Quotes for writing and living

by Kaye George

Today, I’d like to share some thoughts I’ve gathered over the past months and years. Maybe some of these will resonate with you and maybe some will make your day brighter.

“When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing personality over character.”

W. Somerset Maugham

“Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying I will try again tomorrow.”

Old Irish Saying

“I'm thinking literary focuses on the moment when the character changes, and the genre focuses on what the character does with that change.”

Stephen D. Rogers

"Writing is a lot like prostitution. First you do it for love. Then you do it for money. Then you recruit others."

Moliere

“How beautiful it is to do nothing and then rest afterwards.”

Spanish proverb

"Every time you sit down to write, you should be afraid of losing the reader at any moment of any page."

Playwright William Gibson

"Be  kind, because everyone you meet is fighting some sort of  battle."

Betty Webb: Author of THE KOALA OF DEATH and DESERT  LOST.
_www.bettywebb-mystery.com_ (http://bettywebbssignings.blogspot.com/)

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.”

Buddha

“That was the moment I changed from an amateur to a professional.  I assumed the burden of the professional which is to write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you are writing and aren’t writing particularly well.”

Agatha Christie

"When you compare your inside with someone else's outside, it isn't a fair comparison."

Leslie Budewitz

“Fairytales are not written to tell children that dragons exist. Children know full well that dragons exist. Fairytales are written to show children that sometimes dragons can be defeated.”

G. K. Chesterton

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”

Martha Graham

Every Word Should Count

One of my early writing instructors stressed the need to make every word count. He said each word needs to pull its own weight and every unnecessary word should be culled from the plot. Good advice that I've followed over the years, although, coupled with my journalism training, I'm sometimes too brief, leaving out desirable descriptions.

I've found that writers need to engage readers, not simply enlighten and entertain them. Creating strong word images that readers can relate to is preferable to forcing them to fill in the blanks. For example, a military Hummer conveys a much stronger image than having a protagonist ride to the rescue in a Volkswagen bug. Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone was a notable exception..

Strong verbs are necessary to give one’s plot a dynamic, energetic tone. Words such as hurried, leaped and flew as opposed to passive words like walked fast, made his way or became airborne. And as we’ve all been told, stay away from the verb to be in all its forms because it’s the weakest of words. But I confess that I still use all forms of to be in dialogue. Some rules are made to be broken, often at your own risk.

Adverbs that end in –ly also weaken a writer's prose. Use them sparingly. On the other hand, strong specific verbs give writing vitality. I’m reminded of my interview with A.B. Guthrie, Jr. who said, “The adjective is the enemy of the noun and the adverb is the enemy of damn near everything else. Writers use too many descriptive words." As for adjectives, author Lois J. Peterson once said, “One well-chosen adjective can be more effective than two or more, which used together might weaken the idea or image.” I agree.

Do we really need adverbs? Not unless it's impossible to come up with strong verbs. Eliminate the adverbs in a second draft and replace them with muscular verbs. As for adjectives, the rundown house can be rewritten as a hovel or shack. That's why every writer should have access to a thesaurus, especially an electronic one.

Word choices affect the plot’s pace. If every symphony movement maintained the same pace, the audience would fall asleep before the finale. So writers need to think of themselves as conductors, controlling the pace with word choices, syntax and variety. Long sentences and paragraphs slow the pace and seem introspective while short, choppy sentences are much more dramatic and conducive to action scenes. So, in order to keep a reader reading, sentences and paragraphs should vary in length.

Sentence rhythm is important, so reading one's work aloud before committing it to a final draft can prevent clumsy sentence structure. Some word choices bring a sentence to an abrupt halt and should be rewritten or replaced, along with all unnecessary words. The musical analogy is a good one (not my own) because sentence flow is so important.

~Jeann Henry Mead
  No Escape, the Sweetwater Tragedy

Time, Money and Choices

by Janis Patterson

I grew up in a do-it-yourself family. Okay, I grew up poor, where if you didn’t do it yourself, it probably didn’t get done. Money was to be used only if you couldn’t cobble whatever it was together at all. My mother made both hers and my clothes and even my father’s dress shirts for a while. Going out to eat was silly, since we could cook better food cheaper at home. It was almost a dictum in our house that just about anything could be fixed with duct tape, bailing wire and determination.

Our fortunes changed, of course, and money became more plentiful. We went out to eat occasionally and my dad bought store-made shirts. As an adult I am fortunate enough to be able to live comfortably and even buy all my clothes. (Which is a blessing, because though Mother was a gifted seamstress, I am a total klutz. No one in their right mind would wear what I can sew!) Still, however, the we-can-do-it-ourselves mentality was so deeply ingrained that to this day I call a repairman only when I know I cannot fix it myself. (This is written as I wait for the refrigerator serviceman.)

So what does this have to do with writing?

I am in the process of bringing out a few more books of my backlist to which I have just had the rights reverted. Since they were professionally edited at major houses back when major houses really edited, there’s little I have to do about that. I am tweaking somewhat, as I hope I am a better writer now than I was then, but nothing major enough to justify paying for the services of an editor.

But then there is the process of converting my newly-vetted document into a book. Now there are simplified processes for ebooks, one that even a complete techno-naif such as I can do, but when I began there were sheets and sheets of instructions written in a techno-speak only slightly less incomprehensible than Urdu. While now I can click a few buttons and some kind electronic server somewhere does the work for me, there is the terra incognita of print awaiting me.

Sigh.

So – where this long and convoluted post is going is that I am going to – gasp – hire the conversions done, as I did when first dipping my toe into the epublishing pond. Yes, there are those technologically gifted who sail through formatting et al and who look askance when I announce I am hiring it done, all the while telling me how simple the process is. I can only say ‘joy go with them.’ If it could be done with duct tape and bailing wire I might fare better.

I also send my apologies to the self-sufficient, do-it-yourself stalwarts of my ancestry, even as their shades look down with disapproval. “There are instructions right there!” they shout. “All you have to do is read them and follow them!”

Yeah. Right.

Both my parents (the greatest do-it-yourselfers ever born) passed away before the computer-in-every-room era, so their ghosts have no idea of what is necessary, or how much time it would take to learn what all those odd words and acronyms mean, to say nothing of what to do with them.

Yes, I could learn everything in those instructions and do it myself. For that matter, I could learn how to repair my ailing refrigerator, and, given enough time, probably learn how to build a more efficient jet engine or CAT machine. There is nothing wrong with my brain-box and I am considered to be reasonably intelligent. On the other hand, I have come to believe in the law of diminishing returns. While I could learn these things, doing so would take time, time that would be better spent writing and caring for my family.

All of life is a trade-off, so I trade money for formatting skills that I have neither time nor desire to learn and spend that time gained doing what is better for me, my career and my family. It works – even if I doubt my parents would have approved. 

August was Once my Favorite Month

When I was a kid, August was a long, long month. Full of time to do whatever I wanted which meant lots of reading and writing. (Yes, I was writing back then.)

We always went on vacation in August too. Usually to Bass Lake where we tent camped--two tents, one for mom and dad and one for me and my sis--swam and went water skiing. I also managed to have a couple of summer romances after I became a teen.

August is my birthday month which also mean a celebration of some sort. My mom was good at planning theme birthday parties, often a lunch with appropriate food and decorations. Only my close friends and female cousins were invited.

Now that I am much, much older August is still full of reading and writing--with an emphasis on the writing. This month it's writing posts for the blogs I'll be on while blog touring in October. Hubby and I don't take long vacations--instead it's a few days here and there, and quite often around some book selling event or a conference.

And that brings me to my birthday. It's a biggie--so big that I can't believe I've actually lived so long. My daughters asked me what I wanted to do--go someplace or what? I considered a trip. Hubby doesn't like to fly anymore and driving in big cities is too darn scary.

My decision, a small get-together at youngest daughter's home (hers is the biggest and in the middle for us and the eldest daughter). She and her hubby are cooking dinner, my favorites. What we'll do I'm not sure, but I suspect it'll be a lot of gabbing. I'm hoping our son will come too--though he sees us all the time--because I'd like to have all my kids together for my birthday.

Change is inevitable--and it seems to happen more often when we get older. Some of it is good, some is harder to accept.

Fortunately, as a writer, my characters continue to do all the things that I can't or don't want to do anymore. My own life might not be so active anymore but the one in my imagination that spills out over the page is still filled with adventure, peril, thrills and chills.

Marilyn aka F.M. Meredith

a partial shot of my table at the Nipomo Library this past Saturday

I No Longer Fight It

I find it impossible to turn on my computer and not go straight to email. Sure, I give myself a lecture each morning, stressing the fact that AN AUTHENTIC WRITER puts work before play. She writes a few pages before indulging in social contact. Or at least a few paragraphs before checking her e-mail. But no matter how strongly the Jiminy Cricket part of me makes the case, I blithely ignore him and start wading through the seventy or so electronic missives awaiting my attention.

The number always causes a jolt of alarm, but my system has been honed. I’ve learned to weed out the many pleas to “buy my book,” the other ads that have escaped my “junk” radar, and repeat messages. Still, a good portion of my mail comes in digest form from writers’ listservs. These I quickly scan, reading those I consider important. News that someone’s sold a book or won a contest is important. I send congratulations, because that’s important, too.

Then it happens. Though I can’t possibly read or respond to the many blog posts that come my way, I stop to read those that strike my interest. Then, more often than not, I’ll leave a comment. Sure, occasionally it’s to get the chance to win a free book, but more often it’s because the subject hits a nerve and discusses a topic dear to my heart. We writers forge close alliances and good friendships. Leaving comments on blogs and Facebook is an important way of staying in touch with the people who best understand what we do all day.

The writing world is in constant flux. Emails keep me informed of the new marketing outlets and tools we writers must master to get the word out about our books. I ignore the ones that cost money, but so many are free.

And who can resist the offers of free books for my Kindle? I ask for ARCs of books that appeal to me. I do my best to read them all, but I’ll have to live to at least two hundred before I can read all the books—paper and ebooks—awaiting my attention. Of well, this should be my worst addiction.

And there’s the genuine work-related emails that require immediate attention: Filling out a marketing questionnaire for a possible sale to a new publisher. Responding to bloggers looking for guest bloggers. Signing up for an occasional free webinar. Putting up my own blogs and emailing everyone about it.

I’m in constant touch with a group of fellow writers. So many of our exchanges are off topic. We joke, discuss outrageous things we’ve read in the news, complain about what’s bothering us, and share recipes. Of course we help one another with all writer-ly matters. One needs only to toss out a question and the suggestions and support come racing back. Where does one draw the line between what’s important for a writer’s well-being and what’s good for her craft?

Actually, I feel like a Twenty-First Jane Austen when I go through my email each morning. She wrote her letters by hand and sent them on their way. Emails are faster. I often get responses from my fellow writers who are also sitting at their computers. With all this support and bolstering, I feel better equipped to start my writing day.

The Terrible Review

By Mar Preston

I have only received one terrible review and that’s too bad because I learned a lot from the experience. I was green as grass at the new business of self-publishing in 2010 and did not hire a professional proofreader at the end of the process of publishing my first Santa Monica mystery, No Dice. 

I also thought I had to publish the book to get reviews. My worst mistake was that I didn’t know how green I was.

I hit “publish” and lived to rue the day. Cue sinister organ music.

The review still sits on Amazon. Please don’t read it. Please.  I’ve tried to get Amazon to pull it with no success.

The reviewer was someone I’d been in writing class with, who to this day has a slight and undistinguished publishing track record. He’d read what was the first paperback version of No Dice and told me on the phone everything that he later wrote in the review. I never dreamed he’d go to the lengths of posting the review under a woman’s name. I thought we were friends. This “woman” has not since posted any other reviews, which tells you something. Okay, sour grapes.

But he was right in ninety per cent of his comments. I unpublished that book so fast it made Amazon’s head spin. And I corrected those flaws. I hired two proofreaders and I rewrote whole sections according to his very helpful criticisms. Thank you. It’s a better book now as the other reviews of No Dice demonstrate.

It’s hardly the case that most writers are blinded by self-confidence. Sitting inside your own head you can’t see things clearly.  

It doesn’t help when everybody says nice things.  Sometimes a pointed comment or two from a reader can cause an author to reassess the impact of a work. And nowadays with an author controlling print on demand publication, further editing of a completed work (which was once a grandiose expense) is now feasible. 

There are fewer and fewer excuses for bad books and worse editing.

http://www.amazon.com/No-Dice-Mar-Preston/dp/0984495207/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375477195&sr=8-2&keywords=mar+no+dice

Three Weeks on the Road 

By Randy Rawls

    I had the pleasure of driving out of Delray Beach on July 2^rd, headed for Texas. Three days later, I drove into Dallas, thinking I'd come as close to paradise as I'll ever get. Yes, I love Texas. I will never deny it.

    But I ask myself why. I grew up in northeastern North Carolina. I spent a career in the Army, bouncing from here to there and back again—not once to Texas. After retirement, I wound up in Minnesota, not exactly the same weather as any part of Texas. Then back to Virginia for several years before . . . yes, I finally made it to Dallas. I loved it and began my Ace Edwards, Dallas PI, series there. Then I moved to South Florida, about as far from Texas as you can get—socially, environmentally, and weatherly. But when I drove into Texas on July 4^th, I felt like I'd come home. Yeah, as I tell folks here in South Florida and any other place I visit, my heart resides in Texas—and I mean it.

    But that was only the beginning of a wonderful trip. On Friday, I had lunch with an old friend, Bob Gaston. It was a joyous occasion as Bob has recently had his first book published—THE WAR WITHIN. It's an excellent book that spins an intriguing story of 1870's West Texas while exploring PTSD after the Civil War. Kudos to Bob. Bob and I killed about three hours while the waitress worried whether we'd ever leave. Great time. I'm hoping to conduct an interview with Bob in the near future.

    On Saturday, the 6^th, I had the opportunity to speak to the local chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Good friends, some of whom I knew over the Internet, some I was meeting for the first time, and some I knew from my days in Dallas filled the room, including Earl Staggs, Kevin Tipple, Carolyn Williamson and Bob Gaston. Everyone was gracious, and I only hope I didn't bore them too badly.

    Then off to Austin to spend several days with my daughter. That reminded me that I see my two children, Tracy and David, entirely too little. Am I the only one who finds it strange that we live in a world where families split to the four winds—hardly like the one I grew up in? Tracy is in Austin and David lives in Norfolk. Of course, saying he lives in Norfolk is close to a misnomer. Just this week, he landed on an oil rig off the coast of Africa where he'll spend huge hunks of his future.

    From Austin, I traveled to Denton for the conference, Lexicon. It was a fun weekend with lots of people who share my love of writing. Also, Sylvia Dickey Smith and Earl Staggs were there making it kind of an "old home week." Also made lots of new friends. Thanks to Mitch Haynes for all his hard work.

    Back to Richardson for a Monday evening session with the Writers Guild of Texas. Another fun evening with wonderful writers. Again, if I bored them, I apologize.

    My last event in Texas occurred on Tuesday morning when I was interviewed by Crazy Dougie of WANB radio in Waynesburg, PA. It was a fun session with Doug Wilson walking me along like a well behaved puppy. If you ever get a chance to talk to Doug, grab it. Following the interview, I pointed my Kia east for home.

    Three days later, I parked in my driveway, tired but filled with good feelings. It was a wonderful three weeks—ones I'd re-do in a heartbeat.

    Hope everyone is looking forward to the release of my BEST DEFENSE in November as much as I am. Okay, I guess not. But I'm wired enough for all of us.