Friday, January 11th, 2013 A long time ago I resolved not to make New Years resolutions.
I’m not against trying to do better. I just don’t like the system: For the last month of the year or so, people start talking about what they’re going to do next year: lose weight, read more, eat more vegetables, stop kicking the cat.
Whatever.
And for a month or so, people binge eat, swear off books, eat less vegetables and kick the cat more…because they know in a few weeks they’ll have to go cold turkey. (Never realizing, of course, that by Valentine’s Day, 75%* of all those resolutions will be long broken anyway.)
* I made up that statistic. But you get my point.
And besides, it’s all so arbitrary. If you want to stop kicking the cat, do it NOW. Why wait?
That being said…
I do like to set goals for myself: reachable, measurable goals which are wholly under my control. (If they’re out of my control, they’re not goals, they’re dreams. Don’t get me wrong: dreams are awesome. But they often rely on outside influences to obtain them.)
If I miss a goal, I’ve only got myself to blame…
…unlike really good fiction.
Goals are the building blocks of stories. The hero has a list of goals he wants to achieve. The protagonist has a list of goals he wants to achieve (often at odds with the hero’s goals). Without this conflict, the story is boring.
Often, the hero’s most basic goals, let’s say, leaving a room, are stymied by the protagonist — who locks the door, or shoots the hero, or reveals a bit of information to the hero that is so inconceivable, that the hero is frozen in place (by shock, indecision, heartbreak, anger, etc.). No matter what, the hero cannot simply get up and walk out of the room.
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Make a list of 3 – 5 goals you want your hero to accomplish. (If you’re writing a short story, stick with 1 goal, 2 at the most.)
- Make a list of 3 – 5 goals for the antagonist to accomplish: goals which by their very nature are at odds with the hero. Remember: at the beginning of the story, the antagonist doesn’t know what the protagonist’s goals are, so it’s cheating if the goal is a direct contradiction of the hero’s.
For example:
Your protagonist might be a retiring Firefighter looking to purchase his neighbor’s 10-acre farm on which to live out his golden years.
The real estate agent handling the transaction finds out the land contains lucrative mineral deposits, and puts in a bid for himself instead. Prices for the farm escalate into a bidding war as the realtor decides he wants to own the property for its potential value.
(So, the protagonist’s goal is to buy some property to retire on. The antagonist’s goal is NOT to stop him from retiring with property, but to invest money in a property with possible lucrative minerals. It just so happens that in this case, the property is one and the same.)
- Choose one goal for each of them, and write the scene where the two goals conflict.
Good luck!
Friday, December 14th, 2012 Give your character a deadline and you’ve got instant tension in a story. And without tension, you’ve got no story (or maybe no good story).
This works in real life, too.
Case in point: I gave myself a deadline of tonight to have all of my Christmas prep done: present buying, gift wrapping, house cleaning, card sending, etc. Talk about tension! And tonight’s a mad scramble: I’ve got about eight more presents to wrap and 30 Christmas cards to get out the door.
And I’ve come pretty close to my goal. But, alas, there’s one mail-order item that hasn’t arrived yet, and one more gift that hasn’t been bought.
Still: the next 10 days are going to be pretty relaxing around here. And that was my goal, to get it all done so that I could spend some actual time enjoying the holiday instead of making a mad dash in the weeks that lead up to it.
(You’ll want to give your character more dire consequences, however, if you want some real drama in your story. Kidnap his girlfriend and give him five hours to get the ransom money. Have a job hang in the balance, or a long-standing relationship, or a life.)
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Write a scene where your character is presented with some kind of deadline. Make the stakes high, and have your character really struggle to meet it. Don’t let the answer to the problem come from an outside resource.
- Write the “consequences” scene if your character doesn’t meet her deadline.
- Journalers: write about a deadline you made in the nick of time. Talk about what would have happened if you hadn’t have made the deadline.
- Write a poem about figurative deadlines…fall turning into winter, the end of a long life, a road that goes nowhere. Invoke the feeling of a deadline, but don’t use the word deadline.
Good luck!
Friday, December 7th, 2012  The setting in a story is the place and time the story occurs. Every story has one. It lends context to the tale.
The settings for different types of stories will be different, as will the approach to creating them. One thing to consider is the audience reading the book.
For instance, the setting for a story taking place in modern Washington, DC might include a description of the Lincoln Memorial, the terrible traffic, diesel fumes from buses, protesters on the corner, etc. It might include some details on the weather: the oppressive heat of a July sun baking all that marble or the sleet of a November rain. And that’s it: just enough detail to ground the reader to location and atmosphere. He’ll fill in the rest with his own imagination.
A period romance might include the description of a brownstone townhouse in England, gas lamps on the sidewalk (if you’re in the rich part of town) or ragamuffin children (on the poor side of town). It will usually infer the economic status of the heroine, and some background, so we know how she got to this place and time. And, it might include a description of the historical events taking place, so that the reader gets an idea of the main character’s thoughts and motives. This description might go on for several paragraphs, because this audience enjoys rich detail.
Science Fiction readers will want explicit details on science, mechanics, atmosphere, politics, etc. But you don’t want to include detail, for detail’s sake. For instance, while you’re setting the scene, if you have machine that creates breathable atmosphere on a planet formerly known for its deadly gases, you don’t need to explain how that works…unless one of your characters is knowledgeable about it, or questions how it works, AND that information is crucial to the story.
If specific details aren’t important, but you point them out, you’ll either a) bore the reader, or b) leave him wondering why you included the detail. You don’t want that bouncing around in the reader’s head when she should be enjoying the story.
Also, a good rule of thumb when setting the scene is to include details related to the five senses. So, describe:
- what is seen
- what is heard
- what is felt (or touched)
- what is smelled, and,
- what is tasted
The hard part is writing the scene without making it sound like a checklist, like this:
The chaotic barnyard was filled it with animals. I could hear the cows mooing, the chickens squawking, and in the background somewhere, an old hound dog. The dirt was hard-packed beneath my feet, and I could feel every pebble through my shoe. Someone hadn’t mucked out the barn in ages. I could smell the dung all the way across the pasture. The wind kicked up, blowing dust in my face. I could taste the corn feed Farmer Brown just strew for the hens.
Terrible!
Here’s Your Prompt:
Here are a few suggested locations and time periods, choose one and write the scene.
- A junior high school in the US, mid-1970s.
- Modern day in a Scottish castle.
- A 1950s traveling carnival.
- A rock ‘n’ roll concert during the holidays, and the singer is late.
- Thanksgiving Dinner – the week before Thanksgiving.
- A fictional planet, during a civil war.
- The coast of any continent, 1800s, during a powerful storm.
- Today, in your home town.
- England, during the middle ages, in a small cottage
- Santa’s workshop, in July.
- Alice’s Wonderland – only set the scene of somewhere Alice didn’t go.
If none of these strike your fancy, choose your own time and place.
Good luck!
Friday, November 23rd, 2012 Did you get up at 4 a.m. for all the door busters?
I didn’t. I’m not a Black Friday shopper. (Actually, I’m not a shopper at all. You won’t catch me in a Mall or Discount Store unless I absolutely have to be there. I can’t remember the last time I was at the Mall…)
Here are some of the 2012 Newspaper and Internet News headlines for Black Friday:
‘Gang fight’ at Black Friday sale…
Man Punched in Face Pulls Gun On Line-Cutting Shopper…
Shots fired outside WALMART…
Shoppers smash through door at URBAN OUTFITTERS…
Customers run over in parking lot…
Woman busted after throwing merchandise…
Thousands storm VICTORIA’S SECRET…
VIDEO: Insane battle over phones…
Shoplifter tries to mace security guards…
Men Steal Boy’s Shopping Bag Outside BED, BATH & BEYOND…
For me, these are the most compelling reasons for not shopping on Black Friday.
Anyone reconsidering for next year?
Here’s Your Prompt
- Write about a character who gets hurt while shopping on Black Friday. Or, write about a character who was standing next to someone who got seriously hurt (or killed!) on Black Friday. (Does this character’s feelings about shopping change? What about life in general?)
- Write the scene of Black Friday Mayhem™ from a bystander’s point of view.
- If you journal, write about some of your Black Friday experiences. If you don’t shop on Black Friday, write about some other memorable shopping event.
If Black Friday isn’t your cup of tea either…
- Write a character sketch or short poem about something associated with the color black: witches, funeral processions, black ice on the highway, black and white keys on the piano, the Black Death (Bubonic plague), black licorice, black squares on a checkerboard, etc.
- Write about “black thoughts:” being depressed or depression in general.
- Write about bad luck: being under a black cloud.
Good Luck!
Friday, September 28th, 2012  A diamante poem is formulaic in nature, often discusses two opposite ideas, and when finished, takes the shape of a diamond.
For teachers, it’s a wonderful method to help students learn about nouns, verbs and adjectives.
For writers, it’s a great exercise to warm up the brain and get you stretching your vocabulary: you’ll want to choose nouns, verbs and adjectives beyond the usual.
Here’s the formula for each line:
- A simple noun
- two adjectives which agree with, or describe, the noun in line 1
- three verbs as modifiers which also agree with the noun in line 1
- four nouns: two should be related in some way to the noun in line line 1, and two should be related to the noun in Line 7.
- three verbs as modifiers of the the noun on line 7
- two adjectives which agree with, or describe, the noun in line 7
- one simple noun which is the opposite of the noun in line 1.
Here’s my first stab at it:
Crustaceans
calcified, clawed
scuttling, scavenging
cooperative, omnivorous — carnivorous, singular
blooming, pulsating, stinging
gelatinous, tentacled
Medusozoa
Here’s Your Prompt:
Your turn!
Images available from Wikipedia, Creative Commons License:
Friday, September 7th, 2012  September is National Coupon Month.
If you could make your own coupon, what would it be for?
Me?
I want more days in the week. I feel like I never have enough time to do all the things I want to do.
I’d like, perhaps, two extra days per weekend. I’d hit the Time Store during their “50% off Every Day” sale and buy a few extra days for each week for the rest of the year.
(Maybe I’d get all those things on my ‘Too Much To Do List’ done.)
Basic “Mix and Match” Components of a Coupon
- The name of the product that is on sale.
- The location of the sale.
- The amount of the sale, either in a percentage or “cents off.”
- An expiration date.
- A bar code.
- A graphic or clip art.
- The “Fine Print:” The conditions of the sale, where it’s void, how many products can be purchased with the coupon, etc.
What about you?
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Make a coupon for something you’d like more than anything. Be creative: whip out the crayons or a graphics program on your computer and get to work. Make it look genuine. (See if you can fool your friends!)
- If you don’t feel like your art skills are up to par, write the sale out in narrative.
- Once you’ve set up the conditions of your coupon: write an essay or journal/diary entry about why you desire such a coupon and how you would use the item if you were able to use the coupon.
- Write a story about someone who finds a fantastic coupon (in the newspaper, at the library coupon exchange, in his mailbox, etc.) and what happens when he redeems it.
Good Luck!
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The hourglass graphic in the image I made for this blog post came from http://www.wpclipart.com/.
Friday, July 27th, 2012  I’ve been traveling all around Oregon for the last two weeks, taking in the sites and experiencing things on the West Coast that this native East Coast Gal hasn’t experienced. I’m fascinated by how different the landscape is.
I’m really enjoying the coastal weather in Lincoln City where I spent most of my time at two workshops presented by author Dean Wesley Smith. It’s cool here by the sea, and I’ve spent my nights with the windows wide open, nary a mosquito in sight.
What I’m dreading is the trip home. (And if you saw my Writer’s Prompt post of two weeks ago, you’ll know why.)
But I’m dreading the trip back for other reasons: the load I bear.
I packed light. For a 17-day trip, I managed to pack in my carry-on and a (somewhat overly-large) purse. I did buy toiletries and other incidentals when I arrived, and did some creative laundry in the hotel about mid-way through. But I’ve managed to collect enough gee-gaws and doo-dads while I’m here, that I’m not sure how I’m going to manage to get it all home.
(Fossil huntil – and finding – will do that to you, as well as trips to the local book store and one interesting yard sale at the church across from the hotel.)
If I had to do it over, I would have packed even lighter.
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Pretend you’re going on vacation for three weeks. Make a list of the items you’ll absolutely need, or won’t be able to live without, for three weeks. (It’s got to be a list of items that you can carry or haul yourself.) Now, cut that list in half.
- Write a poem or short story using at least three items from the second list.
- If you journal or write memoir, write your worst traveling experience EVER.
- Have you ever taken public transportation? Think about a stranger you’ve seen or met on public transportation, and write a character sketch of this person. Make up the details you don’t know. Write a story about this person, but it can’t be a ‘traveling’ story.
Good luck!
Monday, June 25th, 2012  I’m just full of newsy bits of newsy-news this afternoon, it seems.
On the Path available at Smashwords!
On the Path is finally available at Smashwords in multiple formats.
It was first published in the Parsec Ink Anthology, Triangulation: Dark Glass. It’s full of neat things like soul-powered plows which blow up, and Chinese ancestor-ghosts who come back to haunt their children and take over bodies of the living. Fun for everyone!
It’s priced at 99 cents for now, but will likely increase later this year. Here’s the link to On the Path at Smashwords.
The Complete Guide to Writing Paranormal is an Award Winner
The Complete Guide to Writing Paranormal (Dragon Moon Press) won a Book of the Year Gold Award in the Writing Category at The Foreward Reviews.
From the Web site: “ForeWord Reviews’ Book of the Year Awards were established to bring increased attention to librarians and booksellers of the literary and graphic achievements of independent publishers and their authors. ForeWord is the only review trade journal devoted exclusively to books from independent houses.”
Neat!
I have a chapter in the book on joining (or starting) a critique group, along with a short essay on how to critique.
You Should Be Reading The 3Six5 Blog
There’s a fascinating blog called The 3Six5. Each day is written by a different writer and is a slice of their life of what happened on a particular day. Each entry is 365 words or less and includes a picture of what happened on that day.
The writers come from all over the world, and every day is so different than the last.
Today was my day: I talked a bit about my job at the National Agricultural Library and how (strangely) Jack FM played Christmas Carols all day today. You wouldn’t think the two would join for a decent essay, but come together they do.
Read it (and others!) on The 3Six5.
Friday, June 22nd, 2012 I’m playing a word association trick with you today.
What’s the first thing you thought of when you read the title, “bugs?”
Sometimes the shortest words can have the most meanings, depending on context.
I deliberately didn’t post a photo (like I am wont to do) when presenting a writing prompt, because I didn’t want to influence what your initial reaction might be to the word “bugs.” I assure you, there is a picture.
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Write a story, poem or journal entry about the first thing you thought of when you read the word, “bugs.”
- Take the first thing you thought of, and see how it applies to an old memory. Write about that memory involving bugs.
- Write about a flu bug, cold germ or cooties.
- Write about a room being bugged.
- Write about someone who bugs you (or a time when you bugged someone else). Write about things that bug you.
- Write about a master computer programmer who inadvertently programs a bug into a program. Writer about a hacker who deliberately puts a bug in the program. Write about one person this bug affects, and how he or she solves the problem.
- Write literally about bugs: flies, ants, cockroaches, bedbugs, head lice, spiders or stink bugs.
- Write a favorable (or at least, not negative) poem about a much-disliked bug, like a roach. For example:
How delightful to suspect
All the places you have trekked:
Does your long antenna whisk its
Gentle tip across the biscuits?
Do you linger, little soul,
Drowsing in our sugar bowl?
Or, abandonment most utter,
Shake a shimmy on the butter?
(From Nursery Rhymes for the Tender-Hearted, by Christopher Morley, 1921. Read the full poem here.)
- Write about catching a bug, a wild enthusiasm or obsession, for something.
Good luck!
p.s. If you want to see the photo that made me think of bugs, here it is.
Friday, June 15th, 2012  I was getting ready for work this morning and the TV was playing an old I Love Lucy re-run. It reminded me that a book I’ve recently finished reading (The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos – I didn’t like it, BTW) mentioned that Lucille Ball spoke Spanish.
Apparently, when Lucy visited with Desi Arnaz’s friends, she spoke fluently with them.
That one fact created a depth in Lucille Ball’s character that changed irrevocably how I feel about her.
I’m currently reading David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (This book is a tortuous read which will not end!) in which I’ve met the unlikable (yet memorable) character of Uriah Heep.
According to David Copperfield:
He had a way of writhing when he wanted to express enthusiasm, which was very ugly; and which diverted my attention from the compliment he had paid my relation, to the snaky twistings of his throat and body.
Ew! But how memorable.
Today’s prompt deals with character quirks: gestures, mannerisms, or even distinct physical attributes which make your character stand out. The quirk could be good or bad, depending on how you want to portray your character.
Whatever you do: don’t over do it. Choose one memorable quirk per character — and don’t riddle all the characters in your book with memorable traits, else how will the important ones stand out?
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Create a character quirk for a someone in your work in progress. Write a character sketch to flesh it out before using it in your work. Decide how this quirk affects your character.
- Create a physical quirk for one of your characters which influences the character’s choice of religion.
- Create a quirk based on someone’s eating habits. (Does this character eat only blue foods? Mash his food together? Must keep all foods (and all their juices) separate? Etc.)
- Create a quick based on someone’s hygiene habits. (Does this character wear too much perfume? Wear too much make-up? Dye his hair a different color every week? Wear two-different colored contact lenses, doesn’t bathe, picks her scabs until they bleed? Picks her nose all the time?)
- Create a long list of attributes, quirks or mannerisms and write them on little slips of paper. Fold them up and stir, then randomly choose two options for a new character. Here’s a short list to begin with:
freckles, lisp, nail biting, body odor, wears the same clothes every day, wears too much perfume, whispers instead of talks, only eats sweet foods, doesn’t comb hair, hiccups when nervous, noisily stirs tea or coffee, a full beard, a limp, an irritating laugh, chews food with mouth open, allergies, gets seasick, paranoia, knows it all, argumentative, class clown, morbid, dresses only in one color
- If you journal, consider writing about a family member or close friend with a memorable quirk. Think of a time that quirk caused an argument, created laughter, or instilled love. Write a ‘character sketch’ about this person or the incident.
Good luck!
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