Friday's Odds and Ends

There was an interesting pro and con debate on the death penalty in The Dallas Morning News last Sunday. Leon Neyfakh, a staff writer for the Boston Globe wrote, "People who share a deep worry about government overreach, who believe in the sanctity of life and who place great importance on fiscal responsibility should not support a policy that empowers the state to spend large sums of money killing people."

I thought that was a great point. Most people don't stop to think about how much more it costs the government - and ultimately us via our taxes - to execute someone than to keep that same someone in prison for the rest of his or her life. This study of the costs of the death penalty shows that the difference can be significant, up to six times more in some states.

It's never been a secret that I am against the death penalty. To me it is more about revenge than justice. "Something horrible happened and this despicable person was responsible so let's kill the bastard."

Moving on to something more pleasant, the other day I read an excellent blog piece in  The Blood Red Pencil blog by Kathryn Craft. She offered this advice about editing, and editing again, before putting a book out. "Learn your lessons ahead of time, folks, and apply them pre-publication—not on your reader’s dime."

That is most appropriate at this time when anyone can be an author and get a book published via the many online opportunities. What has been happening in the e-book industry is interesting. As more and more books are published, sales are bouncing all over the place. Some writers have noticed a significant drop in sales - myself included - and we have come to the conclusion that the market is saturated. And not just saturated, but saturated with too many books of poor quality, so readers are going elsewhere.

Who can blame them? I hate to spend even $2.99 for a book that is poorly crafted and poorly edited. Maybe not edited at all. What Kathryn pointed out in her article is a problem with careful editing, even in books coming from traditional publishers. One of the issues she pointed out was the use of common phrases that are almost cliches in their overuse, as well as needless repetition of the same gestures and certain words.

We all tend to write the common, the ordinary, the first thing that comes to mind in our first drafts, but that is not good enough. When working with a client, I try to encourage them to rise above the ordinary in what they are writing. It is their choice to do that or not. But they will gain and keep more readers by giving them something fresh and different.

Okay, here's your Friday Joke from The Laugh Factory:

A man buys a lie detector robot that slaps people who lie. He decides to test it at dinner. He asks his son, "Son, where were you today during school hours?"

 "At school." The robot slaps the son. "Okay, I went to the movies!"

The father asks, "Which one?"

"Harry Potter." The robot slaps the son again. "Okay, I was watching porn!"

The father replies, "What? When I was your age I didn't even know what porn was!" The robot slaps the father.

The mom chimes in, "Haha! After all, he is your son!" The robot slaps the mother.

And let's finish with a pleasant picture. These are some roses blooming in one part of my flower bed.

Fridays Odds and Ends - Christmas Lights and More

In browsing around the Internet this morning, I came across a post by Rosemary Harris on the Femmes Fatales blog that was all about her excitement as a child to be driven around to see the holiday lights after the family bought a Christmas tree. That's something we did with our kids when they were young, but we never saw displays as elaborate as the ones she shared on the blog. I can't even guess the number of days it would take to create something like this.

Courtesy of Rosemary Harris

When I read her post, not only did it bring back sweet memories, it reminded me of a TV show I watched recently - "The Great Christmas Light Fight." Like so many of those competition-type reality shows, this one spent too much time with back story on each family and focus on the celebrity host, but the light displays were awesome. They are so different from a few strands of lights around windows and the roof and the one pine tree in the yard that was common when I was a child, but in some ways I think they are too much. What do you think?

On a totally different note, I also came across a wonderful post by Jan O'Hara on Writer Unboxed. The article was all about the struggles to get unstuck when writing by the seat of your pants and the methods ? tried until she came upon a lake at a retreat  and just sat there telling the story to the lake. She says that worked for her because she was relaxed, not trying to force her way through the stuck place, and she concluded with this suggestion:

So if you’re a stalled pantster who has tried all the text-based methods of brainstorming, and who likes to figure things out for yourself, do this: Find a calming setting that’s dislocated from your usual writing haunts. Leave your materials behind. Give “verbal” a try.

Who knows? On your next acknowledgments page, perhaps you’ll be giving credit to a stream or a mountain.

One of the neat things about visiting blogs is getting to meet fun, interesting people, and Jan is one of those for sure. I love her blog, Tatitude, and hope you can hop over there and meet her. She is another funny lady.

Today I have a post up at The Blood Red Pencil blog with some editing comments - all about those little mistakes we sometimes make while writing and overlook in the editing because we are focused on the story. It is one reason I LOVE working with another professional when I'm ready to publish a book, whether I'm doing an indie release or going with a traditional publisher. Editing makes a good book so much better.

Change is Hard - In Life and in Writing

This morning after my shower I dried off with a towel that is the last of a stack of about 30 towels my uncle gave my husband and I for a wedding present. To put this in context, we just celebrated our46th wedding anniversary. These towels were a mis-matched assortment, some with flowers, some with geometric designs, and a number of them were plain. But they were all different colors.

For years my more decorative-minded kids laughed at the combination of towels in the bathroom that might include one blue washcloth, a yellow hand-towel, and a row of bath towels hanging over the shower bar of wildly clashing colors and designs. Mind you, there were seven of us taking showers.

Back to this morning. I got dressed and realized I was wearing a pair of white shorts that I have had for probably 20 years. Then I walked into the living room and stopped for a moment. The couch and loveseat are at least 30 years old, and since we have lived in this house - 10 years - they have not moved except for cleaning underneath and behind. After the cleaning, they go right back in the same place.

So then I went to throw a load of laundry in the washer and stopped again for a moment.  This washing machine is almost 40 years old. Of course, of all the old things in this house, including my husband and me, this one will stay if I act on any wild urge to update everything.

By now, I'm sure you've caught on to the fact that I am reluctant to change. So is my husband. We have our things, and our routines, and we like them very much, so it is hard for us to start stirring  it all up.Just leave us in our comfort zone.

In thinking about all this as a possible blog topic, I realized that this reluctance to change affects my writing, too. I remember early in my career when a trusted critique partner suggested I change an entire book from first person to third, I almost went into full panic mode. Granted, it was a children's book, so it was only about 200 pages, but still. Change the whole thing?

While my living room might still look the same as it did ten years ago, and I wear clothes I have had forever, I have gotten better about changing what needs to be changed in my writing. I still don't like it. I'd rather start something new than go through that rewriting and editing process, but it is a necessary process.

Writers, what about you? How easy is it for you to tear into a manuscript and nip and tuck to make it better?

A bit of humor

NOTE*  The second week of drama camp starts today, so I will be busy again all week. I'll be sharing some bits of humor in my regular posts, and I thought I would start with a piece I wrote a few years ago for The Blood Red Pencil blog.  I got my start writing a weekly humor column for a suburban newspaper. Primarily it was about family, but occasionally, I would write about the joys of the writing life. I took some of those old columns and shared them with the readers of the BRP blog, and now I share it with you.  Enjoy....

When I sold my first short story to a magazine a few weeks ago, we were all happily playing Howard Hughes around here for awhile. My husband was planning his retirement, the kids were picking out houses in the country and I had visions of never having to look at another price tag" again before I bought a dress.

I suppose we're all entitled to our glory dreams and it sure was fun while it lasted. But now that the excitement has died down to a dull roar and the rejection slips have started to litter my desk again, we have resigned ourselves to the fact that perhaps we'll have to wait awhile before we start recklessly throwing money around buying mink coats and hamburgers.

Anjanette has given up her dream of a whole new bedroom set with maybe a new bedroom to put it in. David has gone back to mowing lawns to save the money for his new mag wheels and Michael is collecting cans for recycling to keep himself in spending money. I've resigned myself to another year at least in the bargain basement, and unfortunately, Carl still has to get up every morning and go to work. (Someone has to keep me in typing paper and postage.)

Meanwhile the check isn't even cashed yet. I'm afraid to· cash it because I know it will be gone all too soon; and besides that, it's still a big thrill to go in and look at it every now and then. (I know that will pass, since it only took me two weeks to stop opening the magazine every five minutes to see my name in the credits.)

From here on in, no other acceptance will probably ever mean as much or create quite the stir that this one has.

Someday, discussing the terms of a sale with an editor in New York will be old hat. I won't have to try to act cool and professional on the outside while on the inside I'm jumping up and down for joy.

Someday, I won't call my best friend to announce, "You are now speaking to a famous writer person!"

"Who is this? Is this some sort of crank call?"

Someday, selling stories will all be part. of the routine around here and no one will stop by with champagne to celebrate. The kids won't be announcing it to every creature that moves up and down the block, and my husband won't run around the grocery stores making sure the magazine is prominently displayed. (I told him I didn't get any royalties, but he did it anyway.)

But until that someday rolls around, I guess I can stand all the excitement just a little bit longer.

Well, I missed.....

...putting up a new post yesterday. Obvious to the most casual observer, right?

I had every intention of putting something new up, but as the old cliche goes, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. We had a power outage that started about eight in the morning and lasted until almost noon.

Then I only had three hours to prepare for a talk on editing I did for the East Texas Writers' Guild. Of course I had waited until Monday to do that. But I'd had a plan, and a good one, I thought when I came up with it on Sunday. I did a lot of the work I normally do on Monday mornings late Sunday and had it all ready to put up on various Web sites. That left time on Monday morning to do the blog, get a few pages written on my book, and then prepare for the workshop.

A grand plan that went to hell in a hand-basket. (Another cliche, by the way.)

I love saying, "The best plans of mice and men often go astray."  I use that cliche often. I mean, it fits, right?

But we writers are cautioned about using cliches in our stories, even though they abound in real life. If you really listen closely, we use them all the time. I decided to go on the Internet and look for some more and I found ClicheSite.com that has more cliches than you can shake a stick at.(Cliche alert.)

Here are just a few:

Many hands make light work.
Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. 
Any friend of yours is a friend of mine.
Another day another dollar.
Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Laugh all the way to the bank. 

What are some cliches you say frequently? Do you let your characters use a cliche now and then?

Reaching a Milestone

I am a contributing member of The Blood Red Pencil blog, and I noticed today that we reached 800 followers. Good for us!!

The blog is written by a group of editors and writers who share editing and publishing tips. But it isn't always all about business. Sometimes we like to have a little fun, too. If you are not familiar with the blog, hop on over and check it out.

I have got to say that I have really enjoyed associating with this fine group, many of whom accomplish so much they make me stand with my mouth ajar wondering how they do it.

I have also learned a lot from all the experience and expertise gathered on one blog.

Editing is a Good Thing...

...even when it means changing your darling words that you worked so hard on.

Just the other day I received my edited manuscript for my book that will come out next year, and I have been going through the suggestions made by my editor. It is amazing how much it helps to have another person go through a manuscript, even when it has been through severla drafts already. Fresh eyes catch so much, and I am grateful that I have a good editor.

We don't always agree on changes, which is fine with her. She believes, like I do, that the author should have the final decision unless it is a glaring craft or grammar error. But I find that if I stop and really consider what she is suggesting, I more often agree with the changes than not agree.

So the key is to stop and consider. Put the ego aside and really think about what the words are trying to say. Is the editor's way better?

What is your experience with being edited?

To Swear or Not To Swear

It's not easy to decide how much colorful language to include in a book without it seeming gratutitious, and I always deferred to the characters and the story to decide. Some characters are more prone to swearing than others. But over at http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/ there is a discussion today about using swear words and it started me thinking about something I realized last night.

My husband and I went to a production of On Golden Pond at a community theatre here in East Texas. The director addressed the language issue before the show, noting that the original play has a fair amount of cursing. In an effort to be sensitive to this very conservative, very religious area, the director opted to take out much of the cursing. But he did leave in some words where, as he put it, "the story would have lacked something to take them out."

For the most part, you could not tell where the words had been removed, but in the few places where they were allowed, it really heightened the drama because they were in places where people very often to swear at each other. I thought the director did a great job of selecting what to cut and what to leave in.

Reflecting on that, I realized that I could be a little more selective as I get back to my work in progress. The central character is just going to have to get used to "Mommy" telling her she can no longer swear like a truck driver. :-)