2012 Idaho Writers and Readers Rendezvous contest winner

Congratulations! to Patricia Marcantonio for winning first place in the short screenplay category with her screenplay,  “Blk 40 Building 6”.

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

What can I do with my fickle muse?

Over the years I have developed a number of activities to get writing again when inspiration has fled. Automatic writing — writing down anything and everything that comes into my thoughts — sometimes works. Listening to classical music or jazz while reading inspirational poetry often sparks my imagination. I’ve watched a fire burn, a stream flow, taken a walk in the desert or forest, laid down on the grass and studied shapes of clouds on a warm summer afternoon, and stargazed at night. I’ve left a story completely and came back later. All of these strategies helped get pen to paper once again.

However, I recently experienced a twist of the capricious nature of my muse. I was working on a novel that has been rattling around in my intentions for many many years but the plot never wanted to come together, was never quite right. The story line kept changing. I’d started on it several times over the years only to abandon it after many pages when the idea turned stupid. This past fall my muse insisted that I start writing on the novel again. She reminded me “You are not getting any younger and you need to tell this story.” So I got busy on the plot and chapter outline. I had three great characters in mind and was introducing and developing their personalities one at a time while introducing symbolic threads I could later pull through the events I had planned for my story. I was in the middle of chapter three, maybe on page thirty-five or forty of the novel, when the muse turned perverse. She changed her mind. Another story started tumbling out of my imagination.

The second story is related to the novel in a round-about way but is more personal, a memoir. The main focus of the memoir makes the novel seem trivial, almost ridiculous by comparison and demands to be written first. So I set the novel aside and started working on the memoir. It has been building steadily since. I’m averaging about a page a day, which is great for me, I don’t normally produce that much. I have nearly one hundred pages of memoir and haven’t even gotten to developing an outline or chapter breakdown yet. The story is raw material running steadily from my mind to my fingertips to my word processor.

Some writers say, “I am going to write a story and A, B, and C is going to happen.” I can’t do that. I don’t know what is going to occur in a story until I write it. At this point I’m not sure if, when I finish the memoir, I will return to the novel or not. Maybe I had to write that novel outline and three chapters to reach the point where I need to be mentally to write the memoir. Or maybe the memoir will turn out to be personal baggage related to the subject of the novel that I have to work through in order to write the novel with a clear focus. Maybe the memoir is going to integrate itself into the novel, somehow. I do not know. I’ll figure that out when I get to the other end of these narratives.

Right now I have two stories in progress. And although my muse is fickle, as long as she is talking to me I am taking dictation.

Dixie Thomas Reale

Eliminating prepositional phrases

I’m in the process of editing my current novel and looking for ways to make my writing better. One way to reduce words and clarify meaning is to identify and eliminate as many prepositional phrases as possible.

For example, in the above sentence, “in the process of” is a prepositional phrase. I could just as easily say, I’m editing my current novel.

When writing, I listen to the voice in my head, putting words down as I hear them. That doesn’t make them golden, or darlings I’m reluctant to kill. That makes them patterns of speech I hear in my head. My job as a writer is to edit those patterns for clarity.

One way to spot prepositional phrases is to look for the following words, which are often used in prepositional phrases:

about                       below              in spite of                  regarding
above                       beneath          instead of                  since
according to           beside             into                             through
across                      between         like                              throughout
after                         beyond           near                            to
against                    but                   of                                toward
along                       by                     off                              under
amid                        concerning     on                             underneath
among                     down               on account of         until
around                    during             onto                         up
at                              except             out                            upon
atop                         for                    out of                       with
because of              from                outside                     within
before                      in                     over                          without
behind                     in front of      past                          with regard to

Here are some examples from the first chapter in my current novel.

Herb’s stomach could no longer handle food. Just the thought of it sent him to the refrigerator in search of another beer.
Better: Just the thought sent him searching for another beer.

The residents of Aspen Grove don’t talk.
Better: Aspen Grove residents don’t talk.

We can sit in front of the fire and make snowflakes.
Better: We can sit by the fire and make snowflakes.

Rows of fat becomes fat rows. The decision of Abbie’s mother becomes Abbie’s mother’s decision. In an efficient manner becomes efficiently.

As you eliminate prepositional phrases, you’ll discover verbs and adverbs become stronger. For example, Abbie responded to the allegations with vehemence becomes Abbie responded vehemently to the allegations, resulting in less words to wade through and a clearer picture of Abbie.

In Thanks, But This Isn’t For Us, Jessica Page Morrell describes too many prepositions as “the carbohydrates of writing.” She gives the following examples to streamline your work:
went up in flames: burned
at a later date: later
drew to a close: ended
in the vicinity of: near

You get the picture, simple and concise. Too many prepositional phrases put distance between important words and dull your writing.

The next time you sit down to edit, besides looking for ly words, to be, and redundant sentences, keep an eye open for excessive prepositional phrases. You’ll be surprised how much better your story will be.
-Bonnie Dodge

It’s really Thelma’s movie

One of the first things writers learn is that good drama means your characters change, either for better or worse, within the scope of the story.
Why is change so important?
Because it doesn’t happen without conflict, which keeps the motor of our story running. That lesson really struck me to the core when I took a screenwriting class. The instructor used the example of “Thelma and Louise.” Whose movie was it? he asked.
It was Thelma’s and Louise’s, we answered.
No. Who was the person who was different at the end of the movie?
The answer is Thelma. She started out as a mealy housewife who had the fortitude of a Twinkie. At the end, she found strength and resolve. Louise’s personality didn’t really change. So it was Thelma’s story.
Another example, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Sure, the movie seemed to focus on that charming and funny Ferris. But did he change during the course of the movie? The answer is no, again. The movie really belonged to Cameron, Ferris’s friend. Cameron went from a kid afraid of his father and afraid of life to a young man who would stand up to his father and therefore, to life.
One more example, “The Shawshank Remptiomption.” Is it really Andy Dufresne’s movie? No siree. It is Red’s, who began the film as a man who dared not to hope and ended as a man who looked toward hope as he met his friend in Mexico.
Whenever I watch a movie or read a book where there is little, no, or God forbid, superficial change in the characters, I feel unsatisfied.
Not all change has to be for the good, nor does it have to be a lightning bolt from God. It can be subtle as silk. Take the recent movie, “The Ides of March” (and here comes the spoiler alert). Stephen Meyers, played by Ryan Gosling, works for a presidential candidate played by George Clooney, who also directed and co-wrote the movie. Stephen starts as a true believer in his candidate and loves being in the thick of the campaign. After learning a secret about the candidate and becoming a victim of dirty behind-the-scenes politics, Stephen also digs in the dirt to stay in the game. He changes for the worse by becoming the very thing he hates.
Of course, some characters are so iconic they don’t seem to or have to change, such as Sherlock Holmes. And there is much joy in watching them make sense of chaos. Still, I think about how much more depth to those stories if Sherlock had showed change. The game is afoot.

–Patricia Santos Marcantonio

Hauntings on the Snake River Plain

Many of you are wondering what is going on with our ghost anthology. We have over thirty submissions to consider. Each and every story is a delight to read. Our goal is to make final selections by March 31, which means if you sent in a story, you’ll be hearing from us in early April.
Thank you for your submissions, this is going to be a great book.

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

How much detail should I include when writing a story?

This can be a tricky balance.

Generally obscurity in writing is deadly for the average writer. Sure I remember in literature classes in college — I often had to look up obscure references to places, people and even customs of the past. I did the research so I could talk about the authors intelligently in class discussions, or on examinations given by sadistic professors. Understanding the minutiae of authors lives added another level of understanding to an already thick tapestry of meaning in stories written by giants like Joyce, Shakespeare, Twain or Faulkner.

College students may grumble about the research but they do it because they know the effort will add to their understanding and should even improve their grade.

However, the average reader is not going to bother looking up many, if any, unexplained references in a story by an acquaintance from Small Town, Idaho. Nothing personal, that is just the way it is. Remember time and distance have made many details in stories by the greats unclear or ambiguous. If the reader is going to fully understand the story he needs to be aware of the particulars.

At the same time, including too much detail is just as fatal. Imagine reading ten single spaced pages of minute detail enumerating every step in a search through archives located in the basement of a library for specifics of life events of a historical figure. Who cares? Only a fellow researcher, certainly not the average reader of fiction. If you have to include details of the fictitious search cut it down to a paragraph or two.

You have to find the right balance in your stories. It lies somewhere between writing simply the name “George” and writing “George Washington, born in Westmoreland County, Va., on Feb. 22, 1732, signer of the Declaration of Independence, commander in chief of the Continental army during the American Revolution, first president of the United States, father of the nation, husband of Martha, step father to” . . . You get the idea. But remember only you can decide which details to include. After all, it is your story.

Dixie Thomas Reale

Managing Procrastination and Distraction

I’d like you to meet my two best friends, Procrastination and Distraction. They follow wherever I go. It’s as if they sit on the floor beside my bed, waiting for me to wake so they can tag along all day and torture me. Yesterday I rose, a hundred tasks to finish, and there Distraction was, pulling me away from my chores. After a trip to the bathroom—I left the light on because I would be back soon to take a shower—I padded into the kitchen, poured a cup of coffee, and went to my office to check for an important email. After reading email, Facebook, and Twitter, I returned to the bathroom, ready to take my shower only to discover three hours had passed and most of my morning was gone. I had a short story to write and a deadline, and I had yet to write a single word. Distraction was howling with glee but I was furious and disgusted.

After lunch—no breakfast because Distraction was too busy to let me eat—I sat down with full intention of roughing out the first draft of my story when Procrastination wanted to play. Okay, I said, ONE game of spider solitaire, then back to work. One game became four. Then I wanted a snack. Then I had to use the bathroom. Then I needed to take that shower I didn’t get in the morning. By 4:30 Procrastination needed a nap, so I sat down at my computer and opened my file. I wrote a few sentences before Distraction pulled up a chair.

“Hello,” she said. “Let’s look up haunted mines in Idaho.”

That of course led to a site about cemeteries, which lead to a site about who was buried where. Before I knew it it was time to think about dinner so Distraction and I started looking up recipes for corn chowder. After dinner I promised I would work on my story, but then the phone rang. I had to clean the kitchen, fold the laundry, and by eight o’clock I was just too tired to write.

I was talking with another writer a few days ago, saying I accomplished so much more when I worked full time at the bank.

“Me too,” she said.

“I’m too easily distracted,” I said.

We agreed that working from home is full of caveats. A trip to the bathroom means a trip to the kitchen where a glass of water turns into an apple with peanut butter. Then flip on the TV to check the weather, when just as easily we could look out the window to see if it was snowing—we’re supposed to be writing so what does it matter?

Why do we do this? I tell my writer friend it’s because writers are creative people. They write poetry. They make sculptures and paintings. They play piano, guitar or drums. They belly dance. They are creative. Creative people like to make things then rip them apart to make something new. It’s more like play than work, and of course my two friends Procrastination and Distraction would rather play than work.

As a creative person, writing to me is like playing. It doesn’t feel like work, so I treat it accordingly. And to be honest I am a terrible boss. I don’t hold my employee accountable. I make sure she shows up at the office, but I never really check her progress. I read once that Harold Robbins was on deadline and his editor locked him in a hotel room and refused to feed him until he produced a certain number of new pages. So see, it isn’t just me.

Ah hmm. Today is a New Day. I will use a heavy hand; after all I am the boss. I will not have lunch until I finish the first draft of my short story. I will not check email and Facebook until I have my pages done. I will not play spider solitaire AT ALL, not until this story is finished. I will not turn on the TV to check the weather. I will drink water instead of coffee, which keeps me hyped and edgy. Today I will be a better boss and make sure my employee is more productive. And when Distraction and Procrastination call, I’ll tell them to go outside and jump in the snow.

What can you do to eliminate Procrastination and Distraction when you should be writing?

-Bonnie Dodge