Always Learning and Another (Writing) Book

May wildflowers 2018

"I am still learning." --Michelangelo

Yes, I'm still learning, too (although far, far away from the category of a Michelangelo!)--and hope that I never lose the desire to do so. So it is, in the spirit of learning, that I've added yet another book on writing to my shelf: The Story Cure, A Book Doctor's Pain-Free Guide to Finishing Your Novel or Memoir by Dinty W. Moore (Ten Speed Press 2017). I've only just begun digging into it, but already I like Mr. Moore's premise: "A Book Doctor is different from a copyeditor or a proofreader. The task at hand is not to clean up sentences, adjust punctuation, or fix typographical errors. A Book Doctor looks at the patient as a whole--the plot, the main characters, the voice, the structure--or, to continue the physician metaphor, the arms, the legs, the belly, and the heart. The Doctor's job is to diagnose exactly why the patient isn't thriving" (p.2).

And if I were honest, it's the heart of the book I'm now drafting that's suffering. May the doctor help diagnose my problem. In fact, in Chapter One, The Story Cure, one section is subtitled "Discovering (or Rediscovering) the Heart of Your Story." I'll have that part of the book dog-eared, I think.

Maybe your problem is where your story begins. That's addressed in Chapter 2: Your First Breath. Maybe it's voice and point of view. See Chapter 5, A Visit with the Throat and Eye Doctors. Or maybe plot and structure? How about Chapter 6, The Strong Skeleton?

Have I whetted your appetite yet? I think most of the material will be familiar to those who have been writing for a while, but why not review the subject matter from such a fun angle?

And speaking of books on the shelf: today's the day to announce the winners of my give-away for the inspirational book, The Short and Sweet of It, When the Right Word is a Short Word, compiled by Susan Cheeves King--an anthology of inspirational pieces written in one-syllable words. Peggy and Cathy, be on the lookout for your copies! You both commented in the give-away post (here) and I couldn't bring myself to pull just one name out of a list of two, so you are both winners! I'll be in touch by email to verify your addresses.

Yes, may we live motivated to always be open to learning and, for us writers, to be open to improving our craft. The journey of life is far more interesting that way.

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All in a Day's Work

Photo: Microsoft Office Clipart

"I turn sentences around. That's my life. I write a sentence and then I turn it around. Then I look at it and I turn it around again. Then I have lunch. Then I come back in and write another sentence. Then I have tea and turn the new sentence around. Then I read the two sentences over and turn them both around. Then I lie down on my sofa and think. Then I get up and throw them out and start from the beginning." --Philip Roth

Sound familiar? Don't we all have days (weeks) like this? Maybe the upcoming week will be better. Hope so. Good luck!

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Patching Holes

I blame a hole in the asphalt for the song that's been tormenting me.

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza. There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

Remember that old song? As kids we loved the Burl Ives version. Later a Sesame Street rendition came along. But the tune actually originated in Germany in the 1700s.

No matter. The hole in the side of the road that I've been watching grow bigger on each of my walks recently--a hole that without attention will become a major tire-swallower--triggered the memory. And I can't get it out of my mind.

Well, fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry. Well, fix it, dear Henry. Dear Henry, fix it.

With every one of Liza's suggestions, Henry counters:

With what shall I fix it? he asks...With a straw, she answers.

But the straw is too long...Then cut it.

With what shall I cut it?...With a knife.

The knife is too dull...Then sharpen it.

With what shall I sharpen it?...With a stone.

But the stone is too dry...Then wet it.

With what shall I wet it?...With water.

In what shall I carry it?...In a bucket, dear Henry.

But there's...

Can't you just picture Liza tearing her hair out about this time?

I hope I'm not so contrary when it comes to fixing the holes in my manuscript. If someone says my characters are like straw, my plot needs a trim, my description falls as flat as a stone, my dialogue needs honed, or my whole story leaks, I'm going to have to do a lot of patching in order for it to hold good stuff!

Do you have any leaks in your writing bucket? How do you propose to patch them?

Cutting Out Dead Wood

We came home yesterday to face a bunch of tree-trimmer trucks blocking the road by our driveway. Crews up in their buckets pierced the air with the noise of chain saws. Lopped-off limbs and chunks of upper trunks thudded to the ground. Traffic slowed to a crawl, and a steel-helmeted man with a reversible "stop/slow" sign directed cars down to one lane. These men had a job to do--trim and clear around telephone lines and cut out dead wood.

You're probably ahead of me, right? How part of our job as writers is to trim dead wood from our stories, and prune anything that impedes the action's progress? There are adverbs and adjectives to cut, backstory, cliches, and passive tense to thin back. Redundancy to delete, telling to lop off so that the showing "shows" through. All kinds of word trimming goes on in our craft.

I found another treasure in the "jungle" of my office book shelf: The Writer's Book of Wisdom, 101 Rules for Mastering Your Craft, by Steven Taylor Goldsberry (Writer's Digest Books 2005). Rule #93 states:

          "In the days before computers, a writer would literally have to cut and paste. That's what those commands on your PC refer to, kids, except that back then we used actual scissors and glue.
          "When we cut up a page and transferred the elements, an interesting thing happened: We learned to cut more than paste. And the resulting shorter copy read better.
          "An old formula says that the second draft should be 10 percent shorter than the first. The third draft 10 percent shorter than that...As you revise, try to cut your manuscript by at least 10 percent--that alone should improve the pacing. If you find that for every scene you trim, there's another you want to expand, ask yourself, 'How does this further the plot?'
          "If it doesn't, let it go."

If it doesn't further the plot--let it go. Great words for me this week. How about you? What do you see needs trimmed in your work this week?

Discovery Friday

Another day of revision on my middle grade novel has passed. And at one point, a fun discovery snuck up beside me and typed itself right into my manuscript. I had no clue it was coming, hadn't given it a thought, until--voila!--there it was. And instantly I recognized that, yes, this new thought is just exactly right: my main character's cat has big ears.

Big ears? Ha, how silly is that? Pretty silly I'd say--except that it turns out that this little detail can play into the relationship. Who would have guessed? Now another layer exists in the bigger scheme of the story. Someday when the book is published (see, we say when, not if!), my readers will know what I mean.

Isn't discovery in writing fun? At least, today, it was for me.

And so I end this week on a high note, both in writing and in the special events of the past few days here in the family. And I also take a moment at the end of this work week to share a few thoughts on the subject of discovery in writing:

• "We don't write what we know. We write about what we wonder about." --Richard Peck
• "The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." --Marcel Proust
• "Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and you learn as you go." --E.L. Doctorow
• "I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear." --Joan Didion
• "Writing is a tool of transformation and can shine the light on the inside, dispelling darkness, taking us through external layers, bringing us closer to our souls." --Hillary Carlip
• "You always find things you didn't know you were going to say, and that is the adventure of writing." --John Updike

Happy weekend--and happy discovering!

Writing that Sparkles

Sparkle-- (v.)-- 1. "to throw off sparks of light or fire; to twinkle; 2.) to be lively or active."

Question: when does one's writing sparkle? What's missing--or needs changed--if it doesn't?

The subject came up in our recent writers' group meeting. I shared the story of a rejection I once received. The editor, who had published other stories of mine, noted at the top of the first page, "This lacks your usual sparkle."

Sparkle? I was new to writing back then. What's that--and how do I recognize whether or not I have it?

As I continue revising my children's historical fiction, I discover problem areas and have to ask, "What's wrong here?" More often than I care to admit, I find myself saying, "This page is boring," or, "Boy, is this ever flat." The sparkle is missing.

But I'm not discouraged. It only means there's more work to be done. Thankfully tried-and-true guidelines--sparks of the trade--endure. Each generation learns them anew. They include: show, don't tell; use active verbs; incorporate sensory details; vary sentence structure; avoid cliches and repetitions.

Robyn Opie's article, "Making Your Writing Sparkle" (you can read it  here), develops the subject in depth. In addition to those things on my list, she discusses pace, transitions, and logic--all very important elements to good writing.

There's a lot that can slow down our stories--but key writing principles can liven them up.

Hmmm, maybe there's something here that might help us add sparkle to our lives in general. Any ideas?

(photo credit: Microsoft Publisher clipart)

Rebound and Rewrite

They say experience is the best teacher. Well, if that's the case, what lesson did I learn after I experienced a fall on some ice this morning? Ha. Winter isn't over yet.

I had headed out for a walk, glad the weather finally cooperated. I not only looked forward to the exercise, but to quiet time and any writing inspiration that might pop into my head--as often happens--along the way. The sun shone for the first time in days and everything felt great, although I did almost slip on a slick spot at the end of the driveway.

I should have read the signs, but didn't. A bigger patch of ice farther up the road proved to be my downfall--literally. Ouch.

Well, I've slipped in my writing recently, too, and was reminded of this yesterday when sharing an article draft with my critique group. Pesky problems and weaknesses had worked their way back into my story but, much like a covering of ice, proved slick and difficult to see until my writing friends pointed them out to me.

"Rewriting," William Zinsser noted in his classic On Writing Well, "is the essence of writing well: it's where the game is won or lost." Thanks to critique partners, I rebounded and got back in the game--ready to revise and rewrite. Thanks, Connie and Lanita.

As for my walk, I revised it, too--opting to go home and rebound on our mini-trampoline instead.