The Fun of Being A Writer by Linda O. Johnston
August 6, 2022 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Dogs!, Plotting, research, vacations, writing
What’s the fun of being a writer? Everything!
And part of that includes the fact that writing is always there. It becomes part of you. At least it has with me. Everything I do, everywhere I go, my writerness is part of it. And yes, that’s an unusual word although when I Googled it, other people have apparently used it, too.
I was on a cruise to Alaska last week with family and friends. It was lots of fun. We sailed near land going north, then south through the Inside Passage, visited several cities, took a few tours, and enjoyed the onboard food and entertainment. That entertainment sometimes included dogs, and you can imagine how much I liked that.
I particularly enjoyed the wildlife we saw, including young and adult bald eagles, other birds including those that flew over and sometimes dived into water like marbled murrelets, a few bears on the shoreline in the distance, some spouting whales, including humpbacks, and small breaching dolphins.
We got to wade in the water in the middle of a river—because, as you might surmise, that river wasn’t full of water.
We visited Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and took a tour that included visiting a formerly private castle.
And, oh yes, I did some writing and editing . . . and came up with an idea for another mystery series.
Will I ever write it? Who knows? But plotting and researching it will definitely be enjoyable. Plotting is who I am, and my subconscious is always at work.
And yes, that’s part of the fun of being a writer.
~Linda
The Eviction of Figures of Speech
July 22, 2022 by Veronica Jorge in category Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as Craft, Figurative language, Figures of Speech, writing
The current trend in writing is to tread carefully when using figurative language because descriptions may be offensive, such as comparing people with foods. So, even though my complexion is cappuccino and my eyes are almond-shaped, I’m not allowed to say that; even about my own self. It’s considered feeding a stereotype. In the Caribbean, we often made jokes by claiming, “I’m not really brown, I just stayed in the sun too long.” Or, “My hair’s not really kinky, it’s the humidity.”
From time immemorial, (I’m not really saying that time is old. Experienced perhaps?), people have been all colors, shapes, and sizes. Writers, artists and photographers capture what they see. Okay, maybe some artists were punished if the sovereign didn’t like how they were depicted, but a photo doesn’t lie. Yeah, that’s really you. Though nowadays you can doctor it up in photoshop.
It would seem that one may no longer describe characters as ‘cute as a button,’ ‘cool as a cucumber,’ ‘mean as a junkyard dog,’ ‘thick as thieves’, or ‘slow as molasses.’
Although, I don’t think the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz would be offended if I called him a stuffed shirt ‘cause he was. And Jacob Marley will forever remain ‘as dead as a doornail.’
When we order coffee, do we no longer ask for a ‘short’ or ‘tall’?
The characters writers create are fictional. Figurative Language: metaphors, similes and personification, show the reader how the character perceives themselves and/or how they are perceived by others. All of which help the reader to understand the conflicts and motivations in their lives that cause them to act as they do. Descriptive language is also the artistic palette that allows readers to see the characters.
Mirror, mirror on the wall. We are who we are. When did we become so sensitive and easily offended?
In our overzealousness to be politically and diversely correct, we risk creating flat, unrealistic and unbelievable characters that by page five are dead on arrival.
Sometimes I wonder who is this collective that wants to do away with metaphors, similes and personification? As in the Wizard of Oz, I would like to draw back the curtain to reveal the ‘all-powerful’ entity controlling the literary world.
I don’t care what anyone says, the truth is the truth. My grandfather was black as tar, my father thin as six o’clock, my best-friend cackled like a chicken, my aunt nattered like a monkey, my uncle snored like a chainsaw.
And the world really is round, no matter how flat ‘they’ think it is.
See you next time on August 22nd!
Veronica Jorge
8 2 Read moreEditing Your Novel Together: Dig Deep into the Chapter #4
July 3, 2022 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Editing Your Novel Together by Will Janns, Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as E.J. Williams, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Self-editing, Will Zeilinger, writing, Writing with a Partner
Editing Your Novel Together
Dig Deep into the Chapters #4
by E.J. Williams
(Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger)
Writing together as E. J. Williams, husband and wife, Will Zeilinger and Janet Elizabeth Lynn author the INTER-NATIONAL CRIME FILES, a hardboiled/thriller detective series that takes the reader to 1960s southern California, then on to international locales.
Even after you’ve written the best book in the world, the pesky task of editing rears its ugly head! To those of you who love editing . . . our hats are off to you. We have come up with several suggestions that may help ease the editing process, whether you are editing your book for your editor, publisher, agent, or yourself.
While you are editing, look at the arc of each chapter. Does it engage the reader? Does it make the reader want to read more? Does the reader like the good guy and hate the bad guy? Seriously focus on the way the chapter the beginning, the middle, and the end of each chapter.
Though this mind-numbing task is necessary, it can bring about a great deal of pride when the process is complete. As a couple who write together, we have found these tips work well whether you are working alone or with someone.
And yes . . . we are still married!
Website: Janet Elizabeth Lynn
Website: Will Zeilinger
Some Books by Janet and Will
A ‘Wrich” Experience
June 15, 2022 by Rebecca Forster in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster tagged as Rebecca Forster, Travel, writerslife, writing
STATION WAGONS & STORYTELLING:
The first time my parents piled all of my siblings and me into an old station wagon without air conditioning and drove us to the desert for and August ‘vacation’, I was hooked on travel. It didn’t matter that it was 120 degrees in the shade, that the hotel was cheap, and that only one coffee shop remained open in the days before universal air conditioning. At nine years old, that humble vacation embedded itself in my brain and made me a traveler and a storyteller. I remember the heat from my burned skin (before sunscreen). I remember having ‘peeling’ contests with my brothers. My yellow swimsuit had white flowers on it. The sun went through the white leaving my torso stamped with brown patches. I was sure I was dying. It took my mother an hour to convince me I was simply tanned.
On the way home, we saw three giant, realistic dinosaur structures looming in the middle of the desert, each many stories high. Intrigued, we convinced my father to stop. There was a small door in the leg of the Tyrannosaurs Rex that opened onto a dark, narrow stairway leading to the belly of the beast. An old man lived inside the dinosaur. He waited patiently for people to stop. When they did he sold them shark’s teeth and turquoise. I loved the idea of a man living in a dinosaur.
I came home from that trip with the sights and sounds, the tastes and smells, the memories of the people I met embedded in my bones. Every travel experience is like that for me, and all these things eventually show up in a book.
MEETING OF THE MINDS
That brings me to the here and now. A month ago, I went to Sedona, Arizona, a place of stunning views, breathtaking nature hikes, and magical Vortices. It is also where a frustrated psychic healer once told me that he couldn’t tell my future because I had a bad aura. He gave me my money back. I was bummed.
However, my future turned out okay. I returned home with some lovely memories and a new friend. Her name is Renae Wrich. I was walking around the pool —heaven forbid I actually swim and exercise—wearing my favorite baseball cap. I forget that it is emblazoned with the word ‘WRITER’. Renae waded through the water to ask if I wrote. Once we determined we were both writers, the conversation marathon began. We talked about writing and publishing, managing a family and juggling work while we pursue our passion.
PASSING THE BATON
When I knew that I would be stepping down from my monthly Slice of Orange post (yes, I’ll be on an extended trip), I asked if I could replace myself. Renae was my first choice. She had just published Mac and Cheese Please, Please,Please, a children’s book and is setting her sights on romance. I envy her the journey in this brave new world of words and technology. I can’t wait to read her thoughts on writing as she builds her career works and raises her children.
So, I have had the honor of enjoying my Renae Wrich experience standing in a pool in Sedona, Arizona. I know you’ll love getting to know her too. Welcome Renae! Thank you for accepting the baton. Until our paths cross again, I’ll be following along with all your new Slice of Orange fans.
1 2 Read moreSorting it out…
June 10, 2022 by Tari Jewett in category Charmed Writer by Tari Lynn Jewett tagged as Moving, sorting, writingAll I want to do is write, but at the moment, it feels like real life is moving much faster than the plot of a good book. In between editing my holiday romcom, we’ve been moving, getting our primary residence ready to go up for sale (it went live yesterday), spending as much time as possible with our new grandson, doing physical therapy for both of my knees, and planning a celebration of life for my stepfather, who we lost in April. Hmmm, I’m going to have to switch that around. I think I’m editing in between all of my other responsibilities. I find myself creating piles of items to keep, donate, or discard all day. And not just with belongings, with aspects of my life.
What moves with me? What will I keep? Books, old writing, sewing, favorite cooking items, old photos, and special keepsakes. Ideas that are swirling in my head for the next story, the next article, the next adventure on the page. My new healthy lifestyle. And then of course there are family and friends I’ll miss, but keep close through social media, phone, and hopefully in person.
The donate pile- a few books that I think I can live without (this pile was much smaller than it probably should have been). Sewing items that I know I’ll never use (again this pile should be bigger) and lots of items from the kitchen and throughout the house that I never use, are outdated or don’t fit with our new home or life. And tons, AND TONS of clothes that no longer fit me. Seriously, tons of clothes, woo hoo!!
Trash is a kind of interesting thing. Some things are easy to throw away, broken storage containers, old bills, devices that no longer work, and the ratty old shoes that have slowly shuffled to the back of the closet…well, except that one comfy pair that should go in the trash but I just can’t get rid of…and there you go, some things are much harder to throw away. The book I’ve read so many times the cover is falling out and pages are loose. I could get a new copy, but this is the original copy of Christy, by Catherine Marshal that I read back in 6th grade, and 7th, and when I had nothing to read in my first apartment, and years later when I missed the story, and I’m probably due to read it again now. And anything that my children created. I know can’t keep all of it…I can’t, right? Can I? Maybe I can. And sometimes even ideas for stories that never happened. Time to give them up. I think.
What about you? Is life moving quickly? Do you feel the pressure to do things you have to do over things you want to do? And what stays in your keep pile? What are you willing to pass along? What finally makes it to the discard pile? I’m hoping to slow down and take a breath soon, but for now…back to work!
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