The only way you could put paprika on your writing is if you printed your work, laid it on a table, and got out the paprika. Same with salt, pepper, garlic powder, or some other spice. What we’re sharing is how to spice up your story with a season of the year.
Winter, especially in northern climes, creates numerous opportunities for stories. It can mean snowmobiling and perhaps running out of gas in the middle of a forest or finding a secluded spot in the woods you’d never find without a snow machine.
A heavy snowfall could isolate a community and draw neighbors closer together as they deal with food shortages and heating issues. It can add intrigue to your story and make life difficult for characters, or enable them to have fun like making snow creatures or starting snowball fights.
The point here is to think about the time of year you’re dealing with in your story. Winter and cold temperatures mean your characters must dress more warmly or cozy up to a crackling fire. Summer means warmer temperatures and less clothing or spending time at the beach or poolside with a sweet iced tea.
Fall can be about football, trees blossoming with colored leaves, leaves rustling on the dry ground, or school swinging back into session. Walks in the woods arm-in-arm with a loved one is romantic in autumn, as is spring and the budding of trees and flowers.
If you have a favorite season, consider employing what you like most about the time of year in your story…maybe as how one of your characters shares your perspective as their own. And, perhaps, one of your antagonists may despise that same season you love and triggers that character’s animosity toward your protagonist. Maybe…
Every one of us is unique in our own way. You may be a Type A with variations of your other personality traits. You may be someone who just wants to do their job and go home to enjoy peace and quiet.
As a writer, that unique nature you bring to writing must be celebrated. Your writing should reflect how you feel…or how you want to feel about your characters, settings, and words in general. How do you see a forest of trees in spring? Fall? Winter? Your perspective is yours alone, so describe how you feel about what you see.’
Your eyes, your brain, and your writing style are yours alone. Sure, you may follow the style of a writer you admire but you are not them! You are you. Who is that person? Why do you write the way you do?
There are–basically–two people you write for: One is the reader you want to reach and entertain, inform, educate, scare, or merely amuse. Get to know that person as much as you can. The second person is you. You must be satisfied with the words you write. Remember, you’re the only person who can write those words. It is your thought process that brings them out and puts them into your computer, your journal, or that spiral notebook you use to craft your writing.
Someone asked the question on our writer’s Facebook page if anyone has tried donating their book to one of the neighborhood “Free Libraries”?
I hadn’t, but I have gone to several of those little libraries and put my bookmarks in the books already there. I also put my bookmark in every book I check out at the public library—I don’t know if they just throw them away, but it’s worth a try.
And I have donated my book to two of the public libraries and also to two high school libraries. Has any of this done any good? I don’t know.
So, today when I went on my daily walk, I brought along one of my books. I put a note on the inside cover stating I was a local author and would appreciate it if my book could be circulated around the neighborhood. I mentioned this book and the others I have written are set in northeast Wisconsin. And, of course, the plea for a review if they read it.
As I approached my targeted neighborhood free library, I saw a man shoveling the driveway right near the box. As I went to add my book to the collection, he said, “It’s getting so full I’m going to have to sort through and throw some out.”
“Oh, please don’t throw this one out,” I pleaded, “I wrote it!” He came right over and took it from me.
“My wife and I are always looking for something to read, I’ll bring it right in!” We chatted a little more and I left feeling really good. Who knows, maybe I will get a review out of it yet!
Jean Baxter Author of: Salvageable Unfathomable That Forgiveness Thing
“The horse raced past the barn fell.” Sound familiar? This is a classic example of what’s known as a garden path sentence, in which the initial interpretation of the sentence’s meaning is wrong because it contains syntactic ambiguity in the first half of the sentence, creating syntactic inconsistency with the rest of the sentence. Thus, multiple possible interpretations. “The horse that raced past the barn fell.” Better?
Garden path sentences often pop up in our first drafts. Not very many writers can coordinate the right brain’s creativity with the left brain’s editing tasks at the same time. Wouldn’t that be sweet – your first draft would come out completely edited, putting thousands of professional editors out of work!
In the real world, our goal as writers is to get the story from inside our head to inside the reader’s head. Being able to recognize your own garden path sentences is an excellent editing tool when you’re down into the weeds of line editing.
Here are some more examples from Effectiviology, which is actually a website about psychology and philosophy:
The old man the boat.
The girl told the story cried.
The complex houses married and single soldiers and their families.
We painted the wall with cracks.
Happy Writing from the Frog!
Check out my latest short story “Trace” in the October issue of The Mantelpiece Magazine at themantelpiece.org.
Remember the saying, “Those who can write, write; those who can’t, edit.”? As an English teacher and long time wielder of the dreaded red editing pen, I have found both with characteristic challenges. I would hope, however, that whoever is critiquing my work knows a little something about what makes a good story.
Why, then, does editing one’s work seem so daunting? I believe it is because the creative aspect that we enjoy so much with our first drafts is missing when we start to edit, and we are faced with the application of a plethora of rules, directions, best practices, and….worst of all….the impending death of passages of some of our best work. These are the unkindest cuts of all.
To ease the task, I am finding critiques and feedback from writer friends an immense aid. To have objective eyes of a beta reader or colleague or even a supportive family member reading your final draft creates objective responses your first draft eye often misses.
Keep in mind the three kinds of editing: developmental (story structure); line editing (I call this wordsmything, finding the right word for the right job); and the final proofreading edit even your spell checker misses. They are all different tasks with different goals.
The most important consideration I have found is to develop a system you can adhere to. Read editing blogs. Find out how the pros edit. Use checklists. And take those feedback notes seriously, clicking off what you the author agree with, and what you don’t. There is no greater feeling than having a polished piece all your own ready to submit to the world eagerly awaiting your prose!
Happy Writing from the Frog!
Check out my latest short story “Trace” in the October issue of The Mantelpiece Magazine at themantelpiece.org.
Seeking submissions to literary magazines is an endless chore of searching databases for current submission listings. Your first task is to read what the magazine publishes to understand if your story fits with its genre, theme, tone and word count. Additionally, the document to be submitted has to be in a specific format, resulting in a number of copies of your story with different tags, such as doc., docx., and pdf., as well as different line spacing – double, one and a half, or single. With two stories published and a third coming out in January, I’m happy to say the effort is well worth it.
In addition to links to current submissions, these various websites, newsletters and blogs also offer craft talks, videos, workshops and articles on all aspects of writing. Much of the info is free, in-depth workshops are offered for a fee. It’s the best of both worlds.
I have discovered no one season is better than the other for submitting. However, because most magazines take three to six months to respond, it’s best to submit one or two seasons ahead, such as winter for spring and summer, etc.
Below are three links to regular posts of literary magazines seeking submissions.
If you are writing a memoir, whether it is your personal history or that of a family member, a great resource can be found in correspondence from that individual.
I always wondered where my father was stationed in the U.S. Navy during World War II. I remember hearing him say something about Norfolk and Brooklyn but never knew when he was there. When one of my daughters told me to look through some recycling, I was shocked to find letters my dad had written to my mom during the war years.
They were rather mundane but provided insight to his military service as an Electrician’s Mate, 2nd Class. What I also found in that box of letters were letters from my uncle who was also in the U.S. Navy but saw combat in the Pacific theater. He was assigned to a minesweeper and provided a snapshot of his service in letters home.
In a letter dated February 13, 1945, my uncle wrote: “Censorship rules have been made more lax and we can tell anything that’s happened up to the last 30 days. The biggest event was the invasion of Saipan. I’ve been to Guam, Tinian, Makin, Eniwetok, and most of the Hawaiian Islands.” Earlier in that same letter he opened with: “I’m in the sick bay under observation for acute appendicitis. They don’t know whether they’re going to operate or not. I sure hope they do because I’d hate to have it act up while on patrol.”
His letter was not postmarked until February 16th. It was received by one of his older sisters in Chicago on February 22nd, 1945. I share this because it is precious information for my uncle’s five daughters who never heard about his war exploits until I have been able to share these letters with them.
Correspondence can be valuable in preserving history and sharing life’s lessons.
Considering participating in the effort to write a novel in the month of November?
It is a monumental task if you think of a 90,000 word novel. That’s 3,000 words a day during the 30 days of November!
Doable? Yes!
The first step, in my opinion, is to get an early start during October. Sit at your keyboard and time how long it takes you to craft 1,000 words. If that takes 1/2 hour, you need to dedicate an hour and a half each day to crank out 3,000 words. Allowing for creative thinking time, if 1,000 words takes an hour to generate, now you are up to three hours a day.
When is the best time of day for you to write? Early morning after that 1st cup of coffee and before the day kicks into high gear? Later in the evening as you start winding down?
Think about when you will have the time to best dedicate to get the words out. Set the goal and stick to it, allowing some down time to refresh and renew the commitment.
Generating 1,000 words a day is a good objective for us as writers. It can be done!
This blog was recommended by Lawrence Wilson and can be found by following this link to the original source.
Welcome aboard! This is your editor speaking. On this trip through your recently completed draft, we’re going to run through a few easy steps to take while you re-read. These steps will teach you to recognize common mistakes and eliminate a lot of red ink along the way. My fellow editors will thank you, and manufacturers of red pens everywhere will curse you. Remember, in the event of a grammar emergency, a Google search will point you toward your nearest online dictionary or style guide. Now, let’s take a quick look at the procedures that will help you navigate any turbulence, and take that prose from rough to smooth.
1. Read Your Work Out Loud
This is probably not the first time you’ve heard this tip—it’s a venerable old chestnut of writing advice. Nonetheless, a huge percentage of writers see this advice and think, “Okay, good idea. Here we go, I’m reading my draft out loud… in my head.”
It may come as a surprise that reading your work out loud in your head and reading it out loud with your voice are not the same thing. One is a purely mental exercise; the other is a physical action. Reading out loud forces you to listen to your own words in the same way that your audience would hear them for the first time. It also helps you understand that words are meant to be spoken, and that writing does not only exist on a page. You can’t get those results from reading in your head, no matter how much your internal narrator sounds like Morgan Freeman.
Get a glass of water, clear your throat, and start talking. It might feel embarrassing to read aloud to an empty room, but your empty room will forgive you. Incidentally, your pets or house plants may be the perfect audience.
If your sentences are too convoluted, you’ll catch that. If you stumble over awkward phrasing, you’ll catch that too. If you have to take a deep breath halfway through every sentence, you’ll learn to break up those long clauses. Similarly, if you find yourself stopping constantly, you may realize your sentences are short and choppy. Reading aloud will give you a sense of the rhythm and flow of your writing.
Most importantly, you will find obvious mistakes. Your grammar app may not alert you if you used the word “corpse” instead of “course,” and your spell check may not realize that you used the word “realize” six times on one page. But you’ll notice those things if you read out loud, and when you do, you’ll vow never to edit in silence again.
Also, your editor can tell if you didn’t read your piece out loud. Just saying.
2. Take Action… Verbs!
Now that you’ve caught your most glaring errors, let’s dive into a style tip that can wake up your writing like a strong cup of coffee.
There are some sentences that are boring. They are just dull. They are perfectly functional, but they do not bring any life to your writing.
Check out those two paragraphs above. In that first paragraph, I used action verbs: “caught,” “dive,” “wake up.” In the second, I chose stative verbs and statements: “there are,” “they are.” I nearly fell asleep writing that second paragraph.
Take a glance at your verb choices. Are you starting every paragraph with “there is” or “they are?” It’s fine to do that once in a while, but if you’re hoping to captivate your audience, consider switching up your verbs every so often. Almost any sentence can be rewritten to feel more active and dynamic—this is especially important to remember when writing opening lines. Even if you’re writing about abstract concepts or a stationery setting, you can recruit a few action verbs for a stylistic shot of espresso.
3. Watch Your Purple Prose
Word choice is one of those key elements that determines a writer’s voice, so as an editor, I tread lightly when giving feedback in this area. However, when editing your own work, it’s a good idea to examine your word choices carefully. Words have great power, and as a radioactive teenager once said, with great power comes great responsibility.
If you re-read a sentence and a particular word stands out to you, remember that a reader could have the same experience. Ask yourself if you want to deliberately draw attention to that word. If so, great! You’ve made a powerful word choice. If not, find a thesaurus and try again. Remember that an eye-catching word can pull a reader out of a narrative. If you throw a word like “obsequious” or “crepuscular” into a fast-paced action sequence, you may send readers scrambling for a dictionary instead of turning the page. But that same word could be the perfect choice in a different context.
Also, remember that you don’t need to choose “writerly” words to be a writer. You don’t need to adorn every sentence with an opulent metaphor, or describe every sunrise like a beacon of hope that unfurls its majestic brilliance across the verdant blanket of a lush meadow. Editors call this kind of language “purple prose.” Just like the accidental application of too much perfume, a draft dripping with purple prose can overwhelm and distract a reader.
While examining your word choices, confirm that the words and phrases you’ve chosen have the meaning you intend. Make sure your editor has no reason to quote Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Your editor can tell if you didn’t read your piece out loud. Just saying.
4. Stop Repeating Yourself
Words are a huge part of a writer’s life, so it makes sense that we’re particularly attached to some of them. Sometimes we may not even realize we’re repeating our favorite turns of phrase every time we’re at the keyboard. We’re particularly attached to words. Wait, hang on, that sounds familiar…
When reviewing your own work, keep an eye out for repetition. It could be a word, a phrase, or even a punctuation mark. If you find a phrase in your draft that gives you déjà vu, use the “Find” function and search for it. With “Find,” you can discover if you’ve already written the phrase “beam me up” four times, or if you’re a little too fond of the em dash.
Years ago, one of my beta readers pointed out that I had a semicolon addiction so severe that I was using one in every other sentence. He pulled out a highlighter and began marking them in my document. When he got to 15 in a single page, he asked nicely if I wanted him to continue. I’ve since recovered from my semicolon addiction, but that day I learned the wonders of the Find tool.
A word of caution about the Find tool, however: Be careful about using the “Replace” feature — especially the “Replace All” feature. If you use “Replace All” to change every instance of “ten” to “10”, you’ll end up changing words like “tense” into “10se.” But for hunting down your repetition habits, “Find” can’t be beat.
5. Curb Your Time Traveling
You may be a time traveler without even knowing it, but this type of time-hopping doesn’t involve a TARDIS or Doc Brown’s DeLorean. Take a look at your verb tenses: are you switching back and forth between past and present tense? There’s a simple remedy. Pick a single tense and stay with it unless you have a deliberate, time-based reason to change.
For example, if you are writing a story in the present tense, you should use the past tense when referring to past events: “Wayne shuffles the cards like a Vegas dealer. His dad taught him to deal cards when he was only 8.” But as long as you’re with Wayne in the present, make sure your verbs stay with him.
It’s not always easy to notice all the places you’ve slipped back and forth. For example, try this sentence: It seems grammar was tricky to learn. Sounds sort of okay, but take a closer look. “Seems” is in present tense, while “was” is past tense. Unless you’re set in the present and referring to the past, this could be a mistake. Once this type of error is on your radar, it becomes easier to spot.
If you read your draft with verb tenses in mind, you’ll realize your choice of verb tense is an essential decision. Past tense is a simple and clean default when writing fiction; present tense is often used for nonfiction, but can create an entirely different mood in fiction. Make a note of your choice, and then make sure that you switch only when the narrative calls for it. It’s the accidental switches that cause problems, especially if you’re Marty McFly.
6. Eschew Prolixity
Take one last scan of your draft with an eye toward overabundance. Make a game of it: how many unnecessary words can you trim? Can you say something in five words that you’re currently saying in 10? Cut out wordy phrases until they’re no longer strangling your sentences. Phrases like “The fact that” and “for the purpose of” are red flags. Hopefully, you caught any stray instances of the passive voice in your verb tense scan, but if you didn’t, the wordiness of passive phrasing should set off alarm bells. “An excellent first draft was written by a Shut Up and Write member” becomes “A Shut Up and Write member wrote an excellent first draft.” Because you just did! Congratulations.
This concludes our demonstration of the self-editing procedures that should prepare your draft for another set of eyes. Remember, it’s always important to edit your own work before sending it out into the world. Thanks for helping out your editor, and come back soon — your next draft awaits.
Published by Alison King
Shut Up & Write’s Business & Content Strategist, Alison King, is also the team’s in-house editor. Alison is a writer and lifelong music geek, and can be found in Berkeley, CA, or at @alison_king on Twitter. View more posts
