Hellos and Goodbyes…

It’s been awhile since we’ve visited the Swamp and her inhabitants. Today I thought you might like to take a peek into our little farewell get together for Mighty, who shall remain with us via the technology gods until her return, and meet our newest member…

Wicked: *shoving Might’s duffle on to the back of the lopsided jackass*  Why the hell are you going to the Windy City? Between the Werewolf Monks and Eerie’s Free Range Zombies, I would’ve thought we had enough drama for you.

Mighty:*stashing her Staff of Bull Shark Repellent*  You know how it is, money’s a little tight and those Bull Sharks aren’t going to leave the lake any time soon. I’m just going to make sure they don’t pass beyond where they’re allowed.

Snarky: *lazily curling and uncurling her whip*  I can whip them into shape.

Mighty: *look of indulgent disdain*  Your whip is not going to reach.

*Overhead Mischievous calls out*:  Hey Mighty, you ready to lose a few fingers and toes?  The temps over there will keep you in deep freeze.  *He cackles at his lame attempt at humor*

Mighty: *rolling her eyes across the road. Picks them up and puts them back in*:  That bird would be great fried.

Wicked: *grinning in agreement, even as the Prankster Duo comment on Mighty’s gory trick*  Yeah, but I think Eerie might take exception to our meal plans.

Eerie: *taking his Free Range Zombies for a walk with chains and a pointy stick*  What meal plans? The Werewolf Monks have been promising me a new vintage, I could pester them for it.

*A cloud of smoke drifts over* Smokey: “Just took down a mastodon over by Swamp Thing’s place. It’s been smoking nicely for the last few days. I’ll have my Spicy Bit bring it over. We don’t want you heading off without a full belly, Mighty.

Quirky: *practicing knots with some newly purchased ropes*  The Muses headed out a few hours ago, so we could probably hang over at Filet Your Own Deli without worrying about another knock down drag out argument over the use of details or lack thereof.

Dreamer *arms full of colorful blooms and Angel Boy fluttering around her ankles*  What about your cabin, Mighty? Do you need someone to pop in and keep an eye on things for you?

Mighty: *the smirk we all know and love but have learned to be wary of appears* Nah, I forgot to mention I found someone to cabin sit while I’m gone.  That way it’ll still be standing, Zombie Free, when I get back.

Dreamer *beatific smile appears* It’s so nice to have new blood in the community.  So much to play with…*a small blush*  I mean, perhaps they’ll have new playmates for Angel Boy.  *Turns to Wicked and Snarky*  No offense girls, but I believe your progeny may be perhaps a bit too adventurous for mine right now.

Wicked & Snarky exchange high fives.  

Wicked: None taken…

Snarky:  So this new peep.  What’s the deal? Who are they? Where are they from? Most importantly, can they pass the Swamp Entry Exam?

*A loud pop and a blue telephone booth appears and settles in the road. Red Dwarf steps out* 

Red: Good eve, all, I thought I’d pop in before tea to bid Mighty adieu.  

*A small blond races from behind Red and joins forces with the Prankster Duo, where upon a discussion of how Yoda took down Darth in this year’s Star Wars March Madness*

Red: Did I hear something about an entrance exam? I thought we’d straightened that out months ago.  Besides, I don’t see any dead bodies lying around. Everyone’s here–Snarky, Wicked, Smokey, Quirky, Eerie, Dreamer, Mighty, myself…doesn’t that put us one over?

Eerie *capturing a wondering single hand and wrestling it back in line*  Even though you’re over the Pond and Mighty will soon be in the Land of Winds and You-betchas, we’ve decided to allow one more individual into the group.

Quirky:  We did? When?

Wicked: It was during the brawl over at the Kilted Ferret pub when we had to hold off that damn Molly and her two henchboys from Eerie’s Three Misfiteers.  

Quirky: *flying fingers and rope pause before continuing their dizzy dance*  Oh yeah.  So, who is the new person?

Mighty: *tossing another package on top of the lopsided jackass* I’d introduce you all, but she’s been here the whole time, so I ‘ll let her do the honors.

*All seven dwarves start checking out their surroundings*

Eerie: Short? Tall? Gnome? Troll? What exactly are we looking for here? And a name would be good.

*Mighty smiles and continues to finish her packing*

*From behind him a shadow separates and forms into a petite, lithe form*  Names are not to be given lightly, small man.

Eerie: *huffs up to his full three foot one inch height* Who you calling small?

Wicked: *arms folded so knives are in easy reach* Nice move there, I need to introduce you to Raine.

Snarky: *lets her whip snap, crackle and pop*  And you would be…

*Shadow girl drops a very elegant bow* I am called Ninja Dwarf.

Quirky: *looking intrigues*  Wow! Totally cool, we get our very own ninja!

NaNo Comes to an End, and Life Resumes as Normal

 

NaNo has come to an end.  I wasn’t able to meet my goal of 50,000 words, but there is always next year!  It was, however, a wonderful experience and really reminded me of how much writing I can get done if I prioritize it a little better.  How did you do?

It has been nearly a month without critiquing my fellow writer’s work, and without having my own work critiqued, so I have been very excited to get back to business as usual.  Our first night of critiques went really well.  I had thought, based upon my own writing, that our NaNo work wouldn’t be written at quite the same level it usually is, but everyone had wonderful submissions.

This got me thinking… if my fellow writers, some of whom have taken long breaks from writing, can write this quality of work in a month, what really holds us back as writers?  I think many of us struggle, feeling that our work isn’t good enough or isn’t going the way we want it to, but maybe just pressing forward and actually writing is half the battle.  Maybe when we get out of our heads and just write continuously, our work won’t be perfect, but it will get done, and often will be better than we even imagined.

So, I learned a valuable lesson during my first NaNo: most of the excuses we use to keep ourselves from writing are just that, excuses, and if we truly want to be writers, we need to push them aside and just focus on making writing a constant part of our lives.

#NANO FINAL WEEK/COUNTDOWN!

YOU’RE ALMOST DONE! DON’T GIVE UP!

The battle is almost won! With only a couple of days left, write! WRITE HARD! I know you can do it!

Get your final numbers in and no matter if you hit the glorious 50K or not, know YOU ARE A WINNER! You’ve survived another year of NaNo, and I, for one, am so very proud of you all!

As a matter of fact I’m so proud that I have a special treat for next week!  Oh yes, I have a great guest post coming from none other than C.E. MURPHY! Yep, you saw it right! C.E. Murphy, the wildly wonderful authoress of such awe-inspiring stories as seen in the Walker Papers, the Negotiator Trilogy and the Inheritor’s Cycle!  So come join next week and let your cramping hands relax as we visit with Catie Murphy!

And for those curious minds, my word count as of 11/29/12 is now….50,870!

See you all next week and rejoice, you are now a NANO VETERAN!

–Wicked

Week 3 #NANO check in…

Tally ho, my fellow writing warriors! We have hit the climax of our NaNo Battle! That’s right, we are now in our third week of conquering the blank page.  I’m sure there have been some grevious injuries, maybe a few fatalities, but fear not, there is light at the end of the tunnel. If nothing else there should be a stuffed turkey with your name on it today! Happy Thanksgiving!

So how am I faring?  It’s been a struggle–you would not believe how much crap Fate can throw in the path of your good intentions, but my word count as of 11/22/12 is:

 35,464

Take a deep breath, slip out and run around with the small humans for an hour, leave your cave, get away for a brief breather.  Promise it will help you refocus before you dive in for the second half of the storm.

Stay strong, writer peeps…until next week!

Wicked

#NANO week 2 check in…

Are you all still out there? Anyone poking their heads up out of their writer caves?  I noticed the world still seems to be marching on…

So now it’s two weeks in and I’m sure you’re wondering, just how dedicated have you been, Jami?  You have that job that pays the bill, the Prankster Duo, the Knight, the Hellhound the Garden Gnome in-laws…have you been able to keep it up.

Well, let’s find out:

Word count as of 11/15/12 is at….

25,449 

Keep going, I promise you’re doing great.  If you’ve stumbled, pick yourself up, grab that implement of creativity and dive back in, there’s time!

–Wicked

#NANO Check In…

Okay so we’re now just over a week in to NaNo? Are we all hanging there?

Let’s see where my word count is today shall we?

November 8th and we are at:  

13,233 words

Keep writing my dedicated creative warriors!

Until next week….  

Wicked

IT’S TIME FOR #NANO!

5….4….3…2….1…. WRITE!

Were you ready? I’ve been gorging on my “to-be-read” book pile on my nightstand all last week because I knew with November 1st looming on the horizon my free time was about to drop to below non existent.  The Evil 7 (technically 8) have all taken up the crusade and will head out today to begin our NaNo battle. Come join the mayhem!

 Even my Knight in Slightly Muddy Armor understands the battle before us…he’s agreed to become a Writer Widow for the next month and survive on the good graces of our local food delivery places.  Even the Prankster Duo has been warned!

My muse is armed and ready.  We have laid out our battle strategey, sharpened our pens, strengthened our fingers and cleared our calendar as much as possible. Don your weapons of choice, my friends, it’s time to march into the wild wicked world of writing!

Fair warning: my posts this month will just keep you updated on my kill counts…I mean word counts…for each week.  If your trust stead falters, shout out and we’ll be there to get you back in the saddle and on the warpath. 

FORWARD HO!

…and don’t forget to see how many butchered phrases and bloodied punctuations we have conquered next week!

–Wicked

Showing versus Telling #2

Okay, so last week I discussed the importance of showing versus telling, but this week, I wanted to actually create some examples of this writing skill.  Before I do, however, I want to mention that this is something I’m struggling with, something I’m still trying to improve upon.  If you want to take any of my example sentences and “show” them even more, you are welcome to!

Example #1 (Telling): The couple was obviously angry with each other.

Example #2 (Telling and including the narrator’s feelings): I shifted uncomfortably, trying my best to ignore the arguing couple.

Example #3: (Showing): The woman snapped her napkin open, and then dropped it on her lap.  She reached for her fork, but even after several moments, still hadn’t touched her food.  The man ignored her, staring at the massive TV screen above the bar.  I thought perhaps he’d failed to notice the woman fuming across from him, but every time he chugged his beer, his eyes peered at her from the edge of his mug.  Once our eyes met, but I hastily looked away, shifting in my seat until they were no longer in my line of sight.

This is just one example of showing versus telling.  You can see how when an author shows something, the reader is a part of the journey.  They get to experience the couple’s anger, but more than that, they become involved in the story.  One reader may side with the woman, having experienced the frustration of eating a meal with someone who fails to pay attention to them.  While another reader may side with the man, knowing how frustrating it can be to have the passive aggressive behaviors of a dinner companion ruin their meal.  If the author had simply said, “the couple was obviously angry with each other,” the reader would shrug and accept what the author told them.

One reason I find that I often fall into the trap of telling instead of showing is that the moment or detail doesn’t seem important enough to spend too much time on.  But the truth of the matter is that if the detail isn’t important, it shouldn’t be included in my book.  And, there are ways to show a little more without creating a huge paragraph.

Example #1 (Telling): The house was a mess.

Example #2 (Telling and including the narrator’s feelings): I cringed as I entered the messy home.

Example #3 (Showing): I cringed as a rat scurried between one moldy pizza box and a pile of leftover dishes, and prayed I could leave the sad-excuse for a house soon.

I hope these examples helped to explain showing versus telling a little better.  Taking the time to write this blog, and create my own sentences, definitely helped me to improve in this area.

Showing versus Telling

I observed a group of mothers playing with their toddlers at the park.  In general, I didn’t mind the noise or chaos of the park, but today I could feel my annoyance building as I glared at one of the mothers.  A mother I’d nicknamed “Loudmouth,” because she wouldn’t stop talking.  (Not once.  Not even when the other mothers avoided her gaze and scooted away from her.)

Loudmouth finally asked one of the other mothers a question (perhaps she’d realized that conversations are supposed to be two-sided).  “Your child is so sweet, how old is he?” she asked.

The other mother smiled shyly and responded, “fifteen months.”

“Oh!” she exclaimed.  “MY son could say the alphabet backward and forward by that age.”

I clenched my hand and thought of a string of nasty retorts, but then, Loudmouth’s son started eating sand, and I felt a little better.  Loudmouth ran off to stop her son, and the shy mother sat back, looking calmer than I felt.  Her son, a beautiful little boy with light brown curls, approached his mother.

“Up,” he cooed.

His mother picked him up, smiling down at him.

A third mother, a lady with smudged makeup, grinned.  “Now, that’s a smart boy!”

You might be wondering what this story has to do with writing, but the truth is that it showcases exactly the topic I’ve been struggling with: showing verses telling.  One mother “told” the others that her son was smart, while the other allowed her child to “show” how smart he was.  And as I thought this situation over, I realized the many problems that arise with showing verses telling.

First of all, when you tell someone something, you aren’t allowing them to think or get involved with what is happening.  They are expected to simply take your word.  This would be a terrible thing to experience as a reader, because reading is all about the process of investing yourself in a character.  When you don’t take the journey with the character, however, and are simply told about it, you don’t care as much about what happens to the character.

Second of all, when you tell someone something, it might be harder for them to believe than if they saw what you were talking about.  When you create a book about lamas that take over the world with flesh-eating spit, people might find themselves struggling to believe your plot.  But, if you are able to show everything as it happens through the strength of your writing, your readers aren’t going to doubt what’s happening, they’re not going to have to suspend their disbelief, because they’ve been right there every step of the way.  Why wouldn’t they fear the all-mighty lamas too?

Let’s Try This Again

Okay, fair warning, don’t eat while you read this blog because for some reason analogies of festering wounds have been coming to me regarding this topic. Well, this week I had an epiphany: I realized that whereas I liked the general storyline of my WIP, there were certain elements that I no longer felt were a good idea. Also, I realized that I had some of those pesky little holes in my overall plot. The other evil dwarves don’t seem to think “it just does” is a good answer when they question the dynamics of my world building. 

I know that everything is fixable, but at the same time after being with the group for a few months, I realize there are certain things I would like to add to the story, and that my setting isn’t working for me. Plus those lovely dwarves have also been helping me with formatting (my current formatting skills are lacking). So with all of these various items weighing on my mind, it became a bit overwhelming. Cue the epiphany.

Time for a rewrite. This WIP is one of those I have gone back and forth to over the years because while I loved the story idea, I wasn’t 100% sure where it was going. In retrospect, after joining a critique group, I know why I wasn’t sure, because the story has issues. So as not to disappoint those who set aside their lunch: a good story is like a wound. The initial idea is when the injury first occurs and the closing of said wound is when all of a writer’s plotting comes together perfectly. If a writer has a deep enough connection with a reader,  a nice scar may be left behind, and the reader will never forget your story. On the other hand, sometimes stories don’t close up well and they start to fester. You ignore them until you realize you can no longer deal with the infection,and at this point you can amputate (give up on the story if you’re sure nothing else you do can fix it), or you can tear off the scab, clean the wound, and start over. I’m choosing the latter.

So I bought Scrivener as I believe it will help help me with at least a general outline (I’m a bit of a panster) and organizing my research. So today is to new beginnings. I’ve got a fresh band aid so let’s close this one up.