)O( Tea Witch’s Musings )O(

I found a nice wood writing and laptop table today.  Two levels that tilt.  It looked like the box had been opened, but it was the only one and the price was right.   Got it home.  Lots  of  bits and pieces and  instructiions that consisted of tiny, indescipherable drawings.  Only two written sentences.  The first warned me that putting the table together incorrectly could result in serious injury.  The second advised me that is might be best to have the table put together by a professional.  I don’t think the first people to buy the table made it past those worrying instructions.  The thing went together easier than I expected.  But if you don’t hear from me again, I’ve probably been gravely injured by a rogue writing desk.

Someone on a writing list asked if anyone knew of any online critique groups.  Many of us responded with our favorite places, which include critters.org and critiquecircle.com.  But then the answers came back.  No, not Critters because it’s the wrong genre (scifi/fantasy/horror) and she doesn’t want Critique Circle because she doesn’t like mixed genre groups.  Besides both of those are frequented by beginning writers and she isn’t interested in the opinion of beginning writers.  And she doesn’t want to hear from the grammarians (those who seem to restrict their critiques to misspelling and grammar errors).  She just wants a genre specific group who will tell her if her story has a wow factor.  So she’ll post her working to the writing list and people can critique it and perhaps that will allow her to find someone at her level.

So as I see it, I can put aside my own writing efforts, which an editor is already waiting to see, so that I can audition to see if I’m at the right level to critique her work.  For free. I’m experiencing a wow factor.  Wow, I don’t want to be in a critique group with this person.  Instead I’ll go find an inexperienced, beginning writer on CritiqueCircle.  When I critique their work (for free), they say “thank you.”

My sister-in-law is going to start a blog about her adventures on her Harley bike!  Key West trips and other fun.  I’ll put up a link when she shares it with me.

I’ve just come across a couple of writers debating the tone of the story on a writing group.

Writer 1  “What do you think of the tone of my beginning?”
Writer 2 “You haven’t established a tone yet.”

An exchange that brought on flashbacks of long past graduate writing wrokshops.  Writers in those workshops said “writerly” things like that all the time.  “This story doesn’t have a strong sense of tone.”  “This lacks depth.”  “The style is underdeveloped.” 

Now, for those who didn’t sit through graduate writing seminars, I will translate the above into something easier to understand  They all mean “thirty percent of my grade in this class depends on giving critiques.  I barely glanced at this week’s stories but I need to sound like I did.”

Alas, it seems like this need to sound like a writer affects even those not in grad classes.  “It doesn’t have tone.”  Now, what exactly does that mean?  Is the story tone deaf?  Is it flabby and in need of a personal trainer?  What should the writer do to grant this mysterious tone to his story? 

After escaping the grad program (degree in hand) and spending some time teaching creative writing, I’ve learned that the best critiques given to other writers focus on concrete, actionable advice.  I pointed out that the story without tone was flip-flopping POV.  Will that fix the tone?  I don’t know.  But I do know that editors may not like a flip-flopping POVs.  It’s one solid problem that can be fixed. 

Or so it seems.  In the last week I’ve critiqued the beginnings to three stories that looked intriquing when I started reading.  But then a page into the over-the-top ending, the main character wakes up.  Frequently because Mom calls for her to get ready for school.  And suddenly I’m dropped from the dream world where I was beginning to get my bearings into the real world.  And I have to start over again because I don’t know the characters, scene or situation any more.  And the story I was interested in is now gone.

So when writing a story, keep in mind that if you start with a dream, you greatly risk losing your readers attention and interest as soon as you drop them from the dream to the real world.  And losing a reader at the beginning is never good.

Essentially, that’s what I may find myself doing.  The second in the Cassdaga series “Love is Blond” was due out in November.  But tragic and unforeseen circumstances meant the release schedule had to be adjusted.  Understandable and I’ve been patiently waiting for business to resume,

Oddly, my book has now fallen in to a vague “coming” category listed behind books that it was previously in front of on the release schedule, with some authors being mysteriously honored with two books being released ahead of other authors.  So, I’ve written the editors to plead for print copies of my book to be in my hands by mid-February so I can take them to events I’m already committed to for March.  Of course I made the same plea last year and didn’t see the books until April, so I’m not hopeful. 

But I am in a tricky position.  I need a fair quantity of books by mid-February or I really don’t need any print copies until fall or possibly next March.  So, I’ll loose money and slip in the selling category if I don’t get books by February.   Since Hard Shell Word Factory is a small press, there is hope that my fair quantity of books is enough to make that vague “coming” a real release date.  If not, well, after being put in this position for the second time in a row, what should I do?

I’m barely keeping going.  I’m tired.  I’m overworked because work wants to do everything before the holidays.  I’m feeling blah about everything. 

But then last night was a December party for one of my writing groups.  The usual question is “what has everyone been writing.”  Of the 6 members of the group, I was the only one who’d written anything in December. 

Which reminded me–it’s not about the word count.  It’s about being a writer by actually writing.  You can have an off day, a slow month.  Heck, I’ve even had a bad year.  But in the end, only if you write do you have a chance to succeed.

 

Too much holiday stuff to get done.  Projects at work that everyone wants to complete before they go on vacation.  Lots of work and not enough writing time always adds to my December stress.  I’m keeping up with my Nanofimo word count, but just barely.  I should have a little extra time off in late December and that may be the big push to the finish.

Ah, it’s a cloudy raining Sunday and just the perfect day to lie around and do very little after a weekend of writing and writing events.  Friday I drove to Tampa for an Authors Open House at Barnes and Noble.  Lots of fun once I found it.  Someone needs to come up with online maps giving directions the way a woman would give them.  So that instead of saying “Right on Dale Mabry highway, arrive at Barnes and Noble,” the map would say “Right on Dale Mabry highway.  Move to the left lane.  The Barnes and Noble is a few blocks down on the left behind a bunch trees.  Look for the Dunkin Donuts sign, it’s easier to spot.”  Took me three trips up and down that street to spot the place.

Then last night was the TGIO party for Nanowrimo.   More writing chatter and other chatter.  Didn’t get home until after 1am.  But it looks like we’re going to keep a Nanowrimo writing group moving forward. 

But now I’ve got to go back and find last year’s Nano work because my editor wants to see those stories.  So I need to make them somewhat readable.  This year’s Nano work is coming to some sort of rough state of conclusion, so I may wind it up soon and then go back to the other.  Meanwhile book 3 of the Cassadaga series is still waiting to be finished.  But since book 2 hasn’t been released yet, I think book 3 can wait a bit longer. 

Went to a self-editing boot camp last night and one thing that caught my attention.  Top on the editor’s list of mistakes writers make was “it’s” and “its.”  Now this is both an easy mistake to make and an easy one to correct.  And getting it right is going to help impress an editor.  Its is the possessive.  So when you use its, think “belonging to.”  But it’s is the contraction for it is.  Whenever you use it’s stop and read the sentence back putting “it is” in place of the “it’s.”  If it doesn’t work, you have the wrong its/it’s.