Milk the action -- writing tip

It never hurts to "milk the action." That's a tip I picked up from Alice Orr who has written many books , worked as an editor at Walker Books for years, and had her own agency, also for years.

Alice talks in her workshop about how Charlie Chaplin, as the little tramp, was going to have a fistfight with a very large bully. Now we know they are going to fight, but first Charlie takes off his hat and hangs it on the peg. The bully charges at him and Charlie holds up one hand, then takes off his coat and hangs it up very carefully. The bully charges at him again and Charlie again signals for time and proceeds to very precisely roll up the sleeves of his shirt, displaying very skinny arms. Charlie milked the action, lacing the scene with more and more anticipation. It never hurts to keep the reader (or the filmgoer) sitting on the edge of the seat, wanting more.

Catching up -

Gone to press this week:

THE THROWAWAYS, by Jeanne Grieser

FULL TIME WIFE, by Anna Dynowski


Print Galleys out this week to:

DEATH SHALL HAVE NO DOMINION by Pinkie Paranya

Carlene Dater's Banana Bread - Recipe

Carlene Dater’s Banana Bread

½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 ripe bananas
2 eggs (or half a cup of egg substitute)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. Baking soda
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Cream together, butter, sugar, bananas, and eggs until well mixed. Stir in 2 cups of flour, 1 tsp. Soda and ¼ cup chopped walnuts. Placed in greased loaf pans or bundt cake pan.

Bake in a 350-f or 177-C degree oven until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about one hour.

Catching Up --

Print proof copies have been mailed to the following authors:

DEATH ON APPEAL, by Shel Damsky
POSTCARDS FROM MR. PISH, by K. S. Brooks
NOT HIS FAIR LADY by Kaarina Brooks
MAGGIE'S MIRAGE by Jeanine Malarsky
KADY OF QUID by Warrington

The following books have gone to press or back to press:

OZARK WOMAN, by Terry Piper
KISS OF NIGHT, by K.S. Brooks
TIME-RIFT by Elena Bowman
GHOST MEETS AN ANGEL, by Elizabeth Eagan-Cox
MAGGIE'S MIRAGE, by Jeanine Malarsky
LOOKING FOR LOVE, by Anna Dynowski

Print galleys are up on Files anywhere for the following:

THE THROWAWAYS, by Jeanne Grieser
LOST MEMORIES, by Ray Morand
FULL TIME WIFE, by Anna Dynowski
DEATH SHALL HAVE NO DOMINION by P.K. Paranya

Can I base my writing on personal experience 2 - writing tip

Another way to discourage those who might complain about being identifiable in your stories, according to Anne Lamotte, is to give them an unattractive feature.

She suggests giving the character a small penis, as few folks would be likely to get on a witness stand and swear they had one.

Of course that only works for half the population, but the principle is the same if you choose some visible and unattractive cue for an unattractive character, one that definitely was contrary to the inspiration for your words, whether they really have a basis in your personal experience, or not.

Can I base fiction on my real experiences? - Writing tip

This week we had a question about doing autobiographical stories. That can be touchy. Very touchy, if family members will be reading them. I've heard people say, "If my family doesn't like what I write about them, let them write their own stories." I've heard others -- John Irving among them -- deny their fiction has any basis in reality at all. After Irving wrote "THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP," an interviewer pointed out to him that Garp's mother, like his own, was a nurse in a private school, a single parent, a women's rights advocate who was extremely politically active. He then asked if Garp's mother was based on Irving's own, well-known, parent. "Obviously not," Irving replied. "Garp's mother is dead. Mine's alive."

Whatever has happened or will happen to you is yours, to write about or not. Since we have to live in the real world, however, I urge you not to reveal other people's secrets, or write hurtful things about them, if they will recognize themselves. The key word is IF. When she was in the early stages of Alzheimer's my mother-in-law could say many hurtful things. Only later did we realize they were born of her own anger and frustration. But for several years she had not one nice thing to say about, or to, anyone. To complicate matters she was a cancer survivor and imagined every new small illness into the Big C. The urge to kill arose daily, and I dipped my pen and put her -- almost verbatim -- into a short story that later became my novel KILLRAVEN. I did set it back in time and make the character a bit younger than she, but essentially the situation was the same -- a mother-in-law who was driving her son and his wife to distraction. I gave her shingles, which she imagined into the C-word. I quoted her nasty observations word for word. What the hell, she wasn't a reader and thought my writing "silly." Why not? After all, even if it was published she'd never see it.

When a writer friend read my story she fell into fits of giggles, recognizing without any difficulty, some of Mom's ruder remarks. Later, we went to a writers group meeting, and when we returned, my mother-in-law handed me my story, with the comment, "I just wanted to see what Little Ticklebritches (her 'pet' name for my writer friend) thought was so funny!" I stood there stunned. I could have died! "Well," she continued, "It wasn't funny at all. It was downright sad. The way that mean old woman talked to that girl! She ought to have had her mouth washed out with soap!"

I learned two lessons that day. The first was to be as kind as possible and to disguise any "real" people thoroughly. The second was that people rarely see themselves in unpleasant characters. Even with her very own words tripping off the character's tongue, Mom identified with the protagonist. Something never did in real life.

Catching Up

Updated books for the following Final print galleys are on www.filesanywhere, awaiting a go ahead from the authors.

Terry Piper's OZARK WOMAN

Elizabeth Eagan-Cox's GHOST MEETS AN ANGEL

Anna Dynowski's LOOKING FOR LOVE

Books that have gone to press:

Shel Damsky's DEATH ON APPEAL


First print galleys at WWW.files anywhere for the following books, so that authors can check them and send corrections

Jamieson Wolf's HOPE FALLS