Writing Wreath Update

It’s been about 3 weeks since I last blogged. I never meant to go that long between posts, but I knew I’d be writing 6 more Ghost Detectors books so I spent every extra moment finishing up the novel I started this spring.

As you may remember (if not click here), I began crafting a wreath to mark my writing progress. Then I set up these rules for myself:

Only add a ribbon for 650 or more words a day.

Only add a ribbon for current novel. Blogging doesn’t count. :)

Only add a ribbon for fresh work. Not revision.

I do spend a fair amount of time revising pages for my critique circle. And I rarely write on weekends. So here’s how the wreath is shaping up. (Yes, I changed out the original patterned ribbon. Long boring story.)

Now here’s why it’ll take an eternity to finish. I don’t want to include the Ghost Detectors. Those books are under contract. That’s motivation. I don’t feel a need to mark the progress.

So it seems the next wreath update will be sometime next year. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Feel free to comment.

In Time...

I probably shouldn’t blog on days that I’m sad. It has a potential for disaster. But I’ll put it out there anyway.

Here’s what happened today. Someone I cared about passed away, I received a rejection, and I added over 1000 words to my humorous YA WIP. The words I added weren’t necessarily funny, but in time, I can punch them up.

In time…

Getting a rejection on a day I learn of a friend’s death has me questioning my own writing and mortality.

In time…

Is there enough time? Publishing is a slow business. I’m a slow writer. And anything I write needs time to sizzle before seeing print.  

I’m starting to think seriously about indie pubbing.

Yes, I know I’ll have to pay an editor.

Yes, I know I’ll have to hire a graphic artist.

Yes, I know it’s a full time business that requires a lot of time. Oh, there’s that word again…time.

The majority of my followers here are pro traditional. You’ll try to talk me out of it. That’s okay, I haven’t even talked myself into it.

But in time…I’m going to have some major decisions to make.

Hugs to you guys. Life is short. Cherish it.

In A Word

I like to think I’m pretty good at writing description, even though I use it sparingly in my books. I don’t like reading a lot of it, so I don’t write a lot of it. I put in just enough to spark an image in the reader's mind. Some people prefer reading a mile-long paragraph describing a character’s dress. Not me.

But I do want to see the characters –their mannerisms, expressions, actions, reactions – the overall package. A couple of cleverly written sentences usually does the trick. And once in a while, one word can do it too. I’m talking about that one word that shows us body language, facial expression and emotion. 

If you remember from a few controversial blog posts ago, I collect dialogue tags. Sadly, that well has dried up. So I’ve started collecting one-word descriptions. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

He balked

He blanked.

He blustered.

He bristled.

He chilled.

He collapsed.

He cratered.

He crumbled.

He drooped.

He eased.

He exploded.

He festered.

He flared.

He fumed.

He loosened.

He melted.

He raged.

He recovered.

He sagged.
He scoffed.

He seethed.

He shrank.

He slumped.

He snapped.

He soured.

He strained.

He stirred.
He sulked.

He surrendered.

He thundered.

He twitched.

He weakened.

He withered.

He withdrew.

And I'm confident that these are just the beginning.

Remember, one-word descriptions should only be used occasionally, otherwise your novel will read like Dick and Jane (and never get into an editor's hands).

Ah...it's so nice to have a hobby. Do you guys have any to add?

    

A Writing Wreath

Let me say first off, I don’t have a creative bone in my body. I can’t sketch or paint or sew...though I can do a fair job of writing. So keep that in mind as I instruct you on creating a craft.

I write most every day. Some days the prose flows like the Hamilton Pool falls (Google it), and some days I have to pry those words out with bottlenose pliers. Either way, I always feel good after a productive day.

But unless I print out what I’ve written, I just see words on a screen, nothing tangible. That’s why I've started this experiment. I call it a Writing Wreath. Right now it looks like this.

Snapped by amateur photographer

Yeah, I know, it’s just a stretched out coat hanger and some bits of ribbon. But at the end of each writing day, I'll attach another snippet, then another and another until eventually they're all scrunched together, nice and fluffy. 

Needs manicure

Then I can trim and edge it and make it look more like an actual wreath.

Like I said, it's an experiment. I have no idea if it'll represent a completed novel or just many months of writing. But when I can’t squeeze another ribbon onto it, I'll have it figured out. Until then, I’ll occasionally report the progress.

Okay, so I do have a little creativity. But you, my faithful followers, probably have a lot. Suggestions?

What I Learned From Writing Adaptations

When my editor at ABDO Publishing asked me to write adaptations from classic novels I said, “Wait..what? What qualifies me to do a chop job on these timeless works?” Naturally I asked myself that. I wasn’t going to let my editor think I couldn’t meet a challenge. Plus being an adapter would look pretty snazzy on my resume.

Since then people have asked me, “Did you have to read all those books?” The answer: “Meh.” The fitting question is, “Did you have to reread those books?” At some point I’d read all of them except The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and I did do a heck of a skimming job on that one.

While adapting, I had the books in front of me, and I used the authors’ own words when possible, which was actually quite a lot.

I kept a couple of other children’s adaptations handy. Not to plagiarize (!!!), but to reference. It was helpful to know what the other adapters chose to leave in and take out, and how they handled a difficult scene. I quickly learned that no two adaptations were the same, so I mostly played it by ear.  

And naturally, I channeled my inner teen and used SparkNotes – a great tool for answering the age old question, “Huh?”

The fun part of writing them was what I uncovered about the authors themselves and their writing styles. Here's what I learned:

The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde constantly had his characters throwing themselves on furniture. He flung himself onto the sofa. He threw himself down in a chair. After a while it became comical. But Wilde was a playwright with a flair for the dramatic, so I cut him a break.

Frankenstein – Remember the 1931 movie with Colin Clive and Boris Karloff? The lightning rod? The Tesla currents? Yeah, pretty awesome. But in the original novel, Shelley wrote, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. That sentence is beautiful, but what the heck are the instruments of life? And infuse a spark? I don’t think lightning rod, I think jumper cables. Anyway, kids are too inquisitive to just leave it at that so I got permission from my editor to spark him like they did in the movie.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – This one was easy cause I love that story. Poor Ichabod. What a schmuck. But here’s the thing. Washington Irving was a master storyteller and the king of description. Check this out. A stately squadron of snowy geese were riding in an adjoining pond, convoying whole fleets of ducks; regiments of turkeys were gobbling through the farmyard, and Guinea fowls fretting about it, like ill-tempered housewives, with their peevish, discontented cry. That’s a heck of sentence. Sleepy Hollow is just over 11,000 words. If Irving had dialed down the descriptions, it’d probably be about half that.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – This is in my top five of all-time favorite books. It’s a near perfect novel. Twain has a way of putting you on that raft and making you forget you’re a writer. But here’s the deal. If Huck were a boy in today’s world, he’d be on Ritalin. Truant…fidgety…always running away. Back then: Boys will be boys. Today: Developmental disorder. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for what's best for kids, but can you imagine what a drab story it would’ve been if Huck had complied with the Widow Douglas and hung around the house more? And I was actually surprised at how much of Twain’s text I could use, considering the dialect. (And in case you're wondering, in my adaptation, Jim was never labeled anything other than a slave.)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Here’s the main thing I learned from this novel...it’s tough to adapt an English translation of a French text. Seriously. And I skimmed that thing well. However, I still managed to get caught up in it all. And believe me, Paris in 1482 was not the romantic getaway it is today.

With the exception of Huck Finn, all these novels have one thing in common. Tragic endings. True, some of those guys had it coming - Dorian with this vain and selfish ways. Victor Frankenstein, the ultimate deadbeat dad. But poor Quasimodo. He was so distraught over Esmeralda’s death that he crawled into her tomb and died next to her lifeless body. Hand me a Kleenex.

No doubt about it, writing those adaptations was a challenge. But I'm glad I did it. And so is my resume.  

Sightseeing Is Like Writing

I went to Washington DC this past weekend. The occasion was my daughter's Swearing in Ceremony with the Department of State. Needless to say, we were proud and excited. But there was something else we did there. A lot of walking! And everything I do I relate to writing in some way.

I was wearing semi-dressy shoes for the ceremony. And we did a bit of walking while I had them on. Pretty shoes are great until you wake up with blisters on your feet. Yeah, like the high you get when writing that first draft. Then you go back and read it. Ugh.

That evening we went to the Lincoln Memorial. I was in comfy shoes, but the blisters were still forming. You know the first thing you see there? Steps. Lots of them. Huff your way up and you're wishing Abe would offer you his seat.

The next day we visited the Capitol. A lot of important gridlock takes place there. Writer’s block, anyone?

The Library of Congress is cool. What writer doesn’t want to be surrounded by books? (Am I the only one who thinks the reading room looks like Hogwarts?) But I absolutely loved the Bob Hope exhibit. It focuses more on politics than Bob, but I found it inspirational and nostalgic. And, oh yeah, I got to it by walking up stairs.

One thing that really stood out in DC was all the scaffolding. Repairs from last year’s earthquake. Repair, rewrite, repair, rewrite…same thing.

The last place we visited was the National Cathedral. I can’t help but compare it to writing. It took forever to build. There's a lot of intricacy. And it towers before you, swallowing you up. There’s a lot of praying involved too. I thought I was escaping those ever present evil stairs, but no, you have to go up and down them to get to the restrooms.

So the central theme here? Stairs. Lots of them. Heck, I even had to climb stairs to get to the Chili’s where I ate dinner last night. I did a lot of walking and a lot of stair climbing. The results? Sore calves! It’s an ouchy every time I take a step.

But walking and stair climbing is so much like writing. It’s painful. But in the end, it’s worth the effort.

Is Your Character a Zombie?

With the season finale of The Walking Dead still fresh on my mind, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the zombies vs. survivors dynamic.

Here’s what I know about survivors. They’re clever, skilled and creative. (I was going to add “fit,” but if you’re clever, skilled and creative you can be a contestant on The Biggest Loser and still defeat a zombie.) Being forever pursued, they’re constantly aware of their surroundings. They are strong-willed and adaptable.

Now think. Does any of this apply to your main character? 

If bullied, does he fight back? If lost, can he find his way? If leading, does he shoulder the weight?

Now let’s consider the zombies. Here’s what we know about them. They crave human flesh. They'll amble for miles to find food. They mostly travel in groups. And there is no hierarchy.

Is this your MC? 

Craving/wanting is the catalyst, but will your character stagger aimlessly until he happens upon his goal or does he have a game plan to tackle it? Is he just one of the group or does he stand out as an individual? Does he make his own rules, buck the system, challenge authority (A-listers, teachers, overbearing parents, etc.) or does he have free reign to tackle conflicts without consequence (boring!)?

I’d like to think that all of my main characters are survivors. That when faced with their own zombie apocalypse, they’re clever, skilled and creative. Oh, I’ve had a few who started out as zombies, but hey, that’s what revisions are for.

So next time you’re struggling with characterization, just ask. Is my MC a zombie or a survivor?  

   

I Need a Tag!

Dialogue tags. Yeah, we’re supposed to avoid them - start with an action instead. But your character can only scratch her nose or flip her hair so many times. 

Said is preferred. It's barely noticeable. But after too many, you'll notice.

Could it be you need something with punch? Well, that's where I come in. As it turns out, I’m a tag collector. And over the years, I’ve made a lengthy list. *And keep in mind, these are just fun, unusual tags.

For example: What did the agitated character do?

she bleated.

she blustered.

she bristled.

she crabbed.

she fussed.

she griped.

she groused.

she gruffed.

she grumbled.

she grumped.

she rumbled.

she spat.

and

she squawked.

Got one of those annoying sarcastic characters?

she chided.

she clucked.

she cracked.

she deadpanned.

she dug.

she egged.

she flouted.

she guffawed.

she heckled.

she mocked.

she mouthed off.

she poohed.

she quipped.

she sassed.

she scoffed.

she smirked.

she snarked.

and

she sniped.

Here are a few of my favorites:

she bubbled.

she coaxed.

she dazzled.

she ho-hummed.

she quavered.

she scrooged.

she sing-songed.

she tacked on.

And my ultimate favorite: *drumroll*

“Yeow!” she onomatopoeiad.

If you'd like a copy of my full alphabetized list (I've never had time to categorize it), contact me at enderle4@earthlink.net

Fruit Loops & Other Kid Colors

A few weeks ago I shared some tips on writing easy readers. How about another? When it comes to describing colors, paint a kid-friendly picture.

 

I've whipped up a color thesaurus that you might find helpful.

WHITE/OFF-WHITE

Milk, Yogurt, Cool Whip, Peeled Potato, Poodle, Ambulance, ghostly, vanilla, chalk

BLACK

Shadow, Pepper, Crow, Ink, Charcoal, Tire, Cola, Soot, Hearse, Raisin, Spider

YELLOW/GOLD

Sunshine, Squash, Big Bird, Egg Yolk, Candlelight, Banana, School Bus, Butterscotch, French Fries

BROWN/BEIGE

Cheerios, Mud, Chocolate, Coffee, Cinnamon, Mushroom, M&Ms, Acorn, Toast, Cork, Peanut, Pretzel

BLUE

Jeans, Peacock, Sky, Bruises, Mailbox, Ocean, Blueberry, Electricity, Cookie Monster, Bluebird

RED

Heart, Tomato, Lady bugs, Lobster, Fire Truck, Blood, Jell-O, Strawberry, Cherry, Candy Apple, Blood, Watermelon, SpaghettiOs, Santa, Stop Sign  

PINK

Bubblegum, Tongue, Pig, Cotton Candy, Shrimp, Flamingo, Ballerina  

ORANGE

Basketball, Carrot, Jack-O-Lantern, Orange Juice, Yam

GREEN

Olives, Mint, Cabbage, Grasshopper, Leaves, Money, Pea, Clover, Frog, Slime, Spinach, Lime

GRAY

Garbage Can, Rain Clouds, Elephant, Smoke, Ashes, Mouse, Fog, Grandma, Dolphin

PURPLE

Violet, Grape Kool-Aid, Bruises, Prune, Jelly,  

MULTICOLOR

Skiddles, Lifesavers, Fruit Loops, Crayons, Jelly Beans, Lollipops, Finger Paints

Let’s share. Do you have any colors to add?

Oh the Horror!

 

It’s no secret that I’m a horror-loving maniac. I grew up with the Universal Monsters. Stood in a mile-long line for The Exorcist. And Stephen King is my homeboy.

 

So again this year, I’m serving on the jury for the YA category of the Bram Stoker Awards. The proof is right here.

I love being on this committee. Especially now that horror has made a comeback in the YA world. 2011 was great. 2012 will be even better.

If you’re a YA author with a horror or dark paranormal coming out in 2012, contact me for info on how to get your book considered.

Name Game

After reading Paeony Lewis’s blog post last week on character names, it had me wondering...how did I come up with mine?

Naturally, I use family names.

Crosswire: Jesse Wade - Wade was my mother’s maiden name.

Hidden: Eugene - My grandfather and older brother’s name.

Fortune Tellers Club: Gena - I can’t count all the Genas in my family.

 There’s probably one family member in all of my books.

And I discovered something about myself while researching this post. I’m a J name maniac. My J characters: Juniper, Jake, Janene and Jesse.  

I don't know if there are any hard and fast rules to naming characters, but one important thing I learned from my stand up comedy days is hard consonants are funny. Buick instead of Chevy, for instance.

Think about it. What if Garfield was Gerald? Or Bart Simpson was Benny?

I also think hard consonants are playful and kid-friendly. My playful character names include Cocoa, Dandy (Daniel Dee), Buck and Buddy Bunion.

And I've noticed odd character names seem to stick. Ever wonder what those classic authors were thinking when they wrote characters named Scout, Holden, Gatsby and Rhett? There's probably a whole college course based on that.

Then there's the genre name game - naming your character to suit the genre. Which genres comes to mind with each of these?

Shane

Aurora

Pierce

Lilia

Lucien

(I'll reveal my answers in the comment section later. I want to hear yours first.)

 

So what about it, y'all? What led you to pick your characters' names?

Spotlight on Flashlight

This is not an ad...it's a shout out.

I’ve published with a lot of great houses, each one offering a different experience. But one of those publishers stands out as unique. Flashlight Press – the smallest house I’ve worked with. In 2007 they published Grandpa for Sale, a collaborative work between my good friend, Vicki Sansum and myself. (Writing it together is another blog post for another day.)

Unique? If you’ve ever worked with Flashlight’s founder and editor, Shari Dash Greenspan, you’d understand. Shari saw more in our little PB than Vicki and I ever envisioned – word choices…plotting…illustrations. And it didn’t stop there. Because of her dedication “Grandpa” went on to win three awards, became a nominee of both the Arizona and Indiana State Reading lists, and was named a Borders Original Voices selection.

There were numerous reviews, interviews and articles connected to it. And it was even featured on the Dr. Laura show. That’s more accolades than all of my other books combined. (I wish I had someone like Shari behind those too!)

And “Grandpa” is not alone. All of Flashlight’s books have won numerous honors. Check out I Need MyMonster by Amanda Noll, illustrated by Howard McWilliam. 

 

There’s barely room on their webpage for all the kudos that fabulous PB has raked in…deservedly so. 

  

What’s Flashlight’s secret? Quality over quantity. Two to four books a year allows for a lot of nurturing. That’s something Shari and her crew do well.

If you’d like to submit to Flashlight, PLEASE read their guidelines first. And if you get an acceptance, you’ll have a whole lot to shout about.

  

I Sumtimes Mak Errors

Proofreading…aaaahhh!

To proofread my own work, I usually have to set it aside for about a decade. Yep, I’m that blind to my own errors.

There are lots of proofreading methods, but this week I heard about a new one. Reading your manuscript in a different font.

Cool, right? And since I’ve made past errors on these posts, I thought I’d give it a shot.

The most common advice for proofing is to read your story out loud. I do this. And I’ve found that reading it as Christopher Walken works best.

Then there’s the method of removing yourself as author - putting your mind inside the reader. Okay, I rarely find typos, but dang that writer is good. I’m a huge fan.

I’ve also been told to read my book backward - last word first – Yoda-style. But if I’m putting myself inside the mind of my reader, it totally spoils the ending.

I’ve found the most effective method is uploading it to my Kindle. Reading it in book form raises my proofreading IQ. I can’t change the font type, but I can change the size. So I read it in large print while having dinner at 4:30.

                                                                                        

But now I’m wondering, should I proofread each manuscript in a font best suited for its genre?

Would this work for humor?

Thriller?

Literary?

Historical?

Horror?

Okay, whatever. I gave it a shot. If you find any typos here, remember, it’s not me...it’s the font.

Resisting Change

So last week I sent a submission to an agent. Along with the attachment, I gave her some basic info – short blurb, editor interest (yes, it has some), and I threw in a little bit about another YA of mine that is currently with an editor I had queried and sent to on my own. I concluded with, “I am open to any and all revisions.”

I am.

But that wasn’t always the case. For me, revising is a struggle. Once my words are on paper, changing them is like rearranging Stonehenge (forget it Feng Shui folks). Since they seemed so perfect the first time, my brain would freeze and I just couldn’t think of anything to replace them. And putting the manuscript in a drawer didn’t help either. I’d pull it out a year later and think, “Wow, I wrote this? It’s good!”

But I learned a neat trick. Stop thinking of myself and look at it through my agent’s or editor’s eyes. What are they seeing that I’m not? And what about the reader? What do I want them to take away from this? My books should be a shared experience, not I love this, so should you.

I’ve learned over the years that it’s not just your writing, voice and plot that sells. It’s your revisions. If you’re not willing play well with others, you can kiss those contracts goodbye.

And those beautiful pieces of prose that I just can’t part with? They’re in a folder called “Outtakes.”