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(Photo by Amanda Newton)

A Patron Saint of Writers?

     I'd never heard of a Patron Saint of Writers before, but recently I came across a story that indicated that there was such a person. St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) is considered the Patron Saint of authors and journalists. He apparently had quite a life trying to 'reach' the people and his sheer grit and resolve to get the written word into the hands of those who needed it was admirable. What a lesson for writers today. Read the whole story here if you are interested: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=51 Here is a little excerpt that sort of prodded me into never whining about rejection again:

"For three years, he trudged through the countryside, had doors slammed in his face and rocks thrown at him. In the bitter winters, his feet froze so badly they bled as he tramped through the snow. He slept in haylofts if he could, but once he slept in a tree to avoid wolves. He tied himself to a branch to keep from falling out and was so frozen the next morning he had to be cut down. And after three years, his cousin had left him alone and he had not made one convert.

Francis' unusual patience kept him working. No one would listen to him, no one would even open their door. So Francis found a way to get under the door. He wrote out his sermons, copied them by hand, and slipped them under the doors. This is the first record we have of religious tracts being used to communicate with people."

  Now that is dogged determination at its finest. So I am thinking that the next time I feel rejected because an editor has indicated that my manuscript doesn't suit, then I will think of Mr. Francis and then go slip my submission under the door of another editor.

So how did you react to your first rejection letter?

Who Should I Tell?

Sometimes when we write we love our work a little too much. I know when I first started writing I took offence when someone criticized my words or rejected a submitted manuscript. I soon realized that I would never grow as a writer unless I listened and paid attention to the responses of others - particularly those with a wealth of experience.

So who should we get to review our work? Wouldn't it be handy if our Mom or hubby or son, daughter, sister, brother would take on the role of editor. Unless any of your dear relatives are editors or fellow pursuers of the craft, they probably won't have the insight or impartiality to help make your writing better. Sure, they may have your best interest at hearts, but since you are emotionally involved, and then some, you are not likely to hear a lot of helpful criticism.

What's a writer to do then? How about finding a local writer's group and getting feedback from fellow scribes? Or join a writer's organization like The Word Guild (TWG) http://www.thewordguild.com/ or Inscribe Christian Writer's Fellowship (ICWF) http://inscribe.org/ . I am the Ontario Representative for ICWF so if you want further information about this great web based organization, let me know. They publish a great writer's newsletter/magazine for members.  TWG sponsors an incredible annual writer's conference - Write! Canada - in Guelph each year. Check out this link for further information:  http://www.writecanada.org/ . The next conference will take place June 16th-18th of this year.  

Keep an eye open for creative writing courses at local colleges, universities, through continuing education courses or online courses through reputable organizations. Because we have access via the world wide web, the possibilities are endless for getting someone to critique your work. Just a little caveat...make sure you have done your homework and checked for references or comments from past customers of potential editors or critiquers. Ask yourself if the fees include both line by line editing and overview and critique if that is what you want. Are follow-ups included? What are the qualifications of the provider? Do you feel the relationship is genuine?

Perhaps you are seeking a mentor. Some writing organizations love to set members up in a beginning writer/mentor relationships. Do some investigating but don't expect professional writers to be able to walk you through an entire book for free.

A good writer is an observer of details. Keep an eye open for notices at local libraries, art centres, and schools for information on upcoming writing events, author visits, writing contests and more. Writing magazines are available at bookstores and libraries.

Soak up any information you can get your hands (or eyes) on, plan to write. Start writing, then rewrite, then get an extra pair of eyes...

The Journey

So you wanna' be a writer, huh? There is just something deep inside your soul that presses you to put words upon a page and spill your heart.

Jesus bids you shine with a pure, clean light. Like a little candle burning in the night? You have a gift, a story and a passion.

You heed the call and press the keys. Words appear. A story emerges. If the Lord impresses upon your heart to use your creative gifts via the written word, then it shall be so. And you shall be blessed. Yet along with obedience comes responsibility.

A writer reads. A writer observes. A writer writes.

READ everything you can get your hands on. The classics; the current; history; the present; the new; the old. Read it all.

OBSERVE the details. What is it about the way she walks, talks, dresses, her voice; her passion; her faith; her action; her reaction. Observe and absorb it all.

WRITE every day. Try all forms. Journal; jottings; poetry; shorts; long. Find your niche.

There are two aspects to writing - the craft and the art. Learn the craft (the grammar; active verses passive; the dialogue)  Revel in the art - the God-given blessing. No one can take away the passion to express life via the written word. Journey on scribes...journey on... 

Ye old 'Show - Don't Tell' Fiasco [and what to do about it]

"Just the Facts, Please"

Show – Don’t tell! Every time we go to a writer's conference, we hear it. Each time someone edits our work, we see it highlighted in red. We know it's the right thing to do, but what does it really mean to show and not tell?

Telling is the act of passing along information. Just the facts ma'am.

 Almost anyone can write: Robin was mad so she hit her brother with her doll.

If we want the facts this sentence works just fine. 

It's not particularly riveting, but it works well when we just want the facts. However, when we want to capture and audience, we need to do more to spark the imagination  of the reader.

Showing speaks to the imagination.

Showing allows the reader experience a moment

Consider the following:

 Robin clenched her fists tight around her Raggedy Ann doll.

"Don't come in my room again!" she shouted. Bryan turned to leave and “whap!” Robin threw her doll and hit him square in the head. “Hey!” Bryan yelled back.

See how the reader's imagination engages. Suddenly they're involved. They can see her flying doll, they can feel it hit the back of his head and they can hear the conversation and they can read between the lines. Robin is pretty ticked off about Bryan coming into her room.

If we are unsure whether or not we are telling instead of showing, we can check for these elements:

a) Little or no dialogue. If we haven't used quotation marks in a while, it may be time to re-evaluate our technique. When is the last time our characters actually spoke?

b) Little or no movement. If our characters remain in the same space, sitting, mulling, contemplating, wondering, analyzing, remembering, etc.,

c) The journalistic questions, who said what, when, where and how, are answered - but that's it.

Examples of passive words:  is, isn't, am, are, aren't, was, wasn't, were, will, would, won't, has, had, have, be, been, do, don't, did, didn't, does, doesn't, seem, seems, exist, exists, appears, make, makes, show, shows, occur, occurs, get, got, went, put, some, many, most, that, very, extremely, totally, completely, wholly, utterly, quite, rather, slightly, fairly, somewhat, and suddenly.

These words are not wrong and many times they are needed. Make sure, however, that your writing avoids a plethora of these words. Passivity slows down the piece and often results in a snoozer of a story.

The active voice has the subject doing the action.

The dog bit Jimmy, and that would be active, but if you say Jimmy was bitten by the dog, that is passive.

- Try these:

- The road was crossed by the chicken

- Shirley was loved by John.

- The tree was chopped down by Mark

- The Police were called by the woman who was in the accident.

- Telling can be useful, in some kinds of writing. Scientific writing often employs a more passive style. 

Showing is vital to an effective story, essay, or blog post. Showing allows the reader to follow the author into the moment, to see and feel and experience what the author has experienced.

It takes a bit of practice but having the proper balance of showing and telling will make a story or article more interesting and effective.

Tips to Make Us Think

1. Use dialogue

Dialogue allows the reader to experience a scene as if they were there.

Instead of telling the reader your mom was angry, they can hear it for themselves:

“William James,” mom bellowed, “Get in here this instant!”

Dialogue can show a reader a plenty about a character, the emotion and the mood.

2. Use sensory language

     The five senses, seeing, hearing, touoching, smelling, tasting, should all be incorporated somehow. A good way to see if your story or article has the right balance of senses is to take five different colours and mark off what sense is elicited within each sentences. At the end of the exercise, if there is too much of one and not enough of another, maybe you should consider incorporating a different sense a little more often.

3. Be descriptive

Teachers, when we were in elementary school, pounded the parts of speech into us and we were instructed to use plenty of adjectives and adverbs in our work. As a writer, now it is our challenge to say the same thing but without the ly at the end of a word. Carefully choose the correct active words to replace adjectives and adverbs. Here is an example:

Telling: She sits quietly on the couch holding her guitar. She is upset.

There’s nothing wrong with that sentence. It gives the reader some basic information, but it doesn’t create an image. Compare that sentence with this:

Showing: Tears streaming down her face, she sits on the creamy, leather couch, cradling the guitar like a baby. The only sound is her the steady rhythm of her heartbeat.

The second example takes that basic information and paints a picture with it. It also uses figurative language to help create an image.

 

When using description, we should not overdo it. We don't want to present our characters as a list.

Here is an annoying list of facts. Not wrong...but annoying:

He was tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a red shirt and jeans, and a brown leather jacket.

Try incorporating these facts in your story somehow. Have someone look up to him therefore implying tall

Maybe somewhere along the line someone could be admiring his hair – could it be the colour of dark chocolate?

Clothing descriptions could be said something like this as you introduce him: His red plaid shirt tucked tightly into his stonewashed Levi’s gave every indication that he was a cowboy. The camel leather jacket tossed over his shoulder confirmed that his dream included prosperity.

Now it's your turn. Look through some of your stories and articles and check for passive words and sentences.  It's time to breathe a little life into your writing. Showing, and not telling is a great way to start the process!

Ready? Set? Go!

Who? Me? Write? Do you read? To be a writer, you need to be a reader, first. 

Before you beat yourself up and try to convince yourself that maybe you are not really a writer, only a reader, try the C.A.R.E. test:

C - Craft - This is the part of writing that is learned. Am I willing to educate myself in whatever way I can in order to perfect my craft?  Maybe it's time to take a course on writing. Maybe it's time I attended that writer's conference. Maybe I should purchase a couple of resource books and start honing my skills.

A - Art - God has given everyone a gift [or two.] Is writing a passion that gurgles from deep within? Do I have a story to tell and the ability to express myself creatively? This does not mean I will create perfect prose each time I put pen to paper. I still have to acquire skills and experience in writing. But how badly do I want to write?

R - Realistic - I really shouldn't quit my day job. Writing doesn't always cover the bills. Especially when I am new on the scene. I need to remember that there is much to learn and rejections to receive. A few hit the big time out of the starting gate, but writing for a living is difficult. Writers are not well paid. Sometimes I might even write for free in order to get my name out there. I need to be realistic. But I also need to know that my dreams can be reality, too. Due diligence is the key!

E - Energy - Do I have the motivation and the energy to keep writing each day? Writing is a solitary profession. Can I take long hours of solitude? If something isn't working on the screen, will I delete it and give up or will I press on? Writing takes energy. If I am down a quart will I still function? Will I know how to regroup and revitalize?

Do you CARE enough to be a writer?

How can you become a better writer? Check out this video: