Writers On The Move

Plot Possibilities...

Writer’s block? Try one of these:

· Your character gets a phone call that changes everything.

· There is a car accident.

· A secret is revealed.

· The weather changes.

· The power goes out.

· Someone picks a fight with your character.

· Your character gets his/her fortune read, or even just breaks open a fortune cookie. What does it say? What is your character’s reaction?

· A shiver runs down your character’s spine. He/she has a bad feeling…

· The car breaks down/runs out of gas/pops a tire.

· Your character is out of milk.

· Your character is allergic to ________ and, unbeknownst to him/her, has been exposed to exactly the thing he/she is allergic to.

· An animal enters the story.

· Your character receives a mysterious postcard/letter in the mail/email.

· Your character’s best friend suddenly stops speaking to him/her for no apparent reason.

· Your character's significant other, brother, sister, mother, father, or someone else close to them says, “I have something I've been meaning to tell you…”

· A new person moves in next door.

· Your character is invited to _______. Does he/she want to go?

· Bring in a holiday, any holiday.

· “Someone, call 911!!”

Dallas Woodburn is the author of two award-winning collections of short stories and editor of Dancing With The Pen: a collection of today's best youth writing. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize three years in a row and her nonfiction has appeared in a variety of national publications including Family Circle, Writer's Digest, The Writer, and The Los Angeles Times. She is the founder of Write On! For Literacy and Write On! Books Youth Publishing Company and is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Fiction Writing at Purdue University, where she teaches undergraduate writing courses and serves as Fiction Editor of Sycamore Review.

Pacing in Writing

Pacing is important to writing. And no, I don’t mean walking back and forth, trying to figure out ways not to sit down at the computer and write!

Pacing is used to control the speed of the plot. Pacing is manipulating time. Most writing gurus these days advise to “arrive late and leave early.” By this, they mean, start in the middle of the action or with an element of suspense that will help prompt the reader to keep reading.

You don’t need to set up the scene with lots of description and backstory. We don’t necessarily need to know what this person’s history is and how he/she got there, just to know that he/she is in some kind of problem or crisis and needs to solve it.

A crisis moment has to be in what I call “real time”—written as if it is happening right now (even if you are using past tense). Summarizing or including it as a backflash does not create the same amount of tension. Summarizing is simply “telling” us what happened, rather than showing our character in trouble. Backstory has already happened, so that makes it less active. The reader knows it has already happened and what the outcome is, to a certain extent, because our hero is still with us. So it’s not as “immediate.”

Summary certainly can be used effectively. It covers a longer period of time in a shorter passage. You don’t need to write paragraphs or pages describing the trip from one point to the other. Using summary in this case, helps with pacing, and speeds up the story by “leaving out the boring parts,” as Elmore Leonard advises.

You can control pacing with sentence structure. Long, flowing sentences can slow down the action. Short sentences build tension by propelling the reader forward.

Dialogue and internal monologues can affect pacing, by changing the rhythm . Short interchanges of dialogue between characters increase the reading speed. Long speeches by a certain character will slow it down. If you feel like the story needs to pick up the pace, look for areas with too much dialogue, internal monologue, or exposition. Or vice versa, not enough.

Does each paragraph serve to move the story forward? Could you cut or condense that paragraph (or line or page) and still preserve the meaning? Can you cut your first and last paragraphs in a scene and keep the meaning.

Does anyone have other pacing tips to add?

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A native Montanan, Heidi M. Thomas now lives in Northwest Washington. Her first novel, Cowgirl Dreams, is based on her grandmother, and the sequel, Follow the Dream, has recently won the national WILLA Award. Heidi has a degree in journalism, a certificate in fiction writing, and is a member of Northwest Independent Editors Guild. She teaches writing and edits, blogs, and is working on the next books in her “Dare to Dream” series.

Summer Time!

For my family June is beach month. The entire family gathers at a beach house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and spends a week of fun, sun, food, drink, sharing, caring and just hanging out. I am blessed to have a family that gets along and really, really likes one another. Rarely is there a harsh word, a disgruntled moment or hurt feelings, although I can be a bit grumpy in the morning. We have tons of funny stories that we tell every year. We reminisce about our childhood and mom wonders where she was when we were doing all those crazy things because she was a stay at home mom.

We take a lot of pictures, make stupid videos. Recording these times is a way of preserving the unique character and the unique characters of our family. I want my children to know their aunts and uncles and I want the cousins to know the joy of extended family. My co-author and I even came up with the idea for our movement book series watching the kids play at the beach and we finished the first book at the beach the following year. The beach seems to bring out the best in all of us.

Whatever you do this month, celebrate family, fun and friendships.

Here are some great kids books to enjoy this summer.

www.wholechildpublishing.com

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/summer/kids-books/

What's on your summer reading list?

Martha Swirzinski
www.MovementPlus.com

103 Synonyms for ANGER or ANGRY

Sometimes certain words keep popping up in your manuscript and you wish there were other forms of the word you could substitute. Or maybe you’re looking for a more specific term for the basic word you have in mind. Well, if the word you’re using is ANGER or ANGRY, here are 103 useful alternatives:

1. Acrid: extremely harsh (or an unpleasant taste or smell)

2. Acrimonious: harshly unpleasant

3. Aggravated: angrily agitated

4. Angered: made angry

5. Annoyed: angry about being disturbed

6. Antagonistic: angrily opposed

7. Antipathetic: expressing aggression or aversion

8. Apoplectic: violently angry, from the word apoplexy, meaning having a stroke

9. Ballistic: explosively angry, from the word meaning projectile flight

10. Bellicose: aggressively angry, from the synonym for warlike

11. Belligerent: see bellicose

12. Bent out of shape: as in stooped over while screaming

13. Beside oneself: seeming out of character

14. Bitter: resentful

15. Blue in the face: see frustrated, from the idea of facial discoloration caused by extreme emotion

16. Boiling: extremely angry, meaning being agitated like heated water

17. Bristling: defensively angry, like an animal’s hair bristling as it responds to a threat

18. Burning: extremely angry, from the body overheating due to intense feeling

19. Caustic: cruelly angry, or sarcastic

20. Chagrin: distress caused by humiliation or failure

21. Cheesed off: see frustrated (also “bored” or “disgusted”)

22. Choleric: easily angered

23. Churlish: disrespectfully angry

24. Cold: emotionally remote anger

25. Contrary: uncooperatively angry

26. Cool: angry but emotions are held in check

27. Cross

28. Disgruntlement: ill-humored or discontented

29. Discontent

30. Displeasure

31. Embittered: made upset

32. Enraged: violently angry

33. Exasperated: see frustrated

34. Fired up: see hot

35. Fit to be tied: extremely angry, suggesting that the angry person should be restrained

36. Flare up: so angry you might turn into fire

37. Fly off the handle: refers to loose ax head flying off the handle when swung

38. Foaming: so angry as to suggest insanity caused by hydrophobia (rabies), as in foaming at the mouth is symptomatic of the disease

39. Frustrated: upset due to obstacles or challenges

40. Fuming: extremely angry, from the association of a volcano or other heated natural phenomenon

41. Fury: destructive rage; refers to mythic Furies (avenging Greek deities who torment criminals and inflict plagues)

42. Furious: intensely angry

43. Galled: fret or wear by friction; become sore from rubbing

44. Go berserk: ancient Scandinavian warrior frenzied in battle and held to be invulnerable

45. Going crook: losing one’s temper

46. Hopping: jumping up and down to express anger

47. Hopping mad: see hopping

48. Horn-mad: extremely angry

49. Hostile: actively intimidating, unfriendly, or resistant

50. Hot: physical discomfort caused by anger

51. Hot under the collar: see hot

52. Icy: see cold

53. Impassioned

54. In a lather: referring to ‘lathering at the mouth’ from Rabies

55. In high dudgeon: state of indignation

56. Incensed: see indignant

57. Indignant: angry because of a real or perceived slight or unjust attack

58. Inflamed: see hot

59. Infuriated: see furious

60. Incense: set on fire

61. Irascibility: easily provoked anger

62. Irate: see furious

63. Ireful: see irate

64. Irk: irritate

65. Livid: intensely angry to the point of being unable to control oneself (livid, however, can also mean “bruised,” “pale,” or “colorful,” with the second sense associated with pain, shock, or fear)

66. Mad: insane or crazy; also used to mean angry as in unable to think clearly due to madness

67. Malcontent: displeased

68. Outraged: angry about an offense

69. Passionate: easily angered

70. Peeve: resentful

71. Perturbed: upset (or confused)

72. Pissed off: aggravated

73. Piqued: aroused through provocation

74. Provoke: arouse to feeling or action

75. Rabid: see foaming

76. Raging: see furious

77. Rancorous: malevolently angry

78. Rankled: resentful

79. Ranting: irrationally angry

80. Raving: see ranting

81. Riled: upset; quickened heartbeat

82. Roiled: see riled

83. Ruffled feathers: as in a bird’s raised feathers to intimidate

84. Seeing red: so angry that one’s vision is blurred by excess blood flow in the eyes

85. Seething: repressing violent anger

86. Shirty: British for irritated

87. Smoldering: see seething

88. Sore: see indignant

89. Soreheaded: see indignant

90. Steamed: see hot

91. Steaming: see hot

92. Storming: anger suggestive of stormy weather

93. Stormy: see storming

94. Teed off: annoyed

95. Tetchiness: (tetchy) another form of touchy or irritable

96. Testiness: easily annoyed

97. Ticked: angry; also “ticked off”

98. Vexation: troubling

99. Vitriolic: see caustic

100. Worked up: upset

101. Wrathful: see furious

102. Wroth: see furious

103. Wrought up: see “worked up”

Rebecca Ryals Russell.

Whose Story is This?

What's the Story?

I'm editing a science fiction novel right now, the first novel I've attempted that has multiple points of view, and it's gotten me reflecting on how vital it is to decide whose story it is, and what are the point-of-view characters.

The book involves two four-way relationships and an antagonist involved in a political thread. This is the third major revision. The first time I told the wrong story, that of the younger four, from a first person POV. The second I wrote for an online class that required I write a certain number of words on a new story. Though the draft was sketchy, I tried to both the older four and younger four. One of the POV characters was the main character from the first revision, and as a result the primary story lost focus.

I had put the second version aside and was, I thought, almost finished with the first version when a reader convinced me that my heart wasn't in it, that I was much more invested in the thread involving the older four characters. Reluctantly, I decided she was right, and went back to rethink the whole thing.

I decided to concentrate on the older four. Any scene involving one of the younger four's point of view went out the window. That left me with the four older characters, some of whom had been short-changed in both previous versions, and the antagonist. I knew from the first version that not having him as a point of view character weakened the story.

I decided to start with two chapters featuring my main character, and then a chapter devoted to each of the other POVs. These chapters were new and they forced me to consider what I needed to show about the characters, why it was important to the story, and how to tell it. One character especially, who had been the most neglected in the two previous drafts, sprang into focus when I wrote her initlal chapter. This influenced the interplay between them and how the story unfolded from then on.

I am not a detailed plotter, and certain things only become real to me as I write them. In the previous version, the characters in the primary relationship had been off stage often enough that I did not sufficiently develop the nuances of their relationship. In this one, I was forced to consider them each far more carefully in order to clarify their voices.

I did have some scenes I quite liked from version two, and fortunately they involved the older four, so I was able to use them. The first version also had a couple of scenes I liked, but, alas, they did not -- could not -- make it into the book. Perhaps at some point I can write a short story that could include some of it.

All this, of course, still left me struggling with the sheer mechanics of managing five character's voices, and of keeping track of whose voice I was in at any one time. I started by naming the chapters for the character and switching only at chapter breaks. About a third of the way through the writing gods smiled on me, and Terry Odell sent a shout-out on the Savvy Authors email loop about her upcoming point of view workshop. I signed up immediately. It was a huge help.

Will I do better next time in deciding on my point of view characters? Maybe -- maybe not. I will give it the thought it deserves, but I'm still going to be ready to discover that I've made a mistake and need to go back and regroup.

Here are some other articles you might want to check out:

Market Yourself As the Expert You Know You Are

Someone Beat You To It, Huh

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Guest Post by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Maybe we all have a tendency to feel disgruntled when our local newspaper quotes an expert who isn’t—really!—as expert as we are! Worse, what about when CNN features a talking head on the subject of their book and they disagree with you! Seems you have a choice. You can grumble or you can take action.

Use your Googling skills to contact whoever was in charge (or to blame!) for this lack of foresight. Journalists. Producers. Talk show hosts. Give yourself enough time to cool off and put your tactful hat on and contact them.
Introduce yourself being very clear about your credentials. In fact, put the credentials upfront before your name unless you’re already famous. (For a script/template of how to approach reporters and others responsible for stories from master marketer Raleigh Pinskey, see the Index of The Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo).
Follow up with a personal cover letter and a copy of your book. Oh, and your media kit!
Follow up again when something similar hits the news. You may be remembered. In fact, expand your campaign to include others who might cover the story.

Don’t assume that because you write fiction, you can’t be an expert. Of course you can! I am an expert on tolerance, polygamy, and a host of related subjects based on the theme and setting of my novel This Is the Place (www.budurl.com/ThisIsthePlace) and on my life’s experiences on those topics. And yes, I was a guest on at least a dozen radio shows because of that expertise. All you have to do is examine the subjects of your fiction and see how it relates to what’s in the news.
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second ediction of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

New Business Logo Design for A Writer's World Ezine

Creating a business logo design for your writing, especially if you offer services or products is an essential part of marketing.

Taking this into account and listening to my writing coach, I've been working on creating a focused platform for my writing and writing services and I think I finally came up with something.

Above is the new logo for The Writing World newsletter.

I've done a poll on the logo design, you can check it out HERE, but after getting emailed feedback, I decided on a more unique logo.

Now I know I'm taking a risk with the 'old world' feel of this design, but once anyone reads my posts or other content, they will quickly realize my writing is current, informative, and professional.

While you do need acquire and analyze input from others when deciding on a logo, unless you can hire a professional you'll have to go with your gut for the overall design. And, remember, you can't please everyone. Some people will 'get' what you're conveying and others won't. That's the nature of things.

Also, when promoting your newsletter, or now some marketers are calling it an ezine, you need to have a FOCUSED landing page for the opt-in.

What? Why?

Simple, today's readers are usually scanning what they read and looking for more information. This will likely have them scanning your site, if the information they read is valuable, for other articles or offers. THIS IS DISTRACTING.

If a reader lands on a page that ONLY tells them WHY they should OPT-IN to your ezine or newsletter, and your copy is effective, they will be focused and be much more likely to SIGN-UP.

You can check out my new OPT-IN page at The Writing World Newsletter
(In regard to the url for the site, I tried to get the domain name awritersworld.com, but it was taken.)

Another tip for promoting your ezine is to always offer something of value - a free gift. The gift should relate to what your site is about and be something the reader can use.

That's about it, except I'd love your feedback on the new logo. PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.

Oh, if you haven't signed-up yet, PLEASE DO! Want to know why you should? Check out
The Writing World.

If you have the inclination to sign-up NOW, there's an opt-in on the sidebar, right on top!

Thanks!

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Visit Karen Cioffi Writing and Marketing for more writing and marketing information.

For more on logos, check out:
Logos for Writers

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