Writing Wednesday – Not What I Meant

Bringing Some Reality to Your Writing

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Joel D Canfield

Science tries to deal with what’s real, to identify and label and if possible rule out the imaginary, illogical, impossible.

Sometimes science bothers people with little facts like gravity being the weakest force in the known universe. The only thing that keeps us from flying off into space as the earth turns (moving 1,000mph at the equator but slower near the poles) is that the earth is so huge that the tiny pull of gravity is amplified enough to keep us pinned.

Earth spinning: at the equator, a spot moves 24,000 miles in 24 hours. Simple math: 1,000mpg.

About 8 feet from the geographic pole, you could draw a circle 24 feet around. Stand (float) in one spot, and make the 24-foot trip in the same 24 hours.

That spot is moving 1 foot per hour. The bit at the equator is going 5,280,000 times as fast (1,000mph = 5,280,000 feet per hour.)

Continue reading “Bringing Some Reality to Your Writing”

Editing: Finding the Right Words

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Joel D Canfield

We need new words for all the things we mean when we say the word “editing.”

Proofreading is a separate word for a separate process and yet I’ve seen the word editing used where the writer clearly means finding and correcting spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Let’s all agree not to call that editing. It is proofreading.

Professional editors may divide editing into even finer gradations, but I practice two: line editing and developmental editing.

A line editor ensures that each word is the right word, that each sentence says what you mean, the best it can be said. They make sure that each paragraph is properly constructed. And they do it all without stripping your voice from your writing or overlaying theirs.

A developmental editor looks at the big picture. Their job is to determine if the book as a whole is a whole. Are there sections or chapters missing? Does everything happen in the right order? (This applies to both fiction and nonfiction.) Is there extraneous material?

A developmental editor will tell you if your novel contains the 12 essential waypoints in storytelling. They will tell you if your business book clearly teaches the points you’re trying to convey in the most effective manner. The developmental editor’s job is to determine in the broadest perspective whether or not your book works. Then, in either case, to offer suggestions and refinements to make it the best version of your intent. Continue reading “Editing: Finding the Right Words”

Forget Rules, Follow Principles

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Joel D Canfield

Split infinitives.

“That” vs. “which.”

Punctuation inside or outside the quotes or parentheses?

One space or two after a period?

Rules regarding writing are nearly infinite. The Chicago Manual of Style outweighs my youngest child (and, perhaps, my first car.)

Rules are important.

Except when they’re not.

And that’s why principles trump rules.

If you are writing a technical manual, legislation, or medical procedures, you should adhere strictly to the rules.

If you’re writing for your own fans, your chosen audience, it’s far more important to consistently follow a set of principles. Continue reading “Forget Rules, Follow Principles”

How Long is a Book?

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Joel D Canfield

I write this because I’m trying to talk myself into doing something I’m terrified of.

My so-called “next” book was sent to beta readers in December.

Of 2012.

I wanted to up my game, refine my craft, make it better.

Also, and here’s where the nerves start, to make it longer, because I am (or was) convinced it’s just not long enough. Continue reading “How Long is a Book?”

Why Knowing (and Respecting) Your Genre Matters

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Joel D Canfield

Another musical analogy: young bands call their music “like nothing you’ve ever heard” so often it’s a cliche.

Really? Klingon opera has some similarity to music I know. Hey, Ornette Coleman’s free jazz has similarities to music I know, and that’s more of a reach than Klingon opera.

When I tell folks my music sound like Bob Dylan meeting David Gray for drinks at Roger Miller’s house, that doesn’t diminish my artistic individuality. It just gives potential listeners an idea what they’re getting. It prevents lovers of Klingon opera or free jazz from showing up for my living room concert and smashing up the furniture because they don’t like the music, thank you very much Igor Stravinsky.

But if they show up and don’t witty lyrics, a country feel, and occasional darkness or melancholy, they’ll have every right to riot because I set expectations I failed to meet. Continue reading “Why Knowing (and Respecting) Your Genre Matters”

More Than One Way to Write a Cat Story

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Joel D Canfield

When I talk about your time writing, what picture comes into your mind?

For most of you, I suspect it’s about clattering away on a computer keyboard. (Or, if you have a Mac, gently gliding over its delicate surface, nudging the keys toward their destination.)

Have you ever tried writing whatever it is you write using some other method?

Continue reading “More Than One Way to Write a Cat Story”

Check Your Edge

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Joel D Canfield

Used to work with my buddy Mike. He serviced pet grooming equipment, which is way more fun and interesting than it sounds. Huge mobile workshop.

Biggest part of the business was sharpening clipper blades. Clippers have two blades sliding back and forth past each other so unlike knives, which need a beveled edge, clipper blades need to be flawlessly flat on their face, the surfaces where they meet.

When Mike first started training me, sometimes I’d ask him to check my edge. Are these sharp enough? Am I overdoing it, grinding too much metal away, shortening the life of the blade? Am I working fast enough?

Because he’s the closest friend I’ve had in my whole life, our conversations included a bunch of personal sharing you might not expect to find in a greasy hairy machine shop on a truck. Life, the universe, and everything — we covered it all.

In time, the phrase “check my edge” came to mean more than the mechanics of blade sharpening. I’m almost 20 years older than Mike. He grew up in the country, having adult responsibilities when he was quite young. We each had a vast storehouse of experience and knowledge the other didn’t. We shared. A lot.

When one of us asked the other, “Hey, check my edge?” it was about the value of another mind and heart, another set of life experiences, weighing in on a choice, a challenge.

Continue reading “Check Your Edge”

Snowflake People: Backstory to the Rescue

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Joel D Canfield

I’ve finished 3 mysteries, with a solid first draft of a fourth and half a draft of another. The first, Through the Fog, was a solo project, a lark, a few years ago. This year, I got more serious with A Long, Hard Look and dug a little deeper for Into the Fog, the second of my foggy Irish mysteries.

The first editing note Tom Bentley sent regarding Into the Fog mentioned that its protagonist sounded a lot like the chap in A Long, Hard Look.

All I could think was, wait ’til he reads anodyne.

All three protagonists (wait; there’s a fourth, a woman) speak with my voice. There are subtle differences, but I’ve made the mistake of allowing my writer’s voice to overwhelm these characters’ individuality.

They’re all too much me. I guess I have so many faces I want to use them all. But that’s confusing for readers.

O woe is me. How to fix?

Tom’s first suggestion sounded familiar. That’s because I’ve been recommending it to my business coaching clients since before I wrote The Commonsense Entrepreneur in 2008.

This is why we hire others: so they can help us see, over here, what we’ve been doing for 6 long years over here.

Write What Who You Know

I’d like to introduce you to Eileen Thomasina Armstrong, 36. (She sure doesn’t like her middle name.) Here are some things you might like to know about her: Continue reading “Snowflake People: Backstory to the Rescue”

What is Your Writing Goal for Today, for This Project, for Your Life?

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Joel D Canfield

A subtle theme, more a motif, runs through my conversations with authors. When they talk about their writing, there’s one thing they don’t mention:

When it will be done.

There’s a reason this site is named Someday Box. A reason I chose Getting Your Book Out of the Someday Box as the title for that book.

“Someday” is not a goal. Someday is a dream, a vague notion. Sir Ken Robinson tells the story of chatting with a brilliant pianist whose name I can’t remember. Robinson said “I wish I could play like that.”

The pianist said something like, “No, you like the idea of playing like that. If you really wished you could, you’d be doing something about it.”

Do you want to be a writer or do you just like the idea?

Continue reading “What is Your Writing Goal for Today, for This Project, for Your Life?”

Write Drunk. Edit Sober. Is That Right?

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Joel D Canfield

Apparently Wednesday comes a day late this week. Still sorting this new posting schedule. Glad you’re here.

Papa H famously said, “Write drunk. Edit sober.”

Just to be totally clear that I’m not advocating alcohol abuse, the point is that made by Gustave Flaubert in a letter to Gertrude Tennant (her daughter Dorothy married the explorer Henry Stanley.)

Flaubert wrote Soyez réglé dans votre vie et ordinaire comme un bourgeois, afin d’être violent et original dans vos œuvres.

Be regular and orderly in your life like a bourgeois, so that you may be violent and original in your work.

There is a natural balance between order and chaos. You will have a certain amount of each in life, in your personality, in your art. Continue reading “Write Drunk. Edit Sober. Is That Right?”