Favorite Writing Advice from the Inkers.

From July 2010
Everyone probably has one or two bits of favorite writing advice. Here are some of ours.

Sue

 Writing on Both Sides of the Brain by Henriette Anne Klauser

“When you first began to write, you had someone standing over you (for your own good) correcting your form, grammar, and spelling…..Today when you sit down to write, chances are that your teacher is still with you, standing over your left shoulder, correcting, critiquing, circling uppercase letters with her red pencil, and in other subtle and not so subtle ways discouraging your from writing, generally stemming the flow of words.” (Right on!! Greg Dean, a stand up comedy teacher, came up with a solution for this: Never criticize your self in your performing space. Get yourself a cheap bath rug. When you feel yourself getting ready to criticize your output, leave your performing space. Stand on the rug and critique yourself. Then return to your performing space. This really helped me. It also gets you to stand up from your computer on a frequent basis.)  Libba Bray at 2010 Writers Day suggested naming your critic. I love that one.

And from NanoWriMo: Give yourself a gift: a deadline

Hilde

Jane Yolen on Writing

There is no such thing as the time fairy dropping bits of time for aspiring writers to trip over or find. If you want to be a writer, you find or make or grab or take time from whatever else is going on. Otherwise you really don’t want to be a writer, you just want to have written.

First rule of writing- B I C- Butt in chair

Second rule or writing- follow rule one.

Kris











From the Medicated and Motivated School of Writing and Anne Taintor, Ms. Dish recommends the following:

1) “Why yes, I am that kind of girl – thank you.” - Write what you know.

2) “Old enough to know better, too old to give a rat’s ass.” - Learn the rules, then break them.

3) “…And then Fairy Godmother said, ‘Mojitos for everyone!’….”  -Get it all out. Overwrite first, you can always clean up later.

4) “A true friend would help hide the body.” - Get someone to edit your work in an objective manner.

Lupe 

  







"Always start with a fresh tablet."  Hammurabi, King of Babylon

"And the Lord said, 'smite the Adverbs, for they are a blight upon thy manuscript.'"

3:14 Book of Grammar

"A little sacrifice goes a long way."

Tezcatlipoca, Aztec Sun God

"Sharpen thy quill, scribble on thy parchment and heed not the call of naysayers."

St. Ernesto, Patron Saint of Unpublished Writers

 "Find the gold in your landscape."

Hernando Cortez, Spanish Conquistador

"Fear not to cut, cut and cut."

Jack The Ripper

"Every period is a revolution."

Pancho Villa, Mexican Revolutionary

"Ahhhh....write some 'em about rabbits."

Bugs Bunny

"Whadda I look like, Pablo Neruda?"

Joe the Cook, Good Grub Diner

What was the advice that stuck with you?

Now what?

Now What?

by Hilde Garcia

Deadlines.

I hate deadlines.

The panic that ensues when I know one is fast approaching.  How I start to stress because of all the stuff in my way, mostly the laundry.

And yet, I seem to meet them all, even the late Sunday night scramble to post.

I have no excuses now.  The house is quiet.  Everyone’s asleep, even the dog.  The laundry is done.  My desk is cleared.  No dishes in the sink.  Today, I spent the whole day avoiding this post, so the garage and office are spotless of clutter, as a result, and I finally put away the Halloween decorations.

Talk about a now what!  I should be jumping at the chance to post, to write, perchance to say something of substance, but sadly, I am more blocked than if I had put 8 loads of laundry in my way intentionally.

And why is that?  I will tell you.  Because I finished my novel.  I revised it several times.  I locked myself in a hotel room for 4 days to get through the edits and the polish and then I sent it off and I met my self-imposed deadline.  

And then I found myself asking myself, “Now what, lady?  You are out of excuses.”

Yep, I am.  I did what I said I was going to do and then I hit a slump.  The waiting place.

Sigh.  The clutter in my mind doesn’t go away.  It only makes me crazy because I can’t seem to find any type of organizational system from The Container Store to make it neat and tidy, like my novel ended up being when I finished it.

I know I should be writing something else.  I do have some ideas of what that topic could be, but none of them have grabbed me like my first novel, my first love.  My biggest fear is that I am a one hit wonder.  I will be a hit, no question, my novel is good, but is that all I have?  What is next for me? How do I even start anew?

Beats me, if I know.

 Is it because this story hasn’t flown the coop yet and I am waiting for some type of validation that may never come?  Or if it comes, what does that mean to me?  Do I revise more and focus on that book before I can move on to a new one?

All my author pals tell me they understand and feel the same, but they have tons of ideas in the works, several published books out, and are always writing.  I can't see that being my reality.

I teach.  I manage the household.  I drive kids to cheer and football, but I do write a lot in my head… while I drive… don’t worry, I watch the road.

So let’s start a conversation.  I am pretty sure I have some soul mates out there who understand the panic.  

What DO we do when we finish a novel and have to move on?  How do we do it?  How do you get the hook that gets you going?  How do you conquer the pre-published blues?

To quote Frasier Crane, “I’m listening…”

And check out some sites/ blogs I read tonight to help me figure out what to do.  Seems that I have many kindred spirits.  But now I must go because I have a cupcake waiting for me.  (#10 of 10 Ways to Stay Sane.)

Overcoming Frustration

Write to Done

10 Ways to Stay Sane

Creative Writing Tips

What's Your Take on the Word "SAID"?

by Susan Berger

Do a search for “said-bookism.” That’s the term of substituting other words for said.

This post is mostly for people who write in the third person voice. 

(There are still some of you out there, right?)

The conventional wisdom tells writers that the word “said” is invisible to reader.

I was taught “said” is best.  Here are three quotes on the subject.

Orson Scott Card:

"Unfortunately, an astonishing number of elementary and secondary school teachers, utterly ignorant of good style, instruct their poor students to avoid overusing said. As a result, these poor students think that it's good -- even necessary -- to indulge in "said-book-ism," where the word said is always either replaced or accompanied by an adverb. Nothing is ever simply tagged; it's always replied, whispered, shouted, uttered, remarked, commented, intoned, murmured, wondered, laughed, hissed, muttered; or said bleakly, happily, merrily, snidely, nastily, angrily, loudly, softly, in astonishment, under his breath, with a smile, or ... well, you get the idea. Quite apart from the hilarity that arises from inadvertent Tom Swifties -- "I'm afraid we'll have to amputate," said the surgeon disarmingly -- it is this variety that becomes repetitive and annoying. That's because the reader is constantly being distracted from the dialogue and forced to examine meaningless, uninteresting tags.  Here is a link to the original lesson 

Kay Dacus: Debunking Writing Myths

When I was in graduate school it was explained this way: readers see “said” or “asked” much like a period or comma.  It’s more like punctuation than anything else, therefore those are unobtrusive.

However, as a reader and editor—and as someone who listens to audio books more than I read actual physical books—I can attest to the fact that “said” dialogue tags get very old very fast if those are the only way the author attributes the dialogue in his/her book.  

Just as we want to look for ways to make our writing stronger when it comes to verb or adverb use, we want to make sure we’re not overusing any words, and that includes the words said and asked, even as dialogue tags.  And the best way to do that is with action and/or introspection laced in with the dialogue.   Here's a Link to the post

                                                                                       
Elmore Leonard:        

3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with “she asseverated,” and had to stop reading to get the dictionary.

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said” . . .

. . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances “full of rape and adverbs.”

Here's a link to that post 

That being said (could not resist that one,) a lot of very good writers today are using substitutes for “said”. You don’t have to believe me. Page through some of your favorite books and look for yourself.

For your edification, here is a link to a list of substitutes for “said.”

Please read through them. (you can also download or print the list)

Please comment. Are you Pro “said” or Con “said”?

Can you add to the list?