SPEEDBO Update & New Resource for Writers

Life sure gets crazy, doesn't it? I was all set to charge into SPEEDBO and hammer out a novel during the month of March. Then we had to take my brother to Urgent Care with terrible stomach/back pains. From there we rushed him to the Emergency Room and he's been there for 15 days, now. He has acute pancreatitis.

I've been spending about 10 hours a day at the hospital with him. Haven't been able to work very much on my novel, because I don't want the clickety-clack of the keyboard to wake him when he's trying to get some rest and I want to be available for him when he's awake. I have gotten a few thousand words written in the hospital cafeteria during lunch, but that's all.

The novel is set in Emberwood Hall - here's a picture of my imaginary setting...

Don't you just love it?

 I'm enjoying the story concept, but really need some time alone to hash it all out in my mind.

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On another note - this morning I discovered an new resource for writers, thanks to a great article on writing fiction by Julie Lessman on Seekerville.  It's OneLook's Reverse Dictionary.

OneLook's reverse dictionary lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be a few words, a sentence, a question, or even just a single word. You'll get back a list of related terms with the best matches shown first.

I typed in the word "desire" (since that's the running theme in romance novels) and got back 100 terms that you could use in your writing to convey that theme. How cool is that? You know, we're always searching for just the right word or for new words that help us communicate with our readers without being repetitive, so check out OneLook's Reverse Dictionary the next time you're stuck for the perfect word to use.

And while you're on the OneLook site, check out all the ways you can search...

Example searches

bluebird	Find definitions of bluebird
blue*	Find words and phrases that start with blue
*bird	Find words and phrases that end with bird
bl????rd	Find words that start with bl, end with rd, and have 4 letters in between
bl*:snow	Find words that start with bl and have a meaning related to snow
*:snow or :snow	Find any words related to snow
*:winter sport	Find words related to the concept winter sport
**winter**	Find phrases that contain the word winter
expand:nasa	Find phrases that spell out n.a.s.a.

Okay, I know your writer mind is going into spasms about right now with all the possibilities, so don't worry, I won't be offended if you run off to play at OneLook. In fact, I will probably be there exploring, too. Maybe we'll run into each other.

Happy Writing!
Jan

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Start your novel off with a BANG!

I read a great post on Seekerville yesterday by Mary Connealy about where to begin your novel.

Since I struggled so much with NaNoWriMo this year, I was about to give up on the idea of writing fiction, but this post made me want to try again.

Believe me, Mary Connealy  knows how to explot a book onto the page from the get-go. The first book I read by Mary was Petticoat Ranch, which opens with A man plunging over a creek bank riding his horse at full speed on a pitch black stormy night, with a woman and her three little girls trying to save him from the raging waters of a creek.

It was an Indiana Jones, edge-of-your-seat opening. Was I hooked? You bet I was!

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(Copyright© 2012 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)

Seekerville Challenge - My story with critique.

I participated in a Seekerville writing challenge this week and received a critique from author, Ruth Logan Hearne.

She gave us a writing prompt and asked us to add a few more paragraphs.  Here's the prompt...

Her feet refused to move. The old mansion gazed back at her, challenging her to step forward.

photo courtesy  Ayla87, rgbstock.com

She couldn't. Maybe wouldn't. In any case, she'd been wrong to come here, wrong to think anything had changed, wrong to imagine anything but heartache behind those doors. She turned, willing her feet to obey, but the sound of a door latch paused her.

The house was empty. Wasn't it? Unless the letter writer had been mistaken, unless...

She turned back, not wanting to see, but needing to know. And the moment she did, she recognized her undoing.

Here's what I added...

“Abby?” Luke Snyder bounded down the steps and jogged across the yard, stopping just inches in front of her. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered, “Welcome home, Abby, I’ve missed you.”

She felt the familiar rush of emotions. Feelings she thought she had squelched with leaving Woodsfield, but there they were, rising up in her throat, choking her words. She untangled herself from his embrace. “L-luke, what are you doing here?”

He turned to look at the house. “I bought the old place,” he said. His tone was light, but she could hear the tension in his voice. “I’m fixing her up. You want to have a look?”

“Bought it?” she muttered, unable to wrap her mind around the idea. Luke knew what had happened here. He had been the one who had found her hiding under the bed. The one who had coaxed her out of her hiding place and walked her out of the house. How could he possibly want to live in this nightmare that was once her home?

She was wrong to have come here. No matter what her sister’s letter had said, she couldn’t do it. Facing her fears had never been her way of handling things. Avoidance had always been her safe-haven.

She had run from her past, from this house and from Luke ten years ago and she was ready to do it again.

“I have to go.” She turned to put the key in the door of her Volvo parked at the curb. Luke reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, then turned her to face him. Lifting her chin, he forced her to look him in the eye. His voice was soft, “Abby, you can do this. We’ll do it together.”

Tears welled up in her eyes. Together. That’s the way Abby had always imagined her life - she and Luke together, but too much had happened. Too much sorrow, too much betrayal. She dropped her gaze and shook her head, “I can’t, Luke.”

“You have to stay, Abby,” He said, lifting her chin again until she looked him in the eye. "There’s something you don’t know about what happened that day.”

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Here's the story again with changes suggested by Ruthy...


Abby?” Luke Snyder bounded down the steps and jogged across the yard, stopping just inches in front of her. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered, “Welcome home, Abby, I’ve missed you.”

She felt the familiar rush of emotions. Feelings she thought she had squelched with leaving Woodsfield, but there they were, rising up in her throat, choking her words.

Ruthy note: Jan, nice sense of immediacy! He’s bounding and jogging, she’s feeling a ‘rush of emotions… Very nice!

I might suggest changing “She felt” to something less passive like: “Emotions rushed her.” Or “Emotions engulfed her”… or “Emotions she’d long ago dismissed rushed back, waves she’d squelched when she left Woodsfield…etc.”

She untangled herself from his embrace. “L-luke, what are you doing here?”

He turned to look at the house. “I bought the old place,” he said. His tone was light, but she could hear the tension in his voice. “I’m fixing her up. You want to have a look?”

“Bought it?” she muttered, unable to wrap her mind around the idea. Luke knew what had happened here. He had been the one who had found her hiding under the bed. The one who had coaxed her out of her hiding place and walked her out of the house. How could he possibly want to live in this nightmare that was once her home?

She was wrong to have come here. No matter what her sister’s letter had said, she couldn’t do it. Facing her fears had never been her way of handling things. Avoidance had always been her safe-haven.

Ruthy note: We have an instant feeling of an old rescue, a dark moment in a young girl’s life. Jan, I’d change the “had never been” or the “had always been”, they’re too close together.

She had run from her past, from this house and from Luke ten years ago and she was ready to do it again.

“I have to go.” She turned to put the key in the door of her Volvo parked at the curb.

Luke reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, then turned her to face him. Lifting her chin, he forced her to look him in the eye. His voice was soft, “Abby, you can do this. We’ll do it together.”

Tears welled up in her eyes.

Ruthy note: I'd lose "up".

Together. That’s the way Abby had always imagined her life - she and Luke together, but too much had happened. Too much sorrow, too much betrayal.

She dropped her gaze and shook her head, “I can’t, Luke.”

“You have to stay, Abby,” He said, lifting her chin again until she looked him in the eye.

"There’s something you don’t know about what happened that day.”

Oh, very nice ending! I would suggest not lifting the chin twice, going for another way to draw her attention.

The other suggestion I would make is to re-word some of the repetitive phrasing. If we use it too often, we lose some of that impact.

I’d re-work some of the past tense phrasing to keep the past less distanced from these pivotal moments. (I’m not sure what I just said, but it sounded real smart-like!)

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Whew! I was afraid she would just rip this apart. She’s that good! But I’m happy with the changes she made and think they make the story read much better.

Thanks, Ruthie, for your input. It’s not every day a beginning fiction writer can score a free critique from a multi-published author. I appreciate you.

If you're an aspiring fiction writer, you ought to be hanging out at Seekerville. Lots of fun, friendliness and these folks are always willing to extend a helping hand.


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(Copyright© 2012 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)

Side-Tracked by a Man and a Sock Monkey

Whew! It's been a busy time around the old homestead the past couple of weeks. LeeMan was off work for a week, so I got nothin' done, except for the couple of days he went fishing.  He had a blast as you can see from the big smile on his face.

I also got side-tracked from my writing by an order for a custom sock monkey.  For those of you who don't know, I run Sock Monkey Ranch, creating custom one-of-a-kind sock monkeys.  This week I had a request for a pirate, so I  created Scurvy Sam the Peg Leg Sock Monkey. You can see more pictures of him here.

I've done pirate sock monkeys before, but this is my first one with a peg leg....what a challenge!  If you'd like to take a look at some more monkeys I've created, hop on over to the site and look through the Monkey Gallery.

On the writing front, I'm excited about winning a First Five Pages Critique from Seekerville.  I'm polishing the first five pages of Zoey's Quest to send in...crossing my fingers that they tell me it's good.

It looks as if all this side-tracking has derailed my Camp NaNoWriMo goal of finishing the book in 30 days, but I'm going to sign up for next month, too and try to complete it by the end of August.  Hopefully, there will be less distraction for me.

Til next time....ta-ta!

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(Copyright© 2011 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)