Become a Literary Pathologist

This past week, I have been focused on being a reader. Since Monday, March 4, 2013 I have read three books. I really enjoyed the stories; but more than that I spent the time looking at how the story was written from a reader’s point of view.

So, I ask you (my readers) when was the last time you dissected a book? When was the last time you were a Literary Pathologist? Then, when was the last time you applied that to your own work?

Remember, we are not only writers! We are dreamers, weavers, bards, teller of tall tales, wordsmiths, publicists, publishers, business owners, and marketing departments. It is our responsibility for putting a product on the market that the reading public wants to read. If we don’t do that, we are being dishonest with ourselves and our art. Sure there is that altruistic notion that why don’t we do art for art sake.

I propose, we smiths of the written word have an obligation to those who are readers of the written word. In today’s world and unlike the world up through the first half of the 20th Century, art will remain undiscovered if we the artist does not promote our art and produce art that the reading public wants to read. We all have our genre of what we like to read and what we like to write. Get to know your genres as well as you know yourself. Don’t forget to research what works and what does not work within your genre.

As wordsmiths, our art is the weaving of the story that is rattling around that orb we call a skull. I feel a wealth of stories bouncing off the inside of my cranium with unrelenting potency. Our job is not to reinvent the stories. Our job to weave it in such a way our readers will draw themselves into the story. We have to respect our readers.

Our art requires us as artists to make our stories interesting and moving forward at all times. I enjoin you all to become Literary Pathologists. Without pathology of the written word, we become a self-indulged bore. Let’s find what stimulates our reader’s appetites!

How to Improve Your Writing

I have found a way to improve my writing and my restraint!

How many of us writers, authors, poets write feverishly and quickly so we don't lose our ideas and flow? I would argue most of us. When I have my journal out and pen in hand, the ideas flood my mind. In turn, I have been guilty of trying to get as many of those ideas down on paper before they are lost. Wrong approach! Even when we are flushing our ideas, we need to keep control on the flood gates. In other words, we need to practice discipline.

As most of you already know, I have been writing a book age appropriate 9 - 12 age range. I have found that even while writing the first draft, I am practicing discipline and restraint. Those ideas that escape the flood gates, I have either filed away or jotted down in a word document indicating where the idea belongs in the book. Just the act of writing the idea down somewhere has proven to be useful. It has helped me to keep the flow of the body of the book going forward, but not too quickly. I call the process, letting the words ferment from grape juice to wine.

I have found that writing a children's book has re-introduced me to tight writing. I have had to slow down and think about every word, every phrase, every paragraph as I am writing. My mother was a high school teacher and a voracious reader. She passed that love of learning on to her children. What surprised all of my friends, my sisters and I were allowed to read what ever book was on my parents book shelves. The only requirement was to understand and be able to apply what I was reading to my daily life. Needless to say I ended up with a very large vocabulary. So, with my new venture, it is a struggle to use words that children 9 - 12 will understand. I am not dumbing down the ideas. I am just couching then differently. I am not rushing to load the front end of the book. I find that I am leading them on an adventure that is within reach of their world.

How many of us have started a project, only to shelf it later on because it is not working. I have an idea, try writing it for a preteen. Take your time to get from chapter 1 to chapter 5 and then from chapter 5 to chapter 10. I have found it helps me with developing the character of my protagonists and antagonists and everyone associated with them. It has allowed me to add interesting twists and turns. It has taught me a valuable lesson to keep within the speed limit. I am figuring out that I have stopped over using words and to properly structure my sentences. It has made me more conscious of keeping vernacular out of my writing. As a reader, the only vernacular I want to see is in occasional dialogue, not in the text of the story.

I challenge my fellow writers to write your first draft as if you are writing it for a third or fourth grader. I tried that on a short story and then on the second draft, I expanded on the vocabulary, the story line and fleshed out the ideas even more and made it adult appropriate. I suspect we authors are a very unusual bunch of people. I suspect we were all reading adult novels at a very young age. I am really enjoying getting back to the basics and as I sleep or take a break, my mind works on the fermenting process. I highly recommend the process. It is a good way to keep us humble and to keep our writing habits healthy.

The Beginning and the End of "Broken Bones and Broken Dreams"

I am writing my first ever children's book. I am having a blast doing it. My arm cannot keep up with the thoughts as the flood gates have opened as wide as they possibly can go. The theme is about bullys and parental abuse. It starts off with broken bones on a friend of the heroine, Magdalena "Maggie" Johnson -- the daughter of my adult mystery series protagonist. One of her dreams is shattered by her finding out that family life for others was not always like her own and that homes are not always a good and safe place to be. But, she learns how to make it better one home at a time. I have decided to share the first paragraph and last paragraph of the book.

Paragraph #1
Dinner at the house of Bob and Vickie Johnson was normally a noisy time for the family. Magdalena, their daughter who everyone called Maggie was always talking. She was the only child of Mr. & Mrs. Johnson. Maggie was nine years old. She talked about everything she could think of during dinner. Not this time, Maggie was sad and barely said two words.

Last Paragraph of the book:

Dinner at the house of Bob and Vickie Johnson was normally a noisy time for the family. Magdalena, their daughter who everyone called Maggie was always talking. She was the only child of Mr. & Mrs. Johnson. Maggie was nine years old. She talked about everything she could think of during dinner. Not this time, Maggie had her friends Brad, Jenny, Mike and their families over for a barbeque in her backyard. All four were speaking, laughing and playing. This time they had two others joining their fun, former school bully Randy and his side-kick, Steve. The parents talked about how much the power of the kid’s friendship accomplished.