You are cordially invited

Dear Writers,

There are a couple of events I simply must invite you to in September. And by "Writers" I mean if you are a writer who is currently plugging away at this or that, or if you are someone who would like to be a writer but hasn't a clue how to start the process (hint: by writing).

First, I will be teaching a workshop on September 4th at the California Writers Club Orange County Branch. It will be a Zoom session so you can show up in your jammies. 

I will be teaching "Rhythm, Pace, and Amusement," a workshop that delves into the nuts and bolts of how to tell whether your writing is engaging, your story well structured, and if you're injecting humor, some helpful hints about that.

Here's the link to their Meetup, where they will give you the Secret Handshake for the meeting, which starts at 11:00 am:

https://www.meetup.com/Orange-Creative-Writing-Meetup/events/smcjmryccgbfb

If you want to learn more about organization, here is the link to their website:

http://www.calwritersorangecounty.org/

via GIPHY

After that meeting, you're going to be all fired up and wanting more, yes? And if you can't make it to the September 4th meeting, you're going to be kicking yourself and having a severe case of FOMO.

Have I got good news for you!

September 17-19 is the Southern California Writers Conference in Irvine, California. It's two-and-a-half days of writing immersion. Learn about it, talk about it, feel for a moment that writing is EVERYTHING.

And then meet us in the bar for a lot of laughter.

Here's the link:

https://writersconference.com/la/

I could wax poetic about this conference, but I'll just point to one of my many blog posts on the subject to try to convince you to attend.

https://gaylecarline.blogspot.com/2017/08/if-you-dont-invest-in-yourself-who-will.html

I'm teaching workshops there, too. One of them sounds familiar--"Rhythm, Pace, and Amusement." Do not be concerned about hearing a replay. Each time I teach a workshop I rework it so it's never quite the same.

The power of editing, peeps.

I'll also be teaching a semi-new workshop, "What's the Point? Story, Subtext, and Plot." I taught this last February in (virtual) San Diego and got a lot of good feedback on it. It was fun and exciting to teach, so I'm excited again!

Please invest some time, if not some money, in yourself as a writer. I'd love to see you!

Cheers,

Gayle

Editing magic tricks

I am currently writing the third book of the fantasy trilogy (again, WHY do they insist on being trilogies?) and I thought I'd pass on some insights into what works for me when I am writing a big fat book. 

Unless you write like James Patterson with 45-page outlines and then send your interns off to finish it because you've already written the whole thing in your head, OR you write like Dean Koontz and perfect  five pages before going onto the next five pages and there is no outline...

via GIPHY

You may get stuck in your story at times.

It happens to the best of us. Some call it writer's block. We have an idea of where the story should go, and some key scenes that will be boffo for the reader, but we get lost in the woods of words and don't know how to get there from here. I actually heard a would-be writer once say, "I know all the key scenes, and the rest I'll just put in filler."

Don't ever do that. I will hunt you down and slap you if you do.

via GIPHY

Here are some things I've done to avoid getting stuck:

1. Re-read the story. If it's a long manuscript, I usually just re-read from the last action sequence. It's like jogging my memory, the way I retrace my steps when I've forgotten why I'm in the kitchen. I read it and think, "Oh, yeah, THAT'S where I was heading with this."

2. Have my character do something mundane. Eat a meal. Wash clothes. Take a walk. This makes my character go forward in their space, making it easier to get them where I want them to go. Ninety percent of the time I delete all the boring stuff, but every once in awhile I find that little nugget of a revelation/clue/foreshadowing that stays.

3. There is the Soupy Sales approach (aka "and then the dragons came"). Soupy Sales was a guy with a kids' show in the 50s and 60s. At some point in the show, there would be a knock on the door and it would always be a surprise guest to mess with him. If you don't know what else to do, throw a surprise at your character. A visit from the suspect's mom. A door that leads to a room with a clue. An unexpected gryphon. Hit them in the head with a golf club (one of my favorite moves).  Again, it might not stay in the manuscript, but it gets your character moving forward.

And don't forget to treat this like that first blank page of your manuscript:

1. This is a rough draft.

2. No one will see it except me.

3. I can start anywhere, even with "Okay, this is the story I want to tell," and ramble on until the tale starts coming out.

4. Once I've typed the end, I'll have a better idea of where it should begin.

5. I CAN'T EDIT A BLANK PAGE.

There is one caveat to all of this: as you work your way through the stickiness, you may not find a way back to that boffo action scene you had planned. 

It's okay--there will be another boffo scene to replace it, one that's bigger and boffo-ier. 

via GIPHY

I hope I've been helpful. Just remember, use what makes sense and discard the rest. As always, your mileage may vary.