This Writer's Journey (continued)

It's not quite Wed. yet (my regular day to post) but it's close enough. My Wed. will be filled with 8 hours of working (not ready to quit the day job!) on New Year's Eve day, followed by a dinner of black-eyed peas and hog jowls (Yuck. Well, maybe just roast pork) with my extended family.

So today I write. And a few other promo essentials.

I started at 5 am constructing queries to both online and print magazine editors about possible articles about my upcoming spring release, Mom Needs Chocolate. A long shot, maybe, but a recent query to the editor of a large city newspaper (Tampa Tribune)landed me a nice two-page spread in the 1/3/09 Saturday Faith Matters column. So a diligent writer keeps trying.

Worked on some editing for a friend's back cover copy (her book will be released in March) and finalized the Young Writer's program I'll be conducting at an Orlando high school next week.

I heard from my publisher's PR gal that she has several podcast and radio interviews in the works for me and an April signing at a Virginia B & N practically sewn up (I'll be up there on a family vacation and it seemed like a good idea to mix business with pleasure).

In the afternoon, I received two inquiries about speaking engagements (Yay God!)and several requests for signed copies of Billowing Sails (newly released). I was pleased to get another entry for the "Sail Away" contest detailed on my website, www.DeboraCoty.com (people send in pictures of their favorite chill-out location and the most creative will win an awesome prize package). I've been blown away by the responses and have immensely enjoyed looking at photos of lots of amazing places that I'll likely never visit. What fun to live vicariously!

And now at 10:20 pm, it's bedtime. As I don my candy cane jammies, I wish you terrific success in your own writing journey during 2009. So scarf down those black eyed peas and have a safe and Happy New Year!

Point of View

I've been reading books where the point of view jumps around, even within a chapter, even without space between paragraphs to indicate there's another voice.

That kind of writing (poor editing, too) makes a writer want to bang her head repeatedly against the keyboard, wondering HOW did that book get published while her masterpiece, with a carefully crafted single POV, has not?

Take heart, dear writer.

From Self Editing for Fiction Writers: "It's almost always more effective to stick with a single viewpoint character and let the other characters' emotions come out through their dialogue and action."

Simpler is always better.

Edit, Edit, Edit

Different writers have different formulas for editing. Some writers edit as they go while others insist that the only way they can flow creatively is to just start writing, let the words flow and worry about the details later. It will take some time to figure out what works best for you. Most writers I have talked to fall somewhere in between.

But no matter what kind of editor you are, make sure of one thing:

NEVER allow a story to contain misspelled words or wrong grammar. Also, punctuation and format are crucial to getting your story published.

By considering yourself a professional, even if you haven‘t been published yet, you will become one.

The main thing about editing is getting rid of the fluff, the unnecessary words, characters, scenes, etc. Most writers have to create several drafts before the story is complete. Rarely will you hear of a writer, any writer, no matter how famous, who writes a story in one draft. In fact, most writers have to create at least three or four drafts of a story before they are satisfied that it is right.

Don’t be satisfied until it is...and you'll know when it is right.

Adapted from Creative Writing Tips for Beginners

think about this...

• If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison
  
  
• Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov
  
  
• Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space. ~Orson Scott Card
  
  
• The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~Mark Twain
  

Will there be joy for me this Christmas?

A few weeks ago in church on Sunday morning our pastor, Dan, spoke about joy. He highlighted the joy individuals find when they nail God's purpose in life.

Even though I've found God's purpose for me and daily (for the most part) target it (Well, there are those days, when I'd rather sip cappuccinos, surf the Internet, or get a pedicure.), I thought, "I don't think there will be joy for me this Christmas. One of my kids is floundering to find his purpose. Watching him despair breaks my heart again and again. And again."

"Watching him has compelled me to fervent prayer, which has provided me with an unshakable sense of God's presence and an inkling of hope for the future," I wrote on Dan's blog. "But joy seems really distant...I don't think there will be joy for me this Christmas."

"Fervent prayer, combined with an unshakable sense of God's presence, mixed with an inkling of hope? That's joy," Dan posted.

Here I had been thinking that joy was like the gleeful rush I feel when I plummet down the first hill of a roller coaster. Only joy (in my mind) was that gleeful rush prolonged--for a long time.

Dan's comment compelled me to take another look at joy.

I'm redefining joy this month. As I do, I'm playing a little game reminiscent of Where's Waldo? Instead of standing with arms crossed, jealous of those joy-filled others and stoically accepting no-joy-for-me this season, I've asked God to point joy out.

"God, if You've tucked the gift of joy into this Christmas season for me--then please help me recognize it," I pray.

Guess how many of my check-out clerks have been named Joy.

Last week, I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in awhile. She asked exuberantly, "How is your sister Joy?"

I don't have a sister named Joy.

But I told God I sure enjoyed the inside joke.

As writers, we enjoy the privilege of writing about the lessons God teaches us, the gifts He gives. I've discovered that's pure joy.

A Writers Journey Continued

Could you hear me whooping it up last Thursday afternoon? My shipment of Billowing Sails arrived not just on time but FOUR DAYS EARLY. Yea God! I somehow believe that God is in control of the universe but it surprises me when He proves He's in control of UPS.

Anyway, the past week has been a blur of filling pre-orders, visiting bookstores, and making contacts about more promotional events related to Billowing Sails. All the while in my "day job" (as a hand therapist three days/week), we're in upheaval packing for a move to a new clinic this week.

I've also been frantically working on first round edits for my spring release, Mom Needs Chocolate (different publisher than Billowing Sails) which arrived last week as well. Due date 12/29. Yikes. That would be Christmas week, wouldn't it?

And on top of it all, another mixed blessing. A while back I queried the Tampa Tribune about doing an article. Wouldn't you know, of all times, THIS week I received a call from a columnist wanting to do a piece about starting over in the new year (to run 1/3/09), featuring my Debbie Do-Over story. They're sending a photographer to my house Friday and my naked Christmas tree is still lying prone in the yard. Piles of boxed Christmas cards and unwrapped presents cover every available surface. What's a poor overwhelmed writer to do?

I know, I know. I can hear you through my keyboard. Quit grousing and get moving. I'm on my way. Until next Wednesday...

Where Do You Find Good Beats?

Beats?

What is a beat, anyway?

Beats are the bits of action interspersed through a scene, such as a character walking to a window or removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes--the literary equivalent of what is known in the theatre as "stage business."

Like a piece of good music, good dialogue has an ebb and flow to it. But beats do more than control the rhythm of your dialogue. They are also a powerful way to convey your characters. Any good actor knows the importance of body language in projecting a character, and the same holds true in fiction.
You want to write beats that are as fresh, as unique as your characters. No two people cross a room in the same way, and there are as many ways of showing, say, uneasiness as there are situations to make a character uneasy.

So where do you find good beats? Well, as Yogi Berra once said, "You can see an awful lot just by watching."

Watch your friends. Notice what they do with their hands when they're bored, with their legs when they're relaxed, with their eyes when they're nervous. Watch old movies--Humphrey Bogart in particular used stage business very effectively.

You can also see an awful lot just by reading. Start paying attention to beats ars you read--the ones that make you wish you'd written them and all the ones that distract or irritate.

Watch yourself. Keep an eye open for those little movements that bring your personality to the surface, the gestures that reveal who you are or how you're feeling. If you collect enough of these little movements, your characters won't ever have to look at their hands again.

Source: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King (HarperCollins)