Planet Procrastination

I'm over at the Writer's Retreat blog today, discussing how to quit making excuses not to write.

*hums*

I give myself very good advice, though I very seldom follow it . . .

Writing Reference Series #1

I started a new series of Wiley Wednesday posts on several writing-craft books. The first one, on 'The Elements of Style' by Strunk & White, is posted over here on the Writer's Retreat blog.

What is a Bestseller?

I'm over at the Writer's Retreat Blog today, pondering what it means to be a best-selling author.

Check it out.

Graveyard to Garden

I'm over at the WR blog today, with thoughts on how to turn your manuscript graveyard into a garden.

Motivation Schmotivation

I put up a lengthy post of a two-part series on motivation and goals over on the Writer's Retreat Blog today. Check it out here.

And for frick's sake . . . I just realized it's June. *bugeyes*

Did it sneak up on anyone else?

May Flash Fiction Carnival

If you are looking for the Flash Fiction Carnival theme/instructions for May, you can find them here. Happy Flashing!

Quest for Balance . . .

I'm rambling about how to balance writing with your personal life over at the Writer's Retreat Blog today.

Link

Flash Friday the Third

It's that time again, and I'm late. I don't know if I'll be able to do this *every* week, but I shall try. Here was our very first picture prompt:

And here is my contribution . . .

Colors “To your left you will see what is called a painting – an ancient form of art, utilized by humans from pre-history through the late 23rd Earth century. The artist is unknown, but it clearly depicts the first hail of the Alcorian Empire in 2384. The messenger stands with his arms held high, welcoming his kin to their new home. Many believe that this event marked the end of humanity, while Alcorian historians deem it the most important event in our people’s history . . .” Tasha stared at the vivid swirl of colors before her as the robotic guide’s voice continued down the hallway. “Daddy, how did they do that?” she asked, pulling on her father’s arm and planting her feet. His whiskers stirred at the question, and he looked down at his inquisitive daughter’s wide black eyes. “They made the colors soft, and then they transferred them onto something hard,” he answered, wrapping a tentacle around her wrist and yanking her forward. “I’ve never seen those colors,” she said, tilting her head to one side as one of her own tentacles whipped out and coiled about the railing. “Why?” “Those are colors from above the surface,” he answered gruffly. “Come on.” “Above the surface?” Tasha wondered aloud, dragged behind her father reluctantly. “When our people first settled here, the humans lived above, on the ground.” “What happened to the humans that lived on the ground?” she pursued. “The ones that did not move underwater with the Alcorians died,” he answered, quickening his stride to catch up with the tour. “Will I ever see those colors?” Tasha asked, looking back over her shoulder at the painting, now burned into her memory, pasted to the back of her double-eyelids. Her father stopped and knelt down in front of her. “No, sweetheart, you won’t. Those colors don’t exist anymore. The planet has changed.” He clicked his tongue and lifted her chin when she looked down at the floor between them. “But it’s better this way, don’t you think? We have an endless supply of water. Our people will go on forever, and even the humans have a place to live, here with us.” Tasha looked down again, and nodded. She remained silent for the rest of the tour. Even though she was very young, she knew that there was more her father wasn’t telling her. She would solve the mystery on her own, she decided. Because she didn’t think it was better at all. The colors were too beautiful not to be missed. --422 words

Flash Friday the Second - Ferrety Flash

Over at the WR Forum, we do a picture-prompted 500 word flash activity on a bi-weekly basis and then critique. On the WR Blog, we will share some of these themed pieces, along with other selections every week for Flash Friday.

The picture that inspired this week's collection was chosen by Kat:

And here is my contribution . . .

Ferreted Away The clacking of Charlene's high heels echoed down the narrow cement hallway as she followed behind the burly institution guard. He ambled, frequently looking over his lump of a shoulder to ogle her. She gave him a saccharine smile every time put an extra flutter in her lashes, which almost had him tripping over his own feet. Distracted was good. When they'd reached the halfway point, he hunched over and fumbled with the jangling loop of keys on his belt, leering at her. Charlene pulled a small compact mirror out of her gaudy pink shoulder bag, and pretended to check her hair and make-up. The guard didn't notice the tiny red light on the camera at the end of the hall behind them going out. Perfect, she thought, and snapped the compact closed. "You'll have ten minutes darlin'," he said as he pushed the heavy metal door open for her. "Give 'im a good one." "Oh, don't worry," Charlene winked, and tapped her fingers on his chest three times, as if she were brushing away crumbs. "I will." 'Samuel', as his nametag said, gave Charlene a crooked, cross-eyed grin as his eyes glassed over with the haze of her dream spell. He was present, but already light-years away. Too easy. She slipped into the visitation room and the door closed behind her. Another intrusive camera watched from the corner and the scent of pine cleaner assaulted her as she locked eyes with Harold for the first time in months. With a flick of her wrist, that camera too, went out. The love of her life blinked up at her in bewilderment, sallow and scruffy, wrapped in a pristine white straightjacket. "Harold, it's me!" she said, her voice breaking. A look of shock, and then understanding dawned on his features. She stumbled forward and lunged into his lap, squeezing him tight and covering his face and neck with kisses. She ran her hands down his back and the buckles and straps restraining him slithered loose. "You shouldn't have come here!" Harold finally choked out before wrapping his arms around Charlene and smothering her with a heated mash of lips. "Did you really think I would leave you to rot in a drab dump like this?" Charlene scoffed, then stood up. "Well, no," he chuckled. "So, what's the plan?" "We walk out," Charlene answered, grinning. "Simple as that?" "Well, not precisely," she admitted, drawing a small purple vial from her bag. Before Harold could utter a word in protest, she threw it onto the white tile floor at his feet. It burst, emitting a green vapid cloud that swirled around the figure of Harold, sparkled, and then cleared. "I'm sorry, darling," Charlene sighed as she scooped up the small ferret that lay curled where Harold had been. "It really was the easiest solution," she added, dropping the squirming bundle into her bag. “You can change back in the car.” --487 words

Introducing Wiley Wednesdays

The Writer's Retreat Group has a new blog where we feature flash fiction, and varied posts by our members on a rotating schedule. It's updated regularly, so check it out sometime:

Writer's Retreat Blog

I'm over there today with a 'Wiley Wednesday' post - a weekly commentary on writing craft. My post is about VOICE - or what I've gathered about it so far.

Shout Out to Liz!

I wanted to take a brief moment to formally welcome Liz to the Writer's Retreat group. It's been a pleasure getting to know her better the past few weeks and I'm excited to have her as an addition. I'm sure her contributions will be great - and her word craft and the depth of emotions behind it always thrills me.

Welcome Liz!

Check out The Elizabethan Collar ~ Liz's new blog.

B-C-E

After my recent flogging, a discussion ensued in the Writer's Retreat Forum. While it was private, it got me thinking, and I've included some of it here for ponderance's sake.

The discussion was regarding what level of 'harshness' is helpful to a writer. Being the analytical type that I am, I first felt a need to define terms.

B-C-E : The process of beta-reading, critiquing, or editing creative fiction. So, are those all the same thing? Not in my mind. Ideally, I think it's great to have one of each, only in the reverse order. Here's what I mean (and I do know that my definitions might not be what you had in mind) . . .

An edit takes something in its raw form, helps tighten it, pick out holes, re-work sequencing, pacing, etc.. It also corrects typos, grammar errors, spelling, homophones, and the like. Basically, it takes the bare bones of a piece and straightens them out.

A critique takes things a step farther, and works on craft: story structure, voice, characterizations, world building - the real meat of a story. It would also be a time to provide more creative feedback and stimulate the writer to expand or clarify passages.

A beta-read is similar to a beta-test. It takes the work in its near final form for a dry run. Ideally, your beta-reader is someone that is in your target audience, and can give feedback on what works and what doesn't. It's less craft oriented, less structured, and based more on the overall 'feel' of the piece.

Various definitions of these abound, and to some people they might even be the same thing, but for clarity, that is how I segregate them. I'm not really sure where a publishing editor fits in on this scale, since I haven't worked with one before. But my guess is that a copy-editor 'edits' and an editor editor 'crits/betas'. I'll let you know when I find out, lol.

So, the statement that started the discussion was something along the lines of 'you have to be willing to take a certain degree of harshness in order to grow as a writer'. That was me. I'll be honest, I love criticism. To me, it's the gateway to improvement . . . the rite of passage to my ultimate goal, to be a successful author. Some people disagree - particularly with the 'harshness' part. So, let's take a look at that.

1. Everyone knows that you have to have a thick skin to make it in this business. That's not to say that being mean for the sake of 'toughening someone up' is helpful. To the contrary, budding writers are usually fragile and unsure, and need to be encouraged. I'm sure anyone who's made it can remember back to the people that were initially gentle with them, allowing them to gain confidence and grow at their own pace.

2. Just being nice isn't helpful.
Has this happened to you - you finally decide to ask someone to take a look at something, they do, and they hand it back to you with a 'that's very nice.' ? Gee, thanks. But now you're still where you were before. You know it can be better, but you don't know how or where. This sort of feedback, (yes, it's always nice to have an ego boost) doesn't help us improve.

3. Everyone is looking for something different in a critique/beta.
This is a no-brainer. We all have different strengths, and different not-so-strengths. What you're wanting out of a second, third or umpteenth pair of eyes depends on those strenghts, and on what stage of your specific writing process you're in. I think the most important thing when working with someone who is BCEing for you is to communicate clearly what type of feedback you are looking for. And being able to recognize and decide on this is also a useful skill. Keep in mind too that every BCEer brings something different to the table too. Hence my 'more is better' policy.

With that said, my flogging didn't hurt my feelings. I knew what I was getting into, and I got what I wanted out of it. I spent a year under a tough-love brutal beta, who told it like it was, and always spoke up if something didn't mesh.

So, one of my group members (who are all faced with the grueling task of critiquing some of my WIPs) asked "What are you looking for in a BCE?" I thought about it. I can some it up in ONE word. (I know - it's a miracle!!!)

Honesty.

I want to know what you think, honestly. Even if it's harsh - hit me with it. I want that sting, because I know it will become a part of my assimilated skill set, however painful the process.

Writer's Retreat

I haven't blogged much at all this week, because I've been busy setting up my new forum! It's called Writer's Retreat and it is a private writing group, with a public section of the board.

So far, it's a success. It's a lot of work, but I have some great mods helping me out and lots of enthusiastic members (13 so far!!!). I'm looking to grow the group to about twenty active writers, and it's open to all experience levels and goal sets - as long as they are friendly, supportive, and actively participate in group activities, etc.

Writer's Retreat Forum

Shout out to Jean, Eden and Dawn - you ladies are awesome!!! Thank you so much!