Page 99 or What can one page tell you?

While at Uncle Hugo’s last weekend with Jon Hansen, he told me about the book he was reading, “The Forever War.”

“How is it?” I asked.

He handed a copy to me off the shelf. Duh. We were standing right in front of it. I did what I do with any book I’m considering. I opened and started reading. In this case, it was page 1, and this was the line:

"Today we're going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man."

That’s a damn good line, I thought. I’d buy that book. (Fortunately Jon has agreed to lend me his copy when he’s done.)

So apparently, when book shopping, I don’t really give most books a big chance. I don’t want to read a hundred pages to decide if it’s a good book or not (I know many people who do). But—if the line or paragraph gets my attention, if the writing is so good I want to turn the page and see what happens next—I might purchase the book. If not, the book goes back on the shelf. 

This made me wonder about my writing—and I’ll ask you writer-types the same questions. So what happens when you pick up your work and open to any page and read any line or paragraph? Do you like what you find and want to keep reading? Will your readers?

For me and my own work, it depends on the page. I sometimes am surprised and think, “Gee, that’s good. Where did that even come from?” Other times I want to put my own work back on the shelf (but I can’t. It means back to the writing desk).

And then of course, there is always this site: http://page99test.com

It’s based around this saying:

“Open the book to page ninety-nine, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you.”

~Ford Madox Ford

It’s an interesting idea. Check it out. If you create an account, you can read other people’s page 99 from their books (mostly unpublished)—or upload your own page 99 and get feedback. I’ve gone to it a few times, to check out what other writer’s have posted there. After reading each sample you can give feedback, most importantly, about whether or not you’d buy the book, or turn to the next page. I might be a tough grader, but for most of the samples I read on my last visit to page99test.com I wouldn’t turn to the next page or buy the book in 9 times out of 10. Why?

In some cases it was “thick text” (one unrelenting descriptive paragraph filling the entire page), unrealistic or forced dialogue, telling vs. showing, unlikeable characters, characters who are doing nothing, great descriptions with no true character motivation, and so on. Or in other words, not great writing.

It’s not easy being a writer, but it’s also not easy being a reader. We’re all busy people, and if I (the reader) am going to take the time to read your stuff, you’d better be good, and you’d better be entertaining, and your writing has to be alive on the page, every single page. It’s got to be poetic, or funny, or scary, or (pick your favorite emotion), or contain likeable characters and an actual story. Or we’re not turning the page, and we’re not buying your book. And as the author, I think that stinks. But I also know that’s the name of the game. Why do you think I spend all this time editing and revising?

For fun I decided to post page 99 of my unpublished book BLACKHEART here:

http://www.page99test.com/read-my-page/1751

Please feel free to check it out. Leave feedback if you’d like. Check out other authors on the site, or even post your own page 99 if you are searching for feedback. Again, you’ll need an account to do this. There are ground rules for the page99test.com site, so read them carefully if you do set up your own account.

I debated about also putting up page 99 of my new book-in-progress, SUNLIGHT. But, it’s too new, still a first draft. I haven’t even entirely settled on which page will actually be page 99. But, I did look over that page in my rough manuscript, and it made me realize this: to make this page in my book work, to make it really stand out, sing, carry the story, I’ve got more work to do. 

Back to writing.

Happy 4^th of July!

Mark

@manowords

Writing in the (Word) Clouds

What would your short story, book or blog look like put into a “Word Cloud?”  A friend of mine shared a link with me to a site that lets you make Word Clouds out of any block of text you want to paste into it.

http://www.wordle.net/

I think this site is pretty cool. Here are three Word Clouds I came up with. The first two are from large chunks of writing from my novels in progress (BLACKHEART and SUNLIGHT.) Take a look, please.

Click on the image to enlarge it

Click on the image to see it full size!

So what if anything do these Word Clouds say about my writing?

My main characters apparently get lots of time on the pages. (Their names show up big and bold). Secondary characters, settings and symbols from my books come through, as I’d hope they would. Apparently I’ve also got some favorite words I need to consider avoiding and/or editing out of my manuscripts (why is BACK so damned big? Hmmm.)

Do the themes shine through? You tell me.

For the BLACKHEART cloud I do like how Blackheart’s name ended up in black and Noel’s name came up in pink, her fav color. (Although I did pick a custom color scheme.)

Extra credit in the SUNSHINE (Job) Word Cloud: find the naughty word

The last Word Cloud I created is for this very blog, based on a several copied and pasted postings from the past couple months.

click on the image to enlarge it!

With this one I’m pleased to see WRITING is what shines through the most. "Comments" made sense to me to, because of course all blogs have comments, but our group spends a lot of time commenting on each other's writing during our critique sessions.

So check out http://www.wordle.net/

If you come up with a Word Cloud for your piece(s) of writing I’d love to see it.

Mark

How to Pitch Your Story

I’m a firm believer in taking advantage of opportunities as they arise. And what could be better than an opportunity to sit down across the table from someone who has the potential to make your dreams come true and take your shot?

That’s exactly what I did last weekend at the Madison Writer’s Institute http://www.dcs.wisc.edu/lsa/writing/awi/

Part of this conference, like many writing conferences out there, were optional “pitch” sessions with a half-dozen literary agents. These sessions cost extra ($15 each) for the 8-minute session you got to spend with each respective agent. During registration you were limited to only two such sessions—which from the sounds of it filled up early.

Prep Work

Before the conference I had done my best to have some materials ready for the agents I was going to talk with. I spent hours trying to whittle down my synopsis to only a couple pages (epic fail), tried to have a page that explained my book’s concept, my bio and next project, and also brought a sample chapter along. I think all of this was good prep work, and it was nice to have something for me to refer to during the pitch sessions, but for the purposes of the agents I could have left it all behind. The agents didn’t want it—their preference was to receive everything by e-mail.

When is a Manuscript Done?

I heard the story recently of American writer, David Guterson, sitting around his house doing edits on his printed/published book Snow Falling on Cedars—just toying with it, seeing if there was anything that could be improved—for his own purposes. I just completed my 3rd edition of my novel BLACKHEART, and immediately I’m ready to do revision 4. Before ever signing up for this conference I asked myself if my book was ready to be seen by agents. I decided “yes.” That doesn’t mean that revision 4 still won’t happen…

A Sleepless Night

I had signed up for the pitch sessions months before when I signed up for the conference—and I hadn’t felt nervous about them at all consciously—until the night before they were scheduled. At about 3:30AM I woke up, realizing that I was going over specific plot points of my novel BLACKHEART in my head, preparing, preparing, preparing. My mind kept going over each great part of my book that I wanted to share—and also the parts I did not want to bring up (multiple POV, a couple chapters that still need tightening, etc). I would have preferred a good night’s sleep.

Important advice: Know your agent(s).

When I signed up for these agent pitch sessions I had done my best to pick the couple that seemed most likely to handle the type of work that I want to sell. My novel is “horror” so I definitely wanted to talk with agents who handled genre fiction. Imagine my disappointment during the conferences opening introductions when I heard one of the agents I was scheduled to meet later that day say, “I sell everything but horror.” L

Batter up…

There were two rooms dedicated to “pitching.” When I arrived a young woman with a timer and a checklist stood between the two rooms acting as gatekeeper. “They’re running a couple minutes behind,” I was informed. I gave her my name and waited with the other half-dozen or so authors all milling around nervously, waiting for their turns. We compared notes: What is your book about? Who are you meeting with? Is this your first pitch session? And so on and so on. As we waited other authors came out of the rooms, showing a variety of emotions: relief, disappointment, elation.

“You can go in,” I was told.

Eight Minutes in Heaven

Agent A was very upfront when I asked him to clarify if he carried horror. “No. And I’ll tell you the reason why. I only have two or three places I can try to sell it—then I’m out of options.” I asked if he minded me trying my pitch on him. “Go for it,” he said, but clarified, arms crossed, “But no matter how good it is I won’t be able to represent you.” I gave it my best shot.

What I learned about the opening to my novel BLACKHEART is that it is awesome to adapt for a dramatic pitch. When the book opens my main character Clay is seated at a bloody table between two corpses—across from him, peering out of the darkness is the hulking and horribly scarred badass Blackheart. As I gave my pitch I lay my head on the table, explained how Clay wakes up, how he’s handcuffed to the chair, how his gun sits on the table just out of reach, how the SWAT team is beating on the doors and windows that won’t be broken down on this creepy little home, how Clay has to kill Blackheart or watch his friend get gunned down. In many ways I was able to act the part of Clay to the agent’s Blackheart, each of us across the pitching table from each other. It was fun, and no pressure. After all, the guy had already told me he couldn’t represent me.

“So, what do you think?” I asked Agent A.

“It sounds like a great story—but I can’t sell it,” he said.

“Do you know anyone who can?” I asked.

“Get out a pen,” Agent A said. He gave me the name of one of his associates who he thinks might like a story like mine. He said I should use his name. Awesome.

Eight (no make that ten) Minutes in Hell

About an hour later I was back at the pitching room door, loitering outside with the other authors, comparing notes on previous sessions. The timer sounded, gatekeeper girl told me to go inside.

Agent B and I shook hands. She said she enjoyed meeting writers—most of her 20+ clients she has right now from all over the world she has never met. Agent B was also kind enough to clarify for me that she did agent horror. Woo hoo! This pitch session was off to a much better start.

I one again acted out the opening scene and the shootout between Clay and Blackheart. I realized this time I was a bit more nervous, that I was omitting some subtle details I’d done a better job telling in pitch session 1. No matter… time was ticking away. Agent B listened intently, leaning across the table, wide eyed, nodding her head. Occasionally she’d ask a question. “What happens next?” “How does it end?” “We’re actually out of time… but go on.” I went through each turning point as best I could, grossly over-simplifying my 450 page book. When it was over I asked her, “So do you want to see more?” “Yes,” said Agent B. “E-mail me your first three chapters.” J

So did I get my $30 worth of agent time? Hell yeah. I got to explain my book to two literary agents who are in the business of selling fiction—with positive feedback. I also had a request to see more of my manuscript from one agent, and a lead I can pursue in the future from the other. Will these meetings ultimately help me sell my manuscript? That remains to be seen. But I definitely enjoyed the experience and the whole process definitely put me in a mind frame to understand my story better, from the perspective of someone who might want to buy it.

Advice for Pitching Your Story?

From my experience all I can say is have your manuscript as complete as it can be, know your story as well as you can, rehearse if you have the time, and try to meet with agents who sell your genre of material. After that I like to just think it’s either meant to be or it’s not.

Happy Writing.

Good vs. Evil: Getting to Know Angels & Devils

In my novel BLACKHEART there are both angels and demons alike. This posting is a quick summary to help you tell them apart, and sometimes it can be tricky. The angels and demons in my book are all based loosely on Christian, Jewish, Islamic or other accounts of angels. When researching angels and demons the one thing I found out is that our (human) knowledge of them is limited. Many of them have multiple names, jobs and backgrounds, depending on whose story you want to listen to. I’m sure only they know the truth, which has made them a fertile cast of characters for me, a fiction writer, to have inhabit the world of BLACKHEART.

How many different angels and demons are there? The highest number I’ve found is 300,000 fallen angels alone. And of course scholars have debated that whole “how many angels can sit on the head of a pin” thing for too long. Only 2 angels appear by name in the Christian Bible today (Michael and Gabriel). So what about all the others?

Note: I've left out a few angels and demons from BLACKHEART in this posting to avoid SPOILERS.

Hafaza

In Islamic mythology, the Hafaza are equivalent to the Christian concept of guardian angels. They help the soul fight off attacks from devils and djinn. My character, Noel August, is able to commune with them—which is both a blessing and a curse. At times they save her life, at others listening to them leads her into great peril.

Mastenem (The Lesser)

When Noah asked God to destroy all demons after the great flood, supposedly the demon Mastema intervened and asked that 10% of the demons be saved under his control to test mankind. God said “Yes.” (Thanks a lot.) These remaining demons that roam the earth are the Mastenem. Blackheart refers to them as the Lesser—and whenever he and the Lesser meet blood is shed. Their evil minds are simple and revolve around how to best inflict pain and harm on human beings. Their shapes vary, taking on aspects of monsters and beasts—all the better to terrify their victims. Besides their original demon savior, Mastema, all manner of greater demons take control of the Lesser, and use them for their schemes.

Semyaza

This name is sometimes synonymous for Satan, but in the context of BLACKHEART it refers to a class of angels who were cast out of heaven for teaching angelic secrets to man (like warfare and how to make weapons)—and for fornicating with women. ‘Nuf said.

Uhriel (or Uriel)

Known as “the fire of God” and “he who watches over thunder and terror,” in BLACKHEART (per some recorded accounts), Uhriel is the presider over Tartarus (Hell) and the leader of the massive angel guard that lives there, keeping all the damned souls and demons confined and delivering punishments as part of his thankless, daily routine.

Psychopomps

Per the Greek word, literally “guide of souls.” According to some cultures, souls do not immediately enter the world during birth, nor exit the world during death without some assistance. The transition between life and death is often aided by helpful spirits in animal form, the Psychopomps. In BLACKHEART Psychopomps make their appearance in the forms of voles, scorpions and fish, to name a few. My favorite example of Psychopomps in another work of writing? See “THE CROW” by James O’Barr.

Lucifer

With so many angels and demons in my book I’d be remiss not to mention Satan. Known by many other names, the baddest of the bad, the prince of evil, tempter of Eve and Jesus alike in some accounts he still walks the Earth. Pretty scary, I think. There are many accounts and variations of how he was thrown from heaven with his host of followers, but I like this one a lot:

Joseph Campbell (1972: pp. 148–149) illustrates an unorthodox Islamic reading of Lucifer's fall from Heaven, which champions Lucifer's eclipsing love for God:

One of the most amazing images of love that I know is in Persian – a mystical Persian representation as Satan as the most loyal lover of God. You will have heard the old legend of how, when God created the angels, he commanded them to pay worship to no one but himself; but then, creating man, he commanded them to bow in reverence to this most noble of his works, and Lucifer refused – because, we are told, of his pride. However, according to this Muslim reading of his case, it was rather because he loved and adored God so deeply and intensely that he could not bring himself to bow before anything else, and because he refused to bow down to something inferior to him (since he was made of fire, and man from clay). And it was for that that he was flung into Hell, condemned to exist there for eternity, apart from his love.

Thanks for reading.

Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth 

Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep.

~John Milton, Paradise Lost

Name that Character - or rather, your character

Natural Build

Hackwar Smof Swunnset

Darth Competent

Chuck Banger

Harry Potter

Rinkashime Chikukachiari

Baraqijal

These are all my names.

Really.

At least thanks to the Internet and the magic of random (or semi-random) name generators. The above are my Jersey Shore, Fantasy, Sith, Porn Star, Harry Potter character (score!), ninja and fallen angel name(s) (Baraqijal is the angel who taught astrology).

Our friends at #Reverb10 asked the question, “If I could walk into a room of strangers and introduce myself for the first time with a fake name, what name would I choose?” Not really sure. I suppose Darth Competent would work. I’m guessing he is the scariest but most organized of the Sith. If I were still a single man, Chuck Banger would have a certain appeal to the ladies. Ladies? Where did they all go? Anyway….

So what about Character names? Does it matter what you name your characters? How should you go about naming your characters in your story?

Here is a pretty good link on the subject that is pretty comprehensive:

http://www.babynames.com/character-names.php

Here are some character names from my book BLACKHEART, and why I chose that name and/or what they mean.

Clayton Jaeger: My human main character. He’s a detective and he is also suffering from illness and the loss of his only daughter. In Chapter 1, the character he has come to arrest, Blackheart, comments on his name, “Take dust and water mix ‘em together you get Clay—the same mud God made man out of.” I consider Clay to be the common man, hopefully the most relatable character in my novel for most readers. Jaeger, his last name, means “huntsman”—which I think is appropriate for a detective.

Blackheart: AKA Carl Black, AKA Cyex, is the violent protagonist and antihero of my novel, titled for the same. Terribly scarred and at war with literal demons, Blackheart is like his name suggests dark—in many ways to his core. Discovering his true motives and nature (his heart) are one of the things that I hope will keep people reading.

Noel August: Is a psychic teenager who talks with angels. She spends a lot of time in the company of Blackheart and demons. I wanted a name that would stand for her purity and brightness. Noel is literally the masculine form of the word “Christmas” (French). In English speaking countries it is sometimes used as a female name. “August” is a reminder of summer (the book is set in a winter blizzard.)

Marauder: Nemesis of Blackheart. He’s been around for a long, long time. Marauder is the current name he goes by, but he’s also been known by Af, Pahadrone, Rabdos, Apep and many others (all references to other times, places and bad things he’s done). The name Marauder means “Plunderer” or “Attacker.”

A couple mentions for awesome character names from my fellow Scribblerati writers (and there may be more, these are ones I like that come to mind as I’m writing this): Claudia’s time travelling character Ursula Evermore; Lisa’s nature-steeped main character: Beryl Kodiak. Very fitting names. Read their books and find out!

So what are some sources for finding good character names?

A few I have used:

q Sit through credits at the end of any movie and jot down names. There are some awesome names out there in real life. Mix and match first and last names as needed.

q Books on Naming: I have 3 books on my writing desk that are full of names. The best is the “Writer’s Digest Character-Naming Sourcebook.” It lists thousands of names from many languages with definitions. I also have a baby naming book and a pet-naming book. All of these have come in handy when trying to name fictional characters.

q The Internet. Duh. J I’ve included some links (there are probably thousands of other related links) that will help you either find or generate names.

Random Name Generator from US Census

http://www.kleimo.com/random/name.cfm

French Male Name Generator

http://nine.frenchboys.net/randboy.php

Harry Potter Name http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/toys/namegen/406/

Angel/Demon Name generator:

http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=adname

A Plethora of Fantasy Names. Yeah. A plethora.

http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/names/fantasylinks.htm

This post is dedicated to my friends with the best names ever: Syshwinsnyx Mollieux and Wyoho Cheelaburb. You know who you are.

Happy New Year!

Conflict: Man vs. Winter

News flash: it’s winter out there. At least where I live. According to the official calendar, winter doesn’t start until December 21^st—but here in Minnesota it’s on.

Not to get all Keillor-y on you, but we Minnesotan’s deal with Man vs. Nature (or Woman vs. Nature, or Child vs. Nature) all winter long, every year. It’s the reason we’re a hardy lot. It’s why during the civil war the Union regiments from places like Maine and Minnesota were good at kicking some butt. When you spend six months out of the year with nature trying to kill you, you have to toughen up—or at least plan ahead. Forget your boots? Lost your hat? It just might kill you.

It’s not that other season’s won’t try to kill you—they will—they just take their time. Summer has been trying to kill me through harsh sunburns and excessive beer for years. To summer I say—bring it on—now!

But Winter, unlike the other seasons, has the teeth to do you in and do you quick. I don’t mean to make light of this—it’s just true. During this season you can fall through the ice, freeze to death walking back from the bar or slide off the icy road into a moose. None of it pretty, none of it anything I wish on you or anyone else. All thanks to winter.

Now that you know you know how I feel about winter, it should be no surprise to you that in my first novel there is a major storm taking place. Not just any storm BUT a snowstorm, a blizzard. Not only are my main characters trying to find a missing child while battling a swarm of nasty demons—but they get to do it in a snowstorm. Nature become bad-guy.

Including winter in my book has come with a few challenges. Maybe the toughest has been trying to find new and interesting ways to describe it. Snow—despite what your weatherman friends may tell you—is not always that interesting. It’s white like a blank page. A really big blizzard obscures everything from view. So how to describe it enough without losing the reader in a complete whiteout of description? Or too little to where the reader starts to wonder—oh, has the storm let up? I guess that has become my own war with winter: How to bring this chilly season to the page.

Here is an example of how I’m trying to incorporate wintriness into my book.

BLACKHEART (by Mark Teats - Chapter 20 excerpt)

Blackheart stripped off the unconscious ice fisherman’s boots, jeans and flannel shirt and got dressed. The boots were one piece, slip-on jobs with liners that scratched at his feet. He also put on a pair of extra-large, black snow pants with suspenders that he’d found on a hook near the door of the icehouse. The clothes weren’t a perfect fit but they’d offer great protection from the cold.

Blackheart grabbed the spear-like ice-spud and stepped outside.

The cold hit him immediately. The night was black; snow fell in big, dime-sized flakes. Out across the white expanse that was the frozen river the sound of a racing car engine and a pair of headlights cutting through the night grabbed his attention. It was maybe 100 yards away and closing. The car fishtailed recklessly, straightened out and aimed directly at him and the icehouse, going close to fifty miles per hour.

Blackheart took a few steps away from the cluster of icehouses on the frozen river’s surface toward the speeding car. He hefted the ice spud in his right hand, lifted it back, and prepared to launch it blade first. His left arm pointed straight in front of him for balance and aim. Throwing such weapons was something he was innately good at. Muscle memory was a wonderful thing. Idaeus had been a master of the thrown spear and javelin; all these years later that skill stayed with him.

The night and storm obscured any meaningful details of the oncoming car. Maybe the Lesser up to their tricks? Its interior was pitch black, the snow and ice-caked windshield revealing nothing of the driver. As the car zoomed closer Blackheart ran forward a few steps as if to meet it, cocked back the rough spear, and prepared to let it fly.

His aim was expert; he would easily kill whoever was behind the wheel. Just as he was about to release the shaft there was a wall of sound, a voice, no a chorus, shouting to him:

NO! Do not let fly your lance!

The Hafaza? In his head? What? How—

He felt momentarily blind, disoriented, but he listened to the voices, trusted them, and changed the aim of the ice spud as he released it. The spear barely missed the car and drove itself to stick at a 45-degree angle in the thick river ice.

The Hafaza, giving him a message? That could only mean—

“Noel.” He said as the car bore down on him, sliding, trying to brake.

He sidestepped and it slid past, narrowly missing him, going into a series of slow, circular spins. It was the same unmarked police car that belonged to the meddling detective, Clay. The rear passenger side was busted out and he watched it as the momentum of the last 360-degree spin took out a row of three dark and empty icehouses, knocking them akimbo as it came to a stop.

Blackheart retrieved the ice spud and ran toward the idling car.

The airbags had gone off, and the driver thrashed against the white mound. A driver with girl’s hands and short, mussed up red and black hair. He opened the car door.

“Missed me,” Blackheart said, his breath white on the crisp night air.

“I should have ran you over,” she said, pushing the airbag aside to look at him with teary eyes.

“Maybe you would have done us both a favor.” He said.

“Maybe,” she said. “Don’t just stand there, help me out.”

He did. When she was free she threw her arms around him. For once he returned her hug. She felt too thin, wasted. This had been hard on her. Too hard. Afraid to break her, he let her go.

“Good to see you, Kid.”

She nodded. Then started laughing, pointing at him, nearly doubling over. Blackheart looked at her quizzically.

“Nice snow pants,” she snorted. “You look like a dork.”

“Better than freezing my ass off.”

Thanks for reading. A couple links to help you fend off winter:

Stay Safe

Fight Winter Blues

Don’t Break Your Arm

Just for the heck of it: Minnesota Perspective on Civil War

Old, New, Different and Broken

BLACKHEART PROGRESS

Today I finished my latest revision of Blackheart Chapter 13 and sent it off to the Scribblerati for feedback. I’m excited because this marks my crossing over into the last half of my book both page and chapter-wise for this revision. Slightly over-half way there. Whew. I’m a happy guy.

SUNLIGHT

I’m taking a six-week “book-in-a-month” workshop from the Loft http://www.loft.org/.

So far it is going well, so well it nearly brought me to tears today (well, almost. I can’t say why, it would be a “spoiler”). It’s a good workshop so far with lots of other interesting, talented fellow writers. I’m mostly happy about the volume of material I’m producing. 6500 words in the last 8 days. My goal for class is 50,000 words, or in the words of Ann Lamott, one shitty first draft.

http://www.orcutt.net/othercontent/sfds.pdf

(I’d even be happier yet if it’s a good first draft). We’ll see how it goes.

Here’s my rough premise of my second novel I’m calling SUNLIGHT (so far):

Job, a police officer, races to deliver a military secret across post-apocalyptic, rural Minnesota, avoiding the nocturnal, undead creatures that stole his family.

Another cool thing about this class is that it has reminded me of three things:

1) If you are going to write you need to allot some time and make it a priority

2) If you set a goal you might actually reach it, and—

3) It’s good to sometimes evaluate where you are wasting time. For the duration of this class I decided to give up online poker. Online poker is something I’m pretty good at. I’ve won a couple tournaments and have won over a million dollars in fake-chips. My official title is “Champion”—But—I’ve also wasted weeks of free time playing it (a few minutes at a time) for nothing other than fun. No more. I’ve gone cold turkey.

SEGWAY… or time to try something completely different

So this week my wife and I decided to go on a Segway tour. You know, Segway, the two-wheeled devices that were supposed to revolutionize all human transportation? Yeah. Right.

http://www.segway.com/

It was kinda fun, mostly, and something different—which I think is also an important part of being a writer—living, trying something new, avoiding ruts, trying to look for new perspectives. If I don’t live and experience new things, even in simple ways, how can I truly bring my characters alive in my writing?

OUCH

The problem with trying something new is that sometimes you get hurt. That is an experience, too, I suppose. Now I will know how to write a character with a broken arm. I’ve also come to appreciate just how useful a second arm is for say, tying a pair of shoes.

For you see, when riding a Segway, that is based on following your body’s motions to decide which way to go, it is bad form to make a sudden movement southward on an eastbound Segway. What I learned, to make a long story short, is that if you do such a thing, gravity and cement, even at low speeds can be unforgiving. My left arm is now splinted and my typing speed has been cut in half for the immediate future.

The funny thing is that the day after I had this accident one of my co-workers told me, “You can’t fall off a Segway.” My arm and this video say otherwise: http://bit.ly/crashez

(My accident is best recreated by the chimp. We had the same color helmet.)

Someone told me even Obama has fallen off a Segway and there have even been some deaths from falls off these harmless looking devices. That being said I’d do it again sometime—but I’d pay more attention and might bring my elbow-pads.

Now to mend…

The Secret of Writing Success

"80% of success is showing up." ~Woody Allen

What about success in writing? I think the Woody Allen quote holds up here, too, although I’m not sure it’s wise to trust a guy who married his stepdaughter (or was it his granddaughter? Either way, creepy).

Making time for writing, showing up with some type of consistency at a time and place conducive to putting words on paper (or on screen) helps. For me it’s Mondays and Saturday mornings and whatever other spare time I can fit in. Some days it’s an hour before bed or an hour when I first rise. Occasionally I write over lunch. How about for you?

Another important factor for success in writing, I think, is to surround yourself with supportive people, especially people who love reading and writing.

I’ve decided to dedicate this blog post to those people who encourage and support my writing fix in one way or another. If you’re one of them, this blog is for you. If you are a writer—who are those people in your writing corner, helping you succeed?

Thanks first to my spouse (and my sometimes writing widow) Brenda. If showing up gives you an 80% success rate, I have also heard in more than one place that 90% of happiness in marriage is marrying the right person. I’m thankful I did. My wife is a great spouse in many ways, but I’m extra lucky in that she supports my desire to write and also is happy to look over my writing from time to time and give me feedback. Fortunately she’s also a pretty good editor and catches some of the little things I miss in my own work. Single writers: If you are dating someone and they are willing to critique your work (and hopefully in a kind, or at least honest, way) you may have yourself a keeper.

Thanks next to the folks at my day job who allow me the flexibility to work a shorter work week so that I can pursue my dream. There are many work places that would look down on someone who has a pursuit they love outside their job—my workplace is not one of them. Sure, I’m the office IT guy, but I appreciate it when my coworkers ask about my book in progress or ask me questions about writing. I’m lucky to be where I’m at.

Thank you also to my friends and family, both volunteer readers and writers alike (you know who you are). There is nothing that bonds a friendship like sharing writing back and forth across the years and miles. I’m glad we have this in common. (Special shout-out to Peter who says he has some writing feedback in the mail for me this week!)

And of course where would I be without my fellow writing critique group? Yes, you Scribblerati or Sparkle Death Rabbit, or whatever we call ourselves these days. To have a group of brutally honest writers (and I do mean brutal ☺) at your disposal to discuss writing and get feedback from is invaluable. I know over the past year+ I’ve grown a lot thanks to the critiquing process and being surrounded by some other up-and-coming great writers who offer unique perspectives. Thank you!

I’ll mention just one more writer “support group” that I’d highly recommend:
The Loft. http://www.loft.org/
This Twin Cities-based writing academy has been an invaluable resource for me as a developing writer. We are lucky to have such a resource in Minneapolis, let alone in our state. I’ve taken close to twenty writing classes and workshops over the past many years and know it has helped me grow many ways as a writer. The critique group I’m in all met thanks to The Loft. The first few appearances of my book’s protagonist, Blackheart, appeared to me in writing exercises during various classes. The Loft has their Fall calendar up now if you are interested: http://www.loft.org/classes/adult-classes
I highly recommend you check them out, whether or not you are a beginning or advanced writer (I’ll be taking a couple more classes there myself come September).

Some instructors (novel) I’ve really enjoyed are: Mary Gardener (http://www.loft.org/mary-gardner), and Mary Carol Moore (http://howtoplanwriteanddevelopabook.blogspot.com/)

BLACKHEART Progress: Editing, editing, editing
I took a “vacation day” today from work, and most of it (about six hours) was spent at my writing desk, hashing away at BLACKHEART Chapter 10, one of the more troublesome chapters in my manuscript. I’m pleased to report that when this chapter is completed (I’m hoping it’ll be done Saturday) I’ll be almost to the halfway mark in this revision.

The interesting thing to me is how much of revising is cutting. I keep a “parking lot” of cut and pasted pieces that I’ve removed from my manuscript (so far) as I edit. This certainly doesn’t include everything, especially not little changes, but right now it contains a word count of almost 16,000 words (!) that have been removed from my book in the name of making it better (out of my now 110,000 word manuscript). This also doesn’t include a couple scenes that I really love that no longer fit in the story. Sigh.

Oh well. If you are looking for me I’ll probably be at my desk, revising. Until next time!

Mark


“There are no great writers, only great re-writers.” ~Hemingway