Quick Hits No. 2

A continuation of last week’s post:

Another topic in the conversations I had focusing on writing centered on how the essence of stories are lost in the verbiage the writer wants to use when stringing sentences together.  In other words, the writer knows what he or she wants to write, and the sentences come out beautifully, but the story is hard to find among the finely turned phrases. I think what happens is the writer knows what he or she wants to say but gets caught up "in the moment" of writing and the words get in the way.

 For example, find any recent college or high school graduation story, print or viral, and see if the story includes basic information: name and location of school,  the guest speaker, valedictorian, salutatorian, what was said, how many students graduated -- you name it. Is it a speech story? Depending on the guest speaker, maybe it is. But far too much time was spent trying to come up with different adjectives and adverbs to describe a run-of-the-mill graduation story without getting in the facts, takes far too much time to write, and for the editor, takes far too much to edit.

How does this apply to writing fiction? Ideas tend to grow from the inside out, like dropping a pebble in a pond, and watching the ripples grow larger and larger. But writing is rewriting. It’s like that unruly shrub that needs to be trimmed back. So get some sharp clippers and have it.

Writers love to stand in shade and drop pebbles into ponds. Who doesn’t? But the work of the writer is standing in the sun, hot and thirsty, clipping back the shrubs to make them look like something. It isn’t easy. In fact, a lot of times it just plain sucks. But in the end it’s worth it.

See you next week!

Boat building

Lately, I've been posting the first few chapters of my detective novel on sites for critique. As well, I've offered it to my writing group for the same purpose. Once in a while, when someone asks what I've been doing lately, I tell them about the story, and if they express an interest, I send them a chapter or two.

I've come to the conclusion that writing a novel and talking about it with friends is like building a boat.

At first, the builder is so excited about his project he tells everyone, and kind listeners tolerate his prating on until the builder eventually begins to realize that perhaps only other boat builders are the ones interested in his misadventures.

Over time, the boat builder realizes that saying nothing is the best course, until the time comes when perhaps someone who expresses an interest in his project stops by for a look.

The boat builder eventually reaches the point where all his efforts must be focused on the boat, and that sharing it with others is time lost, with the exception of sharing some of his trials and tribulations with other boat builders, who offer excellent suggestions.

The boat builder knows that someday soon the boat will be ready for deep water and if all goes well, a christening will be a welcome. It is that moment the boat builder has firmly fixed in his mind. Everything else is the journey getting there.

The Write (fill in the blank)

I have to admit I've been uneasy about blogging. Brave New Deadline is the progeny of a column I wrote while editor of a weekly in the B.C. Rockies, After Deadline. As I shift from daily journalism to writing novels and, with hope, luck, sweat, luck, good karma and luck, I have been focusing on creating a blog about writers, writing, publishing, the whole magilla.

So I thought I'd start with this: http://tinyurl.com/86jan6a.

Nine Writing Milestones: Let's see...

1. First completed piece: Done.

2. First readers: Done

3. First critique: Done

4. First publication online: Not so fast. I know I should be paying attention to this, but here I am, with my blog, putting this out into the ether. So I have some catching up to do.

5. First publication print: I've had plenty of things published in newspapers. I count this.

6. First payment: I earn my living writing and editing stories. Call it a back-door entry, but I'm counting this, too.

7. First book-length draft: Now I'm into what the writer is talking about. I've written three book-length drafts. Several times. Over and over. And it's a bitch. In a good way.

8. First completed book: Taking into account what the writers's definition is: Yes. Twice. And the one I'm working on now is the one closest to meeting my personal level of "it's ready to go."

9. First published book: The author promotes the notion that if one's manuscript is published in ebook form this satisfies Milestone No. 9. Perhaps. And perhaps I'm still a hidebound traditionalist that wants to go the author-editor-publisher route, get the contract, the advance, proof the galleys, see the book in print, and send that to my Mom, who won't care a fig if it's on the Internet. You know what I mean.

My own 'big step': I'm in my first writers group. I've never taken a creative writing class, never even sniffed an MFA. Journalism major, like I said. And I'm transitioning to what I hope is a writing career. So yep, I am in writer's group. And it was a great time. I look forward to the next one.

I'll be checking out other writing blogs and sharing what I like. I hope you do the same. Let me know. We're all in this together.