Category: Uncategorized

My writer’s notebook

A few months ago I started keeping a writer’s notebook of itms that could help me in my own writing. The notebook is divided into various sections, including “First Lines of Novels,” “Agents, Editors, etc.,” “Blog Post Ideas,” “Notes from Author Interviews I Saw or Read,” and “Lines I Like.” I’m doing my first writer’s notebook. My biggest challenge is guessing at how many pages to allot to each section.

writer's notebook 002
My writer’s notebook – Volume 1

First Lines of Novels

In the “First Lines of Novels” section I write down the opening sentence or paragraph from every book I read. Some of them make me think, I wish I’d thought of that!

Literary Agents, Editors, etc.

Occasionally, in the acknowledgements page, a novelist reveals the name of their literary agent or editor. I try to make a note of those names, especially if the book is historical fiction.

Notes from Author Interviews

When I hear an author being interviewed on National Public Radio (NPR) or see one being interviewed on TV (usually on PBS – the Public Broadcasting System) by Charlie Rose or Tavis Smiley, I grab a pen and paper so I’m ready to jot down a quote, an idea, a recommendation, or a book name that piques my interest. The University of North Carolina public TV system (UNC-TV) has a weekly program called “Bookwatch” that features interviews with North Carolina writers. I especially enjoyed Lee Smith’s February 25, 2016 appearance on that show and her comments about her new book, Dimestore: A Writer’s Life. I read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I could hear Ms. Smith’s lovely Southern accent in my head as I read it.

Blog Post Ideas

This section is self-explanatory, but I find my writer’s notebook is a good place to write down blog post ideas. If I don’t write down ideas immediately, chances are I won’t remember them later.

Lines I Like

When I happen upon an unusually beautiful, humorous, or well-written passage in a book, I write it down in this section of my notebook. These are phrases, sentences, or paragraphs I want to read over and over again. I note the author’s name and the name of the book, of course.

I’ll end this post with a selection from that portion of my notebook:

“Their recent conversations skipped like stones across the surface of their lives, never finding depth, never touching the trouble that had been visited upon Alexander.” ~ The Guise of Another, a novel by Allen Eskens.

Janet Morrison

Update on sorting out social media

It’s been an interesting four days since my last blog post. Today’s post is (as the title suggestions) an update on my adventures in sorting out social media. I’m a writer, not an IT person.

Facebook

For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you already know I’ve made no progress there. I’m finding it a challenge to share articles I find online on my Janet Morrison, Writer Facebook page. It is secondary to my personal page. Sometimes I’m given the option of sharing on either page, but usually my only choice is to share on my personal page. Also, when I try to install a Facebook button on my blog, it takes you to my personal page. I don’t want to merge my two pages, but that might be my only option.

Pinterest

I’ve made a point to pin to several of my Pinterest boards every day. Instead of being satisfied to just pin quotes about writing to my “The Writing Life” board, I’m making a concerted effort to find more substantive and helpful articles about the craft of writing. Since April 4 my Pinterest followers have increased from 32 to 40. That’s not a huge number, but it’s 25% — which sounds better. I wrote a nonfiction vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina in 2014. I hope my “Blue Ridge Mountains” and “Great Smoky Mountains” boards will result in some book sales. I invite you to follow me or my boards you find of interest at http://www.pinterest.com/janet5049.

I’ve had a Twitter account for longer than I care to remember, but I’ve hesitated to use it. There! I’ve said it! I have retweeted 14 tweets and sent five original tweets all in the last eight days. I’m still a little in the dark about hashtags. I’m following 51 people and 14 are following me. I’m resisting the temptation to check out Twitter for Dummies from the library after my less than stellar experience with I-Phones for Dummies.

Blogger Networking

One encouraging thing that has resulted from my plunging deeper into social media this week is that I was contacted by a fellow blogger who is also writing a book and dealing with some of the same social media issues I’m struggling with. #MyNameIsJamie @Sonni_quick gave me some wisdom from her experience and we commiserated about our mutual shortcomings when it comes to building our platforms online. It was reassuring to find out I’m not the only person feeling my way through the maze of social media of tweets, Facebook, blogs, etc.; however, Sonni is ahead of me on the learning curve.

Summary

It felt good to make some progress this week after a couple of nonproductive months, I have also found encouragement and inspiration in the poetry, prose, and articles shared by the bloggers I follow.

My Next Blog

In my next blog on April 18, I plan to write about the writer’s notebook I keep. See you then!

Janet Morrison

10 random facts about me

Liebster Award

In my blog post a couple of days ago, I wrote about being nominated for the Liebster Award. One of the requirements was that I post 10 random facts about myself. I put that off until today, for reasons that will become more clear when you read my list. I have tried to keep my limited energy a secret from my readers, but it is time to “come clean.”

1. I have what is called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) in the United States but is known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) in the rest of the world. My energy and stamina are limited, and my memory problems and mental fog make my research and writing tedious and time consuming. I often feel as if I live in a vat of molasses. Nothing comes easily.

2. I started working on the manuscript of my proposed historical novel, The Spanish Coin, in 2005. I am still tweaking it.

3. As a young adult, I was a “fiction snob.” I thought there was nothing to learn or gain by reading fiction. You can imagine how shocked my sister was when, at the age of 48 in 2001, I told her that I had registered for a fiction writing class! That’s when I started learning to write fiction.

4. Although my appearance, manner, and personality give the impression that I am conservative, I am a liberal when it comes to politics.

5. After wanting to play the Appalachian lap dulcimer since first being introduced to the instrument as a college freshman, I finally purchased one and attended a four-day dulcimer workshop in 2010. Due to random fact #1, I still don’t play well and probably never will; however, I do play for my own enjoyment. I often listen to dulcimer music while I write. (I’m listening to some as I write this blog post.)

6. I live on land that has been in my family since the 1760s.

7. I sleep in a bed that my father made of pine from our land in the 1940s.

8. I wish I could sing.

9. I could drive a tractor before I was old enough to drive a car.

10. Taking the fiction writing course and attending the dulcimer workshop were life-changing experiences for me, and I will forever be grateful that I got out of my comfort zone and took advantage of both opportunities.

No matter your age, stretch yourself and follow your dreams. What do you have to lose?

Liebster Award

Thank you, philipcraddock.wordpress.com for nominating me for the Liebster Award! Please take a look at the Philip Craddock Writing Portfolio blog. Philip writes short stories, poetry, and songs.

Liebster Award

If you are unfamiliar with the Liebster Award, you can read all about it at theglobalaussie.com. In a nutshell, the purpose of the award is to connect with bloggers and discover new blogs, particularly those of us with fewer than 200 followers.

 

My favorite blog

In keeping with the rules of the Liebster Award, I want to tell you a little about my favorite blog, https://journeywithsarah.wordpress.com/. In this blog, Sarah’s mother chronicles her teenage daughter’s journey as she battles cancer.

Sarah and her mother show remarkable courage and positivity even as they know the teen’s time is limited. Sarah has fearlessly tried every treatment her oncologists have recommended. Some have worked for a short while. Others have been less successful. In the midst of all her pain and physical weakness, though, Sarah has persevered and lived each day to the fullest.

Sarah’s mother shows that same upbeat attitude and faith in God. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for a parent to hear that his or her child has cancer and then remain positive throughout the child’s battle.

What an example Sarah and her mother set for us! I only hope if the day comes that I am faced with an adversary as cruel as cancer, that I will live life as graciously as Sarah.

 

Random facts about me

Liebster Award nominees are asked to list 10 random facts about themselves in their post about the award. I’m working on that and plan to share those facts in my next blog post in a few days.

 

Blogs I follow

Another requirement of the Liebster Award is that nominees must nominate five or as many as 10 other bloggers for the award. Taking a look at the blogs I follow, I see that I don’t know how many followers most of them have, but I imagine they all exceed the 200 followers limit. In my next blog post, you will learn why I simply don’t have enough energy to contact each one of them to determine how many followers they have. I regret that I cannot fulfill this element of the award rules. I will simply list my favorite blogs and invite you to check them out. They are as follows:

  1. https://htmm.wordpress.com/
  2. https://journeywithsarah.wordpress.com/
  3. http://emilierichards.com/blog/
  4. https://thehistoricaldiaries.wordpress.com/
  5. http://raulconde001.com/
  6. http://davidsnape.me/
  7. http://honeyquill.com/
  8. http://globalconsilium.com/
  9. http://5kidswdisabilities.com/
  10. https://yummyinsidemytummy.wordpress.com/
  11. https://tech189.wordpress.com/category/technology/

 

Questions presented to me by Philip Craddock:

1. What is your favourite poem? “If,” by Rudyard Kipling

2. What is your biggest regret? That I waited until middle age to start writing.

3. Which country would you most like to visit/visit again? Scotland!

4. What is your favourite dessert? plain cheesecake

5. If you could travel back in time to any point in history, what time period would you visit? The 1770s.

6. If you were a superhero, what would your superhero name & your superpower be? This is way out of my usual consideration, so answering this question is a real challenge. Let’s see…. Janet the Superbird. My superpower would be that I could fly.

7. Do you have any phobias? Snakes!

8. What are your goals for 2016? Publish my historical novel, The Spanish Coin.

9. Not including your own blog, which blog would you most like other people to Follow?  https://journeywithsarah.wordpress.com/

10. What motivated you to start blogging? I wanted to share my journey as an author-wannabe, and ultimately build a platform to promote my published books.

11. What is the strangest fact about yourself that you’re willing to admit to?  My illness has my circadian clock off by about six hours, which means I’m always out of sync with the rest of my local world.

The Official Rules of the Liebster Award 2016

As required, I am listing the 2016 rules for the Liebster Award as found at http://theglobalaussie.com/.

“Back in 2011 the rules were a simple case of acknowledgement of the nominator and to nominate 5 more. Now in 2016 it is a little more involved!

“If you have been nominated for The Liebster Award AND YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT, write a blog post about the Liebster award in which you:

  1. Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog. Try to include a little promotion for the person who nominated you. They will thank you for it and those who you nominate will also help you out as well.
  1. Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.) At the bottom of this post I’ve included a whole lot of images you can use for your 2016 Liebster Award.
  1. For the 2016 Liebster Award I will be shaking things up! Write a 150-300 word post about your favourite blog that is not your own. Explain why you like the blog, provide links.
  1. Provide 10 random facts about yourself. (This year I’m making this optional. If you wish to engage with your readers it’s a great idea to include random facts about you.)
  1. Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 200 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know this information!)
  1. List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here.) Once you have written and published it, you then have to:
  1. Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post or mine if you don’t have all the information so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)”

My energy wanes and it is now the wee hours of the morning here in North Carolina. I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s post as much as I enjoyed writing it. It took me a little out of my comfort zone, which was a good exercise.

Watch for my next blog post in which I will list 10 random facts about myself.

Janet Morrison

 

The value of a good writing teacher

It was my privilege in 2001 to take a fiction writing course through the Continuing Education Department at Queens University in Charlotte. The instructor was Judith H. Simpson. Judy was a jewel and a natural-born teacher. She always had time for each of her students, and she organized and moderated the Queens Writers Group — a group that any of her former students were eligible to join.

When I get stuck, bogged down, confused, or just need a little encouragement in my writing life, I can turn to the words Judy left behind in her book (Foundations of Fiction), my notes from her class, e-mails from her that I printed and kept, or postings she made on our yahoo group’s site.

Judy Simpson's book cover 002

Judy had a way of explaining things in a nutshell and giving examples that clearly illustrated the points she was making. She delighted in seeing her students improve and succeed. I wish Judy were still here to nudge me along to get a literary agent and get my historical novel, The Spanish Coin, published.

It has been my experience that most writers are happy to share what they have learned with those of us who are still just beginning our journeys as writers. If you aspire to be a writer, I hope you will find a writing instructor/mentor like Judy Simpson. Through her class and caring, Judy helped me to take my first steps as a writer. She gave me the confidence to keep putting one foot in front of the other and to keep writing after she was gone. Come to think of it, is that not the true definition of a teacher?

Thomas Lee Dulin’s Daybooks

One of my great-grandfathers, Thomas Lee Dulin, kept a daybook almost every day from 1891 until 1914. Perhaps the roots of my desire to be a writer can be found in that part of my gene pool. Being born in rural North Carolina in 1842, Great-Grandpa did not have benefit of a great deal of education. For that reason I especially admire him and appreciate the fact that he sat down with his pencil and ledger and wrote nearly every day. He seldom used punctuation and his spelling was not perfect, but he probably did not have a dictionary. He made the effort almost every day, and by doing so left a great example for me to follow suit.

IMG_0075

Great-Grandpa wrote about the weather (which was of utmost importance to him as a farmer) and what was being done on his farm in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He noted the going price for a pound of cotton in Charlotte and surrounding markets because cotton was his main cash crop. If a neighbor stopped by to visit, he made a record of that.

According to official records, Great-Grandpa enlisted in Company H, 35th Regiment, North Carolina Troops in 1861. He gave his age as 21, although he was just 18. As a veteran of our country’s civil war, he made note of the anniversaries of the two main battles in which he participated – New Bern and Richmond. He was wounded in the left shoulder at Malvern Hill in the seven-day Battle of Richmond.

Some years ago, my mother and sister painstakingly hand-copied Great-Grandpa’s daybooks. Without realizing that today was the 154th anniversary of the Battle of New Bern, I checked that transcription to see what was going on in Thomas Lee Dulin’s world through the years on March 14. It was sobering to read his daybook entry for March 14, 1899: “37 year today I was in the Battle of Newbern, N.C.” Although in the interim he had married, been widowed at the age of 38, and left to raise his six surviving children, March 14, 1862 was forever engraved in his memory.

As the years went by, Great-Grandpa almost never failed to mention on March 14 how many years it had been since the Battle of New Bern. Oral history is valuable, but sometimes the stories get changed as they are passed down from one generation to another. The written word, especially when kept daily in a daybook, journal, or diary is a powerful record that we can hold in our hands and refer back to in order to make sure we get the facts right. My great-grandfather’s daybooks are a family and local treasure housed in the North Carolina Collection at the main branch of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Four Paws for Noah

Today’s post makes you aware of Four Paws for Noah and a couple of ways you can help fund the training of Appa, an assistance dog for a boy named Noah.

Noah is a nine-year-old boy who struggles with autism. There are two writing contests whose entry fees will go 100% to help pay the cost for Appa’s training.

The “Able is This Diverse Universe Essay Competition” has a March 31, 2016 deadline. You may write an up to 2000-word essay based on the themes of ableism, disability, access, and overcoming. Go to https//honeyquill.submitable.com to submit your essay and $10 entry fee.

The “Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Writing Competition” invites a 100- to 500-word piece of fiction using the theme “a boy’s dog.” This competition has a March 31 deadline and a $15 entry fee. Visit the CarrotRanch.com website. Click on “Events” and then on “Contests” for contest details.

The way I see it, entering these competitions is a win/win situation. Time spent working on a piece for a writing contest is never wasted time. One becomes a better writer by writing. The entry fees going to support such a worthy cause is just icing on the cake.

A good writing book by James Scott Bell

Work continues on the manuscript for my historical novel (I hope!) titled The Spanish Coin. At the rate I’m tweaking it, my friends and family probably wonder if they will live to see the book in print.

I recently read James Scott Bell’s 2012 Writer’s Digest Book, Revisions and Self-Editing for Publication, 2nd Edition. In today’s post I will share some of the notes I took while reading the introduction, the early pages (“On Becoming a Writer”), and the first chapter.

An important point Mr. Bell makes is that a writer must read. Read books of all kinds — and a lot of them. Take note of what works in the books you read, then practice those techniques. I have never thought I had any talent for writing poetry. I read poetry only occasionally; however, Mr. Bell recommends that a writer read poetry to help get creative juices flowing. I never would have thought of that. I plan to read a poem each day when I sit down to write.

Mr. Bell writes, “Concept is the one-liner that will explain your story.” I know this is something I need to work on because when anyone asks me what my book is about, I struggle to verbalize a one-sentence explanation.

“Conflict is the blood of fiction, the heartbeat of narrative,” according to Mr. Bell. I am reminded of an acquaintance of mine some years ago who complained that she didn’t know why there had to be so many crises in the television series, “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.” It was the conflict and crises, though, that made the program interesting to watch. Who wants to watch a show in which life is perfect? Likewise, who wants to read a book in which there is no conflict or one in which the main character has no problems to overcome?

Another morsel of wisdom from Mr. Bell is, “Write first, polish later. That’s the golden rule of production.” I need to write that on a sticky note and put it on my computer screen. My natural inclination is to try to get it right the first time. The more I write, though, the more I realize that is unlikely to happen. I might write a perfect sentence once in a while but, more times than not, when I go back and read a phrase, sentence, or paragraph again I will find a way to improve it.

Those are just the highlights from the introduction and first chapter of Revisions and Self-Editing for Publication, 2nd Edition, by James Scott Bell. Each of the other chapters addresses in detail such things as characters, plot and structure, point of view, scenes, dialogue, setting and description, and much more. I recommend the book to anyone who is learning the craft of writing.

Early in the book, Mr. Bell wrote the following: “Trust that the techniques you are learning will flow out naturally. When they don’t, you can learn to see where the problems are. That’s what self-editing and revision are all about.” The learning process never stops. For the rest of my life, I’ll be learning the craft of writing. I feel driven to write, but I know I have much to learn and much work to do on my novel manuscript before I will be ready to take the next step — either hiring a professional editor or writing a query letter to a literary agent.

Stay tuned for my journey!

What do I do with my time?

I am often asked what I do with my time, since I do not work outside the home. It puzzles me on several levels. Foremost, why does anyone care what I do with my time? Some people don’t think writing is hard work. I have friends who think a book can be written in a day, so they wonder why I haven’t finished writing my historical novel, The Spanish Coin.

Also, I have many interests. I enjoy reading; writing; rooting for my beloved Carolina Panthers (“Keep Pounding!”); genealogy; staying informed about current events and politics; sewing; quilting; playing the mountain dulcimer; crocheting; knitting; doing needlepoint; photography; cooking; baking; listening to a variety of music; and spending quality time with friends, family, and my dog. My sister and I share an online craft shop, Hickory Ridge Crafts, on Etsy.

Therefore, I hardly know where to start or how to respond when asked, “What do you do with your time?” My interests run far beyond my energy, but I am fortunate to be able to do what I’m in the mood to do most days. That, my friends, is a true blessing. I worked full time for many years, so I value my time now all the more.

Computer crashes and such

Just when I posted that I was going to try to do better with this blogging thing, my computer crashed. The good news is that all my writing was backed up and recovered. The bad news is that I lost some e-mail addresses and all the e-mails I had saved into folders. It seems that my internet provider has a POP system instead of an IMAP system. Who knew? Not I. I thought everything was backed up on my external hard drive, but the e-mails weren’t. What I know about computers would fit on the head of a pin.

To make a long story short, my computer has now been rebuilt after some unavoidable delays due to the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. I’ve been playing catch up for the last 10 days.

It is surprising how much I use a computer, considering how computer savvy I am not. Not having access to e-mail, Facebook, or the latest revisions I made to my The Spanish Coin manuscript for nearly a month freed up my time for other endeavors. I did some household decluttering, spent more time reading than I usually allow myself, and became somewhat lazy.

With a “new” computer in place, I hope to find that at least some of the slowness I have blamed on my internet provider turns out to be due to a dying hard drive.

I have only written one blog post in advance and scheduled it for publication on a future date. Ironically, before my computer crashed I composed a blog that I scheduled for publication tomorrow. We’ll see how that turns out.