IWSG - What Was I Thinking!

This is my Insecure Writers Support Group post for March.  
For more information about the group, see the bottom of this post.

Alex's awesome co-hosts for March are:

MJ Joachim, Elsie, Elizabeth Seckman, 
and Julie Flanders!

Please stop by their blogs and say thank you.

Publishing a debut novel is one heck of a ride. One minute I'm reading Susan Kaye Quinn's Indie Author Survival Guide and feeling like I'm twirling on top of the mountain shown on the cover, and the next, I'm pulling my hair out, trying to understand ISBN barcodes and trim sizes—all the while biting my nails, waiting for the beta feedback to come in. 

Gah! I must've been temporarily insane when I took this on!

But then, the crisis of the moment passes, and I imagine what it will be like to hold my very own book in my hands. Even if I never sell a single copy to anyone but my mom, it'll be worth it. :)

What's your insecurity o' the week?

A cover teaser is planned for the last week of March, a cover reveal for the first week of April, and the book release is set for early May. If you're interested in boosting your cosmic brownie points, feel free to add your name to the no-obligation sign up.  

Come Back

Western Historical Romance (1850s)

Adult / New Adult

IWSG is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. It's a monthly bloghop that offers a safe haven for writers to express their feelings and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. It's also a venue for offering support, both in the form of comments and positive posts. Writers of all kinds are welcome. 

We 'meet' the first Wednesday of every month. If you're interested in learning more, click on the link above. And don't be intimidated by the size of the group. We're not expected to visit everyone on the list. 

GPM - Redundancy

Looking for a way to cut word count?
Here's a quick tip...

Anytime you have a prepositional phrase after a noun that elaborates on the noun, make sure it's necessary for clarity and not a 'GWS' redundancy. (GWS = goes without saying)

He cut a path through the throng of people.

The primary definition of throng is a crowd of people. If you've already established there's a crowd, you can write He cut a path through the throng.

Same goes for verbs.

He sat down becomes He sat.

She stood up becomes She stood or She rose.

Not only will this streamline your prose and economize words, it'll keep those busy, intelligent readers happy.


What writing redundancies are on your pet peeve list?

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Good Karma Opportunity

I'm not sure if it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes one to launch a book.

(Carrie, stop cringing at my miserable attempt at custom graphics. Just slap a Post-it note on your screen. :P)

For those who don't already know, I plan to publish my debut novel this spring. Cover teaser activities are tentatively planned for the last week of March, cover reveal is the first week of April, and the release is tentatively set for early May.

As one of my coworkers says, you don't ask, you don't get. So, here goes...

If any of you awesome cyber buddies are willing to help with the reveal and release activities, I'd be grateful if you'd fill out this brief survey. It's truly short and easy--literally a couple of clicks and your name and email.

Filling out the form does not obligate you to do anything. It only gives me permission to email you later with information. And even then, you're not obligated.

There will be varying levels of participation and different activities offered (think buffet), and choices of days to suit just about any blog schedule. When the time comes, you can choose to do nothing, one thing, a few things, or everything. It's totally up to you.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. :)

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E-books...They're Getting There

E-book format is improving, but it still has a ways to go.

Most of the e-books I buy now have linked tables of contents. Thank you! That makes going back to find something much easier than the gazillion page-turning clicks one had to do before. A few even have the back cover blurb included somewhere near the beginning. Yay. Finally!

I don't know about you, but I have a HUGE backlog of books waiting TBR. By the time I get around to some of them, I've forgotten what the story is about.

Even if I haven't, I like to read the blurb to orient myself before proceeding to chapter one. If the e-book doesn't contain some kind of story description, I have to activate my Kindle's wireless and go to the book's page on Amazon to read it—not fun (or fast) when you're deciding among several books.

What features do you like in e-books?
Are there any you'd like to see added?
Are there any you feel are a waste?

Grammar Police Monday - Bovines, Bods & Blue Ribbons

Vein vs Vane vs Vain

Vein (n.) is one of many vessels forming the path for blood returning to the heart; tissue forming the framework of a leaf; a clearly defined stratum of ore, etc.

Phlebotomists draw blood by puncturing a vein.

Vane (n.) is a blade, fin, or plate on a fan, turbine, etc., that moves or is moved by water, steam or air.

A weather vane indicates the direction of the wind.

Vain (adj.) excessively proud of one's self; conceited; without real value or importance; worthless; futile.

You're so vain, you probably think this example is about you. 
(Ha! Couldn't resist. :P)

She did everything she could to stop the fire from spreading, but her efforts were in vain.

Fair vs Fare

Fair (adj./adv.) means free from bias or dishonesty; proper according to the rules.

"I don't like him," Billy said. "He doesn't play fair."

Fair can also refer to an assembling of goods, rides, and or livestock.

We went to the county fair.

And while were on the subject, fair also means moderate; average. 

So does the word middling.

Thus the saying fair to middling, which means so-so.

Fare (n.) is the price of passage on some form of conveyance (bus, train, plane, cab...). It can also be used to refer to the person paying.

The man stood in line to pay the bus fare.

The cabby kept glancing at his fare in the rear-view mirror.

Fare (n.) can mean food; diet—and in it's verb form, to eat and drink.

The hungry ranch hands were served hearty fare.

They fared on potatoes, bacon, toast, and eggs.

(Note: This might be a good place to stop and review hearty vs. hardy. 

Those two are easy to mix up.)

Let's pause for a gratuitous handsome hunk image.

I wouldn't mind cooking for him. :)

Ahem. Back to GPM...

Fare (n.) can also refer to non-food items that are consumed.

Horror novels are not my usual literary fare.

Fare (v.) means to experience good or bad fortune (probably the most common verb usage you'll see).

Most of the orphans fared well once they were adopted.

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That's all for today.

Thanks for visiting. :) 

Degrees of Separation

Sorry to disappoint you if you were expecting a movie review. This post is about point of view & filter words.

There are several things I'm a stickler about when it comes to editing. Eliminating filter words (or at least seriously scrutinizing each and every one) is at the top of that list.

I didn't used to feel this way. In fact, CPs used to mark my mss up worse than a toddler with a crayon, chiding me—repeatedly—to get them out. Now that I've been writing and reading fiction longer, I've moved over to their camp.

"What's a filter word," you say, "and why are they bad?

Filter words are words like saw, felt, and heard. They're 'bad' because they filter the action through the POV character, thus creating an extra degree of separation between the reader and the action.

I should probably pause to point out that filtering things through the POV character when it comes to their emotions and how they interpret and relate to what's happening in the scene is good. That's not the kind of filtering I'm talking about here.

Let me illustrate using second person...
(Don't laugh. I'm a writer, not an artist. :P) 

If I wrote: Beth stopped when she reached the park and watched Paul, who was standing in the meadow, flying a kite, this is how the reader would experience that line.

The reader would be watching the POV character, Beth, watch Paul.

But if I wrote:
Beth stopped when she got to the park. Paul stood in the meadow, flying a kite...

...it would be as if the reader were watching Paul right along with Beth. The reader's focus would shift from Beth stopping at the edge of the park to Paul standing in the meadow, thus removing one degree of separation and deepening POV.

Here are a few more example pairs.
See if you feel closer to the action with the second one.

Sara leaned closer to the wall and listened to the rumble of male voices.

Sara leaned closer to the wall. A rumble of male voices vibrated her ear.

#

My boyfriend of five years told me he was going camping with the guys this weekend, then turned and walked away. He'd forgotten my birthday. Again. 

I stood there, fuming in his wake, and decided we were over.


My boyfriend of five years told me he was going camping with the guys this weekend, then turned and walked away. He'd forgotten my birthday. Again.

I stood there, fuming in his wake. We were definitely over.

#

The monster towered over us, its red eyes glaring and its huge steps closing the distance at heart-stopping speed. I shrieked and watched Galen slay the beast moments before it reached me.

The monster towered over us, its red eyes glaring and its huge steps closing the distance at heart-stopping speed. I shrieked, but I couldn't move. Galen plunged his sword into the beast moments before it reached me. 

#

Those aren't the greatest specimens of writing, but you get the idea.

I've become so sensitized to filter words that I self-edit in first draft and rarely even write one anymore. But I know others might not be to that stage or might not like to hinder the flow of prose early on, so for them, I'll give a list.

I encourage you to do a document search of your mss for these words and eliminate as many of them as you can. You might decide to let some stay, but those should be few and far between, especially if you're writing in 3rd person.

Filter Word Offender List

see / saw

look / looked

watch / watched

hear / heard

feel / felt 

think / thought 

know / knew
notice / noticed 

note / noted

wonder / wondered

seem / seemed

decide / decided

realize / realized

Note: Even if you're writing past tense, check present tense, too—and vice versa. Phrases like 'I could see that he ___.' can easily fly under the radar if you only check one tense.

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That's all for today.

Thanks for stopping by. :)

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IWSG - February: My Writing Retreat

This is my Insecure Writers Support Group post for February.  
For more information about the group, see the bottom of this post. 

Alex's awesome co-hosts for February are:
Sheena-kay Graham, Julie Musil, Jamie Ayres, 
and Mike Swift!   
 Please stop by their blogs and say thank you.

For Christmas this year, hubby gave me a two night stay at the Omni in Houston. He dropped me off and picked me up--even encouraged me to order room service. Needless to say, I took that gift and ran. *grin*

I holed myself up in the spacious, king-size room and wrote. No laundry. No dishes. No screeching my WIP to a halt and leaving a scowling muse glaring at my back to go cook supper. Let me tell you, it was heaven. I kept whatever hours I wished and only left my room to fetch ice.

I took a few pictures while I was there. Wanna see?

Nice, right?

 

 This chair was as comfortable as it looks.

And all the lamps had dimmer switches.

The most important thing. :)

This was the view from my window.

(I cropped and enlarged the Houston skyline a bit.) 

 That's not all smog. It's dirt on the outside of the window, 

the only part of my room that wasn't spotlessly clean.

The bathroom.

Swoon. Yeah. I know.

But wait...

 No, you're not seeing things. 

The dark spot on the wall is a phone.

This was waiting for me (as well as a stocked mini bar in the cabinet). 

Still, I'm glad I brought my own beverages and snacks.

I don't travel much and, I'm not ashamed to say, was on a budget. That's where the 'insecurity' part comes in.

This was a *nice* hotel--the nicest I'd ever stayed in. I was definitely out of my league. I made sure to take plenty of small bills, and I Googled hotel tipping before leaving home to get a clue of what was expected. I may not have done everything right, but I don't think I made a total fool of myself.

And--finally--after two long years, I finished the first draft of my current WIP! :D

Of course, that led to other plans, which led to even more insecurities. I won't have any trouble coming up with post content for IWSG anymore. In fact, there aren't enough first Wednesdays.

Anyhow... 

Thinking of going on a writing retreat of your own?
Here are some tips...

• Choose off-season times of the year. It can save you money on reservations. 

• You won't get much writing done on check-in or check-out day, so take that into consideration when planning the length of your stay.

• Unless you like writing in your lap, you'll be spending lots of time at a desk. Make sure the room has one, as well as a comfortable chair.

• Wi-fi is a nice amenity, too. Be clear on whether it's available in each room or just the main lobby. Sometimes it's available by request, for a fee.

• That said, be careful what you use it for. Treat it like you would guest wireless at Mickey D's. (I wouldn't log-on to my bank there.)

• Be sure to take all your necessary gadgets and their charging cords.

• Have a plan and set some ground rules for yourself. You're there to relax--true--but you'll feel better if you also get something done. Make a list of things you'd like to accomplish (even if it's only in your head) and keep social media to a minimum. Close tempting tabs in your browser if that's what it takes.

• If you're on a budget, pack some beverages and snacks in your bag. For this trip, I ordered breakfast and supper, then snacked on my stash of goodies during the middle of the day. Heck, when I write, I lose track of time and forget to eat anyway.

• And (though some of you may laugh at me for including this) be sure to take your hotel key card with you when you set so much as a foot outside your door. The first morning, when I bent down to pick up my knock-and-leave-it-outside-my-door breakfast tray, the door closed behind me. I was way thankful for the key card in my pocket 

Thanks for stopping by. :)

To tweet about this post, click the little blue birdie. 

IWSG is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. It's a monthly bloghop that offers a safe haven for writers to express their feelings and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. It's also a venue for offering support, both in the form of comments and positive posts. Writers of all kinds are welcome. 

We 'meet' the first Wednesday of every month. If you're interested in learning more, click on the link at the top of the post or go to the IWSG website. And don't be intimidated by the size of the group. We're not expected to visit everyone on the list.