What Tools are in Your Writer's Toolbox? 

Writers helping writers. Encouraging, inspiring, and assisting each other in navigating the often-overwhelming world of putting our words to paper and then sharing the labored-over results with the world. I’d have thrown in the towel long ago without the prodding and nudging of fellow writers who so willingly share their experiences and wealth of knowledge. So, as promised, I’ve compiled a list of my fave writing support resources.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

• America’s Mad Professor of Fiction Writing, a.k.a. Randy Ingermanson, “The Snowflake Guy,” shares an incredible array of resources at AdvancedFiction Writing.

Says the Professor, “I’m a teacher. Teachers teach. We just can’t help ourselves. My mission is to create great fiction writers. I’ve been teaching for a long time, but I don’t love traveling. A web site lets me teach from home." 

• Author, editor, speaker Kathrese McKee publishes the fabulously helpful and insightful “Word Marker Tips for Authors” newsletter. Sign-up to receive timely tips, news, and resources on a plethora of topics from marketing to self-editing to dealing with writer’s block, here. Check out her newly-launched Writing Pursuits podcast and her Facebook page.

McKee reminds us, “Nobody writes more than one word at a time. It’s one book at a time, written one word at a time.”

• The Christian Indie Authors (CIA) Facebook group, where experienced indie and hybrid authors continue to learn, and where they share their wealth of knowledge with writers at every level. In the private group, authors discuss writing, publishing, and marketing.

“We are that corner cafe where you can talk shop and discuss the nuts-and-bolts of indie publishing. The CIA is singularly focused on providing the best resources and discussions for Christian indie book production, publishing, and promotion.”

What tools are in your writer's toolbox? In the comments, please share your favorite resources. Because we’re all in this pursuit of authorship together.

 Beth’s combined experiences teaching the high school Sunday School class, substitute teaching in the public school, and connecting with the teenage staff at the fast-food joint where she claimed a “back booth office” helped inspire her young adult “Choices Matter” fiction series. She's a "cheerleader" for saving sex for marriage and for "renewed waiting" because it's never too late to make wiser choices. Her “Waiting Matters … Because YOU Matter” blog helps people of all ages navigate the choppy waters of saving sex for marriage while her “Slices of Real Life” posts find GOD in the day-to-day moments of real life.

 As a genetic genealogy enthusiast, she writes and speaks about her experiences as a "foundling" who located her birth parents. Her journey to find and connect with her biological family is chronicled in the blog series “A Doorstep Baby’s Search for Answers.” All of her writing endeavors can be found on her website, https://bethsteury.com. 

Your Library of Knowledge

My Realm of Infinity

By Darren Kehrer

We have all seen that credit card commercial with a similar title. It depicts scenes of “unintended outcomes” happening to individuals because they didn’t have the right credit card in their wallet. The theme being communicated is that without the right tool at your disposal (a credit card in this case), the result might not be what you wanted.

Exporting and applying that theory to the world of writing, the same is true for writers. Many of us keep paper notebooks with us at all times, or use some cool App on our Smartphones, to record things for later reflection. We use our computers and related devices to surf the net, to read blogs, check out writing resources, and to continually grow our writing education.

I would submit that your own “in house” personal library could be your most important tool. I like having hardcopy, paper resources of reference materials, novels, and magazines available to page through or take to my favorite reading chair or study table. There is just no substitute for having a “book in hand” or being able to browse through your very own paper-based library.

Among fiction writers, it is a well-accepted fact that writers should read good fiction. Writers continually need to perfect their craft and educate themselves in order to expand and improve their writing skills. I know of several authors who keep copies of certain “how-to-write” books near their computers because they feel them to be invaluable. To that end, I have worked (almost since I have been a we lad) to build my own library in both fiction and reference books.

I have two main writing interests: science fiction and Christian speculative fiction. As my desire to craft fiction in these two categories has grown over the years, I have built up a rather (a-hem) large library of both.  In fact, my wife was almost rather alarmed at the extent of my library after we built our house and I unpacked my “library of knowledge.”  Yes, this might be bordering on an addiction, but it is nice to have a library that I can turn to and pull out the inspirational or writing reference book I need at that moment.

When I find a book that I really think might be useful in the future, I will go ahead and purchase it now to have it readily accessible when the need arises. Once upon a time, I made a list of books I wanted to buy, both fiction and non-fiction. By the time I got around to buying them, however, I would discover that they were already out-of-print and on the hard-to-find list. It astonishes me how fast some books go out-of-print. At that point, I will usually purchase those books in eBook format (but only if I really think they would be useful to my craft).

As you can see, I consider my reading library part of the expense of my trade; furthermore, like any good tradesmen, having the right tool for the right job when you need it can really make a difference in your craft and the resulting product. Put another way, I can buy all the lumber and nails I need to build my house, but if I don’t have the right tools in my toolbox (hammer, etc.) to actually build my house, the result may not be what I intended.

In my writing reference toolbox, I have a vast library of books to educate me and to keep me immersed in my genres of interest. My library contains books on Star Trek, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Restorer series, and the Left Behind series to name a few fiction titles. I also have books on theoretical physics, space travel, and even books on the superhero genre as reference books for science fiction devices and technology. One bookcase alone is filled entirely with writing reference books such as titles in the Writer’s Digest line, Christian Writers’ Market Guide (building editions since 2001), and other books on the different elements of the craft of writing. In some cases, it pays to keep multiple editions of the same books. Why multiple editions? Because with each year, some things get dropped out so that the revised book doesn’t continue to grow in size beyond what is realistic; consequently, I sometimes find that the resulting new content is less useful than the old.

To drive my need to brainstorm, I often read through reference materials to generate ideas, get my facts straight, and to get my theoretical sci-fi technology sorted as to be believable (as is the case for my current speculative fiction work-in-progress Cause and Effect.) It’s fun to pick up a reference book on something and hunt for story ideas.

When your mind is stuck at the stop sign on a particular fiction piece, head to your personal library and pick up someone else’s fiction. Reading about someone else’s adventures can help you remember yours. To generate some new ideas to explore, pick up a reference book and start learning. The bottom line: let your mind drift and relax. Let your subconscious work on that project that’s still waiting for you back at the stop sign seeking direction.

As you can see, your personal “in-house” library can be a very valuable tool in your writing toolbox.  

1. Do you find your library just as useful? 
2. What books do you have in yours? 
3. Which ones do you find the most valuable?

Say It, Don't Spray It

by Rachael Phillips

Playground culture in my childhood corner of the world taught me numerous new words and phrases. I learned to say “ain’t and “crik” (as in “the crik don’t rise”). We cursed each other with cooties. Talkative schoolmates with overactive salivary glands or tissueless sneezes were ordered to “say it, don’t spray it!”

 

The last memory induces me to towel off with disinfectant wipes. However, weighty literary observations can be salvaged even from such barbarisms.

I refer to the manner in which we writers assign actions, or "beats" to characters during dialogue. We do this for valid reasons: a) to inform readers of who is speaking without using the dreaded tag “she said.” b) to make readers aware of the setting and the characters’ relationship to it; c) to build emotion, especially tension, as characters act out inner thoughts and feelings; and, most important, d) to make editors happy.

They will not be happy, however, if we overuse certain expressions, spraying readers with repeated hydrant blasts of “her cheeks heated,” “he raised his eyebrows,” “she stared,” “he glared,” and “the corners of her mouth turned down.” (Do mouths have corners?)

On the other hand, writers may work too hard to avoid the mundane and instead, pelt readers with action. Upon reading a scene, including my own, I sometimes wonder if the characters would benefit from large doses of medication. They pace, sit, rise, turn, weep, babble, wheeze, sneeze and snort within the first three sentences.

Extreme efforts to produce original work may also prove self-defeating, as in “Rosalinda’s pink smile decayed into a slimy sneer.” (Eww. We need more wipes.)     

“He said” sounds positively elegant, right? It is—and so are beats, blended smoothly and sparingly into sections of dialogue. Some spoken lines may not even require identification. A carefully crafted conversation’s content will often point out who is saying/doing what without a sloppy spray of language that makes the reader want to duck.

Any say-it-don’t-spray-it advice you would care to offer? (And, by the way, has anyone ever discovered a cure for cooties?)

Sharpen Your Craft

As writers we must not only work our craft, we must hone our craft. ACFW provides plenty of opportunities to do that regardless of the level of writing through on-line critique groups, Novel Track, Genesis contest, and loops. The annual conference also is set up to aid all writers from newbie to profit-making professional.

Plenty of fine websites provide helpful tools for quick and reliable reference. Right here on Hoosier Ink we address writing issues. For instance, you can flit over to Steph Pritchard’s “If I Were a Butterfly” on subjunctive mood. Other sites such as http://www.grammarly.com/handbook  and http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl act as traffic cops at the intersection of sloppy diction and proper English. One site that guides you to other helpful places is http://writing-program.uchicago.edu/resources/grammar.htm.

While computer use increases availability for those hands-on or hard to find questions, sometimes it’s best to hold a book in our hands as we alternately read and work exercises. There’s something about physically recording work that aids in learning.

What is your favorite craft-of-writing source? What is one idea that held great take-away value for you? Do you have a favorite site to check grammar?

Mary Allen, a lifelong Hoosier, has authored many articles and two books of poems, “Journey to Christmas” and “Ten Days to an Empty Tomb”. She also contributed stories to “Kernels of Hope” published by Majesty House. Allen was named La Porte County Poet Laureate 2010-2011. Follow her online at https://www.facebook.com/PoetAndWriterMaryAllen. She blogs monthly for www.thebarndoor.net, a site about the Midwest.

Writers are weird.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Recently I drove a friend of mine to a downtown Indianapolis hotel because her son had an early appointment at Riley Children’s Hospital the next day. On our way there, on downtown Meridian Street, a police car zoomed out in front of our car and stopped. The officer jumped out, drew his gun and shouted at a suspect to get down on the ground.

My passengers (my friend and her mother) screamed and ducked.

I grinned ear to ear and took in everything. “Oh this is awesome. Check out that gun!”

I memorized every detail – the size of the gun, the stance of the officer, the way he held his weapon, his tone of voice, how neatly pressed his shirt was, and his tall, skinny frame. I studied everything carefully, thrilled to be witnessing a real-time live crime drama.

My friends, frightened and shaking, stayed on the floor.

It reminds me of the time in Kansas many years ago (okay, over 30 if you must know) when my boyfriend and I had a gun held to our heads for being parked in a farmer’s field looking at stars through my boyfriend’s zoom lens camera. (We really were looking at the moon and the stars. Honest. Really. Why don’t you believe me?)

The owner of the field pulled his muscle truck up behind us and put on his fog lights. Minutes later his son pulled up and did the same.  They got out of their trucks and walked up to our car.

They were drunk.

They had rifles.

They cocked them, held them to our heads and yelled at us for being in their field

I prayed while my boyfriend cried.

Somehow we negotiated our way out of the drunkard's line of fire.  As soon as we escaped unharmed I turned to my boyfriend and said, “I can’t wait to write this down!”

He left me because of that.

Writers are weird. They can’t go through anything without filing it away as “research.”

Some writers scream when they see a stick up and then there are those of us who just can’t wait to write it all down.

Are you as weird as I am? What experiences do you remember hurrying to write down?

 Karla Akins is a pastor's wife, mother of five, grandma to five beautiful little girls and author of O Canada! Her Story.  Represented by Hartline Literary Agency, she lives in North Manchester with her husband, twin teenage boys with autism, mother-in-law with Alzheimer's and three rambunctious dogs. Her favorite color is purple, favorite hobby is book-hoarding, and favorite food group is cupcakes. When she's not writing she dreams of riding her motorcycle through the Smoky Mountains.

Anachronisms -- Check Your Calendar!

"The time is out of joint," Hamlet said, which makes for a memorable line in Shakespeare but memorable errors in fiction-writing.

(One struck me in a recent Bible-based novel by a famous duo of Christian novelists, published by one of the leading houses. They solemnly described the scene at Jesus' tomb, where Roman guards were posted "around the clock." Really? More than a millennium before clocks were invented? That line jarred my imagination.)

These anachronisms (contradictions of time) slip in all too easily, so I've learned to rely on a few web sites to check my novel's calendar.

Let's start with the calendar itself. I usually start a project by printing out a calendar for the year(s) in question and putting it in a looseleaf notebook. That allows me to confirm the day of the week any date falls on, or any holiday. Professor Dick Henry of Johns Hopkins University has an ingenious website that allows you to print out calendars for any year (or any month), Julian or Gregorian, BC or AD. (http://henry.pha.jhu.edu/calendarDir/julianDir/julian.html) It also allows you to download a PDF version of the calendar you choose, which gives you the phases of the moon for each day. (Handy if you're planning a murder on a moonless night.)

Birth dates, death dates, and key milestones in a famous person's life can usually be found on Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.com/). A copyeditor friend used to disparage Wiki because it's compiled and maintained by volunteers, but he's stopped complaining. Their biographical articles are usually quite reliable.

If you're using an unusual word or phrase, it's a good idea to check when lexicographers first noted its appearance. Merriam-Webster's free onlline dictionary (http://www.m-w.com/) is my favorite source for this. The entries for most words tell you when they first appeared in print. (The same site has a good thesaurus, too.)

Is your protagonist going to a movie? Better check the date that particular movie was released at the Internet Movie Digital Database (http://www.imdb.com). For popular music back to the early 20th century, try http://www.discogs.com

There are lots more, of course. What are some of your favorite web sites for checking the accuracy of dates in your stories?

Trueblood's Idea Farm

In the mid-1970s, I had the privilege of attending a writers' conference with D. Elton Trueblood at Earlham College. Trueblood was one of the most respected Christian writers of that day, and his work ranged across an incredible variety of topics. Someone in our group asked, "How do you decide what you'll write about next?"

Remember, this was forty years ago. Long before Google. Before the Internet. Before personal computers, for goodness' sake.

Trueblood said, "I read widely, and when I come across an article that piques my curiosity, I clip it out and put it in a manila folder. When I hear a comment on a news broadcast or in a sermon catches my attention, I make note of it (He pulled a tiny looseleaf binder from his coat pocket) and I put it in another folder. I write a topic on the folder and put it in the drawer. When I find something else related to that topic, I add it to the folder. So when I've finished writing an article or book, I open the file drawer and look for the thickest folder. It's probably the subject ripest for development because I've been thinking about it longer than anything else. But if not, I go to the next thickest folder."

How many folders did he have at that time? Over forty. He called it his "idea farm."

As far as I can tell, Trueblood never wrote fiction, but we fiction writers can benefit from his method for cultivating ideas. With today's technology, it's easier than ever.

I have used myBase (http://www.wjjsoft.com) and OneNote (www.microsoft.com/office/onenote), both of which allow me to take freehand notes or capture pages from websites. Another intriguing tool, which I haven't tried, is AudioNotetaker. Its developers say it allows you to dictate notes and file them as audio files on your computer. (See www.audionotetaker.com). Of course, if I'm not inclined to use the computer, I can fall back on Elton Trueblood's pencil, scisssors, and manila folder method.

Whatever the method, we need to capture and cultivate ideas wherever we come across them, because someday the current project will be finished and we'll wonder, What's next?

How Can I Make Funny?

by Rachael Phillips

First, I suppose we must examine why we should use humor in our writing. One look at the U.S. census gives us a mega-hint: America's population stands at 312 million plus. Every single one of these people needs a laugh. Most could use two.

How do we create humor? After conducting extensive research--and being charged with only a few misdemeanors--I formulated the following suggestions:

1. Do stupid things. Staying in hot water pays off--if not in your insurance rates, definitely in your prose. People who survive telling their mothers-in-law mother-in-law jokes or accidentally overdrawing their bank accounts to write tithe checks either develop a great sense of humor or die trying.
2. Collect people who do stupid things. If you're married this should be simple. If you're single and have no parents, children, siblings, roommates or relatives, go to the airport, museum, corner convenience store or Sunday school and find some. No one in the history of the world has observed your particular collection of people with your unique twisted point of view. Record your fellow humans' odd appearances, names, mannerisms and actions in written or computer files. Retrieve them later and shake-and-bake as you design characters and plots.
3. Read the funny papers. Humor gives birth to humor. Barbara Johnson, author of Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy and numerous other funny books, collected clippings, sayings, comics, pictures and other chuckle-inducing goodies in a shoebox to read on her tough days. Organize your own collection of never-fail belly-laughers, including forwards, blogs, articles, etc., in a computer file, folders or shoebox (or a safe, if they're potential blackmail material). When your article, blog or chapter needs funny and you just received an audit notice from the IRS, your collection can help jump-start your sense of humor when you need it most.
4. Waste lots of time doing nothing. In a multi-tasking world, doing only one thing has become a lost art, and doing nothing is mortal sin. But if we don't think, we won't laugh. Tell jokes to your plants. Sit and stare at your feet a while (feet are always good for a giggle or two). Try to slide a Cheerio from your nose into your mouth. Do anything that takes you out of grown-up mode and gives you a grin. You'll write funnier, and your kids/grandkids will love the Cheerio trick.
5. Generate lots of bad writing. I've written biographies, magazine articles, Christmas novellas, devotional pieces, Bible reference materials and romance novels. But my weekly humor column often presents the biggest challenge. After five years of columns, I often must freewrite pages of totally lame stuff before I sense it's going somewhere. The key here, as John Vorhaus, author of The Comic Toolbox, says is to "kill your ferocious editor" and simply record the weird thoughts in your head. Of course, you'll have to resurrect him/her later in the final stages of your piece. But humor writing involves relaxing, not reporting, and it always requires taking a risk.

These techniques have worked for me, and so far, my bail hasn't been too awfully exorbitant. What methods do you use to make funny?

Will My Real Writing Twin Please Stand Up?

I've gotten some feedback on who I write like. My writing style in my novel has been compared to Daniel DeFoe, William Gibson, Chuck Palahniuk, Cory Doctorow, Raymond Chandler, and Vladmir Nabokov.

Besides my novel, I'm working on a commentary. In that, I've been compared to Dan Brown and H. P. Lovecraft. (And I was hoping my commentary was more in the style of Alistair MacLean or John Grisham. Oh well.)

The same source informed me my previous blog was written in the style of Oscar Wilde. And so far, this blog's writing twin is Cory Doctorow.

This source is the I Write Like website (http://iwl.me). I learned about this on the ACFW loop. Several people have tried it, with interesting results. Many pointed out they've never read who they are compared with.

This is the case with me. Out of the people I mentioned I was compared with (take MacLean and Grisham off the list), the total number of works of the authors combined is zero. Add to that some interesting comparisons. One author who writes about the Amish was compared with Stephen King. One scene (of two) that was compared with Daniel DeFoe (Robinson Crusoe) from my book was a car chase scene.

By the way, I'm still writing like Cory Doctorow.

Is this a helpful writing tool? Let me first give the negatives.

First, this writing tool will never say, “Wow! Completely original! Unique Writing Voice!” Rather, it will always compare you with somebody, and that somebody will be a well known author.

I submitted two entries of pure gibberish, such as the typing exercise “The quick brown fox” sentence written backwards or non-words. Did the tool say something like, “You've got to be kidding?” or “This is nonsense?” or “Nice try, but you can't fool me?” No. The two gibberish entries were compared to Valadmir Nabokov and James Joyce respectively.

Second, this comparison is based on word choice and writing style. I submitted a decent sized section of my novel this morning and was compared with Stephen King. I cut a few paragraphs from the original, and that cutting transformed that piece to being like James Joyce.

This explains why my Biblical commentary is compared to Dan Brown. Brown is one of the few authors who'd use a similar vocabulary to what I'd write on Biblical matters. Evidently writers like Matthew Henry, John Wesley, John Bunyan, John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul, Chuck Swindoll, and J. Vernon McGee aren't on the list.

Changing subjects, how many noticed the last five paragraphs resembled the writing of H. P. Lovecraft? “I Write Like” did. (I didn't.)

Is this anything more than a fun waste of time? Maybe not. On the other hand, there are some things that encourages me about this game.

It encourages me that I'm compared to different authors, and especially authors I'm not familiar with. This tells me that I am more unique. Additionally, the only mystery author I was compared with was Raymond Chandler, and his mysteries are more hard boiled than mine are.

An interesting note is that the sections that featured a quirky, humorous character were both compared with William Gibson. That indicates someone who has a similar sense of humor.

The reality is that we are in a world that thrives on comparisons. Proposals suggest you mention similar books. There is a place for that. Sometimes it shows you that you're doing similar things with those good at their work.

One quick comment. Christian singer Michael Card had been compared with Dan Fogelberg. He had one of Fogelber's producers work with him for the purpose of catching what was too Fogelberg sounding (as opposed to the natural similarities between the two singers). Sometimes, it helps to know if we're too much like somebody so we can try to take a different route.

And I'm still writing like H. P. Lovecraft. I wanted a Robinson Crusoe style closing. Maybe I should include a car chase.

iPod as Teacher, Mentor, and Friend

In one of our past ACFW Indiana Chapter meetings, our guest speaker was Dr. Dennis Hensley. It was a GREAT meeting full of insights and lessons on how to create an awesome story. Reflecting back, however, I still can't believe Dr. Hensley didn't ask why UPS delivered a treadmill to the meeting room right before we ate dinner. In fact, he didn't even give me a second look as I got on the treadmill after the meal to work out why we listened to his awesome keynote address. No speaker has ever complained about me fast-walking around the room during one of their lectures either. Consequently, no one has ever noticed my exercise equipment at any of the past ACFW national meetings. Odd? Maybe, or maybe not...


Well, you might be thinking, "I don't remember seeing him do that" or, "He can't be serious." But, I was there, doing just what I said...only "attending" at a much later time than the original event. 


As you might have guessed by now, I was listening to these events on my iPod while performing other activities in the here an now. I purchased the last several years of ACFW conferences on CD or flash drive, imported them into iTunes (available for either Mac or PC), and then selectively transferred them to my iPod for listening, learning, and absorbing the information while walking on the treadmill, walking at the park, or just lounging around the house (yes I do lounge from time to time).


I also listen to podcasts of episodes from "In the Market with Janet Parshall," "Midday Connection," and many of the available ACFW conference courses that have been available to members.  Midday Connection does a podcast every year about the "Write to Publish" conference. Janet Parshall also interviews Christian authors on regular intervals.  Chris Fabry has some good podcasts as well. And, in case you didn't know, the ACFW classes are available in various media formats.


Just with the sources I mentioned above, I have plenty of material to listen to.  It's like travelling back in time to listen to everything while still being able to get something else done while attending that event.


It's really a great benefit of modern technology that you can make these types of events "portable" to learn (and listen) on the go.  If you find yourself short on time, or always busy, I encourage you to invest in an iPod (any version) and make use of this technology to improve your writing. Turn your jogging course at the park into a writing course.  iPods are available starting at $49.00. For those of you with iPhones, this feature is also available to you.

• Here is a link to Apple regarding iPods: http://www.apple.com/ipod/
• If you already own an iPod: http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/
• Here is a great reference book for anyone wanting to learn more about how to use their iPod: iPod: The Missing Manual

Writing the Romantic Comedy

Many of us have no choice but to grow our writing skills from How-to-write books. Seminars and college classes are great, but tight schedules and financial budgets too often prevent us from taking that road toward publication. Of course, some detest the idea of learning to write from a how-to book. I heard Nora Roberts say she has never read a how-to book. But the rest of us struggle to develop our skills and thus the how-to book fills that niche.

I read every how-to book I can afford, which looks even remotely interesting. Currently, the book on my nightstand is Writing the Romantic Comedy by Billy Mernit. From the input I’m getting, it is a classic source for writers and screenwriters, as well.

What I like about the book is it covers areas of writing that many how-to books miss. For example, the Bellamy also known as Mr. Wrong, which occurs in many romance stories (think Bill Pullman in Sleepless in Seattle)

What I dislike about this book is the detail in which the author describes each movie example. Most of the examples he chooses are from popular movies to which most readers will relate, but if you haven’t seen the movie you’ll still understand the plot given Mernit’s details.

According to many reviewers, this book is a condensed version of the class Mernit teaches at UCLA. I like that he explains five ways to give life to you characters and his fundamental chapter topics such as;
Storytelling Fundamentals
The Romantic Comedy Concept
A Brief History of Romantic Comedy
The Art of funny
Being Sexy
Character Chemistry
Designing Dialogue
Imagery
Deepening Your Craft
Romantic Comedy—Today and Tomorrow

Because the book includes numerous movie examples for every topic Mernit covers, the book is quite lengthy (256 pages). Therefore, I wouldn’t push this off to new writers as the first how-to book for their library. Even so, I think it does have a place on the bookshelf along with the writer’s first must-have books. My choice for those first three books are; Goal, Motivation & Conflict by Debra Dixon, The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler, and Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain.

Has anyone out there read a good how-to-write book, which you could recommend? Outside the Bible, what first book would you recommend for the new writer?

Tools in my toolbox

A few weeks ago, a new laptop entered my life. And, right on time, my faithful desktop computer died. My local computer guru might be able to resurrect it, but for right now I am learning the laptop.

On the plus side, I can write almost anywhere: in the Lazy Boy chair, in bed, at the dining room table, on the couch, even in the stands during Little League games. (Only when DS2 is in the dug-out)

On the down side, it's smaller and touchier than my desk top. I'm using some new software, too, which is another change.

I used to write in long hand on legal tablets. I think the Great American Western Novel fills a ton of those in one of those boxes in the basement. (We've only been in this house for 20 years and I've got some other things to do first.)

Sometimes I'd use my trusty electric typewriter to put my long hand notes in a more readable form, but once the draft was typed, it seemed written in stone to my mind. I wonder if anyone else felt that way about a typed draft.

My first computer booted up with big floppy disks, and had a tiny screen like a port-hole with little green letters floating by. It was compatible with a dot-matrix printer.

As personal computers became more affordable, we invested (because it cost as much as a couple head of cattle) in a laptop computer. We putted out onto the Information Superhighway at the speed of a golf cart, but eventually made it.

With the ease of writing and editing on screen, my productivity soared once I switched to using a PC. Strangely enough, though, I found no takers for a 400,000-word contemporary romance novel.

Now these two tools seem irreplaceable -- both a computer and the internet. Recently when plot ideas came to me when I could not find pen and paper, I jotted them down as a draft of a text message.

I would love to hear about others' work styles and spaces. Does anyone still write in long hand first? Or e-mail ideas to themselves? I'll check back after work tomorrow. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Two Tools for Word Accuracy

Recently I was checking for word repetition in a manuscript. This seemed to be a straightforward process. Type a word in “Find” and insert a replacement word using, of course, a thesaurus.

A thesaurus is a wonderful tool to keep writing fresh, but take care for not all synonyms are equal. Besides a thesaurus, it’s helpful to have a dictionary to verify meanings. For instance, take the word smile. Smile can be replaced by grin, smirk, simper, or beam. But they don’t all convey the same thing.

Smile means “to put on a happy expression.” Grin is “to smile broadly showing the teeth.” To beam “adds radiance to a smile”. Those seem fairly interchangeable, but simper refers to a smile that is silly or to an affected smile that is false. A smirk is also a silly smile but it's undertones are mocking with the intent to belittle or insult, to ridicule, scorn or slight, and turn up one’s nose.

A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but Romeo would’ve had a challenge wooing Juliette if the smile she gave him was a smirk.

Cry is another word with many synonyms. Squall which means “to cry noisily and continuously” can replace cry, however my heroine wouldn’t squall over her dead husband since dictionary.com says only babies or small children squall. She might weep, for that is “the expression of grief, sorrow, or any overpowering emotion by shedding tears.” She could bawl which also refers to unrestrained emotion, but could be linked to a tantrum rather than grief since its original meaning is “to shout or call out noisily.”

Dictionary.com defines other synonyms used to describe cry:

Sob - to cry noisily, making loud, convulsive gasps or to speak while crying.
Snivel - a slight sniff indicating suppressed emotion; tearful complaining.
Wail - a prolonged high-pitched cry of pain, grief, or anger… a lament.
Whimper - a series of low, feeble sounds expressive of fear, pain, or discontent.

My heroine could even pule. The American Century Dictionary defines pule as “to cry weakly.” Roget’s also says “to cry with soft, intermittent, often plaintive sounds.” However, dictionary.com defines it as “to complain.” Since people use internet increasingly to find out such things, the intended meaning could be skewed.

Our language is complex, beautiful and evolving. Using both a thesaurus and a current dictionary will help to express a story precisely and accurately.