cutting the crap.

i've recently begun reading noah lukeman's 'the first five pages', and right off i know it's the book to save me and my gimpy novel. a quick excerpt:



"The main audience for this book, though, is you, the writer. Along with the criteria, this book offers an in-depth look at the technique and thought processes behind writing and has been designed to be of interest to the beginning and advanced writer alike . . ." (p. 14)



see, this is what i need. i can use help with grammar and style (thanks strunk & white--you guys rock the tizzypewriter), but even more, i could benefit from learning more about structuring a larger work. like a novel. the second chapter ends with a simple but eye-opening exercise regarding adverbs and adjectives--otherwise known as the writer's crutches.


from page 39:


"Remove every adjective and adverb from the first page of your manuscript and list them separately."


then, a bit farther along in the exercise:


"Look at your list of removed adjectives and adverbs . . . Cross out each one and beside it write down a less expected replacement."


sounds so obvious, right? i know.

so, i tried this first exercise. here are a few of my original adjectives/adverbs:

narrow, shallow, looming, spandex, muttered, belay, quiet, raw . . . you get the idea.

not horrible, but not terribly striking, either.
taking the manuscript apart and rebuilding to make it stronger; i've been hesitant to try this, concerned about the reassembly phase. i keep imagining the manuscript components articulated all over my desk and me standing over them, overwhelmed by a slow panic. *shudder* terrifying.

now, i have hope anew. check out noah lukeman's 'the first five pages' (isbn:068485743x).
http://www.amazon.com/First-Five-Pages-Writers-Rejection/dp/068485743X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235884087&sr=8-1

kindle me a story, grandpa.

okay, this is interesting. amazon's kindle now allows individuals to publish their work as kindle books. for free.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4489551_sell-book-kindle-format.html

authors set their own price and receive 35% of the kindle book's sales. think of the potential for networking with this thing. and the proof of a story's appeal to readers, assuming a significant number of copies sold. i'd imagine potential agents and publishers would eat that up.

will have to think on this--the idea of publishing a collection of short stories is near-irresistible, and i'll be reading up on how a kindle work's attractiveness would be affected by having been electronically published. but hey, if i'm ultimately aiming for publishing novels, getting my name out there now for short stories might be a solid approach. wild stuff.

these are not the old days, for sure.

monday writing prompt

i found a fairly intriguing photo at one of my favorite websites, www.pixdaus.com. i know images don't work for everyone, but dang, people. just look at this one and tell me it doesn't get you to wondering. the creepiest part for me? the old sepia-toned portrait in the creature's hands. there's a story here, i'm telling you.

http://pixdaus.com/single.php?id=13543

dark speculative poetry

Bigtop Dreams
Laurie Paulsen

Stuffed clown,
propped on that spindly chair,
your silver painted eyes
glinting in the moonlight,
your floppy striped arms
arranged artfully so.
Stare at me like you mean it.

I fall asleep and dream of your teeth
dripping my blood,
your arms wrapped around my throat
as you drag me into the abyss.
Don’t you see?
Your obsidian needs
keep me from my own.
I watch you
to forget my own hunger.

I want to climb inside you
and feed on screams forever.

i was searching a bit on the internet for horror-based poetry. i admit my knowledge base on the subject is pretty spare, and could only come up with Edgar Allen Poe on my own. (If you know of other poets who specialize in the creepy, please send me their names.)

my internet search netted me a few amateur sites which may prove interesting:

http://www.authorsden.com/categories/poetry.asp?alpha=a&catid=52
http://www.sffworld.com/authors/poems/horror.html
http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/dark/dark_poems.html
http://unspeakablehorror.com/journal/2008/12/29/new-horror-poetry.html

so, take a peek. seems odd to me that more poetry exploring the spooky and disturbing isn't out there. horror and dark writing is a natural for poetic expression--the imagery distilled to its most pungent essence, snatching the most vivid moments for expression--these two forms should be an automatic pairing; like babies and pitchforks.

update: my husband handed me another link. looks fascinating! http://www.poemsofthefantastic.com/

imagery as inspiration

i mentioned before what sort of stimuli gets me creative. music and images, and one other: poetry. not all poetry, but the kind strong in imagery will get me. if it opens my mind's eye, puts me in that place, i'll take that feeling and run with it. today, i'm grateful for a blog i follow: http://poem-of-the-week.blogspot.com/

this week's poem, above pate valley by gary snyder, is a sumptuous buffet of desert imagery. detailed, evocative, and steeped in a sense of history both geological and cultural, this poem puts me there in that rocky canyon. i'm surrounded by slivers of arrowheads, of tall ash trees and fresh river trout, of fat deer grazing down the trail, and the juxtapostion of life as a trailblazer--living amidst the glory of nature as i use explosives and fired tools to destroy part of it for the advance of mankind. odd, that i feel peaceful after reading, and have the urge to dive back into my western novel while i have the taste of rock dust in my mouth and crisp canyon air on my face.

i won a kindle!!!

so, good news. i joined the fledgling authoring website www.bookrix.com in december, after a friend tipped me to it. the site was created by german Bookrix:

"BookRix is an internet portal and the first book community where anyone can place their own books, short stories, poems etc. to be promoted on the web, just like a published piece. The massive Web 2.0 - Projects, which have been hugely popular with music, video and photography fans, now have a sister platform, which will delight literature fans around the world: BookRix."
(from the website)

a free community offering writers of all stature an avenue to expose their work on the internets. writers get to pretty up their virtual manuscripts, choosing cover design, layout and fonts. the virtual books operate like "real" books, flipping pages as you direct, including title pages and forward. it's pretty darned cool. i'm still nervous about the first e-rights, but since i've published only specific works i don't plan to publish elsewhere, i'm happy with the public outlet.

since the english side of the site is still very new, and membership (free!) is still scraggly, the site held a contest in january for writers and readers. writers post their virtual books for the contest, and the works with the highest recommendation counts on feb 15th win. first prize: $2000, second prize: $1000, and third through fifth places: a new kindle. i placed fourth!! the kindle2 will be shipped in march, when amazon refills supply. woohoo!!!

the contest wasn't my favorite type, focusing on popularity and networking rather than writing ability, but i remind myself that networking and getting others excited about my work is a huge part of being a published writer. a successful one, anyway. i'm not so great at it, tending to shy away from conversations about my writing aspirations, what i write about, why people would enjoy my stories, etc. this contest showed me i may need to work on stretching that comfort zone, but also that i'm not at the lowest schmoozing rung, either. i don't know a lot of people, but at least i'm aware of the importance of reaching out.
also, i gotta give credit to my friend and cohort stewart--he won first place, and also garnered several recommendations for my contest entry along the way.

so, long story short: i won a kindle2!!!!! woohooo!!!!!

check out www.bookrix.com if you're interested in finding a writer's community on its ground floor--it's still small enough to gain significant attention, but developed enough to offer several different viewpoints and levels of talent. plus, it's got that kicky european sensibility. some of the navigation buttons still respond in german. :D

new upcoming e-zine!

hi, all. i receive newsletters from writer/writer advocate-extraordinaire holly lisle, and today i found one in my inbox that set my writey/readey nerves to tingling. check out her new fiction e-zine!!

http://rebeltales.com/

still in the planning stages, this looks exciting and different. author interviews, backstage passes to great query letters and synopses . . . well, check it out. sign up for updates!