, ,

Of Wiles in Oz

Every geographic area has a language all of its own. Sometimes it’s an accent. Other times it’s a unique slang. Either way, communication may become muddled and amusing. On our first trip to Australia in 2005 for our son’s World Solar Challenge Race, we visited Kangaroo Island by way of ferry. Upon arriving, we met our tour guide and group in a van.
“Did you see any wiles, mate?” asked the guide.
Bob and I scratched our heads. We didn’t have our “wiles” about us at that moment.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
The guide repeated his question.
“Did you see any wiles?”
Again, Bob and I eyed each other. What now? Play charades?
Then it hit us. The guide was asking if we had seen any WHALES while we were on our ferry ride.

This time we noticed signs in Darwin. POKIES. Poker is a big game in Australia. With a British influence, Bob ate bangers (sausages) one day and I had fish and chips for lunch.
We hiked in the bush (Australian’s country’s wildlife area) and saw a willy willy. (dusty wind that spirals upward) Saw a kiwi (person from New Zealand) and ate a dog’s breakfast. (messy!)
Upon entering an early morning tour bus, the guide greeted us and said, “Don’t worry, we’ll stop for a bit of breaky soon.” (breakfast)
I took a picture of a kangaroo and with a “joey” in her pouch and she examined me closely for any signs of food for sharing. Alas, they don’t recommend feeding them, so I couldn’t give her anything at all. But she still did a thorough search.

Writing Exercise: What slang is prominent in your area? Are “your people” known for an accent? When I came from Wisconsin, I was teased here in California not only for my Midwestern drawl, but for my “Milwaukee-ease.” Later, I turned this type of slang into a humor article for a San Francisco newspaper.
1. List as many various slang words from your region as you can recall. You may begin this list today and continue it for awhile. Ask friends to help you! It might consist of phrases as well as words themselves.
2. What about the accent? Try and describe the accent and how it varies from other dialects you here.
3. Work your unique area into a short story, personal experience piece, poem or article. It can be humorous, serious, or a mixture of the two styles. Feel free to share any part of your dialect and slang. We’d love to hear the fun way the world communicates differently!

/0 Comments
, , , , , , , , , ,

Calling Students, Teachers, Readers, Writers and MORE!

California Writers Club, Mt. Diablo Branch
http://mtdiablowriters.org/
Announces a FREE opportunity for students, educators and readers to meet published authors – – – and students, how to win hundreds of dollars by writing!
Saturday, November 28, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Pleasant Hill Barnes and Noble
522 Contra Costa Blvd. (Phone: 925-609-7060)

*Students! Discover how YOU can win $$$ by writing poems, short stories, or personal narratives!

*Learn how you can take a FREE writing workshop taught by authors Sarah Wilson and Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff.

*Find out answers to questions about writing, publishing, agents, and how YOU can become a published writer!

*Uncover published authors’ writing secrets!

* Receive guidelines for the Young Writers Contest for middle school students and sign-up forms for FREE workshops.

*Get autographs from authors!

Schedule: 11 a.m. – Noon
Nannette Rundell Carroll – Communication and Business Author
Margaret Grace – Author of Mystery Series
Noon – 1 p.m.
Nannette Rundell Carroll – Communication and Business Author
Barbara Bentley – Memoir Author
1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Ellen Leroe – Young Adult Author
Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff – Picture Book Author
4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Barbara Bentley – Memoir Author
Lynn Goodwin – Journaling Author
5 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Margaret Grace – Author of Mystery Series
Lynn Goodwin – Journaling Author

/1 Comment
,

Words on Writing and Books on Writing

I have difficulty sitting down to write. How can I make myself write?

Writing is a habit. It might be difficult in the beginning, but the more you do it, the easier it gets. In the morning or evening, do you think about brushing your teeth? No. You just do it. Same thing with writing. If you set aside a certain amount of time or word length to write, you’ll just start automatically writing if you get used to it.

So in the beginning it will be more difficult. That’s why it’s the easiest the more you write.

What are some good books about writing?

Bauer, Mary Dane What’s Your Story?
Bernays, Anne What If?
Joselow, Beth Baruch Writing Without the Muse
Koehler-Pentacoff, E. The ABCs of Writing for Children
Mette, Stephen Blake How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal
Newman, Leslea Writing from the Heart
Rodale, J. I. The Synonym Finder
Smith, Michael C. and
Greenberg, Suzann Everyday Creative Writing: Panning for Gold in the Kitchen Sink
Spence, Linda Legacy


What else should I do?
Read! Write! And know that it’s hard work for little money. At least for awhile. The famous advice is don’t quit your day job. So make sure you have a college education with a good, solid back-up plan. And have fun. Writing is a passion and lots of fun. You’ll meet wonderful people and have a rich, rewarding life.

/0 Comments
, ,

Using Your Past to Inspire Your Writing

I’d like to delve into my own past and use items from them to become stories, poems and maybe a memoir. What can I use to jog my memory?

Open up scrapbooks and photo albums. Use these items and photos to recall your past.

Legacy, by Linda Spence, has many questions which will help you recall events.

Besides chronological remembrances, which might get you to think too much like an autobiography rather than a memoir, remember those instances that inspired emotion.

1. When were some times you cried? Experienced loss and death?

2. What were some of the happiest periods of your life? What motivated those feelings?

3. Did you have any “ah-ha” moments of epiphany? How did they change direction in thoughts, words or action?

4. What were some of the most influential people in your life? Don’t talk general terms. Remember the most specific, tiny details you can. Only through the small, specific, sensual particulars can we approach the universal.

/0 Comments
, , ,

A Time of Apologies

With an out-of-control singer on stage insulting a Grammy-award winner as she receives her reward, and an elected congressman shouting “You lie,” to President Obama during his health care address to Congress, both were prime examples of outrageous behaviors that called for sincere apologies.

Were they given? We heard the two offenders apologize, but sincere wouldn’t be the descriptor I’d use.

What makes an apology sincere? The tone of voice, body language, word choice, context, and timing. Tweak these and you could create a scene of conflict quite easily.

Writing Prompt: 1. Write a scene with your major character giving or receiving a sincere apology. 2. Write a scene with your character giving or receiving an insincere apology. 3. Write about a time you had to apologize for something you did. 4. Write about a memory of receiving an apology and mending a relationship. Show how the relationship grew and became stronger. Or – – perhaps if the apology wasn’t sincere, or the act too damaging, show how the relationship didn’t survive.

/0 Comments
, , ,

A for Action!

Does your writing put you to sleep? Do you need action in a scene? How CAN you create action?

1. Use action verbs. Cut out the passive ones, the “ed” endings and make it happen NOW!

2. Keep your pacing fast by using short sentences.

3. Remember specific sensory description. Make the readers feel they are IN the scene. (But cut any unnecessary words.)

4. Dialogue – Get your characters talking if they have something meaningful to say.

However, even with action, you can’t have the break-neck speed go on too long. You will need to slow down the moment. How do you do THAT?

1. Character THINKS. Internalizes. FEELS.
2. Character’s PHYSICAL REACTIONS.

Remember to read the scenes you write out loud. This will help you with your action scenes and slowing-down-the-moment.

Exercise: In the project you are working on now, write an action scene followed by a reflective slow-down-the-moment scene.

/0 Comments
, ,

Setting Examples

From Elizabeth Enright’s Thimble Summer:

Garnet turned and ran across the hot fields. The oat stubble stood up like little lances and hurt her bare feet and grasshoppers popped and scattered like sparks from a fire. Tears filled her eyes and made the meadow surge and swim before her in a golden flood.

From Jack D. Ferraiolo’s The Big Splash: A memory I forgot I had popped into my head. I remembered trooping into the cafeteria/auditorium/gym in the middle of the day, glad for any break in the daily routine. I remembered how the room had a wierd, musty smell, like old clothes and paste. I remembered how cold and uncomfortable those metal folding chairs were. They had to be. The heat was cranked up to 85 degrees. If the chairs had been comfortable, I’d still be asleep there.

From Willa Cather’s My Antonia: As I looked about me I felt that the grass was the country, as the water is the sea. The red of the grass made all the great prairie the color of wine-stains, or of certain seaweeds when they are first washed up. And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running.

Writing Exercise: Choose an example from above. Using your own characters and setting, use their example to craft your setting. For instance, in Thimble Summer, the character does an action with the setting. Next comes a description with active verbs and similies. Next, the character REacts. Finally, the setting itself creates an action.

/0 Comments
,

A Few Tips on Setting

*Instead of a huge list of describing words, focus on one specific detail of your character’s setting.

*Make it dramatic through strong nouns and active verbs, and the senses. If your character is familiar with the place, make sure she REALLY knows it well.

*Treat the setting like a character. Have the character interact with the setting.

*Attach emotions to nature or objects to show the character’s mood. “lonely prairie” . . . “grim rain”

Exercise: What geographic setting do YOU know intimately? First, write a long description. Next, focus on one of those specific details. Use your senses to bring this setting alive.

/2 Comments

Gotta cut words? Revision Tips!

Revision

Rewriting doesn’t have to be drudgery. In fact, once you get going, it becomes addictive! One writer I know used to have a license plate that said REWRITE!

How exactly DO you pare down a story or a personal narrative to find the core of your story?
Here are some tips.

Remember these ideas:

Narration: when something is less dramatic or important, you can breeze through it by narrating it. However, when it’s an important scene, like when you actually break your arm, get stuck at the top of the Ferris wheel, then it’s time to show us a sensory moment-by-moment view.

When you can summarize and need to cut, narrate. When you want to take the reader to the important times of the story, show through a scene.

Revision Tips

1. First tell your story. Just get it out! Don’t worry about the length. Tell it all.

2. Next read it out loud. Decide where is your climax. You’ll know this is your major show-not-tell scene!

3. The backstory, or how your character or story came to be, is sometimes less important and can be narrated. In short stories sometimes it only needs to be a sentence or two. (But your story or personal narrative/essay is stronger if you have an inner journey as well as what happened to you or your character. Don’t neglect your thought process and what you or the character learned, or how the character changed.)

4. Take out too many passive verbs like “was” and “were.” Yes, you may need some of them, but too many slow the story down. It’s better to say “I ran” rather than “I was running.”

5. Instead of “lovely house” be specific and appeal to the senses.

6. Only use dialogue that matters. If it doesn’t show conflict or tension, cut it.

7. Do you have ping pong dialogue? (Dialogue without any reactions between the two characters.)
“I killed him,” said Tom.
“How did you do it?” asked Madison.
“With his own weapon,” said Tom.
“Where did you hide the body?” asked Madison.
“I’m not telling,” said Tom.
“Give me a hint,” said Madison.
“You’ll be there next,” said Tom.

8. Come up with a main idea or theme. Write it at the top of your manuscript. Paste it on a sign at the top of your computer! Does every paragraph relate to your theme? This may help you prune your story.

9. What are your favorite parts of your story? What is absolutely essential?
Again, highlight.

10. When you can’t cut anymore, hand it to another trusted writer colleague. Many times another set of eyes are needed. They can mark in the margins their favorite parts or where they think it could be cut or summarized. (Narrated)

/0 Comments