Lyle Nicholson's Blog, page 5

A late blooming writer learns about editing and rewriting a novel

I admit, coming to the world of writing late in life, I was somewhat naive about the amount of work it takes to get a novel to print. I have had several articles published by Newspapers and Magazines. That was a matter of doing a query, getting acceptance, and then sending the 500 to 1,000 word article off.

There is the angst of seeing the editor slash your work to make it fit their framework, and their angle. But the timeline of an article can be as little as 3 to 6 months. Novels on the other hand, can take years, and require numerous rewrites, edits, and proofs that would try the faint of heart to even attempt it.

In my very first attempt at a Novel, I thought, no problem, this 109,000 word novel of fiction has been worked over by myself several times, and read by five good friends. It should be great. Now, remember, I said friends did a reading. Friends are great, but they are your friends – mostly because they haven’t really annoyed you that much.

For true feedback, and to get annoyed – you need a good editor! Yes, there it is, I’ve said it. A good start with your editor is a Manuscript Evaluation. This is where you’ll find out if your plot works, your characters are developed, and if there are dialogue issues.

Yes, a manuscript evaluation editor will find, and alert you to, the things that will make a reader want to put your book down. My first Manuscript evaluation was done by Iguana books. I waited two months, for 9 pages of notes to appear on my laptop. I was thrilled, well at first…until I saw the amount of work that needed to done to make the Novel presentable in the editors eyes.

In the next 5 months, I cut 20,000 words, dropped 3 characters that did not need to be there, and then came forward with what I thought was a shiny and new 89K word novel. And then the novel went into a Copy and Stylist Edit. Sentence structure is changed, dialogue is reworked, and commas are put in the right place, or removed.

When I received my Novel back from the copy and stylist edit, the pages showed a sea of red, where the editor had made her remarks. I could either change or ignore. In most cases I changed to her suggestions, unless I thought a message was being lost.

Now, after all of these edits, there is only the final proof read, after the Novel is formatted. And that is where your eyes start to jump as you reread every sentence looking for the error that you know, will end up on the EBook or in print.

Is all of this worth it? There is a more simple system. I believe there are several new applications where a program will edit your work for you, and you upload it to Amazon. But there is something about an editor, a real human being, questioning, and asking you why you put that word there, and challenging your interpretations. There is the evolution of the novel, that would not be the same with these editors.

I think good editors make good writers, or make good writers even better. They take us to task, they make us toe the line in our words. They do it for the readers, and isn’t that, in the end, what this is all about?

If this is Paradise – what’s up with the Turkeys!

I was recently on the Big Island of Hawaii. After a long flight from Kelowna, Canada, we arrived there very late at night. Dawn broke, streaming a perfect Hawaiian light through our window – and the sound of Turkeys!

I got up, stared out the balcony window of our Condo, and sure enough, a flock of Turkeys was strutting it’s stuff below our window. Big Tom’s with their plumage full and fanned, just like you see in the Thanksgiving ads, and a series of large hens twirling around like they were at their own little party.

I had expected the call of the usual island doves that make their familiar cooing on Maui and Kauai, and here…here there was the gobble, gobble of Turkeys. This made me wonder, as I met other people at the resort, mostly mainlanders from Canada and the U S A, that referred to this place as Paradise! I heard this several times in the three weeks I was there.

“Paradise has Turkeys!” I said to my wife. It was a strange statement, I know, but it got me to thinking about this idea we call Paradise. I’ve heard this in my own small city of Kelowna, British Columbia. Some of my neighbours called my area Paradise. That was mainly to do with the warm summers, and not too chilly winters.

It seems to me, that every time I’ve heard someone call somewhere Paradise, it’s to do with a place that has warm weather, do we associate a good climate with Paradise? It would seem so – then what about Haiti? It has warm weather, great beaches, but unfortunately a poor economy, and earthquakes, therefore – not paradise? The same would be true for some areas in Mexico suffering from Drug wars – all in wonderful warm climate.

Wikipedia describes Paradise as a religious term in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It also describes it as one of contentment. I admit since returning to my home in Kelowna, British Columbia, it’ not about the weather, it’s really just about me, and my contentment. That’s my paradise.

To many people, you can be either in the warmest or the coldest place on earth, and still experience your own piece of Paradise, or your own piece of…well the opposite.

Now that I’m back home, there is snow outside the window…no bright sunshine or island breezes (no Turkeys), and I have my own contentment, and my writing. I hope all of you discover your own personel Paradise…Turkeys optional.

Learning from a Hawaiian historical writer in Kona

I was in Kona, Hawaii recently on vacation, and there was a word I wanted to track down. It sounded like “How-lee,” and was used by Hawaiians to describe white foreigners. Okay, I admit, I learned this from watching Hawaii Five-O. Yes, I admit to watching this, but only when I need to put my brain on pause.

The first person I asked about this word, was an American, living in Kona for the past 7 years. He said the word referred to all whites, and was because the Hawaiians thought the whites were so white, they had an almost “Halo,” around their heads. Thus the word was born. Okay, the guy sold tours, was originally from Portland, and I thought, there must be some better description.

I was lucky enough to run into Boyd Bond, a local historian on the Big Island, whose family goes back seven generations on the island. Boyd cleared up the definition for me. He said that Hawaiians considered their breath sacred. They expelled air before they enter their holy places, and they exchanged breath when greeting one another, a term they call, “honi.”

The word I thought was How-Lee, is actually Haole, and means without breath. The Hawaiian’s thought the Europeans were, “breathless.” I tracked this down on Wikipedia, and one professor, went so far as to say, it implied that foreigners were aloof and ignorant, and had no spirit of life within.

What a difference in two definitions. I hope when I return to Kona, I’ll perhaps meet the person who told me about the “Halo,” and set him straight. As a further acknowledgement, I want to thank Boyd Bond, the very informative historian, who is writing a book of historical fiction. I’m sure with his wealth of knowledge, he will do very well.

Now, as I realize, that the Hawaiians were right, many of the Europeans, perhaps were without breath, and did not realize the spirit within them. After all, they came to the Paradise of Hawaii, and tried to change it into their own. How much more of “without spirit,” could that be?

My non resolutions for 2013, that involve writing, and not taking myself seriously

I Realized today, that we are ten days into this year. Another year, that to me spreads before my like a white canvas or blank page. Many years ago I used to make resolutions, and take all of those resolutions quite seriously.

It was twenty odd years ago, I discovered that if I made goals, depending on where I wanted to be in one year, 5 years or 10 years in the future, I often found that when the future arrived, many of the goals were achieved. Funny thing that, setting something in motion, that when set in motion, would develop into what you wanted.

I have done the same thing with writing. As I wrote in previous blogs, I really could not come up with my next career, and decided to do something I’d always loved, writing, but never made time for.

My goal was to learn to write, I thought that might be more advantages to my readers, and also enjoyable if I was doing. Numerous writing courses later, a library full of how to write the best novel every type of books, and here I am, about to have my first Novella published later this month, a Novel ready to go to proof reading in March, and working on a third Novel.

I sometimes wonder what drives me to do it, and I decided, it is because I don’t take myself seriously. I take my writing seriously, I love to write, but I don’t listen to myself, when that little voice tells me I can’t write, will never be a writer, or just not good enough to be read.

That’s when I have to laugh and smile, and just say, “if you don’t write, you’ll never know if you are a writer, and if you don’t publish, how will anyone else know.”

So I write, and I do have a goal for this year. To publish Dolphin Dreams my fantasy Novella this month, then my Novel Polar Bear Dawn, and then a third Novel by late this year, or early next year. My total overall goal is One Million words in print in the next ten years. I would be 70 years old then. Now that would be a wonderful thing to look back and see some goals that I set out to do get accomplished.

To all those who make goals, I wish your reach all of them in your future.

When you don’t write #Erotica or #YA – what then?

I received a GoodReads note from a friend the other day. I realized most of her picks were Erotica. I think there were several mentions of Fifty shades of whatever. On reading a Blog from an author I follow I noticed that everything they mentioned was for YA. Young Adults rule the reading lists. Hunger Games and Harry Potter.

Where does that leave me? A late-blooming writer finding his genre. Am I too late to the party? Should I be getting out my dictionary of 50 ways to excite your lover or an old Kama Sutra? Which to anyone from the 70′s was the original 50 shades.

Should I be hanging out at the mall, and trying to delve into the depths of the 12 to 16-year-old market. I barely understand the over 50 market, and they move somewhat slower. Although they speak with a slurred speech after multiple cocktails.

No, I have found my own field of writing. I’m calling it Eco-Terrorist Fantasy. I rather doubt if it’s a new title. It’s probably already coined somewhere. Perhaps already studied in University as a make up credit course, or as a parody on YouTube. But there it is.

My first Novella has a fantasy element, and ecological element, and a slight terrorist element to it. It’s called Dolphin Dreams, it will be available from Iguana Books, hopefully at the end of this month or early next, and no Young Adults will invent a new kingdom, and no men or women writhe in ecstasy from some form of sexual pleasure.

I realized some time ago in my writing, although it was late in life, that I have to write what excites me. What evolves around my cerebral cortex. I am sure there are many other writers like me, and reader as well.

If you’re like me, you want your fantasy somewhat grounded, just inside the realms of this planet, but with the edges blurred. I call it writing over the edges. Perhaps that’s a new genre as well – or just new to me.

I wish everyone, no matter what you write or read, a great experience with whatever you writing or reading.

Learning to write ” deep in the pocket!” A lesson from #Stevie Ray Vaughan

I was listening to a Canadian Music station, as I was roaming around doing my last bit of Christmas shopping, and the announcer introduced Stevie Ray Vaughan and his famous Pride and Joy song. I admit, Stevie Ray is one of my all time favourites, and so is his song, Pride and Joy. My only regret, is that he died too soon for one so talented.

Bonnie Raitt, another wonderful Blues player and singer, once said that she felt Stevie Ray would “light up the sun,” when he played. She was that impressed by him. Well, I have no metaphor that could match that. The radio announcer claimed that Stevie Ray had the ability to play, “Deep in the pocket!”

I was fascinated by this saying, and I had to do a Google search on this saying, and what I learned from one musician description was that it meant to hold a rhythm without too much flash – a laid back feel. Another site claimed playing Deep in the pocket meant, “playing solid with great feel!”

That was it, that is exactly what I want to do in my writing. Not too much flash, but the telling of a simple story, and to let the reader relax into it. To just give them that laid back feel.

I believe this saying, about a rhythm, could be used in writing, and it could be used in life. But I leave it out there for everyone else to interpret their own way. In the meantime, I’ll be turning on my Stevie Ray Vaughan tunes, and attempting to find that deep pocket of writing that I can relax into.

A late blooming writer tries to balance blogging tweeting and writing

I admit, I am new to blogging and tweeting. This was something I only was made aware of at a writers conference, called When Words Collide, back in August of this year. My experience with Social Media up until that time was with Facebook. Sometime in late October I established a twitter account, then late in November, with the help of Carrie Mumford, I established a blog account, and to my dismay, my personnel writing suffered!

Yes, I was spending my time looking at other people’s tweets, who had the best, the best tips from writers, editors, and the best sayings. Then I was pouring over other people’s blogs, and really, there are some great ones. I have subscribed to several regarding other writers and their struggle to write, edit, and publish.

Then one day, it was actually last week, I realized I needed to get back to writing. I normally write 1,000 words a day, 5 to 6 days a week. It takes me about 3 to 4 hours. Sitting here, one word coming after the other, then whole scenes popping into my head. A wonderful process.

To get back to the writing process, I found I needed to find a balance between all the wonders of social media, and my own personal writing time. I finally decided that writing would take precedence, as it must. I leave the wonders of social media to one hour a day, and the concentrate on the beauty of writing the rest of the day.

This has been a great experience, and if anyone has experienced this same challenge, I would welcome your comments.

A late blooming writer is asked the quesiton, “do you ever wish you’d started earlier?”

I was asked this question last week.  Getting my haircut, nice and trimmed up for Christmas, and my upcoming 60th birthday, the young hairstylist asked me what I did.  “I now write books,” I said.

She was mildly impressed, and asked me what I wrote, and what genre.  Turns out the young lady was as Sci-Fi fan.  Then she asked me the one question I may have asked myself, “do you ever wish you’d started earlier?”  She probably got that from the long locks of grey hair falling to the floor that I was not just fresh out of school.

And here is the answer I came up with, I was too involved with so many other things in my life to write.  Sure I thought of it many times, driving down the highway when I was in sales, or on long flights on business trips.  So many things got in the way, so much noise in my head.

I was offered, by my lovely wife, the opportunity to just write at the age of 35.  Yes, I could explore the world of free-lance writing, write a novel, even go to Journalism school that had accepted me.  And get this – she would support me.  How many people get this opportunity!  Not too many I assure you. I tried for three long months, and so many things got in the way: writers block, writers angst, and basically writers avoidance.

Now, 25 years later, what is different?  I have finished a Novella that is soon to be published, have another Novel ready for final proof reading, and working on a third novel that I am half way through the first draft.  I know what is different.  The noise in my head, it’s calmer up there.  I’m no longer worried about the deadlines of my business, or investments, or meetings.

It is now just me, meeting with a keyboard, creating characters, and one scene after another.  Could I have started earlier, maybe, If I were someone else.  Perhaps John Grisham, he started his writing after his daily work as a Lawyer.  Stephen King worked in a closet in his laundry room in his double wide trailer, while he worked as a teacher.

And me, well I had to wait until I was ready.  I am sure every writer has their own timeline, the day that the stars aligned, and they could work with the characters in their heads.  I have been a very late bloomer.  Something that I deal with.  But, my time to write is now, what I write now in the present is all I care about.  The past is gone.  I can not look back, and can not even look ahead.  I can only look down at my page, as one word after another appears before me, and be very glad that I started now.

I wish all of you, who started early or late, or started and stopped, and started again, I wish you all good writing, and if you have a story of your journey to write, then I would love to hear it.

Good Writing and good journey,

Lyle Nicholson

A late blooming writer finds his Muse

I admit, I knew nothing about this thing called the Muse, when I started writing again in 2010.  I heard it existed, musicians had it.  I thought that’s were the word came from.  Poets supposedly wrote about it, but unfortunately I’m not a big fan of poetry, so their musing were lost on me.  Sorry about that last sentence.

I found a wonderful reference to it on TED, this was from Elizabeth Gilbert.  I found it on a website from Cally Jackson, and I thank her for placing it there, as it was a great inspiration, and discussion on writers Muse.

As for myself, a writer coming late to this party, I thought finding my muse would be easy.  Wasn’t it just telling a story, and letting the creative process flow?  Apparently not.  Some times I write and what appears on the page is outright drivel, and sometimes it is inspired.  There are times, I let out a sigh at the words before me.  They actually look good, like someone else wrote them. Is that muse?

Well, I’m still early in this, I’ve finished my first Novella, called Dolphin Dreams, which is still at the publishers, and waiting uploading to Amazon and various other eBook sites, but here is what amazed me.  I started writing the Novella as an adventure story, and it turned into a fantasy, with a love story intertwined.

Now, how does that happen?  Do we not all control what we write.  Are we not the master and commander sitting in the chair, fingers flying on the keyboard while characters and plots emanate from us?  Well, I thought so…at least at first.  Now I realize I’m part of the process.  Sure, I have ideas, fantasies, and dreams.  But as I sit down to write, things start to change, characters change.

I have found this part fascinating.  I would love to hear comments from others on this as well.  I know we are writers, but are we also a conduit for a creative force?  The word inspire, comes from the Latin, “to breath in,” are we breathing in and breathing out as we write, and are these words before us a mere image of something in our deeper selves.  Ops, now that be a little deep.

So, as an aspiring writer, finding his muse, would love to hear from others on this.  Inspiration, is always a welcome insight, and if you have a moment, check out the YouTube video from Elizabeth Gilbert, it is twenty minutes, but really well worth it.

The late blooming writers learning curve

I realized starting to write late in life, that I had a lot of learning to do.  Where do you start?  If you spent most of your life making a living, and then decide you want to pursue a passion for writer, what’s the next step?

I found myself in this very dilemma in 2010.  Retired from my career in business, wanting to pursue writing, and ideas for stories bouncing in my head.  I realized to my horror, that I had no idea on dialogue.  Yes, the “Well, I think we need to go over here,” he said with a firmness that masked his nervous twitch.  There was that, and the idea of how to  have a beginning and middle and  end.

Yes, I was somewhat adrift in a sea of writers angst.  Where to begin.  My very fist class was a Creative Writing Level One course at Mount Royal University in Calgary.  There I was, the old grey haired guy, amongst the young trendy set.  I brought out my trusty notebook and pen, and the nice young men and women with their laptops and pads gave me a knowing smile.

What I received in that first class, were the very first elements, the bare bones of instruction in writing.  The instructor was Naomi Lewis.  A wonderful award-winning writer and editor, who kept the class on topic, and pushed us to do writing exercises in every class.  Writing exercises!  The meer mention of it sent chills down my spine, and when I did them, they were a complete joy.

We held readings in class, and I could hear the enthusiasm in the voices of others.  I gave my readings, and could feel the tension in my voice, as something I had written touched me.  We were introduced to a book called Imaginative writing, the Elements of Craft, by Janet Burroway, and from the exercises, I learned about writing styles I never knew existed.

I wrote the first chapter of Polar Bear Dawn, a novel I intend to publish next year,  I read the first chapter in class, and it was proclaimed, “Gnarly,” by a young man in the second row.  That was all the confirmation I needed.

I recommend writing classes to everyone who is yearning to write, and looking for some kind of guidance, but there is a caution there.  Sometime, after the classes are done, you need to sit down, and write.  Find your story, the one only you are passionate about it, and write it.

The technique is out there.  You’ll find a multitude of books that will tell you how to do dialogue, and pacing, and structure, and all those important things, but what is missing is you – your story – your uniqueness to the world.  And that after all is what matters.

Happy learning, and writing.