A
Step in the Write
Direction
February
17, 2013
Update:
A happy birthday to our oldest child, our son, today. Hard to believe he’s
already 52. Where do the years go?...Had a good time Friday teaching a 3-hour
editing workshop to a nearby writing group in Ft. Hills, Arizona, then chatting
with them at lunch afterwards….Something I’ve decided: I never will get caught
up on my work. Right now I have a 336-page novel to edit, a 144-page book to
proofread (by tomorrow) and 7 devotionals to write by March 1. But I’m thankful
for the work (and also thankful for 3 birthday parties this last month to force
me to clean the house!)…Write me at dgood648@aol.com for a list of tax deductions for
writers, and also if you’d like a copy of 100-Plus Motivational Moments for Writers
and Speakers, a book of devotionals written by writers, with room for you to
write your thoughts at the end of each. Regular price $9.95, but I bought out
the inventory from the publisher and am selling them for $5, plus $3 s&h. An
inspirational book to have in your library or to give as a
gift.
Thought
for the Day:
“I
do not know the nature of your regret, and you do not know mine, but I do know
that there is no burden too heavy for God, no ego too grand for God, no trough
of regret too low for God. I do know that there is absolutely nothing about you
or about me that is beyond God’s capacity to redeem” (Joanna
M. Adams, “Clean Up Your Act,”
Journal for Preachers, Advent, 2013, 32).
Laugh
for the Day:
A teen-aged boy drove his rattletrap car up to a toll booth on a highway. The
toll collector said, “75 cents.” “Sold!” the boy said. (Jokes—Hours and Hours of Great Laughs,
Compiled by Michael J. Pellowski, New York: Playmore, Inc. Publishers, p.
158).
Song
for the Day:
My
Jesus, as Thou wilt. All shall be well for me;
Each
changing, future scene I gladly trust leave with Thee.
Straight
to my home above, I travel calmly on,
And
sing in life or death, “My Lord, Thy will be done.”
(“My Jesus, as Thou Wilt, Benjamin
Schmolck)
Writer’s
Tips (Show, Don’t Tell):
* Which is better? "The giant looked around the room. When he
saw the boy, he got angry
and bellowed a
threat to eat him." Or, "Fee, fi, fo,
fum. I smell the blood of
an
Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I'll grind his
bones to make my bread."
(“The
Fiction-Writer's Polish Kit, Judith Ross Enderle & Stephanie Gordon Tessler.
Writer's Digest, May 1986, pp.
29-30.)
* Don't just say a person is fat. Show it! Show her out of breath while
climbing steps, her face red, sweating, a button popped off her dress, or a rip
under the sleeve.
* “The first time she met her
mother-in-law, Jemma couldn’t believe her hair and the outfit she wore. But
after she grew to know her, these things didn’t matter” (dg), or:
“When she first
met her mother-in-law, Jemma had blinked in surprise at the older woman’s
reddish, flyaway hair and her eccentric costume—zebra-striped Spandex pants with
a black gauze peasant blouse, right out of the seventies. But Jemma soon learned
that Claire’s heart was as lavish and generous as her flamboyant clothing.”
(“Get to Know Your Characters,” by Gail Gaymer Martin, The Christian
Communicator, September 2001, p. 17.)
* My grandmother was a spunky woman.
(Show us.)
* "He was a bushy-haired, massive man.
What color hair? How massive? What did he weigh? Did he tower over someone? How
tall? (To my husband who is only four foot ten, “tall” could be five feet six
inches. Paint a picture your reader
can see in his/her mind.
* Don't just say a character is
beautiful. That’s your
opinion! Describe her so
thoroughly that the reader will say, “She must be
beautiful.”
* Same with, “It was a beautiful day.”
This means different things to different people. What does a beautiful day mean
to you? To my friend Kathy, a boat ride to the Isle of Skye with the wind and
rain in our faces was “beautiful.”
Or, “The meal was scrumptious.” It’s
okay if this is in dialogue; otherwise, it’s just your opinion.
* “When Ashley got home from school she
told her mother that her friends were shunning her.” How? Use some dialogue with her mother. Give an
example. Does she pass them in the hallway and say “hi” and they don’t answer?
Do they whisper behind her back? Do they not invite her to any of their
activities? Do they not save a place for her in the cafeteria?
(More next
week.)
Have a good week spreading
the
gospel
through the printed page.
Donna
Clark Goodrich
dgood648@aol.com
www.thewritersfriend.net
http://donna-goodrich.blogspot.com
"A Step in the Write Direction--the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers"
"The
Freedom of Letting Go"
"Healing
in God's Time"
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