Jacqui Murray's Blog, page 219

Writer's Tip #39: Get Rid of Qualifiers

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.

Today's tip: Clear out qualifiers.We are used to using words that minimize our commitment to one side or the other, give wiggle room should we need it.

She was pretty sure
They were almost there
He was quite certain
It was almost 2pm
It was slightly colder than yesterday
The man appeared to pause
She seemed to beckon him

Take a stand one way or the other. Your reader wants to see you as the authority, not some wishy-washy wanna-be author. Commit. It feels good.

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I Heart Neologisms

From my friend Paul. Bibliophiles and neologists–this is for you:

Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.

The winners are:

Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.
Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.
Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.
Gargoyle (n.), olive-flavored mouthwash.
Flatulance (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.
Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.


Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.
Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by popular demand): The belief that when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and  gets stuck there.
Circumvent  (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers  to take any word from the  dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and  supply a new definition.

Here are this year's winners:

Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone  layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
Foreploy (v): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of having sex.
Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
Giraffiti  (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.
Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
Karmageddon (n): its like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
Glibido (v): All talk and no action.
Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
Beelzebug (n.):  Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.

And the pick of the literature:

Ignoranus  (n): A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

Then there was Sarah Palin's public use of that four-syllable word refudiate, decried by her detractors as a mix of repudiate and refute, but verified by Websters as a bona fide all-American word.

I love words. They are so controversial.

 

Writer's Tip #38: Delete Repetitive Redundancies

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.

Today's tip: Delete RedundanciesYou're on a roll. You're impressed with your ability to string two, or ten words together. You figure more is better.

Wrong. Get rid of redundant words. Here's what I mean:

Past history–what other kind of history is there?
sky above–can the sky be below?
continued on–can you continue any other way?
hung down–hung up? Not the same thing
roof over her head–otherwise it's a floor (below her feet)
whispered softly
tall skyscrapers
end result
alternative choice
mix together
qualified expert
close proximity
red in color
small in size

I think you get the idea.

Veterans, I Salute You

If you are writing about patriotism, nothing says it better than country music. In honor of our veterans, here's a sampling:

 

Book Review: Writing Fiction

Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft

by Janet Burroway

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got this as the textbook for a novel writing class and have kept it ever since. It is detailed, specific, with examples of good and bad, as well as writing exercises to develop a writer's craft. It was an optional purchase, but I bought it, read it and am glad I did.

It includes chapters on the process (do what works for you–I like that sort of freedom, where whatever I do is right as long as I do it), showing and telling, characterization, setting, atmosphere, POV, metaphors and similar (and allegory and symbolic choices), theme and revision. Lots of writing books don't cover topics such as theme and simile. Janet Burroway's book is over 400 pages and she uses each one wisely. I keep it as a reference for times when I'm stuck on metaphors or theme.

I'd recommend this book, especially to the beginning writer. It covers the important traits in enough detail that they're usable rather than fixable. Burroway brings difficult concepts to life in a way that has stuck with my over the years.

View all my reviews >>

 

The 15 Biggest Writing Blunders (And How To Avoid Them)

It's hard enough to get published without making rookie mistakes. Those are red flags that tell an agent to stop reading, deposit your baby in the trash and go to lunch.

I hate when that happens (one actually called me and told me where he tossed mine), so I've collected the fifteen most common cures my agent friends tell me would keep them reading.

Place the reader in time. Give him/her a clue as to the time of day, like a lunch crowd or rush-hour traffic,  so s/he can pay attention to the story. Same goes for the time of year, the season. Are leaves falling? Is heat reflecting off the sidewalk? Do people wear short shorts and crop tops?
Place the reader geographically. It makes a big difference if the character is in an office or a restaurant. That's easy to get across, too, with ringing phones, clatter of dishes–stuff like that. Once you've opened the chapter with these few details, the reader can relax into your prose.
Make sure you're clear on who your audience is. Who do you write for? Think about it right now: You're probably writing a novel or you wouldn't be reading this post. Who do you think will read it? What's their age–adults, young adults, children–and what's their genre–action thriller, science fiction, literary? Your word selection and plot construction is quite different depending upon how you answered these questions. Decide that before you start writing. If it's too late for that, put your pen down and decide now.
Don't be afraid to use words that fit your writing style but are longer than one syllable. Beautiful words might be your signatures as it is for Elizabeth George. Readers like insider knowledge and learning from what they read. If you love words, allow readers to enjoy them with you.
If you switch POV's in your story, identify who's head you're in by word selection and  interior monologue. Don't have everyone sound vanilla or southern or like you. Then, the only way readers can differentiate characters is by dialogue tags. That's not professional, nor is it real life. (Click for more on POV)
Your writing style might be informal, but don't be lazy about it. Make it a conscious decision. Use relaxed prose as your voice, which means you must carry it throughout the novel. (Click here for more on voice)
Don't switch genres. Pick one and excel at it. Don't excuse your inability to focus by saying you love all genres and that's why you jump around. That's code for 'I failed at one so I'm trying another'. How many published authors do you read that switch from literary to thrillers? Fiction-nonfiction is about as big a leap as readers will accept.
Remember to vary sentence length to reflect action. A long involved sentence is retrospective and passive. Short snappy sentences are active. Use them.
Don't think your agent or publisher will correct your grammar and spelling. More likely, they'll reject your novel because the mistakes annoy them. Put your novel in its Sunday best before anyone sees it. Allow any reader–even your mother–to judge it on the merits, not lack thereof. (Click here for common grammar errors)
DO NOT use exclamation points. Use words to get the excitement across, not punctuation. This is one suggestion everyone I know agrees on, so if you ignore the other fourteen ideas in the list, follow this one.
Remember there are five senses, not one. Add smell, touch, taste to your story. Readers love those details and when they're not there, your story feels flat. No one lives in a one-sense world.
Wordiness is boring. Writers often get caught up in their art. We love words. I read dictionaries for fun, but most readers aren't like that. Cut as much as you can. Don't repeat even if your prose is stunning.
Don't leave lose ends. As you write your story, make a note of every plot point you started, every subplot no matter how minor, and tie them up by the end of the story. Novels aren't like real life in that sense. Real life, there are always unresolved issues. In novels, we want everything closed down by the last page. Unless you're talking about a sequel. Then, by all means, telegraph what you didn't finish so we want the next book.
Does anyone think cliches are acceptable? I almost skipped this one as too mundane, but decided it was worth mentioning. Cliches show readers what some other writer came up with. You must create your own clever way of saying 'as flat as a pancake' or 'blonde bombshell' so we see the depth of your talent. That's just the way it is.
Truncate run-on sentences. This one, as writers, we should have grown out of by now, but I am constantly surprised by how many I find. Use no more than two prepositional phrases in a sentence, two adjectives for each noun, limit adverbs and adjectives in general. That'll start things. You can build from there.

I've avoided these mistakes in my current undertaking, which means I have to move on to the next list of writer's fixes. I'll show you that soon.

Writers Tip #37: Don't be Afraid to Tell the Truth

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.

Today's tip: Don't Fear the Truth in Your Writing

I don't read a lot of Erica Jong, but she hit this one right:

Jong admonishes aspiring writers not to expect approval for telling the truth, reminding them of Dante, Voltaire, Cervantes, and Swift. Then she adds: "Few are the great spirits who did not at one time or another write in jail, in exile, in the madhouse, or at the foot of the gallows."

To be a unique writer, we must not be afraid to tell the truth as we see it. Many will disagree, but it'll start the conversation. Who knows what happens then?

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How to Copyright Your Blog Posts–FREE

There are a lot of ways writers attempt to protect their work.

We get it copyrighting by the US Copyright office.
We publish it (if we can).
We send ourselves a copy of our work in a sealed envelope and put it in a safe (then we can prove it was ours before someone stole it).
We add the 'creative commons' logo to remind people this is our work product, not free to anyone who sees it.
We assume it's protected as Intellectual Property (i.e., we are naive)
If you're like me, I keep all my previous digital drafts–for decades. No one will pretend my thoughts are theirs.

There's another way I ran across when I was reading my friend Ramblin' Rick's blog: Go to My Free Copyright. As theynon-repudiation, registered dating of your original digital creation. By using this service, you publicly associate your digital copyright and defined rights to you."

I tried it on my other blog, Ask a Tech Teacher. Every day, they send me confirmation that my work is in their registry. When I log in, I can go back as far as the beginning of my registration and they have a copy of my blog, a registration date and a digital fingerprint.

And, it's free, which suits my budget perfectly.

 

Writers Tip #36: Find a Day Job

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.

Today's tip: Have a Day Job.

This is from John Grisham:

John Grisham–a former lawyer best known for his legal thrillers–advices young writers to find their career, and adds that at first it won't be writing. He explains that before you can be a writer you have to experience some things, see some of the world, go through things–love, heartbreak, and so on–, because you need to have something to say.

Most fiction writers I know have a day job. We're all waiting for our Big Break, but until then, the bills continue. Many non-fiction writers I know (bloggers, etc) like to say they support themselves on their writing. I'm suspicious, though. How would it sound to potential clients if you said, "I just do this at night in my spare time." Might cut into your marketing efforts.

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Rejected? You Have Stellar Company

Read this. The authors who have been rejected by publishers, well, let's say it'll cheer you up:

Sometimes, as we strive to share our remarkable ideas with the world, we have to deal with criticism and often times, rejection. But that is ok.

Criticism and rejection can be used constructively to help you become a better creator. The key is to understand that everyone is always going to have his or her own opinion. But just because someone disagrees with your outlook or your way of being creative doesn't make you or them wrong. It is important to stay positive and diligent with your work and to always always try. You owe it to yourself for the hard work you've accomplished.

With all that in mind, I thought I would share with you a list of bestselling books that were each highly criticized and rejected many times before they finally made their mark on the world. Some of them will probably surprise you.

Take a look and realize that each of these authors was in the same boat as any new author starting out at one point or another. The difference being they didn't have a cool tool like Lulu.com at the time to give them complete creative control over their work or the freedom to instantly sell their books all over the globe. These authors stuck to it, and you can too. And Lulu is here to help.

Dune by Frank Herbert
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

The list gets better. Here are some I got from Marilee Brother's blog:

To Stephen King on Carrie… "We're not interested in science fiction that deals with negative utopias. They do not sell."

To Irving Stone on Lust for Life…"A long dull novel about an artist." (After 16 rejections, Stone found a publisher and the novel sold twenty-five million copies.)

On The Diary of Anne Frank… "The girl doesn't, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the 'curiosity' level."

To Anita Loos on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes… "Do you realize, young lady, that you're the first American writer to poke fun at sex?"

To J.G. Ballard on Crash… "The author of this book is beyond psychiatric help."

Mystery writer Mary Higgins Clark received a $60 million plus advance for five books. But when she was trying to sell Journey Back to Love in the 1960s, one rejection letter stated, "We found the heroine as boring as her husband did."

Dr. Seuss received the following: "…too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling."

Only seven of Emily Dickinson's poems were published during her lifetime. One rejection said, "Your poems are quite as remarkable for defects as for beauty and are generally devoid of true poetical qualities."

The Torrents of Spring by Ernest Hemmingway elicited the following rejection: "It would be extremely rotten taste, to say nothing of being horrible cruel, should we want to publish it."

Of Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, one editor said, "I haven't really the foggiest idea about what the man is trying to say… Apparently the author intends it to be funny–possibly even satire–but it is really not funny on any intellectual level… From your long publishing experience you will know that it is less disastrous to turn down a work of genius than to turn down talented mediocrities."

On Jacqueline Susanne'sValley of the Dolls: "She is a painfully dull, inept, clumsy, undisciplined, rambling and thoroughly amateurish writer whose every sentence, paragraph and scene cries for the hand of a pro."

Every reason these great have been rejected for, I have to. I feel special.