Jan Christensen's Blog, page 14
May 24, 2013
RESEARCH TOOLS FOR TODAY’S WRITERS
Yesterday’s writers had to have many books on hand, some of them called tomes because they were so large. Today, much information we need is available with a few keystrokes and mouse clicks on-line. Here are some great tools with their perks. But as always, be careful out there. With more good information, there comes more bad information, and even information overload. I believe in the old (not so sure it’s used very much anymore) journalism rule about having three reliable sources before publishing. Research is needed more than ever for fiction writers because many readers do reviews and will downgrade us if we get our facts wrong, especially about weapons and police procedure, I’ve noticed. I saw where one writer got the year a song came out long ago wrong and was called on it. Check those little facts, and the big ones. Our memories for such details are often a bit off.
Here’s a list of sources I’ve found useful, mostly on-line.
THESAURAS AND DICTIONARY:
Roget’s Thesaurus
Or buy the book. Handy, but many of today’s dictionaries also include synonyms and are easier to use, such as:
WordWeb Dictionary
Highlight a word anywhere on your screen, click on WordWeb in your task bar, and the highlighted word usually will enter the dictionary automatically, giving you the definition plus other information, such as synonyms. I only found this little trick by accident. Now you know about it, too. And of course, you can simply type a word into the search line, and if it’s not spelled correctly, a list of words that are close pops up. There’s a free home version and a paid pro version. Your pick. Highly recommended for ease of use.
STYLE MANUALS:
Chicago Manual of Style
If writing fiction http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html
$35/year subscription. You can of course, also buy the book ($65 on their site, but I’m sure you can find it used for much less). Actually, I like having a hardcopy for browsing—I bought one a few years ago. But the on-line version lets you make notes and style sheets. Having both would be heaven.
Strunk and White
Now a bit controversial. No official on-line site, but if you search for it on-line, you will find many sites that discuss it. I like to use it as a fallback guide. At least you can always quote it if someone questions you. And it’s short, very short.
AP Guide for Journalism
$29.95 for the print edition, but there are also on-line subscriptions for $26. Check the site for details. Some styles are different, though, for journalists and writers of fiction. Beware, double check with Chicago Manual of Style before doing what the AP Guide says to do if you’re writing fiction.
SOME ON-LINE ENCYCLOPEDIAS:
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Free. This one is also tricky. Be sure to double/triple check references and to find other reputable sites that agree with Wikipedia. Beware of entries that Wikipedia itself says need work and references. I find it’s a good starting-off place and use it all the time for casual stuff, but I double check if I’m writing something for publication. Be aware that it’s not all written by experts or people who do good research. Look for citations there. Those could lead to very good sources. Remember the old adage: Consider the source.
Britannica
19 cents a day, so a 365-day year costs $69.35/year after a 7-day free trail. Great reputation, but I’ve never used it.
Smithsonian
http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia
Limited to what the Smithsonian exhibits, as far as I could tell. Free, which is nice. I’d certainly trust it.
World Book
http://www.worldbook.com/home?wbredirect=1&Itemid=176 1-year web subscription $49.95 or splurge and buy the beautifully bound print set for $1,099.00 for “Interest Level: Grades K-12” here: http://www.worldbook.com/all/item/1376-world-book-encyclopedia-books
MEDICAL
Medline Plus
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html
Free. Has a good reputation, but it’s always wise to get another two sources for back-up.
Gray’s Anatomy
No, not the TV show, although if you search Google, that’s all that shows up on the first page. But I’ll leave you to search out what you’d need. There’s an on-line edition for over $200, books at Amazon and other on-line bookstores, and your local bookstore might even have what you need.
LEGAL
Books, Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure by Leslie Budewitz. A great reference without the legalese. Available in both print and for Kindle. Leslie also has a blog on-line to answer legal questions.
VISUAL GLOSSARY
I like What’s What – A Visual Glossary of the Physical World by David Fisher and Reginald Bragonier, Jr. 1990 edition, $8 for the print book, plus shipping, at: http://www.abebooks.com/What-Visual-Glossary-Physical-World-Bragonier/8074910918/bd
And some final advice: Learn to use Advanced Google Search. Start here:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search
Do you have research links you visit often? Print books you refer to often? Please share them in the comments. Thanks!
May 19, 2013
ANOTHER WAY TO SORT YOUR TASKS
A, B, C is often suggested as a way to sort your to-do list. Simple. Top priority are A’s, would-be-nice-to-do are B’s and C’s are hardly necessary to do at all.
[image error]
But how to make the decisions? Would word classifications help you more? How about A being Reach (for long-term goals or goals that will give you the most return), B being Standing Still (for tasks that you need to do to keep yourself and your environment up to snuff), and C being for Forget It (unless you use those tasks to procrastinate, and they make you feel good).
Can you come up with some other words to use that will help you understand what role doing your to-dos has in your personal growth and achievement?
May 17, 2013
I’M EVERYWHERE! WELL, ALMOST
This past week I’ve had a flurry of guest posts on other blogs. I decided to list them here for those who might have missed them. Enjoy!
First, last Friday I guested at Dee Doans’s blog where I discuss how I came to write short stories, then novels:
http://deedoanes.com/experience-in-writing-short-stories-and-novels/
Next, on Monday I discussed with Morgen Bailey what I read when young that influences me now:
http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/author-spotlight-no-232-jan-christensen/
And finally, at Thriller Ink, an author interview:
http://thrillerink.com/jan-christensen-author-interview/
I hope you’ll read and comment on one or more of these blogs. Thanks!
May 13, 2013
WHERE AM I?
Today I’m in the spotlight. To see me there go to Morgan Bailey’s writing blog. I talk about how it all began. My writing that is–appropriate for a writer’s blog, no?
http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/author-spotlight-no-232-jan-christensen/
If you want to comment there, be sure to scroll all the way down the page. I’d love to see you there!
May 10, 2013
IN THE BEGINNING
So you want to be a writer. So did I. I’ve probably written my million words–about eighty short stories and eight full-length novels, and a couple dozen articles, some published, some not.
To be a published author takes perseverance and a tough skin. I seem to have both. But not in the beginning.
It hurts to get that first rejection. It’s discouraging to get the first dozen.
Baby steps are needed. A baby learns to walk by practicing every day, and that’s what a beginning writer should do. You learn an awful lot by simply doing. But it doesn’t hurt to read a book or more a month about writing, and some of the better writing magazines and now blogs.
Read best-selling authors’ autobiographies or self-help books. Stephen King in On Writing said you should read an hour for every hour you write. You can learn a lot about writing by reading the current best sellers and widely in the genre you’re particularly interested in.
The ONLY way you’ll ever get published is to write. Thinking about it, talking about it won’t get you there. You have to go to that quiet spot with your writing tools and just do it.
Good luck!
May 6, 2013
“DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT.”
The Facebook motto, “Done is better than perfect” is something to think about. Creative types learn this early, or if they don’t they never finish most, or even any, projects.
If you haven’t finished the job, you can’t even start to make it better. Until it’s roughly finished, you won’t truly know what needs to be fixed.
Yes, you do the best work you can as you go along. But accept, deep down, that it will probably need more work when you’re “finished.” A writer finishes a rough draft. Then she finishes draft number two. And on it goes until she finally has to say, “It’s the best I can at this time in my life.” And let it go, either off to hopefully get published or into that proverbial drawer never to be looked at again.
Striving for near-perfection is good. Expecting perfection is not good, because in almost all cases, it’s impossible.
May 3, 2013
ONE WAY TO COMPOSE A STORY
I write a lot of short stories. Some people ask me how I come up with all those ideas. I’ve found all that’s needed is a situation, which of course includes a character or two, and a small detail. My latest story involves a vacuum cleaner salesman who dupes old women into buying a vacuum—the premise—and paperclips—the small detail. I don’t outline, so when giving some background about the woman who helps the older woman get her money back from the vacuum cleaner company, I mention that at work the younger woman had to undo the paperclips her boss had strung together. I have no idea why I came up with that, but it was, to me, a fun detail, so I kept it. And I was able to tie the whole story together at the end with those paperclips. Very tidy.
So, I suggest trying that. I didn’t realize until just a while ago how well this trick can work. I used it in my novel, ORGANIZED TO DEATH, with a candy bar. I had my protag, Tina, stop for gas and buy a candy bar, which she forgets about as things get hectic. A couple of days later, I needed her to go outside for a nasty encounter with a bad guy, and I used the missing candy bar to get her out there. She hasn’t eaten in a while, she’s hungry, remembers it, but can’t find it in her purse. She figures it must have fallen out of her purse in the car. I had no idea I’d need that candy bar later in the story. I never know what detail I’ll be able to use later. If they become too numerous, it’s easy enough to take them out later. But they can also add veracity to the story all on their own.
I’m going to be doing this more consciously as I write. Try it; see if it works for you.
April 29, 2013
STASHING IT
Here’s my system for organizing my stuff when away from home out shopping or doing errands.
Do you forget the shopping list? Can’t find your keys? Have to dig through a huge purse for your wallet? And does this sort of thing annoy the heck out of you?
It used to annoy me. I have learned some tricks I want to share with you.
I always wear something with a pocket or two and carry a large tote-type purse with a smaller purse inside. Since I also wear glasses off and on (cheaters and prescription sunglasses for distance), I have a special around-the-neck eyeglass case for those. It even has a zippered side pocket where I could put my credit card and driver’s license and some cash, cell phone, and car key, if that’s all I wanted to take into stores.
But why the pockets? If I make a list, it goes in my pocket right away. I never forget to take it into the store with me. The trick with that, though, is to have the habit of emptying your pocket when you get home so the list isn’t washed with the clothing. I often just stick the receipts I get in my pocket, as well. Then when I empty it, there’s the receipt, ready to file away, not stuffed in my purse where it will get lost.
I use a very small wallet-like purse to take into the stores which can sit at the top inside of a larger tote or in an outer pocket. I carry the car key, credit card, license, library card, some cash and a few other items I might need in a store. I rarely use my cell phone when I’m out, so it’s in its own case inside the tote. (It would also fit in the case I have for my eyeglasses, if I want to use that.) I have a second wallet (old one) for all the stuff I might need but probably won’t such are store cards, some extra cash, some change, postage stamps, etc. This way if my small purse gets lost or stolen while I’m out of the car, I have some extra money for an emergency. The big bag also carries a small notebook, my checkbook, pain killers, a thumb drive with my stuff backed up (in case the house burns down when I’m gone—LOL), and other miscellaneous stuff.
The point is, I have a system. Do you? Please tell us about it in the comments.
April 25, 2013
WHO SAID THAT?
I really want to know who said what. All the time. In real life, and when reading.
Nothing makes me more ticked off with a story than not knowing who’s speaking. And it’s rare anymore for me to read a book where I don’t find places where I have to re-read to figure it out. [image error]
Please, don’t do this to your readers. I notice it happens most often near the end of a story when things are winding down, answers to questions are provided, and lots of characters are talking. Just when you really don’t want to stop to figure out who’s saying what. Did the writer get in a hurry and leave off the attributions? Did the author figure that her characters’ voices were so clear by now the reader would automatically know who was talking? (Doesn’t happen with me, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that.) Has the writer bought into the idea that writing “he said” or “she said” is breaking a rule?
See, you don’t want me wondering about this when I’m reading your story. You want me to glide through it, to never have to stop to puzzle out something as simple as “who said that?”
I’ve been reading and writing for a long time now. A decade or so ago a very popular author suggested that a simple “he said”/“she said” was the best way for the reader to know who was talking. This was suggested instead of using modifiers or such attributes as “he hissed,” or “he growled,” or said with an adverb: “she said softly,” or “he said loudly.” This decade, someone else “ruled” that you should not only not use attributes at all, but instead use small actions to show what the character is doing and thinking and feeling while speaking. Thus, you may notice a heck of a lot of coffee being drunk now in what you read. Or tea. It’s so easy to use “Jenny took a sip of coffee” that many writers do use it. Over and over again. After Jenny takes a sip of hers, John answers and adds cream to his. How does this add one bit of information or interest to the story? It doesn’t. Instead, it’s distracting. Not only that, there’s a set up when the coffee if brought by the waitress, or made by one of the characters, or even simply poured.
What to do? Mix it up, of course.
Have some characters use certain tics to show they’re upset, impatient, or some other emotion (fingering a necklace, tapping a pen, etc.).
Have the occasional character hiss (be sure there’s some “s” sounds in the words he utters, however) or roar or whisper.
Occasionally use small actions, being sure they add to the story. If John is waving his arms around because he’s upset and knocks his coffee into Jane’s lap, we now have something of interest happening. What will Jane’s reaction be?
Use “he said” or “she said” when you want fast action along with the dialogue. Any reader older than ten is used this and won’t even notice. But they will miss it if they cannot figure out who is speaking.
And they will be ticked. Trust me on this.
One more bit of info. With e-readers, things can get even worse when the attributions are left out because of wonky formatting. Which is exactly what happened to me just before I wrote this rant, I mean, advice. Near the end of a novel by an extremely famous and popular writer, she left out a “he said” when the formatting got messed up (big NY publisher, too) and two paragraphs ran together. Or I think they did. I had to go back to re-read it because at first I thought one person was speaking, but when I got about four or five paragraphs further with no attributions and two characters speaking, I thought it might have been the other character. I’m still not sure I ever got it right. There was a small action in there, but it didn’t help identify the character speaking. In fact, it made it harder to figure out. What do you suppose I’m going to remember the most about this novel?
Takeaway—be sure your reader knows who is speaking every single time. If in doubt, for heaven’s sake, drop in a “he said” or a “she said.” Readers will thank you. This reader will even bless you.
April 22, 2013
TRICK YOURSELF
How? Pretend you earn $100 a hour. You would need to work really hard and smart to earn that much an hour, right? This can work for you in two different ways.
One, you want to prove to yourself you’re worth $100/hour.
Two, you won’t waste your time wasting it, because if you do, you don’t get that $100 a hour.
So, the essential stuff gets done, the stuff you really, really want to do. And the non-essential stuff gets short shift.
Could this become a self-fulfilling prophesy? Let’s give it a whirl for six months and see what happens. Report back here. LOL
Good luck!
