You don’t have to get it right the first time!

Self-Confidence

Do you ever doubt your abilities as a writer? Many of us require constant assurance that our work is good. We need the praise of our families and friends to boost our confidence back up when it slips, and it will slip.

While it is natural and important to value praise, you must develop motivation within yourself and work to build your self-confidence. Remind yourself that you can improve your writing skills, that no one is ‘born’ a good writer.

You need to discard negative thoughts about your potential as a writer. Wad them up and throw them in the trash can. I read this wonderful quote on a Writer’s Forum, posted by several members at different times. I don’t know who the originator was, but I believe it is very encouraging and should be written on a sticky note and attached to the monitors of all who doubt themselves.

You don’t have to get it right the first time.

Isn’t that good news? Say it three times out loud and remember it.

Apprehensions may have developed because others were critical of your work or perhaps you were too critical of yourself. Maybe someone told you to scrap everything except that one great sentence.

Most of us grew up being taught not to brag. We were told “Don’t toot your own horn, let others do it for you.” That may be okay in a workplace where what you do is seen by others.

But writing is a solitary act. No one sees the amount of effort and time you’ve invested, or the tears and emotion wrung from your being. We need a little recognition and praise once in a while just to keep from giving up.

Where do we get it? Readers can’t give it until the book is published, reviewers give it along with the criticisms necessary to get it published. The one person best to give you praise along the way is yourself.

You will need this ability, especially when you feel discouraged or frustrated by the reactions of friends or reviewers.

Taking pride in your achievements is not bragging. Instead of focusing on the negatives, take a moment to congratulate yourself for that particularly fine descriptive scene you wrote, or that wonderful character only you could have created. Hey, you wrote a great sentence! Celebrate!

Praise yourself for being able to enjoy your work.

Write for the joy of writing. Write only to please yourself. Your writing will reflect the pleasure you’re taking. You’ll be amazed at the confidence you gain, and it is that confidence which will soon become evident in the quality of work you churn out.

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Avoid Writing a Weather Report

Have you ever been told by a reviewer that you're writing a ‘weather report’ and wondered what it meant?

Novice writers often make the mistake of becoming a Meteorologist. Or they take on the job of the narrator at a Fashion Show, or Travel Guide - even Real Estate Agent. In other words, all these things are done to fill up that most important area - the opening of your story. By the time the weather is established and the characters are fully dressed, the reader may be gone.

Too much description is boring, and many readers will skip over it. Be sure to open your story with the story. Hook the readers and hold them with hooks of the story. They can view the countryside or the room, or whatever setting you’ve chosen, from the eyes of a character as they experience the weather. A character can simply choose a blue tee shirt because they know it matches their eyes. You’ve established their clothing and their eye color with few words. Make sure descriptions fit in naturally and unobtrusively, like a movie image, not as a narrator.

Don't skimp on details, but make each detail count. It’s not easy, but with practice, each attempt will be better. And don't forget to notice how other's do it while you're reading a favorite book. Even experienced writers get caught up with too much description sometimes, and have to cut during revisions. The old saying; Less is More - is true.

Avoid writing ‘weather reports’ and get on with the story.

critt

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Lost for Story Ideas? Harvest Your Family Tree.

I’ve sat and watched the cursor blink on the clean white page for a week. What shall I write about? Yes, Louise, even newsletter editors lack inspiration at times.

Having no direction, my mind wandered toward the family. Natural, eh? I skimmed my genealogy page and wham, the proverbial ton of bricks fell. Of course! Use real people and you can write about anything.

I picked up a few lines here and there and my goodness! I found a writer’s jackpot, and you all have one. It sits neatly among the limbs of your own Family Tree. Have you discovered it yet? Think of the many genres and topics a good writer could get out of this!

Richard Pace, 1483

Richard, (Pace) known as the Tudor diplomat, worked along with Cardinal Woolsey and Erasmus. It is said that Cardinal Woolsey was somewhat jealous of Richard and used his influence to keep him on the European continent as English Ambassador to Italy, working for the Kings cause and away from the court. Richard was an official in the Church and wrote an opinion or took a stand in favor of Henry VIII, divorcing Catherine of Aragon. He helped write the Kings James version of the Bible, working primarily on the Book of Psalms.

John the Jester - Brother of Richard

Although a scholar of King’s College, Cambridge, in 1539, and being a Master of the Arts, he was soon attached as the Jester in the household of the Duke of Norfolk before Henry VIII’s death, and in Elizabeth’s reign, he was transferred to the court.

That a man of education like Pace should have voluntarily assumed ‘the fool’s coat’ often excited hostile comment. To such criticism Pace’s friend, John Heywood, the epigrammatist, once answered that “It is better for the common weal for wise men to ‘go in fools’ coats’ than for fools to ‘go in wise men’s gowns’”
Camden, Remaines,ed.857 p314

Another Richard founded Paces’s Paines across the river from Jamestown. Chanco, an Indian youth who resided with Richard as a son, learned of King Opechankanough’s plan in March of 1622, to massacre all residents of Jamestown. Because of Chanco’s bravery in telling this plan to Richard, many residents were saved. Courtesy of Colonial Surry, by John B. Boddie

CARBONDALE, IL - It took 112 years to get Priscilla's hollyhock seed from Georgia to Oklahoma, according to John W. Allen, curator of history of Southern Illinois University Museum.

I found stories of Priscilla, a young girl of ten or eleven, who gathered the seeds of the hollyhock plant to take with her from (some versions say Georgia) North Carolina to her destination in Oklahoma during the tragic Trail of Tears era of 1838-39.

She was befriended and adopted by my husbands ancestor, Basil, during a rest camp on Dutch Creek, in Illinois. Today, Priscilla Hollyhocks are known by their unusual red color and small size.

I found a story of a hanging that failed during the civil war Confederate raid. The raiders wanted information of a ‘supply’ location. A relative was among those hauling supplies for Col. Mulligan at Lexington. He was the only one found that day and he wouldn’t talk, so the raiders hung him by the neck and left. The knot slipped, he fell to the ground and wormed his way up to the house where Grandma Davis cut the rope. To his death, Jimmy had a knot on the side of his neck and could never straighten it again.

Way back in history I roamed and found reference to a family named Rolfe and Pocahontas. Everyone knows who Pocahontas was.

The John Wayne movie, Rooster Cogburn, carries both of my mother’s family names and was set in Arkansas, her birthplace. I have an old picture in my album of a man with the name ‘Rooster Cogburn’ written across it.

I believe we each have so much history bound up in our family trees, we should never run out of ideas or inspiration. I’m lucky to have a genealogist brother to do all the searching and verifying, it’s more work than I could handle.

Love you, Lee.

http://www.rootsweb.com/

Go directly to the Message Boards and type in your family name. It's free and it's fun to read others looking for the same information - your family. This is not a site to do research unless you want to pay. If you do, it's very good, one of the best. But, free information is abundant.

If you don’t have time to do a thorough search, just visit a genealogy site and search your family names. You’ll be pleasantly surprised, and you may decide to work on your own history.

Write your fiction based on true events but don’t worry about keeping them factual. That’s what makes good fiction.

A Tip for Beginning Writers

You want to write a novel. An idea has been wandering in your mind for days, weeks, or even years and you finally decide to sit and write it. But, when you try to write the first sentence your mind goes blank and you don't know where to start. Frustrated, you begin to think you're not destined to become a writer after all.


Stop, back up, and start over. Everyone has a story to tell, and it will demand to be written sooner or later, but only when it’s ready. Experienced writers have a difficult time forcing the story from their mind to their fingertips; new writers find it almost impossible; and most important: no one gets it right in the first draft. My advice? Don't worry about it. Relax and let it happen naturally, one paragraph at a time. Literally, one paragraph at a time.


I suggest beginning with a scene. The 55 word contests found on writing sites are excellent practice for writing complete scenes. They usually give you a prompt, but you can always continue it on your writing program to suit yourself. They give you a boost in starting, take advantage of them. Then, write another. Before long you’ll have enough for a chapter. Don’t think in terms of chapter though, because then you’ll worry about keeping the action in order. Write the end first if you know how you want it to end. Write the battle from the middle of the story.



Don’t be afraid to make changes; as the story evolves, you’ll discover new ideas. Chances are you don’t have the story in sequential order in your head; you only have vague ideas of the characters or theme. Maybe all you know for sure is the setting, describe it by way of a scene. Write each scene on separate pages and title them by topic - not by the page number or proposed book title. Keep them simple and clear so you know exactly which scene you’re about to open in your writing program.


Instead of thinking in novel form, which is a huge undertaking; think of a paragraph scene. Keep it short and work on that paragraph until you can see and feel everything it contains. The point is to write as you see it in your mind, and only that small block that you see clearly. Don't try to expand it beyond what you are imagining. Novels begin with a single idea and go from there. A pleasant bonus of perfecting a paragraph or scene is you may find yourself suddenly on a roll and before you know it, a whole page is born.

The reason for writing a great paragraph is because as you learn to perfect it, the story begins to grow stronger in your mind. You will begin to see a character in the setting. Write freely and don't stop to count the spelling errors. For many writers, this will immediately stop the imagination from flowing.

Begin with writing down the basic idea. What kind of story will it be? What the character intends to accomplish in the end, and maybe a few of the obstacles he runs into. What kind of setting or world you will create. You already know the answers since you've been thinking of it for a while. Write naturally at this point, scribble or use chat-speak, don't attempt to use story format unless you're comfortable with it. You'll learn that later.

What you are doing is writing an informal outline for your eyes only. Depending on how extensive this outline is, it also helps to keep the story on track. You can look back and see if you've veered off the path. This helps you stay consistent and keeps events in sequential order. Adding character profiles can help too. For beginning writers, outlines help a lot in the technical department, but surprisingly, they get your fingers moving and your imagination wakes up .