Ac-cen-tuate the Positive

by Peggy Blann Phifer @pegphifer

Well, it's a brand new year! What's in store for us as writers? Good question, huh? Of course, we can't know, but there are a few steps we can take to help us achieve our 2017 writing goals.

I was browsing some old files over the weekend and came across an old article I wrote about fourteen years ago that struck me as worth repeating. See what you think.

There’s an old, old song from which we, as writers, could learn self-discipline. It goes like this:

“You’ve got to ac-cen-tuate the positive,

E-lim-inate the negative,

Latch on to the affirmative,

Don’t mess with Mr. In-Between!”

Some of you of a 'certain age' will recognize those lyrics and are smiling and nodding your heads. They do have something to say, don’t they?

You see, every writer, whether an old pro or a rank beginner, has times when we begin to wonder if we should have chosen another vocation. Those days when sitting in front of the computer staring at a blank screen with blinking cursor can be pretty discouraging. We have no idea why we’re there, what we’re going to say, or how to say it. Been there?

Yes, we all have. I can’t tell you how many times it’s happened to me when sitting down to write this column each week. Today’s is no exception. I avoided staring at the blank screen, though, and gazed out the window for a while, when those lyrics just popped into my head. I thought, well, okay, what do I do with them? As I wrote them, the rest of the idea came right away! Amazing how these things happen.

So, we’re going to talk a bit about ‘e-lim-inate the negative’ part of the song. The old tired-but-true axiom that “can’t never did anything” is as apt today as it was when it was coined. If we say “I can’t” then it’s for sure we won’t. Have days when you feel yourself wavering, wailing “I’ll NEVER be a writer! I just can’t do this!” Um-hum. Deadlines don’t always help, either. Although there are some writers who thrive on them, deadlines do seem to push that panic button that causes us to doubt ourselves and lose faith in our abilities. Here’s something I’ve used before:

‘It would have taken about a year to finish the book at this point, but reading it had depressed Peggy severely. The work to be done was tremendous, and if she completed it—then what? How could she submit it anywhere when she feared lawsuits and dreaded professional criticism? And when she compared her work to that of Glasgow and Fitzgerald and Benet—how could she dare to think of herself as a true writer? She had worked hard and long hours, but that was not enough to qualify her as a literary figure. And she was sure that the authors she admired had no need of someone like John at their elbow, helping them all the time. Someday, perhaps, she would go back to the book, but at the moment, the entire project seemed to her like little more than a waste of time.’

            Peggy, in the above message, is Margaret Mitchell. And the unworthy manuscript – “Gone With The Wind.”

Interesting? Discouragement, depression, fear . . . all are part of the negative and we need to work hard on them. If we don’t, then we surely will fail in our attempts to become writers.

Almost as counterproductive is “Mr. In-Between.” He personifies apathy, a lack of passion for this profession. And, their writing shows it! Funny thing is, many of them are big sellers, and that’s pretty ironic, to my way of thinking. How many times have you picked up a book with an interesting title, or colorful cover, or because it was by a well-known author—whatever it was that attracted your attention—bought it (or borrowed at the library) only to get it home and find everything was sterile and generic? You know what I mean. There is a no-name setting in a no-name town (or city) with non-description of much of anything. The story-line may be okay, but there’s a great deal lacking . . . it just doesn’t keep you interested. There’s no enthusiasm to turn the next page. You probably didn’t even finish the book. Makes you wonder how it ever got published. And, I’ll bet you sat back and said “I can write better than that!”

Compare that to a book you have read that was so well written, so captivating, that you couldn’t put it down. You kept turning the pages, one after the other, until you reached The End…and realized it was 4:00 AM. That book was the result of the ‘positive’ side of a writer. No, the writer wasn’t perfect. Probably had a few of those ‘negative’ and ‘in-between’ days, but, more often than not, decided to ‘ac-cen-tuate the positive’ and ‘e-lim-inate the negative’ and gave ‘Mr. In-Between’ the boot. This writer managed to “Latch on to the affirmative!”

We can all do that, and our greatest advantage and assurance is to be sure we are writing in His will. When you face that blank screen, don’t stare at that blinking cursor. Put your knees to the floor and ask for His help and guidance. I guarantee that you will be able to surmount those negative and in-between times.

Back to the present. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. Can you think of ways you can ac-cen-tuate the positive and latch on to the affirmative this year? Do share!

10 Signs you Might be Suffering from CAD

This is a fun post, compliments of my friend and fellow Helping Hands Press author, PATTI J. SMITH, used here with permission.

Thanks, Patti

ATTENTION ALL WRITERS!

10 signs ou might be suffering from C.A.D. - Character Attachment Disorder.

Check the following list to see if you have the symptoms.

1.): You cry uncontrollably while writing about the death of your character, then light a candle in memorium.

2.): You go into a deep depression after the death of a character — stay in bed all day, neglect family, call in sick to work (characters do not qualify for bereavement leave).

3,): You rewrite your manuscript to avoid killing off your character.

4.): You dream about your character killing you off.

5.): You call out your character's name in your sleep. (Makes for interesting breakfast talk with your spouse).

6.): When the phone rings, for a split second you think it's your character calling.

7.): You wonder what your character is doing right now!

8.): You gossip with your friends about what your character did.

9.): You chuckle all day about the funny thing your character did or said.

10.): You name your child or pet after your character.

So, how did you do? Did you find yourself nodding your head, perhaps even smiling as you read this list? 

If so, then it's my duty to tell you that you do, indeed, suffer from CAD. Though there is no cure, there's no need to panic. There are multiple hundreds of CAD sufferers out there, and you've just joined our world!

Now, I'd love to hear from you. Comments welcome.

♦ ♦ ♦

Many thanks to Patti J. Smith for this list and for allowing me to share it here.

Patti J. Smith
Author and Inspirational Speaker
San Diego Silent No More Regional Coordinator
Leader, Rachel's Hope - Escondido

Visit me at my blog:  http://gridirongrannyfootballfanatic.blogspot.com/
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Do You Trust Spellchecker? Paula Rose Weighs In

Welcome to Writing Talk Tuesday!

Today’s guest is author Paula Rose, who shares some thoughts on the fallible spellchecker…

 

 

♦ ~ ♦ ~ ♦

When Spell Checker Lets You Down . . . and down . . . and down, again.

There is one thing that I’ve learned about spell checker, and it’s not one thing that I will soon forget. Spell checker will keep letting you down because the English language isn’t one to be very clear. Does every language have three different versions and spellings of a same sounding words where the meaning is different in all cases?

A) My favorite example is: There. Their. They’re. To spell checker, each word is spelled correctly. However, when their there is over here and they’re going after it, the application will behave accordingly.

B) It’s only when our own mistakes go deeper than a simple spelling error will this function deem to make some suggestions. My question then becomes what is their suggestion?

1) My sentence version: They’re going their and there what problems can arise?

2) Spell checker sentence version: They’re going there and they’re what problems can arise?

Although, sometimes, this software function will offer up something different. If I choose the suggestion in my own automated way, at the wrong time, I could have just changed my error for another mistake. Can you understand why I would question the suggestions?

It used to be my own assumption that the application will know better than I would. It’s that old artificial intelligence can do what I do better theory.

In many ways, a computer can do better than me, but in some ways, the software will not. Spell checker cannot understand context in language to determine the correct version of any word. It will tell you what is spelled correctly unless the word is an acronym or a proper name or noun that it does not recognize, and it might ask you if you mean something else like when using the words to, two or too.

3) My first sentence version: Sure, I do like to go down the shore but sunburn makes me sore.

4) My second sentence version: Shore, the sun will give me sunburn down at the sure.

C) Spell check did not correct my mistakes in either of the above sentences. Inside number three, the alliteration will get you tongue-tied, but inside number four, I don’t believe the sun will be down at this sure.

D) Exactly, what did I learn from all this?

1) Proofreading doesn’t mean only spell checker is needed, but this function is truly needed in riting writing. In my righting this article, you can see how errors will still pass the computer’s check list, but this previous sentence needs help in construction, in word definition, and in structure.

2) I can see and understand how much editing can help with these types of issues.

E) Now, this next example will prove how I used two different words incorrectly inside two different sentences in a pre-edited version of Revenge. I will confess that I’ve done this much more than twice! Each word is spelled correctly, but the sentence suffered by my own mistakes.

1) Shaken with fear and concern for the missing, she made it a point to reign rein in her emotional state and to focus on the client.

2) He was given the information asked for in a forthright manor manner, lending to the feel that the emotional scales here were out of line.

This article is one author’s proof that proofreading, editing, and a good story does go way beyond the spell check function. In fact, I’ve learned that rewriting is writing, developmental edits, content edits, and line edits will make a story shine, teach the writer more about their tale, and catch everything from slang and structure to punctuation plus everything else in between the cover of a book.

Author Bio: Author Paula Rose brings an “average” family into extraordinary situations, brushes with life-size strokes of reality, adding just a touch of humor, and coats with suspense inside Christian fiction. Paula’s research gives readers a panoramic view from law enforcement and lends to character authenticity. She enjoys writing in the romantic suspense, suspense, and mystery genres, but when she’s not writing, Paula Rose is reading or playing amateur photographer. Member of ACFW. 2015 Genesis Contest judge. NetGalley member. 2014 Grace Awards judge.

Media Links:

• Blog: http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/booksnreviews/


• Website: http://paularosebooks.com


• ACFW Fiction Finder: http://www.fictionfinder.com/author/?author=Paula+Rose


• Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulaRoseauthor


• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paularoseauthor/


• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Paula-Rose-Books-1514088292150972/


• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/paularoseauthor/


• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8392724.Paula_Rose


• About: http://about.me/paularoseauthor

NOTE from Peg: For obvious reasons, I did NOT run this article through Spellchecker! 

TWEET THIS: [bctt tweet="#Spellchecker: Bane...or Blessing? Join Author Paula Rose'PaulaRoseauthor on #whispersinpurple and YOU decide #writing #spelling #grammar"]

What on earth are Repeat Police?

I’m tickled to kick off the first Writing Talk Tuesday of the New Year with another great post from Jeanne Marie Leach, and, from the title, this one might be fun. So sit back and find out what this is all about.



REPEAT POLICE, By: Jeanne Marie Leach

One of my pet peeves as an editor is repetition. I once mentored another Colorado writer who had trouble in this area. Every other page had a repetition infraction, and since she was a friend, I soon simply gave her this comment, “Repeat police! Repeat police.”

There are many ways repetition can find its way into a book.

One is by using the same noun repeatedly in the same sentence or paragraph.

• · George jumped into his red sports car and turned on the engine. He backed the car out of the driveway and then sped down the street in the car. He enjoyed the many stares he got from guys who envied him for his car, and from the chicks who dug guys with cool cars.

You saw the word, didn’t you? And it became glaringly annoying.

Another form of repetition is when the writer wants to drive home a certain point and says the same thing, only using different words. In the following example, only one of the sentences is necessary and the other can be eliminated.

• · Jane had never in her life met a man she admired as much as Tim. For the first time ever, she’d found a man whom she could look up to in Tim.

The next repeat offense that bothers me is when authors repeat words for effect. It’s especially maddening when I find more than one of these on the same page. It even irked me to have to write this example for you.

• · Jane crept down the long hallway—the hallway her mother had stepped into just moments before. Where had she gone? Perhaps she’d gone into her room—the room where a century ago a woman had been murdered—murdered by her own step-father.

This really does nothing to heighten the tension and is unnecessary to the story. The author would achieve the same effect with shorter sentences that get to the point. Here’s the same paragraph rewritten to create more tension.

• · Jane crept down the long hallway. Where had mother gone? To her room? Until then the fact that someone had been murdered by their own step-father a century ago in her mother’s room meant nothing to her.

The only time repetition is useful is when used for a special effect. I’ll never forget the scene in the movie 310 to Yuma when Ben Wade and his band of outlaws were in the bar after committing a big stage robbery in which a couple of their men had died. Ben lifts his glass and gives this “eulogy” about one of his men who’d made a huge mistake that caused other good men to die.

• · “Tommy was weak. Tommy was stupid. Tommy is dead.”

This type of repetition drives home a point much better than if he’d said, “Tommy was weak and stupid, and now he’s dead because of it.

Remember to cut repetition whenever possible, but leave it alone if it enhances the scene.

I hope you get what I’m saying here in this blog. Do you get the point of this blog—the blog that I hope gives you something to think about? My main goal of writing this blog is to help you recognize repetition in your own writing. Be on the lookout for repetition and you’ll stave off the Repeat Police.

 I get it, Jeanne, I get it!

 



Jeanne Marie Leach is a multi-published author and freelance editor specializing in fiction and teaches courses on editing fiction. She is coordinator of The Christian PEN, a member of the Christian Editor Network, and member #46 of The American Christian Fiction Writers, where she received the 2012 Member Service Award. She teaches 32 weeks per year to editors on how to edit fiction and continually keeps abreast of current market trends and hones her knowledge of fiction writing and editing through classes and conferences.

 

What about you, writers…Are you guilty of alerting the Repeat Police?

And you readers…have you found mistakes like these in books you’ve read?

Do join this conversation…

Do You Have a Writing Schedule?

I subscribe to the RSS feeds for 10 or 11 blogs dealing specifically with writing. I won’t list them all here, but I’m working on a list of links that will be on my Whispers in Purple blog/website later today…hopefully.

Anyway, today I’m going to mention just one of them, probably the one I make a point to read every day: The Kill Zone. IIs focus is primarily mystery and suspense, hence the title. The posts on Sunday is one I NEVER fail to read because it is written by one of my all-time favorite writers, James Scott Bell.

This past Sunday’s post is titled,  Are Most Writers Polygamous?

The basic point deals with writers who work on more than one project at a time, otherwise known on multi-tasking.

Go ahead and read it. I’ll wait. Be sure to read the comments as well.

Welcome back! So, what did you think? Did you see, in particular, the comment by DALE? He prefers to call it multi-tracking.  I like that. The implication seems–to me–to be a more friendly approach to our writing endeavors.

I also like James Scott Bell’s remark about Isaac Azimov, who wrote on one project until he was tired, then moved to another typewriter where he had a different project going and wrote on that for a while. I really liked that, and, since I have two computers–a desktop, where I do most of my work,  and a new laptop which, to date, has only been used as a spare for when the desktop is updating, freezes or the power goes out–I’m going to start doing that. Because I do have two (soon to be three) projects going at the same time.

So, here’s my question: How do you manage your writing projects? Share some of your processes in the comments section below

Join the conversation!

TWEETABLES:

[bctt tweet="For writers: Multi-tasking or Multi-tracking? Is there a difference? Share your thoughts."]

Writing Talk Tuesday with Yours Truly

As a writer, have you ever become disenchanted with your work in progress? A work you’ve been totally in love with when…BAM! The love has dimmed and you’re wondering what happened to that spark that got you started?

Then the doubts and self-castigation begin and you start listening to the lies the enemy has been lurking nearby, just waiting for a chance to throw at you:

Your writing really stinks.

You’ll never be good enough.

You should never have started the project to begin with.

This effort isn’t nearly as good as your last one.

What were you thinking?

Give it up. Go crochet doilies or something.

Any of those sound familiar?

I confess. Guilty as charged. I’m at that point right now, one-third of the way through my current work. Oh, I still love the concept of this series. The first two volumes have been well received. And I had fun writing them.

But…

Why am I having so much trouble with Volume 3? I’m procrastinating way too much, reluctant to move forward, and I must. I’m under contract to write this series. Though I’m under no set deadline, I am obligated to submit each volume in a timely manner, and I know I’m pushing it.

When I looked last night at what I’ve written so far, well, I’m not happy with it. It’s…okay. Just…not good, know what I mean?

So I’m curious what the rest of you writers out there do when this happens to you? How do you work through it? Please share in the comment section below.

Or, better yet, write an article to share her for other enquiring minds.

Why? Because this is the inaugural post of what I hope will become a weekly feature here on Whispers in Purple. I’m calling it WRITING TALK TUESDAY, and will be featured once a week on…Tuesday’s! Clever, huh?

So consider this my INVITATION to contribute something…anything…as long as it’s writing-related, to share with others. If you’re interested in this, mention it in your comment; use the CONTACT tab at the top of this page, or email me at peg@peggyblannphifer.com

Hope to hear from you soon!

 

Author Peggy Blann Phifer, a retired executive assistant after twenty-one years in the Electrical Wholesale Industry, lives in the ‘boonies’ of NW Wisconsin. A late bloomer as far as writing is concerned, Peg’s first published work was a prayer that appeared in 2000 in a Guideposts Book compilation called Prayers for Every Need. Her debut novel, To See the Sun, a contemporary romantic suspense, released in January 2012. A novella, Somehow, Christmas Will Come, contemporary women’s fiction, released in November 2014, re-released in late 2015. Her work has also appeared in numerous anthologies and she is currently writing a series of her own called Sweetwater River. Peg is represented by Jim Hart, of Hartline Literary Agency.

 

Where to find Peg:

• FB: www.facebook.com/pegphifer
• TWITTER: www.twitter.com/pegphifer @pegphifer
• PINTEREST: www.pinterest.com/pegphifer
• LINKEDIN: www.linkedin.com/in/peggyblannphifer
• GOOGLE+: https://plus.google.com/+AuthorPeggyBlannPhifer/posts
• GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/pbphifer
• BLOG/WEBSITE: www.whispersinpurple.com
• AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/profile

Changing things up a bit

Oh, c’mon, no groans or grimaces, change is good, at least here.

The first change you’ll notice is the new blog header image. I love it. Of course, it’s Purple! … and it looks like a lot of sparkling gems. What do you think?

But that’s not all that’s changing. As you’ll note in the description above the banner on the right, my focus is on connecting Writers with Readers.

Next, I’m eliminating the COZY DEN category. All blog posts will have the same format.

The primary objective for Whispers in Purple is to spotlight writers, both new and established—and their books—in order to attract new readers.

So…

I have set up some new submission guidelines HERE.

In a nutshell, here’s what I’m trying to do:

There is potential for a three-prong spotlight for authors wishing to participate for some great exposure.

I will do,

1. An interview of you and promo of your book


2. An interview of your main character, or character of your choice, and promo of your book


3. An in-depth review of your book on the blog, plus a condensed version for Amazon and other sites where the book is available.


4. Each post will include at least one Tweetable link which can also be used on Facebook

NOTE: If you wish me to do a review, I must have it in eBook format as I can no longer read print books, darn it!

Thoughts? Suggestions? Comment below, I love hearing from you!