Writing Workshops in Florida

Our speaker this week at the Mystery Writers of America luncheon in Boca Raton was Alison McMahan.  To quote the local news:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. October 18, 2015: Pompano Beach, FL. The Florida Writers Association, Inc., (FWA) has announced that Alison McMahan of Pompano Beach won a prestigious Royal Palm Literary Award (RPLA).  McMahan’s winning entry, The Saffron Crocus, a historical mystery for young adults, won First Place in the  Young Adult/New Adult category.The award was announced at FWA’s recent four-day annual conference in Altamonte Springs, Florida. This annual competition, which received 393 submissions, was RPLA’s fourteenth.

How exciting to have an award-winning writer at our MWA luncheon.  Alison’s topic was “Screenwriting Tips for Novelists.”  After a Power Point presentation, and sample analysis of scenes, I learned many of the tips I was already using, especially the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet.  Not exactly the same, but the idea is similar.  Remember that I am a plotter and screenwriting uses a lot of the same techniques like three acts, beginning, middle, and end, and others.

.My screenwriting friend, Luis Aponte, has made a screenplay from my first novel, “Blood Ties:  The Souvenir Killer,” and when I read it I was fascinated and pleased.  I could not believe it was my story, it was so good.  Maybe I am a screenwriter at heart?  No, it shows how similar plotters and screenwriters are.  Luis is currently entering the screenplay in contests before marketing it.

Alison gave us a flowchart, so much like what I learned in college in my pursuit of my Computer Information Systems degree.  It shows the “flow” (how it got its name!) of Act II, the middle of your story, It also reminds me of the “bubble method” I learned at one of the seminars I attended.

There was so much information, there wasn’t time for it all in a short workshop.  My brain was full by the time it was over and I’ve taken this week to digest what I could.  Fortunately, Alison also gave us handouts to refer to as we “plot” our projects.  I recommend any workshop or course Alison gives in the future.  See her website for more information at:  http://www.alisonmcmahan.com and see her biography for film and other credits.  We were so lucky to have her speak to us!  Thank you again, Alison.

Happy reading and writing, as always.  Dont forget SleuthFest 2016 in Deerfield Beach, FL.  See our website for more information and registration at:

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and Alison’s at:   http://www.alisonmcmahan.com

Kathy

kathy@kathymckenzierunk.com

www.kathymckenzierunk.com

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Pantser vs. Plotter – NaNoWriMo

The definition of Pantser is “someone who flies by the seat of their pants, meaning they don’t plan anything, or plan very little,” according to https://TheWritePractice.com.  They also define a Plotter as having planned out their novel ahead of time, knowing what’s going to happen before they write it.  Its harder to get stuck when you know what is going to happen next.  They also say that Plotters get their novels written faster, or at least more smoothly.

There are pros and cons to both styles.  I am a naturally born planner.  At least I think I was born that way, as I saw my granddaughter at age two taking after me by organizing her alphabetic refrigerator magnets in a way she likes, and taking her Easter Bunny magnets and building a scene with them.  I’ve kept pictures of both!  My mother said I was like this as a child.

So today, I want to explain how I write a novel.  Especially for the new NaNoWriMo’s starting November 1.

First, I make a one page outline with the three acts:  Hook, Crisis, Plan.  Now at this point I must know who the murderer is and how and why.  I must identify the main characters in chapter one, not spring someone out of nowhere as the murderer.  So in my books, chapter one, you know everything!  One of the characters commits murder against another, even if not recognized as murder at that time.  My detective, Mackenzie Scott, is a witness and one of the characters.  The clues to the murder are there too!  So now you know who (one of them) how (symptoms) but do you know why?  Of course not!  This is what my books are about.  My detective must find out why, exactly how, so he can figure out who did it.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?  All I need to do is fill in 65,000 more words with all the clues.

Of course I also have a general outline, about one line for each scene, so if I am stuck during November, I look at what is next on the outline.  Some writers make 50 page outlines.  I make one or two pages.

After I finished the first draft, it is time to really get down to the business of editing.  This is the hard part.  When you write that fast as in NaNoWriMo, you tend to get sloppy in your grammar, at least I do.  Now I must fix the grammar as well as any holes in the plot.  For the grammar, I have a school teacher daughter (mother of the two-year-old mentioned about) who proofreads.  But before that, I have a spreadsheet where I analyze my manuscript for holes.  Heres a sample of my current work, “Murder at the Rectory.”  I’ve used Excel here, but you can use a word table.  I must admit I just added the column for emotion since last week’s purchase of the Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Peglisi.  I think it will help with the tension.

		ANALYSIS = MURDER http://nanowrimo.org/AT THE RECTORY
Chapter
	Scene	Scene Description	Characters	Tension/Action	Emotion	Words	Total words
1	1	Church picnic stage Award Ceremony for Potato Salad Contest,  Attendees watching	Mac, Mrs. Bee, Margaret,Millicent Jones, Jenny Jones, Bev & daughters, Trudy Morris,	Rev. Bee collapses	Shock & Disbelief	1220	1220
	2	Mac discusses incident with Rev. Nelson at picnic grounds	Mac, Rev. Nelson	Mac shares observation	Suspicion	560	1780
2	1	Hospital Emergency Room	Mrs. Bee, paramedics, medical staff	Doctors determine time of death	Resignation	359	2139
	2	Picnic grounds	Mac, Rev. Nelson	Mac describes symptoms, calls in Bev to stay with Mrs. Bee at hospital	Suspicion	447	2586
	3	Hospital Emergency Room	Mrs. Bee, Bev, medical staff	Break the news	Regret, Resignation	553	3139

Now I must get back to my analysis!  Happy reading and writing.  Hope you make it through NaNoWriMo which I might skip this year because I have three novels in progress.

Kathy

kathy@kathymckenzierunk.com

www.kathymckenzierunk.com

https://www.facebook.com/kathy.mckenzierunk.9

Writer’s Helpers

A member of my critique group recommended a book “The Emotion Thesaurus:  A Writers Guide to Character Expression,” she found in the library.  It was written by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.  I was anxious to get my copy.  It is available as an e-book for $.99.  Any writer who is starting out or even already published should have this book for reference or memorize these emotion traits for their characters.

For example:  I looked up the word “anxious” that I used in the paragraph above.  This little helper includes physical signals, internal sensations, mental responses, cues of acute or long-term anxiety, and cues of suppressed anxiety.

So if I rewrite the sentence “I was anxious to get my copy,” it might read:

“I glanced at the clock to see if I had time before work to sit down and order it.  My breathing increased and I was dizzy.  Would this help me in my writing or just be another waste of money?  I closed my eyes in an attempt to stay calm, while I pressed the ‘purchase’ button.  Too late now, it was done.”

This certainly increased my word count.   This is almost too dramatic for me!  I’m more the straightforward kind of writer, factual and maybe a little flat.  I hope to change that with this helper.

Of course, the book has a range of descriptions of emotions so we can show and not tell.  Some are more intense than others.  I certainly would not have been “wringing one’s hands” or have the “inability to eat.”  There are many degrees of emotions.  We have to think about each character and what state they are in.

There are similar books by the same authors I will check out another time.  “The Positive Trait Thesaurus:  A Writer’s Guide to Character Attributes” and “The Negative Trait Thesaurus:  A Writer’s Guide to Character Flaws.”  I recommend these to you do also.

In the meantime, happy writing and editing, and editing, and editing!

Kathy

Email me at kathy@kathymckenzierunk.com

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TOP TEN WAYS TO WRITING FITNESS

PRESENTER: Chris Jackson, Ph.D. is a Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at Nova Southeastern University. She’s author of The Tell-Tale Art: Poe in Modern Popular Culture.

Chris gave a workshop after the MWA Florida monthly luncheon.  These workshops are in addition to our speaker at our luncheon.  Last week I told you Patrick Kendrick was our speaker and surprised us all by showing up in full fire gear.

This Saturday workshop gave us hands on experience on polishing our manuscript.  Chris started the workshop by telling us we are the best editor of our work.  We are the only ones who know what we want to say.  She gave us a list of ten ways to do just that.

1. Be specific; show don’t tell. This is a common problem I had when started writing seriously.  Instead of saying “Mac parked his little car in the office parking garage” I changed it to “Mac parked his wife’s red Kia in his marked spot next to the elevator in the underground garage.”  This tells you more about what happened.
2. Give more examples or are there too many? I often would describe what Mac’s family was eating for dinner and drove my critique group crazy with too much information.  So instead of “Mac, Beverly, and the girls had roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, green beans, apple pie and ice cream for dessert, and a tall glass of iced tea,” I cut dinner down to only three main items.  I felt this still explained the home cooking, but not every detail.
3. Try to move the action forward with our sentences. I had a hard time with this because I was writing for NaNoWriMo (50,000 words in 30 days), and would write whatever came to my head.  However, that is what self-editing is all about.  I have time to return to my first draft and make sure I wasn’t just driving around town, but getting somewhere specific.
4. Show the character’s thoughts by getting into his head. I do this by internal dialog that I put in italics.  It shows exactly what my character is thinking.  Another way I use this is by expressions on their faces, tics or nervous movements.  My character runs his hands through his salt and pepper curls whenever he is perplexed.
5. Use active voice verbs. I have a list of “no no’s” I search for and replace in my manuscript.  My word processer often comes up with the passive voice and I can easily identify them.
6. Avoid compound verbs like “to be.” This one is self-explanatory.  You can search through your document and find them.
7. Don’t use “there is/there are.” Same as #6.
8. Condense long sentences and combine very short ones. I like to vary my sentence length, especially to show tone as “Mary, come here!” instead of “Mary will you please come here when you have a minute.”
9. Word economy is important. This is another one I have problems with in my critique group.  Don’t us two sentences to describe when one will express the same thing.
10. Proofread your work backwards. I tried this week to read the last chapter of my novel first as she suggested.  I found holes I didn’t see before.  Guess I need a good editor!

I hope this helps you in your writing.

This was a fun week with a reading of my book, “A Dolphin’s Tale” to kindergarten children at Quiet Waters Elementary School in Deerfield Beach, Florida.  I will be posting pictures soon on my Facebook page.  I also tried out a new theme for fall.  I can’t believe it is October already!

Happy writing!

Kathy

www.kathymckenzierunk.com

https://www.facebook.com/kathy.mckenzierunk.9

MY FIRST DRAFT IS COMPLETE, AM I FINISHED?

Beginning writers often think they are ready to submit to a publisher or agent after they completed their first draft.  Usually a form letter rejection is received and the writer continues to send their first draft out to other publishers or gives up completely.

When is a manuscript ready?  That’s a question many writers struggle with.  Personally, my first novel, “Blood Ties:  The Souvenir Killer,” went through one year of critiques with my writer’s group, then at least 15 revisions of the total manuscript.  To be sure it was ‘readable’ I sent the document to my Kindle (you can use your phone, table or PC) and turned on the Text-to-speech option and listened to my completed book.  What a revelation!  I heard mistakes that were missed during all the reviewing.

Making notes on each page as I listened, I then modified the original once more.  Now I was sure it was ready.  I found three ‘first readers’ who enjoy books and asked them to make any notes of things that didn’t seem to fit, or errors in grammar.  Again, things I missed.  As an author, our brain knows what we meant and sometimes skips over errors.  For example; the daughter of my Sheriff aged too much in the short time period of the book.  Another round of changes.

At this point, you may want to hire a professional editor.  I did so for my second and subsequent books.  There could be many more suggestions to make your work even better and raise your chance of being accepted.

Now I was ready to submit to agents and publishers, as my manuscript was the best that I could do.  I selected them from the available who were accepting submissions in my genre.  I had a subscription to Writer’s Market but there are other sources.  Check your local library for access or do a search on the internet.

Read the submission guidelines carefully.  If they say to double-space a manuscript, DO NOT use any other format.  If they tell you what font to use, be sure to do so.  Otherwise your hard work will end up in the ‘SLUSH’ pile and no one will ever see it.  Most accept only electronic format and if they say DO NOT attach to an email query, be sure to paste it into your email.  If they ask for a synopsis and the first pages, be exact.  If you don’t know how to write a synopsis, research it on the internet.

Be sure your query conveys exactly what they ask for and NEVER put in personal opinions of loving it by your family or friends.  It is okay to compare your work to a similar popular works, but don’t suggest yours is as good as it.  That’s for them to decide.

Finally, don’t give up.  I submitted “Blood Ties” to 27 agents and publishers before deciding on independent publishing.  If this is your route, review my early blogs on steps to follow.

I am on the third draft of my current book, “Murder at the Rectory,” and hope to complete editing this summer to have ready for release before Christmas. I still use a writer’s critique group, still have first readers, and will hire a professional to look over my manuscript.  Good luck on your writing.

Email me any questions at kathy@kathymckenzierunk.com

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Writing – NaNoWriMo

 

 It’s November and I have been furiously writing morning and evening as I have a full time job.  NaNoWriMo is not the only commitment I have this month.  First there was a church function I needed to attend on the 2^nd.  Then there was critique meeting on the 5th (and every Tuesday) and a condo budget meeting on the 6^th.  And there is still marketing to do on the finished books and editing on the new one, “Murder at the Zoo.” In between I had to write a 2500 word first draft for my submission in the new book “Dare to be Authentic – Finding Your Authentic Self.”    Here’s a link for Mari’s website:  http://lifecoachmari.com/

I’ll be one of numerous authors telling their story of finding our authentic self.  So when people say they don’t have time—I say bologna or balogny!   You can always make time for what is important.

 

My entry for the 50,000 word contest, “Murder at the Rectory,” requires research in quick-acting poisons.  This has to be done at lunch time when I can slip away to my tablet and do it.  I haven’t settled on the final type yet but I’m finding out a lot.

 

What else is happening?  I have a second job as a costumed interactive storyteller every other week and today is the day.  You can see the past pictures on my Facebook author page at https://www.facebook.com/kathy.mckenzierunk.9/photos_albums.  And there are two Mystery Writer of American events this month, a luncheon with author presentations and the Miami International Book Fair where I’ll be signing my books.  You can find these events at:  http://www.mwaflorida.org/meetingspage.htm and http://www.miamibookfair.com/.  Everyone is welcome to attend these as a guest.

 

Preparing for my agent appointment at Sleuthfest in February is also  on my plate.  You can find the information of Florida’s premier sleuthing conference at:  http://www.mwaflorida.org/sleuthfest.htm.  Guests can attend here also.

 

I am at 11668 words but haven’t done today’s writing yet.  Thanks for  following my blogs.  You can see all my books at:  www.kathymckenzierunk.com, and look for my author’s page on Amazon.

 

Keep reading and writing.

 

Kathy

 

 

 

 

 

WRITING – NANOWRITMO, self-editing, hiring a professional editor

It’s almost November and I haven’t finished writing last year’s winning novel entry.  Just because you get to 50,000 words in thirty days, doesn’t mean your novel is finished.  I’ve spent the last eight months or so editing my novel, “Murder at the Zoo.”  My goal was to get it out on Amazon before NaNoWriMo started in 2013.  I might not make it.  Since I am running out of time, I decided to stop editing the first draft and write the ending.  Oh, I knew who the antagonist was and what was the motive, but only in outline form.  At least I am thankful I made an outline.

I’ve had to go back and reread every chapter to see what I had written.  Was I surprised at the twist I came up with in Act III.  I believe some alien had taken over my brain and wrote this twisted plot.  I could not believe I had done it.  But, there it is, and I must deal with it.

Between the twist and end of my 50,000 words, my protagonist set up a sting to catch the murderer.  But then it was November 30, and he never finished the sting.  Now I must get my brain back to last year’s plot and write the actual words that make up the capture of the criminal and all the other things I need to sum up the plot and end the book.  I have less than three months to do it before NaNoWriMo starts again for 2013 and I start the fifth book in the series, “Murder at the Rectory.”

I’ve had my critique group go though the novel, a thousand words per week since November.  Then I’ve sent the first chapter to three different editors to get a feel of whom I want to hire before I publish it, or send out queries.  I needed to find an editor who would not change all my writing to ‘their’ voice by correcting grammar in dialog, taking away my own habit of ending a sentence with a preposition, etc.  I think I’ve found her on www.fiverr.com.  This is how I could test each one of them.  But I don’t want to commit myself until I finish the novel.  We all know how quickly things can change, characters, their names, their motives and other things.  So now my goal is to finish the book by August 31, take September & October to self-edit, query and hire a pro editor, then I have the month of November and part of December to decide to self-publish or wait for an offer.

Amazon has been very good to me, and I’ve learned a lot about how to format all kinds of novels, picture books, even comic books.  I can’t quit my day job, but I’m thrilled with the progress.  I’m starting a new project with my children’s books—I’m hiring myself out as a costumed-storyteller for young children and having fun doing it.  I even get to tell my stories to the children.  This could turn out to be my new direction, or since I started with children’s books, return to what I know best as a mother of ten, grandmother of seventeen, and great-grandmother of four boys.

In between I will outline my NaNoWriMo entry for 2013.

Did I tell you I finished reading Anna Karenina as well as “I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now:  A Guide for Special Needs Parents” by Mark, Sandy and Ian Horowitz?  I’m reading Patricia Cornwell’s, The Bone Bed, too.  I carry my tablet everywhere and read every chance I get.

My birthday is next week and I’m taking myself out to my favorite restaurant, Red Lobster, and having the works.  I’m treating my son, the Special Olympian, to lobster that he loves too.

Happy reading and writing!  I’m going to have some free giveaways as soon as I find the time to plan it.  You can email me at kathy@kathymckenzierunk.com anytime.  I always want to pay it forward so if I can help, you know how to contact me.

www.kathymckenzierunk.com