first, thin out the pack, and find one to work with. Also, take any one of Kat's classes because you'll learn a lot from her. BTW, you can't have her as a critique partner. She's mine. I already thinned out the pack. Sorry ladies!

 

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Thanks for your guy-view insights, EW...I gotta practice my aim....ahem...Because EW is a guy and therefore insists on being glorified, I'm giving away three sets of Donald Maass books on writing craft. The set is: Writing the Breakout Novel and The Breakout Novel Workbook. Just comment on EW's blog to be in the running. Comment by June 1st to win.

Without a Lord

Without a Lord, available as an e-book on Amazon.com for just $2.99 gets it's first review:

This book was very interesting. I found it to be very well-written and kept you through your paces. You did not feel like you overly connected emotionally with the characters. However, the read itself was worth it. I definitely felt more like I was reading a Ken Follett-style romance, which is definitely not a bad thing. Was eager to look for more of this author's books. I was disappointed that this was the author's only historical.

Stay tuned, dear reader...there are more historicals to come! The next historical in this series is Ian's story, titled A Lady of Worth.

 

 

 

The Wild Rose Press is 5!

HAPPY 5th ANNIVERSARY to The Wild Rose Press!

I've been working with TWRP for about a year and released my first book with TWRP in January. My experience working with everyone at The Wild Rose Press has been fantastic. I'm proud to be one of The Roses. Fifty-eight Faces is a romantic suspense novella. It has been receiving some great reviews:

 

I haven't read much from Kat Duncan in the past but she has me hooked on the way she tells a story. This book personifies what I want in a romantic suspense. The romance has just enough spice and builds slowly through some of the worst circumstances one could imagine. The suspense keeps me guessing and hoping throughout the book. She's become a must read author for me.

http://theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/58facesduncan.htm

 

In addition to having interesting characters, Fifty-Eight Faces was full of suspense. When Caroline and Evan found themselves on the run, I was on the edge of my seat. I felt that Rolf or the police were just around the corner and would discover them at any moment. There was also a particular scene involving an old bridge that was absolutely spine tingling.

Once I started reading Fifty-Eight Faces, I couldn't put it down. Caroline and Evan always seemed to be on the edge of disaster. I had to know how it would all end. Anyone looking for a romance loaded with suspense will definitely want to check out Fifty-Eight Faces.

http://longandshortreviews.blogspot.com/2011/04/fifty-eight-faces-kat-duncan.html

Stop by my website for excerpts! http://www.katduncan.net

Making Funny

I'm over at Plot Mama's today, making fun of romance writers like myself...

http://plotmamas.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/hilarious-author-play-date-kat-duncan/

- apologies to Nora Roberts... ;)

Stop by and say Hey...!

Make Me Care

Ever hear agents, editors or reviewers say "make me care". How do you make someone care about your story and the characters in it? Join me to learn about a variety of ways to get readers to care. This workshop includes lessons on word choices and grammar, ways to use sensory imagery, body language, showing and telling and emotion to connect with readers. I'm going to explain how to present characters with clear, concise goals that readers will root for and hooks that keep readers on the edges of their seats. Got a story or scene that you can't seem to get readers to care about? This nuts and bolts workshop will help you identify what's missing and develop ways to hook those readers into caring as much about your characters as you do. Whether you're writing romance, action, sci fi, mystery or fantasy, these lessons will zero in on exactly what you need to do.

Sponsored by Low Country RWA. Registration Link here (scroll down through all the fab workshops to find mine).

The 3 week class starts May 5th. Deadline to register May 2!
Come join me for 2 lessons a week with homework for just $16.

Check out my lesson style and info at Beth Barany's Writer's Fun Zone. I'm guest blogging today on subjectivity.

Interview with Michelle Muse

Michelle Muse is an aspiring author who was bitten by the writing bug some time ago and is now doggedly pursuing her writing, absorbing craft like crazy and putting her own voice and spin into her romances. I had the pleasure of having Michelle in two of my online classes and was impressed by her intelligent questions, her determination to get her writing 'right' and her ability to remain open to trying out suggestions while remaining true to her own vision of her writing. Many people, Stephen King among them, believe great writers are born not made, but Michelle's positive attitude and amazing ability to apply what she's learned makes me lean toward the "made" side.

Please leave a comment for Michelle or share your own journey with us. To draw attention to my year-long novel writing course with Savvy Authors starting in May, one random commenter will be offered a free 3-chapter critique, plus a copy of On Writing by Stephen King. Leave your comments by April 14 to be entered. I'll draw the winner on April 15. Good luck!

 

7 Writerly Tools

[image error]For those of us who like the quick and easy approach, I have compiled a few internet resources for those key parts of the writing process: revision and editing. Along with these resources if you leave a comment, I'm giving away two awesome books: 78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might by Pat Walsh, and On Writing by Stephen King. Leave your comment by midnight EDT Thursday March 17th and I'll pick the lucky winner Friday morning.

http://editminion.com/
A paste-in and check editor for adverbs, weak words, "said" replacements, passive voice and ending with prepositions. It can't handle a lot of text, but it's good for chapters or query letters.

http://www.writersdiet.ac.nz/wasteline.php
Another paste-in and check editor. This one checks "be" verbs, abstract nouns, etc. It highlights the offending words in different colors, so if you don't get what an abstract noun is you can be shown the ones in your own work and learn about grammar the easy way.

http://textalyser.net/
Another paste-in and check text tool. This one gives you stats on readability, sentence length, etc. You can also analyze a website by pasting in the URL.

http://www.wordcounter.com/
Another paste-in and check tool. This one counts the number of repeated words and gives you a most frequently used hit list. So if your crit partners complain you use the word "that" too much, you'll see it at the top of the list.

http://bookblog.net/gender/genie.php
Another paste-in and check editor. This one uses key words typically used by males and females and tells you whether you write like a guy or a girl. Interesting...

http://visual.merriam-webster.com/
This visual dictionary can be a lifesaver. Need to describe the layout of a penitentiary, but never been in one (let's hope!). The dictionary gives you a diagram of the layout and the name of each area so you can write nice accurate details. Need to describe the parts of a parachute so your heroine can jump to avoid the villain? This dictionary is your best friend. Also great for those writers who think in pictures and can't always remember the right term to use.

http://onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml
Looking for just the right word? OneLook's reverse dictionary lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be a few words, a sentence, a question, or even just a single word. Just type it into the box above and hit the "Find words" button. Keep it short to get the best results. In most cases you'll get back a list of related terms with the best matches shown first.

Happy Writing!