Kim – “I have to promise to myself to not let this make me crazy. I have to remember me and clean my closet and crochet and be kind to me….”
Tamara – “We get back to balance.”
#KimandTamara #Mindmorsels
On writing– Kim and Tamara
Kim – “I have to promise to myself to not let this make me crazy. I have to remember me and clean my closet and crochet and be kind to me….” Tamara – “We get back to balance.” #KimandTamara #Mindmorsels
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Mind Morsels January 1, 2019
Kim: Yeah, and I’m always so whatever about starting the year maybe this is a sign to let it go. Tamara: Yeah, I think for us it is a time to regroup and look at what we have accomplished, and to look at things to do differently (not resolutions) but some goal-oriented things. #KimandTamara #MindMorsels A digression--Hamlet, as it might have been seen by a theatre patron of Elizabethan London1/23/2014 I am taking a course at Future Learn on Shakespeare's Hamlet. As part of the course I am posting a the creative writing assignment--a fictional blog entry as if I had just seen a production of Hamlet starring Richard Burbage in Elizabethan London.
What a show I was privileged to see last evening! Though you might have heard that William Shakepeare's Hamlet was just a redux of Kyd's production, I encourage everyone to seek out this new version. Shakespeare has tapped new ground in the portrayal of this classic story and he does not disappoint. The same man who brought you Julius Caesar just a few years ago has turned his hand to tragedy once more after a couple of comedies. While Julius Caesar portrayed a tragedy of what happens to a man of ambition and follows Brutus through a good man doing an unspeakable act for love of his country, this new play covers territory which delves into what affects revenge has on his soul. And yet it is not merely a story of revenge as you may remember from Kyd's Spanish Tragedie or indeed Kyd's Hamlet, which was an oh so paler version. The playwright has captured the nuances of the Danish Prince as none other could. Melancholy, and tortured, Hamlet is not nearly as focused on taking action as you may have seen in Kyd's play. Burbage's typical and wonderful acting style, takes on the Princely role as if it was made for him. I suffered as he suffered, grieving over the loss of his father and his mother's betrayal when she married his Uncle Claudius. Burbage left me wondering whether he himself has skirted the edges of madness, so great is his immersion into the role. I encourage you to take in the play at your earliest opportunity and answer the question for yourself whether Prince Hamlet is indeed mad, or if he is merely faking it in order to exact his revenge. As I said, Kyd's play has nothing on this one. Though Shakespeare keeps the essence of the story, he plummets the depths of character, exploring the varied of lunacy from the poor Ophelia, how tragic, even now she brings tears to my eyes, to the title character's struggle with the great questions of life. Don't delay, schedule your visit to The Globe. If you do get a chance to see it, please post back here and let me know what you thought. As a writer, what tools do I need? Whether you choose to use a computer, tablet, laptop, pad and pen, or chisel and stone, that's up to you. At some point you will need to get it into a word processing format. The top choice for most publishing houses is still MS Word.
No matter what your opinion of Microsoft, getting your manuscript into a compatible version is a priority. Read the submission guidelines of your chosen publisher or agent carefully. Most times they will require you to put it into a doc format or docx or rtf. Make sure you check things carefully once it is in the proper format. Depending on what you started in, you may have funky things creep into your manuscript in the new format. But my editor will take care of it. Yes, they might, but if you are a professional and want to be taken seriously in this chosen field, learn the tool of your craft. Believe me it will make your work easier in the long run. Some hints when typing your manuscript into a word processor to make your life and the life of your publisher a bit easier:
These simple things you can do will help polish your manuscript and perhaps get your beloved manuscript in the door of a publisher. Questions or comments, I'd love to hear from you. Happy Writing! I'm pleased to announce I'm accepting submissions for a new anthology through Wicked Ink Press (Keith Publications) for romance stories based on the theme of the Persephone myth. Email me at [email protected] if you have any questions, but submissions should be emailed to [email protected]
Sometimes writing is a lonely venture. You and your characters are locked in a room, and you have a desire to ask someone for advice. There are lots of writing guidelines—notice I did not say rules. They sometimes get confusing. Now you have some place to ask your questions in my upcoming: Ask the Editor Blog Feature- Send me your burning questions! Beginning in February, I will be starting a regular feature on my blog where I will answer writer's questions. Whether you have questions regarding grammar, plot, characterization, genre or any other element in writing, please submit them to me at [email protected] or in the comments below. I will feature one question each Monday as long as the questions keep coming. Those questions that will serve to help other writers will be more likely selected as opposed to questions geared toward a particular writer or work. However, if the question that pertains to your work will assist other writers, it will be considered as well. And yes, feel free to ask more than one question, though I can't promise all of them will be selected. I look forward to hearing from you. Now for something a little different for me. I rarely talk about my own project on this blog, but this is an opportunity for you to learn a little about my current WIP.
I'm taking part in The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. I was chosen by the incomparable Kim Carmichael to participate. You will find her link below as well as the link to the person who has chosen to take part on 12/19. If you comment you get a chance to win a ten page substantive edit of your project. If I receive 10 or more comments I will give away two ten page substantive edits!! Comment away folks. What is the working title of your book? Weeping Women Springs Where did the idea come from for the book? I had this idea back in college and it took me about 25 years to get it on paper. What genre does your book fall under? Historical speculative Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie? Julianne Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer as the leads. What is a one sentence synopsis of your book? Against the backdrop of World War II, a small Arizona town faces the tragedy of losing all their young men, and the women must find a way to regain hope. Will your book be self published or represented by an agency/publisher? Publisher How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Thirty days 2008 Nano project. It's still in the revision process with a goal to complete in the coming year. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Lynn Austin's A Woman's Place: A Novel Who or What inspired you to write this book? I had this image of a town that had chosen to isolate itself from everyone like in Brigadoon. Why would they do that and what would happen to the townspeople? Weeping Women Springs is that story. What else about your book might interest the reader? If you want to experience loss and renewal, this book is for you. Kim Carmichael's blog: http://kimcarmichaelnovels.com/2012/12/02/next-big-thing-blog-hop/ Look for Dana Griffin's Next Big Thing Blog post on 12/19 http://www.dana-griffin.com/ After Nano, most people are so relieved to be finished with the month of November, they aren't quite ready to face the rest of the work. That's OKAY. Currently I’m in transition. Summer means travel time for many people and us, too. We escape north to avoid the intense summer of Nevada. When I'm on a road trip these days, the destination is my main goal.
With movement on my horizon and after talking with a couple of writers this week about necessary scenes in stories, it naturally led me to a meditation on movement in writing. Movement propels the story forward. Anything that isn’t directly moving your story ahead may mean you are bogged down in unnecessary details. When I'm on a road trip and get side tracked due to construction or detours, it isn't moving me forward on my journey. Many beginning writers focus on showing us every detail and making each character connect to the story. However, effective storytelling doesn’t need these details. As a reader I skip this kind of writing. As an editor, I caution writers against it. On my road trip I have a destination in mind and want to get to the next important stop. The following fictional example of letter writing illustrates this point: I write a letter/email to a friend and say I went to dinner with John. My letter reading friend can assume I called John, decided where to meet, when to meet, who was driving, what we ordered, what the waiter said, and all these details without me spelling them out in my letter. I can then skip to the relevant information of the dinner in which John told me he planned to divorce his wife. In the above example if I stopped and spent two pages telling how we got to dinner, something important should happen along the way to move the story forward. Perhaps I used those two pages to show John’s reluctance to talk and added tension before the big reveal. That could work. If I didn’t do that and just gave the details, the two pages can be cut. Each scene in your story should add to either plot or characterization. Cut the chatter. You want to make your story realistic, but that does not mean real. If you are showing character or plot elements which might not be readily apparent, but is needed background for the story’s progression down the road, keep the scene. Readers can be patient if they see little pay-offs along the way. I am patient on my road trip if we stop for a purpose-especially if it's entertaining. A note to pantsters: Because you didn’t plot more than a couple scenes ahead, you sometimes use filler chat as your characters tell you what happens. That is fine for your first draft, but be sure you go back and cut it in revision. Some questions to ask: What is the objective of this scene, conversation or description? What’s the important part? Is there anything that can be cut to make it more relevant? Is this scene important to move my plot and characters forward? |
Tamara Eaton
is an author and editor. Her former career as an English teacher assists her to help others through editing services. She's available for workshops. See her Editing Services Page for details. Be sure to get updates by clicking the RSS feed below for continuing writing tips. Archives
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