Issue #11 April 2014
How Are Your Writing Goals?
Here it is the beginning
of April and I’m already falling behind on my writing goals. This blog should
have been completed at the beginning of March, but I’m not going to beat myself
up. I have submitted two stories and some poems for publication, submitted my
novel to two self-published contest and gotten one of my book reviews
completed. So I’ve allowed myself the very real excuse of my mother’s return to
the hospital, which required a lot of time, as a reason for falling behind.
Remember, as writers, we are still people with real lives to live. Sometimes we
just have to deal with it and move on. I hope you’ve learned this, too. Real
life distractions don’t mean we give up on our goals. It just means we have to
adjust our time frame and keep writing.
Marketing Your Writing
Building Your Portfolio
One of the things
we all need as writers is a portfolio. A portfolio is a collection of works
that have been published, received good reviews or won writing contest. Luckily,
as I stated previously, I was able to submit my work during March even though I
was very busy with other responsibilities. So that was good. The bad news is, I
already know I didn’t make it passed the first round of the one of the contest.
Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award Contest has several “rounds” which authors
have to pass. During the first round the editors select the top 400
Entries from each Category to advance to the second round based on the
Pitch. Judging is based on the criteria:
originality of idea, overall strength of the Pitch, and the quality of writing.
The first round contestants were listed on March 18th and I wasn’t on the list.
Obviously I still have work to do on my Pitch. I managed not to cry…just pout for two days. Now I have to pick up my
preverbal marbles and face the next round of challenges. This applies to you,
too.
When you have
stories inside you, you have to write. Those stories may come out today or
tomorrow or a week from now and, if you keep working at it one day they’ll be
chosen for publication or they’ll win a contest. Don’t give up! But do limit
your periods of depression over rejection to a couple of days. It’s okay to be
sad and disappointed. It’s not okay to give up completely. If I can do it, so
can you!
Build Your Website
One of the things
I’ve been able to do during March is to start building a better website. I
wasn’t happy with the website I’d built through Weebly.com, so I moved back to
Homestead.com. Though Weebly was free, it lacked some of the elements I needed
and it wasn’t as easy for me to manipulate. I had used Homestead before and
really liked the control the website had and the customer service that
Homestead gave. So I returned Home to start from scratch. This time, I chose a
more user-friendly name, The Skeptical
Reader. Plus I have an additional domain name just for my new series of
books: Icy Thoughts Trilogy. I’ll
keep you posted on the progress.
If you haven’t
started building your website yet, think about what is important to you in your
own writing. What readers are you trying to attract? What tone do you want to set?
Your website should reflect who you are and what you are offering to other
people. It always goes back to who is reading our work. Is your primary focus
on the serious reader who wants “meat” or on the young reader who just wants to
enjoy feeling empowered? Make your website a reflection of your style. Dark and
moody? Light and colorful? There are a lot of places offering free websites,
but do they give you what you need? Try them out. Test the waters. Play with
ideas to see if you like them. That’s really what all of us have to do.
Read Quality Fiction to Become a Quality Writer
I was thrilled to have been accepted as an intern at Gemini Magazine in January! Since then I
have enjoyed reading the submissions and I’ve already learned a lot about what
it takes to catch audience attention, keep them reading and have them feel
satisfied at the end. I know I have much more to learn. I’d like to thank David
Bright, editor/publisher, for this opportunity to learn and grow as an editor
and a writer.
When David Bright sent me the first batch of stories to
screen for Gemini Magazine, I asked
him if there was anything special I should be looking for. As a teacher, I was
used to working with rubrics to evaluate writing on standardized test. But
David wasn’t looking for the standardly formatted fiction or essay. He wanted
something special. He wanted those pieces that stood out from other stories. It
might be unforgettable characters, interesting wording, or themes that touched
me. He said to watch for stories that lingered in my mind a day or two after I
read them. So I read the pieces with this ethereal guidance in mind and I’ve
been touched by the stories of several excellent writers.
One of the things I’ve learned from these other writers
is that it’s not enough to simply put your ideas into words in an orderly
fashion. It’s the way we allow our passion for the subject to come across
through choosing those words and weaving them tightly into a compact form that reveals
relevant incidents from the past with the story plot while also using them to
foreshadow future events. The story must move quickly and smoothly without the
arrhythmic heartbeat that can lose the readers’ attention. This is the essence
of great writing. This is the snap, crackle and pop of memorable fiction which
I hope to emulate in my own work. I hope you’ll join me in this endeavor.
Write in the Rice Crispies Method
What is the Rice
Crispies Method, you ask? Well, I’ve been thinking about that. I’ve found my
own writing style is quite different when I sit with a pen in hand rather than composing
at the computer. With the pen, the words flow unchecked by the review tools in
Word documents. I think I get distracted by the green and red squiggly
underlines that make me stop and check my spelling and punctuation as I’m
composing at the computer. However when I just write, letting the words flow
from my heart to the paper through the pen, without worrying about the
mechanics of language, my writing has passion. The combinations of words and
phrases are more compelling than when I compose at the computer. If you mind
goes blank about how to spell something, put a question mark above it and keep
writing. That is exactly the kind of snap, crackle and pop which we do in the
stream-of-consciousness flow of free writing. So don’t put your pen and paper
away in the bottom drawer of your desk. Keep them handy and write the old
fashioned way once in a while. Then take those words so freely written and type
them into your computer, compressing and correcting them as you go. You may
just surprise yourself with hidden ideas and thoughts that are only revealed
through free writing.
Writing Challenge #11: Snap Those Words, Crackle That
Character, Pop in the Readers’ Mind
30-minute Free Write
Grab your pen and paper, find a quiet place to sit, and concentrate
on one incident to write about. Take a few moments to think about the incident.
It may be a specific scene in your story or one from real life. It may the
past, present or future. It really doesn’t matter. Just concentrate on that
moment. Think about what incidents occurred, what smells intruded? What sights
and sounds? Was there laughter or tears and angry shouts? Put yourself into
this moment and feel it completely.
Now start writing about what happened, who it happened
to, why it happened. Names are not important at this point. They are only a marker
for who said what. Spelling and punctuation aren’t important either. They’ll be
corrected later on. Just write for at least 30 minutes without stopping. You
may write for a longer period of time once you get started. That’s okay. Just
let it flow.
Then stop and put the piece away for a day or two.
Type and Correct
Your Story
After you’ve waited a couple of days, pull out your free
writing exercise. During those last couple of days your subconscious has been
working on the piece while you were doing your daily chores. My Creative
Writing professor in college called her subconscious writer “Fred”. Your “Fred”
or “Freda” will come to the surface as you type the piece into the computer,
making corrections, adding or changing names, maybe even adding a little more
information. Condense the work as you go. Are there too many adverbs? Remove
them. Would you like to replace a word? Use your Thesaurus for alternatives.
Next, Join us at Contributors’ Corner and Submit Your Work
We’ll talk about the possibilities for working your piece
into a larger one and discuss the publication possibilities. Plus members will
be given an additional writing challenge.
Remember, we are in this field to get published so our
whispers can be heard.
Until next quarter, live well, love fully and write with
all your heart!