IWSG: December and Links!

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Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Co-Hosts: Julie Flanders, Shannon Lawrence, Fundy Blue, and Heather Gardner!

Question: As you look back on 2017, with all its successes and failures, if you could backtrack, what would you do differently?

I'm not sure I'd do anything differently, but I surely had counted on the outcome to be different. I'd hoped that I'd be able to reveal signing with an agent, but 2017 wasn't allowing that. In fact, I'm shelving my first book and focusing on the second that's entirely different. Some might question this decision, but I know what the agents who have been clear on why they said, "No." The comments are consistent on something not clicking early with my main character. So, I'll let it rest for a revisit later. After all, it's my choice. ;-) 

Add other things in real life and I'm taking a bit of a break from writing this month. My mother needs major heart surgery. We have a lot of hurtles to get to that goal, and I'm her main caregiver. My husband and I inherited his parents' house. While he's renovating, I'm constantly called on to help. I promise I know what I'm talking about since I was raised by a master carpenter. ;-) 

So, 2018, get your act together! I'm gunning for a new complete draft next year. If I can start rewriting before the end of the year, I'll take it. Don't disappoint me!

Links!

• The Conflicting Advice You'll Receive on Query Letters is a good place to start
• Be sure to check this one out from Donald Maass--"Exciting Adventure!"
• Enjoy!--"The Secret of My Productivity"
• I love this one: "Ties that Bind and Define the Family on your Protagonist"
• Oh. My. :-( This one will make you nauseous.): Maggie Stiefvatater on Piracy
• Just in case you're attempting this: "How to Write A Novel with Multiple Points of View"
• There's been discussion of chapter length here and there, so check this out: "Chapter Length and Why It Matters"
• D. M. Webb has the skinny on Plotting problems in "Seminar Notes: Part I"
• Ooh!!! An agent's take on how to network at conferences: "Tips and Tricks for Author Networking"
• And another OOOH!: "Your Story Lives in the Details"

Next Post: 2018's first Book Pusher. You know you want to add a few to your resolutions! 

It's the Little Things that Count

copyright Zan Marie Steadham 1977
 

Have you ever noticed that the little details in a scene really are the ones that make the scene come alive? They aren't mentioned for more than a sentence or two, but you see into the character and into the setting because of them.

An example of one such small detail is a wedding ring. I haven't been able to wear my wedding ring for over ten years due to over-active nerves that is a side effect of my Fibromyalgia. Since I started taking a new medicine for it, I'm less achy and find that I can wear my wedding ring for at least a few hours instead of a few minutes.

Once I discovered this happy side effect, I realized that the scene I'm working on was missing something--Laura Grace's wedding ring. In the scene, Laura Grace has just suffered a mild heart attack and after an ambulance ride to the ER and being admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit, she realizes that she isn't wearing the wedding rings she's worn for over forty years. Including that little detail makes the scene more real and reveals that she was a devoted wife and as a widow hasn't forgotten her husband.

I rubbed my face trying to dig up some semblance of alertness. Jerking my hand away, I stared at it. "Where are my wedding rings?"

Another such detail is the fact that Laura Grace is nearsighted and can't read the clock she can see as a blur on the hospital room wall. She can hear the tiny clicks of the second hand, but can't tell the time. That makes her distinctly uncomfortable while revealing her need for glasses. Here's a sample.

How long had I been here? I knew I was in a cardiac care ICU room, but without my glasses, I couldn’t read the blur of a clock that floated on the wall in front of me. I could hear the seconds hand’s movement, tiny click by tiny click.

How do you include the tiniest of telling details that open the window into your characters?
What detail have you included that comes from you life experience?

The Curse of Knowledge

~~I think it's unfair--the more you know, the more you have on your to-do list. Especially if you're a writer. Take details for example. We know we need them to make a scene real, but which ones do we use and how many should be included? Recently Diana Gabaldon posted a Master Class on the Books and Writers Forum on using details. Diana emerses her readers in a scene, but you never feel like you're drowning in details, so it pays to give attention to what she says. One great example from the master class is:

Use description to describe the narrator (in terms of attitude, relastionship, etc.) as well as the person or situation being described.

This really made me stop and think. All of FRIENDLY FIRE is told from the POV of Laura Grace Chandler. How well am I describing my main character from the details included in each scene? Here's some examples and what I think I was saying. You be the judge. Did I pull it off?

Ex. 1: (Aim--a reduction of tension)
The dappled shade and bright patches of vinca and impatiens along the path began their calming medicine. Magnolia blooms heavy with vanilla and lemon scented the warm air. The beauty of the place captured my mind as I settled into my rhythm. A flock of Canadian geese honked at each other as a mother goose, followed by five fluffy goslings, sailed by. The little ones were puffs of downy yellow-gray as their legs worked overtime to keep up with their stately mother. Male mockingbirds strutted their stuff, raising their wings in the time-honored ritual to show how big they were in hope of attracting the ladies, and I found myself laughing. The sap was rising, just like spring at the high school.

Ex. 2: (Aim: fear, worry)
Silk ficus trees draped with dust like Spanish moss and park benches had replaced the plastic chairs, but nothing disguised the institutional nature of DFCS. Air freshener from one of the offices still clashed with the disinfectant used in the restrooms. Neither scent was a bouquet I wanted to bury my nose in. Hunching in my coat couldn’t block December’s cold that penetrated the block walls.

Ex. 3: (Aim: uneasiness)
Streetlights glinted on the neighbors’ cars except for the ratty Ford in front of the Talley house.  Frowning, I stepped further onto the porch to see it better.  Rosemary wouldn’t have let one of the boys buy a car like that, but it was the same one I had noticed outside the school yesterday.  I shrugged. 

~~I'll admit to being an impatient sort--I want every scene I write to be it's best the first time through, but that's not reality.  But I think I'll have to go back and assess every scene for Laura Grace's emotional POV to evaluate the details. Not to mention all the other reasons for revision.

~~I have to remind myself of the Ira Glass quote:

“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

~~No one said write was easy. Well, maybe knowledge isn't a curse, but a goal.
Happy Writing!