Back in the day, after the evening meal, my Grandpa would read a page or two from the dictionary. Whether it was just because he liked words or because his own father had been a journalist and instilled the habit into him I don't know.
I love words, their history, meaning and music; they intrigue and fascinate me.
While I was musing today about the joy words bring and thinking sadly that my vocabulary is not as vast as I should like, I was struck by a flash of inspiration:
Wouldn't it be fun to include a vocabulary slot at the blog? Of course it would!
I shall share with you a new, wonderful and/or weird words I have stumbled across, and, if you want to get in on the act you can comment with one or two your own. I challenge you to a duel of words! What fun...
So, with out more ado,
lithe: pliant, supple, bending and twisting and turning easily (like an eel).
----The lithesome eel glided through the murky water.
To "hop the twig" is to depart suddenly just before being caught (like a bird taking to the air just before being shot).
----"Och, it hopped the twig!" Conner said, lowering his shotgun in disgust.
That was fun wasn't it?
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Writing Tip # 3
These writing tips are coming to you in no particular order of importance, in case you were wondering at the random and disordered nature in which I am presenting them.
Today's tip takes us back to the fundamental groundwork behind the story.
When we embark on the journey that will bring a good story to life, no matter how long or short it will be, we first need to ask ourselves a few questions. The "5 Ws and an H."
Who?
Who is the story about?
What?
What will happen to him/her/them?
When?
When will it happen?
Where?
Where will it happen?
Why?
Why will it/does it happen?
How?
How will it happen?
How will it be resolved?
I once read (I don't remember where) that when you write a story you must put a man in a tree and then, somehow, get him down again. The story must revolve around a crisis (physical, emotional or psychological) and its resolution. And the character/s should develop or change in someway through the crisis.
These questions are the skeletal framework of your story; the way you answer them will put flesh on the bones.
Today's tip takes us back to the fundamental groundwork behind the story.
When we embark on the journey that will bring a good story to life, no matter how long or short it will be, we first need to ask ourselves a few questions. The "5 Ws and an H."
Who?
Who is the story about?
What?
What will happen to him/her/them?
When?
When will it happen?
Where?
Where will it happen?
Why?
Why will it/does it happen?
How?
How will it happen?
How will it be resolved?
I once read (I don't remember where) that when you write a story you must put a man in a tree and then, somehow, get him down again. The story must revolve around a crisis (physical, emotional or psychological) and its resolution. And the character/s should develop or change in someway through the crisis.
These questions are the skeletal framework of your story; the way you answer them will put flesh on the bones.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Query Letters
If you are at all serious about writing and getting your work published you are going to have to write a query letter. For those of you who don't know, a query letter is a nice letter you send to an editor/publisher telling them a little bit about your book in order to get them excited enough to ask to see your manuscript in its entirety.
When you have written and polished your novel to perfection it's time to write a query letter. They are incredibly hard to write and require a huge about of work, and so they should. After all, it isn't going to matter how wonderful your novel is, if your query letter sucks you are never going to sell it!
Where am I going with this? No, I'm not going to tell you how to write a query letter. What I am going to do is point you in the direction of The Public Query Slushpile over at: http://openquery.blogspot.com
Here you can submit your query letter and have others comment, critique and give you brilliant advice.
When you have written and polished your novel to perfection it's time to write a query letter. They are incredibly hard to write and require a huge about of work, and so they should. After all, it isn't going to matter how wonderful your novel is, if your query letter sucks you are never going to sell it!
Where am I going with this? No, I'm not going to tell you how to write a query letter. What I am going to do is point you in the direction of The Public Query Slushpile over at: http://openquery.blogspot.com
Here you can submit your query letter and have others comment, critique and give you brilliant advice.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Mugging the Muse
I am reading a great book at the moment by Holly Lisle entitled Mugging the Muse: Writing Fiction for Love and Money, a fun and insightful little read about how (and how not) to write.
I highly recommend it. In fact, I thought I'd post some of her tips for general story writing, just to get you excited.
1) Avoid passive voice
--- don't be boring!
2) Use active verbs
--- extend you vocab
3) Eliminate most adjectives and adverbs
--- "ly" words slow down the story
4) Use concrete detail
--- five senses
5) Tell a story worth telling
--- purpose, theme or message
6) Know your characters
I have left out all the meat sandwiched between these points, you will have to get the book to read the rest. This was just a teaser. In Mugging the Muse, Holly talks about everything from starting to write through to finishing a novel. Her style is witty, relaxed and encouraging, yet baldly honest about the realities and pitfalls of being a professional writer. Speaking about the personal cost of following the dream to be a writer, Holly says, "Every dreamer pays a price. But so does everyone who fears to dream."
So, hunt up the book, read, then get dreaming and get busy!
You can visit Holly Lisle's site at: http://www.hollylisle.com
I highly recommend it. In fact, I thought I'd post some of her tips for general story writing, just to get you excited.
1) Avoid passive voice
--- don't be boring!
2) Use active verbs
--- extend you vocab
3) Eliminate most adjectives and adverbs
--- "ly" words slow down the story
4) Use concrete detail
--- five senses
5) Tell a story worth telling
--- purpose, theme or message
6) Know your characters
I have left out all the meat sandwiched between these points, you will have to get the book to read the rest. This was just a teaser. In Mugging the Muse, Holly talks about everything from starting to write through to finishing a novel. Her style is witty, relaxed and encouraging, yet baldly honest about the realities and pitfalls of being a professional writer. Speaking about the personal cost of following the dream to be a writer, Holly says, "Every dreamer pays a price. But so does everyone who fears to dream."
So, hunt up the book, read, then get dreaming and get busy!
You can visit Holly Lisle's site at: http://www.hollylisle.com
Monday, June 1, 2009
Update
I haven't blogged for a while, so I thought to start off the new month I'd update you on what has been keeping me away.
I am very new at writing for competitions but this is what has been consuming most of my writing lately.
I have recently entered four stories in a competition. They were due in at the end of May. I am excited about this, not only because there is a little bit of prize money involved, but because quite a few of the entries will be selected for an anthology which will be published. There will be a special presentation dinner and everything!
Our local writer's workshop also has a competition coming up (I mentioned I was working on some pieces for it a while ago), the stories are due in on the 10th of June. We will find out the results next month. I am entering four "True" stories here. There is no dosh involved with this one but the winner will receive a trophy. (I like trophies!)
The NZ Christian Writer's group which I am a part of has monthly competitions so I have been working on a couple of pieces for this too. The winning pieces will be published in the magazine.
The biggest competition is the upcoming BNZ Katherine Mansfeild Competition. This is probably the most prestigious short story competition in NZ. I am currently working on a piece for this. Submissions are due in by 30th of June.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Lynn Truss on Punctuation
Eats Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss, is officially one of my all time favourite books. Who would have thought a book about punctuation could have me giggling and snorting, my nose so glued to the page, I honestly couldn't put it down once I started reading it.
I'm going to share a couple of her little gems of wisdom with you, just to whet your appetite.
Taken from the "style book of a national newspaper: punctuation is 'a courtesy designed to help readers to understand a story without stumbling'."
Punctuation is just good manners and: "Truly good manners are invisible: they ease the way for others, without drawing attention to themselves."
"Punctuation directs you how to read, in the way musical notation directs a musician how to play."
What a lovely picture. Who ever dreamed punctuation could be so artistic, so beautiful, so precisely particular?!
Get the book! It is a must for every bookshelf.
I'm going to share a couple of her little gems of wisdom with you, just to whet your appetite.
Taken from the "style book of a national newspaper: punctuation is 'a courtesy designed to help readers to understand a story without stumbling'."
Punctuation is just good manners and: "Truly good manners are invisible: they ease the way for others, without drawing attention to themselves."
"Punctuation directs you how to read, in the way musical notation directs a musician how to play."
What a lovely picture. Who ever dreamed punctuation could be so artistic, so beautiful, so precisely particular?!
Get the book! It is a must for every bookshelf.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Writing Tip #2
Today's tip:
Don't tell the reader what is happening, let them experience it for themselves.
Your reader wants to experience what the character is experiencing.
So, employ the five senses:
* See
* Taste
* Smell
* Hear
* Feel
For example: Tim showered and had a coffee.
Becomes:
Tim flicked on the shower faucet and cast a towel over the rail. Brushing his teeth over the basin he waited for the water to steam. Stepping in, a torrent of blistering rain hammered against his back only to trickle down his calves. Bliss. He lathered, scrubbed and cast away the showerbud. Then switching off the water, he stepped onto the bathmat, dragging the towel after him.
And:
The jug whistled loudly, spewing forth a cloud of steam. Humming tunelessly, Tim spooned coffee into a mug. He splashed hot water over the milky granules and the rich, bitter scent filled the kitchen. He could almost taste it. Tim sighed contently and stirred it, watching a creamy vortex form in his mug.
I'm not saying that in every paragraph you write we need to experience every one of the five senses (God forbid!), but we should experience at least one, I think.
Nor am I saying, every time your character does something like eat, sleep, dress, shower or kiss, etc, you need to write an entire paragraph of moment by moment detail about what happened (your readers would fall asleep), rather you can use these experiences to draw your readers into your story.
This method is especially good for longer pieces of writing, use it sparingly in short stories.
So what inspired me to share this tip?
I critiqued the first chapter of a novel that was written entirely in this way.
Tim woke up. The alarm was ringing. He turned it off and got up. Tim went down stairs. He showered and had a coffee. Sitting at the table he thought about his girl friend.
That wasn't a quote, but it wasn't far off. Needless to say, I didn't read the whole chapter. I was bored. Why? Because nothing is happening! I'm not drawn to Tim. I don't know who he is, what he is experiencing or what he is thinking... nothing. Dull!
So happy writing everyone. Get busy experiencing your character's world!
Don't tell the reader what is happening, let them experience it for themselves.
Your reader wants to experience what the character is experiencing.
So, employ the five senses:
* See
* Taste
* Smell
* Hear
* Feel
For example: Tim showered and had a coffee.
Becomes:
Tim flicked on the shower faucet and cast a towel over the rail. Brushing his teeth over the basin he waited for the water to steam. Stepping in, a torrent of blistering rain hammered against his back only to trickle down his calves. Bliss. He lathered, scrubbed and cast away the showerbud. Then switching off the water, he stepped onto the bathmat, dragging the towel after him.
And:
The jug whistled loudly, spewing forth a cloud of steam. Humming tunelessly, Tim spooned coffee into a mug. He splashed hot water over the milky granules and the rich, bitter scent filled the kitchen. He could almost taste it. Tim sighed contently and stirred it, watching a creamy vortex form in his mug.
I'm not saying that in every paragraph you write we need to experience every one of the five senses (God forbid!), but we should experience at least one, I think.
Nor am I saying, every time your character does something like eat, sleep, dress, shower or kiss, etc, you need to write an entire paragraph of moment by moment detail about what happened (your readers would fall asleep), rather you can use these experiences to draw your readers into your story.
This method is especially good for longer pieces of writing, use it sparingly in short stories.
So what inspired me to share this tip?
I critiqued the first chapter of a novel that was written entirely in this way.
Tim woke up. The alarm was ringing. He turned it off and got up. Tim went down stairs. He showered and had a coffee. Sitting at the table he thought about his girl friend.
That wasn't a quote, but it wasn't far off. Needless to say, I didn't read the whole chapter. I was bored. Why? Because nothing is happening! I'm not drawn to Tim. I don't know who he is, what he is experiencing or what he is thinking... nothing. Dull!
So happy writing everyone. Get busy experiencing your character's world!
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