Pratap Divyesh's Blog, page 47

Memoir or Fiction?

I guess it’s an age thing. Looking back, remembering incidents from the past, key moments in childhood, adolescence and adulthood, reviewing your life. I write fiction and have always been adamant that I would never write a memoir. But maybe there comes a time in every writer’s life when the idea of a personal account seems a tempting project. You want to put the record straight, separate reality from fiction, write the definitive version of your life.

Stop. Think carefully before embarking on any kind of undisguised autobiographical project. It may be therapeutic for you to write it, but most authors write to communicate. However interesting your life, however dynamic your ideas, who would want to read your memoir? I suggest that if you are not famous enough for the name on the cover to attract unknown readers, it is doubtful you will sell many copies. As with any genre it’s important to think of your possible readership.

You might aim your memoir towards a smaller close-knit circulation, a memento solely for family, colleagues and friends. Think about it. Would such people be interested in reading your version of your life? I say “version” because any memoir is told from one perspective only, that of the writer. Others may remember the same events differently and have different responses.

That’s all right you say. They are welcome to their opinion. But consider this. If you do decide to write a memoir I’m sure that, like me, you would want it to be an honest one. Any writing involves selection. You could choose to withhold incidents too personal for public consumption, or details likely to hurt others. Or again, you may want to hold back certain information for fear of being sued for defamation of character. If you feel obliged to censor your work by omitting certain events, either to protect the feelings of others or to hide your own emotional responses, the result would not only turn out to lack honesty but is also likely to be excruciatingly dull. After all, don’t we all read biographies and autobiographies in the hope that they will reveal personal details about the lives being explored – information that we didn’t know, or only suspected, before?

If I were to write a memoir it would have to be a candid one and perhaps that’s why I’ve shied away from it. It would take courage. Are you brave enough to do it and not flinch from the consequences? Do you really want to disclose certain incidents or thoughts that might show you or others in an unfavourable light? If you are not confident enough to be faithful to your memories and reveal what you believe actually took place and how you felt about it as truthfully as possible, I suggest the memoir would probably not be worth writing.

Sit for a moment. Close your eyes. What should you include in your memoir. Here are some of the memories that jostle for permission to be included in my life story. My first day at school when I lay on the floor screaming, arms and legs awry, refusing to be pacified – the precursor, I’m ashamed to say – of more fits of temper to come. My mother’s remark at my degree ceremony that there were so many of us lining up to collect our scroll of waxed paper that degrees must be two a penny. I found that comment devastating because I’d so longed for her to be proud of me as the first person in our family to go to university. The mixture of pain and relief I experienced the day I overheard a conversation between my aunts and understood that I was adopted. The pain was real enough because I could tell that they considered me an outsider and that hurt. The relief came later when I realised that was why I’d always felt a misfit in this family. The fact that there was a reason for my feeling of isolation made me feel better.

I’m sure you have similar emotional moments that you will never forget. Love affairs – wonderful or disastrous – the break up of relationships, betrayal and loss – all would have to be chronicled. Flaws in your character too. In my case, there was that wicked temper that took me years to learn to control and a tendency to be over-critical of others. I imagine that my belief that literature and writing poetry was more important than anything else could be considered another fault.

You would have to recall amusing incidents too, or those that appeared amusing after the event. I remember my first wedding when my first husband spent half an hour on hands and knees in his Y-fronts, picking up every scrap of confetti that had fallen out of our clothes – a sure passion-killer. An omen of trouble ahead?

As I write this list, I realise that, as a fiction writer, I already make use of such incidents and emotions in my work. The confetti incident found its way into a bittersweet poem. The death of my daughter, Vikki, at eight months old from an unknown disease, is always with me and my feeling of loss surely informed the events in my novel, After, although the loss suffered by the fictional parents took place in very different circumstances. The fact that I’m adopted and also have an adopted daughter, has led to several pieces of writing on the subject but the story is presented in a different context.

Yes, I do draw on my own experiences to write. What fiction writer doesn’t? Consciously or unconsciously, we all explore the baggage of our past, to inform our work. Readers can speculate on which aspects of our work have come from the writer’s own experience, but they have been woven into a story about invented characters. Incidents in real life are considered, changed, viewed differently, divorced from the actual, but hopefully retain a sense of truth.

Fiction gives you the chance to write from different perspectives. You’re not bound to one viewpoint as in a memoir. The content, the structure and the style of fiction offer more freedom of expression than a seemingly candid assessment of your life in a memoir. You can think ‘What if this or that happens?’ and the imagination soars.

I doubt if I will ever write a memoir. But I will continue to use the rich resource provided by my memories and use my imagination to transform them into fiction.

You may be braver than me. You may embark on that journey back to the past and decide to expose the secret crevices of your life in a memoir. If you do, I wish you luck. If you decide not to, don’t forget the wealth of material contained in your memories. Steal from them and use them to give your fiction authenticity.

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Killing the Monster

Each time I finish a book, I think of Winston Churchill’s famed quote about the phases of writing. The one beginning with this sentence: Writing is an adventure. To begin with it is a toy and an amusement. And ends…”you kill the monster and fling him to the public.”

This time, the monster has teeth, big sharp ones. Why?

Because this time I decided I wanted to write about characters who were evil. Shouldn’t be too difficult for someone who loves devouring thrillers, right? You know, those created by the likes of Dean Koontz, Harlan Coben, Lee Child, and Joseph Finder? . Could I do it? Create not only an assassin but someone worse? As real, believable?

Churchill was wholly right. In the beginning of the new story, the writing was fun, even exciting. Walking in the shoes of a man who gets paid to kill- my imagination soared, leaped tall buildings as the character took on flesh and bones. I found myself reading sections aloud to my husband because of the character’s credibility. That creative freedom of fiction is exhilarating and is one of the many surprises of my switch from writing non-fiction to fiction. Some characters are  so real that they cannot be left at the end of the book. They have taken up residence in our hearts. The reason that both authors and readers are drawn to book series- we find we love Harry Potter and Jack Reacher far too much to ever let them go.

But these evil folks aren’t loveable and noble like Harry and Hermione, they’re more like their dark sides on steroids. The funny thing was that I got hooked. And found the challenge of writing about characters who live in the bleak and banal aspects of human nature quite a writing high.

The next phase, the one described by Churchill as the one where the book becomes a tyrant is, in my imagining, the wait for the feedback from the editor. This is true, I believe, because it is almost impossible to think of much else while waiting for the judgement of the editor. Suffice to say, my editor found ample material to pronounce the dreaded phrase, ‘needs revision’ and a few chapters she deemed superfluous to the book.

For writers, there is only one response to extensive critique: Dig down deep and get back to work. It takes time to recover from the wounds to our ego but time and work are the best antidotes. This phase, I think, is what Churchill meant in that wonderful last phrase, “reconciled to your servitude.” The work is harder because the insecurity looms high when permitting ourselves relief from the constancy of our work. For me, that relief is reading someone else’s novel; someone  good, well-known and enjoying the excellence of his or her prose. Exposing myself to the expert, enduring that two or three day period where I decide I don’t know what I am doing. This writer is so far above me in his ability to tell a story that I cannot believe I am even able to call myself by the same name, writer. This happens during each of the four books I have written so I’ve now learned to expect it and trust that it will pass.

And then suddenly, it’s over. The book is done. Sure I could fool around with it for another month or six but there is another one sitting, waiting in my head to be written. So the only thing to do is to kill the monster. If it has been a while since you have reflected on this wonderful Churchill quote, here it is, in all its wisdom:

Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public.

This post is contributed by Author Lin Wilder

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Why I am Motivated to Write

Perhaps, early in my career as a mental health counselor, I couldn’t even see the untold story. During my second job, I worked at a day program that was connected to a 30 day crisis house.

Landing the job gave me the financial power to leave a ghetto apartment in the most murderous city on the East Coast. Since I was only just entering a Master’s Program, I felt extremely privileged. As a result, I aligned myself with my supervisor and other more experienced workers. Without credentials, I was focused on working with people who would get my back.

One day, I received a client and was ready to get to work on housing issues, when I found out that she came attached with a more experienced case manager. Though not very talkative, she did tell me very clearly that she did not want to go to a particular boarding home, the largest such facility in the county. When I talked to the case manager who would later be my supervisor when I got promoted, he was clear about the woman’s future. She had to go to the unwanted boarding home.

“Wow, that girl is really sick!” I heard the coworker who worked the graveyard shift at the crisis house say.

“I don’t get it,” I said, “I don’t see why she can’t live where she wants to. I help other people find housing, why can’t I help her.”

“That girl is very sick, I can just tell by the way her eyes roll to the side” said my co-worker

I deferred to experience. Sure I had been hospitalized for six months myself, but I knew better than to make waves. The woman was shipped away to the very place she most did not want to go. She had been right not to trust any of us. For us, she was just protocol.

Once I graduated my Master’s program and was promoted, I visited the infamous boarding home which was buried in the New Jersey Pine Barrens in the far reaches of the county. Out in the pines, there were few stores, lots of sand and aged pine trees, whose growth was stunted by fire. The pines were where most boarding homes were located. I admired the scenery as I drove out.

The infamous boarding home’s one-story buildings were made of quarter inch plywood and styled in rows like chicken coops. There was no insulation from the elements in any of the buildings. They were long and full of small rooms with cots and no furniture. At the end of each row of rooms there was an open rec room where open vats of warm, iceless bug juice sat out under the dim lighting. There were no fans to drown out the buzz of the flies. These inside rooms reeked of sickness. The chipping linoleum floors were being mopped with cheap chemical stink water that reinforced the sick feel. Almost all the clients were either gone to a day program or had walked the three miles to the store. I could not even begin to picture what the place looked like when it was full.

When I finished I followed the owner to the front office. The owner’s daughter had been in my sister’s class at our posh private school before anorexia had lowered my social standing. Back at the office, the owner had barraged me with gossip and information about the school. By then I was learning to undermine the subservience façade of the mental health client. As a result, I found myself struggling not to be offensive to this woman who had helped pay for my rearing.

Once freed to collect my thoughts, I recall betting to myself that they treated mentally ill better back in the Middle Ages. So many good people I had worked with for years were living lives like this and I had never given it any consideration.

In a year, I made enough money to fund a move to the west coast. Within six months of moving, I made a risky job transfer into setting up services in a section eight housing authority facility. When I found out my supervisor had a cocaine habit, I stopped heeding her. Like a vigilante. I leaked info openly to a community activist and to newspapers and was starting to face unforeseen levels of threats.

One day, a resident who had pointed out the local drug kingpin to me, told me that I was deeply loved by all the residents, even the shady ones, but that they were all worried that I would end up becoming a resident of the building myself.

Within a week, after an unsuspected threat from a friend from my ghetto days who, it turned out, was connected, I was picked up out of a ditch on a mountain pass outside of Butte Montana.  I had been harassed by police for the past two days since they had halted my escape to Canada. Finally, I surrendered to them.

Two months in, just when I had finally started to accept the very poor treatment I was receiving, I was transferred to the most chronic unit. The temperature inside was below freezing. There would be icicles inside the window that sat above my head. It was almost as bad as the boarding home in South Jersey. When I first entered those dank halls, I felt destined to behave with the subservient merriment of the thirty year residents. I was given old, dirty clothing so that I could layer up among the crowded halls. My appearance and sense of self declined. Fungus off the bathroom tiles grew under my toenails and warts covered by hands.

Now, I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who works in an inner city day program. I also am an award winning author of a memoir that details my untold story. Much of the book is about coming out of “psychosis” while working at the only place that would hire me, an Italian Delicatessen.

I write because now I see that there are so many untold stories out there. I write because twenty years ago a woman was committed to squalor and I did nothing. I write because I once was so arrogant so as to think it couldn’t happen to me. I write to better express love and support to the people I work for. I write because I know firsthand what it feels to be demeaned. I write because I believe that loss of housing and mental health can happen to any of us regardless.

In this age of heightened social disparities, the propensity for dehumanizing people is on the rise. Now that the public is finally able to see the way that black men are shot indiscriminately by police. Now that American prisons are disproportionately filled with mentally ill, political-prisoners of color. Now we all know that years of slaughter in the Middle East can be traced back to fabricated evidence. Still, we blame all violence on the mentally ill, immigrants, and African-Americans. We think we can make ourselves safer by taking more power.

Already there are too many stories left untold.

I write to tell them.

This post is contributed by Author Clyde Dee

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Well begun is half done

Writing is a matter of pleasure. Though not easy, the writing skills can be acquired through small experiments and gaining comments of people who know us followed by improvement where needed.

The power of writing can be understood from the phrase ‘Pen is Mightier than the Sward’. It speaks a lot of writing skills and its effect. However, to have an edge one has to polish the skills and it comes through a lot of practice. It needs  a lot of patience to write on any subject. A better reader can be a better writer.

Reading has to be followed by analysis. Same way self writing should be followed by self analysis of what is written.

Is the objective of writing achieved? Have we understood our potential reader well? Can we describe him in simple words? Will it create the impact that I wish to have on reader’s mind; etc are some questions that a writer must ponder upon.

Someday we need to start if we feel that we can write good. Use facilities like this one (being author). Be ready to face early hick-ups, its a part of the process. Let people laugh, let them criticize..accept and go ahead. Well begun is half done..So enjoy  trying your writing skills.

This post is contributed by Sunil

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Ooooh, That’s gory

Today’s horror fiction writers owe a great deal to an early stage empresario, Oscar Metenier. Slasher writers and movie makers should thank Oscar for the debt owed to him.

He celebrated gore just down the street from the can-can girls of the Moulin Rouge in late 19th century Paris. This gory celebration was at The Theatre du Grande Guignol – Theatre of the Big Puppet Show – founded in 1897 by Oscar Metenier in a small theatre that had originally been a chapel.

Their original plays showed graphic violence: realistic dramas of murder, rape and disembowelment, throat slashing, eye gouging and acid throwing. It was an extension of what was then called the naturalistic movement. Occasionally actors were badly hurt.

Usually six plays were offered in an evening. Bawdy sex farces, some comedy acts to laugh away the intermittent acts of violence. But terror was the main staple of the Grand Guignol, and a new genre was born: horror. In fact, the success of a play was judged by the number of people who fainted during a performance. Eventually a house doctor was hired to offer help to those who did pass out.

(The horror genre seems to have its roots in France. Later the playwright and novelist Andre de Lorde became the Prince of Terror as he went for insanity, necrophilia and hypnotism. Yikes! Wonder what his hobbies were?)

Finally special effects were developed. Lighting and sound became an important part in the Grand Guignol’s theatrical presentations. Does this sound familiar? Check out any contemporary horror flick and see how much they depend on eerie lighting and scary sounds.

I watched a Freddy Krueger and Jason Vorhees horror film recently. Never got the name of the movie. But wow, shuddering shades of The Grand Guignol! Here and in our own early 21st century.

The film was really gory but with a certain camp. When Freddy and Jason go at each other there are a few surprises. Splattering blood, decapitation, flying body parts, dismemberment, and between all that, wisecracks from Freddy. You gotta love the guy – he’s tough. The movie has a terrific cartoon edge. Freddy and Jason fight like two fraternity brothers who’ve had too much to drink.

The Grand-Guignol edge comes when they attack the real people. Then it gets tense; the young handsome guy, the girl with the large bosoms (there’s always at least one such person –  she gets me tense). Those bloody scenes are probably closest to what Oscar Metenier was thinking about. The actors play real people out on a lark and they’re being maimed and killed in really horrific ways. But that’s what horror’s all about. Nice ordinary folks being murdered by strange monsters.

Hey – I know, let’s get together. I’ll meet you at the Theatre du Grand-Guignol and we’ll talk horror.

Pity – it closed in 1962.

This post is contributed by Author  Wally Runnels

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Beginner’s Guide to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

Everyone has a writer within them whether they admit it or not. Some will cause it to grow and become a full-fledged author. Others will ignore this notion until they get into the twilight of their life and make a statement like: “You know I’ve always wanted to write a book. One day I just might do that.”  My question to them is why wait for “one day” when you can have a whole month?

The November Challenge

Back in 2005 I was introduced to the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short). It’s a website where people gather together as a community and for the entire month of November, they strive to write 50,000 words. For most that seems an incredibly large amount of words. To others, it’s a casual walk in the park. Either way, it’s a challenge that has been going on since ’99.

Founder Chris Baty and his friends in San Francisco had got together and decided to each write a book in the space of thirty days. He randomly chose a book off his shelf and did a word count and obtained the goal of 50K words. As the years progressed the number of writers increased as did the location of these people. Now heading into its 18th year (2016) they are hosting thousands of writers worldwide!

How to Prepare

The goal of course is to write your story starting at Midnight November 1st and ending at Midnight on November 30th. Of course you want some time to be able to submit your work into their validation counter and be officially listed as a winner.

So how does one prepare? The goal is to do all of your writing in the space of 30 days but that leaves the rest of the time to prepare. The website itself usually relaunches at the end of September or beginning of October to give people opportunity to check in, introduces themselves, upload information about their current WIP (Work in Progress), and generally wander around the site meeting new people and playing the games that are there.

This also gives you time to setup everything you need for the upcoming challenge. Things like:  Create a plotline, develop characters, create scenery, and the like. You might also outline your story so you can adhere to what you are working on; how you start and where you will end.

If you’re not into outlining, you can always enter into the month with no ideas and no plot and just start writing and have things develop as you progress. Chris Baty has written a book called: No Plot? No Problem. I’ve read it several times over the years and it really gives you an insight into, not only the NaNo challenge itself, but also how to achieve that magic number.

I’ve never been one for doing outlines; official outlines that is but I usually will write down a list of scenarios and the characters involved so I can keep things in a (somewhat) orderly fashion. There’s no right or wrong to preparation but if this is your first time, I would suggest putting together a group of characters and a couple of plot ideas.

The Magic Number

As you begin your trek towards 50K words you have to keep one number in mind. 1,667. That’s the magic number because that is the average number of words you need to write every day in order to stay on track and reach those 50,000 words in 30 days. If that’s too complex a number to remember try this…Every three days you need to write 5,000 words. Technically it’s 5001 words but let’s not argue over exact amount. 5K every 3 Days is a good mantra to use as you are writing.

What do you win?

In a word, nothing. There is no prize to win, no honors to achieve. However, you will receive a nice certificate of completion worthy of hanging on your wall to show your accomplishment. But you will also have the satisfaction of writing a foundation for a book and you’ll get to meet a lot of fellow writers from all over the word. These people usually end up becoming friends, supporters, and even contacts in the literary world. You’ll enjoy their company in the remaining 11 months of the year until the next November Challenge comes along.

To some people 50,000 words is only a novella and so they won’t even go into the challenge because they want to write more. There’s nothing wrong with writing more. I do know of a challenge called, A Million words in a weekend. That might be more your speed.

I’ve been using NaNo as a way to discipline myself to write the story and most times my story will exceed the 50K after I’ve completed my challenge. Doing NaNo for me is just a way connecting with other writers who are online at the same time. It’s like going back to Summer Camp every year but without the mosquitos and the sadistic camp counselors.

The bottom line is: What you put into the challenge is what you will get out of it.

Getting to 50K words

Sometimes this can be the tricky part especially if you’re not very good at writing. What I mean by that is coming up with ideas and dialog naturally without thinking about it. If the words can flow from your mind to the keyboard you will have no problem. If not, here are some suggestions to help you out:

Word count is the key. Do whatever you have to do to get to the desired number of 1,667 a day or 50K in a month. I’ll have more to say in another article called, The Cheater’s Guide to NaNoWriMo. Remember the mantra: 5K every 3 Days


Shut off your inner editor. One of the main problems people have is dwelling on mistakes like misspellings, grammar usage, and describing the same character two different ways. Always remember, this is only a first draft and most of it might be discarded in the long run. You’re not writing useless stuff, you are creating a foundation from which to build a story on. Here’s another way to look at it, if you want your garden to grow, you need to shovel a lot of manure.


Find time to write. All too often I hear people tell me, “I’m too busy, I don’t have time to write.” Those who do have time usually find other things to do instead of writing. People get that sudden urge to clean or make that special supper, or set that new movie that’s just come out. Anything to avoid the actual writing part.

Instead of saying you don’t have time, you need to FIND the time. To help you find time to write: a) list the things you do every day b) Write down when you do them c) Go back and eliminate the excess stuff. For example, if you check your e-mail four or five times a day, cut it down to twice a day; once in the morning and once at evening. Another idea is to get up thirty minutes earlier or stay up thirty minutes later and use that time to write.

You can always record your favorite TV shows and binge watch them in December or, if that’s too long a time, treat yourself to two episodes every week. Reward your accomplishments of writing will also help you find the time to write.

Notify Family and Friends. More often than not, the people who are a daily part of your life may not understand what you are doing or why you are doing it. Explain to them your goal and ask for their moral support and encouragement. Even if they still don’t understand just tell them it’s something you have to do. Make sure they help you find time to sit down and write. And above all, when you are in the process of writing make sure no one disturbs you during that time. Yes, Thanksgiving is in November and I’m sure you’ll be expected to attend. Use that date as your goal to finish your 50K words so you can sit back at the table and brag to all of your family of your story.


Lastly remember that Life Happens. No matter what has happened last month or in previous Novembers, every month is different and comes with a new set of problems. In other words don’t neglect Junior if he’s broken his leg or ignore the electric company who’s threatening to shut off the power. Take care of these important things because they will not wait. Keep an eye on your word count and always try to stay ahead. I always try to get 3K-5K within the first day to make sure I’m always ahead for just such emergencies.

Final Advice

Remember this is only a rough draft. You can’t expect perfection in thirty days nor should you try for it. Just get all of your thoughts and ideas on the page then go back later and edit. Too many people, who are against the book in a month idea, think that it will be immediately published. Even if you do write a story perfectly in the first draft, it would be better to read it over and share with others before you put it out for sale. You might find where certain ideas that worked at the beginning of the story no longer apply because of what happens later on.

Should you decide to enter The November Challenge or try it during any other month, make sure you at least try to reach 50K words. It’s better to try and fail in thirty days than to not even bother to start and spend the next eleven months wondering if you could have succeeded. During my first attempt I only achieved 25K words but that was my personal goal and I was happy that I tried. You may not win every year but if you at least try, it will be worth it in the long run.

So what about you? Think you have what it takes to write a story in thirty days? If you’re a former WriMo, share your previous experiences below.

Happy Adventuring!

Chris Mentzer

This post is contributed by Author Chris Mentzer

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You Mean Little Old Me? 14 Secrets of Writing Revealed

It’s pretty exciting to hear myself say, “I’m an author!” while I hand someone my business card. Can it actually be true? Who gave me such an illustrious title, anyway? Maybe it happened once I printed the cards; in any event it crept up on me. But I like it, it’s new, and it’s fun. I think.

I began writing for pure recreation, and to fill my retirement. It should still be fun!

Now, however, the question has been raised about a writer’s responsibilities, and that has sent my brain into a sort of frenzied overdrive. And dimly, as if emerging through the mist on the edge of a forest, some sobering facts are coming into focus. I do take my writing seriously, and I do take responsibility for what I write! I admit that came as a revelation of sorts, and to describe those duties and obligations throws me another challenge, but it’s one that I wish to embark upon, even if only for my own satisfaction.

One lesson coming home to me more clearly every day is the importance of developing and nurturing a strong support system of other writers, to learn from their vast pool of experience and knowledge. I’ve found a real gold mine in RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB. This group, often seen in social media as #RRBC, has the largest membership, most impressive management and varied activities of any similar groups or organizations I’ve come across to date. This is the website where you can sign up: Click Here

As for the responsibilities of authors, the FIRST thought that springs to mind is that a writer must capture the reader’s interest from the first sentence, or at least the first page. SECONDLY, the plot needs to develop with enough speed to stay fascinating, but not so quickly as to lose a poor hapless reader’s grasp of what is happening.

THIRD item, and none of this is necessarily in order of importance, every book has to be believable. That applies even to the wildest fantasy; your readers must be able to feel the possibility of the tale actually happening, somewhere, sometime.

Number FOUR any story with a semblance of normal human existence, whether it be romance or thriller, is better if supported by real facts, even in passing. If you are in London get some fog in there, Big Ben bonging the hour, or taxis.

Also, so FIFTH condition if you’re still counting, would be characters who seem alive, feel real, and have sensible conversations that sound spontaneous and natural. And since reading is a form of entertainment, the added ingredients to present a full picture can include humour, satire, sarcasm, irony and a whole palette of analogies, descriptions, colour and pathos of every kind. Thus we have reached the SIXTH item for our list of responsibilities: paint the picture, tell the story, and never, never let it be a recitation of events that are as dull as dishwater.

SEVEN: If one is writing non-fiction, there is a monumental burden of responsibility. Hours beyond hours of intense digging for truth, facts, or opinions, and then listing a comprehensive bibliography all become necessary if a reader is going to take it seriously. In many cases, writers of non-fiction are very highly educated in the special field they may be writing about, another form of responsibility accepted and acted upon. Non-fiction will never by my forte. I’m far too lazy!

How responsible do I, as a writer of children’s books, have to be? I can’t profess to making a conscious or conscientious choice, but I feel I’ve balanced some nature facts with the whimsy of a child’s imagination (EIGHT). The Wise Old Owl being a mentor and friend to Shelby is one digression. Out there in nature that Owl would simply eat Shelby up for a tidy snack between meals. To defend this far-fetched relationship I argue poetic license (NINE). Where would the fun be without some ideas that defy Mother Nature? Also by portraying such a kindly-uncle figure I hope to reinforce in children the value of seeking and following the good advice and loving support offered by friends, family and teachers (TEN).

I do feel it’s important to include at least one unfriendly confrontation (ELEVEN), so I created a mean crow who bullies Shelby and nearly knocks him off a pole, at a crucial time during a rush for safety while crossing a road. Life isn’t all peaches and cream as Shelby may have hoped.

Another point of responsibility is to have the story take off and arch toward a finale (TWELVE). This happens in each story in my first book, ‘The Complete Adventures of SHELBY F. SQUIRREL and Friends’, a series of separate tales. But at the same time, during the 24 stories there is a larger arch that pulls us along, following Shelby as he stumbles and trips his way through 2 years of learning experiences that leave him considerably more grown up than in Chapter One, ‘SHELBY’S FLYING LESSON’. In my second book, ‘The Great FOREST CAPER’, the arch builds all the way through to a finale in the last chapter.

I would be hugely remiss to omit mention of correct spelling, proper grammar, and precise punctuation. Dreary as it may seem, that’s what makes a good book readable. Oops, THIRTEEN.

Oh, and by the way, this long (and I hope not-too-boring) list is really based on my experiences as a reader. The duties and/or responsibilities required for any job are seldom observed or analyzed by the worker, but are always clear as crystal to the boss and the customers. Maybe we should call this one FOURTEEN for good luck!

Eleanor Lawrie, Sept 27, 2016

@eleanorlawrie1

This post is contributed by Author Eleanor Lawrie

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My Writing, My Novel

I think, like a lot of people, I always thought that I would love to write a novel. It eventually happened, although I did wait until I was in my fifties to make it happen. I don’t know where I got the idea from to write a Fictional Story based on Historic events, it just seemed to pop into my head. It took a little bit of research but that wasn’t a problem as you might expect the World Wide Web is full of information about the Ripper. The story grew as I got more into the plot, I used to dictate the story in my head when driving or traveling on public transport. The funniest thing was that I actually thought the ending two thirds into writing the novel and had the final chapter written early. I was always desperate to get to a PC and type in my commuting thoughts, it led to a lot of Proofreading and a great many punctuation errors, but  I did not mind this one bit as long as I got my thoughts down on paper or in this case my PC Word Document

I suppose the inspiration to write my novel came from the publication of my poetry book, after years of writing the odd poem here and there and losing some in the process, I decided to self-publish. It was a great feeling seeing my poetry book on the Amazon Website. The feeling grew when the novel appeared about 20 months later. I cannot express enough my gratitude for all the help I have received in the publishing of my book from my publisher, from the very first consultation to the finished article the team have constantly kept me up to date on the progress and have been extremely helpful and quick to respond to my many questions with a very professional and friendly approach.

My Poetry Book

This book sums up me up I think , it has lots of humorous poems .Lots of poems have been developed from jokes that I knew back in my young days. There are views on Life in the present day and from the past, Romantic ones wrote from the heart. I write when I’m inspired, sadly I have misplaced quite a few of the poems that I have written over the years and although I have tried to recreate some again they never seem to have the same feeling. The book is there to be enjoyed, easy reading and a few laughs

About Me

I grew up in a working class family. I went down to the shipyards as a young 16 year old to serve my time as a Marine Fitter. After 15 years, including my apprenticeship, I moved into the Shipbuilding offices and trained as a Planning Engineer. After three years doing this job I made my way into the big wide world and became a traveling Contractor. I worked in many places in the UK, Europe and the Far East. I am currently still working as a Planning Engineer thirty three years later. I have a wonderful wife who cares for me and three lovely daughters. I am a proud Granddad with five grandchildren who wrap me around their fingers.

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The 8 Rules for Writing Screen-to-Print

You read that title right. It means screenplay writing rules for writing a book.

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Being An Author; Building A Story

Some gauge their day based on a word count. Others outline their story, chapter by chapter before they begin the process of writing.

Guest post By Author CJ Vermote

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