Poetry Sunday ~ Why... die

Nebraska sky by Adam

Matt.  26:35 “Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.”

I don’t wanna die

don’t wanna cry

I want to live

I don’t know why…

I’m in a world

Fingers curled

Words hurled

Clouds unfurled

On a throne

I call my own

Never sown

Always shown

Fluttering mind

Winds unkind

Hard to find

Soul entwined

Button eyes

Starry skies

Sudden cries

Then she dies

Write On!

If you have an hour, will you not improve that hour, instead of idling it away?
Lord Chesterfield
***

The world of writing is all about writing. Trying so hard to over please people, clicking the LIKE button one hundred times a day, does not make people LIKE YOU more it makes you pitied more. I have joined a couple of new writing sites where a like button is obscure. And the one site that does have a like button I haven’t seen anyone going down the board clicking like to something as simple as “my dog died”. You know these people don’t even read what they are clicking like to, they just want to BE liked and are over compensating while looking a little foolish.

No this isn’t at facebook that I’m speaking of, this is just my observance elsewhere on the net. A site that I no longer promote because honestly, its an embarrassment and I would not refer a professional, only for them to lose money because that is what they sought, a professional writing atmosphere.

Writing takes focus, writing takes commitment, writing is the breath of you and there will come a time when you can like your way into peoples lives, and some will buy it, but professionals won’t. A professional writing site is focused on your writing, your creativity, your story and structure, they don’t need the like button because everyone is equal!

That is what I seek in my writing journey, like minded people, who are creating and crafting stories, willing to give honest feedback, and are a comfort to wake up to, not a big scare. I laid my dream on the line, now I’m going after it without all the idle distractions of the day.

What will you do this new year to make your writing dream come true? Will you waste it trying to be liked? Or are you going to write, snag that keyboard by the keys and begin tapping ‘til your fingers bleed? You betcha!

Things to get you focused on WRITING:

1. Open your MS word, or whatever program you use, and begin with...”The clouds swept over the house...” or something to that affect. I notice if I open with an action line, many other words start to flow that I didn’t even know I was sitting down to write!

2. Disconnect from the internet! That is one of the main distractions to writing and that is the internet, looming in your browser, if it is open, you are more tempted to be distracted from it!

3. Focus on writing AT LEAST 500 words at one sitting. When you take away the distractions, more times than not, you can produce more than 500 words at a sitting.

4. Open the internet but only for research reasons! We may have written a 1500 word short story and need to do a reference check or something. Be strong, and focus on RESEARCH!!!

5. Have confidence in yourself. You DO NOT need a Social Scene to boost your moral, or to get you writing. If you honestly go there to boost your writing, then why all the LIKES? You are not focusing on writing, you’re more focused on being accepted, popular and LIKED. In the WRITING world, focus on WRITING!!!


So there you have it, all the tools TO WRITE! Writing software, focus, NO INTERNET, research tools, and most importantly, confidence in yourSELF! Now WRITE ON!!!

What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself.
Hecato, Greek philosopher

Poetry Sunday~ Worthy Vessel

Ps.54:6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.
***
Worthy Vessel

Into the whispering winds I stand
reaching out to take His hand.
From the galloping gust I hear
words that bring me ever near.

Fingers laced I now find strength
to carry on no matter the length
of pain, loss, hurt and shame;
turn the cheek, no ones to blame.

In his arms I place the sorrow
allowing me to face tomorrow.
Looking back with no regret,
the past is gone I won’t forget.

Guide me Lord into this day,
free me from the breath of sway.
I bow to you, I praise your glory
Release from me this inner fury.

A glorious day has dawned on me
with His hand I’m now set free.
To ride the wing of winds soft draft.
I am his child, He is my craft.

I sense a good week...

Pss. 3:3 But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
***

Well the senses lesson went off without a hitch. I wasn’t let down as writers across the board dabbled in bringing the senses alive.

They made clouds out of marshmallows, the sea became a frothing cup of espresso, a river was birthed, a tree swayed, a path was made and I was led down a writing frenzy. These are supposed to be amateur writers but I was quite impressed with the remaining writers at f2k.

Most of the new folk who had a dream of writing, realized all too soon that they had to actually work at it and writing wasn’t something that they could just do. Their introductions led me to believe that their heart and soul wasn’t into writing and I can usually tell if this is really what a writer wants, but we lost a few.

The few who were lost came and went like a brief spring shower. They’re out there wanting to become a writer but they are not willing to take the long hard grueling steps to becoming a writer.

Now we have a few hanger’s on. These are the ones who are wholeheartedly doing all they can to become a writer in every sense of the word. They’re studying the craft intently, they’re practicing sentence structure, they’re even flirting with new words.

These are the people who have an innate sense of what it takes to be the artist that they want to be. Artist are not just thrown into the world knowing all they can about the craft. They learn on every level, grab hold of the intimate aspect and feed off the style to bring you, the reader, into a realm that they call their own.

Have you ever wondered what Picasso was thinking when he painted his masterpieces? What Stephen King is thinking as he jots down his stories? (Oh dear, I put Stephen King next to the same sentence as Picasso! You won’t see that too often.) Well I’m here to tell you that they weren’t thinking anything. They worked to create and delivered to us some of the worlds greatest masterpieces.

The two artist are a lot alike believe it or not. They love (or loved in Picasso’s case) what they do and shower the public with pieces of themselves through their work. (No pun intended Picasso.)

So why not as a new writer, dig deep into yourself and pull out the artist that you know yourself to be. The person that longs to give society what they’re missing. Give it to them!

And whatever you do...write write write!

Point of View

This week is point of view or POV for short. You want my point of view about the state of this country? I’ll gladly give it to you. Oh, that’s not the POV you want to hear about is it; you want the POV in writing.

Recently I have noticed the biggest problem for new writer’s is not getting the story out, it is keeping the story consistent.

Consistency in POV and consistency with tenses. Sure I see alot of grammatical issues being tossed out there as a new writer, but POV is one tough element of the craft that needs to be honed and mastered.

Mastering the POV will help in keeping the work consistent.

We at f2k, have an exercise this week in POV and when asked to shift pov, alot of people will write the same exact paragraph and switch the POV from “He said” to “I said”. To me, shifting the point of view changes the perspective and the ‘who’ is seeing what and from whose point of view.

Here’s an example of something I’m working on: Two pov’s and different perspectives arise.

POV 1 ~ First person
As I hover over my lifeless body lying below me, I wonder where I am. The aroma of a fresh garden surrounds me making me feel like a weightless cloud. I want to yell down to myself, but I can’t seem to communicate from here. I walk slowly toward the endless portal that awaits me. I float like a feather on an endless air drifting into the unknown. No claps of thunder, no bolts of lightning, just eerie warmth surrounds me. A gravitational pull sucks me like a huge non-existent vacuum of space and time. I turn away from the light and try in a motionless effort to reclaim the body I left. Suddenly, I awaken to the trickle of an ice cold shower that releases me from the warm safe haven. I scan the bathroom and wonder how on earth did I get in here?

POV2 ~ Third person
Look at her, a lifeless form in need of assistance. She has left her body only to discover the realm of the unknown. The bright light that has hold of her won’t let her go. She can wriggle and worm all she wants but it is pulling with an endless flux of gravity. She knows this is the end of the line, the place she’s heard about but never wanted to be at the cusp of her youth. She's grappling with fear yet releasing herself without a fight, letting herself drift into the aromatic garden that waits. As moments pass, time is of the essence.
She needs to be revived; it’s not her time. Wait; look; she’s in bathroom shower. How on earth did she get there?

The same paragraph but from different perspectives, and two different pov’s. This shift sometimes confuses new writer’s because they can’t see from anyone elses eyes. They are looking at the paragraph and thinking they need to write the exact same words but change *I* into *She*. When I shift pov, I see from someone else eyes.

I think we need to look at perspective as much as POV. Work on the POV, sifting through all the knowledge you can and try this exercise from a writers POV and I can bet you’re perspective will change too. You’ll be seeing through different eyes in no time.

Now get moving, Write Right!

Making Money from Writing

There will never be another now -
I'll make the most of today.
There will never be another me -
I'll make the most of myself.
Helen Keller

***

In today’s world of fast paced cutthroats, writers need diligence to get them to make money from their writing. A good writer makes little money from all of their hard work whereas a great writer makes an income. Now an excellent writer is, well, you know, sitting around his pool drinking Mai Tai’s basking in the glory of all his/her published works.

No, I don’t really believe that is what the excellent writers are doing. Is that really how you envision Stephen King or Dean Koontz? Sitting around in the lap of luxury without a care in the world? I see them as writing. They continue to write their hearts out no matter how much money they have garnered from a previous published book. It’s a tried and true method for them to keep on writing. No write, no money.

Now before you can start writing for money, you are going to need material that is publishable. And it must be good enough for somebody to WANT to pay for it. Ask yourself a question. “Would a publisher be interested in spending money on MY work?”How many times was King rejected before someone finally took the manuscript of Carrie and made it a successful publishable piece of work? Over twenty times! He has the wallpaper to prove it. (King says he has wallpapered his room with rejection letters to keep him writing better.)

A publisher is taking a risk in spending thousands of dollars on you, the unknown, so make your work worth a large amount of money. It has to have some value before you can expect someone else to want to publish your work.

It will help if you have a story that a reader can’t take his/her hands off of and easily put it down. A story that the reader can't put down is one that could inspire a publisher to see the potential in book sales. The same is true for a script. Sometimes the writer must pitch the idea to get the publisher, agent or producer excited about the potential of their work.

The Internet is full of markets where you can sell your work. Whether it is a short story to a magazine or an agent for your novel, or a publisher that you can query. Writers are not only writers they are small-time archeologist! They need to dig, dig, dig to find the precious gem that will give their work life and an abundant glory of profit. I’ve used writer’s as archeologist twice this week!

And whatever you do fellow writer, DON’T GIVE UP! Did Indiana Jones? NO! Stephen King? NEVER! Now get to writing and selling, marketing and publishing! You can do it!

Funday Monday!

"The world is full of poetry. The air is living with its spirit; and the waves dance to the music of its melodies, and sparkle in its brightness." -- Percival

*

Word words words…they are like a fluent stream to the writer. We need words as much as we need air to breathe. It is through the written word that we convey a message, usually a vital message that sometimes a spoken word can not bring about.
*

To a shy person, the verbal words spoken come out in a mere gibberish flow. To a writer words become a tool. One that creates something like the saw cuts wood and the hammer pounds the wood and lets not forget the glue that will bind the wood together making for a stronger piece of art created by the carpenter.

*

The writer is the carpenter of words. He will carve, saw, shape, form and glue a story together like a finely crafted, artistically molded armoire. The components that make up writing are words, structure, form and style. Without these powerful elements honed and perfected, your written words will not be as effective.
*

What can a writer do to perfect his written words? Well he or she can master the art. Look at writing as a craft to be mastered. Read everything and anything about what goes into creating and building a story and maybe if you’re lucky, the artist in you will come forth giving the world a display of excellence. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but to the avid reader, beauty is in the eye of the WRITER!

*

And what is the Writer’s first mode of operation? WORDS! And what do we do with these words? FORM SENTENCES!

aggrandize - (uh-gran-dahz)
1. to widen in scope; increase in size or intensity; enlarge; extend.
2. to make great or greater in power, wealth, rank, or honor.

ambience – (am-bee-uh ns)
The special atmosphere or mood created by a particular environment

droll – (drohl)
1. amusing in an odd way; whimsically humorous; waggish.
2. Archaic. to jest; joke.

gratuitous – (gruh-too-i-tuh s)
1. given, done, bestowed, or obtained without charge or payment; free; voluntary.
2. being without apparent reason, cause, or justification: a gratuitous insult.

paragon – (par-uh-guhn)
1. a model or pattern of excellence or of a particular excellence.
2. to compare; parallel.
3. to be a match for; rival.

Bookworm Thursday

Well here I am starting yet another named day for my blog.

This one is going to be called Bookworm Thursday!

What IS bookworm Thursday?

This is where I will list books for the craft of writing. Instead of just highlighting them in an individual blog. I thought I'd try this. They will all relate to ONE of my blog posts.

Here goes:

Books on Query writing is up first.

How To Write Attention Grabbing Query and Cover Leters by John Wood

How To Write Irresisible Query Letters by Lisa Collier Cool

The Sell Your Novel Tool kit (Paperback) by Elizabeth Lyon

Your Novel Proposal: From Creation to Contract : The Complete Guide to Writing Query Letters, Synopses and Proposals for Agents and Editors (Hardcover) by Blythe Camethson and Marshall J. Cook

Fun with Funny Friday

Every family has a blacksheep!

Or white Sheep? Ummm... cow?

Some helpful rules for better writing:

1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat)
6. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
7. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
8. Be more or less specific.
9. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
10. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
11. No sentence fragments.
12. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
13. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
14. One should NEVER generalize.
15. Don't use no double negatives.
16. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
17. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
18. The passive voice is to be ignored.
19. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.
20. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
21. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
22. If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.

A visitor to a certain college paused to admire the new Hemingway Hall that had been built on campus."It's a pleasure to see a building named for Ernest Hemingway," he said.

"Actually," said his guide, "it's named for Joshua Hemingway. No relation."

The visitor was astonished. "Was Joshua Hemingway a writer, also?"

"Yes, indeed," said his guide. "He wrote a check."

Q. What's the difference between publishers and terrorists?

A. You can negotiate with terrorists.

"I find television very educational. Every time someone switches it on I go into another room and read a good book."
Groucho Marx

One's POV

We’ve already blogged about the theme. That is what your story will be about when you write it. We’ve attempted the plot of your story now lets see what POV is all about.

The point of view in a story is the narrator’s voice that is telling the story. It is whose eyes the reader will be seeing through. Like Alice looking through the looking glass? Mad Hatter couldn’t tell you what Alice saw now could he?

In first person POV we will see through Jane’s eyes. What Jane sees, smells, hears, and especially what Jane thinks. (I think of Shirley Jackson’s novel The Haunting of Hill house.) This is an excellent portrayal of first person POV. But with first person POV, you have limited yourself to only Janes thoughts. The other characters being introduced to the story will only be a mirror of what JANE portrays them to be. Again read the above novel by Shirley Jackson and you’ll get the idea of how paranoid her main character sounds.

Now trouble arrives when you try saying that John heard a noise that sounded like glass shattering. You have now shifted POV’s and this can be a dangerous line to cross when making it clear to the reader that this is Jane’s story and not John’s.

When you’re a beginning writer it is fundamentally important to learn the craft of POV.

Third person POV is the point of view that most authors use. It is much like the first person, except you’ll use, he saw the road crack before them instead of, I saw the road crack. It is essentially using ‘he’ instead of ‘I’.

Now the tricky third person pov is the ever elusive third person omniscient. Though omniscient is on occasion used in the beginning of the story, the writer switches to third person to get a tight grip on the main characters view.

The pov is tricky in writing so if you plan on mastering the craft of writing this would be a helpful tool to practice, read others work, and implement into your own writing. By reading what others have wrote before you, you’ll get the idea of POV and you’ll also recognize WHEN the shifts occur and how to masterfully shift pov yourself.

The exercise I like to practice with most? Say we have a prompt of 500 words (excellent exercises from Pumping Your Muse.) Write the exercise in first person. Try the same story only switch to third person. Write it again in third person omniscient. (I NEVER tackle 2nd person and that is why I won’t touch the subject!)

Show your writing group your different pov’s of your stories. You ARE in a workshop right? After all my blogging about how important it is to surround yourself with other writers? SHAME ON YOU!

Your writing group will be able to help you see the difference, feel the difference and master the different ways to serve the POV to your reader. There isn’t enough room in a 500-word-blog to give you ALL of the details of POV, but trust me on this one. This is one tricky part of the craft to master. But once you have it licked, your writing will soar to new heights like the morning sunrise!

Staying Motivated

Light your candle within and allow it to burn. That's what a writer does.

How does one stay motivated in writing? I mean lets face it, it can wear you down, drag you through the mud, slap you upside the face and yet you wake up everyday and do it again?

What is wrong with you? Oh, that’s right, it is the passion within you that keeps you going back to the writing table. Sure setting goals, being inspired, and being obedient to the craft helps in assisting you in a daily routine, but what keeps you motivated in doing so day after day? Month after month? Year after year?

Let’s say you’ve written the all American best selling novel of your dream, you’ve revised it numerous times and have sent it out with the wings you gave it to watch it soar. Only it was returned, rejected. Did you know that there are thousands of best-selling authors who have trudged the same path as you? J.K Rowling and Stephen King to name just two who were rejected. (see post below of nine BS authors who were rejected)

You’ll get a glimpse of the struggles that a writer has to endure to make it in a cut-throat business these days. Staying motivated can be one of the most daunting tasks you undergo.

1.Never undermine your work. If this is what you have chosen to do, then do your best and wait for the positive outcome that you envision.

2.Never lead with an ego. An ego can get you in trouble when you think you’re the best. Rejection will hit you the hardest of all.

3.Accept rejection! By accepting the rejection slip you are allowing yourself to move forward and GROW as a writer.

4.Always hope for a positive outcome. There is nothing wrong with having hope. It’s the patience that you’ll need in seeing the tomorrow’s sun shine!

5.Always believe that your reward is right around the corner. If you tend to give up easily, writing is not going to be for you. Believing that it is not much further to acceptance, then the payday will be right around the next bend!

Now these steps may take years to finally get that one published story, but when it happens you will be the happiest fish in the sea doing pirouettes on top of the waves.

I can’t emphasize enough the patience, faith and hope you need to have in yourself to carry you one little extra mile.

And let’s not forget the One that carries all of our burdens for us. Your gift was given from Him so He knows you’ll need Him to get you through each and every step.

Be wise, don’t compromise. And before you know it all fear dies!