Happy Father’s Day!

 Happy Father’s Day! Today is the day set aside to celebrate dads. It was first celebrated in Washington in 1910 in response to Mother’s Day, but it sort of fell into obscurity. It gained national recognition in the 1930s, with the Father’s Day Council being founded in 1938. After years of debate in the government and media, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a proclamation honoring fathers on the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day in 1966. And here we are today, the third Sunday in June, 2012, honoring dads.

I don’t do it because of a response to Mother’s Day. I don’t do it because of the media hype. I don’t do it because of the presidential decree. I do it because I have a great dad. And so does my husband. And my husband is a wonderful father to our kids.

They deserve some recognition for that.

So today, instead of trying to check items off my honey-do list, I’m going to tell my husband how much I appreciate him just the way he is. And I’m going to tell all the other dads in my life the same.

I hope you all have a great father’s day, how ever you choose to spend it.

Happy Flag Day!

Today is Flag Day, or the commemoration of the day the United States adopted the use of the American Flag as a symbol for our nation. I am proud of my mostly Italian heritage, and I am proud of my Irish, Scottish, German and Dutch heritage as well, although I know very little about my father’s side of the family compared to my mother’s. But I am 100% American and proud of it, today and everyday. I appreciate the freedoms that I have and the soldiers who have fought and are fighting to give those freedoms to me (my niece being one of them). When I see the Stars and Stripes, I know what they represent, and I am grateful. I’m spending some time today thinking about our great nation, and contemplating where we’ve been and where we’re headed. I encourage you all to do the same… and to display a flag. Proudly.

Picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Day_(United_States)

To Edit or Not to Edit, That is the Question

Of course you edit! What kind of ridiculous question is that?

I don’t mean ever, naturally. I mean as you write. I’ve heard this topic discussed a lot, and my friend Joy (joykeeney.wordpress.com) just blogged her way through her thoughts on the topic. What’s a writer to make of it all?

Here’s my two cents (and that’s about what it’s worth).

Most writers tell you not to edit as you go. They tell you to get the words on the page and revise later. They don’t want to break the creative process with the mundane chore of grammar, punctuation and the like. There is merit to that school of thought.

Some people, the edit-happy writers of the bunch, advocate editing as they write because it saves time later. Does it break creative flow? Possibly. Do you run the risk of losing the idea of the century? Yes, you do. So why risk it? Because if, in the course of editing, you discover a plot point error in chapter 2, it will save you weeks if not months of editing later.

Where do I fall? I tend to fix the little things I notice as I go, but mostly plow forward. Then I spend the beginning of each day reviewing the prior day’s work to fix the big things. It seems to be a happy medium, and it works for me. I’d recommend this technique to anyone.

Why do I think this post is only worth two cents? Because, while I think it’s great advice, writers seem to be creatures of habit and I don’t believe anything written here will change their ways on the matter. But writers are also dreamers, and I’m ever hopeful!

Keep writing, everybody. And editing!

Hard Work Pays Off

I posted earlier that you send your work off and you wait and you wait and you wait. Well, I waited.

And it paid off.

Two stories were accepted for publication today. “Code Blue” and “Dudley” are being published in an anthology later in the summer.

I’ll post details when I have them, but today, I celebrate.

But only for a little bit.

And then I’ll get back to work.

Rest in Peace

Noted science fiction author Ray Bradbury died yesterday at the age of 91. He was most famous for Fahrenheit 451, but he wrote books, stories and scripts that affected people around the world since his first short story sold in 1941. He will be missed.

Patience is a Virtue

So you’ve sent off your short story to a contest, or your query letter to an agent, or your manuscript to a publisher. And you wait. And you wait. And you wait.

It can be agonizing.

What’s a writer to do?

This is the age of instant gratification. If you need an answer immediately, go to a conference. There you can sit down with an agent or editor and have a face to face chat and find out immediately if you have what their agency is looking for. You may not like the answer you get, but at least you’ll get an answer. Immediately. If you don’t like the answer, don’t give up. Pitch to a different agent or editor. If you keep hearing “no” well, then maybe you should write something else.

If you’re willing to wait the two months for the competition, or the answer to the query or the manuscript submission, then there’s nothing you can do but wait the time out. And while you do, don’t twiddle your thumbs. Keep writing.

Someone may want to read a sequel.

Words for the Writer to Live By

One of my favorite quotes is:

So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.

Prolific, huh? Must have been said by one of the greats, like Fitzgerald, or Dickens, or Faulkner. Bronte, or Shakespeare, or Poe.

Nope.

Dr. Seuss.

In my mind, still one of the greats. He wrote for a different audience, but he still touched a lot of minds. And hearts. And that’s all writers really want to do – reach the minds and hearts of their readers. That’s all I really want to do.

And, like Dr. Seuss said, I should do it in as few words as possible so as not to make it difficult for my audience.

Research

I want to discuss research a little bit today. In two different manners.

First, there is research for your writing. The Internet is a wealth of information, if you know how to use it correctly. Sure, sites like wikipedia pop up first and are easy to navigate, but tread carefully. Anyone can post to those sites and you can’t trust their accuracy. Rely instead on academic sites or sites whose expertise is solely about the topic you’re researching.

But, let’s not forget the importance of hands on research. There’s nothing that can substitute for actually being in the city you’re writing about, holding the object you mention in your hands, smelling the gardens, tasting the food… Your writing will be so much richer after having experienced the things you want to write about. People always say write what you know. If you don’t know it, go learn it, then write it.

Obviously this doesn’t apply to all genres (I’m not talking to you, George Lucas), but you get my point.

Challenge Accepted

Originally posted May 31, 2012

If anyone watches How I Met Your Mother, you’ll recognize one of Barney’s catch phrases in my title.

I’ve always considered myself a novelist when it comes to writing. If you know me personally, you know I can ramble on and on. Short and to the point isn’t really my thing. So, naturally, novels are right for me. I can weave long complicated plots and take my sweet time to get to the point. (That isn’t to say I take longer than I need to; I just don’t have everything wrapped up in 3000 words.)

Since I took that short story class I’ve decided to try to find stories in me that can be told in small segments. I’ve even written 250 word stories. I’m challenging myself to encapsulate events into small sections of time. Not only has it helped my novel writing, it’s just been fun.

Let me encourage all of you to challenge yourselves once in a while. Do something you don’t normally do and see if it doesn’t help you in your usual genre. I bet you’ll be glad you did. I know I am.

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