Honestly!

By Mark W. Danielson

In today’s world there is a significant difference between the words honesty and honestly.  Where honestly once meant someone was speaking with honest intentions, in recent years the adverb is often being used as a substitute for Ah, or Hmm, or Well.  Whether this is a result of our society being less honest or the term has degraded into slang is unknown.  However, what is clear is our society has and will continue to change.  Certainly the way we now view honesty is a far stretch from how it was one hundred years ago.

In the early 1900s a man’s word could buy supplies, a horse, and in some cases even get on a loan.  I reference man’s word because during that time the women stayed home to tend to the kids while their men worked their jobs.  But in today’s age of cyber-crime and bank scams, personal trust is a thing of the past as no one is expected to be honest.  In this regard our society has been in steady decline.

Having no intent or interest to further discuss the changes in our society or its generational differences, it is extremely important for writers to grasp society’s changes because they deeply affect your characters and how they interact with each other.  For example, not long ago a child would never think about talking back to their parents or lying about where they’ve been, but today we celebrate disrespect and lying by featuring these people in so-called reality television shows and movies.  But lying protagonists can be as useful in a mystery as a dishonest antagonist, and this means good and evil are not well defined. 

If you are writing in present day, then use our mistrust for one another to add tension and throw curves.  It’s a crazy world, but there is a wealth of opportunity for those willing to look and write outside the box.     

Writer's Block

by June Shaw Do you often get what's commonly called writer's block? Just what is this thing? What causes it? Can you do anything about it? Let's take a look. A writer may feel blocked when unable to get ideas for starting a new work. What should the title be? A perfect title needs to come first, you know. And then the first sentence has to grab the reader--right? And the first paragraph. And that first page must have the reader--hopefully a top agent or editor--breathlessly flipping to the next page to see what happens next. We must keep up this tempo for the first five pages at the absolute minumum. After that, the entire first chapter must sing. Whew. You're rolling along. Now it's time to start your second chapter--Wait, should you write Chapter 2 or CHAPTER 2 or just 2 or give it a name? Who cares right now? Just write CHAPTER if you arent't sure and keep moving. Your second chapter needs to sing from the start to keep your reader going along with you. Then, of course,you'll need to keep up this tempo and keep your reader with you till the end. Your story's twists have to be perfect and take the reader in another direction. Keep surprises going. Oh, and I forgot to mention you need to make us care about your protagonist from the first word almost and he or she must have flaws. And then .... Okay, so all of these things will help make your work successful. But if you're going to stop and think about each of them from the start of every new work--and you can't get going until you've gotten them all straight.... I don't know about you, but all of this overload when I'm trying to begin any new work would make me stall or even not want to start. Sure, that might be called writer's block. It's a problem many writers face. We learn a lot about our writing craft today. But we can't stop to think about getting each work and sentence and phrase perfect. That's what rewriting is about. When you rewrite a work you can decide to throw out the first sentence or page or make the second chapter your first. You can see where your work needs a twist or surprise and discover how a different character in your book might make a better killer. Or love interest. Or needs to be thrown out. Those who are good at outlining everything and then going right to work on the book may be able to have all of the details figured out from day one. Most of us, though, need to know that our words might not be perfect, but we need to write them. We need to sit and start writing and keep things flowing. We can and should make changes later. There. That's my suggestion for today about what to do if you have writer's block. Actually, when I sat down to create a post for our blog today, I had absolutely no idea what topic I'd write about. This is probobably the longest post I've written. It must be my magic chair and my magic keyboard. I usually find that when I sit in this came chair and set my fingers on this same keyboard, words flow. They certainly aren't perfect, but then neither am I. I did, however, come up with some advice that might help someone. And that's one of the main purposes of writing (oops, I mean getting past writer's block:) Good luck with your work! I'd love to know what other suggestions you might have to pass on to others about what you do when your ideas are blocked. Thanks! June

WRITER'S BLOCK

June Shaw

What is writer's block? Is it real? What can cure it? Those are today's questions.

In my early days of writing, I was happy to learn of the term writer's block. That was it: my ailment. I'd caught it, and that was why I couldn't think of anything else to write. Gosh, I loved knowing about it and having that terrific, legitimate reason for not having any more words to put on the page.

My excuse was NOT that I hadn't planned a thing for my book except who a couple of people were and what they wanted. Of course why they couldn't get what they wanted didn't take much to solve, so I couldn't go on.

But the fault was writer's block--not mine!

Wow, I discovered I could start lots of stories this way whether I wanted to write a script or short story or novel. Each time I reached a spot where I didn't know what might come next--I could get up and go to the mall! I mean, why not? Writer's block had grabbed me and dug itself right under my skin and wouldn't let me put down another word, so--off to purchase new earrings (which are so easy to shop for since they don't have to fit :) Shopping for earrings is almost like having the ailment that kept me from writing.

Back at home with my new pair of earrings, I needed to find just the right spot to put them. And the outfits they would go with. And then I needed to iron the shirt that would go perfect with them. And since I went through the trouble of getting the ironging board out, I couldn't believe how many other items I owned that needed pressing.

Oh, and then later I'd get back to writing. Of course first I needed to put supper on. And then keep an eye on the pots so nothing would burn.

And back to my story. But goodness, it was time for my favorite TV program and then I needed to shower and get to bed. After all, I had to get up and keep writing my great American novel in the morning..... If that dreaded disease, writer's block, didn't snag me again.

Of course if it did, I had a friend I hadn't gone out to eat with in a few weeks and that extra bedroom closet I'd been meaning to clean out......

Pre-Published?

By Beth Terrell

Today, I came across not one, but two different blogs complaining about the use of the term pre-published to refer to writers with no published works. It seems a number of aspiring writers are referring to themselves as pre-published and that a number of published authors are taking offense at the practice.

One commenter compared pre-published to pre-med and pre-law, but that the latter two were valid terms because they implied a specific course of study and an implication that the pre-med/pre-law student was expressing a serious intent to attend medical/law school. Thus, even if he or she never actually entered the medical/legal profession, the student had fulfilled the promise of the "pre" label by entering the medical or law program. However, there is no specific course of study for the aspiring author. With no program to enter, the only way to fulfill the promise of the label would be to actually BE published. Since there is no guarantee that the writer in question has what it takes to become published (the argument goes), claiming to be pre-published is akin to claiming to be pre-rich, pre-thin, or a pre-Nobel-Prize-winner. (Hmm. I wouldn't mind being pre-rich or pre-thin, either.) Apparently, a lot of people think anyone who would describe himself or herself as pre-published is: arrogant, delusional, full of false hope, pathetic, or all of the above. Unpublished writers, they say, should just call themselves what they are: unpublished.

But when I first started hearing the term, it was being used by published authors to described other writers who hadn't (or hadn't yet) signed publishing contracts. Some were in the query process, and others had never completed so much as a short story, but all dreamed of one day becoming professional authors. The published authors who used the term weren't trying to be cute or coy. They used the "pre-published" as a sort of "attaboy," or "hang in there" or "You'll make it, just don't give up." The term was inclusive. It was created as a kindness.

"Pre-published" sounds like hope. "Unpublished," on the other hand, is reminiscent of all those other "un" words: unloved, unwanted, unfortunate, unworthy. Nobody wants to be an "un."

To me, a writer who says "I am pre-published" IS expressing a serious intent. He (or she) is saying , "I will do whatever it takes to raise the quality of my writing to a publishable level, and then I will do what is necessary to find a publisher and an audience for that work." Does every writer who calls himself or herself pre-published go on to be published? Of course not, just as not every pre-law student goes to law school.

But I say, what's the harm? In this difficult profession, the "pre-published" label gives some aspiring writers a little hope. I don't know about you, but to me, that doesn't sound like a bad thing.

Resource for Writers

By Beth Terrell

Yesterday, Mark wrote about finding gems in our backyards. Today, I'm going to share a gem I found on the Internet a few days ago.

You may be familiar with a mystery writer named Joe Konrath (J.A. Konrath). Joe is a writing machine, cranking out 4,000 (or more) words a day. He's also a marketing machine: he visited more than 500 bookstores the year his first Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels book came out. He also blogs, does speaking engagements, and engages in a multitude of other marketing strategies. Pretty effectively, I might add. It doesn't hurt that he's a darn good writer.

Joe's blog, http://www.jakonrath.com, has always been a treasure trove for writers, and he's made it even better by adding a free download of an e-book called The Newbie's Guide to Publishing. That's right, free. He compiled the book after realizing that he had compiled over 300,000 words about writing and publishing, and it was getting difficult for his readers to sift through the archives for the answers to their specific questions.

The Newbie's Guide to Publishing may be the most comprehensive book of advice for writers ever written, and as an added perk, Joe has added links to each section (post) so that you can go to the original post and read the thread of comments that goes with it. You can even add comments of your own.There are a number of other perks as well. For instance, in the post about outlining, there's a link to his outline for Bloody Mary, one of his "Jack Daniels" mysteries.

I wasn't able to download the book to my hard drive, but I have it on my "favorites" and can click to it whenever I want, which is often. Among the topics he addresses are: Avoiding Plodding Plotting. Salable Characters, How I Got My Agent and a Three-Book Deal, Six Things You Should Never Put In a Query, Bad Promotion Techniques, How to Make a Disastrous Book Signing a Success, and many, many more.

Did I mention this e-book is 751 pages long? That's a lot of good advice.

Wherever you are on the writing continuum (aspiring to bestseller), Joe's e-book has something that will help you become a better writer and a better marketer.

Many thanks, Joe.