Write it Like I Say It

My sister’s mother-in-law wanted her life story written “exactly as I tell it to you.” My question is: Is this possible?  Technically the answer is “yes” but in reality it does not really work that easily. Writing is not speech written down. Take into account these differences in speaking and writing. It may help you to decipher why it is often hard to write.

SPEAKING

• Speaking is not learned; everybody speaks without instructions.
• Speech is usually spontaneous and is peppered with idioms and dialects.
• Speaking is casual, often in a more relaxed atmosphere “Wanna meet for coffee?”
• We are able to judge the listener’s response and adjust our conversation accordingly.
• We can rectify misunderstandings or mistakes immediately and add more information.
• Tonal connotations and pauses convey meanings that are difficult to replicate in writing.
• Conversations are most often not recalled verbatim.
• Content is different in speaking. We use “Um…” “Like…”and “Ya’ know…”
• Complete sentences are not necessary in speech.
• Speaking is more expressive and accompanied by shrugs, varied facial expressions or a raised eyebrow. We get clues about what we said via the listener’s body language.
• Little or no time is needed to prepare to talk to a friend or a colleague.
• We shift our language to fit the situation, e.g., more formal in a work environment and more casual in social situations.
• Using charm, charisma and wit; a speaker can say little of substance and receive generous applause.
• Speaking requires use of the mouth and ears. Conversing involves at least one other person and adds the use of the eyes.

WRITING

§         Is a learned process; it does not come naturally.

§         Writing is a labor intensive process.

§         Proper grammar and sentence structures are required; few contractions are used.

§         We have one opportunity to make our point.

§         We use more words to make this point because we must describe details and support every aspect of it.

§         Writers pre-identify their reading audience and tailor the writing style and words accordingly.

§         Complete sentences are composed with a more complex structure.

§         Writing can be in the passive voice.

§         Writing depends upon a more precise choice of words and uses punctuation marks in place of pauses.

§         Our work can be read again and dissected; it can be visited with complete accuracy a year, ten or one hundred years later.

§         Reading takes different and higher cognitive skills than speaking and listening.

§         Writing requires hands and eyes and involves only one person at a time.

The final conclusion is that writing is much harder and more complex than speaking. But you knew that.

Scrap Booking As A Way to Writing

Friends always say, “I don’t know what to write about” and then ask me where I get my ideas for stories, blogs or a book. Do you “scrap book” using special printed papers, embellishments and photos? Do you include a cute or wise caption? If so, you have all the makings for a story you can write!

Looking at the scrap book page of your son’s first day of kindergarten, I am sure you can remember his excitement, or apprehension, how you helped him choose the clothes he was going to wear or the struggle you had trying on school clothes at the store when all he wanted to do was play outside. Maybe you remember your own first day of kindergarten. These are kernels of stories that just need to be expanded.

Your grandmother’s 90^th birthday, a family vacation, your honeymoon or an average summer evening with friends around the outside deck dining table, all cataloged in your scrapbook present an endless supply of story materials. You can use the picture to imagine not your son’s first day, not your first day of kindergarten but a different young child, a composite born and named in your mind who has a story to tell.

Your grandmother’s 90^th birthday party celebration pictures may trigger wondering about what things will be like when you are ninety years old. What will the world look like? Where will your be and what will you be doing? Do you want to live to be 90? Any of these would make marvelous stories.

Your story does not have to be long. When challenged to write a six-word story, Ernest Hemingway thought, drank another beer and said, “For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn” and won the bet without discussion. Your story can be 500 words to 5,000. It does not matter. What matters is that you have the visualization, the images, opinions and feelings about all sorts of subjects and that you write them down.

There are numerous approaches to writing of any kind. One is brainstorming. Using your reference picture, write down all words that come to mind in three minutes. It will show you what you feel about the picture and thus what direction you could take for your story. A second method is to write a basic outline using incomplete or complete sentences as you wish. You can fill in a detailed outline once you decide this is the story you want to write. A third method is to use post-a-note stickies and write different aspect of what you feel when you see the picture, one to each piece of paper. Afterwards line them up on your desk or a wall and place them in various spots and in different orders and eventually a layout will develop that makes sense to you. Different colored, lined index cards serve the same purpose. You write your story using those thoughts as topic sentences or fillers. 

Writing comes more easily than you think. Your sentences do not have to be complete sentences or the spelling correct. Your computer, spouse or high school child can “put things in order” once you have the thoughts down if you desire. What is important is finding that you can write. Once done, writing stories from your scrap book of pictures or from the scrap book in your mind are all waiting to be tapped. Think of how much fun you will have putting a story to those pictures and what a legacy you will leave!

How to Write Haiku

Writing North Idaho is currently running a haiku poetry contest. Deadline is June 15. Prizes available. How to enter is on the sidebar in the upper left. We would love to read your poems!

Haiku is an ancient form of Japanese poetry. It generally consists of three lines. The first line has 5 syllables (not words), the second line has seven syllables, and the last line has five. If you read the English translation of great Japanese haiku poets, you will not find this rhythm because of the differences in languages but the essence that goes along with the feeling of haiku is there.

How to write haiku by Jenny Hudock
1. Focus on nature and seasonal imagery (usually).
2. Made up of three lines
3. Lines traditionally follow a 5, 7, 5 beat pattern.
4. Add a reflective pause.
5. Avoid rhyme.
6. Invoke the senses.
7. Show don't tell.
8. Read haiku poetry, it helps.

Japanese poet Bunson
The sea at springtime.
All day it rises and falls,
yes, rises and falls.


Concept of America by Udiah
People united
To secure their liberty
Out of many, one


By Oshima Ryota
from the long hallways
rows of people rise
in the morning haze


Sunflowers by Helina Basic
Sunflower grow tall
Lift your head to bright sunshine
Mother Nature's child



Butterflies by Helina Basic
Flutter in the sky
On wings of many colors
Land upon flowers

Why dancing is good for your writing

How's your haiku coming along? There is only ONE WEEK LEFT to enter your original haiku in the WNI Can You Haiku contest! For those who've taken a stab at writing haiku, we'd love to hear about your experience. Is it easy? Hard? Do you find the boundary of the 5-7-5 syllable pattern, restrictive or freeing? We encourage even the non-poets among us to try writing haiku. You might be surprised at how fun it is! Send your favorites (up to 3) to wnicontest@gmail.com by midnight, June 15, 2012, and you could win a prize! (As always, there's no cost to enter.)

The other thing that's been on my mind this week is, of all things, dancing. In preparation for leading a line-dance session at a retreat this weekend (okay, scoff if you must, but SOME physical activity is needed after all that time folded into chairs, listening to speakers,  and eating, eating, eating....!), I've been punctuating my writing and editing days with bursts of cuttin' the rug. As a result, I've concluded that dancing is the perfect antidote to hours of sitting in front of the computer. Here's why:

*We tend to write and edit in private, which means we can dance in private, too, which means nobody's laughing at us, like they did when we attempted to do the Electric Slide at Cousin Tillie's wedding.

*Long hours spent in front of the computer or hunched over a writing desk curves our bodies into an unattractive and unhealthy C-shape. After a while, we start to ossify. Not only does it just plain feel good to get up and move once in a while, but it's beneficial for our joints and ligaments and internal organs and circulation and probably some other stuff, too.

*The weather's been lousy all week here in North Idaho. Hiking, biking, and even gardening have no appeal, but dancing is a weatherproof activity.

*Experts suggest that deskbound workers get up and move every so often. Yeah, right. In the middle of an intense writing session, who has time for that? You do, when the length of one song is a measly three or four minutes. Look for a song you like that "has a good beat, you can dance to it," as they used to say on American Bandstand (RIP Dick Clark). Here's a good one--just be careful not to hurt yourself. :-)

*Music is good for your brain and gives it a rest from all that wordy-work. And you might even get some fabulous insight or inspiration while you're tripping the light fantastic, your mind free to float at will.

So step away from the keyboard, crank the tunes, and start bobbing and weaving. You'll be glad you did!

Please Hold...Good things come (sooner or later, but mostly later) to those who wait

Folk wisdom tells us that a watched pot never boils. Meaning, if you set the pot of water on the stove and then stand and stare at it, eager for the bubbles to appear, time drags and you begin to despair of boiling ever happening. On the other hand, if you set the pot on the stove and go off and do something else, guaranteed that water will be boiling in the blink of an eye (or perhaps even boiling over . . . but distractibility is another topic for another day).

Yesterday afternoon I spent two (2) hours trying to track down one (1) historical fact that I need for my novel. The longer the fact eluded me, the more its importance seemed to grow, until at last it felt like the entire trajectory of the story hinged on getting this one little fact exactly right.

In the end, this was not a terribly productive use of time. Two hours of rooting around in the farthest, dustiest corners of the Internet still did not yield the the fact I needed, so finally I had to break down and e-mail an inquiry to someone who is in a better position than I am to find the answer. Which means even more waiting, as I obsessively watch my inbox for a reply. (And maddeningly, to paraphrase a popular coffee-mug slogan, poor planning on my part does not constitute an emergency on theirs.) Meanwhile, two hours spent hunting an obscure fact was two hours spent NOT making progress on my story.

Last night I found myself in a sort of a funk about the whole thing. After I'd thought about it, I realized that the entire problem could be distilled down to patience. As in, I need some, and I need it NOW (another bit of coffee-mug philosophy . . . when did coffee mugs become founts of all wisdom?)

Patience is a virtue. I get that. Yet how often do we as writers find our patience tested? Daily, it seems. Maybe we're waiting for a reply to an important research question, or waiting for feedback from our critique partner, or waiting for a response from an agent or editor, monitoring the inbox with half our brain while the other half silently curses the publishing industry for its notoriously glacial pace, leaving no brain left for the actual writing.

The thing is, the obsessively monitored in-box isn't so different from that watched pot. The one never boils, and the other never yields the "From" address or subject line that you're dying to see.

So today, while I wait for an answer to my question, I am closing my inbox to focus my mind on other things. I will not check e-mail again until I break for lunch at noon. Or maybe 11:45. Okay, 11:30, tops. In the meantime, I have plugged in "XXX" where the missing information needs to go in my novel, and I am pressing forward with other parts of the story.

What's testing your writerly patience these days?

HUNTED: A true crime story of the Inland Northwest

The Bonner County (Idaho) Historical Society has just published its first book! HUNTED is a true-crime chronicle penned by the late Dale Selle. Selle became intrigued by a crime that had occurred in the sleepy North Idaho town of Hope way back in 1923, when a grocery store owner was tragically shot dead during a robbery. When Selle started looking into the old story, his research unearthed a widespread crime wave perpetrated upon the Inland Northwest by an escaped convict and his sidekicks. HUNTED is the story of the men, the crimes, and the determined effort by law enforcement to track them down and bring them to justice.

Selle was a meticulous researcher and chronicler who valued impeccable historical accuracy over penning a page-turner. As a result, at times this book reads more like a police procedural or journalistic account than a suspenseful nail-biter of a crime story. Still, I found the details of rural detective work fascinating, especially back in the day when state-of-the-art technology meant a telegraph and possibly--if one was really on the cutting edge--a telephone.

HUNTED is available for purchase at the Bonner County History Museum (611 S. Ella, Sandpoint, 208-263-2344) and at some retailers including Vanderford's and the Corner Bookstore (both in Sandpoint). If you're interested in crime, law enforcement, and the history of the Inland Northwest, it's worth hunting down a copy of HUNTED.

Be the Architect of Your Novel

BE THE ARCHITECT, BUILDER, AND REAL ESTATE AGENT OF YOUR NOVEL

Part three of a three-part series

By T. Dawn Richard

Author of the May List Mystery Series

Before building a house it’s important to decide where you want to live, the size, style, and use of the house, how many people will live in the house, and how it will be decorated. When writing a novel you also need to determine the genre, the span of the story, how many characters will “live” in your book (or die, if you’re writing murder mysteries) and how you will decorate it with carefully selected words to evoke strong emotions.

The plans are drawn, either in intimate detail or more loosely written as a roadmap to help you move from beginning to end of your story and then it’s time to build. Sometimes you will find it necessary to tear down a few walls or restructure your novel but you finally finish the story and you’re ready to become the real estate agent of your novel. In other words, it’s time to find a publisher.

When I wrote my first novel ten years ago I knew little about the way the publishing world works, and there are still aspects of publishing that mystify me; but there is one thing that hasn’t changed—the publishing business is just that, a business.

In my first contract I noticed that my book was called “The Work” which meant my baby which I had toiled to create, something I had brought to life, was now a piece of property looking for a buyer. And that’s okay. Writing is work. And writers should be compensated for their hard work. Something writers struggle with is getting paid for doing something they love; something so very personal that it’s an extension of who they are, and many writers are so eager to see their work in print that they jump at the first chance to publish.

Not so fast. Imagine spending two years designing and building a house, and when it’s finished, standing back to admire your work. And then … you hand over the keys to the first person who says, “I love it!”

A good real estate agent studies the market, mows the lawn, polishes the brass, vacuums the carpets and lights an apple pie candle to entice buyers and to encourage the best price for the house. Writers, too, must present their work in the best possible light. Study the market, understand what agents and publishers are looking for, polish that manuscript so there are absolutely no typos or loose ends, edit, edit and edit again, and then have a well-trusted writer friend look through your manuscript to be sure it’s ready to present to the professionals.

Things have changed since the days of typing up a manuscript (complete with coffee stains on the cover sheet) wrapping it in brown paper and mailing it off hoping it will land on an enthusiastic editor’s desk. And things continue to change rapidly. Now many agents and editors will accept submissions by email. And an old fashioned typewritten or hand-written manuscript is seen as an amateur attempt. Computers have taken over the world. Personally, I have found it to make life a whole lot easier.

If you are not sure of correct manuscript formatting rules, refer to guidelines which can readily be found on the Internet. And do follow the rules. Editors are pleased when they see you have taken the time to learn how to format a manuscript correctly. Usually the standard format is Times New Roman font with a 12 point type, one inch margins all the way around, double-spaced, with chapter headings about a third of the way down the page. Five space indent at the beginning of each paragraph. You can set your computer to do this automatically. It’s easier to set all of these things before you begin to write your novel than to go back and make changes after.

Once you’re confident your novel is in great shape. Do you look for an agent or go directly to a publishing house? Since many publishers prefer to work with an agent, and some won’t even consider a novel that is un-agented, it’s not a bad idea to find representation. The American Authors Representatives (AAR) organization is a great place to look for an agent since they are held to a very high standard. You should never pay an agent to represent you. Agents work on commission and if they don’t sell your work, they don’t get paid, which means they are very motivated to sell your novel.

But finding an agent isn’t an easy task and it takes confidence and patience. First, you must find the agent who represents the type of novel you have written. If you look at the AAR site on the Internet, you will see a long list of agents and what they will accept, whether or not they represent the genre of work you have finished (and by all means, finish your book before looking for an agent) and they may or may not give guidelines for formatting.

Some want to see a query letter only, or the first few chapters of your novel, or they may want the whole thing.   If you can imagine, agents are inundated with mountains of submissions. It is impossible to read everything, so your first pages must draw them in and make them want to read more. Make those first pages count! If the agent only wants to see a query, do your research and learn how to write a query letter that will make an agent salivate. First impressions are so important! If your novel fails to interest an agent the first time, it’s unlikely they will look at it a second time.

Good agents are invaluable. They have relationships with publishers, know the market, and can understand and negotiate contracts. I highly recommend learning about the agent’s role before even considering an agent. A book by Richard Curtis entitled “How to Be Your Own Literary Agent” should be a must-read for all aspiring novelists. Martin P. Levin also wrote a book called “Be Your Own Literary Agent” and although these books were written in 2003 and 2002 respectively, they include timely information. Another book helpful to writers is “Editors on Editing: What writers need to know about what editors do” by Gerald C. Gross. 1994.

The more you, the author, can learn about the publishing industry, the better equipped you will be to tackle the market.

Often, the question arises about copyright and what an author should do to protect work before submitting to agents or editors. I don’t practice law, but my research found a site which is worth visiting. It states that in the United States, since 1978 there has been no formal requirement to mark your work with the copyright symbol, in fact, there are no formalities at all. Copyright is created in a work once it is fixed into a tangible medium of expression. This means your novel is protected the second you hit the “save” button. However, registering your work does provide you with extra protections. A work is protected by copyright the moment it is created, but if you want to enforce that copyright in a court, you need to register it. For the full article, visit plaigiarismtoday.com.

I feel I've barely scratched the surface of how an author can go from idea to book-on-the-shelf. Writing is exciting, frustrating, exhilarating, heart-breaking and cathartic. Going from thinking of your book as a work of art to a “product” can feel uncomfortable (and make you a little crazy) but never fear, understanding the business will ease some of the angst.

After the sale? (high fives and celebration all around) it’s time to go out and market your work. The more creative you can be, the better, because publishers rarely foot the bill for authors to promote their books unless you are one of the lucky few enormously successful best-selling authors, which I believe you can be! And why not?

One last note: Don’t forget there are dozens of ways to sell one piece of work. Books can be sold separately as hard cover, trade paperback, mass market paperback, large print, audio, e-books, motion picture, book club, etc. Each separate contract will garner a new advance and royalties. This is where an agent will protect you and negotiate in your best interest. Don’t forget to look for a reversion clause in your contract in the event the publisher stops printing your book. You want to get your rights back after a time. Whether you sell all rights or only specific rights is a personal and individual decision, but know your options.

From concept to design, to hard work, and finally to finished product! Get out your signing pen. You’re an author!

Spokane author T. Dawn Richard is a full time writer and author of the May List Mystery Series. Her first book, Death for Dessert, was published in 2003, followed byDigging up Otis, and A Wrinkle in Crime. She completed her fourth book in the series, Par for the Corpse, in 2009. Kirkus Reviews called her "A kind of geriatric Janet Evanovich" because of her quirky senior citizen characters. Richard has recently completed two screenplays and has several other projects in the works. Her books are available on Amazon.