Writing tools -- new toys!

Thanks to the good folks over at Wondermark (a fun webcomic...if you're not following, you should be!), I found Tagxedo, you can make pictures with words. Just paste in the URL, twitter feed or other text and voila! A great new way to look at what you write. To the left is a picture of this blog.

I've used Wordle before and found it to be a great tool for determining which words I use more frequently than others. To the right is the same URL for this blog, but notice it's picked up on different words.

Both tools are fun to use and can be useful to a writer in finding habit words. Or use it to compare two different drafts of the same short story. Just cut and paste your text into the sites and see what happens!

Give it a shot and see what happens!

Play safe, Diana

PS. Remember, I am a writer first. Feel free to donate and keep me out of the attic garret!

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I cannot remain silent

I need to send out a public thank you and a round of kudos to Mark Coker of Smashwords. He is doing a tremendous job keeping the censors at bay. If I were an artist, I'd draw him as a knight standing before a pile of books, wielding a sword of words against bankers and investment firms who stand ready with lit matches.


For those of you who don't know, PayPal has revised their Terms of Service stating that, from here on out, Paypal will no longer allows businesses that use their service to sell books containing rape, incest or bestiality. 


On the surface, that sounds justified, yes? Who would want to support any company that promoted such activities, especially since they are illegal?


And yet, on closer look, such a blanket prohibition includes any story that illuminates the plight of women in war-torn countries where rape is the weapon of choice. It prohibits stories that use a pseudo-incestuous relationship (the "Daddy"-type story, for example). And, if you want to get technical, it also prohibits stories like Animal Farm and Watership Down, both of which are told from the animal's points of view.


But Mark Coker said it beautifully in his February 25th email to the authors who host their stories at Smashwords:


Like many writers, censorship of any form greatly concerns me. It is with some reluctance that I have made the decision to prohibit incest-themed erotica at Smashwords. Regardless of your opinion on incest, it is a slippery slope when we allow others to control what we think and write. Fiction is fantasy. It's not real. It unfolds in our imagination. I've always believed fiction writers and readers should have the freedom to explore diverse topics and situations in the privacy of their own mind. From an imagination perspective, erotica is little different from a literary novel that puts us inside the mind of farm animals or a thriller novel that puts us inside the mind of a terrorist or a horror novel that puts us inside the mind of an axe-murderer or their victim. All fiction takes us somewhere. We read fiction to be moved and to feel. Sometimes we want to feel touch, moved or disturbed. A reader should have the right to feel moved however they desire to be moved.


You go, Mark! You make me proud to be an author at Smashwords and I hope all my readers will buy their ebooks from your site instead of any others.


Today he sent an update. Apparently he's undergoing some heat for not just telling PayPal what it can do with itself. Instead, Mark is working with PayPal to find a better option. He admits Paypal isn't the one originating this change, but that they are doing so in order to maintain their own business status:


PayPal is trying to implement the requirements of credit card companies, banks and credit unions. This is where it's all originating. These same requirements will eventually rain down on every other payment processor. Paypal is trying to maintain their relationships with the credit card companies and banks just as we want to maintain our relationship with PayPal.


(Note: both of these letters can be read in their entirety here and here.)


In a time when there are so many people running around with lit matches, it's wonderful to feel like someone's looking out for me and for my interests for a change. Thank you, Mark -- and may my words add to the strength of your sword.


Diana Hunter

New Blog Page

I took some time this morning to put together a page for the blog that lists all the writing workshops I've posted so far. There are nineteen of them! A few are short writing prompts, the others are skills-based lessons. Although I'm a firm believer that no one can teach style (it's so unique, each writer must develop their own), I do believe there are definitely skills and "tricks of the trade" that can be learned.

To see the page, you'll have to click through if you read these posts in a reader.

You'll also note I haven't put up a page for Mystic Shade. There's a link to "her" work in the sidebar, but I decided against giving her a separate page at this point. For the next two and a half years, I have a day job that involves minors. I don't need to make it any easier to find material unsuited to their age (I teach teenagers - I love them, but they are a nosy bunch!). For now, Mystic will remain in the shadows.

Play safe!
Diana

Death and storytelling

Posting the new workshop. WARNING: this one isn't easy.  Death never is.

Death and storytelling; using the seven stages of grief

Often the most dramatic scenes come out of some of the most painful emotions. Dealing with the death of a character is just as hard on the author as it is on the reader.

Depending on which model you're using, there are either five or seven stages of grief a person goes through when dealing with death. As you write scenes where a death is discovered, remember the steps and incorporate them into your characters. Below are the steps for both models.

The five stages of grief (Kubler-Ross)

1.    Denial: The initial stage: "It can't be happening."

2.    Anger: "Why me? It's not fair."

3.    Bargaining: "Just let me live to see my children graduate."

4.    Depression: "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"

5.    Acceptance: "It's going to be OK."

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubler-Ross_model)

The seven stages of grief: (unnamed model)

1) Shock or disbelief (numbness, struggle to understand)

2) Denial

3) Bargaining

4) Guilt (what did I do to cause this? 0r "I feel bad because I didn't like him anyway.")

5) Anger

6) Depression

7) Acceptance/hope.

"In addition to the emotional pain already discussed, symptoms of grief can be physical, social, or religious in nature."

(http://www.medicinenet.com/loss_grief_and_bereavement/page3.htm)

Keep in mind, these stages work with other major changes or shifts in life as well. Understanding the psychology of real-life humans helps to create honest and real characters we can all relate to.

Activity

Write (or rewrite) a scene where your protagonist goes through several of the stages of grief (either model). If you’re willing, post your scene in the comments to share.

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New release

Mystic Shade's title TRAITOR SLAVE is now available. This is the second in the Jack Kariola series. The first book, OVER MY ENSLAVED BODY, introduces Jack and his operatives who run a slave-training facility that operates on the seamier side of life. Need to get rid of that too-clingy girlfriend? Want to make someone disappear? Jack's your man. For a price.

Remember, Mystic writes books that are dark erotica. These are not for the faint of heart, nor are they for those who like romance in your erotica. She writes, as she says on her blog, "for the darker sides of our desires..."

You've been warned!

Play safe,
Diana

Some updates

Wow. I put Learning Curve for free for Valentine's Day, mostly as an experiment to see what would happen. My hypothesis was that it would climb the Bestselling charts at Amazon, lots of people would find it and it would become a hit. Okay, maybe that was more a hope than a hypothesis. Did it work?

Because it went off sale at midnight on Thursday and I was sleeping at that time and because Amazon gives itself a window of a few hours plus or minus on the end time of a sale, I don't have a specific, hard cut-off number, but I can tell you that yesterday afternoon the number of copies that went out over the three-day period was 960. That's the long way of saying I "sold" 960 free copies of Learning Curve during the promotional period.

Since yesterday afternoon, that number has climbed to 962, which means people paid for at least two copies in the past week. While it might be too early to tell, I'm thinking the freebie period has not lead to increased sales. During the three days Learning Curve was on sale, NONE of my other titles at Amazon sold a single copy. Correction: None of my self-published titles sold. If there was a spike in my EC sales, I won't know for another few months when I get my royalty statement from EC.

As to moving up the Bestseller list? THAT it did. I broke 500 at one point on the Kindle Free bestselling list (getting to #499) and got to #18 on the Kindle Erotica list (as I write, it's slipped to #19 and has been there for several hours). Will THAT lead to more sales? I'm hoping it does!

The book also got an unsolicited review. I love it when people take the time to write a quick review and state whether they liked or disliked the book and why. This reviewer didn't like it - and that's okay. I just hope she doesn't write ME off and will try one of my other books soon. I know I've done that - read a book by someone and not enjoyed it, then read something else by that same author and loved it.

In my writing, I explore various BDSM themes. You know that, I'm not hiding it. But my explorations go from the deep Master/slave relationship in Secret Submission and Submission Revealed to the truly hardcore slave sharing in Stress Relief all the way to gentle guidance and learning how to slow down in Hooked. If you think of BDSM activities as a continuum, I have books all over that line. Exploring the human psyche is what I do. :)

So if a reader doesn't like one of my books, I'm okay with that. Just don't write me off entirely. Another might be more to your taste. Longtime readers are aware that I've begun separating out my general romance stories from the very hardcore under different names to help people know exactly what you're putting your money into when you buy one of my books. Check the tabs at the of the blog for Diana Allandale, Mystic Shade and CF Duprey for those other genres (or use the links. I've embedded them for those of you who read this in a reader).

I'll keep you posted as to how Learning Curve does in this experiment. The sales may pick up since it's in the top 20 on the Erotica Bestselling list. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. And, if'n you wanted to stop by the Amazon page and write a review of your own (positive or negative), I'd not say no!

Play safe everyone and enjoy the holiday here in the US (President's Day on Monday!),
Diana

UPDATE: as of this morning (Sunday), LC hasn't sold a single extra copy despite it's moving to the #16 slot for several hours yesterday. It currently resides back at #18. Of course, I'm assuming Amazon is updating it's Month-to-date sales page on a regular basis...

Writing love stories

What could be more appropriate for Valentine's Day than a story of your love FOR the one you love? Today's workshop is more in the way of a prompt than a skill.

It doesn't matter who it is in your life, today is the day to tell him or her, even if you do it on paper (or computer keyboard). Tell the story of how you met, or your favorite day together -- or your favorite evening. Start with an event and be sure to include your passion in your writing.

Alternately, today's a good day for love letters. Choose a character you've already created and have that character write to the person he/she loves in the story (or in real life. You're the author, let the character write a love letter to YOU!). You might be surprised at what he/she writes.

Have some fun with this! After all, today's the day of passion and love. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Play safe,
Diana

PS. Don't forget that Learning Curve is available for free for today, tomorrow and the day after in the Kindle store!

Valentine's Day special

For the next three days, February 14th, 15th and 16th, Learning Curve will be available FREE in the Kindle store. This story, originally a Quickie published by Ellora's Cave, tells the tale of Samantha, Sam to her friends, who is a young grad student almost finished with her studies. When she meets a fellow student named Peter, however, she discovers another field of study she'd never even considered. Sparks fly as Peter takes Sam under his wing and teaches her the incredible freedoms of BDSM.

Not in America? Click here for more purchasing options.

By the way, I'm in the process of closing out the old Yahoo!Group. It served its purpose and now its time to move on. I'm using MailChimp for my newsletter (which I'm hoping to do monthly at the most, quarterly at the least). If you'd like to subscribe, scroll to the bottom of the page and sign up. If you're reading this through a reader, you'll have to click through and visit the blog for the sign-up.

Okay! Stop reading! If you don't yet have a copy of Learning Curve, go get your copy free starting at midnight tonight!

Play safe,
Diana

I Stay a Little Longer - backstory

I wrote the short story I Stay a Little Longer in only two days. Well, that might not be entirely true. I have a habit of starting stories ("throwing spaghetti" for those of you following the writing workshops) and then letting them sit there. I must have four or five dozen of them started in various folder on my computer.

I Stay a Little Longer began as one of those pieces of spaghetti that I threw back in September of 2011. Obviously it wasn't done 'cause I got about 200 words in and the story just stopped. I had no idea where it wanted to go, so I left it for a while.

Two weeks ago, in going through the folder, I happened across it and my fingers started flying. I finished it the next day, spending a total of about six hours writing this short story. It's what's called a "slice of life" story; a story that centers around moment in a character's life. The events of this story take place over the course of about an hour or so.

To be honest, it took me longer to come up with a good title than it did to write the story!

I searched Shakespeare first for a good quote about death, dying or grief and, while he wrote some great lines, they were all too long for a title. I knew I wanted a quote, though, something that would sum up the premise of the story and I found it in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Three Friends of Mine. The link takes you to the entire poem; my title comes from the last stanza.

Because the story is short (just over 2000 words), I'm posting the blurb but not an excerpt below. I've published this under the Diana Allandale name because the genre is more literary than romance. Click on the title to get the links for purchasing in all ebook formats.

I Stay a Little Longer
by Diana Allandale
All Rights Reserved

Thou hast but taken up thy lamp and gone to bed;
I stay a little longer, as one stays
To cover up the embers that still burn.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

from Three Friends of Mine

Everyone expects Maisie to leave the cemetery before the coffin is lowered, but she just can’t bring herself to do it. Her husband is in that coffin, he has “taken up his lamp and gone to bed” and left her here to continue on. Only by staying does Maisie think she will find peace in this “slice of life” short story.

News from Diana

There’s been a lot of talk over the past few years about “branding” an author. It’s a practice that’s actually been going on for decades and actually has a purpose: to inform readers so they know exactly what they’re getting. The most famous case is arguably Nora Roberts. She wasn’t allowed to write her detective novels under her own name because publishers didn’t want readers to get confused about what they were buying. Hence, JD Robb was born. Same author, two different genres of writing.

Kristine Grayson is another. Or should I say Kris Nelscott? Or maybe Kristine Dexter? How about Kristine Kathryn Rusch? All the same person but publishing in different genre, often with different publishers.

And so today, I’d like to introduce you to a few authors you might not have met yet. If you’re a reader of this blog, you already know Diana Hunter, writer of erotic romances. And chances are you’ve met CF Duprey who writes historical fiction. Some of you might even have met Mystic Shade, who writes very naughty books. Yes, they’re all me and I’ve been “branding” my works for a while.

But something occurred to me today. I’ve released two works under the Diana Hunter name that aren’t erotic romance. They’re more in the line of sweet romances or what some call “slice of life” short stories. I just wrote another one this week and it’s when I went to release it that I realized I should have a different name for this type of book. I don’t want readers to buy it thinking they’re getting a BDSM/erotic romance when they’re not. That’s misleading and I hate when people do that.

That’s why I’m introducing you all to Diana Allendale. Some of you from Second Life already know me (it’s my SL handle). Tales from the Ramayana and Timeless Love are in the process of being re-released under Diana Allendale’s name (actually, Timeless Love went live today!) and a new story, I Stay a Little Longer, will be released in time for Valentine’s Day.

If you’re reading this through a reader, take a moment to visit the blog and see the new pages I’ve put at the top. One says, “Purchasing Info” and is for all my self-published works. Don’t worry, Diana Hunter is still publishing at Ellora’s Cave as well. :) CF Duprey and Diana Allandale each have their own pages as well. Mystic's is coming soon.

So, Diana Hunter for erotic romance, Mystic Shade for naughty stories. CF Duprey for historical fiction and Diana Allandale for everything else. Got it? Get reading, then!

Play safe!

Diana

A Fable in...

Several years ago I found a yellowed piece of paper in the files of a former teacher. On it, in very small print, was a piece called "A Fable in F" and what followed was a fairy tale retold using as many words that started with the letter "F" as possible. The piece was fun to read and I immediately put it in my creative writing classes as a way to teach the use of the Thesaurus.

Unfortunately, I never found a source for that short story, or an author. A quick search on the web turned up nothing. But my own "Princess and the P" came out of that inspiration.

And that's today's writing challenge for you. Have some fun with words! Choose a fairy tale or fable and choose a letter of the alphabet - and write! Keep the Thesaurus nearby (a dictionary is also helpful. Just keep it open to your particular letter and work in as many words using that letter as you can) and enjoy the mental  and linguistic gymnastics you're about to put yourself through. If you're very brave, share your fable/fairy tale in the comments below.

If you're enjoying these workshops, feel free to make a contribution. Those who do will get a free copy of the book these will become. :)

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The Princess and the "P"

I wrote this a few years back as an exercise in fun. I know today's not a writing workshop day, but I just came across it and thought I'd post it for giggles. If you want to try your hand at it, pick a letter of the alphabet and have a good time. Writing with an old-fashioned dictionary at your side helps :)

The Princess and the “P”

  

The poor, pretty princess pranced toward the porch, the pouring rain pelting her pouf. Pounding on the portico, she patiently pondered her predicament.

“Perry!” proclaimed a pompous plebian. “Prop open the portal, a princess approaches!”

“Poppycock!” pronounced Priscilla the Ponderous. “Present the peasant promptly!”

Princess Penelope processed past the palace proscenium and presented herself to Priscilla, all pooped out. “Please,” she pleaded. “I am Princess Penelope. Present me a place to plop prior to passing out!”

Priscilla the Ponderous professed a pretense. “Portraying a Princess will procure a punishment! To the penitentiary!”

Peter Piper, the Prince of Perriwinkle, paused by the palace portcullis, peering puzzled at Penelope and Priscilla. “Papa! A princess!”

“Priscilla!” pattered Percival the Portly, Peter’s pater. “Prevent a political panoply! Primogeniture procedure is clear. Implement the policy!” Peter’s pater patted Peter’s pate.

Pouting, Priscilla pondered. “Problem solved! Procure a pea!” she proclaimed. “Pile the puffy mattresses parallel and Penelope the Pretender can prove her princess-ness.”

Princess Penelope prostrated herself atop the puffy pile, pulling the purple quilt to her palsied chin. Her prone position prickled, however. “This patch has a painful poiniard pointed,” she pouted.

“Pampered pansy,” muttered Priscilla. “Panics too precipitously.”

“Pardon, Queen Priscilla, but this parallel pile of parasitical pads punishes my pelvis.”

“Do you intend to perpetuate this impersonation?” persisted Priscilla.

“Princesses shouldn’t be persecuted,” pleaded Penelope, “this pernicious pile is perilous!”

“Papa,” petitioned Prince Peter, “My princess perspires. Persuade mama to put a stop to her punishing pursuit!”

“Priscilla!” proclaimed Percival the Portly. “Prepare! This princess passes! This pastime proves her percentage of imperial blood.”

Persuaded, Queen Priscilla pleasantly picked the purloined pea from between the puffy pads, presenting it to Princess Penelope.

“No wonder my posterior purpled!” the Princess pronounced.

Her perfect proportions captivated Prince Peter. “My pater, please marry us presently!”

“Pause!” panted Penelope. “Perhaps Prince Peter is not my preference! Picking a partner is a profound and thought-provoking proceeding.”

“Penelope,” persuaded Peter, stooping to propose. “Please permit me to place a ring on your finger.”

Penelope complied and provided her permission, presenting her hand to Peter. He produced a ring, placing it on her finger in the presence of the palace porters, his mater and pater and a powerful pontiff.

Peter and Penelope postponed the pre-nup and post-nuptially presently populated the palace with puny princesses and princes.

Plot finis.

Play safe!

Diana

If you enjoyed this and would like to support more free stories, please consider donating. Eating makes me write more :)

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6-word stories

Getting the post out on time this week!

Six-word stories (or, sometimes we just need to think small)

Ernest Hemingway's shortest story consisted only of six words:

"For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn."

Not too long ago, Wired magazine challenged several science fiction writers to do the same...tell a complete story in only six words. I've only included three below as examples, but you can visit the website for dozens of examples. Notice that most of them are more than one sentence:

Automobile warranty expires. So does engine.

- Stan Lee

Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time

- Alan Moore

Longed for him. Got him. Shit.

- Margaret Atwood

Sometimes these are fun to write on their own, other times this works as a new way to look at an old character or event. Remember, sometimes it isn't MORE words that you need, but fewer.

Your challenge? Write a six-word story, of course. Feeling adventurous? Post your best in the comments section.

If you find these workshops useful, please consider dropping a donation my way. It helps keep me writing!

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Want to borrow a good book?

Did you know you don't have to buy Learning Curve? If you own a Kindle, you can borrow this short novella from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library!

Stop by and borrow your copy today!

Play safe,
Diana

Workshop!

Oh, my glory, I forgot again. Someone said something to me today and I said I'd do it on Wednesday. She said, "This IS Wednesday." I slapped my head and thought of you-all sitting there at home wondering if I I'd lost my mind again. Drat.

I have to start associating the workshops with another event that also happens on Tuesdays. I know! NCIS is my current must-watch. New episodes air on Tuesday nights. NCIS=Writing workshop! Help me remember, guys. Send me tweets, emails or, if you're near me, Gibbs-slap me into remembering to post.

Of course, that actually leads into today's topic. The world of NCIS (heck, the world of most TV shows with plots) all have something in common: a world created by their writers and peopled with characters that have backstories of their own. And so, this week's workshop:

Backstory and world building…not just for fantasy any more

Knowing the world in which your story is set is vital to good storytelling. Don’t assume your reader knows what you do. While you want to be careful about bogging down your story with too much detail, knowing the world cold will help you give a thorough picture to the reader.

Activity

Choose a story you’ve had rumbling around in your head. In your writing journal, answer the following questions about your setting and society. 

~Or~ 

Use the questions below on a story you've already started but are stuck in. Perhaps one will jog your imagination just enough you can get started again.

  

World Building Questions

In what country is your story set?

What is the monetary system there?

The political system? Who is in power?

Are there any laws germane to your story the reader will need to know/understand?

What languages are spoken there? Do your characters speak that language? (think street talk or dialect as well as invented languages)

What are the curse words of the language? Which ones would your character use? Under what circumstances?

How does the country's economics affect your characters?

What social classes exist? How do they interact?

How is affection expressed in this country? What is taboo? Any mating rituals?

How powerful is religion? What religion? What do your characters think of that religion?

Is there anything in this country's history that is important to your story? If so...why is it important to the characters?

Is there anything in particular about naming conventions (first born always named after the father, for example)?

What is the balance of power between the genders (men more powerful? Women? Equality for all?)? What about between races?

How technologically advanced 1) is the society, 2) are your characters?

Are there any particular foodstuffs that are germane to this group of people? What role does food play in their lives?

What is the climate of the country? Does it have any bearing on your character’s actions?

How educated is the society? Is education important to the people? The government? Your characters?

What about medicine? Is there insurance? What happens when people get sick?

Caveat: it's easy to fall into the World-Building Trap. You get so into creating the world, you don't actually write anything that takes place there. Be sure this doesn't happen to you!

One way around the trap is to answer only enough of the above questions to get yourself started. Fill in other questions as they pop up in your story.

That's it! Have fun with this...creating new worlds out of whole cloth is what writers do and it should be a fun process.

 Remember, all these workshops will eventually be collected and published together. If you are enjoying them and would like to make a donation, please use the yellow button below. Those who donate will get the collected volume at no cost.

Play safe!

Diana

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blogging at the Scribes!

My turn over at the Sizzling Scribe's blog. Come on over and give me some advice :)

Learning Curve available again

Learning Curve is a short novella I wrote 'way back in 2004. It's been out of "print" for a few months and is once more available.

Here's the original blurb:

As a young girl, Sam fancied herself a writer. Excited, she showed her first story to a classmate, who labeled it "yucky" because Sam's female protagonists had been tied up when they were captured by the bad guys. Abashed, Sam spent the next decade caging her vivid fantasies of being tied up, and cultivating the good girl image that society expected.

Until she met Peter. Sam didn't understand why her body responded so violently to his kiss, only that when it did, her fantasies banged at the bars of their cage and threatened to break free.

The night they finally escaped, Sam's life changed forever.

There are no substantial changes between this edition and the older one, except for some now-fixed grammatical errors. And a new cover, of course!

Learning Curve was a fun story to write. Many readers don't know this, but the first part of the story where we find out that Sam's burgeoning writing career was abruptly halted by a sixth-grade classmate, is an event from my own experience. That actually happened to me and as a result of her demeaning remark, I didn't write another original story for nearly ten years -- not till I got to college. I thought them all the time, but kept any attempts at writing stories only in my head. Thankfully I had the guts to take a Creative Writing class in college and the professor not only enjoyed my writing, but encouraged me to play with language and plot and to continue writing after the class ended. Yay for teachers!

For the next three months Learning Curve will be available on the Kindle only. I'm giving their Select program a try-out, more out of curiosity than anything else. Seems counter-intuitive to me to have it only in one format and available in only one place. Will post here at the end of the 90 days and let you know how the lending option worked and whether or not this was a mistake. If you're not in the US, use the new Purchase Info tab at the top of the page for links to the "other Amazons".

There it is -- the new cover! Play safe, everyone --and enjoy those handcuffs!

Diana

File Management

Practical advice in today's workshop! AND I got it posted on time :)

By this time in your writing career you undoubtedly have lots of pieces of started stories scattered about both in your hardcopy file drawers and on various flash drives or computers. Now is the time to clean up the mess!

Rule #1 – create a folder for your work in progress and keep all files related to that story inside.

Managing the various drafts of your stories is vital. I speak from experience. Not too long ago, I uploaded the first draft for self-publishing by mistake because I’d mislabeled it. Thankfully I found the error quickly and pulled the mss before anyone bought the wrong copy (I hope!).

In this digital age, keeping your files straight can be a challenge. If you’re like me, you don’t want to throw out previous drafts because, after a good night’s sleep, you might change your mind and want to put back a phrase (or an entire scene!) you cut out. I’m paranoid that way, myself.

My solution? For every story I’ve ever written I keep a separate Word document called “(story title) extras.” So I have a “Secret Submission extras” file, a “Cabin Fever extras” file and so on. That Word doc. holds every scrap of sentence I’ve cut from the larger work. There are times I’ve cut entire scenes (sometimes the characters are going off track, sometimes the plot is bogging down…lots of reasons for slashing scenes) and, by putting them into my “extras” file for that story, I can keep them if I need them later.

But keeping them serves another purpose as well. Sometimes what doesn’t work for one set of characters works beautifully for another. I might be three novels later and working on a scene and remember something I wrote for an earlier novel but cut out. I go to the “extras” file and voila! I have a nearly-fully written scene I can just insert into the new story.

And sometimes those cut scenes become short stories of their own. A scene I cut from Secret Submission, for example, became “Secret Signs”, a short story in Timeless Love.

So Rule #2 of file management? Don’t throw anything away! J

Rule #3 - “Keep your stories straight.”

This is harder than it sounds. Especially if you’ve sent a draft off to critique partners and they return them with the same name you sent it with. Training them to add their initials at the end of the file name (for example: Services Rendered MSedit) is best, but sometimes they forget. If that happens, download the file to an odd place (like your Desktop) and rename it before you do anything further.

Adding the words “Master copy” to the file title also helps me keep straight which version I’m working on and which one I’m referencing.

Rule #4 – Back up, back up, back up!

I have not one, but three computers that are “mine.” I have a Lenovo laptop with the wonderful red dot mouse for work (this is my favorite user-friendly keyboard!), I have a Gateway laptop that I bought when my work computer went on the fritz and I needed something to carry back and forth to the cabin, and I have my desktop powerhouse computer with Internet hookup.

Yes, the two laptops have wi-fi connections but I keep them turned off when I’m working on them. I get distracted easily. Squirrel!

To ferry files between and among the computers I have a dedicated flash drive. Several, actually, but only one is in use as a “ferry-er” at a time.

I keep only the CURRENT file of the work in progress on the flash drive. Deleting older files from it helps to keep down the clutter and manage the mess.

Do you have any other suggestions or rules for file management? Include them in the comments!

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I generally don't write about my personal life much. You all know I'm married (same man, 30 years and counting) and that I have two children. You know I spent a lot of my time writing my novels in the car waiting for them to finish with dance lessons, basketball and baseball practices, cross country runs and other Mommy-taxi duties all mothers perform.

What you also know is that children grow up. My daughter's twenty-one now and a December grad from college. Because she took several college courses in high school, she was able to graduate a semester early. As a theatre major, however, we've been a little worried about her ability to get a job in this economic downturn the US is in. We envisioned months of her home as she sent out resumes and went on interviews for jobs in tech theatre (Her dream job is stage managing. Specifically stage managing for Cirque du Soleil). After all, it's mid-season for most companies and most hiring is done in the spring and summer for next season.

But she's good at what she does. Very good. Her resume so impressed the people at a company in a large city just 50 miles from here that they thought of her when they needed a mid-season replacement for someone who was leaving. She interviewed earlier this week, they told her there were other interviews yet to be held and she'd know by next week.

And then they called this Thursday past and asked if she could start that night.

Thus the whirlwind was put in motion. In the past three days, she's started working a real job in a real theatre for real money. Part of her pay is a room, rent-free, in a house the company owns. It ain't pretty (furnished somewhere between early garage sale and theatre-set rejects) and I'm more than a little worried about the section of the city she's in, but my little girl is calling a show tonight as a professional production and stage manager. I'm so proud of her!

Of course, that means tonight her bedroom here at home is empty. We moved her today. My son is at work and my husband and I just keep wandering from one room to another. He finally settled in his recliner watching Family Guy and Seinfeld re-runs, I've been sitting at my computer watching NCIS episodes, avoiding the emptiness. She's not off at college -- she's begun her life. And while I'm thrilled and excited for her, I also miss her something awful.

Love to you all,
a maudlin Diana

Writing like we speak—or—Authenticity in dialogue—or—Say what?

I'm thinking I should just post the writing workshops on Wednesdays rather than Tuesdays... I can't believe it's already the middle of the week and I missed it -- again!

Writing like we speak—or—Authenticity in dialogue—or—Say what?

Before you write tips:

1) observe/listen to other's conversations. In the mall, at work, with your great-aunt Mabel.  Note the word choices and sentence structure. Listen and learn. 

2) Observe/ listen to your own conversation. Do you have "habit words"? Certain linguistic phrases that are a part of your lexicon? Quotes from movies or books that creep in often?

3) become aware of geographical peculiarities. What words/phrases are spoken wherever you're setting a story? What are the linguistic "giveaways" that would clue a reader in to your story's location simply based on the dialogue?

While you write tips:

1) Give each character his/her own lexicon. What are words he/she uses that others don't? How can those words give us a clue to his/her personality?

2) Editors are moving away from the "he said", "she replied" format of dialogue. Try to make the dialogue independent of action descriptions.

3) Try not to edit as you go. Just write what the characters are saying. You'll clean it up after you get the scene down.

After you write tips:

1) read your dialogue out loud (heck, read your entire story out loud!). You'll hear where the words are awkward.

2) remember that we speak in fragments. Do your characters?

3) get some friends together and read the dialogue as if it were a script. Skip the directions and just read the spoken words. Does it sound like a real conversation?

Activity

Use the tips above and edit a story you’ve already written. J

Alternately, use these steps in writing a new story!