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Volume: 16.04 The South Carolina Writers Workshop Newsletter May 2005 |
NEWS |
Board BulletinsSCWW High School Junior/Senior Literary Awards 2005We had a good response to our annual fiction and poetry contest for high school juniors and seniors, and received some excellent submissions. This year, students at the SC Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville took five of the seven awards. And Sarah Robbins, a senior at the Governor's School, won second place in both fiction and poetry. For short fiction:
For poetry:
Chosen from 50 entries, all four poetry winners attend the SC Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville. The fiction judge, Jon Tuttle, is Playwright-in-Residence and Literary Manager at Trustus Theatre in Columbia, South Carolina, and Professor of English at Francis Marion University. He serves on the SCWW Advisory Council, and his plays have received over 100 productions and staged-readings in 25 states and overseas. He has also published articles on modern fiction and drama and, most recently, the literature of the Vietnam War. Jon lives in Florence, South Carolina, with his wife Cheryl and son Josh. The poetry judge, Ryan G. Van Cleave, is a freelance writer and editor who teaches creative writing and literature at Clemson University. He has also taught at Florida State, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, as well as at prisons, community centers, and urban at-risk youth centers. He is the award-winning author or co-author of twelve books and five poetry chapbooks. He and his wife Victoria had their first child, Valerie, in April 2004. We want to thank Ryan and Jon, busy men who served cheerfully and without pay. Also, thanks to the many teachers who encouraged their students to submit their work. Leland Beaudrot, Mary Eaddy, and Frances Pearce have agreed to present the awards in person, and Craig Faris is printing the award certificates. Teamwork made it happen. [And thanks to Contest Chairman Betty Beamguard for making this a total success! - Ed.] Chapter ChatterGreenvilleFrom Printed Matters Phil Arnold's ElvisBlog is well on its way to stardom. Elvis International Magazine's website now features a prominent link to ElvisBlog on its main page. Pat Stewart proudly circulated a copy of Reunions Magazine which featured an article written by Pat called "Scrapbooking and Memory Projects." Carolyn Beaudrot's article "It is Well With My Soul," chronicling her father's last year and her own experience of peace amidst terminal illness appeared in the May issue of ARP Magazine. IrmoCarolyn Berger's poem, "Gone To Dust," was published by PoetWorks Press in their recent publication of For Better or Worse. Rock HillGrace Looper won first place in the Cloak and Dagger Mystery Short Story Contest, the Rose Award and a cash prize of $100, for her story "A Smiley Face." The judge suggested submitting the story to Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines. Other Names in the NewsCappy Hall Rearick of St. Simons Island recently sold five pieces to The Senior Sun newspaper in Charleston. This could potentially lead to a regular column. Fool Me Once, first novel from T. Lynn Ocean of Little River, will be released in hardcover by Thomas Dunne Books, a division of St. Martin's Press on July 1, 2005. |
OPPORTUNITIES |
SCWW Summer WorkshopsJune 25, 2005 – The Writer as a Marketer: How to Sell Your Novel to Agents and Editors Presented by Karin Gillespie. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Cayce-West Columbia Branch of the Lexington County Library, 1500 Augusta Highway, West Columbia, SC. Workshop is free and open to the public. Karin Gillespie is the author of novel Bet Your Bottom Dollar, and the upcoming A Dollar Short, both published by Simon and Schuster. She is also a bi-monthly columnist for the Augusta Chronicle. Karin maintains a web site and a popular publishing industry blog called Diary of a Hype Hag. She travels the Southeast with three other Southern authors, and they call themselves the Dixie Divas. She is also the founder of the Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit, a virtual tour for women novelists. July 16, 2005 – Freelance Writing Presented by Jason Zwiker. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Cayce-West Columbia Branch of the Lexington County Library, 1500 Augusta Highway, West Columbia, SC. Workshop is free and open to the public. Jason A. Zwiker is a freelance writer and photographer in Charleston, SC. He is a frequent contributor to Charleston Magazine, a book reviewer for the Post & Courier, and a regular writer for the Charleston City Paper. His articles have also appeared in such publications as Consumers' Digest and Pool & Billiard Magazine. While at the College of Charleston, he studied fiction writing under novelist Bret Lott. Jason's short stories have won numerous awards, including placing in the Piccolo Fiction Open, and have appeared in such publications as Eureka Literary Magazine and All Hallows: International Journal of the Ghost Story. He is an active member of the Charleston Chapter of the SCWW. Mark Your Calendar!
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FEATURES |
Outlining And Translating Idea Into Storyby Bob MayerFrom The Novel Writer's Toolkit: A Guide To Writing Great Fiction And Getting Published BOOK DISSECTION You've got your original idea, and you've done your research. Now, before you begin to write your book, you should find a published novel similar to what you plan to write. I guarantee you there is something out there that is similar. Then, sit down with your razor sharp brain and cut it apart to see all the pieces. Then put them together again to see how they all fit. Ask yourself the following questions:
If you will notice, all the above questions relate to sections further in this book. These are questions you are going to face in your own manuscript. If you can understand how someone who successfully wrote the same type of book answered them, you can greatly improve your ability to answer them. I was talking to producer Dan Curtis (Winds of War) and he told me how he works on taking a novel and turning it into a screenplay. First he breaks the novel down into a list of one or two sentences summaries of every major scene or action. Then he writes the screenplay off that list. Then he breaks the screenplay down into a list of one or two sentence summaries and sees how that compares to the one he did for the novel. Use the narrative structure to lay out the structure of the novels you read. What is the hook? What are the progressive complications? What is the choice the protagonist has to make? How is it made? How is the main plot resolved? How do the subplots support the main plot? It is essential that you be well read in the area in which you wish to write. The more you read, the more you will get imprinted in your conscious and subconscious brain the style and manner in which those types of stories are written, which will aid you greatly in writing your own. As I mentioned earlier, you should read as many first novels as you can find. Since you are trying to get published, see what kind of novel it takes to get published. Some best-selling authors can crank out anything-- which would not get published if a no-name author did it-- and have it become a best seller. A first novel sold on its own merits. Another thing that book dissection can help you with is determining how "realistic" your book needs to be and in researching your topic. For example, in most mystery novels, police procedure lies somewhere between detective shows on TV and the way it is really done. You'll find if you interview a homicide detective about how they cover a murder scene, that you will be overwhelmed with detail and the scene you write in your book would have to be many hours long and slow your action down. So see how such scenes are generally written in most novels that are published in your genre and proceed accordingly, no pun intended. I have sat down with both best-sellers and breakout novels and broken them down on a spreadsheet scene by scene to study the structure. Many authors I've talked to have done something similar in order to learn. I would give each scene a separate row on the spreadsheet, then in columns briefly describe the action, the characters involved, the point of view used, and the purpose of the scene, the last one being the most critical part. A question you should ask yourself after dissecting a book like what you want to write is this: How is my book going to be different? What is my unique twist? Every idea has been done-- it is in the development of your story off that idea that you have to bring your originality. Columbia II in Reviewby Bonnie StandardAt the April 18 meeting of the SCWW Columbia II Chapter, we critiqued a variety of genres including chapters from novels, short stories, and poetry. Subject matter ranged from life in the old South, to psychological mysteries, to ethnic issues. Poetry has been showing up frequently lately and we as a group are becoming better critics. Unlike prose, poetry requires intuitive responses to words and concepts, and some of us don't yet trust our intuition. As Doris Fields says about some passages, "I'm trying to get my head around it," so do many of us. It's obvious that the majority of us are not writing to bring in income, so why do we write? Carol Beard says she writes "to learn the why of things." Alex Raley enjoys putting words together. "I also like seeing something I wrote in print, even if it is just to bring to our group for feedback." DiAna DiAna writes to "spell out my thoughts and share them. To open up another side of myself." Some of us share Larry Hamilton's sentiment: "I cannot, not write. Even if I don't get it on paper, it never stops going on in my head." Sheyn Billue, a math teacher, says, "Believe it or not, writing has a lot in common with mathematics. Finding the perfect word provides the same satisfaction as finding the single value that solves an equation. That kind of mental exercise, solving puzzles, is both challenging and relaxing. David Westeren's analysis is on target for many of us. "Writing explains feelings of love and pain. It is a search for communion; therefore it is a social act. Its motivation comes from a similar place as the desire for family and religion: a social drive to seek comfort and understanding from others, perhaps recognition or self actualization. In essence, if we are not alone, we may endure." In a poem he wrote on the subject, David says that writing is "a moment's child. We see it in the leaving." Upcoming meetings are 6:30 PM Mondays, May 2 and 16, and June 6 at the Richland County Public Library on Assembly Street in Columbia. For information call Larry Hamilton at 803.799-7058. Ask the Book Doctorby Bobbie ChristmasQ: Years ago (probably sixty) I had a wonderful text on the use of figurative language. I lost it a few years ago. It was written by Thrawl and Hibbard, I think. It carried definitions of figurative language uses, such as simile, metaphor, hyperbole and many, many more. I can't locate the book on the Internet, probably because I have insufficient information to provide. Have you, by any chance, any idea what I am referring to? If so, do you know how I might acquire the book? It may well be a discarded relic. A: I found something close enough for you, used, for only $1.75, through Amazon.com. It's called A Handbook to Literature: Based on the Original Edition by William Flint Thrall and Addison Hibbard by C. Hugh Holman. Q: I have written a novel that could be described as conversational style. There are large blocks of text in which one of my characters is telling the story of her life to someone. I am having trouble finding information that explains how to use punctuation marks in this type of writing. Any suggestions? A: Without seeing the manuscript, I'll take a stab at the answer. Even though contemporary readers don't want to be told a story-they want to watch it "happen," monologues do have a place, and they also have punctuation guidelines. Here's the key: When a character speaks for more than a paragraph, do not end the paragraph with end-quotation marks. Leave it open. Open the next paragraph with quotation, marks, however. At the end of the monologue, close it with quotation marks. In the following brief example, note how I added some action to the monologue, to help readers "see" the person as he speaks: John shifted his weight to his left leg. "One night my father came home stinking of whiskey. He yelled at us and woke us from a deep sleep. We didn't know what he was going to do next. "To our surprise, he made us all get up, Ruth, Susan, Samuel, and me, and he danced with every one of us in the living room." John shook his head. "That night turned out to be one of my best memories of my old man." I must again emphasize that monologues (long speech without anyone interacting and without action) are discouraged in contemporary literature, because readers today prefer to see a story unfold with action as well as dialogue. You may want to intersperse action with the dialogue, and you will more clearly know when to start and stop the quotation marks. Q: I wrote a short profile during a feature-writing class that would be a good fit for Seventeen or Cosmo Girl, but I want someone to advise me before submitting a query. Since I've already written the profile, can I just submit it as is, indicating that I can lengthen or slant it as desired? A: The quick answer would be never to write an article without an assignment, because it's often a waste of time. Then again, it isn't always a waste. Many articles have been sold that way. You may submit it as is, as you said, indicating that you can adjust it in any way the magazine wishes. It's worth a try. It won't burn any bridges, if a magazine rejects it. Before you send it anywhere, though, study the magazine and see what subjects it covers and what slants it takes. In addition, read the submission guidelines for the periodical, to ensure it accepts articles as well as query letters. Send your questions to the book doctor at Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. If you liked these questions and answers, order Bobbie's e-book, Ask the Book Doctor: How to Beat the Competition and Sell Your Writing. It addresses hundreds of questions from writers like you, for only $8.95 at http://www.booklocker.com/books/1906.html. Bobbie Christmas is a book editor, freelance writer and author of award-winning Write In Style: Using Your Word Processor and Other Techniques to Improve Your Writing (Union Square Publishing). Palmetto State Writer's ForumWhile the face-to-face fellowship of other writers in a critique group is a great way to hone your talent, it is not always convenient. Fortunately, a variety of on-line forums are available to help fill the gap. A recent entry is the Palmetto State Writer's Forum, "a conglomeration of writers in South Carolina who share a common interest- a love of writing. From mystery to sci-fi to even romance, share your thoughts, critiques, and love of writing with one another." A recent launch in Yahoo Groups, membership is quite small at this time, so if you're shy about sharing in a crowd, this might be a good place to start. |
MUSINGS |
A Dialogue on Dialogueby Leland Beaudrot"Let's talk about dialogue." "Thaleia!" I gasped, almost jumping out of my chair. "You've got to stop sneaking up on me like that." "Who's sneaking." She sat in the desk chair opposite me in the recliner and spun herself around. "It's what you get for letting your mind wander." Reconciling myself to life with a Muse, I decided to play along. "Well, what's on your, or is it my, mind?" She parked the chair facing me and grinned. "Like I said, dialogue. Let's show 'em how it's done." "A little telling by showing?" I asked. "Exactly!" She reached above my head and pulled down a cartoon-like dialogue balloon containing my last utterance. "Look here. The words you said are quoted and followed by a speaker attribution. If a question mark was not required, a comma would have been used." I laughed. "How'd you do that?" "It's easy, for a Muse." Once again, she plucked my words from the air. "And here's our next example. Instead of a 'he said/she said' type attribution, an action beat, set off by a period rather than a comma, identifies you as the speaker." "So if you 'say' it, use a comma, but if you 'sigh' it use a period?" "Exactly," she said. "The simplest speaker attributions are best and, where possible, actions attributed to a character serve a dual purpose: showing what's happening and who's talking. But be sure to set each speaker off by a paragraph break." "Like we've been doing." "Yes. And one thing more." "What's that?" "When you only have two people talking, you can use less attribution." "Clever!" "But be careful," she warned. "Don't let your reader get lost." "Hey, look here!" I snatched the words from above her head. "Is 'warned' an attribution or an action? Should that comma have been a period?" Picking up a letter opener from the desk, she pricked the balloon with its point, sending sentence fragments flying. "Perhaps someone will write in and give us an opinion." The Quill is the newsletter of the South Carolina Writers Workshop. Copyright 2005 by Leland Beaudrot, Editor. Contributing writers retain all rights to their work. |