It’s been a while since I’ve checked in. . . so I hope you haven’t given up on the site!! I was swamped with my first real revisions and then life and family kept me busy. I haven’t figured out a routine yet for the blog and need to get more organized with that. When I was teaching, we had a special name for every day of the week and special activities for that day. If one of the days started with a “B,” I’d be in great shape. I’ll have to be creative and think of something.
We’re celebrating our Thanksgiving on Saturday this year, so that all of our family can be together. My siblings are coming to my house this time, with their families. The first time we’ve had the holiday celebration at our house in more than a decade. We live the farthest away and it’s easier for one family to travel than three. But we put out the invitation and everyone was eager to get away for a couple days, instead of the one day visit that usually happens.
So, at the top of my thankful list will go my family. The other items, in no particular order: good friends, my writing and readers, my new job, my health, a family that worships together, the freedom we have in the United States. My list could go on and on and this year, I’m determined to keep up with my gratitude journal and write down three things each day.
What would you put on your thankful list? Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
My manuscript arrived the other day, just as I was leaving for a work weekend. I did a quick peek, saw the letter from my editor, and then tucked it away. Very tempting to dive in.
I like revisions. I like making things fit tighter, cleaning up language, eliminating repetition. And with another pair of eyes. . . it’s so much easier to do all those things. Turns out I have a long list of words I use over and over. I’m going to copy them down, stick them on the wall, and watch for them from now on when I’m writing. Words like: look, sound, knew/know, and/then. Thank goodness for my wonderful Flip Dictionary!
What about you? Words you use over and over? How do you keep yourself from repeating them without sounding like you swallowed a thesaurus?
A couple weeks ago, I presented a school workshop on revisions. The timing was great since I had just received an acceptance on a short story. The editor had asked for some revisions, I made the necessary changes, and the story sold. For the workshop, I showed both versions of the story, with the revisions highlighted. The students and I talked about the different choices I made and how the story changed meaning or was tightened/enhanced by the revisions.In a few instances, all I did was change a word. “Laughed” became ’smiled.” I didn’t want anyone laughing ‘at’ the child, which is how the original version sounded. The single word changed the entire meaning of the sentence. Now we had a supportive friend, instead of a teasing, perhaps-making-fun-of friend.
Wouldn’t it be nice if life could be changed as easily? If we could rephrase to show that all we wanted to do was be gently accepting of their humorous comment rather than teasing or laughing at them. I’ve been dealing with a couple of situations that have to do with some hurt feelings. Taking care of the situation would be much easier if the people were characters — I could let them be upset, figure out a satisfying way for them to resolve the issues, and then wrap everything up with some snappy dialogue (that would probably take a few turns on the revision table but we can do that with fiction).
Instead, I have to work with real people, who will say things that may hurt or will hear things that may hurt. We’ll have to work together to find some solutions and in the end, everything may not be wrapped up neatly. Ah, to be back with my characters, who may, just possibly, with all my good intentions, do exactly what I say.
