Book launch details

by C. Michelle Jefferies

Within sixty days, I will be celebrating the release of my first book. This month I am writing a new rough draft, and planning my launch. While I have been dreaming of this party for years, I am seeing that there is a seperate reality that is full of lists and alot of things that need to be done in the next few weeks. Since I have worked hard on this list and the things on the list, I thought I'd share it with you and hope we can all benefit from it. If you have anything to add or any comments please feel free to let me know. 

Book launch planning list:

Place. 

Date and time

Note: may have a private dinner thing  for an hour before public launch.

Food for private party. What I provide and if I will ask for potluck donations.  

Treats for public launch, plan food, and drink. How to display food and drinks. Person to watch the treat table and maintain it.

Children’s table Crafts and snacks. AND some one older to help and to monitor the snacks.

Invitations for private party

Flyers all over local area

Post cards to mail to places like paper and businesses I know and libraries

Call paper

Print bookmarks or order book marks

Print business cards.

Cake with edible book cover on it?

Someone to photograph the whole event maybe post pics on FB as a "live event"

Order little prizes or candy give out with book purchase

Decorations for launch party

Signing table and maybe t-shirts for those who are helping

Maybe solicit door prizes from local businesses in return for a bit of advertizing

Assistant-time keeper-manages money for book buying, cash box and change. 

Buy card reader and borrow ipod touch or I phone from friend

Radio and TV

Posters from staples, one for desk one for entryway.

Person to watch kids.

Pick outfit to wear

 

Gather things for door prizes

Note: Four seperate people for taking pictures, childrens table, desert table, and handling money and time keeping

Schedule:

Welcome

Reading from the book

Question and answer period

Signing

Door prizes throughout the night

 ~The path to wisdom is not always straight.

Developing Your Writing Skill #4: Listening to Podcasts

by James Duckett

Four weeks ago I blogged on how writing is more a skill than a talent. Since it is a skill, it can be developed and improved. The last three weeks I've blogged on developing that talent and the fourth bit of advice is to LISTEN TO PODCASTS.

Podcasts are online episodic media (most often, audio) that people can subscribe to and download as new episodes become available. There are podcasts on virtually any topic, and writing it no exception. The nice thing is that you can download them onto your media player or phone and listen to them at your leisure. There are a handful of podcasts that I listen to and I'll list my favorites below.

1) Writing Excuses. Writing Excuses is, by far, my favorite writing podcast. They are pretty religious at getting an episode out on a consistent basis. And each episode contains golden nuggets of information. Despite having compiled hundreds of episodes, I could count on one hand how many times I've thought, "This one didn't apply to me." The hosts are experienced writers Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells, and Mary Robinette Kowal. They also have great guests from time to time to mix things up and add to the discussion. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

2) Grammar Girl. Grammer Girl is grammar-extraordinaire Mignon Fogarty. These come out consistently as well and are often quite short (rarely does she hit 10 minutes). She thoroughly goes over the rules of grammar and does an excellent job on how to write properly in almost any circumstance. You would be surprised how complex the rules of grammar are, which is why she often goes ten minutes to explain something that you would think should take a minute.

3) The Appendix. The Appendix was a favorite of mine but it has been on hiatus for a long time. It was informative and fun and I really hope it comes back. The hosts were (the hilarious) Sarah Eden, Robison Wells, and Marion Jensen. On a side note, Robison is Dan Wells' brother (see Writing Excuses) and those two have been doing a podcast of their own called "Do I Dare to Eat a Peach." Very enjoyable, though they do not focus on writing.

4) Wordplay. Wordplay is another one that seems to have disappeared and I hope it comes back. This one had James Dashner, Nathan Bransford, and J. (Jeff) Scott Savage. Looking at their website it appears they added a new host (Janette Rallison) but I haven't heard any episodes with her yet. I just hope this means there are more in the works!

Are there any podcasts that you also listen to? List them below in the comments. While researching this post I came across a few others that I wish to give a listen to this week, so I will probably update the above list with a few more suggestions before next week's post (that means you should come back). But if there are any you suggest, point me in the right direction and I'll give them a listen.

Until next week when we discuss Developing Your Writing Skill #5: Writing Blogs.

Tragedy and Writing

by Donna K. Weaver

This is kind of creepy, I know, but here's some good information shared by my county after the tragedy in Aurora about what to do if you're ever in a situation where there's an active shooter. And after what happened in Wisconsin, I decided to share.

THE INFORMATION:
After last week's shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., the city of Houston has released a how-to video on surviving an active shooter event. The video was created with funds from the Homeland Security Department. Entitled "Run, Hide, Fight," the video depicts a fictional shooting incident at an office building. Watching this video could save your life. 

This video is well done and would be good information to both know and share with others where appropriate.

The City of Houston's website offers these tips: 

• Run if a safe path is available. Always try and escape or evacuate even if others insist on staying.
• Encourage others to leave with you but don't let the indecision of others slow down your own effort to escape.
• Once you are out of the line of fire, try to prevent others from walking into the danger zone and call 9-1-1.
• If you can't get out safely, find a place to hide. 
• When hiding, turn out lights, remember to lock doors and silence your ringer and vibration mode on your cell phone As a last resort, working together or alone, act with aggression, use improvised weapons and fight.

Houston's Public Safety Office said it had started working on the video before the theater shooting.

Click here to view the video. It kind of got my blood pumping to watch it.

So what does this have to do with writing? Knowing how the real police work--like did you consider before watching the video that the first police people on the scene would NOT be there to help victims?--plays a role in our writing.

What kind of resources do you use?

A Dream of the Future

By Keith N Fisher

Not too long ago, the printed word on paper was still the way most of us caught up on current events. Television news was great, but nothing compared to reading a morning newspaper while eating breakfast. The paperback book had gained a large share of the market, and I wrote novels on a manual typewriter.

Although, I’m not the only person to get the idea, I later, caught a vision of the future. It came while watching Star Trek on TV and in movies. I noticed that reading, writing, and even maintenance reports in the ST universe, are done with electronic pads. It made perfect sense to me. I predicted we would spare the trees and imbed everything on computer chips. In the future we would check out electronic pads from the library. The required shelf space would be cut in half.

My prediction came before the World Wide Web really took hold. I figured research would be done with a stack of electronic pads sitting on a desk. I never considered the actual electronic file.

I walked by a newsstand the other day and had to stop and read the headline. It was the fulfillment of my prediction, it read, Libraries countywide begin putting serious cash into e-books. The article said that libraries are bowing to the patrons who own e-readers.

With the advent of e-books and e-readers, the future is here. Even though I was wrong about the way we would receive the books, we can check out and read them on our pads. Writing can also be done on those same pads. I now, write on an 11-inch laptop.

Even though we are living the inevitability of the future, I think we’ve lost more than we’ve gained. It’s true I use the Internet for research, and I get my news from TV and Yahoo. I take my laptop almost everywhere, but I can’t see what’s on the screen. E-readers are small, but they will never replace the look and feel of a newly printed book. The pleasure of spilling my oatmeal on the paper, with it spread out on the table, will never be replaced. I’m learning to do without. I don’t sit down for breakfast anyway.

I’ve written before about e-book pricing and my feelings concerning selling our work too cheap. Therefore, it’s probably best to not bring that up again. Nevertheless, the cat is out of the bag, we must deal with our creation. We probably won’t suffer the burden of too many e-readers on our desks, as in Star Trek, but I don’t think readers will grow tired of paper either. Then again, maybe I ought to seal my books in a vault for the future. They might be antiques someday.

Good luck with your writing---see you next week.

Reinforcement of Vocabulary

by G.Parker

If nothing else, the Olympic games reinforces the meaning of some words that we have grown up with.  Such words as sportsmanship, courtesy, commonality, teamanship, etc.

In watching several different events during the week, I was really impressed with several athletes and how they behaved.  One in particular, was the runner from Granada.  He was similar to Bolt in his abilities and exhibited a bit of pride, but you know what saves him from being boastful?  He's proud of his country and does everything to promote it and raise it up.  His country.  Not himself, like Mr. Bolt.  It was impressive.  And then, the young man switched name papers with the runner from South Africa who was the double amputee after the qualifying heat that he lost.  It was a touching gesture of respect.  That runner from South Africa was impressive as well.  He could have stuck with the paralympic games, and probably won gold handily (I have no idea how strong the field is), but he wanted to prove that people are only as disabled as they think they are.

It gives me hope every time I watch the games and see how the athletes interact.  How they support each other, like in the decathlon, where they want everyone to do well.  I cherish the words that float through my mind, especially sportsmanship.  Our society has begun to find ourselves lacking in several areas.  I mean, you have to remind people over and over again about cell phones in the theaters?  What's up with that?  Does everyone forget from one trip to the next?  It's like we don't use our brains as well as we should.  It's called common courtesy.  Courtesy is similar to sportsmanship.  It's not just about who wins, but how the game is played.  Everyone cannot be a winner, (another pet peeve of mine, sorry)  but everyone can be a true sportsman.  They can respect their fellow competitors and the effort they are making.

I guess it all comes down to one word, when you think about it:  Respect.  For each other and for a people in general.  As writers, we respect each other, and our respective genre.  Some people look down on different areas as less than deserving, such as romance, or chick lit.  Those authors are are still writers, (of which I count myself one!) still working at the craft.  Just because someone writes fiction as apposed to non-fiction, doesn't mean that what they write is any less important.

We are all worthy of respect from one another.  It's a big, big world, that's getting smaller every day.  It warms the heart to see nations step forward and claim greatness when everyone thinks the same athletes should be winning every time.  I was thrilled to see some of the competitors in the gymnastics that were not the typical teenager, struggling to show that age is not necessarily a definition of the sport.

Once again, the human spirit has dominated, and it's something that brings a tear to my eye every time the Olympic Flame is extinguished.  Sunday is going to be a sad day in my house.  And then we'll start looking forward to 2014 and the Winter Olympics.

Where in the heck is Sochi??

Should I or Should I Not

By C. LaRene Hall

Last time I took the time to write a post someone asked why an author would want to do a book signing since they usually don't sell very many books. That is an excellent question. I once had that same question.

For those who know me you know I never do anything the normal way. I go out of my way and do something different. My last book came out in the summer and I decided that I was going to do my book signing in my own yard. I had games for all the children (after all it's a children's book and kids expect games at a party), and food that depicted my book.

At first I wasn't sure if it was a success until I asked another author how many books she usually sold. She told me that the most she had sold at a time was 17. That day in July in my yard I sold 56 books. I'm not famous and I knew my book would not be a best seller, but to me the number sold was great.

Since I was successful last time I am again going to do my book signing in my yard. This time my theme is going to be Patriotic and Pirates. I know that's a weird combination, but that's what my book is about. I don't know what food I'll serve but I do have the children's games picked out. All my helpers will wear pirate hats and I'll sit at a patriotic table. I may not sell as much as last time, but I think I will once again top the 17 books sold at book stores.

When I have a date I'll let everyone know. I'm sending out more invites this time and I'm hoping lots of people will come and enjoy a fun day in my yard. Can you tell I love parties?

One coping tool for writers block

by C. Michelle Jefferies

I was so suck, even after taking a week to relax and refresh myself. My MS had sat at 14,444 words for over seven days. I told a friend how stuck I was and although talking about it is a great un blocking tool, it's not the one I want to talk about.

My crit partner asked me to imagine what the city was like, what were thier rules and what would their reaction be to two stranges meandering into thier world. I'm writing first person exclusive and while none of this stuff pertained to my character directly it was something he'd deal with in the reaction department. It was the perfect solution to a block that had me stalled for a long time.

Try it, maybe it'll work for you.

~The path to wisdom is not always straight

Developing Your Writing Skill #3

by James Duckett

Three weeks ago I blogged on how writing is more a skill than a talent. Since it is a skill, it can be developed and improved. The last two weeks I wrote that writing and reading is the most valuable ways to develop this skill. The third advice on writing skill development is to READ BOOKS ON WRITING. There are a lot of books out there from people who have been there, paid their dues, established themselves, and wish to distill their wisdom upon the world.

I've had a list of books that I've read on writing that I have just loved to pieces. In (Author) alphabetical order by author, here are the books that came first to mind and why I love them:

Story Engineering by Larry Brooks: Larry Brooks was the keynote speakers at the first LDS Storymakers Event I attended (last year). While this focuses on six elements every writer needs to develop in order to become successful, the part he wrote the most detail on, story structure, is what stood out the most for me. He said that there was a structure to books just as their is a structure to movie scripts. He walks you through the structure of a book and it is a large part of the story frame I use while outlining my stories.

Characters and Viewpoints by Orson Scott Card: This was one of the first books I ever read to improve my writing. Scott is one of my favorite authors, primarily because he writes characters that I care about more than in most books I've read. So, of course, I'm going to go to him when he writes on how to write characters and how to write from their viewpoint.

How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card: Because Science Fiction and Fantasy are the two genres I wish to write in, and again, because I'm a huge fan of Scott, I had to pick this one up right after reading Characters and Viewpoints. However, I think you can benefit by reading this book even if you don't plan on writing in those genres. This gives a lot of excellent advice on how to create a story.

On Writing by Stephen King: Stephen King is another of my favorite writers, so I gobbled up every word of this book. It actually starts off as a biography as he writes on what it took for him to become an author and the the highlights (and low points) of his life. He doesn't actually give writing advise until the end of the book. However, I loved both parts of the book. And his advise!! I like how he just gets to the meat of it. He doesn't present a writing tip and go on for two hundred pages explaining why it must be done, like so many other books. He gives a curt, yet thorough, explanation and then - BAM!! - next topic. A word of warning, this does contain explicit language.

Save the Cat by Blake Snyder: This doesn't focus so much on the mechanics of writing but more on how to improve your story. This also has a section on story structure that is a lot like Larry Brooks' (see above) but has a few more elements that Larry didn't touch on. When I read this book I kept a clipboard nearby to write down the writing tips. I wrote small and still filled up several pages of notes on how to improve my story and make my character unforgettable.

I asked a Facebook writing group on other books they might suggest. I was surprised to see some books I had never even heard of before, which only adds to my list of books to read. So here are their suggestions, also in alphabetical order.

Scene and Structure by Jack M. Bickham
Hooked by Les Edgerton
How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James N. Frey
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamest
Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass
Writing Picture Book by Ann Whitford Paul
The 10% Solution by Ken Rand
A Writer's Guide to Harry Potter by S.P. Sipal (Side note, I did start this one and it is AWESOME!)

It was also recommended to check out this list: Best Books for Writers by Poets&Writers

Until next week when we discuss Developing Your Writing Skill #4: Listening to Podcasts and Reading Writing Blogs.

I Believe

I love this video ( click here)! I used to watch Bob Ross, fascinated at how he could create those awesome pictures with brushes I'd use to paint a wall. And the sentiments in this video are awesome. I need to remember this when I doubt.

Back side of Mt. Timpanogos from Sundance Ski Resort

In the song, he may be talking about the world being our canvass regarding painting, but it also applies to our writing.

Believe.

Because the world is your canvass.

Watching a Full Moon Through Tree Branches

By Keith N Fisher

I attended an event to support the Pleasant Grove, Utah library. It was also the launch party for Tristi Pinkston’s new book, Turning Pages. There were several authors selling and signing their books then donating a portion of the proceeds to the library.

During the event, organized by Tristi, I sat next to one of my favorite authors and chatted about her books. I also listened as many unpublished writers talked to her about different parts of the writing craft and the trouble they were having. I was reminded of the many facets of the craft and the difficulty in mastering it.

While plotting might be easy for some writers, characterization might be difficult for them. Maybe its visa versa, and so on.

One writer talked to my friend about description and I perked up, knowing that has been one of my troubles over the years. In an effort to avoid flowery descriptions, I had developed a habit of getting from point A to point B in the quickest way possible. Then, an editor suggested I add more description because I had written the facts, but left too much for the imagination. I learned that being succinct is preferable in articles and short fiction, but novel readers want more details.

In order to fix the problem, I began to add more description and setting, but I’d made it too wordy. So, I re-discovered metaphors. Inserting details into a reader’s mind, with a few words, however, is not an easy task.

For an example, consider this paragraph I’ve been working on,

Two weeks later, the doorbell woke Rebecca from a nap on the couch. She kicked an empty Vodka bottle across the floor on the way to answer it.

It still needs work but you begin to understand what’s been going on in Rebecca’s life for the past two weeks.

If I described the light of a full moon through the branches of the trees, You’re mind would jump to a conclusion about setting. Now, if I take that same moon, and tell you about the light shining through broken dark clouds, you get a different idea. Then if I add the wind and perhaps the howl of a wolf in the distance, what do these words tell you about the setting?

A word of caution, however. The metaphors we use must provide an image for our readers. If you’d never seen a full moon through broken dark clouds you might have trouble getting the picture. You might not understand.

For a case in point, turn to a Star Trek the next generation episode. In Darmok, episode 2 of season 5, the Enterprise encounters a race of aliens who speak entirely in metaphor. Realizing that fact didn’t help, because the Enterprise crew had no frame of reference to understand the metaphor.

As writers, we must consider who our intended readers are. Will they understand our metaphors? Another problem occurs with too much familiarity. A cliché will provide resonance but it will also bore the reader.

Writing is like Tony Stark fine tuning his Iron Man suit in order to make it fly. Sometimes a writer hits the wall like Tony. If that writer keeps working at it, they will eventually get it right. They will have drawn a perfect picture in a reader’s mind with few words.

Notice the simile above? Like metaphors, similes can also get you into trouble. If you didn’t see the movie, you probably won’t understand the simile.

Good luck with your writing---see you next week.

I Wouldn't Be a Judge

by G.Parker

Well, my week has been spent watching the Olympics, as I mentioned it would last week.  We got hooked up to be able to watch during the day, and it's been both a blessing and a frustration.  I've been able to watch more events than I even knew existed (who knew there was white water rafting?  I mean, wow) and try and juggle my days.  I've still got some writing done, though my average bed time has been midnight...sigh.

But it occurs to me that being a judge for the Olympics must be similar to being a judge in a writing contest or an editor that has tons of books to go through.  It's so subjective to how your life is going, and how you feel about what you are judging.

In listening to the commentators for the women's gymnastics and how the judges can be strict with some and more lenient with others, I wondered:  "Why would you want to be a judge?"  I mean, it's a totally thankless job.  I personally would prefer they had hate mail, and I would probably be guilty of sending it if I even knew where to send it...but someone has to do it.  They can't have it be done by robots yet, so we're stuck.

Just like with trying to get our books to a publisher.  It's all in how we get their attention.  How well we follow the guidelines they put out.  How much we really desire the end result:  Publication.  For the Olympian, the Gold.  I think it's interesting how the medals are viewed.  In the women's gymnastics, the Russians looked like the world had ended when they didn't get the gold.  I couldn't believe it.  I thought they'd been knocked off the podium, and it was just from gold to silver.  I guess it all comes down to where your focus is.

We all want to be a gold medal winner - even if figuratively.  I think most of us would feel like a gold medal winner if we landed a publishing contract.  Silver is possibly getting the attention and request from an editor, and bronze would be winning a contest and being given the chance for notice by a publishing house.

What are you aiming for?  I certainly don't want to be a judge.

I have nothing to say here . . .

by C. Michelle Jefferies

My creative well is dry. I am useless and flat. Too many demands on too little time and brain power. House too messy to be creative.

Never fear though. I am going to clean my house, watch movies and read books as well as bake and craft. I will be back in a week, refreshed and ready to be a writer again.

The path to wisdom is not allways straight.

Developing Your Writing Skill #2

by James Duckett

Two weeks I blogged on how writing is more a skill than a talent. Since it is a skill, it can be developed and improved. Last week I discussed that writing is the most valuable away to develop. The second advice on writing skill development is to READ. And to read a lot! And I'm not talking about reading on how to write (I will save that for next week), but reading good books.

This is an opportunity to learn from the greats. Not so much that you can steal from them, but learning the language of writing can be accelerated by reading what good writing should look, sound, and feel like. Also, if you want to write within a certain genre, it is best to familiarize yourself with that genre. Let me give you a tip: doing a few Google searches and reading an Wikipedia article on the genre of your choice isn't going to get you there. No, you have to READ your genre to understand what works and what doesn't work. Also, if you don't love the genre enough to read it yourself, your lack of love for the genre will show in your writings.

I try to analyze what I've read and imagine how they developed their story. I often think, "I wonder what inspired this part here." After reading a book I take some time to ponder the storyline to see if something inspires me one way or the other.

A recent example:  it never occurred to me until this week how stellar James Dashner is at opening a story. So I analyzed it a bit and decided to blog about it on my personal blog. Do the same thing. What blew you away about certain books? What made you fall in love with such favorites as Dune, The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings, or Price and Prejudice? Can you incorporate some of the things you love into your story?

Also, I'd even advise reading outside of your genre. It could inspire you to add something new to your story or possibly even reinvent the genre that you love so well. Even if it doesn't, you can still learn by reading really great writers.

I've heard time and time again that if you don't read you have no business even trying to write. I've asked a few writers if they do any reading when they are not writing. Without fail, every single one of them takes time out of their busy writing schedule to put in some reading. When I've read books on writing, nearly all of them agree that you must read in order to become a better writer.

So remember, great writers read!!

Until next week when we discuss Developing Your Writing Skill #3: Reading books on writing!

Camp NaNo

by Donna K. Weaver

Click here for details.

It's starts on Wednesday. 

I'm doing another YA fantasy.

Are you in?

Sadistic Pleasure

By Keith N Fisher

To those who read my blog each week: I’m sorry. I got caught up in stuff and didn’t post last week. It’s the first time I’ve missed, but I feel like a flake.

I took a turning point chapter to critique group this week. It was one of those, put your character in peril so they can overcome, type of things, but it wasn’t strong enough. After getting feedback about the writing, I asked my group what they thought. Should I make it stronger? Does the character need more peril?

The next several minutes were spent bouncing plot twist ideas off each other and I came away with a renewed sense of purpose. I was reminded of the old axiom, coined by others, in act one, put your characters in a tree. Act two, throw rocks at your character. Act three, get your character out of the tree.

I once heard Josi Killpack add more to it. She suggested that we throw rocks and set fire to the tree. We shouldn't be in a hurry to get our characters out of peril because it doesn’t give them a chance to grow, and it isn’t believable.

I’m also reminded of how this relates to real life. Every one of us has problems. I prefer to call them trials because overcoming them helps us grow. Eventually, passing through enough trials will help us be the people God intended us to be.

After critique, I began to think of myself as a sadist who enjoys putting my beloved characters into terrible circumstances. Then I remembered the axiom above. If I want to write a great book, I must turn on the heat of tribulations. I’m not sadistic, I’m a loving creator.

May you have the courage to be cruel to your characters. Help your protagonists grow, but go easy on the antagonists.

Good luck with your writing---see you next week.

OLYMPICS!

by G.Parker

In case you weren't around the last time the Olympics came around, I am a certified Olympics fan.  I was lucky enough to participate in the 2002 Olympics for the opening and closing ceremonies.  (I hesitate to post a photo, since there is now the chance I might get sued for it...but I think this was one that I've had since then and got from the Deseret News...so hopefully all credit goes to them!)

I bring up the Olympics for two reasons:  First, the opening ceremonies for the 2012 games in London are tonight, and second, the media.  There is always a media blitz for the Olympics, the participants, the politics, the culture, etc.  By the end of the whole thing everyone is usually ready to grab any reporter they see and throttle them.  There is so much that is thrust into our faces, that it becomes really easy to go on overload.

What really gets to me is how they have to comment on everything.  We can't just enjoy the sport, we have to know how long it takes to do a move, how many years it took to perfect and how many other people came short or did it better.  It really irritates me during the closing ceremonies when they interrupt the ceremony, or production part with interviews of the Olympians that won medals.  Hello?  We've already heard everything about them from the time they were small and first jumped into the swimming pool!

Understandably, these people are just doing their jobs.  There are many who want to know all there is possibly to know about every little thing.  So, there is money to be made in providing that.  I heard a radio program the other day that discussed journalists.  The main point was how journalists are supposed to be neutral on every subject they cover.  They aren't supposed to have political leanings.  They are supposed to present the facts and let the public make it's choice.  Well, how much do you think that happens?  Writing is all about how you twist the words, isn't it?  We either make the subject good or bad by how it's presented.  I remember a quote from CS Lewis's book,  The Screwtape letters, where he points out how Satan twists evil to make it seem amazing and good.

(this was a free photo)

I bring this up because there have been many times over the years that I've been outraged over how the Olympics were handled or reviewed.  How the judges were very political, how participants were left off the podium because of something outside of the sport.  It's a sad world we live in, and while I'll probably be angry with the judging in the gymnastics again, I'll still watch it and cheer for the young people who have given their all to be there and compete.  And, should I write about the Olympics next week, I'll try to portray a non-bias view of the proceedings so that you, dear reader, can draw your own conclusions.

After all...I am a writer.  ;)  Enjoy the games!

BOOK SIGNINGS

By C. LaRene Hall

Last week I participated in a book signing with eight other authors. It wasn't at a book store, or any of the usual places. It was at a hospital. I spent four hours trying to sell my book. No one sold lots of books. I would guess that was because it was an unusual place to have books for sale. I did sell, but some of the authors did not sell one book. Even though for most it was successful, I do have to remember it gave my book some exposure. So my question today is why do we author's spend hours trying to sell our books?

I don't like book signings, but how else are you as an author going to get your story out there to the people?

My next book, a mid-grade story, will be coming out soon, so what I'm wondering is how to market my book. Last time I had a book signing at my home in the yard with lots of games and food. It was successful and I sold more books than I ever imagined I would. Last time my book signing was in the summer. This time it will be in the late fall or early winter. Where am I going to have my kick off for my new book?

Have you ever had something turn out great and then the next time you tried it you were a failure? That is what I'm afraid of.

What do the rest of you think about book signings? Do you have any suggestions for me?

Worth the pain?

by C. Michelle Jefferies

I feel extremely blessed as a writer. I can't look back on these last few years and not see the Divine hand that has guided me on this road to where I'm at.

A friend of mine used to use the phrase "Writing is not for the weak." as her signature. It made me smile whenever I saw it. Because it's true. Before you decide to sit down and lay your heart on a table for everyone to see you should decide if it's worth the pain. Because at some point as a writer trying to be an author these things are going to happen to you.

You have to develop a thick skin: Critiques and reviews can be harsh. They can even be overwhelming. I remember my first critique where someone told me they didin't want another story of a super hero. I was devestated. But that one comment sent me on a road of discovery about myself that hardened my skin to where I am now and look at critiques simply as making my book better.

Your wrists and shoulders are going to hurt: Enough said.

Your eyesight is going to go bad: Get good vision insurance or save money for those reading glasses.

You become a public figure of sorts: everything you say on the internet or in public can be used against you at some point. How you behave toward your peers, your public and as a professional will be remembered.

You are most likely going to spend more money becoming an author than what you will earn. Again, enough said.

You will lose friends: People who you thought would be there through thick and thin will either tire of your writing obsession, or be jealous of your eventual success, or think you've used them and given them no credit and leave you.

Your house, family, marriage and personal health will most likely suffer from a lack of time and sometimes attention.

So ask youself is it worth it, or do you have the stamina and/or drive to succeed? If you answer yes and know that these little setbacks can be turned into learning experiences and stepping stones then welcome to the insanity. :)

~The path to wisdom in not allways straight

Developing Your Writing Skill #1

by James C. Duckett

Last week I blogged on how writing is more a skill than a talent. Since it is a skill, it can be developed and improved. So the first advice on writing is, to me, the obvious one. YOU MUST WRITE! You must write often. I would even suggest that you must write daily! The more you write, the better your writing skill will become.

Every writer I've talked to has never just decided to sit down and start writing and have the outcome publishable. It comes with practice. Last week I had mentioned that there are writers I read and I think, "How did he/she get so good? I don't know if I could ever write this well." The truth: nobody makes me think this more than Brandon Sanderson, my favorite author. He amazes me! His writing seems to come so smoothly and so naturally. It blows my mind every time I read anything he has written.

And he had to write twelve practice novels before he got published. TWELVE!!! That is a lot of practice!

I listen to his podcast, Writing Excuses (you do too, right?).  In one of the episodes from season 6 or 7 he had said something akin to: "No matter how bad you write now, it is no worst than my writing when I began." The writing excuses podcast is very motivating to me, but I think that statement alone was more motivating than anything else has has said.

He isn't the only one I've heard say this. I've heard it said DIRECTLY from certain people that you have to write often if you want to excel at writing. These include Orson Scott Card, Kevin J. Anderson, Brandon Sanderson, and others. I've read the same thing from some of the same authors above as well as another favorite author, Stephen King. It takes diligent practice and discipline to develop your writing skill.

I've heard several people say that you have to write ONE MILLION WORDS before you start writing publishable material. I don't know if that includes work Emails, blog posts, or writing outside your genre, but I believe they mean writing for writings sake and actually working to become a better writer. Of course, that million word rule isn't exact. I'm sure there is a lot of publishable works out there by people who have written less. If my math is correct, I think Brandon Sanderson at least doubled that before Elantris (his first published novel) was published. So I think the idea is that you need to write A LOT in order to write well enough to be published.

While I suggest you write a lot, I might even suggest you write daily. That's right... DAILY! If you can work your schedule so you can write daily, it will help you get past that roughly 1,000,000 words that you need to achieve.

Until next week when we discuss Developing Your Writing Skill #2: Reading!

Critiques

Are you ever in the mood for a critique? Sometimes I am, especially in the early stages of a story. I'm part of an awesome online critique group, and I (generally) love their input--even when it's about how parts of the story don't work.

But I had a sharp reminder last night that there comes a point where you've received one too many critiques. I got one of those last night, though not from my usual critique group. It's a project I've been working on for forever. It's already been critiqued by a million (all right, that's an exaggeration but it seems like it) people--including two professional editors--and I'm finishing up the revision in preparation to resubmitting it to a publisher. I was looking for some overall impressions on how it worked.

Smack!

I already know philosophically that many people aren't going to like our stories, so I don't know why this critiquer's comments came as a surprise. I've got a dear friend for whom this book is just not her style. Okay. That's fine. I guess I thought because I was so far down the path of this particular tale that it was okay.

I'm ready for this story to be done, so I can move on. I'm a firm believer in the idea that we have to write and write and write in order to get good.

But when are we good enough?

Unitards!

by G.Parker

Just in time for the middle of summer blahhhs...a review!

When my family watched this movie the other night, I knew it had to be posted.  There is so much material that can be discussed on writing scripts and stories and characters!. If you haven't seen Unitards yet, you really should rent it when you're in the mood for some lighthearted laughs.  And may I say that it is NOTHING like Napoleon Dinamite?  Would that influence you?

Anyway - I've thought about renting it for a while, but my daughter brought it home the other day and said we needed to watch it as a family.  Okay, works for me.  We watched it and it was hilarious!  What really made it for me was how easily the three main characters worked together.  That alone made the movie fun to watch.

I first heard about Unitards when it was going through the film festival circuit, and KSL ran a story about it.  Apparently it's based on events from the main characters real life actor, Sam Featherstone and his senior year in high school.  What I think is great, is the support he had from his parents -- especially his father, Scott Featherstone, who directed, and wrote the movie.  He had their support, and they encouraged him in his endeavor.  How many parents do that with something so odd-ball?  Not many.  I think that's amazing.


I also think the dad is pretty good at script writing.  This is a simple movie, with a simple plot and little by way of sets.  But it's one of those movies that you'll want to watch when you're feeling blue, want to dance, or need something you don't have to do a lot of thinking with.  There are several books like that that I read over and over again, simply for the relaxation and enjoyment.  

I hope his dad comes up with something else when Sam get's back off his mission.  It would be fun to see a Unitards 2, the Collage Years, or something.  I mean, look how many High School Musicals they did!

By C. LaRene Hall

I appologize. I have been gone more this summer than I have been home.

Last week I was at the opening of My Fair Lady in Logan, Utah, on Friday evening. I also saw Tosca, Kiss Me Kate, and Faust while there.  As you probably know because of the quality of the shows they do - it was amazing. I can honestly say, My Fair Lady is one of the best plays I've seen for a while.

While there I pondered about writing such a production. Never in my wildest dreams could I even picture myself doing such a thing. The writer was great.

Now this makes me wonder - Do I not dream big enough. Did that writer start out knowing he could write such a play or did it just happen? Nothing like this just happens. It had to have taken years to write. Being a playwriter has to take special skills beyond that of writing a novel. I think I'll just stick to tring to write the way I know how and leave the play writing to someone with more kowledge and skill than I have.

Anyway, if you get a chance to see this great play you probably want to take that rare opportunity because it was well done and worth the time and dollars.

A great place for ideas.

by C. Michelle Jefferies
We're in the middle of stomach flu and sore throats here and I am playing mommy 24/7.

So in a quiet moment I will give you this food for thought. There's a place I go to get ideas for character setting theme and plot ideas It's called Pinterest.  While it is addicting, it is an amazing place. If you go remember to come up for air once and a while. :)

Here are my boards if you're interested.  http://pinterest.com/cmjefferies/

~The path to wisdom is not allways straight

Writing is a Skill

by James Duckett

As I read the works of some of my favorite writers I must admit that I often get discouraged. They seem to write so fluidly and naturally that I start to question any talent I might have as a writer. After all, how could I ever learn to write as well as them? Why wasn't I born to write books at the same degree of greatness of my favorite authors?

I need to remind myself that writing is more a skill than a talent. Sure, I do think talent has a roll to play in it, as with any skill, but undeveloped talent will not bare the fruits of the illusive great American novel.

The greats of any profession make things look easy. Look at Michael Jordan. When I saw him play it just seemed like he was out there performing naturally. After all, how can you possibly practice half the shots he made? This seemed like a talent that just came to him naturally.

Or Tiger Woods. He was introduced to golf at a young age, even swinging on national television before he knew what the inside of a preschool looked like. His swing is so polished and smooth that it has to be a natural, right?

Wrong.

While Michael Jordan does have some natural talent (and height) he was not accepted on his high school varsity basketball team. Michael Jordan practiced daily until he became the greatest basketball player of all time. I still get the warm fuzzies watching him work his magic on the court.

As for Tiger Woods,  he spends hours every day working on his swing. In fact, he has rebuilt his swing from the ground up in order to get better. Twice!

Writing is the same way. If you wish to excel at writing it is a skill that must be developed. For the next few weeks I intend to do a series on increasing your writing skill. But I'd love to hear from our loyal readers: what have you done that has helped you to increase your writing skill?

Next week: Skill Tip #1 (the obvious one), Write Every Day

Utah Valley Writers Workshop

by Donna K. Weaver

For those of us residing in Utah, we are very fortunate to have so many writing workshops, conferences, speakers so close around us. Some are so inexpensive, like Life, the Universe and Everything (LTUE), others are a bit more expensive, while others like LDS Storymakers are somewhere in between. I know from talking with other writers in other parts of the country that this is not the case everywhere.

The iWriteNetwork, in conjunction with the Alpine School District, is hosting a two-day writing conference later this month. Because of the participation of the school district, this is a killer deal at $50 for the two days--and that includes lunch both days.

 iWriteNetwork's approach is very much hands on. In each session, you'll be taught a writing technique and then given time to practice it right there on your own work.

Info and registration here. (Scroll down the list to find "Language Arts - Utah Valley Writers' Workshop")

Schedule

Friday: Keynote and Breakouts

8:00 Pick up workshop materials
8:30

• Eric Patten: Character-driven Plotting, room 315 & 316

11:30 Lunch
12:00 

• Jamie Theler: Twitter
• Cindy Hogan: Indie Publishing Part 1
• Karen Hoover: Poetry,
• Ali Cross: Beginning Blogging

1:20 Break
1:30

• Jennie Hansen: Scene Structure
• Karen Hoover: Outlining
• Ali Cross, Branding with Your Blog
• Jordan McCollum: HTML

2:50 Break
3:00

• Brainstorming Panel

4:15 Day 1 Concludes

Saturday Sessions
8:30

• Lisa Mangum: Characters

10:30 Break
10:45

• Caleb Warnock: Narrative Voice

12:15 Lunch
12:45

• Lisa Mangum: Your First Chapter

2:00 Break
2:15

• Carolyn Campbell: Writing for Magazines, room 315
• Cindy Hogan; Indie Publishing Part 2, room 316
• Jamie Theler: Twitter

3:15 Workshop Concludes

Workshop held at Alpine District Professional Development Center
575 N 100 E; American Fork, UT

Events like LTUE have mostly panels, while LDS Storymaker has more classes. What is your favorite learning environment?

Stuff Happens

By Keith N Fisher

Are you a half-full or a half-empty person? When you see a container with the contents measuring exactly one-half of the total capacity, is it half-full, or is half-empty? We’ve all heard this metaphor and we try to look at life with a positive twist.

After all, look at the biblical prophet Job and all he went through. He remained positive through horrific times. Half-full people are great examples to us all. While being interviewed for television about their house burning down, they say, We were blessed that nobody was hurt.

It’s true. It is a blessing and they really believe it, but I think many of them are crying out in silence, but it really sucks to lose my house. Also, with all the stuff that happens in our life, it’s amazing we don’t all, go screaming into the night.

Years ago, I managed a bar and I listened to dozens of hard luck stories every day. Now I work nights at a convenience store and I’m still listening to sad tales. Sometimes they help me feel grateful that I don’t have the same experiences. Other times, I’m reminded of my own trials and the weight of the world descends on my shoulders.

As writers we tend to think of our work as half-empty. Then inspiration comes from somewhere and we marvel at what we’ve written. The secret is to never stop believing in the silver lining. When, (like a house fire), the red pen strikes our manuscript, we can look at the good parts and be grateful they weren’t destroyed, too.

You must believe in yourself. Take compliments when you can get them. Listen to criticism and improve. Dear writer, you have chosen a difficult career path. Learn to be your own cheerleader. Remember stuff happens, look at what’s left instead of what’s missing.

Good luck with your writing---see you next week.

Just Try It...

by G.Parker

If you haven't noticed lately, all of us seem to be stressed out about one thing or another.  Our personal lives are interrupting our professional/writing lives, and it's getting to us all - well, at least me.  ;)

I've been having a hard time sleeping lately.  Mostly because of the heat, but other factors are involved as well.  What I find is that this is an interesting time to do a Mad Write.  Simply because you never know what's going to come out of a sleep deprived brain.  Ask any new parent -- they'll vouch for that.  (I have a niece who had a baby about five months ago, and she's come to visit while functioning on sleep deprivation and it's hilarious to listen to her.)

Anyway, so if your muse is having a hard time focusing because they're melting in the heat, or your story has kind of run down, or your brain is functioning on sleep deprivation mode, then you ought to try a mad write and see what comes of it.  You can even use a sentence from your current work in progress to see if it comes out with something useful.  I just love mad writes for the pure imagination that comes out of it.

And since this week has been a general no sleep week and I'm not functioning on all cylinders, then I guess it's time for me to go try it and get the ending to my current WIP.

Was that a squirrel that just ran by?  With a pink tutu?  Whoa!

More About What You Feel

I apologize for missing last week. A) Holiday through me off. B) Had a really difficult--well---about ten days worth of difficultness. (That's a real word in the "Big Book of T.J.'s Real Words".)

Anyway........

So, I like talking about how to incorporate what I know about a topic and putting it into a story. Today, I'm gonna talk about experiences that could be exploited (your own experiences exploited by you, not abusing friends here.)

Let's say I want to write about a character who has sever hydrophobia. But really, I don't suffer from this fear.

However, I have a pretty high acrophobia.

 I can easily transfer the feelings and emotions I get when I'm at an uncomfortable height and place it on a character who has problems being in water.

To me, writing a book can be a lot like method acting. The base concept of method acting is to use personal experience to create a similar emotion. If you need to cry tears of sadness, find something sad from your past and recall that to pull off your emotion. But for book writing, you have to use words to define the emotion, not actions. To me, this is much more difficult.

A writer needs a proper blend of showing and telling. (Yes, there are appropriate places to tell and any author stating otherwise can argue with me later.) And with this blend, a writer needs his/her reader to feel the emotions. Let me point out a couple of writers who do this well.

J.K. Rowling: Yeah, as much as I was anti-Harry Potter for the first 5 books and 2 movies, nothing was cooler than seeing Hermione punch Draco. Not my point...squirrel...anyway...one thing Rowling did well was get me to feel what Harry was feeling. Now, as an audience, we're supposed to feel sorry for Hermione or proud for Ron or enmity toward Voldemort. But we're supposed to feel sorrow with Harry, joy with Harry, hatred with Harry. I've never been an orphan raised by his self-righteous aunt and uncle and overstuffed cousin. I've never lived under the stairs. But Rowling does a beautiful job of getting many people to feel the pains and sufferings and joys with Harry.

Stephenie Meyer: Have I read Twlight? Nope. Will I? I'm gonna go with "probably not", but in a few years when the hype is dead (or undead, whatever), then I may be interested in reading book 1 for her style and worldbuilding. Anyway, I know that Stephenie Meyer is one of the most hated authors in the U.S. Guess what. She's also one of the most beloved. Why? Because what teenaged girl (and "1985"-syndromed mom) who feels like she is plain and boring doesn't want 2 hot guys going after her? I'm gonna guess that less than 1%. She knew her audience. It's not me.

John Grisham: Wait, did I just mention a plot driven author? Yeah, I did. Grisham wrote classic page turners. The first book of his I read was The Brethren. I've read The Summons, The Firm, The Broker, and my personal favorite, The Street Lawyer. (There may be another one.) I'm going to look at The Summons here. Do you remember in school when they talk about the different styles of conflict? Let me refresh your memory. There's Man vs Man (most common). Man vs Nature (or Artificial Intelligence). Man vs Society. And The Summons' main conflict of Man vs Self. Now, people who know the ending (which I'll try not to spoil) may disagree. But when you really think about it, the main character's worst enemy in the book is himself. If he did the right thing to begin with, he wouldn't be on the run. He did what he thought was best for himself and screwed himself over because of it. And I felt the man's pain at ruining his own life and second guessing his choices. Grisham is plot-driven, but there are plenty of decent characters.

The point of this is I haven't any idea how the authors felt the emotions they portrayed. It doesn't matter since I did feel what was intended.

Alien abductions are involuntary, but probings are scheduled.

Writer's Remorse

by C. Michelle Jefferies

Note: when hubby works 14 hour days, 7 days a week you forget when it's Tuesday.

I'm in the middle of a serious draft of the third story in my series. Usually for me it means a lot of sitting my butt in my chair and writing until my wrists and shoulders hurt. I've written just over 50,000 words in 30 days, as of last night. With the exception of my story generating area, the rest of my brain is pretty much dead.

One thing that happens when in drafting mode is that I hit a chapter or scene that is either difficult to write, slow in coming, or just ugly as I write it. It often times slows me down as a writer, and most likely frustrates me. "This is horrible!" I find myself saying over and over as I write it. EVEN when it's needed information in a needed scene for the plot. (remember I'm a structure gal, not a lot of pansting room in the story)

Sound like something you do too?  Yeah, I think most of us have writers remorse at least once a draft.

The one thing I do when this happens is wait. Wait for the scene to figure itself out, keep writing until it makes sense, shut the computer down and let it sit for a few hours or overnight. I often times will call or email a friend and tell them I'm frustrated, or talk the scene out with them or just let someone else know that I'm in the middle of some scene that is frustrating. BUT I don't delete the scene.

Often times when I come back to that scene it's actually okay. Sometimes it's even great. Sometimes when I keep plugging through the scene some new scene or dialogue comes into play that makes all of the other stuff make sense.

So the next time you're tempted to delete a whole chapter scene or book put it aside, maybe it's just that immediate frustration. And when were looking at it with "immediate frustration goggles" it looks bad. When in fact, when we're able to take those "goggles" off after some down time what we wrote is actually kind of neat. :)

I know Josi Kilpack never deletes a scene. She may cut it and store it in a file to use later but never deletes it.

Have you experienced Writer's Remorse? What do you do to get over or around it?

~The path to wisdom is not always straight

Who Do You Write Like?

by Donna K. Weaver

I'm a voracious reader and have been since I was a little girl. I love multiple genres and I can see now as I consider the titles of the books I devoured that that love began way back. Since we tend to do what we know, those authors must have impacted me my writing style.

Ever wondered who you write like? There's a fun website you can check out here. All you have to do is copy a paste a piece of your writing, and it well tell you who your style is like.

Go ahead. Do it. It'll only take a minute.






















You done? Who do you write like?

When I first input my writing at this site a year or two ago, I did a section each from two different books. One was in first person and the other in third. I got two different results. For the first person, it was the same as the female later on in this post. Here's who the third person was:

Jo Rowling (source)

This time, I tried three different sections from the same book (first person narrative). Got three different writers:

Ray Bradbury (source)

Stephanie Meyer (source)

Stephen King (source)

Source

Confusing?

Yeah.

Okay, on the bright side that's quite the wide assortment, wouldn't you say? And I confess to not having read a lot of Bradbury's stuff, so I can't say how much he could have influenced me.

But even if it really just shows a flaw in the software, it does beg an important question: does it really matter anyway who you write like as you work to find your personal style and voice?

Please Comment

By Keith N Fisher

I’ve been on this site for six years now. Posting about writing, and the struggles associated with it, has been therapeutic. Having people read and comment is icing on the cake. Many of the people who commented in the beginning were published authors. Others have since become published authors, and most of them have blogs of their own.

As we all know, struggling to get noticed as a writer is difficult and there is so much competition. Many of my contemporaries are very good at it, but I wonder about relevance. Recently, I noticed several blogs dealing with subjects I wrote about years ago. I even noticed a credit given to someone else for a concept originally coined by another.

Six years ago, at the LDStorymakers conference, I glanced at those in attendance and marveled that so many people felt an urge to write. I wrote how we seemed to be poised on a precipice waiting for God to use us in the battle for souls. This year, the numbers had more that doubled many times. So, I wonder about relevance.

Have you ever wondered this same thing about your writing? I don’t mean to be glum, but it’s that kind of day. Keep your head up and your fingers poised on the keyboard. Search your heart for inspiration. Its what I do. Sometimes, I write from the parking lot of the temple, hoping to reach my readers. It helps with my perspective. Don’t worry, I will continue to offer advice on this blog because I’ve grown accustomed to posting here. However, your comments are more than welcome.

Good luck with your writing---see you next week.

Deadlines

by G.Parker

Some people get hives just seeing that word in print.  Some get a thrill and feel anticipation.  What does that word do for you?

Personally, I have a love/hate relationship with it.  I am a procrastinator.  I admit it.  "Hello, my name is Gaynell, I'm a procrastinator."  "Hello, Gaynell, welcome."  I find that I do my best work under pressure, at least with artwork.  As far as writing, it works too, but I'm able to spread things out a little more.  I've gotten much better at it as a writer, especially during the month of November and the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).  I know that if I get most of my words in during the first two weeks, the last two go much smoother and I enjoy my Thanksgiving much better.

There are many deadlines in writing.  If you write for a newspaper or magazine, there are daily, weekly and sometimes monthly ones.  If you are writing novels and dealing with a publisher, then you have various deadlines for drafts copies, outlines, etc.

What amazes me are those who can put out a book a year.  That takes dedication and determination.  They must have deadlines all year long to get things out on time.

Take this blog for example.  When we first started doing this, we all were submitting our suggested blog subjects and rough drafts the beginning of the week we were to post.  Then, everyone would try and review it and make suggestions.  This was all hopefully done in plenty of time for the author to fine tune it and publish it on the due date.  Over the years as we've had to deal with life and making a living, as well as changing up the bloggers, we've gotten rather lax at the whole proofing part of it.  We usually just get the blog posted and if anyone notices an issue, they let us know so we can change it.  Sigh.

The deadlines really shifted and became fluid.  Now we can determine what date the blog will post, and if it needs to be reposted, that can be done too.  Remember how I mentioned I was a procrastinator?  I used to try and get my blogs written by Wednesday.  I blog every Friday, that gives me plenty of time, right?  Now I generally am writing them Friday morning or even afternoon!  While I do try and think of subjects during the week, and sometime actually come up with something several days before, the majority of my writing is done the day of.

So, for me, deadlines are the only way I get anything written on a consistent basis!  Even though I try to write every day, it's the deadline that drives me.

How do you feel about deadlines??  Oh, and those of you who are waiting for your prizes??  they're still coming -- I'm just trying to figure out how to get them to you without having them be chocolate soup.  ;)

One nitty gritty of POV (point of view) changes

by C. Michelle Jefferies

I love writing third person exclusive. Its my favorite mode of POV. I love taking a book and writing it from one persons perspective. It's challenging and I enjoy that.

However, often times the situation of the story determines whether the POV is from numerous characters, only two characters or one.

While Emergence is written in third exclusive, the next book Latent is in both the MC's POV and the love interests POV. The third book (yet unnamed) has even more of the other characters POV, and the fourth is mostly from the POV of the minor character. At least that is the way I have it planned.

I am discovering as I write the middle two books that POV changes is more than a flip of "he said" and "she said". There's the challenge of forcing your mind to actually switch between characters and write it consistently. While for some people this might be easy, for me it's not. I am really comfortable in exclusive, multiple POV not so much.

So one thing I have discovered as I have worked on the two middle books.

Your actions, observances, and thoughts should start with the lead character in that chapter/scene.

IE, If your POV character is male the other female, an observance would be:

"He noticed the set of her shoulders. This wasn't going to be an easy conversation."
instead of  
"She squared her shoulders, he realized this wasn't going to be an easy conversation."

With the first example there's no confusion who is watching who and who is thinking, The second, not as easy and more wordy because of defining who is thinking. 

Granted, in the interest of not having boring sentences that all start with "he" you have to change it up. But keeping this idea in mind has made it so much easier for me to keep the switch consistent.

 ~The Path To Wisdom Is Not Always Straight.

English is a Funny Language

by Donna K. Weaver

Source

Isn't the English language just the quirkiest thing? I got the following in an email a few years ago, but I don't know where this originated.

There is a two letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two letter work, and that is up.

It’s easy to understand up, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake up?

At a meeting, why does a topic come up? Why do we speak up and why are the officers up for election and why is it up to the secretary to write up a report?

We call up our friends and we use it to brighten up a room, polish up the silver, we warm up the leftovers and clean up the kitchen. We lock up the house and some guys fix up the old car.

At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line up for tickets, work up and appetite and think up excuses.

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed up is special.

And this up is confusing: A drain must be opened up because it is stopped up.

We open up a store in the morning but we close it up at night. We seem to be pretty mixed  up about up!

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of up, look the word up in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes up almost a quarter of the page and can add up to about thirty definitions.

If you are up to it, you might try building  up a list of the many ways  up is used. It will take up a lot of your time, but if you don’t give up, you could wind up with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding up. When the sun comes out we say it clearing up. When it rains, it wets up the earth.

When it doesn’t rain for awhile, things dry up.

One could go on and on, but I’ll wrap it up, for now my time is up, so….

Time to shut up . . . !