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Thank You, Teachers

Thank You, Teachers!
Photo Credit: Stock.Xchng

Last week was “Teacher Appreciation Week” and it got me thinking about that small group of teachers that I can point to and say, “I will never forget you.”

There was Mr. Rattenni, my 8th grade Industrial Arts teacher who made sure that in his class, at least, the bullies would leave me be. (Best nine weeks of my 8th grade year!)

There were two wonderful Math teachers, Mrs. Gould (7th grade) and Mr. Ortiz (11th grade) who took the time to make sure that, even though I sucked at Math, I could still do it and it could be fun. Mr. Ortiz, especially, put up with my random, one-sentence answers on his Trigonometry tests.

Then there were the English teachers:

  • Mr. Ellis (9th grade)
  • Mr. Blue (10th grade)
  • Dr. Lepschy (College Argument & Persuasion and Technical Writing)

These three teachers have a special place in my memory because they did their best to teach me to write well.

Mr. Ellis and Mr. Blue took my budding desire to write and fertilized it, encouraging it to grow until I had enough confidence in myself to keep putting pen to paper, even if I still didn’t have the confidence to ever show it to anyone.

Then I took two classes with Dr. Lepschy.

In those two semesters, he beat the lazy out of my writing and taught me how to actually work to make my writing, whether it was a story, essay or instruction manual, something worth my readers reading.

He pulled no punches in his class. If you weren’t giving it your all, you knew it. I believe one of his comments on an early draft of mine actually was “Your readers’ time is valuable and this is wasting it. They deserve better!”

On the flip side though, when he complimented you, you knew with 100% certainty that you’d earned it. He’s still the mental guide by which I judge my writing. “Would I dare turn this draft in to Dr. Lepschy?” If the answer is a “no” or “I’m not sure” the draft gets rewritten.

I went into those two semesters with Dr. Lepschy with training wheels on my writing bike and came out riding a Vespa at least. I also left those classes with the tools to eventually work my way up to the writing equivalent of a Harley.

While I appreciate all of my teachers, I have to especially thank Mr. Ellis, Mr. Blue and Dr. Lepschy.

I hope that wherever the three of you are teaching now, you’re inspiring a whole new generation of writers!

I know it’s a week late, but did you have any teachers in your school-days that you can point to and say “You inspired me to do –!”? Feel free to leave those memories in the comments!

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Writing and More Writing

3 Notebooks and a Pen
My first drafts are done old school – Pen and paper!
Photo Credit: Karen Bristow

You can’t tell from the dust and cobwebs around here, but I’ve been doing a lot of writing lately. It’s been spread out across different sites, styles and media, but it’s out there.

For example –

I write blog posts, how-to guides and website content for a web design and hosting company.

My sister and I are now collaborating on a novel (we’re in the planning stage at this moment) and I’m also halfway through the first draft of a children’s novel.

I recently launched a fitness blog.

And I’ve been acting as website and social media manager for a local high school band fund-raising site.

It’s been a bit of a struggle, learning how to juggle all of that writing, but I’ve discovered something pretty dang important. I finally know what I want to be when I grow up: a writer.

So I’ve been embracing the struggle and writing as much as I can, as often as I can. I’m learning what works (and doesn’t work) for me as far as writing routines, posting schedules, deadlines, etc.

For instance, I’ve found that the instruction/how-to guides I write for ComputerGeeks2Go get published every other week because they take me a few days to:

  • research
  • collect screen shots
  • write down and run through the “steps” (sometimes more than once)
  • write and revise until the article is clear and readable

My work for Leon2London, while time-intensive at times, is done more on the fly, and by it’s nature, usually has a same-day (sometimes, same-hour) turnaround time.

Now I’m adding my fitness blog and novels to the writing mix and I want to blow the cobwebs off this baby too. The more I write, the better (and faster) I get and the closer I get to my goal of doing this full time!

So, if you’ve been looking for me, I’m out there. And I’ll be here more too, sharing my successes, failures and strangeness of brain.

See you around! 

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Outline This!

I have K.M Weiland and her book, “Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success,” to thank for my new found love of outlining, brainstorming and plotting in general.

I bought the digital version of this book a few months ago, after suddenly taking an interest in plotting, and finally cracked it open while on vacation over the holidays. In it, Ms. Weiland covers not only the benefits of her outlining process, such as preventing dead-end ideas, but also:

  • Different brainstorming and outlining methods
  • Developing your story’s premise
  • Developing your setting, characters, and conflict
  • How to develop and use backstory
  • Extended outlining
  • Reverse outlining
  • How to turn all of that into a story road-map

At the end of every chapter she includes interviews with established authors such as Larry Brooks, Jody Hedlund, and Dan L. Hays. In these interviews, the authors share their own methods for outlining and story preparation as well as the their thoughts on “pantsing” and when each technique comes in handy.

What I liked the most about the book was the fact that Ms. Weiland includes a tremendous amount of examples from her own work. This way you can see her process in action. Since I’m a “Learn by Example” sort of student (show me how to do something once or twice and I’ve got it down), her examples were probably the most helpful out of anything else in the book.

After reading only a few chapters, I opened up a brand new notebook, dusted off my work in progress, and started trying out the techniques taught in the book. Within a short period of time, I busted open another notebook because I’d filled up the first.

I finally solidified my premise, grasped the concept of “Character Arc” (my main character now has one) and created a villain that has more at stake than just “I want what the protagonist has because he has it and I don’t!” I also have a Theme! Something I’d never concerned myself with before.

Now that I’ve read through my digital copy of “Outlining Your Novel” a few times and filled my kindle with bookmarks, I plan on buying the hard copy to plant on my desk as well.

Feel free to share your favorite writing books below. I’m always looking for new books to add to my ever-growing library!

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Not a-Mused Anymore

My Muse can bite me.

If she wants to run off and join the Muse circus instead of sit down and write, I’m OK with that now. I can put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard just fine without her.

The writing I do when she runs off and leaves me on my own may not be my best prose. And I may have to bludgeon every word and nail it to the sentence before it regains consciousness and runs away.

But I don’t need her fickle inspiration any more.

Don’t get me wrong. I love it when she grabs my hand and yanks me down some barely perceptible rabbit trail in my imagination. I’ve found all sorts of beautiful, dark or just completely whacked out, mental gardens under her (mis)guidance.

But I’ve also found that sort of inspiration on my own by taking a machete to the weeds of my mind and hacking my own path to those enchanted forests of ideas. It just takes a little longer and I tend to leave a pile of kindling and uprooted trees behind me.

I admit that writing tends to go a little faster, smoother, when she’s around. I seem to know exactly what to say and how to say it. But now when she takes off for parts unknown, leaving my word-well high and dry, I pull out her clunky cousins; Dictionary and Thesaurus.

Between the three of us, we can usually find a suitable turn of phrase. And if we can’t, I step away for a few minutes and sharpen my mental machete on some logic problems. When I return to the work-in-progress, the Muse is either back or I’m capable of plodding along well enough on my own.

Though I’ll always welcome my Muse on my creative adventures, she’s no longer in charge of the journey. We’re sharing the reins now.

So get on the horse, honey, or get out of the way. There’s writing to be done.

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Highlights

I read a lot. I can easily read two novels a day. Books are almost an addiction. If I didn’t have a family, I’d probably skip two meals a day and spend my grocery money on books.

Because I run through books like my two teenagers run through the week’s groceries, I’m always on the lookout for new authors to read. And thanks to Twitter, my reading appetite has a constant source of nourishment.

When I finally decided to check out the social media time-suck of Twitter, I started off by following my favorite authors. Then I checked out the authors they followed (or who followed them). I’ve found so many new authors to read, my Kindle and my bank account are considering an intervention.

I told both of them to chill. That all of the books I buy are research (ahem) so I can share my finds with all of my reader friends.

So today, I’m highlighting five of the Urban Fantasy (UF) and Paranormal Romance (PnR) authors I’ve found thanks to Twitter. Click on the author’s names to check out their websites and find out more about their books! (And if you could, tell my Kindle I shared so it doesn’t go on strike?)

  1. Mandy M. Roth and Michelle Pillow: I’m highlighting Ms. Roth and Ms. Pillow together because they are also the creative force behind The Raven Books, an independent publisher. You can find their titles (and others) by going through the Raven’s website, their own websites, and of course through Amazon.com. Their stories have elements of fantasy, science fiction, history and even suspense. “Immortal Ops” by Mandy M. Roth and “Phantom of the Night” by Michelle Pillow were the first two books by these ladies that I’ve read and I have quite a few more on my “to be read” list.
  2. I found Moira Rogers through a series of re-tweets. Happy day for me! I’m pretty sure I bought “Cry Sanctuary: Red Rock Pass” that same day. So far, this is the only one I’ve read. But the characters and story were so likable, I immediately added the rest of this series to my wish list.
  3. Allison Pang‘s debut book “A Brush of Darkness” hit the shelves earlier this year and is a fun urban fantasy. It’s got hot shape-shifters and a full cast of supernatural beings, a miniature unicorn with an unnatural affection for underwear, and bacon. Don’t tell my Kindle, but I’ve pre-ordered Ms. Pang’s second book, “A Sliver of Shadow.”
  4. Finally on today’s list of highlights is Carrie Ann Ryan, who’s debut book “An Alpha’s Path” hit Amazon at the beginning of this month. An uptight chemist and an overworked alpha werewolf are set up on a blind date. When Kade (the alpha) realizes his date is actually his mate, he has to convince her to turn off her analytical brain and listen to her heart. Ms. Ryan has at least two more books in this series in the works and both are on my wish list.

That’s just five of the authors I’ve found. I have so many more on my list. Next month I’ll share some of the mystery authors I’ve run across, so come back and check them out too.

And feel free to share some of your finds in the comments below!