This Week's Quotes - by: My Kids

We are back to school, and with it comes moments of joy, angst, humor, tantrums, frustration, and excitement. I spend a lot of time helping my kids with their homework, or at least checking it. There is a lot of sentence-writing with their assignments. I have to start keeping track of some of these nuggets, because they crack me up.


"I wonder if my crayons have feelings." (Luke, 7)


"Don't worry about the dragons, they will eat you." (Hayden, 9)

Novel No-No's for First Timers (a.k.a. ME)

After the multiple conference, workshops and writing books I've had a lot of a-ha moments! There is so much more great information about writing out there, but I thought for my own sake I'd start compiling them on my blog so I can refer back to them.

Number 1 - Avoid flashbacks and too much back-story in your first chapter. This statement was confirmed by Abigail Samoun from Red Fox Literary Agency, during my critique at the latest writers workshop I attended. I also read it in "Hooked," by Les Edgerton, and "Blockbuster Plots," by Martha Alderson.

Number 2 - The Crisis vs. Climax - Yup, there is a big difference. According to Martha Alderson's book, "Blockbuster Plots," the crisis occurs a little more then half-way through the book. It is dramatic place in the plot, a possible epiphany for the MC to see themselves clearly. "It is the dark night of the soul," says Alderson. The Climax is the highest point in book where the MC shows the reader they have truly changed and who they really are inside.

Number 3 - Minimize the Passive Voice - Avoid sentences using some of these key words: is, was, will be, is being, going to be. 'Were' is active, while 'was being' is passive. I really liked how one person put it though in a person on a forum named tedster gave his advice.
passive: "The beanstalk was climbed by Jack." 
ACTIVE: "Jack climbed the beanstalk."

It's best to minimize passive sentences, but still use them intentionally in order to soften the voice and vary the pacing. In the hands of a good writer, the occasional passive sentence can be powerful, colorful and effective. But the term "passive sentence" is not about the difference between hard hitting and washed out. It's about grammar.  

Number 4 - Story Worthy vs. Surface Problem - Understanding the difference between story worthy problem and surface problem in your novel has stumped me this past month. Les Edgerton, author of "Hooked," spends a lot of time in his book helping writers work through this. The surface problem is the active surface problem your MC needs to solve. The story worthy problem is the underlying emotional issue your MC is struggling with, it is slowly revealed through the plot. Both the main surface problem and the story worthy problem are solved in the last scene of the book. They are connected, but different.

Number 5 - Scene vs. Summary - This point was best described by Martha Alderson in "Blockbuster Plots." Scenes are moment by moment action. They are important plot points that require to be right there with the characters. The summary is narrative of events that don't need extra explanation. It can be really tiring for a reader to constantly be in scenes, they need summary breathers.

Number 6 - It's All About the Tension - The king of teaching tension is Donald Maass, author of "Writing the Breakout Novel." YA novels must be written in a way that makes the reader want to turn the page. Our youth have so many distractions around them that if you don't have tension in your story, and a MC that a teen can relate to and care about, then they won't spend their time reading the book. 

Art Camp Slow Down

I've just conducted my first children's art camp. It was a wonderful experience. I've not been able to write or sleep much or paint or hmmm or anything else. I'll do it again next year, after all we need creativity in life--now more than ever!


I have two great blog posts almost finished. School starts next week, so some of my time will free up to begin and finish all of those things I've had on my to-do-list all summer long.

First 200 Words for GUTGAA Blog-Fest

"The Lion Within"
YA Science Fiction


First 200 Words submitted for review based on Deana Barnhart's awesome Blog-Fest!

Bugs peered at Renna through the shower curtain as if waiting for something to happen. Renna ignored them. She wouldn’t miss the uninvited guests when she and her dad returned to California in three weeks.

The heat of the Kenyan sun warmed a bucket of water. It streamed over her head through a spout. The shower would only last a few minutes, and her long mane of hair took the most water to clean.

A monkey screeched nearby. Renna counted to five. Like clockwork, a series of “shut up,” was shouted throughout the village. The monkey kept right on screeching, tossing in a few hoots and chortles. Now that she knew she’d miss, especially when sitting at a desk listening to high school teacher’s drone on and on about nothing interesting.

The water ran out right after the last soap suds were rinsed from her hair. After two years in Africa, she had the timing down to the second. She grabbed her towel and proceeded to tap the shower curtain to remove her admirers. All but one, an insect the size of her pointer finger, left without hesitation. Renna tried to flick it off multiple times but it wouldn’t budge. 

Writing is Like Losing Your Keys

When I lose my keys there is little else I can think about. I search everywhere. I look under things where dust bunnies have created dust bunny babies. I open up cupboards knowing I'd never put my keys there, but check just in case. I ask everyone in my family if they've seen my keys.


And then there is the relief when I find them. The satisfaction that I' haven't lost my mind. Usually they are in a strange but logical place. I tell myself, never again. I'll put my keys exactly in the same place so this won't happen again. Ha...three days later. "Has anyone seen my keys?"


This is how I feel about my novel. I think about constantly. I have that feeling in my gut that I have to find the best way to tell my story. I read. I write. I talk. I research. And then repeat the cycle over and over again. It's hard to let go of the story until it's complete, until my characters have told their story the best they can. I'm still searching for my keys, and look forward to finding them soon.

Gearin' Up to Get an Agent - Week Three

I'm continuing to participate in Deana Barnhart's blog-o-rama. This week were asking others in to fest to help us with our queries. I feel nervous about posting mine online, like a fellow blogger Robin Weeks. So, I'm going to borrow her paranoia helper idea and apply it to mine. I have removed the query, just so that it isn't out there. 


Everyone was so helpful! Thank you so much!

The Rocky Tale of Dio Franklin

This month I’m participating in Deana Barnhart’s “Gearin’ Up to Get an Agent” Blogfest (to learn more visit http://deanabarnhartblogspot.com) This week’s assignment is to continue a story chain that started at 5am today and will continue until 8am tomorrow! Below you’ll find the link to the writer that posted before me, my continuation, then the writer that continued what I wrote. It is cool to see what each talented writer brings to the story! The full collaboration will be posted tomorrow at Deana's site, linked above.
Chain link before my entry: http://jamieayres.wordpress.com/

My assignment: Take the previous post and continue building tension toward the crisis.Your words are: type, blood, jacked up
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Dio wondered if the blue ghost was influencing her emotions. Sad thoughts filled her head about death, sickness, and starving animals.


Roddern spoke to the ghost, that floated between the two of them. Dio couldn't understand a word Roddern was saying.


"What language are you speaking?" she said, interrupting him. 


The ghost turned to her, looking more like a vision of her father now rather than an indistinguishable blue figure.


Dio took a step back. "What type of trickery is this?"


"This isn't a trick. Your parents are here, Dio. Your father's ghost can only speak the language of the dead, which I'm fluent in. Your mother sent him here to make sure you were safe."


"You're fluent in dead?" She asked, looking at Roddern like he was jacked up on something.


"It's in my blood," Roddern said.


Dio didn't know how to respond. Her world was turning stranger and stranger. The floating spectacle that looked every bit like her father gave her a sad smile. Her heart softened and she took a deep breath. "Can you ask him why my mother didn't come too?"


"I already know the answer," Roddern said.


He came closer to Dio and looked at his feet before meeting her  gaze. "You're mother couldn't come...because she is trapped."

Continued at: http://lorariverainsidewriting.blogspot.com/