Tag: Reference

  • Wiley Wednesday: To Outline or Not To Outline

    A lot of people, generally nonwriters or new writers, tell me that to write a novel, one needs an outline. To which I say, Hogwash.

    That’s right. Hogwash!

    One needs an outline as much as one needs a pencil – which is to say, there’s more than one way to write something down.

    Take a look at my story, The Night is a Harsh Mistress. I started this without any kind of cohesive plan, just an idea of a flavor. I wanted to write something noir, which is to say like a 1940’s detective novel, but with a female lead. Most such novels have a main character who is a loner and who smokes, and I felt that in today’s climate, smoking without compunction would be a little unrealistic, so it would be someone trying to quit.

    Voila.

    That was really it.

    So, when I started, I wrote about her in the pursuit of one of her cases. Classical storytelling tells us that we need to show our protagonist succeeding at their objective, then put in a position where they cannot possibly win, then they surmount the odds and win. So the first chapter is her succeeding at her work. Then it gets weird.

    I added Viktor not, as many of my readers have assumed, as a love interest, but as a foil. He’s someone who would usually be a villain, but in this context I wanted him to be more of someone who helped Rachel to find herself in the midst of all the activity of her life.

    How do I keep the strands straight? A couple ways. For one, I reread periodically, so I can keep the flavor of the story in my head. This is more critical when I’m writing a serial like Rachel, since I’m only writing a chapter every two weeks. Additionally, I keep a notes section at the end, called “Endnotes,” where I track ideas for action I want to see happen or things I don’t want to forget. I also put questions here, like “Who is the man in the first chapter?” That way, as I’m writing, I can incorporate those things into the story.

    I find that if I write an outline, in order, from start to finish, it sucks the fun out of the story for me. That’s not to say that outlining is bad or doesn’t work for others, just that it doesn’t work for me. If you find you’re that way too, it doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong – it just means you’re not left-brain sequential in your approach to your storytelling. Or, it may mean that you use an outline for some projects and not for others.

    Steven King, in his book On Writing, talks about his method of working (and he doesn’t use an outline either). He starts a story and doesn’t stop until he’s finished. He suggests that you find a room, hide away in it, (the fact that the room has a door, even if it’s the bathroom or a laundry room, is of the utmost importance), and write on a regular basis. He suggests not starting a new project until your current one is finished, because he finds that it dilutes his focus. While I don’t work that way – I usually have multiple projects going at any one time – I like his idea of having a regular writing time where you shut yourself away from distractions and work until you’re finished. That’s advice more of us could use.

    So instead of worrying about your outline next time you sit down to write something, just try telling a story and see where it leads you. Like me, you might find this method is a lot more fun. And, in this business, what’s fun is what works.

  • Wiley Wednesday: Weaving the Web

    One of my favorite writing websites is Writing World, www.writing-world.com (don’t forget the dash or it’ll send you somewhere different). Now edited by Dawn Copeman, it was started by Moira Allen. They publish a free monthly newsletter on the first Thursday of each month. The website has over 825 pages of information covering every genre.

    Moira Allen was editor of Cat Fancy magazine for over a decade and has numerous writing credits to her name. I took a class from her, Breaking into Magazine Writing, that I found tremendously informative and useful. She is very business-like in her approach. She doesn’t have fairy-dust in her eyes about how the publishing industry works, but she is very proactive in how she approaches it.

    Writing World covers all sorts of material of interest to the beginner and experienced author alike:

    Beginner’s World
    The Business of Writing
    Freelancer’s World
    Commercial Corner
    International Writing
    General Fiction
    Romance
    Mystery
    SF/Fantasy
    Children’s Writing
    Poetry/Greeting Cards
    Creative Nonfiction
    Screenwriting
    Publishing Your Book
    Promoting Your Writing

    In addition, Moira Allen has written several books of interest to the freelancer. In particular, she has released an e-book, How to Write for Magazines, which is a synthesis of the class I mentioned earlier. I have it, it’s excellent.

    Their Links page is worth the price of admission. It’s enormous; I don’t have room to fit all the topics here. That alone is worth seeing; I highly recommend you check it out. She’s even got a section on Rights and Copyright, which is always an important thing to understand.

    Most importantly, they do accept submissions! Since they have nearly 600 articles already, it’s important to double-check their guidelines, but check it out!

  • Writing Reference Series #1


    A while back, I went on a ‘craft-building’ book buying binge. Over my next few Wiley Wednesdays, I’ll be talking about what I took away from each of them. One repeating pattern I found was that several of the books had lists of other handy reference. At the top of almost every one of those lists was Strunk & White’s ‘The Elements of Style’ – a short text that packs a real wallop, and definitely the place to begin. In short, I wish I had read this book three years ago. It would have saved me a lot of time.

    William Strunk Jr. was an English professor at Cornell in the early 1900s. He taught from his own ‘little book’ – a concise text he wrote to cover the basics of grammar and composition, originally published in 1869. At 105 pages, including forwards and index, it truly is little. But little is too small a word. E. B. White (Stuart Little, Charlotte’s Web) was a student of Mr. Strunk, and decided much later in his career that Strunk’s ‘little book’ could serve a much broader audience. The text was revised in 1935, 1959, 1979 and 2000 – and everything in it still bears repeating. In his original introduction, Mr. White describes the book as, “seven rules of usage, eleven principals of composition, a few matters of form, and a list of expressions commonly misused . . .” All of these are centered around one theme, that edict pounded home by Strunk himself:

    Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

    I won’t run through every rule here. They are neatly numbered and stated with very clear examples in the full text, and I highly recommend you pick up the book and read it from cover to cover several times, as I did. The full text is also available online. Instead, I’ll skip the grammar stuff, and cut straight to the elements of composition I wish I had learned by studying this text, rather than the hard way (i.e. sludging along cluelessly until someone pointed it out to me the twelvth time).

    13. Make the paragraph the unit of composition. To some, this may come naturally. To others, it is something pounded into our heads by 6th grade teachers. Still others struggle. But it’s quite simple, as laid down by Strunk. Writing is a series of thoughts. How we compose and gather these thoughts either facilitates or hinders how the the reader understands. In summary: one idea per paragraph. Introduce it. Add detail. Conclude or sum up.

    14. Use the active voice. Ugh! I can’t tell you how long people were saying ‘that’s passive voice’ before I knew what they were talking about. And finding someone to clearly explain it had me tearing my hair out. In general, passive voice takes the action away from your subject and misplaces it. According to Strunk, the active voice makes for more ‘forcible’ writing. But, examples do far better (from the text):

    “I shall always remember my first visit to Boston.” Not, “My first visit to Boston will alway be remembered by me.”

    Not, “At dawn the crowing of a rooster could be heard.” But, “The cock’s crow came with dawn.”

    In general, when scanning for passive voice, the words would, could, was and were are indicators. However, this is not to be confused with the progressive past tense: “I was walking through the woods.”

    15. Put statements in positive form. Basically – don’t describe what is not happening, describe what is happening.

    Not, “He was not very often on time.” But, “He usually came late.”

    Not, “She did not think that studying Latin was a sensible way to use one’s time.” But, “She thought the study of Latin a waste of time.”

    As you can see, the affirmative is usually more direct and concise. It also sounds less ‘wavering’. Be definite in what you say. Oh, wait . . . that’s number 16.

    16. Use definite, specific, concrete language:

    Not, “A period of unfavorable weather set in.” But, “It rained every day for a week.”

    Usually, this means you will give more specific details. If you are trying to make a general statement, do so, but make it concrete and definite. At least knock out two of the three:

    Not, “She seldom enjoyed visiting her aunt.” But, “He hated visiting her aunt.”

    17. OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS. This is by far Strunk’s most important point, linking back to his main theme. Omit needless words. Omit needless words! You’ll find this easier at the edit phase. I don’t recommend having this mind set when you are drafting, because when you haven’t written anything, one could argue every word is needless. But once you have a draft, you’ll find there are a HUGE amount of ways to rephrase to use less words or to simply cross out the ones you don’t need, without losing meaning. Some examples of classic needless words are often: that, because, as to, for. Also stall phrases, such as: started to, began to, almost, was going to, etc. Strunk lists several examples of his least favorite needless phrases, which you’ll find very useful. Cut to the action, and . . . OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS.

    I think that is a good start, and a fair chunk of some of Strunk’s most important points. As stated above, I highly recommend reviewing the text in its entirety. Adding these feathers to your editing cap will most certainly help you to write concisely, without losing meaning.

    Happy writing!

    -Gwen

  • Wiley Wednesday 08/27/2008

    The Peripatetic School

    Peripatetic:

    ADJECTIVE:
    1. Walking about or from place to place; traveling on foot. 2. Peripatetic Of or relating to the philosophy or teaching methods of Aristotle, who conducted discussions while walking about in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.

    NOUN:
    1. One who walks from place to place; an itinerant. 2. Peripatetic A follower of the philosophy of Aristotle; an Aristotelian.

    ETYMOLOGY:
    Middle English peripatetik, from Latin peripat ticus, from Greek peripat tikos, from peripatein, to walk about, or from peripatos, covered walk (where Aristotle allegedly lectured) : peri-, peri- + patein, to walk.

    http://www.bartleby.com/61/55/P0195500.html

    So. What does peripatetic have to do with writing? Good question. I was reading Julia Cameron’s work and she commented that several writers belong to the “peripatetic school.” My first thought was, what the heck is peripatetic? Then it was, what does walking have to do with writing?

    Well, try it, then you can tell me.

    I should just stop the essay there, but I’ll be kind. For me, walking is something that slows me down to human speed, rather than caffeine speed, stress speed, or I have to finish twenty things in time enough only for ten speed. Walking is repetitive. There’s not much more than pick up one foot, put it in front of the other. Lather, rinse, repeat. This allows the mind to wander while the feet, well, wander.

    How is this of benefit to writing?

    Well, try it, then… you get the picture.

    It’s strange how we get so into our own heads when we write. Our own heads are not necessarily the most helpful places to be when writing, either. But instead of fighting with our internalized voices, next time you are stuck try getting up and walking around the block for twenty minutes. See what interesting insights might bubble up for you.

    Besides. You can dazzle and confuse everyone by telling them, “I’m part of the peripatetic school.” “Really? What degree are you getting?”

  • What To Do When Stress Rears Its Head

    Four Simple Tools Anyone Can Use

    Those of you who have read my blog recently, know that I was stranded in Minnesota a few weeks ago. I want to share some of the tools that kept me calm and able to function to the best of my ability during this experience.

    Tool the First: Morning Pages

    First, Morning Pages. I know I’ve talked about these before, and quite honestly, will probably do so again. Morning Pages are from Julia Cameron, in her book The Artist’s Way and others. They are three pages of longhand writing, done in the morning. (Hence the name, nu?) They are many things, but most of all they are NOT writing.

    Huh?

    Nope. Not writing. They just happen to be written, but they are emphatically not writing. In fact, writers will find them the hardest. The rest of us who aren’t writers will find them easier. Feel better now?

    The genius about writing morning pages is that they are just three pages of writing, done in the morning. They can’t be done wrong. If you wrote three pages, you did them right. If you did them, then they’re done right. This is sort of counterintuitive to us left-brain Westerners, but it’s true. Just three pages. Longhand.

    Think it’s got to be harder than that?

    Try something for me. Pause from reading this essay (but you’d better come back to it! ~shaky finger~) and go grab three pages of paper. Could be lined or not, doesn’t matter, as long as it’s 8.5” x 11”. Now write. Just fill up that paper. When you get to the bottom of the third page, stop.

    There. You did it right.

    Feel good? Uh-huh. That’s all there is to it.

    Why am I harping on Morning Pages?

    Morning ages are a method of moving meditation, sort of like walking. Like sitting Za-Zen, they bring us into the moment where we meet the moment, and ourselves. This may sound kind of hokey, but it’s true – it’s easy to be in the moment when you’re writing, because writing IS in the moment. You can’t write later, or in five minutes. If you’re writing, you’re in the moment. It’s a “now” activity. It’s sort of hard to let your mind wander when you’re writing longhand, because then your pen tends to stop and you’re no longer writing.

    When I was stranded, one of the only ‘creative’ activities I could do was writing my morning pages. I couldn’t even fill up the endless hours while I waited for news of my doomed car with any actual creative writing – I was too tense. I just managed to do my Morning Pages, and stay present.

    I kept the television off during this time, as an added method of staying in the moment and being present.

    Tool the Second: Walking

    Another tool I used was walking. That’s right, just putting one foot in front of the other. Nothing more profound than that. The town I was stranded in had a lovely lake in the center of it that the tow truck driver passed by when he took me to the hotel. I was able to find it from my hotel and wandered over there in the evening. After that, I was able to return to the hotel, much more centered in my body. I didn’t do anything more strenuous than walking, looking at trees and the little tree-dwelling creatures that were by the lake. Several cheeky squirrels and a family of ducks kept me company, as did a man walking his mother in her wheelchair and several afternoon joggers. It’s amazing how much one slows down when one is walking.

    Tool the Third: Bathe, Thou Stinky One!

    Another tool I used was a bath. Is this a tool? If not, it should be. “Noony’s Guide to Enlightenment, Chapter Four.” (No, I haven’t written it yet.) But seriously. Sitting in water is an excellent way to relax. Something about the water is grounding (or is that, wetting?). Regardless, it helped me feel comforted, miles away from my family and friends, stuck in the middle of nowhere. (Well, to be fair, the residents of Winona probably don’t think of their town as “nowhere.” But I digress.) Bathing is an easy way of getting present. I’ll give you a little secret – you don’t actually need any bath soup, either. Just water. It might be odd the first time you try it, it was for me anyway, but having bath oil or bath salt or bath sugar isn’t required. Just hot water.

    If you dislike baths, try sitting in the tub or shower with the water beating down on your head. That’s another way to get present.

    From a magical perspective, water is one of the four Aristotelian elements, and as such, extraordinarily powerful. Even if you don’t go in for that kind of “hokum,” water can be very helpful to the grounding and relaxing process. Why do you think spas have hot tubs for use by patrons before their massage?

    Tool the Fourth: Breathing

    Breathing was the final tool I used. Duh, right?

    I’m serious! Breathing is very underrated, particularly by Westerners. How are you breathing right now? Chances are, very shallow, little breaths that hardly fill up your central cavity. If that’s the case, try something. Take a nice, big, deep breath that fills your belly up so much, your tummy distends. Now hold it for a second or two, then let it out. Press it all the way out of your body like you’re pressing water out of your laundry. Now do that two or three more times. Chances are, your fingers and toes will start to get warmer. That’s the blood flow increasing all the way to your extremities. This is very healthy, and means that you are getting into the moment – which is where your power is.

    Tie Them All Together With a Cute Little Bow

    We have all the power and strength we need to handle life’s challenges, but we shortchange ourselves and ignore our power. We cannot access it anywhere except in the moment. And the only way to get into the moment is to get into the moment. (Which is sort of a silly thing to say, but nonetheless true.) We spend so much time elsewhere – reading books or watching time-filler television. (You’ve seen my rant on Americans and television, right?) Well, these four simple tools can be used right where you are, and don’t require any special equipment other than a pencil, paper, and shoes – things most of us are fortunate enough to have in our possession. And if you can read this, then you can breathe. If you can’t breathe, then I can’t help you.

    So, go forth and power yourself into the moment. See what kinds of problems and challenges you can surmount by doing so.

  • What is a Best Seller?

    In an effort to increase my market knowledge, I delved into this topic headlong and found it particularly daunting. Here I’ll sum up what I’ve found, and perhaps ‘de-mystify’ it for you some as well.

    The question that led me on this journey was ‘what does it mean to have a ‘BEST-SELLING’ book?’ and ‘what does it mean to be a BEST-SELLING author?’

    First off, both are relative. Technically, if Author A publishes through small press B which only publishes 10 titles, and theirs sells 20 copies, whereas the other nine sell 2-3, they are a BEST-SELLING author of a BEST-SELLING title. Best selling where, according to whom, and compared to what are the questions one could ask following Author A’s “Best Selling” claim. (The same goes for ‘Award-Winning’ . . . it’s all relative, and it can all be a means of hyping an author or title.) There are plenty of smaller magazines and editorials that make their own lists, specific to genre, etc. And sometimes, those are more realistic. After all, in a small genre, you can’t expect to outsell a widely-appealing summer beach/airport read one could pick up at Walmart – that doesn’t mean it’s not a best seller or a success, when comparing apples to apples.

    Quick Disclaimer: From a marketing perspective, let me just say I totally understand the reasons for highlighting what you can when you’re selling your self, your brand, or your product (book). I’m not attempting to ‘de-bunk’ these claims, nor am I de-valuing them. I’m just callin’ it like I see it.

    For simplicity’s sake, let’s forget the people who just claim ‘Best-Selling Author A’ without qualifying it, leave out e-books, and focus on the best-known BSLs (Best Sellers Lists): the New York Times, and USA Today. These are two examples of two different types of listings. Also note that there are ‘top list’ and ‘mid list’ rankings, unofficially.

    General Note on reading these lists – you’ll see three columns of numbers:

    The column in big print on the left is the title’s current position on the list. The blue column is last week’s ranking, and the red column is the number of weeks on this list. In this example, you can see the number 1 slot for fiction debuted this week at number one. Number four has been there, in the number four slot, for four weeks.

    The NYT breaks out their best-sellers by categories based on Fiction/Non-Fiction and how the book is bound (trade paperback, hardcover, mass market paperback, etc.).

    They supposedly put Children’s books on their own list in 2001, due to the raging success of the Harry Potter books, which they just couldn’t shake off the other lists. The ‘Children’s Books’ listing is now separated into ‘picture books’, ‘chapter books’ and ‘series’ – of which, Harry Potter is on its 191st week on the NYT . Anyhow, children’s books aside, there are 35 slots on each of these lists on any given week. Midlist starts around the #10 slot. (Publisher’s Weekly follows a system close to that of the Times, but only lists 15 titles, as opposed to 35.)

    The USA Today list, on the other hand, lists all books, regardless of genre and format. The list has 150 slots reported per week. Midlist starts around the #25 slot.

    So, uh . . . what qualifies as a NYT/USA Today bestseller?

    *sigh* Relative. Relative. Relative. Book sales fluctuate, just like anything. There are slow times in the book market, just like any other market. And again – are you comparing it to other books in its ‘class’?

    The only consistency seems to be that both of these lists rely on sales feedback from the major chain booksellers: B&N, Borders, Powell’s, Costco, etc. And, at a casual glance, they seem fairly consistent, if you consider the differences between the broken-out and non-broken listing.

    You want a straight answer you say?

    Hmm… it looks to me like a FICTION HARD COVER selling between 5,000-10,000 copies in a week will be on the NYT. Of course, a mass market paperback would have to sell more. A non-fiction title, perhaps less. And it also depends on the week. Say highly awaited series conclusion XYZ comes out in a week where there’s a lull, and the list is simply dominated by books that have been selling steadily in the 5-7K range for weeks, and XYZ sells 25,000 copies. Well, it takes the number one slot. But the same book coming out against ten other highly-anticipated books might fall into the middle of the list somewhere. It’s relative. And . . . truth be told, I don’t think the they really want us to know what determines a USA Today or NYT ranking. What it takes to earn your spot is a secret guarded closer than the recipe for Bush’s baked beans.

    It depends on genre too. I remember reading a story about how a particular author’s publisher decided to market her book as romance vs. fantasy. Why? Well, a romance ‘best-seller’ sells through in the 40-50K area, where a fantasy ‘best-seller’ sells through with 10-15K copies.

    Okay, what about a NYT/USA Today bestselling AUTHOR?

    Heh. Sorry, relative again. Each publisher has their own rules depending on… who knows what … that determines when they will claim one of their authors is a ‘NYT Best Selling Author’. Simply making the list isn’t enough. They might require you stay on it for a minimum number of weeks, or hit a certain slot, etc.

    In the end, of course, we also face the question: ‘Just because the masses like it, doesn’t mean it’s good’. Sure. True enough. But in some cases, the numbers don’t lie. (Who doesn’t have Harry Potter on a shelf somewhere?)

    Some argue that the NYT and other lists mean nothing. After all, they don’t account for eBooks, or for what is selling in small independent ‘brick and mortar’ bookstores. Those have their own listings, which seldom resemble the Times.

    Some other lists to look at which might sing to their own tune:
    Amazon – Updated Hourly
    Booksense (Independent Booksellers Only)

    Long story short – a ‘Best Seller’ might be something to aspire to, but there are several levels of best sellers, and sales status according to limited (and in some cases skewed) surveys doesn’t necessarily indicate quality, or even popularity. Sadly, there are plenty of amazing authors and books who might have a very loyal following, yet never make the list, or never break mid-list simply because of poor timing, poor marketing, or some other crappy unfairness of life. Just because it says ‘bestselling blah blah blah’ on the cover doesn’t mean you’ll love it. I mean, plenty of people think Tide is the best detergent, but it makes me break out in hives.

    Personally, I take the ratings with a grain of salt and rely on recommendations from people I trust, or my own gut instinct on an unknown title/author I want to check out.

    And now that I know what goes into it – my dreams won’t be shattered if I can’t put those words after my name. They’re just . . . words. There are so many more interesting ones.

    … Queen of the Underworld
    …….. Chocolate Connaiseuse Extraordinaire
    …………… Clive Owen’s Personal Sex Slave

  • Retired Words

    Interesting, unfamiliar and forgotten words taken out of my 1867 dictionary.

    Nihilism, ni hil-izm, n. Nothingness; the doctrine that nothing can be known. (from L. nihil-ne, Not and hilum, a trifle.)

    Facinorous, fa-sin’o-rus, a. Atrociously wicked. (L. facinus, a bad deed.)

    Extirpate, v.t Root out, to eradicate, destroy utterly.

    Imbroglio, im-brolyo, n. An embarrassing state of things.

    Immolate, im’molat, vt. To sacrifice; to kill, as a victim offered in sacrifice; to offer in sacrifice. Ppr. Immolating, prêt. & pp. immolated. (L. immolo, immolates-mola, sacrificial meal.)

    Parsimonious, par-si-moni-us, a. Very sparing in the use or expenditure of money; niggardly; frugal.

    Rugose, ru’gos, a. Wrinkled; rough with wrinkles. (L. rugosus-ruga, a wrinkle.)

    Turgescence, ter-jes’ens, n. State of becoming turgid; empty pompousness; bombast. (Fr.-L. Turgeo, to swell.)

    Uxorious, uks-ori-us. a. Excessively fond of one’s wife. (L. uzorius-uzozr, a wife.)

    Controvert, kontro-vert, vt. To turn against; to deny, and attempt to disprove or confute; to agitate contrary opinions against. (L. verto, to turn.)

    This was fun, but exhausting to my eyes, the print is so small it hurts to read it. Hope you Enjoy these words. They are randomly chosen, just as I flicked here and there in the dictionary. 🙂

  • Editing Schmediting

    Unless you’re lucky enough to write everything perfect the first time, or you have an editing slave at your beck and call, editing is a reality for every writer. For some people, editing comes naturally, for others, it doesn’t. I’ve figured out I’m one of the latter. I’m a writer. A prolific one. Give me a prompt or idea, and a keyboard, and . . . off I go!

    But just because I can write and write and write, doesn’t mean it’s actually good. There has to be clean up, tightening, re-wording, re-structuring, clarification to make my writing read-worthy, just like anybody else (except for you annoying three people who get it exactly right the first time). I spent the better part of a week earlier this month doing nothing but editing, and here’s what I’ve determined: it’s no fun. XP

    But I learned something else about myself: I can learn to edit. Really edit. And while it might not be as much fun as letting my imagination have free reign and letting my fingers fly over the keyboard – the results are very satisfying. It does require me to switch out the cogs in my head, and after a bout of editing like what I just went through, I think it will be some time before I can turn off that ‘internal’ editor and get back to writing smoothly. However, the next time I sit down and put on my ‘editor cap’, I’ll be better prepared because of the list of steps I’ve made for myself.

    I thought I would share them here because, a) they are gathered from various well-trusted sources, b) I find them useful, c) I told you I’m sapped and I couldn’t think of anything else to post. =P

    So, here’s my semi-gelatinous editing task list:

    1. I edit for spelling, grammar and continuity as I go. In a novel, this means after I draft a scene, I read it again and edit. Sometimes more than once. If I go away for any length of time, when I get back I read the last scene or two again (and sometimes edit) before moving on. However, if you don’t do this, a spellcheck and grammar check are a good place to start. They won’t catch most homophones though, so watch out.

    2. My next step is a simple cut/re-arrange. Basically, ignoring mechanics, does each scene move the story forward? Is there a message to take away from each scene, and what is it? This is the time for major cuts/re-writes and this is also where I take word count under strongest consideration. I’m sort of obsessive about having well-balanced chapters, meaning that they be a fairly consistent number of words. I know, I know . . . moving on.

    3. Next, I do a search and highlight (in various colors) for the major ‘weak writing indicators’. Some of these are universal: was, were, have, and had can signal passive voice; began, started, almost, practically are stall/lessening phrases; something/anything/everything are vague; THAT – they aren’t lying when they say you can delete half of these with no effect. I also have a set more specific to me, words I know I overuse: look, shrug, grin, nod, eyes, dark, wanted, felt, etc. By the time I’m done with this – my manuscript looks like a laser light show.

    4. Time for another read-through. Yep. From the beginning. The goal here is to lessen the color spectrum by re-phrasing, choosing stronger verbs, more exact nouns and or taking out unnecessary clauses. At the same time, on this read through I try to manage the flow of the narrative, make sure I have the emphasis in the right place, fiddle around with paragraph breaks, vary my punctuation, etc. I’m like a diva shoe-shopping with my word choices too – “Hmm… maybe this one. No, no . . . this one.”

    5. If you’re doing it all by my lonesome, the last step is yet ANOTHER read-through. From the beginning, just for smoothing. This time, I try to focus on envisioning the story, feeling the characters. Did I get my point across? Is the story engaging? Does anything kick me out as a reader. It’s always better if you have someone else to do this step for you. But if you’re very prolific, sometimes this is difficult. So, taking a break from the steps above (when possible) is most advisable. Try to look at the story as if you’re a reader reading it for the first time.

    As you can imagine, my eyes are still crossed. I read my novel about six times in a week. And now I’m sick of me.

    For what it’s worth, though . . .

    ~Gwen

  • Things Not Generally Known – 1859…continued

    Is it my turn again already? Yes it is, so I am adding to my last blog of ‘Things Not Generally Known’, with pictures of the book I took the information from. My husband and I love old books and occasionally he finds a treasure in one of his favorite haunts. We have two other books that sit by the computer, dictionaries dating from 1867 and 1845. They are quite tatty, but I love them.

    The page on the left shows the actual date of the book, 1859. If you click on the pic it should enlarge so that you can read it clearly…I hope.

    The cover is very plain, not leather, so I doubt it was an expensive book to begin with. It feels like textured paper. Whoever owned it must have not read it much because it is in very good condition for a book so old.

    The spine is the most attractive part of the book. It has gold leaf lettering and a sweet little gold leaf impression under the title that looks like a vine leaf.

    I have to include another interesting not generally known fact from the book, they are fascinating. At least I hope they are to all of you reading this blog.

    “To Lay in Lavender.
    The plant Lavender was formerly considered as an emblem of affection. Drayton, in one of his eclogues, sings:

    Some of such flow’rs as to his hand doth pass,
    Others such as a secret meaning bear;
    He for his lass him lavender hath sent,
    Showing his love, and doth requital crave:
    His rosemary his sweetheart, whose intent
    Is that he should her in remembrance have.

    To Lay in Lavender was also a current phrase for to pawn; because things pawned are carefully laid by, like clothes which, to keep them sweet, have lavender scattered among them. Ben Johnson, in Every Man out of his Humour, refers to a black satin suit, which, “for the more sweet’ning, now lies in lavender.”

    I love the poem in this quote. The language is so different from what we are used to, it is difficult to understand. But the meaning of the poem comes through anyway. I am very thankful to the people of past era’s who have taken such good care of their books, and that we can benefit from their gentle handling. It would be awful if all the ideas, and writings of the past were lost to us, very sad indeed.

    P.S. Eclogue, ek’log, n. A picking out; that which is chosen out; a pastoral poem in which shepherds are introduced conversing with each other. (so the dictionary from 1867 says) 🙂

  • Things Not Generally Known – 1859

    This little book printed in 1859 is an interesting collection of historical and social facts, very pertinent to the times in which it was written. I thought it might be fun to take a look at how they wrote, seeing as we are into writing. Life was so amazingly different over 200 years ago, thoughts, attitudes, manners, inventions, science and medicine are absolutely nothing like today. I randomly chose snippets of information to compare with today’s grammar, spelling and punctuation.

     Wearing the Watch.

    The Wearing of a Watch was, till late times, considered in some degree as a mark and proof of gentility; though the invention may be traced back to the 14th century. Watches were even worn ostentatiously hung round the neck to a chain; which fashion has been revived in female dress.

    • I didn’t know the watch dated back to the 14th century.

     The Paschal Light.

    This was an enormously thick wax-candle, which was lighted on the morning of Easter Day; the wax itself being curiously adorned with grains of incense, and inscribed with the epact, dominical letter, &c.; also the names of the reigning pope, king, and bishop of the diocese, and the date of the consecration of the church.-Hart’s Ecclesiastical Records, &c.

     The Dinner Hour.

    The proper Hour for Dinner is laid down by Thomas Cogan, a physician, in a book entitled the Haven of Health, printed in 1584, as follows:
    When foure hours bee past after breakfast, a man may safely take his dinner; and the most Convenient time for dinner is about eleven of the clocke before noone. The usuall time for dinner in the universities is at eleven, or elsewhere about noon.

     Juniper.

    It was formerly supposed that the wood of Juniper, when once lighted, would remain on fire a whole year if covered with its own ashes. Hence Ben Johnson, in the Alchemist, talk s of the “coal of juniper,” which the tobacconist kept for his customers to light their pipes from.-Nares’s Glossary.

     The Days of the Week.

    Ancient deeds are frequently dated the day of the week on which there were executed, e.g. Die Jovis, Die Mercurii, &c.; each day being dedicated to a heathen deity , as follows:

    • Dies Solis………………..Sunday
    • Dies Lunae……………..Monday
    • Dies Martis…………….Tuesday
    • Dies Mercurii…………Wednesday
    • Dies Jovis……………..Thursday
    • Dies Veneris…………Friday
    • Dies Saturni………….Saturday

    In some ancient deeds we find the equivalent terms Dies Dominica for Sunday, and Dies Sabbati for Saturday.

    These Latin designations are also generally used in entries in the account-books of surgeons and apothecaries.

     March-Pane.

    This, one of the glories of olden confectionery, is a sweet biscuit, composed of sugar and almonds, like those now called macaroons. It is also called massepain in some old books. The word March-pane exists, with little variation, in almost all the European languages; yet the derivation of it is uncertain. In the Latin of the Middle Ages, March-panes were called Martiipanes.

    • In Australia this same sweet is called Marzipan, still made with sugar and almonds hundred of years later. Do you have this sweet in the U.S.? Does it have the same name and do you use it underneath the hard white icing on Wedding cakes?

     How To Avoid Sleepless Nights.

    Mr. A. J. Ellis has announced to the Scottish Curative Mesmeric Association, that persons wishing to avoid sleepless nights should lie with their heads to the north, and not on any account lie with their heads to the west.

    • I added this for my friend’s who suffer from insomnia. This may be valuable advice. Turn you bed around and see if you sleep better; let us all know if it works.

    The language in this book is old fashioned, and the spelling is giving my Word Document software a fit with all the different spellings, there are little red squiggly lines littered all over the page. That alone makes this book very interesting, as the changes in the English language over hundreds of years are immense. The differences in punctuation are also quite remarkable. I wonder if the American form of English has changed so much in the last 200 years? I am interested to know how much it has changed and in what ways.

    The example of English from the year 1584 reminds us that language is always evolving, changing to suit the times. It is interesting how language models itself around new inventions, scientific developments, economic and business prosperity and of course the social changes that are constantly occurring in our world.

    Old books contain information that allows us to look back into a world we will never see again. I believe they give us much better insight into the past than modern day historians. We can never go back to living in those times, but we do write about them and original books of factual information are invaluable to us as writers.