Category: Writing Tips

How My Mom’s Kitchen Advice is Hindering Your Writing

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1416846 by Suzanne T http://www.sxc.hu/profile/jaroas” width=”170″ height=”300″ class=”alignright size-medium wp-image-2296]Invariably, during every cooking show my mom watches she tells the professional on the screen you shouldn’t crack the eggs right into the dish you’re preparing; what if one of the eggs is bad? You just ruined the whole thing!

Oh, and when you’re done washing the dishes and wiping the table, rinse the dish cloth in cold water. Prevents germs from growing so it doesn’t start to stink.

My mom grew up in a home and a time when eggs could be dodgy and when laundry was done weekly, not daily (or more.)

Those TV chefs? They probably use hand-selected organic custom eggs from their private stock.

The dishcloth? Own 7. Wash in bleach. No smell.

Here are some writing questions I see all the time:

… more … “How My Mom’s Kitchen Advice is Hindering Your Writing”

Vicarious Experience Depends on Description

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/391902 by Bill Davenport http://www.sxc.hu/profile/lumix2004″ width=”222″ height=”276″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-2123]The descriptions written by masters like Chandler aren’t there so we know what a wing-back chair looks like or because the cigar smoke plays a role in the book.

Psychologically, statistically, we are conscious of less than 1% of what we experience. The other 99% goes to our unconscious, bypassing our conscious mind.

But we still experience it.

If I don’t know that your protagonist is a little chilly, or that the drapes are green, or the woman at the next table is wearing flats instead of heels, how will you connect with my unconscious, touch my memories, dredge up what I’m afraid of, or willing to fight, or fight for?

Chandler wrote great long paragraphs of what most authors would call “description.”
… more … “Vicarious Experience Depends on Description”

Why Children’s Books Aren’t as Easy as You Think

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

A novel is somewhere near 100,000 words. The Cat in the Hat was 1,629.

Who wouldn’t choose to finish 98.4% sooner?

Many authors have pointed out that shorter does not equal easier.

Anyone with small children can tell you that “young” does not equal “unsophisticated consumers of mental pabulum.” Or ask the producers of Sesame Street. Keeping a child’s attention is difficult under the best circumstances.

I’ve read children’s books which assumed that making up meaningless words and rhyming while hammering home a moral lesson equaled Dr. Seuss.

Here’s what the good doctor did which makes his work unique:
… more … “Why Children’s Books Aren’t as Easy as You Think”

If You’re Pantsing Without Planning You’re Wasting Time

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

If you start writing before you know how your novel ends you are wasting time.

Unless you know the ending, once you arrive you won’t have built in foreshadowing. Your characters will have unrealistic inconsistencies. Scenes will make the wrong points. Your theme won’t be emphasized.

You’ll have to go back and rewrite the whole thing to have any hope of making it right.

“Writing is re-writing!” you shout with glee.

And I say, that’s ridiculous.

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/770264 by Shuné Pottier http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Shune]
… more … “If You’re Pantsing Without Planning You’re Wasting Time”

Descriptions, Synopses, and Carnivorous Subterranean Aliens

Posted on by Joel D Canfield
Cheryl Campbell

Cheryl Campbell

Continuing our conversation with author Cheryl Campbell

On Fri, Jul 26, 2013 at 3:43 PM, Cheryl Campbell <ccampbell.me@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Joel,

After doing much digging and reading other book descriptions, and working to shift the synopsis to be more around the concept, here’s what I have come up with….Short description:

Two families find their lives in quiet, rural Maine turned upside down when they discover a deadly world hidden beneath Burnt Mountain.

Longer description for back cover of book:

The savage world lurking beneath a mountain in rural Maine is home to the Tuars, a race of carnivorous, battle hungry creatures determined to wipe out their enemy clan. Led by Ilnin, the Tuars actively seek out their enemies and hunt anything or anyone they can for food. The world also becomes home to humans unfortunate enough to discover the new world. Staying to explore the fascinating yet deadly realm may mean acquiring special abilities, but these come with a price of struggling to stay alive.

When thirteen year old Rio finds herself trapped in the world, but learns she has a gift to control the elements, she must work together with her friends and mother to escape the Tuars and the world threatening to keep them there permanently.

Let me know what you think.

… more … “Descriptions, Synopses, and Carnivorous Subterranean Aliens”

Newbies: All Good Questions Do Fine

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

I tell every writer I meet they can ask me all the questions they want. A handful ask a couple questions, and I always learn something new from the answers I have to come up with.

Cheryl Campbell
Cheryl Campbell

Once in a while I meet someone with the childlike sponge of curiosity, and it makes my day. Er, week. Perhaps month, depending on how long Cheryl Campbell keeps coming up with these questions.

Cheryl introduced herself on Linked In a few weeks ago, and we’ve chatted so often that I have over 10,000 words of Q&A stored up. And the questions are so universal to neophytes in modern publishing that I’ll be spending all week sharing her questions and my answers with you. And in an uncharacteristic twist, rather than burning hours reformatting everything, I’m going to just paste the emails in her, raw and essentially unedited.
… more … “Newbies: All Good Questions Do Fine”

Building the Writing Habit

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

image http://www.sxc.hu/photo/962000 by vassiliki koutsothanasi http://vassilikimytara.wix.com/graphic-designerBoth Tchaikovsky and Somerset Maugham are credited with saying “I write when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, it strikes every morning at 9:00 when I sit down at my desk.”

There’s an excellent book by Dr. Richard Wiseman, The As If Principle. Research shows that when we behave as if we believe something, we begin to believe it. When we behave as if we have a quality, we develop it.

Set a schedule you can keep, and keep it. It’s the single strongest way to build the writing habit.

Now, what most people do is go off and plan to write 3 hours a day, 7 days a week. That lasts about 4 minutes.
… more … “Building the Writing Habit”

Is “That Begs the Question” the Exception That Proves the Rule?

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

dictionary image http://www.sxc.hu/photo/141757 by Chris Eyles http://www.sxc.hu/profile/mistereelsLanguage purists like to correct others’ minor mistakes. Their motive is to make themselves feel smarter by making you feel dumb. I know this because I used to be one of them. When I changed my metric from “smart” to “generous” this approach lost its appeal. … more … “Is “That Begs the Question” the Exception That Proves the Rule?”

But I Don’t WANT to Blog!

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Most writers dislike marketing. They dislike anything that takes them away from their writing, but marketing is toward the bottom of the list.

I don't want to blog!

I don’t want to turn into a plaid polyester-wearing used car salesman! I just want to write! Besides, I have a blog, and it just lays there, doing nothing. How will anyone find it? What difference will it make, anyway?”

I’m a writer who came at this from the world of marketing (the subject of most of my books) so I have a different perspective.

… more … “But I Don’t WANT to Blog!”