Whack a Mole by Diana Flegal

I have to admit; my eyes glazed over then rolled back in my head. I took a break and went onto Pinterest- for a long while.

Some days I don’t want to tweet, FB something relevant, read anything to do with publishing trends, or open up another submission of a stellar proposal. I daydream about become a wedding planner, traveling the world, or taking up welding. 

I have gone to Chuckie Cheese and smacked the heads of the moles again and again in that Whack a Mole game. Don’t judge me, just try it sometime. Poor moles.

What brought this on? An email came into my box telling me I had to measure my social media with these metric thingy’s. I DO NOT WANT TO DO THAT!! #pitchinafit

How do you rebel against what we know we all must do today to promote ourselves and sell our books?

Just like any hissy fit I pitch- it thankfully doesn’t last long.

Metrics? 

Really?

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit sayeth the Lord.”

I will use social media again, I will ask my clients to use it, but I will not trust in chariots and solely in the ways of men.

Learn what you need to but be sure the bottom line is- His will done His way.

And take time off to whack a mole once in a while!

Shopping for Ideas by Andy Scheer

This past weekend my wife and I visited a home improvement show.

After attending the show last year, we bought a set of replacement windows and had our house painted. So did our son and daughter-in-law.

But this year, we don't have any home improvements budgeted. So why attend?

To get ideas. Even if we don't initiate any projects right away, we'll have fresh ideas—of what we might want to do and also what we don't. Until we're ready to take action, those ideas we gathered can percolate in our minds. What we eventually decide will be better than what we could have chosen on our own.

Where do you go to get writing ideas—not only for your work-in-progress, but also for what you want to write next? Besides reading other authors to see their techniques, where do you find plot elements, lifelike characters, evocative details, and realistic dialogue that you haven't already stored in your idea stockpile?

You can't get ideas from aisle 7 of a big box store. But neither do you have to worry about whether they'll fit in your minivan.

Home Sick and Recycling! Go Green! by Linda S. Glaz

Developing Evil Characters (first appeared 08/15/11)

Later that evening, with the family fed and occupied elsewhere, she went into the bedroom and sat down. The comforter, warm and soft against her legs, offered a place to open up, to become Laura again. But it seemed hiding was more difficult than before, and she rubbed her temples to relieve the anxiety. The first few weeks of a new identity always sapped her energy. She had so much to remember, and the act could be brutal. As she got older and the strain more evident, she worried of irreparable mistakes. Small stress lines had crept in and sent deep creases across her brow. And the weight she’d lost.

For the last few years they’d plotted and planned and worked well together. Nothing stood in the way of their plans, plans so close to coming to fruition. But this year, a few things had gone awry: the wrong child, the wrong town, maybe even the wrong identities. Tonight, she needed more than just a nice warm bubble bath to steer the panic away.

Taut muscles banding her forehead, she sidestepped into the past, and as usual when under pressure, her thoughts rested on Mother. Her breath hitched and jammed in her throat.

Standing up promptly and brushing the horrific memories from her mind, she smoothed the covers on the king-size bed. Why waste energy on things that couldn’t be changed? There was enough in the present to keep her occupied.

She stood perfectly still. Stared. Created a short video in her mind that brought the expected relief.

And the tightness was gone. It always worked. All she ever had to do to relieve the stress was to envision all of them strewn about, lifeless; mothers and daughters scattered here and there. How she hated mothers and their daughters.

A twisted grin started deep inside her until she sensed it creep over her entire face like a mask. “My, my, Hannah Housewife.” She spoke to the silence, letting her smile change her character. “Let’s go bake some nice warm cookies for your hubby and little girl.”


How do you create creepy, evil characters? What do you draw on? Visit my blog for another sample into the dark world of evil characters. http://lindaglaz.blogspot.com/

What if? By Diana Flegal

I am a fan of the Food Network show CHOPPED. It amazes me that the chefs can take the “mystery basket” ingredients and prepare an actual tasty and presentable meal.

While watching the show recently, I wondered what a “mystery basket” of ingredients for a writer might contain? Which reminded me of when I participated in a writers group in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

At each meeting, we began our time with the setting of a timer in 5 minute, then 15 minute periods in which we were given a prompt, then wrote until the buzzer sounded.  

These prompts were like “mystery baskets”; our ingredients, a string of words.

Placing a character in an imaginary world in answer to the question of “what if?” is Speculative Fiction.

I thought it might be a fun exercise to offer you a couple “mystery baskets” in the speculative genre as writing prompts. Prompts are a great writers tool, especially helpful to stir inspiration when you are stuck, or in need of a recharge.

1. What if?- a young man raised as an orphan, finds out he is a twin, and meets his sister when he is given an assignment on Tatatui.
2. What if?- a conservative bible thumping dog reads his masters mind and feels compelled to foil a jewel heist his owner has planned.
3. What if?- a fairy named Shitza embarks on a quest to find a schroom needed to brew a tea, that if drank by her fiancé, could release him from a spell.
4. What if?- Eric’s name is drawn and he must engage in a war he is staunchly against.
5. What if?- a toad and a kitten fall in love.

 May you be greatly inspired, and wildly imaginative in your writing endeavors.

Sustainable Practices by Andy Scheer

How are your New Year's resolutions working? Less than a week into the year, it seems reasonable to modify or exchange any that aren't working.

Because I spent much of the past week doing various forms of organizing, it would be easy for me to promise that this year, I will adopt sweeping organizational practices. A nice thought, but I know myself too well.

Years ago I worked with an editor who was compulsively organized. Her hair and makeup were always perfect, her clothes always stylish. She was the first person I met who used a Daytimer, then a cell phone. She even wrote a book on time management.

It was filled with advice I knew I could never follow – for very long. But the book did contain a few small suggestions I knew I could handle. Years later, I still am.

Every year or so, a writer friend starts a new blog. With many contacts in his specialty, he has plenty of prospective readers. His posts are interesting and on-target. But each time, his blogging efforts fade within a few months – until his next big idea he thinks he wants to write about.

Maybe he envisions an entire year of articles and gets overwhelmed. Myself, I find it easier to grasp what it takes to write a single item: finding and refining an idea, then sitting down to write, print, edit, and post.

This past year, my ex-blogger friend begin posting on Facebook. Nine months later, he's still at it. Maybe it's the informality, or maybe it's the attraction of being able to post smaller items.

Whatever your goals for this year, I hope you've selected small steps that you know you can sustain.

Whining! The Instructors are Right! By Linda S. Glaz

So, here I am whining again. Let me back up.

My husband and I took a quick trip to Chicago last week and I popped an audio book into the car to listen coming and going. He and I laughed at all of the intrusive dialogue tags including growling, barking, cooing, chirping, and trilling. And if that wasn’t enough, EACH of those tags was followed by an adverb. Chirping cheerily, cooing sweetly, growling angrily. And I began to finally GET it. I teach it, and I believe it at some level, but hearing it repeatedly really made me take notice.

“I believe!” “I believe!”

Was this some new author who didn’t get it? Absolutely not. This was a multi-pubbed, multi-million dollar contract fave author of mine that I started reading in the eighties and nineties. How did I not notice this before?

Easy, I was used to the way the author wrote. I have ignored this in the past, but hearing it out loud, the result was so much telling, and to be honest, very little opportunity to get to know the characters on a personal level. That’s right. Just like our writing instructors tell us. We, as readers, want to really KNOW our characters. We want that personal connect.

As the story finished, I realized that I knew almost nothing about the characters except what the author told me. Yes, I said told me. Because the entire book was telling.

I whine about this a lot as I feel showing rather than telling is drilled into us, shoved down our throats, beaten into us. And at times, I rebel. I feel as if too much emphasis is put on worrying about whether or not a character barks, coos, or growls heatedly. And yet, hearing it audibly, it was cringe worthy. I barely got into the characters’ heads at all. At one point, more than half a dozen lines, structure identical, spilled dialogue followed by a tag, followed by an adverb. It felt like a laundry list of dialogue that had somehow been dragged together. In other words, it stood out like the proverbial sore thumb after a huge strike with a hammer. And after a bit, it hurt to keep listening.

So, okay. I admit it, I am often dragged kicking and screaming to a deadline with these items needing change in my novels. I comply, but don’t always like it. Shucks, I rarely like it. But now, more than ever, I see the need.

Will that author stop making millions? No. The author’s readers are used to the way the author writes, and are fine with it. But I have to ask myself whether or not that author would make it if starting out in today’s market.

I love getting to know my author’s characters in a very personal way, and maybe this year, I’ll stop whining about some of the things that are expected of me. And do what my instructors have taught me. Tighten the writing and show don’t tell.

I don't do resolutions - Terry Burns

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope 2015 is a wonderful year for you.

Will you be making resolutions? I don't have much luck with them. The only resolution I can remember successfully keeping was when I resolved to not make any more of them.

A resolution is something we HOPE to do in the new year. I prefer to set goals rather than make resolutions. A resolution is pass or fail, we either do it or we don't. A goal is something we PLAN to do in the new year. And it is possible for us to make progress toward our goal even if we don't reach the target that we are shooting for.

A resolution tends to be a rather nebulous thing that we generally hope to achieve. A goal tends to be very specific and progress toward it can be quantified and measured.

I also plan to worry less because of the way I pursue my goals. Worry is stressing over something that is really beyond our control. Planning is thinking something through and taking action designed to achieve goals that are realistic and within our ability to accomplish them. If I have things that are beyond my ability I plan to turn them over to the Lord instead of worrying about them and simply trusting Him.

I'm not knocking it if you are one that likes to make resolutions, I'm just saying it doesn't work for me. Whichever way you go, as I said, I hope 2015 is a great year for you, packed with happiness and success. I really believe it will be such a year for us all.