Finishing The Novel

If you don't have time to watch this video, here's all you need to know. Guy writes novel on a typewriter. Guy finishes novel. Guy tosses novel in fireplace. Guy writes novel again. Guy tosses said book in fireplace. Guy's wife prepares to view novel and races upstairs. Guy writes whole novel in five minutes, then tosses in fireplace. Guy buys a computer and writes novel. Guy tosses computer into the fire.

As a writer, I find this amusing for so many reasons. Discuss.




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Best,

Karen Harrington
author, Janeology - a novel I once thought of tossing into the fire, but thankful I did not.

Visit me at http://www.scobberlotch.blogspot.com/

Are you an overwriter?

Do you know if you are an overwriter? Answer: ALL writers are occasionally driven to overwrite.

It's like being that person at a party who, after they tell a funny anecdote, goes on to describe the tale another way just in case you didn't get it the first time. Sometimes, this person just thinks that repeating the story will have a more profound effect. When you meet this person, you want to say "Hey, I got it the first time!" but instead you shuffle away in search of a drink.
Such is the way of the overwriter who likes to continue stretching out description/dialogue tags or internal thoughts - just in case you didn't get it. Much like the desire to flee the anecdotally challenged, overdescriber, a reader has the option of skipping over pages of overwriting, or putting the book down completely.

I've been thinking about this subject a lot lately as I've been editing my current novel. There are MANY areas where I, too, have fallen prey to overwriting and my editor is wise to point them out, cross through whole paragraphs with a black pen and banish them to Delete Key Heaven. Often, she will add a note in the margins that I need to delete whole sections in order to "highlight the one gem" within a scene. At first, I was hesistant to do this, arguing (with myself) that these paragraphs had more fully conveyed my meaning. But then I wised up and realized I was being the anecdotally challenged party person who goes on too long, possibly insulting the attention of her listeners. After I pared down the page to highlight the gem, I realized that letting it stand alone created more intensity than trying to plant a bunch of smelly, useless flowers around it. Sometimes a single rose is more memorable than a whole garden. In other words, less is more. Said another way, a tree grows best after it has been pruned. Or rather...

(Okay, you get the idea.)

Have I mentioned how much I love editors? I do.

If you want an editor's point of view on this, go over to Editorial Ass. Here's her recent list of the "words overwriters love to use."

bombastic
harrangue
jeer (jeeringly)
sneer (sneeringly)
gyrate
hue
incredibly
proliferating
shockingly
coax (coaxingly)
cajole
sudden, suddenly
decadent
anything that ends in -ingly

Read the full article here. Then go to the Search/Find tool on your computer and seek out all these words in your draft!

Best,

K. Harrington
author, Janeology
http://www.karenharringtonbooks.com/

"Think outside the book!"

We've all heard the expression: "Think outside the box!"

Well, today I am a guest blogger over at Book Marketing Floozy, and I talk about how authors need to "think outside the book" when looking for ways to market their work.

Check out the post on Book Marketing Floozy.

(Does this mean I'm an honorary "floozy"?)

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
http://www.cherylktardif.com/

A Haunting Scene

While driving to work at six a.m. last Saturday, I took a close look at the world around me. I had to. Driving at a normal speed was out of the question. After a week of daily snowfall, it had begun to rain the night before and roads were rapidly flooding all over the lower mainland. City workers hadn’t had time to clear the dirty, three-foot banks of snow away from the drains and enormous pools were forming.

I stayed in the fast lane to avoid the worst of the water, but hadn’t gone far before I saw that the lights had gone out in this section of town. There were no street lights, no traffic lights, and certainly no lights in anyone’s window. Instantly, Port Moody looked desolate. Ahead, I spotted a light-colored vehicle stopped at an odd angle. About the time I realized the car had been abandoned in deep water, I also realized that I was in the water. I kept moving and mercifully, my four-wheel RAV got me out safely.

More strange sights occurred along that drive until I reached Coquitlam, where the power was on. All day long, images of that abandoned car, the darkness and the water haunted me, so I did what I always do when images stay with me. I made notes. After all, that drive would make a pretty good opening for a noir mystery, don’t you think? Now all I have to do is come up with a plot to fit the scene.

To read excerpts of FATAL ENCRYPTION and TAXED TO DEATH, please visit www.debrapurdykong.com

Guest blogger Susan McLeod talks about her writing style

Author Susan McLeod is a friend of mine and the author of Soul and Shadow, which I read recently and really enjoyed. Today I've asked her to share a bit about her writing style on The Write Type as my guest.

Susan...

My writing style is really quite simple―I just listen to the voices in my head and do what they tell me to!

Somehow, they are born in my subconscious, where they grow and mature quite independently of my conscious mind. When the time is right, they begin to speak. Then I know it’s time to put them down on paper and officially introduce them to the world.

In the case of my novel, Soul and Shadow, the characters have been living inside me since I watched my first mummy movie lo these many years ago. Egypt seemed the most romantic land in the world, and I half wanted to be dragged off by a bandaged monster dragging one foot behind him, because of course he was really a tormented but handsome prince looking for his lost love. I was that reincarnated princess, and we would live happily ever after, fully restored to our former glory.

That dream faded, but my love of Egypt did not. I studied it and am still learning to this day. While attending an exhibit at the local museum, I was looking at the mummy when I heard a woman say, “That’s why I’m being cremated!” And so, around that kernel, Soul and Shadow was born.

I had no outline. I had no plan. I just sat down at the computer and started typing. It sounds trite to say it wrote itself, but it really did. Whenever I tried to impose my will on the story, the story fought back, and I always gave in. The voices knew more than I did.

I was quite surprised at some of the twists and turns the novel took. People who I thought were bad turned out to be good, and vice-versa. Like any reader, I followed the story anxiously to see what would happen.

When it was finished, I will never forget how I sat and cried. I was so happy that I’d given the characters free reign, because they knew what they were doing. I had several friends, including teachers and librarians, read my work. I incorporated their constructive comments and made minor changes in a second draft. Then we all proof-read it nine thousand times. At least. And it was ready to be published.

I hope it captures all the mystery, romance and magic of ancient Egypt. Because my greatest dream is for a reader to feel transported the way I was by that mummy movie long ago.

That is the way I approach each of my stories. When inspiration strikes (and it can be anywhere) I carry that seed to the keyboard, sit down, and just start typing. I never use outlines and never write more than two drafts. I can’t recommend it to everyone, but it works for me. I’m a midwife, and there’s nothing I enjoy more than sending my children out into the world.

~Susan McLeod has won many prizes for her poetry and short stories. Soul and Shadow is her first novel, and she lives in Upstate New York with her family.

Susan's website: www.freewebs.com/susanjmcleod

Thank you, Susan, for sharing this with us. Everything you've said reminds me so much of my own journey with Whale Song, and all the characters who seemed to be a part of me. I hope your post inspires other writers to listen to those voices. :)

Check out my review of Soul and Shadow.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling author of Whale Song, The River and Divine Intervention

Whale Song - "One of my favourite Christmas gifts this year"

Before Christmas, a longtime friend of mine ordered a copy of Whale Song for his sister Sue. We all had grown up in the small, isolated town of Masset on the Queen Charlotte Islands, which is just north of Vancouver Island, BC. Whale Song was partially inspired by my life there, and by my favorite Haida legends.

Today, I heard back from Sue, whose own blog is filled with wonderful, talented writing. She wrote about Whale Song and she's allowed me to quote her here...

"One of my favourite Christmas gifts this year was a novel entitled “Whale Song”. It’s written by Cheryl Kaye Tardif, who, in addition to being fantastic writer, is also an old family friend. She went to high school with my older brother Mike, and I’ll always remember, even though I was the bratty, tag-along little sister, that Cheryl was always so sweet and kind to me.

The book is, in my opinion, a must-read for anyone who loves stories that combine coming-of-age, heartwarming family stories, the tragic realities of life, and a little mystery (and I’m not just saying that because I know her!). The story is about a young girl who is displaced with her family from Wyoming to the west coast of Canada. She meets and befriends an Aboriginal family and they teach her about their culture and their way of life. As tremendous adversity befalls her, she uses what she’s learned about native spirituality to guide her through difficult waters.

I devoured this book in a little under 2 days - and for me, that is some kind of record. I couldn’t put it down! For me, it was more than just a story..."

Please read Sue Murphy's full post on SuzeMuse. It is inspiring and really makes you think about the past and how our pasts have made us who we are today. Thank you, Susan, for this reminder.

Why Where You Come From Is Important

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif
http://www.cherylktardif.com/