Writing Quote of the Day-

"Writers write. Dreamers talk about it."

   -Jerry B. Jenkins

Writing quote of the day-

I thought it would be fun to try and post a writing quote each day.  

"If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write."

    -Stephen King

Did You Know?

Yesterday, a friend handed me the bottle cap from his Snapple drink. Inside it said:

French author, Michel Thayer, published a 233 page novel which has no verbs.

What?  I had to look into that one! Here is what I found:

Meghna Kaladi in an Ezine article says: According to Language Log, Thayer describes verbs as "invaders, dictators, and usurpers of our literature", adding "the verb is like a weed in a field of flowers ... You have to get rid of it to allow the flowers to grow and flourish." He has banned infinitives as well as tensed verbs entirely from his writing, but he does exempt past participles from his linguistic Nuremberg Laws.
Sample extracts of the book from Wikipedia:
Quelle aubaine! Une place de libre, ou presque, dans ce compartiment. Une escale provisoire, pourquoi pas! Donc, ma nouvelle adresse dans ce train de nulle part: voiture 12, 3ème compartiment dans le sens de la marche. Encore une fois, pourquoi pas?
Which means - "Fool's luck! A vacant seat, almost, in that train. A provisional stop, why not? So, my new address in this nowhere train: car 12, 3rd compartment, forward. Once again, why not?"

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1059607

  

Real Life Into Fiction-

Experiencing a challenge lately?

A rough time? Romantic troubles? Family issues?  Faith crisis? Hope not, but at some point, we all go through struggles, whatever they may be. A good way to vent is through our writing. We can incorporate some of our 'real' issues into our novels.  How many times have we said: "I could write a book about this?" A common expression regarding an overwhelming happening in our lives.
      Recently a friend of mine had a couple unexpected not-too-pleasant things happen one morning. Her dog apparently couldn't wait to go out, so piddled on her dining room wooden floor.  My friend wasn't aware of that and when she rushed through the room, slipped and fell on the wet floor, landing right on her bad knee. She had to ice it and was in no mood for the number of errands, chores and entertaining awaiting her. She told me, "you can't make this stuff up."  Ah, but  we can...by adding some of her situation into our story.
      It seems to me that even the most outlandish fictitious story originates from a human experience or set of strong emotions woven into a powerful imagination.
      Some authors use their journals as a precursor to their novel. There are those of us who might say, "Oh, but I have such a boring life. Who'd want to read about what I do or feel?"  You'd be surprised.  If we are human beings with human feelings, we are not boring. We are unique. There is only one of me and of you. Our hearts have a storehouse of emotions we can spill out onto our paper (computer.) We never know whose feelings our own will resonate with. And even if we never use what we write about ourselves and our experiences, writing it out is a good exercise in itself. We're developing a style of our own.

So, you're practicing how to pull into a driveway as part of your driving lesson, and rip off your father-in-law's gutter pipe. That could be a humorous insert in one of your stories.  (I actually did that back-in-the-day. My dear father-in-law took it in stride.)  Or, your brother, dad, or husband, left a wrench on the hood of the car and no one noticed it as you all take off for a trip to the country. Then everyone hears a banging sound under the car. Shortly afterward, gasoline is making a trail behind the car. The speed of the car blew the wrench underneath the vehicle and it punctured the gasoline tank. (Also a true story.) I can laugh about it now, but at the time I was fuming (no pun intended.) More writing material. We all have various experiences to write about, however big, small, outrageous or ordinary.
      Of course, there are the sad experiences also, which have fine tuned our empathy and compassion toward others. And which has also allowed us to write of deep heart-wrenching emotions that so many of us have felt at one time or another. Reminds me of, Romans 8:28...And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  We have been called to write.  Our words can move, lift up, and even change the heart, mind, and soul of a reader. We can turn some of our difficult experiences into transforming ones for others. And that's an awesome responsibility, work, and blessing..

Where Did Those Popular Sayings Originate?

     Do you ever wonder where some of those sayings and expressions we often use come from? I have a friend who took a course in college about the origins of sayings and expressions. How interesting and enlightening that course must have been.

     Following are some of the more popular ones...

Don't bite off more than you can chew: The saying originated in the United States and has been traced back some 110 years or earlier. When an American would say: "Don't bite off more than you can chew," an Italian would say, "Don't take a step longer than your leg."
Never cry wolf:  Traced back to a translation of Aesop's Fables (1629.) Original version dates to about the sixth century b.c. It tells of a rural shepherd boy who twice cried, "Wolf!" to summon the villages when in fact the flock was in no danger at all. The disgruntled villagers then ignores his cries fro help when a real wolf attacked, killing the boy as well as the sheep.
Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing: This adage originated in the United States in 1953 and is often attributed to Vanderbilt University coach, Red Sanders.
On a Wing and a Prayer: The metaphor comes from the image of a damaged airplane trying to land. The phrase first appeared as the title of a song, Comin' in on a wing and a pray'r," written by Harold Adamson (106-80) with music by Jimmy McHugh.  The 1944 movie, Wing and a Prayer, directed by Henry Hathaway, about brave pilots aboard an aircraft during WWII, made it a household saying.
Mind your p's and q's: The original saying is unknown. It's been suggested that 'p' stands for 'please' and 'q' for 'thank you' and that children were once admonished for not using these words.  Another theory is that 'p' stands for a 'pint' of alcohol and 'q' a 'quart. E.D. Hirsch, Jr. argues that it derives from a teacher's request that students keep their handwriting legible and not confuse the letters 'p' with 'q'.
Everything;s hunky-dory: Hunkidori was the name of a breath freshener introduced in 1868. First used in the UK in the 1920s.
A clean bill of health: The phrase goes back to the nineteenth century when bills of health were issued to ships' masters to the effect that no infectious diseases have been reported in the port of embarkation.
I need that like a hole in the head: Of Yiddish origin. Originated in the United State in the late 1940s.
Let's get the show on the road: Originally used by American theater owners to urge actors to prepare for a tour. This show business phrase dates back to 1910 and has been in common use since 1930.
The shoe is on the other foot: Traced back to the nineteenth century. Until then, shoes had been
made different in size, but not in form and people could put the same show on either foot.
Business as usual: Despite the difficulty and danger, life goes on. It was a catch phrase of WW I. In a speech in 1914 Winston Churchill said: "The maxim of the British people is "Business as usual." The phrase has been used ever since.
The buck stops here:  President Harry Truman had a sign saying this on his desk at the White House.  The lotto was and is used by many politicians. Originally a poker saying (the buck was a marker used to indicate the player who was dealing.)
To bite the bullet:  Dates back to the time when soldiers were treated without anesthesia , and they literally bit on a bullet to ease the pain.

The early bird catches the worm: The proverb traces back to Remains Concerning Britain (1636) by W. Camden. First attested in the United States in Sam Slick's Wise Saws (1853) by Thomas C. Haliburton. The idiomatic early bird means an early riser, the first customer, train., bus, etc.


Info taken from: Random House Dictionary of America's Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Titelman.

Saving Some Time - Keeping Momentum

     You're on a roll with a good story.  As you write, the name of a particular town escapes you.
You stop writing, go online, and look up the area where your story takes place in hopes of coming across the  town you can't remember. OR...
     You're writing a series and working on Book Two. You can't remember the name of the friend of your main character's sister. So you go into your saved files and retrieve the manuscript for Book One and attempt to search for the friend's name by looking up every reference to 'friend' since the name has been forgotten. This could take minutes or it can take an hour.
     Sometimes when we interrupt the flow of the story with research, we lose the momentum.  It's better to jot down what you need to look up on a piece of paper and tape it to your monitor or in a place you'll be sure to see it later on.  Then keep writing and simply type..............for the forgotten name of the person or town.

     In my case it was the name of a horse in my Book One Amish novel that I needed to carry over into Book Two. I couldn't use the 'find' feature in WORD, because, as in the example above, about the sister's friend, I forgot the name!
    Instead, I typed..................to indicate where the name of the horse should be, made a note of what page this was on, and kept writing. Later on, when writing time is over, I can look up the horse's name.  Or perhaps the next day, but certainly before submission. And especially if you are an independently published author and don't belong to a critique group.
    I came across an Amish series novel recently where in Book Two, the author used a different female name for what was supposed to be the same character from Book One. They both began with a 'D' but the name had been changed. Deborah became Dina. At first I thought it was another girl. The point is, to remember to go back and make the changes and/or fill in the blanks you reserved for research at a later time. Otherwise you'll have many baffled readers. In the meantime, enjoy the momentum and save the blank spaces for later.

   Note to self: Page 18 - hero's town needed. Simple enough.

  

Some Great Quotes About Writing-

     Sometimes it's encouraging and satisfying to read the thoughts and advice of other writers. I am sure many of us can relate to a few (perhaps all) of the following quotes taken from an online article by Zachary Petit , an award-winning journalist, the senior managing editor of Writer’s Digest Magazine.
 

 “Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.”
—Ray Bradbury, WD

 “Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts.”
—Larry L. King, WD

 “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”
—Ernest Hemingway

 “I don’t care if a reader hates one of my stories, just as long as he finishes the book.”
—Roald Dahl, WD

 “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”
—Stephen King

 “The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over half a library to make one book.”
—Samuel Johnson

 “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.”
—Elmore Leonard

 “I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.”
—Harper Lee, WD

 

 “Keep a small can of WD-40 on your desk—away from any open flames—to remind yourself that if you don’t write daily, you will get rusty.”
—George Singleton                                            

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is … the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
—Mark Twain

 “Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they strike against each other until finally there’s an explosion—that’s Plot.”
—Leigh Brackett, WD