Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Thought Provoking ?

September 27, 2011 | Brian A. Klems |

Do you obsess about the tone of your writing as you revise? You should. Tone is one of the most overlooked elements of writing. It can create interest, or kill it.
It’s no wonder that so many of the countless conversations I’ve had with writing students and colleagues have been about problems related to tone. A friend submitting a novel says the editors “don’t like the main character.” A nonfiction book on balancing a family and a career skirts the edge of whining. An agent turns down a query because she feels “too much distance from the heart of the story.” I scan the latest work of a journalist friend who’s coming to dinner and find it meticulously sourced and well written, but grim in outlook.
And of course any publication you want to write for will have its own tone, which it would be smart for you to try to match. Notice how quietly all New Yorker profile pieces begin, while Utne Reader favors unconventional and unexpected viewpoints that challenge the status quo.
What exactly do I mean by tone? That’s a good question, as there are many terms—mood, style, voice, cadence, inflection—used to mean much the same thing. For now let’s agree that tone is the author’s attitude toward his subject: grave, amused, scientific, intimate, aggrieved, authoritative, whatever.
If you were a photographer, tone would be the way you light your subject. For dramatic shadows, lit from the side. For a scary effect, from above. For romance, lit with candles. In a movie, tone is often conveyed with music—think of the ominous score accompanying the girl swimming in shark-infested waters in Jaws.
A writer doesn’t have a soundtrack or a strobe light to build the effect she wants. She has conflict, surprise, imagery, details, the words she chooses, and the way she arranges them in sentences. Like the tone you use when you talk to somebody, tone in writing determines how a reader responds. If the piece sounds angry, he gets nervous. If it’s wry and knowing, he settles in for an enjoyable read. If it’s dull, he leaves it on the train, half read.
Thus, the wrong tone can derail an otherwise good piece. I’m surprised how seldom writing students note this during our workshop discussions, as if it’s impolite to admit that they’re made uncomfortable by how much the narrator seems to hate her mother, or to say that their thoughts drifted elsewhere by the second page of the overly abstract piece about mindfulness in the workplace.
You can detect tone problems in your own work simply by noting where your attention wanders as you reread it. Or, better, by reading it aloud. When you’re ready to revise a piece, try reading it to someone else, or asking someone to read it to you. You won’t have to search for awkward or boring or whiny parts—you’ll hear them.
Some problems with tone are small and can be easily fixed during revision. Others might require a new approach to the piece as a whole. Let’s look at a few of the easiest and most effective ways to improve the tone of your writing.
Need more, contact me -      rimeriter@gmail.com
"ooroo"    Jim.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Memories.


Birthplace, a memoir.

prologue :

My birth paper says, young Jim is a male, apparently I was - hearty and hale.
Very soon after, my family drifted away - to another town, for just a short stay.
Life in the depression: my ensuing years, were a very long session.
Now, Jim is a contraction of a much bigger name.
Perhaps, the two my folks chose they thought would bring fame.
Well, it never happened. I don’t really care.
They’ve all served me well, no need for despair.
**
memories :
Time came for needing to visit this town
where I was born during a depressions frown –
so  I,
wandered ‘round Woodstock a few years in the past,
it didn’t bring memories, but it sure was a blast.
You see, I was too young to remember those days,
some are just figments, most are a - recounted haze.

A small Private Hospital in the town of Woodstock.
I stood quiet on the footpath after walking the block,
up from the station, yes there once was a train.
Maybe it moaned as they both took the strain.

The train does not run now. It’s probably lost and forlorn
in some rusty ol’ rail shed, it’s whistle long gorn,
but the footpath’s still dusty and perhaps in a fleet
 -  of a moment  -
I saw the impressions of
my parents feet.

© Rimeriter.
memoir 3/9/11.

Writers' Warning.



Extracted from the Internet 16/9/11.
New Authors Beware!

It has come to our attention that there are a lot of new authors getting burnt out there by self-publishing houses and vanity publishers.
So this article is to help you be aware of a few pitfalls out there.


There are two general rules to keep in mind when it comes to choosing how to publish your book:


1. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is!


2. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.


On point #1, you probably have submitted your manuscript to a ‘publishing house’ in the USA.  You receive a response from them. You’re accepted! They’ll flatter you and tell you how good  your book is and how they believe it will be a success in the marketplace.


Wow! A publishing house wants to publish your book. But wait. You have to pay $9,000 to get your book published. But of course that is to cover costs for the publisher and to print some books. In your elation, you pay the $9,000.


Later on, you read the contract carefully, you realise not only lost your copyright, you are getting paid a mere 10% royalty. Common sense starts entering your head and you Google them on the internet.
You realise that there are hundreds of other people who are in the same boat and lost their savings!
These are called vanity publishers. They are not real publishers!
Writer Beware, http://accrispin.blogspot.com/, an industry watchdog gives two big "thumbs down" .

Note: use the link above.

Bush Burden.


Our country compatriots have been doin' it tough, some still are, a few have found it too much and given in -

Just over the fence or through the gate,
by the sliprail – it’s getting’ late –
makin’ for  that furthest hill.

Some green grass but most is brown,
the sheep are movin’ bit further down
past the tree to the nearby rill.

Water in dam but we need more rain
to ease the sufferin’, ease the pain
cos the bank wont pay the feedin’ bill.

Night is nearin’ with mist on the rise,
light grey cloud is coverin’ the skies,
I should keep goin’
but I’ve

lost
the

will.

©.Rimeriter. 14/7/11.

Saturday, September 03, 2011

Interesting Info. For Writers.


Obviously, I found this via the internet.
It makes interesting reading for writers -

HOW TO RAISE YOUR CHARACTERS ABOVE THE STATUS QUO                                        Page 1 of 7.
August 30, 2011 | Brian A. Klems |

You’ve sweated over your manuscript, crafted your characters, honed your story line, and rooted your novel in a location organic to and inseparable from your plot. Now, as you begin tweaking and revising your story, it’s the perfect time to take a closer look at the depth and dimensionality of your characters.
One of the most effective ways of doing this is one most writers have never even heard of: managing status.
I first learned about status years ago while studying physical comedy, mime and improvisation. I remember listening to acting instructor Keith Johnstone (author of IMPRO and Impro for Storytellers) explain how dominance and submission affect actors on stage and how stillness raises status. As he spoke, I kept thinking of how essential it is for writers to capture the same characterizations on the page.Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for ways to fine-tune the status of my characters. Here are four essential principles I’ve discovered.
1. VARIABLE STATUS IS THE KEY TO DIMENSIONALITY.
So what exactly is status?
Simply put, in every social interaction, one person has (or attempts to have) more of a dominant role. Those in authority or those who want to exert authority use a collection of verbal and nonverbal cues to gain and maintain higher status. But it’s not just authority figures who do this. In daily life all of us are constantly adjusting and negotiating the amount of status we portray as we face different situations and interact with different people. Novelists have the daunting task of showing this dynamic of shifting submission and dominance through dialogue, posture, pauses, communication patterns, body language, action and inner dialogue. To do so, you’ll need to recognize some basic status cues:
Dominant individuals exude confidence through a relaxed demeanor and loose gestures and gait; submissive people constrict their stride, voice, posture, gestures.
Looking down, crossing your legs, biting your lip and holding your hands in front of your face are all ways of hiding. Concealment lowers status.
Eye contact is a powerful way of maintaining dominance. Cultures differ, but North Americans prolong eye contact to intimidate, control, threaten or seduce.
Stillness is power. Dominant people delay before replying to questions not because they can’t think of anything to say, but to control the conversation. They blink less frequently than submissive people and keep their heads still as they speak. The more fidgety, bedraggled or frazzled a person is, the less status he has.
Submissive people apologize and agree more than dominant ones. They try to please and are easily intimidated. To act as if you need something lowers your status; telling someone they can be helpful to you raises it.
Effective negotiators mirror the status of the people with whom they’re doing business. This way they neither appear too aggressive (intimidatingly high status) or too willing to compromise (unimpressively low status).
Status varies with respect to three things: relationship (a father has higher relational status than his 8-year-old), position (a boss has higher positional status than her employees) and situation (if you’re attacked by a team of ninjas and you’ve never studied martial arts, you’d have significantly lower situational status than your assailants).
Although the level of relational, positional and situational status might be out of our hands, our response to it is not. The daughter might manipulate her father, the employee might quit, and you might summon up enough moxie to frighten off those ninjas. So, in determining status, choices matter more than circumstances.When readers complain that a character is one-dimensional, flat or “cardboard,” they may not realize it, but they’re actually noting that the character—regardless of the social context in which she appears—always has the same degree of status.
She might always be angry or ruthless or heroic, but the more uniformly she responds to everyone and everything, the less interesting she’ll be.
People in real life are complex. Fictional characters need to be, as well.
So what’s the key to a well-rounded character? Simple: She doesn’t have the same status in every situation.
Each supporting cast member is in the story to bring out different traits of the main characters. Dimensionality, depth and complexity are all brought out by showing subtle shifts in your character’s status as he interacts with the other players.
In my novels featuring FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers, I’m careful not to let him appear weak or cowardly: I want readers to respect and admire him. Whenever he’s at a crime scene or standing up to a bad guy, he has the highest status. He’ll never back down, never give in, never give up.
But to have dimensionality he also needs relationships in which he has low status. So, as a single dad he struggles with knowing how to handle his sharp-witted and surly teenage daughter, and, lacking some social graces, he fumbles for the right things to say to women he’s attracted to. Without his daughter or a love interest to reveal those low status aspects of his characterization, he’d be one-dimensional, and certainly not engaging enough to build a series around.
If you want readers to invest in your protagonist, you’ll need to find areas where he has a weakness, low status or something to overcome. Remember, even Indiana Jones is afraid of snakes, and Superman is vulnerable to Kryptonite.
2. WORD CHOICE DETERMINES CHARACTERIZATION.
In theater the phrase “stealing the scene” refers to instances in which another person upstages the star. Actually, it’s just another way of saying that the star (or protagonist) no longer has the highest status.
When this happens on stage, it will annoy the star. When it happens in your novel, it’ll turn off your readers.And you can shatter hundreds of pages of careful characterization with one poorly chosen word.
A person with high status might shout, holler, call or yell, but if she screams, screeches, bawls or squeals, her status is lowered. Similarly, a character who quivers, trembles, whines or pleads has lower status than one who tries to control the pain. For example:
1. Adrian drew the blade across Sylvia’s arm. She shrieked and begged him to stop.
2. Adrian drew the blade across Sylvia’s arm. She clenched her teeth, refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
In the first example, Sylvia’s uncontrolled reaction lowers her status beneath that of her assailant. In the second, however, her resolve raises her status above that of Adrian, who has evidently failed to intimidate her.
Rather than appearing victimized, she has become heroic.
Your protagonist must never act in a way that lowers her status below that of the antagonist.
Take a moment to let that sink in.
You might find it helpful to imagine high-status movie stars playing your protagonist. I’m not sure about you, but I have a hard time imagining Liam Neeson, Jason Statham or Bruce Willis pleading for mercy or screaming for help.
Remember, choices determine status. So, while revising, continually ask yourself what you want readers to feel about each character. Do you want them to be on this character’s side? To cheer for him? Fear, despise or discount him? Every action, every word of dialogue, every gesture—even every speaker attribution—communicates a certain status, so be sure the words you choose support the impression you’re trying to make. If Betty stomps across the floor (showing lack of self-control) or struts across it (implying the need for attention) she’ll have lower status than someone who strides across it (showing composure and confidence).
Even punctuation affects status:

1. “I know you heard me! Move away from Anna! If you lay a hand on her, I guarantee you will regret it!”
2. “I know you heard me. Move away from Anna. If you lay a hand on her, I guarantee you will regret it.”
In the first example, the exclamation points cause the speaker to come across as frantic or desperate. In the second, the periods show him to be controlled, measured, authoritative. That’s how a hero responds.
A wimpy protagonist isn’t interesting.
A wimpy antagonist isn’t frightening.
In marketable fiction, both heroes and villains need high status. When villains aren’t frightening or heroes aren’t inspiring, it’s usually because the author let them act in a way that undermines their status. Don’t make that mistake.
3. PROTAGONISTS NEED OPPORTUNITIES TO BE HEROIC.
When I was writing my novel The Rook, one section gave me a particularly difficult time. Agent Bowers is at the scene of a suicide when Detective Dunn, a street-smart local homicide cop, shows up. Dunn is tough. He’s used to calling the shots, to having the highest status. In this scene, he makes an aggressive, high-status move by getting in Bowers’ face and then taunting him. I struggled with showing that as bold and brash as Dunn is, my hero still has higher status. After hashing through numerous drafts, here’s how the encounter finally played out (from Bowers’ point of view):
[Dunn] stepped close enough for me to smell his garlicky breath.
“This is my city. The next time you and your pencil-pushing lawyer buddies from Quantico decide to stick your nose into an ongoing investigation, at least have the courtesy to go through the proper channels.”
“I’d suggest you back away,” I said. “Now.”
He backed up slowly.
Bowers refuses to be baited and isn’t intimidated by Dunn’s aggressive posturing. If he were, readers would lose faith in him and side with Dunn. Instead, Bowers remains calm and, by exhibiting poise and self-control, induces Dunn’s submission. (Also, by adding the speaker attribution “I said,” I inserted a slight pause in Bowers’ response, subtly adding to his status even more. To see the difference, read the sentence aloud with and without the pause.)
At the end of the scene when Dunn steps back, there’s no doubt in the mind of the reader who is in charge.
Readers will not empathize with a weak protagonist. They expect protagonists who have strength of conviction, moral courage and noble aspirations. It’s true, of course, that during the story the protagonist might be struggling to grow in these areas, but readers need to see her as someone worth cheering for along the way.
If you can spot weaknesses in your protagonist and are grappling with how to strengthen her, try one of these ways:
Have your protagonist sacrifice for the good of others. The sacrifice might be physical (stepping in front of a bullet), financial (anonymously paying another’s debt), material (volunteering for the Peace Corps) or emotional (forgiving someone for a deep offense).
Have her stand up for the oppressed. I’ve seen all too many authors try to show how “tough” their protagonist is by portraying her as cold or unfeeling—especially at a crime scene. Bad idea. Readers want the hero (or heroine) to be compassionate and life-affirming. Let’s say your female medical examiner is at a crime scene and one of the other cops gestures toward the corpse and quips, “They stab ’em; you slab ’em.” Your protagonist needs to uphold the dignity and value of human life. She might reproach the cop, or remind him of the victim’s grieving family. If you let her make light of something as precious as life itself, you’ll end up devastating her status.
Have her turn the other cheek. If someone slaps your protagonist and she looks the guy in the eye and refuses to fight back, her self-control raises her status above that of the attacker.

Strength isn’t shown only by what a person can do, but by what she could do but refrains from doing. Self-restraint always raises status.
4. STATUS CRYSTALLIZES AS THE STORY ESCALATES.
As your story builds toward its climax, the status of both your hero and your villain will also rise. The bad guy will become more and more coldhearted or unstoppable, and the good guy will need to summon unprecedented strength or courage to save the day.
Status has more to do with actions than motives, so even though the hero and villain have completely different agendas, you can raise the status of either one by giving him more 1) self-control, 2) courage and/or 3) resolve.
Remember, stillness is power, so if you decide you need to make a villain more imposing, try slowing him down. Show readers that he’s in no hurry to commit his evil deed—he has such high status that he can walk slowly and still catch the person fleeing frantically through the woods.
Villains become less frightening when they’re self-congratulatory or cocky. You actually lower a villain’s status by giving him the need to prove himself. Sadistic, chortling, hand-wringing villains aren’t nearly as unnerving as calm, relentless ones who are simply indifferent to the suffering of others.
If your story calls for multiple villains, try staggering their status levels so that the top-tier bad guy has the highest status and is therefore the most threatening and dangerous person for your protagonist to encounter at the story’s climax.
Let your protagonist enter the final showdown at a disadvantage—weaponless, injured, poisoned or exhausted from fighting his way past all the antagonist’s henchmen. An underdog who overcomes impossible odds is a hero we can believe in.
And one we will want to read about again.

end

Hopefully, it was useful reading.
Jim.