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1/30/2017 4 Comments

So You Want to Be an Author?

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Guest post by Sara R. Turnquist
 
I’m here today because of my novel, Hope in Cripple Creek. I remember the day it went up for sale in the wee hours of the morning...I know, I was up at 2 a.m. checking on Amazon. It was there. And over the next 36 hours, I had many texts and e-mails from friends and family members congratulating me and wondering what it must be like for an author on book premier day. Or what it must be like to be a writer in general. It's never too late to find out.
 
Make the time for it. This is the most crucial thing about writing. You must carve out and protect the time. And you must practice writing. Work on short stories. Share them with your significant other and close loved ones who won't judge you but will give you some good feedback. If you don't have a clue what to write about, search for "writing prompts" and get ideas that way.
 
Join a Writing Group. Find a critique group that meets regularly. Preferably one that is led by a published author. And gather enough courage to participate by bringing in scenes or short stories to share with the group and open yourself for helpful critique. That is the only way to improve...by allowing iron to sharpen iron.
 
Go to a conference...or several. Conferences are like crash courses for writers and then some. You get to sit in on sessions about the craft of writing and you have the opportunity (in most cases) to pitch to an agent or editor or mentor. This is a rather unique experience and one I would encourage you to take every advantage of. Even if you don't feel ready. Make it a Q&A session or a practice session to ease into the idea of pitching. You can find a whole plethora of conferences here: http://www.westbowpress.com/authorhub/resources/events/default.aspx
 
Take an online class. I made the decision to join a national writing organization. I joined the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and they host a monthly online class that I participate in. It is perfect for me. They focus on a different topic each month and there are one to two lessons a week (not overwhelming, but just enough to keep the juices flowing). It keeps me on my toes.
 
Look for other opportunities to learn/network/connect. My critique group hosts workshops every few months that I participate in. I also joined a local chapter of the ACFW, which meets monthly. Additionally, I do what I can to interact with other authors via social media whether they are other authors that work with my publisher or other authors in the ACFW (they even have a Facebook group for several different genres, so I can connect with ACFW authors in my genre).
 
I believe that there are people born with certain talents and aptitudes. So, some people have more of a bend toward writing than others, and even some have more passion for it than others (and passion counts for a lot). But no matter your aptitude, natural talent, or passion, there is always room for growth and learning when it comes to the craft of writing.

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Sara R. Turnquist Bio
Sara is originally from Middle Tennessee where she currently resides with her family. Graduating with a B.S. in Biology, she first pursued a career in the field of Zoo Education. She also enjoyed a short stint working in the field of Sleep Medicine. However, her great love of the written word drew her to write. She is an avid reader and enjoys reading and writing clean Historical Romance. Her travels have also served to inspire her writing. Sara is the author of The Lady Bornekova, The General’s Wife, Off to War, and Hope in Cripple Creek. She is also a member of ACFW. Website: http://saraturnquist.com

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Hope in Cripple Creek

Tragedy strikes Katherine Matthews and the small town of Cripple Creek, Colorado. An epidemic teams her with an old enemy, Wyatt Sullivan, the town’s doctor. In the midst of desperation and death, Katherine has decisions to make. But she has no idea to what extent they will affect her daily life and livelihood.

The town is turned upside-down when the gold miners go on strike. The owners bring in outside reinforcements, ready to break the resolve of the Western Federation of Miners. Everything in an upheaval, Katherine faces a crisis of faith and hard choices. Will life ever be normal again?

4 Comments

1/16/2017 1 Comment

Stay in the Phone Booth

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(photo courtesy of Emily Roesly at morguefile.com)
Years, ago I read this concept from author Robert Newton Peck, “Stay in the phone booth* with the gorilla.”** Basically what it means is if you are in the midst of action, especially dangerous action, you shouldn’t have flashbacks or time for introspection. Those things pull the reader out of the action, and remind them that what they’re reading is not real. And we want the story to feel as real as we can possibly make it. Flashbacks and introspection are great for when the character isn’t dangling over the edge of the cliff.
 
Recently I saw a different form of this in someone else’s story. The monster is coming, bad things are happening, and everyone is going to die unless the heroine can overcome the monster. Then the action was put on hold while the heroine takes time to say good-bye to four different people. What? Wait! I thought the monster attack was imminent. Therefore, the monster would arrive and crush everyone and the story’d be over. I suggested to the writer that those good-byes shouldn’t happen in a safe bubble. In a movie we'd be seeing and hearing what is going on around the heroine as she has these conversations. We’d know how far away the monster was and would see and hear him getting closer. But that action wasn’t written in, so I as a reader didn’t experience it. There weren’t sensory details outside of these five people. I didn’t feel the danger. The tension was diminished. Then, once the heroine’s good-byes are done, the action picks up again. Almost like, oh yeah, the monster.
 
Sometimes less is more. Isn’t it more poignant when the reader knows the hero loves the girl, but doesn’t get to say so as he rushes off to his possible death? I like how Kelly Barnhill says it, “I tell my students: Tension=the raft is headed for the falls and the character's struggle to divert. Action=point of no return.” No one is going to be making long speeches in this situation.
 
Along with this make sure your descriptions during a tense time are only what’s necessary and add to the tension. It’s doubtful that someone on a raft in a fast river is going to be paying much attention to the beautiful red rhododendron flowers under the dark evergreens when he is headed for the falls. That information could be introduced earlier, before the danger. Instead the details during a tense time need to be those things that make it worse. The sound of the falls getting louder. A log hitting the paddle and knocking it out of the person’s hand. The spray of water, the loosening of board on the raft…
 
To sum up:
- Keep the action moving in a tense situation.
- Don’t stop it with flashbacks or introspection – save those for the times in between.
- Sometimes less is more - no long speeches.
- In a tense scene focus on description that adds to the tension.

 
*Some of you may be too young to remember, or may not have even seen the enclosed glass phone booths, except in movies. They really only fit one person comfortably. Think standard restroom stall cut in half with a folding door that folds inside the booth. And scrunch it into a square box. If you were in a phone booth with a gorilla, you’d be so up close and personal with the gorilla that you’d smell his breath, see his teeth right close to your face, and would be uncomfortably smashed against the glass or the phone itself. It doesn’t leave room for thinking about anything but “get me out of here!”
 
**For further reading, check out Secrets of Successful Fiction by Robert Newton Peck.


1 Comment

11/1/2016 2 Comments

Dangling Participles

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                  Guest post by Laura VanArendonk Baugh




Dangling participles are a bad idea. They’re grammatically wrong, of course, but that doesn’t stop people from using them. But if you want your reader to stay engaged, it’s not only wrong, it’s a bad idea.

Hold on, Laura. I’ve slept since third grade. What’s a participle and why does it dangle?
Let’s review.

A participle is a verb form, usually showing an ongoing action or condition but occasionally used as an adjective.
  • Present participle: I am dieting but it’s not going well. (Two for one!)
  • Past participle: The horse had jumped the fence. (regular verb)
  • Past participle: The bird had flown over the barn door. (irregular verb)
  • Participle as adjective: A crying baby in the theater ruined the movie’s dramatic scene.
When the present participle form is used as a noun, it’s called a gerund, because grammaticists need job security.
  • Running is a great hobby if you anticipate a zombie apocalypse.
You can get some extra mileage out of a sentence by using a participle for a second verb clause.
  • Tying an apron around my waist, I considered my ingredients.
Be aware that this sentence structure is frequently overused, especially by novices trying to vary sentence length and structure as they’ve heard they should, and can get annoying quickly when abused. But it’s a legitimate sentence structure and certainly has its place.

And now we come to the dangling participle.


In the previous example, both verbs shared the subject “I”. A participle clause should always share the subject with the rest of the sentence. When a participle is used without its appropriate noun, it’s dangling, and it makes for some fairly stupid sentences.
  • Brining the turkey, the doorbell rang.
Does your doorbell brine turkeys often?
  • Researching my client’s profile, my phone rang.
Okay, I love my smart phone as much as anyone, but it doesn’t actually do the research for me yet.
  • Shining brightly, I looked at the pale moon.
Why is our narrator shining? Did she steal the moon’s light? Is that why it’s pale?
This sentence can be repaired with a simple shift:
  • I looked at the pale moon shining brightly.
Not great literature, but at least no longer nonsensical.

Okay, I see what you’re saying, but the second subject is probably evident from context. Why should I worry about it?First, what’s evident to the writer who knows what he means to say is not always evident to the reader who is reading to find out.
Secondly, even if a reader can work out the intended meaning, it interrupts the flow of the narrative.
  • I saw Harper find the trail head far below on the mountain. Climbing the trail, I sat down and waited for him to arrive.
If I go back and re-read, I can figure out that Harper is climbing the trail while our narrator sits. But on first read, it seems that the narrator is sitting and climbing simultaneously. I have to stop and decipher the writer’s intent.

Anything that makes your reader stop forward momentum is a bad idea.

This is why grammar matters. A grammatically-aware reader will find your lack of care irritating. A reader who doesn’t know a dangling participle from a dongle will still know subconsciously or consciously that he finds your story slower going than someone else’s – or worse, than Netflix or Hulu. (Nothing against video media, but I don’t want to just give them my customers.)

Again, this error frequently happens when writers want to vary their sentence structure and rhythm but don’t know quite how to do it.
  • I wondered if it were still there. I worked up my courage to look out the window. I bit my lip. The chimera waited by the woodpile.
Knowing this is dull or maybe trying to cut word count, the writer tries a participle clause. (See what I did there?)
  • I wondered if it were still there. I worked up my courage to look out the window. Biting my lip, the chimera waited by the woodpile.
Ow! Freakin’ chimera, biting me even from outside the house.

A dangling participle is fixed by simply adding the relevant subject.
  • Chopping the peppers, Darla grated the cheese.
  • Darla watched Franklin chopping the peppers as she grated the cheese.
Or, if you really meant that Darla did both but was not in possession of a time-turner or clones:
  • Darla chopped the peppers and grated the cheese.
Sometimes, skipping the participle altogether makes a better sentence.
  • Ducking the sword, the samurai lunged at the nunchaku-wielding ninja.
  • The nunchaku-wielding ninja ducked the samurai’s sword.

The simple test? Your participle clause shares the subject of your sentence. If that’s not what you meant, rewrite.
No more dangling!

Bio
Laura VanArendonk Baugh writes speculative fiction in several flavors, historical fiction, mystery, and non-fiction, because she is bad at branding. However, she is good at grammar and was sent to the office repeatedly for correcting her English teachers (the principal consulted The Chicago Manual of Style and found she was right). She loves teaching about writing and publishing. You can find her at www.LauraVanArendonkBaugh.com.
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    Author

    SM Ford writes inspirational fiction for adults, although teens may find the stories of interest, too. She also loves assisting other writers on their journeys.

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