Tip O'Day #434 - A Stumbling Block

Guest blogger Eve Paludan on Ten Ways to Bust Writer's Block...by Writing!

Writer's block is a stumbling block to productivity. Once in a while, it hits almost all writers, even the ones who are passionate about the craft. Since writers are introspective, emotional creatures, external forces, such as financial worries, illness, conflict with another person, or lack of sleep can stall the best writers and cause their motivation to go AWOL. Here are some tried-and-true methods that I use to break through a serious halt in my productivity.

1. Ensure that you always have more than one project in progress. If you get tired of working on one project, switch to another one for a day or so until you find yourself longing for the project that got stalled. Then go back to it with a fresh eye and a renewed passion.

2. If you are itchy, cold, hungry or annoyed, take your laptop to someplace where you don't usually write. Make yourself comfortable and write in that new place, whether it's McDonalds or the kitchen table, until you are tired of it and want to get back to your usual writing location. Sit in a different chair, take your laptop to the couch, go hide under a shady tree, or sit in a recliner chair. Move your office for a little while and write something. Then, when you get antsy again, return to the usual place where you write.

3. If you are stalled in a fiction project, then write a little nonfiction to get your hands moving on the keyboard again. Some examples are guest blogs, twitter tweets about your books or a friend's books, book announcements on Facebook, or book review for someone else's book on Amazon. The idea is to go through the motions of word creation, even if you are in a different head space about your novel manuscript.

4. If a particular scene of your work-in-progress is the cause of halting and scratching your head because you don't yet know how to handle the scene, write a note to yourself in the manuscript, such as insert love scene here and then go onto the next scene where you DO know what you want to write. You can always return to write the hard parts later. Keep your writing productivity in motion!

5. If you usually write without music, put on some music, especially something instrumental, and let it inspire you. I do not suggest turning on the television as it seems to engage all of the senses, instead of just the ears. I think TV is too distracting, but that's just me.

6. If you know where the keys are without looking, type for a few minutes with the lights off or with your eyes closed. Just channel the words and let your automatic writing take over. Wild things can happen on your pages! Peek every so often to make sure that your fingers are on the right keys.

7. If you usually type and hit writer's block, try using pen and paper for an hour or so. My favorite place to write longhand is at the beach or on my front steps. Or if you usually write longhand, try using your computer. The idea is to write something using a different physical process.

8. If you hit a plot wall, then work on writing quick character sketches of the hero's or heroine's physical, emotional and intellectual traits.

9. Write your Amazon catalog description of your book or what you would put on the back of a print book. Without giving away whodunnit or howdunnit, write five to seven sentences that describe the characters, main conflict, and obstacles that your hero or heroine must overcome. Jazz it up with some excerpts of book reviews from readers.

10. Read your characters' dialogue out loud, without any dialogue tags, and expand their conversation by typing it while you talk. Keep it going as long as you can until the scene plot points are resolved or lead into more questions or another chapter.

Oh, and about number 10 – I once had my front door open and was reading dialogue aloud, not realizing my landlord was kneeling in the flower bed out front, listening. I got up to go check on my laundry and he was startled when I found him right outside my front door. Apparently, my characters' dialogue brought him to his knees.

Good luck with these writer's block busting tips. I hope they work for you, too. Feel free to add some of your own tips in the comments below.

You can check out Eve’s novels and stories here and her newest novel is Finding Jessie: A Mystery Romance. You can also connect with Eve on Facebook or Twitter.

Saying for Writers #157 - William S Burroughs

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“Cheat your landlord if you can and must, but do not try to shortchange the Muse. It cannot be done. You can’t fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal.” — William S. Burroughs

Burroughs' breakout novel was Junkie. The author of over twenty-five other novels, short story collections, essay collections, and interview collections, he was one of the most prominent figures of the Beat Generation. Some consider him the most innovative writer of the past century.

This is a photo of Glacier National Park, snug against the Canadian border in NW Montana. The air is so pure there, scientists use it to compare environments across the rest of the planet. You should come visit - and then go back home.

Saying for Writers #156 - Ray Bradbury

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“Let the world burn through you. Throw the prism light, white hot, on paper.” — Ray Bradbury

Living in Montana within sight of the Continental Divide, I never tire of views of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. This photo was taken by local friend Sherri Gerek.

Tip O'Day #433 - Surprise!

Guest blogger Edward McKeown on how your characters can catch you unawares.

The Fenaday Trilogy was a constant source of surprises to me. The first and biggest was that it was a trilogy. I set out to write one book, the story of as ordinary a man as I could plausibly use to accomplish the adventure I was setting before him. Something immediately became apparent; if he was an ordinary man, he would need motivation to leave his homeworld and plunge into danger and death.

He was not a professional hard case, a military officer or true mercenary, not a thug or an adrenaline junky. So why would he do this? The thing that struck me as being the most believable motivator for such sacrifice was love. His wife, a naval officer, had gone missing and his love for her was such that he would throw aside any security he had and search the stars as a privateer for her. So now we had Robert Fenaday, son of a wealthy merchant family, with the resources and know-how to start this adventure.

How would my everyman survive the adventures of Was Once a Hero, Fearful Symmetry and finally Points of Departure? He was not born to, or well-suited to the quasi-criminal world he was descending to. The answer came in the first of many surprises, a genetically engineered woman warrior named Shasti Rainhell. She was fleeing her past and her own homeworld. They would shelter each other, he with his ship for her, and she with her deadly skills with him. Together they would run the Starship Sidhe through its initial perils.

More surprises awaited me. Shasti demanded to be more than a sidekick. She was a powerful voice with her own realities. This demanding past became the backdrop to Fearful Symmetry, the second book. Fearful was a book of intrigue, adventure and self-awakening as Robert and Shasti sought to free themselves of their pasts so they might embrace a future that held each other.

But the past has a way of reaching out for you and some ghosts are not easily laid to rest. That gave rise to the third book, Points of Departure, which is due out later this year. As for that tale…well, no spoilers here. Hope you enjoy the work.

Tip O'Day #432 - Singin' Them Rejection Blues

Guest blogger Faye Rapoport DesPres on “Submitting to Literary Journals? Expect, then Conquer Rejection.”

Rejection and discouragement: if you are submitting your work to literary journals, chances are you will experience both. There’s no way around it – rejections happen, and they happen a lot. Not every editor is going to love your work, and the chances of hitting the right editor on the right day at the right journal are slim. However, those chances improve greatly if you research the journals you are interested in, get to know the type of work they publish, send your very best work, and pay careful attention to the journal’s submission guidelines.

Even after you get hardened to the process (which is likely after you’ve been submitting for a while), it can be tough to read those dreaded words: “Thank you for sending us your work. Unfortunately, it does not suit our present needs.” Each time you get this message, as hard as you try not to care, it will probably feel like a kick in the gut. After a while you might get so used to this feeling, in fact, that you’ll do that odd thing that writers do – distinguish “bad rejections” (form letters) from “good rejections” (personal notes from editors, rejections that invite you to submit again, or, let’s face it, anything that isn’t a form letter).

I started submitting personal essays to literary journals about three years ago, after I completed my degree at the Solstice MFA Program in Creative Writing. The first year of submitting was torture; after one acceptance from a magazine, I received rejection after rejection from literary journals. I used to write to my former teachers in despair, only to have them respond by saying something to this effect: “Keep writing and keep trying.” Remember, they said, the only way to guarantee failure is to give up.

The first time one of my essays was accepted by a literary journal, I nearly missed the news. I was so sure I was receiving another rejection that I had to do a double take and re-read the editor’s note. I was riding in the passenger seat of our car (my husband was driving), and I put my hand over my mouth and said, “Oh, my God, one of my essays was accepted!” I think I was in shock.

Thankfully, over time, more acceptances arrived. For me, as for most writers, there continue to be many more rejections than acceptances. I maintain a spreadsheet in Excel to help me remember what piece I submitted where (and when). The sheet is color coded: plain black for submissions in play, red for rejections, blue for rejections that invite more work, and green for acceptances. Red far outweighs every other color (although the blue is getting more prominent with time). Green is the least common color on the sheet (when a submission turns green, I happily allow myself put the type in bold).

Like many writers, I have very thin skin. I can’t deny that it has been a huge challenge to stay confident in the face of all of those “Thanks but no thanks” rejections. Occasionally I even give myself a break from submitting just so I can catch my breath.

I once read a piece of advice from Joy Castro (www.joycastro.com), one of my faculty mentors and the author of several books, including the recent crime thriller, Hell Or High Water. Joy wrote: “You wanted this. You chose it. Get back up.”

Stick with it. I’m rooting for you.

Faye’s website is www.fayerapoport.com and her blog is http://blog.fayerapoportdespres.com/. Her essays, fiction, poetry, interviews, and reviews have appeared in a number of literary journals and magazines, including Ascent, Connotation Press: An Online Artifact, Eleven Eleven, Hamilton Stone Review, Platte Valley Review, Prime Number Magazine, Superstition Review, In the Arts, Fourth Genre, and The Writer’s Chronicle.

One-Sentence Writing Tips, Part VI

This is Day Six (and Last) of One-Sentence Writing Tips Week, with Facebook writers and other book lovers sharing writing and publishing advice with a dash of panache and a pinch of brevity.

Jennie Gardner Spallone: Hire a developmental editor, not just a copy editor, to look over your manuscript before you submit it to a publisher.

Mark Terry: Think more, write less.

Troy Wilkinson: Write about something you dreamed of as a child, before you knew it wasn't possible.

Kristen Wood: Only in humility can we ever truly learn and only in learning can we ever truly write.

Finally, my favorite one-sentence tip from last year, by RomCom author Kathy Dunnehoff: Say ‘yes’ to caffeine.

Thanks to all the kind folks who participated this week. Hope you had fun.

One-Sentence Writing Tips, Part V

This is Day Five of One-Sentence Writing Tips Week, with Facebook writers and other book lovers showing they can be both profound and concise.

J.T. Sather: Writing a book is the easy part, selling it however...not so much.

Paul M. Schofield: Write, write, write...right?

Laura Schultz: Pay close attention to everything and everyone around you, as some of them could become great characters.

Literary agent Michael Snell: Eschew obfuscation and sesquipedalian anfractuosities.

Screenwriter Mike Snyder: Most writers are banned from TV or movie sets because they insist every last word is deathless prose; that's just not gonna happen, at least not in North America.

Unless your genial host gets flooded by last-minute submissions, these one-sentence tips will end on Saturday. Tomorrow’s scheduled tipsters: Jennie Gardner Spallone, Mark Terry, Troy Wilkinson and Kristen Wood.

One-Sentence Writing Tips, Part IV

This is Day Four of One-Sentence Writing Tips Week, with FB writers and other book lovers combining advice with brevity.

Jackie Pelham: It will never see daylight if you stick it in a drawer, so submit, submit, submit.

Jimmy Pudge: You need at least one asshole in your story for it to be good.

Freddie Remza: Read dialogue aloud to be sure it sounds natural.

Dixon Rice: Find ways to get extra eyes on your work before it’s submitted or published – but not anyone you sleep with.

Linda Robinson: How to cook a novel: stir together a house of lives, a lot of love, tons of troubles, wonderful words, and a rash of revisions, then 'beat' well and bake until done.

These one-sentence tips will continue Friday and Saturday. Tomorrow’s featured folks are J.T. Sather, Paul M. Schofield, awesome Laura Schultz, lit agent Michael Snell and screenwriter Mike Snyder.

One-Sentence Writing Tips, Part III

This is Day Three of One-Sentence Writing Tips Week, with FB writers and other book lovers offering concise writing or publishing suggestions. (I’m going to let Lucinda slide on the extra periods, just because I’m that kinda guy.)

L.C. Hayden: Never say never.

Danny Johnson: Go ahead and leave that manuscript in the drawer -- your children will sell it when you're gone.

Vickie Johnstone: Set your imagination free.

Fifi Leigh: Expose the truth through an educational but fictional story.

Lucinda Hawks Moebius: The. Best way. To be a better writer is to write.

These one-sentence tips will continue all week. Tomorrow’s glory belongs to Jackie Pelham, Jimmy Pudge, Freddie Remza, Linda Robinson and yours truly.

One-Sentence Writing Tips, Part II

This is Day Two of One-Sentence Writing Tips Week - Facebook writers and other book lovers boiling down their writing or publishing suggestions into one simple sentence. Okay, sometimes a compound sentence.

Jonnie Comet: No good writers are purely Romantic since they believe in the hard work of critiquing, editing, and revising; all art is deliberate and that’s what makes it 'art.'

J.M. Cornwell: Read, listen, write, and read some more.

Valerie Douglas: Just write!

Jacquelynn Gagne: Books are judged by their covers and writers by our words.

Linda Lee Greene: Get your head out of your arus and use your thesaurus!

These one-sentence tips will continue all week. Tomorrow’s turn in the barrel: LC Hayden, Danny Johnson, Vickie Johnstone, Fifi Leigh and Lucinda Hawks Moebius.

One-Sentence Writing Tips, Part I

I invited Facebook writers and other book lovers to share their concise suggestions for achieving literary glory. Or at least getting published somewhere, somehow. Whatever. Their one-sentence writing tips will appear here all week.

J.C. Andrijeski: When it comes to writing, don't listen to other people...except when you really need to listen to other people.

Maxine Arnold: Finish, finish, finish.

Greta Burroughs: There's more to being a writer than just writing a book.

Lynne Cantwell: Read – a lot.

Connie Travisano Colon: Never let the reader detect you or it will bring them out of your story.

On Part II tomorrow, we’ll hear from Jonnie Comet, J.M. Cornwell, Valerie Douglas, Jacquelynn Gagne and Linda Lee Greene.

Tip O'Day #431 - Look Out Below!

Guest blogger Gerald G. Griffin on two categories of writers within the third group of writers. Ouch, my head hurts.

"A lot of people think they have a book inside them, but for those who try to write it, they usually fail," a friend once commented to me. "Why is that?"

I shrugged, giving him an are-you-kidding look. "Hell if I know!"

If answering him now, I'd probably say this: Let's start by dividing novice or would-be writers into three groups. First, there are those novices who can write great stuff immediately, as though born to it, and have little trouble getting published. Second, there are those who haven't a chance in hell of ever writing a book because they lack the creative aptitude, imagination, passion, dedication and discipline to do so. Third, there are those who fall in between the first and second groups.

Let's divide this third group into two categories. The first involves those who might squeak through a book, but it won't be published, and they skip the Indie route. The problem with these writers is that they write as though they are part of some freakish high wire circus act as he or she leaps haphazardly from the swing, twisting spasmodically into thin air, then frantically grasping outward toward his or her catcher's hands just at the moment their partner is suddenly seized with severe dizzy spells killing any semblance of timing.

"Look out below!"

The second category is a crazy one. These novice writers manage to finish their books. Then, by hook or by crook -- including the Indie route -- they have their books published. Their work is usually mediocre but the writers are convinced it's fantastic and will sell big if only it has the correct marketing. So enter the marketing scene, with all its madness! These writers are likely to be totally unprepared to deal with it but leap into it helter-skelter, the marketing madness enhancing their delusions.

Subsequently, these writers are prey for promising marketing schemes invariably failing to deliver, including social networking and engines leaving them in a mire of their own delusional madness. These novices are forever seeking that elusive, flashy review of their book that will turn that formidable trick leading to literary glory, never realizing that glory is beyond their reach.

Finally, for most of these writers, after suffering through all of this, their books not selling, their book signings a bust, libraries and book stores not carrying their works, their exhaustive madness having worn them down to the bone, they are left glassy-eyed, their literary salvation gone, leaving them with the stifling prospect of a mind numbing, everyday job.

Oh, what could have been!

To learn more about Gerald G. Griffin and his novel, check out this link. Among other things, it discusses the making of Of Good And Evil into a movie, and where the book can be ordered. The book can also be ordered on Gerald’s blog at http://geraldggriffin.blogspot.com/ or from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Saying for Writers #155 - Leigh Brackett

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they strike against each other until finally there’s an explosion — that’s Plot.” — Leigh Brackett

The Montana Rockies captured by friend Sherri Gerek.

One-Sentence Writing Tips from my Facebook friends will be featured here on the Wredheaded Writer blog all next week -- if you feel inspired, there's still room for more.

Interview of SciFi author Mary Fan

The genial host of Wredheaded Writer blog, Dixon Rice, interviews author Mary Fan about Artificial Absolutes, her newly released SciFi novel.

Dixon Rice: Mary, I love that you originally developed the Jane Colt character as a protagonist in another genre. When that didn’t work out the way you wanted, what made you decide to send her into outer space?

Mary Fan: I’ve been a huge fan of science fiction for ages, especially space operas, and I always knew I wanted to try my hand at the genre. One thing I noticed about most space operas is that they tend to center on either a well-trained, experienced fighter or a Chosen One. Meanwhile, we never really get to hear about the not-so-special people who occupy the rest of the galaxy. They are treated as extras—props, almost. Still, every person has a story. I was thinking about all this, and meanwhile, I had this relatively ordinary character without a story. I thought, why not combine the ideas?

DR: The kidnapping of Jane’s friend seems to be the key that starts the story’s engine. Caring for a friend - that’s a surprisingly personal trigger for a SciFi tale. What made you pick that event, rather than a more typical “saving mankind” premise?

MF: When I set out to write Artificial Absolutes, I knew I wanted to write a different kind of space opera. Like you said, saving the universe is a pretty typical premise. I’ve always wondered about the lives of those who weren’t out to stop the apocalypse, those who inhabit the expansive and fascinating worlds of the future.

I also wanted the story to be more personal than a lot of what’s out there. In the grand scheme of things, the stakes in Artificial Absolutes are pretty low; it’s one girl’s life out of trillions that’s being affected. On the other hand, in her personal world, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Those are the people she cares about who are in danger. That the rest of the world will go on turning while hers falls to pieces is a source of great aggravation for Jane.

DR: After Adam is kidnapped, Jane’s older brother Devin is framed for murder. Hmmm, another relationship trigger. How important are relationships in your life?

MF: Relationships are, of course, important to me. Our experiences lose significance without people to share them with. Relationships drive the things we do and the way we think. Even the most independent people are influenced by the people around them, often subconsciously. The things people say have the ability to invade our thoughts without our notice. These kinds of influences are at the core of Artificial Absolutes. What the characters do influences those they interact with, often in ways they don’t realize.

DR: Transplanting Jane Colt from another genre into SciFi – one might say you wrote a SciFi story by accident. Do you intend to repeat that mistake?

MF: Oh, definitely. Science fiction is one of my favorite genres, both to read and to write. It transports a reader to a different world and allows a writer to explore the infinite what-ifs. I wouldn’t say I wrote a SciFi story by accident, but the story I ended up with is rather different from what’s expected from the genre.

DR: The concept of artificial intelligence has been around since the robot stories of the 1950s, maybe earlier. What’s new and fresh that you bring to AI?

MF: I can’t say too much without spoiling Artificial Absolutes, but I can tell you this: much of what I write concerning artificial intelligence has little do with technology. I use the idea of artificial intelligence to explore broader themes, such as consciousness and the nature of artificiality, as well as influence and perception of self. The more we learn about neuroscience, the more philosophers and scientist debate the nature of consciousness. If so much of who we are is printed in our genes, controlled by chemicals in our brains, and influenced by external forces, then how real are any of us? How many of our thoughts can we really call our own? Artificial intelligence is used as a metaphor as well as a plot point.

DR: What’s with all the musicians and songs? Do you whistle while you work?

MF: I love music. So much, in fact, that I studied it in college. Music wasn’t part of the original plan for Artificial Absolutes, although the struggle Jane faces about whether to pursue her passion or to take the smart career path was in the earliest versions. I found music to be a more natural subject for me to write about than her original dream job (painter). Once I made that change, music just wove itself into the fabric of the novel. It’s a part of Jane, and so it became a part of her story.

And while I don’t whistle while I work, I do find myself staring off into space and humming when I’m stuck on a particular passage.

Mary Fan’s SciFi novel Artificial Absolutes is now available as paperback and eBook at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Saying for Writers #154 - Annie Dillard

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now.” — Annie Dillard

Tip O'Day #430 - Fighting Past Rejection

Guest blogger Elizabeth Hoban writes on the turning points in a writing career.

One percent inspiration and 99% perspiration was originally scribed by a writer, had to be.

For many years, I perspired when it came to writing. After what seemed like forever, I submitted my clever thriller over and over, and was rejected enough times to compile a lengthy book with Sorry-not-for-us letters. I didn’t understand this disconnect. Mine was a perfectly polished manuscript from the moment I typed The End. Hadn’t I spent enough time on this? Every favorite word and riveting sentence that ever ran through my mind was in that tome. I had whole sections memorized verbatim. I didn’t need to revisit it until I received the galleys, right? I had completed the writing of a book and I deserved to see it published.

When a well-known agent at a prominent writers conference announced to her audience that the odds of winning the lottery were better than getting your first book published, the audience gasped. I may have cried. Before I requested a conference refund, the author/speaker went on to explain that surprisingly the odds in favor of publication grew dramatically with the second novel before a first novel saw publication, then the third before the first two, and so on. My novel, my opus, my first born had taken me ten years to finish, meaning I’d be taking the dirt nap before I could write another book. After condemning everything from my second grade teacher to the alphabet, I begrudgingly put my opus in a drawer and began a second novel. After all, I had raised two kids, owned a second home. In fact, I was a second born and writing may be my second career, so why not, why couldn’t I write a second book?

Two years later, I was amazed to realize how much smoother the entire process went with this child. Like an athlete or musician, I was becoming quite practiced at writing. My grunt work was getting done while I enjoyed the creative process. Dare I say I was becoming a seasoned writer? My therapist thought so, when amidst the conclusion of my second novel, I started a third. Say what?

All writers who persevere have had that moment, that career turning point when they want to sit and rest on their laurels and someone pulls the chair out from under them. Here I wanted to pitch my great book to agents and turns out they were only considering second book ideas at that conference. According to the pitch boss, publishers wanted writers with more than one idea. Needless to say, that conference was my wake-up call. Sometimes the advice that’s the hardest to take is the exact advice you should take.

Both my first book and second book are traditionally published. My second book was the first to receive a publishing contract. Coincidence, I think not. Write on!

Check out Liz Hoban's hardcover true WW2 tale, The Final Mission here and The Cheech Room, her fiction suspense-thriller here.

Saying for Writers #153 - Sandburg

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“Beware of advice — even this.” Carl Sandburg

Sunrise in Montana, captured by my friend (and fellow soccer nut) Sue Haugan.

Tip O'Day #429 - The Numbers Game

Guest blogger Jacquelynn Gagne of Ambrosia Arts on “numeric numbers versus alphabetical numbers in fiction.”

Have you ever read a novel published by a big publishing house such as Penguin or Random and seen a lot of numeric numbers?

Unless the book is about numbers somehow or an educational book, then you rarely will. At most, you will only see a numerical number if it is a year (even then sometimes it may be written out alphabetically) unless it is a ridiculously long number such as 86,346,249. Writing out eighty-six million three hundred and forty-six thousand two hundred and forty-nine can just be confusing. One other exception is when it is in reference to a sign or a time of day. (Times we will discuss in a moment)

Take for example a road, such as I-149. However this could also be written as interstate one-forty-nine, and written as such is perfectly acceptable. Using numerical numbers may be considered unprofessional in the case of a standard novel. It can be considered lazy. It can be difficult to remember if you are already in the habit of going for the number key.

Let’s take a moment and discuss how to properly write times. If we are giving a general time of day, we would write it alphabetically every time. Eight o’clock in the morning, five o’clock in the afternoon, three o’clock in the morning - the time was seven a.m., the hour was two p.m. If you are being specific you can write this out alphabetically but depending on the type of book it may be accepted numerically as well but it is always advised to write your numbers alphabetically in a novel. Example: 4:39 a.m. Example four thirty-nine a.m.

On a side note, since we are discussing times I constantly see a.m. and p.m. written incorrectly as am or pm, You must include a period (dot) after each letter. If your sentence ends with a.m. or p.m. you do not add an additional period dot. As you can look in the paragraph directly above, the last two sentences are examples of this.

This may not seem like a big deal and I am not trying to say that it is. However it can make a difference in you looking professional or amateurish. If that doesn’t concern you, then you may wish to reevaluate your priorities and decide how you wish to be viewed, not just by readers but in the literary community as well. Our words are how we are viewed as writers. Books are judged by their covers and writers by our words. The plus side of this is that unlike a bad hair day, we have complete control over our writing.

You can follow more writing tips with a subscription to Ambrosia Arts e-magazine at http://www.ambrosia-arts.com/index.php/more/subscribe or learn more on Facebook.

Saying for Writers #152 - Orson Scott Card

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

"Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be." – Orson Scott Card

Dixon says: When meeting for the first time, people often ask: "What do you do?" A few years before I'd even finished the first draft of The Assassins Club, I started replying "I'm a novelist."

After a while, I started to believe it myself.

Local friend Sue Haugan captured this snowy Montana day.

Tip O'Day #428 - Bite Your Lip...

Guest blogger Mike Snyder on “A Cautionary Tale.”

Someone once said, "Writing is the loneliest profession." Let's not kid ourselves, so are accounting and nuclear physics. We just like to feel more tortured because we're creative. Well, maybe...

As authors, writers, bloggers, screenwriters, doodlers, dreamers, what-have-you, we are the masters of our fates ... much like that Seinfeld episode (and often, amounting to the same thing). For any of us know who have come up against editors, publishers, producers, directors, our moms -- name your poison -- it suddenly becomes a lot more crowded up in here!

I'm primarily a TV & film writer, but a lot of my friends are novelists (or recovering screenwriters, as I like to think of them). Some of them have had, or are in the process of having, their novels turned into films. One has even reverse engineered the process: she wrote a script that no one wanted, turned it into a best-selling novel featuring a winning heroine, which became a three-novel deal, which became a further three-novel deal, which then brought Hollywood sniffing around her door wondering if she'd "ever considered turning her novel into a script."

Ah, karma is so sweet sometimes...

I've been fortunate enough, and curious enough, to develop a skill set in other capacities on movie sets, which offers me a more unique insight into the screenwriting process, so I'm rarely asked to stay away when it's my script that's being eviscerated.

In other words, though it's often painful, and occasionally I still get bruised and battered, I know how to play the game. Novelists may have editors, but screenwriters are fair game to everyone who comes down the pike, so you may as well just relax and enjoy the ride. Filmmaking is the most collaborative of professions because everyone feels entitled to a kick at the cat, as my Canadian friends say. The producer who buys your script, certainly, especially if he's putting up the money and has a particular direction in mind for the project; the director, who wants to put his creative stamp on it; the actors, who want to make it their own (which is a whole 'nuther blog); and various network, studio or assistant underlings who need their presence known to justify huge paychecks.

All this requires that you bite the bullet. Hard. You're not going to win every argument and a lot of your darlings are going to be gutted, so choose your battles wisely and have *really* good reasons when you dig your heels in. Most writers are banned from TV or movie sets because they insist every last word is deathless prose. That's just not gonna happen, at least not in North America.

So, you've gone through development - a euphemism for obliterating anything creative from your script - and your Precious is going into production. Now you have every other department, down to the guy in crafts services, whispering in the director's ear because 1) they have an idea to make the script better, which is usually because 2) they have a script at home that's ten times as good as yours and they're obviously much more creative.

At this point you've suddenly begun praying the director has a strong vision, even if it's not *yours* simply to keep the wolves at bay.

Lonely profession indeed...

So, your bottom lip raw from biting it so much, you've managed to remain on the set as, day after day, you see something begin to emerge and take shape that may or may not have anything to do with your original piece.

Huzzah, consider yourself a true survivor. Out of hundreds of thousands (really, seriously, hundreds of thousands) of scripts that get submitted each year to studios, networks, production companies, producers, directors, actors, et al, yours was chosen. It was strong enough to withstand the vagaries of development and is being filmed. Or taped. Or pixeled. Whatever, it's getting made!

So whenever that little voice in the back of your head begins whining about your lovely vision and integrity to self and other silly, non-filmmaking words, sit on it. Hard. Stomp it down somewhere deep in the recesses of your soul where it will remain until you begin to write your next script.

Because ... this time it'll be different.

Saying for Writers #151 - Bradbury

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“I don’t need an alarm clock. My ideas wake me.” — Ray Bradbury

Drove from Kalispell, Montana, to Helena for soccer scheduling meetings last weekend, and saw about 100 deer alongside the road, plus a family of four elk. Was happy not to pick up any fur on my fenders.

How many deer do you see in the photo?

Tip O'Day #427 - Fictional (?) Characters

Guest blogger Carolyn Wall on “Characters – Real and Not.”

Constantly, I am set-upon by fictional characters. It was a pure wonder I didn’t go into acting. As a writer, however, I can create my own folks. In the case of my second novel, Playing With Matches, I began with Harry. I have four kids of my own, and five grandchildren plus three, so I knew how devastated his mom, Clea, was when Harry stopped talking. And how she and Thomas fell in love, once-and-forever, with little Maria-Luz. In the book, Luz looks like my own beautiful teenaged granddaughter.

Other than working through characters -- their love, sex and family problems -- my favorite part of the writing of Matches was the setting, especially a block of scenes that I had to omit from the final copy.

I love Belize City, which is just as Clea describes it in the book – the fish market in the canal, children playing in ditch water, the ocean lapping at the ends of the streets. For Sale by Red Carpet signs fronting shanties. Staircases that lead nowhere. Lush lawns of government buildings, the mayor’s brick house along the highway. City Park where the grass is dead and the trees stripped of leaves, weedy Mortuary Lane, parlors promising fast funerals because of the heat, women sitting alone in upstairs windows.

Speaking of setting -- my apologies to the people of Lousiana for snatching up their False River – actually a lake – and plunking it down in Mississippi.

Clea loved teaching the incarcerated to write, just as I did. For several years, I exhausted some friends and worried others as I prattled on and on about how incredibly much offenders had to say.

Which brings me back to characters.

I was attending a conference recently when the speaker asked a roomful of writers to jot down a childhood memory. I remembered my mother calling me in from outside – I was eleven or twelve – to teach me about the birds and the bees. She told me young ladies carried a handkerchief at all times and said – “Here, read this book.” In Matches, as I wrote the character of Bitsy, my heart ached for her lack of knowing, so I gave her the soft pink memory of Felicia to hold onto.

Carolyn’s latest book, Playing With Matches (Random House, 2012) and her first novel, Sweeping Up Glass (Random House, 2009) are available in bookstores everywhere. You can learn more about her on Facebook or at www.Carolyndwall.com.

Saying for Writers #150 - George Singleton

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“You do not have to explain every single drop of water contained in a rain barrel. You have to explain one drop — H2O. The reader will get it.” — George Singleton

Dixon says: Novelist and screenwriter Dennis Foley used to teach writing at UCLA, and now shares his wisdom with the Authors of the Flathead in northwest Montana. One of his most frequently repeated acronyms is RUE – resist the urge to explain.

Gone are the days when, in the first chapter of a novel, a woman would enter a room, only to have the author completely stop the action while he spends half a page describing the carpet, drapes, furniture and wallpaper. It is helpful for the author if he can visualize all that information. However, all the reader needs is a few telling details in order to understand the essence of the setting. If I mention an ornate Chinese rug, doilies on wing chairs, and yellowed lithographs of dead relatives on a mantle, you might think, “That’s just like my elderly aunt’s parlor.” If I give you another half-page of description, it all becomes a jumble of confusing details.

So resist the urge to explain.

Tip O'Day #426 - A Memorist's Voice

Guest blogger Cindy Zelman on “10 Million Links to Help Make Your Memoir Stand Out! (Part 2)”

Or, more simple advice for those new to memoir writing. (Scroll down to the previous blog post if you missed Part 1.)

Suggestion Number 3: Find your voice. You may know that the memoir market is glutted with terrifying and sad stories of sexual abuse, physical abuse, alcoholism, and drug addiction. Does that mean your own story on such topics won’t get the attention of an editor? Well, that may depend on voice. Voice in writing is what sets you apart. It’s a bit of an elusive term.

I will use an analogy to popular music. When you hear a Beatles’ song, you know it’s the Beatles. When you hear an Adele song, you know it’s Adele. Not because of how their voices literally sound, but because their entire presentation is in a unique voice. Four Beatles were vocalists and yet you always knew it was the Beatles playing on the radio, regardless of who sang lead. When you read something by one of your favorite authors, you know it’s that author without even looking at the book jacket. Why? Because of voice, the sound that the writer generates, a tone and an attitude embedded in the writing, that makes his or her writing unique, a DNA stamp of sorts.

One way to develop voice is to write naturally and to write often. Practice. Don’t try to force flowery language or humor or pathos. Write the first draft of your memoir as if you were telling the story to a friend sitting next to you. So, keep on writing and practicing until your voice emerges and your story of drug abuse doesn’t sound like anyone else’s.

Suggestion Number 4: Revise…and revise some more. Did you hear that? REVISE! Then REVISE again! Show your manuscript to friends, enemies, writing workshop participants, teachers, and then REVISE again! (Don’t overuse exclamation points in your writing!) Put the draft away for awhile, reread it, and revise yet again.

Those are my four simple steps to writing a good memoir. Easy right? Absolutely. Not. Writing a memoir is akin to writing a novel and it takes time, but if your story is worth telling, take the time. Don’t worry about the market. There are periods when genres are “hot” as memoirs have been in the past decade, and then they cool off – as they may have at the moment. But I firmly believe if you write a great manuscript, put the time and effort into it -- and that can take years -- eventually, it will find a home, no matter the genre.

I leave you here, with what should be suggestion number 5: read some great memoirs. Here are a few to start with:

Lucky by Alice Sebold
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
The Chelsea Whistle by Michelle Tea
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggars
Townie: A Memoir by Andre Dubus III

So, go to it, writer friends, get down to your writing. And remember there are 3 – 10 million links out there to help you make your memoir stand out, so if this post has not been helpful, Google it and good luck.

Cindy Zelman is a creative nonfiction writer whose work has appeared in numerous journals including Feminist Studies, Connotation Press: An Online Artifact, The Whistling Fire, and Cobalt Review. She is finishing a full-length memoir about how panic disorder and a dysfunctional childhood have affected her romantic relationships. You can read some of her work on her blog, The Early Draft.

Tip O'Day #425 - Finding Emotional Truth

Guest blogger Cindy Zelman on “10 Million Links to Help Make Your Memoir Stand Out! (Part 1)”

Or, some simple advice for those new to memoir writing.

If you Google the phrase, How to make your memoir stand out, you will receive 3+ million hits within a few seconds. Sometimes that phrase yields up to 10 million hits. Either way, that’s a lot of information. Who am I to give you advice with such a crowd of experts waiting for you to click on a link or 3 million? As a blogger and a writer whose focus is creative nonfiction, both essays and memoir, I can offer you some down home suggestions -- nothing proven or promised, but helpful ideas I’ve picked up along the way from other writers, editors, and publishers.

I would begin by telling you not to listen to people who say you must lead an exciting life to write a publishable memoir. BS, people, BS! Yeah, sure, it helps to be Cheryl Strayed and have hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert to Washington State all alone. To add to the spice of her memoir, Strayed had never been a hiker and decided to hike 1,000+ miles to find inner peace after the death of her mother and a divorce from her spouse. This doesn’t sound like your life? You don’t find yourself praying you don’t run out of water lost up in a mountain somewhere? You’re not a beautiful blonde adventurer who would look good on Oprah?

Me neither.

Just because your life is a little quieter than Chery Strayed’s, that doesn’t mean you can’t write a great memoir. Even if the most exciting thing you do is stay home and crochet afghans, you can write a compelling memoir. It’s all in how you tell the story.

Did I just say “story?”

Suggestion Number 1: Tell a story. Just as a novelist tells a story in fiction, a memoirist should always keep story in mind when telling her tale. Of course, one distinction between fiction and memoir is that your story needs to be true. By true, I don’t mean absolutely, 100% factual, because a memoir is not a news article. I’m not interested in all the arguments about objective truth, since personally, I do not believe it exists.

If you are to write credible memoir, stay as close to memory as possible. Finding the emotional truth in your story is essential. The emotional truth is what readers want in memoir – not the chronological facts of your life. A this happened and then that happened approach is autobiography, not memoir. You reach deeper in memoir to provide a story arc, to feel and see and interpret the aspect(s) of your life and the world which you are writing about.

For example, you might not remember the color of your father’s sweater when he took you to the ball game, right before he left you and your mom forever, but you remember how it felt when he took you to that game. What would the color of the sweater need be, to evoke the emotional truth of being with your Dad for the last time? Make his sweater that color, the color of how it felt. It’s okay to imagine, just don’t lie about having had a father who took you to the ball game and then left home, leaving you and your mom to fend for yourselves. That part needs to be true. The part about the sweater color can be imagined as a method for showing the emotional truth. If it makes you uncomfortable to make up the color, you can alert your readers that you are imagining. “I think his sweater was blue,” or “I imagine his sweater to be blue,” are ways to tip off the reader that you are unsure. Readers are okay with that.

If research and interviews help to jog your memory and go deeper into the story, then go for it. I recently had an experience where someone I never wanted to hear from again found a short memoir published by an online journal. She contacted me and pushed back about some of the situations I described. I must give her credit that our discussions led to a better and deeper story. People who are familiar with the story you want to tell can help to jog your memory, but remember, it’s your story to write, not theirs.

So, tell us a story.

Suggestion Number 2: Write well. It may sound self-evident but there are people who think if they throw something down on paper about their lives, it’s worthy of readers. If you plan to write about how knitting afghans for the last 30 years has made you the spiritual person you are today, starting when you were a 15-year old feeling alone and friendless and borderline suicidal, and ending your story in middle-age, where the afghans are what saved your mortal soul and now define your very essence –- write that story well. It’s an awesome story: surviving your demons through crocheting is your own Pacific Crest Trail hike. However, your sentence structure, diction, and grammar need to be clear, concise, and correct. Make sure there are no spelling errors. (I am saying all this to myself, by the way.)

Cindy Zelman is a creative nonfiction writer whose work has appeared in numerous journals including Feminist Studies, Connotation Press: An Online Artifact, The Whistling Fire, and Cobalt Review. She is finishing a full-length memoir about how panic disorder and a dysfunctional childhood have affected her romantic relationships. You can read some of her work on her blog, The Early Draft, found here.

Part 2 of Cindy’s advice on memoir writing will appear here tomorrow, February 28th.

Saying for Writers #149 - Weingarten

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“All stories have to at least try to explain some small portion of the meaning of life. You can do that in 20 minutes, and 15 inches. I still remember a piece that the great Barry Bearak did in The Miami Herald some 30 years ago. It was a nothing story, really: Some high school kid was leading a campaign to ban books he found offensive from the school library. Bearak didn’t even have an interview with the kid, who was ducking him. The story was short, mostly about the issue. But Bearak had a fact that he withheld until the kicker. The fact put the whole story, subtly, in complete perspective. The kicker noted the true, wonderful fact that the kid was not in school that day because ‘his ulcer was acting up.’ Meaning of life, 15 inches.” – Gene Weingarten

A view of the Northern Rockies from my home in Kalispell, Montana.

Tip O'Day #424 - How to Start?

Guest blogger Jessica Knauss on “Creating an Exciting Beginning.”

I write in two genres. For short pieces and my contemporary longer fiction, I can honestly say that the first few lines drop into my head. It’s as if my muse says, Here you go. What happens next? It’s the most exciting part of writing and gets me enthused for the entire story, so I hope that enthusiasm is transmitted to the reader.

I was sitting at a table at my grandmother’s house, absently rubbing the bony part of my nose, when the first line of Rhinoceros Dreams appeared out of nowhere: “Allie had an outsized bump on the bridge of her nose that made her think she might be turning into a rhinoceros.” Although the story went through several drafts, the first line was a keeper from that moment.

On the other hand, the first line of Unpredictable Factors in Human Obedience involved the main character ordering vegetarian substitute bacon for the charity dinner that figures in the climax. Once the first draft was finished, I realized I no longer needed the part about the fake bacon. I cut it so the story starts with a hint at the main character’s self-absorption, but I’ll never forget that the story would not have come into being if not for that lost sentence.

My current WIP, a New Adult paranormal tentatively titled Middle Awash in Talent, begins this way:

When my little sister staggered through that rough-hewn doorway, blood still dripping artistically from the slash across her bellybutton where they’d sewn her up, and declared that she no longer needed my attention, she finally started to seem interesting to me.

Beth and I started off on the wrong foot.

That crazy image, written during that time between sleep and waking, eventually led to a vivid narrator, a world where some people train to use their telekinesis or other strange powers, and unexpected twists and turns at a breakneck pace all over the northern hemisphere. When I finish it as a novella or novel, I may change a few words of the beginning, but overall it has served the story exceptionally well.

My muse hasn’t been so generous with my historical novel. Although I’ve finished the first draft of The Seven Noble Knights of Lara, the really inspired passages take place well within the book. In fact, I put so much pressure on myself to write an awesome beginning that I started with Chapter II. I’ve now gone back and forth with the beginning four or five times. Can it start slowly? Should the beginning with a bang be an entire chapter, or just a prologue-type fragment? How much of the bad guy should I show up front? What will draw the reader in? Once the novel gets going, all my beta readers have reported feeling like they’ve been transported to the year and place and can hardly put it down, but I’m far from figuring out what would make a new reader turn the first page.

I hope my editor can help with this decision. There’s still a chance the right beginning will drop into my head when I’m least expecting it, but that doesn’t seem like a very reliable method, if it’s a method at all. I’ve written The Seven Noble Knights of Lara much differently than anything else – it was well planned, while my contemporary stories are purely pantsed. So when I do figure out this beginning, I hope it’s a technique I can use for all the other historical fiction I’m planning. Wish me luck! Any suggestions are welcome.

Jessica was the first person to interview Dixon as a writer. She blogs at this link and provides updates about The Seven Noble Knights of Lara here.

For those unfamiliar with the word pantsed, this refers to the spectrum of writers, with planners at one end, and those who write by the seat of their pants at the other end. Thus, some authors refer to themselves as pantsers, and their prose could be said to be pantsed. Class dismissed.

Saying for Writers #148 - Jean Kerr

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

"Confronted by an absolutely infuriating review it is sometimes helpful for the victim to do a little personal research on the critic. Is there any truth to the rumor that he had no formal education beyond the age of eleven? In any event, is he able to construct a simple English sentence? Do his participles dangle? When moved to lyricism does he write 'I had a fun time'? Was he ever arrested for burglary? I don't know that you will prove anything this way, but it is perfectly harmless and quite soothing." – Jean Kerr

A soothing photo of snow on branches snapped somewhere in northwest Montana by local friend Sue Haugan. Hang this where it can be seen from your bathtub. After receiving a horrible review, pour yourself a glass of wine and climb in the tub for a long, hot soak.

Tip O'Day #423 - Flashing Back

Guest blogger Ben Drake flashes back to earlier today, when he had a question about flashbacks.

Does every flashback need a catapult?

I am a lover of the flashback. I recently read a very good story with several flashbacks in it, and I just wrote a story with some attempts at flashbacks on my book site. They are not as easy as one would think. An editor I know has told me about one rule for flashbacks – there needs to be a trigger for them.

But what about when the character is insane? In my own mind I don’t need a flashback catapult when I am transported back into the actual, strong memory. Then again, it has been said that I do not have the soundest of minds.

Dixon says: Thanks, Ben. In my opinion, there’s only one rule for a flashback (or a flashforward) – you need to be absolutely clear when you’re going into and coming out of the flashback.

Flashbacks can be any length at all. They can be one phrase long – The smoke from the fire made Paul break out in a sweat, taking him back to the burning crack house in Phoenix when he accidentally shot an innocent kid. They can be a hundred pages of longer. In the novel The Godfather, there’s a huge flashback right after Sonny’s wedding, going back to Don Corleone’s youth in Sicily. I’ve seen books where the opening and closing chapters are bookends, in the present tense, and the rest of the story is a flashback. An example of that is The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

The Liberty Valance short story by Dorothy Johnson (as well as the movie) is also an example of a flashback within a flashback, when Sen. Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) reveals that Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) actually shot bad guy Liberty Valance. To get even more complicated, there are cases of a flashback within a flashback within a flashback, such as Six Degrees of Separation.

It’s easy when the flashback starts and ends at chapter breaks. Thirty years earlier makes a nice transition. The same thing goes for a scene break. When the flashback occurs in the middle of a scene, the author needs to go out of her way to ensure clarity without jerkiness, both going in and coming out. My suggestion is to do your best and then show it to some critique partners (beta readers) to see if what’s in your mind works on the page.

As for Ben’s question about an unbalanced character, if that person has already been established as unreliable, there’s no reason a flashback shouldn’t work. In my WIP, a thriller tentatively titled Montana is Burning, there’s a schizophrenic character named Winnifred who holds lengthy discussions with her dead mother, her son (who may or may not have been aborted), the devil, and various imps. If Winnifred tells you today is Saturday, you’d still better check a calendar. Her flashbacks are some of the most entertaining parts of the novel, even though the reader isn’t sure whether they actually occurred.

Ben’s guest post was a fine example of brevity. Unfortunately, I rarely demonstrate that talent.

Saying for Writers #147 - Hemingway

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

"The parody is the last refuge of the frustrated writer. Parodies are what you write when you are associate editor of the Harvard Lampoon. The greater the work of literature, the easier the parody. The step up from writing parodies is writing on the wall above the urinal." – Ernest Hemingway

Dixon says: I enjoy collecting quirky quotes, and have unearthed quite a few from both Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway. The following and many other writing tips were gathered by Larry W. Phillips into his 1984 book, Ernest Hemingway on Writing. The Open Culture website created their list of seven favorites for a post on February 19th at http://tinyurl.com/bxj3ljz as follows:

1. To get started, write one true sentence.

2. Always stop for the day while you still know what will happen next.

3. Never think about the story when you’re not working.

4. When it’s time to work again, always start by reading what you’ve written so far.

5. Don’t describe an emotion -- make it.

6. Use a pencil.

7. Be brief.

I’ve heard that Hemingway would start each day’s writing session with a few freshly sharpened pencils. When they were worn down to nubs, it was time to stop writing and head for the nearest watering hole. Don’t know is that is true, but it’s part of the Hemingway legend.

It could be true.

Tip O'Day #422 - "I'm No Cop"

Guest blogger Mark Sadler on writing from first person point of view.

I had always baulked at writing in the first person because it just seemed, well, so personal. Surely one would have to be experienced in whatever the subject matter was to pull it off. I write suspense and police procedurals and really have a vivid imagination rather than experience so it would probably come off weak. That’s what I told myself, anyway. As I started to write my current project, I actually started in the first person and then switched as it felt false and weird. However the more I wrote, I realized that telling the story as a cop from the first person standpoint brought more of a charge to what I felt as I wrote.

I was totally unprepared for what was to come. As writers we all know that our characters take us where they want to go, which is not necessarily the direction we thought they should. As my protagonist drifted through the present and into his past, the emotions that were brought up as he took me where he had been as a child brought tears to my eyes. As I witnessed my mother being strangled to death, as it were, I was able to understand his path through the current stages of the novel.

Now I have never been a cop, and never experienced the horrible nightmares this poor child experienced. I never knew the consequences on an abused child later in life, nowhere close. Does that make me less of an expert, less able to issue commentary on the subject? Of course not. No one ever asked Stephen King what he knew about living under a dome or time-travel. We writers are all readers of other authors’ works, and of real-life news events. We all use these for inspiration, woven together with our own thoughts and experiences. If your book lacks emotional attachment, try putting yourself in the shoes of your protagonist and watch the flavors pop!

Mark’s thriller, Blood On His Hands, is available in paperback and Kindle here and you can learn more about him at his website www.markpsadler.com

Tip O'Day #421 - Whose Dream?

Guest blogger Gary Ponzo writes on “Chasing the Dream 101.”

Recently I became acquainted with an ambitious writer who's chasing the dream to become a published author. He'd read one of my books and asked if I would meet him for drinks to discuss my travels along this path. When we got together one of the first questions he asked was, "So how do I go about getting published?" To which I responded, "Is your book finished?" Well, you seem like a very smart audience so I'm sure you've already guessed that he hadn't even started writing a book yet.

You see, asking about the publishing process before you've finished polishing off your book is like a golfer asking what they should wear to the champions dinner before even entering into an event. Or learning the sport.

We ended up having a terrific evening of drinks and appetizers. Hours later I agreed to exchange chapters with him so we could critique each other's work along the way. I'm always searching for new eyes for my writing and he was excited about the idea of working together.

Now fast forward a month. This writer sends me the first 40 pages of his book to review and we agree to meet once again for drinks to discuss his writing. He was an English major and had probably one of the strongest command of narrative I've ever seen. There was no doubt he could write. His story began with a young woman trapped in a torrential rain storm up in the mountains where a strange man finds her unconscious and keeps her safe and sheltered through the night. I was fascinated to find out where the story was going, only to discover the woman fantasizing about having sex with her rescuer the moment she awakes. By fantasizing, I mean a body-thrusting, orifice-penetrating, erection-filled sexual fantasy that would make Hugh Hefner blush. Two scenes later, she's reminiscing about the first night she'd slept with her husband and explained parts of her anatomy her gynecologist hadn't thought of checking.

Although these sexual interludes were sandwiched between some very intriguing story lines, I was curious if the writer knew exactly what type of story he was writing. Surely he understood that this was an erotic novel, right? Wrong. He told me that the sex scenes stop after the second chapter, but that his wife told him to throw some steamy action into his book because, well, sex sells. He doesn't even like writing that stuff, he was just trying to tap into the E.L James fan base.

Everything I've just told you is true. And I'll bet this isn't the only instance of a writer chasing after a dream which turns out to be someone else's. Getting anything published these days is hard. Just try selling a short story to a literary magazine with a circulation of 300. It's damn tough.

I am certainly no expert on which path to take on the way to success (whatever that may mean to you). Please, if you really want to chase the dream to become an author, and maybe even develop some loyal readers along the way--chase your own dream. You will have very few regrets along the way.

A Touch of Greed, Gary’s latest thriller in the Nick Bracco series can be found on Kindle here. The next Nick Bracco novel will be released in a few weeks.

Tip O'Day #420 - Don't Wimp Out

Guest blogger Jeff Mariotte on keeping in shape.

You write with your writing muscles.

Like any other muscles, you've got to use them, exercise them, keep them in shape. If you let them atrophy, they won't be there when you need them. If you take care of them and work them out regularly, they will.

So write.

A lot.

It doesn't necessarily make writing any easier, but it almost invariably makes your hard work turn into something better.

Jeff Mariotte has written over 45 novels and numerous comic books, mostly in the supernatural thriller, horror, western and suspense thriller genres, as well as nonfiction works about serial killers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the like. You can find the paperback of supernatural thriller Season of the Wolf here.

Saying for Writers #146 - W. Zinsser

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“I almost always urge people to write in the first person… Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it.” — William Zinsser.

Dixon says: I think it depends on the story. Moby Dick would have been a completely different tale if told in first person by Captain Ahab. Having the uneducated deckhand Ishmael as an unreliable narrator created a unique dynamic. Generally, though, writing in the first person – especially first person present tense – lends an air of immediacy to a story.

First person does create complications. Events taking place elsewhere must be reported to the protagonist in a realistic manner. There’s also the danger that the POV character will end up “living in the head” too much. I felt that was the case in the Hunger Games trilogy. The movie version of the first book avoided all the internal monologue, choosing instead the more traditional cinema approach of what you see is what you get. To me, the result was a more thrilling adventure, while still keeping most of the essential story elements.

Tip O'Day #419 - Baking a Book Brownie

Guest blogger Mary Fan on reading to escape.

I frequent the New York Times book section, mostly looking for industry news, and to pick up tips on how to write a good review. (I run a review blog, Zigzag Timeline). However, I don’t think I’ve ever picked up one of the books reviewed. Partially it’s because I have an extensive reading list and don’t really have time for their recommendations, but mostly because they like to review literary fiction, in which case, the reader in my head says, “No thanks, sounds too good.”

I don’t read to delve into the depths of real life drama, to examine or question moral principles, or to ruminate on the meaning of life. I read to escape. That’s why the majority of my reading list consists of speculative fiction. I want a book to take me away to a far-off land, where the impossible comes to life and the improbable is shrugged at. Who cares that there’s no possible way a light saber could work? If they’re part of the fabric of the story, they’re real enough for me.

I see enough real world problems just reading the news. When I read, I don’t want a mirror of what’s actually going on out there. I don’t want someone to “tell it like it is.” In fact, unless it’s dramatized historical fiction, I avoid stories “based on a true story” like my cat avoids a bath. Most of the stuff I read is, from a literary standpoint, transient. It will never be taught in classrooms, picked apart by teachers with microscopes and crammed down the throats of yawning school children. It will never be tied to an academic’s desk and tortured into confessing its underlying meanings. That’s precisely why I read it. It’s my literary candy, empty word calories that taste delicious.

Now, every so often, I’ll come across a piece of candy that has nutritional value, and those are the best. They’re like those gummy bear vitamins — you receive your nutrients in a tasty package. You get your far-off adventures, your wild escapes, your truer-than-life loves, and you get to feel a little smarter after reading.

When I wrote my sci-fi space adventure, Artificial Absolutes, I was basically baking brownies. A star-filled batter mixed with robots and sprinkled with virtual reality. It was, for me, a fun thought experiment: what would happen if you took an ordinary young woman, who could have stepped out of a contemporary romance or something, and put her in a space opera universe akin to Star Wars?

Then I began thinking a lot — perhaps too much — about the theme of man versus machine, the eggs that hold the batter together. I approached the great nutritious carrot that is the philosophical debate about the nature of free will, and I shaved off a few pieces to throw into my sci-fi brownie. Whether the nutrients survived the oven remains to be seen, and will likely be received differently by different readers.

Ultimately, whether they get their veggie bits or not, I hope to do for my readers what dozens of authors have done for me – take them away on a fun journey.

Mary Fan’s sci-fi novel Artificial Absolutes will be released in late February and the book’s website is http://www.artificialabsolutes.com

Saying for Writers #145 - Hemingway

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.” — Ernest Hemingway

Another Montana photo by my Kalispell friend Sue Haugan - a snowy day in November.

Saying for Writers #144 - F. Scott Fitzgerald

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

"Cut out all those exclamation marks. An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own joke." – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Kalispell friend Sue Haugan took this photo of a frozen waterfall earlier in January, somewhere in NW Montana.

Tip O'Day #418 - Just Look in Her Eyes

Guest blogger Anjali Enjeti opines on the subject, “Ask Me About My Writing."

But first, a note about what Dixon has been up to. I had shoulder surgery two months ago (my rotator cuff wouldn't rotate) and the creativity elves stopped visiting me for awhile. Either I was in too much pain, or I was fuzzy-headed from the pain meds. No more drugs now, and I'm doing well in physical therapy. It's nice to be back. Did you miss me? - Dixon.

I’ve been writing for eleven years now. While I’ve had some success, it’s safe to say that 99% of what I’ve written hasn’t gotten published. Okay, maybe 99% is a little high. Let’s settle on 95%.

My fifth book and first novel will be going on submission with my agent in the near future. (My first book was a memoir, the second an anthology, the third and fourth were picture books.) Going on submission is a scary process, made only scarier by the fact that one of my books, which I would have bet my life on would sell -- didn’t sell.

It’s a lot of hard work — not getting published. When you’re buried in rejection letters, there’s the added stress of wondering whether you’ll ever succeed -- whether your blood, sweat and tears will ever amount to anything.

I know many published writers whose books take up an entire shelf at the local bookstore. At book signings and speaking engagements, they complain about upcoming deadlines from their editors, their worldly travels to promote their published books, their rapidly declining advances. They bemoan their lack of sleep, interrupted and shortened because of their busy writing careers.

Successfully published writers seem to forget that we unpublished writers are also exhausted and overworked with our writing. No, we don’t have the advance or marked-up editorial letter to show for it. Hell, we still can’t find an agent, but we also make enormous sacrifices in order to write. Because we unpublished writers are working just as hard to get published as published writers.

We, too, struggle with self-esteem, depression and anxiety. We also have to wait until the kids are asleep before we can get a significant amount of writing done. We come home cranky and spent (from our other jobs, which actually pay the bills), and somehow muster whatever creativity reserves we have left to write engaging prose and scintillating poetry.

Recently, I went out to lunch with a wildly successful, best-selling author. Over grilled cheese and lemonade, she peppered me with questions about my own writing, my agent search, and my publishing history. She nodded when I confessed that I didn’t know whether it was worth it anymore — this writing life.

Here she was, living the dream: a big-time author, traveling the country to speak to reading and writing groups, researching her next novel in Europe, and selling foreign rights to countries I’ve never even heard of — and she couldn’t have acted more interested in my own, humble, and fledgling publishing career.

I left the lunch feeling validated. Reborn, almost, for she had taken the time to listen not only to my (numerous) tales of woe, but also to reveal her own, very discouraging start in publishing. By doing so, she pulled me from the pit of rejection-despair, and restored the fire in my belly for writing and submitting that had nearly gone out.

So if you are a published author and you find me standing in line, waiting for you to sign my copy of your book, do me a favor: Remember what it was like to be on this side of the process. Take a moment to look me in my discouraged, weary eyes. And ask me about my writing.

Anjali recently completed her first novel, Secrets of the Sari Chest, and is working on her second novel, Finding Om. She is represented by Robert Guinsler of Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc., and blogs at anjalienjeti.com

Tip O'Day #417 - How One Reader Spots Winners

Guest blogger Trisha Russon on choosing what to read.

I'm passionate about the things that interest me. I'm addicted to reading. One of the most beneficial outcomes of reading is relaxation. For me, this is important therapy. To some people, myself included at times, reading offers an escape from the real world.

I'm an avid reader, always searching for new authors to fuel my addiction. I enjoy reading different genres depending on my mood. When I choose a book by an unknown author, there is a combination of specific things that draw me to the book. First and foremost are a striking cover, an impressive title and an intriguing description.

If a book lacks these qualities it gives me the impression that the unknown author is an unprofessional beginner who doesn't know how to write. In my honest opinion, that's a sure way to quickly lose a reader’s interest. I know there are people out there who believe in the saying "don't judge a book by it's cover." Sorry, but I have to disagree. I want to be captivated and drawn into the book like a child entering a candy store for the very first time.

I like to use a variety of different sites to help me when choosing a book. Web pages like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, authors and readers blogs, and even Facebook pages and groups with descriptive blurbs, synopses, anthologies and great reviews are all helpful tools.

With that being said, I still don't base my final decision about a book solely by what others have to say about it, for one reason. We all have different opinions about the books we read. What other people like or don't like will not sway me either way. At the end of the day it comes down to one thing.

Did the authors have what it took to draw me into buying their books?

Dixon says: These are all good points, and yet we’ve all had the experience of buying what appears to be a professionally-produced, thought-provoking book, only to quickly realize it’s poorly written garbage. However, there’s a way to prevent that.

Let’s say you’ve been intrigued by the catchy title, striking cover and interesting blurb. You’ve seen it mentioned on some websites you follow. You’ve read a few positive reviews, and noticed it has a high rating on Goodreads. My suggestion is that you now read some sample pages.

Sure, we all know the first chapter get edited and proofread a lot more than later sections, and yet believe me, any writer too lazy or clueless to run a book past Beta Readers or a critique group, will demonstrate those same qualities in the first five pages. One of the things I really enjoy about eBooks is the ability to preview a certain amount of the opening pages, usually about ten percent, just as you might do browsing in a physical bookstore. I recently previewed a book where I didn’t need to go past the second page to find about a half-dozen misspellings and misuses of there, their and they’re. So be a smart consumer, and do the work needed to avoid buying junk.

Tip O'Day #416 - Hello, Lurkers!

Guest blogger Lucy Pireel rants about online forums for authors.

When Dixon asked me whether I would like to supply him with a guest post for his blog, I jumped at the opportunity — like I always do. Head first and oblivious to the existence of shallow, shark infested waters. But that’s me.

Anyway, I had a nice topic to ramble on about — where to get new ideas — but got distracted. By? Yup, the evil Book of Faces. It has me in its clutches and won’t let go. Mind you, I’ve liked being on there ever since I signed up rather reluctantly. It’s a major distraction, but also a source of great fun and a wonderful means of reaching out to people. We get to ‘meet’ individuals we would have never known without Facebook.

I thought it would be useless to me, but to be honest I’ve learned quite a bit about self-publishing and marketing during the mere month since being suckered in. Hahaha. But there’s a balance to be kept, because before you know it — Poof! — there went another day that could, no should, have been spent on writing, editing, or other writerly habits.

So, there you have the topic of today. Facebook. Let’s take a long hard look at it. Fun? Yes! Useful? Yes, and… Oh, well, yes. Even if I sometimes think the authors gathered there are mainly promoting our works to one another, I still honestly believe that there must be other people watching and reading too. People who lurk in the shadows and think, because they do not write, they have no right being part of an authors group.

How wrong they are. There are heaps of readers too. Readers who love to connect with writers. Take for example the Book Junkies group, a gang of readers who not only love books, but are also dedicated to helping writers get their names and works more exposure throughout the online universe. Book Junkies members think ‘outside the box’ and have set up not only their group, but also a site to promote authors, and a site to promote books by posting reviews. They offer a complete platform for writers.

And there are many other similar groups.

Not only are there promotional groups, but recently a new group called Authors Against Piracy has been formed. Now we not only unite in the search for an audience, but we’ve started the effort to protect our intellectual property against thieves. Much like the music industry struggles to protect itself, we ought to do the same. Digital books need the same kind of protection that recorded music has. And I don’t mean that lousy excuse they call DRM, because any second grade digital thief can take that off any file in a jiffy, ruining a beautifully formatted book while at it. Leaving the ripped off copy a mucked up mess.

So Facebook and other online forums offer an opportunity for authors to network and create friendships all over the globe. We get to learn more about the craft of writing, about the publishing business, and about our legal rights. We have the chance to discover what readers are looking for, and how they choose which books to purchase. For those of us in rural or isolated locales, we have the opportunity to create a writing platform.

And the lurkers get plenty of places to hang out.

Tip O'Day #415 - The Best POV

Guest blogger Carolyn Arnold says “First Person POV Can Save Your Writing.”

All of us -- both as authors and as readers -- want characters we can relate to and connect with. Nothing can kill a plot much faster than cardboard shadows roaming the pages. I’m sure we’ve all been victim to this plague at one point or another, whether the infection has been injected by us as the author, or we’ve tried to read a book that has them.

The question as an author is, how can we avoid flat characters and get ones our readers feel they can pinch?

When we start out writing, we all have areas we can improve on. In fact, even once we may have “mastered” one technique or area, we’ll find there are still ways to sharpen it further. That’s why I always say that writing isn’t a destination but a journey -- a metaphor that holds true in so many ways.

So if we are to improve our craft, the old adage, practice makes perfect, is always in play. When I started out writing, I didn’t even know where it was headed. My goal was simply to write a full-length novel. I didn’t see beyond that until a few months after I finished the first draft. And it wasn’t until I wrote Ties that Bind, the first Madison Knight novel, that I realized how serious writing was to me. Going from a single goal to a lifestyle, I was reborn an author. It’s quite likely my situation mirrors your own. You may also relate to the fact that once you decide you want to make money with your books and have people “out there” read them, you have to refine them to the point of exhaustion, and beyond.

Along my journey, I discovered I needed to sharpen my characterization. I went back to Ties that Bind repeatedly revising and tightening until Madison Knight came alive off the page. It was at this point I proudly published the novel satisfied she was relatable and like a real woman I could run into on the street.

This didn’t happen overnight. As mentioned, it took many return visits to the manuscript and time. Maybe you’re wondering how I knew what I was looking for? Here’s how: writing first person POV saved my writing.

Possibly you’re cocking an eyebrow right now, or smirking at the statement, but it’s true. Think of it this way: the most popular point of view to write in is third close. That is the use of “he” and “she”, where as the author you’ve distanced yourself immediately by pulling out of the character’s head. You may argue that third close gives you “insider knowledge,” and it does if executed properly. That latter part is the key. So, how do you get there?

Think of writing first person. The use of “I,” “me,” “we” and “us” become the terms used in this point of view. It instantly feels more personal. By using “I” and looking at emotions and situations in first person, you are right inside that character’s mind. You feel what they feel, see what they see, hear what they hear, and smell what they smell.

In consideration of this, my suggestion to all authors is: write something in first person.,/p>

For myself, this came in the form of a full-length novel (Restitution, not yet published). But you don’t have to write a novel. Why not just try a short story, or if you’re struggling with a scene, re-work it (for your purpose) in first person?

Close your eyes. Immerse yourself in the scene. Breathe in deep and focus. You are your character. How do you feel? What do you see? What do you hear? You get the idea.

By writing in first person, it benefits your writing in at least two ways:

1. It strengthens your intimacy with your characters, and in turn, your readers -- even when writing in third close. In fact, I find when I’m writing close third in a first draft, I have inadvertently put “I” because I felt that close with the character.

2. It takes away any hesitation to branch out and try something new. This is very important, because as author as we must continually challenge ourselves.

For myself, after I wrote Restitution, that was then I revisited Ties that Bind. In fact, at the time of this post, I have written three novels utilizing this point of view with a fourth in the works. Here’s another challenge for you: switch off between first and third to play with the plot of the story and further heighten conflicts and create more suspense.

Of course, my advice to all authors, write any story the way it demands to be told. For me, I took on the challenge of mixing first and third in a few thrillers I have written. My thriller/police procedural Eleven (part of the Brandon Fisher FBI Series) utilizes this and is currently available for Kindle or in print.

An effective way of switching between characters for different scenes, mixing first and third or not, is another challenge -- and another post. For now, just keep writing, and heck, why not give writing first person a try? It might save your writing.

Carolyn Arnold is the author of both the Madison Knight and Brandon Fisher FBI series. To find out more information about her available books and upcoming releases, you can visit her at carolynarnold.net or peruse her Amazon Author Page.