Book review of "Writing For Story" by Jon Franklin

Writing For Story:

Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction by a Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Winner 1986

Post by B.J. Campbell 

Casually in search of more history on the topic, I Googled “how to write non-fiction.”  Got 159,000,000 hits.  Just for fun, I asked Google for the same info on “fiction.”  Over 28,000,000 came up.

My profound conclusion:  Lots of people have wondered about these two topics.

If you are always able to sit down at your desktop and create a compelling fiction or non-fiction story that satisfies readers, leaving no one confused or disappointed, good for you! Perhaps you are a natural storyteller among writers…or you have read and applied Jon Franklin’s book, Writing for Story.

According to Franklin, what readers most want is story, which is to say---structure. So he dedicates much of his book to the elements of a story.  Whether we write non-fiction or fiction stories, or would write one or the other if we could figure out the structure, his book is for us.  Anyone who is serious about the craft of writing stories should read, enjoy and apply this book.

Franklin, pioneer in creative nonfiction, demonstrates generally basic, yet amazing, insights into the craft of writing.  He delivers those so easily, I wonder why I didn’t think of them myself.  As his innovative approach, he looks at old familiar issues for writers from a new perspective.  Franklin offers two of his own short stories for scrutiny, the book’s Chapters 2 & 3, responsible for two of his Pulitzer-Prizes.  In the rest of the book, he analyzes these two stories.  The result is a clear, manageable, step-by-step guide to constructing a convincing story in either fiction or non-fiction.

Franklin studied repeated patterns in successful stories.  Naturally, his own writing style came to rely on, and handily illustrates, how writers can apply most structural concepts of his plan to both genres—fiction and non-fiction.  He wants to help us make our plots work in either genre.  Then, with his engaging approach, he shares the secrets of writing non-fiction in a fiction style.

As one sample of his approach, he bases writing on his theory that all dramatic stories have three parts, components or focuses.  He defines and examines them with key words, like this.

·       Complication:  simply any problem encountered by any human being.  It is an event that triggers a situation that complicates our lives.

·       Development:  the character’s actions as he attempts to resolve the complication.  This tends to be long but easiest to write.

·       Resolution:  simply any change in the character or situation that resolves the complication.

It is from this structural beginning that Franklin launches his plan for a story-development technique that applies to both fiction and non-fiction writing.  Subsequent chapters give writers further insight to apply his practical theory, and literary techniques of complication/resolution, flashback, foreshadowing and pace.

Writing for Story is well worth more than one read.  I recommend this significant book to any author who wants an effective delivery plan for a good non-fiction or fiction story.  If writers practice what Franklin advises, some day, eventually, our writing will not only improve...our writing will shine.

Notes from Reviewer, BJ Campbell:

All of the stories listed below are from my book, Close Calls: The True Tales of Cougar Bob.  At www.cougarbob.com   under the section heading “About the book,” these non-fiction stories are posted.  You are invited to read Franklin’s book first, then to read the Campbell stories below and decide which stories employ Franklin’s method.

          “Going Bananas”

          “Learning to Count”

          “Running”

          “Hound Music”

Why you should take a second look at that headline

Mary Jane found in local cornfield

Back in the early 70s a headline in our local newspaper made me the talk of the campus.  I walked into Sociology 101 to find the front page taped to the front wall. In three-inch high letters, the headline read, “Mary Jane found in local cornfield," ... it took me awhile to live that down.

While this headline was awkward for me personally, other headlines make you think twice ... and chuckle every now and then.

Double Meanings From Around the World:
 Headlines that have a double meaning often sneak past editors. Some of these are hard to believe:

• Governor Swears in Legislature 
• March Planned For Next August 
• Patient At Death's Door--Doctors Pull Him Through 
• Stadium Air Conditioning Fails--Fans Protest 
• Queen Mary Having Bottom Scraped 
• Prostitutes Appeal to Pope 
• Child's Stool Great for Use in Garden 
• Idaho Group Organizes to Help Service Widows 
• 20-Year Friendship Ends at Altar

Opposite meaning:
Lawyers Give Poor Free Legal Advice

A little too clever:
Lingerie Shipment Hijacked--Thief Gives Police The Slip

Stating the obvious:

If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last A While

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures

Plane Too Close to Ground, Crash Probe Told

Man is Fatally Slain

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Experts Say

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers

Hershey Bars Protest

County Officials to Talk Rubbish

Farmer Bill Dies in House

Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case 

Just plain funny:

• Blind Woman Gets New Kidney from Dad She Hasn't Seen in Years
• Stud Tires Out
• Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
• Reagan Wins on Budget, But More Lies Ahead
• Two Sisters Reunited after 18 Years in Checkout Counter
• Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?
• Miners Refuse to Work after Death
• Stolen Painting Found by Tree
• Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge
• Man Struck by Lightning Faces Battery Charge
• Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
• Prosecutor Releases Probe into Undersheriff
• Some Pieces of Rock Hudson Sold at Auction
• Sex Education Delayed, Teachers Request Training
• Many Antiques Seen at D.A.R. Meeting

Do you have a favorite headline mishap you remember?

5 Tips to follow if you want to write a killer headline

Photo courtesy of Bizzebee.com

There is an art to writing headlines and titles for the articles and stories you write.  In the newspaper and magazine world, it is an editor’s job to come up with the perfect words that will draw readers to your article.  In the online world, that job falls to the writer; and the more you know about writing headlines, the better your chances to entice readers into reading your words.

WordStream: Online Advertising Made Easy offers a ton of great advice for writing outstanding headlines on their blog of July 17, 2014: 19 Headline Writing Tips for More Clickable, Shareable Blog Posts.  A few of their tips are shared below, and I urge you to check out all 19 tips on their blog.

19 Headline Writing tips

for More Clickable, Shareable Blog Posts

It’s easy to let headlines take the back seat in your writing process. Headlines can wind up as a quick afterthought, but really should be treated with much more consideration. In fact, your headline is arguably more important than the article itself. After all, who cares how great your blog post is if no one even reads it?

Out of all the folks who read your headline, only 20% will read the article copy. Whether it’s for email subject lines, blog posts, ebooks, or webinars, you need a powerful, sexy headline to make readers swoon.

Modern online article headlines are tricky – they need to be SEO (Search Engine Optimization) keyword friendly, but also should be unique and creative. The end result needs to be super clickable, irresistible headlines.

If you’re like me, your eyeballs encounter nearly a hundred headlines before you’ve finished your first cup of coffee. What makes you read one story over another? It’s all about the headline – that magical string of words that allures and excites.

1. Numbers, digits, & lists

Starting your headline with a number helps the headline stand out. Just as the human eye is drawn to contrasting colors, we’re also naturally drawn to the juxtaposition of digits resting beside text. A list also gives readers a clearer idea of what to expect in your post, as well as promising a quick, scan-friendly read.

Some great list words to get you started:

• Reasons
• Ways
• Tips
• Tricks
• Secrets
• Ideas
• Techniques
• Strategies
• Facts
• Methods
• Statistics

2. Educate the Masses

People often search online to educate themselves or learn more about a particular concept. They want to learn how to build a fire pit, where to see an off-Broadway musical, how to eat an apple core (hey, I don’t know, people are wacky!)

Many successful headlines use the “how to” concept with some extra embellishment. Starting all your articles with “how to…” gets really boring really quickly, so think of creative ways to present a “how to” educational article, for example….

• 3 Best Methods for Peeling a Mango
• 6 Strategies for Deterring Burglars
• Build Your Own Firepit: A Beginner’s Guide
• Teaching Your Dog to Fetch: Canine Training 101

Hot headline writing keywords like “101” and “Complete/Beginners Guide” are great to include in educational posts. Using words like these reassures readers that your article will be in layman terms that they can understand, marketed towards beginners. 

3. Remember the Five Ws

In grammar school you probably remember learning the 5 Ws:

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why

These engaging, interrogative words are used to gather information. By using them in your headlines, you articulate to readers the kind of information you intend to provide.

4. Address Readers in 2nd Person

While writing prose in 2nd person is infamously awkward, it’s the perfect form for headline writing, grabbing the attention of readers by calling them out.

• You Think You Know Game of Thrones? Take Our Quiz and Find Out!
• 3 Ice Cream Recipes You’ll Drool Over This Summer
• 5 Emergency Tools You Should Never Leave Home Without

5. Use Images to Complement Headlines
Headlines are a big deal, and in many cases on the web, they are the one and only way to introduce your article to the world. However, many social sites like Facebook, Instagram, Pintetrest, and, more recently, Twitter, make it easy to add images alongside your link headlines. This is awesome news because images are insanely powerful and can do a lot to boost the success of your headline.

As Buffer notes, you can’t just use any old image to compliment your headline. The image you should provide a strong visual clue to the topic of the article.

How to Record Your Own Audiobook: Give the gift of your writing for Christmas

Last year a friend, Rebecca Cook, asked me to write a 30-page Christmas story that she could record as an audio book to be used as a Christmas gift.  I decided to give it a try and the result was a delightful gift we shared with friends and family. 

Rebecca narrated the story and her nieces and nephews gave voice to the elves who bravely faced the computer glitch that threatened Christmas. (They also created the artwork for the CD cover!)  I was lucky.  Because Rebecca records audiobooks professionally, she already owned the required recording software and the skill to edit our book.  

But being a professional isn’t a requirement with the technology available today.  If you are interested in recording an audiobook yourself, just write your story, find a free recording software program on the Internet and start recording.  Asking your friends, students, children, or grandchildren to record different characters makes the book even more special.  You can upload the book and send it to others or make a CD to wrap as a gift under the Christmas tree. 

I found some great advice for writers who want to record their own book on makeuseof.com.  The article, written by Guy McDowell, outlines the steps needed to make your own videobook.  Check it out at: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-record-your-own-audiobook/

A couple of tips from Guy McDowell:

We’re going to talk about taking something that you’ve written or read, and putting it into sounds so that you can either listen to it yourself, or share it with others. We’re also going to do this on the cheap.

Tools Needed

Computer

Headphones (The over the ear kind are best.)

Microphone (Preferably one with either foam over it or a pop filter.)

Sound recording and editing software (I like Audacity, but there are other Audacity alternatives.)

Something written (After all, it starts as a book.)

Pencils, maybe even colored ones.

Let’s move forward assuming that you have your recording software installed and have gone through the rudimentary tutorial that probably accompanies it. You’ll probably find that in the menu under Help. Let’s also assume that you have plugged in your headphones and microphone, and tested them out a little bit.

We’re also going to assume that you have chosen, or maybe even written, the book that you want to record. I want to take a little bit here to talk about the book you’ve chosen. Let it be something that, if no one else ever heard your audio book, you’d listen to it at least once a year. Let it be something that, if your descendants should hear it one day, it says something about you and what you believe in. That’s my take on it anyway. Just a suggestion.

Prepping Your Material

Re-read the book, with your pencils nearby. You could use sticky notes or something else if you want. As you go through the book, make notes about how you want things to sound. Think of these as stage directions. I suggest using a coloured pencils so that you have a visual cue as to what you want to do or sound like when you read a certain part. You know, maybe red for anger or blue for sadness. I think you understand where I’m going with that.

Also take a few seconds to just record the ambient noise in the room that you’re recording in. Record the silence. It comes in handy later to fill in gaps or to lead into or out of speech, instead of maybe rustling papers, or coughing.

Check out the rest of Guy’s advice at: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-record-your-own-audiobook/

4 Reasons Why Grammar Police Make Terrible Writers

The following blog post was written by writer and author Linda Formichelli. Carol Tice reprinted the article on her popular blog, MAKE A LIVING WRITING … practical help for hungry writers, where it garnered 153 fascinating comments.

In Tice’s words, “I consider the occasional mistake the price paid for generating as much content as I do. It happens…and it’s OK. And people who zoom in on that one mistake instead of using the info you’ve given them to go out and earn more have misplaced priorities. Thanks for this post, Linda!"

4 Reasons Why Grammar Police Make Terrible Writers

By Linda Formichelli

The other day I received this email in response to a marketing message I sent out to my subscription list:

Basic grammar forbids the use of double negatives, “…using the wrong set of skills for the wrong job”. An authority on writing must master the rules of writing before they can be taken seriously.

(I so wanted to let this guy know that “the wrong skills for the wrong job” is hardly a double negative, and that some of the greatest writers of all times used double negatives for emphasis — Shakespeare, anyone? But I took my own advice and hit Delete.)

And here’s a small excerpt of a 400-word comment I got a few months ago pointing out two typos in a post:

This the very first article of yours that I have read and I already have an image of you built in my mind. A harried, hair all over the place woman who rushes around to get her work done! Not very flattering, is it.

I DO NOT think that of you, but I could and all because of two little mistakes in your writing! A person’s writing is a reflection of them, is it not? Given that you are teaching writers how to make a living from this wonderful craft, is it not prudent to be as perfect in your advise as possible?

I know other professional writers get all kinds of emails pointing out their typos and grammatical errors. So what’s the problem? People need to know when they’re wrong so they can improve, so why not be the one to let them know — right? Wrong. Here’s why you should retire your Grammar Police badge forever.

1. Grammar Police aren’t perfect

Did you notice the mistakes in these two Grammar Police messages I received? In the first one, he put the period outside of the quote marks. (And I know he’s American, so he has no excuse.) In the second, he wrote “advise” for “advice.” (And there were many more mistakes in the rest of the 400 words he posted.

People in glass houses and all that.

If you want to criticize someone else’s writing, you better make damn sure yours is absolutely perfect. And who wants that kind of stress?

2. Grammar Police waste time

The time and energy you spend policing other people’s grammar is better spent elsewhere— like, say, writing.

I just had to look up the guy who unsubscribed from my Morning Motivations emails because of a perceived double negative, and discovered that he has a book on Amazon. A book with a flabby three-star average rating (out of five stars). And reviews calling the book “boring.”

With all the time he spent getting PO’d about my grammar, writing and sending me an email, and unsubscribing from my list, he could have improved his own writing by reading a writing blog, reading chapter of a book on the writing craft, or editi ng some of his own work.

I guarantee you will never see, say, Stephen King shooting off an email to a writer admonishing her for a typo. He’s too busy, you know, writing bestsellers.

3. Grammar Police have bad attitudes

I love it when people write to me and say, “You may not have noticed this, but I wanted to let you know you have a misspelled word in the title of your post.” That is constructive criticism and that writer doesn’t earn the moniker “Grammar Police.”

I think the term “Grammar Police” refers specifically to people who berate you for your grammar errors — all out of proportion to the severity of said errors. Those who tell you your writing won’t be taken seriously with typos, or who paint a picture of you as a frazzled writer who can’t cope with life.

If that’s the attitude you display to other writers, you’re going to have a hard time networking and making friends in the writing community. And we all know how important contacts are in this industry, right?

4. Grammar Police have trouble writing

People who are sticklers for grammar and who blow up over typos tend to be perfectionists who never get their writing out to the world because they’re too concerned with making it perfect — which it will never be.

When you see a writer who is über prolific, you’ll find that they make the occasional error. That’s because they don’t get hung up on getting it perfect — they get hung up on getting it done.

Also, show me someone who gets hyper about grammar and I’ll show you someone whose writing is probably stilted, businesslike, and boring. I mean, “An authority on writing must master the rules of writing before they can be taken seriously”? Snooooze.

Good writers know how and when to bend — and break — the rules. For example, sometimes purposely breaking a grammar rule adds emphasis, or makes a piece of writing more conversational and reader-friendly.

Okay — time to hang up your Grammar Police uniform for good, and instead spend your time writing, writing, writing.

**********************************************************

Linda Formichelli has written for over 130 magazines, is the co-author of The Renegade Writer and blogs about writing at The Renegade Writer. Her new book is Write Your Way Out of the Rat Race and Step Into a Career You’ll Love.

**********************************************************

MJH: I know I'm occasionally guilty of being a judgmental grammarian and often find myself agonizing over my own writing mistakes. Linda's post and the reader comments lifted a little of that guilt from me. I hope you’ll feel the same after you read the post and then head on over to MAKE A LIVING WRITING to check out some of the comments at the address below:

http://www.makealivingwriting.com/4-reasons-grammar-police-make-terrible-writers/

Be sure to leave a comment for us if you've had a run in with the grammar police or are considering hanging up your badge ! 

5 Tips for Writing CharacterDescription

Artists draw pictures with ink, or paint, or pencil; but writers are challenged to draw pictures of their characters using words alone.  What does the character look like?  What are his/her personality traits, habits, shortcomings, strengths or idiosyncrasies?  The secret lies in outlining their  characters in detail, then introducing them slowly, through description and action.  Some helpful tips include: 

1. Develop a Character Chart 

The first step is to create a Character Chart outlining everything you know about your character. Many examples of Character Charts can be found online; some are very comprehensive, but you can tailor them to meet your needs.  The more complete your profile, the easier you'll find it to describe your character through words and action.   

2. Don't Make a List

An item-by-item list of characteristics, or giving too much information at one time, is boring for the reader and considered lackluster writing.  Skilled writers introduce the character then sprinkle tidbits throughout the story, allowing the reader to “discover” the true nature of the character in small doses.  The reader gets the same information, but in a much more enjoyable way. 

Sharon Rose might sit on the floor beside her bed like a sick child.  She often felt drained of her proper nature.  Her mind was like a liquid in a sloppy container.  Her soul rolled from side to side of a rocking boat. – Wright Morris, Plains Song

3. Beware Adjective Addiction
Adjectives don't add the spice you are looking for and result in making a boring list longer. Effective writers follow Mark Twain’s advice on adjectives:

When you catch an adjective, kill it.  No, I don't mean utterly,  but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice. – Mark Twain 

4. Choose Not “To Be”

Don’t fall into the habit of using the common “ to be” verbs which are considered weak because they don’t show action.  Replacing these verbs with action verbs results in powerful and concise writing. 

Nature forgot to shade him off, I think... A little too boisterous--like the sea. A little too vehement--like a bull who has made up his mind to consider every colour scarlet. But I grant a sledge-hammering sort of merit in him.  ― Charles Dickens, Bleak House

5. Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Following the old rule of “show, don't tell" enables writers to introduce their characters in a more interesting way, drawing a picture that is complete and well rounded.  If a particular trait is vital to the storyline, find different ways to imprint the trait you consider important through the character’s actions and/or interactions with supporting characters.

She [Sybil Vane] crouched on the floor like a wounded thing, and Dorian Gray, with his beautiful eyes, looked down at her, and his chiseled lips curled in exquisite disdain. There is always something ridiculous about the emotion of people whom one has ceased to love. ― Oscar Wilde, the Picture of Dorian Gray

Cliches Are Good for the Soul

Cliche: a phrase, word, or idea, that has lost its original effectiveness or power from overuse.

I know, I know, every writing expert admonishes writers NOT to use cliches. They are said to be the mark of a lazy writer. They are characteristic of inexperienced and/or unoriginal writers.

Well, I may not be a writing expert, but I am a reading expert and I've discovered that I'm as happy as a clam when I read a cliche every now and then. For me, they're as comfortable as an old shoe and as welcome as an old friend.

I find them to be deceptively simple, instantly recognizable phrases that are usually the most economical way to say what needs to be said. They add clarity, depth, and a little bit of charm to the words I read.

Why should writers be asked to waste time reinventing the wheel? Why spend hours searching for the perfect, witty words to say something when somebody came up with the perfect, witty way to say it eons ago?

For heaven's sake, these phrases have stood the test of time and proven they are the cream of the crop. Can you even imagine writing a phrase so perfectly constructed that it becomes common usage? I can't.

Isn't this discrimination? There are as many quotes in today's literature as there are Chins in a Chinese phone book, but you never hear of them making critics foam at the mouth like they do when they encounter a cliche.

Writers use quotes to give depth and reinforcement to their work, just like cliches. It's like the pot calling the kettle black, and I don't get the difference. Quotes are just cliches with acknowledgements. Maybe if I start enclosing my cliches with quotation marks, they won't rub my critics the wrong way.

And that's not all. There are proverbs, sayings, witticisms, anecdotes, and euphemisms. None of them seem to drive the experts nuts like cliches do. It's discrimination, any way you look at it.

Searching online I noticed one expert article after another entitled, "Avoiding Cliches Like the Plague." What the heck? It's okay for them, but not for us? I did, however, find one particularly witty cliche-critic who did practice what he preached. His title? "Avoid Cliches Like Erectile Dysfunction." Really?  How far does one have to go to create a catchy new phrase?

Despite all the negative hype, there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel for those of us who admire the familiar brevity of a cliche. Banding together on the Internet, cliche lovers offer a scintilla of hope that cliches might one day become a tad more welcome than a skunk at a yard party.

Cliche: Little facets of the truth.  

One of those cliche-admirers, Steve Lautenschlager, began an online list of cliches, which he called "...little facets of the truth." As his list of cliches grew, he discovered that "other people were oddly, strangely, obsessively, perversely, intrigued by cliches as well."

Glad to know I'm not alone.

If you are looking for a cliche (for whatever nefarious reason) be sure to browse through these websites: www.cambiaresearch.com/clicheweb/; www.westegg.com/cliche/; www.clichesite.com/.

My favorite cliche: as happy as a clam. (Just makes me feel good.)

My least favorite cliche:  no-brainer. (Because it's DUMB. Even thinking it's a no-brainer takes a brain.)

Favorite cliche quote: Not all my cliches are original. - Football Coach Chuck Knox

CHALLENGE: How many cliches in the above post? Do you have a favorite cliche? Least favorite?

DEDICATION: The above post is dedicated to Jennifer Lamont Leo, who strives to understand my addiction, but who is also rumored to be planning a cliche intervention for me.

NOTE: This is an updated repost from 2/14/2011.  

Memoir Writers: Don't Ignore The Ticking Clock

 By Mary Jane Honegger

Brother Mike Graham (right) on 5th Birthday
1953 Victory Village, Moses Lake, WA

I’ve long contemplated writing a memoir about the neighborhood in which I grew up. Although I’ve talked about, planned, researched, and outlined the project, I’ve procrastinated for one reason and another. The problem is, while I've muddled around, ignoring the ticking clock, many of the voices I planned to include in the memoir have been lost.

In an airport, sports stadium, or mall surrounded by tens of thousands of nameless people, you might think that you are just one of a crowd. So it’s natural to wonder “why should anyone read about my life?” And that’s the best reason to write it. As you tease out the details of your actual path, and look for what makes your journey worth reading, you will incidentally also reveal what makes it worth living. - Memoir Author Jerry Waxler

Victory Village: A Moment in Time

Growth Comes to the Columbia Basin
On July 27, 1933 the Public Works Administration allocated $63 million to start work on Grand Coulee Dam. Work began in 1934, bringing as many as 7,000 workers to the area. With the dam completed, in 1943 thousands of additional workers disbursed throughout the area to begin building the irrigation distribution system for the Columbia Basin. During the same period, the U.S. Government chose Moses Lake, a small town in the Columbia Basin, as the location for an air force base, causing additional demands on housing.

Victory Village
Buildings line the lake shore to the left of the photo

Government Housing 
In response, government housing projects in Moses Lake and nearby Ephrata, O'Sullivan Dam, and Larson Air Force Base were created to provide temporary housing facilities. For a couple of years small trailers and then barracks-style buildings eased the shortage. But following World War II, work on the canals in the Columbia Basin began in earnest. Turning thousands of acres of barren land into fertile farmland with irrigation water from the Grand Coulee Dam required hundreds of miles of canals. As word spread, an army of men and their families moved to the area, increasing the population of Moses Lake by 700-percent in less than ten years.

Our home 1950 - 1955
208 Victory Village

Victory Village - Moses Lake
In 1943 the Housing Authority of Moses Lake began construction of Victory Village. This temporary housing project eventually grew to include 42 buildings (172 units) scattered along the shores of Moses Lake on 31 bare acres behind the high school. The development looked more like barracks on a military base than civilian housing; in fact a few of the buildings were relocated to Moses Lake from the Farragut Naval Station after its deactivation in 1950. With housing, not amenities being the goal, the plain one-story wooden buildings held little charm. 

Our Family - 1953 - Victory Village
Mike, Mary Jane, Keith, Debby & Jane

My family moved there in the spring of 1950 after having waited just a few months to get in.  We were given preference because my father was a veteran, having served in the Army Air Force during WWII.  Within two years, three of my father's siblings and their families followed us to the Columbia Basin from Boise, Idaho, attracted by the promise of good paying jobs.  Some of them joined us in Victory Village.

We bought our own home and moved out of the place we affectionately called "the housing" in August of 1955. With its dirt roads, scraggly grass, and few trees, Victory Village was a hot and dusty place to live. But during those halcyon years following the war, we all thought it was the best place in the world … and fighting the tumbleweeds made us all strong.

Keith and Jane Graham with Mary Jane (in ruffled dress)
Uncle Kenny & Aunt Jean Graham with cousin Kathy
Victory Village - 1951

The years we lived in the housing was the happiest time of my life. - Jean Graham 

Gone But Not Forgotten
Today, Victory Village is nothing but a memory. The dilapidated buildings disappeared one by one as the town grew. New housing developments popped up and families moved away. By the early 70s, the last of the buildings were removed. Today those same 31 acres are in the center of town and home to a tree-filled park, swimming pool, and water park. The area is still in the heart of the community, but no evidence remains of the first home of many early Moses Lake residents and the happy place of my early childhood.

The Ticking Clock
In the past few years I’ve lost my mother, an aunt, and several former neighbors who lived in Victory Village. My mother was excited about the project. She did some research for me, and worked on her own memories. However, I guess we both dropped the ball. Much to my dismay, she never finished her own story. I would ask her once in awhile and she would assure me she was “coming along.” Well, “coming along,” meant the file I found on her computer, entitled “My Life,” ended when she was still a teenager.

Debby, Mary Jane and Mike Graham
Ready for Grant County Fair & Rodeo - 1954

I haven’t been even that successful with my dad. He is a wealth of knowledge. Being a retired CPA, he is a numbers guy and knows the facts and figures about everything and everyone in Moses Lake. First I purchased a cool journal for him to write in, but no action. Then a few years ago, my mom provided him with a typewriter when he complained of the writing. A couple of weeks ago I asked him how it was coming along.

“I’m up to age 14,” he replied with a challenging glint in his eye. My father is 84 years old. He has lived in Moses Lake for 70 of those years – that means his story ends the year he moved to town. Crikey!


I dropped the ball .. but no more. No more procrastination. No more losses.

My advice … if you are thinking of writing a memoir, write it now.

The Joy of "The Making Of A Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms"

Post by Liz Mastin

    

With the overwhelming prevalence of free verse today, I believe many poets have so distanced themselves from “formal” poetry, that they assume structured poetry is just not “today.”They often imagine it is old-fashioned, outdated and even boring. But this is not true! Poetry forms can add a delightful quirkiness and freshness to “today’s” poetry. Forms give a poem an almost “physical” quality and they are an enjoyable challenge.

I must plug a wonderful book called “The making Of A Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms.” To me, it is invaluable, so easy to read and understand, with an interesting variety of the most used poetic forms. A short history and instructions are given for each form type, along with great examples of poems written in each of those forms. Some of the example poems in the book are old and some are new, but they are all good, and all in all, make for a very enjoyable and educational study.

The forms featured in this excellent book are The Villanelle, The Sestina, The Pantoum, The Sonnet, The Ballad, Blank Verse, The Heroic Couplet, The Stanza, The Elegy, The Pastoral, The Ode and Open Forms.

As a reminder of how enjoyable formal poems can be, I thought I’d jot down portions of some of the wide variety of poems to be found in this book:

The Villanelle

The Waking

By Theodore Roethke

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.

I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?

I hear my being dance from ear to ear.

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Etc.

The Sestina

The Book of Yolek

By Anthony Hecht

The dowsed coals fume and hiss after your meal

Of grilled trout, and you saunter off for a walk

Down the fern trail, it doesn’t matter where to,

Just so you’re weeks and worlds away from home,

And among midsummer hills have set up camp

In the deep bronze glories of declining day.

You remember, peacefully, an earlier day

In childhood, remember a quite specific meal:

A corn roast and bonfire in summer camp.

That summer you got lost on a nature Walk;

More than you dared admit, you thought of home;

No one else knows where the mind wanders to.

Etc.

The Pantoum

Parents’ Pantoum

By Carolyn Kizwer

Where did these enormous children come from,

More ladylike than we have ever been?

Some of ours look older than we feel.

How did they appear in their long dresses

More ladylike than we have ever been?

But they moan about their aging more than we do,

In their heels and long black dresses.

They say they admire our youthful spontaneity.

Etc.

The Sonnet

To My Mother

By George Barker

Most near, most dear, most loved and most far,

Under the window where I often found her

Sitting as huge as Asia, seismic with laughter,

Gin and chicken helpless in her Irish hand,

Irresistible as Rabelais, but most tender for

The lame dogs and hurt birds that surround her –

She is a procession no one can follow after

But be like a little dog following a brass band.

Etc.

The Ballad

The Tale of Custard the Dragon

By Ogden Nash

Belinda lived in a little white house,

With a little black kitten and a little gray mouse,

And a little yellow dog and a little red wagon,

And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Etc.

It would take up much space to include short examples from all the forms in the book, but here is a Sestina I wrote about “The Making Of A Poem.”

Sestina

Norton’s Poetic Forms Anthology

By Liz Mastin

I’m sitting by the sea

With my forms anthology

And I hate to put it down.

Though it’s late, think I’ll go swimming.

Remember one thing should I drown,

“Bury this book with me!”

Bury this book with me

If they drag me from the sea,

I don’t mind that I should drown:

Save my forms anthology!

I’m almost happy I went swimming;

Please be glad and don’t be down.

And when they lower me down,

Place the book atop of me

And be careful when you’re swimming

In the dangerous riptide sea.

Guard your anthology!

Though I’m sure that you won’t drown.

In a place where no one drowns,

Charming heaven of angel down

With my great anthology

Resting gently right on me,

I’ll enjoy a glassy sea

Where a sign says – “No Swimming!”

It’s just fine I can’t go swimming,

Only once I care to drown.

I only wish to see the sea;

No more struggling going down,

Yes dry and safe with me

In a different kind of sea,

“In” my forms anthology

I’ll be swimming.

Liz Mastin Bio                                                          

Liz Mastin is a poet who lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho during the summer and Bullhead City, Arizona in winter. She thrives on the study of the great poets, their biographies, the schools of poetry to which they adhered, and the poetic conventions of the times in which they lived.

While she enjoys free verse as well as metrical poetry, her main interest lies in prosody. She notices that most of the enduring poems are those we can remember and recite. Liz enjoys poetry forms such as the sonnet, the sestina, the couplet, blank verse, simple quatrains, etc. and she hopes to see modern poets regain interest in studied metrical poetry.

Liz is currently putting together her first collection of poems which should be completed this winter. The poems are a mixture of metrical and free verse poems.

5 Tips for Marketing Your Book Using twitter

By Mary Jane Honegger

Have you been thinking of turning to the Internet and social media to market your blog, book or other writing project?  Have you thought of using twitter as a marketing tool?  I've considered it for awhile now, but couldn't quite figure out how to use twitter until I found a few tips on the www.bookmarketing tools.com website, a website dedicated to helping authors market their books.  

 I think you'll like their low-key, but strategic, marketing suggestions better than the alternative another desperate author posted above.  Check out their tips:

5 Things For Authors To Tweet About 

(That Aren’t “Buy My Book!”)

www.bookmarketing.com

A major trap that authors fall into on Twitter is trying to get too many people to buy their book.

Of course, as a self-published author your goal is to get people to buy your book, but constantly repeating “BUY MY BOOK!” (or some variation) on Twitter will get old very quickly and cause your readers to stop following you.

You worked hard to get a reader to follow you, you don’t want to lose them!

To keep yourself from falling into that same trap, you need to find something else to tweet about it. Here are 5 ideas of stuff that you could tweet about that aren’t just the same ol’ “BUY MY BOOK!”.

1. Tweet about relevant, popular hashtags

Find hashtags that are popular and relevant to your book, and write something to contribute to the discussion. Don’t forget to include the #hashtag. Other people following that hashtag will see your tweet and possibly even start to follow you.

Need help finding popular and relevant hashtags? One great place to search is at Twitag. If you want to find hashtags sorted into groups, then you should use Twubs. Another great option is Hashtags.org. For strictly popular and trending hashtags, you can use What The Trend.

Using these resources, you can find relevant hashtags to allow you to join in the conversation where your future readers are and get them to start following you!

2. Tweet your milestones 

Have you sold 100 copies of a book? Tweet about it! What about 1000 copies? Definitely tweet these major milestones, because if your readers see that 1000 other people have purchased the book, they will feel left out, and want to join in (by buying your book). Simply tweet the milestone and include a link to the book, and you will be promoting the book without annoying your readers.

You could tweet monetary milestones too, but that becomes a little murky, especially for those who don’t want to share their earnings. Stick to number of copies sold (or borrowed, or downloaded), and it will cause readers who have purchased to be excited they have helped you reach a milestone, and as I mentioned, it will make those who have not purchased the book want to feel included.

3. Promote interesting quotes from your book

 No doubt, you put some thought into what you wrote in your books. Whether your book is nonfiction or fiction, there are some quotes that you had main characters say, or that you included to emphasize a point, that you are probably quite fond of. Use this gold that is already in the books to promote the book!

Most readers won’t know about these quotes unless they have actually read the book. Pick out some of your favorites, put them into a tweet, and write “from [BOOK NAME HERE]” with a link to Amazon after that.

Not sure which quotes to use? Amazon will tell you! Go to your book’s page on Amazon.com, scroll all the way down to where it says “Popular Highlights” (under the reviews). This will list the most popular passages that were highlighted in your book using the Kindle software. Pick out some of the most popular and tweet those!

Using interesting and intriguing quotes from your book is a great way to promote your book, and the best part is, the work is already done, you just have to copy and paste it!

“Using interesting and intriguing quotes from your book is a great way to promote your book.” – Tweet This

Enjoy that tip, it’s one of my favorites!

4. Tweet quotes from reviews

While the last tip had you tweeting quotes from your book, this tip will have you quoting about your book. Use lines from the top reviews of your book in your tweets. Of course you should link to your book, but people want to know about others think about your book.

If you know the reviewer is on Twitter, you can thank them directly for the great review, giving them a little shout out. This will make them feel appreciated, and it can cause others to want to leave positive reviews so that they too are thanked by you!

Promote Discounts (and network with other authors)

5. While this option is the closest to “buy my book!”, it approaches it a little differently.

First, when you have a book that is discounted or free, just let your readers know! This is a great time for you to tell them to buy your book, because those who may be following you who haven’t purchased that book may finally pull the trigger because of the discount.

You can also network with other authors to promote books for each other. This allows each of you access to a new pool of readers that you didn’t have access to before, and those readers and followers will learn about books that they hadn’t heard about before. It’s a win-win for everyone involved. So, while you’re still saying “Buy my book” or “Buy someone else’s book”, you are giving them a reason to want to buy when promoting a discount or another author’s book.

Final Thoughts

Twitter is a wonderful resource for being able to have direct access to fans that authors just a few years ago didn’t have access to. Don’t take this for granted by telling them to buy your book all day long. Use different ideas on this list, and you can still promote your book on Twitter, just in a new and creative way.

JUST FOR FUN 

The Joy of Prosody: The Joy of Rhyming!

By Liz Mastin

The Joy of Rhyming!

The poetic conversation has been “non-stop” concerning rhyme and whether it is passé in this day. However in his book Writing Metrical Poetry by William Baer, many famous poets have argued strongly in favor of rhyme, among these are poet George Santayana saying, “Like the orders of Greek Architecture, the sonnet or the couplet or the quatrain are better than anything else that has been devised to serve the same function; and the innate freedom of poets to hazard new forms does not abolish the freedom of all men to adopt the old ones.”

Edgar Allen Poe said, “Contenting myself with the certainty that music, in its various modes of meter, rhythm, and rhyme, is of so vast a moment in poetry as never to be wisely rejected – is so vitally important an adjunct, that he is simply silly who declines its assistance – I will not now pause to maintain its absolute essentiality.” Robert Frost stated:  “Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down.”

        A Little Poem

          Poems needn't rhyme

All of the time.

But if they do, 

                     That's okay too.  - Anonymous

Of course most of the famous English poets used rhyme and meter, among these Shakespeare, Pope and Donne, but times have changed greatly, and as always, unless rhymed poetry is done correctly it will fall under scrutiny! For instance, using what is called “forced rhyme” is considered particularly grievous, for a poet should not use a rhyming word “just” because it rhymes. The rhyming word should further the idea of the poem. It may mean adjusting a line’s phrasing to make the chosen idea-word work well for him.

Here are some types of rhymes taken from “Rhyme – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”:

Masculine: a rhyme in which the stress is on the final syllable of the words:

rhyme

sublime

Feminine: a rhyme in which the stress is on the second from the last syllable of the words:

picky

tricky

Syllabic: a rhyme in which the last syllable of each word sounds the same but does not necessarily contain stressed vowels:

Cleaver

Silver

 

Slant Rhyme (Imperfect – Near – half):  Slant rhyme, known also as half-rhyme or imperfect rhyme , refers to words that  have final matching consonants and almost rhyme (farm, yard) or appear to the eye to do so (said, paid). “Many poets use slant rhyme to introduce an element of the unexpected and prompt their readers to pay closer attention to words themselves rather than the sounds of words.”  Emily Dickinson, for example, pairs “soul” with “all” in one of her poems. She was a prominent pioneer  in slant rhyme.

*Slant rhymed words appear to be of one syllable.

Assonance: words (within a line) having matched vowels

 The horse coursed through the field.

Consonance: words having matching consonants

The robbers had rabies.

Semirhyme: a rhyme with an extra syllable on one word

Bend – ending

Weak Rhyme: A rhyme between a pair of one or more unstressed syllables. Unlike syllabic rhyme, the pair of words will contain differing numbers of syllables.

hammer – carpenter

Among those using rhyme and metrics today are rappers, songwriters, metrical poets, and there are those of us who enjoy writing both metrical and fee verse. In free verse, cadence takes the place of counting stresses (feet), and rhymes normally appear as internal rhyming, assonance, consonance and alliteration.

1. In the poem below: You will find syllabic rhyme in “dizzy” and “easy” in the first stanza; “breath” and “death” constituting a masculine rhyme.

2. In the second stanza, “pans” and “countenance” form an example of weak rhyme and “shelf” and “itself” form a semirhyme.

3. In the third stanza, “wrist” and “missed” is masculine and “knuckle” and “buckle” form a feminine rhyme.

4. In the fourth stanza, “head” and “bed” is masculine  and “dirt and “shirt” are also masculine.

My Papa’s Waltz

By Theodore Roethke

The whiskey on your breath

Could make a small boy dizzy;

But I hung on like death:

Such waltzing was not easy.

We romped until the pans

Slid from the kitchen shelf;

My mother’s countenance

Could not unfrown itself.

The hand that held my wrist

Was battered on one knuckle;

At every step you missed

My right ear scraped a buckle.

You beat time on my head

With a palm caked hard by dirt,

Then waltzed me off to bed

Still clinging to your shirt.

LIZ MASTIN BIO

Liz Mastin is a poet who lives in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho during the summer and Bullhead City, Arizona in winter. She thrives on the study of the great poets, their biographies, the schools of poetry to which they adhered, and the poetic conventions of the times in which they lived.

While she enjoys free verse as well as metrical poetry, her main interest lies in prosody. She notices that most of the enduring poems are those we can remember and recite. Liz enjoys poetry forms such as the sonnet, the sestina, the couplet, blank verse, simple quatrains, etc. and she hopes to see modern poets regain interest in studied metrical poetry.

Liz is currently putting together her first collection of poems which should be completed this winter. The poems are a mixture of metrical and free verse poems.

Cut the Clutter

                                                  Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto

My novel in progress has received a great shot in the arm. Hiring an editor to help with the finishing process has been an enlightening and rewarding experience.  Some pages of the manuscript have few needed changes, and some have more, but each and every suggestion is thrilling. Is that an odd word choice? No. The suggestions give me goose bumps. My editor is a really good writer, and every line her pencil has drawn is an improvement. So many sentences slated for change, are ones that I struggled with and re-wrote time and time again. In some cases, I have eliminated them, making short work of the problem.

Four Stanley Cups and a Funeral, is a novel about a quest for identity, set  in a very male arena.  In a family torn apart by conflict, defined by winning and losing, a starstruck dreamer comes of age, seeking redemption. Lessons have been learned and grief has run its course. I would recommend the memoir form, or as in my case, an autobiographical novel, to anyone who wants to make sense of their life and times. While I would not venture to say the process has left me older and wiser, I can say it has left me older. The countless hours I have spent recalling snippets of dialog from loved ones who no longer walk upon this earth has left me with greater gratitude and affection than ever before.

Reading my work with the editor's marks has taught me more about myself than I imagined it would. The editor's skill with the language has filled me with awe. She has added better words! She told me to be judicious with exclamation points! Who could ask for more? She has also reigned in my overblown enthusiasm, my too often repeated phrases, and spiffed up idioms passed along incorrectly through the generations. Writers tend to speak of editors in glowing terms. They thank them profusely when the work reaches the published form.

You can only do so much by yourself. No matter how well you did in school, or how praised your writing has been, you may have developed appalling habits over time. I know I did. Like golfers, tennis pros, or professionals of all kinds, we can all benefit from an unjaundiced eye. Yes, a friend can proofread the manuscript, but an editor can do so much more. Don't hesitate to seek help. If your work is accepted and another editor comes on board, so much the better. It is the editors who choose to take on the work of getting a manuscript to publications. Spare them the tedious, obvious line editing, and let them get to what they do best. I, for one, am hooked on the process.