Jacqui Murray's Blog, page 194
March 6, 2012
Tech Tip for Writers #43: Back Up Often
As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I'll share one of those with you. They're always brief and always focused. Enjoy!
Q: How often should I back up my current project? How about my whole hard drive?
A: I teach my students to save early, save often when they're working on a project. You decide what you can tolerate losing. Ten minutes or Ten hours. After all, if the computer loses your work, you're the one who has to start over.
As for the entire computer, once a week is good. Me, I save each project I'm working on and then save-as to a back-up location. I hate losing my work.
BTW, most people skip this. Don't! It's easy.
Questions you want answered? Leave a comment here and I'll answer it within the next thirty days.
To sign up for Tech Tips delivered to your email, click here.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education. Currently, she's editing a thriller for her agent that should be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: tech tips for writers Tagged: tech tips, writers tips
March 4, 2012
Writers Tip #99: 17 Tips From Noah Lukeman
Great tips for soon-to-be great writers
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can't quite put your finger on it, but you know you've done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer's tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.
Literary agent Noah Lukeman's clients include Pulitzer Prize nominees, Pushcart Prize winners and American Book Award recipients. His how-to book, The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile (Fireside 2000), is still an essential tome for every writer's bookshelf. It not only reminds us that the characteristics of good writing don't change (picture nouns and action verbs are still in vogue), but includes exercises at the end of each chapter to help newbie writers develop their skills. The tagline–If you're tired of rejection, this is the book for you–should get the attention of 90% of the writers out there.
I should mention: The book has been updated (February 2010, Oxford University Press), but I haven't read it so can't comment on what has been changed. Since Mr. Lukeman remains a respected agent, an in-demand guest speaker and teaches an online course at Writers University, I assume whatever changes he made are great. A personal note to Noah: If you'd like to send the updated book to me, I'll review it and post my thoughts on Amazon under my Vine credentials. So far–oddly–there are no reviews of this updated book.
Here are seventeen tips I found especially useful:
An idea to get your letter out of the slush pile: if you're sending a hard copy, Fedex it.
In formatting your mss, start halfway down the page whenever you begin a new chapter
99% of the time, the question mark is misused, especially when it appears early and often (this tip surprised me.)
When editing your mss, remove all but one adjective and adverb per noun and verb. It can be demeaning to the reader when the writer fills in every last detail for him.
Occasionally, substitute a comparison (an analogy, simile or metaphor) for an adjective.
There is a sound to prose. Writing is not just about getting a story across, but how you get there. Solution: Give your mss to a trusted colleague to read for sound only. Another solution: read it aloud.
The proper use of comparisons (analogies, similes, metaphors) will enable you to cut a tremendous amount of description. Why do you want to cut description? It slows the reader down
In the vast majority of unsolicited manuscripts, style is misused. What's that mean? The writing feels forced or exaggerated, the writing is about the writing rather than the story, and/or the writing is too noticeable
Dialogue is a powerful tool to be used sparingly, effectively and at the right moment
"If I skim through a manuscript and see pages and pages filled with dialogue, with no breaks or rests in between, chances are, it's going to be rejected. Conversely, if I skim through dozens of pages and find not one line of dialogue, chances are, it's going to be rejected, too."
The most common malady is use of dialogue to convey backstory
Many writers string together lines and lines of dialogue without ever stopping to let the reader know who's speaking.
When converting telling to showing, see if there is a way you can leave an element of ambiguity, of mystery, a door open for readers to come to their own conclusions.
The poor usage of character names may signal an amateur. For example, switching between first and last names or the use of overly exotic names.
Another distinction between an average writer and a great one: Does the intensity of the hook end with one line? One paragraph? One page?
What best signals the proficient writer: Subtlety.
The distinction between sound, style and tone is a subtle one. Sound has to do with the basic construction of the sentence–its flow, its rhythm–and is more of a technical issue. Style also has to do with sentence construction, but has more to do with the intention behind the construction, and thus is an artistic issue. Tone has nothing whatsoever to do with construction or grammar, rather solely to do with intentionality.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education. Currently, she's editing a thriller for her agent that should be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: book reviews, editing, writers tips Tagged: first page, lukeman, writers tips
March 2, 2012
Book Review: Shadow Patrol
The Shadow Patrol
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Alex Berenson's latest novel "Shadow Patrol" is his sixth novel and I have read them all. The plot was not as far reaching or gripping as his previous novels; therefore in my opinion, it wasn't the can't-put-it-down page turner I have come to expect. Nonetheless, it is well crafted, tightly written and the plot is filled with military and criminal detail which makes it highly credible.
Mr. Berenson's star character, Special Operations pro John Wells returns once again to the service of his country. The CIA's station in Afghanistan is penetrated by Al Qaeda and destroyed by a suicide bomber who the CIA thought was loyal to them. Mr Wells is asked to investigate to see if there was a mole involved. In the course of his investigation he stumbles upon an Army drug ring, terrorism and more than enough violent and dangerous situations, which as usual, he handles summarily. The ending is tight and draws everything together perfectly.
I highly recommend this book and if this is your first exposure to Mr. Berenson, I promise you will want to read the rest of his work. I look forward to his next effort.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education. Currently, she's editing a thriller for her agent that should be be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: book reviews Tagged: book review
February 28, 2012
Stupid Mistakes My Agent Found in My WIP
Anyone who is out there writing every day, putting their thoughts and skill on the line, studying and improving their craft, is going to succeed. Maybe not as an NYT best-seller or a
Did I really do that? (Photo credit: Alex E. Proimos)
Tom Clancy read-alike, but if you truly study the art of writing and use what you've learned, you will succeed.
In my case, I've taken classes on writing (no MFA, though. My college brain was focused on an MBA, back when I thought I'd be a tycoon of business), attended more than a boat-load of conferences and seminars, submitted to the agony of having my writing critiqued, shared my secret life with friends and colleagues, read a library full of how-to-write books, and gotten a few books published along the way–all steps that establish me as a writer in my mind's eye. I know the rules and believe I've paid at least a part of the considerable dues required to be declared 'writer'.
And still, I make stupid mistakes. I thought I'd share a few my agent sent back for rewrites. You're going to say, I wouldn't do that. I know you'll at least think that because it's what I thought. But there they were, buried in the hours of writing that went into my current WIP, hidden by the wordsmithing I'd read hundreds of times. I thought I knew what I'd written, but I didn't. Here are a few mistakes that snuck through my self-editing sieve:
Avoid backstory in the opening to a thriller, even in the name of sharing character motivation. Figure out a place later to fit it in. In thrillers, it's action action action until the reader is hooked.
Avoid multiple names for new characters. It confuses the reader when they've just met your people.
Distinguish each character. Their voices and personalities must be unique or they'll blend together in the reader's eye
Damage your main characters. No one relates to a perfect person. Readers will think they don't know your character before they think he's perfect.
Place the reader in time and geography in every scene so they don't get distracted trying to figure that out. In my case, I actually went through each scene with that rule in mind and still–likely because I was too close to the story–failed in at least one case.
Describe clothing, but not clinically. Have these give the reader a better understanding of the character's personality while sharing what he wears
Make sure the actions and thoughts of your actors are in character. Always. For example, you may have a ruthless killer who acts indecisive. What you as the writer intended to be a peek at another side of his/her personality may come across as out-of character
What edits have you received from agents, critique groups, or friends that you knew were obvious and still, you missed them? Take a moment to share. Let's make a check list we-all can use before thinking we're ready for prime time.
PS–Lest you worry (I know you're worried), I did a lot right. I'll share that in a future post.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education. Currently, she's editing a thriller for her agent that should be be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: characters, writers resources, writing Tagged: characters, stupid mistakes, writers tips
Tech Tip for Writers #42: How to (Re)Set Your Homepage
As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I'll share one of those with you. They're always brief and always focused. Enjoy!
Q: My homepage got hijacked! I mean, it no longer opens up to what it used to. How do I fix that?
A: Go to the page you want as your homepage. Here's what you do next:
If you're in Firefox, go to Tools–Options
Click on General
Click the button that says, Use Current
Say OK
If you use IE:
Go to Tools–Internet Options
Click on General
Click the button that says, Use Current
Say OK
One more step–make sure your firewall is working. Run Spybot and Adaware and your anti-virus program. Something got through that shouldn't have and you don't want it to happen again–or have a worse outcome than your homepage changing.
Questions you want answered? Leave a comment here and I'll answer it within the next thirty days.
To sign up for Tech Tips delivered to your email, click here.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education. Currently, she's editing a thriller for her agent that should be be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: tech tips for writers Tagged: homepage, tech tips, writers tips
February 27, 2012
Writers Tip #98: 18 Tips from William Safire
Great tips for soon-to-be great writers
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can't quite put your finger on it, but you know you've done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer's tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.
William Safire, speechwriter for President Nixon, Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for The New York Times (and one of their few conservative columnists), died in 2009, but lives on through both his writing and his wisdom about writing. The highly-acclaimed column he started in 1973 on language and its nuances established him as one of the most significant voices on how to write well.
Here are eighteen tips I found especially useful:
1. Remember to never split an infinitive.
2. The passive voice should never be used.
3. Do not put statements in the negative form.
4. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
5. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
6. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.
7. A writer must not shift your point of view.
8. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
9. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
10. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
11. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
12. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
13. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
14. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
15. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
16. Always pick on the correct idiom.
17. The adverb always follows the verb.
18. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education. Currently, she's editing a thriller for her agent that should be be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: writers tips Tagged: writers tips, writing tips
Writers Tip #90: 18 Tips from William Safire
Great tips for soon-to-be great writers
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can't quite put your finger on it, but you know you've done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer's tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.
William Safire, speechwriter for President Nixon, Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for The New York Times (and one of their few conservative columnists), died in 2009, but lives on through both his writing and his wisdom about writing. The highly-acclaimed column he started in 1973 on language and its nuances established him as one of the most significant voices on how to write well.
Here are eighteen tips I found especially useful:
1. Remember to never split an infinitive.
2. The passive voice should never be used.
3. Do not put statements in the negative form.
4. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
5. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
6. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.
7. A writer must not shift your point of view.
8. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
9. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
10. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
11. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
12. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
13. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
14. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
15. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
16. Always pick on the correct idiom.
17. The adverb always follows the verb.
18. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education. Currently, she's editing a thriller for her agent that should be be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: writers tips Tagged: writers tips, writing tips
February 24, 2012
An Update on my Thriller–Over at WA
If you missed it here, I have an update on my current WIP over at Write Anything.
Filed under: writing Tagged: mss, wip, write anything
February 23, 2012
Writing is the Annoying (Adorable?) Puppy You Can't Ignore
This week, a rainbow glows above the house where I live with the man of my dreams and the World's Greatest Dog. The sun is shining. My children have called every day to tell me
Can you ignore the urge to write? Can you ignore a puppy?
how much they love me. Godot showed up to ask if I'd been waiting for him, as did Mr. Goodbar.
Why? Because my agent loves my current WIP (not to be confused with he thinks it's perfect), the one I spent 14.8 years re-writing, the last time in blood.
Life wasn't always like this. Fifteen years ago, I had no idea it would take me so f*** long to achieve one scrawny, measly dream, or that I'd go through so many prequels to what would finally be The Book. The question that intrigues most writer friends (and the one I ask each time one of them launches their book) is how did I get here? What's the good and bad that made my writing work–and not work? I hate analyzing myself–for me, introspection is as much fun as going to the opera. I write. I edit. I rewrite. I don't think deep thoughts about who I am or where my existential self is going. Sure, I've been told by my toxic critique group and a few well-meaning friends that I don't ramp up the drama fast enough for a thriller (my chosen genre). My characters' motivations aren't believable. The stakes aren't high enough even after the thirteenth rewrite. Or the fourteenth.
Or the fifteenth.
Many times, I felt like a violin in a marching band.
But what I do well as a writer is I never give up. I don't know the meaning of that phrase. How does one 'give up'? I tried to after the failure of Book #1, the soul-seering paleo-historic biography of pregnant Lucy, trying to survive in a world that had stacked the deck against her. No one–I mean no one–found it appealing. Not agents, not my family, and most pointedly, not my annoying critique group (though they've never liked a thing I wrote). Since I took up writing to tell Lucy's story, I decided to quit.
That didn't work. How does one put down the pen after experiencing the exhilaration of finishing an entire novel? I read forty-six books, cleaned my house, even tried shopping, but eventually ended up back in my office, in front of my computer, peering out the 8×8 window my husband had installed precisely so I could ruminate while the waterfall in our backyard tumbled endlessly downward. I started a cathartic blog on the doomed Lucy, then one on writing, wrote a few ebooks (they are doing nicely) and a few more, and stumbled on some ezines that wanted me to write for them (like Write Anything).
And found a new twist on man's timeless struggle to survive despite daunting odds. Thoughts buzzed like dive bombers. Characters bloomed and withered. A dramatic piece of a friend's life fit perfectly into a new plot line and my first thriller was born. No one liked it, but that didn't stop me. I was on a roll. Isn't the myth it takes three books to make it? I wrote my third novel.
Which everyone liked, including an agent. That's cool. I like having someone believe in me besides my husband and my tail-wagging, ear-flopping dog.
Now I take up residence in my office every day after work, write until 9ish with a thirty minute dinner break, go to bed, wake up, go to work and start over. Weekends, too, except not the 'go to work' part. I never get tired or tongue tied or washed out. If I get depressed, I throw a trauma at my main character and let her be depressed.
I have learned a few things along the way.
When push comes to shove, push back.
Reality is a word that has no place in fiction.
Sometimes my plot passes the middle of nowhere hours before I notice I'm lost. That's OK. I pull my outline out.
Life has lots of bombshells and few foxholes.
Verbize or (fill in the blank–we're authors. We're allowed to be neologists) is a word the world's been crying out for.
The only thing Vince Flynn and I have in common is neither of us were raised by wolves and both of us were unpublished at one point.
When I can barely hear the whistle on my train of thought, I take a break.
Editing is like walking through the Sahara in the middle of summer in tight shoes without a hat, or water.
Though I've been told my writing is lousy, not by anyone of consequence
When I realize my story arc belongs on a milk carton, it's time to re-evaluate.
I channel my muse when my hero's motivation disappears as though sucked up by a Hoover. That happens at least once a week.
Sometimes I write my best scenes when I feel lousy. Go figure.
I have moments I wonder if God has invented the day I'll finish my novel
And you never forget your first rejection.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education. Currently, she's editing a thriller for her agent that should be be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: writers, writing Tagged: writers life, writers tips, writing
February 22, 2012
Check out my Article Over at Write Anything
I have an interesting rundown on spring cleaning for your blog on Write Anything. If you're thinking of doing some maintenance (and you missed my article here earlier this month), I have some good suggestions for you.
Filed under: blogs Tagged: blogs
