What About Age

Last month, I quizzed my Galva Beta reader about age. I showed her a newspaper clipping about a 101-year-old man who still went in to work a few days every week.

She had seen it.

I mentioned the centenarian I saw on a late night TV show. The lady was thin, frail looking, but was cracking jokes and holding her own.

She hadn’t seen that.

She also hadn’t heard of the Delany sisters. Bessie Delany lived to 104 and her sister Sadie to 109. Their book, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years, was a best seller in the 90s.

She did know of a Galva woman who made it 103 and about the other lady who escaped from a Galva senior center. It wasn’t much of an escape; she wanted lunch in Bishop Hill, so she got into a car and drove away. Not sure whose car it was, but it certainly shocked the staff and some relatives. She got her lunch and a chauffeured ride back to Galva.

My point: out there in the mass of humanity are folks called super agers. They are oldsters who have lively brains for their age. They are mobile, intelligent, and interesting.

I have to believe in them, because I used one to get my story going. I named her Pearl Mabel after my grandmother.

Originally, I dreamed up this character in desperation. I was barely into the first couple of chapters of my book when I started to get too tired and too confused with trying to describe how someone’s great-great-great-grandfather interacted with someone else’s great-great-great-grandfather. I probably could have found other ways of coping with this problem, other writers certainly had, but I settled on my super ager to span the gap in time and never looked back.

I’m not a bit sorry. She’s been fun. 

The Dreaded Synopsis

Making mistakes. Fixing those mistakes. Definitely not the most fun thing in the world to have to do. But sometimes that is the reality.

I’m not talking about grammar here. Or plot. Or style. My most recent lapse in judgment involves thinking that I could write a synopsis without looking up some examples.

What I’ve learned so far:

·        Don’t produce a laundry of characters. It isn’t necessary. Introduce the main characters and limit the number to five or six. Put each name in capitals when first mentioned.

·        Do show the protagonist’s progression through the three acts of the story.

·        Make sure there are at least three acts. And yes, this includes a conclusion. No teasers. No coy hints or allusions to the ending. No cheating.

·        Create a narrative written in present tense, third person. Each paragraph needs to flow logically into the next. If switching ideas, build a transition to connect the paragraphs. Use the same writing style as the book itself.

·        Give a clear idea of what it’s all about. Define conflicts and convey what’s at stake for the characters. What will be won or lost.

·        Do have an opening hook to capture interest. Avoid grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes.

In short, make an effort to find out what’s acceptable to the industry and don’t try to wing it—it will save time and aggravation.

For more information: http://www.fictionwriters.com/tips-synopsis.html

And check out Writer’s Digest for well-written examples by Chuck Sambuchino.

Scalzi on Writing

John Scalzi said it was good to be back at the Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City. It had been seven years, seven eventful years, since he’d been there. Best selling books, awards, and hinted at television deals gave him an overflow audience on a cool, rainy evening.

My goal was to see the well-known author, hear about the new book, buy a copy, and hopefully get back to Davenport without getting too wet or running into any wildlife. I came away with a bit more.

I particularly liked Scalzi’s explanation of how he used “the new normal” for building the reality for Lock In, his new book. In setting the scene for his reading, he explained how “the new normal” meant the ensuing acceptance of unusual situations after the passage of time. It’s a function of human adaptability. For this book, it meant years after the survivors of a viral plague, who’d been locked inside physically useless bodies, had become, by virtue of technology, normal parts of society. So normal that, in chapter five, finding a new apartment was an inconvenience and not an insurmountable big deal for remotely controlled androids.

The phrase really hit home for me. I spent over a year going to grief recovery meetings where it was used a lot, but in relation to adjusting to life without a loved one. I hadn’t thought about how important it would be for crafting a fictional setting in a make-believe world.

I appreciated the fact that he didn’t use outlines. Redshirts took five weeks to write. He said he went with the flow and cleaned it up later; making it look like that’s how it was meant to be all along. I know the process, but never at that speed or with those results.

I also liked his comments about how hard he worked to get the teenage girl’s voice for Zoe’s Tale. A lot of feminine feedback led to a lot of rewrites and eventually to some major honors.

It was a rare opportunity for me to see and listen to John Scalzi. The rain slowed the trip home down to a crawl in some places, but it didn’t dampen my enthusiasm.

Beta Readers

What I needed from my Beta readers:

·        They couldn’t be overly nice. Writing has to develop and grow—“It’s all great,” won’t make that happen.

·        They had to point out the weaknesses, the things that dropped them out of the narrative.

·        They had to tell me the truth. Will the parts make up a greater whole?

What I’ve gotten back from them so far—the gamut between great, insightful responses and…nothing.

My husband has been my first reader ever since I became brave enough to let someone else in on my writing.

He started out his college career as an English literature major before the sciences won him over.  He has always been an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy, as well as history and economics, to name a few of his interests. I trust his experience and expertise. He’ll always be my first reader, but I needed more variety.

Since I’ve waited a few years to get to this point with my first novel, I figured I had to count my adult sons among my Beta readers. It would be a stretch; they spent their teen years playing video games and reading science fiction and fantasy novels like their dad. What I’ve written wouldn’t be their cup of tea, but I would especially value remarks related to dialogue and current technological aspects. They were good sports and agreed to give it a go.

I chose two other readers who have roots in the Bishop Hill/Galva area. Both of these people are knowledgeable readers with writing experience. I wanted them to let me know if the tone and themes rang true, or if I went too far off base to be believable.

My husband got back to me first with corrections and suggestions. He probably felt a little pressure, but it worked out for me. I used his feedback right away.

My kids got started, but didn’t finish. I need to find out how far they’d gotten before their work and travel got in the way.

Another reader got part way through, but couldn’t finish because of a variety of things that included having a body part replaced. Ouch! She still gave me some good stuff.

The last reader is MIA. To be fair, she warned me. But it’s in my nature to be ever hopeful.

I spent a lot of time over these choices for Beta readers and I will make due with the feedback I receive. I know I will owe them a lot for their time and care. 

Butterflies & Writing Opportunities

I’ve had Monarch butterflies on the brain since last April when I read about their decline in several local print articles. People were encouraged to plant waystations that contained nectar sources and host plants for that species. The timing was perfect for me and I got on board.

The point I want to make—not only did I plant my new flower bed with the needed plants—I wrote about it.

I began with a letter to the editor that expressed my appreciation for the original news item and told how it influenced me. I took time to make sure it was concise and as grammatically correct as I could manage, and then sent it off.

Not such a big thing. But remember: this was writing practice.

Things that get printed in the newspapers, like press releases for clubs or organizations, get noticed and can potentially lead to bigger things. The best outcome would be the feature article. Newspaper editors love a story written in a timeless fashion. They are important for filling in empty spaces. Becoming one of an editor’s reliable sources would never be a bad thing.

All this was part of my progression: I got my writing out there and seen by more people; by working with an editor, I developed useful skills for the writing craft; and I built a resume.

Then there’s the nice little ego boost of seeing your name as a byline in print.

It’s all good.

The Library, the Book Club & the Banned

Reading is vitally important for becoming a writer and reading a wide range of well written books provides an excellent background of skills to draw upon. But for the past few of years, I focused my reading into a narrow range: first novels. I wanted to see how the author started out. How a series began. Get an idea of how they developed their craft. It was helpful, but limiting.

Last January, in an effort to read more of a variety, I joined two groups—one for books and one for short stories—both meet at the Fairmont branch of the Davenport Public Library.

The group that gets together for the discussion of short stories also serves up sweets, hence the name, Shorts and Sweets. Food must bring out the best in people, because attendance is always high and so is the participation. I’m exposed to so much thoughtful literary introspection I could swear I’m in a college class. I always learn something. The treats are a nice bonus.

I can’t fault the selection. I’ve liked some of the short stories so much that I’ve had to share them with others. Free Radicals by Alice Munro was a recent example. The way the elderly protagonist turned the tables on her adversary still makes me smile. A very clever treat.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is another example of good writing that impresses, stirs the imagination, and satisfies the need to be exposed to quality writing.

My favorite passage: “Mystery bores me. It chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It’s the machinations that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest, and astound me.”

To me, that quote speaks volumes about writing, the unique journey between the beginning and the end, and why every book has value.

However, instead of discussing artistic merits of The Book Thief at the last meeting of the West End Book Club, we spent most of the time on the topic of banned books.

The young protagonist of The Book Thief rescued a banned book from the ashes of a Nazi bonfire. The image of flames brought the group’s discussion to the recent riots in Missouri and how the banning of books still goes on there and in many other states and communities in our free country. Here are a few lists to check out:

http://www.ila.org/action/banned-books

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_authors_banned_during_the_Third_Reich

http://media.okstate.edu/faculty/jsenat/censorship/defining.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/freedom-house/the-many-types-of-online_b_4212623.html

I’ve read quite a few of those books. Some made no impression and I have to wonder why they were ever found offensive. Others have disturbed me. And others have stretched my world and challenged my definition of right and wrong, good and evil. I’m not the worse off for having read any of them. I’m still a mild-mannered Midwestern soul who will say “Hello” to anyone who crosses my path.  

I am thankful that Davenport, my new home, is not on any of those lists. 

What’s in a Title?

Picture Perfect seemed like a good working title for my mystery. I liked the play on picture, as in artwork, and on perfect, as it related to Erik Jansson—he wanted so much to be perfect. (Don’t we all.) It would be good enough for the short term.

I knew going in that it couldn’t last, a quick Google search confirmed that it’s been used quite a few times.

Unfortunately, good enough had to do for some time because nothing else came to me.

While working on some thoughts about who was on the inside and who was on the outside, as in society and the art world, I made a mistake in typing. My typo: Outsider morphed into Oursider.

I almost corrected this transposition of letters automatically without thinking, but I stopped and took a few moments to take in the significance. Oursider as a term sure seemed to fit the tone for one of my characters. He had his own lifestyle, his own way of creating art. He had a way with words and could certainly use the label: Oursider Art. I decided I had to keep the typo and work with it.

After a little experimentation, I thought it best to divide the word and the book title became Our Side of Perfect. That’s what I’ve been using in my query letters and it will have to do—unless something better comes along.