Betty's Tips 5/12

So much work, and so little show for it. No--I'm not talking about my garden. When I'm there, my work always seems to show, whether it's ridding it of weeds, protecting it from varmints, or supporting the tender stalks as they grow. Why can't writing be more like that?

But it isn't. It seems that no matter how much time I spend editing my work-in-progress, it gets harder instead of easier. I thought I was losing my touch when Mr. Wryte-Goode suggested that I might simply be suffering from "decision fatigue." I looked it up on the internet and found that, as a writer, I am not alone. See this article from Nancy Whichard, and see if it applies to you, too.

It's not that I'm having that much trouble with my writing. I really only have three issues: the beginning, the middle, and the end. But as always, I've found some help.

I'm trying the advice in 21 Ways to Keep Your Writing Sharp. These suggestions were so helpful that when I came across Places from Childhood: Write About Them Before They Disappear, they worked together to get me out of my garden and back at my keyboard.

But once there, I still needed some ideas, and my muse was on vacation. So I turned to the advice I foundfrom pcwrede here to help us when we're out of ideas. Good start, but not enough to tell me what my story will be about. It's sometimes hard to conceptualize at the beginning. So now I'm trying to Write a Novel in Two Sentences. That ought to help me get going in the right direction.

I'm usually a "pantser"--writing by the seat of my pants--but I'm considering using an outline to help me stay on track. Since I'm experimenting, I took a look at how Janet Evanovich outlines. I don't write in her genre, but who can argue with her success? I also consulted How to Structure a Story to make sure everything I needed makes it into the outline.

For the beginning, I'm employing the advice on opening hooks I found on the Midnight Writers blog. But hooks by themselves just aren't enough. You need a great setting. Making imagined settings seem real is quite a challenge. That's why I found How to Create Unique, Plausible Settings so helpful. I think you will, too.

My characters for Dreams of the Salad Bar still need work. (Those vegetables can be hard to control.) I have a great villain, but my hero is turning out to be not-so-heroic at times. I was relieved to read that this is not only okay--it can be good in When the Hero is Wrong the Story is Right.

Working with an outline, though, I worry that my narrative will lack its usual freshness--something essential to my vegetables. To help with that, I'm referring to Keeping Your Writing Voice in 10 Steps and making every effort toward Being Subtle with Subtext. To avoid getting bogged down and losing my readers, I'm working hard on my Narrative, Transitions, and Maintaining Forward Momentum. That means that I have to cut my manuscript down some. But how? by learning to Focus on the Story Points Readers Need.

There's so much on the internet lately to help me mind my P's and Q's--grammatically speaking. As you know, I'm always interested in correcting mixed-up words, so I made a special note to remember about the recent posts on That vs. Which, Who vs. Whom, and Every day vs. Everyday. Even more important is avoiding the 12 Unforgivable Writing Mistakes. I'm sure you know all these, but did you know that there are 20 Rules about Subject-Verb Agreement?

Meanwhile, I'm beefing up my word choice, like using Make or Break Verbs to propel my writing forward.

For the ending, I've found Dos and Don'ts of Novel Endings useful, and plan to leave some questions unanswered as a Scavenger Hunt in Reverse. That ought to keep my readers talking!

Happy writing, everyone! (Or is it every one?)

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

Carrot, Carat,

Karet, Caret

They all sound the same, but if you use the wrong one, you will be misunderstood--or worse, thought ignorant of the difference between an important vegetable and these other words.

Carrot is the most easily recognized orange root vegetable and an important member of the salad bar. You can enjoy baby carrots, shredded carrots, cooked carrots, raw carrots. They're good for any time of day--and Bugs Bunny always has one handy. 'Nuff said.

Carat is a measurement of weight for gems, such as diamonds. One carat equals 200 milligrams. The Hope Diamond not only carries a curse, but it carries a weight of 45.52 carats.

Karat is another term used by jewelers and is a measure of the purity of gold. It is abbreviated by the letter "K." Twenty-four karats = pure gold. It's softer and pricier than 10K,14K, or 18K, but it's oh, so pretty.

Caret is an editor's mark that looks like this: ^. It indicates where something is inserted, or needs to be inserted in a sentence.

Hmmm--how do we get all of these words into one sentence? How's this?

My editor inserted a caret to tell me to write in the number I omitted when I wrote, "While shopping for carrots I caught my engagement ring--a half-carat diamond set in karat gold--on the edge of the counter."