Taking A Stand...Against Standing

Now, I don't want to come across as militant, but I am ready to take a stand...against standing. Standing in doorways, in hallways, in rooms, and in front of me - I can't take all this standing.


Let's look at an example:

I turned around and saw him standing in the doorway.

Well, unless he is in a wheelchair, or for some reason he wouldn't be standing (maybe he's been hobbled like Paul Sheldon in Misery and he can only drag himself from place to place), why does a reader need to know he's standing? It'd be a miracle if he was wheelchair-bound and suddenly he stood in a doorway.  That's important information in that instance.  But just a guy in a doorway? What else would he be doing besides standing?

Okay, maybe he's leaning against the doorframe.  Maybe with a smile on his face I can't resist.  Or maybe he's crouched slightly, gun in hand and ready to shoot me (or maybe the guy who's holding me hostage - yeah, that's better).

I turned around. He leaned against the doorframe, a smile on his face.  Not just a smile, but that smile.  The one that got me every time.

or

I turned around. I barely had enough time to register the crouched form of a man before I saw the gun come up and heard the kidnapper fall to the ground.

See? No standing needed.

Give me some action!

Exciting Changes

So, I've been putzing around with my website...you know, just something fun to do in the evenings.  With the new year, it's always been a time to look at things and re-evaluate. One of the things I examined was my webpage and logo.

And it was time to freshen them up.

The last few weeks I've been playing around with new software (cool effects! new gizmos!) and contacted a company to work on my logo.  I'm still working on the website - and frankly, it'll definitely be a month or more before it's ready for prime time - but I'm pretty happy with the logo.

As part of the logo process, the company (The Logo Company) sent me several images based on my answers to their questionnaire. I spent a few days looking at a few of them and testing them out on my webpage design software. I culled down the contenders to two and consulted my in-house go-to guy.  He gave me reasons he liked one and what he didn't like about the other.

But there was a third one in contention.  I decided to ask for that one to use as graphic icon and picked out my new logo.

So, I'm happy to give you a sneak peek at the new graphic:

And soon, when the website is closer to being ready, you'll be able to check out the new logo!

Editors - the Writer's Natural Enemy

I want to make this clear: I didn't come up with the title of this post.

I was searching online (for what, specifically, doesn't really matter) and ran across this post on George R. Martin's website:

Editors: The Writer’s Natural Enemy

The author (maybe you've heard of him, or his Game of Throne saga?) gave a speech in 1979 where he talked about the importance of editors.  Now, his definition of editor may or may not still work here in 2016 (especially considering the rise of indie and hybrid authors and the general state of traditional publishing) but I found some of it highly amusing:

Left to their own devices, writers talk about only three things; the three most important things in the world.
They talk about money, they talk about sex, and they talk about editors.
Money and sex are things that most writers want and never get enough of. Editors are things that most writers don’t want and get all too much of. I’ve often heard writers ask other writers why there have to be editors in the world.
 
But later on, he has this to say: 

Yes, there are a lot of ways for editors to go wrong.
Fortunately, a surprising number of them go right. It never ceases to amaze me. What is a good editor like? A good editor offers you decent advances, and goes to bat with his publisher to make sure your book gets promoted, and returns your phone calls, and answers your letters. A good editor does work with his writers on their books. But only if the books need work. A good editor tries to figure out what the writer was trying to do, and helps him or her do it better, rather than trying to change the book into something else entirely. A good editor doesn’t insist, or make changes without permission. Ultimately a writer lives or dies by his words, and he must always have the last word if his work is to retain its integrity.


I hope that I am in that category of editor (copy editor and proofreader, really) for my authors. I'm not looking to be the enemy of the author - I want to be the champion, the cheerleader, the advocate, the supporter ("If you can't be an athlete, be an athletic supporter!" - bonus points if you know where that quote is from).

So, I am looking forward to a grand 2016, supporting and cheering on all my authors as they continue their careers and fulfill their writing goals and dreams.

 

Can You Teach Someone to Write?

Early in the week, I was sick.  And the hubby was on a trip, so I had to suck it up and take care of myself.  But all I planned to do was sit on the couch and take medicine, so it wasn't that difficult.  I couldn't focus on a computer screen, so I watched the big screen instead.  I got caught up on my General Hospitals (oh the intrigue! oh the double-crosses! oh the passion!).  But then I pulled out the big guns: Hugh Grant.

I was cruising through the On-Demand section from our cable provider and saw Music and Lyrics listed.  I almost picked that one, but then remembered another movie of his I hadn't seen yet, so I kept going.  And once I found The Rewrite, I clicked Watch and spent the next few hours with Hugh and Marisa Tomei in Birmingham NY.  It features some of my other favorite actors - Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons.

Hugh's character is a screen writer in Hollywood, years after his success, trying to get any job he can.  And right now, the only job he can get is as a screenwriting professor at this college. He plans to go there, do as little as possible and spend time on his own project.  But as you can imagine, it doesn't go that way.  Especially with his attitude that you can't teach writing.

So I got thinking: can you teach writing? Some must think so, based on all the classes, workshops, books, forums, conferences, and blogs out there.  Maybe teach is the wrong word.  Or maybe the way we think about teaching, like it's only rote memorization, might give one pause about whether writing is teachable.

On the other side of the coin, is writing learnable? Maybe some people can't grasp the concepts of plotting or resolution or risk/reward and therefore can't learn to write.

I've recently talked to someone who is interested in writing a novel.  They've never written before, but they have this story inside them they want to tell.  And it's a pretty intriguing concept.  So I gave her the basic advice: Write. Read about writing. Join a writer's group. Find a critique group.  Use your library resources - whether that's for research, other writers, writing resources, or books in the same genre to see what works (and what doesn't) in other stories.

Today's Tweet (hey, are you following me on Twitter?  Why not?  Find me @FaithProofing) gives a resource that's been out of print for years, but the blog author has found invaluable for playwriting.  The author of the book (The Human Nature of Play Writing) wrote a thing or two: the play The Jazz Singer (the basis of the first movie with sound and music) and some scripts for  Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion and Ernst Lubitsch's The Shop Around the Corner(one of my favorites...in all its incarnations).  So if you are in the market for another book on writing, check it out and let me know what you think.

Vox Article:

For the first time in decades, the best book ever written about writing is back in print

Hello. old friends

Ouch.  I just looked at the date of the last blog post: August 23.

Where have I been since the end of the summer, you may ask?  Well, I've been in big cities, the wide-open ranches of Texas, the South right at the end of the Civil War, Las Vegas, Boston, the Canadian mountains, prison in California, planets out of our solar system, San Fransisco, small towns,  a world of zombie and alien invasions at once. I've been hanging out with lovers and fighters, losers and winners, people struggling to find themselves or find each other, people with a mission, and people searching for meaning.

In other words, I've been in books.  But I've also had some real-life stuff going on.  My son graduated from college, moved to DC for a few months, came home, moved to Denver. I worked on my annual Basket Bonanza fundraiser (thanks to everyone who donated!), as well as some other church projects. I've had some great fun with the hubby at a water park.  I've had some great results with a new workout/food program (lost almost 20 pounds!).  And I've started taking swimming lessons (no, I never learned to swim when I was kid.)

But I haven't blogged.  Why? Well, yes, all that other stuff kept me busy. But I've felt like I didn't have much to say, for some reason.  Not much motivation to write (thank goodness writing's not my job!). But I do hope that changes.  I like to write, when I have something to say.

So for now I'll say Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Holidays...or maybe a simple hello and I'm thinking of you!

If It Were Even Possible

I know, I know...it's been practically forever and a day since I've last posted.  But as many of you may know, it's been a busy summer.  There was a college graduation, a wedding anniversary, a trip to move our son...and oh yeah, some awesome books to edit.

(And honestly, sometimes the best place to keep track of what I'm up to is on Facebook - so go ahead and like my page.  Go on, go like it: The Atwater Group _)

Yes, it's been a crazy busy summer, and it's not quite over - not the summer part and not the crazy busy part either.  I thought I'd have a week "off" to work on some professional development (classes, professional reading, etc.), but that week got swept up in last-minute projects.  I have small hopes I still might carve out some time before August is over, so it's still possible at this point.

And, as writing is NOT my strong suit (hey, that's what YOU guys do, not me!), it's gone to the bottom of the list of things to get done.  In other words, it hasn't gotten done.  But I've thought of a few things to share with you, so I'm hoping to get those thoughts down on paper, so to speak (or on the blog) and get back into a semi-regular posting schedule.

Awhile back, I ran a contest on a mystery phrase.  No one knew what it was until the year was over and I announced the "winner" of the contest.  I couldn't think of a good contest for 2015, but about by June, I was wishing I had picked another mystery phrase. I saw this particular phrase at least once per manuscript for about a month: if it were even possible.  It was getting to the point that it wasn't even possible for me to see this phrase without going a little crazy.  It wasn't so much that one author kept using it; it was that multiple authors were using it.

So, do you have phrases you think you overuse? Or just phrases that are overused in general?

A Story 25 Years in the Making

Scooch closer, children, for a story.  Now, usually, I’m not the one writing the story; I’m typically the one proofing or editing the story.  

But there’s really only one other person who could tell this particular story, but I think I am beating him to the punch.

Apt A4 - Foothill Blvd. - Rancho Cucamonga, CA

A long, long time ago (1990, to be exact), in a state far way (all away across the country, in California), there lived a young woman and a young man.  They lived together, actually, which some people were not happy about (but knew enough to keep their opinions to themselves – mostly).  But the young woman and the young man were happy about it, because they fully intended to get married.  

But the young woman had particular ideas about the wedding, namely where it should be.  And that place was “back home”  - yes, all the way across country. She was starting the process of planning a wedding from 3,000 miles away and let’s just say it was a bit overwhelming and a bit challenging.  The young man, seeing his love become frustrated and irritated, suggested they could just run away to the magical land of Las Vegas and get married there.  The young woman didn’t like that idea, and stubbornly kept up her attempts to plan a wedding from miles and miles away.  

But reality continued on its merry way. That is to say, reality knocked the young woman around a bit.  One day, frustrated beyond reason, the young woman decided her young man just might be right: Las Vegas would be so much easier.  And they would be married so much more quickly.  

So one Friday night, after they both came home from work, the young woman asked a question, one so typical that even you might say it now: “What do you want to do this weekend?”

The young man’s response wasn’t anything out of the ordinary: maybe a movie, maybe go to the store.

The young woman’s response was out of the ordinary: Let’s go to Vegas and get married.  Only one condition: neither of us can call anyone before we get married. (And remember this was before everyone had cell phones and Facebook wasn’t even a thought in anyone’s brain.)

Excited plans were made: A local magazine promoted the Las Vegas Hilton’s wedding package.  After a phone call, reservations were made for the hotel, marriage license, and wedding chapel.  Once the bags were packed, it was a quick three-hour trip to the sandy oasis of Las Vegas.   

The hubby's wedding ring; my engagement ring and wedding band

Saturday was a blur of getting ready: finding a wedding ring to match the engagement ring, finding a man’s wedding ring, going to City Hall for the wedding license.  Finally, the limo driver took the young woman and young man to the wedding chapel.

Yes, we were married at the Candlelight Wedding Chapel, "where the stars wed." It's now a parking lot.

Vows were said; rings were exchanged.  There was no Elvis impersonator.

After the ceremony, relatives were called and given the news: the young woman and the young man were now man and wife.  Although surprised, most expressed joy that the couple had taken this step together.  One (the mother of the bride) advised that it was the marriage that counted, not the marriage ceremony.  Another (the mother of the groom) had not been looking forward to traveling for the ceremony and was happy to send her love (and not lose her luggage on a plane trip).

So now it is twenty-five years later, here in 2015.  The young woman and the young man are, alas, not quite as young but are still very much in love. 

They own a house (or maybe it owns them, or maybe the bank owns it…):

Our log home...not a log cabin

a dog:

Dudley

a cat (who, come to think of it, maybe owns them too):

Taz

and have produced a son, who graduated from college this summer...

The Boy...at his senior year SSDP conference

...and has a job (that he wants) in a field he's excited to be a part of.

And I'd like to think the next twenty-five years will be as wonderful and filled with laughter and love as the first twenty-five years. 

Happy Anniversary, Robert - I love you.