Anniversaries and Such (and a few nifty links)

The cherry trees are in full bloom in Cherry Hill. Enjoy!

Today marks an important anniversary for me. One year ago, I took over the Goals Threads at the Book and Writers Forum from the wonderful S. P. Bowers. I hope I'm helped others keep their writing on track. I know having to check in at the beginning, middle, and end of every month has really kept me on my toes and on track.

It was six years ago in March that a dream introduced me to my two main characters--Laura Grace Chandler and Samantha Smith. I had no clue where they were going to take me, but I'm enjoying the roller-coaster ride. Through their story, I've learned about abuse, social work, foster parents, foster families, foster parent training, Georgia's Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS), and all sorts of other interesting problems in today's world. Along with Laura Grace and Samantha, I've worked through some terrible results of abuse. They and their friends and not so friendly neighbors have spawned at least three more stories. I really had hoped to celebrate this anniversary with a complete draft of FRIENDLY FIRE, but I'm not upset that I can't. A better story is preferable to a premature ending that doesn't do the story justice.

I've been blogging for the last four years and ten months and through that I've made fast friends and learned more about writing than ever knew existed. Thanks to you all!

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And now for this week's LINKS! I love both of these.

Check out Kristen Lamb's Premature Editing post. I've been very prone to this problem lately. I wanted reach a completed draft so badly that I've slashed a few keepers who are starting to bud. Thanks to Scrivener, I've been able to recreate much of what's been cut.

Catherine, Caffeinated's info on Contact Forms  Be sure to check out my new Contact Form on the left. (I promise it works. I tried it out and contacted myself!) ;-)

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Have a wonderful and productive week! Hopefully Spring is finally here. ;-)

A Sentence A Day

If you ever wondered how writers keep themselves inspired after the intensive work of NaNoWriMo, here's one way. Carol Krenz, a wonderful writer and all around great person, came up with a humdinger of an exercise for us at the Books and Writers Forum. After we wrote a lot of words for NaNo in November, she took inspiration from this quote form Ernest Hemingway:

"All you have to do is write one true sentence. The truest sentence you know."

And so the December inspiration--A Sentence A Day--was born. Many of the writers who frequent the Forum are posting a sentence a day for the last twenty-nine days of December.

Here are a few of the ones I've posted so far.

Dec. 3--Sharp pain flashed up my neck and wound around my jaw, curling behind my ear.

Dec. 4--I stared at Mack; even his boots were camouflaged and not just with mud.

Dec. 5--Blowing out my arteries would be the best option because snapping at Mack and Samantha—or heaven forbid—Alex would only add to my stress load.

Dec. 6--“Well, she’s pretty enough and has the Chandler coloring,” her silver hair didn’t shift as she turned back to me, “but you know she’s not a real Chandler, Laura Grace.”

Dec. 7--The sandwich shop’s AC chilled my sun-warmed skin; that was only fair for now it matched my heart.

Dec. 8--The embossed ivory invitation was from the one address I'd hoped never to see again, and the intitials on the flap--HCC--made my stomach clench.

Dec. 9--Over the years her eyes had faded to ice blue and now they looked on my child with chilling disapproval.

Dec. 10- Her perfume was the same--a mix of rose and gardenia--but with a subtle addition I could only identify as old lady skin.

Dec. 11- I had never faced her without Tom at my side, but now that my knight was gone, I was on my own, and I was Samantha's only shield.

And one to grow on while my mother has pacemaker surgery on Wednesday. Keep us in your prayers.

Dec. 12- Momma had faded; her skin a thin, old ivory marked by fine dark lines of veins detailed as a roadmap, and if only I'd known what care to insist on, Samantha could meet her Grandmother Grace to counteract meeting her Grandmother Hazel.

How are you keeping your writing going during this hectic holiday season?

Just When You Need a Pep Talk...

Just when I think I can't love the Books & Writers Forum any more, something comes along and make it ever better. Last weekend, when a lot of the Forumites were attending (some as presenters) the Surrey International Writers Conference in Canada, Forum member Deniz hosted a Virtual Surrey Conference at good, old B&W. I feel like I got to attend the real thing only I got to sleep in my own bed. ; )

We checked in on Friday and had all sorts of workshops to participate in. If you don't have time to sample all of these, you owe it to yourself to check out Technical Topics with Jo Bourne.

I hope you get time to try them all. By the way, it's easy to join the Forum. We love new writers and readers of all types. ; )

• Adventures in POV
• Author-led Workshop: Kait Nolan
• Author-led Workshop: Talli Rolland
• Blue Pencil: Share Your Blurb for Critiques (I did share a new, bare-bones query blurb for FRIENDLY FIRE.)
• Genre and Voice
• Grammar Time
• NaNoWriMo Survival Tips and Hints
• The Doctor is IN: Troubleshooting Problems

There's a lot more there, but I thought this would be plenty to whet your appetite for all the goodness of the Books & Writer's Forum. And as a bonus, Dee-Ann, the lucky, who got to go to the real thing posted some of her notes. Enjoy!

• Complex Conflicts with Sam Sykes
• A Thematic Approach to SF with Robert Sawyer
• Intimately Human and Grandly Cosmic with Robert Sawyer

Repainting or Remodeling?

~~What's your take on revising scenes you've already written? Do you have a hard time deciding when to just repaint or when to remodel and tear down a few walls?

~~I'm afraid I err on the side of "repainting"--moving the clauses and annoying the commas--more often than not. I find I'm reluctant to really tear out the walls and re-imagine the scene altogether. Thanks to my writing buddies at Books and Writers, I'm working on a major remodeling of my climax for FRIENDLY FIRE. Check HERE for to first version and HERE for my rewrite of a bit of the initial scene.

~~What about you? Do you ever get stuck with a scene that needs a full overhaul? What helps you change your first take on the scene?

Writing By Design...Or Not

~~How do you write--linearly, chunks, or something entirely different? Do you use an outline or write as the story comes to you? Diana Gabaldon, award-winning, multiple NYT best-selling author writes in chunks without knowing the full story. Check out her current essay, "The Shape of Things" at the Books and Writers Forum.

~~When I started writing, I'd have sworn I was a linear, point A to point B type of writer and even have an outline for my current story. But things have a way of changing when you least expect it. ; ) I've written many separate scenes scattered here and there across the outline and the last third is solid.

~~And then I got blocked. Nothing I tried with the front of the story was working, but that's all changed now . The reason may surprise you. As I transferred the bits and pieces that reside in my Rough Draft file to Scrivener, I've been rereading...and my eyes have opened. Now that I know how the story ends, I know what the front two thirds of the story need to do. I'm excited again and the juices are flowing. The new plan is to write backwards. Really. ; ) My notes from the reread will guide me. So wish me luck.

~~Happy writing, everyone!

Scrivener, By Golly!

~~Have you read writers extolling the delights of Scrivener? To many, it's the ultimate writing tool that helps organize, combine, and link research into one easily accessible place.

~~Well, I've joined the ranks when I down loaded Scrivener for Windows in November. I'm discovering the bells and whistles now and have started moving my FRIENDLY FIRE files to it. So far, I'm creeping along with my hands out in front me in the dark, but I can see the usefulness and anticipate becoming one of the many telling you can't do without this program.

~~While I learn, I'm leaning on the info I've gathered from some writing buddies. Check out Claire's post on All the World's Our Page and Ron's post at the Books and Writers Forum.

And have a wonderful holiday season! May your celebration be bright and joyful.

Writers' Block--How to Break Them Up

~~I know you've all heard of the dreaded malady, Writers' Block, and shudder in fear that it's out to get you. Well, thanks to Beth, one of my Books and Writers Forum friends, I'm found the neatest list of the different types of blocks, complete with suggestion to blow them out of your way. Check out "The 10 Types of Writers' Block (and How to Overcome Them)" at io9.

~~Here's the list. Be sure you check out the cures. I'll admit to falling prey to three of these regularly. ; )
1. You can't come up with an idea.

2. You have a ton of ideas but can't commit to any of them, and they all peter out.

3. You have an outline but you can't get through this one part of it.
That's me in a nutshell. I usually handle it by cutting the item from the outline or skipping over it and coming back later.

4. You're stuck in the middle and have no idea what happens next.

5. You have a terrible feeling your story took a wrong turn a hundred pages back, and you only just hit a dead end.

6. You're bored with all these characters, they won't do anything.

7. You keep imagining all the reasons people are going to say your story sucks, and it paralyzes you.
Oh, yeah! I do this one. Darn that Inner Critic, AKA Miss Inner Editor. ; )

8. You can't think of the right words for what you're trying to convey in this one paragraph.
Oh, yeah, this one, too. The neat thing about the suggestions is that it's all right to linger at least a little while. That's an eyeopener for me. ; )

9. You had this incredibly cool story in your head, and now you're turning it into words on a screen and it's suddenly dumb.

10. You're revising your work, and you can't see your way past all those blocks of text you already wrote.

~~So which of these problems blocks your words? What do you think about the suggestions for handling them?

Magic

~~I know I keep talking about the September Exercises at the Book and Writers Forum with awe, but it's deserved. There are thirty questions to answer about a character. It might look simple, but it's a deceptive simplicity that hides a wealth of discovery. Try it. That's all I can say. Try it if you're stuck on the motives behind some of your characters' actions. Try it if you find yourself blocked on what comes next. Just try it.

~~During September I did the exercise with Paul Collins, the main character of a short story I'm working on. I thought I knew what made the man tick. I had no clue. My story is infinitely richer now.

~~Now I'm using with questions with the main character of my WIP. I've been writing Laura Grace Chandler's POV since March 2008. You'd think I knew her voice inside and out by now. Not. I'm only to question 6 and she's opening in ways I couldn't have imagined. Here's a snip.

Who is the most important person in your character's life right now?

The most important person in my life was Samantha. Not two months ago, I'd have said it was Tom. Even though he is dead. I knew what that meant. I'd chosen to live not to mourn. It had been a subtle choice, one I hadn't consciously made. But I'd made it. Just as sure as the sun rose each day or the seasons shifted. Now I was connected to the girl, even though I'd only seen her twice and talked to her once. We had sung together. Warmth flooded my chest. Yes. That was when I'd made the choice. During Amazing Grace. Once I was blind to the opportunities my life held, and now I saw. Oh, yes. Now I could see.

~~Do you have cherished methods to get into the heart of your characters?

Campaign Musings

~~What is it about campaigns that make me want to redesign my blog? ; ) I think it's seeing all the fabulous designs among the campaigners that just spark my creative juices. I did a new one yesterday, but I don't think it's set in stone yet.

~~Have you read all the fabulous entries in the Second Challenge yet? What a wonderful collection of great writing! I've only gotten to about a third of the 186 (so far) entries. Thank goodness it can't grow any more after Tuesday. Maybe I'll finish... ; )

~~I have to apologize to the members of my two groups. I haven't been coming around nearly enough. I have had a bumper crop of words in September. Mainly it's due to the September Writers Exercise at the Books and Writers Forum. If you've never visited the Forum, you owe it to yourself. It's my go to place for challenges, critiques, lessons, and camaraderie. Besides, if you love Diana Gabaldon books, you'll love the Diana Gabaldon folder at B & W. ; )

~~So watch this space for more redesigns and more praise for Forum.