Tag: #Writing

Life-Changing Experiences and Writing #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

 

April 29, 2024

Have you ever had a weird experience that led to an improvement in your work? (like something came up at an event or on tv that was oddly timely.)

This question stumped me.

My life has been filled with not-your-average experiences. Nothing spectacular when taken individually, but over a lifetime, they add up. Everything from having the front wheel of my bicycle fall off when I was going down a hill (Ending up with a broken collarbone and concussion) and dangling off a cliff four months later as part of a course in mountain climbing.

How about getting on a Greyhound bus (remember those?) with almost everything I owned and heading to a college I found in a book and never visited. (Pre-internet days.) Or getting engaged six weeks after the hubby and I met, married in three months, and still being together almost fifty years later?

What about living on the Oregon coast and moving to the coast of Florida, then moving to Wyoming? Or buying a house in Pennsylvania without setting my foot in the door before signing the paperwork?

None of those are unique. As a sum total, my life has been unusual.

I can’t point out any one of those experiences as leading to an improvement in my work. But overall, those events contribute to who I am and how I think, how I view the world. Naturally, that is reflected in my writing.

None of those are ‘weird.’

Weird is reading tarot cards for someone for fun and later finding out the prediction came true. Or figuring out the names of my house. (The front of the house is Priscilla, the back of the house is Harold. The house was built in two separate sections over 60 years apart. It’s my job to keep the peace between them. Penelope is the house goddess. The land the house sits on is Henry. That affects what I can do with landscaping.) I don’t know how that information will ever fit into my writing. 

So no, I can’t put on any weird event that led to an improvement in my writing. A lifetime of work and many interactions with others have.

How about other authors? I’m eager to find out.  You can too, by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

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April 29, 2024

Have you ever had a weird experience that led to an improvement in your work? (like something came up at an event or on tv that was oddly timely.)

 

 

Books On The Shelf #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

April 22, 2024

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

I wrote four or five books before I felt ready to publish one.

It was part of the learning process. The first book I attempted went through numerous drafts and several changes in the point of view. But the story line was overly derivative of someone else’s story, and there was no fixing it. Still, it felt like an accomplishment. I’d written a book.

Actually, that wasn’t my first attempt at writing a book. At the tender age of 19, I wrote a book without knowing any of the rules. The story stunk. I have no idea how bad the grammar was, and didn’t count words. It was written by hand and typed on a typewriter-this was before the computer revolution. I still have a copy stashed somewhere.

But back to my later-in-life reengagement with the goal of writing books. I wrote three more books before I found my voice and wrote one I was satisfied with. Two of those books have plots that are worth reworking. One of them is the inspiration for the current work in progress. (Tentatively titled ‘The Edwards Investigations: Book One, The Rimer File). When I started, I thought I’d rework and update the old story. Instead, It turned into a whole new plot.

 There’s one story I wrote after publishing my first book that I finished but will never publish. Truth is, I’m not any good at writing romance and that book proved it. Oh, I can include romance as a subplot, but I’m better at action stories.

There’s one more.

I’ve long wanted to add another story to my Free Wolves series. Yes, four is an odd number for a series, but it is what it is. What I didn’t know is whose point of view to write it from. I’ve made at least three attempts to get a feel for the story, and got nowhere. My newest attempt is 2000 words in and the story is heading in a direction I didn’t expect. It’ll take every bit of skill I’ve developed to take it where it wants to go. What threw me for a loop is I’m writing from a man’s POV instead of a woman’s. It’s been 10 years since I’ve done that and wasn’t prepared.

So, the first version of the first chapter is done and I’m busy formulating the beginning of the second. 

 

Let’s tie this up in a neat little package.

So far, I’ve published 11 books. Three in the Free Wolves’ adventures, six in the Harmony Duprie mysteries, and two Jake Hennessey stories. I’m editing one book, starting the first draft of another, and have five books in my archives. One of those has the potential for revisions and publication. (It’s a romance written from a male point-of-view, so I’m not sure I’ll revive it.) I’m not the most prolific writer out there, but I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished.

How about the other authors on this hop? Do they have a backlog of unpublished books? Find out by following the links below.

Of course, as always, please stay safe until the next time.

April 22, 2024

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Writing Quirks and Superstitions #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

April 15, 2024

Authors like Truman Capote, James Joyce, and Virginia Wolfe  had some interesting quirks when it came to writing. Do you have any rituals, quirks, or superstitions when it comes to working?

Truman Capote never started or finished a story on a Friday.

Among other things, he also wouldn’t stay in a hotel room with numerals that added up to 13 or have more that three cigarette butts in his ashtray. James Joyce supposedly went through a stage where he wrote with red crayon on massive sheets of paper. (He  had an reason-major eye problems) Next to them, I am positively boring.

Perhaps a writing ritual would help me increase my writing output, but I don’t have any. There’s been a major change in my life, and my writing space has moved. I’m settled in physically, but not mentally. My desk is now in a spot that isn’t closed off and I can be interrupted easily. As I type this, one grandkid is sitting at the table behind me, eating lunch, crunching on potato chips. But I feel anti-social if I put on my headphones.

The biggest change is the break I took in writing after my mother’s death.

I didn’t stop writing altogether, but I didn’t do any editing on my WIP for four months. I wasn’t in the right head space to tackle the changes. This week, I took a hard look at the first chapter, and decided it wasn’t as bad as I remembered. Now the story bugging me to dive in and get to work on the rest of it.

And a new story is lurking, with about 1200 words written. Whether they’ll make the final cut is yet to be decided. I’m still trying to figure out where the story is going.

Back to rituals.

I like to start a writing session by first finding background music that suits my mood. I rediscovered some old favorites while moving my collection of albums. Joni Mitchell. Carly Simon. Carol King. Janis Joplin. Buffy St. Marie (Those are just the women). With the headphones on, I can mostly ignore the world around me and zone in on my computer screen. Mostly. Until someone comes and taps on my shoulder to get my attention.

I’m hoping that some of the other authors on this blog hop are more interesting than me. Join me in finding out by following the inks below.

As always, until next time,  please stay safe.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

April 15, 2024

Authors like Truman Capote, James Joyce, and Virginia Wolfe had some interesting quirks when it came to writing. Do you have any rituals, quirks, or superstitions when it comes to working?

 

The Best Part Of The Book Writing Journey #OpenBook

  By Open Book

April 8, 2024

What part of the book journey gets you most excited?

There are lots of pieces involved in the writing of a book. It starts with an idea sparking in your brain. There’s the moment when you put on paper the first sentence, the first paragraph, of the new story. When you complete the first chapter, sit back, and realize that you have something worth pursuing is another milestone. (Does anyone else do that?)

Countless moments occur as you solve the question of ‘What’s next?’ or maybe, ‘Why?’ and you find the key to the fabric of the story. Of course, there’s a thrill when you finally type ‘The End.’ It’s a different rush when you first hold a physical copy of your book in your hands.

Which of these gets me most excited?

All affect me in different ways. It’s a rush to meet new characters or become reacquainted with old friends. Satisfaction comes with seeing the story build and pull together. With the first draft finished comes the self-congratulations. Then there’s the thrill when the stats show that someone has purchased your book.

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

I could take the easy way out and say they all excite me.

It would be the truth. It would also cheat you, the reader. So, here’s what excites me the most.

If you follow this blog, you know I am a pantser – I write by the seat of my pants. I don’t plot my books out ahead of time. I may have a beginning and an end in mind, but the middle need to be figured out. When my characters start arguing with me, telling me what I’m doing right or wrong and where I need to go next, I take it as a sign, an indicator that they trust me with their stories. That excites and encourages me.

The runner-up is writing ‘The End.’ It’s not really the end of the process for me, as there’s still the many layers of editing that need done, but it’s the pride of having finished the most important stage. Once the first draft is complete, the rest is a matter of stick-to-it-ivness. 

Let’s see what other authors share their take on the topic this week by following the links below. (Most will post on Monday, but additions are welcome all week.)

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

(P.S. for my long-time readers. I’ve been lacking in the stick-to-it-ivness department and haven’t touched the edits for The Edwards Investigations for several months. That’s about to change. It’s past time to get back to work on it.)

April 8, 2024

What part of the book journey gets you most excited?

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It Feels Like Forever – Blogging #IWSG

  By Open Book
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the April 3 posting of the IWSG are Janet Alcorn, T. Powell Coltrin, Natalie Aguirre, and Pat Garcia!April 3 question – How long have you been blogging?  What do you like about it and how has it changed?

I had to turn on my way back machine to answer this month’s question.

When I realized I needed to do publicity for my first book, Wolves’ Pawn, everyone told me I needed to have a blog. So, I started one. That was probably in 2013 or 2014.
I wasn’t very good at it. I didn’t post on a regular basis, and I had no clue on topics to write about. I didn’t like to post about my personal life, and I’m no expert in the field of writing. What was left?
Back then, I used Blogger. It was free, and I wasn’t committed to it. But it was fairly easy to post, and Blogger + helped  me gain followers, as well as keep the ones I had.
Then the + went away. In no time flat, a large portion of my small band of readers disappeared, never to be seen again. It was time to rethink my position. What if Blogger went away entirely?

So, here I am. On my own website.

Still struggling to find and keep followers, but since I joined this hop and another, at least I am posting on a regular basis. The stats for how many followers I supposedly have feels like a lie, because it isn’t reflected in my views.  Still, I keep trying.
Most of my posts are about writing in general, but more of ‘me’ gets in there. I don’t know that it has helped me sell books, but I keep trying. At least I have something to point to when I’m asked where someone should go to find out more about my books.

Here's something personal, just to prove I'm not a bot!

Here’s something personal, to prove I’m not a bot!

I have the general impression that people don’t read blogs as much as they used to. More focus is on other types of social media, mostly visual. You know what they are. I’ve dabbled on one of those, but prefer written media.
Lot’s of other folks are blogging on this same topic today. You can check out their posts by following the links below.
And, as I always say in closing, please stay safe until the next time!

Age Is Just A Number #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

April 1, 2024

How old is too old to be a writer? Too young?

A Google search provides the answer—or does it?

According to the site Infusionmedia, Lorna Page published her first novel at the tender age of 93, in 2008. But a quick Goodreads check shows books published under the same name as early as 1969, so that information is suspect. Still, lots of authors publish in their 70s and 80s.

Is there ever a too old? Like the saying goes, age is just a number. Several of us authors on this hop are retired and still writing. None of us seem to have any desire to quit, although from other blog posts it seems our output may have slowed as we take time to enjoy other aspects of life. (Ask Richard about his cooking adventures.)

How about being too young? Guinness named 4-year-old Saeed AIMheiri, who sold over 1000 copies of “The Elephant Saeed and the Bear” as the world’s youngest author. That’s more than some self-published authors sell of their books, and on the face of it, is pretty amazing.

What do I think?

I may no longer write at the same speed I once did, but I’m writing better, in my humble opinion. That counts for something. And I’m not ready to give up. Until I can’t see the computer screen, or hold a pen, I won’t be ready to stop. Even then, I expect I’ll still be scripting plots in my thoughts, and driving my husband nuts with my need for privacy to formulate those stories. Too old only happens when the writer can’t create a coherent sentence. And that isn’t age dependent.

Photo by furkanfdemir:

So, I don’t believe you can ever be too old to write. Or too young, with the right backing. But do the other authors on this hop agree with me? Find out by following the links as they show up, usually throughout Monday, but I bet most of them agree with me.

Anyway, until next time, please stay safe.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

April 1, 2024

How old is too old to be a writer? Too young?

Writing By The Seasons #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

March 18, 2924

Is there a specific time of year when your ideas flow better and you find you’re writing more? What do you think contributes to that?

We are in our third? fourth? spring/winter. The daffodils are up but not blooming; the tulips are peaking through the compost, and I’ve spotted a few wildflowers in my yard. Yesterday it was 60°F. It’s snowed off and on all day today.

I don’t know if any of that contributes to my writing output. (Which has been terrible lately, because of a lot of other circumstances.) The truth is, I’ve never related my level of inspiration to the seasons. That may be because I have spent many years living in areas that don’t conform to a ‘standard’ cycle of seasons. Like Florida with no seasons. Or Wyoming, with a 9-month long winter. I’ve learned to adapt.

What I crave is light.

Lots of it. Sunshine is almost perfect, but even artificial lighting works. I’m not one of these folks who stares at a computer screen and dims all the surrounding lights. Why do I say almost perfect for the sun? This time of year, there’s about an hour in the morning when the sun streams in my office window and right into my eyes. I can’t write without closing the curtains, which I don’t want to do. Last spring, I attempted to sit on my deck to write, but I couldn’t see my laptop’s screen. I want to try again this year, but use paper and pen.

During the summer, one factor that plays into my productivity is the book-selling events I take part in. A two-day festival within a couple of hours from home takes three or four days out of my writing schedule when including preparation and time to decompress. As a result, my overall output goes way down. There aren’t many outdoor festivals in the late fall and winter, and haven’t found a schedule of indoor events to add to my repertoire.

Photo by Casey Britton: https://www.pexels.com/photo/overexposed-photograph-of-a-window-13742248/

Photo by Casey Britton: https://www.pexels.com/photo/overexposed-photograph-of-a-window-13742248/

I’m more dependent on the time of day.

Mornings and evenings are when I can settle into my writing, no matter what the season. I get the standard mid-afternoon slump, no matter what the task at hand. I avoid taking naps, even if my energy level isn’t at its peak. My best time is at night, with the day’s tasks complete, when I can ignore the outside world.

Here’s where I remind you to check out this week’s post by the other authors on this hop. You can do that by following the links below.  And, as always, please stay safe until the next time!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

March 18, 2924

Is there a specific time of year when your ideas flow better and you find you’re writing more? What do you think contributes to that?

 

Rebel With A Cause #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

March 11, 2024

What rules of writing do you break on purpose?

You can guess the easy ones.

Ending a sentence with a preposition is out!

Never start a sentence with an ‘ing’ word.

Never use too many exclamation points!!!

Never start three or more sentences in a row with the same word.

I am careful about several of these. The ‘too many exclamation points’ is a personal grievance. I limit myself to using them in dialogue, and even then I use as few as possible. I stop and consider each one I type. When I read others’ writing, their heavy use decreases my reading enjoyment.

But there are times when a writer breaks the rules to make a point and speak in their own ‘voice.’. For example, my use of “Never” at the beginning of this piece. The built-in WordPress tools kindly reminded me I shouldn’t start three sentences in a row with the same word. I don’t know how to tell the tool-“Yes, I know. Now go away.”

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

The most frequent place I flaunt the rules is in dialogue. When writing my characters. I strive to make them sound like people in real life. The people I run into in the store or at an event. Or the ones I overheard in a restaurant. (Yes, using sentence fragments is breaking the rules.) Even then, I have to be careful. I don’t want my librarian with several college degrees to sound like she never made it past kindergarten. Real people don’t always talk the way the rules dictate, much to the dismay of teachers everywhere.

Which rules do I break on purpose?

Any of them. It depends if straying from the mandate suits the story, the character, and the plot. We also need to consider that the rules of grammar change as language changes. It’s no longer the rules to have two spaces between sentences, at least according to U.S. grammar. And think about all the words that have been introduced in languages based on new technology, let alone the rules that are being formulated to deal with texting and other forms of on-lime communication. I’m old enough to have witnessed the shift in language—social media didn’t exist when I was a young ‘un.

What rules do the other writers this hop break? Find out by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

March 11, 2024

What rules of writing do you break on purpose?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Taking A Chance On AI #IWSG

  By IWSG
 
 
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
 
The awesome co-hosts for the March 6 posting of the IWSG are Kristina Kelly, Miffie Seideman, Jean Davis, and Liza @ Middle Passages!

March 6th question: Have you “played” with AI to write those nasty synopses, or do you refuse to go that route? How do you feel about AI’s impact on creative writing?

Sorry this is up late, but life happens.

Before I answer, don’t forget there different levels of AI. Technically, Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and other such editing programs can be considered to be AI. In fact, Grammarly is advertising itself as an AI tool. But now those programs are getting into the realm of rewriting sentences and suggesting different ways of stating the information presented to it.

I’ve used the grammar and spellcheck options of those programs for years. Recently, I’ve paid attention to the rewriting part of the programs. (I use ProWritingAid.) Frankly, I don’t think I’ve ever used a suggested sentence revision. They don’t have the same meaning as what I’m trying to say. So, I can’t imagine using it to write a synopsis.

Once, and only once, I played with a built-in Word Press plug-in to write a key phrase for a blog post. The results were so far off the mark that I didn’t give it a second thought and discarded it. I haven’t tried it again.

I’ve seen several blog posts from others that appear to be AI written. Lordy, they were bad. Real bad. Stiff and artificial with click-bait titles that had little to do with the content. I’d compare them to the pictures floating around the internet with free-floating hands with six fingers. But I could see them getting reads, presumably based mostly on the header.

I can’t see the future, but AI has me worried. If the market gets flooded by poor-quality writing, readers will be discouraged, and aspiring authors may get shut out of the market. And that’s not good.

Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox now. Don’t forget to check out some of the others on this hop by clicking on the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Characters Going Rogue #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

March 4, 2024

How do you handle it when one of your characters starts going in a direction you hadn’t planned?

It happens to me all the time, since I am a pantser. (I don’t outline my story before I start writing it.) Characters, both major and minor, start pushing me to take the plot somewhere I didn’t expect. How do I handle it?

As is normal for most of these questions, the answer is ‘it depends.’ There are a lot of variables. Is it a minor character or a major one? Are they trying to head down a path I think holds merit, or are they wasting my time? Do I even like the character?

For example, take Evan Bluffs from the book ‘The Samurai’s Inro,’ one of the Harmony Duprie Mysteries. My original intention was for him to be a ‘throwaway’ character, a short-lived red herring. I’d written him as unlikeable, at least from the local sheriff’s point of view, but he didn’t want to stay tucked away in the corner where I’d left him. He showed up again. I foresaw two potential story lines for him. One a redemption subplot, the other making him even more unlikeable. The second option was more fun, and that’s the way I went.

The situation in Wolves’ Knight was different. I had a nice little romance plotted out for Tasha Roeper, the main character. She’d been through some rough times in a previous book, and deserved something good to happen. I even mapped out a love scene for her. It never happened.

No, Tasha got into my head and revealed I was writing her incorrectly and hooking her up with the wrong man. Then she revealed the bombshell of who the right man was. It took the story down a different path, one that strengthened it. Best part, it took only a few revisions to fix what I’d already written.

But the character that threw me for the biggest loop was Jake Hennessey.

He was originally envisioned as a throwaway character in The Marquesa’s Necklace, then showed up in Her Ladyship’s Ring and took a major role. I tried to write him out of The Baron’s Cufflinks, but he insisted on being part of the plot. I gave up in the next three books of the series, and let him have his moments.

With the series completed, I was ready to move on to a new project. That’s when Jake revealed his true goal. He wanted his own book. I ended up writing two — the Fall of Jake Hennessey and The Rise of Jake Hennessey. They provide ‘bookends’ to the mystery series, although they are more crime/suspense.

I should give tribute to the picture that gave Jake his personality. I found it on Pixabay, and it was provided by Ambroo (Zafer) . The results of a Tin Eye search show it’s been used many times. I believe my graphic artist figured out who the model is, but I can’t locate the information.

Image by Zafer from Pixabay

Everyone who writes stories has to develop a method for keeping their characters in line. My method is listening to what they want to say and figuring out how to incorporate it into the story. How about the other authors in this hop? Check out the links below to find out. 

This question came up in the middle of the night, and I’m hoping someone cam answer it. For those of you who write non-fiction, does the narrative ever get away from you? Take you someplace that you didn’t expect?

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

March 4, 2024

How do you handle it when one of your characters starts going in a direction you hadn’t planned?