Dear Fellow Writers,
As I told you last month, I decided to use February for editing. After taking a good look at my manuscript, I found some gaping holes in Dreams of a Salad Bar. Can you see me shaking my head in despair?
One thing I realized was that my villain, Carl the Cauliflower, was still a two-dimensional character. I just couldn't get my head inside his . . . uh, head. So, I was happy to find an article online by Kate Burns. Empathy for the Devil helped me to see that Carl needs more than just his evil face to show (even though he's a rotten vegetable).
One of the ways I plan to show how dastardly Carl is, is through dialogue. It's never been my strong suit, so I have scoured the Web in search of help. I found several articles by David Galef, the director of the creative writing program at Montclair State University in neighboring New Jersey. He offers great advice on Keeping Dialogue Lively, and Keeping Dialogue Real, among others. Now I have to go through all my dialogue to see how I can make my vegetables speak more realistically.
I realize that no matter how good my characters and dialogue are, unless I can make you feel that you're there in the salad bar with them, you'll never really understand them. I know I need to build my world well, so I read World Building for Any Genre by C.J. Lyons which was included in a free download of 5 Secrets of Successful Authors. C.J. also has a good article in the download on Building Your Brand especially for the shy types--like me, of course!
I found another good download from Novelists, Inc. They've published A Comprehensive Guide to the New World of Publishing. Since I hope to publish my salad bar book one day, I found it very interesting. Occasionally, though, I get a bit befuddled by some of the terms. Thank goodness BookEnds Literary Agency came out with a Publishing Dictionary. Now I'll be able to keep it all straight.
Another problem I've found in my manuscript is that when I write a first draft, I get so excited that I forget some of the niceties, like putting in a period now and then. Some of my sentences go on for a paragraph. That's why I was glad to find Don't Overload Your Sentences by Scott Bury. Some of his examples could have come from my manuscript. Hey, Scott--if you need more exercises, I'll volunteer some of my work!
Unfortunately, some of those overloaded sentences contained cliches, like my sexy tomatoes. How trite! But, I'm sure if I follow Peter Selgin's advice in his 10 Tips to Avoid Cliches in Writing, I'll have those sassy girls under control in no time.
I'm so glad I spent a month focused on editing. This is such an important part of writing . . . or at least I thought so until I read This is Not a Subject; Neither is That. Read it, and you'll get what I mean.
Happy writing, everyone!
Betty Wryte-Goode
Betty Wryte-Goode is a writer, mother, and wife who lives in the Lehigh Valley. Her passions include writing, reading, shopping, and exploring the internet. Betty is always looking for writing tips, so if you have any you would like to share, please send them to her through our Submissions/Contacts page, with the subject line, "Attn: Betty."
Mixed Up Words of the Month: Lie, Lay, Laid, and Lain
(For our purposes, we are not talking about the word "lie" as in falsehood. We're talking about verb form of "to lie" that has to do with lying down.)
Lie is used in the present tense when the subject of the sentence (I, you, he, she, we, they, etc.) assumes or stays in a resting position--usually horizontal or parallel to the floor or ground. you can lie on a bed or lie on the floor or lie on the ground, but if you lie on a job application, for our purposes it means you put it under you as you assumed the position of rest.
Lay means to pus something down, or cause it to lie down. "Lay" is used in the present tense when the subject of a sentence (I, you, etc.) put something down. The think you put down is the object of the sentence. You can lay your hands in your lap, lay a book on the table, or lay a job application on a desk (even if you don't lie on it afterwards.)
Laid is the past tense of "lay." If you put something down yesterday, you laid it down. If you want to submit that somewhat-wrinkled job application, you'll have to pick it up from where you laid it. You also use laid with helping verbs such as "had laid."
(Now here's where it gets tricky. . . . Don't let your head explode. We'll make sense of this yet.)
Lay is also the past tense of "lie." When it's used that way, it indicates an action by the subject of the sentence (I, you, etc.) such as "I lay on the couch for an hour and forgot about applying for a job." Notice that you use "lay" instead of "laid.:
What about helping verbs?For "lie" you use "lain" as in, "The job application had lain on my desk for several days."
So the moral of this tale is that if the subject of the sentence is the one lying down, use lie for present tense, lay for past tense, and lain with helping verbs. If the subject is setting something down, use lay for present tense, and laid for past tense or with helping verbs.
And, for goodness sake, stop lying around and submit that job application!