Author Archives: Terry Misfeldt

Writing Perspective – Day 5 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day Five: Research

Your novel is finished, now what? It’s time for edit and revision, with an emphasis on revision. It’s time to flesh out your novel, add in the details and descriptions and take out the fluff that doesn’t move the story forward.

It’s also time for research if you didn’t do that while you wrote the novel. Research is important no matter what genre you write. There is always something to learn, especially with historical fiction. You need to know the highlights and important events of the era you’re writing about. You can’t just write a novel and expect it to be accurate without research.

When working on my historical fiction series, I needed to know who the English monarchs were during that time. I have pirates, how active were they. I have ships, what did they look like? I also needed to know the basics of colonial life in Colonial America. It was also necessary to do a little research into the proper etiquette of English aristocracy. With my last novel, there was even more research needed when it came to the interaction between a Christian and a Muslim.

Historical novels aren’t the only place research is required. You need it in every genre, even science fiction, and fantasy.

So, if you’re thinking about writing a novel, don’t forget the research. Your audience will appreciate the work you did, even though they aren’t aware of it. They would know if you didn’t, especially if you get facts, they know incorrect.

I hope this helped. If you’re an author, how much research do you typically do for your novel? Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow’s perspective: Self-editing.

Writing Perspective – Day 4 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day Four: Just Write

When you’re writing your novel, there are days when you don’t know what to write. Your characters are silent. You sit at the keyboard with your fingers poised and nothing happens. What do you do?

A famous author would contend there is no such thing as writer’s block. However, it’s real. You know it’s real because you’re sitting in front of your computer staring at a blank screen. Someone once said when you don’t know what to write, write anything that comes to mind. You need to push through the silence. You need to put something on that blank screen, even if it has nothing to do with the story.

That’s the best advice I was given. Why? Because it jumpstarts your story. Chances are you will go back and take out that paragraph or page, especially if it doesn’t have anything to do with the story, or you might find, as I did with Scarred that that paragraph never came out and made it through every edit and revision. When I wrote that paragraph, I was certain it would be edited out. It’s a strong paragraph and just what the story needed at that time and place.

You will find that too as you’re writing. Even if it doesn’t make sense when you go back to edit and revise, it fits. That isn’t always the case. I’ve had many such episodes when the push was edited out because it didn’t belong.

It happens no matter what you’re writing. So, even with your blog posts, write the first thing that comes to mind and turn it into a post. You might find others will relate to what you’ve written.

There is a wealth of ideas, as I mentioned in one of these tips. Pick one and expand on it. No matter what you’re writing, whether the next best-selling novel or a blog post, just write. You’ll be amazed at what happens next. Do you have other tips for staring at the blank screen? Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow’s perspective: Research

Writing Perspective – Day 3 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day Three – Join a Writer’s Group

Okay, let’s assume you’ve finished your novel. Now what? You have a masterpiece, and you proudly let your friend, mother, sibling, or other relative read it. In order not to offend you, they tell you, you have a work of art. It’s fantastic. Your head is swelled three times bigger than it was when you finished your masterpiece.

Then you take it to someone you don’t know and they read it and they tell you it’s a piece of trash. Your head is properly deflated.

So, who do you believe? Not your friends or relatives. They will always try to make you feel good about what you do and never give you a good critique. Not the first person you hand it to either. They have their own reasons for not liking your work.

So, what do you do? Check with your local library and find a writer’s group. You should probably do that the moment you decide to write, but if you want good criticism, a writer’s group is the best way to find it. You will get good feedback, and you will know how to proceed with your manuscript.

You have a long road ahead of you yet. Your manuscript needs revision, editing, research, and when you have that all done, you do it all over again.

If you’re a writer or thinking about becoming one, I recommend a writer’s group. You will get great feedback and they will keep you on track with your work. If you’re a writer or author and have anything to add, please leave a comment. If you’re an author or writer, do you belong to a writer’s group?

Tomorrow’s perspective: Just write!

Writing Perspective – Day 2 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day Two – Ideas

Today, I’m going to focus on ideas. One of the most frequently asked questions is how do I get my ideas? I’d like to say I think a long time about what to write. I don’t. Thoughts are always there and spawn ideas I can write about.

You can get ideas from news stories, books, movies or something that happens. The way it happened brings forth a great idea for a book.

Talking to people and something they say, or how it’s said, can be a good plot for a story.

There are so many places you can find stories, they’re endless. Even dreams can evolve into a book. For non-fiction books, there might be something that happened–such as a mystery–that hasn’t been solved or a memoir from your childhood could make a good book. History is full of people who did something other people would want to know about.

Think about every book you’ve ever read. Which was your favorite and why? That book started as an idea in the author’s imagination. They took that idea and made a story from it, and that story became the book you read. It might have been a best-seller and it might not. However, you read it, reviewed it and others have done the same.

Jerry B. Jenkins, author of the Left Behind series was on a plane and had the idea to write about the tribulation from the viewpoint of an airline pilot. The series became a reality, which he co-authored with Tim LaHaye. One book led to twelve and then four prequels.

Don’t discount the ideas you have. They all lead somewhere, whether it’s a blog post or a best-selling novel.

You might wonder how a person can take an idea from a book. I read an article once that said, there are no new stories, and someone will always come along and write the story better than you did. Find a nugget in a book and you have an idea, a seed, and a new story comes forth. What are your ideas? Let them germinate the seed for a story.

It’s time to write.

Tomorrow’s perspective: Join a Writer’s Group.

Writing Perspective – Day 1 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day One – Just Write

Write. Don’t edit. Don’t worry about your grammar and punctuation.

Write. When you start a new project, the idea is to get the story down. This is your rough draft, and believe me, it’s rough. I guarantee you probably broke every rule of good writing. You’ll have typos and even words that don’t look like typos called homophones. Those are the trickiest typos of all. You’ll also have punctuation and grammatical errors.

Leave your editing for the finished project.

When the story is finished, it’s time to start polishing it. Everyone writes differently. Some people use index cards and map out their book from beginning to end. Some use a storyboard. Some outline. And some just write.

There are two kinds of writers. Plotters and Pantsers. The plotters are the ones who use the index cards, storyboard, and outline. Pantsers are those who plant themselves in the chair and write.

I’m a pantser. I don’t know what my characters are going to do until I put fingers to keyboard.

If this is day one for you, decide what kind of writer you are and get started. The book won’t write itself, though some days you will feel like it is, especially if you’re a pantser, like me.

What kind of writing do you do? If you’re an author, what genre do you write in? If you haven’t published yet, what are your interests when you sit down to write? If you’re thinking about writing, what genre interests you? Is it fiction or non-fiction?

Write!

Tomorrow’s perspective: Ideas

Creating In-Depth Characters

By Rhonda Strehlow

Author Rhonda Strehlow

I recently discovered a folder from my life as an adult educator. It included a tool created by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham, the JoHari Window.  It’s a feedback model used to gather information in such areas as feelings, experiences, fears, knowledge, drivers, skills, hidden agendas, vulnerabilities, motivation, attitude, etc.

As a writer, I see it as a tool to develop our characters.

The concept is that all of us live in four arenas. The arenas are different sizes for each person. Some people have a large Public arena. Others have a large Mask arena. By completing each arena for our characters, we make them more real.


The Public Arena. What is consciously shared with others. Things that are acknowledged and others see i.e. attitudes, behaviors, values. 		The Blind Spot Unknown to the character but seen by others i.e. nervous habits, avoiding eye contact, keeping a ‘safe’ distance.
The Mask Secrets. Things deliberately kept
hidden or concealed from others i.e. things that
are embarrassing, irrational fears, things that scarred our character. 		Potential What ‘could be’ if the time is right. Dreams, feelings, inklings that open up our character to possibilities.

Using my protagonist as an example, these are the traits/characteristics I will continue to explore and develop:

Public Arena: auctioneer, college educated, owns her own home, outwardly successful…

Blind Spot: shy, seen as arrogant, doesn’t allow others to get close, always protecting herself, sees herself through the eyes of abusive parents…

Mask: poor, went to college on a scholarship, father is in prison, mother abandoned her, she feels unworthy of her lawyer partner…

Potential: Will she marry her long-time partner and change her arc, or will she leave? Will she buy the auction barn? Will she lose her business? Will she change careers? Will she return to college?

Try putting a few of your characters through the four quadrants. Do you see ways to integrate their strengths and weaknesses into your story to develop robust, three-dimensional characters?

Imagination

By Ruth Wellens

Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary definition of imagination is: “the act or power to form mental images of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality; a creation of the mind.” 

Author Ruth Wellens

Children are encouraged to use their imagination with an empty box or with blocks.  We adults must use more creative means. 

Writing, of course, uses the imagination, but the practice of using our imagination can occur anytime or anywhere.  When I walk on the trail after a rain, sometimes I pretend I am walking some place other than the trail.  The birds are chirping, the sky is a deep blue, and the air is damp – like a rain forest. 

Sometimes when the atmosphere is foggy, I transport myself (via imagination) to London.  Why not?  I can’t see very clearly here in Green Bay the same way people often can’t see very clearly in London, England.  The only difference is that London might be considered more exotic. 

How about the shores of Green Bay or the shores of Door County?  What’s on the other side?  Maybe we think we know because we’ve driven to the other side or have been transported there by boat.  But what if it has changed? What if it’s something else?  We can always imagine.

Have you ever wondered what that waitress is thinking – especially when someone decides to create a complicated order?  Have you ever encountered a stranger and wondered what his or her back story is?  What about family dynamics as observed in a park or at a store?  Is that couple holding hands married? Dating?  Having an affair? 

This is the stuff of writers – wondering, creating, “forming mental images … not present to the senses.”

So now that our imagination is primed is that all we need?  Picture the perfect writing day, with daily chores done and no other commitments. We cozy up to our laptop ready to begin.  Only, well, nothing.  Even the most perfect setting does not guarantee that writing will be produced.  Sometimes even when all the stars are aligned, writing still falls flat. 

What to do?  Use your imagination.    

Writing Tips: Day Two

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day Two – Ideas

Today, I’m going to focus on ideas. One of the most frequently asked questions is how do I get my ideas? I’d like to say I think a long time about what to write. I don’t. Thoughts are always there and spawn ideas I can write about.

You can get ideas from news stories, books, movies or something that happens. The way it happened brings forth a great idea for a book.

Talking to people and something they say, or how it’s said, can be a good plot for a story.

There are so many places you can find stories, they’re endless. Even dreams can evolve into a book. For non-fiction books, there might be something that happened–such as a mystery–that hasn’t been solved or a memoir from your childhood could make a good book. History is full of people who did something other people would want to know about.

Think about every book you’ve ever read. Which was your favorite and why? That book started as an idea in the author’s imagination. They took that idea and made a story from it, and that story became the book you read. It might have been a best-seller and it might not. However, you read it, reviewed it and others have done the same.

Jerry B. Jenkins, author of the Left Behind series was on a plane and had the idea to write about the tribulation from the viewpoint of an airline pilot. The series became a reality, which he co-authored with Tim LaHaye. One book led to twelve and then four prequels.

Don’t discount the ideas you have. They all lead somewhere, whether it’s a blog post or a best-selling novel.

You might wonder how a person can take an idea from a book. I read an article once that said, there are no new stories, and someone will always come along and write the story better than you did. Find a nugget in a book and you have an idea, a seed, and a new story comes forth. What are your ideas? Let them germinate the seed for a story.

It’s time to write.

What I’ve Learned From My Writing

By Ruth Wellens

 What I’ve learned from my writing is that it has taught me some things about myself.  I have found it one of the most pleasing, aggravating, rewarding, and frustrating activities I have ever pursued.  While the act of writing has at times been difficult to live with, I have found I also can’t live without it. 

I have stories going on in my head almost all the time.  My ideas can originate from anywhere – a song on the radio, an overheard conversation, a news article, or a casual encounter with a store clerk or a waitress.  Sometimes when I recall the incidents during my day, my mind goes into “what if” drive – such as “what if” this happened, or “what if” someone reacted this way, or “what if” someone was thinking or feeling this way?  It’s at those times when my imagination will begin to develop a story.   

What happens next?

With the idea brimming inside my head, the first draft of writing ensues often without a hitch.  After that, however, comes the difficult task of rewriting.  One of the best steps I can take for rewriting is to set aside my work for a day or two or more and then to go back to it. Rewriting or revision is to see again, and that’s what occurs when the writing is reread after time has passed. Rewriting is writing as clearly and concisely as I can.  It is asking if I have used a certain word or words too often?  It is wondering if this part is needed?  After going over my writing, I go over it again.  Sometimes I just need to stop or I have learned I would never have a finished product.

While I don’t write everyday, I find that if I have a story or idea in my head, I need to get it down on paper.  If I don’t, I’ve learned I get very crabby!

The Trials of Writing in the Summer Time

By Rhonda Strehlow

The sun is shining. The birds are singing. The road is calling. The lounge chair beacons me.

The garden needs hoeing.

The day is so beautiful the sheets should be hung on the clothes line.

Is it time to drive to Door County to pick cherries?

My desk is a mess. There are birthday cards to be sent. The neighbor wants to go on a ten-mile bike ride.

We only have a few real summer days in Wisconsin. I’ll write when it’s raining.

Re-seal the deck. Trim back the trees. And, now the peas should be picked. And shelled. And frozen.

I’ll write when it’s raining.

The dog needs a walk. The cat needs a treat. The bird feeders are empty.

It’s time to weed the flower garden again. Who ordered three yards of mulch?

The fish are biting. The fair is next week.  I need a haircut. And, so does the dog.

So now it’s been raining for three days. No more excuses. I open the laptop with a sigh. I re-read the first three chapters. Not too bad. The characters talk to me. I get lost in the drama of another life, another time.

Ten p.m. and 3,512 words! Where did the time go? I’m just getting started. I’m sure I can get in a few more chapters before midnight. Who needs to sleep?