I've moved

Hello, would you please join me at shirley-mclain.net. I have been terrible at keeping my Blog going on Blogger but I have stayed active on wordpress. I am posting short stories, a my most current YA fiction called Sally's Warning (Name will be changed.) I look forward to seeing you at my site.

Thank You
Shirley

Twittering Away: Why do we do it?

'm just a bit messed up on my blogging but that's ok.  I'm not exactly a straight as a string  kind of gal. My actions just go with my flow at the time.  My blogging was intended for three times a week but there's nothing to say I can't add extra's.  Consider today an extra. That being said let me get on with what I want to blog about.

Today, Twitter is on my mind.  You want to know why? Whether you do or don't I'm about to tell you.  I joined and became active on Twitter last week.  Since I am an author and everything I read states I should be using Twitter and others to build my platform.  I have spent the past week getting close to 1000 people to follow me and will be doing more. Those 1000 people are doing the exact same thing I am.  They're trying to sell, whether it is a book, or some kind of other product.

I really can't figure out why I'm doing it.  It's not like the majority of these people really want to get to know the real me and I have found some really scary individuals that I don't want to know and refuse to follow.  I spend the majority of my time going through my email and following whom ever replied to my  tweet or their letting me know I've followed and are thanking me for doing so.  That is really the extent of our contact.

How is this helping me sell my books? I have to admit I have seen  some interesting titles and covers flashed before my eyes.  At  some point in time, if I remember them, I might purchase and read some of them.  The key word in that sentence is remember.  There are so many books and titles my brain is scrambled (more than usual.)

So why do we do it? As for me it is because someone said it was the thing to do.  Weather it is or isn't, I really don't know.  What I do know is it keeps me busy.

A simile and Metaphore

We use them all the time, but the majority of the time we do not put names to them. They seem

to come automatically when we are writing. A simile is defined as a figure of speeh where two unlike things are compared. Usually started with words like, or as. Exp.: She’s unraveling like a ball of yarn

A metaphor is something spoken or written which shows how the object or person resembles something else. “She is such a party pooper.” “It’s raining cats and dogs.”

To help with a simpler understanding since they are so close: A metaphor is an eququation, where a simile is an approximation. If it makes good sense it is probably a metaphor.

In writing we are suppose to use non-common semiles and metaphores. We want our descriptions to be vivid and pull out the readers imagination. Discriptions have the power to open up the world of your book or close the cover.

“”Metaphores feel more powerful, but similes are a far suppler instrument. You can do anything with them–stick them in dialogue, give them to a first person narrator, embed them in news headlines or gossip. Metaphors lend themselves to a heavier narritive style which may or may not work for your story, depending on its tone. (Writing Fiction by Gotham Writers Workshop)”

Today’s video is similes and Metaphores in Pop Culture, Enjoy

http://youtu.be/EQL-wEe03hc

What's The Word?

Do you know what the word is?  I certainly don’t know myself all the time.  The word is one little part of a whole that we writers put down on paper or screen to say what we want said.  Do we always use the right words?  I don’t because I don’t know them all.

We all search for the right words to use in our writing.  That one word that will add strength to what we are saying.  I was told that the dictionary or thesaurus, could be my best friend.  The English language as drawn words from other languages such as Latin, French, Spanish and Asian and more.  We do have quite an assortment of words to choose from.

We use words to describe what we want to say.  So how do we pick the right one? You and I as the writer determine that word or string of words.  I was told to beware of adjectives, and adverbs because it can lead to weak writing.

She skipped lightly into the large room, swiftly looking about to spot the one thing she wanted from the large ornate desk sitting amidst the shiny mahogany furniture.
The sentence above is just a bit heavy with adjectives that is not needed.  It can be written so simply by leaving out what is not needed.  She skipped into the large room, looking on the desk for the one thing she wanted.

We didn’t need all of the words in the first sentence to make a sentence which had a clearer read.  I had more than I needed.

Nouns and verbs can make a sentence very vibrant without all of the adjectives.  Focus on the best nouns and verbs  the find the modifiers that add to these words.

“Adjectives and adverbs are helper words, what the grammarians call “Modifiers.”  They help refine the impression cast by your true building blocks, nouns and verbs.  At a writers’ conference a few years ago, a supposedly clever expression was circulating:  Are your verbs working hard enough?  Granted, the expression isn’t all that clever, but it points to a truth.  The stronger your nouns and vers are, the better they can support your carefully chosen modifiers.”

This is a video by Adora Svidak which pertains to word choices.  Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCH3ciUK_X8

What Is Your Point of View

 

 

This is my downfall in the world of writing.  Maybe I should have said, one of my downfalls.  POV or point of view, has been such a headache to me.  I have  people review my writing and they can immediately tell me the where and when I have changed POV in the story.  Poor pitiful me, I am such a failure, NOT!!!

The point of view you choose for your story will affect the way your readers respond to your characters and actions.  The tone and theme of your story is also affected by the POV.

To determine your point of view, you may ask yourself the following questions.

1.  Who will be speaking:  the narrator or the character?

2.  Whose eyes are seeing the events of the story happen?

3.  Whose thoughts do the reader have access to?

4.  From what distance are the events being viewed?

 

The first person POV is a story narrated by the character in the story.  Usually it is the main character or the protagonist.  The story is from the I point of view.  I went, I saw, I felt, so forth.  The reader gets into the story through the narrators eye’s, touch, smell, action.  You write in the voice, words and tone of your character.

An example of first person POV:  I had to find out where Sam was headed, so I hid behind the shrubs next to the house.  I thought Sam would head for his car, but he fooled me.  He took off, on foot, heading south towards the graveyard.

You may also use three other first person POV’s: (1. Multiple vision, which lets multiple narrators tell the story.  (2. Peripheral would be having another character tell the story.  (3.  The unreliable first person is a person telling the story, has all the facts, but can’t be trusted.  It might be a schizophrenic, or a compulsive liar.

I am going to be dividing POV into parts to make it a little easier to digest.  I am posting a video on writing in first person.  Content is good, but the speaker doesn’t speak well, um, you know, um.  I like it, um, but, um, you um, will have to um look over um her bad speaking um.      http://youtu.be/ydlOjhkgr74

 

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I hope everyone is wearing "the green" for today.  One of the best things about today is I get to read my Irish Blessings book.  I am going to share a couple with you, and please know I mean what they say.

PS:  The Author is unknown.....I wish it were me, but was not to be

Here's wishing you the tops O' life
Without a single tumble
Here's wishing you the smiles O' life
And not a single grumble
Here's wishing ou the best O' life
And not a flaw about it.
Here's wishing you all the joy in life
And not a day without it!


May your home be filled with laughter
May your pickets be filled with gold
And may you have all the happiness
Your Irish heart can hold


A special Irish blessing
from the heart of a friend
"May good fortune be yours,
May your joys never end."

Plotting For the Progagonist

Plotting does seem to be for your main character.  Your plot is based around what your protagonist wants.  His/her needs, dreams, obstacles, feelings, any thing that affects your protagonist can contribute to your plot.

The plot has three main parts;  The beginning, the middle and the end.  The  structure of a plot hasn't changed for a couple thousand years.  Each section of the plot has its own role in the telling of a story.

The beginning of your story has to produce three things: 1.) The reader must be in the middle of action 2.) It has to establish the background information, and 3.) establish the major dramatic question.
The major dramatic question is one which can be answered by the end of the story.

 "Does the three little pigs escape from the big bad wolf?"  "Does Harry Potter kill Valdamort?"
 "Does Sleeping Beauty wake up?".  As you can see from my examples, it is the question that will drive your story telling.

The middle section of the plot take most of the space, because it is where you expand your story.  The characters grow, and where most of the problems arise for your protagonist. The middle is also where the core action takes place and your struggles grow.

The final section is the end section.  This is the section where everything comes together. ** "The end generally follows a pattern that could be called the three C"s"--Crisis, climax and consequences.  The crisis is the point where tension hits its maximum, and the climax is where the tension breaks and where we get the answer to our major dramatic question.  Then, the consequences , are alluded to at the very end of the piece."

Enjoy the video for today from Anne Rice: Developing Plot  http://youtu.be/xJX8uX_mjwM

** Writing Fiction by Gotham Writers Workshop