Vivra Just Talking

Just rambling...

2010-08-29T18:38:00.000-05:00

     You know, all the writing manuals, lectures, and published-author-advice, stress how important the first paragraph of a story or novel is; we must have a "hook"--something that grabs the attention of the reader (be it agent, editor, or frequenter of Books-a-Million) and makes them want to continue to read; and if this hook takes in the whole first page, even the whole first paragraph, well and good.
     However, I am into the first umpteen pages (at least 75) of a mystery novel and am in a wash of names and descriptions and nothing else--certainly nothing that makes me want to read on--and in fact, I won't! Of course the author is prolifically published, so I suppose that makes a difference to the editors!
   So--pardon me while I go and re-read the first chapter of my own Work-in-Progress. A lot happens in my first chapter--enough that I hope it encourages readers to "Read on, McBooklover".

All for today...

Uh-Oh...missed days

2010-08-25T19:07:00.000-05:00

     Missed some days here, but I have a good excuse. I received a phone call out of the blue the other day--from my long-lost cousin in England! We lost touch 40-odd years ago when I came to America. I had tried to find him--and apparently he tried to find me--30 years ago, with no luck. He finally hit the right site on the Internet, found my phone number and now we are re-united! So exciting!
   Now to writing. How do you come up with physical descriptions for your characters? Do you use friends (or enemies)? I like to have a photograph or picture attached to their bio--so, I search the clothing sales catalogs for models that look like my character should. I copy the picture and add it to my "Bio file". I have most of the characters in my current WIP--but it is written in first person POV, and I haven't got the faintest idea of what "I" look like. All I know is, I don't want the protagonist to look like I really do!
   This is all for today--I'm off to watch the baseball game on TV (go Rangers)!

Here again...

2010-08-20T16:15:00.000-05:00

     I missed yesterday, went out of town shopping--for things I didn't need with money I don't have--how's that for self indulgence!
     I've just been tidying up my first few chapters of The Ravenwood Portal, because a friend--a member of the East Texas Writers Association--has offered to look at the first two chapters and give me her opinion and suggestions. That would be Chapter One, which was originally meant as a Prolog, along with what is now Chapter Two. It will be interesting to see what she thinks.
     Since I write continuously without chapter divisions, this necessitates that I quickly decide where the breaks will come.
   I keep coming up with many scenarios for my parallel universe--but I'm struggling to put them into some sort of logical order--if one can think of an alternate universe as having logic!
   Okay--I'm off again, until tomorrow...

G'mornin' all

2010-08-18T12:02:00.000-05:00

     Since it is only 11:55 a.m. it is still morning to me!
     I got to thinking about my Portal novel last night; should I simply number each chapter, or use a chapter heading? I like the old fashioned way of doing something like "Chapter One--in which Sarah Jane arrives and the Spice-man Cometh", but I don't think that idea would go down very well with modern editors. I'll just stay with "Chapter One" for now, though I might use my idea in my working copy, I think it will help me stay on track.
     I'm making this entry short--the Texas Rangers play ball at 12:00, I must watch them (on TV)--they're playing Tampa Bay and they got slaughtered last nigh!
   More tomorrow...

Summer Resolution

2010-08-17T17:27:00.000-05:00

     Once upon a time I had a Blog--but, like a lot of people with Blogs I didn't keep it going. So--I decided to start anew, and I hereby resolve to make a huge effort to keep this one updated.
     I see my background information has come forward from my other Blog, so I don't have to say more about me, so on to current info.
     Let's see, I think the last time I wrote on my old Blog was this time last year, and I told about my entry in the National Novel Writing Month (or NANOWRIMO)--a sort of contest to see if a writer can write 50,000 words in 30 days.
   Well, I did it! From the 1st of November to the 30th day, I completed over 50,000 words--yeay! Got me a certificate and everything. Now I'm trying to work those 50,000 words into a finished novel.
   Want to know what it's about? Hmm, an agent or editor often wants the whole thing encapsulating into one paragraph, so here goes:

                   Working title: The Ravenwood Portal
Sarah Jane Bulcock reluctantly travels from Texas to England to take care of her late father's estate, which she wants to dispose of in a hurry. While there, she searches her roots and discovers she is descended from infamous Lancashire Witches executed in the 17th Century. She finds herself in a parallel universe where she has to rescue the exiled souls of those witches in order to release them to continue on to their final resting place.

     I realize I can do better, but that's a pretty good description for now. Of course, there's petty jealousy, downright hatred, magic, romance--and some tears and cheers to end up with.
     In my next post (tomorrow?) I will tell y'all about my past work and published stuff.