Rapunzel ~ A new spin

As I stated earlier, I wrote a story called Rapunzel. While it sits idle in an empty room, I thought I’d share this tale with you, grammatical errors and all. A good flash fiction piece if I do say so myself.  I will take this down after it goes through editing.

Thanks for reading!

Wc: 986

Rapunzel

Her bare feet press into the moist soil as she steps ever so closely to the heart of where the sounds of laughter are bellowing. Looking ahead she sees them all playing, in a circle with balloons of smiley faces bouncing from one to another. She approaches in a whisper of wind, no one paying her any mind as one step becomes lighter than the other.

Her long white silken gown blows in the breeze appearing to be a mighty wave on the ocean. She nears the commotion to see many standing and playing ball, all with a smiley face on them. This must be a dream. All dreams will come alive here in this village of laughter and fun. She’s cautious with her approach.

“STOP!” a voice cries out, “you don’t belong here!”

The circle takes notice of her and all come to her side exclaiming in a joyful tone, “You’re here, Z!”

Z is the pleasant nickname they’ve bestowed upon Rapunzel. Her arms raise to embrace the ones who are welcoming and her eyes are not unaware that off to her left in the midst of the trees, there sits awaiting dark looming creatures with snarling mouths, claws on their fingers waiting to gouge the bark off the trees.

No words spill from her mouth as in a sudden quake of lucidity, she realizes they are all staring at her. The mist in the forest thickens as she begins to turn and walk away, but not before the cold clammy hand reaches her shoulder. “You’re coming with me,” he mutters in a raspy hoarse voice.

His hand feels like an arctic glacier that causes a shudder throughout her now chilled body; his eyes are as piercing as a daggers blade of fire. His body towering over her shadowing her in darkness, running is not an option as the minions that seek to lead her away from the happy circle outnumber her.

Her long flowing hair is full of the mist that surrounds her, her feet are damp from the soil as she walks with them to the shrouded castle. The aroma of a foul marsh assaults her nose. Her insides are turned like churning butter as she wonders what fate has dealt her this time. The laughter and joy that bled to tears and angst is off in the distance as the woods encircle her and she is led deeper into the cauldron of naysayers.

“To the tower,” he bursts out in fleshy tone, “away with you, until we see fit to release you.”

Rapunzel uttered not a word as she knew her punishment and hatred was unwarranted. The dark force holds no power over her, and fear is certainly not of her being; she walks on, knowing that this is not the end.

She waits in the tower until those below decide what to do with this deemed atrocity. She listens intently as the echoes filter up the spiral stairs into the one tiny room with a window that she has been locked in.

From the depths below, calamities of voices are sounding out.

“She doesn’t belong here, she’s nothing but trouble.”

“Little miss drama queen, what is she going to drum up next?”

“I fear she’ll ruin this place of unity that we’ve built.”

“SILENCE!” comes from the leader of the pack, “remember, she has helped in building this place, she was essential and vital to its growth. I can’t bear to feed her to you as you all obviously wish from me.”

Silence now holds the echoes of chains and celebratory clinking glasses and bouncing hungry voices. The silence deafens, as a harmonic song is lifted in the tower. Rapunzel sings a soft song as they all turn their weary heads. The argumentative stance is now loosened as they move closer and closer to the steps, leading to the tower.

“My one true voice, I shall find

among the sighted not the blind”

Her voice is as fleecy as a feather, floating weightlessly down the stairs melting like wax in the ears of those who are listening.

“To all of those who wish to bind

Will never know me and my kind.”

Her voice is fading ever so gently into the distance it rides…

“I am me, only one of my kind

You’ll never steal

the dreams in my mind.”

“RUBBISH!” one angry voice spits out.

A hush stirs the room to silence. So quiet, the mouse in the corner stops his search for a crumb, awaiting them to spot him at any moment. As a pin drops it belts out a thundering slam to the floor.

The minions all push and shove to get to the top of the stairs. One trips and is crumbled beneath the boot of the Master; another falls to the side as an army of hatred pushes her there. They reach the top with bated breath; swing open the door to find… the room is empty.

On an eagles wings Rapunzel can be seen soaring atop the circle of laughter and cheers below, through the thick forest trees, swerving in and out as if to carry her to a lighter path, one which she is all to familiar with, peace.

“Look, she left this,” claims one of the seeds of trivial hate, “but how…” the voice softens. A tear climbs over her eye as she realizes the wrong done to Rapunzel. They begin to lament as a brewing storm portends to wreak havoc on the forest and the fire that was in their weak minds erupts in a calamity of destruction, leaving them forever trapped in the infernal tower that they alone created.

The note says, “Alone, one voice is nothing. Together they become a choir. One voice to tell the world. Two voices will bind them. I have hope to see in the dark, and all at once I’ll find them.”

How to...

Remain a writer!

**************

I’m here to tell you that YES, I am a writer. It has been proven by the long hard struggle I had after never wanting to write again, and as I faced the dark, the fear of writing again, I gained clarity that I had never expected.

I wanted to throw in the towel of writing, as ripped to threads as the towel was; I was tossing it in and giving up. But like I said, something happened, I went back to where my love of writing began.

I signed up for the class, and ask anyone around me that knows me personally and supported my ups and downs, knew I was resurging again and my love of writing would return. Granted it was not the session I had foreseen, but then again, is anything really as we foresee? No, that is why we have the unknown.

I was stepping into the unknown not knowing how old and new friends alike would receive me. I was coming out of the dark and allowing whatever slapped me upside the face to do as it pleased. I walked out with my head held high and continued the journey that I feel; God himself had set me on.

You see, God gave me this gift of writing and when I was down, I knew I had to rest and sit back a ways from it all and drink in everything that had happened. I meditated, prayed, and asked for something that would surely fill my life again.

Sure enough, as beau got his license back after being blind for three years, he found a job, and here I was not writing? Well we can’t have that now can we? So the class was my first step in reclaiming what was rightfully mine, my writing.

From the very first week I was bubbling with words. I was blogging again, writing my poetry, and I was feeling whole. Yeah there is always something that wants to knock you back down a few rungs, but I was determined to keep on climbing! While being isolated and kept away from the rest of the course and what could have been an exciting re-entry into the world of writing for me, it turned out to be less than the glitter in my step that I sought. If you can say BORING, it was that and so much more.

I kept climbing week after week, writing and enjoying my time writing, everything and everyone else disappeared into the backdrop of my mind. As the classroom dwindled to barely anything there, I kept going on, encouraging the two or three that was there still plowing ahead, and I myself was feeling like a hermit, alone in the catacombs of life.

Instead of allowing myself to feel bitterness and vengeance, I chose to ride above the clouds, and saw to it I had an end. Closure is what I feel now. I never got that last year because I was too busy being hurt, so in this session, I sought closure and I got it.

I can now turn and be the writer that God wanted me to be. If He wants me to teach you all, that is fine. If He wants me to be a novel writer, I’m going to be the best novel writer I can be. As many will now move on to NaNoWriMo, I will stand back and let them frolic, while I soar. I might do it alone, but I am doing it from a much better place. I’m HEALED and I AM FREE!

Welcome back to the writing world Joni!

Journey's End

Is. 40: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

***

 Well I did it. I took the six-week free writing course. Yes it was the one I had sworn never to step foot in again but there was a reason I went back. I had to prove to myself that I was as stable as I was last year when all the attacks took place and put me on the outside, looking in.

The assignments were the same: Characterization via your character, conflict, dialogue, senses, POV, and the finale of a short story. Whew, what a seven weeks it was. The first week was getting to know people and the new site, and that was interesting to say the least.

I was locked out of all the classrooms, except one, so the fun and excitement of the course was wiped right off the slate from the get go. I met some new folk and caught up with some old who actually accepted my friend request after last years fiasco. I was feeling welcome until I realized everyone else had the privilege of running the halls and basking in the classrooms, getting to comment on others work while I was like a prisoner, a castoff set aside in the Ripley’s Believe It or Not, to be visited and gawked at.

This was a test of my stability of mind. I could have flown off the handle, damned them all to the pits of hell, but lo-and-behold, I kept my head. I kept my head and acted like a grown woman, and respectfully continued with the lessons. My classroom was active at first with 22 students eager to learn and I could not help but wear the mentoring cap that I had donned for seven or so years prior. I was in the student’s chair and had to remember that. Even as the mentor only appeared once a week, to give tips and answer questions, the intern had his/her own college studies to attend to; the classroom dwindled, while others were as active as week one.

As one week turned into five, I found myself published in the not so famous ezine, which is really a pick of the best lessons put on display. This is where I saw others work yet I yearned to see the other classrooms, my old friends, to be a part of a community, but there I sat, idle in my classroom, twiddling my thumbs, that had three people left (so many to choose from for the ezine, eh?)  By my fifth week I was feeling hurt that no one but newcomers (and one old friend) came and read my lesson, expecting me to do the same to them, but I bit my lip and told maybe two people, I was a caged bird.

I felt on the inside that all the mentors were well aware of my status, seeing that many did not want to return because of all the DRAMA that *I* supposedly caused? One mentor, a MAIN asset, bailed on this session and has told me he may never return, or at least not for a while. Even he was sickened by the treatment I’d received.

The funny part of all this is, I was not the dramatic one last session. If my memory serves me correct, I was attacked, they spit horrible words at me and all wrote the administrator to tell him I had lost it. So he believing them, set me free from the course, but allowed me to return this session as a student, but in a locked cage, protecting himself, the mentors and myself, from BIG BAD ME! Funny isn’t it?

 
Lesson six, the short story I had in my mind from the get go, Rapunzel, was woven and spun. While my lessons were about another short story I’m writing, Rapunzel was being saved for lesson six. I’d like to post it tomorrow, grammatical errors and all. I just wanted my readers to know, this bird may be caged, but on an eagles wings, I soar!

Poetry Sunday ~ I Am

Ps. 51: 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

***

I Am…

I am but a flower dancing in the sun
protected by light since my life begun.

I am but a flower blowing in the warm breeze

safely sheltered by the low hanging trees.

I am but a flower with a purpose in life

I grow and learn through trials and strife.

I am but a flower planted firmly in soil

too much water and my roots will spoil.

I am but a flower please understand;

my duty in life is to beautify land.

I can not be plucked and placed where one needs

I have to grow to nurture my seeds.

I’m am but a flower reaching up to the sky

some days I wilt and never know why.

I need some nourishment to replenish my soul

to make this flower feel beautifully whole.

I am but a flower rained on from above

given to life by my mother’s true love.

Although as I grow I have high ambition,

Remember this rose has a sweet smelling mission.

Quotation Saturday

WRITING

“The role of a writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say.”
~ Anaïs Nin

“Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depth of your heart; confess to yourself you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.”
~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself.”
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

“If you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. I wish you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories — science fiction or otherwise. Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.”
~ Ray Bradbury

INSPIRATION

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.”
~ Walt Disney Company

“Sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly.”
~ Neil Gaiman

“It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.”
~ Lou Holtz

“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.”
~ Vincent van Gogh

DREAMS

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~ H. Jackson Brown Jr.

“Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”
~ Oscar Wilde

“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.”
~ Douglas Adams

READING

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”
~ Groucho Marx

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
~ Dr. Seuss

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”
~ Oscar Wilde

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
~ Charles William Eliot

Poetry Sunday ~ Soul's Descent

The Souls Descent

***

Plummeting downward I watched it fall;

the deep abyss the shadowed wall.

Gripped by pain and tidal emotion;

wrought with fear an inner devotion.

In this fissure of my being,
analyzing all I'm seeing.

The foulness of vengeance lurks throughout,

seeds of hatred sprinkled about.

Where once there lay a fluent stream,

drought and hunger fuse a team.

Lust it lingers in this pit,

I try to flee...but here I sit.

Liquid anger claws at me,

my very essence squints to see.

Howls and screams ~~ a wailing sound.

crimson walls melting 'round.

Fires racing torments edge;

keeping me from realities ledge.

I struggle within this master's plane,

as wilted red walls fall down like rain.

My soul has found a resting place,

torrents of tears stream down my face.

Trickling along like glistening sand,

I hold my pain in the palm of my hand.

Quotation Saturday

RELIGION

“God has no religion.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

“Science and religion are not at odds. Science is simply too young to understand.”
― Dan Brown

“My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”
― Abraham Lincoln

PHILOSOPHY

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
― Albert Einstein

“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

“Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Teh Ching

“It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

 "I never swim upstream with the fish. I swim downstream to see what everyone is running from."

-- Joni Zipp

POLITICS

“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”
― Ronald Reagan

“The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.”
― Ayn Rand

“Seven Deadly Sins”
Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Science without humanity
Knowledge without character
Politics without principle
Commerce without morality
Worship without sacrifice.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“And on the subject of burning books: I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength or their powerful political connections or their great wealth, who, all over this country, have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and have refused to reveal to thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles.

So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

Grip 'em! Grip 'em Good!

I like to think of what happens to characters in good novels and stories as knots --- things keep knotting up. And by the end of the story --- readers see an unknotting of sorts. Not what they expect, not the easy answers you get on T.V., not wash and wear philosophies but a reproduction of believable emotional experiences. ~ Terry McMillan

***

This week we’re learning the technique of utilizing conflict in a story. I think the above writer, Terry McMillan, has said it much better. It’s like tying your words in knots and placing the knots in the hands of your readers and letting them slowly do the unraveling of sorts until they walk away with an emotional experience for having read your words.

Conflict in a story? Sure you can call it that, but I like the knot theory much better. Conflict sounds so aggressive and can be. Do we want to write an aggressive scene or a scene that has your stomach in knots as you turn page after page? I’m leaning towards the knots, myself.

For conflict to be effectual, you need the inverted check mark is what I’ve been taught. You need to slowly build up the scene, place a few knots in the rope, or tension, as the scene grows and mounts the highest mountain.

Instead of having your character jump off the other side of the mountain, you need to bring your reader down slowly as if releasing the pressure out of a tire. It doesn’t deflate immediately; it slowly comes to a flat. But wait a second now, you don’t want your ending to be flat, you want vibrant life to be in the ending, so don’t deflate your tire completely. Give your reader an emotional release.

This is why I like the knot theory more than I appreciate the conflict. Sure you can give the reader an enormous amount of conflict but giving them knots is like handing them a fully inflated tire, and releasing the pressure slowly so that your reader is gripping their stomach in anticipation, the knot has been built and you’re slowly releasing them. By not allowing the tire to go completely flat you’re saving room for the completion of the heartache in the tale, the happily ever after, so to speak.

All in all your reader is what counts. If you can tug at THEIR heartstrings, bind them up in knots, and give them a welcomed conclusion by untying the knots, I think you’ve achieved your goal in your story.

Chapter by chapter should have elevated the heart rate so that they continue reading each and every word, dangling by a thread; they are waiting for you, the writer, to make them feel as though their visit to your world of words was worth every thread.

Giving them conflict, you might be giving them aggression. Giving them knots, you’re filling your work with the drama that carries the story. Remember that as you’re building your characters and story. Drama is GOOD; it is a writer’s best friend!

Book Bites:

Elements of Fiction Writing - Conflict and Suspense by James Scott Bell

Elements of Fiction Writing - Conflict, Action & Suspense by William Noble

Building a Novel ~ One block at a time

So you want to write a novel, eh?

I’d like to throw out some tips to you to get you started:

1)     Characters - You absolutely have to have characters planned out for your novel. Either in your head waiting to be birthed, or ones you’ve written for but never really gave them a home.

2)     Define these characters - give them hair color, skin color, clothes that suit them and facial features that define them. Give them personality and a voice that can carry a novel.

3)     Environment - Okay, so now you have characters, now you’re going to need a setting in which they’ll live or a world to wander through (You never know, you might be writing a sci-fi novel and you really need to discover the worlds in which they live)

4)     Premise - This is where you’ll define what your novel will be about. The beginning, middle and how you see it ending. You don’t have to adhere to the premise entirely but this will get you started in the direction you wish to go.

5)     Outline – You can, if you want, outline each chapter; again as you wish to see the story develops. You needn’t stick to this outline like crazy glue to your fingers, you just need a basic outline of all you see happening with each chapter.

6)     Timeline – As you work on the outline, this might be where you put forth a timeline. Have you missed years’ perhaps dates? Are they consistent/inconsistent with the rest of what you wrote?

7)     Editing – Not by paragraph, not by chapter, not even by the time you reach the middle. Save all edits for after you’ve written THE END can you go back and edit.

8)     Seek feedback – This is where a writing group comes in handy if you have one. I myself don’t have one these days, so my editing is done in my spare time. I read and fix things I think I miss, I read it out loud to myself because this is how the reader is going to hear it in their minds when they read it. Fixing things means my consistency and imagery and such.

9)     Edit some more- I go through each chapter doing the above. Making sure I have my handy dandy timeline ready for viewing, then I check for any grammar mistakes I may have made and tweak them to my liking.

10)  Edit some more - After the two edits to your liking, you’re going to want to give it another trip down the reading lane.

There you have it. Your novel should be a complete novel instead of a work in progress.  I know many writers do many more edits before being satisfied with a completed work, so be sure you’ve done enough to satisfy you. Then get searching for publishers! 

Book Bites: 

 Outlining Your Novel by K.M. Weiland

 The Essential Guide to Writing a Novel by James Thayer

Poetry Sunday ~ The Blind Shall See

Pss. 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

The Blind Shall See

***

Walking in darkness for three years passed

Gave rise to tension that had amassed.

Day after day guided by hands

Taking it slow as each morn commands.

Week after week our waiting was pained

The miracle would come; our bodies drained.

Visit upon visit to doctors we went

Until one was perfectly heavenly sent.

The cornea was ready; the day had arrived

Our hope renewed and now revived.

I anxiously waited for eight long hours

For things to be perfect like rainbow showers!

We patiently waited with the bandage intact;

For the glorious reveal of the eyesight impact.

It felt like a miracle as the Virgin Birth

He looked at life from newfound worth.

The family was eager and who wouldn’t be?

A blind man was given the blessing to see.

An infection crept in we bowed to pray

Our family, our Church made all fear allay.

Amazing thing, this circle of prayer

You could feel it ignite our very air.

It lifted us up and carried us through

Much of the things we were too weak to do.

The healing came in a manner of Grace

And left us standing with smiles on our face.

The year passed by in a state of wonder,

He got to see lightning dance softly with thunder.

A summer of gardening, a license renewal,

He held a new soul like a mystic jewel.

A job soon followed; now full of life

Our journey begins with new fangled strife.

Keeping stern faith is what got us through

Our lives are refreshed; we’re starting anew.

We walk with the Spirit of our dearest friend.

Our Lord and Savior, to the very end!
***
On Oct. 10th Steven celebrated one 
year of being among the sighted once again. 
Journey on.
ILU

Quotation Saturday

TRUTH

A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
~ Mark Twain

The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
~ Oscar Wilde

When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi

“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.”
~ Winston Churchill

HONESTY

“We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.”
~ Robert Louis Stevenson

“ It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
~ George Washington

“To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi

“Hiding how you really feel and trying to make everyone happy doesn't make you nice, it just makes you a liar.”
~Jenny O'Connell, The Book of Luke

“Let's tell the truth to people. When people ask, 'How are you?' have the nerve sometimes to answer truthfully. You must know, however, that people will start avaoiding you because, they, too, have knees that pain them and heads that hurt and they don't want to know about yours. But think of it this way: If people avoid you, you will have more time to meditate and do fine research on a cure for whatever truly afflicts you.”
~ Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter

DICTATORSHIP

“One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.”
~ George Orwell, 1984

“Withholding information is the essence of tyranny. Control of the flow of information is the tool of the dictatorship.”
~Bruce Coville

“Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure. A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man's self-respect and inherent human dignity. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man.”
~ Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom from Fear

“There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution”
~Aldous Huxley

VICTIM

“People think that a liar gains a victory over his victim. What I’ve learned is that a lie is an act of self-abdication, because one surrenders one’s reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person one’s master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that person’s view requires to be faked…The man who lies to the world, is the world’s slave from then on…There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.”
~ Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

“You are not a victim. No matter what you have been through, you're still here. You may have been challenged, hurt, betrayed, beaten, and discouraged, but nothing has defeated you. You are still here! You have been delayed but not denied. You are not a victim, you are a victor. You have a history of victory.”
~ Steve Maraboli

“You can either be a victim of the world or an adventurer in search of treasure. It all depends on how you view your life.”
~ Maria Eleven Minutes

“As a victim of dictatorship, I will not cower in fear, I will face the battle alone and cease all pain endured.”
~J

Truth in Fiction?

Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.
Mark Twain

 ***

Have you ever heard the statement ‘life is stranger than fiction’? I found the quote by Mark Twain and it says, “Truth is stranger”. This is so true! Just take a look at the debates of our politicians as they go head to head nit-picking each other apart. I think of another statement by Rodney King many years ago, “Can’t we all just get along?”

As I write fiction, for my readers it comes across as so real, vivid, lifelike in many ways. So is my life experience leaking into my writing? Am I divulging more truth than even they realize?

I love writing non-fiction but that is for the magazines that seek true stories. But what is a true non-fiction story. Is it your truth with a little coloring of adjectives or is it ridiculously painted lies to make it look like truth. Nowadays, I just don’t know anymore.

I’ve read some harrowing stories of some of my closest writing friends and their pain and angst are clearly evident as they trudge through this so-called life. I’ve also read snippets from people who have been in the limelight (I won’t deem them movie stars or politicians) that tell a markedly different story than the one we were led to believe. They write books years after the fact, and that is when the supposed truth, comes out.

Where does the truth lie? Somewhere in between? I see over and over people slinging mud at one another, claiming it as truth, yet I see over and over the person that it is slung at lie, claiming truth. I often get confused with who to believe these days when dear, respected, trusted friends turn their back on you, when people of power turn into dictators relishing the power, and when family surrounds you…from a distance.

What is wrong with that scene? I couldn’t have paved the road and put it in a ‘supposed fictional tale’ any better. When is it okay to lie? When it furthers your agenda? When is it right to tell the truth? To me, always but not all people are like me, they’re very different. Not whom I thought they were so they become a character in life, and as I portray them in fiction.

Is there truth in fiction? You bet. Stephen King has said in his book On Writing, that he was Jack in the Shining. Over and over parts of his life are written into his fiction but he adds a splendid twist to make himself look fictional. I wonder how many other writers are really writing their fictional novel, as a way of healing a part of them that they’d never allow the world to see. Stephen King is now clean and sober and his writing has taken on much different hues, giving us the real him, hiding inside his works.

What is my point to this post? If you’re writing fiction, then you too I believe, are filtering parts of yourself into your writing.  Whether it is truth or a lie, parts of you are being seen and the world is hanging on your every word.

The truth shall set you free. That is what I practice, in writing AND in my life. THAT is how REAL character is built!

Getting My Point Across!

Grammar Slammer!

While I am on a blogging roll, I thought I’d add this to the mix, getting my point across.

When we speak to a person, we have the luxury of eye contact, arm gesturing, head bobbing, smirks, smiles or grins. In the writing world we don’t have that luxury to help us get the point across unless the board has emoticon smileys all over the place as you can express yourself through them. Sometimes people OVER use them which makes me think they’re on a caffeine high of some sort, or just over excited, sitting behind the keyboard itching for human contact.

In the written world of words, like a hand held, real live paper-filled book with words, how is one to get the emotion across to the reader? I’m going to say punctuation. Because we don’t have emoticons in the publishing world, are you going to get your point across to your reader without that smiley emoticon? I sure hope so.

You’re standing on your own two feet, smiley abandons you and all you have is your words. When we write, there is no gestures, or timbres of a voice that the reader can pick up, so we fully rely on proper punctuation.

First there is the missed period. Sure it can mean you’re pregnant but in your writing it could mean a total misunderstanding of your words. The period is going to tell your reader that your thought is complete, and that you’re going to string together another thought. If writers forget the period, they have a run-on long sentence, (a big no-no in the writing world) or that the writer has an incomplete thought.

Example:
Sally and Joe went out to eat humans are a funny species eating all the time they also went window- shopping down the avenue for clothes they enjoyed each others company.

Sally and Joe went out to eat. Humans are a funny species, eating all the time. They also went window-shopping down the avenue for clothes. They enjoyed each others company.

Did you know that the second-most familiar punctuation mark is the comma; it is also the most misused punctuation mark. It’s used to indicate a minor but necessary pause, and its proper use is simply invaluable to good writing. The omission or misuse can cause worlds of confusion to your reader.

John ate furiously grandma for dinner was so relaxed.

A world of confusion ensues.

John ate furiously. Grandma, for dinner, was so relaxed.

I like this example:

When I’m eating people avoid me

People avoid me when I am eating. (sloppy eater)

Avoid me when I am eating people. (cannibal)

Do you see it? COMMA: people! Are you grasping all that punctuation can do for you? Sometimes in my writing even with the proper punctuation, I am totally misunderstood. Someone will say to me, “you sounded upset.” (angry, ungrateful, etc.) And I’m thinking, really? My words on a page have no sound, so how did you read that into my words.

I realized that not only with punctuation, misplaced words can lead the reader down a wrong assumption path.

Example:

He works long drawn out days. I have no car to rely on while he works. I’m in a sea of change and my routine is rocked. Minimum wage won’t pay the massive amount of bills.

That sounds bitter? Ungrateful? Pained?

REDO:

I’m so grateful for the long days of work. Minimum wage is better than nothing at all, in this day and age. If the Lord wants me to have an additional car, He’ll bless me with one. We’ll manage like we always do.

To the eye, certain words omitted means there is something the writer isn’t saying. But add a few words like: GRATEFUL, BETTER, ADDITIONAL, BLESS, MANAGE and the person might understand your true emotion.

Sure turns it around making the statement sound more upbeat, doesn’t it? Enjoy your writing, but most of all don’t miss those periods or comma usage, it could mean a difference in life or worse, death.


Book Bites:

Write Right by Jan Venolia

(I couldn’t resist)


Grammatically Correct by Anne Stillman

Point of View ~ POV

The act of writing is an act of optimism. You would not take the trouble to do it if you felt it didn't matter.
Edward Albee

 POV or point of view, is the writer’s tool that is going to make or break your story.

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 character’s 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.

I’ll try to make this simple, as if POV is ever simple. It can get pretty complicated but I’ll give you the basics. First person, second person and third person POV.

In first person, we’re going to use the word I a lot because I am going to tell you the story from my POV. Like many blogs that are written in first person POV, we use the word I to show that this is my perspective and not yours.

POV is basically, inside whose head are you going to tell the story from? You need to understand this factor of POV if you are ever to be taken seriously as a writer. Not understanding this concept can make your writing look amateurish to say the least and also make it look like you haven’t studied the craft long enough to understand.

  

Second person is a little, no A LOT trickier. I’ll let you read about it here, since I still get confused with it myself.

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.

Unbeknownst to me, Marge didn’t like the day that was about to unfold.

OMNISCIENT POV: This is where the reader is in everyone’s head and not really clinging to one character and getting to know him/her. You virtually give up the characters by using this point of view because no one can carry this all the way through a story and make it a profitable best seller. If you know of one author that has, then do tell! You can start a novel in this way, but really we switch to maybe a third person POV

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 it into your own writing. By reading what others have written 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. 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 2^nd 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 shine like the morning sunrise!

For further reading:

Grammar Girl

Suite 101

Book Bites:

The Power of Pointof View by Alicia Rasley

Rivet your Readers with deepPOV by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
― Ernest Hemingway

Dreamer...you're nothing but a dreamer...

"The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth." -Psalm 145:17-18

***

“They say that history repeats itself. Which part of your personal writing history would you like to repeat?” Asked by a facebook post on Writers Write.

Well I would repeat that dream I had of slowly, apprehensively walking up to a book signing, fearing a no-show and loads of people are waiting outside forming a line, to see me; awaiting my arrival. The cheering begins as I approach and I go on to sign hundreds of copies for my dearest of friends, my readers!

Then the regime slammed down the gavel and forced me to wake up. Seems the dictator didn’t want anyone dreaming on his reign!

Did you ever notice that there is always someone out there that finds controlling people a way of filling the emptiness in their lives? They live in lonely abodes, with minimal amenities, but an entire world of riches right at their fingertips, the keyboard.

In the windowed world they are drawn to exercise their power whether it demeans, hurts, maims or destroys a persons dream; they clench their fist in triumph knowing they maintain POWER and control your every move!

I’ve had my dream squelched more times than I can count but I continue to go on dreaming as a way of release and healing. While others might use writing as a way of controlling something outside themselves because really they can’t really dig their claws into the writing life. They figure squeezing the life out of a dreaming writer is the route to go. They appear to be aiding, but deep inside, their plan to thwart is obvious.

I tried to go back and rewrite a part of my writing dream, by starting where I began in the first place. Starting anew was a way for me to begin again; a fresh start. Begin from the very first page of where taking hold of my writing dream began.

Some people decided to rein in my dream and control it from where they stood, not even knowing it was my dream they were quieting. It was like putting a bit into the mouth of a wild and free horse. You might train it to be docile but you will never control the dream of being wild and free.

No, a dream is the essence of a human being. You feel it in your bones brewing under the skin until it finally bubbles and erupts into an explosion not even you the dreamer can control. You see, there is no disciplining that which you wish to control. The illusion may be there that you maintain control, but really, there is a wild stallion beneath that exterior just waiting to unleash her words.

While they try to bridle the dream, they can never limit the dreamer! The rope that binds may only hold a portion of that dreamer but it is the heart and soul that will win the sway of the leadership and break out to dream all the dreaming that the young horse desires.

As I gallop down the open beaches of the Assateague, I am a dreamer who has the wind blowing through my hair, and no one will hold this mare back from riding off into the sunset of her writing dreams.

She’s wild, she’s free…no one has the power over her, but her!

What part of my writing history would I like to rewrite? Not one thing, because without all the hurdles I’ve managed to get over, bullets that I’ve dodged, mud that was slung in my face, I would not be the person I am today!