9 Links: This Week's Super Finds

discovery: woodland flower 2014

"A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind." --Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

The summer marches on and with it comes some pretty helpful information and a few laughs. Thought I'd share some of the latest discoveries I've stumbled across in the hopes that they benefit you as much as they have me.

1. Need help in managing your writing time? Check out How to Keep Your Writing in Your Over-the-Top Busy Life: Helpful Techniques from the Experts, by Mary Carroll Moore at How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book.

2. Along the same lines, did you ever wonder how Jerry Seinfeld motivates himself to be a productive writer (his specialty of course is jokes, but his technique could apply to any field)? Can you say calendar? You'll find Jerry's Productivity Secret at Life Hacker.

3. Stumped for ideas? Melissa Donovan shares thoughts on Questions, Curiosity, and Writing Ideas at Writing Forward.

4. When you are struck with that fantastic idea that lights up your life but you don't know how to go about developing it, why not start with an outline? 7 Steps to Creating a Flexible Outline for Any Story, by K.M. Weiland at Writer's Digest.com might be just what you need.

5. Along the same lines, Alan Gratz reinforces the idea on the Highlights Foundation blog with Why You Should Be Outlining .

6. While you're writing that next best-seller, you might begin thinking about your author bio. Do you have one yet? Ann Allen at anneallen.blogspot.com gives great tips with her post How to Write an Author Bio When You Don't Feel Like an Author...Yet.

7. Next to finishing the next great work and dashing off the best author bio imaginable, you might want some insight into industry news for the writer. If so you don't want to miss Elizabeth Spann Craig's Resources for Writers--Industry News.

8. Want a quick review of history--in 17 syllables and 140 characters? Featured on pbs.org we have a unique approach: History in Haiku, by historian H. W. Brands.

9. And finally, on a frivolous note but evidence of the power of social media? A lost sock was found at the Oklahoma City Airport and the word is out. Sound trivial? Why does it matter? Well, you see it was found by an avid knitter who recognized its value, a hand-knitted sock made with love and quality wool. Who was the knitter? Where was the sock's match? And could they be lovingly reunited? The plea has gone out on every social media site from the US to Canada to Europe (according to Andrea Vlahakis, here). Check out the whole story at Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's The Knit Signal. And be sure to read the resulting comment thread, especially the part about the banana. If you're like me, you'll get your laugh for the day over that one!

Ah, only on this thing called the internet. Entertainment abounds.

Any great web-surfing discoveries you've came across lately? And what about you, are you missing a sock?

Happy weekend, all.

_______________________________

Wrestling the Octopus of Revisions

"Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor." --Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

She's done it again, Anne Lamott has--she's helped me with an aspect of writing. This time, the subject is revision. She even puts a face on it. Tell me if this doesn't describe our wrestling matches with words!

In Bird by Bird Lamott writes: "There's an image I've heard people in recovery use--that getting all of one's addictions under control is a little like putting an octopus to bed. I think this perfectly describes the process of solving various problems in your final draft. You get a bunch of the octopus's arms neatly tucked under the covers--that is, you've come up with a plot, resolved the conflict...gotten the tone down pat--but two arms are still flailing around. Maybe the dialogue (doesn't) match, or there is that one character who still seems one-dimensional...But you finally get those arms under the sheets, too, and are about to turn off the lights when another long sucking arm breaks free..."

Now I know why I feel so exhausted--I've been wrestling with an eight-legged creature here. And each of its legs needed its own bell-ringing go-round and could not be ignored. Whew. Then, about the time all seemed  settled, another leg would wave wildly again, and I'd have to revisit the problem. The legs I wrestled with include:

1) Voice. Is it consistent, authentic, and appealing?
2) Characters. Do I really know--and connect with--them?
3) Tension/Conflict/Narrative. Is there a good balance?
4) Point of View. Have I stayed true to it (in my case, third-person limited)?
5) Description/Sensory Details. Have I used them effectively to help draw the reader into the story?
6) Mastery of the Craft (showing not telling, active not passive, weeding out of redundant words/phrases, etc.). Have I identified--and corrected--most of the weaknesses?
7) Plot. Have I patched all the holes?
8) Story. Is it the best it can be? When do revisions end and queries begin?

When do we know when we are done?

Ms. Lamott goes on to answer this very question: "...even though all the sucking disks on that one tentacle are puckering open and closed, and the slit-shaped pupils of the octopus are looking derisively at you...and even though you know that your manuscript is not perfect and you'd hoped for so much more, but if you also know that there is simply no more steam in the pressure cooker and that it's the very best you can do for now--well? I think this means that you are done."

So, as I finish my last few pages of revisions, I am staring down the octopus and telling him we are done. Finished. Kaput. Go away! Well, at least until the next round...

In the meantime, here, among other books on writing and the many fantastic blogger posts that came to aid me in my corner of the ring during this process, are some links that I'm sure you'll find helpful, too: "Revision Checklist," Nathan Bransford; "What the Fiction Editor Looks For, Part 1" and "Part 2," Rachelle Gardner; "Revision is a State of Mind," Mary Kohl; and "Ten Mistakes Writers' Don't See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do)," Holt Uncensored.

What arm of the revisions octopus has been waving in your face lately? Do you enjoy the sport, or have to fight your way out of the tangle?

"There is always too much: Any good book spills over the sides, overwhelms the structure created

to contain it. Now you have to have some backbone and keep the book honest to its cause." --Philip Gerard

*photo courtesy of sxc.hu/

Getting From Here to There

My regular walking route includes an uphill stretch--and, after all these years, the climb to get from here to there never seems to get any easier!

Once a group of four bicyclists passed me on that hill. The first three pedaled by with apparently little effort. Whish. They were here, there, and out of sight. But then I heard labored breathing, and a fourth rider came up on me. She struggled. She strained to pedal. Her front wheel wobbled. But, with a zigzag here and a zigzag there, she pushed on and finally reached the top. A seemingly off-beat technique--but it worked for her.

I'm struggling with an attempt to get from here to there, too--in a passage in my WIP. I need a smooth transition from one season to another, while skipping over a season in between. It's been an uphill climb to keep from slowing down my story's pace.

Irwin and Eyerly's Writing Young Adult Novels has helped give me perspective on the subject, especially Chapter Ten's "How to Get From the House to the Barn." Here the authors describe such transition solutions as "The Flea Hop," and "The Long Jump," giving great tips on how to bridge time along the way.

In some ways, it all seems rather simple. But in other ways, I'm still zigzagging. Have I used the best technique to get from here to there? Does the passage still bog down, stretch out too much, or have I shrunk time effectively--and (seemingly) effortlessly?

All are things that still need to be considered. But like any uphill battle, progress will be made one step, one pedal, one word at a time. And I'm learning as I go, and enjoying the view.

So how's your climb going--in writing or otherwise? Any tips for getting to a desired destination?