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9/26/2018 0 Comments Crashed Cajun Nuts My husband read a recipe aloud because he found the above words in the ingredients list. It made us laugh. We assumed it should say “crushed Cajun nuts”—so crushed spicy nuts. But if it hadn’t been a recipe, would it really be funny? Recently I’ve become aware by several Facebook groups how some of the terms we use jokingly can be offensive to others. They include “nuts,” “crazy,” “psycho,” etc.
Robert Spencer said, “’Crazy’ has been a word to portray those who suffer with mental illness as dangerous, weak, unpredictable, unproductive and incapable of rational behavior or relationships.” In his article, “Don’t Call Me Crazy,” he talked about how the definition should be changed. Read more here. And this article, “6 Reasons ‘Crazy’ Is Never A Thing You Should Call Someone – Regardless of Their Behavior” goes into more details why the word shouldn’t be used so casually. Unfortunately, I found 12 instances of the word “crazy” in my novel published in 2016. Only one didn’t refer to what people were feeling, saying, thinking, or doing. Wow! Language is always changing, and it is easy to resist change. But I think as writers we have a responsibility to consider making changes in what we write even when it is fiction. Even when it’s dialogue or thoughts of our characters. Obviously, I doubt any writer is going to know all terms that are offensive to others, but if we don’t have open discussions, we won’t learn them. If you’d like to discuss this or other terms, feel free to do so in comments and I’ll reply.
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9/13/2018 0 Comments Comparison, the Enemy of Creation? Comparison can be great when looking to purchase a product, but how does it affect the creative life?
I read this on an independent comic creator’s blog: “Comparison can kill your spirit. The success of others does not equal your failure. When you’re making art that makes you happy, only you can declare your success or failure.” It’s the conclusion Michael Terracciano has reached, and oh, do I love that middle sentence. Why is it so easy to compare? I wish I knew. We do it all the time in so many areas of our life—especially those where we’re unhappy or not completely satisfied. But how does comparison help us? There’s always someone “better” or “worse,” so we may feel either depressed or good about ourselves. Neither position changes our work or our worth. Wait. Depression can change our work by us giving up and that’s not good for our sense of self-worth. Christy O'Shoney said, “Comparison is a terrible measuring stick.” Fanny Flagg said, “Being a successful person is not necessarily defined by what you have achieved, but by what you have overcome.” Or the progress you’ve made. Comparison of our previous work with our current work may be encouraging. I know I’ve looked back at older writing and thought, wow, I’ve learned a lot since then. Or, that needs editing, when before I thought it was “perfect.” As long as we don’t harp on “failures” of our past, but use them as touchstones to see how we are progressing, self-comparison can be helpful. David Schlosser agreed, “The only writer to whom you should compare yourself is the writer you were yesterday.” William Blake said, “I will not reason and compare; my business is to create.” Maya Angelou said, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” I see this so much in my writing life—the more I write, the more I want to write. And the more I compare, the less I want to write, so yes, I’d say comparison is the enemy of creation. 9/6/2018 1 Comment Manuscript Wish List If you’re not familiar with the Manuscript Wish List website or the Twitter hashtag #MSWL, and you are submitting manuscripts to editors or looking for agents, now might be the time to check into one or both of these.
First, some basics: The website http://manuscriptwishlist.com is a searchable site to discover what agents and editors are looking for. It also tells you a bit about the person, and provides submission information, or a link to submission information. New agents and editors are featured. The hashtag on Twitter is a chance for editors and agents to tweet specifically what they are looking for. You may favorite or retweet these, but DO NOT use the hashtag yourself to pitch. The next #MSWL Day Is Wednesday, September 12th. On that day you can search for the hashtag #MSWL and watch what these professionals are posting. It doesn’t mean they aren’t posted on other days—this will just be a special focus day. Oh, and because posting with this hashtag is so easy, it may be more up-to-date than the site. The specifics: The easiest way to explain both of these is to show not tell. J The website. I used their search box and entered “inspirational romance.” Eight names popped up. Let’s look at a few. First up is an agent, followed by an editor. Elizabeth Poteet, The Seymour Agency. Her submission guidelines say: “We are looking for all sub-genres of romance, 25k-100k words. All books should end in a happily ever after or a happily for now (if the characters are continuing in a series.) For heat level and other helpful information please see the individual category guidelines at smpswerve.com.” There’s also a section on recent acquisitions. Shana Asaro, Harlequin/Love Inspired. She says, “I am actively seeking category-length inspirational (Christian) romance for Harlequin's Love Inspired (contemporary romance) and Love Inspired Suspense (romantic suspense) series lines.” There are lists of what she’d like to see in submissions and what she’d not like to see. She also has some recent books acquired and edited by her, plus fun facts, and, of course, submission guidelines. Just as information shared varies on these two pages, no two entries will be exactly alike. Pages usually include a picture. If you know a professional’s name, you can use the search box to see if she participates. Of course, do research on anyone you are interested in submitting to. The hashtag. A recent search of the #MSWL gave me several interesting posts. First, from a few agents: Lynnette Novak @Lynnette_Novak Sep 4 More I’d love to see more adult fantasy and cozy mysteries in my box. Send ‘em over! Paste query and 1st 5 pages in body of email. Querylynnette (at) theseymouragency (dot) com. #MSWL #amquerying Naomi Davis @NaomisLitPix Aug 28 #MSWL - REALLY looking for diverse adult fantasy! Show me worlds inspired by cultures I have not yet explored through fantasy, show me main characters w/ unorthodox fantasy roles who may usually be considered "side" roles, show me older protags & established relationships! And here’s one from a publisher: Bienvenue Press @BienvenuePress 19 hours ago More Bienvenue Press is currently looking for #submissions for its Hometown Heroes Christmas anthology. Click the link for details. #amquerying #amwriting #books #MSWL https://bit.ly/2JbbIm1 You can see by these three examples that the specificity varies. Always do research on any editor, agent, or publisher. People have scammed #MSWL. FAQ
If you have other questions, feel free to ask them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer. 8/21/2018 0 Comments Six Elements for Openings Yesterday I went to a Donald Maass (literary agent) event on “The Emotional Craft of Fiction.” I really enjoyed it and learned some new craft tools to apply to my work. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak, I strongly recommend going. (There’s also a book of that same title by Donald.) His website is here and to read specifically about Donald and where he is speaking, go here. Obviously I can’t share the whole session, but wanted to share a small portion.
What really struck me is the six elements our openings need to include. Some were familiar, and some were presented in a way new to me. Here they are:
Donald illuminated these ideas with sample passages from several books and one unpublished manuscript. I’m going to briefly show these elements with my own example from a recent book I’ve read, Katherine Reay’s The Austen Escape. Feel free to “look inside” at the first section before reading my analysis. The mood – frustration Story questions – What is Mary’s project? What is her relationship with Nathan? Is she in love with him and he doesn’t know? Why is he so helpful? Why does Mary not get along with Karen? Life or death – death. The project is dead. Language/style - contemporary Need/urgency – Mary needs to move on. Strength – Yes, she is determined to get over her “illusions.” All that in just a little over 200 words. Does it make you want to read on? It definitely did so for me. And nothing really is happening. It’s only a conversation. But I was hooked. For me the most difficult question to answer in Donald’s examples was language/style. I could see it when he pointed out that one text had a Biblical style, almost a sermon. Another was ironic. I think I need more practice. ;-) We can analyze the openings of our own manuscripts by using these elements. Or ask our critique group or beta readers to answer these questions for us. If their answers aren’t what we expect, that may be okay. But if the answers are not where we wanted the opening to take them, it’s back to the keyboard. 8/14/2018 0 Comments Travel Reading – the Ups and Downs When I travel I like to take “light” fiction with me. By that I mean ones that don’t make me think too hard. I like to download them to my kindle app on my iPad, so I’m also not carrying extra physical weight.
The first one started out so well—set in Africa, viewpoint of a baby rhino, then switched to the people. I loved what the people were doing—saving at-risk animals. But there were sections where something would be shown and then it would be followed up with an unnecessary telling sentence. I don’t want to give an example from the book directly, so I’ll make one up: Showing: Dark clouds scrolled across the sky and Lydia shivered in the sudden wind. Before she could reach the porch, rain stung her bare arms. A flash of lightening flared, immediately followed by a boom of thunder. Lydia ran up the steps and under cover, but she was already soaked. Telling: It was a terrific storm. D.B. Jackson says, “Trusting your reader means, in essence, not slowing your narrative to explain things that don’t need explaining.” (Italics mine.) The next book. After an intense scene in the viewpoint of the child who is the main character, we hung around too long. She was only four. I remember a few powerful happenings from when I was very young, but not a lot of detail. The excessive detailed memories of a four-year-old made me lose my suspension of disbelief. It needs to be logical or we need to be provided with reasons why it is logical. I really like this post by Dr. Vicki Hinze on “Suspending Disbelief” where she discusses how to do it in your writing. Later I was in disbelief again when the main character, now a teen, blamed herself for her older brother drowning in the pond. She felt it was her fault because she went off to do something else. Foreshadowing suggested it could have been suicide, but the character never thought anything about that possibility, ever, which would have validated the drowning and her feelings of guilt. I felt as if I’d been lied to. In Anton Chekhov’s famous book of writing advice, he says, “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired.” Note: I bought both of these books. I was trying new-to-me authors, and unfortunately they won't be new favorite authors. So, my reading choices weren’t the most successful, but someone this week recommended the Netflix movie The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and I loved it! Here’s a link to the trailer. I since discovered it was based on a book, so that’s my next reading choice. What are you reading and learning from? 7/30/2018 1 Comment Life's Disruptions It’s been ten weeks since my knee replacement surgery, and it’s been a fight to feel normal. Fortunately, I didn’t look as beat up as this cat… After weeks of physical therapy, I’m finally up to writing and doing writing related business on a regular basis.
Okay, maybe you haven’t had surgery, but summer itself can be a disruption. Vacations, kids home from school, hot weather—although this year we put in whole house air conditioning and it is such a relief—all those can distract. I also see writers being disrupted by fear of what’s going on in our country. Others experience some kind of crisis—family, financial, job related—that makes writing the last thing on their minds. Once things calm down, how do we get back into writing? I usually ease back in. Recently, I’ve been able to catch up on reading writing related newsletters, listening to writing related podcasts, and doing research. My email inbox isn’t so frightening anymore and I can engage with others about writing again. Good things that motivate me to get back into writing blog posts and, yes, to working on that novel. There are times when a story itself has pushed me back into writing. I love this quote from author Sarah Noffke, “A day will come when the story inside you will want to breathe on its own. That's when you'll start writing.” I’m not there right now though. I've used submission deadlines and critique group meetings as motivation. “Must get something written/revised and ready to go!” But, sometimes we just need to sit down and write. Read what Harriet Beecher Stowe said in a letter to her sister-in-law, “Since I began this note I have been called off at least a dozen times—once for the fish-man, to buy a codfish—once to see a man who had brought me some baskets of apples—once to see a book man ... then to nurse the baby—then into the kitchen to make a chowder for dinner and now I am at it again for nothing but deadly determination enables me to ever write —it is rowing against wind and tide.” Deadly determination, yes. That’s what it comes down to in any case. |
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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. Archives
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