Coronavirus and How It Changes People's Behavior

Last week I was at the store hoping to buy tissue. I live in a small town, and we only have two stores to buy products from since we don't have a grocery store. Anyway, I spotted a woman and her son taking tissue off the shelves. She had her arms full. As she looked at me, her eyes got wider with what seems like fear, and she grabbed another pack off the shelves. I wanted to say to that woman what about the next person who made not have any rolls at home, but  I didn't. Instead, I grabbed only one packet and headed to the counter. I hate what this virus has done to some people. I can only hope that things will get back to normal soon.

How To Increase Your Word Count

Anyone who's ever looked for material on writing has heard the rule about show, don't tell.  Yes,  sometimes you should tell, but mostly you want to show in your writing. One reason is if you wanted to increase your word count. For example, John was angry. Only three words were used to tell the reader something about John. Let's try showing. John slammed the door, threw his briefcase across the kitchen table and sank into a chair. We get to see a visual of John being angry and possibly depressed. Here is another example from one of my favorite writing books, Showing and Telling In Fiction by Macy Kennedy. First, she gives an example of telling. Kate realized she locked her keys in the car. With a word count of around nine words, we're being told but not shown. In the next version, the author shows with more words. Kate yanked on the car door handle. The door didn't budge, and her keys dangled from the ignition. "Dang it!" Now I know that increasing the word count using showing is not the most important lesson to learn. When I read a book, I want to visualize that world, and to forget my troubles. Still, if you're having a problem with increasing your word count, you may not be showing as much as you think.  

Keeping The Faith

I'm so tired. My mother has dementia. I usually get up several times at night, so that she doesn't pee in the bed. I'm trying to get a schedule of when she has to go to the bathroom since she can't tell me. Anyway, it's taking a toll on my sleep at night, so I'm trying to sleep more in the day. Right now, I'm taking a few precious moments to write. I also bought a few more of Rayne Hall's books on writing, which I will delve more into on another post. I write because I believe it's my calling.

I'M BACK

Well, it has been over three years since I posted on my blog. Quite a few things have happened, including my mother's dementia getting worse, and illness that left me unable to write for almost a year. I never gave up on writing, though. Whenever I felt a little better, I would write something. Stories just kept coming into my head even when the doubt plagued me. Slowly, I sank my feet back into the water. I read more and more craft books. Questions bugged me on how to do this or that. I wanted to express how things were going, which is why I started this blog again. I have the same problem, and one of them is finding the time to write. Still, I spend the time writing and learning even if it only a few minutes.

Editing Part One

Learning how to edit well is hard work, but sometimes I actually enjoy it. I get to learn new ways on how to make my work come alive on the screen. I still have a problem with missing words, the wrong verb tense and for that, I use beta readers and a proofreader. What I'm speaking about is how to make the story itself more interesting. I use several of my writing books and Chris Fox's podcasts have become a nifty way of improving my revise work. I will talk more about his podcast in later post. I included the link below to one of his podcast. One of my new favorite books on the subject is 5 Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction. This book offers some great tips on the subject. Tips like how to get the reader into your story and how to keep them there. If that isn't an attention grabber, I don't know what is. The author states under the title that the character always needs someone to interact with, the editor then gives Tom Hank in the movie Castaway as an example. He had no one to talk to so he invents a person with a volleyball. I have to admit that the movie is more interesting than if he had been talking to himself. 

My first post: Editing Part One

Whenever I'm frustrated, I want to eat and nothing makes me more frustrated than when I'm editing. Why? It takes me a long, long time. I've people who beta read my stuff, and I'm not only editing my mistakes that I found but the mistakes my beta readers spotted. Right now I'm on chapter six and I have been editing the chapter for two days. I might even finish that chapter today. Hurrah! If I do, I would have finished a chapter quickly for a change because it usually takes me three or four days.