Month: April 2014
The Morning Rush!
And the morning rush is on!
Have you ever done this? You get up early, thinking you’re going to get so much accomplished and get a head start on the day. You’re doing fine; until you look at the clock and realize either you’re way ahead of schedule or you have time to do a few extra things. Then, holy cow! You’re so far behind you’re going to be late.
And that’s just the start of your adventure into the day. You hurry to slap on some makeup, comb your hair as you fly out the door and, as you back out of the driveway, make your first call of the morning to let someone know you are running behind. Then you hit every red light on your way to your destination. It doesn’t matter that there’s not a car coming up in the opposite direction and you’re the only car at the intersection. You don’t dare do anything by wait, because the way your morning is going, there is a traffic cop watching, just waiting for you to make the wrong decision.
Just then, you realize you forgot your morning coffee so you’ve got to make a quick stop, because that morning cup of coffee is your life line. Of course there’s a long line at the drive through, so you think you’ll save some time by running inside and there’s an even longer line inside! Your morning cup of coffee has suddenly turned into a 15 minute fiasco.
Then you finally get to your destination and you can’t find a parking spot so you’re walking and walking and walking. By the time he reached the doors to your destination your half hour late, and you are scratching your head trying to figure out where the hack so did your morning go so wrong. You started off with such good intentions!
So, do you have a make a graceful entrance into your workplace and try to salvage what’s left of your morning…
OR do you say I’ve had enough and head to a peaceful location to play hooky?
How Do You Like Your Beginnings?
Every story has a beginning, middle and end.
Every writer has a strong point that they want to bring out each of the spots.
Beginnings can give you a back story or give you a prelude to what’s going to happen. This is where the tone of the story is set. Happy or sad, scary or romantic, educational or humorous; the first few pages will let the read know what they are in for.
The middle of the book has a purpose that is fundamental to bringing the beginning and the end to a close that will please the reader. This section of the book is going to fill you with details to help you find your way through the story. Questions will be asked here and backgrounds will be filled with details.
And the ending is going to bring it all together: be it happy or sad there will be a conclusion. Here the reader will find answers to questions the author has raised in earlier chapters. This can also be the spot where the author hints at details that will need to be resolved in a sequel book.
As a reader there certain types of books that you are going to gravitate to more than others.
My question is do you like a hard sell our soft sell?
Is the book that you’re anxious to start reading going to start softly and gently, working its way into the story? Or is it a type of book is going to start out with something drastic and keep you hooked all the way to the end? In other words is your book going to start “Once upon a time” or it’s a type of book that’s going to start with the words “Suddenly it happened”.
No matter how your story begins it’s what the writer does once you’re into the story that matters.
So, sit back and enjoy the book you just picked up and happy reading.
The Next Block-Buster?
A question was recently raised on one of the writing forums that I read and it caught my attention. The question was; if your book were to be made into a movie, what would it be rated? This is a legitimate question; with today’s technology, there so many other things we do in our daily life that could apply to this question, so why not books too. We lounge around, interacting with technology rather than just reading. And let’s be honest; every writer would love to see their book made into a movie! Can you picture the name of your book up there on the theater marquee?
So, I was thinking let’s go one step further and ask: who would you have star in a movie based on your book? Who would be that perfect actor/actress to play your lead? Would it be somebody known well-known, somebody from recent movie hits? Or would you pick an old favorite like Audrey Hepburn or Betty Davis? And (sometimes even more importantly) who would play your villain? Will it be a dark and evil type like Vincent Price? Or maybe your villain will take everyone by surprise and be someone clean-cut and unexpected like Neal Patrick Harris?
And then there’s all the minor roles; do you get well-known stars or do you look for new talent? Whatever you do the supporting roles can be just as important as your lead and as a writer you know how you’ve developed those rules down to the minute detail. You’ve taken the time to bring your reader into your mind and create details that will stick with them, from the very first page to the end. These details will describe the story, characters, settings and the emotions of your book. How will that portray on the big screen are; are you now setting yourself up to become screenwriters stead of a novelist? These are all things that you need to think about if you ever really want to fulfill that dream of seeing your book being made into a movie.
Me? I think I’m going to stick to my laptop and creating a mental escape for my readers with written words. I’ll let somebody else worry about writing a screenplay for my books!
The Stuff of Dreams
Have you woke ever woken up in the middle the night from a dream that was so vivid, it seems real? Have you ever found yourself wandering in your mind during the day, driving along and suddenly you’re at your destination, barely able to remember driving there, because your thoughts were focused on something else? Daydreams or night-dreams: for a lot of writers that’s where they get their ideas from. That’s why you’ll find many writers have a pad and pencil next to their bed or recording device, so they can dictate their thoughts before all is lost.
If you ask the writer where they get their ideas they’ll hesitate and evade, and they won’t be able to give you, for the most part, a true answer because we just don’t know. Ideas and plots pop into our heads at the most unexpected times; you can be reading something and you think that’s perfect for storyline. Or you can overhear part of the conversation and think, yes I can see my character saying that. You can be watching something happening in front of you thinking, “oh, my gosh, I don’t believe that just happened; that’s got to go in the story!”
As a writer I’m always looking for ideas. I actually have a folder in my desk of newspaper articles that I think are really interesting. I know many writers are computer savvy, so this might work better for you: download items that catch your imagination into a laptop to refer back to. Either method gives me a stock pile of possible ideas. I may use them or I may never get to them, but they’re there to use when I’m ready.
Ideas for stories also come from childhood memories; a fairytale you were once told, a story that your grandfather told you that he thought was funny. A conversation from your youth.
Some things click when you see them in day-to-day life; things that can be used in a plot line. Something you saw at the park, the grocery store, or even at work. You just have to be careful how you word things so that your characters in your book is not recognized as the real people who you have daily contact with.
Have you ever made up a story to keep the child occupied? You may not be writing it down, but you’re creating a story, and that’s how stories were told for years and years before people did write things down. Then stories went from verbal to parchment, to huge beautifully illustrated books, to common paperback books and now in today’s; world e-books.
So, no matter where you get those ideas, don’t let those ideas get away from you. They are yours do with them what you will.
That Morning Cup of Joe
There’s a gremlin in my coffee pot and he struck again this morning. I do everything that I’m supposed to do; put in the proper amount of water, set the right buttons and I even put in my favorite flavor of coffee to ensure that I’m really enjoying my first cup of the morning. And what happens? I only get half cup water of coffee! Where did the rest of the water go, how can it just disappear? After closely looking around, I find that there is no puddle of water behind the coffee maker it’s just gone! This isn’t the first time this has happened to me, either.
How can I possibly function this early in the morning without a full cup of hot coffee? We Americans are so used to having our coffee in the morning, it’s almost an addiction. You can follow some cars first thing in the morning and they’re either turning into Mickey D’s to get that hot cup of coffee or they’re ready to wait in line at Starbucks for the special brews. Most advertisements that we see that show someone starting their day off with a cup full of that hot luscious brew. Now, not everybody starts their day with coffee; there are other types of liquid addictions. There are some people who start with a can of sugary soda, others start with a hot cup of Earl Gray Tea, but we all want something refreshing in the morning to get our minds turning and our bodies moving.
Are we addicted to caffeine, or is it all psychological? The media plays such an important factor in our life; if you look you’ll find coffee cups in commercials and throughout the shows we watch. And as a writer we seem to be just as addictive this habit as the next guy. The writer is often portrayed as someone who will sit down to their desk with a pad of paper and a cup of coffee, ready to work for hours writing the great American novel.
So, about my Gremlin problem…do I get a new coffee pot do I go back to the old-fashioned way of making a pot of coffee on the stove top? Will I ever get that missing half cup of coffee?
What about you? How do you start your day: are you a coffee, tea or soda person? Or, are you one of those lucky few that you just get up and grab a glass of OJ and start your day with “bright eyes and a bushy tail”?
Life’s Goals!
Goals. We all have them; some are in our job, some are in our recreation some are in our family life
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Even the writer has goals. Our goals may be to write a certain number of chapters a week, a certain number of pages a day or even a certain number of words when we sit down at our desk to write. There is a certain satisfaction while we find we are accomplishing these goals and as they are accomplished we find that we can actually increase the number of pages, words and chapters that we write a single setting. You can almost take a deep breath and let out a big sigh when you come to the end of the chapter and when you come to the end of the book there is a feeling of such accomplishment that you just have to take a moment to celebrate.
When I was a young woman my goals were established for me both by my parents and society. I had the freedom to choose where I want to go with my life but there were certain expectations that my parents had for me; the biggest one of course was to be happy. Then there was also the hope that I would find someone to love, then marry and start a family. Of course that had to wait until after college. And I was fortunate; I was able to accomplish these goals. I found a man I love, received an education in the field I wanted to pursue and ultimately found the job that I love. The next obvious goal was to start a family.
Once I became a parent the cycle started again and it was time to help my son work towards his goals in life. I have found that as a parent, there is no greater joy than to see your child achieve the goals and accomplishments that he has set out for himself. You hold your breath as you watch and struggle to not to take control as he works to achieve his goals, pushing him on when he feels it is just too hard and he can’t reach his goal You become the biggest cheerleader when each goal is finally met. Whether your child is struggling to make it to a team sport, accomplishing a new piece of music or going through the process of making new friends, you hold your breath and wait to see him look forward towards the next goal that he has set.
As your son achieves his goals and moves forward with his life your goals become different, once again.
Now is the time in your life for yourself and your husband!
… and setting out goals that will take you into your golden years.
Pen In Hand, Words on Page 