Three Things Thursday

1. Good writing is in the details.

Ann Dee came to my class on Tuesday and talked about voice. And she said ‘write more concrete, solid details, instead of using adverbs and adjectives.’

a. What does she mean?

In my fifth book My Angelica, Sage, who wants to be a writer has created a character (Angelica) who is deeply in love with a one-eyed  man.  Here’s a short scene.

“Angelica performed CPR on her Indian lover. His lips were blue. Both of his eyes were closed. At least Angelica thought they were. One eye was covered by a bearskin eye patch. The other lay limply in its socket. . . .

Angelica’s perfectly curled hair trembled with fear. Her  white-gloved hands looked even whiter on her lover’s bare chest. . . .

(She saves him. And then . . . )

Angelica, he signed to her. You have saved me. Will you be my squaw?

Angelica, kneeling at his feet, read the signs, impatiently at first, then triumphantly.

Yes, she signed back fluently. Her skill with language was like her skill with CPR.”

b. Write your own lover’s scene. Use detail. Rich detail. No adverbs. Strong language.

Please share.

2. OLIVE GARDEN IS STILL OPEN! It just has no shingles! So that means we can go there for our dinner.

Ann Dee will come up with a date for before the end of September.

Please come to eat. And talk books. Maybe someone will give a short chat on strong language. Or maybe we will just swear at each other.

Bring 250 words (or less) to read from a book you are working on.

3.  Look at a scene you have already written. How do you rewrite using concrete details?

4. One of my favorite writers, Karen Foxlee, has a new book out. It’s called The Midnight Dress. I can’t wait to read it.

Kyra Leigh, Queen Bee

Kyra here

Making some serious progress with this new little story I’m writing.

Mom gave me some good advice– 45 minutes on writing, 25 minute break, and so on.

I’ve been trying to do that at work every day.

I kind of like where this is going. It’s not sad or depressing or anything like what I typically write. But it’s so easy and fun to write. Not much of a struggle. {well that’s a lie….there’s always some struggle}

I think I might have pretty much an entire rough draft of this story by the end of this month. At least this time I know where I’m going.

Cross your fingers for me!

The cold weather is just around the corner, and that means we won’t have many exciting activities to do except write! {and watch TV. Breaking Bad!!}

Speaking of writing, and TV, does anyone watch Breaking Bad? Holy cow what a well-written show. If you saw this Sunday’s episode, you know what I’m talking about. Evil evil characters. And helpless ones as well.

Great entertainment. I need to learn to write that well!

That’s all for me.

Cheers!

For a snack and a writing exercise.

I ate a bowl of peaches in heavy cream for a snack just now.

List five things your MC eats.

If I were in a book I would eat

1. chocolate covered cinnamon bears

2. popcorn, gallons of it

3. eggs

4. fried zucchini

5. and peaches and cream.

Today I also had very frizzy hair

Does your MC have frizzy hair? How frizzy? How not frizzy? Draw a picture of your MC. 

If I drew of picture of me, you would see a big huge clown head. 

Which brings me to Halloween. Because I recently cut my hair (not too much but enough), I have decided once again to be Little Orphan Annie for Halloween. I was Annie for about four years in a row as a child. I also was Annie after I had my first baby. And one time in fifth grade I went to a maturation program and watched a video about little orphan Annie all grown up and a real lady. 
Maybe I’ll be grown up, maturation program lady for Halloween.

What will your MC be for Halloween? Write a description of their costume including where they bought it or how they made it, what their friends are going to be wearing, where they will be going, and how their costume will be received. 

And finally, today it was raining but I needed to walk my oldest to school but then it was POURING so I thought maybe we should drive but then for some reason driving feels so so hard and more of an ordeal than walking in the pouring rain. So I loaded up the two babies in the stroller with a inadequate cover and then I made the two older kids wear garbage sacks as ponchos. And then we ran to school, splashing through puddles and screaming. Me because I realized like three steps into it how dumb I was, soaking wet within seconds, my oldest because he thought we were going to get struck down by a lightning bolt, my next one because he saw the biggest puddle in his whole entire life, my two year old because I made him sit in the stroller and my baby because he is a baby.

What does your MC do when they have to go to school in the rain? Do they love the rain? Are they scared of it? Annoyed by it? Depressed by it? 

What would they do if their mom made them wear a garbage sack as a poncho? Would any teenager allow that? 

I think that’s all for now. 

 

 

Just Another Manic Monday

Of course, Sunday isn’t really a fun day for some of us. But . . . I never noticed that these words are sorta dumb. So–are the words you’re writing dumb? Are they carrying weight? Doing what they should?

 

This made me smile and get all teary-eyed. We need to do our dance!

So, your writing needs to do what a movie does–all with language.

 

Some day remind me to tell you all about when I cut my own hair to save money.

Hmmm–could that end up in a novel? Use real life in your writing.

 

Hahahaha!

Make sure all your secondary characters are fully developed and not just in the background.

 

Anytime I am making out, I do it in front of an open window where my old boyfriend can see. Nothing should just happen in your book without a reason. And try not to force anything. Make the story flow in a  natural way.

 

When you play the drum–do it loudly.