Fiction Scribe

Ah, it’s time once again for a bunch of little reminders and notes for what’s happened and going to be happening on Fiction Scribe as well as other little reminders. I’ll try to make it as short and sweet as possible.

And now for the site-specific announcements.

As many of you know, on May 5th 3pm Australia time, my fiancé and I will take our vows in the local park and officially become Mr. and Mrs. Scribe. I want to thank everyone for their well wishes via comments and emails, and a special thank you to Elisa for encouraging me with the wedding registry. (There are a few weird things on there.)

Due to the wedding, there will be a couple differences for the next couple weeks in the way things are usually run.

So, there are a lot of temporary changes, but I hope you enjoy them. Now wish me luck; I have an Australian to marry.

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a communist
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemlöler

Remembering the victims of Virginia Tech by speaking out, not by holding it all in silence.

Due to wedding stuff and thus wanting to get ahead with things, we’re going to do the FictionScribe version of unconscious mutterings. We’ll be back using Luna Nina’s Unconscious mutterings soon.

I say…and you think…?

1. Sun:
2. Candle:
3. Take:
4. Glasses:
5. Rome:
6. Chirp:
7. Moose:
8. Check:
9. Box:
10. Veil:

Original idea by Luna Nina

Courtesy of xkcd.com

Write a letter to your future self. It can be about anything you like, as long or short as you want.

The fun part of this exercise is that with FutureMe.org, you can set your letter to arrive in your email box up to thirty years from now.

How cool is that?

Historical fiction author Brian Wainwright, author of Within the Fetterlock and The Adventures of Alianore Audley has taken time to join us on Fiction Scribe. Mr. Wainwright became a full time author in 2006 and has more projects in the works.

I hope you enjoy what I found to be a very down-to-earth interview.

Hello and welcome to Fiction Scribe. Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m 54 years old and slowly starting to feel it. I’m married (to Christine, since 1989) and without children. My mother lives with us, as she is getting frail. In fact, she’s got frail. We’re in Bury, Lancashire, a place most people haven’t heard of; it’s on the north side of Manchester.

I’ve not been in the best of health these last 3-4 years – depression mainly – but I am sort of coming around. I’m fortunate in that I’ve been able to take early retirement from my main job, so theoretically I’m a full time author. In practice I write just a few hours a week, otherwise I’m watching the cricket, walking, reading or doing other odd bits, like cooking curries!
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People around the many blogging communities are buzzing (and often arguing) about the April 30th day of silence. OneDayBlogSilence.com hopes this to be a day of remembrance for not only those to died in the Virginia Tech tragedy but for those all over the world who are dying needlessly.

However, as you can see from some of the comments here, not everyone feels silence is the best way to go. I agree with them. On April 30th, Fiction Scribe will not be observing the day of silence. Not out of disrespect, by any means, but for what I feel is a necessity.

I’m not protesting the day of silence. I think it’s a wonderful so many people are gathering together to send warm thoughts to those in pain. However, this is a “last straw” situation for me, and I don’t think silence is the answer. I think we’ve been silent too long.

Communicate. What happened is terrifying. It’s a horrible tragedy that never should have happened. Speak! Word of mouth is one of the most powerful forces out there. Advertisers would sell their souls to get the key to word of mouth advertising.

No disrespect meant to the people in mourning right now. I feel for you, and my heart is mourning with you, but I will not observe the day of silence. Too often in too many horrible situations, staying quiet is considered the best option. This is not the time to stay silent even for a day. This is the time to help those in mourning and speak up so these horrible things will stop happening.

As one who stayed silent in the past when something needed to be said, yelled, shouted at anyone who would listen, I won’t do it again. Take a moment of silence, but only a moment. The longer your mouth stays shut in these situations, the longer your words remain trapped, the easier it is to stay silent.

In the words of Ghandi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Speak up. Be the change.

Elisa at The Book Stacks and I were talking long ago about how if she could just write in the shower, she could write a lot more. In her recent post she describes the shower as her inspiration spot:

Take a shower or bath. Douglas Adams would agree with me on this one. The closer he was to the end of a project, the more baths he took. For me, the shower is like inspiration point. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to record thoughts in there, though (now that I can’t make my little sister sit in there and take notes for me…yes, I was an evil big sister. Sorry, Dani).

If you feel like Elisa with her shower inspiration but lack of stay-dry writing materials, I give you
this.

A board for writing in the shower.

All I can say: Genius.

I came across an interesting post on The Wandering Author’s blog.

Not long ago, I posted about the plight of autistic children in many parts of the world, and asked what a writer could do to stop it. I still don’t have an answer to the larger questions, but one comment started me thinking of one thing we can all do. No matter what else may happen in the world, we can each try to help one person at a time.

Anna’s son, Red, has apraxia, which means he can’t talk. And her health insurer has decided Red’s need for a speech therapist doesn’t qualify. So Anna read my post and said, “Children who can’t speak. God, how I understand that subject.”

Anna’s comment left me thinking about her son. Too many people are seeking donations for too many needs for a button seeking donations through PayPal to do much good. It always seems easier to raise funds if you offer something in return; that’s why bake sales and raffles are so popular. But what can a blogger offer? Well, a lot of bloggers are writers, or want to be.

The Wandering Author is looking for your “child without a voice” themed stories for an anthology he plans to put together and sell on Lulu. However, there are a few things to be done first:

First of all, the book can’t legally be published without an agreement written by someone who understands copyright law, granting rights for this project but allowing each author to retain the remaining rights to their own work. If possible, it should cover submissions from any country, and sales to any country as well.

There is also the problem of setting this up so neither Anna nor I winds up with a nasty surprise from the tax man, and so everyone who participates can be sure the money really goes to help Red. I wouldn’t even begin to know how to do that. I’m also not sure if such an arrangement is possible under LuLu’s current terms of use, or whether a special accommodation will be necessary there. I can probably find that out on my own, at least.

Most of you can’t help with the legal questions, but if you do have a relationship with any blawgs, or happen to know a good lawyer who might donate a bit of time, I’d appreciate your help. I’ll also be seeking help myself, but I already know this - if I could afford to pay the lawyers, I could pay for the therapy myself and spare myself all the work! I’m just hoping the legal issues can be broken down into smaller tasks, and there will be enough lawyers willing to help.

However, he is also looking for submissions, which is where the writers and aspiring writers who come to this site come in. The fine guidelines are on the post, but basically he’s looking for stories of any length (preferably not over novella length) on the theme. He’s still working on the fine legal details, but that gives you more time to write your story.

Write and know you’re writing for a good cause.

Last week I mentioned people not paying attention to the point of misspelling titles. In the past, I’ve also mentioned taking care in all you do when it comes to writing properly.

Along those same lines, this week’s pet peeve is about writers who don’t pay attention overall. Their blue-eyed beauty mentioned on page 17 suddenly has green eyes on page 32. Not for any magical reasoning or because her eyes change color with her mood, but because the writer forgot.

Take notes. Write your story. Reread notes. Rewrite your story. Read your notes again. With any hope, your readers are interested in what your characters are doing. If you’re lousy at keeping your blue-haired hero with blue hair, then you need to start keeping better notes.

Don’t even try to get me to read something lengthy of yours if you don’t have some sort of notes.

For those who are forgetful and/or don’t pay attention, here’s a list of the previous pet peeves. Call it a 20th Anniversary Edition.

1. That vs Who
2. Just… Just…
3. Filler Words
4. Thinking
5. And then… And then…
6. Words
7. Spelling
8. Consistency
9. Dialogue Tags Part One
10. Dialogue Tags Part Two
11. Stating the Obvious
12. Repeating Yourself
13. “Said he.”
14. Paragraph Breaks
15. Poetry Capitalization
16. Blogging for Money Discussion
17. Nausea
18. Prose or Poetry
19. The Basics

“Lady Sophia sauntered through market square. She usually sent her servants to shop for her, but on this day she didn’t know what she was looking for, only that she needed a distraction. That morning a letter had arrived, bearing the news that her husband was lost at sea. She didn’t understand how he could leave her – the most beautiful lady in the land – in the first place. She placed a hand on her swollen stomach. Had he found her pregnant form ungainly? She shook her head in disgust. She carried his burden alone. A glint of gold caught her eye. A merchant from the Outer Isles was setting up his wares. His dark hands held an elaborate golden frame of a mirror. He turned and the mirror faced her directly. In her reflection from the front you could hardly tell she was pregnant. She flushed, pleased at her still apparent beauty. She had to have the mirror. The only ones in the manor were small or handheld. This full-length one would do justice to her glory.”

It could have just been the formatting of the email, but I suggest splitting this paragraph into two. It is quite a bit to read in one paragraph and there is a switch in the action at “A glint of gold� anyway, so you might as well use it.

Nice build up of starting the reader off with neutral feelings towards Sophia and quickly then moving that neutrality to dislike. You could have been more subtle (and drawn out) about her true personality, but I like the pacing just the way you have it.

“His dark hands held an elaborate golden frame of a mirror.� This would be okay if the frame didn’t have a mirror in it. However, you make it obvious in the next sentence that it does. Change it to something like he held a gold-framed mirror.

Would I keep reading? Yes, just to see your new twist on Snow White. (Unless you’re familiar with the Seven Swans fairytale, this pretty much has to be Snow White.) I’ve seen and read a lot of different takes on Snow White, though, so you’d have to have something quite interesting and original to hold my attention.

Due to wedding stuff and thus wanting to get ahead with things, we’re going to do the FictionScribe version of unconscious mutterings. We’ll be back using Luna Nina’s Unconscious mutterings soon.

I say…and you think…?

1. Inbox:
2. Fiction:
3. Stuff:
4. Tunes:
5. Office:
6. Bag:
7. Range:
8. Siren:
9. Red:
10. Speaker:

Original idea by Luna Nina

This SSP has a minor bit of language. Tiny bit. Minuscule. Alas, I still put it under the “more” tag. Enjoy.

Courtesy of xkcd.com

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I find music not only motivational but inspirational, so here’s a music one for you.