Jacqui Murray's Blog, page 206
August 17, 2011
Teachers: How Do You Get Through to Your Students?
Just a note to let you know my latest Tech Expert article is available on Innovate My School. It's called
The Secret to Teaching Tech to Kids: Delegate
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 working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: education, teacher resources Tagged: students, teaching
August 16, 2011
Tech Tip for Writers #14: Desktop Icons Disappear?
Tech Tips for Soon-to-be Great Writers
Tech Tips for Writers is an (almost) weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I'll cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I'll cover it in a future Tip.
Q: My desktop icons disappeared for no known reason. What do I do?
A: This is a question I get from parents more often than you'd think. One moment, they're all there, lined up like little soldiers. The next, they're gone.
Here's what works about 80% of the time:
right clock on the desktop
Select View
Make sure that the Show Desktop Icons is checked
If not, check it
Desktop icons reappear.
Questions you want answered? Leave a comment here and I'll answer it within the next thirty days.
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 , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready 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
August 15, 2011
Marketing Your Books: Adapt as Needed
Just a note to my readers. I have an article up on Write Anything about. Check it out.
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, an IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: marketing, sales Tagged: marketing, social networks, writing
Writers Tip #72: Don't Worry About What Others Think
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.
When I first heard about Stephen King's how-to book, On Writing, I didn't even check it out. I figured a horror writer couldn't teach me what I needed to know about writing.
I was wrong. Turns out, his book is chock full of common sense, easy-to-understand hints about how to write a great novel, be it literary fiction, historic, horror, or any other genre. King just seems to get it–the twists of plots, the fascination of characters, the uniqueness of settings.
Here are seven of his tips. For more depth on them, visit the Positivity Blog:
Get to the point
Write a draft. Then let it rest
Cut down your text
Be relatable and honest
Don´t care too much what others may think
Read a lot
Write a lot
I just had a tough round with my writer's group last Monday so I'm especially happy to read #5.
What's your favorite?
Click to have Writer's Tips delivered to your email box
Questions you want answered? Leave a comment and I'll answer it within the next thirty days.
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, an IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: writers tips Tagged: stephen king, writers tips
August 11, 2011
Military Book Reviews–Help!
I have a list from the USMC of books suggested for soldiers interested in learning more about the military. I've posted book reviews of as many as I've read with a summary of what the book's about, but I've barely made a dent in the list. There are dozens I haven't gotten to and won't for many months.
If you've read/reviewed any of the books on this list, I'd be thrilled to link to your review or post it on this blog. Just add a comment here and I'll do the rest.
I have a lot of followers who email me regularly about how much they enjoy the blog so I'm eager to provide this as a resource for them. I'm also a writer for Examiner so I cross-post my articles there. Thanks for your help!
Thanks to D.W. Taylor for sharing this list…
Private, Private First Class, Lance Corporal
Forester
Rifleman Dodd
Heinlein
Starship Troopers
Hubbard
A Message to Garcia
Miller
The Bridge at Dong-Ha
Simmons
U.S. Marines: 1775-1975
Various
U.S. Constitution
Webb
Fields of Five
Corporal, Sergeant
Barber
The War of the Running Dogs: The Malayan Emergency, 1948-1962
Campbell
The Old Man's Trail
Card
Ender's Game
Chapin
Uncommon Men: Sergeants Major of the Marine Corps
Crane
The Red Badge of Courage
Davis
Marine: The Life of Lt Gen & USMC (Ret) Lewis B. (Chesty) Puller
Hammel
Fire in the Streets: The Battle for Hue, Tet 1968
Leckie
The Buffalo Soldiers: A Narrative of the Negro Cavalry in the West
Marshall
Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation
McCormick
The Right Kind of War
Schell
Battle Leadership
Swinton
The Defense of Duffer's Drift
Thomason
Fix Bayonets!
Uris
Battle Cry
West
The Village
Staff Sergeant, Warrant Officer, Chief Warrant Officer 2, Warrant Officer 3, Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant
Amrose
Band of Brothers: E Co. 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne: From Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
Ambrose
Pegasus Bridge: June 6, 1944
Asprey
War in the Shadows: The Guerilla in History
Collins
Common Sense Training: A Working Philosophy for Leaders
English & Gudmundsson
On Infantry
Fuller
Grant and Lee: A Study in Personality and Generalship
Giap
How We Won the War
Hagan
American Gunboat Diplomacy and the Old Navy, 1877-1889
Holmes
Acts of War: The Behavior of Men in Battle
Hynes
Flights of Passage: Reflections of a World War II Aviator
Keegan
The Face of Battle
Laquer & Alexander
Terrorism Reader
Liddell Hart
Strategy
Lind
Maneuver Warfare Handbook
Manning
The Middle Parts of Fortune: Somme and Ancre
Moore & Galloway
We Were Soldiers Once and Young: La Drang, The Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam
Moskin
The U.S. Marine Corps Story
Moskos
The Military: More Than Just a Job
Nolan
Operation Buffalo: USMC Fight for the DMZ
Nye
Challenge of Command: A Reading for Military Excellence
Rommel
Attacks
Ross
Iwo Jima: Legacy of Valor
Sajer
The Forgotten Soldier: The Classic World War II Autobiography
Scales
Firepower in Limited War
Shaara
The Killer Angels
Sherrod
Tarawa: The Story of a Battle
Sulzberg
The Fall of Eagles
Sun Tzu
Art of War
Various
U.S. Constitution
Willock
Unaccustomed to Fear: A Biography of the Late General Roy S. Gieger
Gunnery Sergeant, First Seargeant, Master Sergeant, Chief Warrant Officer 4, Captain
Ardant Du Picq
Battle Studies: Ancient and Modern Battles
Chaliand
Guerrilla Strategies: A Historical Anthology from the Long March to Afghanistan
Doughty
The Breaking Point: Sedan and the Fall of France, 1940
Fall
Street Without Joy
Hackett
Profession of Arms
Hastings
Battle for the Falklands
Heinl
Victory at High Tide: The Inchon-Seoul Campaign
Higgenbotham
The War of American Independence: Military Attitudes, Policies, and Practice
Hoffman
Once a Legend:"Red Mike" Edson of the Marine Raiders
Hooker
Maneuver Warfare: An Anthology
Horne
The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916
Infantry School (U.S.)
Infantry in Battle
Isley & Crowl
The U.S. Marines and Amphibious War: Its Theory, and its Practice in the Pacific
Keegan
The Price of Admiralty: The Evolution of Naval Warfare
Krulak
First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps
Lupfer
The Dynamics of Doctrine: The Changes in German Tactical Doctrine During the First World War
MacArthur
Reminiscences
McDonald
Company Commander
Mao Tse-Tung
Mao Tse-Tung on Guerilla Warfare
McDonough
Defense of Hill 781
McPherson
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era
Mellenthin
Panzer Battles: A Study of the Employment of Armor in the Decond World War
Meyer
Company Command: The Bottom Line
Millett & Maslowski
For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States of America
Moorehead
Galipoli
Moran
The Anatomy of Courage
Myrer
One an Eagle
Navmc 2890
Small Wars Manual
Newman
Follow Me: Human Element in Leadership
O'Ballance
No Victor, No Vanquished: Yom Kippur War
Peppers
History of U.S. Military Logistics, 1935-1985
Puller
Fortunate Son
Sears
Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam
Sledge
With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa
Smith
Douglas Southall Freeman on Leadership
Summers
On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War
Turley
The Easter Offensive, Vietnam, 1972
Van Creveld
Airpower and Maneuver Warfare
Major, Chief Warrent Officer 5
Baynes
Morale: A Study of Men and Courage
Catton
Grant Takes Command
Clausewitz
On War
D'este
Patton: A Genius for War
Fall
Hell in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu
Fehrenbach
This Kind of War: A Study in Unpreparedness
Frank
Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account
Fraser
Knight's Cross: A Life of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel
Griffith
Forward into Battle: Fighting Tactics from Waterloo to Vietnam
Guevara
Che Guevara on Guerilla Warfare
Hammel
Chosin: Heroic Ordeal of the Korean War
Higginbotham
George Washington and the American Military Tradition
Lejeune
Reminiscences of a Marine
Mersky
U.S. Marine Corps Aviation
Paret
Makers of Modern Steategy: From Maciavelli to the Nuclear Age
Prange
At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor
Robertson
Dieppe: The Shame and the Glory
Schwarzkopf
It Doesn't Take a Hero
Sherrod
History of Marine Corps Aviation in WW2
Shy
A People Numerous and Armed: Reflections on the Military Struggle for American Independence
Slim
Defeat into Victory
Spector
Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan
Van Crevald
Command in war
Van Crevald
Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton
Master Gunnery Sergeant, Sergeant Major, Lieutenent Colonel
Baer
One Hundred Years of Seapower: The U.S. Navy, 1890-1990
Bennett
Ultra in the West: The Normandy Campaign, 1944-45
Buell
The Quiet warrior: A Biography of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance
Gordon & Trainor
The General's War: The Inside Story of the Conflict in the Gulf
James
The Year of MacArthur
Keiser
The U.S. Marine Corps and Defense Unification, 1944-47: The Politics of Survival
Kohn
Eagle and Sword: The Federalists and the Creation of the Military Establishment in America, 1783-1802
Krepinevich
The Army and Vietnam
Long
Personal Memoirs of Ulusses S. Grant
Millett
In Many a Strife: General Gerald C. Thomas and the U.S. Marine Corps
Murray
The Making of Strategy
Newman
Follow Me II: More on the Human Element in Leadership
Pagonis
Moving Mountains: Lessons in Leadership and Logistics from the Gulf War
Travers
How the War Was Won
Vaux
Take That Hill: Royal Marines in the Falklands War
White
The Enlightened Soldier: Scharnhorst and the Militarische Gesellschaft in Berlin, 1801-1805
Woodward
100 Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander
COLONEL
Ambrose
The Supreme Commander: The War Years of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Brennan
Foundations of Moral Obligation: The Stockdale Course
Chandler
The Campaigns of Napoleon
Cohen
Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War
Cray
General of the Army: George C. Marshall, Soldier and Statesman
Doughty
Seeds of Disaster: The Development of French Army Doctrine, 1919-1939
Eccles
Logistics in the National Defense
Flicke
War Secrets in the Ether: The use of Signals Intelligence by the German Military in WW2
Forester
The General
Friedman
From Beirut to Jerusalem
Horne
A Savage War of Peace: Algeria, 1954-1962
Horne
To Lose a Battle:, France 1940
Kennedy
The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery
Millett & Murray
Military Innovation in the Interwar Period
Murray
Luftwaffe
O'Neill
A Democracy at war: America's Fight at Home and Abroad in WW2
Palmer
The 25-Year War: America's Military Role in Vietnam
Potter
Nimitz
Ridgeway
Korean War
Ryan
A Bridge to Far
Shulimson
The Marine Corps Search for a Mission, 1880-1898
Simpkin
Race to the Swift: Thoughts on Twenty First Century Warfare
Smythe
Pershing, General of the Armies
Thucydides
The Peloponnesian War
Travers
The Killing Ground: The British Army, the Western Front, and the Emergence of Modern Warfare, 1900-1918
Van Tien Dung
Our Great Spring Victory: An Account of the Liberation of South Vietnam
Vandergrift
Once a Marine: The Memoirs of General A.A. Vandergrift, USMC
Weigley
Eisenhower's Lieutenants: The Campaign of France and Germany, 1944-45
Generals
Bartlett
Lejeune: A Marine's Life, 1867-1942
Fuller
Generalship, Its Diseases and Their Cure: A Study of the Personal Factor in Command
Halberstam
The Best and the Brightest
Kagan
On the Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace
Kennedy
Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500-2000
Kissinger
Diplomacy
MacDonald
Giap: The Victor in Vietnam
McNamara
In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam
Moore
A Woman at War: Storming Kuwait with the U.S. Marines
Murray
Airwar in the Gulf
Newman
What Are Generals Made of?
Powell
My American Journey
Royster
Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman
Schmidt
Maverick Marine: General Smedley Butler and the Contradictions of American Military History
Sheehan
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam
Timberg
The Nightingale's Song
Twining
No Bended Knee
All Marines – Military Affairs and National Security Issues
Greenwood & Neimeyer
America's Cutting Edge: U.S. Marine Corps Roles and Missions (Roles and Missions)
Smith
Angels from the Sea: Relief Operations in Bangladesh (Peace Operations)
Drew
NATO: From Berin to Bosnia (Peace Operations)
McKenzie
Peacekeeper (Peace Operations)
Murray
1995-1996 Brassey's Mershon American Defense Annual (Revolutions in Military Affairs)
Toffler & Toffler
War and Anti-War (Revolutions in Military Affairs)
Scwartau
Information Warfare (Information Warfare)
Campen
The First Information War (Information Warfare)
Libicki
What Is Information Warfare? (Information Warfare)
Van Ham
Managing Non-Proliferation Regimes in the 1990s (International Nuclear Proliferation)
Reiner
Nuclear Non-Proliferation (International Nuclear Proliferation)
Braestrup
Big Story (Military and the Media)
Fialka
Hotel Warriors (Military and the Media)
All Marines – Professional and Societal Issues
Covey
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Professional Development)
Smith
Taking Charge, Making the Right Choices (Professional Development)
Walton
The Deming Management Method (Professional Development)
Senge
The Fifth Discipline (Professional Development)
Thomas
Beyond Race and Gender (Cultural Diversity)
Buchen
Cultural Diversity Manual (Cultural Diversity)
Hacker
Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal (Cultural Diversity)
Bennett
Book of Virtues (Ethics)
Carter
Integrity (Ethics)
Various
Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces (Women in the Military)
Webb
Step Forward (Women in the Military)
Yianilos
Woman Marine (Women in the Military)
Elshtain
Women and War (Women in the Military)
Jacqui Murray 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 , an Editorial Review Board member for SIGCT, an IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: book reviews, thrillers, writing Tagged: book reviews, military books, reading list
August 10, 2011
Why is Google Plus So Successful?
Most pundits didn't believe there was room in the digital society for yet another social network. People's need to communicate, chat, gossip, mingle, was sated by Facebook and Twitter. They used MySpace as proof–the once-front runner being pushed to irrelevancy not so much for poor quality as other options.
So why has Google Plus landed like a cannon ball in a crowded summer pool? By all accounts, it has over 10 million users and these by invitation only. I've only read one negative review (a well-written thoughtful piece, btw) on it–everyone else seems to love it. Why is that?
There are two theories:
Google Plus is really great
People really hate/are sick of Facebook
Why do we like Google Plus so much? (Cartoon credit: Xkcd)
Will we all become G ers?
If you're one of the early fans, what's your reason? Feel free to add an alternate. And, feel free to add me to your Writers Circle.
View This Poll
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 , member Editorial Review Board SIGCT, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: research, social networks Tagged: google plus, social networks
August 9, 2011
Tech Tip for Writers #13: The Powerful Right Mouse Button
Tech Tips for Soon-to-be Great Writers
Tech Tips for Writers is an (almost) weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I'll cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I'll cover it in a future Tip.
Q: I need a faster way to access menus. Is there one?
A: Yes, and you'll love it. All PC's have this unique mouse with both a left and a right button. The left one is for all the normal stuff, but the right one is for the most common activities performed from wherever you are–on the desktop, in a program, whatever.
If you're trying to do something that you know should be easy, or you've done it before and can't remember how you did it, try the right mouse click. It'll drop down a menu of the most commonly-used choices. Chances are it'll include what you want to do.
Questions you want answered? Leave a comment here and I'll answer it within the next thirty days.
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 , an Editorial Review Board member for SIGCT, an IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: tech tips for writers Tagged: mouse skills, tech tips, writers tips
August 8, 2011
Writers Tip #71: How to Write a Novel
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.
These tips are from Martha Carr, the author of three books and weekly columnist on politics, national interest topics and life in general.
Start with a character not a plot idea. Write down everything you know about the main character or characters including physical description, schooling, family tree, where they live, likes and dislikes and peculiarities. Do they hate seafood because they once threw up an entire shrimp dinner from Shoney's? The more the better for this exercise. You will probably not use everything you write down but having it handy will keep the character's actions in line and if you have to take a break from writing for awhile, having the list handy will make it easier to get started back up again. If you start with a plot idea you are more likely going to come across as strident or preachy because you're interested in pounding an idea into the reader rather than telling a story. Give the attributes to the character and let them act it out instead.
Write the ending first. You're the author not the reader, which means you're the driver of this bus. You have to know the final destination even if you're figuring out some of the map along the way. Knowing the ending is also one of the best ways to avoid writing yourself into a corner where you run out of plot. Some refer to this as 'writer's block' when it's more likely that the ending hasn't been reasoned out yet. Take the time, regardless of the genre, to parse out the ending.
What big thing happens to the main characters in the plot? If you can't easily answer that question you have a little more homework to do. A novel has several arcs in it but there is usually one or at the most two big moments of no return where everything changes. You already have the ending so you know where it has to get to and that will help you figure out the main arc. This will also be a big portion of your 'elevator' pitch when you start looking for an agent or a publisher.
Use only one or two telling adjectives to describe anything. Here's a handy rule of thumb for any genre of novel. If a reader can skip more than a page without missing any of the story, you went on for too long and it's become a distraction. If you can't stand to cut your own writing, you're not going to last very long in this business. Editing is a necessary tool for any writer no matter how long they've been writing. Ask yourself if those long, beautifully written paragraphs add anything to the story and be honest. If not, cut and paste them into another document in case you find a place for them later. Frankly, after several books I've yet to use any of it later but you never know.
Here's the last two to get you started. If you can't think of the very first words to type onto the screen, start with 'Once upon a time'. Most of us grew up hearing fairy tales and it unlocks a part of us that expects a story. I've given this tip to a lot of new writers who found it easier to finish that sentence. You can edit those first four words later. The last tip is don't get up from writing at the end of a chapter. Write at least the next paragraph of the next chapter before you shut the file. That way, when you return even if its the next day, you won't be starting cold. There's already an entrance into the next part of your story that you wrote while your creative brain was still warm.
Okay, so there was one more thought I wanted to give you but it's encouragement more than a writing tip. Remember that if all you did was one double-spaced page a day, and even took off the weekends, by the end of the year you'd have a finished product. Just one page a day.
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, an IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: writers tips, writing Tagged: martha carr, novel writing, writers tips
August 5, 2011
Book Review: How to Write a D*** Good Thriller
How to Write a Damn Good Thriller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have studied a lot about writing, read umpteen books on it, but never specifically to my genre. When James Frey's book How to Write a D*** Good Thriller (St. Martin's Press 2010) came out, I grabbed it. What's the first thing I learned? I have been making a lot of mistakes. The next thing I learned was how to fix them. Thankfully, he promised that doing this was 'not brain surgery'.
In this book, Frey reviews first novel writing in general, then thriller in detail. The way thrillers are plotted (characters always in danger; one ends and another pops out of the scenery), their characters developed (moral, bigger-than-life but flawed), crises handled (each gets the main character into worse trouble) and the pace of action (constant, never take a breath) is why readers pick them. Compare those characteristics to literary fiction, where characters get time to smell the roses while they introspectively muse over life. If my WIP's characters consider the quirkiness of their existence, it better be while they're fleeing for their life.
I didn't know that when I started Frey's book, and that's just one of the 'rules' I missed when I set out to write thrillers. Here's another. Mysteries and thrillers are often confused,but consider this:
In a mystery, the hero has a mission to find a killer.
In a thriller, the hero has a mission to foil evil–and it must be an impossible mission.
That's a big difference.
There's also big difference in audience–people who choose thrillers rather than mysteries, literary fiction, biographies, etc. Thriller readers like their main characters to be heroes. They set out to save the world and succeed. Doing their best won't work. Not in a thriller. Main characters should also be moral, patriotic, believing in the goodness of mankind and tolerant of mistakes. That might sound like a stereotype, but your artistry as a writer will keep it fresh. Consider country-western music. It's always about dogs, trucks, mama and prison, but there are tens of thousands of songs beloved by millions of fans. How's that for artistry.
Frey covers the varieties of thrillers from political to the little-known comic. He tells us the importance of a villain to thrillers–so important, the author should consider them a new best friend. Know as much about the villain as you do the hero so both are believable, and when the reader is asked to accept that the villain might stop the hero, it's a real concern. Frey discusses voice–I didn't know that 99% of thrillers are written either in first person past tense or third person past tense.
Luckily, my WIP falls into the latter so I don't have to start a complete rewrite.
Another issue he discusses is where to start the novel. That's more difficult than it sounds. Often, as I'm editing my mss, I find the more I cut at the beginning of a chapter, the better it reads. Thrillers have to be action-action-action. That stuff we-all include that isn't, must be cut. Every sentence must be action. Every paragraph. If it isn't, change it. The gist of a thriller is a well-motivated character overcoming increasingly difficult obstacles in pursuit of a worthy and impossible goal. When you 'hang your character out on the horns of a dilemma', you have the audience gripped. Where does that leave room for an involved discussion on the garden outside the house or the landlady's dog?
Not unexpectedly for a how-to book on writing, Frey discusses plot, characters, scenes, but always the unique characteristics that apply to thrillers. He does this by showing-not-telling, sharing excerpts from great thrillers and explaining how they work.
Spoiler alert: I'm going to share Frey's rules on making a D*** good climax. Check off with me whether yours accomplishes these goals:
In almost all d*** good thrillers, the hero is nearly killed in the climax but manages to kill or capture the villain and to foil his evil plot (check)
In the climax of a d*** good thriller, good prevails over evil (check)
The climax of a d*** good thriller is not just more of the same old stuff we've seen before. (ch-eck, I hope)
In the climax of a d*** good thriller, there are surprises (check)
Often in the climax, the hero discovers something about himself or gains insight into the human condition (Hmmm… Let me think about this)
Sometimes a hero experiences a loss at the climax (check)
Sometimes the hero dies in the climax (nope. I'm writing a serial)
If you didn't check off all of those, buy the book. Frey will tell you how to do it. As a bonus, he asks all thriller writers to take a pledge to writer their novel in the manner of a thriller. Check pg. 247. It's as much a how-to list as a pledge.
Overall, every thriller writer who's never read a book on their genre should buy this, read it, and keep it in their reference library. Remind yourself what must be in every chapter to make your story a credible nail-biting experience.
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 , an Editorial Review Board member for SIGCT, an IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: book reviews, thrillers, writing Tagged: frey, thrillers, writing
August 3, 2011
Book Review: Sea of Shadows
by Jeff Edwards
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Jeff Edwards' Sea of Shadows (Stealth Books 2010) is a marvelous military thriller, especially if you're a SWO officer serving on an American Destroyer. The story posits an oil-impoverished German nation, forced to trade some of the most modern weapons in the world to terrorists to get the oil the country can't survive without. The plot revolves around the US and Britain's efforts to stop delivery of these weapons–which include 3 ultra-modern submarines–as they transit from Germany, through the Med, down the Red Sea and almost to their port in the mythical nation of Siraj without starting the next world war. Throughout, the reader is regaled with political strategizing and naval battles the likes of which haven't been seen since WWII, nor shared so succinctly since Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors.
If there is a protagonist in the story, it is a 20-year surface warfare veteran, Chief Petty Officer McPherson on the USS Towers. As the story unfolds, the Towers is battered by the enemy, but keeps coming back with creative attacks and strategies, often thanks to the out-of-the-box thinking of the Chief Petty Officer and the support of her Captain. Edwards does a masterful job of building suspense with tremendous detail in Naval strategy–if you're a casual reader of military thrillers, you might even think there's too much detail–and believable insight in the politics behind planning war-aversion strategies.
My only complaint about this naval thriller is that the action takes too long to start. Thrillers should jump right in. this one takes close to five pages before we get the first crisis. Overall, Sea of Shadows has good plot pacing, lots of intelligent action with riveting climaxes, exactly what makes me want to read Edwards' next book.
You can buy this book on Amazon for $12.99, but I'd suggest you visit Edwards website a get it free–but hurry. That's a limited time offer.
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 , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: book reviews, thrillers Tagged: jeff edwards, military thriller, Navy, political thriller, sea of shadows, thriller
