Book Spine Poetry

Travis Jonker at 100 Scope Notes/School Library Journal is hosting a book spine poetry gallery in honor of National Poetry Month. Check out Ruth McNally Barshaw’s book spine poem.

Here’s mine:

Snow by Orhan Pamuk (Vintage Books: a division of Random House, 2003) 
Woe is I by Patricia T. O’Conner (Riverhead Books: a division of Penguin Putnam Inc., 1996) 
The Picnic Gourmet by Joan Hemingway and Connie Maricich (Random House, 1977)

Mystery Photo

What is it? 
Please leave your answers in the comments section.
The correct answer will be posted on Saturday, April 6, 2013.

This is an unusual subject, and I debated whether to use it as a mystery photo. It seems, however, that most people who enter my contests don’t care what the answer is. They want to make a silly guess and receive their virtual award. 

Happy April Fools' Day!

Sunday

The ice is gone, and the spring flowers haven't sprouted yet. Here are pods and vines.

I experimented with depth of field in an attempt to achieve those nice blurry backgrounds and yet have most of the vine in focus.

Filing Card Outline

My critiques at the Vermont College of Fine Arts workshop suggested that my novel needs some major changes. To investigate the possible solutions, I made a filing card outline. I used one 3x5 card for each scene. Across the top of each card, I wrote a sentence or phrase describing the scene. At the bottom right-hand corner I noted the chapter number and assigned a scene number. 

To study my novel, I lay the cards out in columns by chapter. Our kitchen table is big enough to hold eleven chapters (approximately 1/3 of the novel) which is a reasonable amount to study at one time. The cards allow me to see what will happen if I move scenes around. I also added colored post-it notes. The yellow ones relate to problems that I noticed while making the outline. The blue ones suggest modifications that will be necessary if I leave the scenes in their original order, but change a major premise in the plot. 

Novels, especially in early drafts, are long, unwieldy things. The cards let me subdivide the problem and compare possible solutions.

Overheard #246

"The easiest thing for me to do is nothing."

More Spring Ice

I posted the same ice formation taken from a different angle yesterday.

Spring Ice

Spring in Michigan means lots of freeze-thaw cycles and interesting ice formations over the river.

bubbles

zombie hand

 

Specific Compliments

Vicky Lorencen does a fantastic job of explaining the importance of positive comments in critiques. This post continues with that theme. In the critiquing guide for this workshop, we were asked to name three positive things about each manuscript and to be as specific as possible. Consider the following: 

“You rock on voice.” 

“You do a great job of expressing Southern dialect.” 

“Your use of colloquial expressions and the rhythm of the speech let me know that the novel is placed in the South. For example, on page five, when you wrote ‘He’s as handy as a button on a shirt,’ I was immediately transported to Texas.” 

Since this imaginary writer is trying to recreate the world of a Southern teen living in the fifties, the third comment is the only one that will help her. 

The use of specific compliments is something I can practice before next month’s critique group. Instead of saying, “What a pretty sweater,” I could tell a friend, “The turquoise in your sweater brings out the blue in your eyes.”  

The key is to say what works and why.

Warning: Puns Ahead

 

Something fishy this way strums.

The picture of the "bass guitar" came from Jeremy's WRA 130 paper. The caption is attributed to my husband.

My friend, Neal Levin, said, "I guess you really can tune a fish."

Overheard #245

"It’s worth more than a gold monkey."

Busy Week

I will blog about the Vermont Writing Workshop, but until I find the time and words, please check out Vicky Lorencen's post at Frog on a Dime.

Novel Writing Retreat

On Friday, I’m off to Vermont for the 2013 Novel-Writing Retreat for Middle Grade and Young Adult Novels. 

My homework is done. Each participant in the critique track received twenty pages from three other writers and a critique guide that I found quite helpful. I also read one novel by each of the published conference organizers and three novels edited by Andrea Tompa, the guest editor. 

I'll post a meeting report when I get back.  

Little Assignments

A couple weeks ago, I finished the rough draft of my current novel. (It’s very rough and very drafty.) This novel was difficult to write, and I wanted to push on to the end, so when I came to something that needed more research, a thread that needed to be tied in someplace else, or a scene that lacked appropriate descriptions, I made a margin note with the editor function in Microsoft Word and kept going. 

Every rough draft needs to be improved, but setting out to “make the novel better” is a non-specific and often gargantuan task. Before I jumped into the second draft, I started addressing these little margin notes, working from the last chapter forward. Some are easily remedied while others have required many hours of research. So far, I’ve added about 2500 words. Next, I analyze structure.

Overheard #244

"It saves wear and tear on the brain."

Sunday

Today was a good day for ice. And the sun was shining! The light has to be bright and at just the right angle to get that "Crystal Blue Persuasion" effect.

Overheard #243

"If February doesn't wear you down a little bit, you're not doing it right."

Another Award

I have one more award for the Papaya of My Eye Mystery Photo contest.

Old Brick

In August, I blogged (link, link) about the methods anthropologists use to determine the age of ancient ceramics.  

Here is an article about a brick from Roman times that turned up at Fort Vancouver. The brick may have been part of a cobblestone street or Roman ruin in Great Britain. Historians speculate that during Colonial times, the brick was recycled for use as ballast in an English ship that traveled to British Columbia. The brick is adorned with the paw prints of an ancient Roman cat that stepped in the wet clay about 2000 years ago.

Full Moon

Clouds dancing in front of the moon.

I didn't use special night settings on my camera, although I did modify the exposure to maximum brightness. Of course, I used a tripod. I haven't been able to replicate the effect I achieved with my old point-and-shoot camera.

Papaya of My Eye

As I'm sure everyone guessed, the Mystery Photo was papaya seeds.
















Awards:

I made the awards in PowerPoint which doesn't transfer well to blogger, so the writing is blurry.

Overheard #242

"All chords sound happy on the ukulele."

Mystery Photo

What is it?

The answer will be posted on Saturday (2/23/13).

Once again, there are no prizes. 

Last time I gave awards to the most creative answers.
They were all creative answers.

I never know if these are hard or easy. When I ask someone in my family if he can identify the photograph I’m planning to post, he usually reminds me that he watched me take the picture.

Sunday

I don't know how this chunk of ice got stuck on that branch, but he seems to be admiring his reflection.

(You can click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Overheard #241

"On top of that, you have to be perfect, and you have to be lucky."

Writing Advice

Yesterday I received this assignment for a writing workshop I will attend in March: 

“Please be prepared to introduce yourself by sharing the best piece of writing advice you have ever received. This advice should be presented "Pinterest" style--as a tag line....or epithet!” 

I was thinking of using, “Do whatever it takes to get the first draft down, then fix it.” Although, if I found a better, pithier, or more profound nugget of wisdom, I’d jump on it.  

My husband suggested, “Express yourself.” 

Jeremy said at his summer program at Berklee, they told him, “Write every day.” 

Help me out here. What is the best writing advice you have ever received?

Sunday

wilted tulips

Overheard #240

"I don’t think heavenly choirs do much with the lower register."

Sunday

I liked my daffs so much, I bought tulips.

Plus, we had a sunny day.

Later, the sky clouded over and the tulips opened.

A Fine Line

While most writers use exclamation points judiciously, many people apply them liberally to sentence endings.This punctuation mark confers various meanings, and the difference between a period and an exclamation point may be a fine line. 

A few weeks ago, I emailed the admissions department at The Berklee College of Music to inquire about an error on Jeremy’s application status page. His application fee had been marked both as paid and outstanding. I received a courteous reply acknowledging the receipt of the application fee. The email ended with, “Jeremy should be receiving a decision on January 31st!” 

I thought hard about that final exclamation point. Was it a mark of random enthusiasm, or was it a hint to reassure an overanxious mother? I decided it was the latter, but told no one. It would sound crazy. I’d be accused of overthinking arbitrary punctuation. 

It turns out, I was right, and I thank the kind administrator who nourished my little kernel of hope through the month of January.

Overheard #239

"They’ve figured out that there are a finite number of knots in free space."