Writers, Like Farmers, Wear Many Hats

A farm owner wears many hats. One day he might be a heavy equipment operator, another day a truck driver or a mechanic. Another day you will find him on the telephone wearing his CEO hat negotiating a commodity sale, or the purchase of a piece of equipment. Still another day he might be found in the office doing the books and paying the bills. I know all this because that’s how I made my living.

When I became a writer I soon learned that writers, too, are called upon to stretch themselves and don many hats. Some fiction writers write in many genres. Fiction is my favorite area and I have written four novels, each in a different genre. My first was a novel based on the exploits of an errant preacher. My second was a fictional biography of a real woman of the West. My third was a political fantasy, and my fourth was a novella featuring the adventures of a young boy growing up during the 1940s. (Yes, this last book is loosely based on my own life experiences.) When asked that question, I respond by saying there is a little bit of me in Buddy, and a little bit of Buddy in me.

After the Buddy book, I was asked by IDAHO magazine to write a profile on Wilson Rawls the Idaho author who penned the children’s classic Where the Red Fern Grows. I had never done that kind of writing before and I was not sure I had the ability for such a story. Especially on someone with Wilson Rawls’ stature. But with patient tutelage from the magazine’s managing editor we turned out a respectable piece which launched me into another area of writing with another hat to wear. This magazine free-lance hat has put me into the world of short stories, personal profiles, and reminisces of days long past.

Later, I was again called upon to stretch my wings. The managing editor of a daily newspaper asked if I would be interested in writing a weekly column. Sigh…another hat. I told him that I had never thought of myself as a columnist. “I don’t think I’m up to the challenge,” I said. He convinced me to give it try, anyway.As of this date, I have begun my fifth year writing for the paper. I mention all this not for the purpose of bragging, but rather to illustrate the many stretches and challenges that are put to us as writers.

My latest hat has made me stretch a bit further and delve into the world of screenplays. I signed up for an online screenwriting course and have just finished the first draft adaptation of my Buddy book into a movie. Now let me tell you, that’s a whole ‘nuther ball game; a different style of writing altogether. The reader has to actually see the movie on paper through the characters‘ dialogue and their actions. We can only write what can be seen on the screen. As stated in my lesson manual, screenplays are sparse in detail. The screen writer must learn to strike a balance by providing only enough description for the reader to “see” the film and still keep things brief enough for that reader to experience a sense of “moving” through the story. Scripts must adhere to a strict format as well. If one deviates from that format, the script will in all likelihood not even get a reading, let alone be considered for purchase.

Something else I learned about screenplay writing is that screenplays usually appear in two scripts; the spec script and the shooting script. The spec script is the script that a producer buys. It contains very little detail about camera angles, or any other kind of direction. All that comes later in the shooting script.

All in all, this screenplay has been a fun challenge. Although novels are still my favorite area of writing, with the aid and direction from my screenplay instructor, I am looking forward to seeing the final product of my little movie tale and living the dream of seeing it on the big screen someday.

The last hat we writers must don, and next to the labor of actually writing that Great American Novel, might just be the most important hat in this present era of writing. It is the marketing hat. Gone with the wind are the days of sitting back after you’ve sold your novel to that big publisher in New York and waiting for the royalty checks to roll in. That still may be true to a certain extent for the established authors like Tom Clancy, and Stephen King, or Sarah Palin (Sarah’s book was a bestseller even before it was released) but not so for us relatively unknown authors. Chances are, today, if we are going to get published at all, we have to go the self-published route, and this means we are now marketers as well as writers. We must do the promotion for our books on our web pages, blogs, and social media,

Welcome to the new era of writing. Woe is me. With my disdain for computers, and my illiteracy of the internet and the social networks, I’m wondering if this last hat might be too large and will just slide down over my ears. Oh…well.

--Bill Corbett

Bill lives in Pocatello. He is a two time Associated Press award-winning columnist and writes fiction under the name Will Edwinson. His national award-winning book, Buddy…His Trials and Treasures, is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, or by asking for it at your favorite bookstore. Check his web site and blog at www.willedwinson.com. Bill also writes free-lance for IDAHO magazine.

First Person

Reading first person point of view I feel like I'm there feeling what the character feels, hating, crying, loving, and laughing right along. Emotions are raw in first person. The story is more intense. I see and feel the story. The reader takes that journey.

Writing a first person narrative is sharing an experience of an internal journey of discovery. I grow or had an 'aha' moment. First person point of view, where I'm inside the head of one of the characters, is a way to pull the reader into a story. Seeing everything through that person's eyes gives the reader a sense of immediacy, a sense of actually living the novel--if it's done right, of course.

Fiction or nonfiction, there I am. A part of me is available for others to see. I find that scary, perhaps just awkward, but a challenge. According to Cheryl Wright of "Fiction Factor," first person narration is becoming more and more popular, and this is being recognized by many publishers. The Factor says the trick is to eliminate most of those nasty "I" words that so easily begin each sentence. For example, "I glanced at the clock," becomes "my eyes darted to the clock."

John Steinbeck told The Winter of Our Discontent partially in first person. Some books often tagged first person are The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

--Mary Wood
Mary graduated from University of Missouri, Columbia with a Masters of Social Work. Having completed clinicals in mental health, she worked for a county health department and spent several years of her career on a neuropsychiatric unit of a hospital. (She always knew she would get help.) Having retired she has jumped off another cliff to try her hand at writing. "Writing is the chance to make things up, fantasize. I can say anything, almost." Home is Southern Indiana. As an adult she lived in several states and traveled the U. S., settling in Idaho Falls, ID. She loves the mountains and the snow.

The Right Place to Start Your Book

A good hook is essential to any book, but a terrific first line, first paragraph, or even first page won't save a story that begins in the wrong place. Neither is anything more disappointing to a reader who bought a book based on that terrific hook, only to find the story fading away after a few pages or chapters. (I won't get into the burning question as to why such a book was published in the first place. That's fodder for another blog.)

A book will sometimes cover the entire life of your main character from birth to death. That doesn't mean you should start it when the character emerges from the womb. More often than not, a story will be only a brief span of time in a character's life–a few days, weeks, or months. Hopefully, you have chosen that time frame because something is about to happen that will change your character's life forever. It will be a turning point. Don't wait until page 100 to start this moment of change. Starting a story too soon, or too late, will result in weighty narrative and flashbacks that will slow your story to a crawl. You'll get lost, confused, discouraged and might even give up on the book entirely. Chances are, if it isn't working for you, as the writer, then you haven't found that moment of change and the best way to present it.

The scene that you open your book with should set the stage for what is to follow, foreshadowing the direction the story will take. This beginning should make a promise to the reader that will be fulfilled at the end. In today's fast-paced world, the reader will want to immediately see the conflict that will be the crux of the story, and one that will be resolved. This opening scene should be one that encapsulates the theme, even if you only demur to it. The tone might even hint at an array of outcomes that will entice the reader on.

It is also important before you write one word, that you know where your character has been, where he is going, and how he will get there. You need to know your ending before you can craft a truly effective beginning.

Even though you might have a great hook that won "The Best Hook" in some nationwide writer's contest, if you can't keep the momentum going, you haven't started your story in the right place.

Here is a wonderful beginning from Carlos Ruiz Zafón's new book, "The Angel's Game." See if this draws you into the story and then ask yourself if he has foreshadowed, promised, offered conflict and motivation, hinted at a theme as well as the sense that the character, who we meet in the next paragraph, is about to face the moment that will change his life forever.

"A writer never forgets the first time he accepted a few coins or a word of praise in exchange for a story. He will never forget the sweet poison of vanity in his blood and the belief that, if he succeeds in not letting anyone discover his lack of talent, the dream of literature will provide him with a roof over his head, a hot meal at the end of the day, and what he covets the most: his name printed on a miserable piece of paper that surely will outlive him. A writer is condemned to remember that moment, because from then on he is doomed and his soul has a price."

--Linda Sandifer
Linda is the award-winning author of thirteen novels. Several of her books have been translated into Norwegian, Swedish, Romanian, and Russian. She has won such awards as Idaho Writer of the Year, Affaire de Coeur's Reader's Choice Award, and Women Writing the West's Laura Award. She has worked as a secretary, a bank teller, a technical editor, and once even trained to be a beautician. Born and raised on a ranch, she has spent most of her life in Idaho. A mother and grandmother, she and her husband own and operate the ranch her grandfather homesteaded in 1915. You can see more about her books at www.linda-sandifer.com

What I’ve Learned on the Freeway of Mediocre Success ...or... How I Survived the Wild Switchbacks Without Tearing Out All My Hair

I am sitting here Christmas Eve day, pencil in hand, writing this blog. No kids, no blaring music, no Christmas reruns. The tranquil silence is broken only by the ticking of a clock. Outside, all is white. An occasional snow flake angles down to earth. Ah, such peaceful solace....

Why the pencil? And why the silence?

Because the blasted electricity is off, that’s why! Plus my computer blacked out on me. So it’s back to my humble beginnings. I had written my first book with pencil and paper, deliriously ignorant of all the mistakes I’d made. Since then the more knowledge I gained, the more I realized that it would be the last time I’d write with pure abandonment.

For my second attempt I started writing on a manual typewriter, the contrivance of choice, to pound out my stirring prose. Oh, I remember the bottles of whiteout I drained trying to fix typos, and the slightly skewed alphabetic characters after re-adjusting the paper and retyping the letters.

Then came the electric typewriter. Wonderful gadget! And much nicer to use. All one had to do to return the carriage was to push a button. No more of that manual stuff. However, I swear I still bought enough whiteout to gain controlling interest in the company. Maybe it would help to know how to type.

Next came a new invention called the personal computer. More and more of my fellow writers bought one and dove right in, composing their books on odd-named brands. I, on the other hand, waited almost three months before gathering the courage to type on my new Kaypro instead of using it as a glorified flower stand. What if I hit the wrong key and lost something important?

But one significant factor hit home. No more cockeyed symbols or having to use whiteout!

Buckling down, I faced the screen and typed. By evening, I had written the first chapter of what was to become my second published book. When I started to shut off the computer, I lost it all. Frantic I called my salesman, and he helped me restore my document. Right off I learned not to pass out in such situations. Most of the time, all is not lost.

Now, we writers are laboring in a whole new field where it’s even easier to write the book of our dreams using built-in spell check, thesaurus, and a dictionary. And let’s not forget the Internet, be it for good or bad. Many of us began our careers on antiquated machines. (Anyone can view these items at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.) We weren’t born with a silver computer chip in our mouths like the younger generation. Even self-promotion has changed and is made easier by Cyberspace. That is, for someone who knows how to build web and blog sites.

Both projects are daunting to those of us who cut their writing teeth on typewriter keys. But to be successful, do it we must. Then there’s e-mail lists and electronic newsletters. Phew! When would a person find time to write?

What comes after you sold your book? Advance buzz.

If you publicized your novel as it is released, you’re too late! I learned an author should start online promotion at least six months before publication. I didn’t have this tool with my books.

The Internet and modern technology have opened new pathways not only for promotions, but for reaching out to readers and networking. When you post to loops or groups, think before you write. Or you might regret it later. The Net is not the venue for trash-talking peers or dishing editors or agents.

Nothing you vent or complain about is sacred, and CAN get out. There are authors who still do this after being warned against it.

I also learned we authors should periodically Google ourselves to see what pops up. Others might attribute comments to us we did not say, or something we did not do. On a whim, I Googled. A name came up along with mine, and I was flabbergasted!

Seems a famous model is on the cover of my first book. Hard to believe, I went to his official fan club site, clicked on book covers,(page 4)scrolled down, and there on the bottom row, third from the left is a picture of my book, TENDER DECEPTIONS, featuring Fabio. What I could have done, promotion wise, with that knowledge if I had known. I could have joked about it when I was on an ABC morning show. Darn!

So, in the end it all boils down to one question...does anyone want to buy a case of whiteout, cheap?

--Sherry Roseberry
Sherry Roseberry won Idaho Writer of the Year with her first novel. Besides her historicals, she's the author of four plays, short stories, and articles. A dedicated thespian, she's given workshops on using acting techniques in writing at local, regional, and national conferences of Romance Writers of America. Her lifelong dream came true when she had the opportunity to appear in the movie, HANDCART. The experience was glorious even though the winter scenes were filmed in (average) 20-degree weather. Writing is in her blood, but her greatest treasures are her five children and nineteen grandchildren.

The Dreaded Critique

If you are lucky enough to belong to a writer’s group, you are no doubt familiar with the critique process. The critique offers the author an early impression of their work and ideas for improvement before it finds its way to a persnickety editor. However, submitting your work in person to a group is like baring your soul, taking the risk of being made painfully aware of your creative shortcomings. But the critique need not be a dreadful experience if a few simple rules are observed by the reviewers and the author.

First, before submitting your pride and joy to the group, be sure it is well polished and edited. No first drafts please. On occasion the author may seek comments on a synopsis to flush out plot problems, or may ask for brainstorming on ideas for plot improvement.

The critique should overlook trivial problems with grammar and punctuation, but rather view the bigger picture, offering help on plot inconsistencies, poor dialogue, factual problems, shifty point of view, loose ends and the story killers of too much passivity and “telling” not “showing.”

To start the process, the author may provide a short background on the piece being presented along with suggestions on areas where they wish the group to focus. The author should read (or have a colleague read) their text out loud without interruption. A maximum of five pages is suggested. Handouts are ok, as long as reviewers can resist using the text for line by line editing.

After the reading, comments should start with a person next to the author and proceed around the group in order. Each reviewer should offer positive comments, followed by a single, constructive thought, the most important of his/her observations, and one not noted by a previous person. Less critical points and grammar/spelling/punctuation issues can be passed on to the author afterward, perhaps jotted down on the handout.

During the critique, the author should absorb the comments without argument or explanation, but instead listen, take notes and ask questions for clarification. Later, locked in his/her lonely garret, the author should decide what to do with the feedback, remembering that the story is his/her own, and not all comments are going to necessarily improve the work.

--Richard Earl Rice

Richard grew up in Southern California and received his BS and MS degrees in Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. In an exciting three-decade technical career, he was involved in NASA’s space program and in nuclear energy and novel energy production research for the Energy Department. He traveled extensively throughout North America, Europe and Asia, presenting the results of his work and collaborating with other research institutions. Richard began writing as a teenager, covering high school sports for the local newspaper. He continued writing throughout his career, producing a number of technical papers, articles and reports. He recently decided to end his engineering career and write full time. Since then, he has produced two novels and has started his third. He has also written several short stories, two of which were accepted by the Idaho Magazine. Richard lives with his family on the Snake River in Southeastern Idaho.

Novel Beginnings (First Sentences, First Paragraphs)

We, as fiction writers, face a great challenge to please today’s impatient readers. We have less than seven minutes to capture them and keep them reading our novel. In other words, our first three pages must hook the reader’s interest enough to make them spend the several hours or more our book demands of them.

First sentences of any writing are important. Does it convey an interesting personality or action that will lure the reader to read on? Can it be made more intriguing by introducing something unusual, shocking, or surprising to the reader? Does it create a mood, state the theme of the novel, or foreshadow a major event in the story or tell the end? Does it challenge you to reveal as much about the main character--in one sentence? A terrific sentence on page two or three won’t help if the reader never gets there.

The opening paragraph should make the reader curious about an exciting character or a relationship, a dramatic situation, or introduce a setting, or a combination of all. It should also enhance the story.

First words of a novel are the trigger of curiosity--the “narrative hook”, and suggest the kind of book it is. An intriguing opening is the easy way to capture the reader. Another way, more leisurely, is to seduce the reader through omens, giving the reader a feeling something is going to happen.

There are many ways to arouse the reader at the start of a novel: a character wants something important, wants it very much and wants it now; or a likeable character can be threatened. We must get the reader involved in a character who is more interesting than most of the people who surround us in life (Blue Sage Fiction Writers are excluded from this category). How to do that? Best bet is to start with a scene that the reader can see--and start that scene as close to its climax as feasible to involve the reader quickly.

Push yourself. By experimenting lies therein the chance for true brilliance.

--Sandra Lord
Sandra spent the early years of her life in Washington. Graduating with a B.A. degree from Washington State University, she worked for thirty years in the nuclear industry as a technical writer/editor. She is published in nonfiction (newspaper article and co-authored technical reports). A long-time resident of Idaho, she is now retired and writes mainstream fiction. She has completed a military novel.

A Hungry Heart

One who works with his hands is a laborer.
One who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
One who works with his hands, his head and his heart, is a master.
Anonymous

Beyond the short drive down I-5 to Tacoma, over the huge toll bridge that crosses the narrows, Highway 16 winds its way through the evergreen trees of the peninsula. There the quaint little towns of Gig Harbor, Silverdale and Port Orchard beg me to come for a visit. They offer sandy beaches bordering Puget Sound, sail boats bobbing near the docks, blue waters glistening in the sun. And here I sit at my computer deleting yet another dreadful sentence.

Writing isn’t easy; you must develop discipline. It’s a labor of love, but a labor just the same. It’s creative in nature, yet no matter how imaginative the author, no matter how talented, you have to sit down at the computer and do the work. You must sit alone for hours writing, crossing out, and rewriting your sentences, your paragraphs, your chapters, until at last your book is complete. You invent heroes and heroines and put them in perilous circumstances. You create romantic encounters that cause your heart to flutter as you plot your story, but the book doesn’t get written until you do the laborer’s work.

Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and prepositional phrases are tools of the writer. This is the craftsman portion of writing, but that’s not all. There are synonyms and antonyms. There’s the pattern of the scenes; goal, conflict, disaster, and the sequel scene that has reaction, dilemma and decision. There are the opening hook, turning points, midpoint and climax. You have to know how to handle dialogue, narrative, setting, and characterization. You must keep an active voice, avoid passive sentences and always stay within the boundaries the publisher dictates. You need to put all of it together in a way that keeps the readers turning the pages. And just when you think you’ve accomplished all that, you discover you have to write a cover letter, a query and. . . the dreaded synopsis. You persevere. You read, take classes, and study the works of fellow writers because you know you must stay alert to every aspect of the craft.

And of course you study the masters. One who writes with his heart won’t settle for anything but the best turn of the phrase. You describe just how the light slanted into the room, how the scent of roses made the air heavy with perfume, and how the hero’s heart grieved at the loss of his heroine in such a way that no one has described it before. You are ever in search of the perfect word. You strive to become a master. You work with your hands, your head, and your heart.

For example, I may tell you, “I love to travel. When I do, I learn about the people who live in the areas I visit. I won’t stop traveling until I am unable to make the trip.” Instead, Tennyson, the laborer, the craftsman, the master, said it like this:

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink life to the lees. . .
I am become a name; For always roaming with a hungry heart. . .
And this grey spirit yearning in desire to follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bounds of human thought. . .
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

To become a writer, you must have a love for the written word. The hours are long, the rewards are sometimes few. You reach down into the Cracker Jacks box of your soul and hope to come up with the prize. You pour out your precious words onto the paper with the chance that they might be rejected, but you write because you must. You write because something inside you yearns to be said.

--Maxine Metcalf
Maxine is the author of a psychology book, "Reality For Parents of Teens." She has written numerous articles on drug and alcohol rehabilitation, how the brain works, and setting and accomplishing goals. She has authored lesson manuals for teaching classes on cognitive self-change. Maxine attended college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Idaho State University. She counseled for a women's program, Discovery House and for Road to Recovery, a men's and Women's drug rehabilitation program. She taught prison rider return classes for Probation and Parole in the state of Idaho, taught in the women's prison, and worked with Child Protection Services in Idaho as well. Maxine currently runs a business, Lakeland gifts, @ www.lakelandgifts.com and writes fiction novels.