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Mary Rosenblum
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Hello all.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Nice to have a website here,
this week!
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Mary Rosenblum
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I hope you all had a great
weekend. Those of you with too much summer heat can send some of it
westward, thank you.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I think we need a weather
exchange program!
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Mary Rosenblum
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I should do these open
question forums more regularly. I know I don't cover all topics in the
Forums, even though I try to.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Nobody has any questions? Wow,
I've covered more than I thought!
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sundale
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I have a novel where animals
speak in "The language of the wild" as well as in english. How
might I best tell the reader which they're using? (My best idea is to put
the wild speech in italics)
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Mary Rosenblum
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That might be a good way to do
it, Sundale. Or you could simply do something like this. "Nice to meet
you, human," the badger said. "We need to watch this one,"
he muttered to Squirrel in Wildspeak.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It simply depends on what
reads best on the page.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Both methods can work. See
what works best for your story.
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speckledorf
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Character question:-) I'm
working on a short with a stereotypical 1920's gangster hitman. How do I
take him from a 2D stereotype and make him a real character?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Know who he is, first.
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Mary Rosenblum
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How much do you know about
him?
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Mary Rosenblum
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What troubles him? What drives
him?
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Mary Rosenblum
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What does he need that he may
or may not get, during this story?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Then you share that with the
readers through subtle revelations in his body langauge, his word choices,
his reactions to other characters and events.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Knowing is, of coruse, not
enough. Once he's real to you, you have to reveal the personal uniqueness
that makes him real to your readers.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You have body language, words,
actions, and throughts with which to do that.
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gail
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Do you have any tips for writing
through times of grief and/or depression? Sometimes I find writing about
the issue keeps the wound raw, so I'm curious about other methods/ideas.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Gail there's no one size fits
all here.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Grief is a huge black hole
when you're writing. For some people, writing directly about the issue can
help.
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Mary Rosenblum
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For others, translating that
issue into fiction, removing oneself a step from it, can help.
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Mary Rosenblum
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For some, writing about
something entirely different can be a welcome escape.
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Mary Rosenblum
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What you don't want to do is
to let the grief stop you from writing, even if the joy of writing is
temporarily banished by the grief.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Do it anyway.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It really will help. Honest.
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rae
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In my story I have used one pov
throughtout, but on the epilogue I have it in the narrator's voice. Is that
okay?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I've seen that work. Usually,
the POV character has died and someone else steps in to close the story. It
may be a note from, say,
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Mary Rosenblum
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a detective or a researcher
that this account was found in such and such circumstance and the readers
are left to discern the fate of the POV character for themselves.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Often it's used to close a
story where the fate of the POV character is not clear from the conclusion
of the story. That narrated epilogue keeps us from feeling that the story
didn't end.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Just realize that it's too
late to make us care about the new narrator. That voice is only going to
feed us critical information.
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jackianne
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I've created the plot for my
novel, but as I've been writing chapters, I keep wanting to make changes to
my plot. I know plots can evolve as you write, but how do you know when to
stop making changes?
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's a VERY good question,
Jackianne!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Yes, novel plots DO evolve for
many writers -- they do for me, that's for sure.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But it CAN be a problem. I've
critiqued many a novel where the novice writer let subplots grow and become
significant parts of the novel...to the point where the readers
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Mary Rosenblum
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were no longer able to keep
the story as a whole in their heads. They started losing track of the
larger picture.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You CAN overcomplicate your
story to the point where it's too hard to keep track of all the different
things going on.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If your story still has a
strong dramatic arc, we can see how to go from start to finish, then you're
probably fine.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you end up with three or
four major plot lines that meander in and out and we're always jumping from
this plot to that plot to that plot, it's going to be hard to
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Mary Rosenblum
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keep readers connected to the
story as a whole.
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amyb
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What is a "literary short
story?" Diff from reg short story?
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's a matter of form, amyb.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Generally, what is called
'genre fiction' -- mystery, speculative fiction, romance, thriller, etc --
uses a strong central plot arc with a clear conflict and resolution.
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Mary Rosenblum
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'Literary' form is much less
dependent on a central conflict and resolution and is often more of a
'slice of life' vignette and lacks a clear dramatic arc.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Sometimes there's something
for the readers to take away from the story in terms of internal
conflict/resolution. Other times, as with poetry, the story is mostly about
the elegance and power of the prose.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you want to write literary
fiction, you really need to read it to get a feel for the literary devices
that are used.
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k c morlock
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can you give us a modern example
of literary fiction?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Subscribe to Calyx and Glimmer
Train.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Any of the literary journals,
published by universities.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Literary fiction markets tend
to be university publications, subsidized by the school. They are not
'commercial' fiction that is.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Glimmer Train IS a commercial
magazine, as is Calyx, but their fiction falls into the literary mainstream
form.
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gail
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Is there such a thing as too
many scenes in one chapter? I've heard it said, it compares to too many
acts per scene in a play -- it wears out both the audience and the players.
Is the same true of fiction novels?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Oh gosh yes!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Think of a slinky...do you all
remember this toy from the sixties and early seventies?
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's a coiled spring and you
could make it 'walk' downstairs and the like.
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Mary Rosenblum
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A spring has a lot of power.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But it has power because a lot
of wire is coiled tightly. If you stretch that wire out, it just lies
there, flaccid. No power.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The more scenes you cram into
a chapter, the more you stretch out your spring.
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Mary Rosenblum
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A single clear dramatic arc
has a lot of power.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Several dramatic arcs stuck
together 'flatten' the chapter over all.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now a chapter can be
longer...several thousand words...but have a single dramatic arc.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Or it can have three or four
scenes, three or four dramatic arcs.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You will have a stronger pace
if your chapters contain a single, strong dramatic arc.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now that can include more than
one scene, but a single POV
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amyb
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brief bio; title (s). Does this
mean titles of articles, pub
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Mary Rosenblum
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Do you mean that this is part
of the submission requirements? Send a brief bio and titles?
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sundale
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I use scene breaks mostly to
seperate long periods of time (from hours to days). But I fear this creates
too many break. Is there a better way to sometimes do that?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Scene breaks work just fine as
long as you ground the readers clearly with a where/when/who in the new
scene. If you are hop-hop-hopping from scene to scene this is going to
create
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Mary Rosenblum
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a choppy forward momentum.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now this can ADD to the story.
I"ve read short fiction where the leap-leap-leap of the very brief
scenes created a strong forward momentum and added
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Mary Rosenblum
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to a story that involved a
harsh energy.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But if it doesn't suit the
tone of your story, then maybe you need to rethink the structure of that
story. Do you REALLY need all those scenes?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Can you handle some through
character dialogue or flashback?
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Mary Rosenblum
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We don't have to watch Candy
and Jorges agree to buy the car if Candy tells her friend Sally about it
later.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Mostly you want to include
important scenes in your fiction only. Ask yourself 'why does this need to
be here'? Remember...each scene needs to advance the plot, deepen the
characterization, and enrich the setting.
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Mary Rosenblum
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AND...it needs to be important
to the story.
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janecj333
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Mary, I'm finding scenes in my
novel during the rewrite that are not from anyone's pov but crucial to the
understanding of certain characters. These feel like omniscient scenes to
me and are usually short, and transitional in nature. Even so, I worry that
editors will not appreciate them. What do you think?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I think they probably ARE
problematical, Jane. You say that they're crucial to the understanding of
certain characters. What I think you need to do is to figure out how you
can
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Mary Rosenblum
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allow those characters to
reveal what the readers need to know themselves.
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Mary Rosenblum
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There is ALWAYS a way. It is
usually a lot of work for the writer. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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Nobody said writing was easy.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is the basic demand of
characterization. It IS characterization.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You cannot tell readers about
that person. The person has to reveal himself or herself to the reader.
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jackianne
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I'm thinking about going to a
writer's conference this fall. My novel will not be ready, so I don't plan
to approach anyone about getting it read. I'm thinking it would be good to
go for the experience and the workshops they're offering. Have you--or anyone
else here--done this? Would advise for or against going?
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Mary Rosenblum
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By all means go!
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Mary Rosenblum
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You don't go to a writers
conference to pitch your book unless the conference includes agent/editor
pitch sessions. Some do, some don't.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Editors and agents do NOT want
to have mss thrust at them in the halls. BUT...conferences are GREAT
reasources for
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Mary Rosenblum
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excellent panels on writing
and publishing and most importantly are a great place to network. As a
novice writer just breaking in
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Mary Rosenblum
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I got invitations into
professional anthologies that were not open to the general public...because
I had chatted with the editor at a party
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Mary Rosenblum
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and that editor decided to
give me a chance to submit, or I had chatted with a writer who had been
invited in and he/she referred me to the editor.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They're WELL worth the money
you spend...if you take advantage of all that is offered.
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awritingwell
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what do you think of using the
word 'as' in a historical story? Is it useful?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I'm not sure why the type of
story matters, writing. You use 'as' when it's approprite and 'like' or
whatever, when appropriate.
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pook
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about going to a conference
without a pitch - do you need to do anything to prepare
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Mary Rosenblum
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Of course. Read the 'pro' list
and of course, the program so that you know what panels are offered. Decide
whom you'd like to meet and go to their panels.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Decide what you need to learn
most and go to those panels. Meet people. Chat. Be friendly. Exchange
business cards and email addys.
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pook
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but you are a pro - what about
us?
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Mary Rosenblum
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this IS how you should behave.
Me, I'm there as the entertainment. :-) That's why they invite me.
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sundale
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how might I prepare for such
pitch sessions?
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Mary Rosenblum
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The conferences that offer
pitch sessions often offer practice sessions first but if they don't, you
have about sixty seconds to blurb your book.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Write a one paragraph blurb
that will knock the listener's socks off.
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Mary Rosenblum
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shmshwn, you need to type /ask
in front of your question or it won't come up here to the stage and won't
end up in the transcript.
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Mary Rosenblum
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He/she asked if it was
possible not to repeat old plots/story ideas in new form.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Of course not. Every story has
been told countless times.
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Mary Rosenblum
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There are only
three/four/seven plots possible (various theories abound) and all fiction
is variations on something that has been done before.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So what?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Every story is YOUR take on
YOUR characters and as long as that is rich, the story is new.
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shmshwn
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perhaps I should just remember
that new generation thinks they are the only kid on the block.. And it is
unaware that prior lives had the same problems?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I guess that's one way to put
it, shmshwn. I tend to think of it this way: the human species has some
pretty universal issues and we revisit them in many many forms.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The issues that someone who is
twenty now with an ipod in one ear and a blackberry, tattoos and several
piercings is dealing with
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Mary Rosenblum
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are very similiar in very
different ways to something his grandfather deal with at the same age. But
the stories about those two different people will be very different stories
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Mary Rosenblum
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because these are not the same
person, they are two very different people in different worlds.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But the plot, at its essence,
may be the same.
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h.p. lovesauce
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shmshwn's issue sounds less like
a "rut" than a path to success.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It really is. The powerful
stories that get remembered are the ones that touch on those human
universals.
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janecj333
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Part of the problem is that
often the character from whose pov I want the scene to be doesn't come on
stage until a few paragraphs into the scene.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's hard, Jane. What you
must do is find a way to let us find out what we need to know about that
character either ahead of that scene OR through the character's actions,
body language, dialogue, and thought IN the scene.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Remember...we don't have to
know all the backstory as long as we can guess why he/she is behaving this
way.
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Mary Rosenblum
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We rarely know ALL the
backstory about people in our lives in real life.
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pook
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and that is why we keep writing
about it - so the newcomerscan see they are nto the only ones-it is
comforting to know that - i am old too - keep writing shm
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well put,pook. We DO struggle
with the same issues over and over, from generation to generation.
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amyb
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When it says to send titles,
does that mean titles of works, magazines published in, or both? If you
don't include the pub, how will they follow it up?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Yes, they mean published
titles, and by all means include the publisher, even if they don't ask for
it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The writer of the guidelines
just assumed you'd know to do that is all.
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str8shooter
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What critical errors will arise
turning a short story into a
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str8shooter
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novel with a strong POV
character
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, str8t, most short
stories simply don't have enough plot to be a novel
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Mary Rosenblum
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or they wouldnt work as a
short story!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Most of my SF novels begin
with a published short story that wanted to expand and with a little
change, they made a nice chapter.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So you'll probably need to
keep your characters and give them a larger story.
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frightwrite07
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I have begun a story almost at
the end and now the whole thing sounds like a long flashback (which I guess
it is) and it just doesnt flow. How can I make a comfortable transition to
the here and now? any secrets?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I see that a lot, fright, and
it mostly doesn't work well. (Sometimes it does). Why not tell it in
real-time and add an epilogue if you must?
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kard
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I want to write a story of a man
as a boy and then as a...
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kard
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is it possible to do a part 1
and part 2 in the same book?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Sure, Kard. Quite a few novels
take a character from childhood through adulthood.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Kite Runner, a recent
bestseller, did that.
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shmshwn
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my 20 year old grandson went on
a killing manhunt two years ago and then killed himself. That backstory
would include living people. I would like to fictionalize it. Any hints?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Wow, shm. I'm sorry. You know,
I get this a lot with students...the traumatic family event that they want
to fictionalize.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I will be honest with you, I
have not yet seen it succeed. For these reasons:
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Mary Rosenblum
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You know the real story and
youre going to want to tell he real story.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But you are presenting it to
your readers as fiction.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So they want to read a strong
fiction story.
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Mary Rosenblum
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A strong fiction story is very
different than a strong personal narrative (NF) story.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Very few people are able to
step back far enough from that personal life event to alter it in the ways
that make it good fiction.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You are MUCH better off
writing it as nonfiction and simply changing the names.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If we know that we're reading
truth, we don't have the entertainment expectations we have when we're
reading fiction.
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shmshwn
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OK.. but that brings suspicion
of causes onto certain incidents in the character's younger life.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, any time you write about
real life you do have to be careful not to libel anyone.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But that's your only
requirement. That and the effect on family members. You may find that
people don't want to speak to you later. That's something to keep in mind.
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shmshwn
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as fiction the fingers of guit
can point toward immaterial entities
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Mary Rosenblum
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Or you can let the readers do
that pointing instead of you, the author, shm.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You can certainly do it as
fiction, but realize that it is something that is very difficult to do
well.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, this has been a very
lively hour and great questions!
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Mary Rosenblum
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I'll do these open question
forums more often. They're fun! :-) Keep me on my toes, you do.
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shmshwn
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thanks, Mary. You've helped
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's obviously a powerful
story, shm, and one that will certainly hook reader attention. If you can
find a way to comfortably handle it as NF I think that's your best route
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Mary Rosenblum
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Jacki, I hope you make that
conference!
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Mary Rosenblum
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I'll post the transcripts in
the usual place: Writing Craft: Forum Trancripts.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Have a good week, all!
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