New website

Hi everyone

With multiple interests should come multiple websites. Why not visit my new, much geekier home at www.carmen-fox.com? While there, feel free to say hi.

I'll continue both blogs from now on. Hope you enjoy.

Carmen

Overused Words - Personal Pronoun Pandemonium

Deep point of view has little to do with the personal pronouns you use. 'I' can dig just as deep as 'HE.' Equally, a generous scattering of personal pronouns cannot create deep POV. In fact, any such repetition is considered bad form.

Think of it this way:  your characters perceive the world filtered through their experiences. The wind, a smell, a glance. Whatever is happening to your characters is between them and the outside influence. Or in other words, it's about how the outside influence impacts your characters, not about how they impact the outside. If your character isn't the subject of his perceptions, why would he be the subject of the sentence?

What about making decisions? Surely this falls firmly in the personal pronoun domain, no? Once again, the issue is not the fact that your character has certain thoughts at all. The reader knows she's following your character's inner workings. No, past events, memories, or new information are the reasons your character is torn or confused, and they are the beacons that guide your character's mind from one spot to the next. I, HE or SHE have no place here.

Emotions, though. Don't tell me they are more important than the character. I'm not going to write, "Anger grabbed hold of me, and sadness ripped through me." Bleugh. Not happening!

Every time you feel sad or happy, you are the subject. But (and you knew there'd be one, didn't you?) the reader doesn't care how your character feels. The reader is not a shrink. So how does the author overcome the reader's attitude? By being sneaky. Show the readers the effects of these emotions. You know, the stomach loops, the raised hairs, the fast-beating heart. That'll draw them in.

So if not even emotions are the place for personal pronouns, what is?

Actions. When your character acts, he becomes the focus. This includes communication, both verbal and non-verbal. For cadence, try not to start each sentence with the same pronoun, but other than that, this is the perfect occasion to remind your reader your character is still in charge of his or her actions. This also implies we don't want hands acting independently or legs carrying you character away without his say-so.

As isn't uncommon in the urban fantasy genre, I write in first person point of view, and occasionally, a cluster of my sentences begins with 'I.' This glaring word echo sounds clunky, is highly noticeable, and reeks of amateur. The overuse of I is the first thing I change, even before my usual editing loops. 

In short, just don't overdo it. But if you do, there are relatively easy fixes for avoiding personal pronouns, even when it comes to action.

"I whipped around to her. Taking another step, I pondered her choice of words. Somewhere, I'd heard them before."

"My knee creaked from my sudden 180. 'Never felt more in synch with the world.' Her words had a familiar ring."

The key is to pick another word from the sentence and give it a spin.

"I nodded, certain I was going to die. And if I was going to die anyway, I might as well tell the truth."

"The certainty of my death turned my stomach. Through the nausea, a wispy voice egged me on to tell the truth, to clear my conscience and lighten the load on the off-chance my soul was headed upstairs to the big guy."

Once again, I picked another crucial word. In the first sentence, the word certain appealed to me. I might also have used the word 'die' to initiate a new sentence. 'Death was a certainty.' 'Death was staring me in the face, his eyes like two hollow pockets.' 'Death was beckoning my soul, but it was my resolve that came a-running.'

My examples may not be your taste, but they do prove the principle, I hope. So if you spot two of your sentences beginning with the same pronoun, why not have a play? Just don't take take it too far and substitute a clunky sentence for a perfectly fine specimen solely to avoid an 'I' or 'he/she.'

Editing - Commonly Overused Words

Two types of overused words trickle into my books with the regularity of my brother's toilet run. The first, fashion words. Say, the punchy sound of "crisp" takes my fancy, and before I know it, it pops up in nearly every chapter. The crisp white of a tablecloth. The crisp smell of the cold on clothes. The attentive reader will spot each occurrence. Not ideal.

Good news is, this type of overused word tends to be picked up during ordinary revision. Phew.

The second type is a lot sneakier. This group contains the blah words we use in abundance every day, the perfectly adequate, but not terribly exciting bunch that fills our books. In many cases, these words cause no major concern. If every sentence were to sparkle and glitter with bling words, the reader might be too dazzled to follow the plot. On the other hand, too many pedestrian expressions run the risk of sending your readership asnooze.

You should handle these specimens on a case-by-case basis, but first, you need to identify them.

Here a list of my overused words.

Pull
Push
Look
See
Feel
(My/her...) Own
Myself, herself...
Hear
Sound
Smell
Bitter
Very
Really
Actually
Large
Small
A little
A lot
Thought
Knew
Reach
Bring
Start
That
About
All
So
Just

There are many more, but we want to keep revision within bounds, don't we? One final note on the most common offender, not included above. The personal pronoun. In the first person POV, this would be 'I,' in third person 'he/she.' How can you avoid personal pronouns, you ask. Well, that will be the subject of a future post, so be sure to check back in soon.

Sounds And Smells - Vocabulary Builder

Fresh writing is hard. Fresh writing with a purpose even more so.

Are you as sick of smells assaulting noses and sounds tearing you from thoughts as I am? So I put on my stylish bakersboy thinking cap to conjure a number of, occasionally unusual, verbs that go well with fragrances and odors.

Drift
Waft
Jarr
Tickle
Climb
Swirl
Corkscrew
Dig
Follow
Pursue
Bombard
Hint
Intrude
Enclose
Wrap
Surround
Distract
Permeate
Isolate
Suggest
Puff
Blew
Burn
Feather
Float
Linger
Lick
Flood
Trickle
Jangle
Stomp
Dripdrop
Resonate
Murmur
Zing
Shatter
Sing
Soothe
Grab
Stuff
Ping
Claw
Bite
Tiptoe
Dance
Pounce
Blast
Thunder
Splash
Startle
Comfort
Crawl

Captivate And Dazzle Using The Senses

Don't just add sensory details. Use them with a purpose.

One way to allow the reader to sink deeper into the character's point of view is to cleverly layer sensory information. That's good, but the senses can do so much more. I like to give the individual senses specific tasks.

Sight is largely dependent on your eyes moving. Keep your gaze fixed on one point for too long, and you stop paying attention to the scene. So you constantly add new visuals to the chapter, hoping to provide a richer experience. Show don't tell, you are being told at every corner of your writing journey. Obedient as you are, you add more and more visual cues. A great start, but you need to dig ever deeper to fully immerse your readers.

In addition to everyday sounds, like doorbells or engines, and voice cues amidst dialogue, I use them to infuse a scene with suspense. Because in the absence of visual markers, sounds are creepy as hell. The innocent rustle of leaves in the trees can impart a sense of foreboding the associated visual can't. That's just my preference. Perhaps you'll find other uses.

Touch isn't used to its full potential in my writing, I admit. Sure, I'll point out the floor is hard, the carpet plush, and the windows cold, but in terms of description, it often draws the short straw. However, there is one aspect in which the tactile sense can be titillated more than the others, and that is by the clever use of verbs. I can mention fifteen times that my character's fingers clawed into the smooth silk shawl, but the fabric's texture only really comes alive when it slinks across your skin like a soft caress. Conditions on an ice planet may be freezing and harsh, but the reader only truly feels the cold when the wind whips your character's face into a pink, painful mess.

To me, taste is the most sensual of all senses. The taste of a lover's lips, a piece of chocolate melting on your tongue - both make you want to close your eyes. It is particularly powerful, then, to shock and disgust the reader by focusing on the stale bitterness of an opponent's blood.

Smell is the most powerful of all senses. Since our memories seem to have an entire hard drive dedicated to it, I like using scents to quickly orientate a reader. Once you have set the scene for a reader, e.g. a terrifying basement, anchor the emotions with a unique odor, like that of rotting earth. The next time your character notices this smell, the reader's emotions flood back.

Please understand you should always mix and layer several senses, not only to deepen the experience for the reader, but also because some readers react more strongly to one sense than to another. This post is simply meant to give food for thought as to how particularly senses can serve specific purposes.

Review: Margie Lawson courses

This isn't so much a review about any particular one of Margie Lawson's courses, but a general gush about her wonderful no-nonsense approach to writing. My first Margie moment came when I downloaded her lecture packet about Empowering Characters' Emotions. One revelation after another fired in my brain, so I figured I'd try one of her online courses.

Believe me when I say Margie takes her job seriously. Once you register, you become one of her online family for a month. She'll lavish attention on you, encourage a community spirit that's been missing in other writing workshops I've taken, and teach you honest writing skill. No, I'm not talking grammar rules, intricacies of punctuation, or spelling. And despite her ability to quickly grasp your plot, she won't pontificate about scene/sequel or goal/motivation/conflict either. Not that these aren't vital to an author's success, they're just not the focus of Margie's workshops.

Margie will teach you how to write, how to tap into your talent and drag those rare skills you never knew you possessed to the surface. She'll show you how to create a balance between background info, feelings and dialogue, hone your ability to render true-to-life moments, bust clichés or turn them on their heads, and most of all, to have fun with language.

By the end, you'll use literary devices such as alliterations to great effect, harness the power of three, and steal your readers' breath by evoking the most visceral emotions.

I'm not affiliated with Margie Lawson. Each course I have taken and re-taken was paid for by me, and paid for in the confident knowledge every cent is well spent. As far as I can tell, hers are the only workshops that focus on the most basic, and most neglected, tool in our writer's toolbox. How to be a wordsmith.

If you know of other great courses on language for fiction writers, please get in touch. In any case, my rating:

5/5

Romancing The Clone - Clever Book Title?

Most of my books are known to me and my writer friends by the main character's name. My first book GUARDED was known as "Ivy," and DIVIDE AND CONQUER as "Lea" (although it could have been known as "Nieve," since it has two main characters).

But there comes a time when I have to think of a proper title. In both cases, I went for well-known words or phrases which are connected to particular events in the book. In GUARDED, for example, Ivy fights using small metal plates, known as Guards, to focus magic. Due to events in her past, her personality is also somewhat shy and exactly trusting, i.e. guarded.

However, recently I've become aware of a great number of forced titles that are too clever for their own good. To avoid causing offense, I won't name any one book in particular. Instead, I will make them up. Romancing The Bone might be a love story between two dog owners, Romancing The Clone a love story between a widower and the clone of his late wife. Both titles are amusing at first glance and certainly relevant, but I'm not a fan of using wordplays on famous films, books or songs. It seems you're piggybacking on their success. Also, the joke soon wears thin. A story about two bar owners competing in a small village while trying not to give in to their feelings might have enough conflict to catch my interest, but you lose me as a potential reader if you call your book "Bar Wars."

Anyway, don't change your punny book title on my account. Just something to bear in mind, I hope.

Overcoming Procrastinitis... Takes Too Much Effort

Procrastinitis, although not yet a recognized medical condition, has made hundreds or thousand of lives hell. I myself suffer from the chronic form, which means it recurs with great frequency. I suffered another attack this morning and it persists even now. Procrastinitis saps my energy and my will to do anything even remotely tedious, such as cooking or earning a living.

I had big plans for today. I was going to finish a beta read, continue my revision of GUARDED, and write a thousand words on my new novel. Sadly, my illness prevents me from doing any of these.

The only activity I am able to pursue on days like this is the lightest of weight lifting, such as picking up the remote control and aiming it at the TV screen.

Please find it in your hearts to spare a thought or a moment of compassion for me in this trying time.

Thank you.

Carmen

Microsoft Word trouble resolved

In an update to yesterday's post, I wasn't quite ready to go down the uninstall/re-install path. As a reminder: I was unable to start Word (or Excel, or Access...).

On further research I discovered the problem was a compatibility issue. This struck me as weird, because the day before everything was running just swell. Turns out, Windows had thrown in a sneaky (automatic) update. Going on a hunch, I restored my settings to three days ago, and -- ta-daaaa -- it's working again. For the time being I've disabled automatic updates and hope they'll address the issue in later updates.

What a kerfuffle. Sheesh.

Microsoft Troubles. Shoot!

The weirdest thing happened this morning. I got up at 5 a.m. as usual to get in an hour of writing before work, and Microsoft Work didn't open. I'm not talking about individual documents, but about Word itself. Deleting my Normal.dot templates (occasionally become corrupted) had no effect. The problem resolution functionality finally pointed out I had compatibility issues, which is odd, since the program worked perfectly yesterday. My troubleshooter's subsequent attempts to...troubleshoot made no difference. I've since checked Excel and Access etc., and none of them start. Forums have been largely unhelpful.

I'm miffed.

Now I have to dig around at home for my product key to try uninstall/reinstall, hoping it's merely corrupted. But how can all my MS Tools become corrupted at once? Then again, if corruption isn't the problem, I'm stumped. Has anyone else had this problem?

Grrr.

Five Rules Every Newbie Writer Should Know Before Putting Finger To Keyboard

Writers need to know all sorts of things. An experienced writer’s trove of wisdom certainly contains more than the five rules I mention here. Getting to that level isn’t a hard road, although it is a long one. Like every journey, you take it step-by-step. Rather than learning everything at once, concentrate on one new discovery a day. Once you have applied a principle a few times, it becomes a habit, and you can move on to the next item. Don’t misunderstand. Most authors struggle with these issues even after years of writing. Take me. I’m a “filter word” expert when I beta read for a friend. Yet when I turn my attention to my own manuscript, the blinkers go up.

I beta occasionally for new writers who have finished their books and are ready to query. Or so they think. Many of them are good writers with an extensive vocabulary, but they stand absolutely, categorically, definitely no chance of getting their books read by an agent until they master the basics. It's the equivalent of a new chef having an exquisite palate, but being in the dark about how to boil an egg.

Please read on if you believe you need to brush up on your writing 101.

Rule 1: Characters do not frown, sigh or smile words. They can do one or the other. Just for laughs, try to smile the word “robot” and you’ll see it doesn’t work. To attribute dialogue to a character, use “he said”/”she said,” beats, or nothing at all. Attributions you may use are actions (“He frowns,” “She runs a hand through her hair”), emotions (“My stomach roiled”), or voice cues (“Her voice was tinged with bitterness”). Mix it up. Beats belong in the same paragraph as the associated dialogue. Do not mix dialogue from one character with the action of another character. Finally, if you use no attribution at all, make sure the reader knows who’s talking.

Impossible: “I love it,” she smiled. “It’s great.”

Better: “I love it,” she said. “It’s great.”

Even better: “I love it.” She grinned like an emoticon. “It’s great.”

Or possibly: “Hotdammit, I love it. It’s fan-tas-tic.” [No attribution needed if it’s clear who’s speaking.]

Confusing: “I love it,” she said. “It’s great.” He shook his head.

Rule 2: Avoid “as," because it will get you into trouble. “As” signals a simultaneous action of equal duration. The word is also often associated with a cause/effect reversal. There are places where “as” works, but it’s simpler to just avoid it. (Please note: this does not apply to "as" when used to mean "because" or to indicate a comparison etc.)

Impossible: He fell as he ran down the stairs. [While he was falling, he also ran down the stairs? And running down the stairs took as long as the falling? Quite some feat. Also, readers feel more comfortable if the character runs before he falls.]

Better: He took two steps at once and didn’t spot the toy soldier until it was too late. With an ear-rattling scream, he crashed down the stairs.

Rule 3: Dangling modifiers are a pain in the butt for everyone, especially for editors. Not all are easy to spot. First things first. What is a modifier? A modifier is a word or a phrase that modifies an object, usually the subject of the sentence. Why “dangling”? This refers to the problem where the modifier and the subject don’t match, i.e. The modifier is left hanging.

Impossible: I ran at full-out speed. Turning the corner, a lamppost came into view. [Implying the lamppost turned the corner].

Better: I zoomed around the corner. A man in a suit leaned against a lamppost, pretending to read the newspaper in his hand.

Rule 4: Your characters experience a wide range of emotions throughout the book. Know when they are important. In many cases, a simple “I froze” will do. The short sentence gives the reader a quick impression, but it won’t trip him or her up. In key situations, you want to milk the emotions. Ram them home.

Not enough:

The man leaped out of the bush. I froze.

“Give me your money.” He jabbed a knife at me.

I fished my wallet out of my pocket. It contained the money I needed to buy my brother’s medicine. The man grabbed it and, without another word, scarpered down the street.

Relieved, I took a deep breath.

Better:

The man leaped out of the bush. My breath froze in my lungs. 

“Give me your money.” He jabbed a knife at me.

My hand trembled. It took three tries to pull my wallet out of my pocket. His eyes, cold and devoid of light, screamed at me to hurry up. My hand tightened around the supple leather. I’d worked hard for that money. Without it, my brother would go without medicine, possibly relapse.

“Give it.” The man ripped the wallet from my fist and bulleted down the street. Out of sight.

Oxygen rushed into me, lifting my diaphragm like the pistons of a V-12 engine. What was I going to do? I wiped a tear off my cheek. What the hell was I going to do?

Rule 5: Lose filter words. Filter words “filter” your characters’ experiences before they reach the reader. The most common ones are “see” “watch” “hear” “feel.” Instead of showing what's happening to your character, you’re at best showing your character telling the reader what happened. You are creating an extra layer through which the plot is “filtered.”

Filtered: I sat in the car, watching a couple cross the road. They looked in love. I even heard the man say those words to the woman next to him. I felt a delicate warmth rise in my chest. If only I could be loved like that.

Unfiltered: I pushed back into the seat of my Honda and sipped from my bottle. A man and a woman, both well into their fifties, crossed the road ahead of me. Fingers intertwined, their hands swung between them.

“I love you.” The wind carried the man’s affectionate words through the open window.

The woman laughed, but her twinkling eyes confirmed she felt the same way.

I took another swig. Perhaps the water would drown the ache in my chest. One day, someone would speak those words to me. One day, I would laugh like the woman had laughed, with my head back and love in my eyes.

One day.

Before You Submit - Word Formatting For Authors

Here you will find formatting aids to get your book in shape before submitting. During the revision and editing phase, it is not uncommon for certain formatting errors to sneak into your manuscript. Where, for example, do these additional spaces at the start of new paragraphs come from? Some of the problems might lead you to believe you have to slog through your three hundred or so pages and correct formatting faux-pas by hand. Not so. Quite a few of them can be addressed by familiarizing yourself with “nonprinting” characters. Use this quick check list in conjunction with Word’s Find and Replace function (Ctrl+H) to blast the little buggers into oblivion.

Remember to approve each occurrence separately. If you click “Replace All,” you might be setting yourself up for trouble.

[] indicates a space (i.e. tap spacebar once)

Remove additional space at start of a paragraph:

Find:             ^p[]   (i.e. ^p followed by a space)

Replace with: ^p      (i.e. ^p without a space)

Replace additional space before punctuation mark:

Find:             []?      [].      [],

Replace with: ?        .         ,

(em dashes and ellipses ARE followed by a space and punctuation mark, so be sure not to click “Replace All.”)

Replace en dashes (–) with em dashes (—):

Find:             ^=

Replace with: ^+      or       Ctrl+Alt+-      (hyphen on the number pad)

(em dashes have no spaces, except at the end of the sentence, where you type —[].)

Replace hyphens (-) with em dashes (—):

Find:             -

Replace with: ^+      or       Ctrl+Alt+-      (hyphen on the number pad)

(em dashes have no spaces, except at the end of the sentence, where you type —[].)

Replace dot dot dot (...) with ellipsis (…):

Find:             ...

Replace with: Ctrl+Alt+.

(ellipses have no spaces, except at the end of the sentence, where you type …[].)

Delete stray tabs at the start of a paragraph (in favor of indenting your paragraphs):

Find:             ^t

Replace with:           (i.e. leave box empty)

Follow this up by highlighting the entire text, then redoing the hanging indent.

Reformatting extra large spaces between paragraphs:

Highlight all text. Click on the “paragraph” tab and tick “Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style”. Then click “OK.”

Replace double space with single space:

Find:             [][]

Replace with: []

You may need to carry out many more pre-submission edits (for example, replacing overused words with more exciting expressions). These can also be changed using the find/replace function, such as:

Overuse of names (e.g. Anna) in dialogue:

Find:             , Anna.

Replace with:           (i.e. leave box empty).

Find:             , Anna?

Replace with:           (i.e. leave box empty)

Overuse of “out of” when “out” will do (e.g. stares out (of) the window):

Find:             []out of[]

Replace with: []out[]

(Do NOT accidentally click “Replace All.”)

Overuse of “sit down”/”stand up”/”down on” when “sit”/”stand”/”on” will do (e.g. he sat (down) on the edge of the bed):

Find:             sit down

Replace with: sit

A pre-edit list containing commonly overused words and some suggestions will be added soon.

What is cadence?

What is cadence? I have no idea. I know it when I hear it. But I couldn't possibly define it. It's like a melody in your speech, a pattern that resonates pleasantly with you. You can spend hours laboring over a single sentence, hoping to hit the right note. You swap words, consult your thesaurus for synonyms, nix half of it, try again. All in search of that elusive quality.

Once you're satisfied with your sentence, you re-read your paragraph, and -- oh, horror! -- now the whole section sounds off. So you start again.

Five hours later you wonder if your writing was truly so bad in the beginning, or if perhaps you'd reached an impasse and were avoiding getting back to your story.

Aaaarrrgh!

Agent, editor or self-publish? Answer on a postcard, please.

With a finished book under my belt, a nearly finished second book, I have to give some serious thought to what to do with them.

DIVIDE AND CONQUER is slightly unusual in terms of story structure (prophesied heroes FAIL early on in the book and spend the rest of the time recovering ground) and character structure (think buddy movie, with two female characters sharing equal stage time, each with their own romance and plotline).

GUARDED is a more traditional paranormal romance, with vampires, werewolves, demons, the lot, where the heroine is a satyr.

As for their prospects, Guarded's pro is also its con. Despite a generous helping of plot twists, its more traditional setup makes it a good candidate for agents. To place something off-mold like DIVIDE AND CONQUER, an acquiring editor might be a better bet, because agents prefer to play it safe.

I have recently found out you can make more money by self-publishing. Especially since whatever happens, most of the promotional burden will be on you anyway. If your book is very good, you won't have to share profits with agents or editors. If your book is average, again, financially you'll be better off going it on your own. Because nowadays, readers will still buy what they're going to buy. They care little if you had an agent or not.

You can buy your own cover art and hire your own editors for a few hundred bucks, and hope to recover your costs through book sales. Many authors do.

So why would I even want an agent or a publisher? It's not the advance, because most writers don't get one. The royalties will be reduced, because everyone gets a cut. But agents and editors provide valuable services for their fees. Agents help you tweak your manuscripts, use their contacts to place your book, and are generally in your corner. Editors -- hey, the clue is in their job title. They will edit your work to a level you may not achieve yourself. They also give you cover art they know will sell your book.

But for agents and editors, this is about more than the quality of the writing or the book in general. It's about predicting trends, being brave or playing it safe, and a personal connection to the book.

I can only go by the comments I've received from beta readers and anonymous judges, but they seem to dig my writing, and they seem to dig my style. Many have provided their email addresses in their score sheets to let them know when DIVIDE AND CONQUER will be released. They alone do not a readership make, but it's a start. And a confidence-builder.

My preference? Just as some girls dream of the perfect guy and the perfect wedding, I've always dreamed of the perfect agent and the perfect editor. So for now, call me old-fashioned, but I want to give the traditional method a try.

Picking my next project

I finished my latest book, DIVIDE AND CONQUER (Woot!), and I'm faced with the task of picking my next project. Trouble is, I have around five different early chapters lying around. They all have something that draws me to them. One has an adorable character who's both funny and so, so hot. But it's a little weak on plot. Another has a pretty cool premise, one which I've toyed with, in one variation or another, for years. And so on.

One thing I have learned: plot is overrated. I like my plots simple enough to follow, but full of twists and turns. But aside from trying to stuff such volume into a synopsis, let alone a query letter, not many people seem to enjoy a plot-heavy book.

Also, nearly everything needs to have romantic elements nowadays, and good luck finding a pitching event for editors who accept books that aren't straight romance.

So, I need a story with engaging characters, high stakes, a steaming romance, which is light on plot. Simple, righ? None of my half-started books contains all these elements, so I'll have to start considering merging one or two. Not ideal, but we want to give the readers what they want, don't we? After all, they're the ones buying the books.

To Enter Or Not To Enter. There Is No Question.

Have you entered any writing contests or dithered about doing so? The only thing you have to lose is the entry fee. But in most cases, your money is well spent. There are many reasons to enter contests, both legitimate and slightly underhanded.

Credentials. - Winning or finaling in a contest may not sway an agent or editor in your favor when they read your query, but it won't do any harm either. At the very least it will go some way to persuading them you're taking your craft seriously.

Confidence booster. - Even if you don't win or final, the comments you will receive will be encouraging, even if they're critical. Now, granted, not everyone who signs up to judge will be constructive, but they're the exception to the rule. I've had some people give me the full score, 100/100, while others judged my entry at 46. It stings, but if you think about it, it's fair. Not all readers are going to love your story. The 46er is not the person I write for. The judges may not necessarily read in your genre anyway, and find vampires silly or historical romances unbelievable. So at worst, low scores tell you you're either not quite there, or that your judge isn't a fan. We can live with that, right?

Overcoming your inner saboteur. - Many of us have an inner saboteur, preventing us from taking that step to greatness. Well, maybe not greatness, but I have been known not to send my manuscript even if requested, because I'm too scared of putting myself out there. It's illogical, but there you go. And yet, I've come a long way already. Before I started entering contests, I was too afraid to even let my baby leave the house. I'd share glimpses with someone, at most a chapter, but no more. After the first contest, I started growing an extra layer of skin, and I'm getting ready to send in my first full now. Seriously. I will.

Feedback. - The more contests you enter, the more you'll be able to hone your first few chapters. While your query and synopsis are the equivalent to a fancy suit and a nice smile, your first few chapters are your portfolio. They show the agent or editor what you can do. So the best you can hope for is lots and lots of criticism and comments. You don't have to act on each of them, but consider that, if one person is bothered by a particular issue, others, perhaps even the agent, may be bothered, too.

Snagging a contract. - Should you win or final, a judging editor or final may ask for a partial (usually the first 25 pages or three chapters) or a full. In that case, give your manuscript a quick once-over, and send it. A few people really do find representation or a publishing deal this way.

Idea tester. - This is one of those less legitimate uses, but some people use contests to test-balloon new ideas. This isn't what these contests were designed for. Why should people give their time to read your entry and comment when you're not taking your pages seriously? When the product you enter isn't polished and edited? On the other hand, the relevant organization puts on these contests for the entry fee, so theoretically, as long as you pay up, they can't really complain.

I hope I've convinced you to give it a go. It's scary putting yourself out there, but it's worth it. And, hey, your entry will be anonymous anyway.

Review: Mary Buckham's WRITING ACTIVE SETTING

Before you read this review, you should know I’m biased. Not because I’m related to Mary, but because I’m a fan. As a teacher, she’s one of the absolute best. She does what many have not grasped: if the student doesn’t “get it,” explain it in a different way. And Mary has a huge arsenal of methods for communicating her points.

In ACTIVE SETTING, she uses plenty of examples to push her message. Better still, the examples are short, so no need to read half a novel before you get to the salient part. She also offers up exercises that truly work and you can immediately apply to your WIP (= work in progress).

But what is ACTIVE SETTING about? It’s not just about finding a solution to drab, boring description. In fact, the common misconception among writers about treating your setting as a line or two of imagery (“A baby-blue chair and a dark-wood table lined the wall.”) is exactly why this series was written, I believe.

If, like me, you fall into that particular category of writer, you’re not utilizing the concept to its best advantage. So, what you should not do is approach a scene wondering what type of description to add and where it would be best placed. Instead, ask what the scene lacks in terms of substance (not cosmetics), and then flip to Mary’s relevant chapter to learn how to use setting to fix the problem. You can add pace, deepen POV (= Point of View), and put right a whole host of other wrongs.

Once you’ve eliminated all content-related wrinkles, your scene will sparkle with description, but not in a haphazard, some-here-some-there way, but in an organic fashion that brings your story to life.

The ACTIVE SETTING boxset containing all three volumes is out now.

Rating: 5/5

Do you speak geek?

Being a geek is cool. You can't deny it.

What constitutes geekdom or nerddom isn't even important. Everyone has their definition, which is perfectly fine. You are what you are.

For those still undecided on the issue of whether you are a geek, here a quick test. If you can answer 'yes' to any of the following -- welcome to my world.

• I know what TARDIS stands for
• I think Firefly was one of the best things on TV. Ever.
• I think Joss Whedon is a god
• I think Pat Rothfuss is a god
• I know who Jim Butcher is and/or have read his books
• I love computer games with swords
• I love computer games with aliens
• I love computer games where you get to shoot at stuff
• I think this one-liner is hilarious: "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
• I think the Big Bang Theory rocks
• I just had to read this blog entry all the way, because I love geek lists

Everything clear now? [smiley face]

Tabletop Games

I recently started inventing tabletop games. And you know what? They're really, really fun. You may disagree. For one, not many people actually take the time to play games anymore. Also, I enjoy strategy games, which some find tedious. But they're games I love playing myself, and they've already taken off among my friends.

The first game I invented, and still my favorite, is Tidal Wars! It's full of little twists and cool graphics created by my friend Julie. Plus: PIRATES. Need I say more? Finding the basic premise was easy, but working out the kinks was tough. I have created a prototype with The Game Crafter, and am pretty damn proud of it. The picture on the box needs to be enlarged, and the instructions are difficult to read, but it's already fully playable. Woot!

After Tidal Wars! (and the soon-to-follow Wizard Wars!, the same game, but with wizards instead of pirates), I turned my attention to educational games for children. The result was Genius and Genius jr., the most fun you can have with math. Kids love these card games. Once again I turned to The Game Crafter for manufacture, and the results are fantastic. Both card games are now fully finished.

Julie and I are currently working on Genius Wordbuilder (plus the Junior version), a card game for little (and big) spellers.

The most surprising thing? The Genius series came about when, excited about Tidal Wars!, a friend of my mother's asked me to invent a game for kids -- and my mother loved the idea, too. But I love playing the games as much as the little ones do. I never expected that.

The key to my games is simplicity, replayability and attention to detail.

Have I given up on writing? Never. Games are merely one more way to express my creativity. If anything, writing opened up the possibility to simply give it a go. I can't draw to save my life, my singing has been likened to night-time screeches by fighting cats, and my neighbors don't like it when I whip out my clarinet, but inventing games is a wonderful way to create something tangible, something of practical use.


Tidal Wars!: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/tidal-wars-
Genius: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/genius
Genius jr. : https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/genius-jr.

Alpha Readers & Writing Partners

Writing is a deeply intimate affair. You are allowing others insight into the crazy and wonderful place that is your mind. But before you're ready to hand out the key to your anonymous readership at large, the first peek goes to your writing partner. By this I do not mean someone with whom you work on the same book, but your alpha reader.

Your alpha reader is the first person, beside yourself, to catch a glimpse of your book, but she's also so much more.

An alpha reader has the dubious pleasure of wading through your inane ramblings, flowery treatises on your characters' angst, and your attempts at describing the most sensual experiences with a suddenly limited and awkward vocabulary. My alpha reader is called Julie, but yours may go by a different name. Anyway, Julie always manages to find the silver, and occasionally the gold, in my writing. She comes equipped with a natural talent for cadence, a good head on her shoulders, and a wonderful sense of humor to soften even the harshest of truths. Once she's grabbed my WIP (= work in progress) by its collar and given it a good shake, my confidence soars, because -- look here, perhaps I'm not as rubbish a writer as I thought.

How do you find your Julie? Well, I found mine through a post on Absolute Write. She wasn't the first fellow writer I'd met that way, but she'd turn out to be my most important (although I've also found some great beta readers that way, but they will be the subject of a different blog entry). Anyway, it pays to approach the relationship with a potential writing partner slowly. Don't bury her in your last four manuscripts with a turnaround time of a week. Get to know one another. Chat about your particular concerns, and ask for advice. If you gel, you gel.

It helps if your Julie is also a fabulous writer in her own right. Because a writing partnership is a two-way, high-speed interstate. So it is essential you want to dissect her novel, push her to write ever more and faster, and are not afraid to be critical. You need constant communication and, most of all, mutual reassurance.

If you haven't found your Julie yet, don't worry. You will. And once you do, never, ever let go.