I’m in big trouble.
As I work on my plot,
I sense the story feels flat.
This morning,
I realized I am in big trouble.
I can’t stand seeing my heros in pain,
as if I’ll be in pain as well.
But in the end,
if my heros don’t suffer,
I, as a writer, will.
Other than a word being forced apart by the right margin, I have no idea when to put a hyphen between words. Thanks to Woe is I by Patricia T. O’Conner, I now know the rules.
Singular when:
Plurals when:
As explained in Woe is I by Patricia T. O’Conner
My errors and corrections:
Heard this on Car Talk and decided to try it. When done correctly, whenever a car behind you move out of your rear view mirror, you will see the car in one of your side mirrors.
At first, this new way of adjusting car mirrors is very distressing.
But after you get use to it, it’s pretty amazing. It feels like there are no blind spots at all. I do still turn my head when changing lanes, just to be safe.
Give it a try! Let me know if you have other useful hints to add for the adjustment period.
The remote to my 12-year-old little stereo died. First looked online for a replacement but found something better.
I followed the tip from 1.800.Remote:
(If your remote has a switch please read the original instructions.)
It works!
To be sure, I tried it after a few hours. It still works!
Saved lots of clams without adding electronic trash in the world.
A very good day!
Got a robocall (a recording) on my voicemail.
It thanked me for using their service (only in their imagination), then informed me with their toll free number and web address that I couldn’t decipher.
After a search online with that number, found out who they are easily-I wasn’t the only one.
FTC says these calls are made by companies who ignore the Do Not Call list and are most likely scammers.
In this video, FTC says to hang up the phone without doing anything the call suggested.
I opted to do the following:
Even if your number is not on the Do Not Call Registry you can file a complaint about a robocall.
Borrowed Woe is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English (3rd Edition) by Patricia T. O’Conner from the library to see if I should get a copy for myself. Not five pages into the book, she solved one of the big mysteries in English for me.
Even for native English speakers, the choice between using that and which is often made by the “that sounds right” guideline. I’m all for using one’s instinct but when I put my pen to paper, that method doesn’t work.
According to Pat, this is how you know:
Always knew the crush wasn’t what it seemed,
Didn’t know how to fix it.
No choice but let it soak
Into
My mind,
My dreams,
My spine.
Learned about your goal,
I can help you,
We can make it real,
I thought.
Understanding struck,
You don’t need my help.
Rather,
I don’t need to help you.
You are and will do great on your own.
Step 1.
Recognize my pattern.
The tie of crush backing out,
Almost undetected.
Words from a wise friend,
Wrote reflections in journal.
Oh, up till this point,
I only wanted,
Wanted you,
Wanted you to need me.
But never what you wanted.
Step 2.
Recognize my ego.
The lake of crush drained,
A few puddles remained.
I still care,
Heart still smiles,
Feelings now logical.
As I was coming up with an idea for a story, I paired the lead female with a military man with a lost soul. But I didn’t want him to be the typical mentally unstable person, I wanted him to be someone who is aware enough to be on a search for the meaning of his existence.
The thought of a soldier with skills and characters brought me to the world of Special Forces. My knowledge about it came from TV and movies, obviously a crash course is needed.
Since I had no interest in anything war related (though I do admire people in the forces), I started with short romance stories about special ops fighters. I did enjoy the stories but those didn’t show me how these special soldier are made or what traits would get them selected and trained.
Then I found One Rough Man by Brad Taylor. The hero, Pike Logan, is a man with characters and brain.
He, too, like the lead male in my story, was lost for a while after he lost his wife and daughter. I see in Pike, someone who is physically agile and mentally flexible, coming up with ideas when all seems impossible. Though he usually has a plan to begin with. That tells me, he is smart, smart enough to never become arrogant.
As I was reading that, I picked up Inside Delta Force by Eric L. Haney. Being one of the first Delta Force members, he described through his own experience how an Delta operator is selected and train. He told his story with great skill of words, I learned that it also takes someone with wisdom and unusual presence of mind to become a Delta operator. I think I would have enjoyed Pike Logan’s story much more if I had finished this first.
One other thing. I realized I usually read books by female writers. Reading these books is helping me finding the voice of the hero in my story. Can’t have a special force guy sounding like a girl, can we?
The character is still taking shape in my mind but I’m sure he would be someone I can trust, love, and admire, whatever imperfections he might have.
You’ve been clicking away on the keyboard or leaving legible ink on paper but you keep hearing (from inside your head or from people around you) “writing is hard”, William Kenower says differently.
I had a chance to hear his talk on myths of writing, it was illuminating. As he spoke, I checked against my own experiences. Here is what I learned.
I’m most definitely a writer. I would write even if I won’t make money from doing it.
I was writing someone else’s book. Since last November, I’ve been trying to write a romance/sci-fi novel but I stopped completely in mid-January. At first, I thought that was because my heroine didn’t have a clear motive. Now I know I shouldn’t be writing romance since I will never love romance as much as mystery.
When I’m writing, I’m almost always writing. I seldom hear my inner critic when I write, especially during the first draft. I always know I’m in the zone when the world around me simply fades into the background. When I’m stuck usually it’s because the story feels wrong not that I feel wrong. Though I do get frustrated when English gets in my way.
At the end, William Kenower said not to be afraid of the publishers, they need good books to put out there, they want to love what we write.
He said things I’ve never heard from other writers or writing materials. I am glad to know someone out there also believes writing is not hard.