Category: Craft

Posted in Business Side of Writing, Craft, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing, Tools

BACK UP!

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

This phrase has so many meanings. “Back up” as in physically move backwards; we might tell someone to “back up” when they told us something we didn’t understand. We might ask someone if they had a “backup” – either a plan or duplicates of their computer files when it died. I say the Internet is “back up” after my connection has been down.

Back up is also an appropriate phrase to apply to writers.
Moving physically back is pretty obvious:
– we back up and reread for editing
– we go back to add necessary details or expand scenes
– we step back from our work to see it with a fresh eye.

Making “backups” is one we creative people often ignore.
We don’t like making backup plans. Can’t go to that event/conference after all? Agent A doesn’t like our story. What if the editor rejects the new book? What will we do next? Having a plan in place, makes it easier to keep moving forward.

Probably the scariest “backup” fault we have is not having duplicates of our computer files. Each time I heard of someone losing all their files due to a hard drive failure, I’d tell myself I’d work harder at backing up more often. Every time my goal of once a month quickly dissolved and I only backed up a couple times a year. If I was doing well.

In 2006, I decided to change that. For my birthday I asked for an automatic backup device. Attached to my computer, it backed up my files EVERY NIGHT. I wondered why I didn’t do it years ago…
But nothing is ever permanent in the world of computers. That device eventually failed. And I’d gotten a laptop, too. So I started saving everything from my desktop onto a usb thumb drive and copying it to my laptop. I did the reverse of copying any changes I made on the laptop back to the thumb drive and putting it back on my desktop.
file00043520561.jpgThat was great, but I worried about what would happen if my house burned down or someone broke in and stole all the electronics. For insurance, I got an online backup system–this was before people referred to storing items in “the cloud.” Again, that system eventually failed to work. (It saved files, but I couldn’t restore them anymore, so what was the point?)

Next, I was introduced to dropbox, which lets you store files online for free. Similarly to using a usb drive, it is a great way to transfer copies from one computer to another. Some people use dropbox as a way to backup their work. It’s great if and when you remember to save copies there.

Last year, I decided to pay for an automatic online backup again. After listening to some discussions about services, I chose Carbonite. One of the things I love is it saves versions of files. In other words, if I wished I’d kept a copy of last week’s file instead of overwriting it with this week’s–both are there. It’s really easy to use, too.

I know that was a long story, but partially I told it to show that there are different options and partially to show that you ALWAYS need to check that your backup method is still working and affective.

Okay, the last “back up” definition in my opening referred to being online. For me holiday preparations and activities take me off line for writing. Time is more limited. Focus is more difficult. Now that the holidays are over it is time for me to be “back up.” Back focused, back spending enough time, back making progress on projects, back to submitting. How about you? Are you “back up”?
Wishing you the best at getting back up to speed, if you’re not already, and to making those backups!
Cloud image courtesy of Doug Rivers on morguefile.com.

Posted in Craft, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing

175 Proof

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

image courtesy of Mary K. Baird on morguefile.com
diluted-rumIn Britain in the 18th century, rum was “proved” by adding gunpowder and seeing if it would burn. If it didn’t burn, it meant it was watered down and didn’t have enough alcohol. 100% alcohol was considered 175 proof.
Are you watering down your stories and articles by not proofing carefully? Just as British sailors would reject a watered down rum payment, editors reject watered down writing.

Common mechanical problems that water down your writing:

  • Misspellings. Many of these can be fixed by simply running a word processor’s spell check; although spell check will not catch errors of the wrong word used.
  • Capitalization errors. Only names, proper nouns, and the first word in the sentence should be capitalized. Mom, Dad, etc. are capitalized when used as a name, but not when used as a label, such as “my mom.”
  • Missing words. If you leave out a, the sentence doesn’t make sense. Huh? Look what leaving out a four letter word did. You might figure out I meant, “If you leave out a word, the sentence doesn’t make sense,” but our readers shouldn’t have to guess at our meaning.
  • Misused apostrophes. “Joe’s” is possessive. It means we are referring to something Joe has: Joe’s shoes, Joe’s smile, Joe’s room. If you mean there are more than one Joe, there is no apostrophe for plural: “There are three Joes in my class.” Or “I love sloppy joes.” If the object is plural and possessive, the apostrophe usually goes after the s, for example: “writers’ workshop.” You’ll see apostrophes wrong on public signs, but we owe it to our readers to get it right.
  • Wrong word. These are usually homophones, or in other words, words that are pronounced the same, but are spelled differently and, more importantly, have different meanings. This site, http://www.homophone.com/, has a list of homophones–just click on the letters on the left to see the homophones that start with that letter. It’s overwhelming how many there are! But don’t panic! You don’t need to memorize them all. Instead here are the ones you must know:
    – to, too, two
    – they’re, there, their
    – your, you’re
    – its, it’s

Use grammar checker to help you find the others in your writing. And if you like, check out these resources to help you with some other common ones: www.superteacherworksheets.com/homophones.html

  • Missing Punctuation. Sometimes this is due to run-on sentences where there should be a conjunction or a semi-colon, but it’s amazing how many sentences are simply missing the period at the end. I also frequently see missing quote marks. Another problem I see is a missing comma inside dialogue when a person’s name is used. Right: “Mom, make him stop.” Wrong: “Mom make him stop.”
  • Extra spaces. Extra spaces often occur before or after quote marks, before other punctuation, between words, and even blank lines after paragraphs. We’ll talk later about how to catch extra spaces and blank lines yourself.

Help on catching these water-downers:
After you use spell check and grammar checker–make sure you understand why you are changing something in your text–try these:

  • One of the easiest ways to see errors in your own writing, is to change the font (style and size) and print it out. This moves words around and helps you actually read what is there instead of what you think is there.
  • Read your manuscript aloud. It’s amazing how much I catch in my own writing when I read it aloud. Especially if I have an audience!
  • For extra or missing spaces (broken lines and other oddness), print your piece the way you plan to submit it to your instructor or editor. Ignore the text itself and look at only the appearance. If something looks funny, check it out. You can also use the Find and Replace option in your word processor and search for space space and replace with space. You many need to run it several times to catch three or more spaces in a line.
  • Make sure your word processor has 0 in the “spacing after” paragraph box. You may need to select the entire document, then go into paragraphing to fix this. You can also change it in your default document, so any new documents won’t have this annoyance.

There’s more to proving yourself to an editor than these simple mechanics, but if these basics aren’t correct, an editor probably won’t even get to the content of your writing.

Posted in Craft, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing

He Thought to Himself and Other Excesses

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

photo courtesy of typexnick on morguefile.com
thinking_man.jpg
“He thought to himself.” I’ve often seen this phrase in students’ writing. “To himself” is redundant. “Who else would he think to?” Now if he thought it and someone else heard it, that would be a very different story.
“She nodded yes” or “she nodded her head up and down.” Isn’t a nod inherently yes? Nodding, we know, is an up and down movement of the head. What else would you nod? I can’t think of anything. Simply write, “she nodded.” Similarly with “he shook his head no” or “he shook his head back and forth,” write, “he shook his head.” Or “she shrugged.” We know what she is shrugging. Another culture might have different meanings for these gestures, so specifying in that case would be important.
“He said to me” as a dialogue attribution. If only two of you are talking, whom else would he say it to? Simply cut “to me.” If there are more than two people in the room, is it critical that what was said was directed only at one person? If so, an action might be a better indicator. i.e. “He shielded his mouth from our teacher. ‘She’s gone loco.'”
“Mom said as she opened the front door.” If you have an action, there’s no need for the dialogue attribution. Dialogue next to “Mom opened the front door.” will indicate who is speaking.
“He would walk; he would eat.” Using “would” with another verb is future-in-the past tense. Often writers use this when they want to say someone does something habitually. Or they use it before the real action to give back story. Instead make sure what you say is important now in the story and use straight past tense: “he walked; he ate.” You can still indicate habit, if needed. i.e. “Every day he ran to school.”
“There is/are” sentence construction. This is a form of passive writing. For example: “There are lots of kids sitting on the carpet squares.” Stronger would be: “Lots of kids sat on the carpet squares.”
The last excess I want to discuss is using more words than necessary. Sometimes we can get away with it, but if a short story is too long for the market, or someone says “it needs tightening,” then it’s time to cut. Here are suggestions for getting rid of flab:

  • Say it once, maybe twice, but not thrice. “He scratched his head in confusion.” The action of scratching his head shows he’s confused. Dialogue might show it as well. Definitely remove “in confusion.”
  • Make sure descriptions add to the setting. If not, get rid of them.
  • Don’t distance the reader from the action. “She noticed the cat jumping up on the couch.” Instead: “The cat jumped up on the couch.”
  • Check for words or phrases you use over and over. Are they necessary? Or merely a habit.
  • Look at individual sentences, especially long ones. Is there a way to say the same thing with less words? i.e. “After a couple of minutes…” could become: “After a few minutes…”
  • Use one strong adjective instead of several weak ones.
  • Use a specific verb instead of a weak verb and an adverb.

The best thing about removing excesses* is clearer sentences. This helps readers keep reading. And that’s our goal: to keep them reading.
*I’d love to hear your thoughts about excesses in writing… Just post in the comment section.

Posted in Craft, Guest Post, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing

The Hero’s Journey for Magazine Writers

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Guest Post by Jan Fields
Increasingly editors are interested in two things in fiction (1) adventure and (2) something a boy might read. But many writers are stuck when it comes to thinking about adventure. What makes up an adventure and can you do it well in 2000 words or less (sometimes a lot less). Sure you can. After all, Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are is a perfect adventure story in 336 words.

The adventure story is the basis for so many classic myths and legends – so much so that “The Hero’s Journey” has become almost a guidebook for adventure. So how could the circular structure of the basic “Hero’s Journey” help us craft a magazine adventure story? Let’s begin by looking at a simplified version of the Hero’s Journey structure, keeping in mind that for magazine fiction, the story must will focus on the main character (MC):

Ordinary World – Stories begin just before the thing that ultimately changes the MC.
Call to Adventure – A need arises, the MC has a challenge.
Refusal/Commitment – the MC resists the challenge, doesn’t want to undertake the task but ultimately accepts that the challenge cannot be avoided.
Approaching the First Ordeal – The MC begins to understand the size of the challenge and the stakes are raised.
Ordeal – MC faces a serious challenge and overcomes.
Reward – a time of rest for the MC, sometimes a false sense of completion.
The Road/Resurrection – more complications, when things look much worse than expected and the biggest challenge met.
Mastery – The adventure resolves, often a sense of coming full circle. The MC has changed.

Okay, how might that play out in a magazine story? Let’s look at how it could play out in a short story synopsis:
genstore.jpgOrdinary World – A boy heads home from a day at the pool and stops in a store for a cold drink.
Call to Adventure – Unexpectedly, the beloved store owner isn’t there and in his place is a hostile woman whose attention constantly shifts to the backroom door.
Refusal/Commitment – The boy hurries through his purchase to get away from the unpleasant woman. Once outside, he sits down to sip his drink and notices a lot people coming and going through the back door of the building – something he’s never seen before. He begins to wonder what’s going on.
Approaching the First Ordeal – The boy watches the store, even creeping close enough to the back door to hear what sounds like a scuffle. Could the woman be doing something illegal and holding the real store owner prisoner. The boy runs to alert a trusted adult.
Reward – The boy returns to the story with the trusted adult, expecting to save the story owner. But the woman tells the trusted adult a believable story and even opens the door to the backroom, where everything is quiet. The boy has now lost the support of his trusted adult.
The Road/Resurrection – The MC sits outside, determined to find out what is really happening. At first everything is quiet, then someone comes out of the backroom door, sees the boy and chases him away. The boy sneaks back, finding a better vantage point to watch the shop. He’s caught and this time the bad guy decides to hold onto the boy until their goal is met. The boy is locked into the shop bathroom with the beloved store owner (now slightly injured).
Mastery – Because of his small size, the boy can escape through the cramped bathroom window, though not without some minor injury. He runs to his trusted adult, this time with “proof” – the real store owners ubiquitous cap – now with bloodstains. The trusted adult calls the police and the store owner is saved!

In real life, the trusted adult might have stormed over to the store and given the woman some real conflict, not giving up easily. But then the story would have shifted from being the main character’s adventure/challenge to being the story of the actions of a side adult character. To work as a story, the main character has to commit to the challenge and overcome the obstacle on his own.

Author’s Brief Bio
Since my first magazine publication in the 1980s, I have been steadily writing for money in some form. Today I have over twenty books in print and still more in the pipeline – books for children and adults. I’ve also written for magazines, educational publishers and even a toy company! Writing is the only thing I’ve ever done really well that didn’t eventually become more like work than fun.
Read more about Jan at www.janfields.com.
General Store photo courtesy of wallyir on morguefile.com.

Posted in Craft, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing

Altitude and Attitude – Adult or Child?

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

kid & cannonI’ve had writing students set at the wrong “altitude” in relationship to their main character. They’ve talked about “little arm,” “tiny mouth,” “short body,” and more. That’s adult-size looking down to see child-size. When we are in a child’s viewpoint, arms, mouths or bodies of kids are viewed as the right size unless part of plot/character issues. In that case the main character likely views his shortness, skinniness or cuteness as a flaw, not a simple description of who he is.
So this got me thinking. We’re so used to seeing the world at the adult height that it is easy to forget what it looks like from kid height. I experienced a direct example when my then six-year-old grandson looked up at me and said, “You have hairs in your nose.” After struggling with that brief moment of being offended, I said, “yes.” Then I told him everyone did. I explained the purpose of those hairs. Of course, later I checked the mirror to see if, gasp, I needed to trim my nose hairs.
These both have reminded me that I need to think about what my young main character is seeing from her altitude. I may have to walk around on my knees a while to see what the world looks like from that height. I need to dig back and remember when I had to look up at every adult. I need to remember how I had to use a chair to reach the upper cabinets in the kitchen, and sometimes even climbed up on the countertop. I need to pay more attention to kids who are the age of my main character and see the things they have to deal with in an adult sized world and convey that in my writing.
I also sometimes see students write with the wrong “attitude.” As an adult we think it is funny or cute when kids do certain things. Unless they are trying to be funny, often what they are doing is very serious business. The two-year-old pretending to go to work on his ride-upon car is practicing what he’s seen a parent do. The four-year-old ballerina believes she dances beautifully. At that age anything is possible. The six-year-old asking about nose hairs was not trying to offend, he was being honest and talking about what he saw. The kid in this picture is exploring the cannon by sticking his head inside. Let’s not taint those experiences with adult reality and attitude in our writing.
My adult daughter let me read her sixth grade diary. She wrote about boys, boys, boys, her friends, and her older sister. She wrote about stuff that happened at school. We, her parents, were only mentioned once. That was when her fish died and she said we laughed. I can’t remember laughing. I don’t know why we would have laughed. Whether we did or not isn’t the point. She felt we didn’t care or didn’t care enough. To her that little fish dying was important. Callous parent me, I’m not even positive what kind of fish it was. In my defense, I do remember her winning it at a Vacation Bible School and remember what she named it. But to that sixth grade girl the life and death of her fish was an important event.
I need to convey the same child attitude in my writing. I need to share child concerns, questions and experiences as honestly as I can to make my stories more believable to my child audience.
I plan to be checking my altitude and attitude often as I write. How about you?
picture courtesy of seneca77 on morguefile.com