Fiction Scribe

Last week we talked about Index Cards and Calling Around. While I don’t like the telephone, even I had to admit Lamott had a point - people are wonderful tools for research.

This week we’re talking about Writing Groups and Someone to Read Your Drafts, both of which I found extremely useful. I hope you’ll join me in discussing them.

This chapter was very enlightening for me because I have never been part of a face-to-face creative writing class or writing group. Yes, I’ve done both online, but it’s not entirely the same. There’s something about sitting there with your notebook of odds and ends that makes the situation unique.

At least, I believe there would be.

I liked this chapter because it was something writerly that, unlike many of the other chapters, I didn’t have a lot of knowledge about or experience in. However, it did inspire me to think about starting up a group here in Australia sometime after Christmas.

(more…)

Many of us, including myself, sometimes seem born to ramble. But when you’re writing, why waste twelve words on something you could have said in six?

Perhaps this isn’t the best pet peeve to mention before NaNo (Padding 101), but waiting until later to mention it isn’t going to make it any less annoying.

An example of what I’m talking about:

Word Wasting: He walked past the rather old and run down establishment and his face showed something akin to satisfaction as he took possession of another traveler’s wallet.

Being Specific: He smirked as he took the young man’s wallet.

Mention the building if you must, but there are still many more direct ways of saying what you want to say.

Be direct. Be specific.

You’ll keep your readers and stop sounding like you’re trying to publish your NaNo without editing.

The Bird by Bird book discussion will be continuing tomorrow, don’t forget!

Remember to have your copy of Bird by Bird and have read “Writing Groups” and “Someone to Read Your Drafts”.

Thank you to all who participate. Feel free to jump in at any time on the discussions.

That’s me! Hard at work, getting the job done. Oh, yeah.

Kidding. I’m not blonde. But I have been working hard! I have all kinds of fun announcements for you today, including some publishing opportunities. Yum.

November starts this Thursday, ladies and gentlemen! I will be posting regular NaNo/NaBlo check-ins here on Fiction Scribe. If you’re afraid of running out of steam, my goal is to post one NaNo and one NaBlo inspiration post per day over on Write Anyway. Find more about my diabolical plans here.

You can win a book! Yes! 451’s lovely Lyndsey D’Arcangelo has been published in an anthology of love stories. She’s looking to spread the love by offering not just a copy of the anthology but a signed copy of the anthology.

What do you have to do? Write a story about your best summer love memory and send it to her. The winner will receive the aforementioned prize as well as will have their submission posted up on Lyndsey’s site. For more information, go here.

Eneit Press recently released their horror anthology In Bad Dreams: Where Real Life Awaits, and they are gearing up for the next volume! Go here to find out more about submitting your horror stories to one of Australia’s newest publishing companies!

As you know, I have the Monday game still going over at The Book Stacks. This Monday not only am I offering up a poem as a forfeit, I’m offering up something else… Head over there to check it out.

The next edition of the Scribes Blog Carnival will go up on November 5th. The deadline to submit is November 1st, and you are limited to two submissions. If you’d like to submit your links or want more information, check out the Scribes Carnival page.

I say … and you think … ?

1. Inaugural ::
2. Pledge ::
3. String ::
4. Trot ::
5. Fitness ::
6. Cinder ::
7. Edge ::
8. 31 ::
9. Blue ::
10. Leather ::

Courtesy of Luna Nina

One of the little known perks of being a writer is that you can always get to the worst case scenario in 0.2 seconds.

- Sandi Kahn Shelton

Hello and welcome to another weekly writing challenge…or not.

Last week I challenged you to write three hundred words a day in preparation (or simply in challenge if you aren’t participating) for NaNoWriMo. You may have squirmed a bit – I know I did – but that’s less than half of what you have to do for NaNo, which is about 1,667 words a day.

I’m very happy to report that the challenge got me over the 8,000 word mark on my novel. It wasn’t at all easy some days and I didn’t always write the most pristine scenes, but I got it finished.

This week you have no challenge to complete for Fiction Scribe. Why? Because next week both NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo start. I feel that will be challenging enough for all the participants, especially those, like me, who are going to try to participate in both.

A few notes about NaNo and NaBlo:

I’m donating one of the prizes for NaBlo this year so sign up for your chance to win!

On Write Anyway I will be posting every day in November with both a NaNo inspiration post and NaBlo inspiration post per day. It could be anything from a report of how I’m doing with either, a dare for you to write into your NaNo, or a question for you to think and write/blog about. Feel free to check in there at any time if you need to get your mind off what you’re doing or get yourself to focus.

Good luck to all participants!

Because I’m in the mood for some humour.

Hello everyone. I’ve been looking forward to this interview since I first read the author’s note for The Dowry Bride. It’s my pleasure to bring you an interview with the author of the book, Shobahn Bantwal. I hope you will all join me in welcoming her to Fiction Scribe. And remember, by commenting, you get the chance to win a copy of the book!

Hello and thank you for stopping at Fiction Scribe, Mrs. Bantwal. Tell the readers a bit about yourself.

Hello, Jaime. Thanks for inviting me to your popular blog. About myself: I was a young bride in an arranged marriage when I came to live in the United States. Between being a working wife and mother, and juggling a busy social schedule, my life has been more than full for over three decades. My husband and I have one married daughter.

What brought you into the world of writing? When did you start?

When my husband and I became empty nesters a few years ago and later when he took up a consulting job that took him out of town on weekdays, I decided to take up creative writing to occupy my lonely evenings. It was a “Menopausal Epiphany,” that started at the age of 50 and it’s gradually turned into a second career (besides my full-time occupation as a public service employee).

You’re currently on virtual tour for your women’s fiction book The Dowry Bride. Could you tell us a bit about the book? (more…)

To think, I almost forgot!

Happy first birthday/one year anniversary to Fiction Scribe. It’s been a great year and I have truly learned so much since I started writing here. I had no idea what this blog or what I would be like a year later when I started this, but I am proud.

A lot of things have changed this year, and I want to thank everyone who has been with me through the changes. Your feedback and comments have always been a great support.

For your amusement, I thought I’d put up my first post here on Fiction Scribe:

I’ve had quite a few blogs and written plenty of stories in my time, and one thing remains constant: the first words are almost always the hardest. Whether you are facing a blank post box, a blank screen, or a blank piece of paper, coming up with those first words tends to be a struggle.

PS. As with any of my blogs, if you want me to take a look at anything relating to what I’m blogging about, just point me in that direction, and I’ll be more than happy to give my two cents.

Thirteen Random Plot Events

1. Your protagonist is kidnapped
2. Your protagonist’s mother is kidnapped
3. Your protagonist is kidnapped by his/her mother
4. Your antagonist comes down with some food poisoning
5. An intergalactic war starts
6. An asteroid hits
7. A tsunami hits
8. Your main character’s future self suddenly appears
9. A religious sect tries to take over the village/town/planet/galaxy
10. Your antagonist is struck down a fit of giggles
11. One of your characters suddenly becomes a god
12. A dinosaur appears and starts chasing random characters
13. A large chunk of blue ice hits one of your characters

Hello once again everyone! Last week we didn’t have a discussion because I was ill, setting us a week back, but I’m almost 100% well again and ready to discuss.

The week before that, we discussed Broccoli, Radio Station KFKD, and Jealousy - the first two being my favourite out of the book so far.

This week we’ll be discussing Index Cards and Calling Around.

(Please don’t let Calling Around be about the phone…

This was the chapter I was waiting for, in which Lamott reveals herself to be a list and note taker. I, being someone who is addicted to lists, post-it notes, and index cards, was hoping she say she was even the tiniest bit similar.

I agree with Lamott in that knowing you had heard or seen a wonderful something, something you knew you should remember for later, but only remembering you forgot that wonderful something later on. It’s something I think a lot of writers learn the hard way until they start carrying index cards/notepads/note keeper of choice.

(more…)

Book reviews! I’m certainly not the only one on the 451Press network who does them (over on The Book Stacks), and today I would like to feature a few that have been posted recently.

Sally Anderson from over at Style Fix has reviewed Kelley Styring’s In Your Purse: Archaeology of the American Handbag. (Which I would like to read.) This book contains fun facts like “14 percent of the women that she studied carried a weapon in their purse” and other tidbits. Certainly it’s bound to be an interesting read for any woman who carries a purse.

Beth Turnage from Astrology Explored has reviewed Asteroid Goddesses by Demetra George and Douglas Block. This book is about the role of women in society in relation to the female goddesses and their treatment in history. This is bound to be another interesting read – especially for women!

Lastly we have April Gilford at Life as a Christian Woman who has reviewed Quilting Patches of Life, the newest book from Christian author Lori Wagner. This book connects life events – the good and the bad – and quilting as a way of explaining how we are the people we are today.

I hope you enjoy the reviews and read one or more of these books.

Do we really need to discuss this?

Apparently some of us do.

Tenses in writing determine what words you use when you are writing. It decides whether you say:

“I finished with my work.”
“I finish with my work.”
Or
“I will finish with my work.”

To make things simple, let’s not talk about future tense. An entire book written in future tense would be annoying.

It’s perfectly acceptable (if you do it well) to switch tenses from one in one scene to another in the next. Or to even do it mid-scene if you have a present tense work and write in a flash back.

However, one thing you don’t do is switch tense in mid-sentence! How can you expect anyone to read like that when you’ve put:

I am being tricked, but it was all okay. He likes me.

“I’m okay,” I said. I feel like I am floating right now, even though he was also making me a bit angry.

Don’t do that. It’s annoying. Stay in the same tense, at least while you’re still within one sentence. And proof read!

By the way, the above should have been (for past tense) something like:

I was being tricked, but it was all okay. He liked me.

“I’m okay,” I said. I felt like I was floating right then, even though he was also making me a bit angry.

The Bird by Bird book discussion will be continuing tomorrow, don’t forget!

Remember to have your copy of Bird by Bird and have read “Index Cards” and “Calling Around”.

Thank you to all who participate. Feel free to jump in at any time on the discussions - especially now that we’ve started Part Three: Help Along the Way.